(note: I have links attached to this document to help the story but they don't quite work here. So you may come across autor notes, like this one, that may say some thing like, "here is what a so-and-so looks like" with a broken link fallowing. Those links where supposed to show what some aliens looked like to those who don't know what they look like. Anyways, like I'll mention at the bottom of the page you can visit my site which you can find under home page on my profile. The formating and quality is much better there.)

--

A long time ago,

In a galaxy far, far way...

Millenniums have past since the start of the Sith war.

The Republic remains the strong law in the galaxy but the Sith

wish to take such power. In an attempt to stop the war and

bring peace back to the galaxy the brave and powerful Jedi

decide to join in the Republic's attempt to stop the Sith once

and for all.

However after thousands of years the war never seems to stop.

If a Sith Lord is slain another takes its place like a constant

vermin. It starts becoming apparent to many younger Jedi

that the war may never end and due to the Jedi's strict

codes many of those Jedi leave the Jedi Order. Some leave the

force behind altogether while others are tempted into the ranks

of the Sith.

Years upon years pass while the current Dark Lord of the Sith,

Darth Vultous remains a constant threat to the Republic.

That is until one day a young Jedi Padawan has a force guided

vision of a future Sith attack. The Padawan tells the Jedi council

of his vision but is dismissed as a dream, to the dismay of many

Jedi Knights. Years of war had left the Jedi Council's ranks week

and many Jedi Knights questioned their judgment.

Eventually the Padawan had convinced a group of Jedi that his

vision was true. Together these Jedi went to the moon of Tisstan,

the place the Padawan envisioned, and found the Sith in hiding.

It was just as the Padawan saw it. Though outnumber, the Jedi

fought the Sith. In the end Darth Vultous was slain at the hands

of the Padawan. However, he was the lone survivor of the Jedi

that sacrificed their lives on the moon of Tisstan...

Chapter 1: Outcast

I remember that day, that moment, so well even years later. I remember the center of a round room standing before the Jedi council, receiving my, "judgment". Twelve of the Jedi Masters made up the Jedi council. They were both wise and powerful in the ways of the, "Force". The very power that flows through all things. With the seating arrangement in the council room I felt rather intimidated. Each Master sat in a throne-like-chair placed in a circle around the room. I stood in the center of these chairs with the Jedi Masters surrounding me.

Each Jedi Master was taught to control their emotions and show no signs of such feelings as lust, superiority, anger, greed and most of all hatred. That's the case in theory. However, even if their faces were emotionless, I could feel their frustration and with some of the masters, even hatred for me. I'd be lying if I didn't share a few of the same thoughts for them.

I don't remember how long I stood there in silence as they stared at me. Perhaps they were wondering what to do with me. Perhaps they were trying to hold back their anger as much as possible before it burst from their mouths and said something they'd later regret. I stood their in my heavy, gray and crimson Jedi robes, my long black hair tied back into a ponytail, and my gray eyes that kept darting from Jedi master to Jedi master. I was wondering which Jedi would loose their cool first.

Finally Jedi Master Klypso was the first to speak. Adian Klypso was and still is the head of the Jedi Council. A female and one of the few human Jedi to ever be named head of the Jedi Council. The elderly Jedi Master sat in her chair directly in front of me, her hands folded beneath her pale wrinkly chin, "Jedi Knight Laan, I assume you know why you are here. Am I correct in assuming so?"

Humph. I waited this long for this stupid question. I didn't say that out loud though. Instead I just gave a slight nod of the head before I responded. My voice is naturally on the lower side and somewhat dark sounding but I made sure at the moment to sound as intimidating and sure of myself as I could, "Jedi Masters, I believe the reason I am here is because you believethat I've committed a despicable act and broke direct orders from my superiors."

From the looks on a few of their faces I could tell the tone in my voice agitated some of them. Jedi Master Kol'Tyuk shook his head and said something in his native tongue. Master Kol'Tyuk is a Weequay. Weequay are a humanoid species with coarse, leathery skin and bald heads. By tradition, they often wear a braided topknot on one side of his or her head. He however did not. Master Kol'Tyuk was considered second after Master Klypso, although technically the Jedi aren't much for ranks. Once Master Kol'Tyuk finished what he was saying in his native tongue, Master Klypso translated, "Master Kol'Tyuk would like me to remind you of your accused crimes."

(Note: Here is a pick of a Weequay /meta/rd/expand/expand.html?worlddatabank&img/databank/species/weequay/img/moviebg.jpg&widthundefined&heightundefined&importundefined )

"You call them crimes. I call them a successful attempt at dealing a vital blow to the Sith and this war." I countered with a mater-of-fact tone.

Master Klypso ignored my statement and continued with what she was saying, "You convinced dozens of Jedi and Apprentices to throw their lives away all for a false dream-."

I clenched my fists and grit me teeth as I interrupted her, "False dream?! This wasn't false and it wasn't a dream. I had a clear vision of the Sith's activates. They were planning on conquering the planet of Tisstan. I told you of my vision and labeled its simply as a nightmare. Apparently many Jedi didn't have much faith in your counseling because they believed in my vision."

Master Klypso lowered her eyebrows in a petty attempt to intimidate me. It failed, "You are still just an apprentice yourself. A boy, only sixteen standard years of age, and you have not received training in the ways of a Jedi Seer. What you saw was a dream nothing more."

"Nothing more?" I repeated in confusion, "If it was only a dream then why were the Sith in the location I saw, Tisstan's moon? Why was the Dark lord of the Sith there on the small moon, if not to mount an attack on Tisstan?-"

Master Klypso interrupted me with a harsh tone of voice, "-And why are you the only survivor?"

I was taken back. Her words hurt me more than any weapon could. It was true what she said. I had seen a vision. I convinced many Jedi that my vision was true. The group of believers fallowed me, a mere Padawan, to Tisstan with faith in me and my vision. There we found the Sith hiding on Tisstan's lone moon. They were readying their forces for an assault on Tisstan. We engaged them in an epic battle. We were outnumbered and outmatched. My Jedi Master, Master Rexsis Tal led us into battle despite the our odds of winning. Together as a group we fought our way to the Sith's flagship where Master Tal, three other surviving Jedi, and myself met the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vultous. The five surviving Jedi fought Darth Vultuos for what seemed like days. I had fought my way to the Dark Lord after watching my comrades and friends, even thought Jedi aren't supposed to label others as friends or family, die. Now I stood only a few feat from her, Darth Vultous.

She was clad in all black with a hood covering most of her head. All but the lower half of her face. Her skin was so pale and transparent I could see blood and muscles through her flesh even at a distance. She smirked at us as she withdrew her crimson bladed lightsaber and charged us. My Master was the first to be struck down by her. I watched in terror as her crimson blade cut through my Master's torso. He had purposely taken the blow to guard me from her. He gave his life to save mine. For a few seconds I was lost when he died. I was in a trance. My Master was gone. The next thing I remembered was seeing two other Jedi fall at her sheer dark power. Only two of us remained. Not for long as Darth Vultous cut my only remaining ally in half at the torso.

However, he didn't die in vein. As she cut him in half he managed to use his own lightsaber to slice Vultous's dueling arm off at the shoulder. She howled as her arm fell to the ground, still clutching on to her lightsaber. I quickly seized the opportunity and using the power of the force, I quickly levitated her saber from her dead appendage, into my hands. Before she could gather herself I tossed her own saber at her like a javelin where the blade met its mark in her chest. She stumbled back as I fallowed up by running up to her and with a quick arc of my blue bladed lightsbaer, I decapitated her. Just like that I had slain the Dark Lord of the Sith. The Sith were dealt the most crippling of blows, the loss of their leader. Its was the accomplishment all of the Jedi that came to Tisstan wanted but I felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest. Dozens of Jedi were dead, my master, a man like a father to me died so I could live. All of this happened because of my vision. My vision that would become my ever lasting curse.

When Master Klypso said those words, when she reminded me that I was responsible for their deaths, all I could was just stand in the center of the council room with my head hanging low. I felt helpless and affraid. I could barley squeak out, "You don't have to remind me. Because of me, Jedi died..." I then raised my chin in the air as I thought about the same Jedi that believed in me and what we did that day, even at the cost of their own lives. The thought made me strong, "But we destroyed Darth Vultous and even if its for only a for a little while, the galaxy shall see peace. Don't you dare belittle what the Jedi that fell, did that day!"

Master Klypso was taken back at my words, for only a moment. She then continued her attempt at intimidating me, "Laan, we are more curious as to why you are the lone survior. A mere padawan."

I curled my lips and snarled like an enraged dog at them, "What am I being accused of?!"

Jedi Master Cled Amousous, a heavily muscled, human, Jedi Master leaned over in his chair. He was sitting far to my right and I had to pivot a full ninety degrees to my right just to look at him. He was a menacing looking Jedi. He always wore the hood of his robe up, casting a shadow over his entire face. His face was covered in scars and long, red facial hair that was nearly a foot in length. His gaze was a steady, judgmental glare that made me feel as though he was staring lasers through my body. He started cracking his knuckles as he began speaking in his robotic tone, "Padawan Laan, you are not officially being accused of a thing. However, in passing a few of the Masters have pointed out that its rather convenient that the same student that allegedly had a vision and convinced many to sacrifice their lives all for a chance to stop a Sith attack, would be the only survivor of such a massive attack."

They weren't saying it directly but they were dancing around the accusation that I plotted with the Sith from the begging and led the Jedi to their deaths. I believed that they wanted me to be the first one to bring up the possibility that I was working with the Sith so they could make it seem as though I was acting overly defensive. I wouldn't fall into their cerebral assault instead I tried to make them admit they were accusing me of such a betrayal. I stood straight up with my chin high and locked my gaze upon that red haired, monster of a Jedi, "I'd assume you also see it convenient that I was the one that dealt the killing blow to Darth Vultous?"

A large somewhat cocky grin stretched across his face, "So you say. No one is left alive who could confirm the kill was yours. Why is that again? Oh yes, because you led anyone that could witness the act to their deaths."

I heard a loud pounding sound from behind me. I looked back over my shoulder to see a welcome sight. Master Sarval-Styr had pounded his fist on his chair to stop Cled's accusations. Master Sarval-Styr was Klatooinian, a tall humanoid species. He had coarse, light brown skin and a flat canine like snout. Like all Klatooinians he had thick, heavy brows that always made them look as if they were allways angry. However Sarval-Styr was anything but. He was a true Jedi. He was kind, caring, and wasn't nearly as judgmental as the other Masters on the council. He had the same worthy reputation that the Jedi had built up over the past few thousand years. Sarval-Styr looked at me with those caring eyes and gave me the warmest of smiles a Klatooinian could before he looked past me and directly at Master Amousous, "Master Amousous, these words of yours are going too far. As a council member you should always remember to keep an open and calm mind. Laan has yet to fully express his side of the story."

(Note: Here is a pic of a Klattoinian /meta/rd/expand/expand.html?worlddatabank&img/databank/species/klatooinian/img/moviebg.jpg&widthundefined&heightundefined&importundefined)

Master Amousous was about to counter Sarval-Styr's comment when Master Klypso chimed in, "It matters not. Laan received an order from the council. He was ordered to forget about the dream he had and instead he massed a coalition of willing Jedi and took them into battle with the Sith. Laan, is this true or is it not?"

I quickly turned back to face her. I was making lots of quick turns today. I felt like a lone rat surrounded by starving, feral cats. I looked at her is dismay, as did a few other Jedi on the council including Master Sarval-Styr. I pathetically gestured with my hands in an attempt to amplified my argument, "Master, that's a loaded question! How can you ask me such a thing?"

I wasn't getting through to Master Klypso but I was getting through to a small portion of the council, or rather Master Klypso was burying herself with her unruly lackeys and loaded questions. I suddenly got the feeling that even before I came around the council was starting to grow frustrated with each other. I didn't know it at the time but this argument would later turn into a line in the sand that would bring the Jedi Order to war within itself.

Master Klypso's cool and calm exterior was slowly being chipped at and her foundation was weakening as I brought the pressure, "Laan you are a powerful and charismatic youth. It is no wonder that the fallen Jedi fallowed you. But we ordered you not to act yet you did. Am I correct?"

I clenched my jaw and tried to hold back my frustrations, "Correct."

"It no longer matters if your dream was a vision or not." She said, "What matters is that you disobeyed our order and in doing so cost many Jedi their lives, including the life of your master."

"You don't have to remind me." I said under my breath, "Master Tal was like a father to me."

Master Kol'Tyuk spoke in his native tongue again and Master Klypso translated again, "Do you have any regrets about your actions?"

All twelve council members looked at me as they waited for my response. I didn't have to think about my answer. I stood up straight and kept my chin high as I told them, "No. The Sith and the Republic have been at war for thousands of years and the Jedi sided with the Republic. Since then it somehow became our war. We are now the Republic's main fighting force, we're no longer Jedi Knights, we're merely advanced soldiers. When I had my vision I knew that if we even managed to slay Darth Vultous the war wouldn't end. Like the Jedi Knihgts before me all I could hope for was to cause the Sith to withdraw as they searched for a new Sith Lord. In doing so the galaxy would be peaceful, if only for a little while. That's what this war has come down to. We may never be able to end this war, only delay the suffering. If this war somehow did end, it would only come after a massive tragedy. We need to change our tactics, they aren't working!"

I was and still am a little proud of my speech. I was only sixteen then and wasn't even a Jedi Knight but I knew I had reached a few of the Jedi Masters in that room. One of them being Master Sarval-Styr. However it didn't touch enough of the council members. Including Master Klypso who shook her head in disappointment, "All we needed from you was a sigh of regret for your actions. Instead you try and manipulate the situation to side with your own personal propaganda."

My jaw dropped and winced as though I was sucker punched, "Manipulate? Propaganda? Master I'm just trying to point out that maybe the way we're doing things isn't the right way. Never-ending violence and tragedy has become a common topic through the Jedi temple! We are losing allies and friends in meaningless battle!"

"You are one to talk about meaningless battles!" Master Amousous blurted out.

I ignored him and continued going of the offensive, "And whatever Jedi we aren't losing in battle we are losing due to our strict traditions."

"Now you question the traditions of the Jedi?" Master Amousous grumbled, "This boy is nothing but a crafty Sith."

Again... I ignored him, "Can't you see there is a problem when Jedi are leaving the order in favor of the Sith just because we aren't allowed to love and call another person family?"

"The Sith," Master Klypso sighed, "preach that they allow such things as love but such claims are only false promises to lure others to the Sith-"

"That's because its an obvious weakness!" I shouted, "Since I was a youngling training to be a Jedi I've been taught that Jedi are supposed to be compassionate to others but at the same time to not get too close to anyone because friendship and love are both things that can lead to the dark side. That's an insane contridiction!"

That was what shattered Klypso's foundation. She stood up from her chair and tried staring me down, "Silence! You've been given the chance to repent but you only stand in ignorant defiance. The council has no other option than to ban you from the Jedi order. You are no longer a student, you are not a Knight, and you will never have the Jedi's approval in your actions with the force."

My eyes grew wide as a deep, empty feeling grew in the pit of my stomach, "Banned? I've spent my enitre known life training to be a Jedi... I have no other identity."

"This is something that you've brought upon yourself." Amousous said with a wide grin on his smug face.

I stood there looking down at my feet for what seemed like hours. The Jedi Order was all I knew. I was found abandoned as an infant by Master Tal and ever since then I was part of the Jedi Order. I had no birth name, no identity of my own. Maser Tal named my Laan and I put my entire being into being a Jedi Knight. I was taught to stand up for those who couldn't defend themselves. I was taught to work with the force, to trust my feelings. Now that I had, I've become an outcast!

The more I thought about how betrayed I felt the angrier I got. I knew anger was one of those feelings that we were taught led to the dark side but at that moment I didn't care. I clenched my fists so hard that my fingers nails were cutting into my skin. My body started trembling with rage and fear. Master Saraval-Styr got up from his chair, walked over to me, and placed his hand on my shoulder. He then tried a Jedi calming trick where a Jedi would place his hand on another's body then sent calming sensations through their body. I wouldn't have any of it. At the time I didn't want anything done to me associated with the Jedi. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and gave him a slight shove to the chest, "Get away from me!"

Sarval-Styr took a step back and lowered his head, "Laan, please. I don't want you to turn away from the light. I don't want to someday see you in the battle lines of the Sith."

I didn't respond. I didn't know how to respond. The only thing I could do was reach for my belt where I clipped my unignited lightsaber handle. I removed the Jedi weapon from my belt and gripped it in my hand for one last time before tossing it to the ground before Klypso's feet. Before any of them could react I quickly spun around, my robes whipping around, and walked out of the council room and then from the Jedi temple. My attitude at the time was, that if they didn't want me, I didn't need them. Looking back my attitude really was sour but I still stand by my actions... even if things never got any better for me...

Chapter 2: Legacy

Six years later and I still stand by every one of my actions... except for maybe throwing my lightsaber away. It took three months and over 20,000 republic credits to build that work of art. The handle was masterfully crafted with precious silver and black metals. I wanted to make it out of a special electrum shell, which was a beautiful, hardened, rather shiny metal. However Master Tal told me that electrum was usually used by Jedi Masters as it was a special honor to have an electrum saber... and I was only a Padawan. Still I made my saber look better than most Jedi Masters.

The heart of any lightsaber is a jewel, diamond, ruby, basically any precious and transparent stone. The jewel doesn't only define the blade but it gave the blade its color. As a youngling I wanted a pitch black blade... but I didn't understand how light worked and didn't understand a pitch black light was iimpossible. So when it came time, much later in life, I settled for a unique sapphire found only in the mines of, ironically, Tisstan. The same planet I saved when we attacked Darth Vultous. The sapphire gave my blade a light blue tint.

I loved that saber. A Jedi knight has to rely on their saber in battle both as a sword and a shield. I fought many battles with that saber and I had it with me almost all the time. A Jedi's lightsaber is more than a weapon. It's also a symbol of both the individual Jedi and the Jedi as a group. As a group Jedi we're recognized instantly by the saber. As an individual, if a Jedi put allot of work into their saber it said that Jedi wasn't lazy and cares about the work he dose. If they just threw it together, it say he or she...or anything in between, was lazy. It also might not be the best thing to go into battle with.

Ah, the days of the Jedi. When I was respected by others only because of the reputation that the Jedi of old had created. Now though I was far from respected. I went from nice Jedi robes, in the nice Jedi temple, on the capitol planet Coruscant to sweaty, dirty, tank tops and shorts on the desert planet, Lanoul. The only thing that improved for me was the fact that because I no longer lived in the temple I had to rough it out and because of it I had gotten much stronger and agile from the old days when I was a scrawny teenager. And believe me, I wasn't living in any nice temple.

Instead I was living in an old, rusted, former star ship. The thing is so rusted and full of holes I wouldn't trust it to go above sea level let alone space. I didn't even bother naming it. The interior of the ship wasn't any better than the exterior. The ship was on the small side and had only two chairs, both in the barley functioning cockpit. Each chair had rips and springs sticking out of them. The only remotely comfortable place in the ship was in the tiny cargo hold and that is only because I put a small cot in there.

The rest of the cargo hold had piles of various pieces and parts spread around the room. It was how I made my measly earnings. During the day I'd open the back door of the cargo hol and open a repair shop. Back in the Jedi temple there was a man named Herrvis Jenyerd. Herrvis was the mechanic at the temple. He'd work on the Jedi Starfighters and other forms of maintenance. He knew much more than just mechanics though. He knew allot about computers as well. I wonder if he was at one point a hacker because he knew way too much about things no one should know. Like computer viruses. I'd spend most of my free time in the garage where good ol' Herrvis would teach me what he knew. So I knew more than enough to start my own business.

I parked my ship, after I was barley able to fly it, in a heavily populated bazaar like area in the city of Soundy-Dail. Soundy-Dail was a large, wide open city set in the middle of a small mountain setting. Beyond the mountains was nothing but allot of sand. As for the bazaar, there were rows after rows of small shops selling a little bit of everything. Each row of the bazaar was filled with colorful and exotic wares and interesting and colorful people browsing through them. Not too far from the bazaar was a giant space port where ships from space would dock, do their business, and head back out into space. Despite being in a desert, Soundy-Dail was a hot tourist spot. The port was almost as large as the city of Soundy-Dail. It was dome shaped and painted silver. When the sun hit it the silver dome looked like it was made of glass. It was very beautiful.

From the colorful bazaar and the amazing port, Soundy-Dail was absolutely gorgeous. Except for the ugly, old ship that was placed between the bazaar and the port. An ugly ship only about 8 meters long and less than 3 meters tall. The ship's shape was blocky and it's hull was an ugly gunmetal color, with rusted edges. The back of the ship had an open door with a plain sign that read, "Repairs" hanging from the top of the open door. An iron desk stood at the entrance. Behind the desk a man sat on a bucket waiting for business.

When he stood up he reached about 1.63 meters. He had light toned skin, long, nearly black hair, gray eyes, athletically muscular, and if I do say so myself, rather handsome. He wore tan colored shorts and a tank top. Due to the weather and the heat box that was this ship nothing but light clothing was worn. Behinds him, inside the ship's cargo hold were piles of random parts... and a cot. In case nobody figured it out yet, that man was me. A Jedi outcast turned repairmen. A man with only the name, Laan. A man who got the for mentioned name from his late Master who didn't know what his actual name was because he was abandoned as an infant. I was a man who was hot and sweating buckets, ironically I was sitting on the only bucket I had beacuse it was the closest thing to a functioning chair I had.

I could have sat outside if it wasn't for the heavy foot traffic outside my ship. My hunk of junk was already an eye sore to the people of Soundy-Dail the last thing I needed was to get in peoples way. However, heavy foot traffic meant good business... in theory. Though not many people wanted to stop at my repair shop because, as I've mentioned before, my ship is hideous and I lose some credibility when I base my business out of it. But when someone has tried all other options and needed something repaired, they are stuck with the scary looking, sweaty guy.

Thankfully, after six standard months of living here I've begun getting regular customers and I'm getting a reputation for being the best repair men in town. Oh yeah! Not where I saw myself seven years ago but considering what I've been through since then, its a fair compromise.

I sat at my desk watching people of all races and types walk by. Most carrying things they'd bought from the bazaar. I hope someday to make enough money to actually be able to enjoy the bazaar itself and not just leach off its location. I also hope someday to buy a ship that can actually leave the planet but I was realistic and that dream was meant for another day.

I think what I like most is all the attention I get from others around my age. Around here, most people my age work either as simple harvesters for rare, Lanoul, desert veggies or else they probably are working at the bazaar or port. They find the repair work I do cool and with my charm and good looks the women are naturally drawn to me... yeah right. I may be somewhat handsome when I'm dressed nice but now I look like an ex-prisoner. Its a good cover though. No one person would think of me as an ex-Jedi which in Lanoul is a good thing. Lanoul is technically a neutral planet but its often visited by the Sith because its near some Sith hotspots. Though the Sith are crafty. It's hard to track their exact locations.

I was sitting at my desk when one of my regular visitors, not customer, stopped by. A human female named, Gully. I called her, "Wire" because she was incredibly scrawny and rather short. She wore a tan tunic and dark green pants which were probably made for children but she was small enough to fit into them. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back into three tails. I noticed something new about her. An accessory that I'd never seen her with before, a young boy.

The young boy was about the same height as Wire but appeared to be ten years younger. He wore a light blue top, dark blue shorts, and a white, wide brimmed hat over his head. He seemed to be rather distant and was staring at his feat as he and Wire walked up to my lil' ol' shop. When Wire got to my desk she put her left hand on my desk and began tapping her finger nails on the desktop, "Yo', Ceddes!", Ceddes being my alias that I now went by, "I actually got some work for you this time."

(Note: This Ceddes is pronounced with the first part being the word, "Said" with the "S" sounds at the end. "Saids""Ceddes")

I had a slight smirk as I stood up from my bucket-stool and leaned over the desk top, "Oh yeah? You mean you're not just going to loiter around during your lunch break?"

She rolled her eyes at me as she gave the young boy a smack on his right shoulder, "Whatever. Anyways, this is my little brother. He's a big, clumsy kid and he broke one of his little game system things."

Her little brother held out a small device no larger than my hand. The device had small screen in the center with nearly a dozen buttons surrounding the screen. The shell of the device was made of plastic. A large section of the plastic in the back was cracked revealing the computer drivers and chips that was the heart and brian of the system. The kid looked at me with wide, panicked eyes, "I have over a hundred hours of memory on my game! I can't loose it all."

Wire shook her head and sighed, "Anyways. Can you fix it, Ceddes?"

I took the device from the kid and examined that cracked device. Most of the computer chips were... no pun intended, chipped. Some were even broke in half. I did however find some hope when I saw that a small triangular chip was still in tact, "Well the device itself is shot. I could fix it but it would be incredibly cheaper to just buy a new one." The kid was about to cry when I adopted a calming smile, "Good news is the memory chip is intact so all of your memory is still there. So I'll tell you what. When you buy a new system you come bring it to me. I'll transfer all your old data to your new one and it'll be like you never lost it."

The kid seemed contempt with my diagnosis. I'm sure he wasn't happy that he'd be without his game for awhile but he was defiantly glad he could keep all of his old data. Wire had a big smile on her face, "See, kido, told you it would be all right. So Ceddes what do I owe you for taking a look at it?"

I sat back on my bucket and waved her off, "Don't worry about it. It was nothing."

"Are you sure?" She asked, "I can pay you a few credits."

I shook my head and grinned, "Don't worry. I'll charge you every credit when I have do the actual work."

After a few more minuets of visiting, Wire and her brother left to check out the bazaar and I was back to sitting alone in my, "shop". I waited... and waited... and waited for customers that never came until the sun started falling beyond the horizon. The sky started turning orange and pink as the outside lamps set around town turned on providing light in the dark. I didn't have any paying customers today which wasn't any good but at least it was time for my favorite time of the day, closing time.

I decided to wait until the sun fell completely behind the horizon in hopes that any stragglers from the now closing bazaar happened to stop by... which no one ever did. So I closed the cargo hold door and left the ship via an iron door that I installed in the front ship to cover up a giant rusted hole. I took out a single key and locked the door behind me so nobody would sneak in and steal my parts while I was gone.

From my clunker of a ship I started walking through a now nearly empty bazaar. The only people that remained were salesmen packing up their stuff so, like me, their stuff wouldn't be stolen during the night. I walked past the bazaar and headed toward downtown Soundy-Dail. Soundy-Dail's downtown was mainly an adult section of the city. Bars, clubs, gamboling parlors, and a few other places not worth mentioning were all places that welcomed the night life. Most of the places were rather seedy and I wasn't really interested in even setting foot in them. One place however was my favorite part about Lanoul. A good ol' pub called the, "Evergreen Shade". The name was misleading because it was anything worthy of the name, evergreen. It sounds much cleaner than it actually is.

I walked up to the pub, located near the western outskirts of town. The pub was dome shape and silver to resemble a smaller version of the giant port in town which made sense because it was the most popular establishment in town amongst the people stopping by at the port. Well that is except for one of the clubs in town but again... very seedy.

I walked up to the dome shaped pub and entered through the single, automatic sliding door. Inside of the pub was dark and full of drunks. Most of the furniture was made of wood. Round wooden tables, wooden chairs, wooden floors, wooden bar, only the walls and ceiling were made of metal.

By name it was a pub, a place for food and drink but over a few years time it became just another bar. That was perfect for me. Its all I needed. Especially since I was friends with the bar owner, "Gory" Avory. Avory was a veteran solider for the republic until he got tired of fighting Sith and retired. Some how during his service he got the nickname, "Gory". I never cared enough to ask him how he got that name. I hope its just because it rhymed with Avory.

I never told him the truth about my past or who I was, he was also under the impression my name was Ceddes, but I've felt a connection with him because of his experience with the Sith. Another reason I felt connected with him was because for simply providing him free repair work when he needed it I got free drinks every night. I still had to pay for food though which didn't bother me because the food here sucks.

I walked past some drunks sitting at a round, wooden table to the bar where I saw good ol' Gory mixing some drinks. I sat down at the bar on a bar stool, a proper stool and not a bucket, and slapped the bar top with my hands, "Gory! I'll have one of your famous Gory Busters."

Gory had a huge grin on his giant jowled face. Gory was Sullustan. Sullustans are mouse-eared humanoids with huge round eyes. Gory then finished with his current customer before he made his way over to me, "Hey, Ceddes. A Gory Buster, eh? Rough day?"

(note: a pic of a sullustan on the left /meta/rd/expand/expand.html?worlddatabank&img/databank/character/niennunb/img/moviebg.jpg&widthundefined&heightundefined&importundefined)

"Not a single paying customer." I said as I began rubbing the temples of my forehead. As a Jedi, or former Jedi, whenever I got a headache I'd just do a little bit of meditation to free me of my stress and discomfort. However, I still had to put on an act to appear as if I was an average worker because that's what I was trying to become.

Gory's grin then became a full fledged smile, "Well you might want to keep your head clear because we got some high rollers in today." He then pointed to a table full of women in fancy clothing, "A group of rich, middle aged, women on vacation. They thought they'd rough it and visit a local bar and try some hard liquor and gamble a bit. I'm sure they'd love some... company. Especially from a young man like yourself."

I chuckled to myself, "Thanks for the tip. Its time for some real work, eh?"

Gory scoffed, "Yeah, work."

I stood up from my seat, adopted a charming smirk, and sauntered on over to their table. They were all human and like Gory mentioned all middle aged. I also noticed they wore way too fancy of clothing for a bar. It was perfect, they were completely oblivious to their surroundings.

As soon as they saw me coming to their table they at first thought with my gruff exterior that I was going to rob them or something because they were ready to run away if it came down to it. I quickly turned on the ol' Laan, err, Ceddes charm, "Ladies, my friend Avory tells me that you've all come here on vacation. You've come to rough it?"

One lady in a purple dress nodded kindly, "Yes, indeed."

"And what do you think of our lil' town?" I asked.

"Its... exotic." The same lady said with a forced smile. She obviously thought she was above us. That was good because now I wouldn't feel bad after I worked my angle.

"Well, I also hear that you're a group of high rollers. Lovely high rollers if I might add. Good gamblers, eh?" I asked. Still with my stupid grin plastered on my face.

"We know a thing or two." Another lady in a green dress like robe said, "We've taken your fellow patron's for all they are worth."

I threw my hands into the air as if I was scared, "Well then, I guess I should stay away from you. Even if I am the best in all of Lanoul."

The women looked at each other and whispered to themselves before the one in the purple dress forced another smile, "Do you know the game Eerque?"

Knew it? I was master at it. I wouldn't be letting them know that though, "Oh. Well I've seen others play it before. It doesn't seem too hard."

I think they knew I was full of it, in fact I was sure of it, but that didn't prevent them from challenging me to a few rounds of the dice game, Eerque. Eerque was simple in theory. You roll dice in a cup, overturn the cup and take a peek at your six dice. Two dice were red, two were blue, and two were yellow. You looked for things as a pair of the same number of dice. If the pair was in the same color your points were doubled. Also a run, 1-2-3-4-etc. in a row were worth allot of points. The best possible points was a full run in color suet. Example: 1-2 in red, 3-4 in blue, and 5-6 in yellow. The color order didn't matter as long as it was two of the same color, back-to-back.

The bidding was the real challenge. People could lie and say they had a good point value to scare others away from bidding. People needed to be good liars and also be able to detect another liar. In my case I could use the force to feel if they were lying or not. I don't call it cheating, I call it using my harnessed skills to my advantage. Now if I used the force to shuffle my dice around in the cup while it was tipped upside down THEN I'd be a cheater and I've only done that once before... hey, I needed to eat.

Well, you can call me a cheater in the past or not but today I didn't need the force. I could tell whenever one of them had a good point value by their goofy grins or when they had a bad point value they had a look on their face as if they'd just been slapped with a rubber glove. It took my less than a standard hour to clean more then half of them out. The remaining ladies that still had some credits did the first wise thing of the night and called it quits and left the bar. They left to the chorus of laughs from patrons while I got a bunch of pats on the back. I then stood up, put my hands to my mouth to amplify my voice and shouted, "A round of Gory Busters on me!"

My fellow patrons all gave a loud cheer as I received even more pats on the back. I stood amongst them with a Gory Buster in my hands and shouted for everyone to shut up as I raised my glass up into the air, "Alright, you clowns. Let me just give a toast to everyone in here. I figured I'd give you all a free round because I get free drinks whenever I want because... well, I'm just better than you guys."

That comment got some heat as they started shouting at me. They weren't really mad but after my cliched toast they had to act the roles of the cliched angry drunks. I spent a few more minuets downing the strong, tasteless (unless strong kick to the face is a taste) drinks. They didn't have much of a taste but no one got a Gory Buster for taste. They got Busters for the buzz. I'd like to see one of my old Jedi friends down a Gory Buster in less than twenty standard seconds like I could. Though whenver I did I felt as if I'd just swallowed a forest fire.

I left the bar after I downed two Gory Busters. Any more and I'd become an uncountable drunk. I always feared that if I became to strong under the influence I'd jump up on the bar and start shouting, "I'm a Jedi! I'm a Jedi! I was outcast for killing the Sith Lord! Look at me!" Rather than doing that I decided to just take my winnings, 75,000 republic credits by far the most I've ever made, and head back to my shack before my bar buddies started demanding more free rounds.

As I started walking back to my ship I couldn't help but think about the past. I had so much potential to one day become a Jedi Master. Master Tal would often tell me he saw as a permanent member on the council in the future, which was a huge complement. Only four of the twelve Jedi council members were permanent while the other eight were switched out every few years.

As I thought about what could have been I began thinking about what was. I had become common riff-raff. I made most of my money cheating gamblers out of their money and no matter how much I tried denying it, I was cheating when I used the force in my games. I'm not even a respectable person. I've just settled on my life for the fear of any possible consequences that could come from trying to achieve anything.

I had to hold back tears. It was probably the two Gory Busters that brought upon this sudden depression but that didn't stop me from coming back to the bar every night and ordering some more. I think I liked pitying myself as pathetic as it sounds. After all, who else would? Everyone who knows Laan thinks of him as on outcast and everyone who knows Ceddes doesn't even realize that Ceddes is a fake.

I kept thinking these thoughts until I reached my ship. I scoffed when I saw the piece of junk ship that was my home. I stumbled as I got my key from my pockets. I even dropped the keys once before I finally unlocked the door and entered into my, "home". I went straight to my cot, flopped down face first into my pillow, wrapped myself in a blanket and drifted off to sleep. I had to get a good nights sleep so I could get up and do the same exact thing that I've been doing for the past six months all over again tomorrow... this was what I'd become... This was the legacy of the Jedi that killed Darth Vultous.

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