Star Wars: The Phantom World

There were two stars that shone a bright yellow in front of the ship as they entered the system. Yet despite that there was but a single habitable world in the Ahch-To system. A single planet, orbited by a single moon and So-lin set a course.

It wasn't long before they were waylaid though. An old, republic era fighter approached and came to fly alongside the ship. At least that's what it looked like. Much of the spacecraft in this system were far more than they might appear at first glance.

"Knight Lofin and Padawan So-lin," a voice came over the comms. "You were expected to arrive yesterday, and I sense you have brought guests?"

"We were delayed at Naboo, unfortunately," Lofin said, a hint of irritation in her tone. "As for my guest, I vouch for Nala here and her droid. The Council should be aware of their coming already."

"No problem," the security ship's pilot replied. "Seems you've had a less exciting journey than last time at least," they said, eliciting a faint chuckle from So-lin. "Welcome back, Lofin."

"It's good to be back," Lofin replied. "Take us in, So-Lin."

The security ship veered off back to its normal route patrolling the system, leaving them free to approach the planet at their leisure and So-Lin set a course.

It was fairly grey looking, on account of the many clouds that covered the view of the land below although much of the world appeared to be of water, vast blue oceans being most of what else could be seen of the planet.

There was also a small space station, a long central pillar with a ring orbiting around each end. The rings spun slowly counter to each other and it was evident that a number of ships of various shapes and styles were docked at the station. Each vessel would likely hold a few other Jedi currently preparing to leave or on short visits for whatever purpose before heading out again into the wider galaxy.

That might have been them if the Council had another mission for them, but in this case they needed to head down to the planet to deliver their precious cargo.

The clouds parted in front of them and small smiles onto So-Lin and Lofin's faces as their destination became clear. Auspiciously a ray of sunlight shone down on the settlement below.

Nala likewise was interested, the young girl leaned forward, looking out of the viewing screen at the Jedi homeworld.

It was not one single landmass. There were hexagonal blocks of hard stone jutting out of the water that effectively formed platforms of different heights and sizes. There were buildings on these platforms,, some connected by bridges but the largest building was built on more traditional dry land and it was that island which housed the new Jedi Temple.

Some of the blocks had been repurposed as landing platforms too.

"Get us as close as you can," Lofin instructed. "I'll drop B3M8 and C3P0 off with Master Paratus and then we should make our presence known to the Council as soon as possible."

"Not that they won't have already sensed our presence," So-lin pointed out before following his teacher's instruction anyway.

They landed upon one of the platforms and the five travellers made their way off the ship.The smell of salt and surf pervaded their nostrils as a strong breeze ruffled their clothing.

"Oh it is good to be back," C3PO said, looking over their surroundings.

"You're telling me," So-Lin said, inhaling deeply. He looked to Lofin hopefully.

"Go on," she said with faint amusement. "I'll handle the Masters, you just stay out of trouble until I come and find you."

"Of course," So-Lin said, slightly offended. "I'll see you later," he told the rest of them before he hurried away.

Lofin watched him leave, a fond smile coming onto her lips. Then she turned back to where B3M8 and Nala were exiting their ship.

The little girl was looking around with wide eyes, taking in the view of the ocean and the islands that defied the waves and the structures of varying sizes and degrees of technological advancement and age that had been built upon them.

"Knight Lofin, welcome home," a Twilekian woman said as she came off the ramp. It was one of the other Knights, someone who managed clerical duties for the Order. "You were due several hours ago to speak with the Council, unfortunately you have arrived late."

"Afraid so," Lofin said apologetically. "Can't always predict everything out in the galaxy."

The Twilek pursed her lips.

"I understand you were hoping to meet with the Masters as soon as possible but unfortunately many of them are currently engaged with other duties. You will have to wait to be seen."

"Of course," Lofin replied amiably to the stuffy woman. "I'll be taking these to visit Master Paratus and get the droids looked over. I will arrange to speak to the council myself."

The other Jedi frowned, but then nodded curtly before turning and walking briskly away. With that settled, Lofin turned back to her charges.

"Come on, let's go introduce you to my Master," Lofin said to Nala and B3M8. "You too C3P0, you may need to get looked over too," she reminded the droid that was about to wander off on his own, again.

"Of course, I should wish not to be returned to Master Luke in anything but proper working order," C3P0 replied, like he hadn't just been about to disappear somewhere and wind up causing trouble for whoever found him first.

Lofin resisted the urge to roll her eyes and held out a hand to Nala. The girl put her hand into the Jedi's, allowing herself to be led forward.

They made their way across a bridge and from there towards the central island, passing a number of people on the way. Jedi of a variety of races, some of whom stopped to wave or greet them as they passed, welcoming one of their number home. Nala was caught up in looking around with fascination at the new sights, smells and sounds she was experiencing and Lofin had to guide her out of the way of a few amused passersby.

"This way," Lofin said, leading them finally to one of the larger islands. It was messy, with a half dissected ship visible to one side as they strode into the main building.

There were several corridors leading to different workshops with a handful of Jedi either working or learning.

Nala stopped for one moment, seeing one Jedi meditating alone in a room. There was a flurry of components coming together in front of him to form a small droid with what looked like the same Force technique Lofin had used to repair B3M8. Lofin gently tugged on the girl's arm, reminding her to keep walking.

A couple of droids passed them, old Trade Federation battle droids that had been repurposed as labour and these two were both carrying a crate of either components or spare parts, probably due for recycling.

Mind you, they weren't very intelligent labour.

The first of them stopped, narrowly avoiding being walked into from behind by the other one which barely stopped in time.

"Errr," the droid said. "This doesn't look like the right way."

"You said you knew which way you were going!" replied the other droid.

"I thought you were giving us directions"

"I was following you!"

"Oh, that's not good then."

The first droid looked around, managing to look sheepish as it did so.

It was then that it spotted the Jedi and her charges. Although it wasn't Lofin that apparently caught their eye.

"Hey, who's the new droid?" Asked the first of the old Federation droids.

"Nice chassis," the other one said, sounding slightly mesmerised.

B3M8 raised a hand to cover the approximate location where her mouth would be were she a living creature.

"Well I never," C3P0 said. "How positively uncouth. Do not fret B3M8, these louts are not reflective of the standard behaviour of the droids o-"

"Ahem!" Lofin said, arching an eyebrow and interrupting them.

"O-oh Master Lofin, welcome home!" the droid greeted. "We were, just, err."

"Are you heading to the recycling plant?" Lofin asked.

"Yes!" The second droid said. "Then this waste of parts got us lost, again."

"Hey! That last time was your fault."

"We almost got scrapped because you insulted that Jedi!"

"You were the one who told him we were there to polish his lightsaber!" pointed out the other one.

"We were supposed to polish the electronics!"

"Not those electronics, wood for brains!"

Nala giggled, the echo of her amusement loud in the Force at the silly behaviour of the droids and Lofin had to repress her own smile.

"The recycling plant is that way," Lofin interrupted again, pointing down one of the corridors to their side.

The droids both turned to look that way then back to her.

"Thanks!" the second droid said, closely followed by the other one.

The droids both turned to head down the corridor, only for the second droid to be too enthusiastic and this time it did walk into its comrade's back.

Both droids fell to the floor in a tangle of robotic limbs.

Lofin looked down at the mess that had been made as the droids struggled to right themselves. She sighed.

"Come on," she said, deciding to leave the two hapless droids to it. "Master Paratus' workshop is this way."

They found the old Jedi Master in his workshop and he was currently propped up on a series of mechanical feet that were attached to a harness at his back. He was leaning over an astromech droid which had been mostly taken apart and fiddling with one of the components. As they entered he held out a hand, a welding tool flying across from one shelf into it, his gaze never leaving the droid he was working on. The tool froze in midair as Lofin entered the room and he turned around quickly.

"Lofin," he said. "You're back. You were supposed to be back yesterday."

Lofin smiled fondly. "Hello Master, it's good to see you. We were delayed by the Naboo King inviting us to a party they were having."

The old Jedi huffed.

"Nothing better to do, I take it?" He gestured and the tool flew into his hand before the Jedi put it down on the worktop before his mechanical limbs carried him away. He looked over at Nala and then the two droids.

"Skywalker's droid," he said, faint distaste entering his tone. "And a new one. This is the droid you told me about?"

"Greetings, I am B3M8, servant droid and nanny," the droid in question introduced itself.

"I was hoping you could give them a look over, just to make sure I didn't miss anything," Lofin said.

"You do yourself a disservice," Paratus said but nonetheless he raised a hand and closed his eyes, focusing on the droids in the Force.

"They are both free of significant mechanical faults and I don't sense any harmful programming," the Jedi Master stated. "The nanny droid will require thorough repairs with proper materials but it is serviceable for the time being."

"That is certainly a relief to hear," C3P0 said. "Why did I ever tell you about the time the Emperor's granddaughter reprogrammed me with a map o-"

With a gesture from the older Jedi the golden droid's eyes dimmed. his torso also leaned forward at an angle. But of course the most telling thing to indicate that he had been deactivated was that the droid was silent.

"I have a dataport for you to upload onto," Paratus said to B3M8, gesturing to the side of the room where there was a computer screen and controls. After a moment to recover from the surprise of C3P0's sudden deactivation, the droid went to obey the instruction.

"This is Nala," Lofin introduced. "Say hello Nala."

"Hello," the girl said, waving at the Jedi and looking at him and the mechanical legs holding him up with interest.

"Hello," the Jedi master replied, suddenly looking a bit more uncertain as he beheld the child.

"If it weren't for Nala we wouldn't have located B3M8," Lofin said.

Paratus nodded.

"Then I owe you a debt of gratitude," he said. "Err," he looked towards Lofin helplessly, not knowing what else to say as the girl's interested eyes looked back at him.

"Nala will be coming to live here at the Temple," Lofin told the older Jedi. "If you'd like, maybe she could come and learn some things from you one day."

Paratus' lips pursed before he leaned in closer to Lofin.

"You better not be trying to get me to take on another Padawan again, Lofin. You know I'm not very good with children."

"Well, I like to think I turned out okay," Lofin teased.

Paratus gave her a complicated look.

"You did," he agreed, relenting. Fondness that couldn't be faked reverberating through the Force between them.

He leaned down closer to the girl, inspecting her properly.

"She has strong potential in the Force," he stated finally, before sighing and nodding.

"If she is interested in studying Mechu Deru then I shall give her a few lessons, when she is ready," he begrudgingly agreed.

Lofin smiled back at the little victory she'd just achieved with her former Master. It would be good to see him get out of his workshop a bit more, or at least spend more time with people beyond his immediate duties on the Council.

"Anyway we should be speaking to the Council about what we found as soon as possible," Lofin said. "The world we found Nala on definitely wasn't there before and it bears investigating." Paratus nodded.

"Several of the Council are off-world and will likely not be able to find the time on short notice," Paratus said. "But those still on-world will likely be able to see you shortly."

"I am finished," B3M8 interrupted, having deposited the data she had found in the databanks.

"Good," Paratus said, heading towards a console where he typed out some instructions and from off to the side a trio of droids came to life, propulsion on their underside allowing them to hover.

"Find the Council members on the planet and tell them Knight Lofin has returned and is ready to speak to them now," the Jedi instructed.

There was a series of beeps of acknowledgement from the droids and then they flew rapidly out through the doorway.

"Let's be on our way. The sooner this is finished the quicker I can get back to work."

The Jedi began walking using his mechanical limbs out of the room. Lofin gestured for Nala to follow and the two humans and B3M8 followed the Master out of the complex.

"So," Lofin asked. "Which Council members are still on the planet?"

***

It didn't take him long to find his friend. So-Lin could sense Nat Krell from the moment they'd entered the system and now they were closer he could sense Nat was in one of the education buildings.

So making his way there it wasn't long before he identified the specific room, one of the auditoriums but the sound of a lecture being given gave him pause. Quietly, So-Lin passed through the entranceway.

It wasn't one of the bigger auditoriums, but there was plenty of seating, mostly empty right now.

At the bottom there was a large space with a small podium and some storage cupboards which would likely contain some training tools for young Force users, like helmets with an opaque covering to encourage young Padawans to feel instead of see.

One of the Masters was speaking, wearing a dark robe with the hood currently lifted over his head. A short beard could be seen but little else as he stood there speaking.

The figure clearly had the attention of everyone present, including Nat, who was watching from the side next to his teacher. Listening, So-Lin recognised what the man was talking about. It was an introduction to the Force that all younglings needed. Several members of the Council tended to take part in the early training of the Younglings, dropping in to speak or impart a lesson or two. So-Lin remembered his early lessons before becoming a Padawan quite fondly just for that specific reason.

Nat's Master was stood against the far wall and that meant the guy So-Lin had come to see wouldn't be far behind. He could often be found assisting his Master who primarily worked as a teacher for the younglings.

Nat's Master was Frenex Floo. He was a lithe figure covered in orange fur with pointed ears coming out of the top of his head. He was amongst those Knights who kept mainly on planet, teaching and caring for their home and those who lived here. He was a stern man, but beneath it he was a caring one, at least in So-Lin's opinion. Definitely an odd fit for Nat's Master, given his friend's excitable nature, but then again something similar could be said of So-Lin and his own Master.

It was sometimes annoying for his friend, being stuck on the planet instead of going out on adventures, but there was a silver lining to spending much of his time on Ahch-to. His friend got to pester the Masters for knowledge, training or just stories. He got to hear the legends of past Jedi and all the access to training rooms and most importantly all lessons on lightsaber combat he could possibly want from a variety of experts in all the forms.

So-Lin's eyes found his friend across the room and he nodded in greeting before going to stand opposite against the wall and out of the way. The Padawan nodded and smiled in greeting, silently gesturing to the speaker who hadn't stopped talking, having not reacted to So-Lin's entrance whatsoever.

But So-Lin could tell the Master knew he was there. He could practically feel the man's attention as it brushed over him in the Force.

"But all you really need to know, the most important thing you should remember," the JEdi said. "The Force is a mystical energy that surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together. We are all connected through the Force, from the smallest animal to the largest mountain and it is through that connection that the Jedi gain their strength," the Jedi speaker told the younglings. He looked around the silent room, the children having been paying rapt attention to his words as he described the Force with fondness and wisdom of ages echoing in his tone.

"Now I can see you're all bright and eager and just looking around I can see the potential for you all to one day become Padawans and then Knights and then maybe one day you'll become Jedi Masters.

"But it's not easy," he warned. "You'll have to work hard and pay attention in your lessons if you want to be a Jedi, so you should all listen carefully to Master Floo's lessons, do you all understand?"

There was a chorus of excited yeses from the children. The Jedi smiled.

"Wonderful," the Jedi commented. "Now unfortunately I have to go and make sure nobody's disassembled my droid when I wasn't looking, again," he said slightly dramatically, bringing out a little laugh from the kids.

"But before I go, does anyone have any questions?"

A plethora of hands shot up but there was also some shouting from the back.

"Can you show us your lightsaber?!" One child shouted eagerly.

Master Floo looked to be about to step forwards, maybe even with a reprimand on his tongue but the other Jedi raised his hand.

"Oh, another Sentinel in the making I see," the Jedi responded to the eager girl who was sat at the back of the group.

He raised a hand to his chin as if in deep thought.

"Well, I know I'm not supposed to do this," he said conspiratorially, glancing towards Master Floo. "But we have a few Padawans here with us. Perhaps if Master Floo gives us permission, and you all promise to work extra hard in your lessons, you can all see a spar with lightsabers?"

There was a moment of silence as young eyes widened and a couple of mouths dropped open.

Then there was a cacophony of eager voices begging their teacher to allow So-Lin and Nat to spar in front of them. The furry Jedi Master let out a huff.

"Alright," he said. So-Lin couldn't tell if the man's defeated tone was put on or not. Not that it mattered now he'd given permission.

There was a resounding cheer from the younglings. So-Lin couldn't help but smirk as excitement built up in his veins and he stepped forward. He remembered something similar occurring during his first lessons, that had inspired him to follow the path he was on now. It had certainly driven him to work hard at the time. At least until he learnt what meditation actually meant.

It'd be fun showing off a bit and giving these kids something to work towards.

"I think this space'll be big enough. So-Lin and Nat, come here please. I assume you both have your lightsabers to hand?"

So-Lin felt his lips pull up further as his friend across the room likewise grinned. He was barely back and he was already getting an opportunity to spar with his friend. Today was turning out pretty well.

"Safety settings on," instructed Master Floo from the side, his stern tone cutting into the excitement but not through it. Not that he had to tell So-Lin that. He was plenty aware of how dangerous a lightsaber could be.

"Welcome back," Nat said as they approached each other from opposite sides of the room. "I hope all that sitting in a cockpit the last few weeks hasn't made you rusty. Shame to show you up in front of all these younglings."

"I was about to say something similar," So-Lin replied, meeting his friend's gaze and withdrawing his lightsaber from his robes. Without looking he flicked the necessary switches to turn on the training mode, reducing the blade from a dangerous tool of combat capable of cutting through anything to a mostly safe blade of plasma that would deliver a light sting or maybe a burn if you held it against someone's skin for a few seconds.

But only if he got hit, and So-Lin was determined to show his friend how much he had improved since they'd last seen each other.

"Excellent," the Jedi who had been speaking declared. "Honestly lately I've been feeling like I could use a good workout," he said conversationally.

"What?" So-Lin asked, taken aback by the man's words. Likewise Nat seemed equally uncertain.

The Jedi pulled back the hood of his robe to reveal his face fully and Master Luke Skywalker looked between the two Padawans with a cheeky grin.

"What?" He asked humorously of the pair of suddenly very nervous Padawans. "You didn't honestly think I was going to miss out on all the fun, did you?"