by scifiguy3553
in surprise. "Protect me? I thought you said you came as a potential friend; not a bodyguard!"
She nodded expectantly. "Indeed, Jacob...I freely offer my knowledge of the Force to you, so you may have the ability to protect yourself from the Other. And Jacob, he is close to finding you. That is one of the reasons why I abruptly introduced myself to you."
They were now edging closer to one of Chicago's many downtown bridges. The beauty of the city at night was more easily seen there. They stopped for a bit on the bridge they were on.
D. Harest could see that the young man was deep in thought about something. "You seem concerned again, Jacob."
"Well, it seems like we're talking a bit more about this Other, but I'm still not sure I understand where you fit in all this...what about you? If this guy's a member of some ancient order, the fact that it's your job to protect me from this guy suggests that you would also belong to a similar order; but his opposite..."
For the first time since meeting her, Jacob noticed a look of apprehension in D. Harest. And, indeed, her look went from apprehension to that of alarmed! Jacob didn't know what it was, but he felt another's presence as well! But, unlike D. Harest, this feeling was not of warning or danger, but of strength and the awareness of the strength in the Force, as D. Harest called it.
It was coming from the opposite end of the bridge. The tall male figure, much like D. Harest, was cloaked in a long jacket of some sort, and also with a hood! As per opposite of D. Harest, this male's attire was of light-colors: tans and whites. At first, he was walking toward them slowly in the stream of humanity on the bridge as the celebrations of the Fourth of July continued late into the night. And then his pace increased. A scowl was now detectable on his face, though both D. Harest and Jacob could already sense his indignation.
"Jacob, you must go--now!"
Jacob didn't argue! He turned and ran off the bridge and melded into the crowd of revelers, though he didn't go far. He wanted to see who this Other was that D. Harest had warned about so much! More to the point, Jacob didn't know what was going to happen between them. He was a bit far, but close enough to understand what was being said between them, given his Force-abilities.
"Darth Harest...So, you've found one," the voice of an older, urbane man came through. He looked passed the young woman and saw Jacob among the crowd further down the bridge. "Given the level of technology on this planet, and its Human population's relative youth, I doubt he even understands what you are!"
"Stay out of this, you meddling Jedi! Your foolish dreams of establishing your precious Republic on this planet are none of your business!"
There were a few by-standers becoming alarmed by the two Forcers on the bridge. Jacob decided to inch his way closer to the bridge once again. He noticed how the two Forcers were standing stiff and facing each other--almost like the Wild West days of a gun-dual! Indeed, now both Forcers had a hand down at their respective side, close to their hip; as if ready to draw a gun! Now a lot of party-goers had noticed them and were running away from the two Forcers! Some, already on their smartphones, calling the police or recording the whole incident!
"And it's the Sith's business to corrupt latent-Forcers on this planet," the man retorted sarcastically as he slowly shook his head. "The authorities will soon be here, Harest...how did you want to do this?"
"You think I'm concerned about the authorities in this town," she shot back.
Jacob, hearing this, flinched in confusion. D. Harest had said it as if Chicago were a small town! And just then, instead of D. Harest whipping out a gun, her hand swiftly ignited what Jacob could only understand as a 'laser-sword'! It was a tight, lancing red laser that had the most eerie, droning sound to it!
As if that weren't enough, the tall man had done the exact same thing with a similar laser-sword. Only his sword was bright blue. And between the two Forcers' swords, the humming was loud, even from several yards away.
Screams and exclamatory musings shot into the air from the crowds of onlookers as the two Forcers leapt into the air by several yards toward each other, and as they both landed on the bridge they were in a whirl-wind of battle! Flashes of light and arcs of energy spat from the two Force-swords as they crashed into each other, via the skilled hands of Darth Harest and the strange man! At one point, Harest simply pumped one of her hands--palm-out--toward her male opponent, even though he was a couple of yards away. Magically, and with an invisible ripple of energy, the man was shoved several meters down the bridge away from D. Harest. But just as quickly as it happened, the male Forcer was back on his feet and started running toward Harest.
"Jacob," she yelled toward him as she closed down her sword and replaced the hilt to it somewhere on her person. She ran up to him and snatched Jacob by an elbow and began to tug at him. "We have to go now--"
"I'm not going with anyone until I know what you two are fighting about," he said as he jerked his arm away from her.
"Jacob," she started, but then saw the male Forcer getting closer, and she sprinted into a large knot of onlookers and was gone.
Jacob wasn't sure if he should run as well...many of the by-standers saw him talking with D. Harest before the fight broke out! When he saw that many within the crowds were still recording with their smartphones, that's when he decided to run! For he was now implicated with D. Harest in a public fight that was potentially fatal to others!
"Jacob," the male Forcer called out to him after closing his laser-sword and started running after him. They both had to pass
by the same cluster of people that Harest had gone through earlier. "Jacob...Jacob, please wait!"
"Get away from me before I call the cops," he said over his shoulder as he made his way toward a different street. But the Forcer continued to run after him.
"Jacob...Jacob, the woman you were talking with is what we call the Sith!"
The Forcer was close enough for Jacob to understand. He had no idea what a Sith was, but the fact that he was able and willing to tell Jacob something about Harest made him stop and wait for the male Forcer to catch up to him. For several seconds they both were panting for breath, but then they thought better of it and started to look for a place to hide...and talk.
It was well-passed midnight by the time Jacob and the male Forcer had found a secluded night club and sat down to some drinks at a tucked-away booth. This particular neighborhood was far away from the bridge where the battle occurred, so they felt they should've been safe from the prying eyes of the police and the threat of --
"Darth Harest? So, that's what the "D" stood for...this Sith order of, what, bad Jedi?"
Jedi Salvitor chuckled at the young man's interpretation of the history of the Jedi and the Sith he had, briefly, told Jacob. Even then, it took Salvitor about an hour.
"No, Jacob, the Sith are not even a strain of Jedi. Nor vise versa. They simply have a different philosophy in life then we do, and they draw their strength from the Dark side of the Force. Remember how I explained that--"
"Yeah, I do get it..." He took a sip of his drink as he deeply thought about how he was nearly taken by anyone that practiced the Dark Arts! Worse yet, the whole story of other Humans coming to Earth from another galaxy so that the two factions of Sith and Jedi could compete against one another to establish their respective Order into Earthen humanity seemed extremely far fetched! But, then again, so did the powers he always possessed since he was a small child. If it weren't for his experiences with his Force-abilities, there would have been no way Jacob would have believed any of the things Jedi Salvitor told him that night!
There was a long silence from Jacob, as he obsorbed the whole day, and what he learned from Jedi Salvitor. Salvitor saw an opening.
"Jacob, I am truly sorry that your planet has just been invaded by two warring, Force-civilizations. But I can
not pretend it's not real! If we, Jedi, do not try to reach out to the inhabitants of Earth--especially those who are latent-Forcers, the Sith will simply fill the void and the Sith will once again form an empire! But this time, it will be here, on your planet, Jacob...on Earth!"
That last part really sank in with Jacob. The older man's kind, but strong, eyes held onto Jacob's.
"So...how does one become a Jedi?"
~~Fin~~
