Chapter Five
Initially, when Arden Lyn began using the Black Firestone for its intent, she did have a little trouble keeping it so that it glowed brighter and brighter with each step instead of dimmer and dimmer. Twice, the stone's light had ceased altogether and she had to turn back until she could get it glowing again and that was frustrating. However, upon request, she was allowed to return to Bunduki and inform her followers of Bunduki about her success in in the Initiation Trials. "I may even be able to find out some tips about how to use the Black Firestone while I'm there," she added.
"Normally, I do not allow Padawans an opportunity for personal indulgence but you're doing this for a mission and there is no harm in that purpose. Besides, if anyone would know how to use the Black Firestone to reach the Oracle, the priests of Palawa most certainly would," Tiberius replied. "What makes you say that?" Arden asked. "At one time, the Followers of Palawa were obssessed with finding the Oracle and predicting the future of their martial art Terras Kasi.
"They very nearly had it in their possession after discovering the Black Firestone's property of guiding the bearer to the Oracle itself. However, the ancient Je'daii thwarted their plans and destroyed Palawa as a direct result, forcing them to rely more heavily on Terras Kasi," he explained calmly. "You sound like you have some personal background with that story," she said after a moment. "My great-grandfather's father was the general who led the Je'daii attack that destroyed Palawa," he replied.
"And you led the expedition to destroy the remnants of the Kashi Mer Dynasty to the best of your ability," she added. "Who told you that?" he asked. "Master Pina, he was there with you when you launched the first assaults. He told me about how you struck down the King of the Kashi Mer Royalty and would have killed his son had Pina not stood in your way," she answered.
"Yes I did lead the first raids on the remaining Kashi Mer worlds but I had given the reigns of leadership on that particular world to Pina. It was part of an agreement that we had made where he would attack the southernmost worlds of the Dynasty and I would attack the northernmost worlds. Since I had finished my worlds earlier and was seeking to help Pina at that point, I was under his command," he confessed. "And the reason you're so compliant to confessing all this stuff to me when you might have done it with any other Padawan is what, exactly?" she inquired suspiciously.
"You will find out in due time but for now, know that it has to do with the identity of your father," he explained. Then he closed the door to her shuttle to Bunduki and told her pilot to take off, leaving her long before he could answer any questions she had about her father. Perhaps it was the wise thing for him to do for she had countless questions she wanted to ask about her father. Who he was, of course, was the most obvious ones but there were many others.
What had her father loved about her mother so much as to willingly conceive a daughter with her? How he had feel about the death of Arden's mother, who perished in the process of giving birth to a half-brother who would die soon after being born? Had he known that Arden's mother had been forced to resort to a waitress job in the day and a prostitution job at night before her death? Did he suspect that the boy had been born of one of her favorite clients and not his own loins?
Had he blamed himself so much for that one single bit of knowledge that he gave Arden to her aunt and uncle and left them to raise her on their own? Or was there something more substantial, like the knowledge that her aunt and uncle would have to adopt in order to have children at any rate? Did he know about her aunt's inability to naturally produce offspring and her uncle's incapacity in such arousal? Or had he left her because his way of life was too dangerous for her to travel with him and he had dropped her off with her aunt and uncle so she wouldn't be alone for weeks, if not months at a time?
These questions plagued her mind as she headed back to Bunduki, where she was welcomed by the people and a ceremony was about to be held in her honor. Due to the lack of formality in her induction as a Jedi Padawan, Arden was pleasantly surprised to find a party waiting for her there. She was especially glad to see a Hoop Dance underway upon her arrival and the drums being used.
The drums themselves produced a rumbling but calming sound at the same time as a beat occurred in rapid enough succession for it to be continued as a High Priest played the flute. "What's the song?" she asked a student she knew. "Dine (pronounced din-eh), typical initiation instrumental," he answered. I remember this song, it was played upon my arrival to Bunduki to begin the martial arts training she observed silently.
As she would also observe later on, the Palawa had a deep rooting in tribal rituals and ceremonies conducted by shamans. It amazed her how much of the Palawa culture had been maintained despite an attempt at their destruction by the Je'daii Order of old. As the Hoop Dance continued and the Dancer stacked so many hoops that his arms looked like bird-wings, Arden felt like she was flying. A closer peek revealed that the story of how the first Follower of Palawa slew a Guardian Dragon with his bare hands but repented by grinding some of its scales to powder and drinking it in soup later.
She already knew how this story would end: when he thought he would die from the ill-effects that consuming the scales had on him, he was actually made stronger and understood the Force. As such, he took his newfound understanding of the Force and was the first to truly create Terras Kasi. "Like the great dragon, the Je'daii Order was a destructive in our culture but now-like the first Terras Kasi warrior- Arden has tamed the beast, consumed its scales and become even stronger as a result. As such, we honor her actions amongst the Jedi today by dubbing her a Steel Hand of Palawa!" another High Priest shouted.
A great shout of applause from the audience came and Arden blushed at the bashfulness this encouraged in her. "Step forth Arden Lyn and accept the amulet of your rank!" a new voice shouted. Arden turned in the direction of the voice and was surprised to see that it was a second of the Great Priests who tranced for a thousand years to meditate and reawoke with grand revelations. It would be another five-hundred years before their next awakening which disappointed Arden but this was good.
Stepping forth, the right-hand man of one of the Great Twelve themselves placed a beautiful amethyst crystal on a golden chain around Arden's neck. A couple tears fell off Arden's eyes but these were instantly wiped away by the second who told her not to cry but to be happy. "You are the first outside-born member to receive this rank in a thousand years," the second added before leaving. Celebrations began after he left including food that seemed to go on for miles in every direction and of many cultures rather than just the Palawans who were strict vegetarians for the most part.
"I am privileged to call you a sister, Arden Lyn," fellow Steel Hand named Hercules told Arden. "Thank you Hercules, I can only hope to be as good a Steel Hand as you are," she replied. "That should be easy enough, I mostly focus on beating people down with a barrage of physical power. The priests were about ready to demote me before I managed to break the mold," he told her, smiling.
"In that case, I will be absolutely sure to learn from your mistake," Arden said as she sat down with a large rancor leg and several different desserts. After the festivities ended and everyone had eaten their fill, Arden headed to continue her pursuit of the Oracle. Days passed after the High Priest told her how to properly use the Black Firestone to find her target on the world of Pelgrin. Arriving on the storm-ridden world, her pilot had some trouble landing her near the huge monolith that was the Oracle.
Thanking him for taking the time to do it properly, she exited the ship and headed for the huge construction before her and it was a sight that inspired awe within her. But of course, she was not here to sightsee: she was here to use the powers of the Oracle to her advantage as well as document it. Taking her comlink out, she began making a series of entries by first outlining the Oracle and observing the brightness of the Black Firestone in proportion to the proximity of the machine. She also observed how the stone self-levitated into a hole of equal size and remained there, the glow ceasing upon union.
"It's strange but it seems as though there's no one here to defend the Oracle from my intrusion. Perhaps they're grateful that I had reunited the Black Firestone with the other Gateway Stones that make up the front door of the machine," she added. However, the lighting of a torch and its throw across the hall revealed that a grimmer fate had occurred with many of the people. It seems as though, for whatever reason, they fought each other to the death before the survivors left she thought.
Because she was supposed to document everything, she documented the grim details and even her thoughts and guesses as to what happened to the people of Pelgrin. "Judging by the contortions of the spines of some of these people, it seems as though someone bent them with the Force. Perhaps the Daughter was offended by their actions and came to undo the ones who caused it," she suggested. But it wasn't like the Daughter, according to Arden's studies, to do this.
This had to be the work of someone else, someone with enough ferocity and enough sheer relentlessness to wield the powers of a god to such deadly ends. "No, change that earlier suggestion: perhaps, Loki the Destroyer came through while he still had immortality and did some of this. I'm heading up the shaft that should lead me to the clockwork, wish me luck on getting there," she said. Then she deactivated her comlink and began the ascent up the tall machine, dodging filthy skeletons and tearing up cobwebs whenever necessary to do either one.
As she ascended however, she found less and less skeletons and cobwebs until she finally arrived at the room bound to contain the clockwork. It seemed as though this part was more sacred than the rest of the building because not even old bloodstains damaged the door. Opening it slowly in case age had taken its toll, she stepped inside. What she saw on the other side of the door was beyond breathtaking: a system that aimed solely on solar alignment to tell visions of the future like no other.
To worlds, as yet, unexplored or uninhabited by citizens of the Republic had Xendor the Jedi descendant of Kashi Mer been called. In his first battle, he fought to preserve the Chatos Academy where he learned many of the ancient secrets that had helped form the original Je'daii Order. Documenting the most fascinating of these secrets in his journal, he thanked the resident Paladins for allowing him access to their sacred texts before continuing on his way to other worlds. He had also taken notes on the most fascinating principles of Dai Bendu and Baran Do philosophies.
In either one, he found an uncanny lack of militaristic ability even if it was compensated by the use of powerful Force abilities and/or great martial arts prowess. However, he was most surprised but what he encountered next which began in the form of a scout telling him that potential threats were seen. "Show me where they are!" Xendor ordered. The scout nodded and did just that though instead of a pirate threat, Xendor was surprised to see the Kashi Mer insignia.
"Scout, I don't think this is a threat to us but a message for me," the Jedi told the soldier after a while. "Sir?" the scout inquired. "I haven't seen anything with the sigil of my people, except for the Talisman, since I was a little kid. This variant is the sigil of the Guardians of Breath who, during the Dynasty, used their powers to promote crop growth and healing as well as premonition," Xendor said.
"Were they attacked by the Jedi when the Dynasty was destroyed?" the scout asked. "No, I don't think so. The Guardians were too essential to be afforded the risk of death in the event of a war with a power like the Jedi Order," Xendor answered, shaking his head. Then he ordered the scout to go back to the camp and make sure that the soldiers were vigilant for pirate attacks on them. Meanwhile, Xendor headed for where the source of the sigil had last been seen, ascending the mountain side.
"Whoever you are, you'd best come out now! I'm a son of the Kashi Mer Dynasty like you, my name is Xendor!" he shouted across the ravine beyond the rock wall. At first, there was no response but then he heard a faint but intelligible whisper from the possible source of the sigil. "Xendor, little Xendor alive?" the voice answered.
"Yes, I'm alive. Will you please show yourself to me?" Xendor insisted. "For the King, I shall show myself and the entirety of our people!" the man stated passionately. Were it not for the slope, the Guardian would have been at least a foot and a half taller than Xendor but they were equal height here.
"What do you mean 'King'?" Xendor asked. "Don't you remember? You were the son of the King when the Jedi came to our system and tried to destroy us!" the Guardian answered. "You're the Grandmaster Guardian of Breath, aren't you?" Xendor replied.
"Yes and surely, you must remember that you are the son of our King!" the bigger man demanded. "The only thing I remember of my father was him being kneecapped and decapitated by a Jedi wielding nothing but a straight sword. Unfortunately, her death by arrows and spears is the only thing I remember of my mother as well," Xendor admitted. "It is you, it is you Xendor!" the mysterious man exclaimed with joy.
"And your name?" Xendor requested. "Ah yes, you were too young to really remember me and that may explain why you don't remember your lineage. I am Theseus, son of Atlas, Grandmaster of the Kashi Mer Guardians of Breath," the giant man replied. "What happened to you and the Guardians?" Xendor inquired as he began climbing down the slope alongside Theseus.
"We foresaw the death of the King and the destruction of our people, we tried to warn His Majesty but he would not believe that 'little Jedi' would be powerful enough to destroy us. And at first, neither did we until the visions became vivider and vivider with each passing day. So, three days before the King and Queen were killed, we fled their side and retreated here where we remain in exile. Fearing the Jedi's wrath and vowing to return when the King would come here to guide us once more," Theseus explained
"I'm the only surviving heir of my parents' legacy," Xendor added. "That makes you the King and thus, the time has come for our people to rise from the ashes and take revenge!" Theseus shouted. Tempted as he was to agree with him, Xendor had a feeling that Tiberius still begrudged Pina for keeping Xendor alive and would destroy any other signs of Kashi Mer to cool his fury if he could. "No, that's precisely what the Jedi would want you to try and do, I have a better idea," he said.
"Better? What could be better than gloriously restore our people to what they once were?" Theseus asked. "I'm currently on a mission to destroy the most pestilent pirates that the Republic has ever had to face, I'm a Jedi now in other words. However, because of that, I can be seen talking with the lesser groups or rallying the people on the Penal Worlds," Xendor began.
Theseus stated that he was listening, suspiciously curious as to what Xendor had on his mind. "You can have each of the remaining Guardians seek an audience with the heads of the gangs in the Penal Worlds as well as the captains of the remaining pirate clans whilst you seek the Hutts out. Even if the Jedi see you publicly speaking with them, they wouldn't be able to distinguish you from other pawns. Persuade them all to remain on standby in case I end up rebelling against the Jedi Order, 'The Devouring' being the code that signals them into action," Xendor continued.
"The armies of the Republic would be spread so thinly that the Jedi Order itself would be vulnerable to attack from any who defected from it with military intent on their mind!" Theseus guessed. "Exactly, the fighting of the Penal Worlds, the Hutts, and the remaining pirate clans will combine to spread and divide the Republic Army until the Jedi can no longer count on their aid. It will also leave the Chancellor vulnerable as he would have no more than his Personal Guard and a few dozen others.
"Should diplomatic attempts at an active research into the ways of Bogan fail, this will be the plan. However, should diplomatic attempts succeed, I want the connections you have made to be dissolved and I want your people to remain in hiding until I need you again. I've been obeying the Jedi Order for the lesser portion of half a year already and I have noticed things I wish I didn't notice," Xendor finished. "Very well, I shall alert my people to these developments and I shall see to their immediate creations," Theseus replied.
"Thank you, I'll do what I can to gather evidence for credible research into Bogan and how to counter it first. Then I'll see if I can see if I can set an Academy elsewhere that will teach these rules to others," Xendor stated. "And is it here, now that you've laid out your plan, that our paths split once more?" Theseus asked. "I'm afraid so, so sorry that I couldn't come up with anything more for you to use but remember: it could be years before I send the code so be on special alert during that time," Xendor answered calmly.
Returning to the camp after that fateful encounter, Xendor inquired as to any uncovered evidence of pirate activity. "No sir and we're already coming to the end of our sweep in this system. If nothing turns up, we'll have only two more systems to sweep before we're through," his captain replied. "To think that our six-month expedition is already coming to an end is truly remarkable, I shall miss working with you all as well as those of us who fell along the way," Xendor stated.
"Indeed, there are reports of increased activities on the other two systems which is demanding more of a proper response on our end," the captain said. "And the people shall get a proper and efficient response soon enough, has anyone studied them enough to conclude certain habits? The more information we have about these ones, the more likely we can destroy them," Xendor asked. "Yes, a series of patterns in their movements have already been formed and will be revealed upon our arrival.
"Besides, better to speak of that knowledge in a more confidential setting than what we presently have. Wouldn't you agree?" the captain answered. Xendor nodded that he would agree and thanked the captain once again for what he had told the Jedi warrior. "Not a problem, Master Jedi," the captain said before dismissing himself.
More than you realize, I am not quite the Jedi you make me out to be in front of the men. Good as it is for motivation, I'm afraid you're going to find out where my true allegiance lies someday Xendor thought to himself. Excellent, you have rekindled the spirit of the remaining Kashi Mer people and war is on the horizon as I have foreseen the Talisman spoke in his mind. I may rely on your power for strength but you can't command my destiny Xendor warned.
Your father said similar words once when he wielded my power against the Jedi. He believed that so long as my power could be withdrawn and used, he was invincible. But, to show him the error of his judgment, I abandoned him in his moment of most dire need. I let him be killed by the Jedi known as Tiberius and was subsequently passed on to you the Talisman replied.
Very faintly, Xendor could swear he heard the voice of the Talisman laughing inside his head which was a painful thing to feel. Gods are not supposed to do that to the people who worship them Xendor said when he recovered. Only when the people are not filled with vanity and mindless lust does that hold true. I acted within the bounds of my being and undid your father more effectively than if I had outright used my power to destroy him as I could do with you the Talisman said back.
Right, then the Jedi would have no choice but to contain or destroy you depending on which one was more possible. You owe your continued existence to me! Xendor snapped. Oh no, my young boy: you will find someday that it is quite the reverse. You will also find that I don't mean vaporizing you when I say that I can destroy you the Talisman retorted, cackling once more.