A brother's bond is strong, it always has been, and it always will be. One brother's sorrow is the other's; one's pain shared; one's strengths becomes the other's. ~Gwin Stardom

As padawans, the brothers served their master well. And although Jedi almost always chose a single apprentice, Ky and Gwin might as well have been one person. They acted together, learned together, and if one struggled, the other would stand by his side until the task was conquered.

As knights, they were held to be the best in the order: strong, courageous, and always willing to help those who could not help themselves. They were inseparable, and although one may have been immensely powerful on his own, together, they were unstoppable. None, not even a Sith Lord, could stand in their way. Together, they had carved a path of peace and prosperity throughout the galaxy.

When they became masters, the bond lessened slightly as they were often separated throughout the years, but it still held strong. When a Jedi Master resigned from the Council, and Ky, the eldest, was offered the position. He declined, saying that he would not serve on the Jedi Council unless his brother was part of the council too. Gwin did not approve of his brother's decision, but Ky's resolve held nevertheless. Several years later, a civil war broke out on Mandalore. Two members of the Jedi Council were killed. Gwin and Ky were the obvious choice to replace them, and so they became the two new members of the Council.

Jedi Temple:

Coruscant…

A Jedi shuttle dipped low over the overpopulated surface of Coruscant. It came to a stop above the permacrete marching ground in front of the Jedi Temple.

The Temple, a quintuple-towered masterpiece of architecture, was framed by the single setting sun, and towered above the surrounding superstructures. Two Jedi lept the remaining couple of meters to the ground from the shuttle, and the ship lifted back off into the sky, its three wings reflecting the light of the near-setting sun.

The two Jedi marched, hands clasped behind their backs, in the direction of the Jedi Temple, conversing along the way.

"It's been a while since we discovered another Sith as powerful as that one," commented Ky.

Gwin frowned and looked at his brother. "Yes, and I hope we never will again. The Sith must be stopped, and it disturbs me greatly that we are finding overwhelming evidence for, and not against, their continued existence. I sense we have only begun to scratch the surface of what they have planned."

Recently abandoned ancient Sith fortresses, Sith lightsaber burns on corpses, and unexplained Jedi deaths were evidence enough that the Sith were still active in resisting the Grand Republic. And recently, several less experienced Sith had appeared randomly throughout the galaxy to plague the Republic and its citizens. They had been dealt with, but only a day before, on the planet of Korriban, a Sith Lord had appeared. He had attacked the Stardom's combined troops and had dealt considerable damage before being defeated by Ky and Gwin themselves. It was very disturbing, and they were going directly to meet with the rest Council to discuss what action they should take, or be prepared to take if the worst came to pass. Dealing with Sith was dangerous, and Gwin had the feeling that these isolated attacks were only the beginning of something none of them could yet comprehend.

Jedi Council Chamber:

Jedi Temple:

Coruscant…

The Council meeting was grim. They all recognized the rising threat as something to be concerned about. None of the Council members had lived during the days of the Sith Empire, but the dark truths recorded in the Jedi Archives gave them all reason for worry. Everyone agreed that the Empire could not rise again. However, they were split about how to deal with the impending issue.

"I believe that we should multiply the production of clones," said Master Utthr, an Ithorian, through his vocoder. "If we are not prepared for an imminent attack, then we are sitting ducks, unable to defend ourselves." Several murmured in agreement, while the rest remained silent.

"There is no reason to add to our arsenal of soldiers until we can reach a conclusion as to how large the threat is," said Grand Master Kendall Brun. Master Brun sat hunched forward in thought, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands steepled. As he spoke, he made small gestures with his hands. The former master of Ky and Gwin was a middle-aged man with shoulder-length graying hair and a deeply wrinkled forehead, which was wrinkled even further due to the arguing among his fellow Jedi. "We already are struggling to find space to keep our army," he added. "If we were to boost the production of the clones, there would be nowhere to keep the excess of soldiers." He took a deep breath and leaned back into his chair. "No. Increasing the proportions of our military is not yet necessary, but in the event of an attack, it will be considered."

Nala Jari, a twi'lek spoke up next: "Master, shall we simply sit here and mind our own business and hope they do not attack? Surely, we need to do something to prepare ourselves for the assault that is obviously coming! We need to be ready; we need to know what dangers are on the horizon."

"I agree," broke in Ky. "But we need to be aware of other matters than this. If we slack from our other duties, then civil wars could erupt from planets that we are not keeping under close scrutiny. I say we need to divide our devotions to such things wisely. If we do not do this, then one or the other shall get out of control."

"Very wise, Ky," the Grand Master said, while others nodded with approval.

Nala Jari, her vigor subdued somewhat by the majority agreeing with Ky's plan, seemed to regain some of her composure. "But we need as many Jedi as possible to find out if the Sith Empire is returning."

"Correct," agreed Gwin. "But my brother is also right in that if we leave certain systems unattended, dangerous circumstances could form."

"I suppose you are right…" conceded Nala, "but I do think we are underestimating the severity of our situation. The Sith Empire has had decades to reform itself and gather its own army. If we do not act in accordance with how dangerous this threat could be, then they could overwhelm us before we even realized what happened. What if they have recruited Mandalore or another such system again?"

This question caused uncomfortable glances to be exchanged between the masters. The Mandalorian War had occurred during the reign of Emperor Vitiate, the all-powerful ruler who had sucked the life from an entire planet and left the surface entirely desolate. He had convinced the Mandalorians to join him in his war against the Jedi and had almost succeeded. The Mandalorian War was remembered as one of the most violent wars the Republic had seen.

Haluk Haro, a human full of wisdom, spoke: "The only reason the Mandalorians fought with the Empire was because the Emperor used the persuasions of the Force on their leader, Mandalore. Therefore, unless there is another Sith as powerful as Darth Vitiate, that occurrence is highly unlikely."

"But what if there is another Sith like him?" questioned Nala Jari.

"We would have felt him through the Force," Haluk responded, as if he had already prepared the argument. "Besides, unlike the years before the Great Hyperspace War and the Mandalorian War, we now have annual sweeps of the Outer Rim. They could not have missed an entire army. Also, Jedi of the highest rank often escort these sweeps, there is no way that we could have missed another Sith with the former Emperor's mastery of the Dark Side. No. Vitiate was one of a kind."

There was a long silence after the Master spoke. After about a minute or so of sorting the words out, most of the Masters of the Council seemed to realize that Master Haluk was correct. There was no way the sweeps had missed something of this magnitude, either in the Force, or the military might strong enough to withstand the Grand Army of the Republic.

A moment of deep concentration on Gwin's part, and he could not find a single flaw in Master Kaluk's reasoning. He came to a decision. "All in favor of an equalized approach divided between discovering the danger of the Empire's return and keeping the peace, say 'Aye.'"

All but Master Jari and Master Utthr responded with an 'Aye' immediately. But after seeing that they were largely outnumbered, the remaining masters grudgingly added their 'Ayes' as well.

"It is decided then," said Grand Master Brun. "We will begin to implement the plan at our earliest opportunity."