"...How many times have I told you that diplomacy always comes first for a Jedi? We do not duel for honor." Master Juro didn't sound angry to Gareth. He desperately tried to sound stern, but more than anything he sounded like he was stifling his own amusement.
He had been the apprentice of Rael Avernoss and had inherited not only his penchant for bending the rules, but also seemed to share his sense of attitude. It was no surprise that Master Juro had been good friends with Qui-Gon Jinn before his untimely death or that he secretly approved of Gareth studying with Master Dooku whenever possible.
Gareth spat a globule of blood into the dirt and pushed himself to his feet, grinning shakily. "It wasn't for honor, my master. It was to test myself."
Master Juro raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
"Master Dooku says that war is on the horizon. That we're blind to it. He thinks it's been building since Qui-Gon Jinn died. And he said that we either forge ourselves into better blades through the fires of adversity...or we will break by becoming full."
Master Juro shook his head. Amusement fading and being replaced entirely by sternness. "Unfortunately, Master Dooku hasn't been the same since Galidraan. He also preaches that the Jedi should secede from the republic, to stem the flow of corruption."
Gareth frowned pensively. "He's not wrong, Master. How many worlds gave we gone to that have spat Jedi at us like an insult? To some of the more uncivilized parts of the Galaxy, we're a cult of power-mad kidnappers and that we use the force as though we were little more than the republic's hired muscle..."
Master Juro eyed his apprentice. "That line of thought is very dangerous, my Padawan. As long as the Jedi are whole and strong, we can make a better difference. Yes, it's a flawed system. But if we don't try to do anything to help other within that system, all is truly lost. The moment we lose sight of keeping the peace, of diplomacy, and of the unifying force...Well, that's where the darkness will find us in the end."
Gareth had heard it before but this was the first time he'd heard it from his master. He smiled at his master and he repeated the words that had been drilled into him. "That's the council's words, master. What do you think?"
Master Juro shook his head grimly and looked away. "... Master Dooku is right. War is on the horizon. And I'm afraid the Jedi will be forever changed by it."
It was a year later when a light flicked onto the vambrace and Gareth Macchiavel, newly knighted, clicked a button on his vambrace to see Master Windu standinf before him in a recorded holo transmission.
"All available Jedi are needed on Geonosis, if at all possible. This is a state of emergency. I will meet you all in the Petranaki Arena, of which I've attached coordinates. I will enclose more details soon, but it is imperative we proceed with caution as we respond to this threat in force. Windu out."
Gareth had expected war. He had suspicions he'd even be good at it. But he hadn't expected the war to come so soon.The arena was carnage. Jedi died left and right and he did his damndest to protect his wounded master, who of course had also joined in the fight. He was prepared to fall protecting Master Juro, tired from his constant use of Tutaminis to repel the swarms of the battle droid blaster fire, when the cloud darkened and he heard the roaring engines of what he'd later realize were LAATs piloted by the clones. Using his last bit of strength and a clever usage of Tutaminis to give his master a boost of power, they gathered the wounded and tried their best not to catalog the dead.It was less than two weeks later after the pair painfully reunited and fought off a twisted legion of steel in the defense of their brethren, Juro left the order to take up the position of Margrave on some icy planet in the outer rim."The people there need me, my apprentice. I'm not siding with the seperatists, but until the Jedi are not this dark engine, I cannot be one of them. And I need to do some good in this galaxy. Please come with me."But Gareth had been angry at the time, but he bit it back out of respect for the father he'd never had. "I can't. And after all we've been through? How can you? Didn't you tell me we can good by using the broken system to our advantage? I have to stay behind. I have to fight. Who will protect them if we don't? Who will save them if the Jedi can't? I have to stand for something, master. You taught me that. But when the war is over, I give you my word I'll come find you..."That was the last time they'd spoken and Gareth felt foolish for not seeing it even when it had already been there in front of his face. The darkness had found him, but naturally he can't see in the dark. None of the Jedi could.
Gareth opened up his eyes to see he was in Whisper's quarters, which acted as their own makeshift medbay not only for him but also now Gareth, as Goggles and Cate bickered in hushed voices in the doorway about what to do next.
"...If you guys are planning something, I'd like to be a part of it." Gareth glanced at Whisper, who still hadn't waken up. He had just appeared out of nowhere one day, and Gareth was weary about that, especially now. He turned his attention back to what remained of his little squad "It seems we have a lot to discuss."