Star Wars: The Phantom World

The craft came in through the atmosphere, fighting the planet's extreme weather all the way.

Even the extreme winds and powerful lightning strikes were no deterrence and the relatively vessel continued down, searching for an appropriate place to land.

The majority of the planet was covered in thick, lush jungle, but there were small clearings here and there, large enough to land in even for this craft which was somewhat larger than most personal transports of its type.

The brush compressed beneath the ship's landing struts as it touched down. The rain pelted the vessel still and the sleek, blue exterior of the spacecraft lit up as lightning struck overhead.

The ship opened up and a ramp extended out beneath the vessel. Bright light came from within, only to be overshadowed as two hooded and robed figures strode out, making their way out from beneath their transport's cover and into the jungle.

Beneath the canopy it was dark. One of the figures withdrew something from its robes. It looked like a sleek white metal square box.

In their hand the box suddenly came alive, unfolding itself to reveal a face, a pair of arms and four long legs. It let out a series of shrill beeps, looking at the robed figure.

"We need some light, K2," the figure said. It was a woman's voice.

The droid let off a series of smaller beeps before clambering up its mistress's arm to sit on her shoulder. Its eye sockets lit up, suddenly illuminating the dense foliage wherever it directed its gaze.

"Thanks," the woman said, reaching to par the droid on its head, jostling it and making it let out a series of beeps that sounded more like grumbling than anything else.

The robed woman led the way, followed closely by the other robed figure.

It was a little over thirty minutes before the other figure spoke.

"Master…" the young man's voice rang out through the eerie forest, his voice warbled slightly. It was the voice of a teenager. "We've been walking for a while now. Are you sure you sensed something?"

"Of course I'm sure!" The woman replied. "The only reason this has taken so long is because you parked the ship so far away."

"There weren't any safe places to land," the boy replied defensively. "It was the closest safe spot to where you directed me."

"And you've done a good job in this weather, my Padawan," the woman replied. "Why I doubt I could have done even half the job you did getting through this storm."

"That's because you can barely fly a speeder, nevermind a ship," the Padawan groused. The woman chuckled in response.

"With such a brilliant pilot at my beck and call, why would I ever need to improve?" She asked.

"It shouldn't be much further now though," she said. "Can you sense it?"

"Not really," the boy replied, making the woman stop and her Padawan did the same. She sighed before flinging off her hood, revealing a head of blonde hair. It was loose on one side, while the other was braided. The hair coming together into one longer braid which she flicked over her shoulder.

"You should be able to sense it at this distance," the woman chided, her eyes belying her critical tone. "Concentrate, Ignore everything else, let the Force guide you."

The boy let out a long breath through his nose before straightening his spine as he did as instructed.

It was over a minute before he shifted again.

"I can sense something," he said. "But it's weak," he admitted.

"Have you been neglecting your lessons again?" The older Jedi chided.

"No…" The boy denied.

"Don't lie to me," the woman said sternly, albeit with some dry humour in her tone. "Lying to your Master does not befit a Jedi in training."

"Apologies," the boy said, chastised.

"You've been working on your lightsaber forms instead of everything else again, haven't you?" She asked.

"Yes," he admitted in defeat.

"Boys and their toys…" The woman said with the fondly exasperated tone of one who had long suffered this particular behaviour. "Honestly, it's always the same with you. You'll make up the time on the way back to Coruscant."

"Yes, Master," the boy replied.

"Anyway, you can sense it, can you tell how close it is?"

"No," the boy said. He paused as he continued to search through the Force. "It's nearby though."

"We really need to work on your awareness," the woman said. "Because it seems our quarry has already found us."

The boy's eyes widened. The boy spun around, startled. It was the noise of rustling that caught his attention and he turned to the sound. He reached inside his robes, only to be caught short by his Master's hand on his arm. She chuckled.

"I don't think you'll be needing your lightsaber for this," the woman told him. She looked towards the bushes and crouched down into a squat.

"Hello there," she said.

There was another rustle, before a head of brown hair peeked out through the undergrowth. It was a small girl.

Wide blue eyes stared at them. The Padawan slowly went down onto his knee on the floor, matching his Master's stance so as not to appear threatening.

"This is what you sensed?" The Padawan said disbelievingly. "What's a little girl doing all on her own out here?" Hearing his tone, the girl's head shot back into the bushes. The Jedi turned a disapproving eye to her student, instructing him to be silent without words.

"My name is Master Lofin," the woman said, turning back to the girl. "This is So-lin," she gestured to her Padawan. "What's your name?"

Tentatively, the girl's head came out again, although she didn't respond to the question.

"Come on, it's okay," the woman said. "We aren't going to hurt you."

There was still no verbal response from the girl. She poked her head further out of the bushes.

"Do you understand us?" The Jedi asked.

There was a pause.

"H-ell-o," she said, her voice sounding like she was struggling to put the words together.

Master Lofin smiled.

"We were passing through the system when I sensed you in the Force," the Jedi explained. "What's your name little one?"

The girl stepped out properly into the small clearing. She was clothed, although it was plain to see said clothing had seen better days. Some fabric had been wrapped around her torso and otherwise her arms, legs and most importantly her feet were bare. She was carrying a stick, relatively thick for its size, made of a dense looking wood which had been sharpened on one end.

"Nala," the girl said.

"Oh my, that's a lovely name Nala," Lofin said gently. "How long have you been out here?" She slowly extended a hand, palm up to the girl.

The child observed the offered appendage curiously. Then she reached forward and tentatively touched the Jedi's fingers before pulling her hand back, as if afraid Lofin might hurt her.

"That's right, see. I'm not going to hurt you," Lofin repeated. "Are your parents nearby Nala?" She asked. Although the Jedi sensed she already knew the answer to that question.

The curious, wild girl stepped forward as Lofin kept speaking, letting Lofin close her fingers around her small hand, making the girl's eyes widen for a moment before relaxing. Lofin gave her a friendly smile. "Do you have a home?" She asked.

"H-home?" the girl croaked out. Lofin nodded, smiling warmly at the girl.

"Where you sleep," she said, slowly to help the girl understand. "Can you show us?"

The wild girl considered them both for a few seconds before nodding. She turned around, not letting go of Lofin's hand and began leading them through the jungle.

"Master, I didn't sense any other intelligent life," the Padawan said quietly from the side.

"Neither do I," Lofin responded quietly, sadly. "Be on alert, but don't attack anything unless you are first."

The padawan responded with a nod, but he still echoed anxiety in the force.

The girl led them through the brush. It was clear that she was well traversed in the jungles, finding clear paths, albeit ones not suited for people as large as the two jedi.

Then they came to another clearing and the girl's 'home' was plain to identify.

It was a ship. Although it was clear that the vessel had seen far better days. There was visible damage, dark marks and indents where blasterfire from another ship had damaged the hull. One of the repulsors had fallen off one of the ship's wings and it was partially embedded in the ground. It was plain to see that this vessel would not be flying anytime soon. This was especially so considering the other half of the ship.

The vessel was rusted and almost rotten. Metal that was typically rated to survive even the harshest of corrosive environments was heavily weathered with plantlife seemingly having done its best to reclame the material, practically burying it in the foliage. The girl let go of Lofin's hand, approaching the dense foliage where there was a gap through the roots and leaves. It was an entrance. The girl looked back at them briefly, before going through the hole in the side of the vessel.

"That thing must be ancient," So-lin said, wide eyed. His Master was of a similar opinion.

"This isn't adding up," the woman said, looking at the two halves of the same ship which were nevertheless in two different states. "Come on, let's follow her."

The two Jedi approached the canopy. It was a tight fit, but both of them were able to crawl through the small hole and enter the ship.

Inside wasn't much better than outside. There was dust of course, but also dirt and rotten plant matter stuck to the walls from where the plantlife had dug its roots through thin gaps in the plates of the ship and subsequently perished.

The girl was there waiting for them and she smiled with mirth on seeing Lofin's entrance, followed shortly by a giggle at seeing the more broad shouldered boy struggling to squeeze through the final gap.

"Laugh it up why don't you?" the boy groused as he stood up and brushed himself off. That only seemed to make the girl more amused.

The room they had found themselves in was a cargo bay. There were some storage containers.

"Is that… Mandalorian steel?" So-lin asked in surprise as he read one of the faded markings on a container with several smooth ingots that looked to be in pristine condition.

Nala meanwhile had gone to the other side of the cargo bay and she stood in one of the doorways. She beckoned the two Jedi to follow her before disappearing through.

"I don't like this Master," So-Lin said quietly. "A girl all on her own, on a planet that didn't exist two weeks ago when we passed through this sector. That ship outside too... I could believe a girl could have survived on her own, but this ship was carrying Mandolorian Steel? nothing else I've seen on this planet makes sense."

"You think it may be a trap?" Lofin asked.

"I'm not good enough with the Force to sense the truth of the situation," the boy said. "But who would bother setting up such an elaborate trap for us? Maybe for one of the Council members? But this still seems incredibly convoluted.

"Do not sell yourself short," Lofin said. "We are Jedi and there are still plenty of groups active in the galaxy that wish to see us hurt even slightly. But still, I agree. Something is off about this world and I do not think it is intended as a threat. The Masters will need to hear about this. We must investigate."

So they went forward.

The next room was a corridor leading along the length of the ship, the two Jedi careful walked up the ramp, the floor sloping on account of the positioning of the vessel.

It was even darker now, only the light of K2 gave them any means to see.

There was faint light coming from another doorway. The two Jedi carefully made their way to it.

Inside the girl was sat on a bench, reclining backwards due to the angle of the ship. There were rags and blankets there, arranged into a sort of bed.

"H-ello," she said brightly.

"Hello," Lofin said.

The room was clearly much more lived in.

"Is this where you sleep?" She asked. The girl nodded shyly.

"Master, look," So-lin said, gesturing at the other wall.

On the other side, the room was decayed, just like the strange contrast they'd seen outside.

"Whatever the phenomenon was, it covered the entire ship," Lofin commented. "K2, can you run some scans?"

The droid perked up and jumped off Lofin's shoulder. It's spindly legs struggled to gain purchase on the sloping ground but it managed after a few seconds. A bright light emitted from the droid's single eye lens, bathing the ancient wall in blue light.

The girl watched the robot and her eyes lit up.

"Droid!" She said excitedly.

"Yes, this is a droid," Lofin replied, curious about the girl's enthusiasm.

She jumped up and hurriedly left the room.

Lofin shared a briefly worried look with her Padawan. They were both distracted though when they heard a crashing of metal from outside.

Hurrying after the girl the two Jedi found her, trying to pull the broken circuitry of another droid forward.

It was a protocol droid with a deep blue chassis and missing several parts. It lacked one eye, and its hand on the left side was missing. It had no legs beneath the knee either. The torso was open, wires hanging loose.

"Bro… broken," the girl said. She looked to the Jedi.

"Oh my, it is broken isn't it?" Lofin said. "Would you like me to fix it?" She offered.

Nala's eyes widened in excitement and she nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Help me lift this," Lofin asked her Padawan. Together they both lifted the droid, carrying it back into the room the girl had been trying to bring it from. There was a table at the centre of the room, clearly where the girl had retrieved the droid from. They put the droid back where ti had been.

It was a workshop, clearly. There was equipment, much of which Lofin recognised and some which looked foreign too. At a guess though, this seemed as much a hobby room as it did an actual repair station. Everything was covered in dust, but protected from the ravages of the outside, the equipment was at least sound, the parts located on shelves and storage containers still of use.

"Someone was trying to repair it maybe?" So-lin suggested.

"Possibly," Lofin replied. She looked around the room. But droids were droids. Protocol droids were actually relatively simple as far as it went, although it was clear this wasn't a simple protocol droid. It had properly moving arms for a start…

None of that mattered though.

"The Force must truly have smiled on you, Nala," Lofin said. "Because there aren't many Jedi who can manage this."

Closing her eyes the Jedi raised her hand.

There was a tremor in the force. The various knick knacks and parts around the room began to tremble and it was a few seconds later that something changed.

The little girl gasped in surprise as a piece of machinery lifted up from among its fellows. It broke apart, the pieces hovering in the air and smaller parts were removed from the destroyed device. Those pieces raced through the air to the droid, flying onto the damaged areas and attaching themselves.

Nala stepped back in fright, but a glance at the boy showed he wasn't afraid, only watching.

He glanced in her direction and offered the girl a small smile. Nala turned back to watch the spectacle.

Another part came forward, going to hover over the droid where it was disassembled like the one before, the various parts salvaged from the equipment going down to the droid where they attached themselves without even the need for the tools to properly do so.

Then things picked up. Two more parts came forward, breaking into pieces and the required components being taken to rebuild the droid. The room became a medley of metal rattles, snapping and twanging as before her eyes, Nala watched the droid being rebuilt from the random bits of junk around the room.

It was well over a minute before the Jedi was done. She lowered her hand, taking a deep breath, only to cough after inhaling the cloud of dust her actions had caused.

"Are you alright Master?" Asked So-lin.

"I-I'm fine," the Jedi replied, covering her mouth with one hand while waving away the dust from her face with the other.

So-lin stepped forward. "Should we turn it on then?"

"Of course," Lofin replied. She stepped forward and put a hand to the droid's chest.

There was one final crackle of electricity. The lights in the droid's rebuilt eyes lit up a soft yellow.

"Reboot initiated," came a deep voice, which quickly transitioned to a more feminine tone. Chronometer indicates… five years since battery shutdown. Oh no. Nala!"

The droid's head turned and quickly identified the girl.

"Nala, you are alive?! Thank the stars. Your parents would have never forgiven me if something had happened to you." The droid looked to Lofin.

"I take it that it is you who I have to thank for reactivating me me?" The droid asked, sitting up. It looked down at itself, finding the rough mechanical hand that had been added to replace the one that was missing. Then it shifted to stand as it came off the workbench.

"Easy there," Lofin advised, catching the robot before it could fall. "It'll take a while to adjust to the new hardware, and it's not exactly up to spec."

Indeed the upgrades weren't standard issue by any means. The replacement limbs were bare metal, missing a proper chassis and mismatching besides.

"Thank you," the droid said. "This is far from ideal I agree, but simply being activated again is worth the cost." It turned to Nala.

"Oh I am so glad you are safe," the droid said. "And look, you're so grown up!" It praised with motherly affection. Nala beamed up at the droid and raced forward to hug it around the midsection.

"Beetee!" The girl said.

"We found her in the forest near your ship," Lofin explained. The droid nodded.

"You have only just found us?" The droid asked. "I had set up a distress signal before I ran out of power. How did it take so long for you to find us? The channel I broadcast upon was supposed to be secure, but we were are in relatively high traffic space. Surely someone must have picked it up sooner?"

"We didn't receive any distress signal," Master Lofin said. "I sensed Nala with the Force and we came to investigate."

"Oh my, you are Jedi?" The Droid asked, sounding suddenly relieved.

"Yes, Jedi," Lofin replied, a soft edge of confusion to her tone. The familiar distrust of Jedi extended to even droids sometimes, it was more often that they encountered confusion or distrust when they introduced themselves, not relief. "We are here to help, if we can."

"Indeed and I am sure myself and Nala would be grateful for any assistance you can provide," the droid replied. There was a pause before it spoke again.

"Oh where are my manners," it said politely. "I am B3 M8, family droid. It is lovely to make your acquaintance."

"And you as well," Lofin said. "I am Master Lofin and this is my Padawan So-lin."

"We were hoping you could explain what happened here," So-lin interjected.

"Happened here?" The droid answered. "Why we crashed of course. Although… I was not active during that period, so I am unable to comment on the specifics of exactly what happened and Nala was not able to explain much herself, being only a little girl at the time. I assume that the Mandolorian fleet caught up to us."

"Why would the Mandalorians be after you?" Lofin asked, surprised.

"They had Mandalorian steel in the hold," So-lin commented. "But surely they'd have come down to the planet to reacquire it."

"Indeed. Although I can tell you we acquired much more than that," the droid informed them. "We were tasked with acquiring information on their smithing techniques. We were on our way back to Jedi controlled territory with the data my owners had stolen."

"Mandalorian smithing techniques?" So-lin questioned in awe, and not for little reason. The Mandalorians were incredibly secretive about how they made the metal that had been a huge part in their reputation reaching galactic fame.

"Indeed," the droid said. "We were tasked with delivering samples and data, but it appears that we were waylaid. Is the war still ongoing? I continue to hold records of much of the knowledge we stole, I imagine it will be of extreme use to the Council."

"We aren't currently at war, no," Lofin said apologetically. She turned to shoot a glance at her Padawan, indicating he should be quiet for the moment.

"Then the war is won?" oh that is indeed a relief. I am sure if Nala's parents were here then they too would be pleased to know," the droid said.

Master Lofin pursed her lips, as she tried to think of the right thing to say.

"B3 M8," she said carefully. "When I said that we were not currently at war with the Mandalorians. That was because the Jedi-Mandalorian war ended many thousands of years ago."

The droid was visibly taken aback at the woman's words.

"B-but my chronometer indicates that I was offline for only five years," the droid questioned. "How can that be?"

"That is just one of many questions I do not have an answer for," the Jedi replied.