Chapter 11:
Vicky
Vicky had never been good with goodbyes. No real way around it. When she was little she pouted, angry that someone was going away. And when she got older, she often went around in circles in her own head for days before the actual goodbye and then cried when it happened.
Saying goodbye to the Wookiees wasn't much different.
Yeah, she still couldn't understand a
single goddamn word they said, but
goddamnit, the fuzzballs had grown on her.
Hell, the momma Wookiee brought out Vicky's "biggest fan" for one more circuit around the wroshyr trees, and the fuzzy little limpet squealed as she hugged Vicky's neck like a sloth hugging a branch as they swooped and dove around the high canopies.
So sue her, she got a bit sentimental.
And that wasn't even mentioning the gifts the Wookiees brought over to see them off: A fruit she was
fairly sure she couldn't lift without her Brute rating, and a ceremonial vambrace carved from wroshyr wood.
Taylor's gifts were beautiful: a gorgeously carved ivory necklace with teeth from some local predator, and a ceremonial Wookiee knife, its thick blade curved at the tip like a bowie knifeits wooden handle polished until it shined and the intricate engravings standing out like gorgeous calligraphy around the hilt.
She was pretty sure Tay got sentimental, too. Especially when she handed off Atlas-two to the Chief, who promised to take care of the 'hatchling'. (How exactly something the size of a freaking
Volkswagen that Tay had ridden into battle was a "hatchling" while also being a
bug she didn't know, but hey, details.)
Then the last round of goodbyes came, and the Wookiees gathered round to offer goodbye hugs.
As sentimental as she got, Vicky did
not blubber like a little girl, and if Tay said otherwise, then she was a dastardly lying villain who lies… villainously!
Yoda waited patiently as they did all this, standing by his starship with a small, almost encouraging smile, seemingly delighted at the Wookiees' friendship with them.
But alas, it had to end soon. As the Kashyyyk sun rose high into the sky, so too did Yoda's ship, carrying Vicky and Tay on their way out to space.
That's when the
next part of their eventful day started.
Because, you see… for all that she knew, intellectually, that they were in space, Vicky was fairly certain she could be forgiven for the act of pressing her face against the viewport of the ship they were riding in when they broke through the atmosphere…
And the first time they could see Kashyyyk from orbit…
And the first time they could see the system's sun in the void…
And the first time they saw other planets in general…
And the first time they went into hyperspace…
And the first time they dropped out of hyperspace…
Basically, Vicky had her face glued to the window of their ship ever since the fasten seatbelt sign had been turned off… or maybe, possibly, probably before that… you know, since she could fly.
Seatbelts were for those lowly non-flying peasant people.
Screw inertia.
She imagined she was much like a little kid on her first plane ride, but
goddamnit this was
so freakin cool!
"Tay, we're in space!" she gushed, turning to look over her shoulder with a brilliant, megawatt bright smile.
Tay shot her an irritated glare, lifting up her pad.
"I know… might be nice to see it."
Vicky blinked, wondering what Tay was talking about when she realized that their little passenger cabin had only the one window…
She winced, offering an apologetic smile and a nervous chuckle. "Ahh… well why didn't you say anything?"
Taylor's glare was flat and unimpressed.
Deciding to forgo an opportunity to stick her foot in her mouth
again, Vicky "scooted" to the side by quietly floating out of the way.
Tay's eyes followed her, then darted over to the window before she peeled herself out of her seat to go and look.
Vicky hung back, letting her take it in and seeing the silent girl's eyes take on a look of quiet wonder.
"I've never seen so many stars, either," she commented to fill the silence. "Light pollution and all that I guess."
But up here… up here the stars twinkled in countless glimmers, little sparkles of diamond brightness in the black.
Taylor nodded, then quietly typed something on her pad. "
I wonder how many of those stars have worlds like Kashyyyk. People. Cultures." She fingered the ivory necklace, smiling a bit.
"Arts and Crafts?"
Vicky smirked, one finger tapping her vambrace. "Like the lovable fuzzballs? I don't think too many are like them. But who knows? Maybe we'll see some really neat other cultures and stuff… or beat them up."
Taylor huffed out a laugh, pulling back to settle in her seat.
The ensuing silence was calm, even comfortable.
But, never having been the most patient of people, the stillness soon drove Vicky's mind to wander. She couldn't help it; her thoughts drifted back to what was said yesterday.
"Hey, Tay," she began. Taylor's head didn't move, but her eyes shifted in their sockets to look at Vicky out of the corner of them. "Little Green said… he said you saw something in the future, and I… don't know about…" How should she even phrase this? "My present? Our present?" She shrugged.
Taylor didn't move, her body going eerily still. Vicky pushed on before she could lose her nerve.
"What happened to us? Do you know? Or maybe just… what happened to
me? Who screwed with my head?"
Taylor's usual stoic mask slipped, cracking like glass as her head hung low.
Vicky's eyes widened. "You know something!" She wasn't sure if it was realization, or accusation in her voice.
Taylor's features scrunched up, expressive in a way she'd never seen while on Kashyyyk.
She reached for her pad, and her attempts at typing out a response was a thing of restarts and quick, harried edits.
Finally, she seemed to settle on something.
She turned the pad around.
"If these Jedi guys can't help you, I'll tell you."
"What!? Why!" she asked, standing up, "Someone screwed with my head. You know who and you're keeping it a secret!?"
Taylor turned the pad around to quickly type out her reply.
"Who says what I know is accurate? My head got screwed with, too."
Vicky opened her mouth, then shut it, sucking down a breath through her teeth. Fuck. That was actually a good point.
But she was fairly sure…
"That's not the reason," she challenged, staring at Taylor, eyes narrowed. "It's a good reason but it's not
your reason. You're hiding something."
Taylor's jaw worked, seemingly chewing on the words she couldn't or
wouldn't voice.
"Either way, the result doesn't change. We wait. And if we have no other options… I'll tell you everything I think I know."
Vicky glared, but Taylor glared back, refusing to back down on her stance.
Then the door opened.
"Hmm. A Jedi I need not be to sense the tension in this room. Hmm?"
Vicky turned, glaring at the small green alien for interrupting. He just smiled like an amused grandfather.
She considered, for a moment, asking him to leave again, but it wouldn't do to be rude to the guy who was supposedly gonna help them get back home.
So she changed the subject, "How long before we get to your temple?" If Tay's condition was finding out if the Jedi people could help or not well… now she wanted to get there even faster.
"Patience you should have," Yoda chided, hobbling forward. "But not long. Hours. Meditate you should. Time will pass quicker that way."
She smirked. "Aha!" she cried triumphantly from several feet away! "I knew your 'meditating' was just another way to say
nappin-"
*Clang*
"Ahh- what the hell?" she stumbled, glaring- wasn't this coffee table like half a foot to the left a second ago?
Yoda harrumphed, hobbling past them. "When 'meditate' I say, meditate it is."
She glared at the little green troll crossing her arms. "So you gonna go 'meditate' now?" she could
hear her own finger quotes.
"No," Yoda chuckled. "To sleep I go. Long day it has been."
Vicky heard a sound. It took her a second to realize Tay was chuckling beside her.
"Oh, don't you freakin' start!" she demanded.
(X)(X)(X)
When they arrived at their destination, Vicky had to remember to leave Tay enough room to look out through the viewport.
She was glad that she did. It made the reality of what she was seeing far more… acceptable.
"Wow…," she breathed. "You're seeing this too, right? It's like… a whole city. The whole planet."
Taylor nodded.
"Large, Coruscant is," Yoda said behind them, his little legs dangling off his seat. "Home to trillions it is. Center of the Republic, and home to the Jedi."
"How many
species?" she asked with open wonder.
"Hmm." Yoda rubbed at his chin. "Recognize and know twenty million sentient species existence, the Republic and the Jedi do. Exist on Coruscant, many will. But not all."
Twenty
million…
"Jesus," Victoria breathed. "On Earth, we don't even have that many nationalities and ethnicities! And that's just one planet. How do you keep it all straight!?"
"Difficult it is. Missteps and mistakes… often they occur. But to learn to live and compromise together, the foundation of the Republic it is."
Beside her, Vicky heard Tay release a breath through her nostrils, almost a snort, but too quiet to be called such.
She looked at the brunette, the former villain's eyes taking on a calculating, analytical look. It looked like she didn't buy the pamphlet speech.
Vicky shrugged.
She would wait and see. Who's to say aliens couldn't pull it off better than humans?
A voice chimed in through the ship's intercom. "Master Yoda," it sounded mechanical, a droid or the ship's computer. Did ships have computers? "We are on our final approach to the Jedi temple."
(X)(X)(X)
Much like a plane back on Earth, Yoda's ship didn't have any forward facing windows they could use, so Vicky and Tay had to make do with the side window they'd been using. As such, they never got a good look at the Jedi temple itself on their approach.
So when they stepped off the ship, perhaps they could be forgiven at their awe at the sheer
size of it.
To put it simply, it was
huge.
The slanted, ivory white stonework, the sharp angles, the massive wide open courtyard, the gleaming tower at the top.
She felt like an ant, standing in the shadow of a colossus.
Yoda hobbled ahead of them. Little Green was surprisingly fast for a guy that was two feet tall and walking around everywhere with a cane.
They started to follow as he reached the stairs. A bald, black guy was waiting at the top for them.
"Master Yoda," The man smiled. "It's good you've returned."
"Greetings, Master Windu," Yoda answered, his cane coming up one step, then his foot, then his cane, then his foot, then his cane…
Tay's hands smacked Vicky back down to her side. Her fingers itched to pick up the little gremlin and place him at the top of the stairs.
The black guy, Master Windu, raised an eyebrow, and Vicky offered a nervous smile back at him, hoping he hadn't noticed her little… moment.
"I see the Wookiees have sent us two guests," he said, taking a few steps down the stairs to offer them his own greetings, hands clasping theirs. "I am Jedi Master Windu. Leader of the Jedi High Council."
Vicky smiled, shaking his hands. "Oh! Hey, we get to meet the guy in charge on the first day. This is much better than the bureaucracy back home, eh?" She elbowed Taylor, whose features had gone stoic again even as she politely shook the Jedi Master's hands.
"Master Yoda sensed a disturbance in the Force when the Wookiees contacted him. I sense now that he was correct," Windu intoned, eyes narrowing. "The Force flows… strangely around the two of you."
"Yeah, Little- I mean, Yoda said that too." Vicky answered, catching herself before she went and called Yoda "Little Green" outside of her own head in front of one of his buddies. Or
him for that matter. She was within arms reach of that stupid stick after all. "Not really sure what this Force thing is all about, though."
Master Windu, for the briefest moment, looked surprised, before the look was gone so quickly she wondered if it was there at all.
"Time enough for that, there will be," Yoda said. "Get you settled, we should. Rooms, and food. Safe in the Temple, you are. Our guests you will be."
Windu nodded. "Master Yoda is right of course. We can speak more and determine how the Jedi can assist you once you've been shown to your rooms and rested from your long journey," he ushered them forward. "Please. Follow me."
Vicky nodded, smiling as Mace turned to lead them into the temple. After they waited for Yoda to finish getting up the stairs, of course.
She tossed a look towards Taylor, but the brunette's eyes had a far away, distracted look, like she was focusing on something in the distance. Vicky shrugged, figuring she was back to doing her thing of listening to make sure people weren't gonna slit their throats in their sleep or something.
(X)(X)(X)
Somehow, the inside of the Jedi Temple seemed larger than its outside. Massive towering hallways, swooping grand archways, looming statues of ancient heroes, vast mezzanine walkways and rows upon rows of what Victoria could only assume were their equivalent to books in bright blue racks.
There were, indeed,
thousands of people here. If they were all Jedi, then the order was as extensive as Yoda had said.
Nearly everyone they passed by greeted Yoda and Windu. Vicky and Taylor drew more curious stares than anything, but no one really stopped to comment on them.
The rooms to which they were shown were small, but comfortable. The host droid specified they were meant for guests who intended to remain at the temple "for some time". The suite had a private bathroom, two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen - not that Vicky knew how any of the appliances worked, but it was nice to have it!
"Well, this is nice," she said, turning to look at the still-distracted Taylor.
She elbowed the villain in the side, bringing Tay's eyes to her. "Whatcha listenin to?" she guessed.
Tay shot her an irritated look, typing out a quick reply.
"We don't know if the room is bugged."
Vicky shot her a bright smile. "I see what you did there."
Taylor rolled her eyes.
"I'm listening to everyone I can," she answered.
"The Temple is so big I can't cover it all. It's… irritating. And the surrounding city… It's a lot."
Vicky silently boggled.
That's right, Tay's bugs weren't
just in the temple. To be listening to everything, or at least as much as she could reach, in a city
this massive must have been a daunting task.
"Christ, are you even gonna be able to sleep?" she wondered, then frowned. "You
are going to sleep!" she scolded. "Even if I have to freakin' drug you, you're never doing that ten day shit again!"
Taylor didn't look like she was looking forward to the prospect, but she did, haltingly, hesitatingly, nod her head.
"Don't try to cover it up with makeup, either. I'll know."
Again, Taylor rolled her eyes, tap-tap-tapping away her response.
"Where would I even get any?"
"I'm sure the girls in this temple have freaking makeup!" Vicky dismissed.
"They're a bunch of pseudo monks, why would they?"
"Beauty concerns are the same on every planet, Tay."
Taylor's look was deadpan and flat.
"
I didn't see a Wookiee with makeup."
"They called it war paint," she chimed. Reaching forward, she poked Taylor's ivory fang necklace with her vambrace covered arm, smiling smugly. "And accessories!"
Tay facepalmed.
Vicky's smile was cheeky. "Well, I'mma hit the shower. Catch you in a bit," she practically skipped into the bathroom.
Everyone had their travel rituals. Vicky needed hot showers and good shampoo, Tay needed to make sure no unwanted stabbings took place. Habits.
(X)(X)(X)
Mace Windu:
Seeing their guests to their rooms was a simple thing, for which Mace was grateful. It allowed him a rather quick opportunity to speak with Master Yoda.
The large and vast hallways granted them a sense of privacy, if only by providing ample distance between the two Jedi Masters and any others passing through.
"Master Yoda," he began, a question in his voice.
His old Master could hear it, without words.
"Hmm," the ancient Grandmaster grunted, urging him to continue with a small smile on his face.
"What did I sense, Master?"
"Hmmm. Strangely the Force flows around our two guests. Unusual eddies and currents. Discern the nature of these turbulences, we must."
Mace nodded. "I assume you have some idea of what it is? Or at least what we should do?"
Yoda's smile widened just a bit. "I do."
And Mace knew he'd fallen into something of a trap from his old Master.
"An idea you'd rather not tell me."
"Gone, I will be one day. To whom then will you turn?" Yoda chided gently. "Good experience this is for you, as possible future Grandmaster. The mysteries of the Force, endless they are. Present themselves so cooperatively as this, rarely they do. Learn from this you will. Intervene if needed, I will."
Mace's feelings at this were conflicted, truth be told. It made sense, but it was still somewhat humbling to recognize he still had so much to learn. For so tiny a being, the old Master left him such dauntingly large shoes to fill.
"I understand," Windu said. "Regardless of the strangeness of our guests, I did come to meet you for a reason, Master."
"Uneasy, you are," Yoda said. "Unlike you, this is. Troubling, this news must be."
He never could hide much from Yoda.
Mace took a breath. "Count Dooku has returned to the temple from Serenno. He was searching for you. He's… inquiring once again over Master Qui-Gon's death," Mace hesitated. He rarely told Yoda what to do, but the look in his old friend's eye… "While he is no longer a member of the Jedi Order…" He hesitated over his next words. "I do not believe it's right to…
obfuscate the details further insofar as the Count is concerned. He has a right to know, Master Yoda."
He saw the Grandmaster's features crumple. The decision to suppress the fact that Obi-Wan and his Master had confronted the Sith had been Windu's and Yoda's together. But to lie to a Master-even a former one-over the death of his once-Padawan must have troubled the Grandmaster deeply. With Dooku having been Yoda's Padawan, it couldn't have made it any easier, either
If Dooku did something regrettable because of that decision… Mace knew better than most the depth of devotion Yoda held for his students.
"Speak to my former Padawan, I will. Consider your words carefully, I shall."
(X)(X)(X)
And here's this weeks chapter.
As usual Chapters 12, 13 and 14 are available on Patreon for just $1.00 per month, and chapter 14 has a fairly big development for Militia, Dennis and Alexandria
Read, review and all that good stuff.
