Chapter 17: The Return to Ilum

Ryder woke up to the sound of his alarm clock blaring in his ear; he needed to make sure that he would wake up for his big day.

'Finally,' he thought. 'I'll be able to get my own lightsaber.'

He rolled over to his side and read the clock. It was "9:00 AM." He threw the covers off, slid out of bed, and put his pants, shirt, and a hoodie on. His pants were black, dry-fit sweatpants that were tan and had an elastic band at the bottom that wrapped around the middle of his calf. His shirt was blue and dry-fit while the hoodie was just solid white. The hoodie was not big and bulky. It was thinner than traditional hoodies. It made it seem like it was for the summer.

Ryder walked over to his closet and decided that he was going to wear tennis shoes for now. He reached down and picked up a pair of gray Adidas instead of his Nikes.

This would be the last time that he'd wake up in this room for a while it seemed. This was his first actual mission, and he didn't know what to expect from it.

Ryder threw his black backpack with neon green elastic strings in the front, around his shoulders and walked out the door.

Immediately after he walked out his door, R2 came zooming down to hall and about ran into Ryder.

"Hey! Watch it, R2!" he yelled out, but the droid just whistled loudly and kept going down the hall.

"I guess I'll find out what that was all about later," Ryder said to himself.

He walked in the direction that R2 came from to go to the elevator. While waiting for the elevator, Ryder pulled a book out of his backpack titled, 'Ancient Sith.' He had a bookmark about the quarter of the way through the book, and he flipped to the marked page. He began reading the text:

"Darth Traya was a Sith Lord that was extremely gifted with the Force. Even though her eyes atrophied from disuse, she could see by relying on the Force. She strongly believed in the will of the Force, viewing it as a conscious entity that controlled the destiny of all living beings. Thus, she thought of the Force as a cruel being and sought to destroy it. A Jedi Consular and Sith Lord of prodigious power and skill, Darth Traya used a wide variety of Force abilities, including Force Horror, Force Speed, Force Crush, Force Cloak, Force Scream, Force Lightning, the mind trick, and many more."

The doors to the elevator opened, so Ryder closed his book and walked into the elevator. He saw that the button for the dining hall was already lit up, so he stayed in the corner and opened the book again.

This time he read into the powers and abilities of Darth Traya. He was interested in her because she was both a Jedi and Sith, and her wisdom overshadowed the majority of other Sith Lords. Her teachings were more in depth than the others because it seemed like she just knew exactly what to say.

The doors to the elevator opened, and the hall was brimming with other students. It seemed like they were in-between classes or every single student was in this hallway for a strange reason. Ryder bobbed and weaved to the dining hall and entered through the double doors.

He walked to one of the robots and asked for a box protein bars, and the robot went to the back and grabbed a box of peanut butter chocolate chip protein bars.

'I hope everyone likes these,' thought Ryder.

He put the box in his backpack and left for the hallway once again. This time, R2 sat patiently on the other side of the double doors for Ryder to come out.

*Bleep woo bloop skreet teet looooop*

Using one of his robotic arms, R2 grabbed two books out of his hollow compartment in his chest and gave them to Ryder.

"Thanks, R2. Let's see if this works," Ryder paused and let R2 get ready. "Okay, who is Master Yoda?" he asked the droid.

Suddenly, R2 projected a hologram that looked like a page taken from a book. The title, "Grand-Master Yoda" appeared at the top of the page, and beneath the picture, a column of facts appeared. These facts described Master Yoda's abilities, teachings, and even personality.

"Good job, R2! This looks really good," he said as he kept giving out other Jedi names. "Now, I want you to do the same with these two books," Ryder said pulling out the books, 'Ancient Sith' and 'Form Two: Makashi.'

"Remember, don't lose them. I have to put them back before we leave," he reiterated as R2 put the two books in one of his compartments. R2 scurried off to some room to record the book while Ryder continued to the elevator. This time, he was heading to the archive.

Ryder arrived at the doors to the archive and placed his eyes and hand where they needed to be scanned. A loud ding sounded as metal rods slid out of place, allowing the archive door to slide up into the ceiling.

Finding the section in the bookshelves for lightsaber forms, Ryder reached into his backpack, took out the Form Three book, and placed it on the shelf. Moving a few feet down, he found the spot where he took the 'Ancient Jedi' book. So, he put that book back as well.

'No need for these if R2 has them stored in his system,' he though.

Done with returning his books, Ryder walked towards the holocrons. He had already listened and learned from Grand Master Yoda in the Jedi holocron, but Ryder hadn't opened the Sith Holocron.

Reaching out and picking up the red holocron, Ryder noticed that it felt different than the previous Sith holocron. This one seemed angry. It was passionate. It was in pain. The difference between this one and the previous intrigued Ryder… A lot.

Ryder looked around. There weren't many people in the archive room. Those who that were around, were sitting at tables on the other side of the room reading. Quietly, he took it to the corner room where he had learned from Master Yoda.

In the small, barren room, Ryder sat down indian style in the middle of the floor. He put his backpack aside and placed the now glowing holocron in front of him. The glow casted a red hue on the walls that already had red cushions. He felt nervous opening this on. It didn't call out to him like the other. It seemed like it didn't even want to be opened.

Ryder took a deep breath.

"Okay," he said reassuring himself. "It can't be that bad."

Ryder closed his eyes, placed his hands on his knees, and reached out to the Sith holocron with the Force. Knowing he had to use the Dark Side to open it, Ryder allowed the emotions from the holocron to fill him.

The pain of not being trusted by anyone. The anger from the memories that Dr. Rogers reminded him of. Some of the memories he didn't know of, but they made him furious. Concentrating on the emotions, Ryder could feel the corners of the holocron twist and slowly come off the pyramid holocron.

Suddenly, Ryder heard a voice. I sounded prideful and angry. "I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire!"

Ryder opened his eyes. Within the red light emitting from the holocron. A blue image of a young man with hair that went down to his shoulders, stood looking into what seemed to be a distant person. His eyes glowed yellow and red.

The blue figure slowly faded away. In its place, a larger blue image appeared. This figure wore a suit of armor that had some control panel on the front, and over his head was a large mask.

*khhht PHHRRRR*

"Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends."

Ryder looked intently at the Sith Lord in front of him. The pain, anger, and hatred that came from the holocron, really came from this Sith.

Ryder bowed his head and said, "I have opened this holocron in search of wisdom and strength, Lord Vader"

*khhht PHHRRRR*

"And why should I teach you? You are a servant of the light," said the Dark Lord.

"You struck fear into the heart of your opponents; something that I want to do. Just like how you wanted to protect what you love, I wish to do the same," explained Ryder.

"This holocron holds a special power, and you are too weak for that power," said Vader.

"I can handle it," Ryder protested!

"Go against what I say again, and I will make sure you never see the secrets of this holocron," said Darth Vader as his blue image began to fade into the red light of the holocron.

The corners of the holocron, thankfully, returned to the red pyramid. It would have sucked if this one was a one-time use holocron. The red light receded into the holocron, and Ryder stood up.

Picking up the holocron, Ryder said, "I'll try again when I get back from Ilum." He threw his backpack over his shoulder and left the room.

Looking at his watch, he noticed that it read, "1:34 PM."

'Damn, I've spent long enough in here,' he thought. 'I need to grab some books for the trip though.'

After about ten minutes of looking, Ryder picked up a book called, 'Plasma: The Fourth State.' He put the book inside his backpack. After five minutes of more looking, Ryder had grabbed, 'Expert Strategizing,' 'Mastery in Hand to Hand Combat,' and 'The Art of the Body Flicker Technique.' Ryder had a total of five books in his bag now: the four he just grabbed and the Force applications book that R2 had found.

Once he finished, he threw his backpack over his shoulders and left the archive. Ryder had overheard people talk about the physics of chi blasts, and they said that they are made of plasma. Chi blasts had been the most power attack that he had seen yet, so that is why he chose that book. If he could find a way to use the Force to stop them, it would help him a lot.

Ryder was back on the elevator and headed back to his room to get all his clothes and other items ready for departure. Flipping through his new book on plasma, he found a quote that said, "…when this plasma is heated to high enough temperatures, it becomes more solid." This peaked his interest even more about the physics of plasma and how Z-fighters use it.

Add something?

Ryder got to his room, went inside, and began packing a suitcase full of clothes and any other items he would need on the mission. He threw in ninja pants, he liked them better than Jedi pants. Sweatpants, sweatshirts, jackets, shirts, shoes, battle gear, and lastly, his picture that was on his dresser. He put the picture face up on top of his clothes. The picture was of him and his dad out in a random field. The sky was blue, and the tall grass in the background was rolling. That was a good day for him. He and his dad had just finished shooting dove in the country outside of Montgomery. It was one of his last moments with him.

Ryder made the memories leave his mind as he said, "Okay. What else." He looked around the room and saw his backpack sitting in a corner. He picked it up and put it down on his bed.

"Okay, I have my new books, journal, some snacks, and what else." Ryder stuck his hand farther down inside the backpack and pulled out a tape recorder.

"How the hell did this get here," he said. Just as he finished, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Ryder yelled as he put all the objects back inside his backpack.

It was General Rodan. He had a book under one arm and held a coffee mug in the other.

"Hey, just wanted to stop by before everything got hectic. I brought you a book you might like," said Rodan as he walked over to his desk.

"Okay, what is it?" asked Ryder intrigued.

"Force Abilities of the Ancient Jedi," said Rodan. "Since I don't have the Force, I can't open it, but it's a book teaching about powers that nobody has ever seen. Or at least a long time, or something like that," he rumbled on. "I took this from a confidential library on the top floor that have a single bookshelf with books containing powerful abilities for other powers too. I think that the abilities in this book will help you in your mission and future missions." Rodan tossed the book to Ryder.

He caught it and spun it around to look at it. The book began to glow a soft blue color as it loosened the pages. Ryder flipped the pages with ease and saw a description that read, "The caster manipulates the nervous system of the target's eyes, creating an illusion."

Ryder looked at the name of the ability, and it said, "Force Illusion."

Ryder looked up at Rodan and closed the book. "Thanks a lot for the book! I'm excited to learn them," he said laughing.

"Well, I know you're going to do fine with learning them. But I've got to head out, so good luck with your mission. I hope you make at least a cool looking lightsaber," he joked around as he walked out the door.

Ryder turned around and said goodbye to General Rodan.

Ryder turned back around and put his new book inside of his backpack. He was ready to go. He began to do a check-list pointing to each item and saying check afterwards.

"Backpack with protein bars and books. Check. Bag with clothes and battle gear. Check. Another bag for normal clothes with a small bag with shoes. Belt and lightsaber. Check and soon to be check," Ryder said as he pulled off his hoodie and pants, and he put them in his bag.

He put on his brown leather boots, light brown Jedi pants, and the dark Jedi tunics that were hanging up in his closet. The same kind of tunic that Anakin Skywalker wore as a Jedi. Ryder looked at his watch and it read, "4:38 PM." He zipped up his bags, strapped his backpack up on his back, and began walking to the hanger with his other bags in his hands.

Ryder got to the hanger and the only people there were mechanics, ship admirers or students, and other students practicing for their flight test.

He walked over to the Rogue Shadow which looked like a shining, back diamond. Behind him he heard a loud beeping sound that came with the sound of cans and tools knocked on the ground.

'What the hell,' thought Ryder?

But, of course it was R2 racing towards the Rogue Shadow and Ryder. He stopped at Ryder and activated a hologram that displayed a picture of a man that had a respirator around his mouth and nose. The title caption beneath read, "Darth Malgus."

Ryder patted R2 on the head and said, "Good job, R2, and just in time as well."

R2 retracted the hologram, beeped, and went aboard the starship. Ryder picked his bags up and followed R2. Ryder walked up the loading ramp and into the main hold.

The first person he saw was a blonde hair twenty-year-old sitting at a table reading a book.

Ryder walked over to him and said, "Hey, I don't think we've really met, but I'm Ryder."

The man stood up. "It's good to meet you, Ryder. I'm Weston Tague," he said as he reached out and shook Ryder's hand.

"I think everyone else is in the room lounge right in there." Weston pointed through the door at the end of the room that was in view of another door.

"It's right in there," Weston said.

"Thanks," said Ryder as he picked up his bags and began to walk towards the next door.

He opened it and saw four couches surrounding a single table. On the other end of the room was a couch on the wall facing a few tables and chairs. The left wall extended all the way down to a single door. It was a hallway about ten feet wide and more doors on the right wall.

"What's up cap'n?" asked Nero, who was sitting in one of the couches. "Welcome to our temporary home."

"Your room is down at the very end of the hallway by the way." Luca, Katie, Ben, and Murdoch were sitting on the couches too.

"This ship is insane!" said Ryder as he turned around. "I mean it's a lot bigger than how it looks on the outside." He did a three-sixty to take a few more looks at the room. There was a whiteboard on the wall near the tables and chairs.

"I'm going to put my bags up really quick," said Ryder as he walked down towards the hallway Nero pointed out.

Walking down the hallway, four doors were on the left and right. Just enough for each person to get their own room. Upon reaching the last set of doors, Ryder saw his name on the door on the left.

To the left of the door was a square, red button. Ryder pressed the button and the metal door slid up instantly.

Upon walking in, Ryder noticed that the room wasn't very big. There was a full bed up against the wall straight ahead. A dresser rested against the right wall, and a shoe rack sat right next to it on the ground. There wasn't much free room in there. Just enough to sit down and meditate.

Placing his bags on the bed, Ryder took his clothes and divided them into different drawers in his dresser. There was one drawer left over, so he put his battle equipment in that drawer. That consisted of his gauntlets, a location beacon and the receiver, a glowrod (a rod that produced more light than a lightsaber), an oxygen mask, and food and nutrient capsules.

Once his bags were empty and their contents put away, Ryder slid all his bags, except for his backpack. That, he laid against the left wall.

'It's time,' he thought smiling.

Ryder walked back to the lounge area, and everyone, including Liz and Weston, were at the couches talking. Once Ryder entered the room, the common chatter stopped and everyone directed their attention to Ryder.

"Everyone. Thank you for joining me on this mission. It won't be the most exciting, but it will be a fun and cool experience. At least we get to leave the ship," Ryder said with a chuckle. Instead of a laugh, a few people only exhaled forcefully out of their nose.

"So, like I said yesterday. Our first objective is to travel to the icy planet, Ilum. There, Ben and I have been given permission to make our own lightsabers. When we get there, I'll decide who gets to stay on the ship. That crew will fly around the planet and map out its geography and scan for tunnels and caves." Ryder paused and looked at Ben who had a large grin on his face.

"Congrats, Ben," Ryder said. "You've earned it. Your abilities and power have grown tremendously, and since we are in a full-fledged war, the President agreed that you have shown enough promise to warrant you coming and building a lightsaber."

Murdoch and Katie, who were sitting next to him, gave him a pat on his shoulders. He was now, visibly excited and focused for the mission.

"Once we get picked up, we're going to fly to Korriban. It is a planet between the two suns. There, our mission is to search the caves for an ancient Sith's lightsaber and a purple holocron. Ben, our job is to continuously listen for it calling out through the Force. This is our main mission. It's a must that we at least find the holocron because intel says that ISIS is also looking for it, and it's only a matter of time before they go to Korriban. If there are any question, now is the time to ask them," said Ryder as he finished his speech.

"What happens if we come across ISIS soldiers while on Ilum," asked Weston?

"We are to eliminate them," responded Ryder. "If we can, we should try to get any information from that. This goes for while we are on Ilum and Korriban."

Weston nodded.

Ryder looked at the rest of the crew looking for any more question; no one raised their hand or spoke up.

"Okay, good. Now, to refresh on our duties while on the ship. I will be piloting the ship, and Nero will be co-pilot. Luca, you will be working as our technician. That is, you'll be in charge of the sensors and cloaking of the ship. Katie, you will be the general mechanic of the ship. R2 will be helping you with whatever you need," Ryder said patting R2 on the head.

"Oh brother," mumbled Katie.

"Ben, you'll be helping Katie and Luca most of the time. Try and learn from them. However, if need be, you might work some as a gunner too. Murdoch, I want you to man the photon and laser cannon. Lastly, Weston. With your knowledge and skill with the use of a gun, I want you to man the turret."

Everyone nodded at the announcement of their position.

Ryder looked at his watch. "It's 5:05 PM, crew. I think it's time to get for take-off," he said with a straight and excited face.

Every stood up, ready to take orders.

"Everyone, assume your stations, and let's get outta here," commanded the captain.

Weston climbed up a ladder that took him to a three-hundred and sixty-degree gun turret on the top right of the ship. Katie showed Murdoch to a desk that was right outside the walkway that led to the cockpit. The desk had a large screen and one handle that was used to control the cannon turret.

"This operates the rocket/photo cannon," explained Katie. The handle controls where the cannon aims and moves, and the button on top of the cannon is for when you want to fire."

Katie pointed to a switch that was beneath the screen and said, "This switch changes the cannon from photon to rocket and vice versa."

"Okay, I think I get it," said Murdoch sitting down in the seat.

Ryder and Nero walked into the cockpit and sat in the two main chairs.

"Are you ready for this," asked Nero?

"Oh yeah," responded Ryder. "Honestly, I'm a little nervous leading y'all into this mission, though."

Giving Ryder a pat on the shoulder, Nero said to him, "You've done this countless times for me, and hey, I'm still here, aren't I?"

Ryder turned to his close friend. Someone he fought night in and night out with while in the deserts of Pakistan. "Thanks, man. It means a lot to have you by my side for this."

Ryder looked at the control panel in front of him. He hadn't flown many ships as a soldier for America, but he had read a few beginners manuals.

It felt natural for him to be flying the ship. Something that came to him easily, he guessed.

"Turning the engine on, now," said Ryder as he flipped a red switch.

The engines ignited with a roar.

Ryder pulled a lever down that was in the middle of the dash board.

The Rogue Shadow picked up off the floor of the Slipknot and began to levitate in the air.

"This is your Commander in Chief, President Reed," he said over an intercom in the Rogue Shadow. "Good luck on your mission, and make sure nothing happens to any of you. Regardless if you retrieve the holocron, the most important thing is that all of you come back uninjured and ALIVE. If you need any assistance or have a question, call us. Also, be sure to have at least on person at the com link so that we can keep in touch with you if anything escalates. With all this being said, good luck and be safe. Over and out."

The com signal went out with static.

Ryder pressed the speak button and said, "Thank you, Mr. President. Don't worry. We'll all be back better than ever."

The President didn't respond and left it how it was.

Ryder grabbed the handles and pushed them forward sending the Rogue Shadow out of the Slipknot and into the void of space.

"Lucas, punch in the numbers for the planet Ilum into the navigation system and see if there is a close route. If there is, select it and yell it up to us," Ryder said into the communicator that was connected to the tech room.

Lucas walked over to a panel in the tech room and typed in the corresponding numbers for Ilum. The scanner gave him a match with the distance to the frozen planet.

He read out, "The closest mach-speed lane that will take us there without hitting anything will be this path."

Lucas recorded a series of numbers that was the route for mach-speed traveling. "Ilum is about a three day's flight away from there

"Perfect," said Ryder.

He pressed a button that let him speak to the entire ship through the intercom system. "Get seated and strapped in, we are about to jump into mach speed. The trip there will last three days. Once we've been going that speed for a few minutes, you'll be able to move around."

Ryder looked over at Nero, who nodded while he pulled his seatbelt across his chest.

Ryder nodded his head and then placed his right hand on a lever with a yellow handle.

"Ilum. Here we come," Ryder said as he pulled the lever. The ship picked up speed in an instant, and the next thing they saw were stars and other lights flying by them.

Zakee stopped running and leaned against a nearby tree. He took a deep breath and took in his surroundings. He was in a forest full of oak trees, and it seemed like they had been walking in them for a long time. The sun was close to setting, and the darkness made these trees look creepy. Up against the trees behind him stood, Clayton, Jackson, Taylor, and Chad. Jackson was flying up above the trees to get a better view of the surroundings.

"Let me see if I can sense anyone's presence from here," Jackson shouted down!

"Okay! Go ahead," yelled Zakee in return!

Jackson closed his eyes.

'Where is everyone,' he thought?

His eyes were searching everywhere on the surface for any source of life.

'There y'all are.'

"About a mile ahead, there is a city with a large gate out front. Follow me to it," said Jackson as he descended to the ground. Once he landed, he ran in the direction in which he saw the gate.

Without hesitation, the four others fell in behind Jackson. Taylor caught up to Ryder and looked at him saying, "So, how is it having Ryder with us in the military?"

Zakee looked at Taylor, grinned and said, "It's been great! I like having someone here that I grew up with. Why you ask?" asked Zakee.

"I don't know. You've just been more quiet and too yourself since he's gotten here. That's all." Taylor turned his head back forward and dropped back.

Ziggy didn't know what to make of this. He thought that he had been the same. Yeah, he was a little jealous of all the attention that Ryder was getting since he was mastering things at an extremely high pace, but that's the way it went some time.

Within a hundred yards of the gate, Jackson could see a sign next to it that included strange symbols.

Clayton walked up and said, "These writing is an ancient language from the early days of the Chinese. I think what it says is, 'Inside hides the hide of the tough. Inside hides the light that lights the words. Scale the wall to achieve. Read the stone to see what the stone says. Remember that heights are overcome by your fears. You are weak. Seek out the strong.'"

Clayton took a step back and looked at Zakee who had a straight face.

The Rogue Shadow exited mach speed and came to an abrupt halt. They had been in mach speed for about three days. Now, in the distance was a bright light that looked like a distant star.

Ryder was sitting in the pilot's chair starring at the star. "Do you think that that star is Ilum?" asked Nero. Ryder sat back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Ben! Look at the map and see if the star that's ahead is Ilum!" yelled Ryder to Ben who was in the back of the ship.

A few seconds passed by before he heard Ben yell back, "Sure thing!"

Ryder stood up and turned to the exit of cockpit and patted Nero on the shoulder saying, "Well, I'm gonna leave the flying to you."

"What're you about to do?" asked Nero.

"I'm gonna meditate with Ben some and probably teach him a few things while I'm at it," he said putting on his white hoodie.

"Okay, I'll see ya in a little bit," replied Nero.

Ryder walked out of the cockpit, hung a left, and followed the hallway until he reached the training room. He opened the door and saw Ben sitting down in the middle of the entire room. Ryder walked slowly behind Ben, sat down, closed his eyes, and began meditating.

All he saw was just a black void. A small light in the distance showed itself and slowly got bigger as it got closer. The speed in which the light began getting closer got faster and faster. Next thing Ryder knew, he was looking at a cave that was on the side of an ice mountain.

His vision slowly began to go deeper inside the cave. A purple color began to shine bright down a long dark cave passageway. His vision stopped, and out walked three figures in long dark robes with a hood over their faces. Their robes had gold trim on the borders of the robes and a light color at the bottom. The three figures stood around the glowing purple object and began to chant a phrase.

"From the dark, we found you. The color that only signifies royalty. I call upon the ancient Lords to lend me their strength." The three figures outstretched their arms and concluded with, "Into the light, we open you!" A bright, purple light flashed, and Ryder opened his eyes.

'What the hell was that all about,' thought Ryder. I wonder who those people were. They had a strange design to their robes, one that he had never seen before. Oh well. There are only.' Ryder paused and looked at his watch, seven hours until we get to Ilum.

Ryder stood up, placed his hand on Ben's shoulder and said, "Before we get there, I have one more ability that I want to teach you."

Ben turned his head around and with an orange and red glare in his eyes, he nodded.