Lucasfilm Press - Star Wars: Stories of Jedi and Sith

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INTRODUCTION

W HAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE GOOD? Its one of lifes eternal questions, with many possible answers, and not one that can be resolved in this short introduction! But when I think about the effort to be a good person, the Jedi come to mind as an example of those who always at least try to be good. None of us are perfect, including the Jedi, but Jedi Knights give us an ideal to strive for. Whether its Luke standing tall and refusing to strike down his father, or Obi-Wan taking on a young Padawan because he thinks its the right thing to do, or Rey fighting against the evil of Palpatine, Star Wars provides us with plenty of heroes on the side of the light, doing everything they can to push back the darkness.

But of course you cant have that light without the darkness, or good without evil. And Star Wars has no shortage of memorable villains, too. From the demonic-looking Darth Maul to the twisted and vile Palpatine to the undeniably iconic Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader, evil is always there for the Jedi to face in their fight for the light. (Then there are those like Asajj Ventress who live in the shadows between, reminding us that the definitions of good and bad are not always black-and-white!)

Im so pleased to present ten exciting original stories by a group of incredible authors, stories that explore what it is to be good, bad, and everything in between. There are some important questions asked hereWhat makes a Jedi? What does it mean to stand for justice? In a complicated galaxy, whats really the right thing to do?but theres also thrilling action, adventure, and humor, in timeless Star Wars stories that feel like theyve jumped straight off a movie screen. So enjoyand choose your side!

Jennifer Heddle

A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away.

MICHAEL KOGGE

T HE TEMPLE LOOMED AHEAD, pink in the dawn, just as it had in the boys dreams.

It was a massive structure of stone, with a trapezoidal body on a rectangular base. Five towers crowned its flat top, four on each corner, with the fifth and tallest rising from the center. According to legend it had been erected on the summit of a mountain when mountains still dominated the planets terrain. After millennia of expansion, the Temple itself was the only mountain in this district of the city, drawing the eye from every direction.

Yet what lay within could not be glimpsed from without. Few viewports penetrated the Temples sloped sides. The stained-glass windows along its front arcade permitted only light to pass, not curious glances. Occasionally a robed figure could be observed on a tower balcony, but these silhouettes revealed little.

This was not to say the residents of the Temple were reclusive. They were in fact some of the most recognizable individuals in the Republic, members of a mystical fellowship of warriors, healers, diplomats, and thinkers graced with extraordinary powers of mind and muscle. Rather than using their gifts for selfish gain, they had pledged their lives to defend peace and justice in an ever-perilous galaxy. Yet how they attained their astonishing abilities remained mostly a mystery. Out of the trillions of beings in the galaxy, only a select few were permitted to master the secrets taught inside the Temple.

The boy would soon join that small number. He would gain admittance to the Temple and learn the truth about what was called the Force. He would become that which he had always dreamed of being.

A Jedi.

As he approached the Temple, the boy stuck to the shadows wherever he could, skirting down alleys and skipping across roofs, avoiding skybridges and crawling along pipelines. Someone like him was unwelcome on the upper levels of Coruscant. Unlike the wealthy who lived on the city planets surface and could afford the best in fashion, he was dressed in rags and smelled of sewage. His feet were bare and dirty, and his hair was patchy, cut by a rough blade. Filth was indistinguishable from the freckles on his face, and what flesh of his that could be seen under the grime was pale, rarely exposed to the sun. Though he was biologically human, few of his fellow species would regard him as such. He was of a class of beings that society shunned.

The boy was an orphan from the undercity.

Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh liked to say, We are all the Republic, but in reality there were many who remained on societys fringes despite Sohs best efforts to eliminate old prejudices. Rich surface dwellers on Coruscant still feared outcasts like the boy would infect their districts with disease, poverty, and crime. If he was caught wandering about, hed be branded a pickpocket and sent back down into the slums. No one would shed a tear at his disappearance.

His lowborn background would not matter to the Jedi, however. In all the datafiles hed read, the newsvids hed watched, the stories hed heard, the Jedi respected beings from all walks of life. The diversity of their ranks reflected this openness. Some of the greatest Knights had been nobles, others nobodies. A few had once been enslaved. A street kid like him would be in good company.

The boy bolted past a block of government buildings and arrived at Processional Way, the main boulevard that led to the Temple. There was nowhere to hide, no shadows or nooks, but he was not worried. Usually the avenue was flooded with all manner of peopleJedi, bureaucrats, activists, and touristsbut at this early hour, not even the trinket peddlers had arrived to set up their stalls. The boy was alone, and happily so, holding his head high as he strode toward the Temple. Destiny and destination were one and the same, so said the old Masters.