A long time ago,

in a galaxy far far away...

Star Wars – Veil of Darkness

by Lee Williams

Chapter 1: Enemy in the Midst

"Halt!", a young Jedi Knight called out to the man in black traditional Sith robes, "Be gone, or prepare for death!"

The man who had landed just outside of the Senate building on Coruscant, looked up at the two young Jedi standing in his way at the entrance. His eyes pierced through the guards and they felt a chill run down their back. This Sith was dangerous and the Jedi who had called out knew they would be no match. He took his comlink and asked for backup. The man in the dark robes didn't attempt to stop him; he just stood their, lifted his arm and swiftly used a force push. The Jedi flew several feet through the air against a wall. They weren't dead, or have any large injuries beyond a few bruises, but they were rendered defenseless and more importantly, were out of the Sith's way. He continued to use the force to open the doors to the building and entered.

Master Kuna Olen, a tall man and a Jedi Master who headed the security detail of the new Chief of State had just arrived in the corridor of the Senate building. Before the young Knights had even linked that backup was needed, he had sensed a disturbance in the force and made his way to meet the Sith.

Kuna reached out to the unconscious Jedi with the force; he could feel that they were still alive and would be able to recover without complications. Then his eyes turned to the Sith, they darkened and Kuna was close to losing his calm, but he breathed in deeply and rested his mind. The master's hand went to his sword without faulting his gaze at his enemy, "It is unusual for a Sith to come to Coruscant. Most are wise enough to know if one Jedi spots them, the place will be swarming with Jedi."

"And yet...", the Sith pulled back his hood and faced the Master, "you are alone here, Master Kuna."

The Jedi Master let his blue sword extract and walked towards the Sith, slowly increasing his speed. The Sith didn't haste or back away, but calmly took his own sword and extracted its red blade and held it up for a block, just as Master Kuna had force sprinted for his attack. The air in the building crackled, like as if a lightening bolt had his the ground. The two force users didn't move, they tested their strength in pushing their sword against the others. The Sith was smiling even though Kuna slowly advanced. Between biting his teeth to force more physical strength on his opponent, the Jedi Master spoke, "You should have stayed on whatever slave world you came from, Sith."

The Sith backed away with a force retreat and Kuna's sword swung to where the Sith had been standing. The Jedi Master took a defensive stance and regained his breath.

"Master!", the young padawan of Master Kuna, Cienon Valex, stood at the top of the stairs, looking down to the corridor, "I came as fast as I could after informing Chief Janren!"

"Stay back!", Kuna yelled to his padawan, giving the Sith an opening, which he took and leaped forward. The Master could barely dodge the attack and felt his enemy's blade close to his neck.

Cienon watched the attack that could have killed his Master, his eyes were open wide. Perhaps it was fear, but never would he have admitted to that. Kuna retook his defensive stance and concentrated his mind on the duel.

"That is quite enough!", a deep, but feminine voice echoed through the corridor. The Chief of State, Apaina Janren stood behind the Padawan and behind her the full Jedi detail to her protection. She was a tall woman from New Alderaan, her skin dark, but the most beautiful eyes, that reminded many of flourishing planets, this often gave people she talked to in person the hope she promised, "I invited Darth Rastee to Coruscant for negotiations. I do not approve of these aggressive actions towards my personal guests."

Cienon clearly showed his disbelieve in what Chief Janren had said, his jaw dropped, but as his Master stood straight and put away his sword, he reminded his padawan to not show his feelings, and Cienon straightened up.

"Please follow me, Lord Rastee", Janren said.

"Waaahrrrrgg", Grand Jedi Master Yundarr, a large Wookie, with gray strands of hair all over, roared at the droid by his side. The translator droid turned to the surrounding Jedi High Council and Master Kuna, who stood in the middle, "Master Yundarr wants to know what Chief Janren had to discuss with the Sith."

"My Padawan and I were sent from the room, together with her complete protection detail. Also...there seemed to be a veil around the room", Master Kuna explained, "what happened in that room, was closed off by the force."

Another Council member spoke up, she was a Twi'lek and the youngest of the Council Jedi, "I don't know what good could ever come from negotiating with the Sith?" Yet another spoke up, an older man, "What puzzles me is that the Sith didn't kill the Jedi standing guard, nor did he assassinate our Chief of State."

"Waaaaaarrr, Waaahrrggg, Wagggg", Yundarr's droid translated the Grand Master's words, "All is very troubling, we should express our concerns to Chief Janren. Master feels the darkness growing."

Master Kuna bowed his head when dismissed, however stood still. He wanted to talk about something else and the Council members gave him permission to continue, "I know this is very troubling, but I have a request of the council. I believe my Padawan is ready for the trails to become a Jedi Knight."

The older Jedi Master, who had spoke earlier thanked Kuna and told him they would discuss his Padawan's future, "also, if you would take our concerns to Chief Janren, Master Kuna."

The man standing in the middle of the council bowed once more and left the council chambers.