For the Jedi, nature and water represent the most important aspects of their religion, meditative calm and clearness of mind. In the heart of the Jedi Temple lies the Room of a Thousand Fountains, where the sound of water gently flowing and dripping provides many with a place to rest and meditate after a hard days training and studying. Thousands of gallons of water fall and drip onto rocks and ponds creating a spiritual atmosphere for young Jedi to connect with the warmth of the natural world on the cold steel of Coruscant. For Semreh, the calming effect was exactly what he needed. His master's words had left him puzzled and deeply disturbed. Your greatest weakness is your own fear of your weakness. What the hell did that mean? As he sat on the grass pondering his master's words, the world around him seemed to slow. Water droplets seemed to stall in an eternal fall. He'd always been good at finding that calming center, despite his sometimes energetic personality. Since the Clone Wars began, he had had very little time to just sit and think. He hated that. Semreh wasn't a fighter at heart. No Jedi was. When the Republic had called, he and his master had answered, taking command of the faceless clone soldiers and fighting on several planets, but that wasn't what Semreh needed. What he needed was to sit and meditate. What he wanted was to sit in the archives and study the ancient Jedi, reading of great knights and masters who shaped the Republic. Shame that the stories he read were nothing like the Clone Wars. Too many dead comrades. Too many lost friends. He felt his center slip as grief welled up inside of him.
During the many months of combat, he'd established a deep camaraderie with several clones under his command. Particularly the commando units, who he had worked with, while his master and he established guerilla units on Sluis Van. Semreh admired them and their tactical professionalism, though he sometimes wondered how they felt about fighting for the Republic, despite the fact that they had little apparent rights. Another thought suddenly crossed his mind. This war couldn't go on forever. What would happen to the clones then? Would they simply die off, help maintain order till their shortened lives were spent. He knew cloning corporations genetically accelerated the lives of their products, in order to keep demand high. He knew the Kaminoans would do the same, even with soldiers whose lives were likely to be short enough. He decided he would later ask Kina Ha, a Kaminoan Jedi, what they would do with millions of clone soldiers after the war.
"If there is an after the war for the Republic." Semreh thought grimly. Master Nostwa and he rarely spoke of the shortage of clones in this war, but both of them knew it was happening. Their last couple campaigns had been plagued with a shortage of clones to deploy, and a surplus of droids to destroy. Soon, they feared the reinforcements coming from Kamino would not be enough to halt the onslaught of droids. Semreh shook himself, freeing his mind of such thoughts.
"Nothing I can do to change it," he said to himself, "Gotta focus on what I can do rather then why a bunch of skinny necked fish people aren't cranking out enough soldiers." He spun as a voice spoke behind him.
"Not a very Jedi thing to say padawan." Master Nostwa was standing, arms folded, a few feet away. Semreh bowed solemnly.
"Forgive me master, I didn't know you were there." He gathered himself and strode towards her. He saw a small smile on her face that told him she wasn't really angry, just filling the role of the disapproving Jedi master. After all, he'd heard her yell worst things at bounty hunters during fire-fights. They walked quickly through the garden, Semreh following in his master's wake.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation padawan. I know how much you value it, but I'm afraid I have a surprise for you." Nostwa smiled rather mischievously, and Semreh immediately regretted leaving his quiet little meadow.
"You know Master; I really hate surprises, particularly ones that begin with you smiling at me that way. It's the smile you get before we ambush some Sep droids, or rescue some diplomat, or-
He stopped suddenly. His stomached heaved as he fell to his knees, the world spinning around him. He suddenly felt a sickening despair well up inside him, overwhelming his consciousness and turning doubt into a sheer panic. He felt as though he was in the grip of some devouring monster, helpless and all alone in the universe. His master reached out, steadying him, a look of deep concern on her face.
"Padawan! What's wrong, what happened?" As his vision settled, Semreh saw that master Nostwa's face was full of concern. She pulled him from his knees and steadied his wobbly legs. Semreh felt the wave subside slowly, like an oceans tide retracting from a beach.
"Ye-Yeah," he said slowly, "I think I'm all right. I just felt the force convulse violently. It was very powerful." Master Nostwa frowned slightly.
"Padawan, I felt it to, but it didn't seem that violent. Merely what we always seem to feel as this war burns across the galaxy. Are you sure you felt it was that intense?" Semreh thought carefully, thinking of the overwhelming panic and dread he'd felt, of how it enveloped him, crushing every good and happy feeling he had.
"Yes master, it felt very strong… and steeped in the dark side." Master Nostwa looked at Semreh for a few moments, eyes carefully observing him. She seemed deeply concerned, as though the fact that she felt such little disturbance was a sign of the dark sides increasing strength. She sat down on a nearby stone and indicated for Semreh to do the same.
"I know we're in a hurry, but I think it is worth being late to explain something to you." She extended her hand and lifted several nearby pebbles from the ground with the Force. They circled her hand in an intricate pattern, mesmerizing in its dance.
"You see Semreh, every Jedi must have a certain amount of sensitivity towards the Force, else they would be unable to use it. How this sensitivity manifests itself, however, can differ from person to person. Some Jedi, like you, feel it almost naturally. From an early age, you demonstrated your ability to control it." She guided the circling pebbles to her hand, where they landed gently in her palm.
"Others, like me, must train constantly to achieve your type of skill. When I was a padawan, I was much less connected to the Force then you. I had to spend years developing both my mind and body in order to achieve the skill I have today. Even now, you are coming close to my skill. This is why our partnership will soon come to an end…I simply have very little left that I can teach you." His master closed her fist, crushing the small pebble into dust. Semreh suddenly felt a change in the air, as though some great event in his life were passing. He placed a hand on his master's shoulder. They sat for a several minutes as thus, master and apprentice for the last time. Semreh relized he would miss his master and despite the excitement of knighthood, knew he still needed his master's guidance. They sat a long time, each deep in their own thoughts. Finally, Nostwa rose.
"Come on, we'll be late for your surprise." His master turned a mischievous smile on her face. "I wouldn't want you to be late for tha-." Nostwa stopped mid-sentence. A loud explosion sounded from the High Council quarter of the temple. "What was that!" she asked in a worried voice.
Semreh listened and realized that from the center of the temple, the faint ping of blaster fire could be heard. He looked at his master. She looked back. They understood. Together they ran down through the gardens. Words were not needed. Their strides, their leaps, their strength was in perfect sync.
"Master, what should we do?" Semreh said calmly. Somehow, crisis always seemed to calm him, focus him. "We can't just go charging off, we need to find out what's happening."
"I know padawan. Master Cin Drallig was supposed to meet us at the entrance to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. We'll check with him. If anyone knows what's happening, it will be him." Together they leapt a particularly large stream, landing with dull thuds on the other side.
"What do you think it was?" Semreh asked worriedly. "Some of the commandos I worked with said that the Seps have terror cells on many planets. Could it be an attack by them? Or maybe leftover battle droids? The Seps left some dormant in the lower parts of the city, it could be they were activated. Or-"
A large shadow eclipsing the sun outside a window caught his attention. He stopped, staring, unable to believe his eyes. A large Venator-class Star Destroyer was hovering over the temple, its turbolasers bombarding the lower parts. From it streamed LAAT/i gunships, launching missiles and lowering troops on grappling cables. And, marching toward the main entrance was a river of clones, clad in blue and white plastoid armor. Semreh stared in disbelief.
"Impossible!" he said. "There's no way the clones could be attacking. Did the Separatists get their own clone army? Maybe they corrupted a few? That'd explain the Star Destroyer. They could have stolen it" He looked at his master hopefully, eyes pleading for her to explain the madness before them. Nostwa stared, eyes wide and fearful. Then they cleared.
"No padawan." She said with a sigh. "Though I'm afraid we've found another of your faults. Sometimes, there are no logical answers. Sometimes, there's just chaos, and you always need a logical answer." She turned and continued sprinting with Semreh following.
"Now come on, we have to find Master Cin Drallig."
Thanks to all of you who have been reviewing. Sorry it took so long, but this was an important chapter so I wanted to do it right. Also, I had to make some changes in the storyline because of changes in Star Wars Canon, which is why it took so long. Also, I now want to include Karen Traviss in credits because she used the character Scout. Once again, All credit goes to George Lucas and Sean Stewart for Scout and most other characters. I hope you all continue to read and review new chapters. Also, I'd like to especially thank skywalker05 for reviewing so many of my chapters. Sorry about the grammer man, I ain't real good at it ;