Always in Motion is the Future V: A Star Wars AU

Chapter II

    Luke had kept it short; the wampa, the escape from the ice cave into the bitter snows of Hoth, and the vision. Throughout it all Starkiller’s attention had been rapt, never faltering; if anything, he became even more attentive at the mentions of Dagobah and Yoda.

    “Amazing,” he murmured, once Luke had finished telling his tale. “He’s still alive, after all that’s happened…”

    “What do you mean?” Luke inquired. “Do you know this Yoda?”

    “After a fashion,” Starkiller replied. “I met him for only a few short moments during a moment of personal crisis. It was shortly before…” he trailed off. “Shortly before an operation with a less than desirable outcome. But that’s not the point. The point is, Master Yoda was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order in his time. If we can bring him to the Rebellion, he could be key to drawing out the last of the Jedi scattered throughout the galaxy. He could bring back the Jedi.”

    “What good would that do?” Luke asked. “There’d only be a dozen at most, if Obi-Wan’s journal has told me anything. Even with that many Jedi, the Empire has millions of soldiers!”

    “That’s where you’re wrong,” Starkiller replied chidingly. He pressed a button on his wrist-com, then began walking towards the aft of the Salvation. “Follow me, Commander Skywalker.”

    Luke, his curiosity now piqued, followed close behind him.

    “Contrary to what you may have read or heard, there were actually many survivors of the Great Jedi Purge. No more than a hundred, to be sure, but the many dozen that have managed to stay hidden this long have all gradually made their way to this Rebellion, no small thanks to Supreme Leader Tano. Thanks to her efforts, we now have many Jedi, hidden within the Rebellion, waiting to be called back into service.”

    “They’ve been in the Rebellion this whole time?!” Luke exclaimed, amazed.

    “Yes,” Starkiller said, hiding his amusement at the young man’s wonder. “But only now do we have a need for them to emerge.”

    He stopped; they had arrived at the far end of the ship, where maintenance on a malfunctioning door was being done by a DUM-series pit droid and a Whiphid. Both stood at attention when the two commanding officers approached.

    “Clearance jenth-eagle-delta-one,” Starkiller said.

    The two nodded, and moved the door aside, revealing a perfectly good door behind it, which hissed open, to reveal a darkened corridor.

    It’s an illusion, Luke realized, as Starkiller lead him through.

    “We now number nearly seventy, all in all. It’s hardly enough to qualify as an ‘order,’ but we are stronger now more than ever,” Starkiller informed him.

    He turned to face the Whiphid, who Luke only now noticed had been following them down the corridor. “Are they all here, Master K’Kruhk?”

    “Yes, sir,” he rumbled in reply. “They’re all here, awaiting instruction.”

    “Are you a Jedi?” Luke blurted.

    “Yes,” K’Kruhk answered. “After a fashion.”

    “What do you mean, ‘after a fashion?’” Luke asked.

    “There are few ‘true’ Jedi nowadays, Luke Skywalker,” K’Kruhk replied solemnly. “We’ve had to compromise our beliefs to endure in these dark times. Many you will soon meet cannot truthfully claim to be a full Jedi, as good of beings as they are.”

    The door at the end of the corridor opened as the three approached, and Luke was astonished to see many lightsabers of various colors alight, wielded by many beings of many different species. Many were practice dueling each other, others simply talking to each other, or meditating. They all stopped their respective activities when the three entered the room, and looked at Luke in particular. Many whispered phrases along the lines of “it’s him” or “is that him?” to each other as he passed.

    “Your attention please,” Starkiller asked, raising his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Young Commander Skywalker here,” he pointed to Luke, “has an announcement to make.”

    All eyes returned to Luke. He tried hard not to blush from the sudden attention, so he kept his voice level as he told the story of his vision on the icy plains of Hoth. When he was finished, there was an impenetrable silence, then broken by exclamations from almost everyone in the room; “He’s alive!” “I don’t believe it!” “What should we do?”

    “What we’re going to do,” Starkiller said, “is take this enclave on a transport and go to Dagobah. Bringing Master Yoda here would give us a focal point for our order, and a rallying voice for the Rebellion overall. We should move immediately.”

    There were many sounds of affirmative consent from the gathered group. One person, however, Ferus Olin, raised his hand. “What about the fleet? They can’t spare any ships right now. While we’re rescuing the stragglers from Hoth.”

    This prompted some concerned chatter among the Jedi gathered, but then another voice cut through them all.

    “So we move the fleet.”

    All eyes now turned to Ahsoka Tano, who stood determinedly among the rest of the Jedi and former Jedi, hands on her saber hilts.

    “Starkiller, you and I both have executive authority over the Cabinet and High Command. If we say the word, we can move the rendezvous to Dagobah. Since it’s remote, the Empire won’t suspect us of going there anyway.”

    More murmuring, then all turned silent to look at Starkiller as he made the final judgement on the matter. He thought deeply for a moment, then exhaled. “Let’s make the call then. Everyone else gather your things; let’s get ready to meet Master Yoda again.”

*

    As unpleased as the cabinet of directors was with the decision, like Ahsoka had said, hers and Starkiller’s word as founders was final; within minutes, the general order had been sounded, and the fleet was en route to the isolated Dagobah system.

    Luke, to pass the time, had been acquainting himself with his fellow Force-users; many of them were former friends of, or had at one time known, his father, Anakin Skywalker. Ahsoka Tano revealed she had, at one point, been Anakin’s apprentice during the Clone Wars. Another person, Jax Pavan, said he had been a fellow learner alongside him as a Padawan, and both had saved each other’s lives one more than one occasion. Luke soon found himself far from short of friends in this remnant of the Jedi.

    Some of the elder members, namely T’ra Saa and K’Kruhk, both asked him questions about his time with obi-Wan, however brief it had been, and what skills he had with a lightsaber or the Force. When he told them what little he knew, they simply analyzed him shrewdly.

    “We’ll make a Jedi of you yet, young Skywalker,” T’ra said kindly.

    K’Kruhk chuckled darkly. “Never thought I’d hear those words again in my lifetime.”

    Before Luke could inquire as to what the old Master meant by that, Starkiller and Ahsoka returned to the meeting room. “We’ve arrived,” Starkiller announced. “Let’s go.”

    The seventy-or-so Force-users, now all clad in a mixture of the traditional Jedi robes, and Rebellion armor, marched out of the enclave room to the hangar, Ahsoka and Starkiller leading.

    When the group arrived at the hangar, where many bewildered crew members and pilots, as-yet unaware of their purpose in the Dagobah system, had gathered to piece together what information they had to discern their true purpose there. When they saw the Jedi approaching, a solemn silence fell over them all; such a procession had not been seen in over twenty years, when many of them were either children or mere infants. The older, grizzled veterans among them were familiar with the sight of the Jedi, however, and stood at attention, not only because many commanding officers were among the Jedi, but because they knew the prestige and respect the rank of Jedi bore.

    “At ease, people,” Starkiller told them. “Only these people with me,” he gestured to the group behind him, “will be going down to the surface. The rest of you return to your duties.”

    “Sir!” one of the veteran pilots called to Starkiller. “What’re your orders?”

    “Stay on your stations for now. If any more stragglers from Hoth come, see them to safety. Scout out any of the planets or moons here to see if we can use them for bases or listening posts. Dismissed.”

    The pilots and crew went back to milling about at their duties, while the Jedi boarded two old LAATs salvaged from old Clone Wars battlegrounds, piloted by former clones who knew their inner workings best.

    “All strapped in, sirs?” the pilot called from the cockpit.

    “We’re ready Hawk,” Ahsoka called.

    “Closing blast doors and activating vacuum seal,” he replied. “Prepare for takeoff.”

    The old ship rattled as it lifted off the hangar, causing Luke to question this mode of transportation, but then it settled to a steady whirr-hum, which he saw caused some of the older Jedi to grin mutely, no doubt bringing back memories of days long gone. Each grabbed onto an overhead grip as the gunship left the hangar and flew out into the black void of space between the Salvation and Dagobah down below.

    “The planetary magnetic fields are giving off strong magnetic waves,” Hawk called over the comm system a few moments later. “Hold on. We’re going to start the landing cycle.”

    The gunship began to descend vertically, retrojets blasting loudly. Outside, Luke heard the cracking of sturdy trees as they bent in the high winds and the sound of tons of water below being displaced. The gunship finally stopped in its descent, hovering for a moment, then completely landing, its bay doors opening.

    The passengers disembarked, their lower robes immediately becoming soaked in the swamp water.

    “What an incredible smell we’ve discovered,” one of the younger members of the group remarked. “Hope Master Yoda’s not too far away from here.”

    “Even if he is,” Kanan Jarrus replied, “there’s no way he didn’t hear us. He may make his way here, however long it takes. We’ll set up camp in the meantime.”

    “Necessary, that will not be.” a voice said from the shadows of the bogs. All heads turned, including activated flash

    “Here am I. Sensed your coming I did. And I overjoyed am I to see so many who have survived. Welcome.”