Tales of a Shattered Order
Dramatis Personae
Canderous Ordo, Mandalore (male human)
Cain Ordo, Mandalorian mercenary (male human/Taung hybrid)
Kreed Fett, Mandalorian mercenary (male human)
Orar Bralor, Mandalorian (male human)
Runi Bralor, Mandalorian (female human)
Valen Credos, Smuggler (male Kiffar)
Elena Loris, Jedi Initiate (female Echani)
Brianna Kae, Jedi Weapons Master (female Echani)
Scyff Hadronis, Smuggler (male Zabrak)
Bao-Dur, Jedi Tech Specialist (male Zabrak)
Khaleed Surge, Former pirate (male Weequay)
Ariel Sala'am, Freed slave (female Twi'lek)
Mission Vao, Republic Captain (female Twi'lek)
Bastila Shan, Jedi Master (female human)
Jolee Bindo, Jedi Grand Master (male human)
Atton Rand, Jedi Master (male human)
Mical, Jedi Historian (male human)
Mira, Jedi Master (female human)
Caeda Shan, Jedi Knight (female human)
Merrick Shan, Jedi Knight (male human)
Juhani, Jedi Master (female Cathar)
Visas Marr, Jedi Master (female Miraluka)
Carth Onasi, Republic Supreme Admiral (male human)
Dustil Onasi, Jedi Master (male human)
Gil Surrey, Jedi Padawan (male Nautilan)
HK-47, assassin (Droid masculine programming)
T3-M4, (Astromech Droid)
From the Ashes
One year after the former Jedi Exile left known space in search for the elusive rogue Knight Revan, the individuals who they left behind return to the old temple on Coruscant to attempt to rebuild the broken Jedi Order. There is much to do though before the temple can accept new generations of Jedi Knights. Many members of the Republic Senate and the citizens of the Republic itself still hold resentment towards the Jedi due to their roles in two previous galactic wars. There was also the lack of funds to take into account, without which new training equipment and structural repairs would not be requisitioned any time soon. After the apparent mistrust and even outright hatred received from the general populace and lack of financial resources one other major obstacle remains. How to find and recruit new members into the Order and who would be appointed as the Grand Master of the ragtag Council. To his great dismay the oldest and wisest surviving member of the Council, Jolee Bindo was made the official new Grand Master. Bindo quickly enacted a strict training regiment for the 'children' as he so called his fellow Jedi, because in order to train young Jedi the Masters themselves must be well trained themselves. Over the next decade, the stricken Jedi Order slowly prepared itself to return to the galaxy at large. Over time, Bastila Shan's two young children Merrick and Caeda Shan trained intensely to become among the first Knights of a new order. Merrick developed many of his mothers' personality traits and a similarly stoic demeanor, often locking himself within the Temple's grand archives and studying the ancient texts of the old Masters for days at a time. Caeda on the other hand developed into a very friendly, personable young woman with a strong sense of adventure, often showing up late or forgoing training altogether so that she can have more time to explore the massive cityscape of the Galactic Capital. Upon his promotion at the age of thirteen to the rank of Padawan Merrick chose to follow the path of a Jedi consular and seek to master the ways of the Force under his new master Dustil Onasi. When she gained the rank of Padawan at the age of twelve Caeda chose to follow her mother's path and begin her training as a Jedi Sentinel under the watchful if not lenient eye of Atton Rand.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the galaxy Mandalore the Preserver returns to the world of Mandalore with his reunited clans and reclaims the traditional Mandalorian homeworld. It is while Mandalore walks through the remains of an old settlement on the world's freezing Polar Regions that he comes across a young boy huddled in a frozen hut barely alive. Impressed by the child's strength and will to survive Canderous formally adopted the boy as his own son giving him the name of his grandfather Cain. Upon returning to Keldabe many clan elders gave the small child their highest blessings for in his veins ran the blood of the Taung, the original Mandalorian species. As the years passed, Cain would develop into one of clan Ordo's finest youth warriors, and passed the trials for adulthood one year early at the age of twelve. It was clear that great battles lay ahead for the son of Mandalore.
A Rocky Start
Hyperspace: Ten Years after Cain's Trials
Cain Ordo sat in the cockpit of his modified light freighter the Black Phoenix watching the wake of hyperspace flash past him en route to the world of Yavin. He could always find solace in hyperspace travel, something about the sound of the hyper-drives rumbling helped him to think more clearly. The thoughts of past fights gone wrong and friends lost didn't haunt him as much as they did while he spent time planet-side. A soft tired groan roused him from his deep contemplations as he looked down at the young girl who occupied the copilot's seat next to him. After what she had been through in the past couple of days, he was honestly surprised at how well she was holding together. After all not many children he knew could have survived an attack by a rogue Sith Marauder as well as she had, the young girl had a great inner strength about her she would be a great warrior one day… he hoped.
"How do you feel ad'ika?" He asked when she finally woke up.
"W-Where am I? What happened?" She asked, her small voice stuttering groggily in confusion as she looked up at the familiar T-visor of a Mandalorian warrior. Her heart sank when she realized that the older man was not her father.
"Where's my buir?" She asked with tears welling up in her green eyes.
Cain merely shook his head sadly at this comment. How was he to tell a young girl that her father, her family was brutally slaughtered by some honor-less coward of a Sith? Fortunately, the girl seemed to understand his gesture and looked up towards the bulkhead trying in vain to subdue her grief. She nearly jumped when she felt a heavy hand soothingly squeeze her shoulder followed by the gravelly voice of her only companion.
"I'm tracking down the worthless chakaar who massacred your clan as we speak." The man in bloodstained armor said, "I'll take care of you."
"D-Did anyone… else make it?" She asked through her restrained sobs.
Cain knew the feeling all too well and when he looked towards the girl memories he thought to be long since dead started to slowly bubble back to the surface. He vowed silently that he would make the scum responsible for causing his young charge such pain suffer until he begged for death's sweet embrace. He shook these thoughts from his head yet again and stared back down to her.
"A child… younger than you found me when I landed." A deep synthesized voice from beneath the helmet said. "If it hadn't been for him I probably wouldn't have gotten to you in time."
"My little brother Orar's alive!" She almost squealed, causing Cain to wince even through the filters of his helmet. "Please tell me that he's ok please…"
"Slow down ad'ika, he's fine." Cain said, raising his hand from her shoulder and pointing down the corridor behind them. "Last I checked he was asleep in the port dorms. The kid actually faired better than you in this whole escapade."
Without another word, the girl stood up and left for the dorms as quickly as her shaky legs would carry her leaving Cain to his own devises.
When Orar woke up from his restless sleep, he was greeted by the pleasant surprise of seeing his sister staring down at him from the entry to his cabin.
"Runi!" He squealed before jumping to his feet and crushing his older sister in a vice-like embrace. It never ceased to amaze Runi how strong her little brother was, if their clan had survived Orar would have started traveling with their father on his jobs to train him to be a proper warrior. This line of thought of course did nothing to help her current emotional state and tears welled up in her eyes, and that's when she noticed Orar crying into her shoulder exclaiming how scarred he was for her, how he missed their parents, and many other grievances. This made her quickly take up the role of elder sibling forgetting her own plight and comforting her little brother.
"Come on Orar… maybe a little dinner would make us both feel better." Runi said in a soothing voice, trying to draw attention away from their current situation.
"That… sounds… good." He managed to choke out between tears. After regaining some semblance of composure, Orar slowly guided his sister towards the ship's small mess area. They were surprised when they saw their rescuer sitting at the only table in that room going over a data pad while eating some type of military ration that neither one of them could identify. That however is not what startled them; it was his eyes that made their blood run cold. The irises were the same gold as those of some great predatory beast with corneas blacker than coals. Runi was so taken aback by the sight that she almost didn't hear the older man's words.
"Are you even listening? I said that if you're hungry I don't have too much beyond
K-rations."
"Oh… Uh sorry that'll be fine." The flabbergasted girl stammered still staring at the man's striking eyes.
"Relax kid I didn't go through all the trouble of pulling your shebse out of that death-trap just so I could cause harm." Cain said noticing how nervously Runi was staring at him.
"I-I know, it's just, just that I've never seen eyes like yours before. Are they like ocular implants or something?" At her questions, Cain simply chuckled a few time and shook his head at the girl as if she had just asked the dumbest question in the entire galaxy. Runi bristled under the scrutiny of the older man. Thankfully, Orar stepped in before she could fire off a snide remark at Cain.
"You're a Taung aren't you?"
The question was both absurd and intriguing to Runi at the same time. Her parents had often told them stories about the infamous Taung warriors of the Mandalorian Wars before they went to bed. However it was impossible for the man before them to be a member of that noble breed, the Taung were all but extinct. That's all they were now, a legend to implant dreams of glory into the minds of young Mandalorians nothing more.
"Smart kid, but your only partially correct." Cain explained leaning back in his chair. "I'm not even a half breed, just some shabuir lucky enough to be gifted with a few drops of that noble blood."
Cain's face took on something akin to a wistful almost dreamy expression as he thought back on his heritage... and what it truly meant. It disturbed him to no end that he never knew his mother, the person responsible for his heritage. All he knew about her came from the old stories his father would tell him as a child. He didn't even know if his mother was alive or not, and frankly he didn't care. All he cared about at this moment was finding the chakaar who was responsible for the massacre of Clan Bralor, and bring him to the most excruciatingly painful form of justice the young warrior could think of. Then there was the matter of what to do with the kids. The girl looked as if she had already gone through a few tiers of training as a warrior, but the boy looked as if he was barely old enough to begin the training. They needed a father, or an elder to do this or Clan Bralor would just be another lost in the ashes of history. Cain could not allow that, he swore to himself at that moment that he would teach them and raise them himself if he had to. At least then, they'd be amongst their own people. He owed Clan Bralor that much at least.
"Where are we going anyway?" Asked the boy, Orar that's what Cain heard the girl call him. The older man couldn't help but feel a little amused at bored expression plastered on the boy's face as he spoke.
"Eager for a good fight already are we ad'ika?" Cain couldn't help but laugh as Orar scrunched up his face at his apparently mocking query. "Calm down boy, we're heading for Yavin and we won't arrive for another four hours or so. You might as well get comfortable."
"But I'm bored."
"Ha… All in good time my boy… All in good time."
The Ethereal: En Route to Yavin
Caeda spun her lightsaber's violet blade in a defensive flourish in an attempt to dissuade her opponent from charging at her again. She didn't dare to take her eyes off of him as he slowly circled her, trying to corner the young Jedi in the cargo hold where her reach would be limited. Almost without warning, her foe lunged at her bringing his golden saber slamming down to meet her purple one. Caeda barely managed to parry the strike, but the force of the blow staggered her. Taking full advantage of her momentary weakness her foe delivered a hard kick to her exposed mid-section, knocking her onto her back. Milliseconds later Caeda felt the unmistakable heat of her opponent's saber mere inches away from her throat.
"Give up yet?" Atton Rand asked in his usual cocky tone.
"For the moment anyway." Caeda answered with a smile as her Master helped her back up to her feet.
"You're getting really good, you still need to work on your stance but you did much better than the last time."
"I let you win old man." Caeda retorted with a mischievous ring in her softly accented voice.
"I bet, just like you 'let' me win at pazaak." Atton countered, cocking his brow.
"Exactly."
It always amazed Atton at how determined and steadfast his Padawan could be one moment, and then the next she had an overtly friendly and approachable air about her.
He could still remember how she used to wander about the lower levels of Coruscant looking for anyone or anything in need of aid, even when she was just a young child Caeda exhibited an uncanny ability to heal injuries whether they were physical or mental. Atton's mind continued to wander as his Padawan bowed and headed towards the ship's refresher to clean up after their intense training session had ended.
Caeda couldn't help but feel some anxiety as she thought about their current mission. They had been sent on a mission to apprehend or execute a Dark Jedi by the name of Ulrich Fury who was spotted heading towards Yavin, an area that still reported Sith activity from time to time. Caeda couldn't help but worry about what may happen, this was her first experience hunting down another Force adept. Her master told her that the key to defeating a Sith was using their patience against them. "Never go on the offensive let them make the first move." Atton had always told her, but no matter how many times he told her, something about this particular operation felt strange. Like something, very important was going to occur on Yavin and no amount of training could possibly prepare her for it. Slowly Caeda entered the ship's refresher and allowed the steady flow of warm water hitting her skin to relax her and ease her troubled thoughts and soothe her sore aching muscles.
Some time later Caeda stepped out of the refresher and donned her peculiar suit of black and red armor in preparation for their arrival to Yavin.
"Your father would have been very proud of you, you know that right." Mission Vao said almost wistfully when she saw her friend enter the cockpit, donned in a refitted version of Revan's old battle armor. It was hard for the Twi'lek to believe that he had been gone for nearly two decades; at least he left behind a legacy. Whether he knew it or not, Caeda and Merrick were easily two of the most powerful force adepts in the galaxy, that's not saying much however since nearly all the Jedi and Sith were wiped out during the great purge.
"What was he like, my father I mean?" Caeda asked with some embarrassment. "Mother doesn't talk much about; she says it hurts too much."
Mission could understand where Bastila was coming from somewhat, his departure had hit them all pretty hard. Carth and Bastila were probably hit the hardest by it though. That was why everyone in the original crew, with the exception of Canderous stayed relatively close throughout the years.
"You're dad was very similar to you in personality, always going out of his way to help anyone he could. I always thought it was his way of making amends for all the wrongs he caused as the Dark Lord." Mission finally said, trying to do the man that she saw as a surrogate father justice in her explanation. "He was incredibly powerful too, but what I found to be his best trait was his ability to just relate to everyone no matter what they were going through."
"I wish I could have met him." Caeda said in a melancholic tone.
"As I said he'd be very proud of you."
A few seconds later the ship's navicomputer stated beeping incessantly, alerting them of their arrival at Yavin.
"That's interesting."
"What, is that a Sith ship?" Caeda asked in confusion.
"No look at the markings on its side, that's not a Sith symbol." Atton responded sternly as he entered the cockpit.
"They sure look creepy enough for a Sith."
"We're receiving a hail from the vessel, should I patch it through?" Mission asked, typing in several commands as they drew closer to the other ship.
"Yes, this should prove to be interesting." Atton answered with a roguish smile.
At his order, Mission began typing rapidly at the keys in front of her. A few seconds later the holo-projector activated, bringing a warrior clad in full body armor and brandishing the unmistakable T-visor of his people into full view.
"This is Mandalorian business, turn back now Jedi I have no desire to kill you along with my quarry." The gravelly voice from behind the Mandalorian's mask said.
"Jeez, not much for conversation is he?"
"Quiet Mission." Atton admonished the Twi'lek in an uncharacteristically stern voice.
"Who exactly is your target, and why?"
The Mandalorian seemed to hesitate for a moment before responding.
"The chakaar SithI hunt is responsible for the near annihilation of a Mandalorian Clan, by honor and right his head belongs to us."
"You can't seriously be thinking of hunting down a Sith on your own, he'll slaughter you." Caeda almost yelled, to her Master's disapproval.
"Keep that child's tongue in check Master Rand, or I might be forced to remove it for her own sake."
The cold menace of his voice actually sent a deathly chill up Caeda's spine, and the fact that the cold emotionless T-visor had settled on her didn't help matters much either.
"I apologize for her behavior; she is still just a Padawan." Atton noticed Caeda flinch as he put emphasis on the last word. "However I do believe that we should probably join forces to deal with this Dark Jedi, rest assured however that you will be the first to engage him. We merely need to retrieve an object that he stole from the Temple."
"That… is acceptable. I'll meet you planet-side in half an hour." The Mandalorian said giving Caeda another analyzing stare before his image winked out from view.
"Are they all like that?" Caeda asked her Master.
"No, He was actually being friendly."
"You're kidding right?" Caeda asked with a nervous chuckle.
"I wish I was." Atton responded. "Follow his ship Mission; I don't want any surprises from this one."
"I'm on it." Mission answered tailing the Mandalorian vessel as closely as possible without raising suspicion.
Yavin: Massassi Ruins
Ulrich stood in awe at the entrance to the largest of the temples constructed by the powerful Sith Lord Exar Kun several decades before. Within this temple lay an artifact that would bestow upon him unnatural power. The Jedi Master named Mira stood next to him arms in chains, a force disruption collar around her throat, and barely conscious. He required this Jedi to open the gargantuan gates, which blocked his path to greater power. The old Jedi had sealed this once glorious triumph of the Dark Side after the war with Kun, and only a Jedi with the appropriate experience and an ancient Jedi crystal could unlock the gates. This is what led Ulrich to capturing this one while she was aiding refugees on some unremarkable dirtball of a world. After a moment, Ulrich dropped the incapacitated Jedi to the ground and prepared himself to enter the temple's hallowed grounds. His sense of urgency suddenly spiked when he noticed a pair of ships roared overhead. One he recognized as a Mandalorian vessel, likely some fool wishing to reap their vengeance on him for what he did to their Clan, this didn't even faze the Dark Jedi. The other ship however sent a cold chill down his spine, for he noticed the markings of the Jedi Order engraved upon its hull. Both vessels landed a bit too close for his comfort; He knew he'd have to act quickly in order to get within the Temple before they tracked him down.
Yavin: Landing Area
The Ethereal's engines slowly died down as small ship touched down on Yavin's lush surface, only a few meters away from the Mandalorian's ship.
"We might as well go out and meet our grumpy friend." Atton said as he stood up from his seat in the ship's lounge. "Mission, stay with the ship and keep the engines warmed up in case we need to make a fast retreat."
"Whatever you say, I don't like jungles much anyway." Mission answered from her seat in the cockpit. Atton looked down toward Caeda as she donned her father's old helmet, and motioned for her to follow him out of their ship. Upon exiting their transport the two Jedi were greeted by the bizarre sight of two children training with staves under the watching visor of the older Mandalorian they had spoken to earlier. Righteous anger welled up in Caeda's gut at this sight not the children being trained as their culture dictates, but at the fact that this Mandalorian would place these children in danger by bringing them with him to hunt down a Sith. She wanted to say something about it, but the Mandalorian was much more intimidating in person. He towered over her at more than six feet tall, clad in blue and green armor with a design on his helmet reminiscent of a skull, and to top it all off dark red marks which appeared to be blood streaked a crossed his armor in gruesome designs.
"You bear the armor of a dead clan." The Mandalorian stated with a close approximation to surprise in his voice.
"This was my father's armor." Caeda said, immediately going on the defensive.
"Calm down Jetii. I just wasn't expecting to meet an exile."
"Exile?" Caeda almost choked on the question.
"My Padawan is no exile from the clans; she merely wears the armor her father took during the Mandalorian wars." Atton said jumping in to prevent any conflicts from erupting between the two hot headed teens.
"So this is the offspring of the great Revan? Can't say I'm too impressed." Cain said with a deep laugh. The blood rushed to Caeda's face at the insults that this Mandalorian who had just met her and therefore knew nothing about her directed at her.
"And why am I so lackluster in your view Mandalorian?" Caeda asked putting her visor covered face as close to Cain's as she could, in an attempt to put the larger man off balance. This however was a very bad idea on her part as Cain grabbed her by the throat and lifted her from the ground by her neck.
"For one thing a true warrior wouldn't have left an opening for an attack like you just did child." Cain growled as spots began to appear in Caeda's vision.
"Put her down!" shrieked a young voice from behind Cain.
The older Mandalorian looked down to see the boy, Orar holding onto his kama and staring up at him as if he were the boy's father. At Orar's request Cain released his ironclad grip on Caeda's throat and let her drop to the ground gasping for breath. It was at this point that Cain noticed that the other Jedi had his lightsaber mere inches away from the back of his neck. At this, he merely nodded his head respectfully toward the older Jedi as he knelt down beside Caeda to treat her relatively minor injuries.
After a few moments, Caeda was back up on her feet glaring daggers at Cain who merely chuckled at her.
Sensing another conflict in the air Atton strategically placed himself between his apprentice and the much taller Mandalorian.
"Both of you need to calm down now! We can all go back to killing each other when we've brought the Sith to justice, now come on."
Cain ordered the two kids not to stray away from his ship and began to follow the two Jedi into Yavin's dense jungle.