Nicolae strode back towards the arena for the second time that day. He walked into the room and found his class waiting for him.
"We sensed you were coming, and Breeann suggested waiting for you." said his instructor, Cato-nai. "Now back to the lesson. When your opponent performs an over the back thrust while in midair, bring you…"
A voice broke into Nicolae's thoughts.
Are you all right?
He turned to see Valtur looking at him.
Yeah, I think so. he responded. It's just, when you were about to land on me, I felt this pressure in my mind, blocking my Force sense.
Hmm, that's strange.
Yes, it is. Well, whatever it was, it's gone now.
"Valtur, Nicolae, are you listening?" Their Bothan instructor's fur rippled. "I asked Nicolae what the proper defense ring was for defending against hand-thrown explosives, but perhaps if you are to tire you should go back to your room, hmmm?"
"No, Master Cato-nai. The outer defense ring is used against thrown explosives to limit the explosive damage from any detonation that occurs while destroying the explosive. An example would be destroying thermal detonators as they are thrown at you." Nicolae said, embarrassed from being chided in front of the class.
"Now," Cato-nai continued, "Can anyone name other examples this would be used for while in…"
Class continued and ended with no further mishaps.
On the way to the Great Hall, Nicolae spoke further with Valtur.
"Hey Nick, that pressure you were talking about sounds something like what I heard about the time that the ancient spirit of the Sith Lord, Exar Kun, attacked the Temple, here on Yavin 4."
"Are you saying that there could be a Dark Lord of the Sith here, under all of our noses?"
"Well, there have been strange accidents happening within the last month or two. Take what happened to Faralyle last week, for example. She was walking into her quarters when all of the sudden, the door slides shut on her leg. She swears there was no one else in the room or in the hallway at that time, and the doors have sensors that are supposed to prevent something like this from happening."
"It may just have been an electronic equipment failure. That could happen anywhere, and the electronics in the Temple are not exactly new, you know."
"Okay, okay. All I am saying is that you had better watch your back at the celebration tonight."
Their discussion was cut short upon their arrival at the Great Hall. The room had been greatly enlarged since the first twelve students had come to Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy so many years before.
As they entered through the large double doors, they looked out over the several thousand students assembled there. They quickly found seats and sat down, just as the old Jedi Master, Morgan Katarn III, stood up to speak at the large table reserved for the members of the Jedi Council.
"Brothers and sisters in the Force," his Force amplified voice carried over the crowd, "I welcome you to this celebration. It has been a long time, but tonight we shall celebrate the 150th anniversary of the fall of the Empire!"
The students all cheered. Katarn waited until the room had quieted, and then continued.
"I should say, though, that it is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the reconstruction of the Republic, as well as the Jedi Order!"
The cheering was even greater and louder this time. Suddenly, it was silenced by a loud gasp from Katarn as he held his head as though having a bad headache. He then fell forward towards the table, where several other Jedi Masters caught him and lowered him to the floor.
A new voice spoke up from, it seemed, all corners of the room. The tones of the new voice were menacing and evil.
"Excellent. All is going as planned.
As you can see, my weakling Jedi, your Master is in great pain; dying, in fact. Oh, and just so you know, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it!
Mwaa ha ha ha ha ha haaa…"