The 17 Years:
(There is a 17 year gap between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, though skipped by the films that gap has been somewhat filmed by the comic-book and TV series/game side of the Star Wars franchise, and so with those pictures and information, I will try to fill that gap with Allana's story during that time too, though naturally a couple of years will be vaguely brushed aside. ;)
I will start with this song as down to the very last word, this is Allana and Obi-Wan's theme:
In a galaxy far far away the Galactic Republic has been replaced by the Galactic Empire, ruled by the Sith Lord Palpatine, now known simply as "The Emperor" and his right-hand man and apprentice, Darth Vader.
Many people under the new Empire enthusiastically supported the vision outlined in Palpatine's Declaration of a New Order, largely due to the relief of the violence that had plagued the galaxy for so long. Many Senators wholeheartedly supported the new government while a number of more cautious senators chose to watch and wait to see how the new government would handle the affairs of state. It promised to trade frailty for strength, chaos for order, and uncertainty for decisiveness. In retrospect, the foundation of the Empire had already been set down during Palpatine's chancellorship and all potential threats eliminated; therefore, the transition from Republic to Empire was relatively smooth.
It is important to note that not all of the Senators liked what they saw. In fact, the Petition of 2000 Senators sought to bring the worries of these Senators to Palpatine. This petition was led by Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and the late Padmé Amidala. Palpatine's dismissal of their concerns was one factor that led Organa and Mothma to help found the Alliance to Restore the Republic in later years.
With the rise of the Empire, all the institutions of the old Republic found themselves either dismantled or modified beyond recognition. There was a riot of renaming all things "Imperial" to glorify the new Emperor: overnight, the Coruscant sector was renamed the Imperial Sector, Coruscant itself was renamed Imperial Center, and Galactic City was renamed Imperial City. The Galactic Senate became the Imperial Senate. The Grand Army of the Republic became the Imperial Army and the Clone Troopers also were renamed Stormtroopers, and so on. Within days, there were few names left to remind the people that there had ever been a Galactic Republic.
For many it seemed to be a time of peace, but the Galaxy was now ruled by the Sith, and the Republic that had stood for over 25,000 years, with a representative/Senator from every planet in the Republic to vote and participate in a government of equality, the voice of the people, was no more. Instead they were ruled dominantly by one man alone (though I think some form of Senate remained, I'm fuzzy on our own government as it is xD), and his lackeys, overthrowing leaders of planets and replacing them with Moffs or Governors of his choosing, showing blatant racism against the nonhuman races of the galaxy and imprisoning millions without trial, as he so wished. However The Emperor wanted supreme domination over all, and just taking over the old Republic was not enough. For the next several years he amassed the largest military presence there has ever been in the history of the galaxy, and with it he took over every once-independent single planet and star system he could and therefore forced it to come under Imperial control. And every opposition to the Empire was dealt with and barely left a mark on this conforming, universal and tyrannical super-rule.
As for the Jedi, once respected and cherished as keepers of the peace and defendants of the galaxy, now they were nothing. Their Order and home abolished, their reputation destroyed by a lie spun by the Emperor, claiming that they had betrayed everyone and tried to take over the Republic. But despite Order 66-the command given to all clone troopers to kill the Jedi- many Jedi who weren't near any Clone Troopers at the time had managed to survive. Scattered across the galaxy as they were, forced to hide their lightsabers underneath their clothing and unable to contact eachother, they were still Jedi, and simply giving up was not their way. And the Sith were now stronger than ever before. While the Jedi were still alive they were still a threat, no matter how debilitated, and so Darth Vader took it upon himself to personally hunt down and eradicate the surviving Jedi, and any who aided, sheltered or so much as publicly supported them.
By 0 BBY Imperial Stormtroopers were everywhere and few planets remained under their own independent control - but we'll get to that later.
19 BBY - Jedi Masters Henri Diath, Allana Jinn and her padawan, 13 year old Jett Zacusa, are hiding out on Henri's home-planet with several other Jedi they came across along the way. For the first few days they can only watch with horror as the self-proclaimed Emperor ascends to his throne and takes over the galaxy, his new Empire. As they recollect themselves and try to figure out what to do they soon realise that they are too big a gathering and with Stormtroopers beginning to appear at every end of the galaxy, it would only be a matter of days before they are found. So after agreeing on a secret signal to be one day sent by Allana when it is time to come together again, Henri graciously gives the slightly weaker and younger Jedi Knights his old home, and the rest separate for entirely different destinations, with only Henri, Allana and Jett staying together. And of course they all agree to disrupt the Empire in any way they can, while keeping their anonymity.
She goes seeking the advice and help of Bail Organa, but having no idea of the situation of their adopted daughter, she is utterly oblivious to the danger she's putting them in by appearing in Alderaan, under disguise or not.
Upon arriving she tells Henri and Jett to stay with the ship for now, until she's sure of the circumstances, and immediately seeks out Bail. She slips through the citadel unnoticed, for to make her appearance known would alert the Stormtroopers to her presence before she even got to Bail, and finds him in a room overlooking the valley behind. The room is a nursery and to Allana's surprise she silently drops in through a window to find him fondling a baby. He spins around immediately when he hears her and after asking what she's doing here he grabs her by the hand and speeds her out of the nursery and into a windowless room where he's sure they won't be overheard.
First he says how glad he is to discover she's alive, as no-one was really sure, and then he regretfully tells her she cannot stay here. Knowing how trusted she was by Yoda and Obi-Wan he vaguely tells her the situation of how one of the aforementioned (not saying who and Allana incorrectly assumes it's Yoda) took Anakin's son to watch over and protect him while he grew up, and the other went into exile. He obviously can't tell her their locations and Allana doesn't want him to, the least anyone knows of this the better, and she cannot be tortured into giving away what she doesn't know. Bail also hints that he cannot help her because he has to protect his daughter, and Allana realises that Padmé must have had twins.
Allana of course agrees to leave immediately and after giving her some advice on where to go and avoiding the Empire, they wish eachother the best of luck and Allana tells him that he can always count on her, should he ever make a move against the Empire so to speak. As a last warning he tells her how high a bounty is on her head due to her familiarity with Anakin/Darth Vader and she comically says "Only 50,000 credits?!" in disappointment before leaving, trying to make her way to the ship as quickly as possible without being noticed. However a servant had noticed her presence and already alerted the Stormtroopers stationed there, and she has the whole battalion on her heels as she speeds away with Henri and Jett on their ship.
"I take it we won't be staying on Alderaan then?" Henri asks as Allana lunges into the pilot seat next to him and flies the ship away, taking all kinds of dramatic turns to lose the Stormtrooper ships, without even sitting down properly.
"No." She replies dryly as she rights herself and pulls herself up to the controls properly, turning and raising her eyebrow at him at the obviousness of the answer.
"Where will we go then?" Jett asks, eating an apple as he emerges from a room lower down that connects to the control room.
"We'll go to Dorinthian, it's a small moon off the coast of L'amdrais...It's a small shipping planet." She explains as Henri and Jett shoot her clueless looks. "It's got a small landing base and hangars, mostly used by smugglers and pirates who want to store their cargo somewhere discreet. I stayed there for a few months while I was exiled, it's not somewhere the Empire will want to dirty their hands with for a while, if they even know about it, and hopefully we can find someone who'll give us passage to somewhere more...hospitable."
"More hospitable?" Jett echoes in concern.
"The locals can get a bit testy, they don't raid very often though." Allana assures him.
"Raid?!" Jett squeaks before aheming and bringing his voice back under control. "I-I'm sure we can handle that." He says, trying to appear more brave and Allana grins.
"Sure we will." Henri says as he stands up, going to plan their course as Allana can handle the flying by herself now they're in open space. "Not afraid of a few moon sprites, are we Jett?" He chuckles as he goes past him and ruffles his hair. Jett winces and pulls back, trying to get his hair back in order and Allana just amusedly watches him out of the corner of her eye. He coughs and tries to look gruff and manly, swinging his arms and mumbling "Yes, yes of course." randomly before escaping to his bunk and Allana spends the rest of the flight in solace, pondering over what Bail just told her. Wondering if the fact that she's so light hearted is because she now knows that Obi-Wan Kenobi survived Order 66.
Thankfully the Organas were not implicated in her appearance on Alderaan, but Allana was back on the records and she was high on Darth Vader's priority list, considering how much she knew about him, and the likelihood -in Vader's eyes- that she'd know the location of Obi-Wan.
So for the next few months Allana decides to lie low with Jett and train him to prepare for what is to come, while always keeping an eye out for any fellow Jedi. Henri also stays with them on occasion but he also decides to go his own way for a while, so as to further reduce the chances of either of them being caught.
After three months of hiding out in various star systems (eventually deciding on making out that Jett was her younger brother after one particularly humiliating experience where she had to claim she was his mother) and training Jett in lightsaber combat and controlling his emotions so that he'd at least be able to stand on his own two feet in a battle, they finally hear something of their fellow Jedi refugees. Another padawan, stranded on her own, had also been seeking out other Jedi and eventually she'd found a group of them. Trying to search for any other Jedi they can, they headed to the lush, tropical world of Kashyyyk, the homeland of the Wookiees, and the last known location of Grand Master Yoda and two other Jedi. The padawan, Olee Starstone, had stumbled upon Allana and Jett on their way there so they agreed to go with them.
The two Imperial leaders discussed their battle plans as their ships met - Vader interested in hunting down and destroying the fugitive Jedi, Tarkin interested in enslaving the Wookiees for use in the construction of the first Death Star, a massive space station and super-weapon that could destroy entire planets with it's laser beam. A full-scale battle of the entire populace of Kashyyyk vs the Imperial Army ensued and in the hope of preventing further Wookiee casualties, the Jedi revealed themselves to Vader. However they did not expect his response - he ordered Grand Moff Tarkin to keep the Stormtroopers on the Wookiees, while he took the Jedi on himself.
Led by Allana the Jedi quickly prepared themselves. Even though she was still at the height of her ability and finesse she was beginning to see the futility of the battle, and though she would normally never back down, she needed to be there to train Jett, and throwing herself into battle would not ensure the downfall of the Empire. So Allana forced herself and Jett to hang back as Jedi Knights Siadem Forte and Iwo Kulka quickly attacked Vader, attempting to unbalance him by using radically different lightsaber forms. However, Vader easily held them off, utilizing a combination of precision bladework and swift power attacks to put an end to their fancy twirling, putting his superior height and strength to good use to disrupt their momentum and sending them reeling. Vader decapitated the two Jedi, and quickly disabled three others. Realising yet again that lightsaber combat would be futile against Vader at this moment, Allana sped off with a protesting Jett as Vader turned his attention to them.Olee Starstone, the young padawan who'd sought the Jedi out, was suddenly alone against the Sith Lord. Starstone attempted to bring down Vader with a sudden offensive flurry, but realized that Vader was only allowing her to vent. Breaking off to reassess her strategy, she unwittingly allowed Vader to seize the offense. However, before he could finish Starstone, Vader's Stormtroopers were suddenly gunned down by a smuggler vessel that just appeared, flown by Allana and another Jedi. Jedi Knight Roan Shryne leapt off the ship while Allana flew it and kept Vader and the Stormtroopers on their toes, he summoned the fallen Siadem Forte's lightsaber to his hand and killed Stormtrooper Commander Appo. Confronting Vader, at the cost of his life Shryne provided Starstone and the other surviving Jedi with a chance to escape on his ship, with Allana piloting.
As Shryne and Vader fought, escaping Kashyyyk, Allana, Jett and the surviving Jedi rendezvoused with the ship in orbit, where they learned that a Detainer CC-2200 Interdictor cruiser (a very big, bad ship? xD) was stationed over Kachirho (capital of Kashyyyk), preventing any ships from escaping into hyperspace (where ships can go into lightspeed) from that city. Undaunted, the Jedi hatched a plan to destroy it in order to escape. With the help of Commander Chewbacca, Archyr, Cudgel, and the rest of the rescued Wookiees, Allana and Jett managed to reactivate a damaged Recusant-class light destroyer, a Separatist ship left over from the earlier battle months ago. They tasked the droid-controlled destroyer to ram the Interdictor, destroying the ship and giving the transports trapped in orbit about Kashyyyk a chance to escape.
Enraged at this, Lord Vader ordered a full orbital bombardment of the planet.
Tarkin would later relate to The Emperor that the planet suffered much more damage than one would have expected, especially given the resources under Vader’s command. Nonetheless, Kashyyyk had been claimed by the Empire, and Tarkin had gained a valuable new source of slave labour for the Death Star project.
Vader's involvement in the Empire's victory was eventually stated in a Holonet news report, a report that was broadcasted as far as Tatooine. It was thanks to this report that Obi-Wan Kenobi learned that his former apprentice had in fact survived their duel on Mustafar, instead of having died as he earlier believed.
Following the battle, half of the Delegation of 2000 Senators removed their signatures from the Petition of 2000, too afraid to continue challenging Palpatine.
And so the surviving Jedi, only 5 of the initial 11, escape and part ways with eachother, the former Wookiee leaders also have to go into hiding. However after seeing the merciless sacking of and enslaving of the Wookiees, Allana does not go into hiding again, or at least, not with not doing anything.
Instead she takes note of every Jedi they find and come across and establishes herself as a kind of guardian of them. Once again she takes up the alias of The Lawless Jedi and gets back in contact with her old criminalistic contacts, but this time instead of being the outlawed aid of the unifying government of the galaxy, she is firmly against it. She covers up the tracks of any Jedi she hears of either through HoloNet News (the galaxy-wide news program) or rumour, disrupting any Jedi-related Imperial operations she can and provide means or aid for anyone being opposed by the Empire. She becomes yet again a household tale, even if it's between people who are for the Empire, but despite her valiant efforts people just see her as a ghost of what was, an echo of the Jedi, the lone ranger who cannot hope to win.
Meanwhile inbetween her escapades she reunites with Henri Diath and is always training her young padawan. Jett is understandably enraged by the murder of his saviour and former mentor, Ki-Adi Mundi, at the hands of the Empire, as well as all of the other Jedi, but under Allana's firm guidance and influence he is gradually able to disperse of all his rage and angst, instead turning it into an unwavering determination to bring the downfall Empire. Allana is actually surprised by his sudden maturity and conviction, brought on by the sudden overthrow of the Republic and the Jedi. He laps up every single moment of his training, even pestering Henri to teach him while Allana's away, and soon he frequently goes along with his Master/Mistress on her anti-Empire feats.
Instead, Kenobi set out on his own and managed to track the Sandpeople, contemplating memories of his old apprentice on Tatooine before finally meeting with a group of Tuskens at dusk. At first things went well, as he quickly managed to find out which tent the Sandpeople were keeping the stolen vaporators in, and managed to silently break into the tent and load them onto a bantha (an elephant/mammoth/hairy/thing that Sandpeople ride:
The Raider attacked him immediately. Kenobi quickly managed to slice through the attacker's weapon with his lightsaber, causing the Raider to howl. This alerted many others in the camp who all came out to meet with the foe. They all attacked him and though Kenobi found himself drawing upon his anger, he was able to let go of the dark and destructive feeling. Instead of murdering the entire clan as Anakin Skywalker had done in the past, Kenobi cleverly chose to cut their clothes off to reveal their skin; a taboo to the Sandpeople, which would usually result in others of the tribe murdering the offenders. This gave him time to escape on the bantha with the vaporators and gained him legendary reputation amongst the Sandpeople.
On returning to the Lars Homestead, Kenobi was met with an icy welcome. Owen informed him that they did not need his help, as they were a family and could have handled it on their own. Kenobi left the farm, returning to his solitude and contemplation.
For the first few months of his self-imposed exile Kenobi had no idea what had become of Vader after he had left him to his fate on Mustafar, but one day at a cantina Kenobi finally heard that he was alive when news reached him of Vader’s victory at the Battle of Kashyyyk. He was shocked that the remaining Jedi thought they could band together to defeat the Sith Lord. He had hoped that they would go into hiding like he and Yoda did. But he also heard the confirmation of something that had been on his mind for many months, even though he'd tried desperately to let it go, Allana's survival of Order 66.
Unknown to Kenobi, he was also being rigorously hunted down by Vader, who had tortured several Jedi in order to find Kenobi's whereabouts, and sparing no expense to do so. This would work to Vader's disadvantage, however, when Kenobi was said to have been at the later infamous Conclave on Kessel.
Obi-Wan was not the only one distracted by the thoughts and long-buried emotions for a lost love, however. Though she also tried to forget her feelings for him, she never really could. The news of Obi-Wan's survival brought a great relief to Allana but she had no idea where he was, nobody did, and thankfully neither did Darth Vader, who seemed to be trying to find him at all and any expense.
Although she did genuinely want to help her fellow Jedi and oppose the Empire; by hunting down Jedi and protecting them Allana had another subconscious agenda that she didn't fully acknowledge herself: to find Obi-Wan.
Her efforts did help many people and Jedi but she was only one person, and not even the Lawless Jedi at the height of her power could stand up to the full might of the Imperial Army or Darth Vader and his personal squadron. The Jedi were being hunted and one by one, they were dying. At heart she knew this but for her own and everyone else's sake she still charged on, despite her preoccupations with the knowledge that her crusade was barely a scratch on the impenetrable wall of the Empire, and in three years, she never found even a whisper of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
16 BBY - Despite her doubts and an increasing feeling of helplessness in fighting a war alone against an Empire, Allana's actions had helped and inspired many, and would go on to echo through the minds of many for years to come. But for now it reached the ears and mind of one Jedi in particular, inspiring her to take action against the Empire.
The Conclave on Kessel was a meeting of Jedi survivors of Order 66 within an abandoned mine on the planet of Kessel. After the execution of Order 66 and the beginning of the Great Jedi Purge, a number of Jedi secretly established contact with each other. Jedi Master Shadday Potkin was one of them.
Like Allana, Shadday Potkin had become disillusioned with the Jedi methods of meditation, reflection and careful planning, seeing these as forms of inaction that had led to the rise of the Galactic Empire. Wanting to take an even more direct action than Allana had, she planned to use the prospect of a gathering of Jedi to lure Emperor Palpatine's enforcer, Darth Vader, into a trap. Through her contacts she learned that Vader desperately sought the whereabouts of Obi-Wan Kenobi, although she did not know why. She called for a meeting of Jedi in an abandoned spice mine on the planet Kessel, and leaked this to the Empire, including misinformation that Kenobi would be present, in the hopes that this would entice Vader to come quickly, heedlessly, and alone.
Jett was now 16 and three years into his training, he'd prospered greatly under both Allana and Henri Diath and, unlike the former, he had no distractions or preoccupations to distract him from his goal to disrupt the Empire in any way possible. He didn't care about how futile their current effort was and over the years he'd become both a great friend of his mentors and a tactician in his own right, even masterminding several of the trio's "missions" himself several times, and saving the skins of both. However after a mission that had foolishly near cost Allana her life, even the staunch Henri Diath began to doubt what they were doing, but though she had her doubts Allana stubbornly insisted on continuing as she was the Jedi's only help, no matter how small, and Jett never doubted it for one second.
So when they heard of Master Shadday's surprisingly public call to every surviving Jedi to come together and discuss their future, they all eagerly agreed to go. Finally their lives and effort for the Jedi Order would have meaning again, and together, they had a very good chance of defeating the lone Darth Vader. This wasn't publicised of course but Allana interpreted Shadday's true intentions to lure in Vader anyway, as she knew that nobody knew where Obi-Wan actually was -save for Bail Organa.
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| Beard: Roblio Darte, Yellow robe: Shadday, Red-armour: Koffi |
Seven other Jedi answered the call, including such prominent Masters as Tsui Choi. As they discussed their plans for the future of the Jedi, it quickly became apparent that they differed on what the proper course to take was. Some favoured waiting, some favoured direct action against the Sith, and one even proposed using the dark side to aid them. The deliberations were quickly cut short when Shadday's ninth invitee, Vader, arrived.
Vader smashed open the door and burst into the room, demanding to know the location of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Shadday revealed that Kenobi's presence was a lie to lure in Vader. Offering to let live the one who gave him Kenobi's location, Vader only provoked Sia-Lan Wezz, who lost patience and charged. Vader thrust his lightsaber into her chest and slashed her hand off as she fell.
The rest of the Jedi present quickly attacked, with only Tsui Choi and Bultar Swan hanging back, not wanting to fight Vader. While Vader engaged Ma'kis'shaalas and Roblio Darté, Koffi and Henri Diath came around and prepared to attack Vader from behind. Vader covered his flank with a quick Force Push that sent both flying while Shadday Potkin advanced. Allana and Jett meanwhile had both leapt up onto old mining carts hanging from chains in the ceiling, preparing to simultaneously jump down and attack Vader from above. Vader used the distraction caused by his Force Push to slash open Ma'kis'shaalas' chest. However, by killing Ma'kis, Vader left himself an opening Jastus Farr, Allana and Jett quickly exploited, with the latter two leaping down in a whirl of lightsaber strikes, distracting him while Jastus Farr slashed Vader across the back with his double-bladed weapon.
Vader promptly snapped her neck, killing her instantly. As Potkin's corpse plummeted to the floor of the mine, Vader took up her cortosis blade and attacked the remaining Jedi, disabling the blades of Jastus Farr, Koffi, Allana and Roblio Darté. As Vader prepared to finish them, Jett suddenly charged in from the side where he'd been waiting to ambush the Sith Lord. Allana cried "Jett!" as Vader, despite Jett's courage, was still too big a match for the padawan and Force-Pushed her apprentice into the metal wall next to the door, rendering him unconscious. Seeing the boy's courageous attempt Tsui Choi and Bultar Swan then suddenly appeared in a V formation with Henri at the head. Choi amputated Vader's sword arm while Swan slashed him across the leg and Henri circled around him with a blinding rotating whirlwind of slashes, cutting into his stomach. Vader, disarmed and wounded, having taken three lightsaber hits, surrendered.
Koffi saw the trick for what it was and demanded that Swan kill him, as his lightsaber wasn't working yet. She refused, citing that Jedi never kill unarmed opponents. Instead Henri Diath charged forward with a roar to the Dark Lord, lightsaber ready for impaling, it seemed to be the end for the Sith but then he suddenly grabbed the lightsaber of the inattentive Choi with the Force, and thrust it into the stomach of the unexacting Henri. Allana cried "NO!" as her former mentor and dear friend crumpled over the lightsaber and Vader trust him into an old vat where he lay utterly still, dead.
Henri had failed and though Allana immediately snatched back Choi's lightsaber back from Vader with the Force and sent it back to him, Swan still refused to attack an unarmed opponent. This was their only chance to end Vader, so Koffi took her lightsaber and killed her, before leaping at Vader, blade raised. Vader telekinetically summoned the cortosis blade, still clutched by his amputated arm (every limb of his is robotic, so he wouldn't feel much pain from the amputation), and hurled it at Koffi, impaling him.Vader took up Swan's lightsaber and turned to face the remaining Jedi, reaffirming his earlier offer to let live the one who gave him Kenobi's location. However, instead of engaging as their lightsabers were still shorted out, they all used the Force to attack Vader, summoning the contents of the derelict mining carts and hurling them at him. The rubble smashed into Vader, injuring him severely and leaving him partially buried. Allana then demanded Vader's surrender, but Vader simply declared that he would destroy them.
As Choi, the only one with a working lightsaber, prepared to attack Vader, clone troopers, under the command of Commander Bow, arrived and flooded in through the door and showered the Jedi with blaster bolts. Jastus Farr, his lightsaber still disabled, was mercilessly shot to death. As Farr fell, Roblio Darté shielded himself and Allana with a piece of mining equipment while Choi deflected the bolts aimed at him. Choi leapt up to the catwalk the clone troopers were firing from, hoping to distract them long enough for Roblio Darté and Allana to escape, only to get caught in mid-air by Vader's Force grip.
They both tried to run but only Allana got away, diving behind the vat Henri's corpse was crumpled against, but Darté was caught in the back. While Darté was shot to death, Choi saw Allana edging towards the door to her padawan and realised that they both could not escape, and she had the best chance. So he hurled his lightsaber at Vader before being killed himself, hoping to take the Sith Lord with him. The lightsaber slashed open Vader's helmet, exposing his real eye, but failed to kill him.
With a last look at her former master, his unseeing green-speckled grey eyes staring out into nothing, Allana had used the distraction of combat to suddenly pelt at full speed over to her padawan (who was only feigning dead when Allana had previously shook her head at him, knowing that he could not yet contend with Vader) and grabbed his hand. As Choi's corpse was unceremoniously dumped to the floor, Vader spun around to see the fleeing Jedi and raged at the storm troopers to stop them. But it was too late, Allana used the Force to push aside all the storm troopers in their path, toppling some off the catwalk/airway to fall to their death on the rocks far below, while Jett reflected the laser blasts with his lightsaber as they got into the fastest ship (belonging to the late Master Tsui Choi) and sped away.
The Jedi were dead. Like the ancient Conclave on Katarr two thousand years ago, an almost identical situation, the attempt to draw out and defeat the Sith had ended only in failure.
Upon his return to Coruscant, Vader's injuries were tended to and the damage to his armour repaired. Vader subsequently appeared before his master. Palpatine stated that while Vader had disobeyed him, Vader's disobedience proved to be useful. By the time of the meeting between the two, Palpatine had already caused the circulation of rumours of what had occurred at Kessel, helping to cement Vader's image as a symbol of fear for the Empire, and a further warning to all who stood in his way.
Palpatine further stated that Vader must overcome his fixation on Obi-Wan Kenobi, as that was a remnant of the Anakin Skywalker persona, of which Vader must purge himself.
The official report by Imperial advisor Sate Pestage on HoloNet News stated that some of the Jedi had killed each other in a power struggle and the others were executed for numerous crimes.Palpatine: "A story is now spreading that you tracked down a nest of Jedi traitors -fifty in all- and killed them. Every last one. By yourself."Vader: "But that's not true…"Palpatine: "That does not matter. The lie will create a legend and the legend will drive any surviving Jedi deeper underground—and teach any other potential enemy fear. And that is useful!"-Palpatine stating the usefulness of Vader's 'disobedience'.
But not only were the Jedi dead, Henri Diath was no more. Allana could barely contain herself as she took the controls and flew herself and her padawan to the safety of a hut where an old Jedi friend, Coran Krysso, a tall, muscular blonde-haired human, of Allana's who was also going to answer Master Shadday's call had agreed to temporarily stay behind at for them with another ship, instead of going to the Conclave as well, in case something went wrong. And it had. it was only now that Allana realised how stupid they'd all been. Her hands shook as she flew the flighty speeder, seething inside over the stupidity of all of them, and almost collided with an asteroid. Righting the ship, she tried to bring herself under control and clenched the controls tightly. By the time they arrive an air of vacent calm has fallen over her. Master Coran is alarmed by what Allana and Jett tell him, and deeply saddened as many of the Jedi killed had been his friends and colleagues for a long time. He invited them to stay for a while at his home until they got their heads together and Allana accepts somewhat vacantly, still trying to get her head around the horror that just happened.
It is while they are recuperating at Coran's home, a reasonably-sized place in the tundra of Hinjal with two levels, open-planned rooms with screens and archways in the place of doors and comfortable wooden furniture, that the news of the Conclave at Kessel reaches the ears of Bail Organa, and indeed Obi-Wan Kenobi as the HoloNet News is broadcast almost everywhere. Allana is purposefully implicated in being involved in the "power struggle" and that she got away so that the Empire might turn even more people against her, as the Lawless Jedi is still a penetrating thorn in the Empire's side. It is through this that Bail Organa realises that she'll be on her own now, with even more reputed Jedi Masters gone, and will need help, perhaps even guidance. So it is with this, and hoping to help her after everything that she's done and stood up for, in mind that he sends her a vague and encrypted message via a pre-programmed droid to find her, not implying or implicating anyone or anything, simply telling her to go to Tatooine.
Allana has indeed at a loss with what to do, thinking that perhaps action was not the right way after all, and perhaps they should have stuck to the old Jedi way of meditation and careful planning. Jett highly disagrees with her and though he is too saddened by the Jedis' deaths his belief in what they are doing against the Empire has not been shaken. So, believing that by being emotionally detached from it she has gotten over the loss of Henri, Allana bids goodbye to Coran and Jett while she investigates Tatooine, believing that she will find another Jedi there who can help her, perhaps even Yoda, or some discriminating information that will reveal the right way to go against the Empire. As he gets along with Coran very well, having been familiar with him as a youngling at the Jedi Temple, Allana makes an agreement with Coran that, should she not return as she isn't entirely sure what she'll find there, he will continue Jett's training.
There are a large amount of hotels, cantinas and casinos to support the constant flow of Spacers (a slang term that referred to those who made their livings flying through space, including pirates, smugglers, pilots and crew) as there are 362 separate hangars, with there being no main landing platform, so Allana had no problem arriving anonymously and gaining a place to stay.
Oh Tatooine, it was a place she'd never thought she'd return to. The homeworld of Anakin Skywalker, it had been 13 years since she was last here. The nostalgia and memories of her father are strong and for the first few days she just roams and takes in everything she sees, not quite sure what Bail Organa wanted her to find.
 |
| Qui-Gon's poncho, 13 years ago. |
It's on one of these days that the poncho becomes most useful. While she's out browsing the markets, only half-heartedly looking out for any clues as to what Bail Organa wanted her to find, that a fierce sandstorm hits unexpectedly. The locals, used to this, quickly shut down their stalls and retreat to their homes quicker than Allana can react, even the visitors manage to hole up in any building they can find. In the sudden rush a young boy is stranded, standing still, frantically looking around for who Allana assumes are his parents, in the middle of the fleeing crowd. They are both cut off by the sandstorm before Allana can even spot a building to go into and the doors and windows are all shut against the storm. So thinking quickly she dashes forward and scoops up the boy and runs into the curved archway/porch/entrance of a domed house. She sets him down and shields them with her poncho which she keeps up against the storm with the Force.
"Are you ok kid?" She asks the wide-eyed little boy as she flinches away from a sudden lash of sand that got past the poncho.
The little boy nods and looks slightly agape at the lightsaber on her belt, no longer concealed by her poncho. He has a mop of thick, blonde hair and big blue eyes. He looks a little bit familiar but Allana can't place him, he's probably just the son of a local farmer, and she smiles kindly at him.
"Are you a Jedi?" He asks curiously and Allana's surprised at his perception, he couldn't be more than three.
"Maybe. Once." She says and winks at him when he grins. "How do you know that?"
"Your sword." He says simply and points at it. "I see it on the news, the Empire doesn't like you." He says solemnly.
"Ahh. Well we're not all bad, not at all. Oh and it's a lightsaber." She whispers secretively to him and kneels down so as not to spook him with her superior height. "Wanna see it?" She asks and the boy nods enthusiastically. She draws it and swishes the golden blade around about, minding not to put it anywhere near him, before drawing it back in after a few seconds. The boy is grinning in awe at it and Allana smiles, it's been a while since someone reacted to her as a Jedi positively.
"The storm's dying down now, you out here with your parents?" She asks.
"Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru." The little boy nods.
"Ahh. What's your name?" Allana asks after a pause.
"Luke." The boy replies and just on cue they hear calls of "Luuuuke! Luke!" From outside.
"Well there you are then, they're looking for you right now. Nice meeting you Luke." Allana smiles and pulls down her poncho, but he hadn't finished.
"Luke Skywalker." He finishes and Allana suddenly stands straight up like a lightning bolt had shot through her. This was Anakin's son! Which could only mean Yoda was nearby.
"What's your name?" Luke turns around to ask her but Allana was already gone, he was still looking around for the kindly Jedi lady who'd saved him when his Aunt rushes over and takes him in her arms.
Allana had gone back to Chalmun's Cantina, a popular drinking and dining establishment she'd been frequenting due to her frequent exchanges with the Wookiee owner, Chalmun, about the fate of Kashyyyk. Certain that Yoda will be somewhere nearby and that he was what Bail wanted her to find, Allana asks the bartender if he's seen a small, brown-robed man around and the regulars around her just laugh, asking if she's on the hunt for Jawas (short rodent-like natives of Tatooine. Always covered up with brown robes, they are passionate scavengers, seeking out technology for sale or trade in the deep deserts in their huge, squarish sandcrawler transports.). Slightly disheartened, she takes a seat at a table in the back of the cantina, pondering over where Yoda would likely have gone, when a familiar-sounding laugh reaches her ear. It's genuine and friendly, but has the sort of tone that you know as soon as it's owner speaks, he's going to sound proper and educated. She looks up and sees two men in hooded brown robes laughing and conversing at the other end of the bar. Though she can't hear them from her table they seem to be making some kind of agreement, and the apparent owner of the laugh claps the other on the shoulder, then seemingly invites him to go somewhere and they follow eachother out of the door. Not having been able to catch their faces in the shady lighting of the cantina, her interest is piqued and she swiftly gets up to follow them. To appease the bartenders complaints at leaving without paying she throws him a pouch of all the credits she has with her and quickly slips out of the Cantina with her poncho flying behind her. The two robed men get into a speeder and are almost going out of her sight. Using a Jedi mind trick she influences the owner of a small hover-bike to not pursue her and hops onto it.They fly through the streets of Mos Eisley and eventually into the vast desert of Tatooine itself. In order to stay undetected she has to use all of her instinct, powers and abilities to keep up but even so, they almost unknowingly lose her several times over the unfamiliar terrain, especially when there's an unexpected and rocky drop behind a sand dune. She finds the experience exhilarating nonetheless, not having to worry about anyone else or Stormtroopers on her back is something she hasn't experienced for a long time.
She creeps around the edge of the building and tries to listen in, just catching the last scraps of the conversation:
"Just bring it around any time you like, I'm not in any rush." One of the hooded men says, his voice slightly muffled.
"Thanks Ben, I appreciate it, even the folks at Mos Eisley will envy me of this baby!" The entirely unfamiliar voice of the other man, his hood now down and showing off his back moustache, says as he hauls an engine that the other man had just passed him over to the passenger seat of his speeder.
Ben? She didn't know anyone called Ben. Maybe she'd made a mistake...
"Well it was only going to go into the hands of the Jawas anyway, I think you'll put it to much better use." The other, still-hooded, man, Ben, said. Allana was forced to retreat further back as the other man got into his speeder and she cursed to herself as Ben was out of her sight.
"You bet I will. You coming to the podrace this year?" He asked.
"Ohhh I don't know, maybe next year." Ben replied uncertainly, obviously trying to wriggle out of it.
"You old hermit." The other man tutted with a wry smile and started his speeder. "Try and get out sometime will you?" He said as the updraft from his hovering speeder caused the sand to blow into Ben's eyes.
"Sure." Ben coughed and tried to bat the sand away from his face, knocking his hood back in the process to reveal a head of strawberry blonde hair. "Take care Farns!" He said and waved in farewell to his friend. Allana perked up as he moved into her line of view and grinned from ear to ear as she saw the side profile of a very familiar face, one she'd longed to see for many years.
Ben watched Farns fly off into the Dune Sea and picked up a pile of clutter to take inside, preoccupied with his own thoughts. He peers curiously around he corner Allana was hiding behind and shrugs to himself when he finds nothing there, blaming living alone has made him more jumpy. He goes inside of his home and dumps the clutter on a table below the window next to the door -he'll sort it out later- and takes off his brown robe/cloak, throwing it onto the chair to the left of the table, totally oblivious to what he just walked past.
She leans back against the arch of the doorway, arms crossed, and watches him shuffle with the pile of clutter for a moment, taking in the man she'd dreamed of for so long, before she finally decides to make herself known.
"Ben?" Allana asks quizzically with a wry smile on her face. Obi-Wan's reaction is immediate, he spins around in the blink of an eye and immediately draws his lightsaber to fend off the intruder. Still reclining against the wall, Allana whips hers out and rotates it faster than he can react, and jabs it into the base of the hilt, shorting his lightsaber out. "Sloppy." She tuts and shakes her head with a grin.
"Allana?" Obi-Wan asks in disbelief and grins back, slightly agape in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"It's a long story, but I followed you from Chalmun's. So I'll say it again, Ben?" She repeats, not wanting to change the subject just yet.
"Well I had to change it to something, Kenobi is fairly common but Obi-Wan..."
"Hyphenated names too unique huh?" Allana smiles and moves over to him. "Three years I searched for you Obi-Wan. Not even Ana- I mean, Vader, can find you. And believe me he's looking." She says and embraces him.
"When they announced the Conclave on Kessel I feared the worst, surely you must have had the entire Imperial Army on your back." Obi-Wan says, sighing as he pulls her close and delves his hand into her hair. "Allana, why are you here?" He asks as he reluctantly pulls away from her.
"We were foolish, Kessel never should have happened." She admits and runs her hand through her hair. "Henri's dead. I didn't know what to do, Bail Organa sent me a message telling me to go to Tatooine so I did. I left Jett with Master Coran on Hinjal. But when I met Luke this afternoon, I admit I was expecting to find Yoda, not Ben Kenobi the hermit." She says teasingly, trying to lighten the situation.
"No, Yoda went to Dagobah. You met Luke?" He asks.
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