The Illusion of Reality: Sith Rising - Chapter One
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From the Personal Log of Kar Rostu:
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In my dreams, I always do it right.
In my dreams, I'm on the temple balcony. Ossus. The yellow haze of the atmosphere slightly distorting my gaze.
Below me, my master and another Jedi are fighting for their lives against thousands of battle droids commanded by the newly risen Sith.
On the smooth metal plate below my feet, a single proton torpedo launcher, fully loaded. Within it's range, two Sith Lords, and two Jedi Masters.
In my dreams, I pick up the launcher, and aim it down at the whirling four blades, 20 meters below me. In my dreams, I feel my finger pull back the trigger, and watch as the cone of proton energy spirals downwards into the fight and detonates, saving the galavy from Civil War…
I did not.
I made the Jedi choice and defended the younger Jedi from the constans spray of blasterfire.
That choice was the shatterpoint of the war. I know that because I have a power that has not been recorded, but for one other of my kind. Another Korun Jedi from the time of the Clone Wars. Like my dôshalo, I can see shatterpoints. I can see where a single tap will destroy a sheet of durasteel, shattering the intertwining metal into thousands of pieces.
Every single Jedi who was on Ossus that day has nightmares. Every single one of them, except me.
I don't have nightmares. In my dreams, I always do it right. My nightmare is what I find when I wake up.
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Kar Rostu moved quickly down a sterile hallway of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, his light boots clicking on the metal floor. A line of sweat on his brow was the only sign that he had just come from a training bout with another Padawan. His master has contacted him on his personal comlink, telling him to come to the Supreme Chancellor's office as soon as he could.
Taking his place next to his Master, and smiling at her, he looked over at Master Skywalker, sensing that he would speak first.
"As I just told Chancellor Aglaia and Master Solo, the two of you are going to Haruun Kal to recruit the Korunnai to help in the war. They have already started to rebel against Sith occupation, but they need a leader. We picked you because you will fit in best, and are the best team we have without a mission." Master Skywalker said, looking at his niece and her Padawan, a hint of a smile on his lips, before turning to the Supreme Chancellor, and continuing. "If the Chancellor is willing to spare a Clone Commander to aid you."
"There is one we could spare." Chancellor Aglaia said, smiling and pressing a small button on her desk, saying into a small comlink "You can come in now."
A smaller door on the side of the Chancellor's office opened, and a tanned man, in silver and red armor walked into the room, bowing to the occupants of the room, and placing his helmet on the empty chair.
"This is General Fett… His official designation is ARC-111/113." Chancellor Aglaia said to the three Jedi.
"Good to meet you General." Jaina Solo said, smiling up at the taller man.
"Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi." Fett said, respectfully standing a foot behind and a foot to the left of the Supreme Chancellor.
Bowing to the Supreme Chancellor, Master Skywalker turned to Kar, and Master Solo "The council will see you at 02.30… Your shuttle departs at 04.00. Make sure you're there." Before turning and walking briskly out of the Chancellor's office.
Master Solo bowed to the Supreme Chancellor, and looked over at the clone commander. 'You can come with my Padawan and I. We should talk about the mission before the council calls us.'
Fett jumped slightly as he heard the voice in his head, but recovered quickly and nodded, falling into step behind Jaina and her Padawan as they walked out of the Chancellor's office.
Watching the two Jedi, and her favorite general leave her office, Chancellor Aglaia sat down heavily in her chair, turning it to look out on the tall towers and busy hoverlanes of Coruscant.
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Walking down a much used hallway of the Jedi Temple, Jaina Solo turned into a not so well known room, and shut the door behind her Padawan and Fett. She sat down cross-legged on one of the many circular meditation pads, and watched silently as her companions followed suit.
After a few moments pause, she closed her eyes, reaching into the force for guidance. After a few long moments of searching which seemed like nothing to her companions, she found the guidance she was looking for.
Without opening her eyes, she related what she had seen to her Padawan and the Commander. "The Korunnai are not leaderless… Their attacks seem random because they do not wish to be predicted, not because they are unorganized. They are outnumbered, 50 to 1, but their knowledge of the jungle has allowed them to survive. Their leaders… Two are Jedi, only one should have been." Her eyes snapped open, the last image frozen in her mind.
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Standing in the middle of an arc of twelve chairs, Jaina Solo, Kar Rostu and General Fett looked around at the members of the Jedi Council. Only eight were there. Four seats were empty. At the center of the arc, Luke Skywalker stood up, making eye contact with Jaina, before asking. "You say that there are already two Jedi there. Who is it, and how do you know?"
Straightening to her full height, around five feet tall, Jaina said. "It is Master Veila, and her Padawan, Valin Horn. I saw this while I was meditating on the mission." Her tone saying 'I don't care what you think, that's what I saw, and that's what I'm going to say.
"Master Veila and Padawan Horn?" Her brother Jacen asked suspiciously from his chair. "I had thought that they were killed on Ossus."
"Perhaps they were, but that is not what I saw." Jaina said firmly, glancing over at her Padawan's chronometer. "However, we must go… Our transport is leaving win five minutes." Bowing shortly to the arc of Jedi Masters, she turned on her heel and walked quickly out of the room, her Padawan, and General Fett on her heels.
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"The council was not happy to be cut off like that." Kar observed quietly; as he bent down to speak in his master's ear.
"The council…" Jaina said, almost spitting the words. "Can go to hell as far as I'm concerned, and you know it."
Kar smiled slightly, and shook his dark, clean shaven head at his master's words. She didn't care what anyone thought about her, and as far as he knew, she never had. The council may not have liked her attitude towards them, but they had resigned themselves to the knowledge that they could never change it.
Behind him, General Fett voiced a question he had been holding until then. "What kind of transport are we using to get there?"
"A YT-2500 Freighter." Jaina answered shortly, not pausing to answer the question. "Four Quad Laser Cannons. Two Proton Torpedo magazines. Two Baradium dorsal launchers." She grinned, and glanced back at the general. "Should be enough, don't you think?"
Fett gaped at her back, and as they turned the corner, and the ship came into view, his gape turned into a grin, and he shook his head disbelievingly.
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Evil is obvious only in retrospect.
Gloria Steinem (1934)