S/N: Dantooine... refuge from war perhaps, refuge from internal hiccups not so much... plus Jedi training and more!
"Ruins investigation is a priority, but for now, there is your training to consider as well in this situation, it is ill-advised to send you off in search of these ruins and more without training for your evident Force potential" remarks Master Vandar.
"I would take it upon myself to start his training," replies Master Zhar.
Masters Dorak and Vrook manage only nods as if hiding deeper concerns and harboring significant dislike for the possibility especially Vrook. Dorak's concerns are more of a practical variety whereas Vrook's are more of the concern for another Darth Revan in their midst. Borden tries to reassure the old man, but he politely buys it though reminds the gathering that there is grave danger in any training especially for an adult. Borden begins the initial training with Master Zhar in the coming weeks. The others pass the time exploring the surrounding settlements yet Carth and Canderous share the want to return to action off world.
"Remember Borden that the Force is the source of your energy, your ability to command it relies upon what you give and take from it, but also remember to count on others as you have done before, bring and draw strength to your allies, to your friends…"
"It is how I do things, but Master Zhar why are some of the other Masters on edge about training me? In action, I am, but an extension of my companions…."
"True enough, but you are the catalyst of their actions as well, this is like the symbiosis of the Force and the Force user… the Force renders itself differently through different people regardless of being a Jedi or a Sith…"
"What about all the light and the dark talk I have heard from Master Dorak…"
"You will know the difference, when you are at calm, at peace, let not others decide what something means, you decide, you define, it is your path alone through the Force, but remembers others are there to listen and to help if possible, so the connection between you and Bastila is important partially for that reason…"
Zhar notices how the light in his student perks up at the mention of her name. If anything, his feelings have not gone away for her since arriving here. It would definitely have a part in the shape of things to come for him, for her. The teacher and the student part for the day with the lesson done. Borden meditates in one of empty gathering halls and without knowing it begins to cause things to levitate as Zhar had been trying to show him earlier today. Zhar watches from a distance noting that he is unlearning perceived limitations somewhat already and senses Bastila's approach.
"He is observant though somewhat unsure in his abilities though as you can see in private without the rigors of suspecting watchers, he grows in confidence…"
"I felt a strange calm, I knew it could not be you, but that smile on your face tells me something Master Zhar…"
"See for yourself over there…"
Bastila makes a muffled gasp when noticing who is beginning to make the chairs levitate as well and the same chairs orbit around Borden. She did not wish to disturb, but the duel training session is set for this afternoon. Bastila allows him the meditation trance, and felt his calm, his warmth through their bond. She kept her feelings hidden well, but she could not deny a growing attraction to him in ways forbidden by the Jedi Code. The levitating objects settle back to their original placing and Borden pulls himself up with a slight yawn exiting his mouth.
"I take its time for our duel Bastila…"
Eight Years Earlier…
"You cannot win Revan!" giggles Bastila
"Who said anything about winning?" chuckles Revan.
Bastila blushes as Revan kisses her on the cheek then hands her a bundle of flowers from the section of the Enclave's arboretum that he been working with under Master Vandar's tutelage. She grins and kisses his cheek before zipping off to her lessons with the easily disliked Master Vrook. Later that day Master Zhar leads the Padawans in their weekly dueling session. He pairs off Revan with Bastila and Malak with Vina. His methods were always taking the heat from Vrook.
"These are nonlethal swords, they will stun you if you are hit by them, but you will not be hurt or injured by them, now begin practicing the initial forms with your respective partners… I will be watching closely…"
The Present…
Their blades scrape together as Bastila finally shakes over the reverie of her first training duel with Revan. In the past she nearly lost her space, but Revan being the slightly more adept swordsman even then let her have the floor. It had become somewhat boring to Revan if she remembers right to be a victor in nearly every session. He had clearly told Master Zhar at one point that winning one duel meant losing other ones in order to learn how to fight better. Zhar almost surprisingly agreed with him, which led to those stun blade matches.
"I would remind you both that while the blades may sting; you would also do your best to avoid being hit by them just the same…"
"Yes Master Zhar" reply Bastila and Borden in unison.
Bastila blushes while ducking with her stun blade in her left hand whereas Borden somersaults backwards with his stun blade in his right. Each dodges the other's feint then moves to block simultaneously. Both slide backwards, symmetrical Soresu with the follow up of almost spontaneous Makashi, which shows they are reading body language, not weapons. Zhar always found body language like stun blades are teachers because both establish a psychological link between physicality and combat. The duel wraps up as each return their blade to the wall rack.
Bastila wipes her face off with a towel while Borden heads off for the shower in the chambers he is now sharing with Carth and Canderous in the Enclave's Visiting Quarters. Master Zhar sits on the bench along the wall and Bastila sits beside him. A fine swordsman's is the phrase on their minds, but the soldier part of Borden seems to account for that likelihood. Bastila softly walks off a slight sore from the duel to chambers that she is sharing with Mission who has again left a mess on her side of the room.
"So like me at that age…" she whispers before undressing for a shower.
She returns from the shower to redress in evening wear as Mission arrives back with a bag load of items to tinker around with for the next few days or weeks. Bastila curls up for awhile on her bed while listening to Mission talk to herself about some of the stuff she was working before noticing Bastila had this look of remembrance. Mission after switching her shirt and vest sits down on Bastila's bed.
"So what he was like?" asks Mission.
"Who was like? Borden?" she replies to Mission.
"Not him, Revan," responds Mission.
"He was a capable Jedi, got his Knight status during the Wars…"
"I have heard most of that from everyone else that knew something about him…"
"You mean something more personal, something I might know about him…"
"Yes the juicy stuff…"
"He found it useful to let me win in training session duels, he called it the process, a method he took to heart and to war when the time came… he also gave me flowers he grew quite often as we got older before he left… I was a few years behind him in the training when he left… I chose not to follow… Vrook was always the strongest opponent to Revan's ideas about Jedi and Jedi responsibilities…"
"How long has that old guy been around?" chuckles Mission.
"Longer than most Masters except for Vandar and Zhar, particularly Vandar, his species has an incredibly long lifespan or so I have been told, but there are other masters besides Zhar that had such an impact on young impressionable Jedi including Revan…"
"It figures he had to get it from somewhere, but I know the planets inside and outside the Republic took a beating from the Mandalorians, though it look like Revan and his buddies made an odd play, they did stop them only to turn bad in some way thinking something else was going on…"
"Some times wars change people for the worse or the better depending on how you look at it, but there was something Revan said to me while I was trying to capture him two years ago… something I only told Zhar about… it may have had something to do with the way he voted on my last assignment among other things…"
"What did Revan say to you?"
"He said there are worse things than me out there, that something else was coming…"
"It appears he was right given what Malak did to Taris and what happen to Telos if I follow Carth's stories…"
"Yes Carth's home world Telos paid a high price in the bombardment, and as for whose orders led to that we may never know though Carth would have some believe that Karath did on his own… though it was more likely an order from Malak than Revan…"
"Why would Revan do something that heartless?"
"It did not seem like his style, few could understand or find causes in Revan's strategies towards worlds inside and outside the Republic except some worlds actually became more stable after his passing… assassinations brought new better leaders, occupations united people against old prejudices among other things…"
"I doubt Revan thought he was doing bad things, he did help and hurt though I think its impossible do anything without that happening somehow…"
"I think our Jedi thinking is rubbing off on you…"
"No way" chuckles Mission "I have been spending too much time around Borden."
"He was a way with words sometimes…"
Bastila tries to hide a blush, but Mission catches and giggles at her.
"You like Borden don't you?"
"He is a remarkable man…"
"He is like an older brother…"
Bastila and Mission trudge off to get some dinner. Zaalbar is already having his usual fill. Canderous and Carth are there too as the ladies arrive with their plates. Borden is dining with Zhar this evening as they discuss personal histories. Master Vandar notes the glowing camaraderie around, between, and in them. It almost made him believe in hope, in the struggle to forge all the beautiful tomorrows from all the broken yesterdays. Borden's trials had grown closer as his abilities as almost expected exceed his physical methods.
"So where is Borden tonight?" inquires Canderous.
"He is dining with Master Zhar, something about interpersonal relationships between teachers and students, and personal histories over a meal type of thing…"
"Sounds almost Mandalorian…" chuckles Canderous.
"If you say so," replies Carth.
"Where is this fighting spirit I have heard others brag about for you?"
"I am a fighter, a soldier, but even soldiers need down time…"
"Down time, there is a war going inside and outside these walls, forget that and you are already losing the edge, conflict strengthens the body, struggle directs the mind, and battle is for the soul… but I am Mandalorian, I cannot expect you to believe that…"
"I haven't forgotten about the war, but the Jedi have their reasons for giving us refuge, for training Borden, and whatever else comes from this, I will welcome a return to action, to the fight, because there are still battles to be fought to tip the scales against Malak…"
"Malak is capable, but he is too heavy handed to lead the Sith indefinitely, he can take orders though giving them was never his game, Revan was the strategist both in the Mandalorian Wars and in this Jedi Civil War…"
"No questioning that, but Revan is gone thanks to Malak," continues Carth.
"He may not be leading the Sith now, but he was a catalyst for this conflict, for some of the Jedi have come to realize that struggle will be long and difficult, but not impossible, it is within their reach to victor over the Sith, over Malak…"
"For a Mandalorian turn mercenary, you have pretty well thought opinions or rather opinions that weigh as personal convictions…" remarks Bastila.
"You better believe it Princess…" replies Canderous.
Bastila for a moment has a far away look on her face before coming back at Mission jabbing her in the side. She resumes eating while fending off recalls set in motion by the Mandalorian's nickname for her. It was Revan's nickname for her, one that just happen to inadvertently come out of another's man mouth years after Revan's initial usage of it. Bastila returns her empty tray to the refresher, and catches Borden walking with Zhar towards the arboretum. She decides to follow them out.
Zhar senses her so bids good night to Borden saying he wishes to meditate before turning in for some much needed sleep. Borden moves towards the section that Zhar said was once Revan's grounds. Bastila keeps watch at a distance remembering back to the time Revan gave her flowers from here. Borden takes a set of old gardening tools that were also Revan's and proceeds to sort through the growths. As if by sense alone spends the rest of evening tending the plants and flowers.
Borden inhales the scent of a particular flower, the very same variety that Revan had given Bastila. Bastila finally moves from her hiding watch point to join him. Borden looks to her with a boyish and charming smile. It felt like the times with Revan before he went off to war. She thought she could hold off attractions since Revan's presumed fall and demise in the past few years, but this Borden is like Revan from his effect on her. Borden points to the particular flower he considers to be one of Revan's best, and she smiles in memory.
"He gave me some of its earliest incarnations when we both training here years ago, he was a cute and sweet boy then, the Wars had taught him something the Masters were always afraid of, what happens when our highest hopes and joys turn into fears and woes…"
"Do you believe that about Revan, about those who followed him?"
"It was hard not to when I saw him here after his return before heading out again to resume his so-called duty against external threats to the Republic, but it was really to find the source of that thing we saw in our dream vision…"
"I have felt emotional resonances in these plants from different points of Revan's time with them, he put his whole into it before going off to fight the Mandalorians, but after his return the ground fell into disuse, it became a clash akin to the light and the dark…"
"It is remarkable that you can feel that just from touching them, its incredibly rare ability among Force users especially for ones who have never had the training though it is not unexpected given how quickly you are progressing…"
"Zhar said something similar about my progress; he had a look of pride and concern…"
"Zhar realizes that the Council lives with the impression that a Force phantom of Revan haunts them, by that I mean, they cannot help, but fear another Revan in you…"
"I am not Revan," murmurs Borden.
"I know, but there are things about Revan that I have been sworn to keep secret, things I felt were learned from his methods, his tactics, you probably notice my fighting stances are quite unlike the ones you saw in your early visions of the capture attempt…"
"Yes, quite a workout from dueling against your current stances and your lightsaber is different too, in case you were about to mention that… originally a single though the double blade has since become a popular weapon…"
"The earliest use by Jedi of a double is Exar Kun…"
"I have heard some of the histories from Master Dorak including Exar Kun, once Jedi then fallen Jedi then Sith Lord, but he like Revan was a promising student of the Force through the Jedi…"
"The fear is too often having the greatest potential, Jedi go completely the other way to become Sith Lords and wreak havoc worse than the ones they had been trying to prevent or that their Masters subscribe to the beliefs about what caused their students' fall…"
"Arca Jeth felt he had failed Ulic Qel-Droma, but Ulic later became one with the Force by a selfless act became one with the Force when his body became energy… much like Arca had years before that saving Ulic's life… so I would say there is more to learn from failures and struggles…"
"You certainly share Zhar's convictions for nothing is a better teacher than struggle… however Revan seemed to do things with such ease like Exar or Ulic, but too often the Council overshadows Ulic's redemption with Exar's fall…"
"There is always much to learn, much to do, but we are on the run, on the clock, time itself is the lasting witness to what any of us has done," finishes Borden.
The tired form of Borden heads back inside to his chambers where Carth and Canderous have already gone to bed. The Mandalorian sleeps with his weapons close at hand even inside a Jedi Enclave, but this does not surprise Borden while Carth does the opposite in reliance of his hand to hand skills. Borden removes his dirty clothes, tosses them into the washer then the drying mechanism. He then heads to bed wearing one of the new shirts he bought from a vendor in the Courtyard Market.
Bastila retires to her chambers where Mission is already sleeping as well, and unravels her buns. Its full flowing length is blowing slightly in the breeze passing through the Visitors' Quarter of the Enclave. Bastila slips into a night gown before getting under the covers. She like Borden however does not find sleep easily, which become more common for both since Taris.
"It is time for the next stage of your training, the contemplation of your place within the Order, the Jedi class that will become yours, and if you have read the archives as much as I suspect you have then… I will send you to Master Dorak to settle your decision…"
"I have something in mind though I will Master Dorak as this decision carries a different kind of weight than pursuing the training to become a Jedi…"
Borden exits the training room to see Master Dorak trying to resume his calm posture after an unsettling debate with Master Vrook. Borden and Dorak talk about the classes for some time before Borden decides on Sentinel, which seems to balance combat and diplomacy together. He preferably declares that there is a time for talking and there is a time for fighting, which Dorak finds remarkably wise coming from someone who had done much fighting in the service of the Republic.
"I see you have made your decision, now it is time for you to build your lightsaber, the components are on the workbench, but I hold three saber crystals, one for each class, so you will tell me your deciding response to Master Dorak's dialogue about the classes…"
"There is a time for talking and a time for fighting, but remember a sharp mind is one thing, a weapon is a last resort…"
Zhar hands Borden a blue crystal and then he sets to work assembling his lightsaber with the Force as Zhar instructs him through the process. Zhar in his usual humble speak declares that the crystal was set better than anything he had ever seen before. Borden switches the inactive hilt between grips before activating it. Bastila watches from just outside Borden's range of vision. He shuts it off then attaches it to his belt before Zhar tells him there is a final trial, something has upset the balance in the Grove outside the Enclave grounds, and the creatures are savage to everyone that passes through the area.
"I will attend to it immediately Master Zhar…" replies Borden.
"Good luck Borden…" responds Zhar.
Borden heads off to find Carth and Canderous while Bastila advances towards Zhar. Zhar smiles expectantly, and turns to face his former student, the impressionable Bastila. She looks to him with a half heart smile on her face and he places his hands on her shoulders. He can almost guess what is preoccupying her thoughts.
"It is not a crime or a taboo to feel that way about someone, one of the gravest mistakes any of us can make is to deny our feelings, they are not our undoing to fall, but rather allowing it to stay bottled up, to fester, and to direct it through passions that serve no one any good…"
"You really know how to get this Padawan between the eyes and in her heart. I hate the way Vrook looks at me when I walk around in these non-traditional robes or for the way I have been hanging around the others from the Hawk… especially for my involvement in bringing Borden here…"
"Master Vrook is limited in his own way, I will not try to dissuade his beliefs or convictions because I do not pay much mind to his constant badgering about my methods, as having been one of Revan's many teachers, I have been marked…"
"He cannot realistically peg some of the most gifted teachers of the Order for Revan's transformation, for the Civil War… but I suppose if anyone would, it would be him."
Borden, Carth, and Canderous load up for the trip to the Grove. The Mandalorian is the most eager of the trio to get underway and Carth cannot wonder how his comrade-in-arms is now one of the Jedi. He does not behave that different, it is purely a physical difference, but for this reason, Carth believes Borden is making himself more of a target for the Sith. However being known associates of the Jedi or the Republic Military would not make much difference given Malak's equal prejudice for both factions. Revan did things differently that much everyone seemed to agree on despite disliking those methods.
Hours of trekking through the grasslands and fighting off kath hounds proves to be an invigorating hunt for Canderous while Carth and Borden watch his back. The 'taint' that Zhar spoke grows closer if Borden's tension proves anything. Word is circulating among the settlers about Mandalorian raiders and family rivalry. The Mandalorians have been sacking farms, killing settlers, and the Jedi have done little to dissuade this at present. As for the family rivalries, the Matales and the Sandrals are at each other's throats over their children among other things.
"I consider those family woes to be rather pathetic, the children are old enough to decide for themselves…" says Canderous.
"Whatever happened to respect your elders, blood is thicker than water…" replies Carth.
"What happen to your family Carth?" responds Canderous.
"My wife was killed in the bombardment of Telos; I am not sure what happen to my son, after awhile I had to get realistic if I was going to get Saul for what he did to Telos…"
"So you think your son is dead, what kind of a man, what kind of a father are you!"
"At least I had a family, your clans are scattered, your people are mercenaries and thugs, and the rest are left to find something to do with themselves without welcome from either the Sith or the Republic…"
"Fellas do I have to break this up now?" asks Borden.
"The flyboy needs to have his lines checked…"
"The merc should learn to mind his business…"
"C'mon I need both of you on the job, not starting eye for an eye matches…"
"He's right you know that?" remarks Canderous.
"At least we can agree on that," chuckles Carth.
I am the darkness.
I am the killer.
I am the power.
I am the victor.
I am the stronger.
I am… something is coming for me.
He is strong in the Force, but I am stronger.
I will defeat him like I did my master.
His friends are no match for me either.
A Republic soldier and a Mandalorian mercenary…
The government that forgot my people's suffering…
The monsters that destroyed my family…
The Jedi Code is a lie…
The battle comes soon…
"We are getting closer, the emanations feel stronger plus we had more kath hounds on us from the moment we made the Grove," remarks Borden.
"More hides, more money," responds Canderous.
"Hopefully we can find a way to end the frenzy in these creatures…" continues Carth.
"Hopefully, but only time will tell as usual…" replies Borden.
A trail of raider corpses become more visible as the ruins in the grove enter the trio's line of sight. Borden unclips his lightsaber, Canderous whips out his vibrostaff while Carth whips out his recently upgraded blasters. The trio edges closer to the Grove ruins, but before any can react, Carth and Canderous freeze in place unable to move or defend themselves. Borden activates his lightsaber; the snap hiss can be heard from another lightsaber welded by a Cathar in tattered Jedi robes. The blades collide, sparking, sizzling, but the Cathar's Force attacks are useless for some reason.
"You do not need to do this, we can talk about whatever happen, I am here to listen!"
"I am doing this, talk is useless, and why should I care what you are here…"
"I am not here to kill you, I was sent to investigate the cause of the kath hounds' aggressive behavior towards anyone wandering through the regions near or around this Grove…"
"The Council believes me responsible, my Master made a test of me, I failed, and she is dead…"
"She may still be alive, if only badly hurt, shut off your weapon, and come back with me."
"They will never allow my return, I have fallen, and you will die for your foolishness…"
Borden switches off his lightsaber and she moves in for the kill yet suddenly unable when seeing both the courage and the fear in his eyes. She drops her lightsaber, it breaks on the rocks, and then she collapses crying for awhile. The stasis effect ceases, and Borden lifts up the Cathar to carry her back to the Medical Wing of the Enclave. Carth and Canderous follow him back in silence unable to comprehend what might have transpired during their freeze.
Belaya, one of the Enclave's keepers summons the medics upon seeing Borden carrying the Cathar, whom she calls Juhani. Borden insists on carrying Juhani the rest of the way and tells his companions to go where they may until they head out again. Canderous merely nods and goes off to sell some kath hides for credits while Carth goes to tinker with his weapons. Bastila catches sight of Borden carrying Juhani to Medical and notices Zhar is already there waiting for Borden. The two men stay awhile before departing to one of meditation chambers open to Master and students by permission.
"No one is beyond redemption…" --- a memory echo in Bastila's mind
Her own words from before the sentencing of Revan had come back to haunt her in a very real way with Borden opening the door to bring Juhani back to the Jedi. Borden kept turning perceptions upside down. It is a consistent habit on his part, which had caught her attention with Mission, with Zaalbar, with Zhar, with Canderous, with Carth, and more lately herself. She overheard Carth talking to Mission about it and notices the reaction on Mission's face. Zaalbar had something to say as well, which she did not quite get though it might have had something to do with his life debt to Borden.
The very fact that Borden had a Wookiee life debt was a feat, but also had this friendship loyalty quality like Revan had during the Wars with the soldiers and the Jedi that fought beside him. The two were more alike the longer she spent around Borden. She went to see Zhar after the group had dinner together for the first time since the random meal shares since coming to Dantooine. Each of them is asking various things about the training. Canderous was curious to see if the melee stratagems were still the same while Mission went on about building a lightsaber.
Bastila discreetly asks about what took place in the Grove given the different accounts she had already heard from Carth and Canderous who made a particular omission about the stasis lock effect that they were in while Borden briefly dueled with Juhani before making a selfless gesture. A gesture that had soften Bastila's defensive demeanor, the fact that he left himself open to attack went back to her memory of being force pushed by Revan away from the impact. Bastila smiles, takes the napkin to wipe her mouth then rubs her index finger against a tear coming out her left eye.
"Master Zhar sounded particularly pleased by the outcome, it would have been regrettable for her life to be thrown away simply because she lost faith in herself, and in the Jedi…"
"Strange recruiting tactics, turn one of your own out, then let her back in simply because another sent to deal with her showed mercy…"
"The point or moral is that nobody is beyond redemption…" says Borden.
Bastila tries to avoid shocked look by wiping her mouth again after intentionally eating another piece of meat in a haphazard way. She then excuses herself to see Zhar again about Borden expressing something she only spoke to him about after Revan's physical state following the attempt to capture him. He tells her that Revan had overheard them despite appearing unconscious at the time, so he might remember it from then, or maybe their bond is exchanging more than visions. Bastila leaves to consider what Zhar has told her.
"Don't pay too much mind to this unless you consider it that important," says Zhar.
Bastila watches Mission and Zaalbar play pazaak while Carth and Borden are engaging in their continuing trust debate. The two look up to catch Bastila heading back inside. They leave the issue alone as Borden walks off after Bastila only to find her in a part of the arboretum he had not seen before, but it felt familiar like something out of a dream. She sits high on a wide, sturdy branch of one of Enclave's oldest trees.
"This tree looks like it has been here a long time…" says Borden.
"Master Vandar says its older than him, that he believes it was here before the arboretum, before the Enclave, and there are times I believe him given its outward appearance though what happens when the inside flickers the external look…"
"You learn to trust your feelings, trust someone or something more than yourself, because the galaxy is far too cold to travel from one end to another alone…"
"You always manage to say such things with the kind of conviction that makes me believe and scares me in the same exhale…"
"It is never my intention to cause feelings one way or the other…"
"It might not be, but for everything you do, for all that I have done, there is a consequence, more than science, more than logic, its reality with or without Force potential…"
Borden lowers his head and walks away knowing she is probably watching his back as he leaves the area. Bastila swings the other way after Borden is out of sight and sinks her head between her legs trying to hide her crying, only half a life she whispers to herself. There is still a woman behind all those Jedi trappings, but war is never a good hour for feelings that divide attention or so she thought while doubts from tears linger in mind too.
Things take anothe
"My son Shen is missing, it is those Sandrals, they have got him!"
"Ahlan, be reasonable."
"Reasonable, he is missing, kidnapped, maybe even dead!"
"It seems your abilities are need Padawan Borden…"
"I will do what I can, but there is a larger thing at stake that will need my full attention in time too."
Ahlan Matale under escort from his security droids departs back to his estate, which like the Sandral Estate borders the Grove. Events keep intertwining with each other, and from this one learns that while coincidences are real, it is best not to trust them ever. Bastila and Mission await Borden at the Courtyard Market where a man approaches them with news about the raiders gathering in the ranges near the Grove.
Borden arrives from across the stream with another mission of sorts about a missing companion droid. Needs and tasks from all over, but Bastila persists the priority of Ahlan Matale's request. Borden agrees Matale's situation requires full attention, but the raiders are just significant given the inaction towards them regarding their attacks on the settlers. Bastila concedes the point and Mission shakes her head at them in a silly way.
"I think we should get to it already," chuckles Mission.
"Right, first stop the raiders gathering…" replies Borden.
They board a speeder to drive out to the Grove's adjacent ranges. Canderous is already out there chatting up a storm with some of the raiders. They are not taking too kindly to his arrival at their camp. He blasts a few straight through with his carbine blaster. The sound of blaster fire is audible for some distance, which draws the attention of the other raiders and offers probable direction to Borden as he accelerates the speeder. They reach Canderous' probable location to find the Mandalorian eating some of the raiders' food stuffs as more raiders arrive shooting at the four of them.
Mission leaps out, uses the speeder for cover, and starts randomly targeting different raiders. The Mandalorian leadership rumor proves false at least for the moment. Bastila and Borden parry blaster fire in tandem with their lightsabers. Bastila clips a few with her weapon while Borden knocks others down with a push. He then finishes them off by yanking their guns away and they tied up if possible. They search all the approach vectors from this camp, and still there are a handful of raiders are unaccounted for if the captured raiders are being truly honest.
"He should be along eventually, but if his scouts, the live-not-tied-up ones are out there, he will not risk a confrontation even if the numbers favor him. I know I would personally not test myself against you two with those lightsabers because I am betting if he is really a Mandalorian then he remembers the battles where Jedi really owned us…"
"I am not ripe for fighting either, but this whole raider pillaging business is ridiculous especially for honor driven warriors even if they have no wars to fight, no enemies in the concepts of man to man combat, it does not excuse killing because you can…"
"You certainly take the risks that some would you kill for by questioning a Mandalorian's honor… someone is heading this way, three Mandalorians, two Duros, and I am betting the red armor is the leader…"
"You are responsible for this, a pair of Jedi, a broken warrior, and a child!"
"Hey I am not a child!"
"I wouldn't interrupt him just yet…"
"At least you have some sense, now leave or the child dies first…"
"If you will not at least listen to what I am going to tell you, then you are under arrest for crimes against the people of Dantooine."
"I am shaking in my boots Jedi."
Borden switches on his lightsaber and speed warps around him to have the saber right at his neck. The others prepare to fight, but Bastila somehow lift them off the ground, they start to spin, then get nauseous, and finally hit the ground sick to their stomachs. Canderous shoots the leader's surviving thugs while they are down from indigestion and the leader called Sherruk moves to strike though Mission trips him. He is shot at close range by Canderous.
"I trust you can report this back because I have somewhere I need to be now…"
"You betcha, it was a good shoot out again, I miss them like you would not know, just do not take too long with that other stuff… more than a month of this kind of living in luxury in an Enclave can dull and wear out people like me, especially me."
"I am working on it; see you back at the Enclave."
They resume the speeder trip towards the Matale Estate, but another interruption is right in their path as a Twi'lek from the Enclave's CIU is flagging them down now. Borden hits the brakes, parks the speeder, and hops to be met by Bolook, a Jedi investigator sent by Zhar. Borden hops out first, Mission goes next, and Borden again offers a hand to Bastila though she limbers out on her own though acknowledges the offer with a friendly nod.
A/N 1: My characterization of Master Zhar places him in a strongly paternal or fatherly role to his students despite verbal objections from Vrook. In both games, I didn't like Vrook very much so it kind of shows even at this stage. He is less plot involved in the first game, he is not awful, but I just don't agree with him.
A/N 2: Romantic tensions between Bastila and Borden begin. Likewise Borden's mediator tendency really picks up here especially when Carth and Canderous start well bickering a little. Character interaction regardless of where it happens was always amusing to me though it often took awhile for some character conversations to trigger too.
A/N 3: Bastila and Mission kind of bond like sisters at least how I have written them. As Juhani, in most playthroughs I redeem her so that's how it goes here.
A/N 4: One game guide I read refers to the murder on Dantooine as Jedi CSI, that made me laugh a little, so this section ends with them coming to that part.