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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Before - Legends [DDC 2020] Outcast

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by CaraJinn, Jan 2, 2020.

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  1. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    [face_laugh] Fun nicknames and looking forward to the mission unfolding
     
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  2. CaraJinn

    CaraJinn Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2018
    Chapter 21: Younglings

    The descent was easy enough. Obviously I wasn't their first visitor because there was a nearly visible path formed by numerous feet. An untrained eye might not notice it but I was far from untrained. Neither were the inquisitors if any of those should be around.

    "I hope you have alternative routes," I said politely, "this one is getting dangerous."

    "Huh? What do you mean? No-one ever goes here but me."

    "If so, you've been here too frequently," I informed. "You see the bent straws here? And on this rock moss has been worn off by your shoes. For those who knows what to look for, this is almost like a hyperspace lane."

    Even if I hadn't been able to see his face in the darkness, I would have felt his shame through the force.

    "Oh. I didn't know it was that obvious."

    "For a random being passing by it wouldn't be. For those whom you wouldn't like to notice, it would."

    We continued our descent and soon we were down in the jungle bordering the city, and we moved silently among the huge trees until we came to an almost spherical rock which once in the past must have rolled down the mountain side and ended up here.

    "Wait here!" my young companion said, and disappeared into the dark.

    If they use this as a regular meeting point it's a miracle that they haven't been caught already. Anyone with half a functioning brain cell would know that this would fit far too well for secret meetings.

    If I came out of this place in one piece I'd surely tell them a thing or two about clandestine operations. Their change of guide move was clever, the rest of it not so much. Silently I slid into the darkness among the trees, close enough to see the large rock, far enough away that I could sneak away silently if the wrong being came by.

    I didn't have to wait long.

    Shortly after a stirring in the branches revealed a small being who looked around with a confused expression on his face. It would have been funny if the circumstances had been less tense.

    "Looking for me?" I said softly, and had the pleasure of seeing the boy startle. "I was left here by your friend."

    I surely would ask Master Obi-Wan to tell his contacts a few well placed phrases about sending children into such dangerous missions once I was done here and could get in touch with him again.

    "Follow me," the youngling whispered.

    And I followed.

    The walk into the city went without any complications, which made me nervous as a loth cat in a fast lane. In my experience there was nothing such as an uncomplicated mission. After criss-crossing between buildings we came to modest looking house in a quiet street.

    "There it is," my young companion whispered. "You have half an hour and then one of my…friends will pick you up and take you back."

    I nodded silently, saw him disappear into the dark before knocking on the door. By second knock the door was opened and a Twi-lek male peeked out.

    "Come in."

    I didn't sense any danger so I stepped in.

    The room was sparsely equipped with furnitures but otherwise kept well.

    "This is not where we live," he explained, "it was just chosen as a meeting point."

    "For safety," he added.

    I nodded. I could see him inspecting me and for a moment his glance lingered by my lightsaber.

    "Activate it," he demanded.

    "What?"

    "Do it. The…others have red 'sabers. I've been told that true jedi never use red."

    Oh, well, it made sense. At least to some extent.

    "I'm not a jedi," I said, but did as I was told. "But I don't belong to the 'others' either."

    "You will protect her?" he asked.

    I nodded: "I will. But, why are you doing this? Not many people give their children away these days."

    A flicker of sadness could be seen in his face.

    "I know nothing about that, I just know that she has…powers. She can lift things by looking at them. First we weren't sure, but then we saw one of her bottles float towards the crib and then we were sure. We don't trust the others, and that they won't harm her. We've heard rumours that sometimes children just…disappear."

    "Yes, I have heard those as well," I agreed. "And you're probably right. Jedi aren't popular nowadays, and that may count for anyone with jedi-like abilities too."

    "Will you take her and keep her safe according to your best abilities?" he asked again.

    "Yes, or….my friends will do. I do a lot of travelling myself. But she will have friends and caretakers who will be good to her."

    "So there are some of you left?"

    I just smiled.

    "Bring her. We need to leave in a few minutes."

    This time he was the one to nod.

    "Aria, bring her out."

    A Twi-lek female with one of the rare red skin colours appeared from a room in the back of the house. In her arms a little bundle was stirring. I could see stains of tears on her cheeks and yet her eyes had a determined look.

    "Stranger, this is Eeyrie," she said softly, "she's 6 months old now."

    The child in her arms was cute as can be with a skin tone more like indigo, mostly her father's blue skin mixed with some of the red from her mother. Her eyes were clear blue and she scrutinised me, like she was about to make a tough decision. Which, to some extent was true.

    Her mother handed her over to me. Tears brimming over again.

    "Here. Take her while I'm still able to do this. Keep her safe, make her happy…."

    "We will do our best," I assured her, well aware that the woman had been listening in to my conversation with the male.

    And with that the woman handed the bundle over to me. It was the strangest feeling. I always felt a bit uncomfortable around children and in particular those who were as small as this one. They were so small and fragile.

    Maybe I would have felt different if I hadn't been fighting a war for months of my own youth. Maybe that had hardened me more than I was willing to admit to myself. At least the child didn't cry.

    "We will leave through a back door," the male informed, and bent forward to kiss his daughter's little brow one last time.

    And with that they disappeared.
     
  3. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Heart tugging but necessary [face_thinking]
     
  4. CaraJinn

    CaraJinn Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2018
    Chapter 22: Inquisitors

    I waited until I heard the backdoor close behind the couple and then I checked my chrono. About 5 minutes to pickup by some new youngling. I chose to stay indoors as long as possible as a figure dressed in a dark robe with a child in its arms would have been suspicious, even without an ongoing war.

    So just in time I stepped out with the child tucked safely in the nook of my arm. She looked curiously around us but could probably not see much as darkness had fallen while I was inside the house. And then her tiny face scrunched as in distaste.

    I couldn't agree more. Strolling up the street was the dark foreboding figure of an inquisitor. If I'd been alone I might have ran for it, but escaping over fences and up walls was not an option with little Eeyrie in my arms so I simply had to fight my way out of this. Again, it wouldn't have been too challenging alone. The Inquisitors were skilled fighters but when it came to 'saber combat they weren't a huge challenge for someone like me who had been on the battlefields from a very tender age. Fighting when taking care of a baby was not like being in a battle with Skyguy and Rex so somehow I had to overcome that obstacle - I needed to be able to move freely. So simply levitated the baby through the air and into the relative safety between myself and the wall behind me. A small 'yelp' indicated that she was less than happy with the treatment but apart from that she kept quiet.

    "Give the child to me, Jedi," the inquisitor growled.

    "Wrong, and wrong again," I answered drily, "I will not give it to you, and I am no Jedi."

    "Only Jedi carry lightsabers," he intoned, while drawing his own double bladed saber.

    Wow, this guy was really stupid, even for an Inquisitor.

    "I doubt it," I said evenly while drawing my own 'sabers, "you don't look like a Jedi to me…"

    And at that point he attacked. I ducked and evaded his first strike quite easily and brought my left saber up to block the next one while aiming for his left leg with my other saber. He stepped aside and I had to rely on my block. This guy was larger, heavier and stronger than I and under normal circumstances I would have trusted my natural agility to beat him. This time I didn't have that luxury. I knew that as soon I flipped or used the walls or leapt too long he would snatch the child or kill it. I had, literally, to stand my ground. Stars end, why hadn't I asked Master Obi-Wan to teach me more Soresu while I still had the chance? That style would have been perfect in this situation. I kept blocking and parrying the best I could while my mind was racing. I had to end this soon and get away. Somewhere in the shadows was probably a scared kid waiting to take me back to another meeting point, and the inquisitors worked in pairs far too often for my likings.

    I had to end this somehow. Quickly.

    Maybe I could use the walls - a little? I decided to give it a try.

    At his next furious attack I leapt into the air, over his head and flipped to hit the wall on the other side of the narrow street with my feet and kicked. He had expected me to flip over his head, not to come back again so he was about to take a low blow where my feet would have been in a normal flip. Instead I landed where I'd come from and my 'saber found it's target. I'm usually not the backstabbing type, but there's a first time for everything. He fell flat on his face.

    I called the child to me with the force and ran. There was no time waiting for any youngling to turn up as my pathfinder. I had to get away quickly, before the second inquisitor appeared. With some luck I would be able to find my way back to the ship on my own.

    I might have done so, but the situation suddenly became even more depressing when two more Inquisitors suddenly appeared around the corner. Obviously I would have more close encounters than I'd bargained for.
     
  5. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Oooh, a [face_nail_biting] =D= Not safe yet! [face_worried]
     
  6. CaraJinn

    CaraJinn Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2018
    Chapter 23: Narrow Escape

    I really, really didn't like the prospect of this. One Inquisitor was not too much trouble to take down. two would literally be double trouble. I didn't like the thought of dropping the kid once more. They were two and while one fought the other might very well snatch the baby and get away with it while the first one did his best to make minced meat of me. Another minor issue was that I had moved too close to one of the main streets and drawing the lightsabers here would surely draw some attention too.

    So much for staying undercover. Good choice, Tano. Just jump into an epic lightsaber battle on open street and make it clear to all the galaxy that remnants of Jedi still exist.

    But, really, I had no other way out, it seemed. And then I heard the sound of a swoop approaching. Quickly. And I heard a voice yell: "Jump!"

    There was not much time for thinking twice so I did as I was told. I held the baby firmly, made one of my best force-enhanced jumps ever and landed neatly behind the driver's back.

    "Grab around my waist," he yelled. "We have to get out of here quickly."

    I did as I was told and realised that it was a very slim waist indeed. Another youngling? And then I stopped thinking. I'd had my fair share of crazy flying with Skyguy and I've probably pulled off one or two stunts myself, but force, this guy was good. I almost wondered whether Skyguy might have created a son here, but then again - he would have been too young and too obsessed with Senator Amidala to do something like that. And the driver was definitely a Twi-lek. The two lekku in front of my face was the absolute evidence of that.

    I kept the baby in place and held on for dear lifes, my own and the babys. The swoop zig-zaged expertly around corners and in narrow alleys where I 15 minutes earlier would have sworn that only Anakin or myself would be able to manoeuvre, and then we approached the jungle.

    "I'm supposed to…" I began but was immediately cut off by the mysterious driver.

    "Nope. Too dangerous. They will find it."

    I didn't even embarrass myself by asking what 'it' was. I had mentioned that the large stone was a too obvious meeting point. Someone else had discovered that too.

    "This swoop can't make the hill," I tried again.

    "It will. I can make it."

    The driver had to be either very young or very skilled to be so certain. The swoop was simply not constructed for hillclimbing and in particular not with two point one passengers. But I shut up. Distracting a driver who was moving in top speed through a dense jungle didn't seem like the best of ideas so instead I tried to reach out with the force to 'see' if anyone was in pursuit.

    Yep, they were, but they were lagging behind. Good thing, and even better was the fact that I didn't sense any force signatures ahead. With some luck nobody had discovered my ship yet. And there was the hillside.

    "Lean forward!" the driver yelled. "We're going up now!"

    And the engines roared. I held the child tighter to my chest and did as I was told. I grabbed the general idea: keep the weight centered and let the swoop follow the terrain. It should have been impossible but thanks to the lithe form of the driver and me not being too heavy myself we managed and the swoop skipped over the edge of the plateau and came to a skipping halt only a few meters from the ship's hatch.

    I jumped off and while I opened the hatch I cast a glance at my rescuer. It was definitely not a he, but a she - one of those Twi-leks with the most beautiful green skin tone. A couple of googles covered her eyes but what I could see of her face was definitivt a very feminine one.

    "Thanks. I really owe you one," I said earnestly, "who are you, by the way?"

    She looked at me for a moment, obviously pondering whether she should reveal her identity to me or not. Then she decided to trust me.

    "I'm Hera," she said, "Hera Syndulla. My father was doing business with one of your kind some years ago."

    That's when I remembered the little Twi-lek girl who had sneaked up on us when Master Obi-Wan and I were here to pick up the communication equipment we later installed in the new Temple and in Obi-Wan's wherever he was.

    If there ever came a chance to recruit her for the rebel case, I would surely do so. But that time was not now. I had to get the kid off planet and she had to escape. The engine roared to life again and the swoop disappeared in the dark.
     
  7. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Awesome meeting and narrow escape. The mystery is solved as to how someone so young could be such an ace pilot ;) =D=
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2020
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  8. CaraJinn

    CaraJinn Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2018
    Chapter 24: Ghost Crew

    My return to Draay-2 went without any more incidents. I did some hyperspace jumping to ensure that nobody were pursuing us and after making enough abrupt changes of course I was fairly sure I could go home safely.

    The first thing I did after leaving the kid with Bant was to occupy the comm station.

    "Come in Seabird. Kindergarten speaking. You there?"

    It took me a while to get in touch but after a couple of days trying he finally answered.

    "Wow, you're not easy to find Seabird."

    "Well, I'm not spending all my time waiting for your calls…"

    Which of course made me wonder what he'd been doing. I was wise enough to not ask him that question though.

    "On my last …uh…excursion I ran into a young friend of ours, and I got an idea."

    "Enlighten me."

    I could almost hear him adding 'Padawan' to the sentence. But he did not - for several good reasons I assumed, -first and foremost because I was nobody's Padawan anymore.

    "This…friend has potential of being an excellent pilot in the future. What do you think about creating small groups around the galaxy which may be assigned minor tasks and thus be a general nuisance for the old folks system? That might take some of the pressure away from our other activities."

    I could almost see him striking his beard thoughtfully before answering.

    "That is not a bad idea. Is your contact ready to start right away?"

    "No, I don't think so. My contact should not operate alone. We might have to find a partner in crime and a ship before we recruit more people for our Ghost missions."

    "I see. If so, I have an idea. Many years ago when I was leaving old folks home I ran into a young man in the spaceport. I don't know if he's still there, but I have a feeling that recruiting him could be a good idea."

    "Who's that?" I said curiously.

    "I'm not entirely sure, but I think he may have once been a part of your kindergarten. They call him Jarrus now. He's quite tall and has brown hair and green eyes…"

    "Like about a zillion other beings in this galaxy," I sighed sourly.

    "Yes, but this one you will recognise if you meet him."

    "I will keep my eyes open," I promised. "If I come across him, I will get him."

    A low chuckle could be heard from the comm.

    "You have my permission to proceed with your Ghost crew when you find time is right. Seabird out."
     
  9. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Nice chat
     
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  10. CaraJinn

    CaraJinn Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2018
    Chapter 25: I am no Jedi

    I am Ahsoka Tano.

    I am an outcast.

    I vaguely remember my childhood before Master Plo took me to the Temple and already then I felt a little bit…off. My birthparents were kind people and so were the others in the village where I was raised, but they weren't like me - or I like them.

    Not quite.

    I remember recognising something in Master Plo when he turned up at our doorstep, and I willingly followed him to the Jedi Tempe when my parents agreed to my training. I remember the feeling of belonging and contentment when I met others that were like me. Almost.

    Just almost.

    I don't know if it was my natural predator instincts that made me an outsider in the creche. I was too active, too boisterous, too impatient… I wasn't the troublemaker per se, but I didn't have the other's patience or ability to listen to my elders. I didn't make many friends there, nor enemies. I just was.

    It's hard to admit but in so many ways I found my place in life on the battlefield. I loved being a part of a team with Master Anakin and Master Obi-Wan and all my adopted brothers in the 501st. The horrible things I experienced made me resent war as such, but for the first time in my life I felt really accepted.

    And then I was an outcast again.

    I made my choice and stood up for myself, and I guess the price was worth it. I live, when so many others didn't make it. I still wonder whether staying behind would have helped that fateful day? If I had been there, would I have been able to stop Anakin? Would he have listened? Would I have been able to fight him, if needed? Would friendship have won over whatever poison the Sith had fed into his system?

    I will never know.

    Even now I don't belong. Not truly. I have a home with the other survivors. I'm welcomed to stay whenever I want or need to, but I don't blend in well in their rather peaceful life of raising crechelings, studying, training and harvesting. I don't fit in. I will always belong to the light, of that I am certain. As for the rest, I have no idea.

    I am Ahsoka Tano.

    I am a warrior.

    I am no Jedi.
     
  11. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Exquisitely insightful =D=
     
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