IV

6 Months Later

Jembi stood looking out the starboard view port, his gleaming saber clipped proudly to his belt. He had grown a lot in the past half year. His horns had broken through bearing his proud heritage in the form of a perfect circle on the crown of his skull. He had tattooed himself with regal line that snaked across his face and accentuated his strong features. His dark gray traveler's robe flowed down to the floor. Underneath he wore a lighter gray rough spun cloth tunic and pants with light phrik body armor.

Over all he was impressive enough to make people avoid him and move about their business leaving him unnoticed. He was on a small Mon Cal frigate on his way to Coruscant. As Coruscant was a hub for the Jedi Order's dealings on inner galactic systems no one looked twice at what appeared to be a Jedi going about his business.

In reality Jembi was anything but a Jedi, though he thought of himself as one. His beliefs and skills were much broader than any normal Jedi and he was not accepted by the Order. But he cared little for this. He was a Jedi not because of his beliefs or memberships. He was a Jedi because his role in the universe was to help others. That was how he saw it so that is how he was.

A small human male hurried down the corridor and in his hast did not notice Jembi standing there gazing into hyperspace. The man bumped into Jembi and spun into the wall, his paper scattering everywhere.

"No no no," he cried, "I'm so sorry sir. I-I…" The man looked like he was about to pass out from stress. Jembi smiled easily and simply waved his hand. All the papers reformed into their perfect stacks and hovered in front of the flustered man.

He gawked at them then hastily took them from the air. "Th-thank you so much Jedi, sir," he flustered quickly as he bowed. Jembi snorted a laugh. "Just get going already. You were late as it was." The man jumped and started to hurry off. "Thank you, sir," he called over his shoulder.

Jembi chuckled and turned to look out the window again. "Bustling humans. When will they ever relax," he mused to himself. He frowned and thought about his mission again. He was supposed to be going to the Jedi temple to request an audience with the Grand Council. By itself the mission wasn't strange but Shirra had explicitly said not to use her name. Instead he was supposed to be the pupil of ShilDor'Kal, a pseudo Jedi in the uncharted regions of space.

Jembi shrugged and started striding off to his quarters. He felt the Frigate jolt as it suddenly got kicked out of hyperspace and rushed back to the view port. Outside was an imposing Star Destroyer and several support frigates at its flanks. They had a small ship near them and Jembi could sense the dark presence about that small craft all the way from the Mon Cal frigate.

Something is definitely wrong, he thought to himself just as the Star Destroyer locked them in with their tractor beam. Jembi felt anger rise up in him. How dare they attack a small unarmed transport, he fumed in his mind. He grasped his lightsaber and strode to the docking port door. Whoever this is, they will pay.

Jembi sensed the looming ship creep over the small frigate and envelope him. The docking arm connected with a pressurizing hiss and the pressure seal light flipped to green. Jembi readied himself and grit his teeth in preparation for the oncoming fight. He could feel all the soldiers on the other side. Their anticipation and mal-intent radiated through the door like a vile musk.

The door slid open and the soldiers took a step forward then jumped back when the saw Jembi facing them. His lightsaber was out but off and he grimaced menacingly. "Who in the hell are you and what do you want," he snapped angrily. The soldiers took a step back and Jembi ignited a single blade of his lightsaber in a reverse Shien grip.

The lead soldier finally came to his senses and snapped, "Open fire," before jumping behind his troops. The instant he was out of the way dozens of blaster bolts flew towards Jembi. He batted them aside into the walls of the cruiser. He ignited the second blade and started spinning in wild circles, deflecting every blast that came near him. As the troopers became more focused in their fire Jembi began to throw a few bolts here and there back at the wall of troopers. The soldiers began to fall back as more and more of their comrades fell to their own shots. One hit the officer in the shoulder and that was the last straw. The wounded soldiers fled back through the air lock and back to their ship leaving wounded and dead behind.

Jembi pulled the remaining soldiers through the airlock with one powerful pull the slammed the doors shut and locked them. He stabbed the control consol locking it permanently.

Security forces on the ship came rushing around the corner just as Jembi withdrew his saber from the consol and flipped it off. They knelt and leveled their blasters at him while their leader stepped forward.

"You! Jedi! What happened here," he asked with a hint of tremor in his voice. Jembi looked at him witheringly and stepped over the invading officer's unconscious form. Jembi hefted the large man with one hand and strode towards the arrayed security officers. "If you'll excuse me I have a prisoner to question," he stated calmly and walked through the officers to his cabin.