The Chu’unthor Incident
by AJ Marks
Part 5
Finding Yoda proved to be harder than they thought, but with so many places that one could be neither woman knew that it would be easy. Yoda was not in his room, so the next place they had checked was the closest meditation room, and he was not in there either. Xara was about to head back to their quarters when she saw Master Kint.
“Excuse me Master Kint,” Xara said walking over to where the man was standing.
“Ah, hello there Xara, and how are you doing Master Bri?” The older Jedi Master asked as he noticed who had called him and a grin broke out on his face.
“I’m doing well, thanks for asking Master Kint,” Bri replied glad that he asked.
“We were wondering if you’ve seen Master Yoda recently,” Xara asked hoping that the Jedi had seen him.
“Why yes I have, I was just talking with him, he’s in training room C,” Kint replied.
“Thank you,” Xara said as they made their way to the training room.
Walking inside the room Xara watched as Yoda went through a lightsaber exercise and she marveled at the Jedi’s expertise with the weapon. Watching the small Jedi do flips and swinging the saber to block shots from the training drones. After a few minutes of watching she realized that Yoda’s style of fighting was purely defensive, so he practiced what he talked about.
Bri watched as she remembered the times that Yoda had put her though the same training. She realized later that most of the moves were defensive and one day she had questioned him on it. He had told her gently that actions were always the last resort, and only after all other attempts had failed. Bri had taken that to heart and tried her hardest to prevent bloodshed whenever possible.
Yoda noticed them standing there and brought his routine to a close. Shutting off his lightsaber he walked over to where they were.
“Up you are I see,” Yoda said when he approached them. “What help can I be?”
“I need to tell you something, but it needs to be in private,” Xara said to Yoda. What she was going to say she did not want a lot of others around that could hear.
“Very well, this way,” Yoda said as they walked back to his quarters, only because they were closer.
“Now what information do you have for me?” Yoda asked once they had gotten in his room.
“Sit,” Xara told Bri as the other woman looked like she was a bit tired.
Bri sat down on the bed without an argument and she really did not have the energy to respond anyway. Xara figured that Bri was even more exhausted than she looked. Xara sat down next to Bri and put an arm around the younger woman before saying anything else.
“I’m not sure how to say this, but its about Cal,” Xara said bringing the man’s name up. She felt Bri’s body shift at the name but returned to a more relaxed state and Xara realized that Bri was resisting sleep. She began to rub the younger woman’s back in soft soothing circle patterns and was rewarded with a small sigh.
Yoda looked at Xara with a bit of interest when she mentioned Cal’s name. He was curious as to what Xara had to say about the man.
“This will sound a bit strange, but I think that you both know that I don’t trust him,” Xara said and the other two knew that it was the truth. “And you also know that I have also have some Force skills and I will admit that it probably tended to be more to the dark side, but I feel the same thing in Cal.”
“You mean that he’s been tainted by the dark side?” Yoda said making sure that he heard the tall dark haired woman correctly.
“Yes,” Xara said. “The first time I met him was on the way to Cata Paq’s funeral, we exchanged glances and I thought I felt it then. Today in the cafeteria we had another conversation and I thought I felt it again,” Xara looked at Yoda to see his reaction to what she had just accused a Jedi of doing.
“Disturbing this will be,” Yoda said rubbing his chin in thought. “A Jedi Knight he is.”
“I just wanted to bring this to your attention Master Yoda, but I just don’t trust the man,” Xara said as she felt Bri lean more into her.
“Never liked him anyway,” came a mumbled response from Bri and they both looked at her with a bit of surprise. This was not like Bri at all.
“Well, looks like she fell asleep, good she needs the rest,” Xara said as she held onto the sleeping form.
“Perhaps we should talk later,” Yoda suggested as he looked at Bri’s sleeping face as it was tucked against Xara’s shoulder.
“No, she can sleep through anything,” Xara said before returning to the main topic at hand. “I’ve been thinking about everyone that I’ve met on board the ship, and Cal is the only one who might have sabotaged the ship.”
Yoda looked at Xara for a bit before he replied. “Why do you think so?”
“It was bugging me for a while, but during the trial he stated that he saw me come out of the engine room,” Xara said watching as Yoda recalled the same thing. It had been an innocent comment but something that had stuck out in Xara’s mind.
“Yes it is an interesting comment, considering hurt he was not,” Yoda said and now knew that they had to proceed carefully. “Talk with him I will.”
“That may work, but I don’t think so. The only thing that bothers me is motive, I mean aside from framing me what else would be his motive,” Xara said voicing the real reason she had not said anything to anyone. She just did not have a clear motive. “Has he ever been to Sissis?”
“Aware of that I am not, know how to ask him I do,” Yoda replied. “As to motive, for less reasons some have done worse.”
“I know, but I just can’t think of a reason,” Xara said. She knew that men killed for less, but what was the reason.
“Perhaps it was to get you,” Yoda said thinking out loud.
“Then I better watch my back on Sissis,” Xara said knowing that it would be a perfect place for an ambush.
“Leave Bri alone, we better not,” Yoda said already thinking about alterative plans as the mission got more dangerous to his former student.
“Or at least not alone with Cal,” Xara said.
“Yes, I have a team that is ready, let them know I will,” Yoda said.
“Can you trust them?” Xara asked not wanting to subject Bri to more than was necessary.
“Yes, worked with them before I have. Trust them with my life I would,” Yoda said and it put Xara at ease a bit. When it came to Bri’s safety she would do anything in her power to prevent the younger woman from getting hurt even though Bri was more powerful than she was.
“Well I guess I should take sleeping beauty here to our quarters,” Xara said as she gently picked up the sleeping woman and cradled Bri in her arms. Bri did not even protest, instead she just snuggled deeper into Xara’s arms and let out a contented sigh that even Yoda could hear. They both could see the small smile that was on her face.
Xara walked to the door and stopped looking back at Yoda. She opened her mouth to say something when he interrupted her.
“I know, be careful what I say to Cal,” Yoda said watching as Xara just nodded her head. It was something that both of them had thought about. It Cal was to figure out that they suspected him of something then they would never catch him and it would only make it harder on Bri.
Xara was glad that the small green skinned Jedi was such a good friend to Bri and seemed to understand their relationship, even when they did not at times.
Yoda watched them leave then made his way out of his quarters and headed to where he had last seen Cal. He had already figured out how to approach the Jedi without arising his suspicions. Yoda rounded the corner and ran into Kint.
“Master Yoda, did Master Bri and her friend find you?” the man asked.
“Disturbing information they had for me,” Yoda said to the other Jedi. He did not want to say too much to soon, at least not in public yet as an idea came to him. “To Sissis have you been?”
“No, this will be my first time,” Kint replied to Yoda.
“Join my team will you?” Yoda asked wondering if the man would accept the assignment.
“Well, I was just doing some research, but it can wait, although I’m not sure why you would need three Jedi Master’s for this mission,” Kint replied at a loss as to why Yoda would want him on his team.
“Explain it all I will in my quarters later,” Yoda replied then telling Kint that he would be in contact with him left to find Cal.
Finding Cal was not as hard as Yoda thought it would be. The man was in one of the training rooms and Yoda watched the man for a bit. Cal definitely had a more aggressive style of fighting, almost too aggressive for Yoda’s peace of mind.
Yoda waited until Cal had finished before approaching the Jedi. Cal looked up to see Yoda approaching him. He would keep his cool until he figured out what the small Jedi Master wanted from him.
“Master Yoda what can I do for you today?” Cal asked with as humble a voice as he could muster.
“Putting together my team I am,” Yoda stated and Cal could not believe his luck. He had been trying to figure out a way to get down to the planet’s surface without arousing any suspicion and here Yoda provided him with the prefect way to the surface. He wanted to jump at the chance but played it cool.
“Only if Master Kint doesn’t object, I was going to help him out on his research,” Cal replied.
“Good, meet with the others tomorrow morning at the shuttle bay,” Yoda replied then he walked out. The only other thing he now had to do was warn Xara and Bri about his plans. He knew that Xara would not be happy with him, but he had a back up plan.
He would talk with Master Kint then with Bri and Xara. He called Kint and called him to his room to talk over the plan and what part Kint was going to play in it.
Kint walked into Yoda’s quarters and was wondering what the small Jedi had planned and what he would be required to do. He noticed Yoda was already sitting and made a motion for him to sit down as well.
“I’ve been trying to figure out why you need me on the team when you already have Master Bri on your team. My specialty is not negotiations and you know that,” Kint said. His specialty was in war strategy, and he did not think that they needed him for such an event because Yoda was a master strategist himself.
“Need your abilities, to help protect Bri is what I need,” Yoda replied and Kint was not sure what Yoda was talking about.
“Why would Bri need any more protection?” He asked with a bit of curiosity in his voice.
“Recruited Cal to the mission we have,” Yoda told him and Kint’s eyes tracked to Yoda in surprise at the statement. “More there is, reason to suspect Cal is attached to the dark side.”
Kit sat there in a bit of shock at what he had just heard. Part of him wanted to scream that Yoda was wrong about what he was saying; yet another part of him acknowledged that it could be the truth. Ever since Cal had been little it seemed that he had noticed a bit of the dark side in the boy. Kint had worked hard to teach the boy the difference between the sides and he thought he had succeeded; now he was not sure.
“You want me to keep an eye on Cal?” Kint asked wondering if that is what Yoda wanted.
“Have a feeling that Xara’s skills will be needed elsewhere, need you to keep Bri company if that happens,” Yoda said with honesty.
“What about the others?” Kint asked.
“They will know not to leave Bri alone if Cal is around,” Yoda replied.
“Well, its not quite what I was expecting, but count me in,” Kint said.
“Good, good, now all I have to do is break the news to Bri and Xara,” Yoda said not really looking forward to that task.
“Hmm, that may be a hard task. It seemed to me that Xara is very protective of Bri,” Kint said forming an opinion of the couple after watching them together in the med lab.
“Yes, she is, and Bri of Xara,” Yoda replied. “Glad I stopped Cal, and not Bri in the med lab.”
“I’ve heard that Master Bri is becoming a very powerful Jedi,” Kint said changing the conversation a bit.
“Yes, powerful she is becoming, always had it she did,” Yoda said about his former padawan. He was very proud of her even though his code would not really allow him to say such a thing. “Her soulmate is also very powerful as well.”
This caught Kint by surprise. He did not know that Xara had strong Force abilities. “What do you mean?” He asked after he recovered from his shock.
“Knows how to use the Dark Side she does,” Yoda replied remembering the first time he met the tall dark haired person who Bri had already called her soulmate in Julies Otto’s office. “My padawan Marcus challenged her to a fight and she showed extreme skill in using a lightsaber.”
“If that’s true then she could have been behind everything,” Kint said wondering about this new information Yoda had given him.
“No, somehow she was trained, but the power of a soulmate is even stronger,” Yoda told Kint. Soulmates was something that was rarely talked about, and had never been studied only because those who were soulmates refused to participate. Instead they chose to remain in the background, hidden from view.
“Are you saying that that has the power to bring someone back from the Dark Side?” Kint asked in a bit of disbelief.
“Or turn a good Jedi bad,” Yoda said seeing the look on Kint’s face. “In this case yes, Bri started down the dark side during their first mission. Stopped her Xara did.”
“Well, if you do not see a problem with it, then neither do I,” Kint said accepting the older Jedi’s wisdom in the matter. “But one thing does concern me. Who trained her?”
“Yes, asked her I have, no answer she will give,” Yoda said. He thought that she might say who trained her but she refused to answer. “Even asked Bri I did, she says it’s private.”
“Do you think it’s a Sith Lord?” Kint finally asked the unspoken question.
“Know that I do not,” Yoda replied. “Just know that together, Bri and Xara will do great things.”
“I guess we just keep our eyes open, but I don’t think that they are ready to come out into the open,” Kint said.
“Yes, if she was trained, then in hiding they will go. Find them almost impossible it will be,” Yoda said knowing it for the truth.
“Well, I should get ready, we’ll be at the planet in the morning,” Kint said rising and they headed towards the door.
“Talk to Bri and Xara I need,” Yoda said following the other Jedi Master to the door.
“I don’t even you in that mission Master Yoda, have a good night,” Kint said as they parted ways.
“See you in the morning I will,” Yoda said as he went towards Bri and Xara’s quarters. He was trying to figure out a way to lessen the damage of what he had to tell them and he hoped that they would understand. He figured the best way was usually the truth, and that’s what he would stick with.
He knocked on the door and waited as Xara opened the door.
“Come on in Master Yoda,” Xara said allowing Yoda to walk into the room. She wondered what he was doing at their quarters and hoped that it was not anything too important.
“I have some new information for you,” Yoda said as Xara looked at him. “I have assigned a couple of new people to the mission. I put Jedi Master Kint and Jedi Knight Cal on our team,” Yoda told her then waited patiently for the explosion to come.
“What!” Xara said not believing what the small Jedi had just told him. Cal was a danger to her soulmate and here Yoda was putting the man on their mission. “I sure hope that you have a good reason for that.”
“Thought about what you said, believe you I do. Need to catch him we do,” Yoda said with a bit of a sigh. He knew that it would not be easy. “If behind this he is, then catching him is the only way. Like it I do not either.”
“What about Bri, I don’t like the fact that he will be so close to her,” Xara said.
“Put Kint in charge of that I have,” Yoda said. “Everyone will know not to leave Bri alone if he’s around,” Yoda said.
“Well, I don’t like it, but I guess you’re right about it. He might make a mistake if he’s down there,” Xara said thinking about it. “He might go after me instead though.”
“Hmm, right you are,” Yoda said not having thought about that, but it made sense. “Has already tried once.”
“Yeah, I forgot to thank you for that by the way, so thanks,” Xara said remember in incident in the med lab. Yoda had blocked Cal’s lightsaber form striking her. “Next time though I won’t be defenseless though.”
“Lucky he is that I blocked it and not Bri,” Yoda said with a bit of smile.
“You’re right there, I don’t know if I could have stopped her,” Xara said truthfully. “How good is Cal?” Xara asked now wanting to know the man’s skills in case she had to fight him.
“His lightsaber style is aggressive, even more than most,” Yoda said truthfully. “Strong he is as well, but overconfidence is his weakness.”
“Has he ever watched Bri practice lately?” Xara asked wondering if the man knew how strong Bri had become.
“No, not that I’m aware of,” Yoda replied wondering why Xara would ask such a question. Then he remembered that in a contest Bri was the more skilled of the two. “What about you?”
“Well, Bri teaching me all she can, but its hard when you can’t fight at you’re full ability, something about our being soulmates prevents it,” Xara told him. “I think it was the only reason I survived the fight against her.”
“How is she doing?” Yoda asked looking at the bed where Bri was sleeping.
“I think that by the time we get to Sissis she’ll be ready to do something after sleeping all day,” Xara replied looking at her soulmate. She had been tempted a couple of times to join her, but decided to wait for a bit.
“She should see the doctor before leaving tomorrow, just as a precaution,” Yoda said, as he wanted Bri to be at her best. He was not too worried about her physically; he just wanted her to be safe.
“I’ll suggest it, but she won’t like it,” Xara said with a smile. “How many others are on the mission?” Xara asked as the thought came to her. She thought it was just the three of them now she was so sure.
“Two others, Jedi Knight Osti, and his padawan Gina,” Yoda said. “I still have to talk with them, but I trust them. Osti had a good record and Gina is his first padawan. I asked them for additional back up, and training for negotiations. Osti asked me for help in that area as Gina is too eager to pull our his lightsaber.”
“As long as you feel you can trust them,” Xara said still not liking the fact that Cal was going to be part of the mission.
“I will see you in the morning Xara,” Yoda said to Xara as he got up and walked to the door. He still had to go by Osti’s quarters and tell them the news, as well as Markus.
Xara watched Yoda go then sat down and thought about the fact that Cal was going to be on the mission. It did complicate some things, but it also meant that they could keep an eye on the man as well. Xara had no intention of leaving Bri alone on this mission that was for sure.
She glanced over at her sleeping soulmate and finally decided to join her in sleep. Quickly changing into something more comfortable she slid under the covers and snuggled up behind Bri. She heard the soft sigh of contentment come from the younger woman as Bri snuggled back into her. Xara enjoyed the comfort she felt with the young woman and allowed herself to fall asleep. She would tell Bri about the news in the morning.
*****
Xara came out of the sleep she had been in and felt the familiar weight on her chest and knew that had happened. During the night she had rolled onto her back and Bri had snuggled into her side. Her head was resting on her shoulder and an arm wrapped around her waist. Xara had her arms around the younger woman as well. She hoped that she always woke up like this.
Xara was content two rub Bri’s back in a massage like motion until the younger woman woke up. Depending on how tired Bri was she could do this for a while, but Xara did not mind. She enjoyed the feel of Bri’s skin. It felt so soft and smooth; to her it was like feeling perfection.
Xara turned her thoughts to Cal when she felt the shift in Bri’s breathing and noticed that she was waking up. It usually took the younger woman a bit longer to wake, unlike Xara who could jump up and be right awake Bri needed time. That was one difference, and usually Bri did not like to be teased in the morning, at least until she had eaten something.
Looking down she saw soft green eyes open. They were still foggy with sleep but the focused on Xara’s blue eyes and Xara thought that she could hear Bri saying good morning and I love you through her eyes.
Bri tightened her hold on the woman as she tried to wake up a bit more. She thought that waking up to those incredible blue eyes was the best thing in her life. She could lose herself in the blue depths of those eyes, and many mornings she had done just that.
“Well, good morning beautiful,” Xara said as she continued to look into Bri’s beautiful green eyes. “How are you feeling?”
Bri took a deep breath smelling the scent that was unmistakably Xara and she tested her ribs. “Not bad,” she finally said.
“We have about a couple of hours until we need to meet with Yoda and the rest of the team,” Xara told her watching Bri’s eyebrows rise at that statement.
“How many are there?” Bri asked wondering if they were being replaced.
“Yoda decided to add four more people,” Xara said with a bit of hesitation, as she knew what the next question would be. It was not that she did not want to answer the question; she knew that it would probably upset Bri a little bit.
“Really, who?” Bri asked and Xara knew that she would have to answer truthfully.
“Well, there is Jedi Knight Osti and his padawan Gina,” Xara replied waiting to see if there was any spark of recognition in Bri’s eyes.
“I’ve heard of him, he’s a real steady Jedi, I wonder why Master Yoda would ask him to be on the team,” Bri wondered at the thought.
“He wanted them to get some more experience in negotiating. Osti felt he was lacking in that area,” Xara replied to Bri’s wondering.
“Who else?” Bri badgered waiting for Xara to continue whom else was on their mission.
“Master Kint is also coming,” Xara said saving Cal for last.
“I wonder why he is coming?” Bri wondered out loud to herself.
“Because they’ve involved Cal as well,” Xara said waiting for Bri’s response that did not take long at all.
“WHAT!” Bri said in shock at the name. “Did I just hear you correctly in that Cal is going to be on the mission?”
“Yes you did,” Xara said in a defeated tone as she reaffirmed that Cal was going to be on the mission.
“Great, they spend a lot of time to make sure that we are separated then invite him along on a mission I’m on,” Bri said. “Well things can’t get much worse that’s for sure.”
“Don’t say that,” Xara said quickly. “You know that it you say something like that something else will happen.”
“You’re superstitious?” Bri said with a glance over to her soulmate.
“No I’m not, I just don’t tempt the fates that’s all,” Xara countered. “Come on, let’s get something to eat and grab our stuff for the mission,” Xara told Bri as she put on her clothes.
Bri got up and gathered her dark tan Jedi tunic and put it on deciding to leave the robe here for the time being. She glanced at Xara and saw her dressed in dark pants, and a red and black shirt. Bri thought that it was made for Xara. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a red belt completed the look. Xara’s lightsaber hung from the belt giving her a look of some sort of dark Jedi.
“How’s your side doing,” Xara said as she approached Bri and ran her hand up the mentioned side waiting for the reaction.
“It felt good, a bit tight, but nothing some stretching and exercise can’t help,” Bri replied with some stretching of the side but missing Xara’s hand there as the older woman pulled away.
“Come on, I’ll lead you to breakfast,” Xara said with a bit of a twinkle in her eyes as she and Bri walked out of the room.
*****
Yoda waited patiently for his entire team member to arrive for the shuttle flight down to the planet’s surface. So far he and Master Kint were the only ones there, of course they had arrived earlier than the appointed time. They turned to the sounds of footsteps and watched as Yoda’s padawan Markus walk into the room carrying two bags.
“Get everything did you?” Yoda asked as he watched Markus walk to the shuttle.
“Yes Master, I’m sure that we will be prepared for anything this time,” The boy replied and Kint looked at Yoda with understanding in his eyes.
“So what happened?” Kint asked wondering what the padawan had forgotten to pack.
“Forgot the water pills he did on Yessot,” Yoda replied as Kint winced at the thought. Yessot was a place where for some strange reason the water was harmful to anyone else who tried to drink the water besides the natives.
“That’s not good,” Kint replied. “At least there is nothing like that here,” as they both knew that anything could grow on the planet Sissis.
There was a break in the conversation as they looked up when they heard more footsteps. They watched as Osti and Gina walked into the area. Yoda had wondered a bit as to why Osti had been able to train Gina as usually opposite sexes were not able to train others and he had learned that they were brother and sister. As he watched them he could see the family resemblance.
“Master Yoda, Master Kint,” Osti said greeting the two Jedi Masters.
“Welcome Osti, Gina,” Yoda said as Osti helped Gina with their bags and they boarded the shuttle.
“Is there any new developments about the mission that I should be aware of?” Osti asked not wanting to be embarrassed by not being prepared.
“King Hevon said that something else has happened but tell us when we arrive he would,” Yoda said. He had been a bit puzzled by what it could have been. He had not been pleased to heard that news when they had arrived at the planet, but knew that they would not be able to do anything until they arrived on the planet anyway.
“I should have figured that they would be late,” a voice said over their shoulders.
They turned around to see who was talking and they were not surprised to see Cal standing there looking around. He had a grin on his face as he looked not seeing either Bri or Xara in the area then made his way to the shuttle.
Yoda looked at Kint who could only shrug his shoulders in reply of the silent question. Cal was his own Jedi and went by his own rules. Yoda knew that one day the Jedi would be held accountable for his actions then perhaps he would learn his place in the universe.
As he disappeared into the shuttle Bri and Xara walked in. Xara was carrying both bags and Bri seemed to make eye contact with Yoda, and he knew that Xara had told her about Cal and his involvement in the mission. He could tell that she was not happy about it either.
“How do you feel this morning,” Yoda asked as Bri came up to him.
“I feel good, but we need to talk,” Bri said eyeing Yoda so they both knew what she was talking about.
“It’s about time you showed up,” Cal said from where he had emerged from the shuttle. He gave Xara a glance, which the other woman responded with.
Yoda and Bri watched the exchange with different points of view. Yoda was concerned by Cal’s recent actions. His judgment was rash and quick without any foresight into the Force to help guide him. Cal was also becoming cockier in his attitude towards others and Yoda also feared for Cal mental stability.
Bri on the other hand wanted to go over and knock Cal’s eyes into the back of his head. She managed to restrain herself only because she knew that Xara would get mad at her, and the fact that Xara could take care of herself.
Bri walked back to Xara, “let’s go get a seat,” she said leading the other woman onboard the shuttle.
“Cal, late they were not. In fact early they were,” Yoda said facing the other man. “Accept this behavior I will not.”
“Sorry Master Yoda,” Cal said knowing he had overstepped his boundaries somewhere, but he was not sure where. To him Xara was a cancer that the council had allowed into the Jedi Order. He would eliminate her in one way or another.
Bri sat down and watched as Xara placed their carry-ons in the overhead compartments and then joined Bri sitting down.
“Bri, I can take care of myself,” she said taking the smaller woman’s hand in her own using the few moments of silence to talk with her soulmate. “If staring is the worst Cal does then I can handle it, if not then the others will be there to help out with him.”
“I know, but he doesn’t own me. I guess he just irritates me when he is focused on me, but make me mad when he does something to you,” Bri said facing Xara. “And only you own me,” she added in a whisper.
“That goes both ways my Jedi,” Xara said giving Bri a playful poke in the nose.
They were interrupted by any further play by the sounds of the rest of the group coming aboard the shuttle. Osti and Gina walked on board and took their seats and Kint and Yoda sat across the way leaving Cal sitting the furthest from the couple. It was the way that Yoda wanted it. They put as much distance as possible between Cal and Bri.
They felt the familiar vibrations as the shuttle lifted off and left the ship toward the planets surface.
End Part 5