On October 17, Year 6 of the Galactic Standard Calendar, on Tehar (star chart coordinates: I-7)—
Smack!
Standing before the Temple of the Force on Tehar, Max Vizsla struck one fist into his palm in annoyance.
"I remembered wrong!"
It was only when he saw the temple before him—a shrine devoted to the Force, but with no connection to the Jedi Order—that Max finally recalled the truth. The temple on Jedha (star chart coordinates: H-10) belonged not to the Jedi Order, but to the Guardians and shamans of the Whills: the Temple of the Kyber.
Unlike the increasingly conservative and rigid Jedi of the Republic's final years, the Shamans of the Whills embodied wisdom and openness.
It was from the Shamans of the Whills that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn learned the art of preserving one's consciousness as a Jedi spirit.
Disciples of the Whills, Guardians of the Whills, the Brotherhood of the Beatific Countenance, Clan of the Toribota, the Central Isopter, the Phirmists, the Weldsingers of Grace, and many other Force-believing sects all received selfless guidance from the Shamans of the Whills.
In theory, Max ought to be able to acquire a fair quantity of kyber crystals from Jedha by legitimate means.
Debating philosophy with a Shaman of the Whills had to be easier than sneaking onto the frozen wastes of Ilum and mining in secret. Once this journey to Ilum and Csilla was over, Max planned to stop by Jedha before returning to Bespin.
Who knew? Maybe the Shaman of the Whills would wind up bowing his head and pledging himself, Max thought.
"Who are you?"
A human boy suddenly poked his head out from behind the temple doors.
"I've never seen you before."
"We're tourists from Corellia," Max said. "My name's Skye, and that's Wren. What about you?"
"I'm Ralkai."
As he spoke, the boy stepped out from behind the door and looked the two Mandalorians over with open curiosity, both of them dressed in plain clothes.
"Corellia? Where's that? Is it far from here?"
"Pretty far," Max said. "Even on the fastest kind of starship—a class one hyperdrive—it'd still take ten days."
"A starship?" Ralkai's eyes lit up at once. "You came here in a starship? From another world?"
"Yeah." Max nodded. "That's right."
"Then—then—then, did your starship fly away?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I've heard of starships, but I've never actually seen one."
"So outsiders hardly ever come here?"
Tehar's situation was much like Batuu's or Rattatak's. Because it lay close to the Unknown Regions, high-velocity celestial bodies and vast electromagnetic currents often interfered with navigation.
Though Tehar had been discovered early, and though most star charts of the Galactic Republic still marked it as part of the Mid Rim, it was in practice more isolated than most Outer Rim worlds.
Ralkai was already eight years old. As far back as he could remember, he had never seen an outsider.
"How well do people here like you?" Max asked. "Take us to the village so we can buy some fruit, vegetables, and meat, and we'll take you for a ride in a starship. How does that sound?"
"My popularity, huh..." Ralkai scratched his head. "I grew up on meals from everyone in the village, so most people take good care of me. But... there are some who don't like me. They say there's something wrong with my head."
"Doesn't look that way to me." Max ruffled the boy's hair. "Looks perfectly fine from where I'm standing."
"I live here in the temple most of the time, and sometimes I can hear it singing. Nobody else can hear it. Some people say there's something wrong with my ears. Others say there's something wrong with my head."
He can hear the temple singing?!
Max turned to Christopher Wren just as his captain turned toward him.
"Force-sensitive?"
"Possibly."
"Is the midi-chlorian tester on the ship?"
"It isn't."
"What are you two whispering about?" Ralkai cut in. "I can't follow any of that."
"Take us inside and let us hear the temple sing," Max said, patting Ralkai on the shoulder. "Then we'll go buy supplies. After that, we'll all take a ride in the starship together. All right?"
"All right!"
The moment he heard he might get to ride in the legendary starship, Ralkai leapt straight into the air with excitement.
Once they sat down cross-legged within the temple and entered a meditative state through the Force, both Mandalorians heard it—a beautiful humming, soft and clear.
"That's the song of kyber crystals."
"This child really is Force-sensitive."
"Ralkai, would you like to come with us and see the world beyond Tehar?"
On October 18, when the Kom'rk lifted off from Tehar and began its journey toward Ilum, there was one more passenger in the cockpit.
"Wow..."
"Wow..."
"Wow..."
Ralkai kept gasping in wonder the entire way. And when the two Mandalorians changed into their beskar armor, the boy nearly dislocated his jaw.
"Wow! That is the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
"You want a set of your own?" Max asked, removing his helmet and raising a brow.
"I do! I do! Of course I do!" Ralkai's eyes were practically sparkling.
"Go play in the aft compartment for a while. The two of us need to talk."
"Got it!"
Once Ralkai had scampered off, Max turned to his captain.
"So, Chris—what do you think of the kid?"
"Bright, cheerful. Seems like a good one."
"You want to adopt him?"
"Huh?" Christopher Wren blinked in surprise.
"You're the kind of man who knows nothing but work," Max said. "If I force you onto leave, you spend it in the training room anyway." He clapped Christopher Wren on the shoulder. "Honestly, I'm starting to worry you'll never find anyone."
At that, Christopher Wren shook his head.
"Mandalore hasn't been restored yet. I really have no mind for things like that."
"Oh, come on." Max leaned back. "If you put it that way, I'm going to feel guilty every time I fall in love or end up in bed with someone."
"Chief—" Christopher Wren started to rise, only for Max to shove him right back down into his seat. "That's not what I meant."
"Death Watch, the Jedi, the Sith, and all kinds of other threats we haven't even seen yet. Being my captain of the guard is dangerous work. Chris, either find a little time to make a child, or adopt a foundling. A Mandalorian warrior as capable as you shouldn't let his line end. That would be a loss to all Mandalorians."
"I understand." Christopher Wren nodded. "I'll keep an eye on Ralkai a while longer."
"That works."
"And what about you?" Christopher Wren asked suddenly.
PS: The Children from Tehar is the title of Episode 6 of Season 1 of the current-canon animated series Star Wars Resistance.
Resistance is a child-oriented animated series with an anime-inspired visual style. Its overall quality is middling, though the starfighters in it do look excellent.
PPS: Lucasfilm's official reference material has not released any image of the Temple of the Force on Tehar. The first illustration is not Tehar's temple, but the similar and somewhat grander Ashas Ree Temple of the Force.
In current canon, the Ashas Ree Temple of the Force was built by the Jedi Order. As for the Temple of the Force on Tehar, it remains unknown who built it.
In this story, the author has chosen to make the Tehar Temple of the Force unrelated to the Jedi Order.
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF MANDALORE
🛡️🔥 STAR WARS: THE RISE OF MANDALORE 🔥🛡️
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📢 FOR MANDALORE! 📢
Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore has 100+ chapters ahead available on Patreon! 🌌🔥
Witness the resurgence of Mandalorian power before the public release.
In a galaxy filled with war, betrayal, ancient grudges, and rising factions…
🛡️ Mandalore will not remain silent.⚔️ The armor remembers.🔥 The clans will rise.
If you want Mandalorian honor, galactic conflict, brutal battles, and the return of a legendary people…
This is the way.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🛑 ALSO AVAILABLE ON PATREON:
🌃 Cyberpunk: Dogtown Legend🔥 Cyberpunk: The Relentless👩👦 Cyberpunk: Lucy Adopted Me and I Got a System🧠 My Cyberpunk 2077 Simulator🤖 My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew?🌌 Star Wars: Relics of the Past🏰 Game of Thrones: Secrets Beneath the Dreadfort⚡ The Rebirth of Harry Potter🌹 R18: Reincarnated in Her World
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔗 Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus👤 Patreon Name: SrMagnus🐦 X / Twitter: https://x.com/SrMagnusBook
⚠️ The novel with the most Power Stones rises first!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━