Disclaimer: I do not own any of Star Wars, the right of ownership of Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm and I guess Disney too. The only thing I own is the characters you do not notice and the plot.
Chapter 28: Knighting Ceremony
Becoming a Jedi Knight has been Rachelle's dream since she became the Padawan of Celestia Aluna. Tomorrow morning she will spend an entire day in meditation to see her path to the future in the Jedi Order before her Knighting Ceremony. Rachelle just sits on the couch thinking as she watches the Holonews.
Her mentor went to sleep an hour ago. It seems so surreal that that the day after tomorrow she will be a full fledge Jedi Knight. She can choose her own missions and help out anybody she could. Mark did warn her that this freedom should not be let go to her head. She wonders if they would be like Anakin and Obi-wan, that even through they are not mentor and student they might still go on missions. She know they make a perfect team during the Clone Wars and afterwards.
That is the part of becoming a Jedi Knight that is going to be strange for her. She had been the past 5 years with her mentor, and during the first and half year she found out she is in love with him, something she never felt before. It took her better part of those years to figure out that she was in love with him. Through the Force she knows that he loves her but it might not be in the way she loves him or he is not aware of it. She knows that he is close to her, then any of the two Padawans he had before her.
Rachelle already has a path in mind that she wants, but who knows what the Force might hold for her in the future. Still she has to do another meditating to find out. Seem like the rest of her time as a Jedi will be decided tomorrow.
With a low sigh Rachelle stands up from her position on the couch and walks to her bedroom. Before going to bed, she looks at the Holopicture of her first mentor that she keeps in the room. She smiles as she looks at her first mentor. She has finally done it; she will soon become a Jedi Knight. It took her longer then expected, but she had finally made it through her trials and soon will be Knighted.
Without a second through, Rachelle retires for the night. She strips out of her tunic and robes and throws on some nightwear. She knows she will not be seeing her mentor for a day. She is planning on getting up early in the morning and head to Hall of Knighthood which is located in the Tranquillity Spire which is the highest tower of the temple.
It is called that because of the Sacred Spire is located there. The Sacred Spire is a natural peak of a mountain on Coruscant that is considered a Force Nexus. Long time ago the Sacred Spire was a scared place for the natives of Coruscant. The Jedi Temple was built around and the tower covered it up when the Republic granted the land for the Jedi to use. It is consider one of the most sacred.
Since being a Force Nexus, the Force is unusually strong there. A Force Nexus is a location that has an unusual amount of Force. A Force Nexus can be created many ways and they can be of the Light Side or the Dark Side of the Force. Some says that the reason that the Jedi Temple is a Force Nexus is due to the fact that many Jedi over the years have lived there, still it is not known it just what people think.
Rachelle yawns a bit as she lays down on her bed and covers herself up. At fist, sleep did not come to her because her mind was on fire with thoughts and that did not aid so well in getting her to sleep. After what felt like a day, Rachelle manages to fallen asleep.
On the Planet called Korriban, Darth Vader sits in his throne. To say he was angry was an understatement. Then again he has been angry for a week now since the events that had happen on Kashyyyk. No out they did a number on the Grand Army of the Republic, they still suffer a lot of loses. The worst of all is he has to suffer from being humiliated by Jedi Master Zane during his meeting with the Chancellor.
Oh he planned on killing both Chancellor Skywalker and her annoy and stupid little girl when he got control over the Republic. For that he killed the few living Dark Jedi that was in the room with him, once they got back to the Korriban.
The hatred for Jedi Master Zane seems to increase greatly because of this. How dare a Jedi scum do something like that? He thought a Sith should deal in trickery. What ever happen to the good old Jedi honor? He hates being outsmart by Jedi, but worst of all he hates to be outsmarted by the person whose DNA came from.
Due to the battle, they lost some ships. The construction droids are working, but they need some more just in case. They do know of a criminal gang that they scared into helping one year on Corellia. They are a very big ship thieves because they have someone working for them within the Corellian Engineering Corporation. They in a big favor to the Empire after Darth Vader and Darth Destria took out the CorSec team that was on to the gang and then planted false evidence that one of the CorSec they killed was the insider, since his brother works at Corellian Engineering Corporation.
Darth Destria enters the room and got down on one knee and look at Darth Vader. "Took you awhile! When I call you I expect you to be here as fast as you can!" roar Darth Vader as he send a powerful voltage of Force Lightning at Darth Destria.
Darth Destria fights the urge to respond to an attack to take the receiving blow. She falls from her knees and scream in pain. Her black robes begin to smoke a bit as the little waves of Force Lightning dances over her body. Darth Vader stops before he can cause any serious pain that can render his Padawan useless for awhile. The tips of his fingers were black a bit.
"Now get up!" demand Darth Vader. Darth Destria rises slowly as she breathes heavily. Darth Vader looks back up at her. "Due to your and the troops pathetic display on Kashyyyk we have lost a lot of ships. I want you to take a group of the troops with you to Corellia, talk to that gang and bring as any ships they have. They could be anything that can be modified for battle!" snap Darth Vader.
Darth Destria holds her arm a bit. Nerve endings within her are tingling painfully from the powerful Force Lightning that engulfed her a few seconds earlier. "Any specific type?" ask Darth Destria.
"I do not give a damn if it is a Freighter or a Starfighters. Just get me some damn ships right now! I advise you to take couple of Providence-class Destroyer." say Darth Vader.
Providence-class is a type of ship that can either be a carrier or destroyer, so the term is called Providence-class Carrier/Destroyer. These types of ships were often seen used by the Separatist during the Clone Wars. Due to their sizes, Darth Vader grabs some. No ought, once the other ships that are being made by machines on Korriban are done, they will be some of the biggest ships in the history of the galaxy. They usually come in sizes 3570 feet to little over 1 mile long. That means the larger sizes of the ships are bigger then the Republic's Attack Cruiser which is at 3730 ft. The Providence-class Destroyers they have are more on the larger scales. They are also bigger then the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, or as the Republic will call them Imperator-class Star Destroyer, but they do lack the power and strength of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, even with the improvements that were made by the Empire. Imperial-class Star Destroyers are 5249 ft just little bit under a mile. So only a slight difference in size.
"Won't that be obvious? Those ships are still well connected to what people see of the Separatist used during the Clone Wars." say Darth Destria. "You are forgetting that the ships were made by a company that still makes them. Yes they were used by the Separatist. They should have a cloaking device that will work as long as it is not moving or firing. The best thing to do is find a spot to land on the planet and cloak it. Therefore in case if the Republic shows up to investigate they will not be able to find us easy." say Darth Vader.
"It will be done, Master." say Darth Destria as she bows before leaving. Darth Vader watches her leave. Even through he is having advance ships being made, he still uses other types of ships. He also has some Venator-class Star Destroyer, which are the ships the Republic calls Attack Cruisers. The only difference is the Republic ships have a stripe of red on it, all of his ships have are a dark gray color with a black stripe going through the center of it, similar to the Republic expect the darker colors meant to represents darkness. He wanted to make them pitch black, even through it will be hard for the Grand Army of the Republic to see it, and it will be harder for his own fleet to see them. Still he figures his ships will get the message across, even if some of them look like the Republics, people right away will knows the differences, because all Republic warships are light gray or with red stripes or sometimes they are all light gray.
2 days later on Coruscant, Mark is putting on his robes getting ready for the day. Even if he was not on the Council, he would still be presented at Rachelle's Knighting Ceremony since he has a hand in her learning to become a knight. During Knighting Ceremony, the High Council is presented along with those who have major influences with the Padawan's learning, like their mentor.
Mark clips his Lightsaber onto his belt and throws the hood over his head and walks out of his quarters. He walks to the center of the Jedi Temple where Obi-wan, Mace Windu, Yoda, Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Coleman Kcaj, Stass Allie and Ki-Adi-Mundi stands there by the lift that will take them to the Hall of Knighthood. Out of the group the only humans that are there is Obi-wan, Mace Windu and him.
All the other Jedi Masters that are on the Council are different species. Shaak Ti is a Togruta female. Kit Fisto is a Nautolan male. Plo Koon is a Kel Dor male. Coleman Kcaj is an Ongree male. Stass Allie is a Tholothian female. The last member of the Jedi Order that is not a human is Ki-Adi-Mundi a Cerean male. Unlike a lot of groups out there in the galaxy the Jedi Order remains one of the most well known group that does not against any race or species, they welcome anyone that are not part of the Dark Side in.
Even through they might not be like that as a whole, there are some members who does tend to think like that on a mild note, but nothing that goes way too far. Mark thinks it is disgusting that people will think like that. Just because someone look different or is different by a whole different race, you should not hate them for that. They have no control of who they are in that sense.
"Well, I do have to say the Force was right about you. You are just like the Master Zane that died during the beginning of the Clone Wars." say Shaak Ti with a slight smile on her face. "Either that, you guys could have been wrong. Oh, Master Yoda, you were wrong about the attachment issue with her." say Mark.
Yoda who hand both hands on top of his walking stick look at Mark. "May I ask, hmm? I wrong, how was, hmm?" say Yoda. "When I first arrive to the temple, Rachelle's former mentor stormed out of the room begging Master Windu to not let her teach Rachelle anymore. You stated that her attachment to her first mentor was holding her back from wanting to teach other students. Well it was not your exact words, but you were implying it base upon how you say attachment leads to the Dark Side. I agree with you slightly on that, if attachment is not treated right, like anything else, it can go bad. See Rachelle was using that attachment to push herself to becoming a Jedi Knight." say Mark.
The whole Council looks amazed at this. Mark remembers that small event that happened 5 years ago with perfect clarity. It takes Obi-wan back to when he and Maria was talking in the now dead Vice Chancellor room, how Mark seems to have a photographic memory.
Yoda stands there with a serous look on his face as he looks at Mark. "It seems like that we both are right on the subject of attachment." say Yoda as he crack a half of a smile. Mark smiles at this, for once Yoda agrees with him on the subject of attachment. Apparently Mark was not the only one who was shocked. It took Yoda awhile to accept the idea for Jedi allow having family and being married.
Yoda looks around at the group of Jedi Masters who sits on the High Council with him. "In time, enlightenment on subjects, appear to you, will." say Yoda as Mace presses the button for the lift. The lift door opens up and the Jedi Master walks in. Mark look down at Yoda who is standing in front of him. Mark was against the back wall of the lift.
He has nothing against Yoda or his size, but he could not image how it feels to have bunch of people in a small area towering over you. Guess when you are that short it does not bother you. By thinking that Mark is not agreeing to the idea of small stuff is worthless. Yoda is the proof that powerful things comes in small packages.
When the lift stops they walk into a circular open room with tall windows and pillars. The center of the room has circular design that is similar to the one that is adorn on the High Council Chamber. Mark stands by Obi-wan and grabs his Lightsaber. Mark had experiences the Knighting Ceremony a bunch of times in his career.
Mark looks around the room at the other members of the High Council. Yoda walks down a set of stairs to the room where Rachelle had been meditating. In a few minutes, Yoda was standing at the front of the circle. A few seconds later, Rachelle appears through the steps.
Her eyes locks with those of her owner and have a slight smile on her face. Mark nods slightly to her as she got down on her knees facing Yoda. As she lowers herself on to her knees, the Council and Mark ignite their Lightsabers and hold them so that they go straight up in the air. The glow of the Lightsabers made Light in the room as well as the small amount of light that is coming from the large window.
"We are all Jedi. The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed." chanted Mark along with his follow Council members as Yoda chants and actives his green Lightsaber. As they chant, Yoda activates his Lightsaber when they got done chanting.
"Rachelle Hunter. Of the council, by the right. Of the force, by the will. I dub thee Jedi. Knight of the Republic." say Yoda as he lowers his green plasma bladed Lightsaber over both of Rachelle's shoulders. After it was lowers to the right shoulder, he slashes off Rachelle's Padawan Braid.
Rachelle mumble her thanks as she picks up the braid that was cut from her hair and walks out of the room. She is now formally a Jedi Knight. Mark smiles as he watches her walk away.
I know a lot of information to take in from this chapter. It was not easy for me to make either. Had to do bunch of research on the subject. Everything about the Force Nexus and the Jedi Temple are true, I found them on Wookiepedia. For more information on them go to Wookiepedia type in Force Nexus and Sacred Spire.
With the part with Darth Vader, I was debating keeping everything that his Empire has is the same as the Galactic Empire in the Saga, I decide to go against it. I decide instead of the grayish white look on the Starships that was used by the Galactic Empire in the Saga, I decide to go with a more Sith like way. Instead of that light gray color, it will be dark gray with some black, since the Sith use black as a symbol to the Dark Side of the Force.
Since I like how the Republic Attack Cruisers look like with that light gray or white color with a red stripes, I am thinking all the warships that is being used by the Galactic Republic will share a look similar to that. Doing some research there are ships in the Galactic Republic that are white/gray with some kind of design in red or all white/gray color, so I am sticking like that. I matter as well as tell you that the Empire and Galactic Republic may have the same ships, since as Darth Vader mentions ships are made by company who wants money.
I know, my rambling is getting annoying so one last note before I go. Even with a Yoda Translator tool, it was hard to get his last dialog seem right. I spent good part of an hour trying to make it seems good. The actucally way of saying the Grand Master part of the Ceremony (the one only Yoda stated) is: By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi, Knight of the Republic.
I got the words for the Knighting Ceremony from Wookiepedia along with all my other reasearch. It is a good site to find informantion.
I am done, so until next time, enjoy.