Hmmm' = Thoughts
"Hello" = Talking
Me: Hi guys. I've got a new Star Wars fic ready to read. Now who want to give the disclaimer for this?
Rosh: Oh! I'll do it!
Me: (sighs) Fine. Go ahead Rosh.
Rosh: The author doesn't own Star Wars, Jedi Academy or anything really important. Okay I'm done.
Me: (turns and looks at Rosh)….......Do you have ADD?
Star Wars: Jedi Academy
Jaden Korr sat at his desk, typing his report. It had been an average diplomatic mission for the New Republic. Pausing for a moment , Jaden leaned back in his seat and thought 'Well, better routine and safe than extraordinary and possibly deadly'.
It had only been a year since the Cult of Ragnos had attempted to resurrect the Sith Lord Marka Ragnos. 'They succeeded at the end' Jaden thought to himself 'I won only because his spirit couldn't be held in Tavion's body.' A knocking at his door brought him out of his reverie. Turning to face the door, he called out "Come on in." The door whooshed open and there stood his best friend Rosh Penin.
"Rosh, what are you doing here?" Jaden asked is confusion. "Oh, that's some greeting for your best friend Jaden. I feel real welcome" Rosh replied. Despite this, they both grinned. Since becoming a Jedi Knight himself, Rosh hadn't been around much. Then again, neither had Jaden. The mission load on the Academy had increased since the defeat of Tavion and her Cult of Ragnos. Especially on Jaden himself.
He had become very popular with the New Republic. On the most important diplomatic missions Kyle went with him, not as his master but as his teacher. Just because he was a Knight didn't mean he knew everything. As a side note, Jaden requested that Kyle be sent with him for such missions. To help keep him sane.
"Well, to be honest I was bored and didn't know what else to do. So…I thought I'd stop by and see how your doing. So, how ya doin' buddy?" Rosh asked. Jaden looked up at his friend "Well Rosh, when you're the new poster boy for the Academy you tend to get the overly important political missions and let me tell you, they suck. Horribly." Rosh began to laugh
"It's not funny Rosh. The only reason I survive them is because Kyle is there to help me keep cool. These people are about as interesting as watching a nerf graze" By now Rosh is rolling on the ground in laughing fits "Rosh, stop. It isn't funny…….well, okay. I guess it's funny. But still…"
"I can't stop!" Rosh cried, interrupting Jaden "It's just so funny! These old rancors haven't got an idea what we think of them!"
"Rosh" Jaden began again "I'll agree that some of them are…special sentients. But remember Rosh, one of the most prominent politicians of the New Republic is Master Skywalker's sister, Leia Organa Solo. So I wouldn't repeat that anywhere near him, okay?" Rosh paled. "Um…" he began to laugh nervously "I'll keep that in mind. Well, I guess I'll see you around."
As Rosh turned to leave, he turned back to Jaden again "Oh, by the way Jaden. Did you hear the news?" he asked with a knowing grin. Jaden didn't like the look of that grin. It always meant something bad was going to happen to him. "No….What is it Rosh?" he replied cautiously. Rosh's grin grew wider until it appeared to engulf his face. A sudden cold chill ran up Jaden's spine.
"Well Jaden, on my way here I noticed the datapad in the hall had some interesting information. It appears that a group of new students is going to be arriving here in a few days and the datapad had the list of Knights and Masters who are to be assigned students." Jaden did not like where this was heading.
"Number #1 on the list" Rosh said smugly " is Jaden Korr" Rosh heard him groan " and number #2 on the list is Rosh Penin! Jaden, where going to be Masters!" A crash made Rosh jump. Looking over he realized that Jaden had hit his head on his desk. 'Why me?' Jaden thought.
"Ah, there you both are." The sound of Kyle Katarn's voice caused Rosh to jump in the door frame, hitting his head on the top of it."Oh, hey Kyle!" replied Rosh quickly while rubbing his head. Kyle shook his head and looked over at his other former student. Jaden had resumed banging his head on the desk."So I take it you know about your new duties?" Kyle asked, trying not to laugh out loud at the two of them.
"Yup. Just got done telling Jaden about it when you walked in" Rosh answered, still rubbing the sore spot on his head. The Jedi Master smirked, a thought forming in his mind. "So, Jaden. What's with the head pounding? Are you worried about being a Jedi Master?" the mirth in his voice was very evident.
Said Jedi groaned. 'Why me?' he thought again. 'Because Jaden, you are one of the most qualified to teach' Kyle supplied in his head. Jaden turned his head towards his friend and mentor. "You know, just because I'm qualified doesn't mean I can or want do it" Jaden said in an even tone.
Before Kyle could answer, Rosh pipped up. "Jaden you'll do fine. I mean come on. You not only defeated Tavion but Marka Ragnos as well! I mean a Sith Lord! And a dead one too! If you can do all of that and still save me, you will be a great master. Me, well...you don't need to be a such an awesome Jedi so see how well I'll do" the young Jedi said.
"Rosh" Jaden said getting his friends attention "It's because you know what the dark side is like that you'll make a great master. You know how horrible it is and you can instill that lesson to your student or students much better than I can" he said as he placed his hand on Rosh's shoulder. Kyle nodded off to the side. Rosh's eyes began to tear up.
"Thanks Jaden" he replied.
"You know" Kyle interjected "there's nothing against training together. So where one of you is weaker than the other, you can trade students for that training." Both of the Jedi Knights nodded in understanding, "Just remember" Kyle interrupted again "it's not a competition to see who the better instructor is."
Jaden and Rosh grinned in understanding. Kyle shook his head 'I have a bad feeling about this' he thought to himself.
Time Skip – Five Days
'Well, I'll find out who my students are today' Jaden thought. He hadn't slept at all the entire night before, choosing instead to meditate. Looking up at the wall chronometer, Jaden noted the time. 'Well, it's now or never' he said to himself as he exited his room. On his way to the main chamber, Jaden noticed the extra droid activity. 'Must be cleaning out rooms for the new students'.
Reaching the main chamber he began counting the number of new arrivals. 'Eight...ten...fifteen...twenty...' he counted them off 'one. Twenty-one students huh?' Jaden began walking towards the other Knights and Masters, when a powerful force aura overwhelmed him. Turning swiftly, he scanned the crowd of students for signs of the what caused the aura. 'Whatever that was, it's gone now' he thought to himself.
Turning back around, he finished his short traverse with no other interruptions. "Hey Jaden! Over here!" Rosh yelled while waving his hand to get the other Knights attention. Jaden ambled over to the obviously excited man. "Geez Rosh. Could you honestly be more excited?" Rosh turned to him "How can you not be excited?"
"Rosh, you need to calm down a bit" Kyle said, walking up out of nowhere. Rosh jumped a little. "You could warn a person before you do that Kyle. You scared the Poodoo out of me. Again" he said. Kyle just laughed and looked over at Jaden. "And you could stand to lighten up a bit kid. You look gloomy and you wouldn't want to scare your student before you get to know each other, now would you?" Jaden's silence answered for him.
Kyle laughed again, this time with Rosh joining in. Jaden ignored them, instead focusing on the force aura he'd felt a little while ago. 'Hmmm. I wonder if Kyle or Rosh felt it? But if they did, why haven't they said anything?' Jaden pondered 'Maybe I should ask Kyle?'
Jaden opened his mouth to ask , but was cut off as Luke Skywalker began his introduction speech. He heard it before. So instead of listening to it, he combed over the students again. 'Which one of them was it?' he questioned himself. While no one was giving off the aura anymore, he began to skim their surface thoughts in order to eliminate the one's more or less not possible.
'I doubt either of the two Ithorians would or even could do it.' Ithorians were notorious for their peaceful ways. Next were the three Twi'leks. 'Hmmm' Jaden thought 'judging from their body language and the emotions they're emitting, I doubt any of them did it'. He had personal experience of a dark side Twi'lek and none of them matched the profile of Alora in Jaden's mind.
'Let's see, there's the three Rodians' Jaden reached out and brushed their minds surface. 'Nope. Not them either. Only thing they're guilty of is complaining about the temperature'. Rodians were known for the violence of their homeworld (and their smell) but an amazing number had become Jedi at one time or another.
'Moving on...two Sullustans.' Jaden once again skimmed their surface thoughts and found nothing. 'Okay ten down, eleven to go.' Sullustans could fight well but seemed to attempt peace first. That left the five Humans, the single Wookiee, the two Cereans, the two Kel Dor, and an individual that appeared to be a Kiffar.
'Okay the Cereans are next' Jaden told himself. As he touched their minds, they seemed to sense him and glanced at each other in confusion. 'Okay?....So not them either.' Cereans used meditation crystals, so it wasn't too unusual that they felt him. 'So that leaves the Wookiee, the Humans, the Kel Dor, and the Kiffar.'
'The Kel Dor are next' Jaden thought. He reached out to touch their minds and made brief contact before they both turned and looked straight at Jaden, which convinced him to abandoned his inspection. 'That....that was uncomfortable.' The Kel Dor species native world contained helium and a gas found only there as the main parts of the atmosphere, so anytime a Kel Dor was off world, they wore the masks that most people associate with them. Kel Dor also saw moral issues in black and white terms.
'I think I'll get off the hook if I apologize to them' Jaden thought.
'I think the Wookiee is next'. Even though Jaden only touched the surface of the Wookiees mind, he saw a profound being that had been a slave. 'How could anyone think that these sentients are mindless?' the questioned himself. Indeed the Empire had enslaved the Wookiees and used them as labor. The average thought on Wookiees was that they were mindless beasts that would kill if given the chance.
'Only a fool thinks like that. But still, I wouldn't want to upset one' Memories of an irritated Chewbacca sprang to mind. 'If that was irritated, then I'd hate to see an angry or enraged Wookiee.' Jaden thought. 'That leaves the Humans and the Kiffar.'
As Jaden began to touch upon the Human minds, he felt them all begin to shift. 'Master Skywalker must have finished his introduction. I can get one or two more eliminated and then that's it.' The two Human minds he touched, he felt nothing. 'So it came from one of the remaining four.'
"Hey Jaden? You there buddy?" Rosh's voice and hand wave forced Jaden from his thoughts. "Yeah....yeah, I'm here Rosh. What is it?" he asked. Rosh lifted his eyebrow in unison with Kyle. "What do you mean "What is it?" you need to get your student. Did you drift off while Master Skywalker was talking?" Rosh asked his friend curiously.
"Yeah. I drifted off for a while. I missed of of the introduction speech. Sorry." Jaden replied, trying to regain his concentration. "Well okay. Just don't do it while your training your student, okay?" Jaden just nodded. Rosh looked over at his two students. "I get two, while you and Kyle get one each? How is that fair?"
Kyle shrugged. "Probably for all the trouble you caused as a student" Jaden snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "Yeah real funny guys" Rosh muttered. Walking over to his students "Come on you two, lets get you set up in your rooms" Rosh told both his students.
Both of which Jaden had not gotten to.
"Hey, Jaden? You all right?" Kyle asked, when he noticed Jaden watching the students leave with Rosh. "Can I tell you later Kyle? First I need to get my student to her room. Let her get comfortable. I'll come to your quarters at 22:00, okay?" Jaden replied.
Kyle watched his former student for a moment. "Yeah okay. I'll see you then." Kyle headed over to his student. Another of the unread. That left just Jaden and his student alone in the main chamber. 'Well, lets get going' Jaden told himself.
Jaden approached the young woman, who appeared to be trying her hardest to blend into the wall. "Hello" Jaden called out. She stopped all other activity and turned her head to see him. "H-Hello" she replied in a soft, quiet, almost none existent voice. 'Hmmm... She's going to need a lot of confidence building. No wonder Master Skywalker gave her to me' he thought. "My name is Jaden Korr. I'll be your master. Now, first things first. What is your name?"
The young Kiffar looked down and away. The shift in position let Jaden see the facial markings that most distinguish Kiffar from baseline Humans. They were yellow, almost pale, the longest streched across her face. It went over her nose and disappeared behind her long black hair on both sides. The other one came from behind her hair as well but extended no farther than the center of her face above her left eye.
"My name" she spoke in her soft voice "is Aayla Vos."
Scene Break
Kyle walked into his quarters and sat down at his desk. Without even looking he pressed the comlink and waited for it to connect. "Yes Kyle?" came Luke Skywalkers voice from the device. "Luke, could you come to my quarters at 22:00 hours?" Silence, then "I can do that. Any particular reason?" Kyle sighed.
"Yeah. Jaden asked to talk to me and I thought if it was important to him to keep it on the low, it might be important enough for you to hear" Kyle said.
"Very well" Luke replied "I'll be there. See you at 22:00 Kyle" and the comlink disconnected. Kyle craned his neck back and sighed again. 'What have you gotten into now Jaden?' the Jedi Master asked himself.
Me: Okay. If anyone is having trouble imaging my Jaden, it's the Caucasian male with reddish-brown hair. He wears the last of the clothing options tinted red. His lightsaber is a double-blade orange saber.
Kyle: So...you've decided to do an Academy story? Try not to get anyone important killed alright?
Me: Kyle? Are you scared that I might get you killed?
Kyle: …......No.
Me: I think you're lying. (waves hand) You want to tell me the truth.
Kyle: No. I don't.
Me: Damn. I thought that would work. Oh well, until next time people.