Chapter 12: The First of a New Generation, Part 3 (25-20 BBY)
(25 BBY, Odessen)"Get up," Myria demanded. Cindo flinched and fell out of the bed, hitting the cold metal floor of his shuttle's only quarters. "What are you doing here?" Cindo asked as he was struggling to get up.
"I said your training begins tomorrow. Tomorrow's now," she explained. Cindo checked his chronometer. It was almost midday. The trek up and down the mountain drained him more than he cared to admit. He opened a small cupboard next to the bed and attempted to pull out his cloak, before getting interrupted.
"You won't need that. We're going hunting," she said, leaning on the door frame. Cindo put his cloak back into the drawer and made his way to the door. He walked right into Myria and seeing as he was still a bit dazed from being woken up, he fell to the ground.
He shook his head. "Wait! How did I hit you? You're a ghost." She merely laughed and shook her head in response. "Our connection to this planet and you is stronger than you might think. Other people might not be able to see or hear us, but us being bound to you and the connection we have means that you can physically interact with us here. It will make it so it's easier to train you."
"Uh-huh," was the only response Cindo could muster. "So, can you maybe move out of the way please?" he continued.
"Sure." She moved out of the door frame and exited the ship. Cindo followed her outside and stretched. It was a beautiful although very hot day. There were no clouds in the sky and he could hear wildlife in the forest.
He yawned before saying, "Where are we going?" Myria pointed towards a path that lead straight into the forest. "Follow the path. I'll be waiting for you," she said before disappearing. "Great… more walking," Cindo said to himself as he began walking down the stone pathway. The forest was full of force energy. He could sense lifeforms, large and small, observing him as he went past.
Myria was waiting for him at an abandoned training area in the middle of the forest. It appeared to have had practice dummies and obstacles back when it was still whole. "How nice of you to join me. Before we start I'm just going to say that we'll skip all of the basic things and go straight to improving your force abilities and combat skills. Are you prepared for your first lesson?" she said leaning on a tree. Cindo nodded in response and she approached him.
"As you know all living things are surrounded by the force. That gives us the ability to sense people and creatures around us," she said, before slightly frowning and looking around the forest. "This forest is filled to the brim with wildlife – from small animals like rabbits and squirrels to deer and sleen, but every habitat has a predator. In this case it's the shade stalkers – reptilian beasts with black thick scaly hides who have the ability to turn themselves invisible, so they're great exercise for you to practice your awareness. There are at least two watching us right now, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. You will find one, simple," she added.
"Great. Now I'm supposed to kill things I can't see," said Cindo with an exasperated tone. "Nobody said anything about killing. You'll attempt to control it with the force," she said calmly as if it was a simple task. "Control it? I can't even see it!" Cindo questioned. "You don't have to see with your eyes when you have the force. I know you can sense life around you in general, everybody can do that, but you must learn how to focus on one force signature. Remember your task – find one of them and control it," she explained. "Well, here goes nothing," Cindo sighed before going deeper into the shadowy forest.
He was trekking through the peaceful woods for a while, observing and sensing the trees, plants and animals around him. They were afraid him as was expected, but there was something else close to him that didn't show any signs of fear, only rage. He stopped and used the force to heighten his senses. He could hear all of the steps that the animals around him took, most of them soft and quiet. If they were close enough he could even hear their breathing which was slow and calm except for one which was deep and loud. He could sense and hear a shade stalker sneaking up on him. Just as the beast jumped he ducked, avoiding it at the last second. When it landed it turned around and attempted to attack him again but was unable to move forward. Cindo was pushing back the beast which at this point revealed itself. Myria's description of the beast was on point. And talking about Myria she just appeared behind a tree and walked up to Cindo, who had his hands stretched out trying to keep it away.
"Not even a scratch. That's a surprise," she said calmly standing next to him with her hands behind her back. She appeared completely calm even as the beast hissed violently at them. "Influence it. Calm it," she added.
"Calm Down!" Cindo demanded pressuring it with the force. The shade stalker only hissed back viciously.
"It can sense your fear. You have to calm down. Think of it as talking to a friend instead of an angry lizard that wants to kill you," Myria recommended. Cindo took a deep breath and released his physical hold of the beast, rather focusing on its brain. "Calm down," he said with a calm tone. It stopped trying to attack him but instead just tilted its head as if it was confused.
"Tell it to go back to its nest," Myria told him. Cindo closed his eyes and reached further into its brain with the force. "Go back to where you came from," he said, once again in a calm tone. The beast regarded him for a few more moments before simply walking back into the depths of the forest, slowly turning invisible as if nothing happened. Cindo let go of his grip on it and put his knees on the legs, inhaling rapidly and a few drops of sweat going down his face.
"Well done. This will become one of your daily routines among other exercises and lessons. It will become easier to do the more you do it. But a warning - it only works on the weak-minded," she explained to him. He straightened his back and looked up, his breathing slowly becoming normal. "Why couldn't we start with like a rabbit or something similar to that?"
She put a hand on his shoulder. "We don't have that much time and you still have so much to learn. These are only the basics, you'll have to progress rapidly if you want to be ready on time," she explained to him.
"When you're ready head back to the ship. Keira will be waiting for you there." Cindo wanted to say something but when he turned his head she was already gone. He let out an exasperated sigh and started making his way back towards the ship with slumped shoulders.
Keira's lesson was pretty simple. It was just normal sparring practice but with lightsabers. Cindo didn't understand the point of it, he already learned all of this in his time with the Jedi, so when he was sitting on the ramp of the ship observing the stars he asked them "What was the point of todays lessons? I already did all of this with the Jedi." He couldn't see them but he knew they would appear and answer his questions.
"Because you must perfect the basics before you get on to the harder things. Today was just an evaluation day," Myria suddenly appearing. She sat on a tree trunk next to the ramp with Keira by her side.
"So, what can I expect for tomorrow and the future?" Cindo asked curiously. "Well, if you ask. Your training will be the same as any Warden's before you. You will wake up just as the sun rises over the lowest mountain. The morning routine consists of endurance and strength exercises, then after your done you work on the spiritual side of yourself, by meditating and after that you can do whatever you want until midday. After that we will assign you tasks and help you train your abilities," Keira explained. "Sounds pretty simple. How long will the whole training process take?" Cindo asked. "Anywhere from three to five years," Keira said simply. His eyes widened.
"Three to five years!" he said in shock, but he quickly came to the realization that Jedi training and being a Padawan would take even longer. Five years without his friends, cozy temple quarters and properly made food. The thought of not being able to have these things for such a long period of time made him nervous, but he made his choice and he wasn't going to back out. He knew what the future held if he did.
The three of them sat in silence for a few awkward moments before Cindo kept on going with his questions. "I'm really intrigued by the code. Can you explain the part about the light and dark again?"
"Of course," Myria said. She got up and started pacing back and forth before the ramp with her hands clasped behind her back. "Power is gained through darkness, yet I will not let darkness control me. The dark side of the force is the path to ultimate power, but the individual who joins the dark side because of their emotions often loses himself. The dark side has the power to turn the friendliest of people into the ugliest of monsters. Those who lost themselves often turned to slaughtering everything they came across. We learned how to control darkness, how to use the powers and the abilities it grants to full effect. Of course, you must find your own darkness within you through emotions such as hate, fear and grief for example, to unlock these abilities. Through time and practice the use of let's say force lightning will become second nature and you won't have to risk dipping into your emotions."
"When do I start learning about the dark side?" asked Cindo with an intrigued tone and a raised brow.
"When you are ready. You will first have to go through countless hours of exercise, meditation and combat training to be mentally and physically prepared to challenge the dark side and wield its powers. That's why your training currently looks like normal Jedi training," Myria continued explaining. "Makes sense," Cindo responded with his hands supporting his face.
Then all of the sudden Keira stood up and positioned herself next to Myria. "Allow me to explain the other part sister. Peace is gained through light, yet I will not let light obstruct me. This ties more in with the Jedi than the actual force itself. It's sort of a critique. Many Jedi had the ability to end conflict with a simple swing of a saber, but their own shortsightedness made them delay the suffering, not end it. They would rather bring a person that caused a genocide, making hundreds if not millions of people suffer, to prison than to end him there for his crimes. Some people are past redeeming, some even past being thrown in prison, but the Jedi are too caught up in following their own stupid ancient code. I used to believe in second chances for people like them as well, but letting them live always came back to bite me. I could have ended the suffering of an incredible amount of people, but I let some ancient code limit the good I could do," she said the last part hesitantly, her experiences with such things must have scarred her. Cindo looked at her sympathetically. "I helped found this order to do good, not have the illusion of doing good. We don't hesitate if the person is beyond redeeming, that's the difference between us and them. We end conflict, they prolong it," she added. She then went out of sight behind the ship, showing such anger on the way that it made Cindo shiver slightly.
Myria sighed and looked down at the ground with her hands on her hips. "She lost many people close to her when she was a Jedi because she was taught about how everyone can be redeemed. Remember if they fight back they are willing to die for what they believe in, so don't give them a chance to talk themselves out of the fate they sealed," she said before quickly walking off, leaving Cindo alone with the peaceful starry night sky.
(Serenno, Dooku's palace, 24 BBY) The dining hall was of Dooku's palace was brimming with life. Twenty or so influential people were seated at the dining table with Dooku at the helm. Only the best wine was poured and only the best stakes served. It was a celebration of the formation of the Separatist movement. People that were sick of the Republic's corruption and wanted to find an alternative.
"My fellow senators and representatives," Dooku said, standing up right with his back straightened out and holding a glass of wine. "Today is a momentous day for the galaxy. A formation of a new alliance. A new alliance that will not be corrupted and will judge every person and race in the same way. So, I propose a toast to our new alliance," he said holding his glass high and smiling. The other guests stood up and did the same. "To peace and prosperity," he said and the others repeated, drinking their preferred drink of choice after.
As soon as the feast began Dooku's commlink, which he had hidden in his pocket, began buzzing. "Excuse me my friends. There's an urgent matter I need to attend to, but please do begin without me," he said gesturing at the food. The guests began conversing with each other as Dooku stood up and walked out of the dining hall into the longs and beautifully decorated halls of his palace.
"What is it Derel? Can't you see I'm a little busy," the count said, obviously displeased with his timing.
"I'm sorry, my lord. But somebody wishes to speak to you. They requested that I ready the hologram in your 'special transmission' room," Derel said.
Dooku became a bit nervous all of the sudden. "Ah, yes, of course. I will be right there," he said before looking around if anybody was looking at him. It wouldn't be out of the question if the Republic sent spies to see what was happening so he was as careful as he could be.
And soon he was already kneeling before the hologram of his master. Sidious of course didn't let Dooku tell Derel that he had a master. It was a safety precaution that had to be taken.
"Lord Tyranus," Sidious said in his deep and slightly shaky voice. "Have you been evading me? I haven't gotten a status report in over a month," he added. Dooku swallowed nervously. He had reasons, but he didn't know if his master would be satisfied by them.
"I'm sorry, Master, but I have been off-world gathering allies for a while. Everything is proceeding as planned. The alliance has been formed and I have already secured a deal with the Techno Union about the droid factories. They will begin constructing them as soon as the credits come through," Dooku reported.
"Very good, very good indeed. And how is Derel's training progressing?" Sidious asked in an intrigued fashion. "He has shown to be a very capable apprentice. He will be very valuable in the fight against the Republic."
"And have you seen any potential candidates that could lead the army?" Sidious asked.
"San Hill from the banking clan proposed a Kaleesh warlord by the name of Grievous. He is said to be ruthless and unforgiving. He might be the person we're looking for," Dooku told his master.
"If he turns out to be what you claim he can be, then you will train him in lightsaber combat and give him control of the droid army. And do not grow too fond of Derel my apprentice, he is only a pawn in our game as is everyone else," Sidious said in a sinister tone.
"Of course, my Master," he said before the holo-transmission ended.