[Junior Jedi Knights] - 01(2)

Anakin turned, his ice blue eyes peering out the window, making a sweep of Yavin 4’s surface. He’d read all about the moon. Still, its lush jungles, rivers, and waterfalls took his breath away. It was so unlike the city he had just left. So beautiful and wild. With an impatient toss of his head he swept long dark bangs from his eyes as the shuttle dove toward an enormous stone structure. Anakin knew that this was the Great Temple, an ancient building that had been on Yavin 4 long before Luke Skywalker had chosen it for his Jedi academy. There were several other temples and palaces on the moon, but most were falling apart.

It was said that some were more than four thousand years old. Anakin wondered if he would have the chance to explore those buildings. He hoped so.

Once the silver shuttle was safely settled on the Great Temple’s landing field, its door opened with a hiss. Anakin walked onto the launch bay and into the waiting arms of his uncle, the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Luke wore a black jumpsuit. His hair was a few shades lighter than Anakin’s. But his eyes were the same bright blue.

“Anakin, welcome to the academy,” Luke said with a smile.

Anakin hugged his uncle, then bent to say hello to Luke’s companion, the silver, blue, and white droid ArtooDetoo. Artoo’s red lights blipped and beeped at the boy, but Anakin couldn’t understand anything the droid was saying.

“He says he’s glad that you’re finally here,” Luke explained.

Over the next few hours Luke showed Anakin around the academy and told its history.

“The Great Temple was one of many palaces built by the Massassi,” Luke explained. “They were a race of people who once lived on Yavin 4. They disappeared from the moon long before it was discovered by the Rebel Alliance.”

Anakin knew what the Rebel Alliance was. It was the name for the men, women, and aliens who had fought to bring back justice and freedom to the galaxy. His mother, father, and Uncle Luke had been part of that group.

“The Great Temple was renovated years ago by the Alliance and used as a secret base,” Luke explained. “Then it was found by the Death Star and abandoned.”

The Death Star, Anakin remembered, was the battle station of the Empire. That was the Rebel Alliance’s enemy.

“When the Death Star found the Alliance base on Yavin 4, a war followed. Some of the temples on this planet were damaged by crashing TIE fighters, but the years have also taken their toll on them. However, the Great Temple was undamaged, so we decided to use it for the Jedi academy,” Luke said.

Anakin ran his fingers along the stone blocks that lined the hallways of the academy. He wondered what the Great Temple had looked like long ago, and what the Massassi people had been like.

“The Great Temple hasn’t been changed much on the outside,” Luke said. He had sensed his nephew’s curiosity. “But we had to change the inside in order to create the academy rooms. We’ve divided some spaces into sleeping and refresher units for you and your classmates. And we’ve hung heavy drapes above the open windows. The windows in the Temple have no glass because the climate here is so warm that we rarely need it. However, every few months we have terrible storms. The temperature drops and rain and winds whip through the jungle. When that happens the heavy drapes keep the temple warm and dry. There’s one place that we haven’t touched, though-the Grand Audience Chamber at the top of the Temple. All of the instructors and students here agree that it is just too beautiful to change,” Luke explained.

Luke and his newest student continued to walk through the academy. Every few minutes Luke stopped to introduce Anakin to his Jedi instructors.

“Anakin, this is Tionne,” Luke said when they stopped before a silver-haired humanoid woman with enormous pearl-colored eyes. Anakin shook Tionne’s hand.

“Tionne is a Jedi Knight and she also loves to collect old Jedi legends and songs,”

Luke told the boy. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to some of your fellow students,” Luke offered. “You were the last to arrive for this session of the academy.”

The two went through a large wooden doorway and entered the dining room. Luke walked his nephew from table to table, making introductions. Anakin had rarely seen so many different creatures under one roof. There were aliens of all different colors-red, green, purple. Some had bodies like birds, others looked like snakes, and some had eight or ten arms and several eyes.

“There are many beings who are sensitive to the Force,” Luke explained to his nephew. “Whether they are human or alien is not important. The only thing that matters is that everyone in this room is dedicated to becoming a Jedi Knight and using the Force for good.”