Chapter 1
Three Months Later
Arryn, Elantra, and Anaria were spending their rare free time swimming in the lake at the Jedi Temple. As new Padawans, Elantra, Arryn, and Anaria were kept busy with intensive studies and training.
Arryn pulled off her outer tunic, tossed it on the grass and dived in, following Elantra and Anaria. She swam a few laps and then sighed in content as she floated lazily on her back. "This is wonderful! No lessons, no chores, no training…It's just us and the water." Elantra grinned evilly as he crept up behind Arryn and splashed her.
"Hey! You…you ferrocrete head!" Arryn squealed as she bolted upright, trying to muster as evil an insult as she could possibly manage.
Anaria, nearly a year older than Arryn and six months older than Elantra, shook her curly head at the immaturity of her friends. "You two need to seriously get a life." Elantra shot Arryn a mischievous look. She caught it and grinned in response. When Anaria had her back momentarily turned, Elantra and Arryn coordinated their splashes to hit Anaria at the same time. Her eyes widened in anger at first, and were soon replaced with good humour.
"Oh…you two have asked for it. I am going to get you back for that, you…you ferrocrete heads!"
Arryn rolled her eyes in mock surprise and laughed. "And Anaria thinks we are the immature ones, Elantra."
"I have an idea..." said Elantra. He looked at Anaria and Arryn maliciously.
"Water fight!" they all shouted in unison.
About an hour later, Anaria suddenly ceased her involvement in the water fight. It took several moments before Elantra and Arryn noticed that she had stopping splashing.
"Anaria, what's going on?" asked Arryn.
Anaria nodded and pointed to the catwalk above them. "Remember what you said about having no responsibilities awhile ago? I think you spoke too soon. Look, up on the balcony," said Anaria, pointing. Obi-Wan, Siri, and Anaria's Master, Darsha Assant, were talking in a group. They then headed down the stairs toward Arryn, Elantra, and Anaria.
Elantra groaned quietly. "Oh great, our break is over."
The three Padawans swam toward the shore. They quickly dried off and put their outer tunics on over their swimming tunics as their Masters walked over.
"We are sorry to cut your rest period short, but we have been called on a mission," began Siri. The Padawans shared a grin. "It is imperative that you meet us in the Temple Archives after you have cleaned up.
"Jedi Archivist Jocasta Nu has some disturbing news to report," said Obi-Wan.
The Padawans glanced at each other and hurried to their quarters.
"I wonder what this is all about," asked Elantra as they made their way to the North Wing of the Temple.
"I'm surprised that they gave us something so important for our first mission. It is not very often that three Jedi teams are assigned on the same mission," said Anaria. The trio took the turbolift to the floor that their quarters were on.
"Meet out in the hall when you are done," called Arryn, entering the code to open the door to her quarters. Elantra and Anaria were doing the same, though he was next door and she across the hall.
Arryn opened her trunk and pulled out a fresh tunic. She quickly showered, dressed, and put her wet hair in a single braid. She ran out of her quarters and met Anaria there, all dressed and ready. "Let me guess. 'Ferrocrete head' is a dawdling slowpoke," said Anaria, her bright hazel eyes sparkling facetiously.
A second later, Elantra ran out of his quarters and exclaimed, "I heard that!" The girls rolled their eyes and headed to the main building.
The door to the archives slid open. Arryn, Anaria, and Elantra walked into the massive library that contained thousand of philosophical and historical Jedi records and documents. Jocasta Nu, the archivist, sat at the head of one the conference tables. Arryn, Anaria, and Elantra slid into the vacant seats.
"Padawans Mindalen, Zahn, and Villa-Neuava, I was just telling your Masters that we have received word from the government of an outer-rim planet, Bondori. Many civilians claimed that they have viewed symbols and writing depicting the Sith on public office buildings. Over a month ago, we sent two Jedi to Bondori, but we have not received any communications from them since. We do not want to alarm the people, so this has been rendered a Shadow mission. The populace would certainly be frightened if it was made pubic that six Jedi were present to investigate this matter."
"Information about the Sith and the planet Bondori has been uploaded to your datapads. Our evening meal will be brought up in an hour," said Darsha.
"It says that Bondori joined the Republic less than fifty years ago," announced Elantra some time later. "The planet is divided up into districts and each district appoints a secretary who represents the constituents. There are 10 districts, so there are 10 Secretaries. They act on the Council that advises the Governor, who is the leader of the planet. The Governor is Willis Schualberke and he reports to the Senator, Garith Ballastiodes."
Arryn looked up from her texts. "So…Bondori is essentially ruled by the Senate. Not many planets that I know of are ruled through bureaucracy."
"Bondori is not a typical planet. It doesn't surprise me that their government isn't typical, either," replied Anaria.
"Ah. But you are mistaken, Anaria. The planet is not a defined bureaucracy," Darsha said, overhearing their conversation. "Bureaucracy… is the administration of government through departments that are managed by appointed officials. Bondori is more like a Federation. They have a strong central government and the political sub-units have their say in affairs. Do you understand the difference?"
Anaria nodded.
"This is interesting. Bondori's culture is based around the arts: music, dance, theatre, literature, and visual arts. There aren't many planets these days with cultures that aren't built around politics or technology," added Siri.
After several hours of research on Bondori, Arryn stifled a yawn. Elantra kicked her under the table. "Don't fall asleep," he whispered. "There is still all the Sith information to look over. I heard that there are some good scary stories in the archives." Arryn sat up and grinned to herself. She loved Sith ghost stories. Every generation of initiate at the Temple had stayed up late at night with their friends telling the ancient tales that usually left them frightened to death. Arryn, Anaria, and Elantra had been no exception.
"Master?" asked Arryn. Obi-Wan looked up from his datapad. "Do you believe in the Sith?"
"I didn't when I was your age. I thought them only to be myths designed to frighten young children. But as I grew older, I gained a broader depth of knowledge about the Sith to know that their threat was once very real. But they were a dying culture. They killed themselves off long ago, during the Sith Wars, which were instigated by the hand of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Exar Kun. Their teachings were not destroyed, though. A professor at the University by the name of Murk Lundi studied the Sith to the point that he developed his own group of followers. Professor Lundi had a mental illness and died about ten years ago, taking with him much of the knowledge he had acquired over the years. During the very recent Clone Wars, the Sith were active under the tutelage of Darth Sidious. His students, Darth Tyrannus and Darth Maul are dead now, but unfortunately the Dark Side seduced Chancellor Palpatine, who in turn used his powers to seduce Anakin…"
Obi-Wan paused and Arryn looked away, feeling distraught. How could someone just throw away all of the Jedi teachings to take the easy path? Of course there were times that Arryn needed a break, but the Jedi path was a fascinating one. Arryn would never dream of leaving the Order.
Anaria broke her train of thought. "When I was reading some of the texts on the Sith, I noticed that it kept referring to something called a Holocron. What is a Holocron?"
Obi-Wan looked surprised. "Holocrons are repositories of knowledge and wisdom, holding the teachings and mentalities of great Jedi Knights and Masters. Holocrons transcend the capabilities of data files and holobooks. Those who are disciplined enough to bare power with responsibility can only access them, as they can be used wrongly and can put the user at incredible risk.
"The Sith also use Holocrons, which is what you were speaking of, Anaria. They are sometimes called the infernal devices, because they contain teachings of a powerful evil. The Holocrons bear inscriptions on them in the Sith language. Roughly translated, they read 'In the shadows is where power lies.' The majority of these Holocrons were lost throughout time. Most were destroyed during either the Sith or Clone Wars. The Sith Holocrons have been consulted when they posed a threat to the Jedi. An example of such an instance is during the time when Murk Lundi was teaching about the Sith.
"There are few remaining Sith Sects throughout the galaxy. From the way it sounds, there might be one on Bondori. I want to issue this warning to you, Arryn, Elantra, and Anaria, that the Sith are not to be taken lightly. If you sense anything out of the ordinary I want you to notify Darsha, Siri, or me, because the fate of the people of Bondori could be in your hands. Do you understand?"
Arryn, Anaria, and Elantra all nodded solemnly. They realized the risks that this mission could pose on them. A bell chimed, signaling a ten-minute warning until lights-out.
"All right you three. It is very late and you have a big day tomorrow. Off to bed, Padawans," Siri said. The trio left the archives and walked down the hall toward their quarters.