Chapter 3 - 72 ABY - Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end - Seneca
(Jayden-Age 34)
Moira slowly opened her eyes. Jayden breathed a sigh of relief. The doctor had pulled Moira from the bacta tank about a half an hour ago and put her in a bed until she would wake up on her own.
“I didn’t think I was ever going to see those beautiful green eyes again!”
“Where are we?” Moira said as she tried to sit up. Jayden put her hand behind Moira’s shoulder and helped lift her up. She then brushed her hand through Moira’s long brown hair.
“We’re at a medical facility.”
“What?” Moira reached up to touch her face, realizing that she didn’t have her helmet on. Her heart sank. She had broken the Creed again. “My helmet?”
“It’s ok. You didn’t break the Creed. If anything, it’s on me, ok? I’m the one that brought you here.”
The doctor walked into the room. “Ah, she’s awake. How are you feeling?”
“I’m uh… ok, I guess.”
“Are you having any pain?” Moira shook her head. She had felt a bit sore, but it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle.
“That’s good. As soon as you feel better, you’re free to go. But you need to take it easy for a few days. You went through major surgery and while everything has healed, you still might feel some soreness, especially in your ribs as the bacta infusion strengthens them. The more you rest, the faster you will recover.
“Can we get a few minutes, Doc?” Jayden needed to kiss her wife but she couldn’t take her helmet off while he was here. That was the one thing that helped about being a Mandalorian. She could hide who she really was. No one needed to know that she was the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, after her mother. Dark Jedi were looking the galaxy for her, and this gave her the perfect cover. That was also the good thing about being on Tatooine. It was the ass-end of the galaxy as far as the Dark Jedi were concerned. But her being at the hospital wasn’t good, especially since the doctor now knew she was a Jedi. If one of the staff let something slip about seeing a Jedi, let alone a Mandalorian Jedi, then their lives could be in danger. The doctor nodded to Jayden and walked out of the room and closed the door and Jayden reached out with the Force to lock it.
Jayden started to take off her helmet but Moira put her hands up to stop her. “What are you doing?” Jayden laughed, grabbed Moira’s hands and put them back in her lap and continued unlatching the helmet and pulled it off. Her pink and purple hair fell in her face. She quickly brushed it out of her face and stared intently at Moira. She really did love her green eyes.
“What I’m doing, my love, is kissing you!” Jayden set the helmet on the bed, put her hands on each side of Moira’s face, and smiled as she leaned in to kiss her. Their lips softly touched and Jayden sucked in her breath. Jayden moved her hand around to the back of Moira’s head and pulled her even closer as she deepened the kiss. Moira reached her arms up and wrapped them around Jayden, tickling the small hairs at the back of Jayden’s neck. Jayden abruptly ended the kiss and pulled back a couple of inches and looked into Moira’s eyes. “I thought I lost you. Please don’t be mad at me for bringing you to a medical facility. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. I did what I could, but I couldn’t save you myself. I… barely got you here in time.” Tears started to form in Jayden’s eyes. She knew she wasn’t supposed to let emotions overwhelm her, and she tried her best to control them, but she couldn’t help but feel emotional after almost losing Moira.
Moira smiled and reached up to wipe the tear that started to fall down Jayden’s left cheek and leaned in for a quick kiss. “I’m not mad. Besides, it’s not like our former clan where they wanted to find any excuse to try and kick us out. I think my parents will be a little more forgiving. Speaking of which, where’s mom and dad?”
Jayden’s heart sank and she gulped. “You… you don’t remember what happened?”
“Everything’s kind of fuzzy right now.”
“The doctor said that could happen,” Jayden said as she ran her hand through Moira’s hair again. It felt so soft. Bacta tanks didn’t just heal wounds, they also repaired skin abrasions and hair follicles. Jayden twirled a few strands of Moira’s hair in between her fingers. “Um… what do you last remember?”
“We were out searching for the boars. We started to head back when…” Jayden saw the horror cross Moira’s face so she grabbed her hands and squeezed them tight. “They’re all dead?” Moira looked down at her chest and back up into Jayden’s eyes as her own started tearing up. Jayden nodded and Moira fell into her arms and sobbed.
***
The twin suns had set several hours ago and the only light that bounced off the sand was from two of Tatooine’s three moons. It had been about eighteen hours since the battle against the Krayt Dragons. Jayden and Moira stood in front of the funeral pyres with torches in their hands that lit a small orange circle around them. The Kote Ky’ram was an ancient Mandalorian ceremony that was reserved for warriors who died in battle. It was considered the highest honor. Clan members were supposed to shout war cries and tell tales of their brethren’s deeds as the funeral pyres burned, but neither of them felt like shouting.
“You ready?” Jayden asked and Moira nodded. Moira started lighting the pyres of her adopted parents, and Jayden lit the rest. After they finished, Jayden grabbed Moira’s torch and tossed it in the sand with hers. She knew exactly what Moira was feeling, but felt helpless to do anything. She knew that nothing she could say or do could help, so she just grabbed Moira’s hand and held it for what seemed like several hours.
Moira didn’t know what to say, and wasn’t sure if she could say anything even if her throat wasn’t so raw from sobbing earlier. She looked over at Jayden. They were both out of their armor and Jayden wore her Jedi robe. Moira always thought Jayden looked so sexy in her robe. She didn’t wear it often, but it was nice when she did. Jayden was sometimes a little secretive when it came to her old life. Moira still didn’t know much about Jayden’s past. She knew a little about her parents, but knew she wasn’t told the whole story. She knew that Jedi were more reserved when it came to emotions, but Jayden was different. She managed to show her emotions to Moira without them overwhelming her. Still, she had never seen her as emotional as she was today. Not even on their wedding day. It was different being with a Jedi. They were much more reserved in their emotions, and sometimes that irked Moira, because she felt cut off from Jayden at times. But Jayden was so amazing and loving to her in her own reserved way. After all they had been through, Moira was so glad to have Jayden in her life.
Jayden felt Moira staring at her, so she pulled her hood down and turned to face her. “What are you thinking?”
“I… I’m thinking how grateful I am to have you.”
Jayden half smiled and squeezed Moira’s hand.
“I’m also thinking that…” she trailed off as she looked at the fires crackling and popping, shooting sparks out as the wood grew hotter, encompassing the bodies. “That I don’t think I can stay here on Tatooine. I don’t think I can-“
Jayden reached up with her free hand and placed her finger on Moira’s lips. “I know. I already started packing a few things when I was home earlier. When my parents died, it was hard for me. I wanted to leave Coruscant. I begged Master Luke to go on as many missions as I possibly could until I-“ she trailed off. She hadn’t told Moira that she was the strongest Jedi in the galaxy and had her mother’s power. She had told Moira about her mother being a doctor, and Moira knew that she went on special missions for Luke and had captured or killed Dark Jedi, but she didn’t know exactly how.
Moira pulled Jayden’s hand away from her mouth and looked at her quizzically. “Until you what?”
“It’s a story for another time.”
“I know you’re holding something back, and I have never pressed the matter, because I assume it must be hard for you to talk about, but I just don’t understand why you won’t tell me.” Moira grabbed both of Jayden’s hands and held them tight.
Jayden squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, took a deep breath, and then looked up into Moira’s eyes. “Because I don’t want to put you in danger. I promise you, I will tell you the full story soon, but I… I just can’t right now. Please understand?” Moira nodded and Jayden enveloped her in a hug. “I promise, I will tell you soon. Can you just give me a little time?” She whispered in Moira’s hair as she felt Moira nod in her chest. After a few minutes they separated and turned their attention back to the funeral pyres.
As the fires finally started fading, Jayden stepped behind Moira and wrapped her arms around her. “We should get some rest. I know that’s going to be hard. I’ll go into Anchorhead in the morning and get some supplies for the ship. I’ll have the droids start packing things up tonight. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
Moira nodded her response and then twisted in Jayden’s arms to face her. “Thank you for understanding.”
“Of course. I know you were too young to remember your birth parents before they were killed, but I know how much you cared for Veeros and M’nok.”
“I can’t even remember my parents. Veeros and M’nok were their best friends and promised to take care of me. I don’t know what I’m going to do without them.” Moira started sobbing again, and Jayden held her tight. She wanted to tell her that it would be ok, but right now those weren’t the words she needed to hear. She just to needed to cry, so Jayden let her for as long as she needed to.
***
Jayden went into Anchorhead and had gotten most of the shopping done. She sent the droids back to Moira with enough fuel and food to get them to Nevarro to get some work with the bounty hunter’s guild. However, it was when she arrived at the medical facility to restock on medical supplies, that had her hurtling on her speeder bike at top speed, racing back home to Moira. She had tried to raise her on comms but there was no answer.
“Moira… are you there? Come in, Moira!” Nothing but static responded. Everything in her wanted to panic, but instead she focused on her breathing and reached out with the Force. She couldn’t feel any danger, but Jayden was still worried. As she approached their homestead she could see Moira out by their ship directing the droids that Jayden had sent back with the supplies. She yelled “Moira!”
“Yes, load them in the cargo bay. I’ll be down there in a minute,” she looked up with a smile at Jayden as she approached on her speeder bike. “Hey! Since you’re on the bike, go ahead and load that up now too, the other ones have already been loaded.”
Jayden pulled the bike into the ship next to the others then ran back out to Moira. She pulled her helmet off and was breathing heavily. “Why weren’t you answering your comms?”
“Well it’s hot and I didn’t feel like wearing my armor while I was packing and loading up the ship. I must have left my earpiece inside. I’m sorry. Why? What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“How far along are you on packing?”
“Just a few more boxes. R4 and R7 are loading them up now. Why?” Moira was so confused. She’d never seen Jayden so rattled. They’ve gone on dozens of missions and hunted several types of bounties, and not once did it ever make Jayden react like this.
“Get your gear on and get the ship prepped. We need to leave…” Jayden reached up and touched her temple. She felt a disturbance in the Force. “We need to leave soon! Did you already pack the thermal detonators?” Moira nodded and Jayden started walking towards the ship.
Moira grabbed Jayden by the arm and stopped her. “You’re freaking me out. What is going on?”
“The nurse that helped us at the medical facility was found murdered,” Jayden said in a rush.
“Oh no! But people get killed on this planet all the time, what does that have to do with us?”
“Because she was sliced in half by a lightsaber!” Jayden exclaimed. The doctor at the hospital informed her that when she didn’t show up for work that morning, he called her family. They said that the authorities had found her in an alley. Her body had several wounds as if she were tortured, and then finally sliced in half.
“Do they think it was you?” Jayden shook her head, but Moira was still confused. “Are they after me? Because she saw my face?”
“No, she was killed by a Dark Jedi. Apparently someone at the medical facility saw that I was a Jedi and sent word to some Dark Jedi in a nearby system.”
“I’m still confused. Jedi are everywhere throughout the galaxy. You’re not the first Mandalorian Jedi in history, why would one come after you?”
“Look baby, I want to fill you in, but right now we need to get everything on the ship. I can feel him, he’s almost here, and he’s powerful. Get your gear on and get the ship prepped. I’m going to get the detonators and place them around the home so we can blow them when he gets close.” Moira nodded and rushed inside the house to get her armor on while Jayden retrieved the detonators from the ship and started placing them around the home. She then tethered them into her vambrace so all she had to do was press a button and the entire homestead would be destroyed.
After several minutes everything was set and Jayden put her helmet back on and started walking back to the ship. It was a beautiful ship. It was a Mandalorian Kom’rk-Class starfighter and transport ship. It could hold up to 28 people but Jayden had converted the extra hold into a portable carbon freezing chamber and storage unit so that they could take on multiple bounties at once. The ship was chrome with blue accents. It was originally built during the Clone Wars, but even though it was old, Jayden couldn’t help but think that it was a thing of beauty. Moira was the one that kept it working though. Jayden was a great pilot but didn’t know much about mechanics, so she relied on Moira to keep it flying.
“Are we ready to go?”
“Almost. Everything’s loaded, the droids are all in, just waiting on you. I’m doing the pre-flight checks now,” Moira said as her fingers flew across the buttons and knobs.
“Alright. I forgot something in the house, but I’ll be right there,” Jayden ran inside the house to grab the last bag. She couldn’t believe she almost forgot the dragon pearls. They were going to need that. As she walked back out the door and headed towards the ship she felt his presence even stronger. She whispered in her comms, “Start the engines and take her off the ground about fifteen meters. Get the hyperdrive ready!”
“Why what’s going o-“
“Do it! He’s here!” Jayden flung the bag into the cargo hold as the engines started and Moira lifted the ship off the ground. She heard a lightsaber ignite behind her and she turned around to see a figure in a black robe about twenty meters away from her, standing between her and the house. Then she heard two other lightsabers ignite as two more Dark Jedi emerged from behind the house. Now she understood why she was feeling such a strong presence, it wasn’t just the one.
“Imagine our surprise when we got word yesterday of a Mandalorian Jedi on Tatooine. We knew you were in hiding, but didn’t know where. How smart of you to go undercover as a Mandalorian… Jayden Kyrie!” He said her name with a snarl.
“Ok. So you know who I am, now why don’t you meet my lightsabers. I know Jedi don’t normally name their lightsabers, but bounty hunters love to name their guns, so I call them ‘kiss’ and ‘my ass’!” She ignited her lightsabers and crouched down, holding the sabers backwards in her hands, just like her favorite Jedi that she read about as a child. She not only incorporated Ahsoka’s Jar’Kai technique, she perfected it. She wasn’t going to get a chance to use it though, because she had no intention of fighting them, she just wanted to provide a distraction while Moira got the hyperdrive coordinates plugged in.
The Dark Jedi started laughing and removed his hood. “Who said Jedi don’t know how to joke around? Do you know who I am?”
“Am I supposed to?” Jayden said sarcastically.
“You killed my Master, Dago Zhie.”
Jayden remembered Dago. He was a Dark Jedi from Dorin. “I didn’t want to kill him. If he would have surrendered-“
“So you could take his Force abilities? Death is a better option than what you do to us!”
Moira could hear everything that was going on and was thoroughly confused, and Jayden knew that Moira had just heard it too. She whispered into the mic again, “When I say go, punch it!” Moira knew what she was going to do. It’s not the first time they’ve had to make a quick exit.
“Well, he made his choice, and now you have a choice,” Jayden told the Dark Jedi as he took a step towards her and she backed up a step.
“And what is that?”
Jayden flicked her lightsabers off and clipped them to her belt. “On whether you want to get blown up or not.” She pulled out her last thermal detonator and threw it at him. As it landed at his feet, she ran and jumped onto the cargo door and yelled go as she pressed the button to close the door. As the door closed she pressed the button on her vambrace that detonated all of the thermal detonators. She knew that they would jump out of the way in time, but she still pressed another button on the side of her helmet that switched the heads-up display in her visor to look for life signs. They were still alive, but they didn’t have a ship to chase after her and Moira, and the speeder bikes that the Dark Jedi used to get to their home were destroyed in the explosion. Jayden breathed a sigh of relief and after the door sealed she made her way to the cockpit.
“Are we still going to Nevarro?” Moira asked and Jayden shook her head as she sat down and reprogrammed the coordinates. Moira saw the new coordinates and was thoroughly confused. “Coruscant? I thought you never wanted to go back there.”
“I need to talk to someone I know at the Jedi Temple. But I know that’s not the question you want to ask, so go ahead and ask what you really want.”
“Ok… what did he mean that you could take Jedi abilities?” Moira waited for Jayden to answer as she guided the ship out of the atmosphere and hit the blackness of space. The hyperdrive coordinates were ready so she pushed the lever forward and they lurched into hyperspace. She then turned in her chair to face Jayden and waited for her to answer.
“I told you that my mom, Jade, was the most powerful Jedi. But I didn’t tell you why. She had a special ability that was passed down to her by her ancestors. She could literally take the Force from other Jedi and they would never be able to use their Force abilities again.”
“How is that even possible?”
“How are Jedi possible? It’s just something that was brought on by the Force. Only certain Jedi lines had this ability. Ours is the last line left. A year after she died, I developed that ability and it changed my life forever. I was seventeen. I wasn’t even a Jedi Knight yet. And it changed everything. I wanted to be a Guardian so bad, but once these powers manifested, I was kept hidden and not allowed to go on regular missions anymore. I became the most powerful Jedi, yet was never allowed to use my powers unless I had an entire squad of Jedi with me, and even then I was only brought in to remove the powers after the Dark Jedi was captured. And then…”
“Then what?”
“I… I’m not ready to tell that part of the story yet. I need to rest. Can I tell you the rest later?” Moira nodded and Jayden stood up and put her hand on Moira’s shoulder. “I promise you, I’ll tell you. Wake me up when we’re getting close to Coruscant. And get some rest yourself, the doctor told you to rest as much as possible.” Jayden had about seven hours to mentally prepare herself for the next part of the story she had to tell.
***
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