Star Wars: Skywalker's Rebellion

Prologue

124 ABY

It was an exciting day for Cade Skywalker. The young boy ran down the stairs to where his father stood waiting for him. He had been waiting for this moment for as long as he could remember and he couldn't wait for what this day would hold.

"Are you ready for your big day?" Kol Skywalker asked his son.

Cade nodded eagerly, ready to start his trials and finally become a Padawan, something he had only dreamed of.

"You'll be the first Initiate to become a Padawan in the New Order, son. At only eleven years-old. You're going to be just as famous as your grandfather. Wolf Sazen will be giving you your trial. He was my Padawan, as a matter of fact. That was many, many years ago. Things were different then. Ah, he'll go easy on you, not that you need it."

"I can beat him!" Cade exclaimed.

Kol smiled. "You sure can. I've got a Council meeting to go to, but I'll be back later to hear all about how you passed the trials, okay?"

"Yeah!"

Cade raced out of the living quarters and to the room where Wolf Sazen stood waiting.

"Ready, young Skywalker?"

Cade nodded once again and they began the trials. Cade aced the lightsaber portion, deflected most of the drones Wolf sent at him. After a while of deflecting, Cade tried some fancy moves and started to have fun with the process. Cade had trained for the lightsaber portion for what seemed like forever, and it payed off. The Force portion was harder. Cade had't known what exactly to be prepared for—he was the first Initiate to take the test.

Wolf led Cade to a small, dimly lit room where a solitary rock lay.

"Lift the rock," Sazen ordered.

Cade lifted the rock with ease, using his mind to imagine the rock floating.

"Well done."

"That was it?" asked Cade.

Wolf smiled. "No."

Wolf Sazen floated in another rock, a little bigger.

"Lift both of them," he said. "At once."

Cade closed his eyes and lifted them both simultaneously, a task that proved to be more difficult than Cade had expected. After he had successfully lifted the rocks, Wolf kept adding more rocks, increasing in size each time. Finally, Wolf introduced a boulder that was twice Cade's height.

"I have to lift that?" exclaimed Cade.

"Yes," Wolf Sazen replied shortly. "I've heard stories of your grandfather lifting an entire ship before. You can manage the boulder."

Cade had heard too many stories of his grandfather. It was time to make a name for himself, to prove himself to the new Jedi Order.

Cade summoned the power of the Force, a reckoning that he had felt within him since his birth. The boulder didn't budge. Cade, now frustrated, tried for several more seconds, giving himself a headache. He knew he could lift the boulder. He had to lift the boulder. What would people think, a Skywalker that's weak in the force? He couldn't let down his father like that. He wouldn't.

The boulder started to levitate slowly into the air, hovering a few inches above the ground. Sweat was dripping down Cade's forehead, his eyes squinted hard directly at the boulder. Then his thoughts started to wander.

What if he was weak in the force? What if he wasn't meant to be a Jedi Master? What if he was just ordinary?

The boulder slammed back down into the floor, cracking it.

"Sorry," said Cade.

Wolf shook his head. Nonsense. That was very good for someone your age, better than me when I was only a Padawan learner. You have inherited talent from your father, and your grandfather before him, and your great-grandfather before him. The Skywalker family has a legacy in the Force, and you will likely live up to the same standards."

Cade smiled then, wishing it were true.

"One more trial," said Wolf. "The intellectual one."

This portion had been very secretive, it was said to be different for every Initiate. Cade was the first to take the test, so he had no idea what was coming. Wolf led him into yet another room, where he beckoned Cade to sit. Cade did so, staring at the white table before him. On the table, were three objects. Wine glasses.

"The Council did not design this trial as they did the others you have faced. This trial was created based on the words of Q'Anilia, thousands of years ago. This trial will be faced by you and you alone, no other Initiate will ever take this trial."

Cade nodded his understanding and Wolf Sazen continued.

"Before you are three glasses. Filled with liquids of the colors green, blue, and red. Pick a glass, and drink from it."

"That's all?" asked Cade.

Sazen nodded.

Cade looked at each glass carefully. How could a drink decide whether I become a Padawan or not, Cade thought. Cade reached for the glass with the blue liquid as it was the one closest to his right hand, but stopped. He wanted the glass with the red liquid. The blue liquid glass seemed like the obvious choice to him, though. What was pulling him to the red one? He looked back and forth to the two liquids and then shook his head, feeling a strong desire to just drink the green one and be done with it. But it was a trial. It had to mean something. But what? Cade decided to go with it and he grabbed the green glass and drank it.

Once the glass was back down, Wolf Sazen drew his lightsaber. Cade stepped back. Had he done something wrong? But instead, Wolf brought the lightsaber down on each side of his head and said, "Congratulations, Cade Skywalker, you are now a Padawan."