"Commander? What happpened?", Rex asked Ahsoka, who held his shoulder.
"I don't know Rex, it looked as if you hypnotized at the sight of the Chancellor", Ahsoka told him, but couldn't help but wonder. Why is Rex acting like this? What does Palpatine's appearance had to do with it?
...
It had begun to rain on Dagobah, much to Artoo's dismay. He had disobeyed Luke's order and followed after his master to the Hermit's hut and had been left outside as punishment. Luke conveniently left out the fact that there was no way Artoo would even be able to make it inside without knocking out a wall first.
"Look, I'm sure it's delicious, but I don't understand why we can't see Yoda now." Lule said, trying hard to keep it from sounding like whining.
"Patience!" his host told him, "For the Jedi it is time to eat as well."
"Hopefully Anakin's impatience is not passed on", Obi-Wan teased to Anakin, in an attempt to calm him from the shocking revelation earlier.
"Come on, I'm sure he's different!", Anakin reasoned out.
Luke sighed and walked over to the fire, spooning some the food into a bowl. The stuff hardly looked like food, which was saying something since he had been mostly living off of military food for the past two years. He took a bite and grimaced. He suddenly wished he had some MREs right now. At least those lacked any real taste."Good food. Hmm? Good food." The Hermit said.
"Someone doesn't like Master Yoda's cooking", Ahsoka whispered to Padmé, who giggled.
"Heard that, I do!", the Grandmaster called out to Ahsoka, a little offended.
"How far away is Yoda?" Luke said, changing the subject as he quietly added some sugar he always kept on hand to the food "Will it take us long to get there?"
"Not far. Yoda not far." The Hermit assured as he joined him by the fire. "Patience. Soon, you will be with him. Why wish you become Jedi? Hmm? Hmm?"
Luke shrugged. "Mostly because of my father, I guess."
"Ah, father. Powerful Jedi was he. Mmm, powerful Jedi."
Anakin smiled at the Grandmaster, who acknowledge him by who is he is, unlike many of members of the Council before.
"Oh, come on, how could you know my Father? You don't even know me." Finally, everything boiled over and he lost it, "I don't even know what I'm doing here. We're wasting our time!" The Hermit sighed. "I cannot teach him.." he said, "The boy has no patience."
"Wait, what?" Caleb said.
The other Jedi sighed in relief, glad that Master Yoda's persona is merely a facade. It would have been really weird to see him like that.
"He will learn patience."
The spectral voice of Obi-Wan said, making Luke start and the Hermit scowl before he turned and faced him, all trace of the eccentric hermit gone."Much anger in him, like his father." He said.
"Was I any different when you taught me?"
"No. He is not ready."
"I will be truthful to you, Skywalker. But Master Yoda is right. Luke needed patience to have the proper training of a Jedi Knight", Windu commented to Anakin, who sees it to be reasonable enough.
Luke's eyes widened. "Yoda…" he nodded. "I am ready. Ben- I can be a Jedi. Ben, tell him I'm-" he tried to stand but forgot how low the ceiling was.
"Ready are you?" Yoda questioned, "What know you ready? For 800 years have I trained Jedi."
"He is nearly 900 years old at this point", Obi-Wan observed, fascinated on the Grandmaster's species' lifespan.
"I wonder if there are more like Master Yoda out there", Ahsoka thoughtfully said.
"My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment. The most serious mind." He turned and began speaking to the air, specifically Obi-Wan.
"This one, a long time have I watched. All his life, has he looked away. To the future, to the horizon. Never his mind onwhere he ? What he was doing! Hmph. Adventure. Ha! Excitement. Ha! A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless!"
"Master Yoda just described every Youngling at best." Mundi mused.
"So was I, if you remember."
"He is too old." He said with finality. "Yes. Too old to begin the training."
"But I've learned so much." Luke pleaded.
Yoda sighed. "Will he finish what he begins?" he asked of Obi-Wan.
Luke answered instead. "I won't fail you." Yoda looked at him critically. "I'm not afraid."
"Oh, you will be." He nodded to himself. "You will be."
"I just hope Luke will learn a lot from him", Ahsoka thoughtfully said.
"Under the Grandmaster of the Jedi, I would think so, Snips", Anakin assured her, hoping that under Master Yoda's teachings, Luke would be capable of facing Vader and Palpatine on his own.
The Imperial fleet had taken up a new tactic in searching the asteroid field, having the Destroyers hang back and destroy any asteroids that posed a threat to them from range, while sending out TIE bombers to the larger ones in order to flush their prey from their hiding place.
Too bad for them that their prey was hidden deep within one of the largest asteroids, so the bombs were nothing more than loud pops to them.
Leia was sat in the co-pilot seat of the Falcon's cockpit, listening to the bombs drop, when they suddenly stopped. He looked up, waiting for the noise to resume, and saw a shadow pass by. She stood up to get a better look and was greeted by the sudden appearance of a leech-like mouth on the cockpit window. She yelled in alarm and ran for help.
"Well, so much for surprises", Depa said, though a little startled along with the audience.
Meanwhile, Han, Chewie and Threepio were continuing with repairs without any Imperial interruptions.
"Captain, if I may venture an opinion- " Threepio said, but Han cut him off.
"Not really interested in your opinion, Threepio."
"There's something out there!" Leia said as she entered the ship's common room.
"Where?" Han asked.
"Outside in the cave."
A loud banging from outside gave her statement validity, and Han and Chewie grabbed their weapons.
"Let's go, Chewie."
"Are you crazy?" Leia asked.
"I just got this bucket of bolts back together." Han told her, "I'm not gonna let something tear it apart."
"Then I'm going with you." Leia growled, grabbing one of the rebreathers Han and Chewie had grabbed and followed them outside.
Han walked down the entry ramp with his pistol at the ready and the rebreather mask over his mouth and nose. Leia followed close behind and Chewie bringing up the rear with his bowblaster.
"This ground sure feels strange." Leia commented as she stepped onto the cave floor. "It doesn't feel like rock."
"You just have to say it...", Kit-Fisto muttered with a face-palm.
"There's an awful lot of moisture in here as well." Han added, noting the light fog that hung on the ground.
"I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this."
"I'll have to agree with you Solo", Anakin admitted with a sigh.
"And I have a guess at why." Obi-Wan groaned.
"Yeah. Me too." Han turned and his eyes widened. "Heads up!" he yelled, and fired. Chewie, hearing this, called out to his partner.
"It's all right." Han assured him. "It's all right." she got a look at what she had killed. "Yeah, what I thought. Mynock. Chewie, check the rest of the ship and make sure there aren't any more attached, chewing on the power cables."
"A Mynock?" Leia said, confused.
"Go on inside. We'll clean them off if there are anymore."
Leia screamed when she felt some fly past her head, and yelled for Han. Chewie shouted at one that had latched itself to the front of her weapon, and Threepio yelled ineffectually from the cockpit at one that stuck itself to the glass. Han fired at one that passed by, but missed and hit the wall. Suddenly, the entire cave shook briefly.
"They're not on solid ground. Are they?", Padmé asked, worried.
"It could be said so, Senator", Rex answered in a dejected tone, sighing.
Han's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute." he fired again at the ground before his, eliciting the same response as before, but far worse. Everyone grabbed onto something in an attempt to stay upright. That was enough to convince Han of his theory. "Everyone inside, now!"
"Trouble always finds its way to them", Luminara said.
"Reminds me of Anakin and I during the campaign. Except this was a whole different case", Obi-Wan told her.
They all ran as quickly as they could as the cave continued to move under their feet, making it back to the ship.
"Chewie! Let's get out of here!" Han yelled.
"The Empire is still out there!" Leia argued, "I don't think- "
"No time to discuss this in committee."
"Oof! I am not a committee!"
Han successfully made it back to the cockpit and slid into his seat next to Chewie, Leia hot on his heels.
"You can't make the jump to light speed in this asteroid field." Leia told him.
"Sit down, sweetheart. We're taking off."
The floor finally stopped moving as the Falcon lifted off and began to make it's exit. Threepio entered behind them and pointed ahead of them.
"Look!" he exclaimed.
"I see it, I see it." Han growled.
"The cave is collapsing!" Leia said.
"This is no cave."
Han was proven right as the Falcon roared out of the hole, followed by a massive eyeless worm with a huge mouth that tried to snap at them, barely missing. As the ship blazed into the void, the worm retreated into its hiding place with a grumble.
"An Exogorth", Saesee Tiin marvelled at the huge monsters. "They had been very rare nowadays.
"Thankfully none of our ships had ran into them. Or that could explain why they all vanished all of a sudden", Obi-Wan guessed.
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