The distant sun rose in the West, its rays attempting to warm the cool morning air on the planet Demurra. A modest home, created mostly from the brown clay found just beneath the planet surface, sat outside a small city. Inside, Jedi Knight Nora'lyn Selona meditated on the floor of her sleeping quarters. A nightmare woke her hours before, robbing her of a few more hours of sleep.
Her combat-equipped protocol droid made its way to her bedroom door, knocking slightly. "Master, it's the morning-hour."
Sitting cross-legged on the floor with her arms chest-level to her body and palms pressed together, she opened her eyes to look at the door. "Thank you D4," she replied.
Taking a deep breath and rising from her position, she made her way to the window. Her head felt the weariness that comes with too little sleep, an aching the body feels to return to bed. Those few hours would have worked wonders, she thought.
Getting dressed into her usual jedi garb – a knee-length brown robe, a sash about the waist, and pants – she opened the bedroom door and made her way to the food preparation area. D4 already had breakfast cooking.
"Master, it sounded as though you were already awake when I came to your quarters. Did you have the nightmare again?" asked the droid.
"Unfortunately, yes," she replied as she wearily slumped into a seat at the dining table.
"What are you going to do about it, Master?"
"I don't know yet, D4. I'll figure it out eventually." She knew she was trying to convince herself as much as D4.
In a few minutes, D4 placed a plate of Demurran food on the table in front of her. Demurran food included many of the indigenous insect species found on the planet, something visitors to the planet took some time to get accustomed to.
Nora'lyn ate her food hungrily. Food would help stave off exhaustion for the day.
As she ate, she thought back to some of her earliest training memories. Standing in a clearing, surrounded by trees. An elderly man in Jedi garb issuing commands, instructing her in the ways of the Force. She wore blinders and could hear the hum of the lightsaber in her hands. Occasionally she felt the sting of the small remote droid, signaling that she failed to make a deflection. She could feel frustration begin to boil to the surface.
"You're thinking too much," said her trainer, Master Partame. "Let go. Fall back into the Force and let your instincts guide you. "
Taking a deep breath and suppressing her frustration, she tried to follow her trainer's advice. She imagined herself falling backwards and being immersed in the Force, as though she had fallen into a pool of water. After a moment in this silent calmness, she could sense the droid. She could feel that it was ready to fire. Suddenly, she felt herself lifting the saber and quickly turning it ninety degrees, followed by a sting on her left thigh.
"Better," Master Partame remarked. She heard him power down the remote droid as she removed the blinders. "You deflected two of three shots." She watched her trainer walk toward the supply bin, using his walking cane to help him along the way. Master Partame, while still being formidable in his use of the force, was an elderly man even in her early years.
"Nora'lyn," he said, turning towards her as she walked to catch up with him. "I know that at times the training can be frustrating, infuriating even. But you must learn to let go of your anger. From anger, it is only a short path to the dark side."
"Yes, Master. I will learn."
"See that you do. You have a short temper, and though you've shown the ability to let go of that anger, you must be wary of it taking over at the wrong time."
The sound of a buzzing holocom coming from her workspace, interrupted Nora'lyn's gaze into her past. Laying down her utensils, she made her way towards the holocom. As she pushed the receiver button, a blue figure appeared from its base. General Zoate.
"Master Selona, this is General Zoate, Republic commanding officer on Demurra," the figure stated.
"Yes, General, what can I do for you?" Nora'lyn asked.
"There is a situation in which we hoped you could assist. There is a city about 900 miles East of your location called Tial, one of the larger cities on Demurra. Recently there have been several murders in the city. Our own investigations have turned up very little, but we suspect the involvement of an assassin."
"An assassin?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. "And though the targets seem random, they are civilian targets. The bodies also indicate that our assassin's weapon was a lightsaber."
A Sith assassin. Her brow furrowed. It was not unheard of for a Sith to terrorize small towns in the Outer Rim worlds - pinning the blame on the Republic in some way - in an attempt to put pressure on their respective governments to join the Empire.
"Any idea who it may be?" asked the Jedi.
"None at all. We were hoping you could start an investigation there, help ease the concerns of the people there."
"Of course. I will leave as soon as possible."
"Meet the head of Tial security when you get there, I will send word that you're coming, and thank you, Master Jedi." The image of the general disappeared.
Nora'lyn placed her holocom on her workspace and made her way over to the computer console to make the necessary travel arrangements. It had been some time since she received an assignment directly related to the war effort, or at least one involving the Sith. While she didn't find it beneath her to perform the diplomatic functions that went along with her role on an Outer Rim planet like Demurra, she felt more useful being more than a mere Republic presence for once.
D4 entered the room. "Will you be finishing your meal, Master?"
D4-M2 had the shell of a protocol droid, but the Jedi had equipped him with combat capabilities after salvaging the head and sensors used for targeting purposes from an assassin droid. Equipped with a blaster rifle, he had proven a solid ally to have in a firefight. Being more or less secluded in her outpost, Nora'lyn often found herself conversing with D4. His encyclopedic knowledge on just about any topic proved a good way to pass the time.
"Yes, but do me a favor. We've been asked to open an investigation in Tial. I need you to help pack our supplies. We need to leave as soon as possible," responded the Jedi.
"Yes, Master. And what is it we will be investigating?"
"A series of murders, possibly by a Sith assassin."
D4 made his way towards her sleeping quarters to pack the relevant items. Returning to the dining table, she looked down at the rest of her meal. Picking up one of the boiled insects and biting down with a loud crunch, she remembered that sometimes it was best not to look too closely at your food on Demurra.