Rian:

            "There is a locked door and your goal lies on the other side."  Master Dorak eyed me critically.  "What do you do?"

            I spent every ounce of willpower I had to not laugh.  What the hell, I thought.  I couldn't resist.  "Knock?"

            Master Dorak nodded as a pleased smile crossed his lips.  "Yes, I thought as much.  As I suspected you would be most suitable as a Jedi Consular."  He produced the glittering gem from his worn, dun robes.  "Here is a green crystal for your lightsaber.  Go speak to Master Zhar and he will instruct you in how to construct it."

            I accepted the crystal with a bow.  Hopefully, I was able to conceal any child-like giddiness that I might have had on receiving it.  Rian Vega, smuggler Jedi.  The galaxy had no idea what kind of havoc I was capable of now.

            The second test was almost done.  The first, a recitation of the Jedi Code, was easy.  For once my memory didn't decide to run around in a circle and then implode.  After that, Master Dorak questioned me in a way that was reminiscent of a Czerka Corporation service questionnaire.

            Crystal in hand, I walked towards the Twi'lek Master.  I suffered a bow to him and Master Zhar smiled.

            "Ah good." he murmured.

            Master Zhar proceeded to guide me in the construction of my lightsaber.  I tried to listen at first, but his voice began to drone on.  I found that it was better to just trust my instinct.

            "Grandad!  Look at the tentacle-head!"

            "It's a Twi'lek, child.  Soon you will learn in a galaxy as vast as ours that more species exist than humans."

            Open up the hilt.  Click.

            "What's a Twi'lek, Mama?"

            "Twi'leks are just like us, except they have lekku.  But I expect you to treat them just like us."

            "Lekku?.."

            Put the crystal in its place.  Click.

            "What's a Twi'lek, Mama?"

            "Just a vile alien."

            Close the hilt.  I was done.  The lightsaber hissed to life beneath a firm thumb.

            "You have done extremely well in constructing your lightsaber, apprentice." Master Zhar mused.  "Your crystal seems to have been set perfectly.  It is rare indeed for that to happen the first time one constructs their lightsaber."

            I think my eyes glazed over.  The Jedi Masters loved to talk.  Lightsaber.  Honor.  Butt-kicking enemies who wanted me dead.  I think I caught all the important parts.

            "Are you ready to face the final challenge, apprentice?" Master Zhar asked.

            "Absolutely."

            I think Master Zhar was a little taken aback from the thumbs up I gave him.  He nodded slowly.

            "For every Jedi the threat of the Dark Side is always present.  You must truly understand this before you are accepted into the Order." Master Zhar said.  At least he was more sedated than Bastila.  "You must see the corruption of the Dark Side for yourself.  Even here on Dantooine there are places where the Dark Side holds sway, twisting and tainting nature itself.

            "The ancient grove once used for deep meditation by the Jedi is now tainted; a wave of darkness perverts the region around it.  The kath hounds in the area have become savage and ruthless.  They have become a threat to the settlers, a threat the Jedi have promised to stop."

            "What would you have me do, Master Zhar?"  I'm sure I sounded hesitant.  I did not like the sound of whatever idea he had jelling in his head.

            "The kath hounds are but a symptom of the problem." Master Zhar explained.  "You must journey into the grove and confront the true source of the darkness.  That is your task."

            The Twi'lek spoke too simply of the "darkness in the grove."  That sent danger signs off instantly in the back of my head.  I had no intention of becoming a kath hound chew toy, much less the plaything of whatever was in that grove.

            "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" I spoke evenly.

            Master Zhar looked slightly amused as he shook his head.  "I can say no more; some things you must learn for yourself."

            The man must have read my mind.  As I turned to leave he spoke again and the brevity in his voice robbed me of my gusto.

            "None of the other Jedi are permitted to help you in this task."

            Damn.  Maybe becoming a Jedi wasn't all that important.  Why did a smuggler need to be a Jedi anyway?  Sure, I bet those Jedi mind tricks would have come in handy when negotiating prices, but I was pretty talented without them.

            I headed out of the Jedi enclave; my head hung low on my shoulders.  I'd find a nice seat on the Ebon Hawk, have a drink and discuss things away from Bastila's earshot.

            Bastila.  The realization almost made me giggle as I walked from the enclave.  Bastila was the only Jedi that I might have swayed into helping me with this final test.  No one else in my crew aboard the Ebon Hawk was a Jedi.  There'd be no reason for them not to help me.

            That damned droid was waiting for me on the Ebon Hawk's loading ramp.  It wheeled itself up to me and began to spout gibberish.

            "You don't say?" I muttered.  One of these days I'd figure out what he was saying.

            T3-M4 flickered some lights at me.  I noticed that his main light was busted.

            "What the hell happened to you?" I wondered.

            In answer, the droid flipped open a side panel.  A flame thrower popped out.  The intense heat caressed my skin as the droid displayed its battle prowess.  The spurt of flame was large and menacing, but it quickly spluttered out.

            "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me." I told it.  "But I can't sell your parts if they're all broken."

            The astromech droid burbled rudely.  I moved to kick it.  A raspy sound that emitted from the innards of the Ebon Hawk startled me.  When I turned back to the droid, it had already made its escape.

            The rasping sound echoed through the ships corridors again.  A cough.  It sounded painful. 

            It was pretty easy to track him, all I had to do was follow the trail of blood.  The vibrant dark red drops seemed to have been sprinkled all over the metal floor.  If I took the time to sit back and think, I would have known to just head directly to the medical bay, but as it was, I curiously tracked the scatters of blood.

            In the medical bay, Canderous had left bloody handprints all over the cabinets as he searched for bandages.

            "I see you've been busy while I was gone." I said dryly.

            Beneath all the blackened dried blood splatters on his face, I think Canderous smiled grimly.  "Is the droid still working?" he asked.

            "Yeah." I replied.  "But I think its market value has dropped severely."

            Canderous nodded and settled on the medical bay's cot.  As he leaned back into the formerly sterile, white pillow, he propped a bent cigarra into his thin lips.

            "Where's Carth and the others?" I asked.

            "I saw them out in the plains treasure hunting." he answered.

            I opened a cabinet and pulled out bandages and some kolto.  "You don't have any blood borne pathogens that I should know about, do you?" I asked.

            The Mandalorian barked out a gruff laugh.  "You've been hanging out with that Twi'lek too much." he said.

            I brought the kolto over to him, but he brushed me away.  He lit his cigarra.

            "Don't bother." Canderous grunted.  "All the internal bleeding has already stopped."

            "I don't understand." I said.

            "I have a healing implant." Canderous replied.  "I took a shot of kolto for the internal bleeding, but the implant should take care of all the other minor injuries.  I just need some time.  Is there an ashtray anywhere?"

            I offered him a bedpan and he flicked his ash into it.  "What happened anyway?" I asked.

            "The droid and I were taking care of some personal business." he said simply.

            "Oh." I said.  "Did you finish your personal business?"

            "No."  Smoke billowed from Canderous' nostrils.  "I was hunting down those Mandalorian raiding parties.  I killed most of them, but their lead party is still out there."

            "Why are you killing other Mandalorians?" I wondered aloud.

            "That's a stupid question if I've ever heard one." Canderous barked.

            I ground my teeth and pulled the bedpan away from him.  Canderous snorted and ashed on the floor.

            "It was a legitimate question." I said.

            "Why?" Canderous retorted.  "I don't ask questions every time you kill another human."

            "I take it that it's personal." I said softly.

            There was a small fridge in the corner.  It had cold packs for minor injuries and blue ale for more serious ones.  I pulled two bottles of ale out and handed Canderous one.

            "Pretty astute." Canderous said dryly.  "Where did you learn that kind of deductive thinking from?"

            "The same place where I learned how to beat the shit out of wounded Mandalorians." I warned.  "I'm not above it.  Are you going to answer my question or not?"

            Canderous chuckled as he popped the cap off of his ale bottle with a thumb.  "Honor means everything to we Mandalorians." he said.  "Those worthless animals out there have lost their honor.  It's my duty to remove them from this existence."

            "And how does your honor hold up?" I asked.  The blue ale was too mild for my tastes, but it was free so I drank it regardless.

            "Custom dictates that if you question it once more in my presence, I'll have to fight you to the death." Canderous said simply.

            "Well, we don't want that." I replied.  "Especially since I'm supposed to clean out the grove here on Dantooine.  Would you want to help me with that?"

            "What's involved in it?" he asked.

            "I don't know." I admitted.  "The only information the Jedi gave me was that the kath hounds are going crazy around the grove.  There's probably something crazier inside the grove."

            "Sounds like fun." Canderous agreed.  "But I've got to take care of the remaining Mandalorian raiding party first."

            "How long will that take?" I asked.

            "I'll be out of commission for a few more hours while I heal." Canderous said.  "After that we take on the final group of those disgraceful bastards.  Depending on how damaged we are after that, we can head to the grove afterwards."

            "If I give you another kolto injection, would you be able to heal faster."  I rummaged through the cabinet searching for the kolto.

            "No." Canderous' voice was stern.  "If I take any more kolto it will lower my defenses and my body will probably shut down until it heals completely.  Then it will be more than a few hours wait."

            "I guess I should see if I can fix that droid while we're stuck waiting, then." I suggested.

            "Good thinking."  Canderous tossed his cigarra butt on the floor.

            With a final wistful glance to my ale bottle, I set out to lure T3-M4 from his hiding place.