Chapter Two: Embrace the Strong

Caecinius accompanied Master Orgus to Tython's orbital station. The aging Jedi Master was leaving on Council business to Alderaan. Something about infighting among the noble families, which threatened to become a civil war.

"I hate Alderaan," Orgus grumbled as he waited for his shuttle. "The nobles are so blinded by old bloodlines and ancient feuds, getting them to actually think is like trying to sculpt a granite statue with nothing but a rusty hammer."

"Why would the Council send you for this mission?" Caecinius wondered. "With all due respect, Master, there are more…"

"More diplomatic choices?" Orgus snorted. "Like Master Syo?" He chuckled, placed a hand on Caecinius' shoulder. "I requested this purgatory. I sense an outside hand at work. I think the Empire's trying to stir up conflict, get us to go to war with each other."

"What does the Council think?"

Orgus snorted again.

"The Council is divided, as always," he said. "Master Syo wants to pretend the peace is holding by patching up every crack that forms in it. Grandmaster Shan wants to maintain the peace, but she's realistic enough to also prepare for war. Me? I'm afraid the war's already started, and we're just too blind to see it."

He fixed Caecinius with a severe gaze.

"Be watchful," he said. "The Jedi Order cannot afford another Coruscant."

Orgus' transport arrived, and he turned to board it.

"I'll see you within the month," he called. "Assuming the frustration of dealing with nobles doesn't kill me first."

When his shuttle returned to the Jedi Outpost, Caecinius was surprised at the rush of activity below. Derrin Weller, a former student who was now a Jedi Knight, sprinted from the Temple's communications center to meet him. Concern was etched onto the young man's face.

"Flesh Raiders!" Weller said. "They are attacking the training grounds!"

The Flesh Raiders were Tython's only intelligent indigenous life. If "intelligent" could be applied to them. They were advanced enough to use simple tools and form raiding parties, but they were unreasoning in their violence. Master Yuon Par, the Jedi archaeologist, believed they were descendants of the original Jedi, non Force Sensitive offspring who had dissolved into savagery when the planet was abandoned, resorting to cannibalism to survive.

Now that Republic settlements had begun appearing, the Flesh Raiders were no longer cannibals. Mostly, they ate livestock that wandered from the farms. Occasionally, a settler would disappear, the bones sometimes found weeks or months later. Mostly, they avoided the villages, fearing direct combat. An actual raid was rare.

An attack on the Jedi themselves was unheard of.

"We have reports that they're armed with blasters," Weller added.

Caecinius' frown deepened. A single Flesh Raider might have stolen a blaster from a settler. But advanced weaponry in any kind of force?

"They're at the padawan training grounds?" Caecinius confirmed.

"Yes. I've sent a request for every able-bodied Jedi Knight to join in repelling them."

"I'm on my way."

Caecinius marched toward the speeders without giving his former student another glance. He found Master Yuon Par already there, readying a speeder.

"Master Yuon?" She was Canlyn Dessan's Master. Yuon was renowned for her scholarship and archaeological knowledge. She was not, however, much noted for her combat skills. "With respect, you should steer clear."

"Canlyn is down there." Yuon sounded almost frantic. "I sent her to access the holorecordings of the first Jedi Masters. She has no communicator, and is armed only with a training blade. She will not be prepared for combat!"

"Calm yourself, Master," Caecinius urged. "I will find her. She'll be safe, I promise."

Canlyn Dessan followed the path through the Gnarls, the Wilds surrounding the Jedi Outpost. The trail wound through the grasslands and over a series of bridges, going back and forth across the River Tythos. It was not designed to lead directly to any destination, but rather to allow padawans safe and easy access to plains, slopes, and river.

Midway across each of the bridges was a holorecording of one of the original Jedi Masters. The recordings had been excavated by Yuon Par after the Jedis' return to Tython. Astoundingly, all four messages were not only intact, but also capable of limited interaction with those who activated them. It had become a common part of Jedi training for Masters to send their padawans to literally walk the Path of the Jedi, to learn directly from the Order's founders.

The recordings were brief, and spoke in fairly simple terms about founding concepts of impartial justice and galactic peace. The interactive nature of the recordings encouraged students to offer arguments, to which the Founders would reply. Canlyn tested this, countering Master Carla Brin's claim about the need for justice to be free of emotion.

"If you lack compassion or mercy, then justice suffers," she said.

The recording flickered, then offered Carla's programmed reply: "Sorrow for the victim or outrage at a crime can blind us. To see clearly, such feelings must be put aside."

"To put all feelings aside would surely reduce us to mere robots," Canlyn argued.

The hologram flickered again, but its response was drowned out by the sound of blaster fire. Canlyn ran toward the sound. She saw her friend, Ashara Zavros, leading a group of padawans in flight from a trio of Flesh Raiders. The creatures were armed not with knives or spears, but with military-grade blasters.

She acted on instinct. Her Cathar reflexes allowed her to jump higher than a human, and for longer distances. She employed that now, giving an extra Force push to close the gap between herself and the assailants in a single leap. She drew her practice blade while in midair, bringing the blunt wooden blade down on a Flesh Raider's skull. The heavy blow sent the Raider collapsing to the ground, blood trickling from one ear.

Canlyn turned to the next Raider, jabbing it in the stomach. He doubled over. But the remaining Raider had recovered from the shock of her attack, and was bringing his blaster to bear on her.

Ashara brought down her practice blade on the creature, striking him from behind, between the shoulder blades. He staggered forward, and Canlyn swept her own wooden sword in an arc that ended at the back of his knees. He fell, face first, into the grass.

Canlyn reached out with her mind and willed the blasters to fly into the river. The two Flesh Raiders who were still conscious staggered away, leaving their insensate comrade collapsed at the padawans' feet.

Canlyn turned to Ashara. "Thank you."

Her friend grinned back. "Glad to actually be able to help. Your attack was amazing, Lyn – Master Caecinius couldn't have done better!"

Canlyn waved away the compliment. She checked over the group of padawans. One young man had a fractured knee. Walking would be impossible for him, and it would be inadvisable to move him before a medical team got here to stabilize his injury.

"Do you have a communicator?" she asked.

Communicators were rare for padawans; the Masters would not want to tempt them with the potential distraction of direct communication. Ashara did have a distress beacon, however. She set it up and broadcast the signal for a rescue team.

"Watch over them," Canlyn told her. "Keep them safe until you're evacuated."

"You're not staying?"

"There is something I must do."

Flesh Raiders were vandals by nature. If they overtook the bridges on the path, then they would destroy the holorecordings. The ability to interact, even a limited way, with the original Masters was a vital experience for young Jedi. Canlyn felt compelled to preserve them.

She raced back to the first bridge and secured Master Garon Jard's recording, which was in a holocron held inside the projector. She followed the path and quickly secured the recordings for Carla Brin and Ters Sendon, as well.

When she reached the fourth bridge, however, she discovered that she had not been the first to arrive. The projector was already open, the holocron gone.

"Canlyn!"

Master Caecinius stood at the end of the bridge, lightsaber in hand. She sensed his adrenaline, knew he had been fighting the attackers. He approached, his face grim.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Master Yuon is very worried. Get back to the outpost at once!"

She explained that she had been rescuing holorecordings, then showed him the empty projector.

"Probably another member of the Order," he said. "You wouldn't have been the only one to think about saving them. Still, good work."

She filled him in on the location of Ashara's group. "The Flesh Raiders are armed with blasters," she added. "From what I observed, all of them are. They can't be acting alone."

Caecinius absorbed her report, gave a curt nod. Then turned to follow her directions to the group of padawans.

He found Ashara Zavros arguing heatedly with the others.

"They're attacking our training grounds! We need to fight!"

The argument stopped dead at his approach. Caecinius took in the group – The injuries of the one on the ground, the fear and agitation of the rest, the heat of Ashara's anger. None of them displayed the calm Canlyn had shown.

"You need to stay put," he said firmly.

"I'm not injured," Ashara protested. "I'm one of the best duelists in our class, Master Caecinius. Give me a lightsaber!"

"In your emotional state, I don't even like trusting you with a practice blade," he snapped. "Now sit down and shut up!"

Ashara was shocked into silence at his tone.

Caecinius closed his eyes, focused on a meditation exercise. He visualized his emotions as unruly string in a very small jar. He pushed the string down until all of it was contained, then mentally sealed the lid.

"I apologize," he said. "But you must know your limitations, Ashara. If you fall to Flesh Raiders, or give in to your desire for vengeance against them, then you will never become a Jedi. That would be a loss to all of us."

He activated his communicator and reported his position, checking on the rescue team. They had already been dispatched. Caecinius waited with the students until the shuttle landed.

His communicator sounded, an incoming transmission. Derrin Weller.

"I'm injured," Weller reported.

"What's your position? I'll come get you."

"No need. There's a team already on its way, and my area is secure."

The blaster fire was becoming more sporadic. The attack had been repelled, with only the most stubborn of the beasts refusing to withdraw.

"Caecinius," Weller said. "They are coming from an underground entrance. Some kind of tunnel, leading right into the Gnarls. I have an approximate position, and it's not far from where you are. Sending it your way."

Weller's information came through. Caecinius checked the coordinates. Weller wasn't wrong - It was very close.

"On my way," he told the man. "Take care of yourself."

"May the Force be with you," Weller replied.

The coordinates led Caecinius straight to the river. He explored the area and found a tunnel carefully hidden behind a copse of trees. Canlyn was right – An intelligence was behind this. Never mind the blasters; this concealment was beyond the strategic limitations of Flesh Raiders.

He entered the tunnel. A handful of Flesh Raiders were inside, already retreating. At the sight of one lone Jedi, they attacked. A mistake, one Caecinius quickly made sure was their last.

He heard a sound deeper in the tunnel. Not Flesh Raider growls, but voices. He focused on masking his presence from any Force senses, then moved in slowly and quietly.

Deep in the tunnel, he found a padawan, a yellow-skinned Bith. He was on his knees in front of a human in Jedi robes. The Jedi had a blaster leveled at the student, who was begging for his life.

The man sneered. "Your life was over the moment you set foot here."

"But you are a Jedi," the Bith protested. "Why would you kill me?"

"It's quite simple. The Order must evolve to embrace the strong. And you, Unaw Aharo, are weak."

Caecinius activated his lightsaber, letting the blue glow illuminate his face. "Why don't you try me?" he asked.

The man spun toward him, firing his blaster. Caecinius deflected the bolt easily.

"I know who you are," the man said, grinning. "You're dangerous."

"Very dangerous," Caecinius agreed. The anger threatened again. He pushed it back down, focused on control. "Who are you?"

"My name is Calief," the man replied, "and I am not alone."

Caecinius heard the Flesh Raider howl just in time to duck its blow. Had the creature used the blaster it had been given, it might just have cut him down while his back was to it. But Flesh Raiders are creatures of instinct, and it had run at him with its claws extended.

Caecinius rolled to the ground, came up with his lightsaber at the ready. It took no more than two sweeps of his blade to dispatch them - a few seconds. But that was time enough. When eh looked around the tunnel, Calief was gone.

"Where did he go?" he demanded of the cowering Bith padawan.

Unaw Aharo shook his head. "I didn't see," he said. "It was all… so fast."

Ceacinius swore, punched at his communicator. He expected Weller to pick up. Instead, Master Syo and Master Orgus appeared in front of him.

"I see how it is," Orgus grunted. "I hop on a shuttle, and chaos ensues."

"No chaos, Master Orgus," Syo replied, his unflappable calm intact. "The Flesh Raiders have been repelled." His gaze settled on Caecinius, taking in the padawan behind him. "You appear to have been busy."

"The Flesh Raiders came in through this tunnel," Caecinius told them. "But they weren't working alone."

He described his encounter with Calief, including the Flesh Raider attack that had allowed the man to escape.

"Troubling," Orgus grunted. He glanced at Syo. "I told you they weren't just mindless beasts!"

"Yes, Master Orgus," Syo sighed. "And I am sure you're much too devoted a Jedi to spend the next ten years saying 'I told you so.' "

Orgus snorted. "Don't count on it."

Syo turned to Caecinius. "Seal the tunnel, then you and… What is your name, Padawan?"

The young Bith seemed awed at being addressed by a member of the Council. "U-Unaw Aharo, my Lord."

Syo smiled warmly. "Unaw, yes. Master Jaric speaks highly of you." Unaw's mouth stood agape at the compliment.

"The two of you will report to the Council," Master Syo continued. "Clearly, there is much to discuss."