Prologue

5 years before The Battle of Geonosis

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.

This code was the basis around which the life of every Jedi was formed. They lived by it, were moulded by it and, when the time came, died by it. The code promoted self-discipline, something Padawan learners were taught in the earliest stages of their Force training. And his was no different.

As he sat alone in the great library of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the Jedi Knight Voolvif Monn pondered this code again and again. It was not that he was losing his faith or that he was doubting the very code by which he lived. This was simply something he did, day in and day out. The Shistavanen ruffled his shaggy, brown fur, deciding that it was time to leave for another part of the temple, most likely his private quarters to meditate. His people were extremely solitary by nature, something which he would honour to his last breath, it was in his genes. Before standing, he felt a presence enter through one of the library's many doors. The unmistakable presence of Master Erak Chandur, one of the temple's experts on Lightsaber combat.

Chandur was a well-aged human male Jedi Master, around 50 to 60 years old. His hair was greyed and his face worn with the weight of the years he had seen throughout his life and the Jedi students he had seen come and go from under his teachings. As Monn stood to greet his friend, he rose to his full almost-2 meter height. Master Chandur was one of the only Jedi in the entire order that Voolvif Monn would call a close friend, or as close a friend as a Jedi could have without forming a major attachment. Master Chandur had taught Monn in the ways of basic Lightsaber combat in his early Padawan days, just as he had many other young would be-Jedi. As Chandur shuffled across the room to greet his friend and former student, his sand coloured robes swaying as he moved and a look of unadulterated delight spread across his face at seeing his old friend, Monn couldn't help allowing his lip to curl into a pleased smile, his large, off-white canines inadvertently bared.

"Good morning to you, Master Chandur," Monn said as the old Jedi approached, bowing his head in curtesy. "I trust the night was good to you?"

"There is such a thing as being lost in a good book or an ancient scripture, my friend," Chandur laughed "But this, this is ridiculous at best. It is mid-afternoon."

Monn checked the time on the nearest holo-display, belonging to a nearby terminal. It was indeed late afternoon, approximately 7 hours since he had ventured down to the library alone. He was un-phased by this, it was not the first time he had found his day disappear while browsing the temple's collection of scriptures and databank entries.

"I see I have managed to kill as much of my time as possible again." He smiled. "Tell me, Master, why do you come here?"

The older human shrugged his shoulders in an almost sarcastic fashion.

"Is an old man such as myself no longer permitted to access the library in his very place of residence? Is this what your generation has come to think of the elderly?"

Monn gave a slight chuckle. Even when he was evidently happy to see him, Chandur could always make a quick quip about his antics and immediately pass the blame onto "his generation". A sign of the Jedi's age, he thought.

"Master, for all I know you could have built this very temple at the rate at which you are ageing by the day." Master Chandur laughed at this remark. Trust the Shistavanen to bring his age into this. "I meant why have you come here to me? Is there something you wish to discuss?"

The old man gave a sigh, sounding almost relieved that he had asked him.

"I would like you to come and observe my next class, if you will." The Wolf-man's hair stood on end at this suggestion. Monn tried hard to fight back a slight snarl at this request.

"This is about the Padawan again, isn't it? With all due respect, Master, I have told you countless times that it is simply not in my nature to be in the same room as a student, let alone take one as my own. I am from a fiercely solitary race and I will honour their tradit-"

"Just listen to me, my friend. That is all I ask." Master Chandur was at his wit's end at this point. For months he had been trying to get Monn to take on a student and to no avail. But this time it was different. This time he had popular opinion by his side. Monn turned away upon hearing his words.

"Proceed then, Master." Monn sighed, his long snout pointed toward the floor.

"I have discussed this matter with the High Council this morning." Monn's head shot up, his ebony eyes wide. He turned to face the Jedi Master, whom he had clearly taken by surprise with his sudden movements.

"I beg your pardon, Master Chandur?" The Jedi Master could sense the displeasure in the younger Jedi's voice.

"I sat with the Jedi High Council and they all agree with me. They believe it is high time you took a student."

Monn growled. He knew for a fact that once the High Council had decided on anything, it was to be set in stone. He could feel his anger growing at this deception. He had to fight it. Reciting his code in his head, he held it at bay.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

"While I am very displeased with this deception, Master, I do sense that it is not in my power to resist any longer. I accept your offer."

Chandur laughed, the young Jedi had never sounded so reluctant to do anything in his life.

"Have no fear, my friend. My students will not bite." He chuckled as he placed his arm around the Jedi Knight's shoulder. "Though you may find some are a little…unorthodox in their style."