Author's Note: This will be a Jumpchain story using the Milestone Rewards Supplement Redux and all of the Jumps and supplements I use will be found on my google drive at drive/folders/1b6xkG3Usi7VVR6rupvt49bjT0jdSeSeD
This chapter is about the MC participating in the Gathering.
Words in World before this chapter: 1764
Setting
"Speech"
Written Text
[Digital Text]
{Digital Voice}
Divine/Super Being Modification
Chapter Seven: The Gathering
Star Wars Movie Compilation Part 2
Jedi Temple, Coruscant: 7940 CRC / 37 BBY
I awoke quickly and went to the training area with the rest of my clan in order to begin our day with some physical exercise like we always did. Even with my knowledge of the fact that we were going to be going on the Gathering later today I still worked out as hard as possible with the others because that is what we were supposed to do. We went through our basic calisthenics before running on the treadmills to have a good cardio workout and make certain that we had more endurance than most any other Initiates in the Jedi Order. I had been a firm advocate for our clan building up our endurance as I knew that if we survived we would be going through the Clone Wars before we were in our mid twenties. The others agreed to follow my charismatic lead when I stated my opinion on the need for us to be in good health and condition to better utilize the Force. The rest of the clan stopped complaining about my work out regime once I pointed out the benefits of a healthy body including the stamina to last in anything that we did.
Bant Eerin a female Mon Calamari Jedi Padawan quickly found us as we were getting dressed after we had bathed and started to address us. "Alright Initiates today marks the starting point on your path to becoming true Jedi as Padawan learners. You shall be collecting your belongings and meeting me in hanger bay three where we will board a shuttle that shall take us to the Crucible for the trip to Illum where you shall be learning about building lightsabers. Now hop to it younglings." With her words finished we finished getting dressed and started to pack quickly.
A thought passed through my mind, and I called out while putting my winter coat into my pack. "Remember that Illum is an ice planet so it will be cold, and we need to be prepared for it." The others paused in their packing before they went back to it grabbing their own cold weather gear and tossing them into their own packs. With everyone squared away we quickly made our way down to the hanger bay and onto our shuttle that launched shortly after we boarded.
While on the way to Illum we studied different lightsaber constructions on our data pads, but I noticed that there was no master with us only Bant Eerin. She kept an eye on us over the short journey that would last until the following morning something none of us had a problem with as we were all used to the semiautonomy that came from being Jedi Initiates. I made certain to hit the rack early as I wanted to stretch before leaving the ship as I did not want to make the trek across the frozen ground without being prepared in the morning. The rest of the clan followed my example as they knew we would have a bit of a hike to the temple that housed the entrance of the crystal caves. In the morning I went around the cabin quickly rousing the rest of my clan and leading us through a bit of stretching before we ate and got dressed in our cold weather gear. After our stomachs were filled we headed down into the shuttle which would take us down to the frozen planet of Illum.
Illum: 7940 CRC / 37 BBY
Once the shuttle touched down Bant Eerin led us out into the dawn light on the snow-covered planet. She pointed up the path before she began speaking to us about our task here on this world. "Up there we shall find the temple that houses the entrance to the crystal caves where you may try and find your Kyber Crystals. We will need to travel on foot up to the entrance and open the temple as a group before you may continue with the Gathering." The Mon Calamari Padawan kept her voice neutral before she started leading our initiate clan up the snow covered path to the temple that served as the entrance to the crystal caves.
I kept moving around making sure my muscles were loose enough to move freely even with the cold. As we headed up the path I continued to move from one side of the group to the other as I wanted to stay warm even if it was a waste of energy. It was about an hour before we arrived at the temple entrance to the crystal caves with the door sealed. As a clan we followed Bant Eerin's instruction to pull the door down and opened the path where we were met with Grand Master Yoda. "Come far you have. Face the trials ahead you must. Your crystal behind this ice you may find. Trust in the force you must. Until sunset to return you have. The ice will return without the light." The old green Jedi told us as the light came into the temple and started to melt the wall that blocked our way forward.
Before too long the path into the caves was open and I led the way into the depths of the planet where our crystals awaited. The whole clan moved into to the caves as a group running ahead and we pause at the first intersection that we come to. I take charge at this point speaking up before any of the others have a chance to. "We should meditate here on the force to let it guide us to our individual crystals and face our trials on our own as a Jedi that we are training to become."
The rest of the clan quickly agreed with me, and we all sat down in a circle allowing the force to flow through us and let ourselves plunge into its eddies following where it would lead us. I knew that it was not going to be easy for me as even though I meditated regularly I was not one to follow the path of the Jedi blindly. With the force flowing through me I focused on my desire for a kyber crystal in order to follow through with my plans for this universe.
I rose and followed the pull that started creeping up in my gut while keeping my eyes shut relying on the force to guide me. Following the force and ignoring everything else led me to falling down a hole and needing to use the force in order to keep myself from breaking anything. My telekinetic powers helped me slow my descent to a safe speed as I tumbled out and stopped me from flying down a deeper area. At this point I figured that I should open my eyes and actually look at where I was going instead of blindly following the force.
I had ended up in a dark cave that glittered with kyber crystals, but I knew in my gut that none of those were for me personally. I walked down a pathway that I saw allowing the force in my gut to continue as my guide but now I was hearing things as I walked and seeing visions in the walls of the cave as I moved. The first thing I heard was Jar Jar Binks. "You ser and going to go far." I had no idea why I was hearing the annoying Gungan so I ignored it and focused on the force even though it did not stop the images of Jedi dying and the battles that I would end up going through. I saw myself wielding a blue lightsaber fighting off battle droids in one before seeing another where I saw myself cutting down clones with an orange blade felling my opponents with a casual dismissal.
I used my Of Course You've Plugged Somebody Before perk from Big Trouble in Little China to push through the images that showed me fighting constantly. I knew that I would not be able to get away from battle for my time here and it would have been better for me if I had a few more Jumps under my belt before I came to this place. As I had no control over my travels through the multiverse I knew there was no point in worrying but I still was annoyed with ending up in this universe so soon. I kept my cool thanks to my perks, but I was still annoyed by needing to go through all of this for an item that I purchased with my CP, and I would not have access to any items that I had before arriving here.
It was at this point that I saw an image that I kind of liked showing me leading a class of younglings going through their lightsaber velocities as a Jedi Master while wearing a gray robe over some common spacer gear. Stepping up to this new image where I could hear myself explaining that balance was the key to all things even in combat as it was with the Force as a whole. As I stepped up to this image I felt an urge to reach out and touch the image before me when I did I felt the wall start to crumble and found myself holding my kyber crystal. I could see that it was a lime green color meaning I was on the path between being a sentinel and a counselor. With my crystal in hand I followed the newly opened path up back to the area where we had all gathered in order to find my way back to the entrance of the crystal caves.
Yoda and Bant Eerin stood there waiting for my clan to come out, so I stepped out and walked up to them bowing to show my respect. "Hrrmmm. Faced the possible futures and found one that suits you, you have. To see what you shall bring forth in the future with this path you are starting to follow I will like." The little green Grand Master said to me as I came to stand by waiting for the rest of my clan to come out of the crystal caves.
Once we were all gathered together I stood silently as Yoda spoke to each of us regarding our challenges inside the caves. When it was my turn Yoda told me something that I did not expect from a Jedi especially the Grand Master of the Jedi Order. "Learned to not follow blindly but watch your path you have. A valuable lesson to keep close for your future this will be. Hrmmm." I nodded to show that I understood what the little Jedi was telling me and show my deference to his leadership even though privately I felt he was leading the Jedi order blindly into the Sith trap.
Once we all had our kyber crystals we made our way back to the shuttle with the sun having set and back up to the Crucible where we would be making our lightsabers under the watchful eye of the ever-present Huyang a Mark IV architect droid. Huyang had been on the Crucible for nearly twenty-five thousand years helping Jedi Initiates make their first personal lightsabers. He had seen so many generations of Jedi that I wanted to learn from the droid all about the process of creating lightsabers. I knew that I could eventually get the perk on lightsaber customization, but I was not sure if I would be able to take it with my limited number of points.
Author's Endnote: This chapter kicked my butt and would just not come together for me easily.