Title: Knights
Author: Emjen Enla (Fanfiction)/emjen_enla (Wattpad)/emjenenla (Tumblr)
Teaser: They were the invisible, the untried, the grunts of the Jedi Order. They were the ones sent in the front lines, the ones who would never get any thanks. They bury their fears in false confidence, but they all know that they aren't ready for this…They are the Knights of the Jedi Order.
Rating: PG-13/T
Canon/Timeline: Legends Canon, meant to be part of mainstream Canon but could possibly be read as slightly AU; a couple weeks after AOTC
Dominant Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Tru Veld, Mace Windu, Various OCs
Pairings: slight implied OC/OC and Anidala
Warnings: OCs if you don't like them
Notes:
-Some iteration of this story has been floating around in my head since I wrote "We're Getting Deeper and Deeper and Deeper Into the Unknown." For those of you who didn't read that story, there's a section of that story entitled "Knights" that involves some of these characters. After I wrote it, I kept thinking about Anakin and the other padawans who became Knights right after the Battle of Geonosis not because they were ready, but because the Council needed more Generals. This story is me playing more with these characters and that theme.
-This story presents some of my more updated OC headcanons. For Fanfiction readers the only difference you'll notice is that the spelling of Reba-Kah Sonson's name. Wattpad readers will notice that Dagmar Liu is no longer one of Shawlbee's toadies. Also I'm pretty sure something in Ella Gamari's character changed, but I need to figure out what it is.
-This is written in a different tense and style than I usually use. Please, tell me what you think.
-I would like this story to turn into a one-shot series because there's so much more I'd like to consider with these characters. If that were to happen, the stories would mostly be about these fifteen characters with the possible addition of Karnia and Nax from Running Rampant (who aren't in this story because they're Healers and wouldn't be promoted the normal way). That said, I am in college and bad at sticking to projects so who knows if it will actually happen. Also, while I try not to let what I write be decided by the feedback I get, if this story flops the way "Getting Deeper" did, I'll probably find it very difficult to find a reason to keep going. Therefore, if you like this story even a little and want me to continue, make sure I know.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.
They end a chapter of their lives together. It's a bit strange because they didn't begin together. They're from multiple clans, multiple years, one wasn't even in the crèche at all. They aren't close. Sure, some are friends, but others are acquaintances, some are just outcasts. Still, they end their childhoods together.
They all receive the same, impersonal summons to the Council Chambers one day a few weeks after the Battle of Geonosis. They are told to appear at the same time—ridiculously early in the morning. They gather together outside the chambers and wait, wondering what's going to happen. All told, there are fifteen of them. They don't yet realize a chapter is closing. They don't yet realize that the events that are about to happen will tie them together for the rest of their lives and—in many ways—seal their fates.
The first one to arrive at the Council Chambers is, unsurprisingly, Francis Frenth. He is always fifteen minutes early for everything, if not more. Even though it is hideously early, his black hair is carefully combed and his robes are clean and pressed. At eighteen, he is the youngest of the group, but this means little to nothing. He is ahead in almost everything; his brilliance feeds into everything he does. He wields his double-bladed lightsaber like a master, its green blades flashing the exact shade of his eyes. As always, he has a holobook to pass the time. This one is something old and unspeakably boring, but once he powers it up he barely looks up.
Next is Dagmar Liu, who is running early not because she's a morning person, but because she hasn't been to bed yet. She spent the night in the underlevels beating up thugs because that's the only thing she can do to ignore the empty hole in her soul where her master—dead on Geonosis—should be. Deep down, she knows she should probably see a Soul Healer or at least talk to someone, but she refuses. She is nineteen and she is a Jedi; she should be able to deal with this on her own. So she says she's fine and hopes people ignore the way her lekku hang limp and lifeless down her back and her extremely pale blue skin looks even paler than usual.
After her arrives Canda-Sarah Benvarrak (Canda to her friends—which includes almost everyone she meets). As always, her blonde waves are flawless and her blue eyes sparkle. Her tan robes are so long they hide her feet and make her look like she's floating across the floor with supernatural grace. She's only twenty-one but she's already the most promising diplomat of her generation. She has a lightsaber, though she's never used it in a real fight. She keeps in practice in the dojo, but hopes to always be able to diffuse situations using her words and not her weapon.
Next arrives Batka Nikk. At twenty-one he is tall and regal, his chocolate skin glows in the dim light and his inscrutable eyes scan the others. His handsome features are twisted into a scowl that has been near constant since he was eighteen. Before then he was as a passionate, but good-natured boy. The other Jedi have wondered about what caused this change, but no one is quite sure. Batka's not telling and neither are the few who know.
Soon after him arrives Ella Gamari. She is twenty-seven and by far the oldest of the group. She has been twice passed up for Knighthood not because of lack of skill, but because of a power the Jedi say is a gift but she has always viewed as a curse. She is hyper-empathetic, even by Jedi standards. The feelings of other beings bombard her constantly no matter how hard she tries to shut them out. That is why she is here so early; darkness and death envelope the galaxy and she cannot sleep through it. She pushes her short brown hair behind her ears and tries to look like a calm Jedi in perfect control.
The next two come together. Hani Shah and Xiaan Amersu murmur softly to each other, drawing silent strength off each other as they have since they were in the crèche. The twenty-year-old friends know each other well enough that when Hani's pale fingers twist her white Arkanian Offshoot hair, Xiaan knows to attempt a joke so Hani will be distracted by critiquing her poor sense of humor. Listening to Hani tell jokes also stills Xiaan's frantically trashing blue-green lekku too.
Deelra Lefe is next. At barely twenty years old, she is mentally mature, though her blue-and-white striped Togruta mortals and lekku will probably take another decade to reach their full length. She comes in rubbing her eyes and yawning. She is not a morning person. She's already taken a cold shower and drank two cups of caf, but she could still return to her bed and pass out without the slightest bit of trouble.
Kodon Kaymu and T'mah Rizzy arrive at the same time, but not together. They enter sharing polite small talk then separate. T'mah—nineteen and enthusiastic—moves over to Deelra, her pale blue lekku twitching with unJedi-like excitement, her violet eyes dancing. Kodon is twenty-four but when he scans the others in the room he feels like a child and wishes he would have checked to see if Thenn had received summons too so they could have come together. Eventually he decides to take his chances with Dagmar and moves over to her, his Balosar antennae drooping.
Next is Reba-Kah Sonson. She was helping out in the crèche last night, trying to ignore the desperate fear that clutches her insides whenever she's summoned before the Council, and didn't get to bed until late. As a result, she was late in getting up and the tips of her brown hair are still wet from her hurried shower. She doesn't look at Batka as she waltzes across the room and snatches Francis' datapad from his hands laughing, but he's all that's on her mind. She's twenty now and has done a lot of growing in the last three years. She's no longer a naïve seventeen-year-old relying on her master's judgment, and she knows that Batka needs to know, but she has no idea how to tell him.
After her comes Thenn Ky-So. Kodon waves in relief and Thenn laughs quietly and heads over. The twenty-four-year-old Thenn props his lanky body up against the wall with casual grace. Between the grace and his bronze skin, perfect features and black hair—already a little too long for a padawan—he could be a holostar not a Jedi. He tells amazing stories and one of his favorites is about the time he was mistaken for a famous singer while attempting to prevent a terrorist attack at a convention. He signed over a hundred autographs as the singer before his master showed up and got everything straightened out.
Tru Veld arrives a few minutes later. The twenty-year-old Teevan's flexible limbs make his gait always appear relaxed, but he lost much of his innocence on Korriban. That mission is still whispered about by padawans of all ages who are trying to figure out how Darra Thel-Tanis ended up dead, why Ferus Olin left the Order and why Tru and the Chosen One—former best friends—no longer speak to each other. Tru won't talk about it; he's remarkably amiable most of the time, but he has made sure people know that what happened on Korriban is his own business.
It is now getting close to the time the Council specified. Shawlbee Slythchopper saunters in, his dark blue lekku twitching self-assuredly. Everyone is disappointed to see him because he is a bully even though the Code is supposed to forbid such things. They are all a little embarrassed to still be nervous around him, but they remind themselves that he is just as cruel at twenty-three as he was at six. At least his toadies—Wuyi Won-Ski and Neto Skai—aren't with him; he seems smaller without them.
The last of the group arrives with no time to spare. Its Anakin Skywalker. The charity case, the pariah, the Chosen One. No one has ever been quite sure what to do with him, and now that Tru has disassociated himself, the twenty-year-old has little interaction with the other senior padawans. His arrival today does nothing to help the other padawans understand him. He's running and his robes are rumpled. He slides to a stop and runs a hand through his caramel hair, his new mechanical hand shining in the dim light. The others watch cautiously, trying to wrap their minds around this strange creature.
"Did I miss anything?" Anakin Skywalker asks, gaze flitting over the gathering of padawans.
"No," says Francis, who is the only padawan who still goes out of his way to be friendly to the Chosen One. "Nothing's happened yet."
"You're still late," Tru snaps.
Anakin pulls out his commlink and checks the time. "No, I'm not; I'm right on time."
"Where were you?" Tru asks.
Anakin shrugs. "Out," he says. He tries to put the comm away with his right hand, but it slips through the clumsy fingers of the mecho and falls. He catches it with the Force and curses under his breath in Huttese, before taking the object out of the air and putting it away in its belt pouch, this time with his left hand. Half the padawans look on with pity, but the other half are preparing to tell him that Jedi don't go "out" no matter what.
Anakin is saved from both by the doors to the Council Chamber opening. The padawans file in to find the room pitch dark and the Council members standing before their chairs with lightsabers drawn. The padawan's masters standing in a larger circle behind the Council members' chairs, their own lightsabers held aloft in the darkness.
The padawan throw confused looks at each other. They've heard about dark rooms and ignited lightsabers, but only in stories about Knighting ceremonies and those don't happen in groups. They are all too old to whisper in the Council Chambers, but their uncertainty bleeds into the Force. The Council Chambers are too narrow for them to stand in a line, so they stand in three rows, watching the Council and waiting.
"Senior Padawans Gamari, Ky-So, Kaymu, Slythchopper, Nikk, Benvarrak, Lefe, Veld, Sonson, Shah, Amersu, Skywalker, Rizzy, Liu and Frenth," Master Windu says from where he stands next to Master Yoda. "You have been called before the Council amid the direst circumstance the Republic has faced in a thousand years. After the disaster on Geonosis, the ranks of the Order are severely thinned and we are now at war."
Dagmar bites her lip, fighting down a surge of emotion at the reminder of her master. Anakin shifts uncomfortably at the guilt he will never admit to anyone—there wouldn't have been Jedi on Geonosis, if not for him, Obi-Wan and Padmé. Master Windu goes on without acknowledging them, "Forty-eight hours ago, the Jedi Order agreed to join forces with the clone army and serve as commanding officers in the new Grand Army of the Republic for the duration of the conflict."
A lifetime of strict training isn't enough to keep the padawans from reacting. Several gasp, others whisper. However, its Canda who actually speaks, "Master Windu, we're peacekeepers. How can we be expected to do that while serving in the military?"
The padawans can just make out, Master Windu's serious expression in the light of his purple lightsaber. "The Council has already discussed this, Padawan Benvarrak. We have decided we have no choice but to fight this war, otherwise there might not be a Republic to keep peace in."
Anakin and Dagmar hum loudly in agreement. Canda bites her lip, but bows her head and nods.
Master Windu gives the padawans another moment to collect their thoughts, then continues, "However, for the Order to function as commanding officers, we need to fill the holes in the ranks left by the Battle of Geonosis," he pauses and takes a deep breath as if bracing himself. "We have identified the fifteen of you as the most advanced senior padawans in the Order. You will skip the Trials and be promoted directly to Knight. Afterwards, you will be assigned a legion to command. In the GAR you will take on the rank of general," he pauses to let the information sink in.
The padawans shift on their feet and look at each other. Shock permeates the air. None of them expected this. Padawans get promoted to Knight without taking the Trials only under very rare circumstances. The only instance in recent memory is when Obi-Wan Kenobi was promoted after the Battle of Naboo. The padawans look at each other, sizing each other up, trying to see what the Council sees.
Shawlbee's are fixed on Anakin's back as he leans closer to Tru and murmurs, "Someone want to tell me why they're promoting the gutter rat?"
Before Korriban, Tru would have jumped to Anakin's rescue. He would have told Shawlbee that Anakin was as much a Jedi as anyone else, but that was the past. Now he eyes Anakin and wonders why the Council thinks that selfish child should become a Knight. "No idea," he mutters.
"Padawan Veld, Padawan Slythchopper," Master Windu says. "Do you have a comment to share?"
Tru draws himself up straight, grateful it was too dark for anyone to see him blushing. "No, Master Windu."
"No, Master Windu," Shawlbee echoes.
"Good," Master Windu replies and returns his focus to the group. "Does anyone have any concerns?"
"Yes, Master," Ella says. When Master Windu nods, she goes on, "If we're not going to take the Trials, how do you know we're ready to become Knights?"
"The Council has discussed which padawans to promote heavily," Master Windu says. "We've decided you are the readiest. Depending on how you fair, we will decide whether or not it is safe to promote without the Trials."
All the padawans realize that is the same as Master Windu saying he had no idea if they were ready or not, but none are foolish enough to point it out.
"Any other concerns?" Master Windu asks.
There's a long pause, then Anakin speaks up, "None, Master. I'm ready to do my part." None of the padawans are blind to the fact that he doesn't even attempt to speak for all of them.
"We all are," Batka agrees. "We'll do whatever you need us to." Most of the other padawans nod, but a few—namely Canda and Ella—look more cautious.
Master Windu doesn't smile, he simply. "You'll be Knighted in order of age. Padawan Ella Gamari; you'll be first. Please come forward."
Ella chews on her lip, then steps forward, her boots sounding on the polished floor. She kneels before Master Windu and Master Yoda and bows her head, her padawan braid falling in front of her face for the last time.
Less than half an hour later, fifteen new Jedi Knights file out of the Council Chambers and as one they begin to walk down the stairs. The Council Tower is so tall, the stairs are rarely used, but walking gives them time to think.
"Well, I'm never cutting my hair again," Thenn says with a grin after they've gone down several of the staircase's spiral flights.
Ella rolls her eyes. "How can you joke about this?"
"It's true," Thenn says. "Short hair's awful; I'm happy I'll never have to cut mine again."
Ella shakes her head and puts on a burst of speed, so she's walking ahead of the rest.
"I don't understand what your problem is," Thenn calls after her. "I thought you'd be happy to finally be a Knight."
Ella stops and turns to face him. "I don't want to be a Knight if I'm not ready. How am I supposed to serve the Republic to the best of my ability, if I don't know everything I'm supposed to?"
"I agree," Canda mutters, but everyone ignores her.
"You do know everything you're supposed to," Dagmar says to Ella. "Everyone knows you weren't promoted earlier because the Council's just been waiting for some magical insight into your power to drop from the sky."
"I still can't control it," Ella argues. "Jedi are supposed to be able to control themselves. How can I be a Jedi if I can't?"
"It doesn't matter if you can control it," Deelra says. "You just need to be able to control your reactions to it, and as far as I can tell you can do that."
"That's not the point," Ella runs her hands through her hair.
"You know, I think you're all thinking to deeply into this," the new knights all freeze and turn to look at Anakin, who is standing several steps higher than the rest of them watching.
"And what are we overthinking?" Shawlbee asks, mockingly.
"It doesn't really matter if we would have passed the Trials," Anakin says. "The great and all-knowing Council just made us Knights, so it's not a problem anymore. What matters is that we're going to go to war and we're going to save the Republic. I for one, am looking forward to another shot at Dooku," he lifts his mecho and flexes the fingers. "I intend to repay this favor."
Tru sighs heavily. "A Jedi doesn't seek revenge, Anakin. Now that you're a Knight, you really should start following those rules."
Anakin gives him a look. "Forgive me, Knight Veld, but if you couldn't hold a stylus anymore, I think you might be a little bitter too." With that, he started down the stairs again, pushing through the other Jedi.
"Where are you going?" Tru calls after him.
Anakin doesn't stop and doesn't look back. "If I'm going off to war, I can think of far better ways to spend the rest of my time here than standing around arguing in a stairwell. I'll see you all later."
The other fourteen knights stand in silence and watch him go. After several minutes, Batka clears his throat. "You know, I think he might have a point. There's a million things we could be doing other than standing here. Anyone who's up for a lightsaber tournament, meet me in the Knight's dojo in half an hour," he grins at the thought of sparring in a dojo where he'd previously only been able to stand on an observation deck and watch. He starts down the stairs. "I'm going to go shave this ponytail thing off first," he continues. "It's always looked ridiculous."
The other new knights look at each other, a couple smile, and they follow him down the stairs, the old chapter closing behind them.
So what did you think? Should I continue? Who was your favorite character? Who are you most curious about?
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Emjen