Author's Note: I own neither Life is Strange or Star Wars. I'm just a fan who's mashing up their respective universes in a fic that probably no one asked for.

I hope you enjoy it.

Path of the Jedi

Chapter 1 – Sithspit

A massive, elliptical starship hovers over the city-planet of Coruscant, directly over the Jedi Temple. Armour-piercing warheads rain down by the hundreds from dozens of missile ports on the underside of its obsidian hull, the warheads punching easily through the outer layers of the Temple like a red-hot vibroblade through flesh. As each missile comes to rest, either on the Temple grounds or directly inside, it detonates, releasing a noxious red gas and turning the sky a bloody crimson.

Thousands of Jedi are instantly affected. They keel over, howling in pain and clutching their heads. Some of them vomit. Some try to run, to no avail. The lucky ones are instantly killed by the detonating warheads and lethal shrapnel. But all who turn to the Force for aid realize: they can't feel it, as it it had just disappeared, or been ripped away from them.

A lone Jedi watches from the bridge of the starship, horrified, knowing she had failed utterly. She knew the destruction raining down upon the Order was her fault, and her fault alone. As tears of horror track down her face, a voice, sonorous and distorted through a heavy mask's vocoder, sounds behind her.

"I told you it would come to this. That I would deliver glorious retribution upon the galactic cancer that is the Jedi Order."

"How could you do this? You're a monster. You're... inhuman." She finds herself saying.

"I care not for your tawdry insults." The voice retorts. "But do not worry. You'll be reunited with your pathetic Jedi peers rather... imminently."

She hears the snap-hiss of a lightsaber blade igniting, and a second later her nervous system flashes in blinding agony, as the tip of a sanguine red blade erupts from her throat. She can't even cry out before she collapses, her vocal chords have been completely burned through . As the world dims, her last thought is of how distraught a blue-haired pilot would be...

In the darkness of her chambers, Max Starfield, newly anointed Jedi Knight, catapulted into wakefulness. Within a second, her lightsaber was in her hand and glowing a deadly, white-hot blue. Her eyes darted around the room wildly, searching for any threats, or anything that might cause her harm. After a moment, when nothing attacked her, she shut off the lightsaber and groaned. She reached into the Force, more out of a need for comfort than anything else, and confirmed there was nothing in the room with her.

She realised she was drenched in sweat, and panting, hard. It took a long time for her to force herself to relax. In the end, not even meditating did the trick: she had to reach out and let the current of the Force take her, momentarily surrendering the notion of self, and becoming one with that great, mystical energy flow.

Max opened her eyes, and let out a deep breath. "What the sithspit was that about?" she wondered aloud.

The Force vision, for it couldn't have been anything else, had been incredibly vivid. More so than usual. She had always had a great affinity for sensing the past and the future; something about the Force wanted her to have an exceptionally strong command, perhaps the strongest in her generation, of how she could view time. This talent had proven to be an invaluable one in all her years as a padawan, and had been instrumental in her rapid ascension to the status of Jedi Knight. She knew she was still considered to be on the young side of a fully-fledged Knight, at only 20, and as such she was determined to not only live up to, but exceed the expectations of her Masters.

But none of that occupied her mind at that particular moment, for Max was still deeply troubled by her vision. It was almost unheard of for them to be wrong: which made her worried that, in all probability, something very, very bad was going to befall the Temple and her fellow Jedi.

She felt the first tendrils of fear worm their way into her mind, gripping her in an icy embrace. No. She thought. You know where that leads. Master Yoda always says fear is the path to the Dark Side. Calm down.

She forced the offending emotions out of her brain, and got out of bed. She looked down, noting her sweat covered sleeping garments. I should probably shower. It'll make me feel better. Maybe.

She stripped off the damp clothing and dumped it into the generic cleaning compartment embedded into the wall. She heard a muffled whumph as the garments were whisked away, and would be returned clean as a whistle mere minutes later. Now entirely naked, she shivered a little. The Temple's hab settings were sometimes a little lower than she would have liked.

She stepped into the small en-suite bathroom, anxious to feel the warmth of the powerful, soul-cleansing shower. Sure, Jedi surrendered all possessions and attachments, but that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy the occasional creature comfort. Opting to forego the sonic shower setting, she went straight for water, and pressed the activation button. As the hot, steaming liquid hit her skin, Max sighed. There was nothing the pounding pressure of almost scalding water to ease the mind. She spent a long while in the shower, electing to simply stay under the steady stream once she had finished her usual routine.

Eventually, she shut it off, not without a lingering sense of regret. She quickly towelled herself dry and headed for her room's modest wardrobe, where she selected one of several sets of grey robes with white trim. As she tugged the tunic over her head, she noticed a blinking light on her comlink, indicating a waiting holo-call. With a flick of the Force, Max pushed the relevant button. An image flickered into being, resolving itself after a brief second into the friendly face of Master Grant.

"Master Grant." Max greeted her with a bow.

"Max." She smiled and bowed back.

"Can I do something for you, Master?" Max queried. "This is kind of an early hour for a call." She continued, noting for the first time that the hour was indeed still early.

Master Grant smiled again. "Apologies for disturbing you at such an early hour. And it's not me you can do something for, but the Council. They've requested your presence, as soon as possible."

Max's stomach dropped. "The Council... Did they say why?"

Master Grant shook her head. "They said nothing else, but I got the impression it was important."

Max squared herself. "Very well. I'll go to the Council chambers immediately. May the Force be with you, Master."

"And also with you."

The call terminated, leaving Max with a million thoughts. "This can't be good." She groaned to herself.

She had no idea how right she was.

The Temple was practically deserted as Max walked towards the central turbolift, save for a few early risers, who were either speaking in hushed pairs or deep in study. Max recognised a few, and whenever she was noticed, she received a nod in greeting. She politely nodded back, and continued on her way.

As she approached the turbolift, the security attendant stationed outside clocked her, and after giving her a quick once-over and glancing at a datapad, waved her on. She mumbled a thank you as she passed, which the attendant acknowledged with a tip of his hat.

She entered the lift and pressed the button that would take her to the central Council chamber. As the turbolift began its smooth ascent upwards, she squared her shoulders and mentally composed herself.

I hope I'm not in any trouble. I mean, I don't think I've done anything wrong... At least not recently. She thought, casting her mind back to the time a few weeks ago when Jocasta Nu, the Temple archive keeper, had found her asleep and drooling on a fairly important record.

Max was spared however, from the embarrassing memory by the turbolift passing by several tall windows, affording her a spectacular view over dozens of miles of Coruscant's mottled grey landscape. The sun had just begun to creep over the edge of the artificial horizon, saturating the mists and vapours generated by the city-planet in a fuzzy orange glow. It really was a breath-taking vista, Max reflected, knowing she was extremely privileged to be enjoying such a view. Not everyone on Coruscant was that lucky.

After a minute or so, the turbolift slowed and came to a stop. The doors opened with a soft hiss, and Max was greeted by the large doors, emblazoned with the millenia-old Jedi insignia, that led to the inner Council chambers. With a hint of apprehension, she strode forwards.

The doors opened silently, as if they were inviting her in. The sun also shone directly through them, blinding Max for a brief instant. When her vision cleared, she saw that all twelve Masters were present. That was definitely Not A Good Thing, according to her. Hesitantly, she shuffled into the middle of the chamber, feeling twelve pairs of eyes watching her. She had never been in the chamber when every member had been present before.

"M-Masters." She greeted them, unable to keep her voice from wavering, a clear sign of how nervous she felt.

Master Yoda was the first to speak. He smiled a wry, oddly shrewd smile that had Max convinced he knew exactly what she had been thinking.

"Worried, you should not be." He intoned, amusement evident in his voice. "Nothing wrong, you have done."

Max could be seen to visibly relaxed, something that wasn't missed by Master Kit Fisto. "Master Nu may have other opinions on that." He intoned, a grin on his face.

Max flushed, two large scarlet blotches appearing on her cheeks.

"Don't tease the poor girl." Interjected Ki-Adi-Mundi, before turning to her. "You must be wondering why we summoned you here?" He gently prompted.

"Yes, Master." Max replied gratefully, eager to direct the conversation away from the subject of Jocasta Nu's wrath.

"We'll get right to it." Mace Windu spoke up. "Though before we do, we trust that none of what you are about to hear will go beyond these chambers, and that you will treat this matter with the utmost discretion?"

"Of course, Master Windu." Max said, though internally, her curiosity was piqued.

"Very well. Two nights ago, the secure archive, containing thousands of years of Jedi lore, was broken into. I probably don't need to tell you how serious something like that is, as our security is nigh-impossible to get through."

"The thief only took one thing." He continued. "An ancient book, containing some... sensitive information about the Jedi that we would rather not become public knowledge. It could prove to be incredibly dangerous for us if it did."

"Wait, an actual, physical book? Not a record?" Max interjected.

"We did say it was ancient." Said Ki-Adi-Mundi.

"Yes. And that's led us to believe the thief knew exactly what he was looking for." Plo Koon added. "This was a targeted strike, with a clear objective."

"But, what's in this book that makes it so dangerous?" Max asked.

"That's for us to worry about." Mace said, with an air of finality that suggested she should not take that particular line of questioning any further. "What we want you to do, is find whoever took the book, and retrieve it before they can do anything with its knowledge."

Max almost blanched. The Council wanted her for this mission? Surely there had to be some kind of mistake, or someone else they could send? There was no way she was the right person. No way.

"Y-you want me to- to do this?" The young Jedi found herself saying. "I only just passed the Trials... I mean no disrespect, but surely there's someone better suited?"

Yoda tapped his cane on the floor, and all attention turned to the diminutive Jedi. "No one more suited, there is." He spoke in a solemn, yet strangely comforting tone. "Confident we are, in you, young Jedi."

"But... why me?"

"An extraordinary aptitude, you have, for sensing both the future and the past. Prove vital, this could, for your investigation, and for the survival of the Jedi."

This time, Max did blanche. The survival of the Jedi? What does he mean by that, surely he can't be serious?

A brief silence fell upon the room as Max digested the information she'd been given. A silence that was broken shortly by Adi Gallia.

"We suggest seeing the head of Temple security first." She said, offering Max an encouraging smile. "He may know more about the break in."

Her words brought Max back to the present. "Then I shall start there. Thank you Master."

"After you've seen him, go to the Temple requisition station. We have given permission for a droid to assist you in your task." Adi finished.

Mace once again picked up the thread. "Now, unless you have any further questions, we wish you to begin at once. And one more thing, this mission is not for the record, and is to be carried out in secret. No one can know, understand?"

"Yes Master."

"Good. May the Force be with you, young Master Starfield."

"May the Force be with you." The other members echoed.

Max bowed deeply, and, shaking slightly, took her leave from the chamber. She summoned the turbolift once more, and only once she was safely inside did she release the giant panic breath she'd been holding.

"Well, Sithspit." She said.

Author's Note: So I hope I set the scene well enough. In all honesty, I hate exposition dumps, which is mostly what this first chapter consists of. Any feedback would be hugely appreciated, as this is my first crossover fic. So if anything seems out of place, please tell me.

Anyway I hope this chapter was enjoyable enough. Next time: a lightsaber duel, a decidedly odd droid, and the plot thickens. May the Force be hella with you.