Chapter 12

Listening to Queen Amidala speak pleasantries with the Chancellor and the secret Dark Lord, Cain walked beside Captain Panaka as they made their way towards an air taxi. Just as he was going to move forward with the group, he was held back by Qui-Gon.

Looking back at the Jedi in confusion, Cain raised an eyebrow as if asking what he wanted.

"We are on our way to the Jedi Council. I had hoped you would stand as a witness to the events that took place on Tatooine." Qui-Gon explained as he stood next to Obi-Wan and Chancellor Valorum.

Surprised and slightly excited at the prospect of meeting such important Jedi, Cain looked towards Captain Panaka to see him begrudgingly nodding his head, allow Cain to go with Qui-Gon.

Hiding his smile Cain stood beside the Jedi and the Chancellor, as they watched Senator Palpatine, Queen Amidala, and the rest of the group drive away on the air taxi.

"I must speak with the Jedi Council immediately, Your Honor. The situation has become more complicated." Qui-Gon claimed as he faced the Chancellor.

"Then, go inform the Jedi Council of this matter. This situation has been rapidly spiraling out of control. I'm afraid the Senate may not be able to stop it." Chancellor Valorum responded while walking to a transport with his own personal guards.

Agreeing with the Chancellor orders Qui-Gon and Obi-wan called their own ride, as Cain quickly trailed behind them.

Racing through the air at high speeds, Cain was amazed by how futuristic and tall the buildings were. They were so tall that they stood above the clouds.

Unlike Naboo's beautiful forest and open land, Coruscant didn't have an inch of open land on the planet. Everything was either covered by buildings or filled with millions of people compacted together.

Although still amazed by the planet, Cain preferred a more open and less rushed environment. Coruscant was as busy and overbearing as living in a big city, but this city was made from an entire planet.

As the Jedi kept quiet most of the ride, Cain was surprised when Obi-Wan suddenly asked a question.

"What was that creature on Tatooine, Master," Obi-Wan asked.

"It was trained well in the Jedi arts and was too powerful to be a regular assassin. My only assumption is that it was.....a Sith Lord." Qui-Gon answered grimly while furrowing his brow.

"B-but... that's impossible! The Sith don't exist anymore, they died out over a thousand years ago." Obi-Wan claimed while shaking his head.

"Then we shall hope that I am wrong," Qui-Gon added as he closed his eyes to meditate.

Seeing his Master mediate, Obi-Wan could only try and reason in his mind to find out what the creature was.

Seeing the distressed Padawan, Cain decided to try and finally speak with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"So...how long have you been Qui-Gon's Padawan?" Cain asked, trying to start a conversation.

"What?" Obi-Wan questioned, seemingly forgetting that Cain was even with them.

Repeating the question, Cain could see the surprise written on Obi-Wan's face.

"I became Qui-Gon's Padawan when I was 13 and have been under his teachings ever since." Obi-Wan genuinely answered, while taking pride in his title of Padawan.

"What was it like growing up to be a Jedi? I've always wondered."

For the rest of the ride to the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan told Cain in some detail about the training that he went through as a child.

From being put into clans of almost 20 other Younglings, and having been instructed by Yoda in the ways of the Force. This continued until he was chosen by Qui-Gon Jinn to be his Padawan, and started going on missions with the Jedi Master. Obi-Wan even mentioned a long term mission where he went to Mandalore but didn't give many details about it.

Having got to hear more about the Jedi Order, Cain was still interested to see more of it, as in the movies only a few characters were ever really shown.

"Qui-Gon mentioned something while we were on the ship. You are a Force-User?" Obi-Wan suddenly questioned.

Already expecting this question to come up, Cain took out a single credit and began to make it levitate.

"I've always been able to use it since I was born. No one ever taught me, but it's always been instinctive." Cain lied slightly while twirling the credit through the air.

"It's a shame. You could have been a great Jedi." Obi-Wan lamented.

"Yeah, maybe I could have," Cain said with a smile while thinking of what it would have been like to be trained as a Jedi.

As they were silent Qui-Gon finally opened his eyes, breaking out of his meditative state.

"We're here," Qui-Gon announced as a large building came into sight.

The Jedi Temple was a huge pristine building that contrasted greatly with the city behind it. There were four large towers on the top of the temple, with the middle one being the tallest.

As their ride landed on a large platform in front of the temple. Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Cain walked through the large temple doors after Qui-Gon confirmed his identity to security.

Walking through the temple, Cain was amazed by how well crafted it was, and the amazing calming effect the temple seemed to have.

[Force Nexus Discovered: (10%) Increase in Advancing Force related Skills]

Amazed by the effect that the building seems to have, Cain, lamented the fact that he couldn't train his skills here.

Following the two Jedi to the higher levels, Cain was surprised when he saw a bunch of Jedi that were never shown in the movies or TV shows. Cain didn't know the exact number, but he was pretty sure there were more than 9,000 Jedi in the order during the time of the Clone Wars, but they were spread thin throughout the war.

Seeing the Jedi in the temple, Cain noticed that there were Jedi of almost every known species. There were Humans, Gungans, Rodians, Twi'leks. Cain was pretty sure that he even saw a little Ewok Jedi walking around too, but it could have been another teddy bear species.

Finally reaching two large doors, Qui-Gon stopped and turned around.

"The Council has already been alerted of our arrival. You will give your view on the events, and then I will give the rest of the report about the creature we encountered." Qui-Gon explained to Cain.

Nodding his head, Cain followed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as they walked through the doors.

In a large room with twelve seats placed in a U-shape, the members of the Jedi Council sat watching the trio entered the room.

From his memory and looking at them Cain could recognize Yoda, Mace Windu, Shaak Ti, Plo Koon, and Kit Fisto. The rest of the members were either unfamiliar or Cain just couldn't remember their names.

"Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi reporting for acting as the Chancellor's Ambassador's for peaceful negotiations with the Trade Federation," Qui-Gon announced as he bowed his head to the Council.

"Speak." Mace Windu responded curtly while folding his hands.

Retelling the events that took place as they were attacked during the meeting, then later escaped to save and rescue the Queen from the droid's grasp. Qui-Gon explained how the hyperdrive was broken in their escape and how they landed on Tatooine until they finally encountered the creature as they were attempting to leave the planet.

As the creature came up Qui-Gon stepped back and gestured for Cain to tell his half of the story.

Preparing himself, Cain took a deep breath and stepped forward while meeting the eyes of the Jedi Council. He could see the interest in their eyes as he gave his half of the story.

"My name is Cain, I am a Personal Guard of Queen Amidala. With Jedi Master Jinn, he and I were heading back to the ship when the creature's probing droid appeared. I had noticed a similar droid before while we were in a settlement on Tatooine. It seemed to be tracking us since we had arrived on the planet. The creature targeted Master Jinn as it pulled out a similar lightsaber to his, but red. We barely escaped it's grasping, if not for Master Jinn." Cain gave a short summary of what happened, then stepped back and stood beside Obi-Wan.

As Cain finished speaking, every member of the Council was giving the group their full attention at the mention of a red lightsaber.

"....my only conclusion is that the assassin was a Sith Lord targeting the Queen." Qui-Gon said, then paused to let the Council digest this information.

"A Sith Lord? That's preposterous, they've been extinct for over a millennium." Windu scoffed in disbelief.

"Hard to see, the dark side is. Discover who this assassin is, we must." Yoda said, speaking for the first time since the trio entered.

"I sense he will reveal himself again." Plo Koon said while leaning back in his seat.

"This attack was with a purpose, that is clear, and I agree the Queen is the target," Windu added.

"With Naboo Queen stay you must. Qui-Gon. Protect her. Unravel this mystery you shall and the identity of the attacker will be discovered... May the Force be with you." Yoda announced as he dismissed the group from the council chambers.

Just as Obi-Wan and Cain turned to walk out of the room, they saw that Qui-Gon was still standing in front of the Council.

"With your permission, my Master. I have encountered a vergence in the Force." Qui-Gon suddenly announced to the Council.

Cain hearing what Qui-Gon said, hoped that he didn't bring up nor mention that he was a Force-User.

"A vergence, you say?" Yoda asked curiously.

"A boy...his cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have seen in a life form. It is possible he was conceived by the midi-chlorians." Qui-Gon said passionately and with absolute conviction.

"You're referring to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force...you believe it's this boy??" Windu questioned.

"Trained as a Jedi, you request for him?" Yoda proposed to Qui-Gon.

"Finding him was the will of the Force...I have no doubt about that. There is too much happening here."

"Bring him before us, then," Windu stated firmly.

"Tested he will be," Yoda claimed, ending the meeting and dismissing the group for the final time.

Walking out of the room, Cain let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. Looking to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, Cain could see that there seemed to be some tension brewing between them.

Unsure of what to do as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had a silent argument with one another, Cain said the first thing that came to mind.

"Well then....you wanna get some food?" Cain asked while smiling helplessly.