Shadows of the Past

Cathar would always be beautiful to her, Kaedama Chrone thought sadly as she stood on the barren plain. There was a time when there would have been little animals on the edge of the forest watching all that was happening... but now the only beings around were herself and her master.

“Kae,” the older woman said. “Kae. You’re not listening to me.”

“Huh?”

Karri Chrone sighed at her younger companion. Because the two had the same name, people often assumed they were mother and daughter, or more flattering, sisters. In truth, the two weren’t even related. Karri was responsible for raising Kaedama as best she could. A headstrong teenager with fledgling powers was often difficult to watch after. “Look, Kae, we have some very special and highly dignified people coming today...”

“Uh huh. Hide the valuables.”

Trying her best not to laugh, Karri shook her head. “No, you nut!”

A smile crossed Kaedama’s face as she remembered her first run in with their guest. At that point in time, the Imperials had enslaved most of the native cat-people of Cathar and turned their cities into slums. She herself had been born on Cathar, but couldn’t remember much about her parents. Her lack of roots led her to a street urchin’s life. She had been sleeping on the side of the road when a white armored hand grabbed her arm and jerked her up. The stormtrooper had been rough with her, demanding that the child of about ten years of age give him directions to the nearest base. Kaedama had no idea and had started crying. Shaking her again, the trooper demanded she tell him. Suddenly there was someone in sharp contrast to the white armor of the stormtrooper. Two figures formed out of the shadows dressed in dark clothing. One stopped Kaedama from falling to the ground as the other confronted the stormtrooper. After explaining to him in no uncertain terms that assaulting children was bad manners — Kaedama could just imagine the surprise on the stormtrooper’s face when the woman’s shot penetrated his armor — the two women took the child to a café and bought her dinner.

“Well... maybe just in case...” Karri winked.

The smile on Kaedama’s face broke into a laugh. “I’m going to tell Priire you said that!”

“Why you little...! Now if you’d only pay that much attention to me!”

The moment of laughter was as sharp a contrast as the stormtrooper and Priire was to the two females’ normal lives. Normally, Karri was a simple schoolteacher who happened to have pity on Kaedama the street urchin. Hiding their true nature from the Imperials was a full-time job. Despite the fact that the two were not true Jedi, their kind had been just as hunted. They were Sailor Jedi, protectors of love and justice fighting for their planet and their lives. Too few people were left who really believed in the Sailors or in what they stood for. Some feared that one day the Sailor Jedi would disappear from all records... and all memory.

“There she is!”

Flying low so as to escape detection — and landing fees — came a small, mainly black ship. With a daintiness no one would have guessed the woman possessed if they knew her, the ship landed. Kaedama grinned and repeated her earlier shout. “There she is!”

Karri glanced around and reached out with the Force to make sure no one was around. When she was sure the coast was clear, she motioned for Priire to come out.

“Oh baby, I wish you’d learn to land!” the gray cat perched on the woman’s shoulder teased. “Hey beautiful!” he purred leaping onto Kaedama’s shoulder.

Rolling her green eyes, Priire hugged Kaedama and shook hands with Karri. “Anything new?” she asked the older woman.

“Not really. Ever since the government closed down my school Kae and I have been walking in the woods and training. Why did you come?” Karri watched Priire’s troubled face for any clue.

“Blame it on Coru. And Koumi. The two of them have been having strange dreams about the past. Past events that should be left long buried...” Priire shook her head. “And they’ve been seeing the destruction of Cathar.”

Karri gasped. “Again?” The dark-haired woman knew from all of the stories she’d been told that the first time senshi had dreams of her homeworld’s destruction was after the first Sailor Cathar had been killed. It had been generations since then... that had been when the Sailor Jedi discovered that you didn’t have to be blood related to pass on the name of a Sailor, you only had to have special gifts. As Chrone Jis’a died, her Sailor powers had been bestowed on another of the cat-beings. It was like a princess handing down her crown to the one she deemed most worthy. Three generations of Catharian Sailors had passed, with each Sailor training a Padawan Senshi under her. The prospect had frightened Karri when she first took on the name “Chrone” and became Sailor Cathar, now it only frightened her that she knew someday she’d leave Kaedama behind to train another.

Priire nodded. “Sithspit,” she cursed. “Sorry,” the blonde grinned when Karri glared at her. “There are a million different futures that could have happened and could still happen. For some reason this one isn’t quite right.” Priire grimaced. “Which means...”

“Some one needs to fix it. Sign me up!” Kaedama shouted.

Solai glanced at the three women. “Baby, I know you wanna jus’ jump right in, but maybe you oughtta talk to those guys first?”

“I see what you mean, Solai,” Priire sighed. “Stormies!”

“Cathar Forest Force, Make Up!”

“Padawan Cathar Force, Make Up!”

“Why not? Asteroid Star Force, Make Up!”

The three Sailors posed in front of the dozen stormtroopers. “I’m Sailor Cathar, protector of this planet and guardian of its wildlife!”

“I’m Sailor Padawan Cathar, and I help protect and guard this planet!”

“Senshi of stone, defense and redemption, I’m Sailor Asteroid, guardian of the stars!”

Sailor Cathar glared at the troopers. “It’s bad enough you defile other planets, but when you’ve started trashing our home, we get serious!”

Padawan Cathar snarled at them. “This time you’ve bitten off more than you can chew!”

“Prepare to eat dirt, space scum,” Sailor Asteroid added.

“Green Leaves Attack!” Padawan Cathar yelled. A flurry of sharp-edged leaves fluttered towards the stormtroopers. They blasted some of them and ducked the rest.

By the time they’d dealt with all the leaves, Asteroid had worked her way behind them. “Starfire...”

“Cathar Claws...”

“Surround!”

“Attack!”

The stormtroopers were pinned in by the attacks, leaving most of them to be listed as casualties.

“All right!” Padawan Cathar yelled. “Get em!”

Solai rebalanced himself on Padawan Cathar’s shoulder. “Baby, they were right about needin’ to fix whatever’s wrong or gonna be wrong with your planet. I wasn’t supposed to tell you this until the time was right... but...”

The blonde girl grabbed the cat off her shoulder and stared him in the face. “Tell me what?”

“Hold your tauntauns, beautiful! I’m getting’ to it!” Solai brushed himself off, ignoring the approaching Sailor Jedi. “As I was sayin’, you’re not supposed to know until the time is right...”

Sailor Asteroid put her hand on the cat’s head. “The time is right.”

“Would you stop interrupting??”

Everyone except Sailor Cathar looked embarrassed. “Sorry.”

“Now. When Priire and Koumi found you, they had been looking for the next Sailor Padawan Cathar using Koumi’s Force power and a special rock. When Priire got it near you, both she and Koumi saw it become one of Cathar’s legendary items — the original Eternal Transformation Rod.”

“But wasn’t that destroyed when Chrone Jis’a died?” Padawan Cathar asked.

Sailor Cathar shook her head. “No. Strangely enough, the rod was and probably still is trapped in a time loop of about three years. Only a Sailor with the power of Cathar could break the loop, but by the time the Sailor Jedi found the next Catharian Sailor, the rod was so entrenched in the loop that only a very powerful Senshi of Cathar could displace it.”

There were a few moments of silence before Sailor Asteroid took up the story. “We believe that was the event that caused Cathar to become barren, the lack of protection. Hopefully, you’ll be able to free the rod and bring it to its normal place in time.”

“How?”

“Believe it or not, beautiful, you have to go back in time and give the rod to the next Sailor Cathar.”

Padawan Cathar gave the cat a strange look. “Like I said — how?”

Solai grinned. “Basically, sweetheart, you have to collect the rod from anytime during those three years, use it by saying, ‘Eternal Cathar Transform,’ then live until the next — or maybe the first — Sailor Cathar is found then give it to her.”

“But how can I go back in time? Sailor Yavin can’t take me.”

Sailor Asteroid agreed. “She’s indisposed. Besides, my twin might be the only guardian of time, but she sure isn’t the only pathway through it! What I’m thinking is that this planet needs to be redeemed and takes its rightful place in the stars.” Sailor Asteroid grinned. “Lucky you, because you just happen to have the senshi of redemption and guardian of the stars on your hands!”

The blonde girl looked unsure. “Umm, you can’t do that, can you?”

“Sure! Why not?”

“Last time you said that, you and Numako ended up in jail for a week,” Sailor Cathar reminded her friend.

Sailor Asteroid shrugged. “So the stormtroopers had no sense of humor...”

The dark-haired woman raised an eyebrow. “Sailor Asteroid, you reprogrammed their headsets for the ‘All N*aboo, All Bespin Boys, All The Time’ station.”

“I had help!”

The youngest of the three women was giggling so hard that she had tears in her eyes. Sailor Padawan Cathar stopped when her master glared at her. “Sorry.”

“The point is, Asteroid, I don’t think you can do it.”

Somehow, Padawan Cathar reflected, when the Guardian of the Stars stands up tall, squares back her shoulders, and calls upon the power of the stars, you suddenly believe that she can do anything she sithspawn feels like. And what she felt like doing was sending Kaedama Chrone, Sailor Padawan Cathar back in time.

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!” Kaedama Chrone yelled as she was sent back in time to erase the shadows that had been looming over her present.