Chapter 08 Knighted

Shifting in his seat Master BlckClone looked towards Tares as they exited hyperspace over Manaan. His hands rested on his legs palms down. Looking at him was no longer the same. A white wood and bone mask now covered his face.

Lives were greatly changed fighting the evil that was Nhagathul. Looking to those before him he spoke with the force.

'I want you to know no one was harmed in vain. This was to save the galaxy and we succeeded. Though another Sith has risen to the throne, Bishop of Battle was ready to destroy every person and capture every soul in the galaxy. We stopped him, and for that I thank you.'

His mask now acted as his jaw, and his eyes were now the force. Bishop had made BC more powerful then he was before. BC was now apart of the force. He looked at his downed companion, slowly standing and walking towards him, the large wookie's hand touched Tares on his temples. Concentrating Tares slowly awoke continuing to use his heal technique BC stood above the master.

"You will heal my friend."

As the ship set down on Manaan, Keiran observed as BC began healing Tares.

"He truly has changed... he is the force"

Keiran smiled and stood, proceeding straight out of the ship, not paying attention to anything or anyone. He made his way to his quarters and lay down on his cot, falling to sleep instantly.

Landing on Manaan was in some ways a relief for Skye as she looked upon her seriously injured Master but in other ways not. She sat back wearily watching as firstly Master BC worked on Tares, then as the medic's came and took him away. She stood and followed as they took him to the Medical Wing and into the operating theatre where they stopped her from going any further.

"Your Master will be alright, he's in the best of hands now and we will take good care of him. You will be able to see him once the surgeons have finished with him." The medic told her, then added as he looked her over, "You on the other hand need to come with me."

She was led into an examination room and her wounds and burns treated, instead of using bandages they used nu-skin, a new product that bound itself to her skin but still allowed it to breathe.. She was then handed a clean change of robes and led to a shower block. Examining her clothing as she removed it, she discovered that it was little better than rags and dropped them into the waste bin rather than try to salvage them. Skye stood under the hot stream of water for a long moment in time, letting the water soothe away her aches and pain, along with the mud and grime from the battle field. She was so tired, yet worry for her Master wouldn't let her rest, not yet.

Skye quickly dressed in the robes, covering her head with the hood of the cloak and left the shower cubical, heading straight for the medic station to enquire about Master Tares. She found out then that his surgery had been successful and that he was resting comfortably.

The force had forsaken him. In the attempts of protecting those Tares cared for, he was shattered. His body lay nearly dead, his spirit broken. Nothing was left for him, but darkness. The emptiness of the void now plagued him straight into his heart.

Wounds would heal, bodies would mend. Yet still there will be nothing for him.

White started to slowly flood into the darkness of his sight. The feeling of the force crept back up. The feeling of a soft bed lay under him. All was peaceful and yet something felt different. The pain he had felt earlier was gone, yet still something was different.

Slowly waking up, he looked around with his eyes to see a few people standing over him. Completely ignoring him, the beings he took as doctors conversed among themselves.

"He is lucky to be alive doctor. With out the efforts of his padawan and the others, he most likely would be dead." One said.

The doctor nodded, "Perhaps, but with out the implants and surgery, we would be dead regardless. Speaking of them, how are the new implants holding up? What with all that was done?"

The first man walked over to a machine beside Tares' bed and began to look at the screen, "Well the events on Mimban took a heavy toll on his body. The energy he released through the force was channelled by his body. Unfortunately the energy was too much that much of his inner workings took damage."

He continued, "His nerve system took the most damage. Many of his organs have been replaced, others are now combined with technological components. His bone and muscle tissue also took a hit, we have had to replace those as well. We replaced the bones with a strong metal alloy, while the muscles I have not been looked into yet. Parts of the brain had to be modified for repairs and to incorporate his new systems. The biggest thing though are the nanites: Damage and repairs of this magnitude couldn't be healed with bacta. The introduction of nanites into his body greatly helped in the healing effort, along with Master BC's help as well. In all, everything is in working over and he should make a full recovery."

At the sound of the doctor's words, Tares finally could place what was different. He was; no longer himself....... he was the thing that was different....

"You can go and see him now if you like." The medic told Skye.

Seeing her nod, the medic led her to the room her Master had been moved to. He looked to be sleeping comfortably so she took a seat by his side, taking his hand both for her own comfort as well as his. Skye sat there for a long time, just watching her Master's face before it all started to catch up with her. Still holding his hand, she crossed her other arm across the first and rested her head on them, promptly falling asleep as exhaustion took it's toll on her.

The man once known as Tares Vortex looked up to the foreigners with in his bed. He could feel the machinery inside of him, which kept his mind on them. He tried to place names with faces, but neither came out. Instead all was hopeless.

"Who are you people?" He asked to the gathering crowd.

Looking at the Jedi, a doctor came over, "I'm sorry but my patient has had medical complications. His memory is fragmented...."

Skye stirred and woke as she heard her Master's voice. She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes with one hand, while still holding her Masters hand with the other. She was glad to see him awake, but was still very concerned about him.

"Master Tares... it's me, Skye... your padawan... don't you remember me?"

She opened the force bond between them then, and let her Master see her memories.

Kirlocca looked from Tares to his padawan, Skye. He knew what she was doing, but did not move.

This is the last thing we need. Tares with a memory lost.

Kirlocca moved up along side of the young girl.

"You are also a jedi master...one who is on the council, one who everyone trust and respects. Focus on your padawans thoughts. They may help."

Kirlocca looked deep into Tares eyes. He refused to break his gaze.

Skye looked at Kirlocca, her worry shining in her eyes. Worry for her master as well as for the Jedi as a whole... if her master couldn't regain his memory she didn't know what would happen. Another thought struck her then too, she had seen Ashley on the sith ceremonial grounds on Mimban as well as on BC's ship and it was Ashley's sister that had defected back to the sith... her sister had been to Manaan, Ish had told her that. With that, the sith would now know where the Jedi had a base and that meant that the Eternal Vigilance on Manaan would not be safe for much longer. She voiced her fears to Kirlocca and looked back at her Master.

She also wanted to go somewhere reasonably safe so that she could get her brother cloned, maybe to Coruscant.

Tares looked around the room. He remembered slightly the one called Skye. The others though were foreign to him. Skye's memories were mostly useless to him as well. Mostly though, Tares had no idea to who he was.

Shaking his head violently Tares wanted out, "Why do you all keep hounding me? I don't know, I don't know!"

Kirlocca let out a sigh. His eyes moved from Tares to his padawan, Skye. He then stood tall and spoke in a loud voice so that everyone could hear him.

"Jedi of the Order, It has come to my attention that our base has been compromised. I will not order anyone to stay behind, But I have decided that I will NOT lose this base. Stay and prepare to fight if you wish. Leave if you really must."

Kirlocca then walked away from Skye and Tares. He walked into the main council chambers and began to meditate...

Skye was internally fighting to keep her composure. Seeing her Master like this upset her greatly and it was all she could do not to let the tears flow. She had to stay strong, for his sake. Taking a deep breath she forced the tears away, refusing to let her emotions control her and turned with calm composure to those surrounding her master's bed.

"Could we be left alone for a while, please... My master is getting upset and needs to be calmed"

The doctors nodded to her and signalled for the rest to leave the room, or to move to the other end of the ward. She took another deep breath, silently recited the jedi code to draw extra mental strength from it and turned back to her Master.

"Master Tares, please, you need to be calm. It's alright, the others have gone now. I will leave if you want me to as well, but I want to help you Master in any way that I can, if you'll let me."

She took hold of his hand again after having released it earlier and sent calming, loving and soothing thoughts through to him, willing him to calm himself. She cared deeply for her Master, loved him like she would a close friend... nothing romantically implied though. She hoped that her Master would regain his sense of self soon.

Throwing off the sheets, Tares stood up and looked to a mirror. All along his chest, scars began to fade away at the nanite's work; scars he didn't remember getting. All the walls of composure that Tares once had, were all but forgotten. All the views of shadow were now gone, all that remained was fear, anger, and sadness. All he remembered was the force, "Look at me. I'm a monster. I'm a freak of nature and I failed you. If only the force hadn't forsaken me...."

"But you didn't fail Master, you saved us... all of us and I do not see you as a monster, I see you as a man that has been through a very difficult ordeal and as a strong man that is recovering from that ordeal. I only wish I could do more for you. If there is anything you want me to do, you know you only have to ask."

As she spoke, Skye moved to stand beside her Master resting a hand gently on his arm still sending soothing thoughts his way. She could feel the chaos within his mind and it tore at her heart strings to see him in such conflict.

Tares turned back with red in his eyes, "There is something. Promise me that when you go on as a knight of this order, you will succeed where I failed. One thing I remember is you Skye Organa. Our training together, the events up to the battle. My last thought of you was the wish to knight you...."

"Master..." She said softly, a sigh escaped her lips, "Please believe me, you are not a failure. What you did on that battlefield was amazing. You were the focus that brought an end to Nhagathul. You did not fail master."

Skye noticed the red glints in Master Tares eyes and her worry increased. Somehow she had to get through to her master, but her need for comfort was growing as well. Not knowing how he would take it she murmured softly,

"Please, hold me?"

Tares sighed as the words fell upon deaf ears. What he remembered told him otherwise, what he didn't remember was no help. All he knew now that he was a walking machine with hardly a past and no sense of who he was. His emotions blazed, his control lost. He knew what must be done to save those around him from his pain.

"Skye, the farther you are away from me, the less likely you are to being hurt. I can't bring this upon you. From this point on Skye Organa, you are a Knight of the Jedi Order. The skills you displayed back on Mimban are beyond those that would be tested in the Jedi Trials. Good luck with your life."

With pain in his heart, he stepped out of the quarters and made his way to the hanger bay. Two messages he sent out, one to his brother he somewhat remembered, and the other to BC:

Master BC, I regret to tell you but my current state of weakness is something I must deal with. For this reason I will be taking some time off to find "myself" again. Thank you

From there the lost jedi took off....

Skye stood there stunned as Master Tares spoke then walked away from her. 'I'm now a Jedi Knight...' While she knew she should be pleased with the promotion she was torn. The turmoil her master was in only added to her confusion. 'Good luck Master Tares...May the Force be with you...'

She shook her head as she closed off their force bond, knowing that Tares needed to sort things out for himself. She swore to herself that if ever he needed her she would be there... after all, he had created the force bond between them and as far as she could tell, that link couldn't be destroyed. She would only ever be a thought away.

Slowly she made her way though the mostly empty corridors of the Eternal Vigilance, stopping at the clothing store and getting some new clothing, she needed more than one set after all and being now a Knight of the Jedi Order she should look the part. She left the store with 2 new sets of robes, one was a deep midnight blue with silver trim on the hooded cloak, the other a blue/grey tunic with a plain black hooded cloak, a black ship suit and to top it off another set of black general purpose utility boots, all packed neatly into a travel bag.

Reaching her room Skye pulled out a change of clothing and headed to the shower. Dressed in her midnight blue robes, she cleaned and packed away what she had been wearing, a cream and brown tunic with brown cloak. Looking around the room she didn't see anything she would need to take with her so headed back to the computer room that Master Tares had taken her to previously. Dropping her bag on the floor, she pulled up the program that had been used to create her first lightsaber hilt and requested another made to the same specifications.

From there she retraced her previous steps down to the supply bay on deck two, collecting again all the components she needed to create another lightsaber, before she made her way again back to the computer room. She retrieved the hilt, examining it carefully before putting the components in place. All that was needed now was another crystal. She opened the panel and looked upon the crystals within, choosing a paler amethyst to her previous one. She closed the panel again and picked up the hilt, inserting the crystal carefully into it and closing the cover. Skye ignited the saber, hearing the snap-hiss as the blade extended out. The pale crystal made the blade look white with an amethyst tint to it. She swung it in a test, finding it like an extension of her arm and smiled. Closing the blade down, she clipped it onto her belt beneath her robes then leant over picked up her bag and made her way to the hanger bay.

Consulting the droid mechanic she was allocated a jedi starfighter. She leapt up, threw her bag in the storage compartment, and ran a pre-flight check. Finding everything in order she gently lifted off, asked for and received clearance, blasting off into space... destination Coruscant.

Deep within the heat of the Eternal Vigilance, the central computer flashed a few times as it received a private, untraceable, encrypted message from Coruscant. A few seconds later, a voice could be heard throughout the entire jedi ship for all to hear.

"Fellow members of the jedi order, this is Keiran Valoria. I am currently on Coruscant and I have completed establishing a jedi outpost on the Imperial Capital of Coruscant. This is a moment of jedi history as we now, once again, have a presence on Coruscant, albeit it's an underground presence, it is still a presence. I will stay on Coruscant, directing this outpost and I have decided that I will begin my own campaign of aggravating the Imperials from the inside, for any jedi wishes to join me, come."

As the starfighter emerged over Coruscant, Skye contemplated what she would do next. First thing was to get her brother cloned. Getting clearance from the authorities to land she followed her force sense and set down next to large hospital complex. She looked over her instrument panel, hitting a few keys that would erase the ships navigational memory banks so that no-one would know where the craft had come from.

She exited the craft, locked it up and headed into the hospital complex, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she went. Arriving at the front desk she politely enquired as to who she could speak to in regards to the cloning facility. Skye was then led though several corridors and down a lift to the lower levels of the complex where the cloning facility was. Once there, she introduced herself to the Doctor in charge, expressing an interest in the process of cloning and the healing arts in general and requesting her brother be cloned, all the while she was careful not to reveal her Jedi affiliation, knowing that the Imperials would have spies everywhere. She was just a concerned sister who wanted her brother returned to her. Skye carefully removed a DNA sample from her bag and handed it over after being told that they would clone her brother for her. They also took a sample of her own DNA to keep on record, telling her that she would not be able to stay for the process.

"When my brother returns, tell him that I will be at the Last Call waiting for him."

She made her way back up the lift and out of the complex then, scanning the area with her Force sense. Finding it clear she made her way back to the starfighter, checking for any tracking devices then lifting off and heading in the direction of the Last Call. She landed the craft a few blocks away from it, letting the Force lead her to an apartment block first. She hovered the craft before landing it in the apartment's hanger and made her way inside, again flinging her bag over her shoulder. Inside she was able to rent one of the apartments for a short term stay and was shown to her door.

It was sparsely furnished but would do her for a while. Leaving her bag there she exited the building and walked the few blocks to the Last Call...