Content Warning: Character Death, may also contain triggers for child abandonment.
Chapter 24 - What Parents Sacrifice
"The Jedi are dead. The Jedi are dead, but the Sith are strong. Power lies with the dark side," recited the prisoner.
Tel-Mac force-pushed away the wiggly worm of a force-persuasion, a weak one at that, and he sighed. The prisoner had been giving him the same response for months. He initially suspected it was a programmed response, but now he was starting to think it may be a wall. A force-shield designed to keep secrets undiscovered, even from those who carry them. But he'd been trying to break that shield and gotten nothing for his efforts.
"Ahhh" He stepped out of the prison chamber and sat on the floor, with his head in his hands as he breathed out his frustrations.
"How'd it go?" Maris asked.
"Same," Tel-Mac answered without looking up. His voice sounded dull and exhausted.
"I'd help you if I could," Maris replied.
"What are you doing up?" Tel-Mac looked up in shock then to see the very pregnant Maris standing in the hallway with him. "Healer Nema said you should remain in bed, or the hoverchair during this stage of the pregnancy."
"My back was hurting, and I wanted to stretch my legs. We're fine." Her protests were for naught. Tel-Mac jumped up and was summoning a hoverchair before she finished. In the end she shook her head and obediently sat in the chair. "You should head to command. Master Kirak's been asking for you."
Tel-Mac headed off and didn't see the look of contempt Maris sent his way. Maris put her hand up, and stroked the prison door panel contemplating opening it. She wanted to see the man who had such an effect on Tel-Mac, but they'd all agreed her entering his space with a little, unguarded lifeform inside her was too dangerous. They were right, it was too risky. Regretfully, she pulled her hand away and stroked her belly, something she found herself doing a lot without thinking lately.
Tel-Mac went straight to their command center where he was greeted by a somber bow from Master Kirak Infil'a.
"It's good to see you here, Tel-Mac. I was just about to pull you out of the interrogation myself. We have activity on the scanner."
Tel-Mac went pale. He and Kirak had built a long range scanner to detect any activity in the system. They hoped it would never find anything, as the location of Ilum was a secret known only to the Jedi. But if the scanner detected activity, it meant the Empire, the Sith, had found them.
"We shouldn't react to this too soon. It might be a stray lost ship. They're still on the edge of the system. They might be trying to calculate a hyper-space jump out of here as we speak." Kirak's words would've been soothing, but Tel-Mac's heart was already beating fast.
"Contact the temple. Prepare them for evacuation," Tel-Mac ordered.
The Jedi Master's mouth dropped open in shock. "I will tell them to perform a drill, but I will not risk creating panic for what might be a false alarm."
Tel-Mac opened his mouth to argue, but Kirak spoke first.
"I suggest you go meditate. Release your anxieties to the force, along with any residuals you picked up during the prisoner's interrogation." Kirak's eyes were firm, as if he were scolding a Padawan.
Tel-Mac ripped away and stomped loudly as he exited the bridge.
Tel-Mac did try to meditate. After he'd spent a good thirty minutes pacing around his quarters, waiting for Kirak to change his mind, of course. Though the meditation was far from soothing. He couldn't get past thinking the new ship was one of many empire ships. 'They're going to come and lay waste to all the Jedi have built, as they've done in the rest of the galaxy.'
'The Jedi are dead.'
'Where did that thought come from?' Tel-Mac recentered his thoughts. He saw the planet Ilum, with its center carved out, and an army of sith, all with red lightsabers. 'They're going to cause death and destruction all over the galaxy.'
'The Jedi are dead, but the Sith are strong.'
'No, no, no!' Tel-Mac was growing frustrated now. Frustrated with the very method of meditation. 'The very last thing we need is a Sith emperor with access to Kyber crystals.' Though the Jedi discouraged talk of such things, Padawans still told stories of the dark days, when Sith were strong enough to make a youngling wet himself in the night. Such stories had ancient Sith doing strange, and unnatural things with the crystals. Creating weapons so powerful that no knight could fight against. 'We'd never be able to stop him!'
'Power lies with the dark side.'
Tel-Mac growled at the unwelcomed, intruding thought, but he was interrupted by his comm beeping.
"No new activity to report on our 'situation,' but I do have some good news." Kirak spoke lightly. "Grandmaster Yoda is on his way here. It seems the force told him we'd need his help."
"Ah," Tel-Mac felt relieved. Master Yoda would put Kirak in his place. After all, why would the grandmaster make an unscheduled trip all the way to Ilum if that ship wasn't a real threat?
Tel-Mac bowed to Yoda as he stepped off a rather large passenger transport ship. Then with resignation he released his frustrations to the force over who followed next. Without showing a grimace, he bowed in greeting to Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker. He still didn't think they deserved such titles, but if they came with Grandmaster Yoda, he wouldn't refuse their help.
"Master Yoda, there is a new ship in the system. It's still unidentified, but Kirak refuses to order a full evacuation of the temple."
"That is untrue." Kirak dared to say as he walked in. "I have ordered a massive drill. I simply refuse to cause unnecessary panic by calling it an evacuation."
"I was thinking," said Anakin. "If we sent a vessel closer we could run more detailed scans of the ship and learn more. The vessel doesn't need to be manned."
"A single ship that size likely doesn't have long range sensors, but if we approach them, even in an unmanned vessel, they will sense us. And if they are imperial, we don't want them to know there's any activity in this system," Obi-Wan strategized.
"Still, it's hard to prepare for a fight if you don't know what's coming," Anakin huffed.
Tel-Mac agreed with Anakin. 'It's just a single ship, why not go out and fight it?' He too, was feeling annoyed by their inactivity.
"Avoid the fight, we will. This secret, the Jedi who died have protected. A secret, it will not remain, if here we stay."
"What!?" Tel-Mac looked around anxiously. "Then where will we go? We've been investing a lot into this place. You haven't seen the renovations. Surely it's worth fighting to protect the Kyber alone."
"Master Yoda is right. If it is an imperial ship, and there are no more Jedi on Ilum to slaughter, they'll likely never come close enough to learn about the Kyber or the Temple. But if we stay…" Kirak spoke up.
"If we stay here, we die here," Maris finished, as she entered the room in her hover chair.
"We'll find another place to build," Kirak offered.
Tel-Mac huffed, then nodded. "Alright, we have an evacuation to plan, then."
In the end plans were made to divide everyone into two groups to transport offworld. Half would travel with Master Yoda on his vessel, and half would take their own similar vessel. Though one ship could easily transport everyone, Master Yoda insisted they use two. Tel-Mac had to admit the extra space would make the trip more comfortable.
Moving the prisoner was a more complicated feat to plan. Both of their ships were passenger vessels, and neither had space to hold a prisoner. They decided to use Yoda's ship, as it was already parked in the station's hangar.
"We can use this cabin here," Obi-Wan suggested.
"Alright, I'll have to mess with the ship's mechanics to prevent the door from opening. It'll take me a few hours," Anakin estimated.
"Oh really." Obi-Wan rubbed his chin. "I can think of a quicker mechanical solution."
Anakin's eyebrows rose to ask the question. Obi-Wan pulled out his saber and struck the door panel, leaving behind a mess of frayed wires.
"What kind of mechanical solution is that?" Anakin asked aghast.
"Aggressive Mechanics," Obi-Wan quipped, and Anakin rolled his eyes.
Tel-Mac was just surprised Master Yoda didn't argue with them.
Anakin did spend the next thirty minutes soldering a piece of metal plating over the frayed wires, for good measure. And then he locked Master Obi-Wan into the room for another ten minutes, "to test the security," was his claim.
"Have you thought of a name yet?" Anakin asked when they'd gotten a moment to relax.
"Um, well Healer Nema says it's a boy, and we were thinking about using Mace-Ti," Maris answered, her hand unconsciously resting on her stomach again.
"Mace, in honor of Master Windu. A strong Jedi, also a proponent of the code." Tel-Mac stressed the code part for all to hear.
"And he died fighting for what we all live for. A hero, who didn't give in to the dark side." Maris added. "And Ti, in honor of Master Shaak Ti, of course."
Anakin smiled. "That sounds great. I'm sure they would be honored." Anakin leaned closer to Maris's tummy and whispered, "I look forward to meeting you, little Mace-Ti. When you're old enough, I'll teach you how to fly a speeder faster than a Sandswimmer."
"Oh no you won't!" Obi-Wan chided, much to the agreement of both Maris and Tel-Mac. They didn't know what a Sandswimmer was, but it didn't sound good.
"I will be teaching him all he needs to know," Tel-Mac added for good measure.
Whenever Tel-Mac tried to discuss their destination, Yoda or the others would wave him off. "Worry about that later, we will. Out of this system, first you must get." Tel-Mac eventually set aside this matter, agreeing that they could choose a planet later.
Yoda's ship had landed beside their own, and Jedi were loading them both with supplies. Tel-Mac stood beside Yoda's exit ramp, staring off deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Maris came up behind him and asked.
"I'm thinking of all the work that's gonna go into building up another temple," Tel-Mac replied. "Weighing the risks of using another ruined temple site or going from scratch like they've done on Melren." Tel-Mac jumped up suddenly and barked at a pair of Knights. "Essentials only! No, your sled is not an essential."
As he was distracted, he missed Maris gripping the arms to her hoverchair and wincing.
Several hours later, they'd hastily divided everyone between the two ships and were preparing to leave the system. Kirak and Yoda seemed to have had a discussion and decided where they all would ride without his input, again. Kirak boarded their other ship, while Maris and Tel-Mac rode with Yoda, and Tel-Mac's two least favorite Jedi.
'What fun!' He thought, sarcastically.
Tel-Mac was on the bridge, trying to appear useful. Though it was clear Skywalker intended to pilot this ship himself. They'd just finished the plans for hyperspace and were about to make the jump, when behind them all Maris let out a sharp scream.
Obi-Wan was at her side in a second. "What's wrong. Is it? Call off the jump!"
"To hyperspace, while she is in labor we cannot jump. Too unsafe, it is." Said Yoda.
Anakin had the ship back to hovering in seconds. "How long has it been?" he asked as he jumped out of his seat.
"A few hours, maybe. I thought I was just having cramps until a moment ago," Maris answered.
"Wait, she can't have the baby now! Of all times." Tel-Mac gasped.
Anakin had the nerve to laugh at him. "Tell that to your kid."
"No. I mean, Healer Nema is on that ship." As Tel-Mac pointed to the viewport, the other ship jumped to hyperspace and disappeared from their view.
"Comm them. Get them back here now," Obi-Wan ordered.
Anakin opened up a holo and proceeded to tell Kirak what had just happened.
"We're having some issues here, too. Barely made it halfway to the mid-rim when we were forced to jump out of hyperspace. Our engine needs repairs that will take several hours. I can get Healer Nema for you, but it will only be via holo for a while now."
Maris was taken to the ship's Medbay, and Anakin brought the Holo device and assisted Healer Nema in appraising the situation.
"Well, I've got good news for you," the holo-healer said. "You're ready to have this baby."
"That's good news, why?" Tel-Mac felt like the only one not amused by the current situation.
"I've seen labor stretch far longer. I know we'd all prefer he wait until I was there with you, but I'm sure Maris will be happy not to be in labor that whole time."
Maris winced as she felt the grips of another contraction come over her. "Now, we will want to have you start pushing. And one of you needs to catch the youngling."
There was a quick shuffle which ended with Anakin being pushed forward. "Why me?"
"Been through this before, you have," Yoda helpfully supplied.
"Exactly, neither of us has been present for a birth. You have," Obi-Wan argued.
"B-But I was in a different position then," Anakin argued. "I had his job, then." He pointed to Tel-Mac.
"It's alright. I'll tell you what to do, I just need your hands," Healer Nema said in a comforting voice.
"Scardy Tookas," Anakin mumbled under his breath. "This part's going to hurt. She'll need you to help her," He reminded Tel-Mac as he followed Healer Nema.
"Okay Maris. Like we practiced. Enter the meditative state." Tel-Mac was met with only an angry push and a wail as Maris's pain got worse.
"Helping, that is not," said Yoda. Whack!
"Ow, what was that for!" Tel-Mac rubbed his arm which had met the rough end to Yoda's stick.
"Empathy," The Jedi Master replied.
There was a long moment, as Tel-Mac stared down the little green Jedi. Then Healer Nema complained, "All this stress is not good for the baby, or his mother."
Obi-Wan ended it by pushing past both of them, and gripping Maris's hand. "Squeeze here," he said to her.
"Are we ready to do this? On the next contraction, Maris, I want you to push."
After a while Obi-Wan joked, "I think we know why your eyes were closed for the first vision."
Anakin chuckled, he indeed had his eyes glued shut, though he held his hands exactly where Healer Nema told him to.
Tel-Mac stood back and grumbled to himself. 'Why does everyone have to make light of the situation?'
When her contraction began, healer Nema coached her to push. Maris screamed, as she gripped Obi-Wan's hand so hard he winced from pain. Tel-Mac was growing anxious, though all he could do was pace.
Tel-Mac lost track of how long it took. He regretted not simply taking Maris's hand like they'd been taught, but he was also nervous he'd mess it up again, so he didn't replace Obi-Wan.
When the baby was finally born, Anakin held him with wide, disbelieving eyes. Tel-Mac finally found a use for himself, cutting the cord for Anakin. Then the youngling was passed over to Master Yoda.
Anakin tried to back away then, but healer Nema instructed him, "Oh, we're not done yet. I still need your hands." Anakin looked disappointed.
"It's alright. You can go pilot us out of the system. I'll take over from here," said Obi-Wan.
Tel-Mac didn't stay to hear more of their conversation. He followed after Yoda, who had taken young Mace-Ti. When he walked in Yoda had given the youngling a bath and was wrapping him in a swaddling blanket. Tel-Mac could have sworn he heard the grandmaster cooing to the infant as he did this.
"The Midi-Chlorian test. Have you run the test yet?" asked Tel-Mac.
"The test, I have already run. Average, his results are. Not Force-Sensitive, he is," Yoda said, and Tel-Mac didn't believe it. There was only the faintest trace of disappointment in Yoda's voice.
"What!"
"On the datapad, the results are."
Tel-Mac grabbed the datapad and scanned the results. "This is a mistake. Run the test again."
"A different result, it will not have. A healthy, beautiful boy, you do have. Hold him, you will," Yoda instructed.
"What's the point?" Tel-Mac could barely hold it in anymore. He ran from the room, emotions having burst through his life-long shields like wet flimsy.
Tel-Mac tried to find a quiet place to meditate, however the only space he could find was the cabin across from where they were keeping the prisoner. The prisoner's cabin was unshielded for Force Activity, and the surrounding cabins were empty for obvious reasons.
Still, Tel-Mac was contemplating the end of the Jedi Order, what harm could a half-trained Sith pose. As he sat, he knew he needed to mourn over the idea of training his own youngling. Mourn the strong Jedi knight he had been sure little Mace-Ti was destined to become. Only the Jedi didn't teach him how to mourn. They taught living without attachments and being prepared to let go.
'I never intended to form an attachment. This has to end now!'
'But why isn't he force-sensitive?'
'What did I do wrong?'
'The Jedi are dead.'
'No!'
'It's all your fault.'
'I failed. I'm sorry, so sorry.'
'The Jedi are dead, but the Sith are strong.'
'No! What can I do now?'
'Power lies with the dark side.'
"Tel-Mac, Tel-Mac," Anakin called out from the hallway interrupting his meditation.
"What?" Tel-Mac asked, sticking his head out the cabin door.
"I've commed Master Kirak, and he said they're still having trouble with their drive. So I was wondering, if I take one of the shuttles and join them to help with the repairs, would you be able to take over as pilot?"
"Yeah, sure." Tel-Mac was surprised how little he felt then. A little while ago, he'd've been pleased to have Skywalker leave. Instead he felt numb.
"Okay, I'll get set. The course is planned, you just need to make the jump," said Anakin.
Obi-Wan insisted on joining Anakin. He said it was to, "make sure you don't end up rewiring their whole ship without cause." Which Anakin rolled his eyes to, but didn't fight. Tel-Mac just thought they enjoyed the other's company too much. Pathetic, Jedi attachments.
Tel-Mac settled on the bridge and used the act of piloting to distract him from his emotional turmoil. He didn't see any reason just to use Anakin's course plans, and proceeded to remap their route. But the job took far less time than he'd preferred, and after making the jump to hyperspace, he stayed doing this and that, monitoring the systems, while they flew.
"Still in here, why are you?" Yoda interrupted.
"Master Yoda! I'm just making sure we don't burn out the hyperdrive."
"Down, it will not break. Quality, these systems are. Maris and your youngling, you shall go see."
"I-I n-n" Tel-Mac stammered a bit over his response.
Yoda shook his head, "So much disappointment, one so small has caused."
Tel-Mac was gripped with a wave of guilt. He didn't have time to give him a response though.
"Yes, nursing they are." With a surprising amount of gusto for one so small, Master Yoda pushed Tel-Mac out of the pilot's chair.
Tel-Mac walked into the room where Maris was nursing little Mace-Ti. He had to fight the instinct to look away from the intimate sight. 'This is natural and healthy. You were prepared for this. All younglings need to eat.'
"Oh, Tel-Mac. Can you hand me that blanket?" Maris's question interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah, sure." He pulled the baby blanket over to her.
Maris wrapped Mace-Ti in the blanket and then covered herself again. Smiling up at Tel-Mac she said, "Did you ever imagine he'd be so cute?"
Tel-Mac looked away from the child then. "Did they tell you yet? He's not Force-Sensitive."
"Yes they did. It makes the new news even better, though." Tel-Mac looked at Maris stunned at her lightness, and wondering what she was talking about. "Did they tell you? Master Yoda's ended the separate clans. We can choose to stay with Obi-Wan and Anakin, wherever their temple is, or we can live on Melren with Master Coleman, but either way, we can keep Mace-Ti. We can form attachments with him."
Tel-Mac's expression became large as he came to a horrific realization. 'This HELP. This EXTRA RIDE. It was all a trick. That little green nuna! The Jedi are dead, and it's all his fault. The Jedi are dead, and the sith ARE strong!'
Then it came to him like a whisper on the force. A question asked earlier, with no answers.
"Why isn't he force sensitive?" Tel-Mac's eyes squinted accusingly towards Maris.
"I don't know. It isn't always genetic, or the Jedi would've had a breeding program years ago."
"But he's half Zabrak and half Human. All Dathomiri are force-sensitive."
"You know your history. That's only because of the arcane magicks of the Nightsisters," Maris sounded slightly offended. "And I'd never allow such dark side powers near my little one."
'Power lies with the dark side.'
Tel-Mac stormed out of the room. He'd finally realized where that thought was coming from, and he was going to do something about it.
Tel-Mac entered the prisoner's cabin and force-pushed him against a wall.
"You did this! You did this, and I will end you!" Tel-Mac shouted. He was no longer bothering to rebuild his shields. His emotions burned up in a smoldering flame.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha." The prisoner smirked, turning to look at Tel-Mac while his maniacal laughter continued. "What have I done?" he asked innocently.
"The Jedi are dead," Tel-Mac's response felt automatic.
"Hmm?" the prisoner inquired.
"The Jedi are dead!" Tel-Mac threw out with more power this time. "But the Sith are strong?" He looked like he was only contemplating those words as they came out of his mouth. "Power lies with the dark side." His mouth opened in a surprised, yet unuttered oh.
"Join me." The prisoner's voice was low and unnaturally evil sounding.
'You're not supposed to do this. Good Jedi don't fall to the dark side,' Tel-Mac tried to tell himself. 'But the Jedi are dead.'
"What is your choice?" Commanded the prisoner.
Tel-Mac let out a deep breath before he fell on his knees. "Yes Master, I will join you."
"Master Yoda, Why have we turned around?" Maris carried her son as she walked out to find the Jedi Master.
"Know this, I do not." Yoda answered. "Feel danger, I do. Proceed with caution, we must."
Maris changed position to shield Mace-Ti with her body, as she followed Yoda.
On their way to the bridge they found the bodies of three Jedi, all dead from lightsaber burns.
Maris took a moment to cover their bodies, looking down at them with shock. "Who did this?" she asked, but no one replied.
Yoda, meanwhile continued onto the bridge of the ship. "Answers for this, you will give!"
"No," came the cold voice of Tel-Mac. He stood facing the window with another man. Then slowly he turned to reveal glowing, yellow eyes that glared at him with malicious intent.
Then in one moment Tel-Mac and Yoda both pulled out their lightsabers. They clashed them together with fury and well practiced ease.
Then Maris came running into the room. Tears were in her eyes as she realized what was going on. She used a force-push on the prisoner and ran ahead to the control panel. Pushing buttons wildly, she stopped their vessel, and ordered everyone onboard to evacuate in the escape shuttles.
It was at that moment that Mace-Ti began to cry. Tel-Mac looked up at her and asked, "What are you doing?"
Maris turned to her son, who'd been left on the floor a second ago so she could operate the ship's controls. Only, when she tried to move to him, she felt grips of the force holding her back.
Behind her the prisoner had recovered and was standing again. Tel-Mac moved towards the infant, but Yoda stepped in his way. He held his lightsaber out to block Tel-Mac, and used the force to pick up the infant.
Maris tried to fight the hold she was in, but she found the grip tightened the more she fought. Yoda looked at her, and Maris tried to shake her head. "Go! Run!" she was finally able to scream with her last bit of air.
Yoda obeyed.
Maris felt the tendrils of the force let go of her shortly after that. Both Tel-Mac and the one time prisoner were conversing over the issues before them.
"I have to go get them. I'll end him." Tel-Mac insisted.
"No. How far can he go, with just an escape pod? We'll let him get away, then we can end him with the Kyber Cannon we shall build.
'What! A kyber Cannon!' "No, you can't!" Maris screamed.
"Why not?" Tel-Mac sounded nonchalant.
"You'll kill our son!" she screamed.
"Oh," Tel-Mac uttered.
"That little runt," said the prisoner with disgust.
"And the rest of the Jedi," Maris tried.
Tel-Mac blinked. "You don't understand," he whined. "He killed the Jedi. They're all dead because of him."
"No, they'll be dead because of you." At that moment, Maris threw the spit covered nursing cloth from her shoulder at the two men. As baby vomit blinded her pursuers, she turned and ran out of the room.
Maris's first thought was to get into an escape pod and join Yoda and her youngling, but she quickly threw that idea out the window. She knew she needed to stop them, or her son and all her people would be in danger. 'The Kyber,' She thought. When they had to leave Ilum, Tel-Mac ordered the Jedi to pack up several large crates with Kyber. But now he was going to use it to kill them all! 'I have to get there first.'
The storage room was nearby and Maris only had to run faster than her two pursuers. When she got to the room she reached to the top of the crate and pulled off the largest crystal. It was too big for most lightsabers but Tel-Mac said he 'didn't want to leave it for the sith.' As she held the crystal to examine it, she heard her pursuers coming, and ran to hide, taking the largest kyber with her.
"Where is it?" The Prisoner started digging through the crate.
"Yoda!" Tel-Mac stormed. "We've got plenty of smaller crystals in there, take what you need from them."
"I can't use any old kyber, it needs to be one solid large piece. Otherwise it'll never focus the energy enough," said the Prisoner. "With a large enough Kyber, all we'll need is a basic blaster."
Maris wondered how this supposedly half trained inquisitor could know so much about Kyber Crystals.
"OOh, nothing here is good enough. We'll have to go back to Ilum," said the prisoner.
"It'll only be three short jumps away," added Tel-Mac.
'The Hyperdrive. That's it.' Maris knew how she was going to do it.
Leaving the storage room, she snuck into the engine room. It seemed she was forgotten about, which made it easier to get the tools she needed all gathered in one place. Now, Maris was no Skywalker, but she did consider herself good with a ship. For instance, she knew if you break the combusto belt and then rework the exhaust pipe just so, you'd create a dangerous situation for any pilot and co-pilot.
It was why most pilots soldered their exhaust pipe with durasteel. The stuff was almost permanent. 'Almost. A Kyber enhanced laser saw would cut through it for sure!'
Fortunately for her, the prisoner just explained the fundamentals of how to kyber enhance a weapon, and before long Maris had her tool. The pipe bent for her easily and then she had it all rigged.
Before they made the third jump, Maris left the engine room, deciding to take her kyber for good measure. She didn't want to see what happened next, though there was something within her that insisted she had to go to make sure it worked. Maris didn't know if it was the force or a motherly instinct. She went to the bridge and crept into the room.
Tel-Mac was in position below the main vent, but the prisoner was standing back too far. He was standing just on the edge of the pilot's chamber.
"Do it. Jump to hyperspace," he ordered.
"Looking for this!" Before Tel-Mac could obey, Maris jumped out of hiding, holding up the Kyber and ran. She ran out and around the ship, being sure not to lose her pursuers. Then she went through a dining room and ran back to the bridge. When she'd got there she placed the Kyber on the floor in the perfect position, and she positioned herself next to the controls.
When they burst into the room again the Prisoner shouted, "Kill her." Meanwhile he dove for the crystal. Maris sent one last well-wish to her son through the force, then she pushed the button. As the ship jumped the room became hot.
All she could feel was a burning on her skin, as the first wave of burning exhaust was pushed through the vent above them. She heard Tel-Mac screech as he threw himself at the door which had come down behind him. The door was sealed shut, an automatic protocol to protect the rest of the ship. They were trapped in the small pilot's chamber.
Maris could no longer hold herself up on two legs. As she fell she heard a strange cackling coming from in front of her. "Bow. Bow to your Emperor, you worthless Jedi!"
"Sidious?" Maris breathed.
Then Maris looked up and saw the prisoner in front of her. He was laughing an evil laugh, and when he saw her looking at him he paused and smiled.
"You are dead!" she spat.
He continued laughing. "Think I care. This body is but a vessel. A temporary force-implantation of my consciousness. You see, I knew that the mandalorian duchess had connections to the Jedi. I was hoping for a different fish, but," Sidious looked over to the dying form of Tel-Mac, "but I won't throw back a good catch."
"He's as dead as you are. What do you want with him?"
"Oh, he's not quite dead yet. And there's a lot you can do with not quite dead. May I introduce you to the future, now let's see, Darth… Vader, yes. I intended that name for someone else, but wouldn't it be fun to have Vader kill him instead. Vader killed by Vader…" And the last thing Maris heard was Sidious's maniacal laughter.
Some time later, she could feel a familiar presence. "Shaak Ti, are the Felucians running through the meadow again?"
"Nope. Open your eyes, you silly girl." Shaak sounded extra joyful.
Maris reluctantly opened her eyes, as if she were about to lose the last vestiges of a dream. Suddenly her memory came back to her, and Shaak stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "You've succeeded, my padawan. I knew you'd understand one day, why I stayed on Felucia. You've succeeded. Let me show you."
Suddenly they were standing in a desert, and she saw Master Yoda, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kennobi step off of a ship. Master Yoda held a small bundle wrapped up. They somberly walked up to a door and it opened to reveal Owen and Beru Lars. As Yoda handed Beru the bundle, she unwrapped Mace-Ti, and smiled. Maris could feel the woman's soul healing. After so long without a child, she finally had a son.
Then Beru looked up and cried. The tears were mourning her, Maris felt. She sent a wave of peace through the force, and then both women smiled together. Beru was just sensitive enough to feel it, as she turned back to her husband with their child.
Hello Everyone,
I have here an extra long chapter for you. I did think about dividing it up when I switched from Tel-Mac's POV to Yoda and Maris's POV, but then I didn't want to extend your misery. I have a lot of new things in this chapter, that I'm hoping sound realistic enough to pass for canon. Action scenes like this are still difficult for me.
That is, thankfully, the last character death I have planned. Next week I will rewind a little bit to show them all planning where to send Mace-Ti, and the Jedi will receive a lesson in how to mourn from their Tatooinian friends.
And for some reason, this site is no longer letting me copy and paste italics, so I'm back to using 'thoughts' and "quotes." I hope you all can still follow.
