Star Wars VIII: Shadows of the Past (10)
#10 of Star Wars
Part 1 of the finale.
As Luke and Rey travel to an old Jedi temple, enemies prepare to attack the Resistance.
_"That lightsaber was Luke's. And his father's before him. And now, it calls to you." _
Rey gasped as she opened her eyes. Sitting up, she felt something shift under her hands. "Oh, it's just the hay," she whispered to herself. It was nighttime Tython, and no one else was awake in the storage room that she, and several other Resistance members, were sleeping in. However, she could faintly hear the sound of people talking outside. Carefully, she climbed down from the wooden loft she was on, stopping each time it squeaked. Stepping over the various arms and legs of the other sleepers, she made her way outside. There was no wind, but it was still a bit cold. Luckily, Rey had her brown jacket that had kept her warm in the cold nights on Jakku. She wore it now as she walked silently, under the dim light of Tython's grey moon, over to a small campfire. As she came closer, she noticed Luke talking with Finn and another man.
"Well, the Imperial Army did include, at first, several hundred of the remaining clones, but later..." The unknown man stopped abruptly and turned to the newcomer.
"Hello, Rey. Glad you could join us. There's someone I'd like you to meet," Luke said, gesturing to the stranger. "This is Lan..."
"Lando Calrissian," the man said, smiling and standing up from the log he sat on. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance." Lando looked to be roughly in his 60s. He had thin, dark grey, hair, which stood out from the light blue cloak that he wore. Rey smiled back and sat down beside Finn.
"We were talking about the history of the Empire," he told her.
"And how the First Order is using the same tactics as they did" Lando said. Rey turned to Luke.
"I always thought that the First Order was created by Imperial officials who fled from the Republic," she said.
"Well, yes," Luke replied. "However, some of the lesser known principles of the First Order came mostly from political debates with the New Republic."
"But the way that Snoke has them operating now is very similar to when the Emperor ruled," Lando continued. "The systems that they take over are immediately being used for obtaining stormtroopers and resources. And if the Senate doesn't do something soon, who's going to stop them from attacking whatever planet is next for being capital."
"Coriallis," Finn replied. "Anyways, I was already told that Leia is holding meeting after the ceremony tomorrow. My guess is that they're planning another attack on the First Order." There was a long silence. They had almost forgotten about the special ceremony being held in the main temple for Poe Dameron and Han Solo. After Finn said that, everyone just sat there and listened to the soft crackling of the dying fire. This went on for a few minutes, until Lando stood up.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna get some sleep. Want to presentable for tomorrow," he said, with a fake yawn. The other three also decided to head back. After saying goodnight to Finn, Rey started for the storage room, but she was quickly stopped by Luke.
"Rey," he said, "Tomorrow, after your friend's ceremony, I want to show you the Sanctuary of the Jedi. I've already spoken with Leia, and she won't be needing us at the meeting."
"Alright," she replied, calmly. Inside, however, she was excited. Luke had told her once before about that place and how it was "the perfect place for meditation." Perhaps she would learn more about the Force and the Jedi there. Rey returned to the storage building and crept back into her bed, eager for the next day.
That night, Rey had nightmare. She was alone in a pitch black room. It was so dark that she couldn't see her hands. Suddenly, a loud *HUM* filled the room as, one by one, six red lightsabers ignited, forming a circle around Ray. The red light of the sabers outlined their dark-hooded wielders. The circle slowly shrunk, as each figure stepped closer to Ray. She tried to yell for help, but the words became stuck in her throat. She was trapped. Falling to her knees, Ray closed her eyes and waited for the oncoming death. But it never came. After waiting, what felt like years, she opened her eyes to find the shadowy figures towering over her. Surprisingly, they were looking away from the cowering Jedi and, instead, faced a man standing on a ledge above them. He, too, held a lightsaber, but, unlike the others, its blade was a light blue.
"Ray!" he yelled to her. "Ray, you must get away from here!" His voice was deep and full of power yet, his words came to her with love. Ray's eyes strained in the darkness as she tried to recognize the face silhouetted by the blue beam. He had a cleanly trimmed beard and was wearing brown robes. The dark figures left their places and rushed the man.
Before she had a chance to think, Ray yelled the one word that came to her mind, "Father!"
The icy wind tore at the backs of the Knights of Ren as they stumbled on in the night. Night-vision panels in their helmets guided them through the deep snow. It had been nearly eight hours since leaving the ship, and they were exhausted.
"How much farther?" Nejai asked. "For all we know, they won't even be there." Rowin, the youngest of the Knights, pulled out a pair of macrobinoculars and took off his helmet, revealing several scars on his pale face. "Rowin, what are you..."
"Shhh," he interjected, raising the lens to his eyes. "I can see several structures down in that valley." He pointed past the edge of a snow-covered cliff. "Lights, ships...yeah, I think we found them, Kain." The elder Knight walked to the cliff's edge.
"This way," he ordered. Then suddenly, Kain jumped over the side into the darkness. He fell twenty feet before landing on a ledge in a knee-high patch of snow. The others jumped soon after, but only to find their leader continuing his journey down the mountain. From ledge to ledge, he leapt, until Kain was near the foot of the mountain. He could see grass and a few trees, indicating that he'd reached a warmer climate, though it was still a bit cold. Five minutes later, the rest of the Knights of Ren reached the base. To their surprise, they were only a short distance from the Resistance camp. Nejai suggested that they should attack now while everyone slept.
"We will have the surprise advantage," she added.
"Then we might as well go in blindfolded," Kain replied. "To attack someone without first knowing their location is unwise. If the Resistance have any turrets set up, or if they have any unknown hideouts, we would be caught off guard and destroyed. Remember what happened to Kylo? He attacked a base he knew nothing about, and it got him captured." The Knights became silent, as the sound of people talking could be heard in front of them. No one dared to make a noise until it was clear that whoever was there had gone. "Nejai, you and I will map the entire area; get to know every building, inside and out. Rowin, I want you to find out if they have any sort of grid turret system and then shut it down. Lastly, Shen, you and the others are to quietly sabotage their ships and communications array. Make sure they have no way to escape. Soon, we will be able to end the Resistance for good."
"Today, we say goodbye to two brave men." Leia spoke to the gathered Resistance members. She stood on the limestone steps of the temple. Her white uniform shimmered in the noon light of Tython's sun. Before her stood Ray, Finn, Lando Calrissian, R2-D2, C3-P0, and a large number of pilots, soldiers, and officers.
"Commander Poe Dameron...and Han Solo. Though it didn't seem like it, they had much in common. Both of them died to save something they believed in. Poe Dameron sacrificed his life to save the Resistance. Unfortunately, death came to him later, in a way he didn't deserve. Without his message to us about the attack on D'Qar, we would've been wiped out and our alliance broken...Han Solo died trying to save his son. He sacrificed himself, hoping that his son would come back to the Light." Leia paused a moment and looked over Ray, who was trying to hold back tears. "Sadly," she continued, "He was wrong."
After Leia's eulogy, Poe's body, dressed in his formal uniform, was laid onto a wooden pyre. Finn was chosen to ignite it. Taking a lit torch, he held it against the coals that surrounded the bottom of the wood pile. Immediately, the coal and wood caught fire, and Finn stepped back to watch his friend burn up. There was a moment of silence for the fallen hero, but soon, the crowd diminished. Several officers headed to the Temple where Leia was going to have a meeting. She, however, stayed a little longer to watch the fire.
"General Organa." Leia turned around to see two guards walk towards her.
"Yes?"
"Motion sensors in the northwest quadrant picked up two people exiting the base," one guard replied. Leia told them that it was only Luke and Ray leaving for an ancient Jedi building, and then, she followed the guards to the Temple to begin her meeting.
Meanwhile, Luke and Ray continued through the forest landscape of Tython. A little ways past the base, they came to a narrow dirt path. On both sides of it, hidden among the trees and bushes, Ray could see multiple stone statues. One had two head tails, and another only stood about 3 feet tall. The only similarity between the statues was that they wielded stones lightsabers.
"Master," Ray said, "who are they?"
"They were the first Jedi Sentinels," he replied. "Charged with the protection of the old Republic."
"What did they protect against?"
"Oh, there were bounty hunters, the Hutts, Mandalorian mercenaries, pirates," Luke explained.
"Sith?" By this time, they had passed the statues and were continuing along the path.
"No. But there was the Dark Side."
"What do you mean?" Ray asked, as they started climbing a flight of stone steps built into the side of a grassy hill.
"Well, the Sith were once Jedi that had been corrupted by the Dark Side. It's influence made them believe that, if they had more power, they could protect more people, fight better, and even keep their friends and family from dying. This lust for power caused some Jedi to, eventually, leave the Order and become Sith, the servants of the Dark Side. That's why the Jedi always began training as infants, so that they could learn to repel these temptations."
As they came to the top of the hill, Ray noticed four silver spire standing tall above the nearby forest. Each one was missing chunks of its structure and had vines growing up the sides; evidence of the wear and tear that came from no maintenance for a thousand years. The towers were arranged into a square, and there was an empty area in the middle.
"We've reached the Sanctuary," Luke said, quietly. He placed his non-metallic hand against the closest tower and closed his eyes. For two minutes, nothing happened, and then suddenly, the ground began shaking. Ray found herself amazed as the column, Luke leaned against, began rotating. As it turned, it rose slowly upward until a small hole could be seen. Luke let go of the tower, and it stopped turning. The opening that appeared was only 4ft tall, and inside it was a ladder that led down into the ground.
"How'd you do that?" Ray asked.
"When it comes to the Force," Luke replied, "size doesn't matter. Now, follow me." He stooped down through the hole and lowered himself onto in the dusty, cobweb-filled, metal ladder. Ray crept in after him and began descending. The walls were smoothed stone, and, through the dim light that shone in, drawings could be seen etched into them. Soon, Luke and Ray were in complete darkness. After 5 minutes of climbing blindly, Ray started wondering if they were ever going to reach the bottom. "Not much farther," Luke said, obviously knowing what she was thinking. Luckily, he was right. Soon, they were both standing on the dirt floor at the bottom of the ladder.
"Lando's data is accurate with our field reports," Leia announced. She inserted a memory drive into the holoprojector in front of her, and the image of a floating city was displayed to the various officers, commanders, and generals at the meeting. "The First Order has a presence on Bespin. As far as we know, they have been illegally mining gases at the center of the cloud and attacking nearby colonies."
"What is the First Order doing at a place like that?" asked a lieutenant.
"Tibanna," Lando answered, walking up to the group. "It's a highly coveted, explosive, gas used in many large ships as a source of fuel. One of the reasons Bespin's economy is flourishing is because we have one of the few natural sources of Tibanna in the system."
"Let me guess. You don't want your precious business suffering a little because of this," a pilot mocked.
"We've dealt with pirates before," Lando continued, ignoring the previous remark. "But the First Order is stealing a resource that was normally given to the Resistance. They are limiting your supply, which could change the tide of the war. If you are going to attack, now would be the time."
"Here," Leia rotated the display. "It's a refinery station, just above the the center of Bespin." Lando studied the image and then shook his head.
"That's not one of ours. We don't go that deep."
"Well, if this is where they're operating from, we could send in a boarding party to take it over," Leia suggested. Outside, the sun began to set over Tython, and hidden in the trees, six figures, clad in armor, patiently waited for the night.
It had been over an hour since the two Jedi had climbed down into the darkness. At first, it didn't bother Ray that she was so far underground, but now, walking through a seemingly endless maze of dark tunnels with only Luke's lightsaber to guide her, she yearned to be back outside. Luke wasn't much help in this matter. He stayed a few yards ahead and hardly said anything except for the occasional "this way" or "keep up". Finally, Ray decided to break the silence by bringing up the only thing on her mind.
"Last night, I had this unusual dream," she told Luke, who hummed in acknowledgment. "I was alone in a dark room, and then, six men in cloaks appeared. Each was holding a red-bladed lightsaber. They started walking towards me, and I tried to yell for help. But no sound came out. Suddenly, this...man holding a blue lightsaber appears and starts calling for me to run. The other men start running at him, and out of nowhere, I yell 'Father!' "
Ray waited for Luke to respond to her story but heard no response. "Master?" There was no answer. "Hello? Luke!?" Still no response. Looking around, she desperately searched for any sign of the elder Jedi but found nothing. To make things worse, the tunnel in front of her split into two paths, one going right and the other left. Shining the blue light lightsaber down each path, Ray saw only stone walls and dirt floor. "Which way?" she thought. Either way could lead her to Luke, or it could make her even more lost. She didn't remember the directions they took, so going back wasn't an option. "I can't just wait here." Having made up her mind, Ray took a deep breath and turned down the left passage.