Dantooine system

5 Galactic Standard years ago   Valos and the boy were sitting next to a fire in a courtyard of a small farmstead. Valos had just healed the boy's mother of a particularly nasty sickness that was sweeping through the small farming community. He had been telling the boy stories and the subject of the Force had come up during the tale of Qua’zhinn’ga and the thousand Kowakian monkey-lizards.   The boy was laughing aloud during the story, but when the story ended, the boy looked at Valos inquisitively. “What is the Force?“   “What is it that you wish to know other than what you can already see and feel? Do you not feel the heat from this fire? Do you not feel the breeze on your face? Do you not feel pain when you hurt yourself? Do you not see the stars moving in the heavens? The awe that fills you when you realize that there are countless people looking back at you from those stars? Do you not feel their gaze?”   The boy started and stared up at the sky. It was an extraordinarily clear night and the stars were showing their best this evening. The boy shivered.   “Why were you suddenly overcome with fear when I mentioned people looking back at you?”   “I.. I don’t know…”   Valos raised an appraising eyebrow. He could sense something from the boy. It was extremely faint, but there was a spark.   “You must understand that the Force itself is neither good nor evil. The Force simply is. It encompasses everything in the galaxy and everything in the galaxy is a part of the Force. “There is what is known as the Light side of the Force. It is logic, patience and control. Some would say that it also represents order and Life itself. Walking its path requires peace and presence of mind. You must be calm and not let emotion take hold. It is difficult to master, but… actually master is wrong as you do not master the Force. It is difficult to become one with the light side as our very natures interfere with it.”   “Our Nature?” The boy asked. His eyes were wide with wonder.   “Our emotions, our darker emotions to be more precise. Jealousy, Fear, Anger, Hate. These directly interfere with using the light side of the Force as our emotions actually tap into the Dark Side of the Force. The Dark side is emotion, immediacy and power. It is closely connected with chaos and Death. Some would say it is the easier path as it readily gives you power, but there is a price to pay.”   “Price?”   “The Dark side takes a toll on anything it touches. It can corrupt if left unchecked, and weaker beings have fallen completely to its seductive ways, falling ever deeper into its embrace as their own power grows. These two aspects, or more appropriately, sides of the Force, make up the living Force. It is Light and Dark, Order and Chaos, Life and Death. It is really two sides of one coin.”   Valos produced an old gold coin he had in his possession since he was a child. One side of the coin bore what appeared to be wings and a crown, on the other side, a skull over two crossed curved blades. He gave it to the child to examine.   “See the sides? See how one displays freedom and control? While the other side shows death and destruction? Now turn the coin and look at its side. Do you see anything?   The child shook his head. “I just see the side of the coin.”   “What you see young one, is the Force in its entirety. The Living Force rarely shows us Itself as it truly is, what we normally experience as the Force is one side of the whole. And just like this coin, the Force is only good or evil in how it is ultimately used by those that wield it. You could take this coin and purchase a month’s worth of food for a family in need, or you could use this coin and purchase a slave. Which would you rather do?”   The child handed the coin back to Valos.   “Feed the hungry of course!” He said. “Slavery is wrong. My Da says so.”   “Indeed it is.” Valos smiled glancing down at the scars on his wrists remembering his own terrible childhood. “But what if you could give a slave their freedom?”   The boy’s eyes widened. “You can do that?”   Valos flipped the coin. It hung in the air, spinning as if it would never stop. The boy looked at it in awe.   “Anything is possible child. With the Force, anything is possible.”   He looked at the coin and reached out with the Force. It floated slowly into his grasp.   Valos stood up. “It is time for me to leave. Go see to your mother. I will be back in a couple of days to check on her.”   “Thank you so much for your help Healer!” The boy ran back to the house. He turned in the doorway. “I want to hear more stories when you come back!” The boy waved and disappeared into the house.   Hitching up his shoulder bag, Valos walked out of the firelight back toward town.   ———   Five hundred meters to the south of Valos, floating on a small hill, an Imperial probe droid had just recorded everything he said.

The blizzard was buffeting Valos' cloak so badly, he thought it would rip. He pulled it closer around himself to calm the madly flapping robe. Meanwhile, snow was building on the back of his Uxibeast as it trod though two meter high drifts of snow. He brushed it off and the snow blew straight into his face just as his mount stumbled. The jolt shifted everything on his saddle and nearly threw Valos into the snow. The Uxibeast continued as if nothing had happened.   "Intolerable." he thought as he wiped his visor clean and readjusted himself. "What reasonably sane sentient would ever want to live on a frozen ice block as this?!?"   He could not feel the cold, his newest creation saw to that. It was ingenious really, to construct something so simple, so refined, yet it protected him from nearly all environmental conditions. It was not as elegant as he liked, but that could be remedied in the future. And to think the Empire wanted to snuff out the Force and its adherents across the Galaxy.   "Madness." Valos said aloud.   "You ok Valos?" came a questioning remark from a rider either ahead or behind him. The blizzard was all but drowning out sound.   "I am fine." Valos loudly replied. "I am just expounding upon the brilliant weather we are having today."   A distant and hollow laugh came and then the roar of the blizzard drowned out any more sound.   He could sense his companions in the storm, they were not enjoying it either. In fact, the conditions were having a noticeable effect on their overall health. If they stayed out here for more than a couple of days, they would be in real trouble.   Kathirra stopped her mount ahead. The other uxibeasts in line stopped as well. Darkness was coming and it was time to set up camp. Dismounting, Valos trudged through the tracks of his beast and grabbed his survival gear from the saddle. He pulled out a shovel and began to remove a large amount of snow near his Uxibeast. The beast itself dropped to its knees and made a grunting keening sound. Another uxibeast plodded up next to it and dropped down beside it.   "Smart. They share their body heat." Valos thought. He patted his mount and began to set up his shelter next to it as well. After the shelter was erected, he ignited his fusion stove. The heat reflected off the walls of the shelter and out toward the Uxibeast. The Uxibeast turned its head toward Valos, looking at him with one of its large dull eyes. It grunted in appreciation and shimmied closer to the warmth of the stove.   "Not too close" Valos stated while putting a hand on the beast.   Once his shelter was up and warm, he put a pot on. While that was beginning to boil, Valos trudged out amongst his companions. He could feel the force flowing around them, could feel their life force weakening ever so slightly. He gently reached out, and gave them a bit of strength. He did not say anything to them, nor did he indicate what he did. He did not ask their permission either. While a seemingly kind gesture, Valos also intended all of them to live. He had no intention of trying to trudge through this storm alone if one or all of his companions succumbed to the cold.   "Balance in all things."   Valos returned to his shelter and poured the gently boiling water into his waiting mug of tea. Its warmth spread through him giving him renewed vigor.   Sitting in contemplation, listening to storm outside his shelter, the beauty of his surroundings slowly dawned on him as he looked out upon the windswept drifts of snow reflecting the light from his lantern.   "Madness indeed." Valos smiled.   Turning toward their destination, Valos could feel the familiar tug of destiny. His smile faltered.        

Valos' new companions were an odd assortment, but they were definitely not what he was expecting. They were inquisitive and polite, yet guarded. Characteristics that he valued. Hopefully, this wasn't all a ruse. He did not sense any ill intentions, but he kept his guard up. And if worse came to worse... well, best not dwell on that.   "The Force will as the Force wills." Valos thought as he finished his tea.   The next few days were a whirlwind of activity. The camp that Valos had called home for years was packed up in less than an hour. He had accompanied them to their ship and after much discussion, Valos had agreed to leave Tarla's ship planetside. He could always return one day to claim it or return it to Tarla should she reappear. One event that had even surprised Valos' was the discovery of a secret compartment in the very ship that he had escaped in. It had been in his possession for years and he had never even known it was there. Granted, machinery and mechanical creations were not his forte, but even so... the sting to Valos' pride was present.   So too the Dark side - Valos breathed in deeply, letting his anger and wounded pride melt away. It was a constant struggle to keep the Dark side in check. He had spent years of his youth being tortured and beaten by his people, all for the sake that he had been born male, but not only that, being born male AND being the strongest force user his clan had seen in generations. His training was grueling, he learned the secrets of the Sisters and the stubborn tenacity of the Brothers. This balance of power and patience was the key to his survival. With it, he had been able to maintain a balance. He learned many secrets, and with that, the patience to control the power they provided.   And then the Empire came. He had barely escaped Dathomir. He had learned of the slaughter of his people and the imprisonment of the survivors months later. For the first several years, Valos moved from place to place, planet to station to planet. All to keep ahead of the Empire. He knew that the Empire had begun to search for beings such as himself, individuals capable of communing with the Force, and that forced him to maintain a low profile. He had adopted the guise of being a traveling healer and seeker. Traveling from one star system to the next, offering medical help to the far flung communities of the Outer Rim in exchange for lodging, until he was finally captured in the Dantooine system.   Valos snapped out of his reverie. He had been aboard his companion's ship for the better part of a week. Another surprise for Valos were that his companions were united in their hatred of the Empire and were all engaged in activities to fight it. Valos smiled to himself as he walked toward the communal area. He would have to ask his companions more about this "Rebellion". But for now...   "Time for tea."  

Valos sat in meditation on the edge of the amphitheater. He could feel the residual Force patterns flowing throughout the structure from the gatherings of thousands of adherents decades previous. Joy and Happiness, Pain and Fear, both Light and Dark flowed though this structure. Its numerous Pillars and Antechambers acting as channels and eddies for the flows of the Force. Valos had walked many miles throughout this old structure. He had meditated in alcoves seething in the Dark side of the Force. He had walked in flows of the Light side between pillars. He had let it all flow through him. Two sides of one great coin. And now he was realizing that his time here was coming to an end. Visions had begun to spring in his mind. Terrible memories of his past, and cloudy unrealized portents of the future had penetrated his dreams and his waking reality. Something great, terrible, or both was approaching. He could feel the Force swirling around him as if he were the center of a great whirlpool drawing everything to him. He did not like this feeling. He had escaped it once before, only to be captured by the new Imperial Regime and thrown into one of their internment camps. They accused him of being a Jedi sympathizer, a traitor to the Empire, and sentenced to life in the salt mines of the repugnant planet he was interred on. Chance would have it that in the end, he would be rescued by a Jedi. At least he thought so. She had wielded a lightsaber with skill and a violence he had only witnessed on his home planet of Dathomir. She had set him free, but he never saw her again. He hoped that, one day, he would be given the chance to thank her once again. Tarla was her name.   "If the Force wills it, it shall be."   Valos stood up and faced the setting sun. He held a crystal to its light and it refracted into many different colors at his feet. Motes of light danced on the ground as he spun the crystal in his fingers. The time was almost nigh. A cloudy vision was becoming clearer. Turning to the horizon, he saw a speeder approaching.   "Time for tea." he mused and turned to his tent to prepare for his new companions.

Djaan surveyed the pickup position from his perch atop the walls of the city. The Imp traitor was standing in an open field. The rest of the cell were positioned in ambush positions around him. Djaan did not like this plan. The group was too exposed and there were too many unknowns. But his job was to follow orders and he did that. Always. He had seen too many fall to group think and committee decisions. He would let the smarter people decide on the tactics. That being said... He did not like this plan.   The sun was beginning to set and the glare from it was interfering with his visual scans of the sky. He could not make out any approaching shuttles for pickup of the Imp traitor. Djaan still didn't trust him, but if he got the rebellion more intel on Imperial operations, Djaan would eat his pride and shake the man's hand. Just not yet.   Motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention. An Imperial troop transport was charging towards the group's position. This was definitely not going to plan. Just as he zeroed his sight on the transport, two TIE fighters screamed overhead from behind him.   "Do we abort?" Djaan asked in his commlink.   No response.   The Imp traitor stood still as the troop transport came to a halt in front of him. Its hatches opened. An Imp officer and a squad of stormtroopers exited. Djaan immediately shifted focus to the officer. His hunting goggles integrating a targeting reticule with the barrel position of his rifle. It wasn't the best rifle in the galaxy, but it was what he had. The range for this shot would be putting the ability of this rifle to the test.   He could see the Officer speaking to the traitor, The officer began to act stiffly and made a gesture as if to say "restrain this man" to the Stormtroopers.   "Do I take the shot?" Djaan asked.   No response.   The traitor was being led toward the transport.   "DO I TAKE THE SHOT?!?" Djaan demanded over the commlink.   "Take the shot." came a voice over his headset.   Djaan's exhaled and barely touched the trigger. A orange blaster bolt streaked out toward the officer. It struck him square in the chest, but he did not fall. The extreme range must have weakened the shot. Djaan cursed under his breath.   And the world exploded as if a herd of mythosaurs had dropped in their lap.   The turret of the troop transport blasted at Djaan's position. Bits of plascrete and stucco peppered him as his position was whittled away to nothing. But he wasn't harmed.   Ancients be praised. Djaan thought.   The group opened fire on the stormtroopers. Blaster fire erupted in the field. Djaan saw some crazy member of the cell ( He couldn't tell who) sprint toward the transport and throw something at it. There was a flash of light from within the transport and the transport spun in its position, smoke billowing from every open hatch.   The TIEs wheeled overhead and strafed the group. Xel's body pinwheeled in the air as the blaster fire from the strafing TIEs blasted his position. Djaan sighted in on the rest of the group. They were too exposed. He shifted aim to one of the TIEs and began to recite a mantra from his book of teachings... All plans fall apart on first contact with the enemy...