Crazy Old Hermit

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Felucia

It rained.

It wasn't so much rain, but a river from heaven. The jungle never flooded, no matter how heavy the torrent came. It was a living sponge. The water was taken eagerly by the gigantic fungi that towered overhead, and by the thick mossy ground below the canopy.

A man sat under a giant mushroom cap, watching sheets of rainwater pour down around his makeshift shelter. He wore a set of Imperial Stormtrooper armor that had seen far better days. The knee covers had long-since fallen into the swampy muck, and one of the upper arm coverings had cracked in two places. The rest of the armor was decorated with years worth of muck and detritus that had never been cleaned.

The man reached to his chest with an ungloved hand, wringing rain water from a long and scraggly beard. His other hand did the same with his wavy locks of hair that hung off of one shoulder. The extracted rainwater dribbled into an inverted mushroom cap, which the man then lifted to his lips, and drank from.

He gingerly wiped at his mouth, brushing aside the foliage of his moustache. A finger traced along a deep scar that ran from the middle of his forehead, down across one eyebrow, and to the right side of his face. It was a reminder of who he was, and what he had endured to make it here.

He did not dwell on the past, but instead analyzed it as one might pick a stone from the riverbed that caught their eye. He discarded it once again into the neither-here-nor-there, and returned to the task at hand.

Even for the forgotten, it was time to eat.

He plucked a beetle from the pile of loam he had arranged on a leaf, and popped it into his mouth, splitting the exoskeleton with his molars as he fished the sweet inside out. Chewing thoroughly, he spat the beetle's empty shell into a pile of others who had gone before him. He plucked a sproutling mushroom from the earth, and nibbled at its thick white cap, before quickly spitting it aside.

It was poison. The earthy taste he sought was instead sweet and inviting. A temptation he had learned to respect as a warning.

He washed his mouth out from the rainwater in the larger cap, spitting into the moss. His appetite had left him.

There was nothing to do until the storm abated. The hermit settled against the giant fungi's stalk, and turned his attention to his life's dedication, a cyllindrical piece of engineering that had taken him a year and a half to construct out of salvaged parts from his destroyed speeder, and a half dozen pilfered Imperial supply depots.

It was a lightsaber. His lightsaber. Constructed as he had been taught, by the masters who had gone before him into the Force itself.

He thumbed a smear of soily muck off of the hilt, attaching it once again to his stormtrooper utility belt. For the Jedi, there was patience in the storm. It was not forever. Only the Force was forever.

The storm would end. His training would renew once more, as it had done every day for three years.

His name is Anbira Hicchoru, and his past is as unremarkable as a stone on the riverbed. All that shall be said of him is that he is a Jedi Knight, one of the last of the old religion, trained by the last of the old religion's masters.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"When it rains, it pours."

The symphony of rainfall was replaced by a gentle baritone voice that Anbira knew well. It belonged not to a man.

"It is soothing, Master."

Anbira poured the remaining water in the mushroom cap over his face, rubbing away the dirt that accumulated from living a simple life. When he blinked the water from his eyelids, he saw a shimmering blue entity, sitting on a fallen fungi stalk across from him.

"I remember a night such as this a long time ago, when I was your age."

"The Outer Rim sieges, Master?"

Obi Wan Kenobi nodded, unaffected the the rain that drizzled down on his perch.

"A fine soft evening that became a fine soft month. I have never longed for a towel more than I did then, I think."

"Kaminoan armor makes for a cozier endurance than your robes, Master."

"Indeed true, Anbira. Yet, my discomfort in iteslf was a lesson in patience."

Obi Wan had cut through to the heart of Anbira's desires.

"It's been three years, Master. I know that if I am to leave it will be through the will of the Force, but I have asked myself if there is any good that can be done in exile."

Obi Wan nodded.

"Your heart is in the right place, Anbira. But good intentions without the temperance and virtue of a Jedi can prove dangerous to those who seek to destroy you, or use your talents to destroy others."

Anbira stroked his wild beard.

"Is every waking experience a lesson such as this, Obi Wan?"

"This lesson has a second opinion."

A second apparition appeared, sitting adjacent to Kenobi. One far younger, with flowing hair and a scar that appeared similar to Anbira's own facial marking.

"Anakin Skywalker?"

Anbira averted his eyes, and knew his answer before Obi Wan could confirm it.

"You don't know the power of the Dark Side, Anbira. Do not underestimate it's power, or your own well-meaning heart will be turned against you."

The hermit rose to his feet, brushing moss from his ankle guards. Obi Wan and Anakin exchanged a moment regarding each other, as if eternities had come and gone since the Force had placed them on the same path.

"Then...?" Anbira ventured.

"The circle is now complete." Anakin confirmed Anbira's suspicions.

"The villain you once knew to be Darth Vader has been destroyed, and I have met my destiny."

"Then Luke has triumphed over your Emperor? The Sith are destroyed?"

"Anbira, there is more to be said." Obi Wan spoke, the reassuring smile replaced by a grave expression.

Anakin continued. "My son and my emperor have found their destinies, just as I have done. None survived the conflict."

"No..." Anbira protested weakly.

"Master Obi Wan, Master Luke was our only ho..."

Obi Wan waved him off.

"And that hope has been vindicated. The specter of Darth Sidious has been extinguished forever. What remains is a conflict between good and evil that must be resolved. Do not despair, Anbira. The Force is with us, and in your dedication and the dedication of other Jedi throughout the galaxy, lies the new hope that Luke fought to insure with his life."

Revelation dawned in Anbira's eyes.

"Other Jedi?"

Obi Wan and Anakin exchanged a knowing glance, and the elder spirit spoke.

"Anbira, you are going to find that many of the truths I have taught you in your exile exist through a certain point of view. You must understand that the completion of your training is paramount. When I told you that you were the last of the Jedi, it was to ward off any sense of false complacency. To deny the sense of urgency that surrounds your destiny is to embrace the dark side. Now, it is a new day. And I bring you good news, young student. The completion of your training is at hand. Very soon, you must leave this place, and carry the light of the force with you to illuminate the darkness. Neither I nor Anakin can carry this burden for you. We offer you council, but the journey is yours."

"But not alone?" Anbira questioned.

"That is a question only you can answer."

"Complete your training, Anbira. The will of the Force will carry you across the stars. I forsee you dining at a great table with a multitude of brothers and sisters, brought forward by their own destinies to ensure that the Light remains inextinguishable, forever."

Anbira felt like he weighed less than a feather. He leaned against the tall fungi's stalk.

"I am not ready."

"You will be....you will be."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Not ready for what?"

Wei Wu Wei had been slogging through the jungle, on the run for days from people who wanted him. Some wanted him dead, others wanted him alive. Wei made sure they would have neither.

The Jedi Knight crumpled underneath the gigantic mushroom. He sat there a moment, nose inches from the waterlogged soil before pulling himself up to a stand.

"I thought I was ready to face the world once. Too bad no one ever told me it would try to break you as fast as it could."

The man wrung out his hair and wiped his glasses on his shirttail out of impulse. Two shining silver cylinders hung from his belt and were made visible as he pulled the fringes of his shirt up to clean off the eyewear. "Stupid glasses," he muttered when he put them on and still couldn't see.

"So why are you out here? Running from the Empire?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Hearing a living voice for the first time in a year and a half had a way of catching Anbira off guard.

He fell into a moss patch. His spiritual councilors vanished into the rainstorm, leaving him alone with his new visitor.

"Haven't you seen a set of stormtrooper armor before?" Anbira managed to say, but not with the intimidating tone that he was looking for.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei lowered his glasses to he could peer over the misted lenses and get a decent look at who he was talking to.

"Oh, is that what you are? A stormtrooper? It looks more like your armor's made out of dirt than out of any sort of standard protective material. So I guess your Empire just left you out here to die, then?"

Wei felt a deep swell of disgust for the soldier on the ground. He was dirty, shaky, and definitely not in his right mind. For a moment Wei considered simply ending the pathetic man's life and making things easier on both of them. Wei returned his glasses to their original position and helped the man up.

You should still kill him he thought. Not like he does you much good anyway. He's a soldier for the Empire, remember? An Empire that destroyed all decency. Not to mention your father and wife.

Wei dusted Anbira off as best he could and leaned him up against the mushroom for support.

"So what exactly was it you people were after out here in the first place?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"My batallion supported the Felucian garrison under Moff Dragos."

The charade was over. Anbira sighed.

"Three years ago. Whatever they may be doing now, I wouldn't know."

The hermit eyed the cyllinders hanging from the visitor's waist.

"That's some pretty rare contraband you're sporting. Enough for a sector-wide death mark on your head. Or at least three years ago it was."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "So I've been told. Several several times. I've got plenty of blood on my head to prove it. If I had one credit for every soldier I had to kill in order to keep these things, I'd buy a star destroyer. Maybe two."

In any other world Wei would have chuckled at this remark. At the least, he would have smiled.

"These things are still pretty hot items out there in the galaxy. Wei unclipped one and activated it. It hummed throught the air and the ground steamed when he sent the blade skimming low to the ground."

"I never even had a real good chance to learn to use one of these. Thanks to Vader and the Clone armies my master died before I could really learn to use them."

The thoughts of murder entered Wei's head again. Wei had been skimming the Darkside for years now. The Jedi Code that emphasized peacekeeping and justice seemed to him a goal unreachable.

Wei turned the saber off and put it back on his belt.

"I don't suppose you're going to try to take it from me?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

He wasn't a bounty hunter or slag who had gotten lucky. With the mention of a master, Anbira's own feelings found the answer they were looking for.

"You're a Jedi Knight?"

Only a day ago, he would never have imagined asking another living being that question.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei paused as he had grown used to doing when asked about his status as a Jedi. Years of introspection had put Wei in the lurch. He wasn't sure, but it was always much easier to say yes. Wei did so now.

"Yeah, I am. I trained under Quinlan Vos until he was killed in the Jedi purge."

Wei shut his eyes to shut out the feelings of despair and anguish that always threatened him when he remembered his master.

"Yeah. He was a good teacher. I don't think losing him would have been as bad if I hand't lost my wife and father as well."

Wei had learned long ago that discussing the things that hurt made them better. Wei had been talking over his pain for years now and still hadn't found peace. Instead he had been running into anger and vengefulness.

"Anyway--" Wei said in a tone that meant he wanted to change the subject. His only issue was that he couldn't think of a subject in order to make the change.

"And what about you?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"I was a stormtrooper, once."

Anbira crossed his gauntleted arms over his chest, and bowed his head in contemplation, his mane of hair and beard hanging down and around his well-tanned face.

"As for what I am now, that is a question I've been asking for three years."

He glanced up at Wei, and down again to a puddle of accumulated rainwater.

"I have never met another living Jedi, not until today. You're flesh and blood, same as I."

[Rognan Dar]

Tree's flashed by in a blur. The roaring sound of engines in his ears blocked out the sound of energy that zipped by his head. The Rain blinded his vision. As Rognan maneuvered his speeder bike through the under-brush and tree's laser were shot from behind by stormtroopers, who were also on speeder bikes. There were a good half dozen chasing him, been chasing him for what was growing close to a hour.

After landing on the planet, Rognan didn't do anything to attract such attention. He just wondered around and found out that there was a imperial base close to one of the villages. What better then to be where no one would be looking for him? The closer you are to danger, the farther you are from harm. Well, someone else must have thought that, too, because they were now after him. Or maybe a bounty hunter had been tracking him for who knows how long and now that Rognan was on a remote planet, decided to call in the feds and get his reward. A villager could have seen him and reported him. And that was what he thought. He had heard whispers about Jedi in his brief pass through town and stopping for a meal. But maybe it was nothing more then idol chatter.

The fact remained, however, that he was now being hunted down in some forest where it seemed that the air was solid water. He might as well be flying through an ocean. And this fact greatly hindered his ability to fly, which caused the troopers to catch up on him easily.

Coming into a slightly more clear area, Rog hit the throttle in an attempt to lose his followers. Once he entered back into a thicker part of the jungle, he pulled off and slowed to a stop. He hid the bike as best he could before he heard the other bikes zoom by. Jumping into a tree he waited, hoping that the troopers would give up their search in this area quickly. But his dumb luck got in the way again. They knew he was around here. More troopers were dropped off to perform a ground search and set up a perimeter around the general location that they thought he was in.

There were to many to fight on his own and they would only call for backup. He had to get out. His options were running low and he didn't want to be taken away like his master was. He wished his master was still here. He would know what to do.

After waiting a good forty-five minutes he couldn't wait any longer. The initial search had started at the other end, coming his way. They were getting closer the more he waited. And once they found his bike, he would not get far. Jumping down from his tree and uncovering the speeder, he jumped on and jammed the throttle. It was not a surprise when three scout troopers once again continued the chase. He only hoped that if there were any other Jedi on this planet, that he would find them before he became a fireball.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei looked at Anbira with a bit more interest and a much less contempt. "So you're a Jedi too, eh?"

A good distance off the sound of speeder engines could be heard.

"I guess they're after me. I've been hiding and ducking and deflecting laser bolts for the past several days. It's good Form III training. I suppose you either want to go back to rejoin the Imperials and their army or come with me. Or you can stay here. Any way you cut it, you had better make up your mind quick. No telling when they'll find us."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira's eyes went sharp, piercing the fungal forest in search of the origin of the throttling speeder sounds.

"My fate is away from Felucia. I've stayed here long enough."

He glanced to Wei, a calm born from experience on his face.

"They're approaching from the northeastern ridge. I suggest climbing the red parasols and hiding beneath the caps. They should support your weight."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan was just going over a fallen tree when a lucky shot hit the back end of his speeder bike. For once his luck was on his side and the speeder didn't burst into flames. But it did hit a part of the engine and the speeder was slowing down and dropping closer to the ground. Having no other choice he jumped off and landed on something soft and wet. He looked up in time to see another shot hit his bike and explode, sending parts of it all over the place.

A blue light snapped out infront of Rog. The source of it was hidding be bushes and tall grass. The three bikes came about and started to fire in his position. Rognan deflected the ones that would have caused direct damage and let the others go. He ran for cover, which was a tall tree. Its branches were to high up for him to reach and the bikes were coming around again. He ran for another tree. More bikes could be heard, coming closer. Oh great. How I'm dead... he thought as he prepared for the next attack.

[Wei Wu Wei]

The Jedi Knight turned in the directions of the sounds as they grew louder. "Ok, let's get up this thing and hide."

Wei crouched low and allowed the Force to boost his jump up into the cap of the mushroom. Then he got low and waited.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Hang on, change of plans."

Anbira spoke in a spur-of-the-moment tone, bouncing off of his parasol's perch no sooner than he'd mounted it, and leaping into a high thicket of wild moss.

"They're close."

Scrambling low, Anbira peeled the curly sheets of moss from his face has he crept forward. The dewdrops drenched his face and armor in a glistening bath. The thicket began to clear, and he could at last see the source of the commotion - a pair of Imperial speeder bikes chasing an unseen quarry like so many red horned wasps.

The hermit crouched even lower, appearing like a predatory cat creeping through the jungle's underbrush. He paused, still as a statue.

[Rognan Dar]

While weaving in and out of tree's and other objects for safety, Rognan also deflected shots in a attempt to knock them back at the troopers. But at the speed they were going it was going to be near impossible. One storm trooper made the mistake and got to close. The end resolt was him blowing up into a tree. That left two with more on the way.

"Go bother someone else!"

At the fall of their companion the two others kept their distance. It gave Rognan the freedom to move a little more freely. Turning off his saber Rognan sprinted in a direction that looked good to him, though he had no idea where he was now. As he was running a shot blew dirt into the air behind him. He looked back and saw that the two bikes were right behind him and were going to run him through. Just before they reached him Rognan tripped over some object, what he thought at first to be a big rock. The speeders zoomed overhead. When he looked around, his supposed rock was not a rock at all. The white plating of stormtrooper armor alarmed Rognan. He lit his saber again, waiting to see what the figure was doing hidding there.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"I'm not your enemy!"

Anbira said with urgency, putting aside momentarily the fact that this newcomer was also armed with a lightsaber.

With Rognan straddling his prone figure, Anbira jerked a thumb in the direction of the throttling speeders.

"But they are, and they will be returning sooner rather than later."

I glanced from the direction of the sound, to Rognan, and up to the parasol that the spectacled Jedi was likely to still be perched upon.

[Wei Wu Wei]

The saber flashed in Rognan's hand and Wei jumped down immediately.

"Hold on there, now. Let's just back off a minute. Let's get back up in this mushroom here and talk about what exactly you think you're doing jumping of a speeder and flying off the handle like this."

Wei surprised himself with his words. What was he doing? Keeping the peace? It was hard for him to believe considering the lack of peace he felt inside him. He'd sort it out later. But for the moment there were lives at stake.

"You heard me. Both you up, get up that mushroom pronto!"

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan was about to slash the newcomer that tried to ambush him when he saw that he was just some other guy. He felt trapped for a moment. Troopers all around and two guys infront and behind him. After the events of the day he was going to snap. But the firm voice of the man with glasses calmed him down, if only slightly.

Quickly, Rog deactivated his saber but kept his grip tight on it. Though these men did not present a imidiate threat, who knows what they were really up to. So he followed them up the 'shroom as he kept his eye's out for the bikes to come by and blast them into pieces. After a while of waiting, and not being blown apart, he whispered to the others.

"Ok, so what is going on here? Who are you two and why are you just sitting out here?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

The rain had let up until it was now a slow drizzle. Anbira lay prone on the slope of the parasol cap, armored boot toes dug into its spongy flesh. as were his fingertips.

"My name is Anbira Hicchoru. I am a Jedi Knight, which is also precisely the reason I am here to begin with."

He kept his eyes on the forest, knowing the revelation would be alarming to both of his guests.

"The fungal forests of Felucia are a haven for those who wish to not be found."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"You, a Jedi Knight? Me too." In his mind he added Well, sort of.

"So, judging by your weaponry," he said to Rognan, "we're all in the same boat. Let's hide first and wait for those guys to come back around. How many did you say there were?"

A Jedi Knight working for the Imperials as a storm trooper? Wei was curious about that. Perhaps he had been a traitor too, just like Anakin--no, Darth Vader had been. Wei felt like a traitor too, but for different reasons. At any rate, Wei had not choice but to trust the two strangers. Maybe they could be good people.

"Anyone got any good ideas?" Wei asked as he climbed up into the mushroom's cap.

[Rognan Dar]

Two? Two Jedi? This is unheard of! My luck has finally turned around...

Rognan was momentary stunned. He had been wishing something like this would happen but he never thought it would. The Jedi might not all be dead. They could be just like everyone else, waiting for the time to come out. These thoughts brought new hope to Rognan.

"I dont know for sure how many there are. At the time I only saw three. But more could have been around and I just couldn't tell the difference between them.

"And, if they were smart, they would have called in about me. A jedi would be quite the event and I'm sure most, if not all, the troopers are going to be out here soon. We need to get out of this forest without picking up any unwanted guests. And thats the hard part..."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"We cannot hide here forever."

Anbira said aloud, mostly to himself. He gently eased himself down the parasol, sliding from its ledge onto the mossy ground below. He began walking away from the tall fungi and toward the ridge clearing.

"I have a plan, but I will need your light sabers, and more than a little good faith."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei jumped down to the ground and followed Anbira closely. Trust was a big hurdle for Wei to overcome with anyone. He didn't like it. He'd rather keep one lightsaber and have Rognan hand over his.

"More than a little good faith is right."

Wei sighed. Torn between staying on a wilderness planet and having to deal with the Imperials and getting off world on his own over against trusting a complete stranger calling himself a Jedi Knight and yet wearing the clothes of the enemy, he didn't know what to think.

"I've got no time for this." There was a pause and a grimace darknened Wei's entire face. "Oh, here," he said in an exasperated tone and practically threw his lightsabers at Anbira. "But I will be getting these back."

[Rognan Dar]

His lightsabers? Was he crazy? He had known these two men for less then an hour and already they were asking him to give up his only defence against the storm troopers and whoever these men might really be. They could be bounty hunters for all he knew and were good and saying just the right stuff in order to get him to lower his guard.

He was about to say no, flat and plain, when Wei gave up his sabers. At lest that one was a Jedi. Or maybe he just killed a few. What was turning out being to good to be true might have been just that. He kept his thoughts to himself though. Trust was not something he gave freely. But if these guys could get him away from those troopers, he'd follow them for the time being. He kept his guard up, though, for anything out of place. So he stayed in the back after jumping down also.

"So you going to tell us your little plan is or is this a blind walk of faith your leading us on? And what about those troopers?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Our plan is to leave Felucia, and we won't have to worry about the troopers if this works."

Anbira paused in the clearing, examining the lightsabers the other Jedi had begrudgingly entrusted into his possession.

"Fine craftsmanship." He noted, passing a thumb along the focusing knob of Wei's first blade. "If only mine were as pleasing to the eye."

The familiar sound of prowling speeders returned to the ridge, and in a few seconds, a pair of bikes could be seen rapidly coursing down the trail.

Slipping the other Jedis' sabers onto his utility belt, Anbira dropped back to his haunches in the waist-high mossbed, the muck and grime on his plastoid armor acting sympathetically with his surroundings like a makeshift ghillie suit. The Imperials continued along their patrol...

...until one fell off his mount...

"Aaagh!"

...bouncing along the ground until he lay motionless. The second patrolman turned at the sound....

"Waaaigh!"

...and was tossed by an invisible hand, face-first into a spongy Parasol's stalk, so that he pierced the trunk and lay unconcious and immobile.

Anbira rose from his haunches, straining his ears for any sound that would indicate further reinforcements.

"I hope I still remember how to drive a speeder bike." He said to his two compatriots sheepishly.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei placed a hand on his forehead and sighed impatiently, but quickly covered it up by trying to get his bangs out of his eyes.

"They say you never forget how to learn a bicycle once you've gotten the hang of it. I'm sure this will be the same."

A growl was slowly welling up inside his throat and chest, but he kept it down. Irritation was not a good thing. Sure they were getting off the planet, but he was still getting frustrated with it.

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan was also getting a bit irritated. The man had a plan. He turned on a lightsaber. He ducks in the bushes. Rog could have done that and he would still be where he was. He was about to say so when the speeders came around again.

Oh, great...

But these riders had a problem. They just fell off their bikes. And incidentily, they didn't blow up as they slowed and decended to the ground.

Nice...very nice...

"Well, if you dont know how to drive then I'll take the other one. I would rather not be killed by some rogue trooper who's been eating to many shrooms, if you dont mind."

Rognan ran to the one of the fallen speeder bikes and hopped on, giving it a once over and looked back to the others.

"Anyone want a ride?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Perhaps I was being a bit too facetious..."

Anbira went to work quickly, stooping down at the first unconcious stormtrooper, removing his armor segments, and replacing his own, slipping the newer and cleaner plastoid components over his black body glove.

Saving the helmet for last, he tucked it into the crook of his arm, before making his way back to the speeder Rognan was hopped on. He opened one of the saddle bags, fishing out two pair of binder cuffs, and placing the trio's lightsabers in their place.

"They're going to be looking for two prisoners who fit your description, right?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei turned his back to Anbira and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Go on," Wei said in a tone that suggested he was just ready for it all to be over with. So far the man had kept his word about everything to this point since they met.

The Jedi Knight couldn't quite say that he trusted the wild man yet, but he could say he was getting there.

[Rognan Dar]

"No, wait. Hold on here. Lets take this back a step. Are you saying what I think your saying? You want to take us in as prisoners? Well, you got another thing coming."

Rognan reached down and took his saber.

"I'll take my chances with the troopers then go in blindly by some reject trooper."

He looked at Wei and saw that he had no real problem with it.

"Are you really going to go along with this? It can't be good. There is no knowing for sure that he's not just going to turn us in."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"I am the only one of us with knowledge of Imperial garrison procedure, however archaic it may be. All other toils and snares in our path, including wrist binders, are insignificant next to the power of the force."

As if to demonstrate, Anbira secured the binders around his own wrists. Eyes half closed, and with a deft movement of two fingers, the binders unclasped, then fell into the moss at his feet.

He looked up, and could tell that there were still reservations. Humility kicked in, and he gave pause. These two were Jedi Knights by profession of mouth, and the manner in which they wielded their lightsabers gave him no doubt as to this. Thus, they held practical experience that was greater than his own meager knowledge. He would respect their opinions in how to proceed.

Whatever happened, they would all be escaping. Together.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "That's right." Wei waited on the binder cuffs to be put around his wrist and recalled all that he had learned. Usually when he felt out of sorts it helped to remember his training.

As long as he was unarmed he would be restricted to basic Force pushing and pulling abilities and some Force Boosting. Wei had an easier time with the boosting than with the whole push/pull thing.

Wei was not powerless. He was merely choosing not to use his power. If Anbira could make their escapes easier, then Wei would allow him to try.

"It might help that you know our names. I know the Empire is familiar with mine. My name is Wei Wu Wei."

[Rognan Dar]

Rog couldn't believe it. He wanted to not believe it. He had found two other Jedi, weither full ones or just small remains of ones. And now he was going to have to choose between staying with them and try and connect with others or go once again into a search for others. Maybe ones that were from the temple as he was. He had left at such a young age that he hardly remembered any of the other kids he trained with.

"Alright. Fine. I dont like this idea at all. Not at all. But I'll give you a chance to pull this off. And if this fails or if this is a trap, just know that you are the first that is going to go down."

While in his excile and in his wanderings Rog had become a little edgy and rash. He'd been living life on the edge and keeping to himself only made things worse. Now, with someone else he can turn to might help him more then he thinks.

"...I'm Rognan Dar."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"A pleasure to meet you both."

Anbira greeted them formally with a curt bow.

"Now we must be going. We do not have much window of opportunity before the speeder patrol is expected to check in. Put these on."

He handed each man a set of cuffs.

"You'll have to proceed on foot. I'll maintain the charade and lead you from behind on the speeder. If we are being watched at the perimeter, it will fool them."

Tying his long hair back with a piece of string made from a dried vine, Anbira slipped the stormtrooper helmet on, testing the vocabulator.

"It's been three years since I've worn one of these. I forgot how little you can see in these helmets."

Saddling up on the speeder, Anbira kick-started it, and made a polite gesture to Wei and Rognan.

"After you, and may the Force be with you."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei took a step forward in front of the speeder and set off at a brisk walk, one that he thought might be fitting for someone being herded along by someone on a speeder. Wei couldn't help but use the Force to enhance the speed of his gait and nearly smiled.

"Well, before we get into too much trouble," Wei said in a low voice, "What's your name, Stormtrooper?"

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan took the cuffs and begrudgingly put them on. He followed after Wei until he came up beside him.

Walking! When there is a good bike just sitting there...

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira paused. Had he forgotten basic salutations? He could've sworn he'd introduced himself earlier.

"My name is Anbira Hicchoru."

They continued on a ways before he spoke again.

"How did you two find yourselves on Felucia, if I may ask? Forgive my excessive curiosity. I have never met a Jedi Knight before."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's face turned grim for a moment. "Remember when I told you about how the Empire killed my dad and wife and left my mom in a coma? Well, evidently my dad was doing some work for them digging up some information about something to do with the Jedi. I'm mostly trying to figure out what it was my dad found out that made them want to kill him."

Wei shook his head and sighed. "I got sidetracked here because the Emperials found me out when I tried to help a family escape from their burning building. It seems it was burned because they refused to harbor some stormtroopers in that area."

[Rognan Dar]

"And I'm here for no reason other then trying to hide. It so happens that the garrison here was a little more active then I was hoping. I was planning to pitch a tent out on their lawn in hopes they would be looking there. But they caught on to me and I have no clue how.

And they might see right through this trick of yours. How is it that only one trooper is bringing in two Jedi? And with no report about it? Someones bound to notice us and they will report us. Then its all over for us."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"That is possible, of course." Anbira conceded.

"Yet I feel we will succeed, even if our methods are unknown. The will of the force has placed the three of us together, and it is not for chance."

He shrugged a bit.

"It certainly won't hurt to be wary, though."

[Darth Stratus]

In the canopy of shrooms and growing fungi something shadowy lurked. It was that something that all Jedi avoided when possible and all Jedi feared above all else. It was a Sith. Although far from visible to the three Jedi he could see them through the branches and stalks and could feel them even more, everytime he sucked in another breath of air the force pulsed their locations within his chest.

It was a feeling of excitment or fear, adrenalin shooting through his heart at a blinding speed. Three Jedi together, three little Jedi together while he watched stealthily from above, it was a beautiful sight, a gloreous encounter, but the end was far from here, he would watch them for a while. The one with the armour was impressive with the force, he was most certainly a Knight of some sort, strong he was.

He liked him, Stratus wanted him.

The other two were pathetic and weak, though with the force, he regarded them as irellevant, their lives would pay for his encounter with the older one later on. Yes, he liked the middle one, the more how would you say it? Mature? He would watch them for a while, Although Stratus was sure three knights were no match for within the Dark Side, he would take no chances in getting a hold of the one he liked, the one he would collect the most...prestiege from.

With a swift movement, his cloak whipping behind him he retreated into a position of voyeur, a position of power and secrecy. And when the time is right, well, you will see.

Good night my little three princes.

[Wei Wu Wei]

As the three walked on, Wei chose to stay quiet. Half of his attention, if that was on the conversation between Rognan and Anbira. The other half was elsewhere.

Living with his own sense of inadequacy and awareness of his own pain and fear left him almost always standing on the edge of the Darkside. The Jedi Knight felt it nearly always, and he fought with it everyday. Suddenly the Darkside became a bit more apparent in his mind and he paid it close attention. His selfish behavior, his suspicions and fears towards Rognan and Anbira, and his special feeling of vengeance against the Empire commanded his focus and Wei began to sort through all his mental baggage.

"How much farther?" Wei asked. Anxiety began to mix with his fears and angers.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Should be over this next ridge, and through the next fungal cluster. Two kilometers perhaps."

Anbira could feel Wei's anxiety, but the root of it was elusive to him. As the trio traveled on, he peered around, even glancing behind him a few times.

The distance was traversed quickly. Anbira was beginning to tire of this place more than his two visitors. Something was out of place here, and his feelings were warning him of something vague. Eventually, they passed through the second thicket beyond the ridge. A clearing met them that extended in a wide area, with a squat, grey compound sitting in the epicenter.

"That's the garrison." Anbira nodded, pointing ahead.

"They'll send a patrol to meet us now and escort us into the perimeter."

[Rognan Dar]

"Great. And I suppose we just walk right in, say 'hi', and leave just as quickly? Is there a shuttle, perhaps, that we could...steal?"

The time had come to the point where things were going to get really bad, real quick. Rognan knew it. He could feel it. It was when that was hard to pinpoint. And it wasn't the garrison and the stroopers waiting for them that had him worried. They were a problem, one that he hoped the three of them could easily overcome.

"But I'm sure you have a plan of some sort to get us out of this mess?"

[Darth Stratus]

Behind them, in the makeshift path something between the fungi and foliage wooshed past at an incredible speed. They, due to its speed had missed it, before it vanished into the shrooms on the otherside of the path, but needless to say, it was no native animal.

Something was hunting them like beasts, something was following them, stalking them for sport, for jedi these day were sport, catch one earn some credits,catch three? Earn a reputation and whomever it was lurking in the bush of this planet. It certainly had more than mere money in its plans. Unknowing to them, two eyes peered at them from the foliage a few meters away.

Waiting, smiling...enjoying.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's face grew grim. "I think we've got a monkey wrench in our
plans," He said in a low voice."

Sure, Wei hadn't seen what was taililng them, but he didn't need to.
If this person was trying to keep himself hidden, he was doing a poor
job of it.

Wei took his mind off his feelings and focused more on hearing what it
was that was after them.

"Whoever it is has no skill at hiding or is incredibly bold and making
himself known. Anbira, this was your plan, how should we adapt to the
tag along?"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Whoever it is, they have not revealed their hand to us. We should be wary, but it is too late to turn back now."

The patrol was getting closer, and Anbira spoke to the other Jedi hurriedly.

"Silence from here, on. They mustn't know."

"Identification number."

The patrolman had caught up with the Jedi, and addressed Anbira as a stormtrooper.

"CX-325."

The scout trooper glanced around, looking for a second bike.

"Where is your partner?"

Anbira gestured to Rognan.

"This one killed him before they could be subdued. They fit the description of the Jedi Knights we are searching for."

He reached into the saddlebag, pulling out two of the sabers.

"They were armed with energy swords, sir."

A cursory inspection seemed to satisfy the patrolman, who gave Anbira a dismissive gesture.

"Alright. I will escort you into the compound and inform Moff Dragos of the situation. Secure the Jedis' weapons and send them to the brig."

Anbira saluted sharply.

"Yes sir!"

The patrolman turned his attention to Rognan, hitting him in the gut with the stock of his blaster rifle.

"Double-time it, Jedi scum!"

Anbira mirrored the routine, kicking Wei in the shoulder.

"Move!"

The two stormtroopers and their quarry made the final approach, through the gates of the compound, and into the Imperial garrison.

[Rognan Dar]

As Rog lead the way ahead to the partolman, he second guessed his agreement to go along with this. He was about to say something, too, when Anbira demanded silence.

The confrontation between Anbira and the other trooper was going well. That was, until he got the receiving end to someone's anger. His eye's flared up and he glared at the partolman, then at Anbira. His hands longed for his lightsaber so that he could show this imperial slim what a Jedi could do. But it all went by so fast that they were once again being moved. Rognan stumbled at first from the pain in his stomach. Calming his mind, he did his best to ease that pain through the Force and continued on.

[Darth Stratus]

Just then, as Rognan took a fair beating a couple of things happned in a quick flurry of movements. From Anbira's left came a dark shape a tremedious speed. With a quick flash of red and the short down of a humm a lightsaber had been ignited. The first stormtrooper who was heading the way to a hard downward arc from the saber, cleaving the man cleanley in two from the shoulder to the pelvis.

Spinning on his heals the figure swung his saber, like a baseball bat,sliceing through both thighs of the trooper beating Rognan. He fell to the floor unvoulenterily screaming in agoney before the final blow was delt and the saber passed through his chest and silenced him.

This happned so fast that not a single shot was released, and the troopers weapons lay unfired on the floor. It had been clean and quick and not a drop of blood spilt.

The saber ceased and calmed itself within the cilinder.

'Good evening gentlemen' The figure said with the purr that any feline would normaly weild.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei acted ion instinct. His mind shrugged off the binder cuffs and quick as a flash he summoned one of his lightsabers to his hand.

"What do you want?"

This man was a Sith. Wei could almost smell the Darkside coming from him. Now the plan would either be severely compromised or no longer any good. Wei's saber rested in his hands, unactivated. The Jedi Knight stood on guard, waiting for the Sith to strike again.

Form II he thought to himself.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Well, I suppose plan B is in order!"

Anbira reached into the saddlebag, retrieving his own saber, as well as tossing Rognan his.

By this time, the garrison had come alive like an angry hornet's nest. Stormtroopers had rushed out of the barracks by the score, and the area buzzed with spears of blaster fire, aimed at the Jedi, as well as the newcomer, who Anbira could sense the Dark Side emanating from.

This man was the source of his uneasy feelings, and now they were revealed.

"This appears to be more of your speciality."

Anbira leapt off the bike, kicking the throttle so that it accelerated toward a nearby AT-ST, exploding in a shower of sparks.

He withdrew from the assault, blue lightsaber blade swirling around him at a maddening pace to keep the enemy's fire at bay.

[Darth Stratus]

Hundreds of them, troopers poured from the base like the humans had disturbed the nest of an insect. As Anbira, Stratus' saber was blocking each bolt that was fired towards him, each bolt reflected back into the mass of troopers on coming and hitting one of them, dead.

' Fire on the Jedi, you fools! Fire on the Jedi!' His voice rung clear and hard, the troopers suddenly rearlizing that despite Stratus killing two of their own, that Stratus was indeed a Inquisitor within The Imperial Empire and would be wise for their careers to obey him.

Their blasters suddenly turned towards the Jedi, both of them and their blasters continued to fire. Stratus ceased his saber as the troopers began to journey past him in persuit of the two Jedi, and leading the way now was the Sith lord.

' Kill them!''

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's eyes widened as the stormtroopers opened fire.

Form III! Form III His mind screamed at him.

Wei's lightsaber hissed as he activated it, shedding its orange blade. the weapon had been a gift from his Master, and now both it and the memories of his training served him.

"Keep your arms close to your body," Quinlan would tell him. "Make small movements, and never let the blade stray far from your body. Remember, the object here is to play rope a dope. Let the enemy wear out and when there's an opening, only then do you strike."

Wei paid strict attention to the lightsaber technique, shutting out all but the blasterbolts. The deadly bursts of light flew in every direction away from Wei--into the sky, into the ground, to the left and to the right. Lucky for him the stormtroopers were all in a large group. It did not take much timing or effort to knock a bolt or two into the oncoming mass.

Wei waited patiently for them to come. At close range their blasters would not help them.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira's eyes closed. His hearing too, seemed to dim. All it took was discipline and will to shut one's self off from the chaos around, and to embrace the Force.

His body moved through a will above his own, each motion a specific path to a known outcome. The blue blade of his saber whurred in space and time, weaving light around and away from him. All around him was the hurricane, and he was the eye.

He could feel Wei through the force. He could feel Rognan. The darksider who accosted them could also be felt, as could his stormtroopers. This was an outcome Anbira had wished to be avoided, but now that it was here, he could not hesitate. With each approaching blaster bolt, Anbira batted it away, sending it back to an enemy, who was felled in a shower of sparks. There was no sense of joy or vindication in their deaths. They were, from a certain point of view, his brothers, and it was only the smallest sliver of circumstance that separated his destiny from their own.

Yet he would not mourn them. As he met their aggression with resistance, he was resolved to persevere against them. Resolved to survive. His path did not end here. It only began.

[Darth Stratus]

It was like watching Banthas to the slaughter, both left and right storm troopers were hitting the lush, green ground, their own bolts striking them back like an angry pet, it's leash cut. But surely there were to many for the Jedi to defend off? Ether way it was time to rejoin the horror.

With a surge of energy from within, Stratus lept high into the air, the force projecting him towards the lightsiders and in mid air ignighted the red blade, in a strong, hard arc, the blade came downwards towards Anbira.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira sensed the threat, and began to sidestep to the left, blade raised horizontally and high, sloping down towards his right shoulder. The Darksider's cleave met his blade, and slid down and away on it's edge. The opening allowed Anbira enough purchase for a side kick, which did little other than buy him two extra feet of space.

"Wei! We need to relocate in a hurry!"

He'd lost track of Rognan in the fray, and a search for him would be next to impossible in this fight. Indeed, it would be hard enough to get to the shuttle.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Very well then. Where do we go to get transportation off this rock?" He yelled over the blasterfire.

Wei's changed his attitude from Form III to Form V. He became more aggressive in his stance and even took time to slice up any stormtrooper's weapon that got too close. Knowing that Anbira would be more familiar with the garrison's layout, Wei took a stance that would allow him to better protect the former imperial trooper if he needed it. The Jedi Knight carefully split his attention between the stormtroopers and the Sith and reinforced his stance.

"You lead the way! I've got your back!"

[Darth Stratus]

Stratus was uninjured from the blow and simply, with the momentum of the kick, rolled backwards only to land back on his feet again to stand. Retaliation and vengence was on the Sith's mind and with a clawed hand he flung out his arm wityh anger, the anger, and hate serged through his body to the tips of his out stretched fingers.

A force push slammed the Jedi Knight Anbria back and further away from Wei splitting the two Jedi up as the mass of Stromtroopers started to come between them, isolating the two lightsiders.

' Yesss' Stratus whispered making his way, yet again towards Anbira.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Unngh!"

Anbira's blastoid armor clattered against the ground as he skidded to a halt. It was all he could do to reach out with the force and send a fallen trooper's blaster flying into the back of Stratus's knees as Wei rushed to engage him.

"The Moff's shuttle isn't far. It will be on the concourse to the north."

Still on his back, Anbira chopped air upwards with his lightsaber, picking a laser bolt out of the sky which careened into a stormtrooper's face.

He rolled to his feet, and kicked the slain trooper's backup in the side of his helmet, causing him to tumble into a third soldier.

Anbira searched his feelings as he resisted the Imperial onslaught.

Then he ran, leaving Wei and the Sith behind, cutting a swath through stormtroopers that separated him from a Sentinel class lander that stood ready on the northern concourse.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei grimaced at Stratus and knocked laser bolts out of the air as he ran towards Anbira. An unfortunate stormtrooper found himself becoming a human ladder when Wei ran up his back and began moving quickly from one stormtrooper helmet to the next. Wei crossed the white stepping stones, keeping his defenses tight, taking a grazing shot on his shoulder when he jumped down to the ground next to Anbira and kept on running.

"Let's hope this concourse thing is not too far away," Wei said. "This is starting to get old."

His shoulder burned and stung, but it was easily ignored. Three laser bolts met Wei's saber and returned to their senders as the two made their way north across the complex.