Chapter 21: Judgement
On the Star Destroyer above Lothal, the two young Inquisitors knelt before the Seventh Sister, who glared angrily down at both of them.
"We gave you one simple task" she sneered, "This was a simple apprentice, and you couldn't even touch him!"
Jeddak tried to explain. "We weren't expecting a Mandalorian would interfere…"
"SILENCE!" the Inquisitor roared. The other young Inquisitor, Jada, sensed a brief disturbance coming from behind them and felt a deep sense of fear crawl into her heart as she recognized who it belonged to.
The Seventh Sister, however, took no notice and continued berating the two. "Once the Grand Inquisitor hears of this, you two will be punished for your failure."
Suddenly, a booming voice echoed out. "I will be the judge of that."
Jeddak's heart froze; he didn't need to hear the mechanized breathing to know who stood behind him. Even the Seventh Sister recoiled in fear, frantically kneeling to the ground before the dark, armored figure of her true master: Darth Vader.
"My Lord" the Sister said.
"What is going on here?" Vader demanded.
The Sister stood up. "We had sent these two new members of our forces to the surface of Lothal to exterminate a hidden Jedi apprentice. However, they both failed and the Jedi escaped. I was going to show them that we do not tolerate failure in the usual manner. Unless of course…you have a better idea."
There was silence, with the exception of Vader's breathing, as the Sith looked at Jeddak and Jada. Neither sibling dared look him in the eye.
After a few moments, Vader spoke. "No. They will come with me."
The Inquisitor began to protest. "But they must be punished! Are you going to see to it that they-gkkk!" she was cut off as an invisible force began to choke her, and she crumpled to the ground with her hand on her throat.
"You would be wise to remember your place, Inquisitor" Vader growled, his hand raised in a choking position, "I said I would deal with these two, and I meant it. You will now hold your tongue or else you will find yourself choking on your own words. Understood?"
"Understood" the Sister rasped. Vader then released his hold, leaving her coughing and gasping for air.
"You two" Vader then said, "Rise, and follow me."
The two siblings did so without a word, following Vader down the corridors of the Star Destroyer.
…
As the Inception continued through hyperspace, Tay sat in his designated room on board. It wasn't as furnished as he had thought, but it did have a relatively comfy bed, and that's all that mattered. After having told Nightstalker of where he needed to go, the Mandalorian surprisingly agreed to go there, claiming he too had business on that planet. Tay wasn't sure what kind of business, but he didn't mind so long as he got there too.
Tay currently sat cross-legged on this bed as he tried to meditate. Once again, no luck; the nightmares kept coming back. Tay growled in frustration at his continued failure. Sensing his feelings, BB-5 rolled over and gently nudged his leg, beeping worriedly.
Tay looked down at the droid and sighed as he gently patted its head. "Hey, bud. No, I'm fine."
Just then, a few taps could be heard outside his room, and he looked up to see Valeria standing in the doorway.
"Am I interrupting?" Valeria nervously asked.
Tay shook his head, attempting to be as polite as possible. "No, no, you're fine. Come in."
Valeria walked in and sat down on a bench across from Tay, who could sense she was nervous.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
Valeria nervously scratched the back of her head. "It's just that I wanted to ask you a bit of a…personal question."
Tay felt a little nervous himself, but was able to hide it and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Go on."
Valeria took a deep breath to calm herself before asking, "Is it true what they say about the Jedi? What they were like?"
Tay realized this was a pretty personal question for him, but he managed to keep his composure. "Well, what have you heard?"
"Only stories." Valeria admitted, "but the things I've heard…my people back on my homeworld called them the protectors of the galaxy. Is that true?"
Tay's gaze looked distant as he answered, and Valeria could tell he was recalling very precious memories as he spoke.
"I suppose we were, in a way. We were protectors of the peace, which meant we faced a LOT of different enemies, especially during the Clone Wars."
"You fought in the Clone Wars?" Valeria asked, amazed.
Tay chuckled. "No, I was only a kid at the time."
"Me too. When the Republic freed our homeworld from the Seperatists, I heard many people talking about the Jedi: how nothing seemed to stop them. They seemed invincible."
Tay's expression dropped as a very saddening memory came. "No. We were powerful, but we were far from invincible…"
Valeria could sense Tay's sorrow and quietly asked, "What happened?"
"Order 66" Tay replied, "Whatever that was, it turned our own clones on us. Most of the Jedi were killed. I only survived because one of the clones disobeyed it and helped get me and my master to safety. Not like it mattered, though. Once the Empire rose up, the Inquisitors came for us. I escaped, but my master stayed behind to protect me."
Valeria quietly gasped and put a comforting hand on Tay's shoulder. "Oh, Tay…I'm so sorry."
Tay shook his head. "There was nothing anyone could have done." He then took his mother's lightsaber from his belt and held it out for her to see. "This is all I have left of my family."
Valeria looked at the weapon in amazement. "That was your master's?"
"No. It was my mother's. She was a Jedi, just like me."
"Can I see it?"
Tay gave a small nod before activating the lightsaber's blue blade. He got up off of the bed and swung it around a few times to demonstrate. Valeria was in awe as she saw the blade cut gracefully through the air, humming as it did. After a few moments, Tay deactivated the blade before clipping the hilt to his belt.
"All my life, I've wanted to see a real lightsaber" Valeria gasped, a look of amazement and reverence on her face, "Thank you."
Tay nodded, though he could feel a smile tugging on his lips under the mask at the sight of her happy.
Before the conversation continued, Nightstalker's voice came over the speakers. "We're approaching Batuu. Hang tight."
Tay and Valeria made their way to the cockpit, where Nightstalker and CD-109 sat at the controls. Tay, recognizing CD as a Commando Droid, immediately took out his lightsaber hilt, only for Valeria to suddenly grab his hand and stop him.
"Wait, stop!" she frantically shouted, "he's friendly! I reprogrammed him!"
Tay hesitated, then looked to see CD swivel around in his chair and nod at the Jedi before returning to the controls. Tay was still on edge, but he was able to reattach his lightsaber to his belt and sit in one of the seats in the back.
Nightstalker grabbed a lever on the controls as he announced. "Coming out of hyperspeed in three…two…one."
The mando pulled back, and everyone in the ship lurched forward as the Inception shot out of hyperspace, approaching a tan and green planet.
Tay marveled at the sight of the planet and only managed to whisper. "Batuu."
Nightstalker nodded. "There's an outpost we can land at there. It's full of just about every kind of person imaginable, so we'll be able to lay low just fine long enough for you to do whatever you need to."
Nightstalker guided the ship down to the planet's surface, skimming over an outpost that seemed partially built into the rock before coming to land in one of the empty hangars. Once it had landed, the exit ramp lowered as Nightstalker, Valeria, Tay, and the droids all exited.
Nightstalker turned to Tay and handed him a comlink. "Keep in touch. When you're done with your Jedi business, meet up with us. I'll tell you where we are."
Tay graciously took the comlink and nodded. "I will."
Nightstalker nodded in reply before continuing through to the rest of the outpost, Valeria, the assassin droid and commando droids following him. BB-5 nudged Tay and beeped a few times, asking if he knew where to go."
Tay simply shook his head. "No, I don't know, bud."
Suddenly, he felt an unusual presence in the Force and looked to the left to see a figure standing at the hangar exit. It looked like a young woman, about his age, with short, black hair and light skin. She was shrouded by a black cloak, but Tay could very much tell she was strong in the Force. As the two made eye contact, the figure approached him, pulling down her hood to show her face, and Tay could see a small scar on her cheek. To his surprise, he actually found the scar made her look kinda cute.
"Are you a Jedi?" Tay warily asked.
The figure nodded. "I've been waiting for you, descendant of Skye Bartel."
Tay narrowed his eyebrows, slightly tense. "How did you know about that?"
The jedi's face remained serious. "Call me F. I am the last descendant of Revan, and as of now, our paths are intertwined."
Tay stood in amazement, not quite sure whether or not to believe her. Suddenly, he saw the ghostly visage of Revan appear behind F and simply nod in acknowledgement of Tay.
F continued. "I know you have many questions, but I will explain on the way."
Tay was briefly confused. "On the way?"
F turned to leave. "I know what it is you seek, and I know where it is. Come, let me show you."
Follow her Skye said in Tay's head, I sense she speaks the truth.
Tay couldn't argue with that; he followed F out of the hangar and into the streets of Black Spire Outpost.
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