Chapter 80: Do You Wanna Build a Spaceship?

Chapter 80: Do You Wanna Build a Spaceship?

Author's note*

Some reading this have never seen Star Wars and many reading this have 100% forgotten everything about Star Wars I wrote in the first dozen chapters. I will be writing the Star Wars content to come with this in mind, introducing everything as if you've never heard it before and trying to do so in a way that is not an info dump.

Chapter 80 Do You Wanna Build a Spaceship?

The dark tunnels hidden beneath the surface of Tython would be a nightmare for almost anyone to traverse, but Force-sensitives were an exception as most could get to their desired destination blindfolded. Even without Force GPS, his Haki's ability to sense the flow of the world allowed him to practically map out the region just using the airflow. The only thing that didn't work was his Clairvoyance.

Using the Force on Tython was like treading water while shackled with weights. That was the reason that A Je'daii Journeyer could traverse Tython and gain the skill necessary to become a Je'daii Ranger and a Je'daii Master without a Master-Apprentice Force-Bond. The Force in most places was like a calm pool or lake, while the Force on Tython was like a massive storm at sea.

Rayleigh tried to listen to the background music of the world, but it was drowned out by the Force. That is to say, the Force was the background music of this world.

On his way out of the tunnels, Rayleigh made one stop. In front of him was a shriveled, ancient-looking corpse that happened to be wearing the robes of a Jedi Grand Master. Back when the team was on Tython, this fellow had been the source of many debates, since no Grandmaster was known to have died or gone missing in the tunnels. So who was this guy?

Rayleigh knelt down and touched the man's robes, twitching slightly at the feel of how itchy they were. He used psychometry on the ancient cloth and read its history backward until its origins were known.

"Huh. That's lame." Rayleigh couldn't help but complain aloud. Apparently, the robes were a forgery. This guy was a candidate for Jedi Grandmaster but didn't win, so he made his own robes. It seemed that he came here to trick someone, but said person didn't fall for that trick and wounded him before running away. Rather than return in shame and disgrace, this fellow just came here to die.

After rolling his eyes at the absurdity, Rayleigh stood up and continued his journey back to the surface. He wasn't particularly busy and Tython was never a safe place, so Rayleigh took his time to carefully tread forward without disturbing things that should not be disturbed or causing a cave-in. Another hour passed by and the light of day could be seen. Mostly. It was still very cloudy outside.

After another hour of walking Rayleigh had returned to the campsite where he spent his childhood. Unsurprisingly, there was no trace of habitation. The Jedi would not have left any signs of their presence like litter or leftovers and the harsh weather would wipe away any signs that had remained of their presence.

Rayleigh sprinted through the trees from the campsite to the landing station. On the landing station there should be a beacon that ships locked onto in order to descend to the planet, and considering the cloud cover, Rayleigh would need to make sure it was turned on if he wanted someone to land here.

The landing port was, thankfully, still in one piece. It had been here for thousands of years, and though covered in a thin layer of vines from recent disuse, it still served its purpose well. As Rayleigh suspected, the landing platform's signal beacon was disabled. The thing was solar powered so it's not like turning it off saved the battery life. Rayleigh suspected the Jedi Temple ordered the team to turn it off to prevent people from coming back.

When Rayleigh opened up the control panel to plug the beacon back in, he looked around to see if there was a note or message inside the panel. The Jedi he ran from didn't know he was dead and if he was alive, it was obvious that he would return here and turn the landing beacon back on, so this would be the best place to leave a note to him if they suspected that he was alive. But there was nothing.

Rayleigh was disappointed, but not too surprised. Even if this group were oddballs among the Jedi, they were still Jedi. Jedi do not form attachments. Jedi do not mourn loss. They likely just accepted that he had 'returned to the Force,' and left it alone.

After turning the signal beacon back on, Rayleigh opened his Player Menu, and for the first time in his life, he entered the Jedi Chatroom.

[Swordsman has signed in.]

[Swordsman: Is Pacifist around?]

[Lord of Madness: It's about time that you showed up. Listen, I got this job that I could use a bit of help on.]

[Gambler: I wouldn't bet on getting his assistance. Swordsman seems like a stick in the mud.]

[Blind Prophet: I already told you to give up on that heist you crazy idiot! You will die!]

[Lord of Madness: You said I'd die with anyone else's help, but you didn't say I'd die with Swordsman's help.]

[Pacifist: I'm free now. I can pick you up in three days. And although I cannot make the decision for you, I will ask that you refrain from blindly accepting any crazy requests, especially if they are guaranteed to be illegal in nature.]

[Swordsman: Thanks, Pacifist. And sorry Madness, I'm gonna be busy for a while.]

[Lord of Madness: Oh really? You don't have a spaceship, a pilot's license, any references, or a single cred chip to your name. Help me with this job and I'll get you everything you need and then some.]

[Grey Matter: He really doesn't need to piss off one of the largest organizations in the Galaxy just to get some pocket change. The Jedi Temple can take care of him easily. Pacifist, you can take him to Coruscant, right?]

[Tails: Wow, Grey Matter's being really assertive today. The new guy just got here and you already wanna take him home? What do you need him for? Did you already break that 'Lightsaber' I sent you?]

[Mechanic: There's no way she broke it. I especially made it for her and it looks just like a normal lightsaber hilt when not turned on, so even if someone finds it in her possession, they won't be suspicious. Considering how pent-up she must be, I figured it'd get a lot of usage. I'm such a thoughtful person. Be grateful.]

[Grey Matter: Shut up! Both of you! Some of us have actual responsibilities!]

[Tails: I'm pretty sure Mechanic has more responsibilities than you do and she still has time to have fun. You don't even have a Padawan, yet she has like a million employees.]

[Mechanic: Closer to a half-billion actually. Should I have sent a short 'lightsaber' instead?]

[Tails: No, you should have sent her a double-bladed 'lightsaber' and let her 'spar' with Star Prophet or Avatar.]

[Deadshot: Why is it when guys say stuff like that to girls, we're misogynistic, but when girls say stuff like that to girls, it is normalized?]

[Lord of Madness: Don't ponder it too much. That way lies a madness even I fear to seek out.]

[Swordsman: I may not have any money, but I am skilled in using the Hunter World's power system to make items below a certain size indestructible. I think I can get by reasonably well by selling that.]

[Lord of Madness: Wait, Hunters can do that?]

[Pacifist: Yes, Swordsman went over Divine Script in one of his lessons.]

[Lord of Madness: Dang. I must have forgotten that one.]

[Grey Matter: How does that work? Is it like Sith Alchemy? I should hope not.]

[Lord of Madness: Karen Alert! Karen Alert! This is not a drill! Get to the Bunkers before she gets the Manager!]

[Swordsman: Divine Script is essentially a written pattern of self-sustaining life force that can be imparted onto surfaces to grant certain effects. Technically, using your own life force to enhance the durability of something is not considered a Dark Side technique. Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas used his own life force to enhance the remnant lifeforce inside a wooden staff. The enhanced lifeforce within the wooden staff kept it together, allowing it to fight lightsabers. Look it up.]

[Mechanic: How long would it take you to make a ship indestructible?]

[Swordsman: Depends on the size of the ship. A small one-man fighter? A few weeks. Something larger? A few months. Plus I'd have to inscribe it on the inner side of the hull after assembly, but before the interior was set into place.]

[Mechanic: How long will the effect last?]

[Swordsman: Life sustains life, so if the ship was left abandoned in the vacuum of space for a while, it would likely lose its effect. As long as the ship has living occupants and frequently visits life-bearing worlds, it could last indefinitely or several decades at least.]

Both Players momentarily stopped and stared at each other. Rayleigh was the first to break down laughing, with Pacifist following shortly. Each was on the ground, rolling and clutching their chests, tears dripping from their eyes.

It took two minutes for the pair to regain their dignity and Pacifist stated, "You are the first person to get that reference."

Rayleigh looked horrified. "Don't tell me Swordmaster and those others have never watched Princess Bride."

Pacifist, "No, they watched and got it afterward, but I tried the same on everyone else and no one else figured it out during the spar."

Rayleigh nodded and said, "Since we're both right-handed, you should have grabbed your Lightsaber with your left hand. I would have done the same and we could have gone further into the scene."

"I didn't think you'd catch on so quickly. Wasted opportunity but I'm still happy with what I got."

With that, Rayleigh disabled his borrowed Lightsaber and tossed it to Pacifist. "That belongs to Jedi Master Dyanameez. You know her?"

"Of course. She runs the archives with Master Jocasta Nu. I'll make sure to give it back to her."

"Thanks. What are you going to say?"

"That the Force told me to come here and I saw an active beacon so I landed and picked you up."

Rayleigh acknowledged, "That works."

Pacifist returned to the pilot's seat of his ship, something he called a Jedi Starfighter. His whirring droid re-entered the ship and Rayleigh jumped into the ship's back seat and buckled in as the ship closed up and the engine started.

It only took a few moments for the ship to lift into the air and rise through the cloud cover back into the blackness of space. There, floating in orbit above the world was a house-sized ring with engines on either side. The small starfighter docked into the ring and locked into place as the engines on the ring lit up and Pacifist started, "Preparing to jump into hyperspace."

A moment later, the dots of light that made up the various stars in the distance turned into lines as the ship was propelled forward.

Pacifist said, "It will take about nine hours to get from here to Corellia. Are you sure that's where you want to go? The Temple can take care of anything you need."

Rayleigh shook his head. "No thanks, the Temple might be able to help me live, but it won't help me get stronger."

Pacifist stated, "I really don't think there is anywhere in the Galaxy that has more knowledge on the Force than the Jedi Temple."

"It's not the Force I need to make stronger, it's my heart. Mind, Body, and Heart. Those are the three parts that must be trained to become stronger. But Jedi literally forbid training the Heart because training the Heart the wrong way can lead to the Dark Side. Instead of figuring out how to train the Heart the right way, the Jedi abandon the Heart entirely."

Pacifist asked, "What's the difference?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me a bit about what's going on in the galaxy and what the Players are doing. It's a long flight after all."

Pacifist only considered a moment before he agreed. It wasn't like it was a secret or anything.

According to Pacifist, the Jedi Players had three general factions.

The Temple Faction is loyal to the Jedi. They wanted to protect the innocent, maintain the peace, keep suffering as low as possible. They were made up of himself, Avatar, Grey Matter, and Star Prophet.

The Senatorial Faction was not loyal to anyone but partnered heavily with the Senate and the Supreme Chancellor. They worked on a collective give-and-take relationship where the Players would perform tasks for certain senators and get rewards in the form of money, tech, or resources. Swordmaster, Gambler, Blind Prophet, Lord of Madness, and Deadshot were members of this faction.

And the Independent Faction is currently composed of Mechanic, Vash the Stampede, and Tails. They worked together yet did not help the Senate or the Jedi.

Rayleigh suspected that the Pirate Faction would soon be added to that list. Rayleigh didn't like the Senate or the Jedi, so the Independent Faction was his best bet for the moment.

Pacifist continued, "According to Star Prophet, war is coming. A former Jedi named Count Dooku will lead an army against the Republic. The only way to stop it would be to kill Count Dooku, but he is really hard to track down. Especially since Blind Prophet often gets in the way when Star Prophet tries to find him."

Rayleigh asked, "Why is she helping Dooku?"

"Star says it's because the war will make the Republic stronger and the Jedi weaker. The stronger the Republic, the more benefits the Senatorial Faction can get for themselves."

"Has anyone thought of telling this to the Jedi Masters?"

Pacifist released a long and tired sigh at that question. "It wouldn't work. There is a history of Seers in the Jedi trying to stop a horrible future and end up causing it. Due to this, the Jedi Policy is that if you see something really bad, ignore it. If you are found trying to stop it, you will be locked up to prevent the possibility that your actions could cause the very thing you tried to stop."

That one actually stunned Rayleigh speechless. "Really?"

"Yeah. Honestly, a lot of us are just trying to keep the casualties as low as possible. I'm really not looking forward to this."

Rayleigh replied, "Sounds like a good chance to train your Heart then."

Pacifist asked, "So you don't think Jedi train their heart?"

Rayleigh scoffed, "Jedi literally go out of their way to avoid training their Heart. When you have no idea what to do, you're supposed to listen to your heart and let that guide you. The stronger your heart, the better the decisions you can make. But the Jedi never listen to their Heart. They listen to the Force. Any action or duty that requires the Heart is done using the Force as a substitute."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"The Force doesn't care if you or anyone else dies. The opinion of Ghosts should not dictate the rules of the living."

The rest of the journey continued in silence as Pacifist chose to meditate on their conversation. Jedi star crafts didn't have bathrooms or entertainment, so it was standard for Jedi to just meditate throughout their travels.

Rayleigh always had at least one Will meditate, but since he lost his conversation partner, he had the other Wills do combat training. He only used Jedi lightsaber forms in that little spar with Pacifist, but that was all he needed to see the depths of the latter's sword skill, so a few of his Wills copied Pacifist's full strength, and Rayleigh practiced against him. Rayleigh also knew the effects and powers of the Paw Paw Fruit thanks to seeing it in action, so he could give his mental representation of Pacifist those skills as well.

The result? A beat down. The Paw fruit had two weaknesses. It could only reflect and redirect forces that came into contact with the hands, and he only had two hands. Rayleigh just had to use some omnidirectional attacks. Like send a slow flying slash, change position, send a medium-speed flying slash, change position, and send a high-speed flying slash. When calculated right, all three arrived at the same moment at different angles and his Paws could only block two. Of course, he certainly would not be standing still, so Rayleigh had to predict where he would be in advance and outspeed and out-predict him. It was a fun little exercise to take up his time until they reached their destination, Corellia.

*Author's note*

Surprisingly, writing a dozen OCs is harder than it seems. In order to prevent plot holes, I needed to essentially write each one's backstory, character flaws, and motivation/goals. Mechanic's was the hardest because she wasn't raised by the Jedi. But I did it. Now I just have to unleash them all on the unsuspecting Galaxy.

Again, I will write the information in a way that assumes that readers have never watched Star Wars and will try to do so in a way that does not feel like an information dump.