Part 8 – New Friend – Part 1
As Bruce and Anakin were returning from Tython, they kept talking about the records they took from the archives.
"So if the last Barsen'thor's shielding technique was sort-of similar to my power," Bruce started, "Wouldn't it stand to reason the technique there might be someone out there that could have the inverse of my gift?"
"Not a bad thought," Anakin said, "But I'm not sure if you'd ever encounter them."
"Maybe I shouldn't," Bruce said, thinking about what would happen if someone figured out where he came from.
"Worried," Anakin asked.
"The Force confuses me sometimes," Bruce said.
"No matter how deeply you bury your feelings, the Force will always find them," Anakin said, "Come on, tell me."
"There are some things that I'd rather stay buried," Bruce said, "I'm not proud of my planet, and right now, I don't want to remember it."
"What about your family," Anakin asked.
"They've probably moved on," Bruce said, "And to be honest, I don't think they ever appreciated me."
"You really think that," Anakin asked.
"I don't know," Bruce said, "It felt that way sometimes."
"It'll feel like that quite a bit," Anakin said as he reached over to grab Bruce's shoulder, "But never forget, you have another family."
"Yea, I do," Bruce said as he crossed his arm over Anakin's, "But, don't be surprised if I might start calling you dad."
Anakin chuckled before sitting back, "Dad," he said, "Now that's something I'm curious about."
"Because of the babies," Bruce asked.
"Well yea, but…" Anakin started before what Bruce said hit him, "Wait, did you say babies?"
"Shit," Bruce thought, "Well…" Bruce began.
"Babies as in more than one," Anakin asked.
"Yes," Bruce said.
"How many more," Anakin asked.
"Just one," Bruce said.
"By the Force," Anakin said as he sat back, "Two children."
"You'll do fine," Bruce said.
"How do you know," Anakin asked.
"You're not gonna want to hear this," Bruce said, "But you've had experience with Ashoka. After dealing with a teenager, a couple of kids should be a cakewalk."
"A what," Anakin asked.
"Sorry," Bruce said, "It'll be easy."
"Thanks," Anakin said.
"Plus, you have Obi-Wan there," Bruce said, "You have Padme, and you have me."
"You had kids back on your planet," Anakin asked.
"No," Bruce said, "But I spent a lot of time with kids back home, so I know how to deal with them."
"And if they turn out to be Force Sensitive," Anakin asked, "The Order will take them."
"Here's the smart thing though," Bruce said, "You're a master, and you have me."
"You," Anakin asked.
"I know where the children are supposed to end up," Bruce said before tapping the side of his face, next to his eyes.
"The Council might not agree with that," Anakin asked.
"Let's just hope they do," Bruce said, "Or at least they'll let the kids stay with Padme. She is the mother after all."
"The Order preaches no emotional connections," Anakin said.
Bruce sighed, "It's a precarious situation," he said, "We need time."
"Time may be the one thing we don't have," Anakin said, it was then the console started beeping, "We're arriving back on Coruscant."
"Well, I don't know how long Padme has until the babies are born," Bruce said, "So I can't tell you. Maybe we will have more time."
"Hopefully," Anakin said as he input several controls which dropped them out of hyperspace.
Bruce sat back, and just admired the view of the galactic capital. The golden circles that made up the many cities and streets were like angelic wreaths that stretched on for miles and formed an image of beauty that couldn't be replicated anywhere else.
"Beautiful isn't it," Anakin asked.
"Beyond," Bruce said, "We had some sights on my planet, but the views from space are something else."
"I know, it's…" Anakin began before the two of them were hit with a small wave of the Force that made them feel worried, "You felt that as well?"
"Let's get down there," Bruce said as he reached for the console, but realized he didn't know what to press.
"The orange button, middle console, third row from the top," Anakin said before pointing at R2, "R2, set up a line of communication with the temple."
R2 beeped before turning around, plugging into the shuttle, and twisting the key around a few times.
After a few seconds, R2 turned around, and gave a few whistles towards Bruce, "You set up the line," he asked, R2 beeped, "Good boy," Bruce hit the button, "Is there anyone listening to this?"
"Padawan Kirkwood," Shaak Ti said over the line, "You two arrived just in time. We need you and Master Skywalker back at the temple now."
"Copy that," Bruce said as a sudden gripping pain just shot through his skull, "We'll be there as soon as we can."
"Already on our way," Anakin said as he accelerated directly toward the temple which caused R2 to let out a high-pitch squeal as he was almost forced backward.
A ship traveling at maximum speed toward the surface of the planet shouldn't be anything new, and pulling into the hanger at the temple, Master Windu was waiting for them.
"You arrived just in time," Master Windu said, gesturing for the two of them to follow, "We have a problem."
"What problem," Anakin asked, following Windu with Bruce and R2 close behind.
"Emergency channels are lighting up across the entire northern outer rim," Master Windu said, "Everything's chaos right now, and we don't know what's going on."
"Whose leading the briefing," Anakin asked.
"Master Kenobi," Master Windu said.
"He's back," Anakin asked.
"He made it back a little while after you left for Tython," Master Windu said, "His new padawan will be sitting with the two of you."
"New Padawan," Anakin asked.
"You'll meet him when you arrive," Master Windu said as they entered the temple's war room.
"Master Windu, Master Skywalker, just in time," Obi-Wan said as they entered, "Now we can get started."
"He waited on us," Anakin said, "You hear that Bruce, we're special."
There was a slight chuckle among those gathered as Master Windu pointed to two empty seats on either side of an Elomin wearing a Jedi robe top, black pants, and mid-shin high brown leather boots.
"You must be Master Kenobi's new Padawan," Anakin said as he took the seat to the right of the Elomin.
"Yes, sir, Master Skywalker," the Elomin said as he held out his hand which Anakin shook.
Anakin then gestured toward Bruce, "This is my Padawan, Bruce Kirkwood," he said.
"Pleased to meet you," the Elomin said as he held out his hand, "Vekkif D'Nah Idrunni."
"Kind of a mouthful there," Bruce said.
"I get that a lot," Vekkif said.
"Now that we're all here, we can begin," Obi-Wan said as he activated the holographic map.
"Awesome," Bruce thought, suddenly realizing that his headache was getting even worse.
"Last week, an unknown assassin murdered the Chancellor," Obi-Wan said, "Thanks to Master Skywalker and Padawan Kirkwood he didn't get to now-Grand Chancellor Amedda. Now with Chancellor Amedda in charge, more resources available for the war effort, and General Grievous dead, we were sure the war was over. It appears we were wrong," Obi-Wan pressed a few buttons on the map which zoomed in on several of the outlying worlds in the Outer Rim which showed CID ships approaching various worlds which turned from blue to red, "Over the past week, the Separatists launched a massive campaign that has caught most of the outlying systems we have small clone detachments on completely off guard. As of yet, they haven't reached any of the systems our Jedi are stationed on, but with the gains, we feel it might only be a matter of time."
"How can they do that, Master," Anakin asked, "Grievous was their last commander. Now that he's dead they should have lost all organization?"
"We don't know," Obi-Wan said, "Right now we're exploring several possibilities. Right now we're beginning to evacuate our troops, and moving them to reinforce a defensive line," he pressed a few buttons which showed a line that they were hoping would keep the Separatists at bay, "Master Mundi is confident in his men's ability to hold the line at Mygeeto, as is Master Secura at Felucia. There is no immediate threat to Coruscant and the temple so most of our reserve troopers will be dispatched to hold the line until we can launch a counter-offensive."
Bruce then grabbed his forehead because his head was now throbbing, he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up, and Vekkif had his hand on his shoulder, "You ok," he asked.
"Horrid headache," Bruce said.
"Why don't you go to the medical bay," Vekkif asked, "Seems like you need it."
"Later," Bruce said.
"As of right now, defense is our only option," Obi-Wan said, "The Council is meeting right after this to discuss how we move forward. In the meantime, we want everyone to keep calm, we need to remain strong, and we will see this through to the end. Any questions," no one answered, "Good, adjourned."
As everyone got up to leave, Obi-Wan smiled as he walked up to Bruce, "Hello, there," he said as he held out his hand, "You must be Anakin's Padawan."
"Master Kenobi," Bruce said as he shook Obi-Wan's hand, "Pleasure."
"Pleasure's mine," Obi-Wan said, "You ok? You seem a little distressed."
"Headache," Bruce said, "I'll go get checked out when you and Anakin go to the Council Chamber."
"Well, headache aside, I'm happy to meet you," Obi-Wan said, "I've heard a little bit from everyone, but I wanted to meet you in person before we left for the meeting."
"I have a feeling we'll get to know each other a lot better very soon," Bruce said.
"I'd imagine so," Obi-Wan said as he gestured for the team to follow him out the door, "So I heard you have decided to take the path of the Jedi Councilor, and you have your lightsaber already. Have you chosen what your place at the temple will be?"
"Not yet, master," Bruce said.
"Have you thought about it," Obi-Wan asked.
"Not in detail," Bruce said, "But I was slightly inspired by me and Master Skywalker's visit to Tython. Maybe something to do with exploration."
"Sounds like a worthy goal," Obi-Wan said as he turned toward, Vekkif, "Vekkif, why don't you take him to the medical bay, and the two of us will meet you two later?"
"Of course, Master," Vekkif said, "Come on."
As they were making their way there, Bruce was noticing his headache was slowly getting worse and worse.
Arriving, a 2-1B medical droid looked up and asked, "How can I help you two young ones?"
"Bad headache," Vekkif said as he held Bruce sit on one of the hospital beds.
The 2-1B walked up, and scanned Bruce, "It doesn't seem like the headache is originating from a pinched blood vessel," he said, "It seems to be originating from…"
Before he could continue Bruce's headache suddenly became unbearable, and he grasped his head because he felt like it was about to split open.
"Bruce," Vekkif said as he went to rush to his side before Bruce stopped him.
"I can see something," Bruce said.
"What," Vekkif asked.
"A planet, a Ventilator," Bruce said before suddenly his headache broke, and a wave of force threw Vekkif backward over one of the medical beds, the 2-1B onto the floor, and blew a lot of equipment in different directions.
"Whoa," Vekkif said, picking himself up, "Where'd that come from? Bruce, you ok?"
"Yea," Bruce said before he turned around to face Vekkif, "I think I know whose behind this."
"Maybe we should fix the lab before we go," Vekkif asked.
"Right," Bruce said before he walked over to help Vekkif pick up the droid.
"Thank you two," the 2-1B said right before Bruce brushed some dust off his back, "How's your headache now?"
Bruce then felt around his head, "It's gone," he said.
"You had one vision, and this happens," Vekkif asked, "That normal for humans?"
"That would be a no," Bruce said, "I don't think anyone's had this kind of vision."
"Certainly no one whose come into this medical bay," the 2-1B said, "Maybe I should check the records."
"Take care of that one later," Bruce said, "Right now I think we should report to our Masters."
"Agreed," Vekkif said as the two of them ran out of the room, and toward the Council Chambers.
I'd like to thank follower Big Snek for giving me cues for Obi-Wan's newest apprentice, and I look forward to telling you more about Vekkif in more chapters to come…