Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [33]
The fact that he already wore a lightsaber also meant there was more to him than was easily apparent. I’d brought my grandfather’s lightsaber with me, but I’d packed it in the small satchel loaded in the cargo bay. I didn’t feel inclined to wear it yet, despite Master Skywalker’s insistence that I had every right to do so. Until I had more training it was little more than a tool and I felt it deserved to be more.
We grabbed our bags from the pile of supplies the engineers had unloaded, then Luke led us away to the area where the engineers had awaited our arrival. I waved to Ooryl as the boarding ramp retracted and the shuttle took off again. Ooryl piloted the shuttle out in a grand circle around the Great Temple, then shot off around to the moon’s day side, vanishing from sight as if swallowed by the forests.
Luke let his black cloak slip back from his shoulders as he opened his arms. “Welcome to Yavin 4. This will be your new home. I wanted the three of you to be the first students here because all three of you have a greater understanding of what we will be doing here. Your foundation means you will progress more quickly, therefore I may ask you to perform extra duties, like helping other students.”
He nodded toward Kam. “Kam’s father, Ranik Solusar, was a great Jedi Master. Kam studied under him, became a Jedi Knight, then was co-opted by the Empire. He became one of the Emperor’s dark-side warriors, but has rejected the dark side.”
Muscles bunched at the corners of Kam’s jaws. “Master Skywalker was able to touch the foundation my father had laid down in me. I now serve him.”
Luke pointed a hand toward the other man. “Brakiss here was discovered by the Empire to be Force-sensitive. They trained him to use his abilities, using him largely as a spy. They held the threat of destroying his family over his head to make him comply with their wishes. He is here to learn how to use his abilities for the benefit of other living creatures.”
Brakiss gave us a weak smile but offered no comment.
Luke shifted his attention to me. “Keiran Halcyon’s grandfather was a Jedi who died in the Clone Wars. Keiran’s family has a strong Jedi tradition and he is here to reclaim it. As you have seen, he is also a skilled pilot and has had training that I think will be useful as we go along.”
Kam offered me his hand, so I shook it, and Brakiss and I exchanged nods.
Master Skywalker started walking toward the Grand Temple. “There are five levels to the structure here—six if you want to count the observation level at the top. The lowest level, the one beneath the ground floor, was something the Rebellion put in for storage and servicing of our fighters. The main floor houses the flight operations area, as well as some living quarters. The two levels above that were used by the Rebellion as the base command center and the combat operations center. These levels are most of what we will use, but they only have some basic computer, training and library facilities. Their value comes to us from student housing and what will serve us for a meal hall. The highest level here is the Grand Chamber, which I had left alone.”
He smiled carefully. “I thought I would allow you to choose your own quarters and get some rest. We can continue orientation tomorrow.”
I raised a hand. “I have a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Certainly.”
“Are we going to be using Coordinated Galactic Time here or are we going to just work with Yavin’s normal day? The moon’s rotation is slightly faster than that of Coruscant, so keeping on the galactic scale will put us out of sync with the planet.”
The Jedi Master hesitated for a moment, his blue eyes reflecting the sky’s orange highlights.