Hey, thanks for checking out this story, people. It focuses on Anakin, Obi-Wan, Siri, Ferus, and everyone from the Clone Wars and Jedi Quest books, with a few OCs of my own. Basically, it revolves around the premise:
What if someone saved Darra on Korriban?
Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's all Disney's now.
(Lets hope they don't mess up the sequel trilogy. Or Operation: Knightfall Part II will hit Cinderella's castle. ;D)
Chapter 1: Prologue
(24 BBY)
A lone padawan sat in a large recliner inside his and his master's dorm. Resting his crossed legs on a low table, he sighed and flipped through the holonet channels.
He had heard from Darra Thel-Tanis that she and her master, Soara Antana, were part of a Jedi strike team to Korriban. She was lucky. He had to sit around doing nothing.
It's not like the council had high expectations for him. His own master had selected him at the age of twelve, but she didn't live at the Temple like most of the other Jedi. In fact, he rarely saw the Jedi Temple at all. He had practically no contact with his former creche mates, and his master's transient lifestyle meant that she didn't even have a good dorm. On their short visits to Coruscant, they stayed in a repurposed storage closet. All it had now was a recliner, two bunk beds, a short table, and a small holoemitter.
So he was stuck doing absolutely nothing inside a duracrete hole in the wall.
He felt a small ripple in the Force. No, not necessarily a ripple but a stab through the heart; the strike team must have arrived at Korriban. Their presences in the Force dimmed at the same time, as if swallowed up by the planet.
He resumed flipping through the channels without any interest. His master, who was off-planet at the time, probably wouldn't be back for another hour.
The back of his neck tingled; the Force was calling to him, prompting him to do something. With resolve, he stood up and opened the door to his dorm and made his way to the Main Hangar.
Regardless of what anyone said, he was going to Korriban.
His master would understand.
Darra leaped, waiting to intercept the shots...that never came. An azure lightsaber slashed downward at that exact moment, cutting off Granta Omega's arm at the shoulder. The saber spun again, and within half of a second, his head fell to the ground. His decapitated body collapsed soon afterwards, falling on top of the weapon that would have taken Darra Thel-Tanis's life.
Said padawan, who was now on the floor, was certainly still alive. The blue saber rotated back to an upright position and the Jedi stood silently.
Ferus was rather shaken up by the incident, seeing as Darra planned on taking the shots meant for him. "Hello," he managed, dropping Tru's lightsaber onto the ground. Veld frowned in indignation.
The unknown Jedi spoke softly at first. "Hello, Ferus, Anakin, Tru, Masters. I trust you have all had an absolutely wonderful afternoon," he quipped sarcastically.
He reached down and helped Darra up, and she caught a glimpse of his face. "Adrian?!" she asked in shock, recognising him in the glow of his lightsaber.
"Yes, Darra. And if you are ever that selfless again, I am going to hurt you."
"Um, okay?" Darra responded, unsure of what to say.
"Better," he growled.
Anakin smiled in amusement. Adrian then stepped backward, and ran and kicked Omegs's head across the room. Impacting a statue, the neck's cauterized tissue punctured and left a large bloody smear on the representation of an ancient Sith Lord.
Soara Antana and Siri Tachi stood there speechless.
"Hmm. Darth Whatever should have used detergent," Adrian commented. Then, in a flurry of cotton robes, he spun around and calmly walked away towards the exit.
(Later, on board the shuttle)
Adrian whistled to himself as he stared out into the blackness of space. Alone in the cockpit of the shuttle he commandeered, he couldn't 't help but wonder how differently things would have went if he didn't arrive in time.
It then occurred to him that his master hadn't tried to contact him through their connection. He tried to talk to her, but got no response. Thinking little of it, he resumed gazing out into the blackness.
"Hello?" Ferus asked, opening the door, then remembering to knock.
Adrian turned his head to his right, glancing at Ferus without interest. "Mm hmm?" he acknowledged.
"May I have a seat?" Ferus asked. There was a slight quiver in his voice that indicated how tired he was.
Adrian yawned. "Feel free."
Ferus slowly sat down in the copilot's seat. "I wanted to thank you," he said earnestly. "It's pretty clear that you came without the High Council's consent."
Adrian leaned forward and rested his chin on his right fist, a look of exhaustion on his face. "Sure. I never listen anyway, so it doesn't really make much of a difference, ya know?" he snickered dryly.
"It does," Ferus countered solemnly. "Not only did you save Darra's life back there, but because of you Omega's head is laying at the base of a statue..."
"Aw, I forgot to call the janitor," Adrian joked.
Nobody said anything for a few minutes. Then Adrian reached into a side compartment in the shuttle and pulled out two plastic wrapped ice-cream, chocolate-chip cookie sandwiches.
"Wan' 'un?" he asked, his mouth already full.
"Sure," Ferus replied, taking it from his hand. Twenty seconds later, though, Ferus still hadn't taken a bite despite Adrian already being done.
"Som'um 'nya mind?" the latter asked, mouth still full.
Ferus looked at his feet. "I can't believe she almost died. Think what would have happened if you hadn't came..." he trailed off. "Why would anyone do that?"
"What?" Adrian asked.
"Darra would have sacrificed herself to save me," Ferus mumbled. "I have to go and talk with her."
He was too tired to remember that Darra was flying back to Coruscant in the other shuttle, the one the strike team arrived in. Furthermore, he had left his ice cream sandwich on the copilot's seat. Looking back toward the door, Adrian saw that Ferus wasn't coming back and helped himself to it.
(Later)
Ferus rose and headed to the cockpit. He opened the door silently and barely refrained from laughing. Adrian was standing on the pilot's chair, singing the lyrics to some slow rock song and holding a water bottle like it was a microphone.
"Some people call me a space cowboy,
Some call me the gangster of love.
Some people call me Maurice..."
"Hey, Maurice!" Ferus exclaimed. Adrian nearly fell off of the chair in shock and embarrassment. Ferus, snickering, sat down in the copilot's seat as he dodged the water bottle thrown at his face.
"Don't do that," Adrian growled.
"How long until we're back on Coruscant?" Ferus asked.
"Probably about twenty minutes or so, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it," Adrian answered grimly. "I'm on thin ice as it is. I bet the council is going to murder me."
"Can I watch?"
Adrian was not amused, but continued. "My master, Master Kellerman, won't care, though. She'll reprimand me if other people are around, but we both know the would have done the same thing. Speaking of 'masters,' I heard you got knighted?"
Ferus nodded.
"Nice. You're lucky, though. I'm probably never going to be knighted. I mean, nobody would have been willing to be my master other than mine. Who would support my knighting?"
Ferus scanned him through the Force. He seemed to be as powerful as him.
"A thirteen thousand midi-chlorian count wouldn't matter for me," Adrian continued. "They wouldn't want anyone as a knight when he's sarcastic, won't listen to anybody, and repeatedly disagrees with the council."
"But you saved a padawan's life," Ferus protested.
"That means nothing to them," Adrian spat.
"Are you implying…" Ferus began, only to be interrupted.
"Just watch and see, the second I set foot in the temple I'm gonna get kicked all the way back to Korriban. With my luck, I'll end up right next to Granta Omega's head."
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Then Adrian pulled a lever on the central panel, and the blue tunnel of hyperspace gave way to the bustling planet of Coruscant. The shuttle sped through the atmosphere, and slowly found its way to the Senate District. The capital of the capital, it was truly the most important spot in the galaxy.
Approaching the Jedi Temple, the shuttle slowed and entered a low-altitude traffic lane. Flying ajacent to the Temple, it banked left and slid into the gaping Main Hangar.
"I guess I'll see you around," Ferus said, standing up to leave.
"I guess so. Take care," Adrian replied, not even looking up.
Ferus closed the door to the cockpit slowly behind him.
"Master Ti commed," Obi-Wan announced as he and Anakin entered their assigned apartment. "She said to come to the council room for our debriefing."
"Not much to debrief," Anakin remarked. "We killed Omega. Zan arbor is being interrogated as we speak."
"Routine, Anakin," his master explained. "And regardless of the outcome, it was a significant mission."
Groaning, the Chosen One tossed his small bundle of clothes on the floor and left the room, heading for the Council Chambers. Frowning, Obi-wan followed him.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to throw your dirty clothes on the floor?" he chided, once he caught up to his padawan. He didn't get to say anything else as Ferus and Siri joined them. When they entered the Tranquility Spire Turbolift, Ferus was repeating something Adrian said, and Siri listened wiht a bemused smirk on her face.
"Really?" she asked eventually, ignoring Anakin and Obi-Wan.
"That's exactly what he said," Ferus confirmed.
"I wonder what the Council is going to do to him," she pondered. "After all, he did take a shuttle without the permission or knowledge of the Jedi Council..."
"WHAT?" exclaimed Obi-Wan.
"...and he didn't answer any of their attempts to contact him in the process."
Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged shocked glances.
"He's going to be in a lot of trouble," Anakin mused.
"I'll say," his master commented.
A buzzer went off, and the turbolift's doors opened. Darra and Tru were already there, and had their ears pressed up against the door. They both snickered at something that was said inside.
"What?" Siri asked.
"Master Tachi, you need to hear this!" Darra exclaimed. "Padawan Cronauer is giving the High Council a real mouthful." Everyone, especially Obi-Wan, ignored Anakin's smirk at that comment.
They all pressed their ears up against the wall. Adrian had apparently been scolded very harsly for his actions, and he would have none of it.
"What, exactly, am I being accused of again?" he seethed. "Listening to the Force, what holds the very galaxy together, maybe? Or saving the life of a fellow Jedi?"
"That is not the issue at hand," one of the Council members said.
Adrian snorted. "Well what is? Is it the fact that our Order's allegiance is apparently not directed to the Force but to the High Council?!"
"You took a shuttle from the Jedi Hanger without our official consent. That is what you are here for," another Jedi Master explained, ignoring what he was saying.
"So Jedi are denied the right to save their friends' lives if they are incited to action by the Force? Even stealing a shuttle and participating in a mission without the High Council's consent should not be a reason for my status as a padawan to be revoked."
Everyone standing outside of the doors gasped. Unaware of their presences, Adrian continued his rant. "If I wanted to put up with all of this beauraucracy, I would have resigned from the Order and became a Senator. At least there I could actually get something done!"
"What is your point?" Mace Windu prompted.
"Yesterday I left to fight evil, power-mad conspirators. And I thought that by doing that, I was being a good Jedi. Heck, if that's all I had to do, I would have stayed HERE! The Jedi Order, the oldest and most influential order in the galaxy, is decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core! Ha! Thirty thousand years-that's all it takes to become corrupt. With that in mind, I wonder how the Senate is doing."
"Padawan, these unseemly outbursts..." Shaak Ti began.
"Unseemly outbursts!" Adrian shouted. "If I hadn't paid my little visit to the strike team, Darra Thel-Tanis would be dead right now. Granta Omega would probably have been able to escape, too. Let's ask Master Yaddle about his abilities...wait, we can't. He killed her! And with all due respect, none of you recognize that I killed him. And I should be regarded as a hero to the Republic, or at least an asset to this order! Instead, you're demoting me for it!"
Just then, an initiate ran out of the turbolift behind them holding a flimsy in his hand. The doors opened for him, and the Jedi strike team stumbled into the room. The initiate handed the flimsy to Yoda, as the chambers quieted down.
The Grand Master solemnly made an announcement. "Befallen us, a tragedy has. Died in a speeder crash, Master Kellerman did."
All the color left Adrian's face. "What?" he asked weakly, having lost all traces of his fiery spirit from just seconds earlier.
"Dismissed, you are, padawan," Yoda said, in a voice that left nothing open for discussion. "Meditate on your situation, we will."
But he didn't move at all. His face was as white as a sheet.
No one dared to say anything.
Well there's Chapter 1! Again, thanks for reading! Sorry if the introducton was a little bit vague and OC-centric, but I needed to establish a background for this story.
REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! It really helps to hear your thoughts and opinions.
-ClaptonJr.