Author: Merula
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4
Rating: R
Warnings: Yaoi, AU (fusion with Star Wars), OOC.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and Star Wars are not mine.
Author's Notes: We have tried to stay somewhat true to that universe, but with all the books/movies/video games it is a bit difficult. There will be mistakes. Sorry. (Like Padwan? Or Padawan? Which IS it??)
Hanma Schism Part 1
Heero stood in the center of the council room. He was slightly nervous, but he controlled that feeling as he had been taught. No sign of it showed on his face. He was perfectly composed as he felt the attention of the council settle upon him, felt the appraising gazes. He was either ready, or he wasn't.
"So, Master Odin, you feel your apprentice is ready?" The oldest of the council members asked the man that stood beside Heero.
"He has passed the final tests, Master Shoak." Heero's master answered. "I feel that my padawan is ready to become a Jedi."
The old Jedi master looked appraisingly at the young man in the center of the room. "Do you feel you are ready, young padawan?" The weight of the question was obvious. Heero flicked his eyes up and met those of the council member.
"Yes, Master, I do." His tone was flat, no emotion betrayed his eagerness or fear. The youngest of the council members frowned. Jedi were not supposed to have no emotion at all. He tapped his fingers against his stick thoughtfully.
"Does anyone object?" Master Shoak waited for a moment. The room was silent. "Very well then. Master Yuy, swear the oath."
Heero spoke the oath in the language of the forefathers. He swore to uphold the precepts, to fight only when no other route was available and to preserve the balance in the force.
Shoak nodded to Odin. He stepped forward and took a hold of Heero's padawan braid. With a quick flip of his wrist, he cut it off and gave it to Heero.
Heero accepted it gravely and then turned back to face the council.
"You are one of us now, young Jedi. Be worthy."
"I will." Master Shoak turned to Odin then, with a faint smile.
"We have an assignment for you, Master Odin. And we want you to take your former apprentice with you. It will require all of your unusual skills."
"I am pleased to serve the council in any way I can."
"There are rumors, rumors from a trustworthy source, that the Temple of the Hanma Sect has been discovered on the second planet of the L'anthan system."
Heero blinked. The Hanma Sect had left the Jedi Temple over three hundred years ago. No one had figured out what had happened to them.
"The L'anthan system is on the outer rim, away from the attention of the Republic." Odin observed. "It would have been an ideal place for them to hide."
"According to our source, none of the heretics are left, and the reports say that the temple is in ruins."
The word heretics was said without any trace of anger. It was a simple statement of fact. The Jedi who had created the Hanma sect had disagreed with the teachings of the Jedi Order and had left. It was not an unheard of thing- the Jedis had fragmented many times over the centuries.
But the Hanma sect had included several of the historians. And they had taken some of the Jedi holocrons with them when they had fled across the galaxy.
"We request that you go to the location of the temple and investigate. Your contact is an old friend of yours who operates out there now." Master Shoak raised a small data disk. "This contains the information you will need. Do you accept this mission, Master Odin?"
"I do."
"Yuy?"
"Accepted"
The data disk spun in the air to land gently in Odin's hand. "We ask that you leave at once."
"We will," Odin placed a hand on Heero's shoulder.
"The force be with you."
"So, are you ready?" Heero's master sat easily behind the controls as he taxied the ship out of the hangar and into space. "Your first assignment as a Jedi."
"Of course," Heero replied, as calmly as always. Odin frowned slightly at his student. Jedi were supposed to be calm and collected, but not emotionless. Heero seemed sometimes to be more logical than emotional- not a bad thing perhaps, but a potential weakness in a Jedi.
Unfortunately he was one of the few that saw it that way. Odin disagreed with quite a few things that the Order taught, but he had chosen to try and work a change from within- he smirked as he looked at the data disk- unlike the old friend of his they were going to meet.
His former padawan was going to be in for a hell of a shock.
Which, as far as Odin was concerned, was a very good thing.
Odin loaded the hyperspace coordinates into the navicomputer in preparation for the jump to lightspeed. "What do you think of our mission?"
His student was silent for a moment, weighing his words before he replied. The boy never spoke impulsively. It irritated Odin at times, and pleased him at others.
"I am wondering who discovered the temple- if it is there at all. And who else will be interested in the discovery."
"Well, our source of the rumor, according to this disk, is a former Jedi. In fact, he was a classmate of mine."
"Why is he no longer a Jedi?"
"He fell in love." Heero nodded. That was not uncommon. Many Jedi left the order because of the strict rules against such things. Still, the former Jedi were considered trustworthy despite their weakness. So the rumor was more than likely based in some fact.
"Then there is something on that planet."
"Yes. As far as who else would be interested- I should think nearly everyone. The planet is controlled by a powerful family. As it is located on the Rim, there is also the possibility of Sith in the area. Salvagers as well. A former Jedi temple will hold a lot of tempting things." Odin frowned. "We must be on our guard."
Heero followed his master into the spacers' bar. He tugged his cloak tighter around himself; uncomfortable in the disguises his master had insisted they wear. The uniform of a Jedi would make them stand out in such a place as this. The bar was filled with the worse types of scum and villainy. What was a former Jedi doing in a place like this?
The weight of his lightsaber against his back was reassuring and comforting.
Odin chose a table in a corner where both he and Heero could sit with their backs to the wall.
"How long has it been since you've seen your friend?" Odin blinked at the question. It was unlike Heero. But then, the young man had never been in such a place as this. Odin hid a smile.
"Since before you were my padawan. But I still trust him."
A tall man slid out of the shadows and joined them at their table. A cloaked figure next to him. Odin tensed, but then the figure pushed back his hood and smiled.
"Maxwell!" Odin grinned.
"Odin!" The two men clasped hands across the table.
"It's good to see you old friend."
"You as well. Is this the apprentice that gave you so much trouble?" Odin laughed.
"No longer apprentice, but yes, this is Heero Yuy."
"A pleasure," Maxwell took the young man's hand in a firm grasp. Heero studied the man with hooded eyes. Tall, rangy, slightly older than Odin. But his eyes were kind and his expression was open. He seemed to invite trust, which made Heero slightly wary.
Heero nodded back. Maxwell let go of his hand.
Maxwell nudged the figure sitting next to him. "This is my foster son, Duo." The figure tossed back the hood of his cloak, revealing a young man, about Heero's age, 20 to 21 cycles, with big indigo eyes and a long chestnut colored braid. He nodded in Heero's direction with a smile.
"Nice to meet you," Duo reached a hand across the table. Heero clasped it briefly.
"It's good to see you again, Duo," Odin said to the young man.
"You as well, Mas...ah.. Odin."
"Keeping out of trouble?" The young man grinned then.
"They haven't proven anything yet!"
"Business going well old friend?" Odin looked back at Maxwell.
"Very well, unfortunately." Heero frowned. That was an odd turn of phrase. "Things being what they are out here, our merchandise goes for a high price. Can't bring it in quick enough."
"But it's needed here." Odin shook his head. "You are providing these people with what they need."
"For a price." Maxwell shrugged. "So, I guess our friends heeded my little note?"
"You know they did. What can you tell us?"
"Quite a bit actually, but not here." Maxwell got to his feet. "Home will be safer."
Maxwell and Odin fell in step together as they left the bar. Duo hung back to walk with the silent young man that had filled most of Odin's letters the last few years. Heero had seemed more interesting in the letters. Duo had been looking forward to meeting Odin's padawan, but this was turning out differently than he had expected.
"So, what do you think of L2?" Heero raised an eyebrow in an expression that signaled a question. Duo wondered if the guy knew how to speak. "L2 is what we call this planet. You know- the second of the L'anthan system? Not really creative, but hey, I wasn't around to ask at the time. I would've picked something good. You know- something like Cthulu or Mars that would bring in the tourists- or Hellpit, or Dune..."
"Arrakis, you mean. But there is no sand here."
Well, well, the guy did speak. And he had caught Duo's odd reference.
"No sand, but plenty of drugs and corruption." He laughed.
"So what are you and your- father doing here?" Heero asked and then frowned. "I apologize- I shouldn't ask..."
"No no, it's okay," Duo waved a hand, relieved that Heero was talking. "He moved out here to be with his wife on L4 after he left the order. That was her home planet."
"Was?"
"Yeah." Duo lost his smile. "She died when I was eight."
"I'm very sorry."
"Me too. The hospital had run out of supplies... so they weren't able to do anything for her." Heero sensed that there was quite a bit more to this story than Duo was telling, but it was a personal remembrance and had no bearing on the mission, so he didn't press for more. "Dad decided to do something about it. So we set up the business."
"What business?"
Duo smiled. It wasn't a nice smile this time. "We're suppliers of items that can't be found in the regular marketplace."
Heero blinked. Smugglers? A Jedi had turned to smuggling? He nearly said something, but then caught himself.
His master trusted these two. He had to know what they were. The council more than likely knew.
Besides, it wasn't like they were Sith.
"What items do you..." Heero paused, "supply?"
Duo had been watching Heero closely.
"Not an impulsive guy, are you?"
"Giving way to impulse is asking for disaster."
"Bet you're fun at parties." Duo sighed. "Med supplies."
Ah. That made perfect sense. Granted, smuggling was not the most honorable of professions, but the planets out on the rim got little to no help from the Republic. There were so many planets that the power players tended to ignore the ones that were too far from the center. Medical supplies would be a much needed commodity.
Thus, Maxwell's disappointment that his business was doing so well. Interesting.
"We're here," Maxwell opened the door to a large hangar like building. It made sense that the smugglers stayed near their ships.
He wasn't terribly surprised when Maxwell waved them aboard one of the two beat up ships that were parked in the hangar.
Once the door was sealed behind them, Maxwell went to a projector and called up a holo of the planet.
"Now that we can talk without being overheard, this is what we know." The planet moved in a slight rotation and Maxwell pointed to various spots as he spoke. "We are here, City One. There is one other settlement, City Two on the opposite side of this continent. You'll see that the rest of the planet is mostly water. The main official export of L2 is the sea salt. The unofficial of course, is the drug Lapha."
Heero frowned in thought. Lapha was made from the bodies of a specific kind of fish, one that was found in the oceans of L2 apparently. Hm.
"In between the two cities, stretching across the continent is a huge rainforest. The holo changed, showing a picture of dense jungle. "Scouting expeditions are sent in all the time- looking for new finds."
"New drugs," Odin interjected.
"Exactly. One of the scouting missions went missing. All the ships are equipped with a tracer. This is what the rescue party found."
The holo changed again. An overgrown heap of rock sat in the middle of the jungle floor. Heero realized the small speck on the top was a ship. He studied the rock for a moment. It was flat and cut into step like terraces. Not a natural formation.
The picture changed again. This time the ship was larger, and an arched entranceway could be seen behind it. The entrance way was covered with glyphs. Familiar looking glyphs.
"I'm sure you recognize the markings?" Maxwell said dryly.
"Yes. Jedi symbols warning that only guests were welcome here." Odin replied. "I can imagine what happened to the crew."
"I can show you." Maxwell pressed another button. "The next ship sent in two droids. This is their recording."
The hologram moved. The archway drew closer, the pathway into it a dark void. A flash of light lit the darkness, revealing more glyphs and a tunnel leading downwards.
Then the holo blurred into static.
"Every droid they sent in, didn't come back. The footage never varies much. They get in through the archway, and the holofeed cuts out."
"No bodies," Heero remarked.
"What?" Duo glanced at him.
"There were no bodies in the corridor. The humans must have gotten farther. I imagine they have some sort of disruptor set up in order to disable the equipment."
"That's what we thought as well," Maxwell nodded. "The ruling family figures that the Jedi are their best chance at getting in that temple. Thus I was allowed to send to the council."
"Allowed?" Odin asked. Maxwell shrugged.
"You can't operate a smuggling ring in the L system without the support of the Winner family. They know what I was. I was contacted and asked for help."
"What do they want in return?" Heero asked.
"They wish to split the contents with us," Duo answered. "Of course."
"That sounds reasonable," Odin said. "To a point."
"I thought you'd say that. Winner wishes to speak to you if you are willing to talk terms." Maxwell nodded.
"Of course."
"I'll let him know." Duo got to his feet. "Though I still think we should just go get it ourselves..."
"No," Heero shook his head. "They are in the right. They found the temple, they should have some say in what we do there. It would be dishonorable to sneak in behind their backs."
"You won't last long here with that attitude," Duo grinned, apparently undaunted by the reprimand. "Then again, you have a point. Quite a few others have tried to sneak in." He left the room.
"What happened to them?" Odin asked Maxwell.
"We don't know," Maxwell shrugged. "Their ships are still sitting by the temple, and no salvage has surfaced."
The three men sat quietly, each busy with their own thoughts until Duo reappeared.
"His Winnership can see us first thing in the morning. So, we might as well get some sleep." Maxwell got to his feet and pulled his son's braid.
"Just don't call him that tomorrow, Duo. We want to stay on his good side this time."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be good."
"Impossible child. Take Heero to your ship and get some rest. We're going to stay up for a bit longer."
"Ah, c'mon Dad, the least you can do is bore us to sleep with all your old stories."
"Scat pest!"
Duo grabbed Heero's arm and dragged him down the gangplank. "those two guys can stay up all night talking! Mom used to complain about it. In a good way of course. I think she felt guilty that Dad had to leave the order for her."
Heero followed Duo into the other ship. It was much more worse for wear than the other one had been. "Does this thing actually fly?" He asked Duo.
"Course she does! Scythe is the fastest ship in these parts. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."
Heero raised his eyebrows. He'd be surprised if the ship could get off the ground, much less make the jump to light speed. Duo must've caught something in his expression, because he immediately launched into a lecture of his ships stats.
Heero tuned him out. There were more important things to do than listen to the braided man defend his junk heap. He needed to meditate and regain the balance that he had lost ever since he set foot in that bar.
Duo had led him into a room that had two bunks, still talking at a furious pace.
Heero dropped down onto one of the bunks in a cross-legged position and closed his eyes. It would be a challenge to meditate with all this background noise, but he would prevail.
Duo paused for a moment. The other man had simply sat down on the bunk and closed his eyes. Duo recognized the position.
For a moment, he considered smacking the other off of his bunk, just for spite. But, he realized that Heero had no doubt had a bit of a trying day. From what his father had said about the Order, Heero would no doubt be focused on his mission and not interested in anything else.
Pity really. The young Jedi was rather handsome.
Duo shrugged and went to make one final check of the security systems before he bedded down for the night.
TBC...
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