Padawan Neria Halai – Coruscant
It seemed like it hadn't been that long since she left the Jedi Temple, but she felt different in comparison to her last stay. No longer a padawan lurking in the classrooms and meditation chambers of the superstructure, she was experienced and worthy of honor.
A mindset so arrogant was dangerous for one such as her, and so she tried to will it away. Yet the self-congratulatory feeling was impossible to just force out of her mind.
Between her personal revelation that the dark side fueled her ability to actually apply the Force and the pride coursing through her, Neria was worried. She was a padawan, true, but the dark side was just as pervasive in her, equally content to seduce someone as lowly as her as much as one of the Jedi Masters.
As a matter of fact, it seemed to her as if the masters were rarely swayed, only the knights and padawan.
Neria had crammed aboard a transport that was making multiple stops. Clones, naval officers headed for the academy, new recruits headed home, all were present. Most but for a few of the older clones had given her a wide berth. She held on to the strap above as they descended, errant turbulance or the occasional dodge past an incoming hovercar causing them to sway like reeds in the wind.
The temple was a reassuring presence across Coruscant. Massive, looming, but exuding an aura she found calming. Even as she battled with her emotions in private, the welcoming air of the building they descended to helped to ease the Twi'lek's mind.
It was with some disappointment that she found no Jedi Master awaiting on the landing pad, only a trio of clone troopers and a Jedi Knight. The padawan wasn't even that familiar with him knowing the young man only by name.
She jumped off the transport as it hovered above the landing pad, and it continued on to its multiple destinations.
"Greetings, Master Felero," she told the knight. "I thought, giving what I'd be reporting..."
"You were beaten to the punch," he replied. "Master Fisto killed one on a transport, and Dreamer took one out on Bothawui."
Neria was instantly deflated, all pride in her accomplishments dashed at the realization that she hadn't been alone in her achievement. It took her a moment to formulate a proper response to the knight's information.
"So...So they don't need me?"
The knight seemed to notice the sudden droop of her shoulders and hanging of her head. He became noticeably more straight-backed, and the corner of his mouth was dragged down into a severe frown. The incoming lecture could not have been more clearly foreshadowed to Neria, who'd seen the face many times by her masters before they'd started a rather pointed lesson on whatever trespass she'd committed.
"Be wary that you do not become too proud of your time in battle." He shook his head, looking off toward the spire that held the council within. "Jedi were never meant to be warriors, Padawan. We were meant to be peacekeepers."
"Are we not trying to bring peace back?"
"Through violence."
"And so we...allow the Separatists to merely march through our worlds and destroy what we hold dear so that we can stand on principle?"
"The Force will decide who's right, young padawan."
"You're not that much older than me. The Force may decide, but it relies on us to enact its will, does it not? If we're destroyed, the Force will be thrown out of balance, so it requires our success to live on. Doesn't it follow that our inaction would betray its will?"
"You...You are called to the medical center," he answered, a proper argument clearly eluding him. "Master Shaak-Ti is tending to a Jedi Knight there, and she wishes to speak to you about the after-effects of battle."
"Yes, Master Felero."
She ignored his steady gaze on her back, well-aware of the disapproval knights levied upon padawans who disagreed with them. By contrast, the masters had a tendency to enjoy arguments as long as they won.
Padawan Halai was a presence that the temple bore rather than accepted. Few of the Jedi in the halls stopped to talk to the young woman, and most of those were mentors or teachers she'd had over the years.
It was clear enough to her. They all thought she would fail, so they didn't want to get attached. Even though the Jedi Order preached detachment, even those at the highest level of the heirarchy felt the blow from each loss among their numbers. Every atrocity affected the Force, and melancholy gripped every one of them whenever a world was bombarded or a city was wiped from the face of the planet.
A familiar and fervent hope gripped her. A hope that she would be accepted in their hearts and minds once she finally attained the rank of Jedi Knight. Even if she'd lost yet another master, surely the Council would realize that her breakthrough in utilizing the Force and proven capability on the battlefield meant she should be given another master, if not increasing consideration for knighthood.
Shaak-Ti was one of the more calming presences in the Temple, a rare breed of Jedi Master who hadn't managed to sink into the same gloom that the war had thrust on many of her peers. The only one Neria saw handling the war so well was Grandmaster Yoda himself.
An unfamiliar Zabrak lay on one of the beds, the robes of a Jedi Knight hanging from a well-trimmed figure. Much like Jedi Knight Kullenan, she could tell that she was looking at a Jedi who was used to life on the front lines.
"Padawan," Master Shaak-Ti said. "Welcome. I thought we would speak here, a place of healing. Rather appropriate, I thought, considering the turmoil within you."
"I didn't take any wounds, Master."
"Not physical ones, no. You dealt with death well enough, although those effects may take some time to sink in. I spoke to Master Luminara about you. In fact, the entire Council spoke about you when Dreamer gave his briefing."
A thrill of fear. She knew better than anyone that being discussed by the Council rarely ended in good news.
"And what came of it, Master Shaak-Ti?"
"We're worried. You clearly showed more capability than we'd previously realized, but we're concerned about how you reached out to that power. The dark side."
"I didn't have much time to think of it, Master. I was going to die if I didn't find a way to defeat my opponent, others would have died had I not found a way to redirect our bombardment. It was all I had, and I'm willing to learn a way to find that power otherwise."
"It's a dangerous thing, Padawan," the Jedi in the bed said. "That's what makes it so alluring, that it's so easy to reach out to and substitute for the more difficult method."
"Master Luminara said much the same. You look familiar to me, but I don't think we've ever spoken."
"Jedi Knight Durel," he answered with a nod. "I'm told you also felled one of the assassins."
"I did." She looked up at Shaak-Ti. "Am I to understand that Dreamer managed to defeat one? A clone actually took down an assassin?"
"It's true. He saved General Durel's life as well. It would do you well to remember that soldiers are very capable, as well. If they caught a Sith unawares, it's always possible that they could—with great difficulty—bring one down."
"True," Durel answered with a nod. "And Dreamer is deceptively able." He turned to Neria, green eyes contemplating. "As are you, Padawan Halai. Were you as weak as the Jedi Council believed, you wouldn't have escaped from that fight. I believe Master Shaak-Ti is correct."
"Correct about?"
"Correct that I should take you on as a Padawan." Her spirits, dashed when she departed from the ship, instantly soared again. "I need someone who's very capable, and you certainly qualify. And I myself have struggled with the dark side during the middle of battle."
"You...You would take me on Master Durel?"
"It's been some time since my last padawan, but he was starting at a much lower skill level than you. I will teach you, and you will assist me in my..."
He trailed off, eyes moving over her shoulder and to somebody at her back. Only then did she feel it, a presence that wasn't very strong in the Force, near the level of a new apprentice. When she turned to see their new entrant, she was left surprised.
The teenager wore a jacket and comfortably loose pants instead of the robes of a Jedi. Curiously, although he had a blaster at his side, a stretch of cloth covered his eyes. Between an appearance rugged for one his age and the weapon, she had him pegged as some kind of starship crewmember.
"I was...told to come here?" he asked, shifting to his back foot. "To speak about some...operation?"
"Yes," General Durel said. "I've hired your captain, in one of his moments of lucidity." He directed a thumb at a Devaronion in the corner, quietly sleeping under a mound of blankets. "He took me up on my offer."
"Is he alright, Master Jedi?"
"He'll be fine, he's just been put under for a little while to expedite the healing process," Master Shaak-Ti answered. "We found out what the holocron was being used for. The Sith were after a list of Force-sensitive children among the Chiss, as well as an easy way past their defenses."
"For recruitment purposes?"
"I suspect so, yes. The Chiss are neutral in this war, they would've had a source of children that we wouldn't be able to stop them from obtaining."
"So what do we do, Master Shaak-Ti?" Neria asked.
"We need to go on the offensive," Durel answered instead. "We spoke at length about it, and I'd like to cobble together a team to find whatever temple the Sith are running these assassins through. Once we've located it, the Jedi will sweep in."
"Why have so many, Master Durel? It seems like any more than the two of us will just draw unnecessary attention."
"Such are the dangers of missions like these. We need to spread out and find information, and the two of us can't truly pick up a trail alone. I've already contacted a Bothan who came to this temple with Dreamer, and I'm thinking of bringing a few clones in case we need reinforcements."
"And we have a lead," Shaak-Ti said. "The Hutts claim to have some information about children who've gone missing on Shili."
"The Togruta? Master Shaak-Ti, that's impossible. They've been part of the Republic longer than most, how could a Sith Order hide there?"
"I don't know that they're hiding on Shili, Padawan, just that there have been many disappearances there. Many have been children already identified as Force-sensitive. I suspect the Sith are smuggling them out, some way, but we'll have to visit the Hutts to figure out what they know."
"I'd rather not," Durel muttered, with Neria nodding in agreement. "They're slimy, more likely to betray us as give us information."
"I...wouldn't say so, Master Jedi," the blind teenager replied quietly, raking a hand through a shock of unruly brown hair. "The Hutts are ruthless and more interested in credits than anything in this galaxy, but they usually honor deals and aren't prone to going back on their word. A criminal order of their magnitude tends to depend on it."
"Who are you, again?" Neria asked.
The boy looked at her, and Neria realized that he was staring right at her despite a lack of sight. She suddenly realized the reason for the Force. A Miralukan. Their kind was rather uncommon across the galaxy, but many found their way to the Jedi Order for their inherent use of the Force before teaching even began.
"Kurik, Master Jedi." Being addressed so made Neria uncomfortable. "I'm a pilot, and my captain's the Devaronian over there."
He nodded to the bed in the corner. Neria looked at the captain, then back at Knight Durel, who was watching her carefully.
"So when do we leave, Master Durel?"
"Four days," the Zabrak Jedi answered. "We need to collect some clones for this mission, we need to heal, then we'll be off." He smiled. "For these next four days, however, I think we'll begin your instruction. I should warn you, I'm no gentle teacher."
"I would prefer a harsh teacher to none."
By the way, since I've forgotten to mention it up until this point, thank you for everyone reading and reviewing/favoriting. It's nice to be reminded that there are people actually reading, and that I'm not just spamming chapters into the hungry dark void of the Internet.