Our first assignment was to travel to Ryloth, homeplanet of the Twi'lek species. We were to investigate an alleged crime ring, called the Twin Shadows, who had been hypnotizing teenage Twi'leks into handing over all of their family's money. They believed that it was going to less fortunate Twi'leks than themselves. In reality, their money, and their manpower, was being used to build a powerful weapon that was going to be used to destroy Coruscant. Supposedly, these criminals, led by Vol-Ban Abishto, had had a run-in with the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate, and they wanted revenge. So, instead of killing just the Chancellor, they were plotting to destroy the whole planet.
Master Harress and I boarded a Republic cruiser and headed toward Ryloth. We sat in the back and talked. He told me about his past and what he knew of his family, which wasn't much since he had been brought into the Order when he was just a baby, like most Jedi. When he was in the clan stage of training, he and another boy a few years younger than he had gotten to be best friends. They were always together. Everyone called them the "twins," because they were so alike, with their dark hair and eyes, extraordinary intelligence, and sort of rebellious natures. However, he and the other boy, named Damien, grew apart because they were so alike. This sometimes caused quarrels between the two, so the Council was eventually forced to transfer Master Harress to another training facility on Coruscant, when he was old enough. At this new facility, he grew in his knowledge of the Force and made new friends, named Geoff, Po, Bokel, and Py'Hoski.
When he came of age, Master Harress was assigned to his Master. They went on many journeys and did a lot of Jedi work. On their first journey to Ryloth, Master Harress fell in love with a beautiful blue female Twi'lek, named Dreuya. Of course, this kind of love is forbidden by the Jedi Order, so nothing could come of it after they left the planet.
"However," Master Harress said in a very low tone, leaning closer, "since you are my Padawan and we need to be open and honest with each other, I will tell you this. You must swear on your life that not another soul will know this."
I swore, and he continued. "Well, on the last night we were there, I told my Master that I was going to go check on something, I don't remember what I said that was now. He said to me, 'Young One, be mindful of your thoughts; they betray you. You desire a female Twi'lek. You know this is forbidden by the Code. Do not go anywhere near her. You may very well regret it if you do. I have forewarned you.'
"So, I bowed in response and went out. Of couse, I went to her dwelling place. Once there, we sat down, both very sad. We both knew that this was our last night together ever. I took her hands and looked into her eyes. I said, 'Dreuya, you know that I love you, and it pains me to know that we can't be together. It taunts me, tortures me.'
"'But, Schlui, you could just leave the Order and stay here. We could be very happy.'
"'How I wish I could. But I can't let my Master down. I can't let him down.'
"She sighed heavily and looked down. I took her chin in my hand and said quietly, 'That doesn't mean that we can't make the best of tonight.'
"She gave me a questioning look. I brought my lips to hers, down her neck, her chest." Here, he looked away, a tear glistening in his eye. He continued, "That night haunts me to this day. Seeing the whole of her beautiful blue body, lying there at my mercy. I touched every single inch of her with every single inch of me. I felt so liberated after that, my first encounter with a woman to that extent."
He stood up and had to leave the room for a few minutes. When he came back, his eyes were red and for the first time, I saw a scar on his left wrist. I asked what that was.
He looked down and and rubbed it. "About a week after we left Ryloth, my yearning for Dreuya came to a climax. I couldn't stand not being with her, not able to see her, touch her. I tried to end all the pain and torture the only way I knew how. My Master caught me in time, and he gave me a good talking to. He held me while I cried for her. He comforted me and told me that it would go away. He himself had fallen in love once. He couldn't even remember her face now. His devotion to the Order had saved him his sanity. He asked if I was as devoted to the Order, and I nodded, wiping my face. He sat with me and we meditated, cleared out minds, and focused on the Force. That helped a lot with the pain, but it's never really gone completely away.
"I hope, Young One, that you never have to go through such pain. Never fall in love. It's not worth leaving the Order for, ever. This is one of the most satisfying and fulfilling things one could ever do with one's life. Devote all your life and heart to the study of the Force and the preservation of peace and justice in the galaxy. The Jedi needs a person like you, Ari."
I nodded and bowed. "Thank you, Master, for being so honest with me. I will take it all to heart and learn from your mistakes. I hope one day you will have inner peace and be free of your longing for her."
"Thank you, my young Padawan."
***
We arrived on Ryloth shortly thereafter, and Master Harress and I situated ourselves into our separate but adjoined rooms.
That evening, as I lay in bed, I thought up adventures I would have with the Jedi, traveling here and there, destroying this bad guy or freeing this group of people. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my crystalless lightsaber. Hopping back onto my bed, I swung it around as if I were an old pro, making the whoosing noises as it flew through the air.
When I tired of that, I lay back down again, setting the lightsaber on my bedside table, and I soon fell asleep.
I dreamt about many things.
In one, my mother and father were in danger and I had to travel all the way across the galaxy to save them. But I was too late. They were lying in a pool of blood in a hotel room, with a maniacal-looking baby standing over them, wielding a sharp knife.
The next wasn't quite as gory, involving only two dark, hooded figures. One was saying in a deep, low voice, "Come to me, Ari-Ana. Join me and . . . " His voice faded, but he gestured to the figure beside him. When the second figure lowered its hood, I saw the face of that boy I had seen in Mother's bar. He smiled insanely, before falling dead in a flash of green light.
The last was much more cheerful, though no less strange. I was gamboling in a flowery meadow, under baby blue skies and puffy white clouds, a sparkling waterfall in the distance, filling the air with sweet moisture. My arms were outstretched, revealing that I was dressed in a light pink dress, and I was running toward another figure, presumably a male. When at last we closed the gap between us, I saw Greigg Toma standing before me before he swept me into his arms, twirling the both of us in a circle, kissing me all over my face and neck. "Oh, Ari," he whispered against my skin, making me shiver. He set me down on my feet again and smiled warmly at me, grasping for my hands. Suddenly, I saw a shadow forming behind him on the green grass, coming swiftly toward us. I tried to run, but he held tight to my hands, his smile plastered on his face. When the shadow reached his back, he shattered into many pieces.
Then I awoke, sitting up and breathing heavily. Finding myself in my hotel room, I lay back down and tried to return to sleep.
***
The next morning, I was awoken by a knock at my door. Master Harress entered, fully clothed and fully awake, and told me to get up and dressed, that we had a full day ahead of us.
When I was ready, I went into his room, and he told me the plan.
"First, we're going to see just where this weapon is and what it looks like. Remaining hidden shouldn't be too hard. Then we're going to analyze about how many we'll have to fight. Depending on that, we may or may not have to call for our back up. There is a group of Jedi a few miles from our hotel, and they are on alert in case we need them. But from what I know, you and I should be able to handle it. I'm confident in your skills, as are you, I noticed last night."
I blushed. "How did you see that?"
"I didn't. You must be mindful of your thoughts, because they betray you."
"Yes, Master."
"All right, you ready to head out?"
"Yes, Master."
Once in the darklands, Master Harress gave me a pair of infrared night-goggles so I could see where I was going, but also so I could look for the weapon. He too put on a pair. After walking for a while, I saw a red spot in the distance.
"Master . . . "
"I see it too. We need to be more careful now. Stay close to me."
The red spot grew larger and larger, until we were right upon it. We hid behind a large boulder a couple hundred feet from the dot. He pushed a button on our goggles, and the red dot disappeared and was replaced with an image of the actual weapon. (He had turned the infrared scanner off.) I also saw a small group of young Twi'leks wandering around it, tinkering with this and that. They moved in an odd way, very jerkily and stiffly. I assumed that these were some of the hypnotized ones.
Master Harress crept from behind the rock when he saw that they were alone.
"On the count of three," he said, inching closer to the group, "turn on your lightsaber and scare them away. Don't hurt them if at all possible."
I nodded and continued to follow.
"1 . . . 2 . . . 3!"
We turned on our sabers and the Twi'leks screamed. They retreated inside the building just behind the weapon. A few seconds later, another larger group came out, moving quite naturally, and they were armed.
Shots flew through the air at us, but we deflected all of them and slayed most of the guards in the process. Once inside the building, I followed Master Harress down the halls, in search of Vol-Ban Abishto and the other leaders. As we turned down one hall, we met another group of armed guards. Once again, we fought them off and continued our search.
Since the building wasn't all too large, we found the room we were looking for. Cutting a hole out of the door with our lightsabers, Master Harress and I entered the large room and confronted Vol-Ban. The dark blue Twi'lek sat serenely in a large black chair up against the far wall with armed guards on both sides. They raised their weapons up, but Vol-Ban held up his hand to stop them; they lowered their blasters. Vol-Ban spoke.
"So," he said in his heavy accent, "you Jedi have found out about my little operation. How nice of you to join me for the activation of this weapon. I shall finally have my revenge on that pathetic life-form you call your Supreme Chancellor, plus the rest of the planet as an added bonus." Here he let out a cold, booming laugh.
"That is where you and I disagree, Vol-Ban," Master Harress said. "You will not destroy Coruscant."
"And who's going to stop me, you and your little girlfriend?"
"Yes, we are going to stop you, my apprentice and I."
"Isn't she a little young for you? Whatever happened to the last one?"
Master Harress yelled out in anger and lunged at him, disregarding the blasters going off around him. I went for the guards while he went for Vol-Ban. Soon, all three were dead. Master Harress stood panting and sweating, lightsaber still activated, over the body of Vol-Ban.
I came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and looked at me. "It's all right, Master. He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore." He looked so shaken up, and he was trembling slightly. I reached over and turned his lightsaber off. "Come on. Let's go finish the job."
He nodded and we left the room.
***
After we destroyed the weapon and plans and freed the young Twi'leks, we went back to the hotel. After he meditated, Master Harress said we should go out and meet up with the back up Jedi to tell them about the victory. He needed to do something to unwind from the day. So, we went to a bar that was close to the hotel, called the Blue Moon. As he said they would be, the Jedi were at a table in a far corner of the bar. We sat and talked with them for about an hour. Then they said that they had to leave, that they had an early morning the next day.
When they were gone, Master Harress and I went up to the bar and sat on a couple of stools. He ordered a strong drink while I had a soda. We were silent in the midst of the loud talking and the music coming from the band. I turned to Master Harress to ask him a question and I saw that he was talking to the female Twi'lek next to him. I leaned closer nonchalantly to hear what they were saying.
" . . . been so long! Oh my, I can't believe that you're here!" the Twi'lek was saying.
"I know, Dreuya. What a coincidence, that you and I are in the same bar. You can't imagine how much I've missed you. I've thought about you every single day since we parted so long ago."
"And I you. When are you going to . . . ?" Here her voice dropped so I couldn't hear what she said next.
His response was also too quiet for me to hear.
I shrugged as the conversation stayed too low-key for me to hear, so I returned to my soda.
After a few minutes of the hushed conversation, Master Harress said loudly, "You have got to be kidding me!"
"No, why?"
"Oh, Dreuya . . . I can't even begin to say . . . The reason my Padawan and I were here was to shut down the Twin Shadows operation and kill Vol-Ban Abishto, which we've already done. He's dead. Your father's dead."
My mouth dropped open in shock. Vol-Ban was Dreuya's father? It couldn't be!
Her mouth also dropped open in shock. Tears started to run down her cheeks. "Oh, Dreuya, I -- " Master Harress started.
She held up her hand to stop his embrace, stood up from her stool, threw some money on the bar, and left, crying.
Master Harress hung his head. I attempted to put a hand on his shoulder, but he shied away.
"Come, Young One. We must leave. You need your rest."
I woke up in the middle of the night to a bad dream. I knocked on the door that connected my room to Master Harress' room; no answer. I opened it quietly and looked in the bed; it hadn't been slept in. I looked around and saw that all his things were still here, even his belt with his lightsaber on it. I wondered where he could have gone and came up with only possible answer: Dreuya's.
I had no idea where that was, so I meditated to see if the Force would reveal anything. I saw the front of the dwelling place, so I panned around to see if I could see anything that was familiar. I saw the Blue Moon a mile or two behind the dwelling. I got up from the bed, went back into my room, dressed, and started walking to Dreuya's.
The place wasn't too hard to find, as it was larger than the other dwellings around it. I saw a soft light coming from a window, so I peeked in. Master Harress and Dreuya were laying, clothed only from the waist down, on Dreuya's bed. He was straddling her, kissing her neck, hands around her trim waist, sweat glistening on his bare back. She was facing the ceiling, eyes closed, running her hands through his hair and moaning in pleasure. His lips slipped lower on her chest, to the exposed skin that began to slope forward, causing her to open her eyes quickly and gasp. She closed her eyes again, grabbed for the pillows on which she lay, and held on tightly as her back began to arch. . . .
I squatted down, my back against the wall, totally aghast at what I had just seen. I couldn't stand the thought of my Master, whom I had begun to trust, turning his back on the Order and the Code and me. How could he tell me never to fall in love, that nothing was worth leaving the Order for? He was a hypocrite!
I felt the anger building up inside, but I took some deep breaths and meditated a little. The urge to go in there and ask him just what he thought he was doing eventually passed, even though their moans were getting louder, Dreuya's reaching a screaming. I decided that it was best to just pretend I hadn't seen that. So, that's what I did.
The next morning, Master Harress was unsurprisingly upbeat when he woke me up. He told me to get up and get dressed, that we were going to head back to Coruscant. He waited outside while I got my stuff together.
On the ride back, I tried to avoid him casually. He was so full of energy that he didn't even notice.
Back on Coruscant, we went before the Council to tell them of what happened, that the Twin Shadows was out of operation. I was very tempted to burst out and say that I had seen my Master with another woman in a less that reputable position, but I figured if I did, he would deny it and I'd get into trouble. It wasn't worth it. I knew that people always got what they deserved eventually.
