Saga Closer Than You Think(Updated 2/12/16)

Title: Closer Than You Think: A Cooperative Production
Author: JediMasterAmanda with input from Cleo Jinn, JediMaster1511, Padawan4687, Admiral Volshe, Darth Dreadwar, Frank T., Shira A'dola, and Psych_Jedi (the order doesn't denote anything, I just typed them at random)
Timeframe: Before GFFA: Far future from the Saga; In GFFA: Starts toward the beginning of Rebels, after Ezra has joined the Ghost
Characters: Multiple OCs based off of JCFers, the Ghost crew, Inquisitors, Sith, Imperials, other Rebels, too many to list
Genre: Part humor, part adventure, a pinch of romance, part fun, part not so fun
Keywords: Jedi, Sith, Self-Insert, Time Travel, GFFA, Rebels, Imperials, Empire
Summary: When too many JCFers gather in one place, especially when that place contains alien artifacts, things tend to get out of hand. A fact that has never held truer until now. Will we end up destroying the galaxy with good intentions? Will Dreadwar realize his dream of a utopia under his control? Will the author ever stop trying to be dramatic with summaries? We may never know....or will we?
Notes: Disclaimer #1: I don't own Star Wars. Disclaimer #2: I don't own any of the OCs present in this story aside from myself and any I point out. Disclaimer #3: I own the idea and the work here(though my compatriots share in ownership of some of the work in future parts of the story ). No copying it, please! Ask permission if you wish to share this story elsewhere, but the answer is likely no, because you can easily link people if you want people to read it so badly.

I think I got all the necessary disclaimers...Now on to the story!

Prologue- The Meet-up

I grunted as I hefted my backpack onto my back after walking outside of the airport into the Las Vegas air. Next to me, Paddy took a look around, trying to see if she could see where our friends who were supposed to pick us up were. They had driven here and were supposed to pick us up from the airport, but we saw no sign of them so far.

Paddy was merely a nickname I sometimes called her by, for it was based off her username on the message boards we communicated on. It was an easy way to distinguish between her and myself, since we shared the same name of Amanda. It was rather ironic, because we had very similar views and personality, though with enough differences you would still be able to tell us apart. Whether those differences were inherent or merely due to the age and experience difference, it was hard to tell, though. She did remind me a lot of myself when I was younger.

The biggest difference between us, besides age, was our appearance. Though younger than me—I was 24 and she was 18—Paddy was already a couple inches taller than I was and her skin tone was quite darker than my own near-snow white skin. Her eyes, though also brown, were a little darker than my own and while my hair was a red-brown hers was black.

She was already dressed to go to the Star Wars convention we were here for, as the first day was today and we were just going to the hotel to drop our stuff off before going. She was dressed as Rey from the newest Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, complete with a staff strapped to her back. I personally didn’t have a costume as of yet, though I was hoping to find one while we were here. I did, however, have my Mace Windu Lightsaber hanging off my belt.

“I wish they’d get here!” Amanda said, bouncing on her feet.

I was almost jealous she could bounce. I had packed everything I needed into two bags, but one of those bags was almost as heavy as I was. It was all I could do to stand and wait without falling over backwards with the weight, even with the smaller bag held in front of me to act as a counter balance.

“Patience, young Padawan,” I said, tone that of a Master teaching their student. “They will be here soon.” I pushed onto my tip toes to see over a car slowly driving by, but regretted it when I dropped back to the rest of my feet as I almost fell over. Amanda caught me before I could, however.

“You don’t seem very patient either, Crystal,” Amanda said, looking amused. She used the name I usually went by, to clear confusion between me and other Amandas. It was awkward for her to call me “Amanda”, like it was for me to call her the same.

“My shoulders are killing me,” I complained honestly.

“That’s cause you have a ton of bricks on them,” Paddy teased, having tried to lift my backpack earlier in the day. Tried being the operative word.

“I don’t have bricks,” I replied. “I merely pack tightly.”

Our conversation ended there as a car finally pulled up in front of us and a somewhat familiar face appeared out of the passenger seat. The man was tall enough that he towered over me easily, what with me being short and all that. He stood at a whopping six foot four and seemed to always being wearing suits, except for right now, when he wore a costume of some Sith Lord from obscure Star Wars lores. His eyes were brown, like ours and his hair was closely shaven, but he wasn’t completely bald and what was there was black. He was 21, making him a few years younger than me, which struck me as surprising since I had thought he was older than me.

“Hello ladies,” he said politely, though he grinned in anticipation of our coming adventure at the Star Wars convention.

“Yo,” I answered before heading for the trunk, walking fairly slowly being weighed down with so much. Mental note, stop packing so many things!

“Hey Edward!” Amanda said, waving excitedly.

Edward and Amanda followed me to where I now waited at the trunk of the car. Edward opened the trunk up and then helped Amanda with her bag as I set my smaller bag down. When I took my backpack off, Edward took it from me before I could heft it into the trunk, making me give him an irritated look at not letting me do it myself.

“Geez, Amanda, what did you put in here? Bricks?” Edward asked as he placed it neatly in the trunk.

“I asked the same thing,” Amanda laughed.

I shrugged, annoyance forgotten, though I had to remember to tell him to call me by Crystal, at least whenever both us Amandas were present. “I pack tightly,” I said. “You never know when I’ll need my writing, my drawing or my XBox. Then, of course, snacks for the plane and a water bottle. And clothes, can’t forget clothes.” And other things females just needed, but that was too much info to just blather about.

Edward shook his head at me as he closed the trunk. Once all our stuff was safely in the trunk, we got in the car; Edward back in the passenger seat while Amanda and I took the backseat. In the driver seat was another one of our JCF friends, JediMaster1511, otherwise known as Richard.

Richard, age 27, was a tall man as well, though not as tall as Edward. He stood at five foot eleven, almost a whole foot taller than my five foot self. He wore a flashy jacket that made me roll my eyes, being a personal believer in blending in with my surroundings. Flashy things just weren’t my thing, but they were his, so at least he was just himself. His eyes were blue and his hair was short and brown, though it was a little messy.

“What’s up, shorty?” Richard asked, glancing back at me. I don’t think he had realized just how short I was compared to everyone else in the group.

I pouted and crossed my arms. “The sky,” I answered in my typical answer to that question.

Amanda chuckled next to me as Richard began pulling through the airport parking lot. “So, are the others at the hotel? Or did they go to the convention already?”

“They went to the convention ahead of us,” Edward said. “We’ll drop your stuff off at the hotel and then meet them in the food court for some lunch.”

“Good, cause I’m starving!” I said, sighing.

“I told you to eat at our layover in Atlanta,” Amanda said.

“We didn’t have time to sit down where I would’ve sat down to eat,” I said. “Most foods available there cause my motion sickness to affect me pretty badly on my next flight…They do have a really nice, sit down restaurant with some really good seafood, but it’s for the multi-hour layovers rather than an hour one.”

“Eh, I’m hungry too,” Amanda said. “It turns out airport food isn’t very filling.”

“That’s cause they are more concerned with speedy service than filling or good food,” Richard said.

“Our layover is longer on the way back, I’ll treat you to the good stuff then, Paddy,” I said, grinning over at her. My money was tight, but I never let that stop me from spoiling my friends.

“Sounds good,” Amanda answered, grinning in anticipation.

“So, you two ready for the convention?” Edward asked.

“I am excited!” Amanda said, bouncing. “This’ll be my first convention, I am excited to see what the big deal is.”

“It’ll be my first Star Wars convention,” I said more calmly, though inside I was anxious to get there as well. “I’ve been to a couple anime conventions. I expect cooler things here though.” I wondered if any of the SW cast would be present. I hadn’t really looked up what to expect, I rather liked the adventure of it being a surprise.

~An Hour Later~

“Yo!” I said as the four of us walked up to where the rest of us were standing.

A choir of hellos came from everyone, almost at once. I had to take a moment to fully register just how many people were here. It was strange for me, to be doing something like this in a group of nine people. In the past, the only time I had been in a group of people this big who were all friends had been during my time as a flag girl in my high school marching band. All nine of us were Star Wars fans who had met online at the Jedi Council Forums and had decided that we needed to have a meet up. What better place than a Star Wars convention?

Besides those of us who had just arrived, there were Cleo, Emberly, Bry, Frank and a man we referred to as Pysch after his username.

Cleo was the youngest of us at the age of 15. It was almost surprising that she had been given permission to go on this trip without either of her parents, but I knew she was told to send a report back on the first night. She was four foot eleven, making her the shortest of us for now, but I was sure she’d grow to be at least a little taller than myself by the time she grew into a full adult. She had blue-green eyes that currently were sparkling in excitement as she and Amanda chatted animatedly about what we could do with our first day here. Her hair was blonde with some almost red streaks in it, which she currently wore in a messy bun. She wore a set of Jedi robes with a toy Lightsaber at her belt.

Emberly, otherwise known as Shira from the boards, was 22, thus putting her around the middle of our group’s age range. She was five foot two, not tall enough to tower over me, but enough that I had to look up to meet her eyes. Her hair was long and light brown with some red-brown and blonde highlights. Her eyes were a blue-green. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, much like I was.

Bry, otherwise known as Admiral Volshe on the boards, was 20 years of age. She was just barely over six foot, though not quite six foot one, making her a full foot taller than me. It also meant she was the tallest of us girls and second tallest in the group overall. Her hair was strawberry-blonde and long, held up in a bun and covered by her costume’s hat. Her eyes were blue-green, albeit a slightly different shade from those of the others with blue-green eyes. She was dressed as Admiral Volshe, the character of whom was her username’s namesake. The pristine white uniform definitely gave her an Imperial look to her and, even though I was no fan of the Empire, I found myself jealous that she looked so regal in the uniform. I’d probably look completely out of place.

Frank was more of an enigma to me than the others. He was often busy, so I didn’t see much of him on the boards, but he had waggled himself into this trip by being on at the right time. He seemed to be well-liked, so I wasn’t terribly worried, though due to my nature, I kinda half-way hid behind the others from him. My first impression of him was that he was more secretive than most of us were, but I could be wrong.

What I did know of him consisted of the fact that he was in his mid-thirties. He was also five foot seven, had a beard and his hair was shorter in the sides than it was on top. His was a dirty blonde with blue eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt and baggy sweatpants.

Psych was more of an enigma to me than Frank in that I didn’t even know how old he was. From his appearance, though, I guessed somewhere in his twenties. He stood at five foot seven, about average for your typical male, and had short black hair. His eyes were a deep green color. He wore traditional Jedi robes that reminded me of Obi-Wan’s.

“So, food’s all in this area,” Cleo said to those of us who had just got here.

“We can find a table and then each get whatever we want,” I said as I moved around a bit constantly, getting out of the way of passing people who either didn’t see me or didn’t care that I was standing there, it was hard to tell. Sometimes being small wasn’t as good an advantage as I liked to believe.

Amanda pulled me closer to where she stood with Cleo, moving me more into the center of the group and out of the way of passing people.

“Sounds like a plan,” Psych said.

At that, we found a round table that we could all fit in and claimed it by placing our bags on all the chairs. Once that was done, I volunteered to stay to watch our stuff while everyone else went to get food. As the others all paired off and went for food from the respective places they wanted food from, I stood by the table, arms crossed and watched our stuff, keeping half an eye on the people around me as I fidgeted. I volunteered to stay behind alone, but that didn’t mean it didn’t make me uneasy. I had been to conventions before and I’ve been alone in a crowd of people before. But the fact that so many crossed by behind me within my personal space still set me at unease. I hated crowds.

Mostly it was because I hated there being people behind me. It’s why I usually gravitated toward the back of a group of people, even though it meant I couldn’t socialize as well. Being in the back also meant I could keep track of all those with me and assure myself someone hadn’t plucked them out from behind me without my knowledge. This was especially true for those younger than me, which included more than half of our ragtag group of Star Wars fans. Only two of them I knew for sure were older than me and I had no way of knowing if Psych was a little younger or a little older, since he had never revealed his age. But even they I felt protective towards.

Once there were a couple of the others back with their food, I took my wallet from my bag and headed toward the food I had decided upon while waiting. Once I had it, I moved back to the table and took my seat in between Richard and Amanda.

“You make moving through these crowds look easy,” Cleo commented.

“Experience from high school,” I explained, shrugging.

“It happens when you’re dedicated more to your classes than standing around chatting in the hall,” Bry put in.

“It helps that I am small,” I grinned as I picked up the burger. I was in a burger kind of mood.

“You are small, shorty,” Richard said, ruffling my hair.

“Oi! Don’t call me that,” I huffed as I fixed my hair, the little it actually needed to be fixed anyways.

“I’ll call you what I want,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes. One day people would stop teasing me about my height. Not sure what will bring that about, but I was determined to get people to stop teasing me some day.

As we ate, we discussed plans for exploring the convention. We planned on getting through everything by the time the three days were up, so we had to plan it out to be sure we saw, and enjoyed, everything to its fullest.

I got a strange sense that we were about to have some sort of grand adventure, but I wasn’t sure if it was pertaining to the convention or something else. I shrugged it off as being my imagination and ate my food.

After we ate, the fun would begin.

 

Wonderful Amanda How did you know I usualy wear my hair in a bun? I didnt tell you that.
Beautiful work, I loved your discriptions of us.

 

Nice building suspense, there... And already realistic, believable, humorous. Everyone in-character, and engaging banter. I just know this is going to be a wild ride and the most complex, gripping, conflicted and deeply thought-out self-insert fanfiction on the Boards!

I must say I'm intrigued by the hero, this... Edward? Seems like a right gentleman and a smart chap.

Loved it!

 

Hero? Dread, Mandie is the main charactor, not Edward.

 

Cleo: I guessed from your personality. Glad you like so far.

Dreadwar: Glad I’ve got everything right so far. But now Dreads don’t be trying to take the spotlight.

A/N: And the first chapter is done! Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 1- Convention Time

I tagged along at the back of the group, listening to the conversation and observing our surroundings with mostly hidden enthusiasm. I was more browsing than anything at that moment, but I was keeping my eye out for anything I wanted to check out further. Though, the downside of hanging out in the back was that it made it more difficult to get the group to stop so I could check something out.

“Hey, you ok?” Richard asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, fine,” I said, looking sideways and up at him. “I just tend toward the back of groups. Lets me keep an eye on everyone.” I grinned, hiding the unease I felt about being in such a crowded place. I needed something I could get excited about enough to distract me from the crowds.

“There’s a place for Lightsaber dueling up ahead,” Richard said, as if reading my mind. “We’re gonna stop there. You want to join in?”

“Yes!” I said, grinning from ear to ear, making my eyes appear to be closed to anyone who was looking my way.

Edward looked back. “I call first fight against you,” he said.

“Fine by me,” I said.

“Maybe I can convert you to the Darkside,” Edward said, grinning in anticipation.

“Good luck with that,” I said, thinking to myself that if anyone succeeded at that it’d be a cold day in Hell.

“Hey! No converting my students!” Richard said.

“Uh-oh, careful, he might win by exhausting you,” Amanda said, grinning.

“We’ll see about that,” I said, sticking my tongue out.

“This’ll be fun,” Edward said, rubbing his hands together as we arrived at the Lightsaber Duel arena.

I shifted from foot to foot as I grinned in my own anticipation. It had been a long time since I had had a Lightsaber duel. I hadn’t had one since my brother and I lived in the same house together. The coming duel was already bringing back memories of leaping off furniture at each other, somehow not trashing the place any further than it already was and not hurting ourselves. It was even better, because it was the same dynamic, with a Lightsider—me—going up against a Darksider—my brother in the past and now Edward.

“Be careful, Padawan Clambainn,” Richard said, using my Padawan name from the New Jedi Trials on the boards. “Don’t let him corrupt you.”

“No worries, Master,” I said, winking and sticking my tongue out. “I am firmly in the Light. It’ll take more than anything he has to throw my way to turn me. You forget, I used to be a Master. I was just gone for too long and you put me back into the Padawan stage.”

“Gotta make sure you’re still up to par,” Richard said, a mischievous look on his face. “You probably got rusty.”

“Oi! What happened to expecting magical things?” I asked.

“Maybe if you would get your second task done, I would still expect it,” Richard said, though he was clearly just joking.

“Meh!” I said, waving a hand as I smiled in good nature.

“Come on, Crystal, we don’t have all day!” Edward said as he took a step into the arena after having talked to the one in charge of it.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I said and took my bag off my shoulders and handed it to Richard. “Here, hold this.”

“Ok,” Richard said as I half-jogged over to the entrance.

I allowed the man at the gate to examine my toy Lightsaber before hopping into the arena, walking toward the middle where Edward stood as the gate closed behind me. I noticed a number of people were watching, but I purposely ignored that fact.

“Alright! The rules are simple,” the one in charge said as he came to stand between Edward and I, off to the side a bit. “No strikes to the head, nothing to the groin area of either combatant. Legs, chest and arms are good targets. The first one to three hits wins. You may use the entire arena as you see fit, even move things. But nothing, including your persons, is allowed to leave the arena during the duel. If either of you sends something out of the arena, it is possible I may disqualify you for victory.”

Only three hits? That was disappointing. This could end up being short. Or maybe not. Time would tell. I supposed they needed a small number otherwise duels could last all day.

“The match will go until someone has gotten three hits or I declare it over,” the man continued. “Taunting is allowed, but do not go overboard. No cursing is to be done, for there are little ears listening.” He glanced toward the kids lined up watching and I did as well. He needn’t worry for any of that from me.

“Do you both understand the rules?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Edward nodded at the same time I nodded and said “Yeah.”

“Lightsabers at the ready.”

Edward put his mask down and took his ‘Saber off his belt and extended the red plastic blade as I did the same with my purple one. We adjusted the blades so they wouldn’t just “deactivate” on us before giving each other a Lightsaber salute in mutual respect, staring at each other as we waited for the match to begin. Our salutes ended with each of us in a beginning stance.

“Begin!” the man said before hastily retreating to the boundaries of the arena.

“I hope you’re ready to lose, sir High Inquisitor of EUC Interviews,” I said, grinning as we began moving around each other, each watching the other for signs of their next move.

“Oh, I shall not be the one losing, young Jedi,” Edward said, grinning himself. “And by the end of this, you will see the power of the Darkside!”

“Maybe, maybe not,” I said, eyes twinkling at the memories this was already bring up. “We’ll just have to see.” I remained in a stance very similar to the one Obi-Wan took in ROTS at the beginning of his fight with General Grievous. Soresu, I believed his style was called after he switched from Ataru after his Master’s death. It was mostly defensive, but I could add my own twist in case of need.

“Indeed,” Edward said, holding his Lightsaber in one hand, off to the side, much like Dooku.

I narrowed my eyes slightly in thought as I observed this. Makashi. This would make things difficult, as Makashi tended to be fairly effective against Soresu. But this was me we were talking about and I was anything if not resourceful. This duel could take a while if I give it my best shot.

Edward made the first move, perhaps because seeing me in a Soresu stance made him believe if he pressed me with Makashi, he’d win easily enough. He moved in with a stabbing motion and, instinctively, I hopped back, quickly taking hold of my ‘Saber with both my hands instead of just one and taking a swing at him from my right. He quickly brought his ‘Saber up to block and for a moment we both pressed against each other’s ‘Saber. Purple against red, leaving marks on the blades from the impact.

Observantly, I noticed his was covered in these marks, whereas mine was clean of them. Not necessarily because of experience difference, but I had just recently bought this ‘Saber, my old ones all being left behind in one of my many moves. But this knowledge proved to me what I already suspected. He had dueled before.

“So let me ask you a question,” Edward said as I pushed his ‘Saber back and made another attack, only for it to be parried away and I spun, ducking at the same time to avoid his counter attack.

I took a swing at him once more as I rose from the crouched position and our ‘Sabers clashed before both bounced back. I hopped a little away, taking up a defensive position as I watched him. “Shoot,” I replied to his request.

“Are your Jedi morals so important to you that you’d let someone die rather than break them?” Edward asked.

“Of course not,” I said. “My Jedi morals obligate me to save as many lives as possible, actually.” I moved in to strike with a tight strike from my left. He blocked it and then pushed my ‘Saber away, delivering a stab that grazed across my side.

“Point to Edward!” the officiator called out.

I moved back again, feeling frustrated, but not allowing it to send me into a blind attempt to land my own point.

“What if it required lying?” Edward asked.

“I would get around the lying,” I replied. “And still save them.” I narrowed my eyes. Where was he going with this?

“What if there was no choice?” Edward asked. “Like, say you lived in the time of Hitler.” He struck out and I slammed my ‘Saber into his, knocking it off course so he missed me. I spun my ‘Saber then and got in a hit on his bicep.

“Point to Crystal!”

“Hypothetically, of course,” I said.

“And you were harboring Jews,” Edward continued as we began walking in a circle again. “And some Nazis asked if your were harboring any subhumans. Would you lie and say no?”

“I would say no, but technically that isn’t a lie, because Jews are not subhuman, they are human,” I said, stepping forward, throwing a swing his way from my upper right.

He blocked it and our Lightsabers locked in a battle of wills again. “That’s true,” Edward said. “But what if they had said ‘Jews’ instead?”

“I’m a devout non-liar, Dreads,” I said, slipping into the more familiar name for him. “I would find a way to save them without lying. However,” I shifted my grip on my ‘Saber and then ducked and spun out of the way as I moved away, him still pushing forward, which caused him to have to take a step forward to prevent stumbling. As he was distracted, I got another hit on his side.

“Point to Crystal!”

“If I had no other option that would result in their living, I’d lie,” I admitted. “My soul is not more important than the lives of others. Though I’d just kick the Nazis’ butts if I had the ability, rather than lie. And then move. Far away. With the Jews in tow.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Edward said. “But, you know, there have been more cases of Jedi using deceit than Sith.”

“Oh really? Cause it seems to me that all Sith do is deceive,” I said, tilting my head.

Edward pressed forward with another stabbing attack and I sidestepped it, bringing up my ‘Saber to block when he moved to slice it “through” me.

“Palpatine deceived Anakin into the Darkside,” I said. “Palpatine was probably deceived by his master. Heck Palpatine deceived an entire freakin’ galaxy! The Sith use lies and deceit on a regular basis. It’s unfortunate that evil like the Sith will always exist.”

“The Sith are not the evil ones, my friend,” Edward said calmly.

“How can they not be? Using things like hate and anger? Those are the tools of the Enemy! Someone good would not use such things!” I tried to push his ‘Saber away, but his physical strength was greater than mine and I only barely budged it.

Edward took on an innocent look. “So, someone who feels anger is evil? Someone who uses their passions to fuel the imposition of their will on the Force, for the greater good, is evil?” he inquired.

“No, just someone who allows those things to control them,” I corrected. “Which the Sith do and Jedi do not. The Jedi, btw, do not actually forbid emotion, they know that as imperfect beings we cannot escape emotion. It’s about controlling them instead of them controlling you.”

“Actually, the Sith use their emotion to control the Force, they don’t let it control them,” Edward pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, because controlling something more powerful than you is such a good idea!” I said sarcastically. “Stop trying to corrupt me with your dark ways!”

“I’m not!” Edward said, looking affronted. “You’re trying to convert me with your wicked goodness!”

I raised an eyebrow as I dodged a swing from him as he broke off our lock. Unfortunately he was too quick with his next swing and got me hard in the side. I stumbled to the side and held my side for a moment, watching him warily.

“Point to Edward! Tied two-to-two! Next point wins!”

“You realize ‘wicked’ and ‘goodness’ are opposites, right?” I asked.

“Shhh,” Edward hushed me. “It all falls apart if you point that out!”

“That’s the point,” I said flatly.

“Fine, have your miserable philosophical victory!” Edward said. “I’ll still win the match!”

He moved again and we ended up in a series of parries and blocks that weren’t as fast as a real Jedi versus Sith fight would be, but was still impressive. This stalemate lasted for several minutes, taking us all over the arena, before my body decided it had had enough. Between the physical exertion I was putting on myself in order to keep up and the earlier hit to my side, my sides both decided that now was the time to send a shooting pain throughout my body. I flinched and backed away, placing a hand on my side.

Edward took the chance, swung his ‘Saber...and lightly tapped me on the shoulder, all before I could regain my composure enough to do anything about it.

“Point! The winner is Edward!” the officiator called.

I sighed and “deactivated” my Lightsaber, with a little difficulty. Once my ‘Saber was away, I reached out and shook Edward’s hand. “Nice fight,” I said. “The debate wasn’t half bad either.” I grinned.

“Same to you,” Edward said. “But you’ve convinced me of nothing.”

“You haven’t convinced me of anything either,” I said as we moved out of the arena.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be converted to the Darkside eventually,” Edward grinned sideways at me.

“Stop getting my Padawan in trouble, Dreadwater,” Richard said, using Cleo’s nickname for the man.

“Who me? Never,” Edward said, still grinning. He then looked at me in concern, noticing I was still rubbing my side in pain. “You ok?”

“I’m fine, just my side acting up,” I said, shrugging it off and standing up straighter, flinching at the pain. “It’s not your fault, I just have bad sides. Old wound from when I was young.”

“I wouldn’t call you old now,” Amanda said, poking my shoulder.

“You know what I mean,” I said, sticking my tongue out childishly, causing her to giggle.

After that, Amanda and Cleo decided to take a turn in the arena. I leant my ‘Saber to Amanda since she didn’t have one with her Rey outfit, something we’d have to fix. Once they were in and the officiator was repeating the rules to be sure they knew them, I leaned against the wall separating the onlookers from the arena and watched. Both of them were my fellow Padawans in the NJT, so I didn’t really root for either one in particular. But even though I was officially a Padawan, I still thought like the Master I once was. So I watched, thinking of pointers I could give them later on.

“You ready?” Cleo asked after the match began, holding her ‘Saber in front of her.

“Uh, yeah,” Amanda didn’t sound too convinced that she really was. She held her ‘Saber in front of herself as well, though she looked unsure if that’s what she should be doing.

I frowned as I watched them begin exchanging blows, mostly blocking each other’s strikes and dodging others. Amanda didn’t seem to hold much confidence in herself. The lack of confidence caused her to pause often more than she should and I could tell Cleo was going easy on her, likely seeing the same thing I was. I was strongly reminded of myself in that moment, back in that time period I allowed my low self-esteem to affect how well I did. I had eventually been able to learn to ignore that voice in my head telling me I couldn’t do something. I would have to speak with Amanda about such things when we had the chance.

Cleo landed a score with a blow to the knee. Amanda sighed as she rolled her shoulder and brought her ‘Saber up in a guard. A few minutes more of parries and blocks, Amanda was able to gain a point with a strike to the shoulder. As the duel went on, I watched closely, seeing much the same dynamic between them as was once between my brother and I during our duels, minus the arguments over whether Jedi were good and Sith were evil or if they were both neutral. A little clumsiness on both sides, perhaps cause Cleo wasn’t utilizing her full fencing experience so that Amanda would have a chance. Unsureness on one end and determination on both.

In the end, Cleo won with a score of three-to-two. Amanda returned my ‘Saber to me once they left the arena.

“You should have more confidence in yourself,” I said as I accepted my weapon back. “You would’ve done much better had you not second guessed yourself so much.”

“I am not good with swords,” Amanda said sheepishly.

“And I wasn’t good either, until I started believing in myself,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I can help you learn if you wish.”

Amanda’s eye widened and then she grinned, nodding. “Yes!”

“I’ll help as well,” Cleo said.

Pretty much everyone else agreed to help as well. Knowing these things would be handy for self defense. And if there was one thing we all had in common besides Star Wars, it was the desire for our friends to be safe. We all knew some form of self-defense besides Amanda and we felt the need to correct that.

“Now! Let us move on to the Sith exhibit!” Edward said and pointed dramatically at the booth across the way set up as if it was a podium for converting people into the Acolytes of Darkness from the Star Wars Community section of the Jedi Council Forums. I found it cool that the boards had a few booths here. It was awesome, in fact. The NJT didn’t have one, but that was only because none of us wanted to just work here and not be able to enjoy the entire convention. We were rather small at the moment.

“He says that like it’s a museum,” I whispered to Amanda, who giggled.

We wandered over, because Edward was determined to get his colleague in on trying to convert us. Or maybe he just wanted to educate us on the Sith just for the sake of it? Nah, that couldn’t be it.

So, after a long, boring, though admittedly interesting, lecture, a few “Join the Darkside, we have cookies” jokes and a bit of debate everyone partook in we moved on.

Eventually we came to the market place, where I parted from the group with Amanda to hunt down a costume for myself and a Lightsaber for her.

“What do you think about this one?” Amanda asked, holding up a Jedi costume that was basically a piece of cloth with the details painted on it.

I grimaced at the poor quality. “No,” I shook my head. “If it means getting a proper Jedi costume, I will splurge.” I stuck my tongue out and Amanda grinned.

“Yeah, I don’t like this kind either,” she agreed, putting the costume back on the rack.

The person running the booth was giving us a disgruntled look and I felt awkward, knowing she had heard us.

“Moving on,” I said, taking a large step away and dragging Amanda along with me.

We moved deftly through the crowds, our experience from high school allowing swift movement and my previous experience with conventions allowing us to move swiftly while still being able to stop if something looked interesting.

“A Kanan plushie!” I said, stopping in my tracks in front of a booth. “I’ve never seen one this accurate before. Rebels plushies are usually goofy looking.”

“That’s because Star Wars merchandise these days lack quality,” the booth keeper spoke up.

Amanda scoffed. “Disney doesn’t understand craftsmanship when it comes to toys,” she commented. “They don’t even make Stormtroopers look proper. I mean, how hard is it to make a bucket head look normal?”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed at her statement as the booth keeper grinned. “‘Bucket head’ I gotta remember that,” I said. “It reminds me of Bulkhead.”

“Who?” Amanda asked.

“You’re a Transformers fan too?” the booth keeper asked.

“Definitely,” I said. “Jedi to the core and Autobot at heart.” I grinned widely.

“I’m still confused,” Amanda said next to me.

“Megatron, the big bad guy in Transformers, has a helm that looks like a bucket,” I explained. “Bulkhead calls him buckethead in a scene where Optimus has the rare opportunity of offing Megatron. He said ‘Kick Buckethead’s bucket!’”

Amanda laughed. “Ha! I can see one of us saying that about a Stormtrooper,” she said.

“That would imply facing only one Stormtrooper,” the booth keeper said.

“Those guys don’t play fair, man,” I said, spinning my ‘Saber in my hands in anxiety. Man, I really didn’t like crowds. “Though now I have the scene from The Force Awakens where Han asks Finn if there are any trash compactors to throw that Stormtrooper lady down playing in my head on repeat.”

“That was a great scene,” the booth keeper grinned.

“Indeed, but let’s not talk about what follows,” I said, clipping my ‘Saber back to my belt. “Talk about heartbreak. I hadn’t cried that much at a movie since Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith.” I paused. “Now I need a pick me up. I’m buying this plushie and whatever this one wants.” I pointed my thumb at Amanda.

“I can buy my own plushie, you know,” Amanda said, picking up and examining a Rey plushie closely.

“Buying things for friends makes me feel better,” I said, straight-faced. “Now choose a plushie.”

“You could break yourself one day doing that,” the booth keeper said, reaching for the plushie to scan to look at it before selling it to me.

I let her take it. “I know,” I said. “I’ve done that before. I purposely only brought so much money with me because of that.” Because I knew the extent of my problem of buying things for others when given the chance. I’d be in debt just for that if I allowed myself. Especially surrounded by Star Wars.

Amanda shook her head at me. “I’ll take Rey,” she said, holding up the plushie with a grin.

The booth keeper took the Rey plushie, inspected it and then typed on her register. After I paid her for both plushies, she handed us our respective plushies and I tucked my new Kanan plushie into the strap on my backpack where he was riding at my side, right above my Lightsaber. Amanda rolled her eyes at me as she placed her Rey into her bag.

“Hey guys! Any luck?” Cleo asked, suddenly appearing behind me.

I only didn’t get startled because there was that constant feeling of someone being directly behind me in this place. Richard was with her as well, which allayed any worry I might’ve had about her wandering about alone.

“Not yet, but we got cool plushies,” I said, pointing to my Kanan plushie.

“Nice,” Cleo said, smiling and giving me a look.

“Don’t give me that look,” I said, holding a hand up. “I’m allowed to like Kanan. I relate to him a lot, thank you.”

“Uh-huh,” Cleo said.

Then both she and Amanda giggled as I rolled my eyes.

“Ooh boy, here we go,” Richard shook his head. “What am I? Master to a bunch of school girls?” he asked.

“Hey,” I said, placing a hand on my hip. “You’re the one who demoted me to Padawan.”

“Blame Star for that,” Richard said. “I didn’t make that rule. And you were the one who disappeared for four years.”

I sighed heavily. “Yeah, yeah,” I said, sticking my tongue out. “And out goes my Master status. Eh, oh well. New beginnings, they say.” I shrugged.

“Ain’t nobody got time for that,” Richard commented.

“What about your costume and Lightsaber?” Cleo asked, moving the conversation on.

“No luck yet,” I said, looking around, but unable to see anything through the crowds yet.

“I think I see a booth for a Lightsaber,” Richard said. “Follow me.”

And follow him we did. It was only a few more moments before we were at the booth he had spotted and then we were browsing the Lightsabers, and Lightsaber parts. There was an option for buying a pre-made one based off a character’s or creating your own. The selection for parts was extensive, far more extensive than I had seen any one set have before. The idea of creating my own Lightsaber was so enticing, I began work on one after confirming I could afford it, forgetting about the world behind me.

As such, I was almost oblivious as I absently grabbed a piece that was in the air. I paused when I realized what it was doing before I had snatched it and blinked, staring at it.

“Did you just see what I did?” I asked, looking at Cleo, who was standing next to me as she helped Amanda pick out parts for hers.

“Huh? No, what happened?” she asked.

“Nothing, I guess,” I said, shaking my head. Must’ve imagined it. The Force wasn’t real...was it?

I finished building my toy Lightsaber, but frowned at it when it was done. Something still seemed to be missing. One could argue that what was missing was a crystal, but this wasn’t a real Lightsaber and a crystal wouldn’t make it into one. Unfortunately, none of the parts on the table seemed to go with what I was going for in the Lightsaber.

“Hm,” I hummed thoughtfully as I inspected the ‘Saber. “Something seems missing.” I tapped the end of it as I thought and looked closer at my options.

“It looks fine to me,” Amanda said, looking at her own ‘Saber. She grinned and extended the purple blade.

I looked mine over again. And promptly realized I forgot to put the blade in it. “Well, that’s what it is,” I said.

Cleo giggled. “Can’t fight without a blade,” she said, looking amused.

“How do you forget a blade?” Richard remarked.

“How did I even?” I agreed and shook my head at myself as I took it apart enough to insert a purple blade into it. “And now I have two.” I handed the booth keeper the money for mine.

“Good for double-wielding,” Richard said.

“My hands are too small for that,” I said, placing my new ‘Saber into my bag. “I’d lose that match any day. I’m surprised I even held my own against Dreads.”

“I thought you said you believed in yourself,” Amanda said, nudging me.

“I only said that,” I admitted, looking sheepish.

“Don’t do that, Crystal,” Richard said, nudging me. “Have confidence in yourself.”

“I try,” I shrugged. “I fail.” And at least this particular failure doesn’t have the same result as most of my failures have.

“Then stop trying and do it,” Cleo said.

I blinked, silent for a moment as ghost whispers of Yoda saying “Do or do not, there is no try.” ran through my head. Then I sighed and shook my head. “Yeah, yeah, I get it,” I said.

~Meanwhile~

Edward, Bry and Emberly were enjoying a tour around the art gallery for the art show. They browsed, quietly conversing about the art and complementing the artists who had created said pieces. Inane chatter, for the most part, with some aired thoughts on Van Gogh's mental state. Suffice it to say, their attention was redirected when one of them happened to look up at the television playing silently for anyone who wanted to see what was going on in the news.

“Hey guys,” Bry said, nudging her companions. “Look at that.”

Edward and Emberly looked up at the screen, where a reporter was talking about some discovery made in Egypt.

“They found something big in Egypt,” Emberly observed.

The screen zoomed in on a large object in the background, starkly clear over the reporter's shoulder. It was a jagged thing, only partially withdrawn from caked clay and sand, but clearly made of a dull grey metal. One thing caught the trio’s attention.

Edward gazed absently, mostly disinterested. New archaeological discoveries were to a penny in Egypt, and he'd become inured to the excitement when all of these new tunnels in the Great Giza Pyramid, or hidden cache behind the Tomb of Tutankhamun and so on, turned out to be singularly dull discoveries that were rarely followed up on. But then again, those discoveries didn't have...

“Those are Sith markings!” Edward commented, shock suffusing his exclamation as he recognized the telltale scratching of the Kittât alphabet on the mysterious metal object.

Impossible.

“What are?” Bry asked, taking a closer look at the ship.

“Those markings there,” Edward said, pulling out his smartphone.

“They just look like scratches to me,” Emberly commented.

“Look here,” Edward said, showing his companions the images of the Kittât alphabet from wookieepedia. “Those are definitely of Sith origin.”

“So it’s possible, then, that the Sith language is based on something real,” Emberly surmised.

“But that can’t be right,” Bry said, crossing her arms. “The Sith aren’t real. Their language is made up and nothing like this has been discovered before. It has to be coincidence.” There was a pause. “Right?”

“It’s insane,” Edward agreed.

The three shared a look before turning back to the television to gather as much information as they could from the soundless visage.

“We have to tell the others about this,” Bry said. “They’ll be ecstatic.”

“Possible proof that the Star Wars galaxy is real?" Edward laughed disbelievingly. "Indeed they will,” Edward said.

“Unless it’s a hoax,” Emberly pointed out.

“It very well could be,” Bry agreed. “But we should try to compile all the facts before dismissing it. We might miss out on something great otherwise.”

“Agreed,” Edward nodded, noting that none of the other patrons were even paying attention to the news. But he doubted they’d be the only ones putting further investigation into this. The screen was displaying something impossible. It defied all reason. Star Wars was fiction; how could obscure runes from its Expanded Universe be on some find in Egypt?

~Later that Day, in the Hotel Room~

I sat down on the couch as I rubbed at my knee. Walking for so long on concrete had not done my joints any favors, especially my knee that was messed up ever since my trip to Washington the previous year. Five and a half hours on a plane didn’t agree with me very well. It had messed up both my knees, but only one hurt from standing or walking a lot, the other did from sitting too long, and also took less time to start hurting.

“I feel old,” I frowned as I pulled my legs onto the couch, folding them off to the side and sighing as my knee stopped hurting as much. Now it was only a matter of time before I would have to stand again for the other knee.

“Just wait ‘til you’re older,” Richard said, a teasing smile on his face.

I groaned. “Don’t remind me, I’m broken enough already,” I complained. “I’m too young for these aches.”

“So stop them,” Richard said.

“And how is she supposed to do that?” Amanda asked, sitting down as she sat her new Lightsaber down on the coffee table.

“By using the Force,” Richard said.

“I don’t think the Force works like that,” I sighed, shaking my head.

“Actually, there are healing Force powers,” Edward pointed out.

“Now, if only the Force were real,” Cleo grinned.

Absently, I noticed Edward, Emberly and Bry share a look before Bry picked up my chromebook from the table.

“We should show you something we saw while at the convention,” Bry said. She opened the chromebook before pausing. “What’s the password?”

I held my hand out for it. “It’s faster if I type it myself,” I said.

Once the chromebook was in my hands, I typed in my thirty-plus character long password and then closed the tabs I had set to open at boot and then opened a new one before passing it to Bry, making a mental note to check on the alerts I saw I had when I had the chance.

“Do we have something to put this on the tv?” Emberly asked.

“I brought my XBox, so I have my HDMI cable we can use,” I answered and grabbed my bag from next to the sofa, digging through it for the right cord. Once it was acquired, I stood again and plugged it into the television and then the other end into the slot on my chromebook as someone else turned the television on.

Bry dragged the window into the television after finding the video they wished us to see and then hit the play button.

“We are live here from Egypt as archaeologists uncover one of the largest finds ever discovered in Egypt,” a reporter was saying.

She continued speaking about how strange it was that something made of metal was uncovered, but I ignored her words as I focused instead on the image of the find. It was only partially visible and what was was jagged and a dull grey color. The first thing that came to mind was images of various kinds of spacecraft in sci-fi film that resembled the ragged object quite well. There were markings on it that I could see when it zoomed in on the find. They looked distinctly like some kind of writing, but….

“Those don’t look like they’re Egyptian,” I said, pointing at the markings as Bry paused the video.

“They aren’t,” Edward said, typing on his phone. He showed it to each of us.

“They’re Sith markings?” Psych asked, frowning. “Or very close to. How is that possible?”

“It’s not.” Frank said flatly.

I shook my head in disbelief. I was getting flashbacks to the cop car my friend had seen with “To Punish and Enslave” where “To Serve and Protect” was supposed to be. We had always said to run if we ever saw that due to our Transformers fandom and the connection that line had to the Decepticons. But we had eventually ruled it out as some punk kid thinking he was funny making a fake police car that looked like Barricade.

“There’s no way,” I shook my head and waved my hands in front of me. “Someone has to be making this up.”

Faith is the evidence of that which is not seen, the thought ran through my head before I was even aware of it prickling through my brain. How many times had I been told that?

But this is just insane! I argued with the statement.

So is this whole trip, taken with people you met on the internet and had no way of knowing if they really were who they said they were. And a number of other things you’ve done.

Dang, I was having a debate in my head now. I sighed, throwing my hands up as I paced back to my seat and flopped into it. Yeah, I did insane things all the time. But this was different. Wasn’t it? I supposed the only real difference was that it wasn’t something in my control…

“But what if it is real?” Cleo asked, breaking me from my thoughts. “I mean, think about it. Who could’ve, or would’ve, gone through the trouble of making something that large, etching Sith language onto it and then bury it in Egypt?”

“How would one even do that without being noticed?” Amanda asked.

“They wouldn’t,” I said, shaking my head. “If nothing else, the satellites would’ve seen it happening. And we would be hearing about someone’s crazy Star Wars prank rather than a legitimate Egyptian find.” I couldn’t believe I was making a case for this being real.

But then, if it is real, that means I might have a chance to go into space here, I thought and then grinned largely for reasons unknown by those around me. I would totally go into space if it meant certain death, just for a chance to see what’s out there. Now I really wanted this to be real. The song made using Markiplier’s space simulator video suddenly popped into my head and I grinned even larger. I also stood to my feet to start pacing, suddenly being filled with renewed energy.

“Someone looks excited,” Bry observed, amusement in her tone.

“Dude! Do you realize what this means?!” I asked, bouncing on my feet. “If this is real?!”

“Uh, Star Wars is real?” Amanda asked.

“That Jedi exist?” Cleo asked.

“That I could become a real life, all-powerful Sith?” Edward asked.

I shook my head at them. “We could go into space!” I said, raising my hands into the air. “Do you know how long I’ve dreamed of doing that?! Since I was five! Since I understood that the sky wasn’t just a barrier keeping us here and with a painted background for us to look at!” I hopped this time, barely containing my excitement. “We have to investigate this!”

“We do,” Bry agreed. “Imagine the possibilities this could open up. Not just for us, but for the world. We could discover Bacta or something even better for medical uses.”

“And Lightsabers,” Richard put in, grinning.

“And blue milk,” Amanda added.

“And Jedi,” Cleo put in.

“And holocrons,” Edward stated.

“And spaceships that’ll travel faster than light!” I said, dancing in my spot again. “We could go to other planets! Meet aliens! Maybe they’ll even be friendly! See what’s out there!” I made a strange noise of excitement that one usually didn’t hear from me. A squeal. Then went to the kitchen area for some food, suddenly starving.

Focused on putting together food as I was, I was oblivious to the amused looks I was getting for my over abundance of excitement. Even if I had noticed, it wouldn’t have changed my mood. When it came to the idea of actually going into space, I was like a kid in a candy store—the biggest bundle of energetic enthusiasm you would ever see.

I wasn’t the only one excited at the prospect. The others began discussing possible destinations and theories as to what we could find. Richard, Frank, Psych, Cleo and Amanda discussed Jedi they would want to meet if they were still around along with some Rebels or Republic senators if any were there. Edward, Bry and Emberly discussed Sith and Imperials they would want to meet along with possibilities of finding ancient Jedi and Sith Temples and learning more about the Force.

I listened, but didn’t add anything. I was too excited to speak and I didn’t really know what to expect beyond what they were already speaking about. It was also impossible to know if anything we knew about the Star Wars universe was entirely accurate or would have any affect on what we might find. It was said to all happen a long, long time ago, after all. And in a galaxy far, far away. If this find was indeed a Sith ship, how did it even get here?

I shook my head. Of all things to spark my excitement, it was the possibility of a spaceship clearly owned by the Sith. My brother would have a ball with this, using it to try to convince me of the Sith’s awesomeness because it was their ship that opened up the possibility of fulfilling my lifelong dream. An attempt he would still fail at, but still. I kinda wished he was here, even if we didn’t get along all that well. It would be one thing we could discuss without him being all high and mighty over it. Unless he argued that it would take decades for scientists to uncover the secrets of space travel from it. Then there would be a problem.

As I took a bite of my peanut butter sandwich I had made and thought about the possibilities. If, in the near future or far, the government ever asked for volunteers to go into space, I would definitely be there. But first we had to confirm whether or not this really was a Sith ship.

A/N: Because I think it is fitting for this chapter ending, listen to this song as a credit song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jItnCGRsMjw

 

I loved the duels, of both arms and wits.

 

Isn't a 30+ character password a bit much?