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The Prodigal 2001
short story by Louis Turfrey Thirty-seven years after Episode IV – A New Hope The alley was dark and her quarry was scared and full of
fear. Trude De’Athe knew the problems this would cause. Fear led to the Dark
side, and although her quarry Geata Altona was not yet a Dark Force adept,
the Twi’lek was slipping closer each day. Force only knows why he had left
the academy. Trude’s mind slipped back to the day when Altona had announced
his intention to leave. When Blake had impassively asked why, he simply
mumbled some feeble excuse about needing space. However, when Blake had asked
him to return his lightsabre, one of Blake’s own creations, he refused. Blake
tried reasoning with him but the Padawan ran away. Blake had refused to
follow him, saying that each man must follow his own path. Eventually he
relented and sent Trude instead. She knew this was a test of sorts, he was
always testing her. How difficult could it be to bring in a third-rate
Padawan that had not yet attained enough skill to create his own lightsabre? As she moved slowly forward, the Force enhancing her
senses of smell and hearing, she caught another sound from behind her. Padded
feet hitting the ferocrete floor lightly. She
considered the ramifications of this. The alley had windowless factory
buildings running either side. Each building was in excess of thirty meters
high. She had not sensed the approach of the second person and had not heard
the quiet whine of a repulsor unit. Whoever was behind her had enough Force
ability to reduce their impact to near nothing, could mask that ability well and were confident enough to go up
against her in a dark alley. This could be trouble There was the sensation of movement in front of her and
the snap hiss of a lightsabre. Then from behind, there was a flare of
movement through the Force and a coldness she had not felt for a long time.
Fear tingled at the back of her mind as sibling recognition sparked. “Aaron. I
thought you were dead.” She heard a low chuckle and a second lightsabre ignited
behind her. “You wish. I’ve
come to claim you little sister.” She heard Geata’s heavy breathing from in front and felt
fear wash over her. “It’s not too
late Geata. You can still return to
us.” She forced herself to remain calm now, letting the Force flow through
her. She felt the tension in front of her and again heard the chuckle from
behind. “Oh, he can’t do
that, little sister. He’s
returning himself to us instead. He has some valuable information on that
cargo cruiser you’ve been travelling around in. It’s a shame you won’t be
able to tell anybody about it.” The attack came swiftly, and from both directions. Trude
chose to avoid it. Instead of meeting where her body would have been, the two
blades collided with each other. Her Force enhanced leap took her over
Geata’s head and towards the far end of the alley. She realised her mistake
almost immediately. There was nothing there but a dead area in the Force. As
she concentrated her senses she felt the minds of three
Dark Jedi, and one who was Force sensitive. A trap. “Give it up
Trude. I don’t want to kill you, I need you. Join me.” She felt coldness around her thoughts and knew he was
trying to alter her perceptions. “I’ll never join you Aaron. What happened
to you? How could you turn from using your Force abilities for good into
darkness?” She felt the cloud pass over him and the brief slip of his
thoughts as he remembered the Holocron. Before she could control herself she
found herself gasping. “You still have
the Holocron?” There was a feeling of resignation and then coldness as
Aaron spoke. “Oh, dear little
sister. Now I’ll have to kill you anyway.” No further warning was needed. She extended her Force
sense to it’s maximum and assessed her situation.
Her brother leapt up above her, bringing his blade down in an overhead arc.
So fast was his movement that she was barely able to parry it. However, her
reflexes took over when her mind was numbed and she felt the Force flow
through her as she deflected, then turned the blade aside. She countered with
her own thrust as Geata came at her from the other side. She judged his
strength and found his mind unguarded. She planted a firm suggestion that he
should swing to her left side. Miraculously, it worked and she had no problem
deflecting the second blade into the path of Aaron’s second attack. “Fool! If you cannot use a blade you should not
have one.” She felt a surge in the force and Geata’s blade was wrenched from
his grasp and propelled down the alley. She felt his confusion and fear as he
leapt out of the way, taking himself outside the combat zone. “Just you and me
now little sister. Think you are up to it?” In answer, she struck low, causing Aaron to jump above
her blade. As he did so, she gathered the Force and thrust it towards him. He
shot back towards the alley wall, but somehow managed to turn in mid air and
land nimbly. She felt the anger radiating from him and allowed herself a
little smile of satisfaction. “You have grown
significantly since our last meeting. You will make a notable addition to my
ranks.” He leapt forward, covering the five metres between them in one jump.
His lightsabre came down in a wicked arc that sliced at Trude’s arm. She felt
the heat of the blade scorch her skin as it passed through empty cloth. Trude
lunged inside the attack, letting the Force guide her towards her quarry. As
she did so, she felt a tingle in the Force from behind her. Letting her mind
empty, she dropped down and the blaster bolt missed her head by millimetres.
There was a curse as the bolt impacted upon Aaron, but she felt no sign of
pain from him, only concentration in the Force. He too had grown since their
last meeting, and the energy was dissipated harmlessly. Something clattered
to the floor nearby and she knew the blaster had been yanked from its owner’s
hands. Above the sound of their clashing sabres, Trude could just hear the
sound of struggling at the far end of the alley. Trude suddenly had an
insight. The three dark Jedi were not here to stop her, but to stop the other
Force sensitive from getting involved. It amused her that it needed three. He
must be one hell of a warrior. Aaron jumped up and over, turning to slash at her as he
came down. Trude marvelled at his mastery of the lightsabre and knew she would
eventually lose the fight. She felt no nervousness or fear, only a deep sense
of calm. She dropped deeper into the Force and let it fill her body and mind.
She sensed Aaron dropping deeper into the dark side and took the fight to the
next level. Geata watched as the two Jedi fought hard and fast. So
quick were they fighting, that he could not keep track of all the moves. He felt a deep sense of shame at being unable to
take part in the battle. At the same time he also felt a deep sense of
relief. He liked Trude, and although he had been coerced had found it
difficult to betray her. Maybe in another life he might have been her friend,
had he not become a disciple of the dark side. However, he knew now that
Master Aaron despised him. He had felt the loathing when he had lost Blakes
lightsabre. He would never be reaccepted onto the Jedi path. Trude felt herself starting to tire. Twice, Aaron had
been able to get inside her arc, twice he had wounded her. Her hand throbbed
where the little finger had been surgically removed by his blade. She
silently called out to Blake, hoping that he would understand her failure,
and opened herself completely to the Force. No barriers, no thought, only
reaction, if she failed today it would be as a Jedi, not a Padawan learner. Geata heard her call, but noticed that the rest of the
dark Jedi appeared impervious to it. He realised then that the light side was
with him. Without thought of consequence, he called his discarded blade to
him and started walking towards the melee. Trude felt Geata approaching and knew that her time was
short. She might be able to take on a Jedi Master for a short period, but not
whilst being attacked from two directions. She sent a silent thought out
towards Geata, trying to second guess his attack, and found only warmth and
resignation. She knew what he planned.
Suicide, in order to save her.
She couldn’t let him do it. Perhaps there was an alternative though. “Stop. I yield.”
She said it so quietly that Aaron nearly missed it. However, he withdrew his
attack, leaping back out of her way. She threw her deactivated lightsabre
down. “Say that
again.” Aaron asked with delight. “I said, I yield. I will join you of my own free
will. No deceptions” The youthful dark master nearly jumped for joy. Then he
noticed the look on Geata’s face and realised what the young Padawan had been
planning. His anger rose and he threw his activated blade at the apprentice.
There was the snap hiss of another blade and his own blade was deflected by
Trude’s. “I yield on the
condition that you let this Padawan go. He will be useful in conveying the
message of my capitulation to my former master.” Aaron was not about to turn away the opportunity of
teaching such a powerful young Jedi and agreed. “Yes. He may go,
but if I ever set my eyes on him again, he will die by my hand.” Geata needed no further warning and ran out of the alley.
Trude retracted her blade and walked towards Aaron. She placed her lightsabre
in front of her on the floor and knelt before her new Master. “My life is
yours to do with as you wish, brother.” Aaron smiled, a thin wicked
smile that he knew his sister would never see. “Yes little
sister, it is.” EPILOGUE Blake sat thoughtfully as he listened to the young
Padawan. He pulled images from the Twi’lek’s mind and saw the battle. He had
been right; she was a
powerful young Jedi. And one who was about to walk the same dark path he had,
so many years ago. Geata stopped his speedy recollection of events and Blake
steepled his hands in silence. “What do you
want Geata? What path will you travel now?” The young Padawan looked surprised, visibly restraining
himself by gripping on to the desk. “Sir, with
respect, she may still be able to be rescued.
Why are we waiting?” Blake frowned; this one would take some teaching. He
reached across the table and placed his hand on the Padawans, calming him.
Geata’s surprise registered for only a moment, then
he smiled, the first smile Blake had seen the young man emit since he had
joined the academy. “She was sent to
retrieve you and bring you back into the fold. She succeeded in this, did she
not?” The Padawan nodded. “Good, then what
she does with her free time is her affair. I will confer with the other
members of our council here, and we will look into what action can be taken.
For the moment, meditate on why she chose to surrender herself. Take your
time; go into a healing trance if need be to. I will come for you when I need
you.” Geata continued to smile and left the office. He was passed
in the doorway by Master Zeboden, who looked inquiringly at the young Jedi as
he passed. He closed the door and sat opposite Blake. “You pushed him,
didn’t you?” Blake nodded, standing and
facing the window. Zeboden wondered why he always did this when he entered
the office. “She’s in danger
and I can’t help her.” He sighed, looking down at his hands. “What do I do?” The older Jedi Master raised an eyebrow and stood to walk
over to Blake. “She knew the
risks when she accepted the assignment. She knows the danger she is putting
herself in. If it helps us smoke out the dark side adepts then so much the
better. If not, we would have lost her eventually anyway. Does Nera know
yet?” Blake shook his head. “When she finds
out there will be hell to
pay.” Trude walked after Aaron and the one called Brotus,
following them into the bowels of his starship. They rounded a turn and Trude
found herself in what looked like a large medical bay. A strange creature
stood from a nearby desk, it’s talloned
hands and disfigured features giving it the appearance of a creature from
children’s worst nightmares. It bowed its humanoid form and spoke. “The gretch-kla is ready for insertion. Is this the subject?” Trude felt a sinking feeling as she realised what the
creature was. A Yuuzon Vong, probably a shaper. She
had heard the fearful stories of what these creatures were capable of. “Yes.” Aaron
looked smug. “She lost a hand during our battle. Is there anything you can do
to replace that?” The creature looked over at Trude, examining her mostly
intact hands. “She appears
barely scratched.” Aaron nodded to the two dark Jedi standing to either side
of her and they clamped strong arms onto her shoulders, forcing her to sit on
a nearby bench. Aaron walked over, activated his lightsabre and the two Jedi
wrenched her injured hand outwards. The lightsabre dismembered the hand, just
above the joint. Trude almost fainted with the pain. “As I was
saying, what can we do to replace it?” The Prodigal 2001 short
story by Louis Turfrey Thirty-seven years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – Heralding the
return of Aaron De’Athe the after his apparent death some months
before. This shows the Setnin Jedi Council
hard at work, before the Fall of Chancai, still trying to control the rise of the dark
side adepts. And thrown into the mix a
Yuuzhan Vong,
from the New
Jedi Order tales. Working on the assumption that some survive
the invasion of the Star
Wars galaxy, this character has fallen into the
employ of Aaron De’Athe and Commander Brotus. Cast of Characters Trude De’Athe Geata Altona Aaron De’Athe Commander Brotus Blake De’Athe Master Zeboden |