The Jedi From Earth: A Star Wars Story #Wattys2023

Part 185

    There wasn't much Shawn saw after shutting his eyes besides darkness. He did not expect to see anything this time yet hoped he wouldn't until he did. He felt a chill come over him and then he heard a familiar mechanic breathing, followed by a hissing ignition and hum sound with a following red glow beyond his vision. Shawn opened his eyes then turned his head to the side to see an image that would burn itself into his mind regardless of its fictional state, Vader stood over and next to him with a looming foreboding appearance as if he were the grim reaper. In his hands was his crimson lightsaber, casting its red glow all around. Shawn was terrified beyond belief, he knew this meant one thing.

      Vader suddenly raised his saber to strike, Shawn grabbed his own weapon and ignited it then blocked Vader's blade with all the strength he could muster. Despite his efforts and the crackling of the contacting weapons Vader said, "try all you want, I will kill you nonetheless" with a audible echo to his voice. The strength in Shawn's arm was fading quickly until the wall started cracking beside him. Suddenly it broke open and he was sucked into oblivion away from Vader. He spun around and around while struggling to stop the motion and see what was around him beyond the glow of his saber. Then a large shape flew past him, then another and another, they were rocky in appearance. Shawn figured out how to stop himself, he reached out and grabbed onto one of them with the Force which stopped his motion and left him suspended where he was.

   He focused and began to pull himself toward the rocky shape he'd seized ahold of, yet strangely he did not even feel even the slightest breeze, even as  he got closer to the rock and lightly landed feet first on it. Shawn looked around and deactivated his saber at the same time, what he saw astonished him, he was in space and he had landed on an asteroid, and there were thousands of others as well. It looked far too vivid to be a dream to him, it was the same sensation when he saw Republic City and Korra noticing him. What was strange was that he could still breathe or not feel the lethal cold either, that and the fact there was absolutely no sound whatsoever made it all the more eerie. He looked around more and saw a star in the distance that casted light on the other asteroids all around but it was a dimmer brightness. "Wow" Shawn muttered to himself, his voice both echoed and was the only audible thing to him beyond the faint vibrations of the rock beneath, which he felt rattling his lungs slightly.

    "It's beautiful isn't it?", a mans voice said behind him. Shawn spun around quickly to see Qui Gon standing there with his arms in the sleeves of his robe, his blue aura shining brightly. "Uh yeah it is", Shawn replied awkwardly while still trying to figure out why only their voices were audible and not anything else, "where am I, is this a dream?" He asked. "No, it's not" Qui Gon replied with a slight shake of his head and walked forward. "You have the ability of projecting your consciousness to anywhere in the galaxy, though I've seen you aren't able of doing it at will", Qui Gon explained. "Then where am I?" Shawn asked, "you're in the system of your homeworld, why here I cannot be sure" Qui Gon said then looked up at the sun as Shawn did the same. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you follow me around?" Shawn asked.

"Because, I am part of the Cosmic Force, and I have seen that while you don't know it yet, you will play a major role in bringing balance to the Force" Qui Gon replied calmly then put his hand on Shawn's shoulder, "and I want to help you see something important". Then a small portal of some sort opened up in front of Shawn and what he saw confused him, it was the Antarctic Sith temple but there were dozens of people there. But then he saw the swastika banners and knew it was from the past. A man wearing an SS uniform approached the wall and looked down at a journal then back up while writing something. Suddenly it showed Snoke touching the same name and Shawn realized it was his own name. "Those two saw your name and picked it for different purposes, the first man also is dead but the second is not", Qui Gon explained then the portal vanished and Qui Gon stepped in front of Shawn. "Someone will one day defeat the Sith, someone but not you, Shawn. When the opportunity presents itself, you must run from them", Qui Gon said calmly as an asteroid eclipsed the sun. "Return now, it's lethal to project yourself for too long" then he waved his hand and he faded away.

Shawn woke with a start and felt like he'd run a hundred miles straight. Then there was a knock at the door, "hey we gotta go in a little bit Shawn, get up", Maarek called. "Okay, I'll be out" Shawn said while getting to his feet and felt his strength return. "Wow" He said to himself once more.

***********, Yavin 4

After planning their rescue, Clara went to try and find somewhere she could put the lightsaber in the room she shared with Sabine. But when she was on the ship alone while the others met with Mon Mothma she heard two sets of footsteps in the hanger bay, "pardon me?" A mans voice called out from below. Clara walked out and to the handrail to see a middle aged man wearing Senatorial attire and a young blond haired woman in military fatigues standing beside him with a satchel of some kind, "Yes mister?" Clara asked the visitors calmly, "forgive me, but this young lady with me was assigned liaison to this ship, I'm sure Captain Syndulla was informed". Clara and the girl exchanged looks and she said, "May I ask who you are?" To the man. "Senator Bail Organa Of Alderaan, I came myself because this young lady is from your world".

Clara was intrigued a little, "what's your name?" She asked the girl. "Tatiana Vasilyevna Riosovska, or just Tatiana" she replied in a Slavic sounding accent, "where're you from Tatiana?" Clara asked while sliding down the ladder. "Russia, but I'm from St Petersburg ", Tatiana replied as Clara walked up. "Oh well, I'm Clara I'm from Chicago but moved to Toronto when I was ten" Clara said while extending her hand to Tatiana with a smile. Tatiana seemed either put off or not interested yet she shook Clara's hand firmly as the crew returned. "Oh, Senator Organa what brings you here?" Hera asked with surprise. "I was simply helping your new crew member here, she's a liaison and quite valuable to a powerful man", Bail explained calmly.

"Important to who exactly?" Hera inquired. Tatiana looked at Hera with a collected expression, "my uncle is the President Of Russia". That took Clara aback a little as she didn't expect it, she knew who her uncle was obviously and what she'd heard he's done over the years with his police state tactics. She also knew that Tatiana was not her uncle and a separate person altogether, though she figured she held either all or some of her uncles ultranationalist views. "Oh, interesting", Hera said. Bail began walking away down the ramp, "I'll leave you to get aquatinted" he said as his cape flowed behind him. "What's your name?" Hera asked Tatiana". "Tatiana Vasilievna Riosovska, But you can call me Tatiana" was the response she was given.

"Well Tatiana, I'm Hera Syndulla this is my ship the Ghost, but I'm afraid we're leaving soon" Hera said with slight disappointment. "Oh it is no bother, I am um curious to see the stars more" Tatiana replied with a serious tone, that seemed a little off to Clara though she took it for a military demeanor even it were more of a cultural one. "Great, well we're heading to a planet to Lothal to rescue a member of the crew, I hope you know how to use a weapon" Hera said as she headed for the ladder while everyone else followed. "No worries, I am a sharpshooter as well" Tatiana responded and Sabine chuckled which elicited a confused look from Tatiana.

Sabine quickly realized that her chuckle came across the wrong way. "Oh no I meant it as a good thing, have you used a blaster before?" She said. "No I haven't" Tatiana replied with her still serious tone. "Oh, well you'll get the hang of it" Sabine said jokingly in a good way, Tatiana nodded, " I am a, what is the saying in English? Quick learner, fast learner?" She asked with some confusion, "quick learner" Clara clarified. "Thank you, um Clara" Tatiana replied. Clara followed Kanan and Hera to the cockpit where Hera primed the ship, "well we've got precious cargo now, but let's see if getting Ezra back doesn't damage her" Hera said, Clara sat down in one of the adjacent chairs, "she seems nice" she interjected. "Yeah well she does but her uncle hasn't sounded like the nicest man ever" Hera replied as they took off from the moon toward space, and Lothal.