A New Player in the Force

“You’re sure of the reading?” Fay asked as I sat with her and Dooku in the cockpit of the Ne’tra Sartr. It’d been a few hours since we’d left Tatooine, and after helping Anakin and Shmi settle into one of the quarters on the vessel – which had resulted in me having to bunk with Dooku – I’d been summoned to the cockpit to explain why and how I’d found the boy and my plans for him.

The first part was easy, and just a rehash of the ‘vision’ I’d used to convince them to let me pilot the ship to Tatooine. The second part though, was proving far harder, especially as Dooku had just revealed Anakin’s midi-chlorian count.

Twenty-seven thousand seven hundred was the count, and after a moment where both Fay and I had processed that reveal, Fay had asked for the confirmation from Dooku.

“I am,” Dooku began, passing a datapad to her. “I rechecked it four times. The boy’s count is higher than any on record, even your own Cameron.” He continued. I knew that my count of twenty-five thousand had been the highest on record which my masters had confirmed not long after my increased count had been discovered. Though Fay suggested that such counts might have existed in older time periods as, unlike Master Nu, she accepted that the Jedi Archives were far from complete and not as extensive as many believed. “With such a count, I find it hard to continue with your original suggestion of placing him with the Lokella. A child with this much potential needs to begin their training as soon as possible.”

Both my masters turned to face me and as I met their eyes, I took a deep breath. When I’d first convinced them of my vision, I’d revealed I wanted the child, if there was one, to be taken and raised with the Lokella. At that time, I’d been clear that the vision showed them with a family, but I hemmed and hawed about the composition of said family. That had helped persuade my masters to at least consider the idea of having the person in my vision staying with the Lokella for a short time.

Now with the reveal of Anakin’s count, that plan was in doubt. Plus, it likely hadn’t been helped by Anakin standing in front of the two Jedi Masters mere moments after arriving on the vessel and stating, with total confidence, that he was going to be a Jedi just like them when he was older. Shmi had smiled at that, though I’d sensed her fear as she did, hinting she feared losing her son right after being freed. Anakin though, in that way children do, failed to see any downside to being a Jedi.

I felt the Force swirling around us and realising this was the moment where I could completely alter Anakin’s future – I hoped – I activated Enhance Stat for Charisma and Enhance Skill for all my relevant social skills. I knew that I was going to need every trick and advantage I had to convince my masters to at least consider not sending the most powerful Force user in recorded history to the temple on Coruscant.

“In my vision,” I began, hating that not only was I having to frame what I knew in such a way – though it was an interesting loophole to use as, so long as I stayed vague, I seemed able to hint at future events – but that I also had to lie to my masters. “When I had the vision about someone on this world, there was more to it.”

“Then why didn’t you say something at the time?” Fay asked, her face calm but firm. “Was there a reason you left part of the vision out?”

“Yes and no.” I paused and took another breath. While I didn’t need the time to think as I’d been expecting this talk since long before we’d arrived in-system, I had a role to play. “The initial vision was about someone on a twin-sun world, but as we got closer to Tatooine, it began to alter. It grew longer. The newer… images were hazy, like they’d been with the vision of the Jedi fighting the Sith.” I explained, looking at Dooku and getting a faint nod in – what I hoped was – understanding back.

“Slowly, as seems to be the case with any vision I get, things started to become clearer. I saw a child, one we now know is Anakin, grow into a young man. He seemed powerful, impressive, becoming someone others looked up to, almost adored even. Yet through it all, there was a darkness just behind his shoulder; almost as if it – whatever it was – was whispering into his ear and moulding him to its designs.” I paused and gulped as I allowed images of the end of Anakin’s duel on Mustafar to enter my head, wanting them there in case either Jedi Master picked up on my thoughts. “But then things turned dark, and I saw this man burn. From the ash of the flames a large black metallic monster arose like a pillar of darkness. Soon, that darkness spread out like cancer across the galaxy. As much of a pillar and conduit of the darkness, the monster wasn’t the actual source. There was something else that was the root of it. That same shadow just behind his shoulder, whispering and conducting the monster as ably as a master puppeteer. Together, as the monster and the shadow cast the darkness over the galaxy, I felt… death. I saw deaths. Too many to count…” I gulped as I remembered the images I’d seen of Fay, Serra and others dying just before I’d touched the Dark Side on that cursed planet nearly half a year ago. “Your deaths and others came at the hands of the black figure.”

I paused and shook my head; mimicking clearing my thoughts and worries before I reached my end. “I feel it in my soul that if we let Anakin go to the Temple, be raised under its roof, then this vision will come to pass and the Jedi, the Republic will fall into darkness and the Sith will reign triumphant over the galaxy.” Yes, I was laying it on thick, but I felt I had to. I needed Anakin to stay away from the Temple, to stay clear of Sidious’ grasp, for as long as I could manage and for that to happen, I needed Fay and Dooku to be convinced of my fears.

“Before we go over these visions of yours, I want you to understand that we trust you, Cameron,” Fay began slowly after the pair had taken a few moments to consider my words. “One thing I do not doubt was that, at least regarding us coming to Tatooine again, this is what the Force wanted. Now, if that was for us to find young Anakin and begin his training as a Jedi, or for another path to have been taken, I cannot say. The Force has never been entirely clear about what it reveals to us through visions.” Dooku frowned at this, but with his opinions on visions and not listening to them well known to me after our years together, his reaction made sense. “That said, to suggest that a child with potential to use the Force, never mind one as gifted as the boy, shouldn’t be sent immediately for Jedi training…” her words trailed off and she shook her head. “To my knowledge, such a thing has only ever been done by wandering Jedi – like I was before you became our Padawan – who discover a gifted child on a far-flung world. Unless you are suggesting that one of us should formally end our bond with you to begin young Anakin’s training – and I don’t feel that is the wisest course of action for us to take – then I’m reluctant to acquiesce to your wish.

“I understand that Master, I truly do. However, as we came closer to Tatooine, and I became sure that whoever I’d discover would be the person in my vision, I started to meditate more frequently.”

“At least that small mystery is solved,” Dooku commented, drawing a brief smile from Fay. I frowned in confusion, though when Dooku failed to explain, I moved back to my ‘story’.

“In my meditation, I felt the Force moving around the figure in my visions; I can’t say how, but the fate of far more than just that one boy rests on our actions. I… I wasn’t and I’m still not overly comfortable with that idea, but putting that aside, above all, the vision made one thing very clear. We cannot send him to the Temple. If we do, he will fall to the Dark Side.” I was surprised that I was able to get that out without the TPTB turning my words into gibberish. Perhaps with me revealing the generals to my masters as a vision, and having them accept that, it allowed me a touch more leeway about what I could reveal about the future. Or perhaps it was because of what my quest detailing Anakin hinted at if I failed that I was able to provide more detailed reasoning/imagery to them. Though that was something to ponder at another time.

“I do concede that those like us who can commune with the Force easily often have a larger than normal impact on the people and planets around us than most could ever hope of achieving.” Fay remarked with what I hoped was a hint of doubt in her voice as she spoke about me and Anakin. “And I cannot deny that, in millennia gone by, a small group of Jedi or Sith could alter the destiny of the republic and the very fate of the galaxy itself, so perhaps there is some truth to these visions of yours; and the concern they are causing you. I merely am wary of committing to the belief that we are once again on such a knife edge that the Force would choose to introduce such potential wild cards again.”

“Putting aside the idea of the boy not going to the Temple for a moment,” Dooku said slowly, “I disapprove greatly of not having someone begin the boy’s training in the ways of the Force. The longer he is left untrained and unsupervised, the greater the chance for his actions to have severe repercussions for himself and others.”

“On that I agree master, which is why I was willing to secure his release from slavery. While Watto seemed a decent being, he still treated the Skywalkers as property. Leaving him in that situation would’ve increased the chances that he’d inadvertently lash out against Watto or another with the Force; tainting him in the minds of others for using the Dark Side as a child.” I concurred while using my own moment of giving in to the Dark Side as an example of the problems Anakin might face with the Jedi. Now, that wasn’t to say that I felt the Dark Side wasn’t a potential source of power, just that I was beginning to understand the issues inherent with trying to use and control that aspect of the Force.

“While I am curious as to how you convinced the Toydarian to accept Republic credits, that is unimportant. What is important is that we remember that Anakin is young, though not ideally so. If we took him to the Temple, we’d be taking the boy from his mother just after freeing them would likely result in him feeling resentment towards the Jedi in general, and us in particular, for that.” Fay offered. While that did sound like support for what I wanted, I knew she was simply placing another issue on the table for us to discuss it.

“Regarding the credits, I used them to purchase gems first,” that was entirely true as I’d found a small gem store on Mos Espa, but it hadn’t carried nearly enough gems for this to work. I’d bought some gems though, for appearances sake, then placed most of the credits I’d been given – around seventy thousand – into my Inventory. “But yeah, separating Anakin from Shmi would be an issue. In all likelihood, he would eventually grow out of it, but having him resent us could be an issue. Particularly if Anakin is the one Master Nilas spoke of seeing with me in her visions.”

My masters looked at each other for a moment before Fay turned back to me and spoke. “You feel Anakin is the other that Master Nilas spoke of? The one who is the Chosen One but is not?” I nodded in answer, which brought silence to the cockpit. From the subtle shift in the Force, I knew they were speaking privately to each other and thus waited patiently until they were finished.

A faint nod from Dooku had me shifting my focus to him just as he began to speak. “As we recall, you mentioned to Master Nilas that you felt the easiest way to handle this dual Chosen One concept was to befriend the other she saw. Are we to assume that you still feel that is the best course of action?”

“Yes, master.” I paused and glanced towards the closed door of the cockpit. “Though I didn’t expect this… partner, for lack of a better word, to be nearly a decade younger than me. That does make things more complicated.” I added, drawing a small smile from Fay and a grunt from Dooku.

I reached out with the Force, curious as to what Anakin was doing, and sensed that he was with Bo – which was an interesting pairing and I wondered what sort of things they were discussing – while Shmi was in the common area of the ship. While it was still hard to sense Anakin, now that I knew what to search for, it was easier to locate – something made even easier given that we were in hyperspace with only five sentients and a droid head onboard the transport.

Something that I was glad of now, but surprised about at first, was just how roomy the Ne’tra Sartr was. Apparently, this prototype that Adonai had commissioned was quite different from the transports I remembered from the CW show. Instead of a general troop transport, this larger model was a ship capable of carrying four to eight people on longer operations; though four people would have to bunk in the cargo area to carry that many. With this change the ship went from what I suspected was a cramped but capable military transport to a long-range strike vessel for a covert op team. Or in our case, a mobile base for a small group of Jedi, even if it was a bit excessively armed for Jedi tastes.

“That it does, though one thing I have become sure of is that, just as we have guided you in the ways of the Force, you would help guide the other. I wondered if that might mean you would become their master, however with the age difference between you two such as it is, I do not believe the Council would agree to you taking one with such potential as your first Padawan.” Fay mentioned before her lips curled upwards, strengthening her smile. “Then again, something we are all aware of is that none of us place total faith in the Council or its decrees.”

That brought a smile to my face, and even one to Dooku’s though you had to know and understand him to know it was there. “Yes, master. Though I admit the idea of becoming Anakin’s master is both enticing and terrifying. Perhaps, when the time comes for him to be formally taken as a Padawan, another might be found to train him so that I could serve merely as an older brother or mentor figure for him.” And that was the truth. Training Anakin was tempting but the risk involved was massive. I felt I could do a better job than Obi-Wan – mainly as I wasn’t drinking the Council’s Kool-Aid – but the risks with having Anakin as my first Padawan were immense. One wrong move, one big fuck up and I ran the risk of making him into something worse that Darth Vader had been in the original timeline.

“You say that you wish to, at the very least, help to train him, yet you’re adamant that he isn’t placed with the Order currently.” Dooku observed as he leaned closer to me. His hands came to rest against each other via their fingertips. “This feels like a contradiction. After all, how could we begin his training if he is not to be taken to the Temple?”

“While we could take him with us, I’m against that,” I said slowly, “but for now, I think giving him and his mother time to adjust to their freedom would be the smartest choice. And while the Lokella aren’t the safest place for them, they are people we know, trust and with – as far as we know – no permanent connection to the Jedi or Sith.”

“I still fail to see why you are so disinclined with placing him at the Temple,” Dooku replied as his eyes watched me intently. “Ignoring any issues that you know Master Fay and I have with the current leadership and mindset; I feel we need to hear your reasoning for why the boy shouldn’t be placed there before we are prepared to consider your request.”

“First, which we’ve already touched on, is the idea of separating Anakin from his mother so soon after freeing them. Along with the point Master Fay made, there’s also the issue with taking a recently freed slave and dropping them in a place where all adults are referred to as Master.” As I spoke, I could see the shift in both their faces to indicate this point hadn’t occurred to them. “I understand fully that the meanings are different, but when added to the fact we’d be taking him from his mother, that is an issue there to consider. Shmi is the only figure in his life showing him compassion and love, so depriving him of that and forcing him to not see her again is a problematic situation I’d like to avoid, at least for the time being until both of them have had time to adapt to their new circumstances of living.”

“Sadly, this is a true consideration and a significant reason why the Order is generally against the addition of older children,” Fay observed. “A familial bond is one of the strongest in nature, but also one that, if not managed well, places a Force user at great risk of corruption from their desire to protect their family. Older Younglings often have issues with this, to say nothing of the rare cases of Initiate-aged children brought into the Order.”

“Indeed. The simple fact, Cameron, is that if you had arrived at the Temple with your grandfather, then the Council would never have even considered accepting you into the Order. Your lack of family, when combined with your high potential to use the Force, was one of the primary reasons they were willing to overlook your advanced age for an Initiate and admit you into the Order.” Dooku added, using my past as an example.

“Would I be right in assuming that was something that also factored into them letting Tedra into the Order?” I asked as neither of her parents had been among the freed slaves.

“That was one thing in her favour, yes. Master Yaddle stated that between that, Initiate Zill’s high midi-chlorian count, and the recommendation of Master Dooku, the Council of First Knowledge granted her admittance into the Order.” Fay confirmed along with letting me know Dooku had essentially put in a good word for Tedra; which was unexpected but proof he wasn’t as uncaring as he appeared. “As for young Anakin, one thing in his favour there is that he’s never had a father figure. Shmi claims to not know who his father is.”

“That is, sadly, not unexpected of any female slave,” Dooku commented. If not for the slight edge that came to his voice at the mention of slavery, I’d almost think he was talking down about Shmi. Honestly, if not for the fact I knew how anti-slavery he was, it would come a surprise to see his reaction when having to discuss – never mind deal with – slavers. Still it was always an eye-opener to see the possible Darth Tyrannus be so against slavery given to the groups he’d associated with as leader of the CiS.

“While that is true in many cases, here it is not.” Fay responded after a gentle shake of her head. “Shmi is adamant that not only did she never take a lover around the time Anakin was conceived, but that her master at the time didn’t give her to others to enjoy.” Fay’s face twisted so much by the end that, when combined with the brief burst of anger I sensed before she let the feeling go, it was almost as if Fay had been replaced by someone far less compassionate for a second. “The boy has no father.” She added once the moment had passed, revealing something that I was hesitant to bring up.

Dooku’s eyes narrowed as he took that in. “No father? I do hope you’re not suggesting the child was conceived by the Force or another miraculous event.” His words and tone made it clear just how preposterous he found the idea to be.

Fay's smile shifted into one of those ‘I’m older and wiser than you’ ones I remembered my grandmother used to love as she replied. “While there is a possibility that is the case, I feel it unlikely. More likely the child is the result of a dalliance that Shmi Miss Skywalker has either forgotten or wishes to forget. I only bring it up because, based on the rough date of Anakin’s birth occurring around the time of Cameron’s arrival, there is a clear sign the Force is at work here. Two unusually strong Force users appearing or being born at the same time is not a coincidence.”

Dooku’s brow twitched. “As much as I wish I could dismiss such a point, I cannot.” He sighed, and in that moment, there was a rare glimpse of a man in later life who was growing tired of life, and everything connected to it. “While I would appreciate it if the Force found ways to limit how difficult it makes things for us, I accept that is not how the Force works; nor that it allows coincidences to occur without reason.”

“Quite so. Though it is in those moments, as you well know, that we are able to influence events in accordance with the Force’s needs,” Fay added, her grandmotherly smile still present. “However, I feel we have drifted slightly off-topic here. Cameron, if you would continue.”

“Yes, master. Another issue, and one I dislike the most, is that within the Temple – specifically within the High Council itself – there are people who dislike me. Given this, and the fact Anakin’s potential is greater than even my own, there’s a chance that these people, this element, might try to… indoctrinate Anakin to see that everything I have done or will do is against the Council’s, the Jedi, and the Republic’s wishes. As much as I don’t want to admit it, they would use Anakin to counter me and label either a subversive element in the Order, or even a Dark Jedi in training.”

“Something that would be even easier to manage if the truth of your parentage came to light,” Dooku added as he tapped his forefingers against each other. “And while I would prefer that the Order wasn’t rife with internal issues and instead focused on… difficulties inherent in the Republic, it is a fact of nature that any sufficiently large group of beings will develop internal factions with differing opinions on the direction their group is heading and how events should be handled.” He sighed before continuing. “And now with the threat of the Sith hanging over us, even if only a small number of us are aware and accepting of this, any schism in the Order brought on by your or those opposed to you could well prove catastrophic to the Order’s – and indeed the Republic’s – survival.”

I nodded as Dooku spoke, finding that I agreed with what he was saying. Yet, a part of me was becoming convinced that a schism in the Order might be the only way to save it; or at least correct the flaws inherent in it from those who would blindly follow the Republic and the Senate without asking why they were doing so. “Aye, plus there’s this feeling I have that the Sith, or their puppets, are active in the Senate. If I’m right, and I feel as though I am, then they have influence there, and thus over the Order the closer the Order decides to cleave itself to the Senate. Placing Anakin in the Temple will place him in the Sith’s crosshairs right just as he begins to show resentment towards us from separating him from his mother.”

“You feel the Sith would move to try to corrupt him, turn him to the Dark Side?” Fay asked as her smile fell and her brow creased.

I nodded before verbally responding. “Yes, master. If not him, then me. We all know I’ve touched the Dark Side. Many Jedi felt when I lashed out, kriff, even Padmé did. If it was strong enough of a ripple that she felt it, then I have to assume that the Sith felt it as well.”

And that idea dominated my thoughts during my downtime. If either Sith Lord – or Maul, wherever he was, for that matter – decided to kidnap me for ‘training’ there was shab-all I could do to stop them. Kriff, even if I knew they were coming, my only options would be to run or die; and I wasn’t sure either would be allowed. Then, of course, was the fear of them getting their hooks into Anakin from an even earlier age. That gnawing, ice-cold pit in my stomach had kept me up more than a few nights, and several times I’d found myself contemplating ways to kill Anakin to prevent his fall, which made me sick to my stomach.

Dooku leaned back and began to stroke his bread. “That… is concerningly probable.”

“Even with those issues, real or potential, the Jedi Temple is still the best option we have for training Anakin to become a Jedi.” Fay countered; her brow still creased. I could sense her unease with the subject and some reluctance that I assumed was to do with placing Anakin in the Temple. Or I hoped it was as that meant there was a small but growing chance that I could convince her to, if not prevent it, then at least delay it for a year or two. “If we go with your suggestion to place him with a group of freed slaves, there is a risk he forms attachments to others. That would hinder any future development he will have as a Jedi.”

“I understand your concern, master, and I agree with the risk you mention about placing Anakin with the Lokella poses. Plus, there is always the chance that the Hutt behind the initial slave mining operation makes another concerted effort to recapture the system and slaves. However those risks are, at least to me, less than the chance that the Sith learn about Anakin and move to train him to bring about the end of the Jedi Order.”

Silence fell over the cockpit for a while as we all contemplated the two options on the table. All I could hope was that, when the time came to make a decision, my masters at least allowed me a vote on the matter because while they did treat me like an adult, I was still just their Padawan and was expected to follow their instructions.

“Perhaps,” Dooku began slowly, as if giving voice to a still forming thought. “Perhaps, we might consider sending Anakin to another group. As much as I have issues with several members of the group, there are the Green Jedi on Corellia. They could be another option if we decide to follow Cameron’s advice and not send the boy to the Temple.” That wasn’t something I’d considered, but it was an option. “Or even a Force sect with less connections to the High Council, such as the Matukai.”

Now those options were completely unexpected. Although I did remember the name Matukai from the KOTOR games, that had only showcased their force-enabling equipment, not anything further about their practices.

“While I don’t know that the Matukai would be entirely suitable, I do concede that such groups need to be considered,” Fay replied almost as slowly. “If we are truly concerned with Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side, then perhaps a visit to the Voss would be more beneficial, as they have a unique affinity for such futuristic visions. It’s possible that they might also be agreeable to guiding and educating him.”

Dooku’s mouth twisted. He looked like someone who had been forced to swallow a bowl of lemon drops. I didn’t know who the Voss were, but they were obviously not held in high esteem by the Serennian master.

Fay continued, seemingly ignoring him. “And, in the interests of fairness, if we are going to consider not sending Anakin to the Temple – and for the record, I am still to be convinced that is not the best course of action – then we need to continue these discussions and consider all possible options. That would also give us time to meditate on them.”

“Agreed. Now, since regardless of our decision regarding the boy, you wish for the mother to be placed with the Lokella?” Dooku asked as he turned his attention to me. I nodded in reply. “That we can all agree on,” he continued as he slowly stood. “Once we’ve exited this hyperspace jump, set course for the ShaDo system. Master Fay and I will both meditate on the boy.”

“And perhaps talk with him,” Fay offered as she also stood. “While he’s too young to fully understand his choices, I feel that speaking with him might help us in deciding which path is the correct one. Just before we arrive, we will reconvene this discussion. If we allow Anakin time to settle on Mtael’s Gift, we run the chance of him making more attachments that would need to be broken if we both feel he should head to the Temple.”

Dooku lowered his head in agreement and acceptance, then the two left the cockpit. As I turned to the controls and readied the request for the hyperspace routes for the next stage of our journey – there was no direct route from Tatooine to the ShaDo system so we needed to take several hyperspace lanes that skirted Hutt Space – I felt relief that my wish for Anakin to not go to the Temple hadn’t been dismissed out of hand. Yes, there was still the chance Fay and Dooku could decide that was the best option, but I now had just under a week to not only hope they saw things from my perspective but to prepare more arguments why the Lokella was the best current place for Anakin.

I’d also planned to spend time with him getting to know him and building the start of a friendship. If my masters planned to speak with him about his choices, then having him trust me and along with wanting to stay close to his mother was a card I would play.

It might be underhanded but given the very real risks with placing him in the Temple held, I was willing to do all I could – short of directly disobeying my masters – to get the outcome I wanted.

… …

… …

Two figures, each bearing shafts of light, blades of energy, stood across from each other. The lower blade glowing a deep, rich blue; the higher one shining pure on the edges, yet dark as pitch at its core. The Force hummed in excitement around them, contrasting the bright shine of new and untapped yet seemingly limitless potential, with the older and more focused well of energy that boasted nearly as much depth as the first.

Suddenly, the smaller figure moved, their blade surging forward, though the taller one blocked with the faintest flick of his wrist. The challenger pulled back, then came again. The strike was fast, yet due to the wielder’s stature, was physically weaker and easy for the older and more experienced duelist to deflect with their black blade.

Yet, as time passed, the student grew stronger. The attacks came more controlled while maintaining their power. The two blades grew brighter in power and slowly shifted. One from the rich azure into a light violet hue, while the other thinned, and shortened slightly, the white nimbus growing fainter until it was little more than a shell to give the darkness a predefined shape. The student also grew slowly, and as the tendrils of the Force receded, Cam and Anakin were revealed. Cam was older, ash brown hair pulled back behind his head in a low-slung ponytail held in place by an engraved clasp, holding the Darksaber in a loose one-handed grip at his side. Anakin was also slightly older, barely in his teens as he came into focus.

The image shifted as dark grey waves of smoke filtered across it, when they cleared both Anakin and Cam were now back-to-back. From all around them, multi-coloured blaster bolts raged in a deadly storm. Yet none touched them.

Their blades moved as one even though neither could see the other, deflecting and blocking all the fire that came their way. Nothing breached the spherical walls of fire the pair had conjured with their sabres. Anakin was grinning wildly, seemingly enjoying the chaos erupting around them and, while Cam was less exuberant, joy still shone through in his eyes, if only at the enjoyment of teaming with Anakin, rather than the calibre of the opponents that they faced.

Ripples of smoke appeared once more, briefly obscuring the scene. When it once more became clear, the bolts of energy had shifted, replaced by shafts of sunfire in various hues. Yellow, green, and blue blades moved in a loose outer circle, their faces hidden by robes of shadowy mist, contrasting the two warriors, who remained in the middle, back to back. Anakin still appeared eager but seemed to be restraining himself.

Suddenly, one of the figures, who sported the twin blades of a saberstaff, surged forward while twirling the blades above their head like the codependent orbit of flaming binary stars. Anakin moved to block and retaliate, only for a second figure to break from the circle and strike in an effort to separate them. Cam answered by shifting to guard Anakin’s flank, guiding and pushing back the blade, before spinning back to his starting position. That was the signal for the others in the attacking ring to move. Blades of various colours thrust, struck, and crashed against the defences of the central pair. Anakin was clearly the less skilled of the pair, but never did he seem overwhelmed as Cam was always there, ready to intervene when necessary. A gesture here, a tug on Anakin there, an elegant and fluid parry there. Always, the master protected the student from being struck.

Faster and faster the attacking ring moved, but no matter how fast they came, from what direction or combination, the central pair stood firm. Enjoyment radiated from both as they moved in sync, flowing with grace, power and determination. Though that all changed in an instant when, after blocking an emerald strike, Anakin stepped forward, pivoted around the blade lock, and struck the figure in a blitzing counter strike, his sabre a tongue of searing violet ice. The figure collapsed to the ground and their blade winked out. A brief, unexpected lull fell over the scene before the attackers surged forwards once more, this time with far more intensity.

Anakin was forced to step back, pushing his back against Cam’s. In response, Cam’s movements shifted, replacing the calm but excited demeanour with grim determination. With a flick and twist, he redirected an oncoming blow into its neighbour, unbalancing two of his attackers before a jet of flame engulfed another. Anakin, encouraged by his mentor, started striking back against their foes with renewed intensity, driving back their attackers who wavered; almost as if shocked at what they were seeing.

The smoke spun around the pair once more, as the various blades of lights faded into it. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a battered Cam backing through a shallow river, one arm hanging uselessly at his side as his other armoured glove held the Darksaber tightly. After him followed a group of shadowed figures. Not Jedi, but hardly less dangerous, they wielded a variety of exotic weapons as they stalked their prey.

Even as Cam turned to face them, wisps of sickly green mist began to rise from the water and cling to Cam’s boots and greaves like long sinister fingers, responding to the chants of several of the attackers. As a shimmer of energy met the tendrils and began to force them back, Cam raised his saber to guard against a torrent of emerald lightning that was arcing towards him, forcibly splitting his attention.

As the rest of the attackers moved in to exploit this opening, an earth-shattering roar filled the air around them. An instant later, a streak of purple sliced through three of the figures before coming to rest beside Cam and forming into an enraged Anakin. There were no words that needed to be exchanged as the two faced their assailants in a furious counterattack, the air soon rent by battlecries and war chants.

The smoke fell across the vision once more, though this time it engulfed the central pair. When it cleared, Anakin was furiously clashing with another figure with a dark purple blade. He was attacking with the fury of a star, his anger easy to sense, yet even as it swirled around them both, it was seemingly absorbed by the wielder.

His opponent was aggressive, powerful, and easily matched Anakin’s lighter blade stroke for stroke, as they clashed. Suddenly, his adversary diverted his blade, crippled Anakin with a sharp kick to the knee, and then stuck out a hand, catching Anakin off-guard, and sending him soaring backwards. The young man tumbled end over end coming to a sudden stop against an obstacle, yet before they could move a flash of purple lightning arced the distance between the two and impaled Anakin where he lay.

A cry of pure anguish sent the purple blade hurtling back as Cam slid to a stop next to his apprentice. Pained ripples emerged from them as faint, golden light swirled around the pair, only to be driven back by a howl of pure, unadulterated rage from the older man, as his brother had fallen slack in his arms.

Another cry rent the air. However, whereas the first was the call of a wounded animal, this was rage and chaos incarnate. The air thrummed, translucent sonic waves nearly visible under the strain. The earth cracked around them, then cratered, earth and stone simultaneously compressing and exploding outwards in a maelstrom of furious energy. From the bodies of the two arced lances of non-energy. Bolts of pure nothingness tore through the air, rending apart the world of mortal sight and revealing an abyss darker than the frozen void between stars.

Seconds later, the energy reached a critical mass and the explosion came in an outward blast of pure chaos. Trees were uprooted and tossed aside like leaves. Boulders the size of starfighters were reduced to dust. The figure was blasted off his feet, his cloak torn from his body as he landed hard dozens of metres away, hastily scrambling to his feet. Stray ambient cracks of darkness permeated the air before slowly beginning to cyclone down towards Cam as the man stood and slowly turned towards their attacker.

A heartbeat later, a burst of darkness arced across the near-kilometre that separated the two. The killer barely had enough time to raise his blade in defence before a bolt of black lightning crashed downwards at him with the fury and strength of a meteor. The blow drove him to his knees as the ground cracked and shook once more.

The darkness coalesced once more into Cam, who stood blade-locked over his opponent. His eyes, completely pitch-black except for irises blazing with hellfire, stared down into the sickly yellow gaze of Mace Windu.

The smoke once more returned, though this time, faint black and red tendrils surged within it. Cam reappeared with two others, striding along the command bridge between the crew pits, his black glittering cape, emblazoned with a red dragon’s head scarred with a purple slash across its left eye, billowing out around him like a monarch's mantle. Around them, things – people – buzzed, all moving hard to avoid their gaze.

Behind Cam, his companions followed on behind: one with dark, raven hair flowing freely behind them. The other with a river of fiery hair flowing down over both shoulders and blasters strapped to their hips. Both moved close, with the raven-haired one reaching out for Cam’s hand. The hand dropped however, as a lumbering shadow approached and laid down, its body curled around Cam protectively, a wisp of thin shadow curling around his legs. It was almost completely silent amidst the murmuring voices of the crew, yet still massive enough that Cam merely reached out in front of him to absently stroke it.

The world they were seeing came back into sight as the dreadnought finished its flight pattern. Massive, magnificent towers reached the stars from all over the world as objects, starships, flew between wherever the mentor was and the planet below. A large vessel, decked in red and grey, fragmented and began a fiery free-fall as it was hammered from multiple sides by streaks of turbolaser fire.

Suddenly, images flashed across his vision. A yellow world, heated by twin suns. A dark, dirty red world that made the skin crawl. A dank, corrupted planet, sickly orange from the swampy pollution, orbited by a moon that was somehow even more vile. Each world then was enveloped by hundreds, thousands, of streaks of yellow. The surfaces of the worlds burnt and melted away under the intensity of the light, leaving no trace of life or infrastructure behind.

Those images faded away as the original planet came back into focus. Waves of energy, of life, radiated up from the world, almost as if pleading with Cam. Yet their pleas, that energy, found nothing to cling to as they struck the beskar-cold surface of the man’s determination.

A cold, focused fury radiated from Cam as a single world echoed around the room.

“Ragnarök.”

A moment of silence, then in simultaneous coordination, a hailstorm of red and blue bolts began to rain down on the city-planet below. A faint blue barrier blocked the initial volley, but that only made the volleys grow stronger and more frequent, until nothing could be seen except the illuminated corona of laser fire. Yet Cam stood unmoving.

Finally, after what felt like days, the light died down. Gone were the gleaming towers of metal that had reached for the sky. Gone was the energy of trillions of souls pleading for their lives. Gone was everything. All that remained was a black, twisted, lifeless rock that floated in the dead of space.

Eyes stared out through the viewport analysing the wreckage of the planet and the surrounding fleets. With the illumination of battle now over, the transparisteel had once more become semi-reflective. Yet there were no red eyes to stare back at him. The only thing visible was the mask. A dark cold visage with twisting horns, and teeth the colour of scarlet blood, the visor shining crimson like hellfire.

The smoky wisps returned, brushing away the death and rage, and replaced them once more with Cam and Anakin. Once more they were fighting back-to-back, but their surroundings were vastly different.

The two of them stood on a glowing disk of a hundred billion pricks of light, slowly spinning in a massive white vortex and condensing into a recognizable z-axis view of the galaxy. From all around them, from every corner encroached a vast web of shadowy tendrils, absorbing the light of stars. Blotting out entire sectors and consuming them to feed its growing formlessness. The two men stood with their blades drawn and drove away the shadows as much as possible, but despite their best efforts, more and more of the galaxy was consumed. Finally, Anakin stepped forward in front of Cam, and began taking the brunt of the focus. Cam stepped back, switched off his lightsaber and readied himself for a moment before hurling a hand down to land on the Deep Core in a single force-shockwave. The omnidirectional blast billowed out from him, vaporising the tendrils and scattering the remaining wisps of smoke back to the edges of the galaxy beyond all sight.

However, at the same time, the foundations on which the pair stood could not withstand that strike either. There was a great rumble as cracks began to grow along the length and breadth of the expanse of the galaxy. Splinters began to form, sectors of space broke off, entire galactic regions became displaced from the cohesion that they’d once been party to. As both Cam and Anakin reached out and tried to steady the tremors and disruption, they could only meet each other's gaze in triumph and exhilieration at their ultimate success, yet simultaneously sadness and resignation at what their victory had ultimately cost them.

I snapped up in bed, sweat dripping from my forehead as it made my sleepwear stick to my skin. “What. The. Fuck?” I muttered out between rapid shallow breaths. My mind spun as my mind raced, trying to process whatever the fuck I’d just dreamed.

I closed my eyes, trying to centre myself as I fought to regain control of my vision. I thought I heard something, but it was muffled, distant, so I ignored it and focused on what I’d just experienced. It took me longer than I’d have liked to get my heart rate under control, but I got there soon enough. With that done, I replayed the vision in my head, going over it slowly and carefully.

Everything about it screamed that it was a vision, yet it was unlike any I’d had before. The figures – which were myself and Anakin – were clear to see, even if many of the various attackers weren’t.

The first scene, for lack of a better word had clearly been me training him in how to use a lightsaber. I knew I was heavily leaning towards taking him as my Padawan when I could, but was this the Force telling me of what could or would happen if I did, or warning me of the dangers such a path posed?

Our first fight had been against, well mooks. I could understand the excitement Anakin had radiated, and my apparent disinterest as even now, after only a few years, I was growing bored of engaging groups of such people in combat. It wasn’t fair to have them go against someone trained in warfare, or the Force. Certainly not both.

The shift had shown us being attacked by Jedi, which was disconcerting. Did the Council deem my training of Anakin a threat, or the fact that between us we had the potential to be the most powerful Force users to exist? Would the idea of us having such radically different opinions from the majority of the Order result in them wanting to kill us? That seemed excessive, yet when I thought about it a moment, I could see it happening. If Windu – who I’d get back to in a moment – had felt the threat of Palpatine was too dangerous to be left alive, and he already had reservations about me being a Jedi, then how would he react if I altered Anakin’s opinions to more closely align with my own?

Now that wasn’t to say that I planned to, as I think how he’d grown up in the canon timeline wasn’t too far removed from how I’d approach certain situations, but I guess I could understand their logic, even if I’d call them fucking morons to their faces about it.

The third scene… an ambush, or multiple ambushes. I’d seen hints of ways Bo had attacked me when she’d used Mandalorian ways to counter Jedi in our spars in that part of the vision, but this had been far more aggressive and dangerous than anything Bo had done. Which made sense. Still, I’d have to be cautious as clearly someone – or multiple someones – had decided that hiring assassins and bounty hunters to take me out was a good idea.

I shivered as I got to the part where I saw Anakin die. That had been Windu, he had been unmistakeable, even with the yellow eyes. And speaking of which, since when was Windu a prospective Sith candidate to be Sidious’s apprentice? While I knew the man had major issues with me, the possibility of him falling so far into zealotry as to embrace the Dark Side…

I paused and took a deep breath, pushing away the surging emotions that section of the vision had brought on. I needed to analyse this clinically to try to understand it as there was no way that I could avoid…

My door opened and someone surged into the room.

“CAM!” Anakin calling out my name was the only warning I got before he leapt and slammed into me. His arms wrapped around my stomach tightly, almost too tightly.

I blinked, trying to work out why…

“Anakin, what happened?” I asked slowly as I wondered if he’d either picked up on my emotions while I’d slept – unlikely but possible as he was absurdly strong with the Force – or, and this was an idea that made my blood go cold, had he experienced the vision, or something similar, as well?

The boy didn’t answer, instead hugging me tighter, and instinctually pulling the Force around us. He was using it to protect us, which had me more concerned that he’d shared my vision, or at least parts of it.

Knowing that it’d take a while for him to calm enough that he’d been willing to speak, I placed my hand on his back and made small, circular motions even as I radiated as many calm and safe thoughts as I could within the Force.

Since I didn’t see Anakin relaxing soon and, so far, I hadn’t sensed anything from my masters meaning they either hadn’t sensed my vision – unlikely – or were sleeping – probable – I went back to analysing the vision; or what I’d seen at least.

I let the issue of Windu killing Anakin pass, both because I wanted to spare the boy from my anger, and also due to my relative lack of surprise at that particular turn of events. Instead, I moved onto the scene of me on a bridge of a warship. The two beside me had been Serra and Bo, and since we’d all been decked out in armour, it heavily implied that I’d not only left the Jedi after Anakin’s death – if I hadn’t already, but that I’d taken control of the clans and… gone to war.

The worlds I’d seen burn briefly were easy to place. Tatooine, Geonosis and Nal Hutta. All three were logical targets to attack, that I didn’t have an issue with. But shattering them until no life remained, and doing the same to Coruscant, that was something I couldn’t understand. Had my anger of Windu’s killing of Anakin, and the threat Sidious posed been enough for me to work my way to the point where I’d willingly burn a planet of a trillion sentients to kill a handful of targets?

What scared me slightly was that yes, I could see the path I’d take, the small steps in wars that could lead me there, and it terrified me. I knew such orders existed. The Republic called it the Base Delta Zero naval code, though it hadn’t been used in over a thousand years. But to think that I’d so willingly use it against Coruscant…

I closed my eyes and took a breath, clearing the dark and dangerous road my thoughts were heading down. I chose instead to focus on the end of the vision, where Anakin and I had been fighting back-to-back once more. There, he’d clearly been fighting Mace, yet this time Anakin had been holding his own, and even going out of his way to defend me. I’d do the same for him fighting Sidious – which hinted that what Anakin might’ve seen was his fate as Vader, which wasn’t something a boy of five should have to witness – and while that was a fight I knew I’d have to have one day, I felt this wasn’t want the vision was hinting at.

Unless I missed my guess, what the Force was suggesting that, to prevent either of us falling, we had to defend each other.

“C-Cam?” I looked down to see Anakin had pulled back enough that I could see his face. His eyes were red and his cheeks wet, though I’d never realised it as my clothes were still soaked in sweat. In his eyes I saw fear and terror, though the faintest hints of hope were buried beneath them.

“I’m here,” I replied, brushing some of his hair off his forehead, “and I assume that, like myself, you saw… images of what might be.”

He nodded slowly, then sniffed. “I, I, uh, saw you training me. Then us fighting…” His voice trailed off, and I picked up the conversation.

“Fighting beings with blasters, then others with lightsabers, then a collection of beings with lots of different types of weapons?” I asked. His eyes widened and he nodded again. “And whatever came next, it scared you, didn’t it?”

His head went back against my chest though from the movement he made, I understood he was once more nodding.

“I won’t go into detail, but would you like to hear what I saw?” I asked very slowly. Revealing what I’d done might scar him for life, but at the same time, him hearing that I’d seen myself doing terrible things might help him.

I paused and took a deep breath as I felt something shift around us. “I saw… I saw you die,” he held me tighter, “then I saw myself do… things I’d never do. I, I killed anyone and everyone in my way just to kill the one that killed you.” That was as far as I was willing to take it. Anymore, and I instinctively knew I’d drive a wedge between us.

“Wh, when I saw you die,” he said slowly after a moment, his head still pressed tightly against my chest, “I went after the one who killed you. So-sometimes he had a red sword, sometimes a longer blue one. I, uh, I lost each time. They placed me in a cage of metal and made me do horrible things.” He paused and whimpered. “I was a slave all over again, and I helped them enslave others.”

“Shh,” I whispered as I stroked his head. “It’s alright. What we saw isn’t the future, not unless we let it be.” I added slowly, trying to take his thoughts past those images to the final part of the vision; the part I would move planets to reach. “Focus on the end. We fought together, we kept each other safe. That is the part I want you to focus on, to keep in mind whenever you think about this again. So long as we work together, we fight together, neither of us will do those things.”

His head moved in a nod as he tightened his grip even further. He had to be using the Force subconsciously as there was no way a boy this young could hug me tight enough that I started to hurt. Still, I understood perfectly why he needed to, and so let it go. I merely continued to rub gentle circles on his back, waiting for him to calm down enough that I could get him back to his room.

As I soothed Anakin, my mind turned to the very end of vision. When I’d been trying to hold the galaxy together, to drive back the darkness, I’d shattered the galaxy. I didn’t know though if the vision of me had intentionally broken the galaxy, or if it had been an unintended side effect of trying to protect it from whatever had been in those dark, malevolent tendrils. What could possibly have driven me to be so desperate that I’d even consider doing something that carried such a risk?

The door to my quarters opened and Shmi stormed in “Anakin! There you are!” she said as she moved towards us. It was clear she was panicked about him, which suggested he’d woken her when he’d jumped from his bunk and come to me.

“It’s alright Miss Skywalker,” I began before she was close enough to try and prise her son from his hug, “Anakin just had a dream; one brought on by the Force.” I paused and gulped as a worried mother turned her attention on me, making it clear she was less than impressed with what she was hearing. “Um…” I paused and licked my lips, trying to work out how to explain this to someone who knew next to nothing about the Force.

Shmi crossed her arms and looked at me. It wasn’t a glare, but it promised that, once Anakin was calm and back in bed, she’d return to this point, probably with my masters present.

That was going to be a fun conversation.

… …

… …

It took just over five days to make the various hyperlane connections of our journey. With the system being well off the beaten path, and needing to manoeuvre carefully so close to the Hutt Space border, it’d taken longer than I’d expected but that’d just given me more time to think up reasons for Anakin staying with the Lokella and to bond with him.

“We’re approaching the exit coordinates,” Bo said from the co-pilot’s seat next to me. “Exiting hyperspace in thirty seconds.”

While Bo wasn’t the most natural choice for a co-pilot, she was the only choice I had. Neither Fay nor Dooku had much interest in piloting a starship and both had made clear that since the Ne’tra Sartr was ‘mine’, then I was the one expected to pilot and maintain it. That hadn’t been a huge issue while on Aesolian but going to Tatooine it had. However, once we’d left and with Bo proving she was prepared to honour her word about not running back to the Mandalore sector – no matter how much she wanted – I’d allowed her access to the cockpit and assigned her as my co-pilot.

Before we’d left Tatooine, and at a few stops along the way here, we’d managed to get more details about the situation in the Mandalore sector. War had broken out but with the Senator for the sector being loyal to Adonai, the Senate was unwilling to intervene. Though the Holonet news mentioned the Jedi were watching the fighting carefully given to the historical problems the Mandalorians had caused the Order and the Republic.

As we’d passed by the Aridus system, Bo had managed to get a message from her father. Apparently, Houses Kryze and Ordo had taken out two major bases controlled by Death Watch and driven House Varaud back in three separate battles.

The ship shuddered slightly and the streaky lights of hyperspace slowed down, and a large red gas giant came into view. That placed us at the inner edge of the system inside the radius of the system’s Oort cloud but far enough away from the station and only habitable world that any defenders wouldn’t start firing on us instantly.

And so, naturally, the moment we’d finished transitioning to normal space, the alarm klaxon sounded.

“There’s two ships bearing down on us from two-five mark four-one,” Bo called out as I increased the power generated by the ship’s core and shifted around the extra power. “Profiles read as one CR-90 corvette and an older model Guardian-class.”

“The Guardian’s new,” I muttered even as I began to recharge the hyperdrive. While I wasn’t sensing any danger until I was sure that the ships coming towards us were from the Lokella I’d keep prepping as if to make a quick exit. Though that would be delayed given the hyperdrive had only just deposited us back into real space.

“Woah,” Anakin mumbled from the navigator’s station behind my seat. Since he’d come on board, he’d been soaking up everything he could about how the Ne’tra Sartr worked and what the role of each part of the ship was. While he was still young, that knack he’d had in the main timeline was shining through with how quickly he was picking up everything I taught him. About the only thing I wasn’t willing to do was to let him fly the ship, though that was only because Shmi had begged me to not let him do so.

“I thought you said these people were friends!” Bo called out as her hands flew over her controls and I saw power being diverted to the weaponry.

“They are, I think, but we just dropped out of hyperspace on the only vector in and out of the system. With this being so close to Hutt Space, coupled with the fact that they’re former slaves, them being cautious isn’t unexpected,” I answered.

A small light blinked between Bo and me, and I breathed a sigh of relief as a channel was opened between our ships. Slavers wouldn’t bother talking in a system like this, they’d have just attacked.

I flicked open the channel and started speaking. “Approaching vessels, this is Cameron Shan of the Jedi Order. Transmitting clearance codes and requesting permission to enter the system and land on the station orbiting the second planet.” The door to the cockpit slid open at the same moment as a small hologram display above the communication control flickered into action.

“Mtael,” a well-endowed female Togruta said as she saw me before bowing slightly. I caught Bo’s eyes widen then narrow as she glanced my way, but I said nothing as the Togruta stood up straight and continued. “It has been some time since we last heard from you. We heard reports of a young human Jedi in the Mandalore sector, and we grew concerned when war broke out there. Some wondered if you had died, though I had complete faith in your survival.”

“We left just as the war began,” I explained, glancing at Bo. Surprisingly while I could sense her anger and despair – probably about being away from home – she didn’t make any outwards reaction. “Though we were there when the first battles were fought. However, the reason we’re here is that I wanted to stop by and see how everyone was doing; and drop off two additional refugees I recently liberated from slavery.”

The Togruta, whom I remembered was named Baalta Iradel, smiled. “Then we are glad to greet you. I will contact Mtael’s Gift and inform them of your impending arrival. Freerunner out.”

“Acknowledged,” I managed to get out before the hologram faded. From the corner of my eye, I saw Bo looking at me, a smirk growing on her face, but I kept my focus on the consoles in front of me.

As we moved forward, the two ships swung to each side to allow us to pass between them. As we did so, both ships activated their running lights, bathing the Ne’tra Sartr in the light. I heard Anakin inhale and let out a whispered “Wizard!” at the display but kept my eyes firmly on my consoles as I sensed growing curiosity in Bo.

“Mtael?” Bo asked once we were past the two Lokella corvettes, but I chose to ignore her. While I figured she’d get the story once we arrived on the station – whose name I would never, ever say or think – I’d rather not have to explain the title if I could avoid it.

“While Cameron is uncomfortable with the title, it is one he earned,” Dooku said, revealing himself and Fay to the others in the cockpit after they’d silently entered minutes earlier. “He is, after all, the one the Lokella see as most responsible for freeing them from Hutt-controlled slavery. From defending and inspiring the defence of the station from a counter-attack, through defeating Girk Saxon in single combat to stopping an ambush when the Lokella went after the Hutt responsible for their enslavement, the Lokella feel he is worthy of such an accolade.”

“Wait, the station we’re heading to is where Gar’s old man died?” Bo asked as she turned her seat around to face my master. I, however, found as much interest in my displays as I could.

“Indeed. Neither I nor Master Fay were present for that battle, however we heard about what happened from both our Padawan and the Lokella afterwards. While Cameron is… reluctant to speak of that day, I’m sure if you ask, many of the Lokella would be willing to recount the battle and Cameron’s fight with Girk Saxon to you.”

I fought down the fleeting desire to throttle the old man. Still, I wished the bastard wasn’t enjoying putting me on the spot like this as much as he was. As Dooku began to recount the events that led us to discover this system – after Anakin asked him about how this place had come to be – I silently prayed to the Force that, when we arrived on the station, the Lokella didn’t make a big deal out of my return.

Yet in the very pit of my stomach, I had a bad feeling that even the Force was enjoying my discomfort with how I felt about the Lokella’s reverence towards me.

… …

… …

Apparently, I’d been right. After we’d landed, the ruling council of the Lokella – which had expanded to eleven members due to their increased size, but with me still holding a seat on it – had greeted us and proclaimed that there would be a feast that evening in honour of Dooku and I.

While the Lokella showered me with affection and respect – with several offering prayers of thanks to me for founding the colony – Bo had failed miserably to contain her enjoyment. She’d all but doubled over in laughter by the time the sixth person had come forward and offered their thanks. Though she was the most overt, it was plain that my masters, Shmi, and Anakin all found amusement in my discomfort as well.

When we’d finally been able to leave the landing bay – which had taken nearly an hour to manage – Maan Lonwin and Tweq Ruhn, two of the original seven council members, had escorted us to the bay where I’d fought Girk. There we discovered that some of the freed slaves had painted a mural detailing the fight to defend the station against the slaver’s attempted recapture. Taking prominence in the mural, and mirrored by a stone statue, was an image of my fight with Girk.

I’d expressed admiration of the work, even if inside I wanted to destroy the thing, while Dooku had commented that the artists had done a good job capturing my likeness as Fay looked on silently with a wry smile.

Anakin and Shmi, while now aware of why the Lokella held me in such regard thanks to Dooku telling them the story, were still in shock at the reception. That issue though was cleared up at the feast when Maan, Tweq and Baalta – who’d arrived back on the station in time for the celebration – took it in turns retelling the story of the “Mtael’s Defiance” as the Lokella had taken to calling the battle.

Of course, Bo couldn’t settle for just one retelling and asked them several times to retell the story, and then, once she’d been happy with hearing the story four or five times, she hooked up her vambrace to a display and showed my verd’goten hunt to the Lokella, Anakin and Shmi. That had resulted in both Skywalkers looking at me almost reverently, with Anakin peppering me with questions about the rumours he’d heard of a Mandalorian taking down a greater krayt dragon single handedly. It also had him asking Bo – much to Shmi’s terror – about what it took for one to become Mandalorian. That had me seeing images of him hunting rancors, or bigger, monsters in an attempt to one-up me; which was both chilling and, when I was honest with myself about it, a little flattering.

Logically, I understood that this was Bo’s way of getting back at me for going along with her father’s initial plan, and possibly even the comments I’d made on Tatooine to Watto, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to drag her into a sparring ring and beat her arse like she owed me money.

Still, the Lokella, new and old – the colony now numbered nearly six thousand after their most recent freedom raids – had enjoyed watching the hunt. Though when some of the older, and more respectful members of the group had looked at me almost devoutly, the urge to reveal what I knew about the Sith to Sidious and Plagueis was momentarily appealing.

Of course, because I’d wanted a distraction the Force had provided me with one, though not in the way I’d wanted. About an hour into the feast, after Bo had finished showing the recording of my hunt – which she’d somehow gotten from her father – a group of newer Lokella members at the far end of the hall had stood and approached. They were led by two humans; Ferox who was the shorter, broader and less diplomatic of the two and Validus who was taller, leaner and far more eloquent.

Ferox had an issue with the deference shown to me by the Lokella; because I was a Jedi – I learnt a short while later that a Jedi had done nothing to free him a decade ago just before his wife was killed by his former master – and was a child he felt I was unworthy of the respect the council was showing me. Thus he challenged me to prove my worth against him in combat. Maan had tried to calm him down, and I saw Baalta speak quietly to him, but he’d not been willing to back down. He’d called my victory over ‘The Mandalorian’ – his words – a fluke and the recording of my hunt a fake.

Bo had leapt from her seat at that, and if not for the fact I’d grabbed her arm, would’ve likely leapt over the table and tried to kill Ferox. Instead, she was forced to throw insults at him and question his manhood, which while disturbing, resulted in me learning a few more obscure Mando’a curses and being very, very glad Bo hadn’t ever been that angry with me. While scary, I was ashamed to say a part of me enjoyed seeing Bo this animated.

Ferox had ignored the insults and kept his focus on me. He stated loudly for everyone to hear that, if I truly had defeated Girk in single combat, and killed a greater krayt dragon then I’d have no issues with proving it in the ring against him. I’d wanted to ignore the challenge but, much to my annoyance, Bo had accepted for me. Fay’s disapproval at me not backing out was easy to see, even without the Force, as while her face remained calm, the twitching at the corner of her eyes and the narrowing of her lips made her feelings on the matter clear.

That evening, after the feast had ended without any further incident, Fay had given me a dressing down for not backing out of the fight while Dooku had simply instructed me to make it quick. I countered that not doing so could undermine the current leadership of the Lokella – something I’d learnt about from Maan and Tweq before the dressing down – as Ferox led a group of recently freed slaves that wished to be more aggressive in attacking the Hutts and other slavers. If he had his way, the Lokella would likely anger a far more powerful Hutt than Decca, bringing down a massive retaliation strike on the station and resulting in the Lokella either being killed or re-enslaved. In that context, Fay gave her reluctant permission for the spar to take place; though on the condition that I didn’t use my lightsaber and that the fight would be to first blood.

Ferox had happily accepted, though as I found myself standing across the combat ring from him – as he casually flourished twin swords with extreme ease and skill – I wondered if he would obey the rule. Now, I would admit that I was curious to see how I’d do against this galaxies equivalent of a gladiator as, going by the few underground fight clubs I’d visited before, such fighters were always more brutal and unrestrained than other fighters.

About the only thing I was glad of as I handed my cloak, outer robes and lightsaber to Bo was that the fight wasn’t taking place in the Force disruption room. That room caused a fifteen-hundred per cent cost penalty for any Force power and actively drained my stamina the longer the field was active.

“You’ve got this,” Bo commented as she clipped my lightsaber to her belt. “Just go all-out like we do in training, and you’ll kick his arse with ease.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her. “Bo, one, when we spar, I’m never going all out. If I did neither of us would learn anything from the spars.” I commented as I ignored the narrowing of her eyes and I gave my sword a few experimental swings. I kept them basic and even made them slightly unwieldy on purpose as in this fight I wanted every advantage I could get. “Two, this fight is under the same conditions as my fight with Girk, so no blatant Force powers like picking him up and rag dolling him around the room. And three, from what I’ve been told Ferox here was something of a legend in the Hutt fighting pits. He fought and killed Wookies, Trandoshans and the like for over a decade in the pits and was undefeated until he lost to Validus.”

Bo scoffed at that and looked over at my opponent. Validus was helping him put on some basic armour that further enforced the image I had of Ferox as a gladiator. The two men, and about a dozen other fighters including a Wookie, were freed about two months ago on a raid. The Lokella had attacked a convoy that had just exited Hutts space. Onboard they’d found a group of gladitorial slaves that were returning to their master’s home after a tournament. While Pad Keba had lost his life leading the operation, almost a hundred slaves had been freed during the raid. I wasn’t particularly sad that Keba was gone as he’d been a pain in my arse during those initial few weeks when the Lokella movement had been born, losing someone I knew meant having to deal with newcomers, such as Ferox and Validus.

“He doesn’t look that tough,” She remarked before turning back to me. “Besides, you defeated Girk under those same conditions nearly two years ago. That was before you became Mando’ade and proved your worth in the battle of Keldabe. Yeah, he’s been fighting for a decade in the pits and looks to have muscles in places you haven’t even discovered yet, but you can take him.” She smirked and jerked her thumb towards the side, where Anakin, Shmi and my masters were standing. “Besides, we don’t want you disappointing your future Padawan now do we?”

I made a face at Bo’ comment, but I didn’t deny it. There was a strong thought in my mind about taking Anakin as my Padawan if I was able to. Yes, the age difference would be an issue, as would my standing with the Order – there was no kriffing way they’d be happy with me training someone with the potential to be more powerful than me; not with my actions over the last few years – but it would, I hope, help ensure the timeline changed enough that Vader wouldn’t arise; and I wouldn’t die because of that.

Still, I was impressed at how quickly Bo had cottoned on to my plan and accepted the boy. In the time it took us to get here, Anakin had not only learnt the names of every major component in the Ne’tra Sartr and what their function was, but Bo had taught him how to field-strip and reassemble a blaster. He’d picked it up quite well and was able to regularly perform the feat without error, even if it was somewhat slower than Bo or I due to his age.

All of that had caused Bo to promise him that if the Jedi, in their infinite wisdom, decided against letting him join, then she’d adopt him into her family and make a Mandalorian out of him. The idea of Anakin being raised as a Mandalorian was tempting, as it would likely give him a more fitting structure to his life than the Jedi way. Indeed, the vision that we’d shared made it all but certain that Anakin would indeed join the Mandalorians, but it was still up in the air how and when that would occur.

“This has nothing to do with Anakin, beyond possibly wanting him to see a spar between skilled fighters. This is about ensuring that Ferox doesn’t start to run roughshod over the Lokella and allowing them to continue to progress down their own path,” I replied, which caused her smirk to widen into a grin.

“You mean the path where they continue to worship the ground you walk on? And here I thought you Jetii didn’t go in for that sort of thing.” She chuckled as she adjusted the strap on my belt, making it a touch tighter than I’d like. “Still, at least now I know why you didn’t like all the challenges on Mandalore, we weren’t kissing your arse enough.”

“I’d make a comment about why you’re thinking about my arse, but I’d rather keep my head attached to my body.” I quipped back, making her laugh darkly.

She leaned close and whispered. “It’s not your head you’d have to be worried about in that case; or at least not your overinflated one.” I chuckled nervously at the image as she pulled back, a slightly feral look to her grin. “And relax, I’m just teasing. While I’m no leader like my father or a politician like my mirshe-kryayc sister when it comes to these things, I understand enough.” She paused and turned, taking another look at Ferox. The man was stretching out his arms, seemingly flexing for Baalta who was standing close by.

“Damm,” she muttered under her breath though I still heard her. While she might’ve been commenting on the impressive build of the man, the faint hint of arousal I sensed in the Force suggested she found the man attractive. That was surprising as she’d never, to my recollection, shown any interest in a man before.

She turned back to me, her grin having slipped while she’d been looking at Ferox. “Just… be careful. He’s got you beat for size, strength, and experience for certain. Beat him fast before he has time to realise he shouldn't underestimate you.” She paused and patted my chest over my heart. “K'oyacyi!”

I smiled at her encouragement but was unable to reply as that was when Maan Lonwin, who would be serving as adjudicator for the fight, stepped into the ring between me and Ferox. That was the established signal for the pair of us to step forward and meet before the fight started. Ferox’s eyes locked onto mine as we stepped forward, and he flexed his pectoral muscles in a show of strength. Knowing I couldn’t currently match that, I just smirked and rolled my eyes in a casual dismissal of the gesture.

What I did do was watch the way he moved. Every step, every action was controlled, concise as if he was just waiting to be unleashed. It was apparent to me that he wasn’t just a pit fighter, but someone who won such fights and was confident in his victory. That was, I hoped, something I could use.

“The rules are simple,” Maan began once we were close enough, “first blood wins. Doesn’t matter if that’s a small cut on your arm or a deep gouge to your stomach. At that point, I’ll sound a klaxon and end this. Apart from that, and Mtael agreeing to not actively use his abilities, anything short of a killing blow is allowed.” He paused and looked us both in the eyes, though when he looked at Ferox, he held the warrior’s gaze as he added. “And by the Great Spirit, try not to break anything important, Ferox. We’ve only just got the place in one piece after your last fight.”

Ferox snorted at Maan without ever taking his eyes off me. “Heh. The man had it coming, making moves on my female.” His eyes narrowed as he continued. “Always wanted to fight a Jedi; shame it has to be a runt.”

I shook my head, choosing to break eye contact and end the pointless staring contest he’d started. “And once again someone insults my height. How refreshingly original.” I spotted Baalta had stepped closer to Validus and saw a possible avenue to get under Ferox’s skin. “Still, if you want to know what a Jedi can do ask Baalta. I believe she enjoyed the company of another member of the Order many months ago and couldn’t persuade him to leave it for her.”

Ferox snarled. “Maybe after I’m done beating you to a pulp, I’ll show your little redhead what a real man can do.” He spat back, which made me laugh.

“Bo ain’t anyone’s. Trust me on that.” I responded as I ignored the small part of me that wanted to crush him. “And sorry, but you’re not her type. She prefers no cock.” Ferox again snarled but I ignored it as I turned to Maan. “Anything else or can we get started? I promised some of the younglings that I’d play with them later.”

Maan nodded and took a step back. His eyes darted to Ferox who looked ready to attack, but the human made no move to do so. Either he had more control than I’d expected – which could be a problem – or he was so well indoctrinated that he wouldn’t begin until the klaxon sounded to start the fight.

I took a few steps back and slid into a basic Makashi stance. While the form was meant for a lightsaber, its roots were based on duelling with real swords so the basics were at least adaptable. Which was a good thing as my skill with a one-handed weapon like this sword, while solid, was likely nowhere near Ferox’s. Which made it a good thing that while limiting my Force usage, I hadn’t agreed to entirely negate it.

The klaxon sounded and a split second later, Ferox darted in. The blade in his right hand, which had started as the rear of the two he was using, swung downwards in a quick cut. The move was simplistic and easy to see, but that was the purpose. Thanks to my experience of fighting dual wielders from sparring with Serra, I spotted the obvious feint, my focus remaining on his body rather than on the overt strike.

I waited, pretending to focus on the arcing blade until the last second, when I slid to my right, letting the blade sail harmlessly through where I’d formerly been standing. I then stepped back to avoid the thrusting second blade that was now used as an actual attack.

I flicked my wrist, aiming the tip of my blade for his now-exposed calf. However, he was able to block that by rotating his wrist and redirecting the arcing blade down onto mine. Then, in an impressive display of control, reorientated himself.

Even as he turned to face me, the left blade thrust forward and I was forced to parry it, using his bodily momentum to try and once more expose his side. He was ready for that, however and pushed his blade into mine as they made contact. Thanks to the force warning me of this, I was ready and ensured the strength of his push didn’t destabilise my stance; though I used it to quickly slide back a few steps, putting me out of reach of an upwards cut for his right blade.

He grunted as his blade met nothing but air. “Not bad kid.” He muttered as we both resettled into our stances. I didn’t respond to the comment, choosing to instead maintain my focus.

He came at me fast this time, each blade moving in quick, probing attacks, looking for an opening in my stance. Thanks to my ability with a blade, practice against a dual-wielding lightsaber user, and the Force I was able to move my blade quickly and accurately to not only block each of his rapid strikes but avoid exposing myself to his next attack. Though one thing that was happening, even as he went from shocked to annoyed rapidly at my ability to match him strike for strike, was that I was slowly being forced back.

While the fight was free to move around and there was no set area to use, if he kept forcing me back, I’d eventually be backed up against the wall and lose my ability to move. As this pattern continued, a small smile crept onto his lips, and I realised this was his plan. Thus, one his next strike, instead of simply guiding it away and moving to defend the follow-up attack, I stepped forward.

Using my smaller stature to my advantage, I slid under his arm and drove my elbow into his gut before he could alter the attack angle of his next blade to take advantage of my closer location. I wasn’t using the full power of Physical Enhancement as if I did, after over four months of almost constant use and maxing the power out, I could literally punch through durasteel. And yes, I’d tried that to be sure.

“Oof!” he wheezed out as my elbow connected and he was driven back a few steps. I brought my blade down, sliding it over his calf, however, his armour there held so no blood was drawn, and I was forced onto the defensive again before I could try another attack.

As my blade met his, The Force called out a warning and I used his blade as a launch point and pushed back, barely avoiding his elbow as he tried to bring it down on my shoulder or head. He stepped forward, his left blade flicking towards me. I slide one foot back, avoiding the feint then brought my blade up to deflect his real attack.

That left a fractional opening, which I took. I slid my blade down his, even as I kept it away. Then, taking a step forward I boosted my strength with the Force, flicked that blade away and slid my blade along the underside of his forearm. The area was again armoured, but I’d been expecting that and kept my blade moving.

I took another step inside his reach and rolled my wrist, guiding my blade to the underside of his upper arm. There I felt the blade slice his flesh and realised the fight was over. However I knew I was in too close for him not to counterattack, and as the Force warned me of his knee coming for my midsection, I dove over his leg. I felt the air above me move as a blade travelled through it, but there was no flash of my health bar, so I knew the attack hadn’t landed.

As I landed, I rolled to carry myself away from him quicker, then came to a stop in a crouch. I turned back, wanting to see if the wound was visible. It was, but he was now moving towards me. “Match!” I called out loudly and after he’d taken a couple more steps towards me, his face contorting in anger, I heard the klaxon sound, signalling the end of the fight.

However, it seemed Ferox either didn’t hear the klaxon, or was more interested in the fight, as he was still coming at me. The Force was swirling around, warning me of the increased danger I was in. Time seemed to slow as I raised one hand and sent him tumbling back with a blast from the Force. Even as he stumbled, I leapt forward and stretched out my arm towards where I knew Bo was standing.

I brought the hand down, towards his neck and heard a faint roar as my lightsaber engaged. The sound had changed once I’d managed to insert a smaller krayt dragon pearl into the matrix. I’d tried to add the Mantle of the Force, but due to its slightly larger than normal size I was unable to add it beside the two miniature crystals that focused my lightsaber’s beam, thus I’d settled on the pearl until I was able to add the Mantle. Though the idea of four crystals in one lightsaber felt like too much.

As time returned to normal, Ferox’s eyes widened as my lightsaber’s blade. “This fight is over!” I growled, locking my eyes on him. “You’re cut on your underarm; therefore, I win.” I added as I ignored the fact my voice was going through that awkward stage of shifting from a child’s to an adult’s.

Before he could reply, I pivoted and started to move away.

“Ferox!” Validus called out, but I was already carrying through my pivot into a full circle. Having been warned by the Force, I slid my left foot out and used the momentum to guide my body and blade. Sparks flew as both his vibroblades were sliced clean through with the slightest of wrist flicks from me. I followed that up with a blast of the Force, and unlike last time, sent him flying across the room, with him coming to a tumbling halt near Validus’ feet.

“Stay down!” I barked out sharply. Ferox growled as he stood back up, but Validus laid a restraining hand on his shoulder before he could further embarrass himself.

A small cheer went up as the spectators realised the fight was over and things hadn’t gone too far, but my attention was my group. My masters wore their usual expression and neither felt as if they were unhappy with my actions in the short fight. Bo’s eyes were narrowed, and I sensed faint traces of anticipation and excitement while Shmi looked concerned.

“That was Wizard!” Anakin called out once he was close, openly displaying the amazement I sensed from him. “You were like, hah, whah, pow.” He continued, adding sounds as he tried to mimic my movements. “You were so fast! Can all Jedi move so fast? Can I learn that?”

I chuckled at his enthusiasm and raked his hair. “One day, maybe.”

“I’ve seen faster in our spars,” Bo added as she came close enough, a small, predatory smile dancing on her lips. “Though only when fully armoured. Tracking you without my helmet’s sensors is nigh on impossible.” She added on. In our spars, I moved at a decent speed, though not anything close to my maximum. That was both because I didn’t want to reveal all I could do to her – friend or not, there was still a chance we’d be enemies in the wars to come – and because while her helmet’s systems might be able to track me, she couldn’t move quick enough to react.

Even limiting myself like that, I’d only lost one spar with her during the three or so months we were on Aesolian. That had been because I’d wanted to take it easy and make things fairer only to realise that with her armour, she was a much more dangerous fighter. Honestly, I think she enjoyed that day – which ended with her straddling my chest and her Knife to my throat – a touch too much, but as it was the only time she’d won, I let the irritation I felt over the loss go.

“While Mandalorian technology is impressive, there are select Jedi, such as myself, who are capable of overloading their tracking capabilities. While physical augmentation is something that most every Jedi learns, Cameron’s ability to push his speed to such levels is far less common, and is highly impressive for one of his age,” Dooku commented even as I tried not to smile at his rare praise. “Though I am reassured to see that you both limited your velocity in a training bout against a potential opponent and kept control when he failed to accept his defeat.” He added as Shmi dragged Anakin away from us. While I didn’t think she was upset with me letting Anakin watch the fight, it was something I’d have to be mindful of. All mothers did their best to keep their children out of harm’s way; which must be a nightmare of inquisitive and helpful children like Anakin.

I looked at Fay and lowered my head. “I know you weren’t happy about my acceptance of this challenge master, I am sorry that it became necessary.”

Fay sighed as her nose wrinkled. “I accept why the fight had to happen, Cameron. And I am glad that you managed to end it with a minimal amount of bloodshed,” Bo scoffed quietly at that, “while ensuring Ferox’s voice is diminished within the ranks of the Lokella. That said, am still concerned about leaving the boy here; particularly when people such as that man are here and banging the drum of war.”

I opened my mouth to respond – as a final decision on Anakin’s fate hadn’t been made, though it would tonight – however, at that moment, members of the Lokella came over to us. Led by Tweq and Maan, they began to offer their congratulations on my victory and pepper me with questions about my thoughts on various plans and ideas they had for the group’s growth and continued survival.

As I felt myself being gently steered away from my masters and Bo, I glanced back, hoping that one of them would save me from the next few hours of impending boredom. Though I saw that Fay and Dooku had moved off to speak with Shmi and Anakin while Bo smiled and gave me a little wave.

Kriffing traitors, the lot of them.

… …

… …

I looked at the crate in front of me and tried to stop my jaw from dropping. While it wasn’t massive – being around two cubic metres in size – it was full of unrefined phrik. From what Ezan Vidal, an older yellow-skinned Togruta who was mayor of the small settlement that had developed on the planet below, had said, the Lokella had restarted the mine Decca the Hutt had discovered around about six months ago.

In that time, working slowly while also setting up the farms and other facilities for the settlement, one of the miners had discovered an untapped vein of phrikite and from that, they’d extracted this crate-load of the unrefined metal. Along with nearly three dozen more that were stored in the largeish cargo bay I was standing in currently. Though what had shocked me was that the crate in front of me was being gifted to me by the Lokella.

While the ore, according to Observe, wasn’t worth that much in its current unrefined state –about twelve thousand credits – if the Lokella could refine it, which Ezan said they were purchasing the machinery for that with money that I’d diverted to them before they’d restarted the mine, then each crate had the potential to be worth three to four times that. And that was if they chose to sell the metal.

“I, uh, I don’t think I can’t accept this,” I muttered as Bo beside me seemed to hyperventilate as she looked around the cargo bay and realised what was stored here. Already I could see her mind turning about using refined phrik to replace durasteel on Mandalorian armour. While I knew they’d use beskar if they could, the metal was a finite resource – which further angered her about the New Mandalorians using it for decorations in Sundari – and many warriors had to use durasteel plates instead. Phrik, from my own research, was not only lightsaber resistant but had a higher resistance to blaster damage than durasteel.

“But Mtael, without the work done by your and Master Dooku, none of this would be possible,” Ezan responded almost pleadingly. “This gift is but a show of our respect and admiration for your actions.” Maan nodded along with the Togruta while barely I resisted the urge to facepalm.

Along with this crate – and there was one for Dooku as well, though he’d indicated he’d only take as much as needed to make refined phrik for his lightsaber casing – Dooku and I each controlled five per cent each of any minerals taken from the mine; or any other mine that might be built on the planet – which I’d discovered had been named Mtael’s Refuge, much to Bo’s continual amusement – below. The rest of the mine was to be used for the good of the Lokella, with those decisions reached by the now eleven-membered ruling council; a council on which I was the only lifetime member. Neither Fay nor Dooku were happy with this arrangement, but both begrudgingly acknowledged that not to accept would be highly disrespectful.

“That’s some gift,” Bo muttered as she slowly picked up a smaller chunk of phrikite in her armoured hand. “This crate looks to have enough ore to make quite a few sets of armour for a warrior.” She remarked, giving me a sly grin that made it clear she saw the usage for the metal that I suspected she would.

“I understand this is a very generous gift, however, as a Jedi, I cannot accept it at this point,” I explained slowly. “Once I’m a Jedi Knight, I’m sure I’ll have enough leeway to return for it but as I’m currently a Padawan, it will cause far less hassle and scrutiny to follow their guidelines.”

Ezan and Maan shared a look before they both turned to me and, with understanding smiles, lowered their heads. “We understand, Mtael. Once the ore is refined, we’ll ensure a crate remains untouched until you are willing and able to collect it.”

“Wait, you’re telling me you’re going to just leave this here because of some di’kut Jedi rule? Bo asked as her brow rose.

“Yes, but I’m also not telling them to take away the gift,” I explained with a wink. “I just need to play things safe until I’m free of regular Jedi oversight. As I’m sure you’re aware, I’m far from a conventional Jedi. So until I’m made a Knight, or kicked from the Order, I’d like to play it safe and not antagonise ‘the establishment’.”

“Shabyr di’kute Jetii and their jarela rules,” Bo muttered colourfully as she shook her head and placed the ore chunk she’d taken back in the crate. “If your people are serious about refining this ore, I can show you some basic armour designs. With just this ore here, you should be able to fully armour several squads for your raiding parties.” Bo offered to the Lokella leadership.

“We would be grateful for your help,” Maan replied after giving me a quick glance to make sure I approved. “While we know these last few days haven’t been easy for you, we hope you understand that many of our people have… reservations about another Mandalorian being here; even one in the Mtael’s company.”

Bo chuckled. “It just means your people know how dangerous I am.” She commented, making me smirk. “And if not for the war back home, more of my people would be arriving to help train your warriors. C-The Mtael had arranged that.” She said, using their term for me and giving me a grin as she did.

“We are sorry your people have become embroiled in civil war,” Maan said carefully, still seemingly unsure of how to speak with Bo about the matter. It had come up during dinner a few nights ago and Bo had quickly grown tired of both the questions about the fighting and various members of the Lokella offering their sympathies for the needless suffering happening in her home sector. “Once the matter is… handled, I will bring the Mtael’s offer before the council and, provided the leadership of your people are still amenable, approach them about this training.”

“So long as those… aruetii don’t somehow find a way to emerge from the war stronger, we’d enjoy training your people,” Bo replied, grinding her teeth at the thought of the traitors among the Mandalorians. Though I suspected that, in this case, she meant both Death Watch and the New Mandalorians.

“Ah, yes,” Maan mumbled out, seemingly unsure of who Bo was speaking about. “Still, would not peace between all factions of your people be a good thing?” He asked, and I tensed, worried I’d have to grab Bo to avoid her lashing out at Maan over a seemingly harmless question.

“In theory, yes, a united Mandalore is stronger than a fractured one,” Bo began, making an obvious effort to conceal her frustration. “However, sacrificing who we are as a people is too high of a price for that so-called unity. They would have us give up our ways to become nothing more than glorified lapdogs of the Senate!”

“I, uh,” Maan gulped hard,” I see.”

Knowing that he didn’t, I decided to explain it as briefly as I could.

“The New Mandalorian faction believes in peace at all costs. During the recent attack on Mandalore, the planet, the former and current capitals were attacked. The death toll in the current, which is run and defended by the New Mandalorians, was over thirty times higher. There, no defender, before or after the attack, used anything but stun weaponry and the general populace lacked the means to defend themselves during the attack.” I could feel Bo’s anger rising as I explained this, her thoughts likely drifting to the death of her nephew, but I felt this needed to be known to the Lokella. “Their extremist pacifism resulted in severely inflated casualty numbers, although with the death of their leaders, the city is now under the authority of Bo’s father.”

There was silence in the bay for a moment as I let Maan and Ezan process what I’d heard while I hoped I wouldn’t need to turn and calm Bo down once more. A cargo bay was hardly the ideal place for her to blow off steam if she wanted to spar.

“It is a good thing those leaders are dead,” A new voice came from the entrance of the cargo bay and I, along with Maan and Ezan turned to see Ferox and Validus enter; followed by three other former gladiators including the only current Wookie member of the Lokella. “Such people deserve death for failing to protect those in their care.” All five were armed with some form of blaster – with the Wookie having a heavy repeater cannon strapped to his back – while Ferox and Validus had vibroswords at their waists as well.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Bo tense, her hands drifting towards her pistols, and even with the Force assuring me no threat was imminent, I was concerned a battle might break out.

“We mean no harm,” Validus said, raising his hands in the universal gesture that showed he wasn’t looking for trouble. “We just want to talk about things and happened to overhear your explanation of the things on Mandalore.”

“Talk about what?” Bo snarled out, which made Ferox’s expression darken before Validus gave him a look. With a resigned sigh, Ferox forced himself to relax and fixed his attention on me.

“I wish to speak with you directly.”

I looked from Ferox to Validus and the rest of their group. There was a tense air around them, but I still wasn’t sensing any danger from the Force. “Very well,” I replied, taking a step in front of Bo and the others.

Silence fell over the bay, and I saw Ferox tense as his eyes stayed locked on mine.

“Ferox,” Validus said in a tone that sounded like a warning. Ferox growled very quietly, and I had to suppress a smirk at the behaviour. From what little I knew of the pair, Validus, while the younger fighter, was the more cautious of the pair. Ferox, as I’d seen in our fight, was very dangerous and often lost himself in the battle.

“In our fight, I underestimated you. I made a mistake, and you won. That won’t happen again.” Ferox began, his voice barely carrying to me even with everyone staying silent. “For taking the advantage and winning, you have my respect,” he kept going as he stepped towards me and extended an empty hand, “however, I wish for a rematch before you leave the station.”

“Of course,” I replied as I clasped his forearm. While I wasn’t sure that was the right thing to do, it felt like it was. Apart from being the Mando way, it was something I’d seen in a few combat matches on the Holonet. A slight smile came to Ferox’s face as he grasped my forearm in return.

“You’ll have to forgive Ferox,” Validus said as he stepped close to his friend in the now relaxed atmosphere. “He is a great fighter, just as dangerous as me, but he lacks subtlety. Both inside and out of the arena.”

“I know someone like that,” I replied with a jerk of my free hand back over my shoulders. As Ferox and I released our grips, Bo gave me a none too gentle cuff on the back of my head. Give me another year or two and she’d have to reach up to pull that off. “Though I’m curious as to why you two have issues with me.”

Validus chuckled and glanced past me to where I knew Maan and Ezan were standing. “I thought that was obvious. When we finally gained our freedom and were brought to this system and station, we expected to meet the great Mtael who’d freed the Lokella in single combat from a Hunt-backed invasion. Instead, we were left to deal with… less martial minded leaders. Then, when you finally did decide to return, you were a boy still waiting for his balls to drop.” That earned a few chuckles from those with him and Bo. “Yes, you may be a Jedi, but you are still a child.”

“For three months we heard of this great warrior, Three months.” Ferox continued the story. “A warrior who defeated a Mandalorian in single combat without using your lightsaber, or the powers you people are said to wield.” Ferox grunted and shook his head. “After two decades of fighting, and with only the strongest leading, I would not follow a child.” He paused as Validus placed a hand on his shoulder. Something unsaid passed between them before he continued. “I felt you were weak. A figurehead for the leaders of this place to use as a reason they were in power. I know now I was wrong. You are a warrior; one who killed a great beast alone and unaided.” He chuckled. “If such a story was told in the pits, the promoters would’ve called you ‘The Dragon’.”

“A fitting name,” Bo commented, drawing a nod from Ferox as he glanced her way.

“Aye, it is.” He turned his attention back to me. “One that fits better than this Mtael these people call you.”

“They’re your people now,” I countered. “And, honestly, I’m sick of titles.”

Bo chuckled. “You keep saying that, yet you keep gaining them. Mtael, Revan’ade, The Dragon.” I turned and saw her reach for something under her armour. She pulled out a small metal necklace from inside her under-weave and attached to the end of it was one of the smaller teeth from the krayt dragon’s maw. “You made weapons and gifts of your kill, as is the way of the Mando’ade, and yet you choose to not want titles; not want glory.” She shook her head and laughed. “Di’kute Jetii.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose as I saw Validus looking at the tooth necklace curiously. I’d had the necklaces made based on Alys Ordo’s idea, and so far, given them to Bo, Naz, Gar, Rook and the members of my former team at the Institute. I also had one to give to Serra when I next saw her and there were about six dozen more stored with the rest hide and skeleton of the dragon back on Mandalore. I’d planned to have them transported to the vault on planet Ordo for safekeeping, but we’d left the sector before that could be arranged.

“He has claimed you?” Ferox asked and I found myself choking on the air in my throat. I shook my head, indicating that she wasn’t with me in that way, though Bo had other ideas.

“What?” Bo muttered even as I started to cough. She took a step forward, one hand heading for a pistol. “Say that again, I dare you!” She challenged which made me step forward, in case she went too far and I needed to get between them.

“He is not your man?” Ferox asked and I saw a faint smirk appearing on his face. It was time for some intervention.

“As amusing as it would be to see you two rip each-other apart,” I cut in swiftly to give Bo a chance to recompose, “I can assure you that we are not currently involved. I gave the necklaces to each of my friends as tokens, both male and female. Moreover, it is not permitted for Jedi to form relationships, especially for one as low-ranking as I am.”

“Ah.” Ferox said, he turned to Validus and shrugged. He then turned back to me and Bo. “I apologise. I misunderstood the closeness between you two and then she showed a gift you made for her.”

“Can I ask, what was it like fighting the dragon?” Validus said, changing the topic drastically in an effort to divert the conversation. “We fought many beasts in the pits but nothing on that size or scale, thank the spirits..”

Seeing there was little I could do to stop the fight from happening, I let them have their win and played dumb by not reacting to their plan working. “My initial reaction, right after watching that monster take a bite of a sarlacc, was ‘kriff me sideways’.” That drew laughs from everyone bar Bo – who was still grumpy – though Maan’s and Ezan’s sounded weak, scared. “Of course, as Bo well knows, my luck in such moments really needs work,” hence why I’d dropped ten stat points into Luck, “and the dragon decided that I’d make a better meal than the wounded sarlacc.”

That drew another round of laughs as Ferox stepped closer. “Aye, but in the end, you took it down with nought but a knife. A worthy kill.” He slapped me on my shoulder, and if not for me continually having Physical Enhancement active as a precautionary measure since our fight, he might well have dislocated the joint. Still, even with the Force ability active, I took a stumbling step forward. “This cloak is made of the kill?” he asked as my step made my cloak flutter.

“Yeah, though this is the second cloak I had made. The first saved my life, but was ruined, fighting Death Watch leaders on Mandalore.” I replied. I had a further six cloaks stored on the Ne’tra Sartr – and three more in my Inventory – on the off chance another was damaged and I couldn’t take a trip back to Mandalore for a replacement.

“Death Watch are a… fanatical element of our society. They attacked several of our cities about two months ago,” Bo explained slowly, surprising me with how easily she was able to get her temper under control. “Many of my people died that day due to Death Watch’s cowardly actions.” A wave of regret flowed from her, and I suspected she was thinking about her nephew Korkie, who’d died in the attacks. “Cam here saved many when he fought and killed their leader in combat. The dragon’s hide saved him from losing his arm.”

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, that was true. I’d made a mistake engaging the two Death Watch leaders in close combat under the impression they’d be on par with the others. They weren’t. Not only had they been better trained, but they’d have weaponry designed specifically to counter a Force user. Since I knew that such fights were bound to happen again, I’d been learning what I could from Bo about how Mandalorians fought Force users. She wasn’t willing to reveal everything to me, but even basic pointers were a great help. At least for Mandalorian anti-Force user tactics.

Still, the scars would serve as reminders of my mistake, and hopefully having them present would prevent me from repeating it.

Now if only Bo would stop glancing my way whenever I exposed said scars, I’d be happy. I swore the girl was jealous of my wounds, which wasn’t a mindset I approved of.

… …

… …

“It’s not fair!” Anakin wailed as I stood facing him in the landing bay that housed the Ne’tra Sartr. “Why do I have to stay? I want to be a Jedi!” He added, which amused me, though I kept that on the inside as I saw Shmi’s expression fall at hearing Anakin wanting to join the Jedi. Apparently, even after having been told what being a Jedi would entail, Anakin still wasn’t understanding that the odds on anyone but me allowing him to return and visit his mother were essentially zero.

It’d been about five weeks since we’d arrived in-system. A few days after my fight with Ferox, Fay and Dooku had confirmed what I’d hoped and allowed Anakin to remain on the station. Now, they said this would only be for a year, but I suspected that the Force, if it agreed with me, would find ways to ensure we didn’t return to take Anakin to the Temple. Which would suit me as, save for a few friends like Serra and Darihd there, my interest in returning to Coruscant was all but non-existent. I’d rather not be dragged over hot coals by the High Council and their sycophants for my actions over the last year and a half. Then again, the longer it took for us to go back, the longer my list of ‘infractions’ would grow.

“We’ve been over this Anakin,” I replied as I looked down at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “If you come with us, then we’d be required to take you to the Temple. There, while you’d get better training than what little I and my masters have offered you over the last month or so, you’d been denied all contact with your mother. Even once you become a Jedi Knight, the High Council would have reservations about you having any interaction with her ever again.”

“Why?”

“Because Jedi feel that having attachments to people is a dangerous thing,” I replied, glad that Fay and Dooku were far enough away that I didn’t have to be too careful about letting my feelings on this topic show. While they both weren’t as strict as the High council on the matter, they felt the issue was one to be wary of.

“That’s stupid,” Anakin spat back, “family’s important.”

I chuckled at the clear desire to stay close to his mother. “It is indeed. However, when one uses the Force one must be careful about how we allow our emotions to interact with it. It amplifies everything we feel, and if it gets strong enough, our connection to the Force becomes simultaneously stronger and more chaotic. That is something the Jedi’s leaders consider to be a path to the Dark Side and becoming an evil person.” I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. “Due to your… status when we found you, and your close bond with your mother, there will be many who are uncertain about letting you join the Order. That fact that I’m the one bringing you in would only complicate things even further. You don’t need to understand all of it, but let’s just say that a good portion of the Order, especially the High Council, aren’t fans of the things I’ve done; or with my masters for allowing me to do them.”

“But you freed us! You freed the Lokella! How can that be a bad thing?” He asked, his brow scrunching up in confusion.

“It’s not what I did, but how I did them that they’d have the biggest issues with,” though there were a few who weren’t happy I’d freed the Lokella simply due to the fact I’d done so from a Hutt. While Decca was a minor Hutt, his ‘mother’, Gardulla, was a powerful member of the Hutt clans; a group the Jedi – due to instructions from the Senate – weren’t meant to interfere with. I could see Anakin wanting to ask more questions, but knew we’d either be going over something we’d already discussed since I’d told him he’d been staying on this station, or go into details that weren’t something I wanted to burden him with just yet. Or both.

“I promise that, when time allows, I’ll come back and show you some more things you can do with the Force,” I said, drawing his attention away from my reasoning. “However, for that, you have to prove you’ve read and understood the teachings Master Fay has left for you and shown aptitude with the exercises I taught you. Can you do that?”

He nodded vigorously, then stopped. “I.. I don’t like Master Fay’s teachings. They’re so boring.” That made me chuckle once more.

“Sadly, that is the way of life. We have to do the boring stuff so we can get to the fun stuff.” At that, I rolled my fingers in the air and several crates nearby floated into the air and began to circle around us. “We need to understand why something happens, and the dangers it can cause before we can learn to use what we know. Safety matters in all things, Anakin, the Force especially.”

“I guess,” he mumbled out after pulling his eyes from the floating crates and the casual way I controlled them.

“Anakin, I’d give anything to have been able to spend time with my mother. She… died trying to protect me from bad men, and I never got the chance to know her; to learn from and be around her.” I lowered the crates back to where they’d come from and glanced at Shmi, who was standing over with Fay speaking about something. “This time you have now as a free man with your mother should be treasured.”

“I know. It’s just not fair! I want to be a Jedi and see my mum!”

“Life rarely is,” I replied as he scowled at the idea of being forced to choose. “Still, think of it this way. You’ve already shown to the Lokella how good you are with technology – better than I am, that’s for sure – so now, you can use the time here to learn about starships. After everything you learn here, you may not even want to be a Jedi in the future at all.”

“Bo-Katan said that if I didn’t want to be a Jedi, she’d adopt me into her Clan and I could become Mando’ade,” he commented, which made me shake my head at Bo’s action. While I knew she liked him, I hadn’t realised she’d made that offer to him already. Still, it made sense she did. Anakin really was a prodigy with technology – or really anything that he put his mind to, for that matter – and soaked up anything he was taught like a sponge. Bo wanting that kind of intelligence in her clan was logical, and a little surprising since Bo had never shown such long-term thinking before. She’d even shown him some very basic movements of beskar’pel during our time there.

She’d told me she’d done that as she didn’t want him trying to copy Ferox’s fighting style. The former pit-fighter had taken over training many of the Lokella in a clear bid to earn power among the group. Strangely, while Bo was less than thrilled with the power plays, the two seemed to hit it off and had developed a friendship based over, from what I’d heard, battle stories. I’d spent more time with Validus as he was the better thinker of the two, and we’d come up with a few strategies that could be implemented in future raids to free other slaves and on how to react if Decca or others tried to attack the station again.

While I suspected the pair would manoeuvre to claim the glory for any future battles for themselves, by having Bo and I spend time with them, I’d ensured that we’d also get some of that glory. Not because I wanted it, but to help counter the pair’s growing clout in the Lokella.

“I know,” I replied to Anakin. “And, if that happens, then I’d possibly feel pity for the Jedi for letting you fall into the Mandalorian’s hands.”

“Then why shouldn’t I just join them now? They’ll take me and not keep me from my mum.” He asked.

“The sector is embroiled in a civil war, and if I took you there, I’d spend the rest of my life fearing your mother’s anger,” I countered, making him grin. “Plus, with your gifts, you need the training that comes with being a Jedi. Your connection to the Force is so strong that if they don’t take, and instead act like a bunch of brain-dead banthas, I’ll defy them and train you myself. Once I’m old enough to be allowed to, that is.”

That made his grin grow. “OK.” He turned as I saw Shmi and Fay begin to walk over to us. Bo and Dooku were already onboard the Ne’tra Sartr with Bo handling pre-flight checks and Dooku… not. “When will you return?

“I can’t say. The Force seems to have this knack for guiding me where I need to go when I should go – such as to Tatooine so I could discover you – but sadly, trying to know what it wants and when is like trying to understand the very working of the universe. Far beyond my mortal mind.” Fay must’ve heard some of that as I caught her smiling at me. “Still, provided the Force doesn’t need me to do anything too insane – like, you know, fight another massive dragon – I’ll do my best to come back around in the new year. No promises though.” I added to avoid getting his hopes up. “While you’re here, study what we’ve given you and continue to learn all you can. Heck, you’ve met HK, so why not try and build your own droid. Though one with better manners than that hunk of junk.”

Hopefully, he wouldn’t make C-3PO as I’d always found that droid to be annoying. Though if he did, watching HK try and comprehend the pacifist mentality C-3PO displayed would be entertaining if nothing else.

“Mum doesn’t like HK. She says he’s a very rude droid.”

That made me laugh. “HK is an… acquired taste. Though once you begin to understand him, he’s mostly harmless.” At least for now.

“Are we ready to depart?” Fay asked as she and Shmi reached our side.

“Yes, master. Bo should’ve finished the final pre-flight checks while I’ve already confirmed the supplies we need are on board and secured.” Fay nodded and turned to Shmi.

“Miss Skywalker, I hope you and young Anakin come to enjoy your time here with the Lokella. They are, for the most part, a kind and good group; much like yourself.”

“We will,” Shmi said as she gently pulled her son to her side, and he did nothing to resist. “And thank you Cameron for freeing us. I’d have been happy if you’d only taken Anakin away from that life, but to go out of your way to free us both,” she paused and wiped her eyes. “Words cannot express how much we owe you.”

“You owe me nothing, Miss Skywalker. Freeing slaves is something any rational being would do. I only wished that the Force wanted me to free every one of them on that planet.”

“Perhaps one day it will,” Shmi replied with a smile. “And on that day, I and every former slave will give thanks to you and those like you who brought about the end of that abhorrent practice.”

I smiled back and lowered my head in agreement. “Indeed. Until we meet again, may the Force be with you, Anakin and all the Lokella.”

“And with you,” Shmi replied.

After that, Fay and I walked up the ramp into the Ne’tra Sartr. Fay broke off to head to her quarters. Something I’d need to thank Adonai for when we next met – I hadn’t had a chance to speak with him as I’d let Bo have all the time when we’d established communications with Mandalore – was converting this vessel from a troop transport into something akin to a mobile base for a much smaller unit. It was clear the plan had been for this to house a squad of eight to so Mandalorians who’d likely work as an elite unit sent from place to place to deal with issues. Now, with only four of us onboard – five if you count HK – it was roomier and a perfect way for us to move around the galaxy without having to hitch rides on passing ships.

Honestly, it made me wonder why the Jedi didn’t have a fleet of similar-sized vessels for members to use. It would make the Order more able to react to situations around the galaxy without having to wait for the Senate to get off its arse and do something.

“Finally,” Bo muttered as I stepped into the cockpit. “I was thinking you’d never say your goodbyes.”

“Anakin took some reassuring that I’d return, that’s all,” I replied as I slid into the pilot’s seat. “You ready over there HK?”

The droid was currently hooked into the gunner’s console. “Confirmation. Affirmative master. I must say, this is something I am most eager to experience.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Bo whispered as I increased the power flow to the sub-light engines.

“Analysis: Even missing my body, I still have far superior reaction times and accuracy than you, meatbag.” HK countered, making me chuckle as Bo glared at the droid head.

“Anyway,” I muttered as I gently eased back on the throttle and the ship lifted from the deck. I saw Anakin wave from where he’d moved with Shmi. Beside them were the entire ruling council of the Lokella, along with others. Most were waving us off, though I knew that Baalta wasn’t there as she, and the Freerunner were waiting outside to escort us to the edge of the system.

While I’d tried to argue against the escort, the council had put down their foot about it, saying that as the head of the council – something that I’d barely been able to suppress a groan about – I deserved nothing less.

The hyperspace calculations had already been plotted, though I’d go over them before we jumped. From there, Dooku had a personal matter that he needed us to look into; one that, thankfully, was located in a Mid Rim system not far from the Lokella system.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be as boring as the last six months had been. As much as I would never admit it publicly, I found myself missing the action and adventure that I’d expected when I’d come to this universe.

“Query: Master, would it not be amusing to test the anti-personnel weapons while targets are still in range?”

… …

… …