Darth Marrs - The Last Jedi

The Last Jedi

Characters: OCs

Era: Future 332 NE (462 ABY)

Summary: There are no Jedi. There are no Sith. There are Abnormalspersons born with a midi-chlorian count proscribed at a dangerous level by the Galactic Empire. Those persons are euthanized immediately upon discovery. When one abnormal boy is discovered and taken to his fate, the last living Jedi steps forward to set his feet upon the path of a new history.

This story is inspired by a vignette by too_old4this called "Were they real?" Thanks to Jedi-Aurelan-Carter for beta reading the first 5 chapters.

The Last Jedi

Part I: Fugitive

Chapter One: Far From A Normal Life

On his tenth lifeday, which happened to fall on the second school day of the week before Unity Day on the 332nd year of the New Era, Tobin S'Artin was sentenced to death.

"For Genetic abnormalities detrimental to the well being of the Empire," was the way the local magistrate put it as he read from the flimsi proclamation. The magistrate had come to Tobin's school with two real-life troopers who carried real-life blaster bracers and stared at Tobin as if he were a hardened criminal.

The other students were staring at him as well, only in stunned silence. This was just Tobinthe quiet kid who laughed at the silly humor strips on his palm reader; who was so shy he couldn't talk to girls; who was beat up on his second day of school by Sha'rad the Rodian who terrorized all the students in their age-group.

"I don't understand," Tobin said. "Where's my mom?"

The magistrate stared coldly at the boy. "Jalia S'Artin is also being taken into custody on charges of genetic abnormalities detrimental to the Empire, falsifying official genetic records and harboring a known abnormal child."

In the back of the class Sha'rad snickered. Tobin turned and stared, stricken. He was going to die and the little Rodian toad was laughing?

"Is there no appeal?" his teacher Soola Dayaala asked. Her blue lekku spilled over her shoulder as she assumed a pleading stance. Though Tobin was only ten, his mother had taught him to read body language. He noticed the way Miss Dayaala leaned forward to expose more of her sea-colored cleavage even as she assumed an expression of hope and trust. It was effective, but not effective enough.

The magistrate's expression softened slightly before the teacher's imploring stance, but he still shook his head. "His tests were rechecked last week by the school nurse and the order was confirmed by the Secretary of Genetic Purity on Corusca. The child and his mother both have the abnormal markers. She knowingly falsified his first tests to hide the fact when they immigrated to this world. There is nothing we can do. His existence is a threat to the Pax Galactica that has given us all peace for these past two hundred years."

The larger man flicked his fingers and the two troopers stepped forward.

Now, Tobin, a familiar voice whispered in his mind. Run now!

With a frightened cry, Tobin held out his hand and pushed. One of the troopers flew backward with such velocity that he cracked the wall lining. The push clipped the second trooper on his shoulder and sent him spinning. Students started screaming and scrambling away from Tobin the Abnormal, for fear of being contaminated.

Tobin spun on his heel and pushed at the window. The window blew open as if from a strong breeze. Tobin did not hesitate as he leaped head-first through the opening.

The first rule: any time you enter a building you must find all the ways to get out of it, his mother told him. He was only five at the time and didn't really understand the reasons behind the rule. He didn't need to. His mother did not require understanding, only obedience. And so when the two of them immigrated to Nalderaan last year and he started his new school, the first thing he did was check to see if the windows were actually functional or just for display. He checked all the entrances to the main tower; he studied the ventilation system of the building; and then he'd prepared a report to his mother on how he would escape if there were a fire.

Or if troopers came with an Imperial magistrate to kill him.

He felt his mother's presence in his head now. She was coming for him; he just had to stay alive long enough for her to reach him.

All these thoughts passed through his mind in the three seconds between when he jumped out of the window to when he landed one floor down on the soft orange-green grass of the school grounds.

He rolled the moment his feet touched the ground to help absorb the force of the impact. He had just the barest moment of warning in his mindjust a split second to jumpbefore the ground exploded in a shower of dirt. He rolled away and saw another trooper pointing his bracer blaster at him.

Tobin managed a terrified squeal before he scrambled to his feet and ducked behind an annex building. The moment he was hidden from view he took a breath to summon the Force and jumped as hard as he could. The jump was just high enough for him to catch the edge of the roof. He pulled himself over the edge with a grunt and then rolled away. He heard the crunch of the trooper's boots below him.

The man was probably reporting that Tobin was hiding, but Tobin would never know for sure. Trooper helmets were self contained and were only audible when the trooper wanted to be heard.

Tobin started crawling over the roof of the annex when he felt eyes on him. He turned and looked at the main school tower. In every window, on every floor, thousands of his classmates were staring at him. One girl on the third floor even waved at him. Her name was Seela Flist. She was a year younger than him and sat with him once at lunch.

He wanted to wave back, but he was simply too afraid. If the children could see himhe spun around at the sound of thrusters and saw the trooper from before clearing the edge of the roof.

"Halt!" the trooper shouted.

Tobin held up his hands.

"On your knees!" the trooper barked.

Tobin dropped to his knees. The trooper walked toward him with his bracer held level at Tobin's face. "Please don't kill me," Tobin whispered.

"Shut up!" the man said. He stomped forward and back-handed Tobin with his gauntlet. The power of the impact sent the ten-year-old boy spinning across the roof. He saw stars and tasted blood. His whole face felt numb.

He turned and saw the trooper walking toward him. The bracer was no longer pointed at himthe trooper walked with a confident swagger. Why not be confident? Abnormal or not, what could a child do to him?

Tobin screamed as he harnessed the Force just as his mother taught him. The trooper let out a brief "What the" before he was gripped in the invisible power of Tobin's mind. Tobin spun about and flung the trooper across the space between the annex and the tower. The trooper somersaulted in the air and struck the main tower head-first with a sickening crack against a closed, shatter-proof window. He fell boneless to the turf while the children who had been standing at that window backed away screaming. Tobin could not hear them, but he could imagine the sound easily enough from their horrified faces.