We were waiting back at the ship, sending a simple signal to Master that we had returned, saying nothing more in case someone would be trying to listen in on our messages. We didn't need to wait for long before R2, Master Katarn, and my Master returned. Just by looking at them, I got a feeling that they also found something important. A clue... or something even better.
"We are back, trouble magnets," Master Katarn chuckled, stepping into the hangar from the entryway with a characteristic half-smirk, glancing at Vila. His arms were crossed, but the amusement didn't reach his eyes. Behind him, Master was similarly looking at me, inclining his head, his blue eyes scanning my face as they flicked between Me, HK-O1, and Vila. The way Ben's fingers tapped a silent rhythm against his forearm told me everything... Our Masters had already sensed the disturbance in the Force or at least the disturbance that we caused.
"It was nothing serious!" Vila shrugged, becoming the picture of nonchalance. After rolling her eyes, she simply tossed her lekku over her shoulder, continuing, "We went and found an information broker, found something big but the broker wanted to put us down... It was then when our resident sociopath droid played hero." She jerked a thumb at HK-O1. "It was not us—He became the all-efficient and murderous machine he is."
"Did he now?" Master Katarn asked, glancing at HK.
[Clarification: My actions were mathematically precise. Your organic hesitation would have resulted in an 87.6% probability of fatal injury. Or the complete failure of the mission.] He said calmly as his photoreceptors pulsed with self-satisfaction. [Additional Observation: Meatbag Vila's sarcasm registers at 23% higher than baseline. Stress response detected. Probable Deduction: She is afraid of possible punishment from the present authority figures.]
"It was indeed not something we anticipated..." I moaned as I rubbed my temples, the weight of the cantina encounter returning to me in its entirety and the fact that I had let HK shoot the man, "Can we not do this right now?" my following sentence came out even rougher thanks to it than I intended. "You're back early. Find anything useful?"
"Yes," Master shrugged, walking up to us, scanning both of us but ignoring HK. "We did." His gaze lingered on me a beat too long before finally gesturing toward the common area and boarding our ship. "And you're not going to like it."
Master Katarn fell into step beside Ben, his usual easygoing demeanor replaced by something more guarded as he slowly explained as we entered the ship.
"Turns out your Master got an eye for Sith tradecraft," Kyle said, nodding at Ben while glancing at me. "All those years chasing Vestara left him with a sixth sense for her tricks."
"We worked together for a time." Master shrugged, shaking his head, "I know most of her fake transponders, hyperdrive masking techniques, the works which way she operates."
"I thought she would adapt and change," I said with a surprise while the two looked at each other, shaking their head.
"We, too." Master continued, "That is why it may be a trap. Whatever the case is, we have found a trail."
"Huh?" Vila's eyebrows shot up, asking in surprise. "Wait, you actually found the Sith's ship?"
"Not exactly..." Master Katarn took over the explanation, "Not hers. We had R2 hack into the base's main computer while we were looking for data, and the details didn't match perfectly. But we did find someone trained in her methods." He activated the holo-table, and a star map shimmered to life. The highlighted system made Kael's breath catch, confirming the clues that we also gathered.
"Iskandor." The word left Ben's lips like a verdict, looking at me at the same time.
"If it is true." Master Katarn added, also looking at me, and I could feel the two probing me with the Force.
"It is," I added with a long sigh. "The thing we discovered only confirms it. The informant recognized my features and used my older brother's code name. Vestara and the others for sure went there and interacted with my family. It probably happened under the table..." I mumbled, closing my finger and forming a fist, "My parents don't like Jedi, and they don't really distinguish between who is a Sith or a Jedi. A Force user is a Force user in their eyes. My guess is that this is a power move on my brother's side... So it wasn't something that was advertised."
"Relax..." Vila's elbow touched my ribs, gentle but insistent, pushing on me. "Hey." Her voice dropped to a whisper only I could hear. "You're broadcasting loud enough that even my Master could sense your anxiety and... anger? Come on... Breathe."
"Sorry..." I relaxed as I forced air into my lungs and then exhaled. "I'm fine." But I wasn't really, and the lie tasted bitter.
"Well," Master Katarn exchanged a loaded glance with Ben before continuing. "We don't have all the pieces yet, but if the Sith is sniffing around Iskandor..." He let the implication hang a little, "We must go there and follow up on it. The last time the Empire and the Sith merged, we got ourselves a Palpatine."
"He is right." Ben picked up the thread of his logic. "Your parents still hold considerable influence, Kael. Even if they're not willingly involved, others, as you said, will—"
"They, I mean, the Remnants wouldn't work with the Sith!" The words burst from my throat with more heat than I had intended. Realizing it, I took another, somewhat steadying breath. "My father might be an Imperial relic, loving Palpatine's idea of human excellence, but he's not stupid. Those times were over, and he wouldn't risk our place within the Imperial Remnants. He also knows that people wouldn't stand for it. Not after Darth Caedus's rampaging..."
"Yes..." Master whispered, making me stiffen, realizing that I spoke hastily. Darth Caedus... His former Master... his uncle. His friend. Family... Jacen Solo, the fallen hero who single-handedly destroyed the Galactic Alliance.
[Annoyed Statement: I have been offline for too long. I require fresh input on the past hundred years to understand the weight of the current information being exchanged between you, meatbags.]
"Your father may think like that," Ben continued finally, ignoring HK. "But if you are right and your brother has a different approach to it, then that's another issue. Kyle,"
"I know." Master Katarn said in a hurry, "I will start preparing the ship. We will be on our way soon enough."
"Thanks. Kael," Ben looked at me, "With me." Hearing his tone... It wasn't a request.
Following him to his spot on the ship, the small cabin's lighting was subdued, and the hum of the ship's systems was a sign we were online. By the time I sat down, I felt it fly back out into open space. I watched as Ben took a seat on a storage bench, the old palasteel creaking under his weight. He didn't speak immediately; instead, he studied me with that calm, Jedi focus he taught me. I could feel him connecting with my thoughts, but not forcefully trying to read my mind. In response, I let him further in, opening myself to my Master.
"You're conflicted." Ben's voice was softer now. It always felt like it when he was reaching through the Force as we spoke not with words but with thoughts. It was much faster and much more honest.
"Yeah..." My laugh came out somewhat hollow. "That obvious?"
"Like a supernova in dark space." Ben leaned forward, elbows on knees. "But it's more than just going home, isn't it?"
Much more... And it was then that the dam I was trying to hold back broke.
"I didn't stop him, Master." My voice cracked even in my thoughts. "I mean, HK. I saw the moment coming! I felt it in the Force like you taught me. That split second where I could've intervened..." I stopped for a moment and stared at my hands as if they belonged to someone else. "I just watched."
"..." Ben didn't flinch, just watched me quietly for a second, "Tell me what you felt in that moment."
"Authority." This admission shocked even me because it came forth immediately—not as a word, but as a thought, an actual feeling. "I... I do not know if that feeling had any allegiance. Light, not dark—I just know that it had... certainty. A belief that removing that threat was the cleanest solution. That it was the right thing to do to solve... mine and many others' problems."
"I see." To his credit, Master didn't recoil. Instead, he nodded slowly. "And afterward?"
"Like I'd failed some fundamental test," I murmured in my head, trying to recall all of it and transmit it directly to him. "What kind of Jedi thinks like that?"
"The human kind." Master's response came swift and sure. "My father once told me the difference between a Jedi and a Sith isn't that one never feels temptation. It's that we question it when we do."
"But... I didn't question it?" I looked up sharply at him.
"You do now, aren't you?" He smiled softly.
"..."
"You are connected to others, Kael. Never forget that. I know I taught you well, but your gift is still yours. You can feel others, connect to them, and we never really practiced against negative emotions." He sighed, "That is why this trip is important. The feeling you describe can easily be a collective will, an amalgamation of those who he wronged. Oppressed. Cheated. All of those who would be happy and free after he was gone."
"If it is, it also means I can be easily influenced..." I answered, biting my lower lip, "Aren't you worried, Master?"
"Should I be?" He countered, a hint of his usual humor returning. "You're sitting here tearing yourself apart over a moment of instinct. That's not the Dark Side, Kael, that is your conscience. We make plenty of mistakes, but we work from them."
"I... will try." I nodded as the tightness in my chest eased fractionally. "So what now...? I mean..."
"Now we go to Iskandor." Master stood, placing a firm hand on my shoulder, speaking actual words. "And you remember you're not that scared kid anymore who your family can bully. You're a Jedi. You are my Padawan." He squeezed gently. "And you don't have to face your ghosts alone."
...
....
...
"How's the kid?" Kyle asked as Ben entered the cockpit, which was occupied by only the two of them.
"He will be fine; he is just oversensitive." He answered calmly.
"I also had a talk with Vila. Unlike Kael, her issue is that she doesn't even consider the event problematic. Not that it was, but at least the thought should have occurred to her..."
"Both of them are similar, in a way." Ben chuckled, making Kyle shrug, running his fingers through his graying hair.
"You can say that again. I am now unsure if it was the smart idea to ask you to let me teach Vila."
"I am happy you decided to do so." Ben said honestly, glancing at the old Jedi, "You look younger now. Much younger."
"Don't try to kiss up to me, kid!" Kyle laughed, shaking his head, "I'm older than your father! Anyway... I do feel like it is my last hurrah before going to sleep."
"Kyle..."
"It's fine. I am old." He waved him away. "As I said, it is my second wind, taking Vila under my arms. It was a feeling... maybe in my old age, I finally became what Luke always told me I was—a proper Jedi."