Jedi Temple
John Zaun was awake, face up, lying on his bed in his small room in the Jedi temple. He was musing over the events of the last couple of weeks. Being trained by his father was…eerie…intimate.
But yet John found it to be an interesting experience in the end. His father was a great Jedi Master, should have been on the Council. He was Galen's fourth Padawan, all three of his predecessors went onto become great Jedi Knights in their own right, or their star was rising.
John's Force sense and his ability to use the blade had leapt in proficiency. He was a Guardian, his father was a Sentinel. But being a Sentinel Galen was able to train him to use the blade.
His swordplay had become precise, accurate, deadly, instead of flailing around through the battlefield. He had also learned to meditate.
But again he was alert, deep in thought, trying to digest another busy day. His life had gotten so busy ever since his incident, but he was itching to get on the road, to get to adventure and service, and to get away from the drab, dull Jedi temple that he found himself in.
He made an effort to fall back asleep finally managing to do so.
He woke up what seemed like a couple of minutes later, he bolted up in bed and threw his sheets out of the way, he dressed quickly removing his sleeping gown and then putting on his work robes.
He raced out the door and made his way to where his father was, one of the great training rooms at the heart of the facility.
He ran into the door and bowed to his father, who smiled at his exuberance.
"Death." John greeted inclining his head.
"John Zaun." Galen informally bowed, not using John's official title.
"Well shall we get started?" Galen clapped his hands together and rubbed them together in excitement.
"Sure!" John yipped grinning.
"Well then." Galen gestured to the center of the room, Death moved back out of the way. Death had taken on the position of John's unofficial 'Assistant Master'.
"Now," Galen brought the meeting to order. "Form III Soresu requires extreme calm and patience. I notice, my son, that you tend to follow your friend's example and fly off the hilt when frustrated."
Death grinned wolfishly off to the side, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Galen.
Galen smiled to himself in response, before arching an eyebrow and continuing with the description. "Which is fine, it is perfectly fine. But you have to make the choice. What will you be? Who will you be? And how will you come out in your Lightsaber skills? Will you choose the aggressive form V? Or Form III, or what will you choose? A combination? You must make that choice if you hope to survive. You must commit to a path."
John nodded, clipped in response, "I understand."
"Good, remember patience will be the key to success." Galen shot Death a brief glance.
John's hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end as he remembered the vision that he had during the battle of the fields.
"Well you suggested that I become and was ready to be a Jedi Knight, a great Knight of the Republic." Death piped in, a wry look on his face.
"Oh, I know Death, but I," Galen patted his chest and then bowed slightly. "am a great and elder Jedi Master, and a friend. Capable of giving great advice to another friend."
John snorted in amusement of the banter between the two of them. Two great Jedi Knights, one of them a great Master, one of the greatest Sentinels in the order. Another one a rising star.
"And besides," Death continued trying to become serious. "It is more the patience of the hunter."
"Exactly." Galen quipped. "Believe me I of all people should know this, but it does not take away that you should look before you leap." Galen winked, grinning.
John knew that he had a choice to make, a choice between the two of them, between two different philosophies and people. He had the best of both worlds, of the aggression and impatience of youth of a fiery character, and the old wisdom of an elder, experienced in life.
It was his choice to make, to learn from the lessons from both of them and forge his own character. Forge his own lessons, to stand on the shoulders of these two giants and seize his own destiny.
A couple of hours had passed and he returned to his room, collapsing in the chair feeling tired and drained. Today was another day of tough physical training. Galen was an obsessive stickler on this point, learning to use one's body without the help of the Force. This puzzled John, not the physical part, he saw the wisdom in being in shape to help people, but how his father kept on coming to that point hammering it in mercilessly. John wondered what event in his father's life had helped lead to that rigid philosophy. But every time he pressed his father on that issue his father refused to elaborate to the point of obstinance, especially in the presence of Death, then he would just change the subject.
But, wondering about such deep philosophy was tiring work in his current shape, he thought as he smiled.
He got out the remote and turned on the holo screen, it appeared out of his desk and turned on. He flipped through the feeds, but nothing seemed to be on. He frowned to himself, before punching in Cath Hound News.
He listened to it for a second, it was one of the opinion shows that was interesting for an occasional watching. They were still talking about the Battle of LJ-115. Despite it being months in the past, and the economy was a popular subject.
He got out his pad and a digital pen, preferring to write personal notes out.
It was to Sora. She and her Master was at Ord Mantell, one of the local institutes of learning, a place for healers and doctors. Ord Mantell in the wake of the Vong War had turned into a place of learning about the war, a shrine of the wars and a peek into the past. But that also meant they opened up a hospital, to learn about the bio weapons that the Vong had used and to learn about the helpful techniques that came out of the war. It was a popular Jedi pilgrimage because of the history and what people could learn at the site.
He began to write on the pad. Dear Sora, it's been awhile I know. I have been busy training with my father in the arts of being a Jedi, how are you? How does this letter find you? I heard you were on the Seminar on Ord Mantell, learning about the Vong healing techniques. I cannot imagine doing that, and I hope to visit that planet one day, so much History! I will probably continue to be busy but the next time you are on Coruscant perhaps we can meet? Probably going to be for a brief time.
Your humble friend
John.
He read it over and made the appropriate changes to it, satisfied he sent it off to her com that he had bookmarked.
He placed the pad over on the bedside table and stretched out in the chair. He felt a pain in his backside as he sat on his Lightsaber attached to his utility belt, moaning he got up and removed it.
He admired the craftsmanship of his weapon, a perfect replica of the Lightsaber of his hero. He admired his hero, Obi-Wan Kenobi as he was a Jedi Knight, and not necessarily when he became a Master. His Lightsaber was a replica of Obi-Kenobi's, and chose to mimic, blade shape size and color.
He hefted the weapon before putting it expertly on the nightstand. He then plopped down on the chair and continued to watch the news.
He was just getting comfortable, leaning back in the chair, his hands placed solidly behind him. He heard a banging on the door interrupting him, he moaned grumpily.
"John!" His father called through the door, "get ready we need to go!"
"I will be there in just a minute!" John replied back, placing his utility belt around his waist before putting on his Jedi Robes.
He opened the door. "What is it?" He asked, trying to keep his voice neutral and even.
Galen gestured for him to follow, and he did so, a sense of annoyance spreading through him.
"Republic Intelligence believes they have intercepted a communication and think they know where the attack on LJ-115 was launched from." Galen explained turning to his son.
"And they want our help?" John asked arching an eyebrow.
Galen nodded. "Indeed, the Chancellor and the Jedi have both requested that we be in attendance, and we should help. The Jedi have put together a task force including you, me, Death, and two other Jedi."
"I see, so where are we going?" John asked, speeding up to match the pace of his father.
"We are heading to the Fondor docks, a Republic Battle Cruiser is waiting for us." Galen finished.
"I see." John mused.
They entered the Jedi Temple's hangar bay, a shuttle was sitting at the end of the room. The two of them already made their way over to it. Death was already there, as were the two other Jedi.
A look of recognition passed over the Padawan of the pair, John nodded friendly, the Padawan nodded back, curtly, trying not to draw attention to himself.
The small group got on the shuttle and rocketed towards their destination.
Fondor- Dock facility 3-4-2- RWS Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The shuttle dropped out of hyperspace nearly an hour and a half later, they settled into a docking pattern and shot for the warship that was their destination.
It was the RWS Obi Wan Kenobi, like her sister ship the Han Solo, she was a Solo Class Battle Cruiser, heavily armed with defensive firepower, 40 single mount turbo lasers, eight torpedo launchers.
As the shuttle got closer John watched out of the front window as he observed a whirlwind of activity going around the ship. Fighters, shuttles, corvettes, and docking tenders attended to the ship and prepared it for combat.
Work parties crawled around the ship as they were combing the hull for anything that might compromise the ship, and worked on the guns on the external systems.
Their shuttle found an avenue between all the work parties and docked with the Republic Vessel.
Galen was the first to get out, followed by Death, then the female Jedi, then Amann, and finally John got out.
They were greeted by a constant whir of noise all around and over the hangar bay. Wires, hoses, conduits and work tools were strewn all across the bay, as work teams went hither and thither trying to work on the entire ship and get it fully operational.
"Jedi Master Zaun?" John heard a voice timidly behind him.
The group turned as one and looked at the inquisitive voice.
"Yes?" Galen inquired.
The aide blanched, clearing his throat he approached them gesturing out of the door by one of the exits. "The General is waiting for you inside the conference room."
"Well gang shall we?" Galen motioned to the group surrounding him.
The group nodded as one.
"Well then, lead on Lt." Galen bowed and gestured, following the Lt. as he began to leave the room.
John took a minute to look around the room before he too left, stepping over a power cord on his way out.