"Yoda, Storm...Come back to us, Yoda and Storm."
My eyes fluttered open. I glanced around to see Master Yoda slowly getting up on his feet. Serenity stood right in front of us. I climbed up to my feet, seeing we were back in the temple on Moraband.
"Died have we?" Master Yoda questioned.
"In a way." Serenity replied.
"Now does our training begin?" Master Yoda inquired.
"The one you know as Qui-Gon Jinn will commune with you and guide your training. Like us, you shall learn to maintain your consciousness after death. Enlightenment, spirit, balance...There is another Skywalker." Serenity informed us.
My eyes widened at her words. "There is another Skywalker?"
Serenity turned to face me. "Be aware of the path that lies in front of you, Storm. For you have a path unlike any other Jedi. Your future, your fate is not the same as Master Yoda."
My stomach churned at her words. I don't know whether to be happy or terrified at her words. What did she mean I path a path unlike the other Jedi? I furrowed my brows. "How so?"
"You shall soon see for yourself, young one." Serenity mentioned.
With that, a bright light surrounded us, and we found ourselves near the ships. R2 and T3-A2 were relieved to see us. They let out curious beeps and whistles. Master Yoda nodded. "Yes, time to go home it is."
I smiled. "Finally, we will return."
We then climbed into our ships, taking off. Once we returned back to Coruscant, Master Yoda and I made our way to one of the gardens outside the Jedi Temple. At that moment, Master Windu, Kina, and Obi-Wan approached us.
"The Council has assembled." Master Windu mentioned.
"They are eager to hear your report." Kina commented.
Master Yoda and I gave each a look before turning back to face them. We knew it was best not to tell them. Besides, who knew if they would believe anything we said about our journey.
"I'm afraid there's not much to say of our journey." I lied.
"So nothing significant happened to the both of you out there?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yes and no. To the end we are coming now." Master Yoda replied.
"Did your journey give you insight on how to win the war?" Master Windu questioned.
"No longer certain that one ever does win a war I am. For in fighting the battles, the bloodshed already lost we have. Yet, open to us, a path remains that unknown to the Sith is. Through this path, victory we may yet find."
"Not victory in the Clone Wars, but a victory for all time." I chimed in.
With that we all headed back inside the Temple. Once we returned into the Temple, Maya, Gida, and Tarom rushed over towards me. They were relieved to see me in one piece.
"Thank the Force, you're all right!" Maya exclaimed.
"Where have you been?" Tarom asked.
I glanced over at Master Yoda, who spoke up at once. "On a journey, we have been."
I nodded. "Yeah, it's nothing to worry about."
Gida, Tarom, Kina, and Maya gave me a suspicious look, not believing our words. Fortunately, Master Yoda changed the subject, allowing them all to focus on something else, which was a relief.
•••
Weeks went by. I was sent to battles with Kina, Thox, Gida, Tarom, Maya, and Areria to planets like Dagro and Nivek, fortunately we were able to push the Separatists off the planets, but thanks to Kina. Without her, we would've all gotten ourselves killed with a couple of my reckless plans that didn't go so well. The Jedi Council sent Kina, Thox, Gida, Tarom, Maya, Areria, and I along with Sirius, Omega squad, and our troops to Qiilura to find the Separatist biological weapons lab and destroy it.
The Separatist lab on the planet was developing a chronic catalyst that was specifically designed to kill clones. And while there, we were also sent to find Master Kast Fulier and his padawan, Etain Tur-Mukan, who went missing about a week ago. We landed on Qiilura in the middle of a forest filled with kuvara trees that contained fruit and a river that lied not far from us.
"So what's the plan?" Thox asked.
"We should split up." Kina suggested. "Half of us should search for the lab, while the rest should focus on tracking down Master Fulier and his padawan."
"Yet we barely know this place let alone where this lab is." Tarom mentioned.
"Why doesn't someone scout around?" Maya advised.
"I'll go." I offered. "Darman, Mocax, Crusher, Boar, Sirius, you'll come with me."
"Let me go with you too, Master." Areria chimed in.
I nodded. "Very well. Let's get going."
With that, Areria, Darman, Mocax, Crusher, Boar, Sirius, and I made our way through the forest where creatures dwelled; like vheks scurried about in the bushes, ground-eels in the trees, letting out coos, and silver weed-eels swimming about in the river. As we walked through the forest, I could sense someone watching us.
I raised a hand. "Hold on."
At my words, Areria, Darman, Mocax, Crusher, Boar, and Sirius stopped. Sirius must've known what I sensed, because he was growling.
"What's wrong?" Areria questioned.
"There's someone watching us." I explained.
I scanned the area, searching for the person that was watching us. At that moment, I felt a tingling sensation coming from the back of my head. I whipped around to find Etain lunging towards us. She had long brown hair with streaks of gold and red, fair skin with freckles scattered all around her face, and light green eyes. She raised her lightsaber in the air. Without thinking twice, I ignited my lightsaber, clashing it against her blue blade. Her eyes widened upon seeing me. "You're a Jedi?"
"Of course, we are. You did you think we were?" I inquired.
"Hokan and his men." She replied as she lowered her lightsaber.
Once her lightsaber was back in her belt, I did the same with my lightsaber. Who in the blazes in Hokan?
"You must be Etain Tur-Mukan, Master Fulier's padawan." Areria stated.
Etain nodded. "That's me."
"Who is Hokan?" Darman asked.
"Hokan's some Mandalorian mercenary. He's working with the Separatists." Etain explained.
"And he now has a hundred battle droids." A feminine soothing voice rung out with a slight lisp.
We whipped around to see no one around us. However that next moment, a woman with black hair and orange eyes appeared, standing beside Etain. I jumped back, nearly falling to the ground.
"Who in the blazes are you?" I inquired.
"This is Jinart. She helped me escape from Hokan, unfortunately Master Fulier was killed by him." Etain informed us.
"What is she?" Mocax asked.
"She's a Gurlanin, one of the natives of this planet." Etain clarified.
"So this Hokan, is he responsible for the Separatist lab on this planet?" I questioned.
"No, but he's in charge of guarding the place." Etain informed us.
"Him, his men, and those droids." Jinart commented.
"Jinart has been helping me." Etain stated.
"So will you help us?" Areria asked. "We want to destroy the lab and to free this planet from the Separatists."
"My people and I will help, on one condition." Jinart said.
"Anything, you name it." I assured her.
"Once the Separatists are removed from our planet, we want all the Republic settlers here to leave. For too long, my people have been suppressed." Jinart explained.
I extended a hand out towards her. "It shall be done."
Jinart took my hand, giving it a firm shake. "Excellent. I shall take you all to my village."
"Do you mind if we head back where we came from? We have some friends we left behind." I mentioned.
With that, we headed back to where Kina, Maya, and the others were. When we arrived, they were surrounding a holotable with holograms of the planet. As soon as they saw us, they were baffled to see Etain and Jinart.
"And who's this?" Maya asked.
"Everyone meet Padawan Etain Tur-Mukan and Jinart. Jinart, Etain, these are my friends, Jedi Knight Gida, Jedi Knight Tarom Ka, Jedi Knight and sister, Maya Ca'ana, Padawan Thox Kinrac, and Jedi Master Kina Ha." I said, introducing them all.
"Where's Master Fulier?" Gida inquired.
"Unfortunately he's dead." Etain informed them. "He was killed by Hokan."
"He's a Mandalorian mercenary, working with the Separatists." I clarified.
"Hokan's in charge of guarding the lab along with his men and some battle droids." Areria chimed in.
"We can explain more once we return to Jinart's village." Etain offered.
"We aren't going anywhere. We need to finish this mission now." Tarom protested.
"We're too exposed here. If you remain here, then it won't take for Hokan to find you." Jinart warned.
"I agree with Jinart. We need to conceal ourselves." Kina agreed.
"But the mission-" Tarom began.
"The mission can wait, Tarom. It won't do us any good if we're spotted and picked off." Kina stated. "Besides we're going to need all the information we can get."
Tarom let out a sigh. "All right, fine...the mission can wait."
And so we all moved out, following Jinart, who lead us through the forest. After an hour or so, we reached Jinart's village. The village had rectangular homes made of the wood from the kuvara trees, a small front porch made of bamboo, and the large roofs were made of Tarmul plants. There were also animals like herds of merlies that were covered in coats of thick brown fur and green eyes. The merlies made a gargling noise. Inside the village, there were patches filled with Kushayan crops, bushes of Tarmul plants, small campfires, baskets filled of crops, and vases filled with pristine aqua blue water.
Just outside the village, there were fields covered with Barq. Flying in the air were flying reptiles called leatherbacks with colorful lime skin. Throughout the village, there were other Gurlanins, but they looked different from Jinart. The other Gurlanins were on all fours like canines, yet they were much larger and taller than Sirius. The Gurlanins had black fur with orange eyes and sharp teeth along with fangs. I then noticed that some of the Gurlanins had pouches on their stomaches, carrying small Gurlanins.
"This is Tilsat, my village." Jinart mentioned. "You are welcome to stay here until your mission is over. We will discuss the lab and the Separatists over supper."
With that, Jinart showed us to our temporary lodgings. Kina, Gida, Sirius, and I shared one of the Gurlanins' unoccupied homes. Maya, Areria, and Etain shared another one of their lodgings by us. Mocax, Tarom, Thox, and Omega squad all shared one of their lodgings, and the other clone troopers shared another unoccupied home. Inside the homes, there was a vase filled with water, four beds made of straws and grass with blankets made from the coats of merlies, and a small window. As I sat on my bed, my mind wandered to Koltav. I loved him dearly...and now he was gone. He was always there for me, especially when my friends like Echo perished. My mind then drifted towards Echo. Oh Echo, he was such a great friend. He always knew what to say to me. Echo knew how to make me feel better. He would know how to cheer me up, especially now that Ahsoka was gone, Koltav was dead, and R3 was destroyed. I miss them all.
"Are you all right?" Kina inquired.
I looked up to see Kina standing by my bed. Upon hearing Kina's question, Gida looked over at me. Sirius let out whine before climbing onto my bed. Since we had created the bond through the Force, I knew Sirius could feel my emotions.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said.
"Storm, you don't have to lie to us. We're your friends." Kina reminded us.
"Yeah, you can tell us anything, Storm." Gida mentioned.
I let out a sigh, knowing they weren't going to give up. From the very beginning, I wanted to tell them about Koltav, but I held back as I knew I was going against the Jedi Code. I was afraid of being thrown out the Jedi Order.
"Is it Ahsoka?" Gida questioned.
Immediately, I nodded vigorously. "Yeah, it's Ahsoka...and R3. I miss them both. I can't believe Ahsoka left the Jedi Order."
"We're all saddened by her decision, but we must respect her choice to leave." Kina commented. "She was almost convicted of a crime that she did not commit."
"You can't blame her for leaving the Order when almost everyone was against her." Gida stated.
At that moment, Maya entered our home. "Supper's going to be served. We better get going."
With that, we followed Maya, Etain, Areria, Tarom, and the others towards the middle of the village, where Jinart and the rest of her people were sitting. All the Gurlanins, including Jinart morphed into people right before our eyes. They were around a campfire with bowls of food in their hands.
"I see you've made it. Come sit." Jinart urged.
As soon as we sat down, we were handed bowls. The bowls were filled with meat, pink slices, and golden pearl shaped grains.
"What is this?" Thox asked.
"It's Vhek meat with meat of Merlies, strips of dried Kushayan, slices of kuvara fruit, and grains of barq." A male Gurlanin informed us.
"This is Valaqil, my mate." Jinart said, introducing us.
As we ate, Jinart and Etain began to inform us all that we didn't know about, especially about Ghez Hokan, the Mandalorian mercenary, Doctor Ovolot Qail Uthan, the doctor who developed the catalyst that could kill clones, and much more.
"The lab is located in Imbraani, the capital of Qiilura." Valaqil stated.
"Then we'll go first thing in morning." Tarom commented.
"You will not be able to reach Imbraani without using the main road. The Separatists are already aware of your presence here." Jinart mentioned.
"And they will alert the lab before we're even within klicks of the place." Etain pointed out.
I mentally groaned. That would make things more difficult for us. I turned on my imagecaster, revealing a hologram of the planet. I inspected the area, trying to find another way to that lab.
"But we can go underground. There are Gdans tunnels large enough for you and your troopers to fit in." Jinart informed us.
"That's brilliant." Areria said.
"But there's another issue. Teklet has communications facility run by the Separatists, they will block all our transmissions." Valaqil commented.
"Then we send a team to Teklet to take out the communications facility." Kina stated.
"And we'll need another team to Eridu, a small town not far from here." Jinart added. "Lieutenant Pir Cuvin is running a mining facility. He's enslaved many of our people."
"I'll lead the third team." I offered. "We'll free your people, take over the mining facility, and capture Lieutenant Cuvin."
"Very well. We shall commence our strike tomorrow at dawn." Kina announced.
•••
The next day at the dawn, we split up into three teams. Etain, Darman, Thox, Kina, Jinart, and their troops made their way to Imbraani. The rest of Omega squad, Gida, Tarom, Valaqil, Maya, and their troops embarked on their mission to Teklet. Areria, my troops, Sirius, and I went to Eridu. It wasn't long until we arrived in Eridu, a small town with a cantina, a few small buildings, and some homes similar to the ones we stayed in with Jinart's people, but these were much smaller. In the outskirts of town, stood the mining facility. There in the facility, there was a large building with a Separatist flag, and beneath the building, a crater with holes leading into mines lied about.
"There it is, the mining facility." I stated.
"What's the plan, General?" Mocax asked.
I glanced over at the crater, where many Gurlanins were working. As I scanned the area, I thought of a plan to get us in there. I placed a hand in one of the pockets of my robes, where the stone Anakin gave me lied.
"We have the element of surprise. The Separatists don't know we're here yet. So we can charge into the mining facility. We get into the mines first, free the Gurlanins, and then take over the control room of the facility."
"How many droids do you think they are? Can we take them all on, Master?" Areria questioned.
"We will and who knows, maybe the Gurlanins will help us." I mentioned. "Whatever happens we must fight and push on. Jinart, Etain, Gida, Kina, Tarom, Maya, Thox, and the others are counting on us."
"All right. You heard the General, move out!" Mocax ordered.