CORELLIA: central docking area.
Two years before the treaty of Coruscant.
In one of the many streets near the central spaceport, two jedi disguised as dock workers sat down on a bench, as if to rest a bit after the end of a long work shift.
Mathorn checked his chrono for the eighth time in five minutes, "Yo master, do we have to sit here much longer? I don't think imps come here often," he complained impatiently in a lowered voice, so only his partner could hear it.
Quti'mebo, a jedi knight, looked at his pupil with a slightly disapproving frown, "Patience my padawan, it has only been half an hour and we need to stay here in case something bad happens," he whispered in return.
As part of their disguise, both of them carried alcoholic looking liqueur with them. Jedi were not allowed to drink alcohol, but just to pass the time Mathorn had downed most of them, so on the surface he definitely looked the part, a typical grumpy drunk, "Couldn't they at least try to imitate the taste better? It's getting irritating to drink."
"You didn't have to drink so many so fast," Quti'mebo commented, mostly because they were running out of liquor, before it was time to move on.
"Why couldn't we get the better job, this is so boring," Mathorn continued his complaining. Jonathan and his master Reniuz, had gotten the 'better part' of the assignment, infiltrating a possible sith intelligence hideout located on Corellia, meanwhile they were the observers and backup, in case 'the A team' needed a quick rescue or a simple distraction.
"For the last time, patience Mathorn, take a deep breath and relax. If your calm, time matters not," Quti'mebo uttered with a sigh.
Mathorn had grown to be a tall and broad shouldered man, with three inch horns protruding from his forehead.
Quti'mebo was a really tall, green, heavy build twi'lek, with thirty years of experience as a jedi. He was a renowned duelist and a reasonable force user.
Two years ago, Quti'mebo had chosen Mathorn as his apprentice. He still believed he could transform Mathorn into a great jedi guardian, in addition he knew he was the only jedi, who could tolerate the wild and uncontrollable zabrak. He had partially succeeded. Though Mathorn had become very skilled in blade combat, he was however only able to use a bare minimum of force ability for his age, nowhere near his little sister's capability, but his manners always seemed to be the bigger problem.
An explosion shook a building a few klicks away, sending debris and shattered glass flying everywhere, immediately followed by the sound of a distress call. "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Mathorn exclaimed completely ecstatic, like an addict in a spice store, and rushed to the now burning building, with his master right at his heel.
"MATHORN STOP!" Quti'mebo shouted in distress, sensing an immediate danger.
Mathorn ignored the warning at first, until his senses screamed DOWN! The next instant a speeder came flying right at him at high velocity. He threw himself down in a roll, but not fast enough. It's underside grazed him, resulting in both him and the speeder colliding with the nearest skyscraper. The building was more or less unscaved, which could not be said for the speeder now scattered in thousands of pieces all over the plaza. Mathorn was lying unconscious and bleeding with a few broken bones, but against all odds still alive. Had he been hit head-on, he would most certainly be dead by now.
Quti'mebo tried to get to him as fast as possible, but two black robed figures, who had commandeered the speeder, stepped in front of him blocking his way. One was a tall and heavy sith pureblood, the other a more slender but also muscular human. "That's one taken care of, the next will be dead in a minute," the human spoke with an evil grin on his lips. They both ignited their bright red lightsabers.
Quti'mebo could sense Mathorn was still among the living and turned to the immediate threat at hand. He turned on his blue lightsaber and entered into the defensive stand of soresu, to meet the incoming attack. The pureblood attacked with a high amount of quick jabs and precise strikes, probing the jedi's defenses to find a weak point, all the while Quti'mebo fought to make sure they couldn't flank him.
Mathorn opened his eyes, dizzy and with a headache the size of the skyscraper he had just become acquainted with. It took him a moment to make sense of the world around him. When he finally realized his master was in a tight spot, he got up... despite looking like someone that belonged in a hospital bed. He rushed in to aid his master. His yellow lightsaber sprang to life, as he took up in a high guard, gripping the handle with both hands, ready to cleave the smaller of the sith in half.
The human sith warrior turned to intercept the incoming padawan.
Mathorn made a high overhead cleave, with enough power to break through the sith warriors defenses, but the human just danced out of harm's way, making a quick jab at his torso. Mathorn quickly blocked the jab, but the sith followed up the attack with more thrusts and fast strikes. In midst of their duel, the sith suddenly shifted target from the injured Mathorn, seeing his chance, he threw his lightsaber at the dueling jedi knight.
Quti'mebo just barely noticed the saber throw in time, quickly cutting the hilt in two before it severed his head, but the counter left an opening in his seemingly tight defenses. A microsecond later he staggered, feeling a burning pain as the red blade cut ever deeper into his right shoulder.
Seeing his masters' peril, Mathorn tried to leap over the, now saberless, sith. That same instant, he was force pushed away, slamming hard into the nearby building.
From this position against the wall, Mathorn could only watch in horror, as his master was struck down, mercilessly beheaded. His head rolling a meter, the headtails slapping against the duracrete all the while, before coming to a halt, facing the reddening sky above. The knights dead unseeing eyes, experiencing the sunset one last time.
The saberless sith, called the jedi knight's lightsaber to him, "Nice, a little souvenir." He ignited the blue saber, and pointed it at the wounded padawan, "Your turn," he grinned wickedly.
Mathorn rose up from the ground, his blood boiling. He felt the force rushing through him like a hurricane. "BIG MISTAKE!" he screamed in pure rage, and charged right at them.
Pleased with their success, the sith just smiled back at him, as they readied themselves to meet his charge. They were greeted with a flurry of motion as they clashed sabers with the furious zabrak padawan.
For a time, Mathorn was able to keep up with the two sith. He used all his energy to hammer them back, countering every time one or both of them tried to go on the offencive. The fight continued that way until the sith with the blue lightsaber locked Mathorn's blade in a position facing the ground. The other sith, recognizing the weakness, quickly leaped to cut the defenseless zabrak down for good.
In a split second, Mathorn saw his doom closing in behind him. In a desperate move, he quickly reached out with his off hand and force pushed the sith with as much energy as he could muster, saving himself mere inches before being decapitated.
The first thing the red skinned sith noticed was a sudden boom of air-pressure; the second, being sent hurtling through the air; and the final thing he experienced before bleeding to death in terrible agony, was hanging on a durasteel statue, with a lance protruding through the abdominal section of his light armor.
Down below, the human sith's facial expression changed from confidence to horrification in seconds. Using his fear as fuel, he launched an erratic series of Joyo style slashing attacks.
Though weakened by the sith's sudden retaliation, Mathorn had regained some confidence in his abilities and was now fighting to bring down the last obstacle in his quest for vengeance.
The fight was a chaotic display of bladework, with neither side getting an advantage before being countered by the other. Now sirens could be heard in the distance and soon the following words could be heard through a loudspeaker, "SITH! YOU ARE SURROUNDED! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON AND SURRENDER PEACEFULLY! OR YOU WILL BE TERMINATED!"
The police were followed by the two other jedi running to assist, if need be.
"It would be a good idea to hand over the stolen lightsaber," Mathorn suggested with an evil grin, a clear hint of hatred audible in his voice.
The sith was livid to say the least, "One day, you will regret this," he spat in anger, but relented the weapon to Mathorn.
Mathorn just laughed at him in return, "I don't know about one day, but you will regret this NOW!" He stabbed the sith in the shoulder with his yellow lightsaber, the sith sank down in pain. "See the difference, you make threats and I make reality," he mocked the sith in pure glee.
"JEDI! STEP AWAY FROM THE SITH! OR FACE PROSECUTION!" The Corellian police force warned firmly.
Only now, did Mathorn realized that he might have overstepped his authority. "HEY! HE KILLED MY MASTER, I only wanted to make sure no one else got killed," he tried to excuse his actions while backing away, as five men in uniform took the sith prisoner into custody.
The two fellow jedi walked over to Mathorn, who noticed he wasn't the most popular at that moment, so he tried to explain in advance, "Well... he and the other sith killed my master..."
"He was unarmed! And had already surrendered to us!" Reniuz scolded him for his vendetta. "But enough of that. Come, let's see to your master's body. We will speak of your mistreatment of prisoners afterwards," she said to him softly, sorrow creeping into her voice.
Mathorn said nothing and just followed Reniuz and his friend Jonathan. They carried his master's corpse over to a taxi that was waiting for them in a relatively safe distance.
CORUSCANT: JEDI TEMPLE
After a lengthy lecturing and scolding by the jedi council, he was given a final warning, if he ever repeated an incident like this again, he would be banished from the jedi order permanently. When he was finally released, he felt tired and miserable as he wandered to his chamber, to be alone.
But it didn't take long before someone entered his chamber unannounced. "Hi Mathorn... I sense you are sick... maybe you're changing your skin," Urr'Tar suggested in his usual drowsy tone.
"Not now Urr'Tar, I'm depressed," Mathorn muttered with despair in his voice.
"Ohh... I sense you are depressed, if you want to live..." Urr'Tar mumbled without finishing the sentence. For a moment he just stood there, like he was frozen down or something. Then he turned around and walked back out of the door.
Mathorn didn't really listen, Urr'Tar's randomness just didn't suit the moment. It wasn't long though, before his solitude again was interrupted, as Urr'Tar returned holding some kind orange plant in his hand.
"You will die from lung acid if… you don't eat this plant at once," Urr'Tar said urgently, ripped off a piece and stuck it right in front of Mathorn's face.
"If it makes you leave, sure whatever," Mathorn replied irritably and ate the strange orange plant. It tasted weird, like someone had taken a sour vegetable and poured salt and sugar all over it.
"Now you are finally healed..." Urr'Tar mumbled while ripping a piece off, for himself. He ate it and sat down in the bed, right next to Mathorn.
A little later, Jonathan carefully slid the door open to see whether his friend needed anything, but to his utter disbelief, he didn't find a sad and depressed Mathorn, what he found instead was a happy and very relaxed Mathorn.
"Yooo Jonathan, come inside and have a piece, it totally fixes your worries," Mathorn invited, with the biggest smile he had ever made in his entire life.
"Eh?..." Jonathan didn't have a clue as to what he should reply, so he asked the first thing that came to mind, "...are you drunk?"
"I have... given him the... medicine to save him from... e-evil," Urr'Tar explained slowly, also very happy and relaxed.
Jonathan attempted to reply, if it was not for a little orange thing floating closer and closer to his mouth, "No, I don't want to be drunk!"
Mathorn, now looking very firmly at his friend, as he spoke, "He is not eating it, let's tickle him until he does!"
And before the poor aldoranian had a chance of running away, he was grabbed by his so-called friends and a storm of tickling commenced. "STOP, STOP!" he screamed and laughed all at the same time, "OKAY, OKAY! I give in, let me have some, but only a very small piece."
Three minutes later, Jonathan too was overly happy and the feeling of wonder was everywhere, "This is wonderful, if every sith ate one of these, they wouldn't be waging any wars, and we could all live in peace and harmony."
"That's sooo true, maybe master green would still be alive," Mathorn joyfully agreed, while continuing his ongoing extreme smile, as he noticed someone looking down on him, "I see master green looking down on me... I don't think he is real."
"You are all real people, and that's why I love you," Urr'Tar smiled lovingly all the while eating the rest of the plant himself.
"Urr'Tar! You ate all of the plant... It was supposed to be for all of us!" Mathorn exclaimed in shock, still smiling.
"I got another... in my room," Urr'Tar replied calmingly.
"Let's go get it," Mathorn urged and swayed out of the door, with the others following him in the same swaying manner.
On their way, Jonathan asked a question that had been bothering him, "Mathorn... how did you… well, spear that sith?!"
"Because... I'm awesome, I got a super secret weapon," Mathorn boasted for the fun of it. In truth however, he didn't know, he had just accidentally speared the sith.
As they turned a corner, the jedi master Odoum, who was heading their way, saw the three widely smiling padawans. "Urr'Tar, I see you have taught your friends the art of your harmonious aura. I'm so proud of you my wonderful padawan," Ginnati complimented as she passed them in the corridor.
"Does she seriously believe that?" Mathorn asked, shaking his head, with his broad smile still plastered to his face.
"I don't," Jonathan replied in all honesty, as he was the most sober of the three.
"Urr'Tar... your master is one dumb old hag," Mathorn commented.
"All light will be... revealed... any day now," Urr'Tar answered from out of nowhere.
Mathorn laughed maniacally, thinking he had just heard some kind of cryptic joke, "Whatever you say, good friend."
They entered Urr'Tar's chamber, and witnessed what looked to be a very compressed garden of some sort. All his equipment was covered in plants, even his bed was held up by vines.
"Urr'Tar? How did you get all these plants?" Jonathan asked curiously, it had been some time since he had been back at the temple, but to create this jungle room in less than a half a year, was quite the feat.
"Master Odoum gave them... to me, the rest... came on their own," Urr'Tar explained, in a slow pace, as words seemed to have trouble getting to him in this state.
Mathorn just jumped down in the vine infested bed and sighed, "This is life, Urr'Tar where is the promised plants?!"
Urr'Tar stuck a hand in under a bookshelf covered in flowers, and produced another orange plant, "These plants here dislikes... light."
Even in this state, Jonathan could still think of other reasons, as to why the plants were hidden away from direct light, but didn't comment on it.
The trio continued their relaxation therapy, until the break of dawn, where none of them were able to do anything other than experious fever dreams and a massive hangover in a delirious state, clueless of whether these symptoms were after effects of the orange plant, or just from smelling the fumes in Urr'Tar's jungle room.
