Disclaimer: I do not own any star wars!
My name is Tharen Rarth, and I was a jedi. Instead of telling the story on how i became a jedi, this is how i learned what it means to be a jedi. I was alone in the boy's dorm room on the east side of the temple. I was trying to remain calm while I waited for my master, Tera Caren, to return from her meeting with the jedi council.
I had been trying to meditate for the past two hours but my mind buzzed with speculations of what they were talking about. Maybe we'll get sent on some mission! I thought happily to myself. I'd settle for a walk to get Master Yaddle's laundry at this point. Being grounded in the temple for the past two weeks was starting to take its toll.
Personally I blamed my friend Saras. Sneaking out at night had been her genius idea. She had talked me into accompanying her to the lower levels of Coruscant to "explore the streets and examine the night life." Well truth be told, the only reason either of us hadn't been killed by a pack of drunken bounty hunters was because our masters had been following us.
When we got back to the temple Master Caren could barely look at me. While she hadn't yelled at me, I was punished. The only time I had been out of my quarters was when I had a class with one of the masters and to eat. What really bothered me was that I had one more step to complete before my trials would be over and I would be a full fledged jedi knight, but one mistake seemed to have screwed it all up.
That was until this morning when Caren finally had calmed down enough to talk to me. She said that the council had requested to speak to her, and if she was sent on a mission, I probably would be allowed to accompany her.
I was sitting on my bed reading a book on hand-to-hand fighting that Master Caren had assigned me to read. A soft knock on the door way alerted me to the presence of someone else in the room. "You going to get ready or just read that book?" Said a young female voice.
I looked up to see Saras. Her black hair was cut just above her shoulder except her padawan braid, which rested partway down her tan tunic. Just the sight of her made me happy, but I didn't tell her that.
"What do you mean?" I asked as I stood up from my bed. "Where's Master Caren?"
"She's still in the tower with the Service Council." She answered. "Master Slather sent me to accompany you up there."
"Why would they want me?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "Lets go find out." She turned and stepped out of the room. I grabbed my cloak off its hook and ran down the hall to join her. "Race you to the fountains!" She laughed. "Last one there buys lunch for a week." She bolted down the hall.
We raced down the hallways. I saw a few jedi masters give us angry glares as we rushed past them, but they didn't stop us. As we reached the room of a thousand fountains I slowed my pace to a slow walk to avoid disturbing the Masters that meditated around us. "I win." I whispered smugly to Saras, who was just behind me.
We walked in silence toward the elevator that would take us to the Jedi Service council chambers. A few steps away from the door I sensed somebody run up to me. "Could you point me toward the dueling room? I thought it was on the east wing but I can't find it." I turned to face a young girl, maybe twelve years old with tied back, snowy hair, her padawan braid which hung loosely behind her ear. She wore a solid gray tunic and her double-bladed lightsaber hung from her belt. She held her cloak under her left arm.
"It's that way, two floors up." I grinned pointing to the northern hallway on the other side of the room. I had forgotten that today was the testing day for all the temple's younglings. "Good luck, I hope you get chosen by a wise master."
She smiled. "Thank you!" She cheered as she bolted towards the hall.
"You think she's going to pass?" Saras asked me skeptically.
"She seemed to be a good girl, she'll do fine." I answered. We ended the conversation and arrived at the elevator to the Council Chambers.
"I'm going to go return to my master, we'll catch up later." Said Saras. I started to ask why but she cut me off and said "because they only asked for you." I nodded and entered the Service council tower elevator.
A moment later i was standing in the door way of the council chambers. The room was pitch black. I thought about drawing my lightsaber but some part of me knew that I shouldn't. Instead, I cautiously stepped forward into the center of the darkly lit council chambers. The second I stopped moving several lightsabers of varying colors burst to life around me. Yet again, I fought the urge to draw my lightsaber.
Several cloaked jedi stepped out of the darkness and surrounded me with one carrying a green saber being about a meter closer than the rest. "We are all jedi." Said Master Caren lowering her hood in front of me. "The force speaks through us. Through our actions the force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledged what the force proclaimed." I realized immediately what was going on and knelled on the ground before my master. "Tharen Rarth, by right of the service Council and the jedi order, I dub thee jedi,knight of the republic." She then lowered her lightsaber blade and cut off my padawan braid. I watched as my red hair fell to the ground.
A moment of silence passed before the towers lights came back on and tall the masters except for Caren, who motioned for me to stand. "I am very proud of you." She smiled. She had always radiated a motherly warmth. I don't know if it was the wrinkles of her old age mixed with her extreme wisdom or just how she treated everyone with respect and compassion, either way I felt safe.
"I thought I was going to be failed after..." I started to say but she stopped me politely.
"It was a test, Master Slather and I asked Saras to lead you down there so that exactly that would happen, it was the test of humility, to test if you could admit where you went wrong." She led me over to a window overlooking the rest of the Jedi temple. "Tharen, I have a request. I would like you to go to the dueling room right now and pair with a padawan." She led me over to the tower's window so we could look down at the rest of the temple. "I want you to find a student to pass on everything I have taught you, I've only ever had two other students and both of them followed where the force guided them, and that was a solitary path without a student. I believe that isn't what is for you. I believe you will make a grand teacher."
"Of course master. But may I ask why you are asking me to do this? I probably would have done that anyway?"
"Because you are also my last student, I am far to old to continue doing this, I plan to stop teaching students and focus more on my role as a council member." I didn't know how to react, she was admittedly older than most human jedi and had served the service council for many years, maybe it was time that she stopped and focused on leading the service council.
"I will do as you ask Master." I said respectfully before bowing and leaving the room quietly.
~~~•••~~~
Once I returned to the main temple building I headed straight for the dueling room where the padawans were training. The room was a large arena type room with several squared off areas where padawans dueled each other. Four other jedi stood around the room watching the duels. I myself found myself drawn to a certain match between a twi-lek boy and the same white haired girl I had met before.
She wielded her dual bladed lightsaber defensibly. The boy was obviously a stronger swordsman than she was. He had forced her back in a quick mix of ataru form and shi-cho. But the girl didn't give up. She was faster than him, so even though he was strong enough to brutally push her back further and further, she kept stopping his blows with little difficulty.
I watched the match for well over thirty minutes until the boy started to grow tired and the girl took advantage and used her saber to knock away his and end the match. A moment later their instructor came over to me. He was a middle aged Cathar with spotted gray fur. "I noticed you are watching the match between Kair and Ranna. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Master Caren asked me to instruct a padawan." I explained as I looked across the hall at the other jedi initiates who's duels had ended much earlier and were resting on the sidelines. "She said that this would be a good place to start."
"Well, Kair is a strong swordsman as you most likely noticed. He's smart but tends to focus much of his time on solitary studies." He recommended. "If you like I could introduce you two and see if you would be a good pair."
I ignored his recommendation and asked "what about Ranna? She seems more restrained than most the other younglings."
"She is one of the most devoted to the code youngling I have seen for a while, also she seems to spend much of her time reading reports from the old republic.." He led me down the steps toward the students. "But I do wish she would spend more of her time actually focusing on her classes, in fact today she was twenty minutes late for this practice."
"Would you mind introducing us?"
"Give me a moment to go get her, I was just about to start the third round of duels if you would like to wait for a bit longer?"
"No thank you, I have seen enough." He nodded and returned a moment later with Ranna. Then walked away to give us a moment to speak."I see you found your way here from the fountain room." I smiled.
"Thank you for that, Master Yalger probably would have failed me if you hadn't given me those directions." She stood in front of me nervously tapping her foot. "Is there something you need from me, master...?"
"Tharen, and I just wanted to talk, I'm searching for a padawan."
"Well then Tharen, do you want my opinion on who should be chosen?" She asked as she adjusted her gray tunic's shoulder.
"Actually, no, i want to get to know a few of the students before i decide. If you would like that of course." She nodded polietly.
"Is there anything else?" asked Master Yalger returning and standing next to Ranna holding a data pad.
"With your permission I would like this youngling to walk the temple grounds with me." I asked.
"So is she going to be your student because I must caut-" He turned to Ranna.
"We'll see how it goes." I answered for us both. "If the force wants us to be master and student than it shall be." He nodded then told Ranna to be back to the youngling dorms by sundown then allowed us to leave.
We wandered around the temple learning about each other. She told me that the other younglings called her Etch because of her half Echani heritage. I had started to ask about her parents but she seemed uncomfortable with the subject so I let her shift the subject to something a little happier. A few hours into our walk we both decided to grab some food and eat in the temples garden.
Ranna and I sat in an open clearing next to one of the waterfalls and continued talking while taking small bites from our bowls of Quria soup. "Master Tharen, thanks for giving me a chance."
"You don't need to thank me Ranna, anyone would be proud to have you for a padawan." I grinned back at her before taking another sip of my soup. I could sense her emotions take a turn for the worse.
"Yeah... one day..." She said sadly as she started to stand up.
"Hey, where are you going?" I asked grabbing her wrist.
"Well, the way you said... I thought you were going to pick someone else..."
"No, that's not what I meant at all, I would be greatly honored if you would be my padawan." She looked at me skeptically. "But only if you are willing to learn from me."
"Of course! When can we start?"
"Today if you want, I just need to go speak to your instructor first." She grinned happily. "I'll meet you by the front entrance after I speak to Yalger." She immediately bowed respectfully toward me and quickly walked away. "Note to self, teach her to be a little less eager."
During the first four weeks we began to work as a team. Early on I picked up on her focus on defensive lightsaber combat. While my lightsaber form focus was makashi, which was more of the duelist style of combat she would obviously benefit more from soresu. It was difficult for both of us but she began to be able to hold her own against my precise blade work. Although she was unable to beat me, I felt proud that she had picked up on the skill as well as she had.
Ranna and I both stood in the hanger of the jedi temple listening to Master Slather explain to us our first mission while Saras stood behind him. "Telos has sent out a bio-chemical alert ordering all civilian ships to stay away from the planet until the problem is dealt with." Explained the tall iradonian. "What we need you two to do is retrieve a sample of what ever is happening so that our scientists can find a cure. You will find the sample in a research station in Bao-Duar, the planets capitol."
"Yes master." Answered Ranna and I.
"Good, Saras will take you to your ship." He finished then quietly strolled away.
"Hello Master." Greated Saras sarcasticly.
"I'm not a master yet Sar, what are you doing down here?"
"You are to padawans like Ranna and I" She grinned to my young student as she led us over to our star ship. It made me chuckle that my best friend and much younger student were the same rank. "This is the ship the council is loaning you." She pointed to a green Delta - 6 star fighter. The cockpit had been modified to allow a second pilot. A green R-1 droid had been installed to the triangular ship's port side. "And do try to come back in one piece... Master." A grin grew across her face but something told me that she was referring to something different this time. "I'd better get going, Slather said he would concider allowing me to start my trials."
"Good luck Saras." I smiled climbing onto the ship and opening the cockpit.
"Be careful." She waved back. "You still owe me lunch." She nodded to Ranna then meandered out of the docking bay.
"Come on Etch, lets get going." She rolled her eyes historically at the mention of her nickname and climbed into the fighter. I took the back seat so I could help her if I needed to.
We both grabbed the headsets that rested on the controls and put them on. "Testing, green two checking in." Ranna's voice echoed through the sound of the ships engines.
"Rodger that, coming in clear, Green one checking in." I answered with a grin. At least she had a playful side. "Green two, you think you can fly us out of the bay?"
She flicked a few switches on her console. "Yes master." Ranna grabbed the throttle and the fighter levitated off it's landing gear. The ship launched forward and once we were outside, we pitched upward. "Plotting course for hyperdrive ring." The ship wobbled slightly as she grew familiar with the controls.
"Small adjustments." I recommended. "You've got this."
She steadily weaved us through the air traffic towards our hyperdrive ring. The sensors to my left blared red. "I think I'm getting the hang of this!" She cheered.
"Good." I swiftly transferred control of the ship to my station and jerked my throttle to the left to avoid colliding with a civilian's speeder.
"Blast!" Ranna cursed as she noticed the ship she almost collided us with. "I'm so sorry master." She apologized.
"It's fine." I reached over her chair and patted her on the shoulder. "That's why I'm here." The moment we exited atmosphere I aligned us with the hyperdrive ring. "Can you plot course for Telos, while I finish the start up sequence for the hyperdrive?"
"Of course." She laughed.
A few moments later we were gone, traveling through hyperspace. I had to laugh at Ranna. Her face was glued to the vessel's canopy watching the stars hurtle by. I set the fighter to auto pilot. "Hey Etch, what are you looking at?"
"The stars, aren't they beautiful?" Her voice sounded amazed.
"Haven't you ever been in hyperspace before?"
"Only in simulations, I never imagined it was this beautiful!"
"Its more beautiful if you see it through the force." I answered.
"Can you teach me how?" She asked excitedly.
"Close your eyes." I ordered her calmly. I waited a moment. "You feel the force around you?" She nodded. "Imagine it as fog, push it back and clear your view."
"Yes Master."
"Don't talk, just listen and nod." I answered calmly. Feel for the distant force." I could sense her amazement. "Can you feel the lives, on all the planets, all the star systems?" She nodded again, her posture relaxed further against her seat.
I let her meditate for a few hours until she finally stopped, breathing deaply like she had just emerged from a deap sleep. "Tharen, that was the most-" she was at a lost for words. "They don't teach that at the temple, who showed you that?"
"Master Caren showed me when we first met." I answered as the ship dropped out of hyperspace, into orbit of Telos. "I figured I should pass it on." I felt a sense of pride fulfilling part of my promise to Caren. "Disengage the hyperdrive ring." I ordered as I began plotting course for the planet's capital.
As we neared the planet, the communications unit beeped, signaling an open channel. I flicked the switch, allowing the message to be received through my headset. "Unidentified fighter, this is Telos Flight Control, you are entering Telosian territory, please identify." A male voice rattled through the headset.
"Understood Control. We are on a mercy mission from the Jedi Council." I answered as I sent our identification codes. "Requesting permission to land at Bao - Duar." Down bellow I sensed something dark but I couldn't quite figure it out.
A few moments passed silently. "Permission granted." My screen flashed with coordinates, overlaid over a map. "Just a warning sir, Telos is under quarantine. You will not be permitted to leave until you have been passed by our medical technicians."
"Affirmative, that it why we are here." The channel closed abruptly. "Well Etch." I sighed. "You heard the man, bring us in." I released the throttle and gave her control.
Ranna guided the fighter to the landing pad without incident, although it might have had to do with the distinct lack of other air traffic. We landed on a pad that jutted out the side of an enormous, metallic tower. The building reminded me of a large rocket that had been warped so that it bowed to the side like an arc. The city around us was unusually quiet, devoid of any life.
Three security officers were waiting as I opened the canopy and allowed Ranna to climb out first. "Evening Master Jedi, we just received the council's transmission a little bit ago." Announced the man in the center. He wore an olive green uniform that was held tight by a pistol belt. His face was scared and wrinkled, revealing a man that had been in too many fights. "I am Administrator Onasi."
"Thank you, but I'm barely a Jedi knight." I answered graciously.
"Oh!" He seemed surprised. "Well either way you're here to help us Mister-" He paused and looked at me, slightly embarrassed. "I'm not too familiar with the Jedi order, what does someone call some one of your status?"
"Just call me Tharen." I motioned to Ranna, who was standing next to me. "This is my Padawan, Ranna." She nodded meekly.
"Well Tharen, if you will follow me, we'll take you to the labs so you can continue your mission." I nodded. "Okay, right this way." He instructed as he motioned for Ranna and I to follow him inside.
~~~•••~~~
The medical lab was on the other side of the city. Administrator Onasi had us transported in a heavily armored rover that rattled and shook with every slow step. Poor Ranna looked extremely uneasy as she watched the refuse filled street. "Master, this just isn't right." She whispered to me. "Where is everyone? Its the middle of the day!"
"I don't know Etch." I answered.
"In their homes." Answered Onasi from the front of the vehicle. "We're trying to contain the disease as much as possible."
"Isn't it a little extreme?" Asked Ranna. "If it's not an airborne virus, shouldn't people be able to walk around freely if they are not sick?"
"You don't seem to understand what this virus does to the body, girl." His tone became more agitated the longer he spoke. "It doesn't 'make you sick'. It changes you."
"Like a mutation?" I asked before Ranna could blurt out something rude.
"Worse." He answered bluntly. "The host becomes some sort of monster. It bites someone else and they to become one of the creatures." The rover rattled harder every time he spoke. "The only option we have left in my opinion is to burn the city and all the people in it." I envisioned the entire city burning to fuel his hatred for this creature. "But that decision is up to the Prime Minister."
"You're a monster!" Shouted my padawan.
While I completely agreed with her, it was our job to be diplomatic. I would have to reprimand her later, Master Caren had never yelled at me in public out of respect and I planned to follow my former master's example.
"No, I'm just a realist." The administrator shrugged like he'd been told that a thousand times. "It's not feasible to save everyone, might as well save time."
I shot Ranna a look that told her not to continue her argument no matter how much I agreed with her. She gave me a surrendering nod and sunk into her seat. "I think what my padawan meant to say was, that there must be other options."
"Doctor Kadra claims she can cure it if she could get better equipment." He answered. "But she even admits it would be a long shot."
"Isn't at least worth trying?" Now I was starting to get irritated by his pessimism . "Even if if it only saves a few people."
"I don't have to argue morals with you." He spat as the rover stopped just outside a stone building. "The Prime Minister and Doctor Kadra are waiting for you inside." His tone told me that he wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. Ranna and I climbed out the rovers hatch ti the outside. He slammed the hatch behind us and speed away back towards the tower.
"Well he's just a bottle of sunshine." Chuckled Ranna. I gave her a disappointed look. "What?" She shrugged.
"Ranna, you need to be more tactful." She knew I wasn't joking, wasn't mad. I was just disappointed. "If we're going to go on missions, I need you to-"
"I understand Master, but what he was saying was just wrong."
"I completely agree with you." I answered. "But it's not our place to judge. As long as he doesn't have the power to act, we can't do anything."
"Okay Tharen, its just..."
"I know." I turned away from her to the structure. The building was smaller than most the others that covered the city. I could tell there were two floors by the two windows that flanked both halves of the building. The weird thing was that the only light that emanated from it was on the top flow, a lone light source flickered green from the window. "Does that seem a little strange to you?"
"Very."
I grabbed my lightsaber off my belt and flipped it on. My lightsaber blazed a bright green. I looked over at Ranna, who held a full length, blue saber-staff.
I squeaked open the damaged Plexiglas door. My lightsaber cast creepy shadows as Ranna and I proceeded deeper into the lab. Shattered glass crunched and cracked beneath our boots. "How did Onasi not notice this when we showed up?" Whispered Ranna, she had shut off one of her saber-staff's blades to accommodate for the hall ways tight corridors.
"I don't know, he should have plainly seen it from the rover." I answered. A medical gurney emitted a high pitched squeal as I pushed it out of our way. A disturbing growl echoed above us.
I stopped hearing the sound of crunching glass behind me. I turned to see Ranna frozen in fear. The poor girl, it must have been her first time off planet for a while, and what do I do first? Bring her on a mission with deadly, disease creatures. Some master I was. Maybe it would have been better for her safety if I had told her to stay with the fighter, but then I reminded myself of when I was a young padawan. I had hated it when Master Caren had me stay behind "for my own safety", I didn't want to start our partnership like that.
"Etch, you okay?"
"Yea- yeah, I'm coming." She rattled. I could tell she was extremely scared. She ran forward to catch up, stopping next to me.
"Stay close to me, I'll keep you safe."
"I can keep myself safe, thank you." She uttered as we both took a step forward. She seemed more comfortable to have me behind her. Her steps seemed more confident.
As we approached the stairs that would take us upstairs the growl happened again only closer, a lot closer. I pulled Ranna behind me and stepped into the stair well. The growl disappeared as we reached the top floor. The entire floor was one large room that was crowded with miscellaneous medical equipment. A trail of green blood led to a female Twi'lek's corpse that was draped across a computer consol.
"What happened to her?" Asked Ranna stepping closer to the corpse.
"I have no ide-" A blue creature stepped out of the shadows and stared at us, flaring its foamy mouth. It's claws scrapped along the tile deck.
I readied my lightsaber, this creature radiated dark energy and it made me uneasy. Was this the creature Onasi had been talking about? Had it been what killed the Twi'lek?
"Tharen!" Screamed Ranna. "She's moving!" I turned to see what Ranna was talking about. Big mistake. The monster I had been watching charged. I had just enough time to spin around to face the creature before it was sent flying through the air and impaled on a broken pipe.
I turned back to see Ranna's hand outstretched as if she had used the force. "You okay?" Her breathing was labored and frightened. I nodded. "The twi'lek, she was moving a second ago." She pointed to what I had thought was a corpse.
I ran over to her immediately as I noticed her shallow breath. She looked me in the eyes when she saw me, frightened eyes, like ones that had seen pure darkness and lived to tell the tale. "Stop him!" She groaned painfully. "Rakghouls, I know what they are." She grabbed my hand tightly. "Onasi released them..." Blood began to bleed profusely out of a gash across her white lab coat. "Don't let us bur-" a final groan escaped her breath as her hand tensed and her eyes began to whiten. The Twi'lek's head tails began to crack like something was going to break out of them.
I settled my lightsaber against her chest. I hated having to kill her, but I couldn't risk letting whatever she had been changing into surviving. I flicked the switch and my blade burned through her, leaving the body with a burnt hole through her chest cavity. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner. May you join the force." I said solemnly as I slid her eyes closed.
"Master..." Ranna breathed. "I think that was Doctor Kadra." She held a small I.D. up next to the woman's cracked face. "If this is Kadra, is it possible that that thing was the Prime Minister?"
"It has to be, Kadra said that Onasi released some Rakghouls." I answered. "You have any idea what Rakghouls are?"
"No idea." She answered.
"Okay well then we'll need to send this to the council." I grabbed a syringe off a desk and cautiously approached the rakghoul. I stabbed the needle into its dead corpse and removed a blood sample. "Lets get out of here before more show up." I ordered as I slid the syringe into one of my belt pockets.