Chapter 3: Survival
Jorran awoke and went into the fresher station aboard the Ebon Hawk; it seemed that no one else was awake at the time. Stepping out from the showers, his beard and hair were dripping wet, soaked to his skull. Combing his hair, Jorran looked in the mirror, there seemed to be no explanation for why blood protruded from his ears, eyes, or nose. He wondered if it was a message directed at him, or perhaps one of the others; either way, his eyes were bloodshot, he had not slept well, and while Visas remained fast asleep, he decided it best to let her sleep then to wake her to discuss the issue of the blood or tell her if happened after reciting her chant and attempting to recreate her meditation techniques. It was a bad idea first, and second he was forewarned they were specifically for her, he could only hope he understood why now. Jorran wiped his eyes with his straightened fingers and continued to look into the mirror, it seemed that he was developing quite dark circles under his eyes, not unlike the ones he developed during the war, but not like them either. He was drained and fatigued by her meditation, and nightmares of what he felt and witnessed kept him up all night, was this fate of the new Grandmaster of the Jedi Order?
Atton suddenly through the entrance and began undressing to get showered up. "How are you doing today? No more bleeding I hope." He asked Jorran politely, peering into the mirror behind him and rubbing his forehead. "You know, I know being a Jedi won't be easy, but will we completely rebuild the Enclave, or can we just leave the rest for later when we actually need more space?" Atton knew the answer, but he didn't like the thought of having to do so much.
"Well, we could've just resumed the Temple on Coruscant, but the problem with that is that there are no lightsaber crystal caverns on Coruscant, which means that Jedi would have to travel around to start working on their first lightsaber." Jorran replied, he finished examining his face and started putting on his Dark Jedi Master robes. The light-weight black garments were easy to stereotype all Dark Jedi as wearing black, but the color fit Jorran, and Jorran liked it as well.
"Should a Grandmaster really be setting a trend of rebelling against his leaders and wearing all black? I mean, why not paint your nails, dye your hair black, and stay in a dark room until you're pale and wrinkly?" Atton joked.
"Can a Grandmaster even rebel, or would he just be setting a trend?" Jorran asked as he straightened the vest and donned the black cloak.
"True." Atton replied and went back to getting into the showers.
Jorran left the Ebon Hawk early to begin work on the Jedi Enclave, yet it seemed today would be just as bad as the night prior. When he reached the Enclave, he found that salvagers had returned to set the Jedi back in their ways of fixing up the place by searching for uncovered loot. Jorran picked one of them up and stopped him, "The government has ceased all laws pertaining to salvaging in the Jedi Enclave, and you all are now illegally trespassing." Jorran said, announcing it to the others as well.
The salvagers stopped and looked at the Jedi Master, though empty-handed, they really didn't care and resumed their rummaging. Jorran sighed, in disbelief, "If you all won't leave, I will contact the local militia." Jorran's threat was no lie, having actually participated in the battle against the bounty hunters and ensuring the success of it as well, the salvagers knew how much influence this Jedi actually had, and were left with no doubt that he would take care of the problem one way or the other.
Having managed to clear the Enclave of its intruders, Jorran looked around at the mess that now littered the floor, the salvagers callously left trash and garbage littering the floors, graffiti lined the walls, slurs against various races and even against Jedi. Even the great fountain at the entrance had been contaminated. Jorran looked about and asked himself what would possess salvagers to get up and start ruining the Enclave for no reason, did the reconstruction carry some promise of unlocking forgotten treasures or new areas that needed to be ransacked and destroyed? Jorran began picking up the trash, mostly ration packs that had been all used up and discarded carelessly. Jorran wondered if the previous Grandmaster would have just took out his lightsaber and cleaved all of them apart and posted their heads on spears, Jorran knew that to be dark-sided, but he entertained the thought of it for at least a moment, grinning and imagining how evil that would make him.
Just as he found a bag to place the trash in, a single footstep alerted him to another's presence, immediately he turned to face it, but saw only shadows. "Salvaging is illegal here, so I suggest you leave now, you'll find no treasures or keepsakes to sell or make off with now." Jorran stated sharply, he continued to stare into the darkness and wait for the person to come forth and leave. No sound of footsteps nor did anyone step into the light. Jorran took the initiative and jumped into the darkness with his lightsaber ignited, the violet blade casting shadows as it illuminated the darkness. Jorran became uneasy as he looked about and saw that no one occupied the space of where the footstep was heard. "Perhaps I'm hearing things." He said to himself, walking back into the light of the entrance to the great fountain.
"Perhaps it's simply your imagination." A voice said, Jorran swiftly jumped forward and saw that in the other hallway opening stood Visas. She wore the cream-colored robe and slacks that Jorran was provided when his ship and equipment were seized on the Citadel Station above Telos. Her entire face was uncovered and exposed to the world.
"So you got tired of wearing your heavy robes?" Jorran asked, grinning as he moved toward her.
"I decided to come after you when you got up." Visas replied; her double-bladed lightsaber dangled at her thigh, a heavy weapon in any case as she limped while walking with it at her side. "I thought I might find you at the very back of the Enclave, but you were not there, so I made a few complete circles. I even worked my way around backwards to ensure you weren't walking in the same pattern as I was." Her long black hair was greasy; it was cold from her prolonged stay in the darkness of the Enclave.
"Did you notice anyone while you were down here?" Jorran asked, reaching down and grabbing her hand, holding it tenderly.
"Aside from the salvagers, it was just me." Visas replied, she knew her skin was greasy, she could feel it as her hand rubbed against his smooth dry skin. She followed him as he trekked into the darkness from where he had heard the sound.
From the Diary of Bao-dur
Having witnessed General covered in blood, I could not help but to think that there was something amiss aboard the Ebon Hawk. I personally checked on the bunk where Visas Marr and General spent their time together, it seems more and more that they have become inseparable. Their room checked out, at least there was nothing wrong with the room. I also, personally, checked out each and every one of the compartments aboard the Ebon Hawk to see if we had any stowaways of disgruntled inhabitants of Dantooine.
Perhaps it is my failing for not relying completely on the General's training in the Force, but I do not see any reason for this to be an attack of the Sith, with Malachor V wiped out, there couldn't be any left to oppose the Jedi. As a Jedi Knight, I must remember that my training has taught me much in the ways of the Force and about the Force, as well as to remain in balance with it.
As I recall, meditation techniques are used for centering one's self and finding balance, but if General practiced a form of meditation where he bashed his head into balance, that would be the only explanation. Yet, there is a strange cold that has recently appeared aboard this ship, a frightening one, similar to the one I felt when I first activated the Mass Shadow Generator and consumed many Republic soldiers and utterly destroyed the Mandalorian fleet. What a very peculiar feeling, a very peculiar feeling indeed this is.
Bao-dur began routine maintenance on the Ebon Hawk, which he always did before any meal. Seeing no problems, he'd head off and grab a bite to eat, luxuriously supplied by the government on Dantooine in honor of the heroes who liberated it. Of course, were the General a maligned soul, he would easily use the planet's gratitude as his advantage and slowly sucked the life out of it. Bao-dur knew Jorran to be a better man, even in the face of his enemies; the General was too pure a soul. Bao-dur admired the General for his strength and generosity; he hoped that one day that he could find such kindness in himself. Though Bao-dur spent much of his time building shields to protect people, he stilled carried a hate within him towards the Czerka Corporation and all the people like them. But hate is not the Jedi way. Bao-dur needed the General's guidance.
Bao-dur entered the Administrator's Office where the group was treated lavishly. Mira, Atton, Brianna, Atris, and T3-M4 were sprawled out enjoying their breakfast. "It's not much, but it's the least we can offer you." The Administrator stated once again, she was willing to offer the group anything she could find, and then some. The smell of fresh Dorian Passion fruit brightened up the office, Mira seemed to be enjoying the half she stole from Atton who had tried to reason with her to get her own.
Bao-dur grabbed one and a cup of Belaria juice drank fully and consumed the fruit quickly; assuming that General went to the Enclave early, Bao-dur did not want to be seen as lazy in the years since the war. He thanked the Administrator who attempted to speak more then a syllable to him of returned gratitude but was unable due to Bao-dur quickly heading off to the Enclave.
"Don't take it personally, he has pride issues that will inevitably cause him to lose sleep, become malnourished, and eventually go crazy and kill his entire family." Mira joked, still not understanding the point of tact; she was brought down by Atton's chastising stare. "What?"
Atton paid his personal respects to the man as he reprimanded Mira, "He probably lost his family during the Mandalorian Wars, remember? Can you think of any other reason why he'd have built the Mass Shadow Generator? Let me tell you, only a man with nothing to lose would even dream up such a powerful weapon, let alone build it and be the personal executioner of thousands of Mandalorians and Republic soldiers." Atton glared at her, seeming to have caught the attention of the entire room, everyone had a newfound respect for the quiet technician who had only moments before stood with them.
Atton's revelation into the mind of a man who carries the weight of a lifeless world and all those who were on it when it was destroyed almost brought Brianna and Atris to their knees. They knew that both the Exile and Bao-dur carried heavy weights on their shoulders, but they didn't even begin to consider why Bao-dur had built such a monstrosity, nor how only one powerful emotion could have forged such a weapon.
As Bao-dur entered the Enclave, it was beginning to look better then it had when they first scoured the Enclave in search of the two bodies and the will. Bao-dur walked around slowly to viewing the great fountain room in great detail. Every nook and cranny met Bao-dur's expectations, it seemed that General was hard at work since morning. As he moved toward the entrance of one of the halls, something shattered the silence, the sound was garbled and hard to discern. Bao-dur looked around, though the Enclave was wrecked for the most part, there was no way that cracked stones or dripping water could make a sound like that. He waited again, motionlessly, and he was rewarded for his silence by the haunting sound. The eerie sound replayed, the sound was not edgy like a dead blade dulled on durasteel, but it was more disturbing. A soft laughter erupted was what shattered the silence, not that of Mira, but of a girl much younger, it almost sounded like…
Visas and Jorran silently began cleaning up the former lightsaber training room; the flooring was partially covered in moss, as were the corners of the walls. There was humidity specific to the room. As they cleaned up, they found treasures hidden underneath the growth that no one would have seen were they not willing to pry up the stubborn moss. They had found a lightsaber with a dead energy cell, the power core leaked past the shielding making the lightsaber unusable, but salvageable. They had also found more corpses, not of salvagers, but of younglings, Jedi younglings. A sad sight to find a small corpse obviously killed with the very same lightsaber they found as the skeleton's anatomy was cleanly cut. Neither Visas nor Jorran recoiled; they simply found pity for the poor soul.
The shriek of blaster fire erupted and echoed through the halls, a scream, an unnatural screech, but not far away, the two raced to the scene, there they found Bao-dur leaning against a wall, his eyes fixated on the area in front of him, a willow of smoke whispering from the barrel of his blaster rifle. Jorran grabbed him by the shoulder, but jerked backward when the rifle aimed right towards him.
"Bao-dur, what's wrong?" Jorran asked, holding his hands up conceding. He looked over Bao-dur's face, it was pale, unusually so, unnaturally so.
Bao-dur dropped the rifle, raising himself up as he worked his bent legs against the wall, he managed to stand up straight once his back was parallel to the wall, he would have dropped back to his knees had Jorran not caught him. "Bao-dur" Jorran shouted, "What's the matter with you?" as he lifted the shaking Zabrak up. No answer. Jorran saw that a giant slash cut deeply into Bao-dur, he realized that there ceased to be a glow around Bao-dur and he noticed in horror that Bao-dur's cybernetic arm had been cut through as well. Jorran and Visas quickly hoisted Bao-dur over to the Administrator's office where he was taken to the Medbay there and tended to by the medical droid.
"What happened to him?" Brianna asked Visas, barely hiding any hint of jealousy or disdain.
"We found him leaning against a wall, injured; he was shaking as though he had seen into the soul of Darth Nihilus." She replied, her eyes closed, Brianna found it almost off-setting that she could live without opening her eyes.
"And you would know all about Sith Lords, wouldn't you?" Brianna retorted, "Your deception will not blind me or milady, and eventually Jorran will see through it." Brianna stared fiercely into the eyes of her rival, she may have won Jorran's heart, but Brianna knew that she and Jorran shared a stronger bond then love, the pact between two warriors.
Without replying, Visas went to Jorran's side, which stood over Bao-dur while the medical droid fixed the large bloody gash on his chest, Jorran worked on fixing the cybernetic arm and making it fully functional for when Bao-dur awoke from the anesthetics.
Mira peered at the wounded man, the man she teased jokingly earlier, it seemed karma had come full circle and was making her regret her words, though she was not without a consoling soul. Atton put his arm around her, "None of us could have known. If any one of us had gone with him, he'd have been all right, so none of us can be solely blamed." This comforted Mira, unbeknownst to her, her face had run a deep shade of red while her eyes grew soggy with tears.
Atton hugged her caringly and then proceeded to walk over to Jorran, "Jorran, we have to find what did this to him before we can resume any work on the Enclave."
Jorran glanced back at him and nodded in agreement; Bao-dur was gravely injured, not because of neglect, but because it was a powerful predator, Jorran thought to himself, the Administrator offered her deepest sympathies and promised that Bao-dur would be fully cared for, all amenities would be provided to the best extent possible. Jorran stopped working on Bao-dur's arm when he realized that the problem was not the cut in it, but it had been drained of all of its power, Jorran could feel the chilling cold he had felt the prior night emanating from the drained power cell that fueled Bao-dur's arm.
"Could it have been the Sith?" Atton asked, looking down at Bao-dur wearily.
"No. Bao-dur would have noticed any Sith assassin and drawn his lightsaber, which remains at his…" Jorran paused, noticing that the perfectly geometric lightsaber that once hung from Bao-dur's tool belt was missing. "Atton, this was no mere assassin, but a Sith Lord would have mercilessly killed Bao-dur and then picked off Visas and I when we came to his rescue." Jorran was left quixotically contemplating what could have attacked their friend, something dangerous and powerful, yet predatorily picked Bao-dur out only to leave him alive.