Chapter: 73 Mysteries of the Heart - Part: 2
"Second chances are born from unconditional hope."
A mysterious stranger! Jedi Masters Yelena and Mattias were sent to Canto Bight to investigate rumors surrounding a rogue Jedi. The stories were true and their mission revealed a dangerously skilled youth named Raya. As this so-called Jedi claims to search for her master, Yelena and Mattias must now decide whether or not they can trust her...
Relief was subjective. Yelena and Mattias couldn't tell if those in Canto Bight were more relieved for their safety...or just glad that someone else was in trouble. Even though police had sectioned off the area, Mattias and Raya's altercation had only made the Nightfire Resort even more popular. Guests practically swarmed the beachside hotel, waving their fingers and fluttering curious eyes. Yelena deduced that the scoundrels were making sure the situation had nothing to do with them or any associates.
"I hate datawork," Officer Wosyn grumbled. He strutted over to Yelena, taking her attention off of the crowd. "The filing...the calls... It's why I loathe incidents like this. We like to keep Canto Bight clean."
Yelena blatantly raised a brow at him and he gulped. "Well how much data work can one rogue Jedi cause you?" she asked.
"That's just it," Wosyn griped. "So those brutes she cut down upstairs-" He winced at the thought, mostly regarding the amount of datawork versus actually valuing their lives. "-they were members of the Skubala Cartel. We'd been trying to nail them for quite some time for smuggling weapons into Canto Bight. While she was rather problematic, your rogue Jedi there did us a favor in clearing them out. Maybe this was a win-win."
Yelena huffed at his words. "Odd to hear so much death and 'win-win' in the same justification." She stopped herself and thought, By the Force. My 'Elsa' is showing.
While Yelena conferred with Wosyn and the other officers, Mattias saw to the prisoner. Raya could barely sit up straight on the designated bench. Her weakened wrists occasionally wriggled in their cuffs. Her tired, listing eyes had Mattias concerned for her health. "You're a long way from the Core Worlds, young one." he said. Raya didn't answer. She knitted her brows and dropped her lips into a painful, sorrowing scowl. Mattias could sense grief beyond her rigid demeanor. Despite his presumptions about Force sensitive vigilantes like the Bug, he wanted to believe her. He just needed proof. "Who is your master?" he asked while glancing at her confiscated satchel and weapon. "I want to help you."
Raya hung her head, permitting those thick black locks of hers to shroud her face. "You can't," she uttered. "Kava could've. She was my only lead to finding him."
"But why?" Mattias asked. "And who is he?" He knelt before her and softened his tone. "Please...Raya, is it? You can trust me."
Trust.
Raya seemed to get hung up on the word. Anguish took hold as her small, rounded nostrils flared. Pain, exhaustion, and malnutrition attacked from all sides. Succumbing to such stresses, Raya's resolve faltered. "Benja," she whispered, her voice cracking as she did so. "I must...find...Master Benja."
Mattias bit his lip as the master's name bordered on familiarity. "Dan Benja?" he questioned. "The Sentinel Seeker?" While Raya nodded to his name, she seemed unfamiliar with his title. Her confusion spurred deeper concerns within Mattias as he thought about the Bug's dubiousness. Eager to prove his theory wrong, he called her lightsaber to him with the Force. "Is this yours or his?" Mattias asked.
"Mine," Raya quickly affirmed.
Mattias squinted at the hilt and examined its intricate markings. Complex swirls and divine twists circled the activator switch. He wanted to believe her more than anything. She had to have been close to Anna's age, and to Mattias...that meant she was a kid. He activated the lightsaber and basked in its golden glow. The blade's sudden hiss didn't even make Raya flinch. In an effort to test her further, Mattias posed another question. "How long has your master been missing?" he asked.
"Twenty-seven days," Raya specified.
Mattias' brows furrowed. "Strange," he muttered. "The Jedi Order said he's been gone for almost twenty-five years."
Raya scoffed. "It's like I said, you can't help me. Because you don't even believe me."
"I'm just telling you the facts," Mattias placated.
"As am I," Raya growled. "I lost my master twenty-seven days ago and haven't stopped looking since. Now since my only lead is long gone by now, can you leave me to my fate if all you're going to do is mock me?"
Mattias loosed a heavy sigh and glanced towards the others. Acting on his better judgement, he whispered "Wait here."
"Do I have a choice?" Raya snarked and gestured to her cuffs.
"Right," he winced and went to Yelena. The elder was just finishing up with Wosyn when Mattias asked, "What's to become of Kava Hish?"
"We'll keep Hish locked up here," Wosyn replied. His gaze shifted shadily as he lowered his voice. "She'll answer for her crimes of soliciting hired guns. We also suspect that she might've been earning a little too much in the casino. But don't worry. You take care of that psycho-Jedi and we'll handle this cheater, Hish."
Mattias frowned and tried to look past the officer's fraudulent grin. Canto Bight reeked with so much corruption that those 'protecting and serving' it could hardly keep straight faces. Even if Kava had solicited hired guns, it sounded like the police were more concerned about her casino winnings. Mattias grimaced at the thought of law enforcement collecting the funds for themselves or acting on behalf of some uptight magnate. While Yelena was primarily focused on apprehending Raya for the council, her partner couldn't bring himself to stop.
"We'll take Hish," Mattias said and Yelena nearly choked.
"What?" she blurted.
"She's part of our investigation," he insisted. "We'll-" Yelena glared as Mattias pursed his lips. She'd known him long enough to deduce when he was lying. "We'll need to bring her in for questioning on Coruscant."
"Mattias," Yelena spoke quietly through gritted teeth. "What are you doing?"
Mattias grinned impishly, flustering Yelena further. "Look," Wosyn sighed. "I respect what you two have done for us in nabbing your crazy friend, but I've got a duty too. Hish has to answer for her crimes-"
"And she will," Mattias assured. "Offworld. Look at it this way, officer. It sounds like Miss Hish has been stirring up trouble for your operation here." Wosyn's eyes grew wide at Mattias' last remark. "So it sounds like removing her from the equation benefits everyone. Unless of course, there's more we should know about what happens here in Canto Bight and why you're so interested in her."
Wosyn looked as though he could faint at any second. Sweat shined against his dark cheeks as he nervously tugged on his helmet's chinstrap. "Um...no," he stuttered. "That won't be necessary, Master Jedi. Go ahead and take her. Make sure she stays out of trouble."
"We will," Mattias replied and nobly bowed his head. As he and Yelena returned to their corvette, Wosyn motioned for other officers to retrieve the cuffed Kava.
Once the Jedi had a moment alone in their corvette, Yelena gripped Mattias by the arm and pulled him close. "Have you lost your senses completely?" she whispered sharply. Her tone was deep and harsh.
"On the contrary," Mattias confessed. "My senses feel clearer than they have in quite some time." He peered down the corridor and looked to Raya's holding cell. "She claims to be the Padawan of Master Benja."
"The Sentinel Seeker?" Yelena sputtered. "But he was presumed dead decades ago."
"And yet a body was never found," Mattias added.
His comment only made Yelena exaggerate her huff. "Seriously?" she grumbled. "Just what exactly do you see here, my friend? Nearly a year ago, we learned what that Bug was capable of. And I told you about the Force-sensitive Quarren I encountered on Manaan. They aren't Jedi nor are they Sith. They're living frauds. Thieves who steal Jedi weaponry and pass it off as their own. Desecrating the Force for their own selfish gains."
"But how would she know of Master Benja?" Mattias asked.
"Perhaps that lightsaber was his and she took it from him."
"Benja's saber was famously blue! Where would she get a yellow kyber crystal, Yelena? How could she have stolen such a rarity? She would've had to have ventured to Ilum."
Yelena pinched the bridge of her nose and grumbled. "We've done as the council's instructed. Why do you have so much faith in her?" she asked.
"Why don't you?" Mattias retorted.
"Because we don't know what treachery this Revenant Cult is fully capable of. And you still didn't answer my question."
Mattias sulked and looked back at Raya's cell. "Because when I see her, I see Anna," he murmured.
"Mattias," Yelena spoke in a grievous tone. "Do not allow your yearning for the past to cloud your present."
"I'm sorry, Mar," he lamented. Yelena raised her brows, knowing how seldomly Mattias had ever used her first name. "But I have to trust my senses. She's one of us and I will not abandon her to ceaseless questioning while her master remains lost."
"What if you're wrong?" Yelena asked.
"Then you can be there to say 'I told you so.' But I can't give up on her. When Anna was kidnapped, there were those in the Order who told me to leave it up to the Force. But we couldn't stand idly by. We acted and now is no different."
Speeders rumbled outside as Yelena groaned. "That sounds like our other passenger now."
"So...you're in?" Mattias inquired. She ignored his question and stepped towards the ship's ventral hatch. Mattias sighed and could only hope for the best. While he knew using her first name was a last resort, he needed her assistance. As Yelena addressed the police escorting Kava, Mattias approached Raya's cell. "I'm sorry," he told the youth. "I'll have you out of there as soon as the hatch seals." Raya suspiciously tilted her head. "We just need to convince the police that we're 'taking you in', you know?" A sharp clang echoed from down the ship's corridor and Mattias nodded. "That's our cue." Raya watched as he unlocked her cell and knelt before her. "It's just us now." He raised a key to unlock her cuffs and said, "I can't expect you to trust me if I don't trust you."
He was nearly finished twisting the key when Raya noticed who was coming down the hall. As Yelena entered with a cuffed Kava, the gambler's eyes widened. "You?" Kava said upon seeing Raya.
"YOU," Raya growled and shoved past Mattias. Like a wild nexu, she pounced to tackle her prey. Kava squealed at an ear-splitting pitch, yet remained unharmed.
Yelena had repelled Raya with a swift Force push. As her target struck the back of her cell with a thud, Yelena turned to Mattias. "What in blazes were you thinking? Letting her out..."
"I'm with Jedi Grandma," Kava panted. "That maniac tried to kill me!"
Yelena glared at the gambler after her comment while Mattias tried to help Raya up. The youth swatted his hand away and looked to Kava. "Oh please," Raya groaned and rubbed her aching back. "I needed you alive."
"She says you have a lead on her master," Mattias explained.
"I have a lead on many things," Kava boasted. "Including-" There was a long and irksome pause. "-I don't remember. My head's still fuzzy since, you know...someone threw a kriffing TABLE LAMP at me!" She leered at Raya with spiteful eyes.
"And I'd do it again," Raya scoffed.
"Okay, okay." Mattias said and raised his hands to silence the verbal combatants. "Let's just talk this over. This is nothing that a good explanation can't solve."
"Quite," Yelena murmured and looked to Raya. "How exactly did this...master of yours, go missing?"
Raya pursed her lips, feeling as though her explanation would be in vain. She could see the skepticism lingering in Yelena's eyes. Raya's only saving grace was Mattias. An inquisitive head tilt accompanied his curious stare. "From as far back as I can recall-" she began. "-Master Benja and I have lived out on the fringes of space. Over the years...we've roamed through worlds in the Outer Rim, Western Reaches, and Unknown Regions. Defending who we could and standing up for what was right along the way. Forging our own path, but most importantly...unraveling the mysteries of the Force together." Raya smiled softly as if recalling her master's presence. "He used to say we were 'reigniting hope.' Given how many broken worlds we'd visited, I couldn't imagine fighting for a nobler cause."
"Sounds like quite a life," Yelena whispered to Mattias. She turned to address Raya and said, "Were you under orders from the Jedi Council?" Raya took a deep breath and shook her head. "Of course not," Yelena muttered.
"Just give her a chance to explain," Mattias insisted.
Yelena grumbled and crossed her arms. Fine, she thought to herself. Let's hear how this apparent Jedi took orders from a long gone master without a single acknowledgement from the Jedi Council.
"Teth was supposed to be a break from our normalized chaos," Raya said. "Master Benja said the jungle planet would be the perfect place for me to complete my training. We trekked through its forested lowlands and hiked across vast mesas. We ascended up this tremendous, rocky column which jutted towards the clouds." Raya squinted as she remembered each detail. "Master Benja seemed...off that day. It was as if he knew something that I didn't. I dismissed it as part of my training, but my senses were still warning me otherwise. An ancient, decrepit temple awaited us at the apex. Once we reached it, my master told me to meditate within its windswept walls. All while he said he'd scout ahead." Raya's cuffs rattled in her angry, trembling hands. "That's when I should've known something was wrong. Master Benja had always meditated with me. We were inseparable and suddenly he was venturing off. But I just trusted him, believing that he'd return to commence another part of my training." Raya's sweaty fists unclenched. "Only he never did. Hours passed and I tired of waiting. So naturally, I searched. I scoured the temple and surrounding ridge, but he was nowhere to be found. Even his comlink had been rendered completely offline. Master Benja was simply...gone."
Remaining skeptical, Yelena glanced at Mattias to observe his reaction. "Do you have any idea where he would've gone?" he inquired.
"No," Raya said. "I hiked back to discover that our ship was still present, leaving me to believe he had to still be on Teth. But all of my searches were inconclusive. I even delved into the Living Force and sought out his connection. Still nothing. He had to have been taken."
"Or maybe he ditched you," Kava mumbled as Raya shot her a death glare. "Look, I'm just saying. When the family doesn't want their tooka cat anymore, they fly it out to the woods and-"
"I'm not his pet!" Raya snapped. She looked as though she could shatter her cuffs amidst her outburst. "I'm...his Padawan. He's trained me ever since I was a small child. He wouldn't just leave me. Someone took him. I know it! Since his disappearance, I've done everything in my power to try and find him. Scouring every settlement from Nima to Black Spire to search for leads on his whereabouts." Her body trembled as she hissed, "I've barely slept. Hardly...eaten." Dark circles plagued her weary, fluttering eyes.
Observing her shaky appearance, Kava couldn't help but ask. "What...have you eaten?"
"Nuna jerky," Raya answered as her gaze drifted towards her satchel. She returned her focus to the Jedi Masters and said, "It wasn't easy, but my findings led me to Kava there. While I was in Black Spire, a spacer said she'd passed through Oga's Cantina. They mentioned her ranting and raving about an illustrious palace she'd visited. She babbled on about a sophisticated chief...and a captive Jedi."
From the moment Raya said such, Kava could be heard gagging and sputtering behind the group. The Jedi's heads turned to see her rummaging through Raya's satchel and wiping her tongue of a crisp substance. "This jerky's terrible!" she groaned. It was as if the conversation caught up with her as she went on the defensive. "Also, what? I said no such thing...sober anyway."
"But you know something," Raya intoned. "Drunk words are sober thoughts. And even if it isn't my master, a captive Jedi is still a person in need."
Kava stumbled back and fidgeted with her cuffs. She could feel the weight of each Jedi's gaze as they stared her down. "Okay," she griped. "So maybe I heard a thing or two during a visit to the Kumandra System."
"Spill," Raya growled until Mattias raised a hand to calm her.
"If I'm blabbing, I'd like reassurance." Kava said.
"How's this?" Mattias proposed. "You can help us or we can open the hatch and return you to the CBPD. After all, these officers sound like the least corrupt department in the galaxy. I'm sure they'll see justice done and won't answer to some corrupt official you may have stolen earnings from."
"Okay, I get it!" Kava blurted. "I'll help. But for the record, I never stole a single cantocoin from those idiots. I was just...lucky."
"And I'm a Sith Lord," Yelena snarked.
"People like that I'm lucky," Kava boasted. "I get the job done. So this chief of chiefs or something hires me as an 'errand girl.' I'm doing anything for her but I am making bank. She wants a pet bantha, I bring it over from Tatooine. The finest fabrics from Theed? I had her covered. I was like her confidant of confidants-"
"Kava," Raya grumbled. "Get on with it."
Kava stuck her tongue out at Raya but ultimately obliged. "So before my contract ends with this Chief Virana lady, I overhear her talking about some Jedi she's captured. I didn't give a damn, considering she'd given me enough credits to party it up for weeks in Canto Bight. But then before I knew it-" She gestured to the Jedi. "-you psychopaths showed up, clunk me with a TABLE LAMP, and here I am. Given the fact that you're all saber-swinging kin, I take it you want to rescue this Jedi." Kava cringed. "That's if they're still there after all this time."
"He has to be!" Raya shouted. She cared not for the captive's anonymity. "It has to be my master," she affirmed. "I know it."
"Mattias," Yelena whispered. "A word?" He nodded as she pulled him aside. They occasional glanced back at their passengers as she asked, "What are we doing here?"
"This is a long shot, I know." Mattias replied. "But-"
"Do you hear yourself?" Yelena interjected. "This so-called Jedi is chasing some vagabond's rumor. And while I've never been to the Kumandra System, I've seen enough briefings to understand the Separatist presence there. We could be walking into a trap."
"What happened to you?" Mattias whispered, completely ignoring her theories. "What happened to the Yelena I used to know?"
"Don't," she warned and raised a finger. "You know I'm as much me as you're you."
"But you've put up these walls over the years," Mattias continued. "I thought it was just with Elsa, but it keeps persisting. You used to be willing to help anyone that you could."
"Yes, well some people don't want your help. No matter how badly you wish to give it to them."
Mattias felt the pain in her words and glanced down at her patterned, Northuldra sash. "It's about them, isn't it?" he asked.
Yelena sighed heavily. "We don't all have the luxury of renouncing our people, Mattias. I'm glad you've made peace with your choice, but I haven't."
Realizing he might've pushed things too far, Mattias tried to clear things up. "Yelena," he spoke softly. "I-"
Her shaking head coaxed him into silence. "I will help you," she said. "That's if this Jedi is even there. And once all of this is over, make no mistake...Raya will be taken back to answer for her crimes. Just as the Bug was." She stormed back over to the others as Mattias sulked behind her. "If we take these shackles off of you both-" Yelena began. "Can you be trusted not to strangle each other?" The ladies were silent as Yelena shot them a glare.
"Where exactly in the Kumandra system are we going?" Mattias asked.
"Not Kumandra itself, that's for sure." Kava said as Yelena freed her. She rubbed her tender wrists and recalled Chief Virana's locale. "Kumandra's a wasteland. It's warring people have seen to that. Divided as it was, they set off to colonize the planet's surrounding moons. If you're looking for Virana, you'll want the moon of Fang."
"Fang," Raya muttered while being liberated. "Master Benja mentioned these moons during my lessons. He said he was from one of them. Heart," she remembered. "Each is named after a part of the legendary beasts which roamed Kumandra. Or so the legend goes."
"Warring people and a missing Jedi from an opposing region," Mattias considered. He looked to Yelena and she slouched. "The pieces are coming together whether you like it or not."
"Just set course for the system," the elder groused.
"Shotgun!" Kava blurted and practically threw herself into the co-pilot's seat. "What?" she scoffed after receiving judgmental stares. "You need a navigator. Plus, I don't suppose any of you have Separatist clearance codes." She smirked betwixt their silence. "That's what I thought."
"You know what," Yelena said, concealing her frustration as Kava took her seat. "She can have it." She could tell Mattias was about to intervene and stopped him with a raised hand. "I'm just...going to meditate," she affirmed. Mattias frowned as she trudged down the corridor. Respecting her wishes, he focused on the dashboard before them and propelled the corvette into space. Leaving the glamor of Cantonica behind, they set course for the Kumandra System and blasted off.
Despite years of space travel, Mattias never tired of exploring hyperspace. Its vibrant vortex was entrancing from the cockpit as the ship spiraled through. "Well I'll be damned," Kava smacked her lips beside him. Her chaotic collection of bracelets jingled as she crammed another Jedi energy pellet into her mouth. "The strawberry one's not terrible, but chocolate still wins."
"That was my old student's favorite too," Mattias chuckled. "Just try not to eat so many. They're meant to fill you for hours. Days even."
Kava brandished an empty capsule and mumbled, "Oops. Ah well. If I die...I die well-fed." Mattias squinted at Kava as if trying to read who she was. He couldn't help but smile and shake his head at how care-free she seemed. She caught him staring and asked, "Yes?" while licking chocolate residue from her fingers.
"Sorry," Mattias began. "But how does a woman such as yourself get roped into a hectic life like this? You don't strike me as the smuggling, bounty hunting type."
"Nah," Kava answered. "Although I've definitely been shot at by both." She reclined in her seat and stared into the vortex. While it propelled the ship forward, it seemed to be taking Kava back in time. Her eyes listed as she recalled a memory from long ago. "You ever just have one of those days?" she asked. "The kind that makes you ask 'What the hell am I doing with my life?'."
Mattias gazed into the void alongside her and said, "Once or twice."
Kava smirked at his response. "Coruscant, four years ago," she said. "I'd been seeing this stud for years. A real, chisel-jawed...blue-eyed...holodrama heartthrob kinda fella. He was the whole package, who cared about me and my mother...whom I was still living with."
"No shame in that," Mattias said.
Kava raised her brows as if he hadn't heard anything yet. "You'd think," she replied. "He loved spending time with us. He was even willing to watch over dear Ma while I worked two jobs. So I said to myself, 'this guy's a keeper.' I just needed to wait for him to prove it." A wide grin emerged on Kava's dark lips. "And then he takes us to dinner. Some regal restaurant in the upper city that'd probably cost two of my paychecks. Dinner's amazing...Ma's smiling. I think that things are so perfect, it's gotta be a dream. Then, he solidifies that perfection."
"Oh boy," Mattias remarked.
"Oh yeah," Kava continued. "He pretends he's getting something from beneath the table, conveniently while the band starts playing something out of an opera house. The scene is set as this stud drops on one knee, and holds out this shining ring...to my mother."
"What?" Mattias nearly choked.
"Yup," Kava quipped, snickering over his reaction. "Of all the people to be seeing behind my back...This smug, pompous sleemo had been getting handsy with Ma. And she was fine with it! She kriffing said yes!"
"No," Mattias murmured dramatically.
"Yes," Kava matched his intensity. "Said it was true love and everything. That they were planning to tell me together. Meanwhile I'm standing in the restaurant trying to remind myself that I'm the victim here. And then-" Kava cackled as the memories surged back to her. "-Ma had the audacity to ask me to be her Maid of Honor. As if I didn't just find out my boyfriend had been cheating on me with her."
"That's terrible," Mattias said. "What did you do?"
"I just...left," Kava said with a shrug. "Ya know? I wished them well...probably speaking out of shock...and then left. I walked the streets that night, shutting off my communicators and never wanting to be found. Realizing how much Ma and that twerp...Relz was his name...had used me over the years. But the more I walked, the freer I felt. I started to understand how much I'd given and never actually received. I was freaking thirty, dammit. My life was about to begin. And so I gathered my hard-earned savings, spent them all on a ship, and left Coruscant behind. Then I remembered what a crappy pilot I was and crashed the ship into a space station. But they offered me work and I've been winging it ever since. Making it by because I can."
"All on your own?" Mattias queried.
"See that's just it," Kava said. "Maybe I'm alone, maybe I'm not. Shot at by bounty hunters last week, chased by a Jedi who can't make jerky today. The point is, the unknown is what makes it all exciting. The freedom of never knowing what tomorrow will bring, I got that back the day I started making my own choices. No matter what the future has in store for me, I go in knowing I went through it on my terms." Kava crossed her arms and flashed a daring grin. "Some say that to come this far, I've just been really lucky. But the truth is, I've just been really living."
Yelena knelt in the corvette's designated mediation room. Quieting her thoughts, she rested amidst the darkness and listened to the ship's soothing rumble. She let her mind wander, yet already knew where it would take her.
"It's about them, isn't it?" Mattias' voice echoed as images of Yelena's sash flickered across her mind's eye.
"Look at you," she heard Chieftain Honeymaren hiss. "Living the lie. Let's get one thing straight. You aren't one of us and you don't deserve to wear that."
"This sash was woven before you were even born," Yelena had told her. "Say what you will about me, but this is not yours to claim."
Honeymaren's words were unforgettably seared into Yelena's mind. "If you or that verminous apprentice of yours ever come here...I will not hesitate to slit your throats."
A tear fled Yelena's eye until she sensed a presence behind her. Still trapped in the mindset of speaking to Honeymaren, she turned with a gasp. Raya shuddered at the elder's response as Yelena slowly came out of her meditative state. "Are...you alright?" the youth asked.
Yelena ignored the question and answered with one of her own. "What do you want?"
"I was hoping to meditate with you," Raya confessed. "But it looks like I've messed that up too." Yelena raised a brow as she continued. "Without Master Benja, I've found it difficult to find peace on my own. Any attempt to meditate just leads to clenched fists and...and-"
"Anger," Yelena concluded. "Fear?" Raya nodded solemnly. Why does she care about meditation? she thought. Is she trying to gain my trust for her own plan? What is she hiding?
"I just really miss him," Raya confessed, practically choking up. Only within the meditation room's walls and in a fellow Jedi's presence did she feel safe enough to cry. "I can't manage my fear nor my anger, so I lash out on those whom I think stand in my way. Because if I can just get Master Benja back, then I'll feel whole again."
Yelena watched as a pair of tears streaked down Raya's cheeks. If she is a fraud, she's a blasted good one, the master thought. As Yelena tried to look upon Raya with the eyes of the Force, she could not sense any deception in her suffering. Instead, she saw familiarity in the young woman's pain. She imagined Elsa standing in her place, crying and begging for assistance.
"You're not there for me," her former Padawan had once said. "It just feels like you're selectively there for me."
Overcome with guilt, Yelena sighed and beckoned Raya over. "First of all," she said. "You're making things much worse on yourself. Any sliver of inner peace will remain unattainable so long as you believe it resides elsewhere."
"I don't understand," Raya remarked.
"You think that your master's return will quell your heart and make everything right again. But the problems reside in the same place as the answers." She pointed at Raya's chest and said, "Within. If you cannot accept your situation as it is now, you cannot achieve peace. The same is true for happiness or any other goal."
"But how can I just accept what is?" Raya questioned. "Especially when things are so bleak right now. That sounds like giving up to me."
Yelena shook her head. "Surrender has more than one meaning, Raya. To let go of what you fear to lose or what you have lost takes true strength. The weak commit themselves to the anger behind such pain."
"Well I don't feel very strong. It feels so much easier to just snap."
"I know it does," Yelena confessed. "If the path of Light was easy to walk, everyone would do it. Perhaps there wouldn't even be a war. Yet here we are, fighting the balance between good and evil. But don't let your emotions dictate who you should become. If you are the Jedi you claim to be, listen to the Light Side of the Force. While it is often silent when we need it most, it's always there. But you have to be the one to let it in. Even when you're furious...even when you're terrified out of your mind. Embrace the light and it will guide you."
Raya slowly nodded. "How will I know when I've found it?" she asked.
"You'll feel it," Yelena assured. Contrary to the blissful sensation she'd just described, neither of them were prepared for the corvette to shift out of hyperspace. The sudden lurching had Raya almost losing her balance before she and Yelena returned to the cockpit.
"Here we are," Kava said as they flew through a peculiar system. "Welcome to the warring moons." They glided past the remnants of Kumandra, a ravaged planet survived only by the worlds orbiting it. The decimated land was a constant reminder of what its survivors were capable of when pitted against one another. As Mattias piloted them towards the moon of Fang, Kava gave him a jittery nudge. "Why don't I take it from here, tough guy?" she proposed. After gesturing to the fleet of Separatist dreadnoughts protecting the moon, Mattias got the hint.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked while stepping back with the other Jedi. "The corvette bears the crest of our Order."
"Don't fret," Kava jested. "I've got this. Your ship is so obviously Jedi-related that it actually works in our favor. Who in their right mind would try flying a Jedi corvette head-on into a Separatist world?"
"Um...you?" Raya mentioned and flicked a finger towards her.
"...oh," Kava whispered and hunched forward. She snapped back to attention when the ship received an incoming transmission. "Oh man. Showtime."
A tactical droid's voice chimed through as she answered the call. "Unidentified Republic craft, power down your engines and prepare to be boarded. Failure to do so will result in disintegration."
"Woah hold on!" Kava yelped. "It's me, Kava Hish. You know me." A pulse-pounding silence ensued as Kava's eye twitched. "Is this TR-95?" she jested.
"Negative," the droid responded.
"Oh sorry. Thought you were my buddy. You two sound very similar."
"They all sound the same," Raya griped in a hushed tone.
"This is your final warning," the tactical droid decreed. "Power down or be destroyed."
"27-30-95-12," Kava answered with a smug grin. "Clearance codes and direct landing passage to Chief Virana's palace. You can call her yourself if you so choose. I, Kava kriffing Hish, am bringing her majesty a lovely gift. A Jedi corvette stolen straight from Coruscant." Yelena and Mattias exchanged nervous glances as she continued. Now you have a choice here, clanker. You can blow up Virana's gift and suffer her wrath, or let me through and get a reward. I'm willing to bet you're thinking of the latter considering I'm not flailing out in space right now."
"She's insane," Raya whispered to the masters amid a pause.
"Come on, clanker." Kava spoke to herself and anxiously bit her lip.
"You may proceed to the palace," the droid computed.
Kava joyously clapped her hands and leaned into the ship's comms. "Thank you! I'll put in a good word for ya, buddy! One luxury oil bath for-" Yelena shut off Kava's transmission. "Too much?" she winced.
"Too much," Yelena confirmed with a groan.
The corvette soared between Separatist warships and pierced the moon's atmosphere. Fiery, sun-streaked clouds led the way towards a massive and gleaming structure. "By the Force," Mattias uttered as they approached Virana's dwelling. It appeared to be more of a militarized fortress instead of an illustrious palace. Broad walls lined its mysterious courtyard. Human guards patrolled those walls atop frighteningly large feline mounts. As Kava landed the ship, she noticed a squad of B1 battle droids marching up to them. The lanky machines turned their heads to the ventral hatch as she lowered it.
"I have an idea," Kava told the Jedi. "But you'll have to be quick."
The droids marched until their yellow-marked captain held up a skeletal fist. "Hold," he turned and computed to his troops as Kava exited the ship.
"OOM-407?" she beckoned, feigning a welcoming laugh. "Is that you?"
The droid captain spun back, tilted his slender head, and answered, "Uhhh yes?"
"I knew it!" Kava rejoiced. "You might all have the same face, but I could never forget you!"
"Really?" 407 inquired, completely unaware that Kava had just read the designation number off of his back when he turned. "But I don't remember you."
"Oh pffft," Kava chortled and slicked her spiky bob. "You're a busy droid, captain. I wouldn't expect such a dutiful and prominent unit such as yourself to remember little old me." She gestured to the unit behind him and said, "Plus you've got to take care of all of these marvelous and brave looking fellas." While most of the B1s traded off clueless stares, one of them hung its head bashfully. "But enough formalities," Kava insisted. "I bring Chief Virana a gift!" Kava flourished her hands like an elegant dancer and waved them at the corvette. "Behold, this ship is-" Kava suddenly grimaced. "Oh no."
"What?" 407 asked.
"No," Kava gasped and inched towards the craft. "This is terrible!"
"What?" 407 asked with zero change in his nasally tone.
Kava jogged over to the front of the ship and dropped to her knees. "It's ruined! Can't you see?" 407 walked over to take a look for himself. "Right there," she directed. "The cockpit's a disaster! Shattered, dented...sha-dented!"
"But I don't see anything," 407 said.
"Perhaps your photoreceptors have malfunctioned," Kava considered. "I bet your troops will see what I'm talking about." Kava continued to make a scene as 407 called his squad.
"Examine the cockpit for exterior damage," he ordered. "I'm going to run a self diagnostic." 407's head twitched as his inner systems went to work. Meanwhile, his squad babbled amongst one another, trying to find something wrong with the cockpit. Kava snuck a look between her fake sobs and eyed the now unguarded hatch. Yelena, Mattias, and Raya snuck out undetected before ducking into a nearby canal. Mattias raised a thumbs up before hiding and Kava dropped her act.
"Oh wait," she said, laughing off her tears. "You're right. Cockpit looks fine. I should invest in some cybernetic eyes, lemme tell ya." Her fraudulent grin faded when 407 kept computing. "Hey captain, you can end your diagnostic now."
"I'm not running one anymore," he said. "I just received a transmission from Chief Virana. She wants to see you."
Kava swallowed hard and straightened her posture. "But of course, old buddy," she said. "Lead the way." Her grin faltered as she trudged between the droids.
The glistening, studded gates slid open as Kava was escorted inside. She tried to keep calm amidst the tromping of battle droid feet, but her old employer was already upon her. Pale, silky robes were draped over the top of a well-polished stairwell. The gold-embroidered end of an elegant staff clacked against the tiles, sending a potent echo down to Kava. The staff-wielding chief waited at the top of the stairs. She was practically hovering like a daunting specter at their apex. Unwilling to relinquish the slightest ounce of energy, she made Kava come to her.
"Chief Virana," Kava greeted while ascending the steep staircase. "It's been too long! How have you been?" Her heart sank the longer Virana remained unresponsive. Shadows shrouded the chief's face. Her short, white bob was hardly visible in the dark hall. What little sunlight crept into the room caused an azure kyber crystal to glow from the tip of her staff. "I...um...g-"
"Got me a gift," Virana finally answered. Her voice was deep, yet oddly welcoming. As she raised her head to bask in such minimal sunlight, Kava looked upon the chief's dark eyes. "I'm well aware," she continued. "The question is, since when does Kava Hish do anything for free?"
Kava cleared her throat and examined Virana's tan, tired fingers as they clenched her staff. "I mean, you've done so much for me," she insisted. "Can't I just do something nice in return?"
Virana's stare was cold and inquisitive. A subtle grin found its way across her thin lips. "I suppose you could," the chief said. "And your gift is most appreciated. So unique, so...well...Jedi."
Kava forced a cackle until she realized she was the only one laughing. "Right," she coughed and deepened her voice. "Glad you like it."
"Come, old friend." Virana beckoned. "There's something I'd like to show you." Her tone cast a feeling of foreboding over Kava as they proceeded deeper into the palace.
Atop the wall, one of the guardsmen's felines twitched its ear. The rider craned his neck with intrigue and followed the creature's curious stare. Its clawed paws tapped against the durasteel wall as it neared the edge. Upon reaching it, the guard peered down to an inconclusive find. The feline hissed until its rider pulled it back to the patrol route.
Once in the clear, the Jedi emerged from the canal below. "One at a time," Mattias whispered. "Quickly now." He, Yelena, and Raya closed in on a grated filtration system. "Deep breaths," he intoned before they dived under the grates.
Their silhouettes darted beneath the canal's murky waters. Once they emerged undetected in a maintenance room, they climbed for the nearest ledge. Canal gunk dripped from their robes as they caught their breath. "Lovely," Raya snarked while wiping some of it off of her shoulders.
Mattias eyed a panel above them and yanked it open with the Force. "In here," he whispered as the Jedi followed him. After he sealed them in the ventilation shaft, the group found themselves staring down multiple tunnels.
"Now which way?" Yelena queried.
"We should split up," Raya suggested. "Every second we waste puts my master in greater danger."
"Absolutely not," Yelena intoned. "Nothing about this feels right and we'll be stronger together."
Raya sulked at Yelena's words. "But we're so close!"
"No," Yelena asserted. "Let's use the Force," she told Mattias. "If we reach out as one, we might be able to detect another Force-sensitive."
Mattias nodded in agreement as he and Yelena shut their eyes. Delving deep into the Force around them, they quieted their minds and searched. Mere minutes seemingly stretched on forever. Mattias' concentration broke when Yelena suddenly twitched. "What is it?" he asked, nervously opening his eyes. "Yelena?" he worried as she winced in discomfort. "What do you sense?"
"A presence," she murmured. "Only it isn't a Jedi's. It's venomous on the mind and...cold. So cold."
Mattias eyes widened in realization as he uttered, "The Dark Side."
"Mattias," Yelena said as she shook off her daze and looked around. "Where's Raya?"
During their Force session, the impatient Raya had ventured off on her own. Determined to find her master, she crawled through the vents at random, stopping only when a peculiar clanging sounded below. Raya's body stiffened as a squad of BX-series commando droids marched beneath her. While she remained absolutely still, she didn't count on her lightsaber hilt sliding on her belt. Its tip clanged against the vent, causing Raya to bite back a gasp. The droids' heads turned upward as if scanning the environment. After a momentary pause, they resumed their march. Raya breathed a sigh of relief...until a metallic fist punched through the shaft and snatched her by the robes.
One commando droid had stayed behind. Its emotionless photoreceptors were nearly blinding as it pulled Raya out of the vent. She squirmed in its relentless grip and reached for her lightsaber. While she managed to impale the droid, such a commotion sent the other commandos running towards her. Raya raised her yellow blade and rushed at her attackers. Scarlet lasers zipped down the palace hall as she raced to deflect them. When Raya leapt into the air, she called the downed droid's blaster to her with the Force. While slicing at one of the commandos, Raya simultaneously fired at the others with her newly-acquired blaster. The maneuver proved effective, until she realized that the droids had her cornered. While she dealt with foes from both sides, another commando droid front-flipped from behind, launched off the wall, and kneed her in the back of the head. Raya collapsed with a tumultuous thud. Her saber deactivated as the surviving droids loomed over her. Their metallic digits reached for her limp arms and they dragged her away.
As Kava followed Virana into a grandiose chamber, the sounds of an altercation echoed over to them. "Is...everyone okay in there?" Kava asked.
The chief chuckled. "Oh I assure you, Namaari is quite fine."
"That's right," Kava nonchalantly recalled. "How has your daughter been?" As she questioned such, a droid's broken limb came sliding over to Kava's feet.
"I take it you're familiar with IG-100 MagnaGuards," Virana mentioned. Her stern gaze focused on the chamber in front of them. "Advanced combat droids programmed with elite dueling techniques. Particularly designed to engage and destroy Jedi."
One of the MagnaGuards' crunched and dented heads came rolling over as a young woman finished off the rest. Kava watched with wide eyes as Virana's daughter flourished a humming vibroblade. Her precise swings and jabs sliced the remaining droids until she stood atop their scraps. Her short, black bob dipped atop her toned physique. A glare as fearsome as her mother's found its way to Kava as she gulped. "She's...quite impressive," the gambler commented. "I see someone's been taking classes."
Virana scoffed and glowered at the ravaged droids. She only found solace in a sudden notification from her earpiece. "But classes can only get one so far," she remarked. "I think it's time for the final test."
The doors behind them opened and a pair of commando droids dragged Raya in. Kava resisted a gasp and feigned bewilderment. "What's this about?" she asked. "Who the heck is that?"
"Oh Kava, Kava, Kava..." Virana taunted. "While the corvette is nice, you can drop the act." The commandos tossed Raya to the ground as she started to stir and then turned their weapons on Kava.
"I don't understand," the gambler sputtered. "How'd you-"
"You never were one to read between the lines," Virana jeered. "Don't tell me you actually thought I'd let you eavesdrop on me long ago."
"You...knew I was there?" Kava choked.
"Of course I did," Virana said. "And you played your part perfectly. Once you knew I had Master Benja, it was only a matter of time before that fat mouth of yours drew his apprentice out of hiding. Then I could test her resourcefulness and see if she was worthy of facing my Namaari."
Kava shook her head in disbelief. "So...you used me."
"Oh please," Virana scorned. "I've been using you. That's all your type of scum is good for." She flashed a coy smirk and focused back on Namaari.
Kava's face flushed with red. Her bracelets jingled as she furiously clenched her fists. "You witch!" she snarled and prepared to lunge. The commando droids were quick to restrain her before she could lay a finger on Virana.
One of them prepared to put a laser in Kava when the chief said, "No. Just hold her steady. I want her to have a front row seat."
Kava flailed in the droids' grasps as Raya slowly awakened. The Jedi observed her dreadful surroundings and heard Kava calling to her. "It was a trap, kid," she said. "I'm sorry."
"Jedi!" Virana declared. "You've been on quite a journey to find your poor master. But sadly, this is where your travels come to an end. And your fall becomes my daughter's rise. Namaari," she beckoned. "The time has come." Raya watched as Virana removed the kyber crystal from her staff and fastened iy into an antique hilt.
Raya's heart sank when she realized the weapon was her master's. "No," she murmured as Virana tossed Benja's lightsaber to Namaari. Her daughter ignited the blue blade and pointed it towards Raya. "That's my master's!" the Padawan yelled over her pain.
Namaari toted an insidious grin. "Then it seems only fitting for you to die by it, Jedi." She said the title with such hate in her heart as Raya rose to her feet.
"Give the Jedi her weapon," Virana ordered a commando droid. It tossed Raya her lightsaber while the chief continued. "You have but one choice, girl. Defeat my daughter...or die." While Raya appeared unsettled, Namaari's resolve remained unfazed. "Daughter," Virana decreed. "Break her."
"With pleasure," Namaari murmured and leapt towards Raya. The Jedi quickly activated to block her foe's attack. Yellow and blue sparks spewed across the tiles as both combatants went on the offensive. The combined crackling of their lightsabers echoed throughout the chamber. While Raya parried twice, Namaari shoved her back with a swift shoulder charge. Raya staggered back only to immediately take a right hook from her opponent. As Kava and her captors watched, Chief Virana smirked sadistically.
"What are the chances that Raya went down this way?" Mattias asked as he and Yelena crawled through another vent.
"I'm not sure," Yelena considered. "But when we tapped into the surrounding Force, I did manage to connect with a sliver of Light energy emanating from this direction. Although I must admit, it felt...stagnant."
"I'll take my chances," Mattias quipped as she and Yelena pulled open a panel. They dropped down to find a peculiar sight amid the palace's darkness. The duo had entered a secluded chamber, one of which was guarded by a squad of alerted super battle droids.
"And this is why we check our corners," Yelena lectured while activating her blade.
"Yeah yeah," Mattias huffed and did the same. The super battle droids aimed their wrist-mounted blasters and opened fire. While Mattias deflected the initial blasts, Yelena Force-pushed the fallen vent panel into several droids. Although super battle droids were considered a nightmare for many clones on the frontlines, a Jedi's lightsaber still made short work of them. The duo lunged in together, hacking down the final droids before observing what...or who exactly they were guarding. Mattias deactivated his lightsaber and stepped towards the unique slab before them. "Something tells me that isn't a wall decoration," he murmured.
He and Yelena could faintly make out an individual encased in a thick block of carbonite. His frozen eyes were soulless and his hands were clasped together. An eerie mist spewed from the surrounding encasement, keeping the carbonite solidified. "How long do you think he's been in there?" Yelena asked. She leaned in and observed an intricate set of monitors flashing along the slab. "He's still showing vitals!" Her hand impulsively shot up towards the monitors and she sighed. "I can release him, but the side effects may be intense depending on the duration of his entrapment."
Mattias glanced down a vacant, yet daunting hall. "Do it," he urged and Yelena obliged. As she initiated the thawing sequence, the man's body brightened. His encased body appeared scorched as if it were set aflame and his flesh was soon visible. His thin, mustachioed lips gasped for air as he collapsed into Mattias' arms. Uniquely-patterned, blue robes trailed behind him while he felt his way through the darkness.
"Master...Benja?" Yelena dared to ask.
The freed man's head snapped in her direction. His aching eyes squinted as he struggled to hear clearly. "R-Raya?" he called. "Padawan, is that you?"
"No," Yelena clarified and knelt closer. "But we are masters of the Order here with her."
"I never should've left her," Benja shivered. "I knew we were being followed, but I thought I could lead them away."
"Try not to move so much," Mattias said. "You're suffering from hibernation sickness. It'll take some time for your strength and eyesight to return."
"Where am I?" he asked.
"The moon of Fang," Yelena replied.
Benja's trembling hands stiffened. "No...and Raya's here? No!" His outburst prompted Mattias to shush him. "You don't understand! That's what Virana wants. It's a trap! We need to get Raya out now. Leave me if you have to. Just go...please!"
"We're not leaving anyone behind," Yelena intoned as a realization struck Mattias.
He considered how long Benja had been deemed missing by the Jedi Order and how much time he'd trained Raya for. Their lack of communication with the temple prompted a solemn statement to escape Mattias' lips. "You're her father," he said. "Aren't you?" Despite his carbon sickness, Benja turned towards Mattias' voice...and hung his head.
Raya hung her head after enduring another heavy blow. Namaari snuck the perfect blend of kicks and punches in between her saber swings. Each brutal jab sent waves of pain rippling throughout Raya's body. Namaari had hardly broken a sweat and was like a cat toying with her prey. "Come on!" she growled and charged again. Raya tried to match her intensity, but her strength was fading. As Raya gave in to her opponent's taunts, her form faltered further. Namaari batted away her saber and dropkicked Raya down a set of stairs.
Virana grinned toothily as her daughter gained the upper hand. "Good, Namaari," she lauded. "Now finish her."
Namaari smirked and descended from the stairs. Benja's blue blade swayed with each of her proud strides. Meanwhile, Raya struggled to rise. Her face lay plastered against a cracked tile while blood trickled from lips. Amidst her pain and suffering, all Raya wanted to do was give in to rage. She wanted to rush Namaari just as she had before, hoping that one of her attacks would land a successful hit. But as the darkness crept in and her foe approached, a single voice sounded from within.
"If you are the Jedi you claim to be, listen to the Light Side of the Force," Yelena had said. "While it is often silent when we need it most, it's always there. But you have to be the one to let it in. Even when you're furious...even when you're terrified out of your mind. Embrace the light and it will guide you."
Raya closed her eyes, choosing to ignore her aggressive thoughts. She slowed her breaths, even as her enemy was so close to ending her. Her mind drifted off to happier times where Benja was at her side. She basked in the glow of those precious moments and let them guide her. As she opened her eyes, Raya felt her spirit reinvigorated by the Force around her. "The Light Side," she croaked. "I...hear you." She raised her hand just as Namaari attempted a killing blow. Their lightsabers locked and Raya sprung to her feet.
"Give it up!" Namaari taunted yet Raya went unfazed. Instead, the Jedi flourished her blade to disorient her foe. Raya's attacks were as smooth as they were precise. Her blade clashed with Namaari's as she forced her on the defensive. Kava quietly relished in the fact that Virana's grin had disappeared.
Calling upon the Light to strengthen her further, Raya Force-pushed Namaari into a nearby wall. The impact was enough to disarm her opponent and allowed Raya to reclaim Benja's lightsaber. She used both blades to slash the ground and send disorienting sparks towards Namaari. Only then did Raya deactivate her weapons and tackle her opponent. While Raya's ensuing punches were powerful, they were far from hate-driven.
"Stand down!" Raya demanded.
"Never!" Namaari hissed and jabbed a fist at her. Dodging it, Raya looped her hands around Namaari's arm and pulled her back. With a swift twist, Raya broke her foe's arm and left her growling in pain. As Namaari lay there clutching her fractured limb, Raya rose and recovered the lightsabers.
"We're done here!" she yelled to the furious Virana.
"Raya?" an all too familiar voice beckoned from one of the halls. Mattias and Yelena emerged with Benja in their arms.
It took everything for Raya not to scream for her father at the top of her lungs and instead gasped, "Master!"
Unwilling to accept such a defeat, Virana ran to a wall-mounted panel and sounded an alarm. "Kill them all!" she demanded. The commando droids were about to execute Kava when Raya performed a dual-bisection with her sabers.
"Need a hand?" she panted and helped Kava up.
The clamor of incoming droids rang out across the palace. "We need to go, now!" Kava warned and thrust a finger at Mattias. "Get back to your corvette! It's closer! We'll get another ride!" While the others obliged, Raya looked to Kava bewilderedly. "Trust me," she said. "I used to clean out Virana's hangar."
"Let's hope you're right," Raya said and flourished both lightsabers. She deflected a storm of incoming laserfire while Kava led her to a reinforced door.
"Oh kriff," Kava cursed. "Hangar's under lockdown."
"Stand back," Raya said and jabbed her lightsabers into the door. While it took some time, she twisted her arms to cut a circle through the durasteel. A vast assortment of ships awaited them once they barged into the hangar. "Which one do we take?" Kava eyed a particularly shiny craft and smirked devilishly.
Mattias, Yelena, and Benja emerged from the canal. As they bolted for their corvette, a droid captain prepared to attack them. "Hold it right there!" OOM-407 declared. "You're all under arrest for-"
Yelena used the Force to fling him over their heads. The B1 unit's nasally wails reverberated until he collided with a guardsman's feline mount.
"Take off!" Yelena urged Mattias while ascending the ramp with Benja. Mattias practically threw himself at the controls and fired up the engines. Enemy blasterfire bombarded their hull as they took off within seconds of losing their shields.
Virana watched from her balcony and gritted her teeth. "Chief," a guard huffed. "They're getting away!"
"I'm well aware," she answered in a hauntingly deep tone. In that instant, her personal...luxury starship smashed through one of the walls and spiraled into the upper atmosphere. "You've got to be kidding me," she grumbled. "Kava!" Virana roared loud enough to make her guard wince.
"Haha!" Kava cheered while horribly piloting the starship. "Who's using who now, Virana? We are outta here!" Raya struggled to hold on while Kava patched comms in to the Jedi corvette. "We're on your six, Master Grandpa!"
Mattias ignored her remark, for he was just happy to hear they'd made it. "Set lightspeed coordinates for Wild Space at JP-71."
Kava observed the swarm of vulture droids closing in from the enemy fleet and said, "Don't mind if I do." She hurriedly punched in the coordinates as both ships rocketed off into hyperspace.
Once they'd evaded Fang's forces and disabled all trackers on Virana's ship, the groups reconvened in Wild Space. They met aboard the corvette where Raya and Benja could finally, truly embrace each other. "Forgive me," he said as his eyesight slowly returned. "I was only trying to protect you."
While Kava rejoiced over their reunion, Mattias and Yelena kept looking at each other. Attachments in the Order were forbidden, and here was Benja with a child. One of which he'd hidden as a Padawan along with shrouding his own disappearance. His situation would not fare well in the eyes of the council and they both knew it.
"I'm just happy to have you back," Raya said. "And while I couldn't have done it without your training, I did have some help." Benja's smile faded as he looked at Mattias and Yelena. "What is it, master?" Raya worried.
"They know," he confessed with a grim look in his eyes.
"So?" Raya scoffed. "We're still the same people. What difference does it make if you're my father?"
"Unfortunately, a major one." Yelena said somberly. "Benja, why go down this road? As a Sentinel and Seeker, you were tasked with finding future students of the Force."
"And I did for so many years," Benja assured. "But each time I recruited a child, it felt more like an abduction. To take a parent's pride and joy away from them. To watch the pain swell in their eyes and why? Because I'm a Jedi and that somehow gives me the right? I needed time to think things through. I needed answers that neither a council nor a code couldn't give me. And in my wanderings I discovered someone to fight for instead of something. The love we shared blossomed beyond anything I could've imagined, but by the will of the Force...illness would take her." Benja sighed, smiling only when he looked at his daughter. "Yet from our love came Raya, the brightest star I've ever seen. Born of the Force, yet never abducted by it. Eager to learn and grow alongside me." Benja took a deep breath. "If finding love and raising a daughter in the ways of the Force makes me any less of a Jedi...than I don't want to be one."
Mattias bit his lip and stepped forward. "I like to believe that being a Jedi goes beyond what's written into code," he said. "Because I can only understand the Force as much as I humanly can. But who is anyone to judge another on the merits of love if it means they're happy?"
"Mattias?" Yelena whispered and raised a brow.
"Yelena and I went to Canto Bight," he said. "We checked for a mysterious Jedi and actually had her in our custody. Yet the sly, clever sneak managed to escape and steal a ship offworld. And we haven't been able to find a lead since." Benja and Raya softly smiled. "Kava," Mattias inquired. "Have anywhere to be?" The gambler shook her head and grinned as she caught on. "Get these two as far from anyone's reach as you can, okay?"
"Wait," Yelena asserted as all eyes looked to her. "This is wrong and you know it, Mattias! Benja, you should be ashamed of yourself. And Raya-" Yelena paused, thinking on how she'd helped the youth earlier.
As she struggled to find the words, Mattias said "Yelena...just give them a chance."
Yelena thought back to Chieftain Honeymaren and how different things would be if the Northuldra would just give her a chance. With a resigned sigh, Yelena uttered, "Go."
"Thank you," Benja said, holding Raya close.
"Just please stay out of trouble," Yelena intoned.
"With Kava at the helm?" Raya quipped. "No promises."
"Just don't feed me any more of that demon jerky," Kava quipped while waving farewell and returning to their ship.
Before joining Kava and his daughter, Benja looked to the other masters and said, "May the Force be with you."
As they departed, Yelena was left to sit beside Mattias. The cockpit was eerily quiet until he inevitably broke the silence. "We did the right thing," he told her.
"Are you saying that for yourself or for me?" Yelena mumbled.
"Neither," Mattias jested. "I just mean it." He peered over at his pensive friend asked, "What's on your mind, Yelena?"
She sighed and shook her head. "Too long have I waited, wallowing in my grief and shame," she said. "I think it's time, Mattias. It's time to tell the girls about Aren."
In a dark and secluded chamber of her palace, Chief Virana paced before her knelt daughter. Namaari's broken arm had been tied with a sling, forcing her to endure and harness her pain instead of nulling it in bacta. As a nearby holoprojector chimed, Virana bowed her head to a flickering and hooded figure. "Lord Sidious," she greeted.
"Chief Virana," the Sith Lord hissed. "I understand your weapon has failed?" Namaari scowled at his words.
"My daughter just needs more training," Virana assured. "She nearly defeated her first Jedi."
"Nearly...is not good enough," Sidious asserted. "You promised me a Jedi killer."
"And you shall have one," Virana insisted.
"Do not fail me again," Sidious said. "For when my new order emerges, there shall be no room for failures."
Enraged by his words, Namaari concentrated on the tiling in front of her. Calling upon the powers her mother had told her to hide, she used the Force to crack the tile in two. As a yellow hue briefly flashed across Namaari's eyes, Lord Sidious smirked.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading this week's installment of "The Frozen Force!" As always, it is an absolute pleasure to write this ongoing adventure and entertain all of you. Tune in next week as the war on all fronts intensifies and sinister foes make their move in Chapter: 74 - The Trappers.
Long Live Imagination and May the Force be with You!
~ Michael