Disclaimer: I don't own the Star Wars universe or Star Wars KOTOR, George
Lucas and Lucas Arts do. They also own all the Characters and Worlds
contained therein. The characters created by me for this story are all
that I own.
Dantooine – New Orders
Bastila had left the ship to report to the Jedi Council over an hour ago. I expected they would want to talk to me for a debriefing before I left to go back to my unit. Bastila came back and said "I have spoken briefly with the Council; they request and audience with you. We should go at once."
Carth said "An audience with the Jedi Council? That's pretty unusual for someone who isn't even a Jedi. What's this about Bastila?" Bastila replied "I'm sorry; Carth, but I cannot tell you. All I ask is that you trust in the Force and the wisdom of the Council. Come, they are expecting us. I will lead you to the Council chambers."
I followed thinking of what I could say during what I was sure was to be a fairly ordinary debriefing no matter what Carth seemed to think. They probably wanted to know of our actions during Bastila's rescue.
Bastila and Carth had gone on ahead and I was following them ordering my thoughts when a young woman stopped me asking why I was not wearing the robes of the Order? I drew myself up and replied that she must be mistaken I was Lt. Catherine McDonald assigned to Bastila's command. I could see that I had confused her and she said something about Bastila and her Battle Meditation, but she had a foolish pride in it, I stopped myself from chuckling but just barely. She apparently thought I was joking and said something again about seeing the Force within me. I looked directly at her and told her I was telling the truth. She finally recognized how rude she was being and apologized. I could tell she was young, but did they teach these people nothing about manners and how to think before they opened their mouths?
I walked into the Council chambers, I recognized one of the Jedi what was his name? Master Zhar I thought it was. The Twi'lek Jedi who I recognized said "Ah, so you are the one who rescued Bastila. It is appropriate that you are here. We have been discussing your rather special case. I am Zhar, a member of the Jedi Council. With me are Master Vrook, Master Vandar and, of course, the Chronicler of our Academy, Master Dorak."
I nodded to each and said "What did you want from me?"
Master Zhar said "Bastila tells us you are strong in the Force. We are considering you for Jedi training."
I looked at him and said "I cannot possibly accept your offer, I must return to my command as soon as possible."
They stirred and Master Vrook said "Master Zhar speaks out of turn, perhaps. We need indisputable proof of your strong affinity to the force before we would even consider accepting you for training. And as you said you have other duties to consider."
Bastila said "Proof? Surely the entire Council can feel the strength of the Force within her... and I have already related to you the events that took place on Taris..." she trailed off. I had not moved during all of this and I could tell they all looked at me. I kept calm and thought of my duty, they could say what they wanted I would be leaving to meet up with my unit soon.
Master Vrook said "Perhaps it was simple luck." Master Zhar said "We both know there is no luck. There is only the Force. We all feel the power in Bastila's companion, though it is wild and untamed. Now that this power has begun to manifest itself, can we safely ignore it?" Master Vrook said "The Jedi training is long and difficult, even when working with a young and open mind. Teaching a child is hard. How much harder will it be for an adult to learn the ways of the Jedi?"
I realized he was looking at me and I said "Sir? I would have no idea how hard it would be for me to learn. But as I said I must report into my unit, I do not have authorization to accept any training offer."
He raised his eyebrows at this and Master Dorak spoke up "Traditionally the Jedi do not accept adults for training, though there are rare exceptions in the history of our Order. But you are a special case." Master Vandar said "I agree with Master Dorak. Many of our own pupils are leaving the Jedi order to follow the Sith teachings, we need recruits to stand against Malak! With Revan dead..."Master Vrook interrupted "Are you certain Revan is truly dead? What if we should undertake to train this one and the Dark Lord should return?"
I was rapidly getting confused had they heard nothing I had said about having to return to my unit? And what was this about Revan returning, everyone knew Revan was dead.
Master Vandar said "We should discuss this matter more fully in private. Bastila, you and your companion must go. This is a matter for the council alone."
Bastila agreed and we returned to the Ebon Hawk, Bastila seemed subdued but I needed some time alone. I wandered back into the bunk area and decided to put my mandovil back together again. I pulled out all the pieces and set to assembling the instrument. Bastila came back as I finished and looked at me puzzled. I chuckled and set about tuning the instrument. "Where did you get that?" she asked. I replied "I've always had it; I just never took it out on Taris because there was never time to play." Bastila asked "When did you learn how to play an instrument?" she sounded surprised and I glanced at her. I said "We all had to pick up some form of creative expression at the Covert Ops Academy, this was what I choose." I had to laugh at her look when I said that, I guess it did sound like an odd skill to pick up an advanced combat training.
I had finished tuning it to my satisfaction and started on a simple song, I needed to practice with it again I thought my fingers are getting rusty. Bastila kept on staring at me as if I had grown a second head or something, and I finally asked "Why are you staring at me like this surprises you so?" She blushed and said "It doesn't seem to go with... well with the tattoo... and your combat training... it just seems odd..." she trailed off.
I chuckled and said "The academy was very interested after several defections of key units after the Mandalorian Wars in making sure that never happened again. So they brought in some psychologists and devised training and testing to make sure that only the most stable and loyal of the recruits actually made it to the end of training." She stared at me and nodded "so this was part of the training they started?" she asked. I said "Yes, some of us did art like painting and sculpture, some of us took up music. I thought it odd at first but it did help me deal with a lot of things. You can put emotions into music that are hard to express in words."
With that I shifted to one of my own compositions that I had worked on to help me deal with the woman who had been slowly killing her humanity. It was angry and raging and sad and crying and I could tell that she picked up on the emotions though she had no idea what it the music had been about. "What was that" she said after I had finished. I said "Well I guess I can tell you about this, this was what I wrote about one of the Sith that we did a case study off." Bastila gave me a look and said "You studied Sith?" in an incredulous voice. "We watched training videos of some interviews with them yes, it was designed to help us understand them better and to understand why they had become Sith." I said. I could see her struggling to understand why they would want us to do that and I said "When you understand your enemy, you know what to expect from them better. We learned to understand some of the Sith ways of thinking and we learned how they had become what they were. So that we could avoid the same pitfalls, and avoid walking down the paths they had walked."
"In this case though, I wrote this because this woman moved me to pity her. We were allowed to ask her questions through the holo and she would answer if she wanted to. She raged at us calling us pathetic weaklings and trying to get us to be as mad as she was. The more we stayed calm the angrier she would get. I finally asked her why our questions hurt her so much and she just screamed at me. I had to turn away at that point because suddenly I saw what was hurting her."
Bastila had been quiet but said "What did you see in her?" I replied "That she was killing herself with her actions, each thing she did that was cruel she did in a way to herself. Each person she hurt she hurt herself inside. It was like she was trying to destroy herself and reflected it upon the world around her. I saw her for the maddened pain filled creature that she was and stopped hating her and began to feel pity for her and compassion."
I stopped and said "The next interrogation with her I asked her why she was punishing herself so, and she yelled at me and asked why I would say that. She was afraid of me I think. I told her I could see the pain she was in, and she yelled at me again that she didn't need my pity. I told her she could stop hurting herself that we could help her and she looked so stricken and said that she could not stop she had gone too far. I said that if she still felt pain then she was still alive, that somewhere inside herself she was still a good person and that I had faith in her that she was strong enough to make the journey. She started crying and asked how and I told her about this damn training hill that we had to run up again and again until we felt we would die. She got a bit mad not understanding what I was saying at first but I told her she could make it up her hill just like I managed to make it up mine. Don't look at the top of the hill it doesn't matter, just concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and don't stop. The top of the hill will come of in its own time; you just have to keep moving forward and not stop. I told her that we would all be with her in her struggle, that we would help her however we could and the guys started cheering and telling her she could do it that they thought she was strong enough. It got to be quite a rowdy session and the instructors had to eventually break it up. I think they were astonished at the outcome of the session. They decided during that session to work on the break in her attitude that I had opened and managed to rehabilitate her. We were allowed to write to her during her rehabilitation and later she was allowed to come and see us toward the end of our training. We all hugged and she thanked us for giving her back her life again."
I stopped talking and started playing again, this time the song was hopeful and soaring and spoke of pain faced and struggle but victory at the end of the struggle.
I looked at Bastila and she had the oddest look on her face, I said chuckling "What's that look for? It's not like I really did anything the therapists who worked with here did the actual work. I just provided an opening, not that much really."
Bastila just looked at me and said "You are much more than I thought you would be when we asked for a translator. I had no idea your training included all of that; I guess I had just assumed it would have been all combat training. But I was wrong I see. Thank you for sharing that with me and your music."
With that she walked away and I was puzzled, something more had just gone on and I was clueless to what it could be.
************************************************************************
That night she had another dream. In it she could see figures standing in front of a stone door of some type. She though the two might be Revan and Malak. Revan paced thinking in front of the door and Malak was saying something about the dark side being powerful here. He asked whether or not this was worth the risk and mentioned that the Order would surely banish them if they found out. The figure who I thought was Revan did not say anything but waved a hand in front of the door and it opened it and went through with Malak trailing after. Malak was asking whether or not something called a star forge was worth this as they walked toward some type of device on the floor of the room they had just entered. Then the dream faded.
I went looking for everyone and found Carth outside the ship. He said "This morning is getting stranger by the minute. First Bastila comes out looking like she saw a ghost, and now you. Well, Bastila did mention that you should go to the Council chambers before she left. It's no doubt urgent so you shouldn't keep them waiting"
I nodded to him trying to shake the dream from my head and order my thoughts, and then I proceeded to the Council chambers.
Master Vandar said as I entered "Bastila has told us of a most unusual development. She claims you and she have shared a dream, a vision of Malak and Revan in the ancient ruins here on Dantooine." I started in astonishment, 'shared vision' I thought and glanced at Bastila; she had seen it as well?
Master Vandar continued "These ruins have long been known to us, but we believed them to be merely burial mounds. Perhaps they are more than we first suspected, if Revan and Malak found something there." He paused and looked at me. I decided he was waiting for confirmation and said "Yes... they seemed to be searching for something."
Master Vandar said "Bastila has described this shared dream to the Council in great detail. We feel it is more than a dream. It is a vision. The Force is acting through you as it acts through Bastila." I felt like I was in some strange dream and said disbelieving "I am having visions now?"
Master Zhar said "You and Bastila share a powerful connection to the Force... and each other. This is not unheard of. Connections often form between Master and student, but rarely does a bond develop so quickly." I stared at him astonished by what he had said trying to make sense of the words. A bond between us, I knew we were attracted to each other but was he saying there was more to it than that? And master and student... ah well that wasn't my idea of our relationship.
Master Vandar spoke up and said "Whatever dangers may lie ahead, we cannot ignore the destiny that has brought you and Bastila here to us. Together."
I was so lost here; I asked "What are you talking about?"
Master Vandar sighed and said "You and she are linked, as is your fate to hers. Together, you two may be able to stop Darth Malak and the Sith."
Suddenly Master Vrook chimed in "But do not let your head be filled with visions of glory and power! Such thoughts are the path to the dark side. The way of the light is long and difficult, as you must learn. Are you ready for such a hardship?"
I stared at him wondering what the hell he was talking about and then recollected myself and said "I have already stated that I cannot accept any offers of training, I must report to my command."
Master Dorak said "As to that I have some orders here for you."
He handed me a data pad and I reluctantly accepted it, I had the strong sense my fate was about to be sealed. I read the data pad and was surprised by the first order; I was to be promoted to a full Lieutenant. I had received an early promotion. The second order was the one I dreaded, I was to be assigned indefinitely to the Jedi Order. I was to follow what ever course of action they directed for the good of the Republic.
The third item on the data pad was a letter from my commander. He said that he didn't know the details of what was going on but that the Jedi had determined that I had an important part to play in defeating Malak. He knew that I was to undergo Jedi training and told me that he expected no less of me than that I was to do my best. He said that I though I was on indefinite orders to the Jedi Order for me to always remember that I was still a member of Covert Ops. The last made me feel better; it meant that I still had somewhere I belonged. He went on to say that all of my files would be sent to the Jedi Order shortly and that I was now authorized to reveal to them whatever information I felt was necessary for the success of the mission. I re-read my orders and then looked back up at the Jedi Council.
Master Vandar said "Understand that there is little choice in this matter, for you or us. Across the galaxy the numbers of our Order dwindle. We have sent many Jedi in quest of a way to thwart Malak's advance... many have not returned. The Sith hunt the Jedi down like animals, ambushing and assassinating our brothers wherever they are found. We fear it is only a matter of time until they discover even this hidden refuge."
Master Zhar said "If Malak is not stopped the Republic will fall, and the Jedi will be hunted to extinction. The galaxy will enter a time of darkness and tyranny not seen for a thousand generations."
Master Vandar spoke "The Council had decreed that you and Bastila must investigate the ancient ruins you dreamed of.... once the Council deems you ready. Before we send you to investigate the ruins, you must be trained in the ways of the Jedi so that you can resist the darkness within yourself... within all of us. Otherwise you are doomed to fail."
He paused and I replied "As you wish, Master Vandar. I will do my best."
Master Zhar nodded and said "We must begin your training at once. You have a destiny upon you that you must be prepared to face. The entire fate of the galaxy is upon you."
I stared at him thinking of an old Covert Ops joke that 'fate of the galaxy' in your orders actually meant, 'this mission is so dangerous that we are preparing your funeral speech right now.'
Bastila had left the ship to report to the Jedi Council over an hour ago. I expected they would want to talk to me for a debriefing before I left to go back to my unit. Bastila came back and said "I have spoken briefly with the Council; they request and audience with you. We should go at once."
Carth said "An audience with the Jedi Council? That's pretty unusual for someone who isn't even a Jedi. What's this about Bastila?" Bastila replied "I'm sorry; Carth, but I cannot tell you. All I ask is that you trust in the Force and the wisdom of the Council. Come, they are expecting us. I will lead you to the Council chambers."
I followed thinking of what I could say during what I was sure was to be a fairly ordinary debriefing no matter what Carth seemed to think. They probably wanted to know of our actions during Bastila's rescue.
Bastila and Carth had gone on ahead and I was following them ordering my thoughts when a young woman stopped me asking why I was not wearing the robes of the Order? I drew myself up and replied that she must be mistaken I was Lt. Catherine McDonald assigned to Bastila's command. I could see that I had confused her and she said something about Bastila and her Battle Meditation, but she had a foolish pride in it, I stopped myself from chuckling but just barely. She apparently thought I was joking and said something again about seeing the Force within me. I looked directly at her and told her I was telling the truth. She finally recognized how rude she was being and apologized. I could tell she was young, but did they teach these people nothing about manners and how to think before they opened their mouths?
I walked into the Council chambers, I recognized one of the Jedi what was his name? Master Zhar I thought it was. The Twi'lek Jedi who I recognized said "Ah, so you are the one who rescued Bastila. It is appropriate that you are here. We have been discussing your rather special case. I am Zhar, a member of the Jedi Council. With me are Master Vrook, Master Vandar and, of course, the Chronicler of our Academy, Master Dorak."
I nodded to each and said "What did you want from me?"
Master Zhar said "Bastila tells us you are strong in the Force. We are considering you for Jedi training."
I looked at him and said "I cannot possibly accept your offer, I must return to my command as soon as possible."
They stirred and Master Vrook said "Master Zhar speaks out of turn, perhaps. We need indisputable proof of your strong affinity to the force before we would even consider accepting you for training. And as you said you have other duties to consider."
Bastila said "Proof? Surely the entire Council can feel the strength of the Force within her... and I have already related to you the events that took place on Taris..." she trailed off. I had not moved during all of this and I could tell they all looked at me. I kept calm and thought of my duty, they could say what they wanted I would be leaving to meet up with my unit soon.
Master Vrook said "Perhaps it was simple luck." Master Zhar said "We both know there is no luck. There is only the Force. We all feel the power in Bastila's companion, though it is wild and untamed. Now that this power has begun to manifest itself, can we safely ignore it?" Master Vrook said "The Jedi training is long and difficult, even when working with a young and open mind. Teaching a child is hard. How much harder will it be for an adult to learn the ways of the Jedi?"
I realized he was looking at me and I said "Sir? I would have no idea how hard it would be for me to learn. But as I said I must report into my unit, I do not have authorization to accept any training offer."
He raised his eyebrows at this and Master Dorak spoke up "Traditionally the Jedi do not accept adults for training, though there are rare exceptions in the history of our Order. But you are a special case." Master Vandar said "I agree with Master Dorak. Many of our own pupils are leaving the Jedi order to follow the Sith teachings, we need recruits to stand against Malak! With Revan dead..."Master Vrook interrupted "Are you certain Revan is truly dead? What if we should undertake to train this one and the Dark Lord should return?"
I was rapidly getting confused had they heard nothing I had said about having to return to my unit? And what was this about Revan returning, everyone knew Revan was dead.
Master Vandar said "We should discuss this matter more fully in private. Bastila, you and your companion must go. This is a matter for the council alone."
Bastila agreed and we returned to the Ebon Hawk, Bastila seemed subdued but I needed some time alone. I wandered back into the bunk area and decided to put my mandovil back together again. I pulled out all the pieces and set to assembling the instrument. Bastila came back as I finished and looked at me puzzled. I chuckled and set about tuning the instrument. "Where did you get that?" she asked. I replied "I've always had it; I just never took it out on Taris because there was never time to play." Bastila asked "When did you learn how to play an instrument?" she sounded surprised and I glanced at her. I said "We all had to pick up some form of creative expression at the Covert Ops Academy, this was what I choose." I had to laugh at her look when I said that, I guess it did sound like an odd skill to pick up an advanced combat training.
I had finished tuning it to my satisfaction and started on a simple song, I needed to practice with it again I thought my fingers are getting rusty. Bastila kept on staring at me as if I had grown a second head or something, and I finally asked "Why are you staring at me like this surprises you so?" She blushed and said "It doesn't seem to go with... well with the tattoo... and your combat training... it just seems odd..." she trailed off.
I chuckled and said "The academy was very interested after several defections of key units after the Mandalorian Wars in making sure that never happened again. So they brought in some psychologists and devised training and testing to make sure that only the most stable and loyal of the recruits actually made it to the end of training." She stared at me and nodded "so this was part of the training they started?" she asked. I said "Yes, some of us did art like painting and sculpture, some of us took up music. I thought it odd at first but it did help me deal with a lot of things. You can put emotions into music that are hard to express in words."
With that I shifted to one of my own compositions that I had worked on to help me deal with the woman who had been slowly killing her humanity. It was angry and raging and sad and crying and I could tell that she picked up on the emotions though she had no idea what it the music had been about. "What was that" she said after I had finished. I said "Well I guess I can tell you about this, this was what I wrote about one of the Sith that we did a case study off." Bastila gave me a look and said "You studied Sith?" in an incredulous voice. "We watched training videos of some interviews with them yes, it was designed to help us understand them better and to understand why they had become Sith." I said. I could see her struggling to understand why they would want us to do that and I said "When you understand your enemy, you know what to expect from them better. We learned to understand some of the Sith ways of thinking and we learned how they had become what they were. So that we could avoid the same pitfalls, and avoid walking down the paths they had walked."
"In this case though, I wrote this because this woman moved me to pity her. We were allowed to ask her questions through the holo and she would answer if she wanted to. She raged at us calling us pathetic weaklings and trying to get us to be as mad as she was. The more we stayed calm the angrier she would get. I finally asked her why our questions hurt her so much and she just screamed at me. I had to turn away at that point because suddenly I saw what was hurting her."
Bastila had been quiet but said "What did you see in her?" I replied "That she was killing herself with her actions, each thing she did that was cruel she did in a way to herself. Each person she hurt she hurt herself inside. It was like she was trying to destroy herself and reflected it upon the world around her. I saw her for the maddened pain filled creature that she was and stopped hating her and began to feel pity for her and compassion."
I stopped and said "The next interrogation with her I asked her why she was punishing herself so, and she yelled at me and asked why I would say that. She was afraid of me I think. I told her I could see the pain she was in, and she yelled at me again that she didn't need my pity. I told her she could stop hurting herself that we could help her and she looked so stricken and said that she could not stop she had gone too far. I said that if she still felt pain then she was still alive, that somewhere inside herself she was still a good person and that I had faith in her that she was strong enough to make the journey. She started crying and asked how and I told her about this damn training hill that we had to run up again and again until we felt we would die. She got a bit mad not understanding what I was saying at first but I told her she could make it up her hill just like I managed to make it up mine. Don't look at the top of the hill it doesn't matter, just concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and don't stop. The top of the hill will come of in its own time; you just have to keep moving forward and not stop. I told her that we would all be with her in her struggle, that we would help her however we could and the guys started cheering and telling her she could do it that they thought she was strong enough. It got to be quite a rowdy session and the instructors had to eventually break it up. I think they were astonished at the outcome of the session. They decided during that session to work on the break in her attitude that I had opened and managed to rehabilitate her. We were allowed to write to her during her rehabilitation and later she was allowed to come and see us toward the end of our training. We all hugged and she thanked us for giving her back her life again."
I stopped talking and started playing again, this time the song was hopeful and soaring and spoke of pain faced and struggle but victory at the end of the struggle.
I looked at Bastila and she had the oddest look on her face, I said chuckling "What's that look for? It's not like I really did anything the therapists who worked with here did the actual work. I just provided an opening, not that much really."
Bastila just looked at me and said "You are much more than I thought you would be when we asked for a translator. I had no idea your training included all of that; I guess I had just assumed it would have been all combat training. But I was wrong I see. Thank you for sharing that with me and your music."
With that she walked away and I was puzzled, something more had just gone on and I was clueless to what it could be.
************************************************************************
That night she had another dream. In it she could see figures standing in front of a stone door of some type. She though the two might be Revan and Malak. Revan paced thinking in front of the door and Malak was saying something about the dark side being powerful here. He asked whether or not this was worth the risk and mentioned that the Order would surely banish them if they found out. The figure who I thought was Revan did not say anything but waved a hand in front of the door and it opened it and went through with Malak trailing after. Malak was asking whether or not something called a star forge was worth this as they walked toward some type of device on the floor of the room they had just entered. Then the dream faded.
I went looking for everyone and found Carth outside the ship. He said "This morning is getting stranger by the minute. First Bastila comes out looking like she saw a ghost, and now you. Well, Bastila did mention that you should go to the Council chambers before she left. It's no doubt urgent so you shouldn't keep them waiting"
I nodded to him trying to shake the dream from my head and order my thoughts, and then I proceeded to the Council chambers.
Master Vandar said as I entered "Bastila has told us of a most unusual development. She claims you and she have shared a dream, a vision of Malak and Revan in the ancient ruins here on Dantooine." I started in astonishment, 'shared vision' I thought and glanced at Bastila; she had seen it as well?
Master Vandar continued "These ruins have long been known to us, but we believed them to be merely burial mounds. Perhaps they are more than we first suspected, if Revan and Malak found something there." He paused and looked at me. I decided he was waiting for confirmation and said "Yes... they seemed to be searching for something."
Master Vandar said "Bastila has described this shared dream to the Council in great detail. We feel it is more than a dream. It is a vision. The Force is acting through you as it acts through Bastila." I felt like I was in some strange dream and said disbelieving "I am having visions now?"
Master Zhar said "You and Bastila share a powerful connection to the Force... and each other. This is not unheard of. Connections often form between Master and student, but rarely does a bond develop so quickly." I stared at him astonished by what he had said trying to make sense of the words. A bond between us, I knew we were attracted to each other but was he saying there was more to it than that? And master and student... ah well that wasn't my idea of our relationship.
Master Vandar spoke up and said "Whatever dangers may lie ahead, we cannot ignore the destiny that has brought you and Bastila here to us. Together."
I was so lost here; I asked "What are you talking about?"
Master Vandar sighed and said "You and she are linked, as is your fate to hers. Together, you two may be able to stop Darth Malak and the Sith."
Suddenly Master Vrook chimed in "But do not let your head be filled with visions of glory and power! Such thoughts are the path to the dark side. The way of the light is long and difficult, as you must learn. Are you ready for such a hardship?"
I stared at him wondering what the hell he was talking about and then recollected myself and said "I have already stated that I cannot accept any offers of training, I must report to my command."
Master Dorak said "As to that I have some orders here for you."
He handed me a data pad and I reluctantly accepted it, I had the strong sense my fate was about to be sealed. I read the data pad and was surprised by the first order; I was to be promoted to a full Lieutenant. I had received an early promotion. The second order was the one I dreaded, I was to be assigned indefinitely to the Jedi Order. I was to follow what ever course of action they directed for the good of the Republic.
The third item on the data pad was a letter from my commander. He said that he didn't know the details of what was going on but that the Jedi had determined that I had an important part to play in defeating Malak. He knew that I was to undergo Jedi training and told me that he expected no less of me than that I was to do my best. He said that I though I was on indefinite orders to the Jedi Order for me to always remember that I was still a member of Covert Ops. The last made me feel better; it meant that I still had somewhere I belonged. He went on to say that all of my files would be sent to the Jedi Order shortly and that I was now authorized to reveal to them whatever information I felt was necessary for the success of the mission. I re-read my orders and then looked back up at the Jedi Council.
Master Vandar said "Understand that there is little choice in this matter, for you or us. Across the galaxy the numbers of our Order dwindle. We have sent many Jedi in quest of a way to thwart Malak's advance... many have not returned. The Sith hunt the Jedi down like animals, ambushing and assassinating our brothers wherever they are found. We fear it is only a matter of time until they discover even this hidden refuge."
Master Zhar said "If Malak is not stopped the Republic will fall, and the Jedi will be hunted to extinction. The galaxy will enter a time of darkness and tyranny not seen for a thousand generations."
Master Vandar spoke "The Council had decreed that you and Bastila must investigate the ancient ruins you dreamed of.... once the Council deems you ready. Before we send you to investigate the ruins, you must be trained in the ways of the Jedi so that you can resist the darkness within yourself... within all of us. Otherwise you are doomed to fail."
He paused and I replied "As you wish, Master Vandar. I will do my best."
Master Zhar nodded and said "We must begin your training at once. You have a destiny upon you that you must be prepared to face. The entire fate of the galaxy is upon you."
I stared at him thinking of an old Covert Ops joke that 'fate of the galaxy' in your orders actually meant, 'this mission is so dangerous that we are preparing your funeral speech right now.'