So as I mentioned two posts ago, a Star Wars-themed discord server that I’m part of announced a three-round writing contest. The third and final round ended the other day, and this time, between myself and three other contestants, I came in second-to-last place (with a score of 8.25/10). That said, I still want to share my story from that final round here.
Breaking the Cycle
Rey looked deeply into the vastness of space, as her ship dropped out of light speed…
The Unknown Regions looked like any other part of the galaxy, at least at first. She took another look at the ancient star map that led her here, just to make sure she was in the right place.
“This is it, alright!”
With that, she landed on the world closest to her, a forest planet filled entirely with leaves of red, yellow and orange. An eternal autumn. As her vessel touched ground, she began to meditate, tapping into the Force. The voice of a Jedi from before her time suddenly echoed in her mind;
“For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the old Republic… Before the dark times… Before the Empire!”
Through the Force, she looked into the past. She could see dozens upon dozens of Jedi being killed, across multiple generations.
The ruler of that evil Empire happened to be her own grandfather, Darth Sidious. Each and every day, she recalled their fateful meeting, the night she defeated him, in his layer of darkness;
“Long have I waited,” the hideous, cloaked man had growled, “for my grandchild to come home!”
She couldn’t help but sigh at the recollection. She hated being reminded of her dark ancestry, and did her best to bury it in every way she could, even taking on another family name. Nevertheless, the memories of her twisted past still remained.
“He’s long gone, Rey,” the voice of her dead Jedi master, Luke Skywalker, said from the netherworld of the Force.
“And you’re one of us, now,” added his sister, Leia, also speaking from beyond the grave.
It was true. That evil Empire was gone, as was the dark soul who ruled it. And despite her heritage, Rey was one of only two Jedi left. It was up to her now to help restore the fallen order to what it once was… But first, she needed answers.
With a deep breath, Rey opened her eyes, stood up, and left her ship.
Carefully, she trekked up a hill, until she reached its surface, covered in stone ruins. The remains of a Jedi temple long gone…
Suddenly, a spirit of sorts faded into existence, emulating the familiar blue glow of Jedi ghosts. The figure bore brown robes, complete with long, graying hair and a beard.
“Welcome, Rey,” he said with a smile.
She took a few steps back, “Who are you?”
“My name is Qui-Gon Jinn. I was once a Jedi in life, and have always been the guardian of your family.”
Rey raised an eyebrow in confusion, “My family?”
“That’s correct, Ms. Skywalker.”
“Oh, yeah.” She rolled her eyes and laughed, “That…”
“What brings you to this world, young Rey?”
“I need answers. If I’m going to be starting a new Jedi order then I need to know as much about the history of the Jedi as possible, to try to prevent another downfall from happening.”
He shook his head, “The cycle of good and evil is destined to repeat eternally, my friend. Balance is always temporary.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But there must be something we can do! Just for the sake of trying to be better, even if it doesn’t last.”
“Well, you won’t find any answers here, in the ruins of this long forgotten temple.”
She sighed once more, “Well then I guess I came all this way for nothing.”
He smiled again, “Oh, well don’t be so sure!” He pointed to a nearby bed of flowers, “You may be able to find something of interest over there.”
Rey walked over to the purple plants in question, but upon looking closer, all she saw was pollen, being moved around by small, flying insects.
“Do you see now?” Qui-Gon asked.
“No,” she shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t.”
“Hm…” He stroked his chin for a second, before looking beyond the hill, “Well perhaps you should journey deeper into the forest. There’s a village beside a river, not too far away. I believe you may find something useful there.”
Rey shrugged, “Well, if you say so.”
Qui-Gon then faded away, as Rey made her way down the hill. Soon enough, she reached the small riverside community, complete with wooden huts, and primitively-dressed people, many of whom looked at her with shock.
“It’s alright,” she smiled and raised her hands in defense. “I come in peace.” She had to remind herself that those native to worlds of the Unknown Regions were usually hesitant towards visitors…
Looking ahead, she noticed a teenage boy holding a bow and arrow in one hand, and a caught mammal of some sort in the other. He walked towards an older man who had a bow and arrow of his own.
“Well done,” the older one nodded in approval. “You’re a true hunter now… Which means the time has come for me to go.”
“What?” The teenager tilted his head in confusion, “But why?”
“Because my work here is done. Now I must go to the next village down the river, and teach someone else to hunt.” He smiled at his pupil, “Perhaps you should do the same.”
“Do you see now, Rey?” Qui-Gon’s voice echoed in her mind.
“Yes,” she nodded with a smile. “I see now.”
***
“Well, here it is!” Finn produced a small device from his pocket. With the click of a button, a large projection of the galaxy suddenly filled the air, complete with red dots scattered about. “These are all the worlds where I was able to find others strong with the Force,” he said, as he and Rey stood there in the room that once belonged to the Jedi Council, on the city world of Coruscant.
Rey looked around at the empty red chairs all around them, each in front of a large window that exposed the metropolitan landscape beyond.
Finn went on, “With these kinds of numbers we should be able to build a new council in no time, especially if we bring in multiple kids to train at once.”
Rey shook her head, “We’re not going to build a new council, Finn.”
“What?” Finn shut the projection off, placing the holo-chip back in his pocket, “What do you mean?”
“We’re not going to take these kids away from their homes,” she looked at her partner directly in the eye, “We’re going to travel to all of their planets, one at a time, and train them individually. We’ll go in separate directions, to speed up the process.”
He shook his head in disbelief, “But I thought we wanted to stick together now.”
“Believe me, I would like to,” she said with a sigh. “But if the Jedi are going to evolve for the better then we need to decentralize. We need to pollinate. Bring the ways of the force to the people, not the other way around.”
Finn looked downward, before nodding in agreement, “I understand…” He picked his head back up, “So, where are you gonna start?”
“Don’t know yet,” she shrugged. “How about you?”
He smiled, “There’s a kid on Canto Bight I’d like to start with…”
Click here to read my story from Round 1!
Click here to read my story from Round 2!
Related: Fiction Repository
