The Two Brothers
The remaining Jin'Ha had been taken care of, and the war continued without any other interfering third parties... for a while. Three weeks after the battle at Bandomeer, another strange group would enter the fray, one that posed a threat not only to the Republic, but to the Separatists as well. A threat to everyone on the planet of, well, actually, this planet shall have to remain nameless. The Jedi Order considers the name of the planet, and the planet, to be evil, and against everything the Force stands for. It is a lawless planet, a haven for those who do not wish to be found, and a hellish place by everyone else. No plant grows on this planet, except for a thorny bramble bush. It has perpetual cloud cover caused by its atmospheric conditions, the terrible pollution, and the thousands of volcanoes that dot the planet's surface. The water is unfit for consumption, the animals are vicious, the natives are appalling, its terrain is all rock, the Force is a curse word, and it only has one city to speak of. The list goes on and on. All this, plus the Clone War battles raging on the surface, makes it even more mysterious why the newcomers want it so badly. But that's later along in the story. Going back to the beginning....
"Jared?" Fajo poked his head through the door of his brother's room on board a transport bound for an outlying system in the galaxy. "Yes?" replied Jared, looking up from a card he was reading. Fajo smiled. "I've been thinking long and hard about this, Jared," he said. "But I've made up my mind. As you know, today is your eighteenth birthday. Soon you will be ready for the trials. There is little more I can teach about the ways of the Force. I don't doubt that by your next birthday you will be a Jedi Knight. To commemorate this occasion, I have something to give you. I hope it will help you as much as it helped me." With that Fajo produced from his robes a silver ring and handed it to Jared. Jared took the ring and examined it closely in his fingers. It was warm to the touch; too warm to be just heated up from handling. Jared looked at Fajo. "You noticed?" he asked. Jared nodded. "Very good. It is quite literally, a mood ring." Jared continued to stare at him. He caught the stare. "Meaning," he continued, "that it senses, not your mood, but those of others." Jared kept looking at his brother. Fajo sighed. "What I mean is, this ring will translate the emotions of a being into temperature!" he exclaimed. "Ohhhhh," said Jared. "Yes," said Fajo, "now you get it. When you access the Force, and focus on a particular being, their emotions will come across as a temperature change. If they are indifferent, calm, there will be no change. If they are angry or hateful, the ring will cool off. If someone is happy, or in love, the ring will get warm. It is a very useful tool, as I am sure you will find. However, beware, for there can be a downside. If you use this on someone who harbors deep, cold hatred, the icy bite of the ring is quite alarming, as is the burn of the ring when someone is passionately in love. So my advice to you is to use this gift wisely and carefully. It can help you, but it can also do you harm, in more ways than one."
Jared studied the ring a moment longer, in thought. "Thank you, Master," he said. "I really appreciate this gift. I will try to use it as you have said." At that moment an alarm sounded and the ship rocked. The brothers raced to a viewport. "Pirates?" asked Jared. "No," said Fajo. "I've never seen these types of ships before." The pilot's voice came over the intercom. "Strap yourselves down people, we're gonna have to make a jump to lightspeed, and it's gonna be bumpy," he said. Fajo and Jared sat down and locked in the restraints on their chairs. Outside they could see the stars streak past and blur into white as the made the jump into hyperspace. The ship rumbled and groaned with effort. After about ten minutes they dropped back into normal space. Looking outside, they could see a gray planet wreathed in clouds. "Is that...?" asked Jared. "Yes, I'm afraid so," replied Fajo. "We'll just have to hope we can find a Republic hangar before we get shot down." Just then the pilot's voice was heard again. "I'm sorry folks," it said, "But this is the only, and incidentally safest, place I could get us to on our damaged hyperdrive. However, don't worry about getting down to the planet. We can make it on our engines. What you should worry about are those guys following us." Fajo and Jared looked at each other and raced to find an aft viewport. When they found one, they could see that the strange ships were still following them. But before, there were only a couple small ships. "I strongly urge you all to prepare for combat," came the pilot's voice. Now there were at least a thousand ships the size of their transport, and at least five hundred the size of Republic transports. "Because as good as a pilot I am, I can't work miracles with that many ships on me. I think we can make it to the surface, but even if we do, you'll have to consider what could happen when they get there." "We have to contact the Republic on the surface," said Fajo. They turned away from the port and sprinted down a hallway. Jared was in front, and was about to round a corner when he sensed something that made him duck. There was a hum as a lightsaber passed over his head and smashed into a circuit box, causing a shower of sparks to erupt from its broken wires. The lights in the hallway went out. There was a roar of anger, and then a hiss as Fajo ignited his saber. Its orange glow illuminated the hallway, as did the attacker's blue saber. In the light of the two sabers, Fajo and Jared could see that their attacker was invisible! "Go, Padawan!" shouted Fajo, snapping Jared out of his awe. "I'll take care of it! Go!" As Jared raced towards the Communications room, he could hear the clash of lightsabers behind him. He had never seen anything like these people before, but he had a feeling he was going to be seeing them a lot for a while. He only hoped that the Republic would be able to handle it. A thought struck him. What if these interlopers aren't like the Jin'Ha? What if they aren't in league with the Separatists? What if they are too powerful for us? If we called for help, even from the nearest military post, it could be too late and too few to help us! That means we could only ask for aid from the Separatists! Jared shuddered. He didn't want to have them helping the Republic, but desperate times do call for desperate measures. He hoped they wouldn't have to take them. But that was something he couldn't control. The only thing he could control was contacting the Republic, and that was what he was going to do. He was about to turn the corner into the Communications room, but he stopped himself. Flattening himself against the wall, he focused his hearing on the room. There was no sound but the sounding of feet moving around in the room. There was only one being in the room. With a flash of insight, Jared took the ring out of a pouch on his belt and slipped it on his finger. Focusing on the being, he found that the ring was quite cool, which meant the being was angry. Taking a deep breath Jared activated his lightsaber and turned into the room. Jared was taken aback by what he saw. "Who are you?"
The remaining Jin'Ha had been taken care of, and the war continued without any other interfering third parties... for a while. Three weeks after the battle at Bandomeer, another strange group would enter the fray, one that posed a threat not only to the Republic, but to the Separatists as well. A threat to everyone on the planet of, well, actually, this planet shall have to remain nameless. The Jedi Order considers the name of the planet, and the planet, to be evil, and against everything the Force stands for. It is a lawless planet, a haven for those who do not wish to be found, and a hellish place by everyone else. No plant grows on this planet, except for a thorny bramble bush. It has perpetual cloud cover caused by its atmospheric conditions, the terrible pollution, and the thousands of volcanoes that dot the planet's surface. The water is unfit for consumption, the animals are vicious, the natives are appalling, its terrain is all rock, the Force is a curse word, and it only has one city to speak of. The list goes on and on. All this, plus the Clone War battles raging on the surface, makes it even more mysterious why the newcomers want it so badly. But that's later along in the story. Going back to the beginning....
"Jared?" Fajo poked his head through the door of his brother's room on board a transport bound for an outlying system in the galaxy. "Yes?" replied Jared, looking up from a card he was reading. Fajo smiled. "I've been thinking long and hard about this, Jared," he said. "But I've made up my mind. As you know, today is your eighteenth birthday. Soon you will be ready for the trials. There is little more I can teach about the ways of the Force. I don't doubt that by your next birthday you will be a Jedi Knight. To commemorate this occasion, I have something to give you. I hope it will help you as much as it helped me." With that Fajo produced from his robes a silver ring and handed it to Jared. Jared took the ring and examined it closely in his fingers. It was warm to the touch; too warm to be just heated up from handling. Jared looked at Fajo. "You noticed?" he asked. Jared nodded. "Very good. It is quite literally, a mood ring." Jared continued to stare at him. He caught the stare. "Meaning," he continued, "that it senses, not your mood, but those of others." Jared kept looking at his brother. Fajo sighed. "What I mean is, this ring will translate the emotions of a being into temperature!" he exclaimed. "Ohhhhh," said Jared. "Yes," said Fajo, "now you get it. When you access the Force, and focus on a particular being, their emotions will come across as a temperature change. If they are indifferent, calm, there will be no change. If they are angry or hateful, the ring will cool off. If someone is happy, or in love, the ring will get warm. It is a very useful tool, as I am sure you will find. However, beware, for there can be a downside. If you use this on someone who harbors deep, cold hatred, the icy bite of the ring is quite alarming, as is the burn of the ring when someone is passionately in love. So my advice to you is to use this gift wisely and carefully. It can help you, but it can also do you harm, in more ways than one."
Jared studied the ring a moment longer, in thought. "Thank you, Master," he said. "I really appreciate this gift. I will try to use it as you have said." At that moment an alarm sounded and the ship rocked. The brothers raced to a viewport. "Pirates?" asked Jared. "No," said Fajo. "I've never seen these types of ships before." The pilot's voice came over the intercom. "Strap yourselves down people, we're gonna have to make a jump to lightspeed, and it's gonna be bumpy," he said. Fajo and Jared sat down and locked in the restraints on their chairs. Outside they could see the stars streak past and blur into white as the made the jump into hyperspace. The ship rumbled and groaned with effort. After about ten minutes they dropped back into normal space. Looking outside, they could see a gray planet wreathed in clouds. "Is that...?" asked Jared. "Yes, I'm afraid so," replied Fajo. "We'll just have to hope we can find a Republic hangar before we get shot down." Just then the pilot's voice was heard again. "I'm sorry folks," it said, "But this is the only, and incidentally safest, place I could get us to on our damaged hyperdrive. However, don't worry about getting down to the planet. We can make it on our engines. What you should worry about are those guys following us." Fajo and Jared looked at each other and raced to find an aft viewport. When they found one, they could see that the strange ships were still following them. But before, there were only a couple small ships. "I strongly urge you all to prepare for combat," came the pilot's voice. Now there were at least a thousand ships the size of their transport, and at least five hundred the size of Republic transports. "Because as good as a pilot I am, I can't work miracles with that many ships on me. I think we can make it to the surface, but even if we do, you'll have to consider what could happen when they get there." "We have to contact the Republic on the surface," said Fajo. They turned away from the port and sprinted down a hallway. Jared was in front, and was about to round a corner when he sensed something that made him duck. There was a hum as a lightsaber passed over his head and smashed into a circuit box, causing a shower of sparks to erupt from its broken wires. The lights in the hallway went out. There was a roar of anger, and then a hiss as Fajo ignited his saber. Its orange glow illuminated the hallway, as did the attacker's blue saber. In the light of the two sabers, Fajo and Jared could see that their attacker was invisible! "Go, Padawan!" shouted Fajo, snapping Jared out of his awe. "I'll take care of it! Go!" As Jared raced towards the Communications room, he could hear the clash of lightsabers behind him. He had never seen anything like these people before, but he had a feeling he was going to be seeing them a lot for a while. He only hoped that the Republic would be able to handle it. A thought struck him. What if these interlopers aren't like the Jin'Ha? What if they aren't in league with the Separatists? What if they are too powerful for us? If we called for help, even from the nearest military post, it could be too late and too few to help us! That means we could only ask for aid from the Separatists! Jared shuddered. He didn't want to have them helping the Republic, but desperate times do call for desperate measures. He hoped they wouldn't have to take them. But that was something he couldn't control. The only thing he could control was contacting the Republic, and that was what he was going to do. He was about to turn the corner into the Communications room, but he stopped himself. Flattening himself against the wall, he focused his hearing on the room. There was no sound but the sounding of feet moving around in the room. There was only one being in the room. With a flash of insight, Jared took the ring out of a pouch on his belt and slipped it on his finger. Focusing on the being, he found that the ring was quite cool, which meant the being was angry. Taking a deep breath Jared activated his lightsaber and turned into the room. Jared was taken aback by what he saw. "Who are you?"