《Star Wars: The Untold Stories》


 1: Padawan Sar Landala

    It was night time and the lights of the great Galactic City of Coruscant had been lit.


    Inside of the Jedi tower stood a young man or boy really, considering the fact that he looked like he hadn''t turned 13 yet, looking out over the city. Observing the buildings and hover-cars from a window.


    The boy''s name was Sar Landala a Jedi initiate or that would have been the case a few hours ago as the young Sar had just become a padawan, and to a Jedi master of the High Council no less. This was a huge honor and one that Sar would always strive to do justice.


    Though the pressure that came from such an honor could be seen on Sar as he was standing a little stiffly and his hands were cold and clammy. He was also nervously fiddling with the lightsaber that hung at the waist of his Jedi robes.


    Sar was trying to collect himself, it was not proper for a Jedi to let emotions dictate them it would only lead them to the path of ruin, and on the path to ruin lays the Dark Side. Sar closed his eyes reciting a part of the Jedi code in his mind: "There is no emotion, there is peace", before entering a light meditation.


    Feeling the force around him always eased him and he quickly reflected over the past few years of his life at the temple.


    He had been very young when he had come from the temple he had no memory of his parents nor of which planet he had come from, and he never really cared the order was his family and the temple his home.


    He remembered the first time he used the force lifting a small cup from one of the other initiates who had found his bright red hair the source of great amusement.


    He remembered journeying into the crystal cave on Ilum and finding his Kyber crystal and bonding with it. He could still feel the feeling of accomplishment having finished his lightsaber. Looking over every detail from the black cloth grip to the silvery part where the lightsaber would exit, to the intricately carved bronze rectangular button that activated it.


    There was a certain feeling of closeness to the weapon as if even with galaxies between them he would still be able to find it. This feeling only further solidified when he activated it and beheld the sapphire blue blade that sprung from the hilt. The humming sound that the saber omitted would always be in his mind.


    Then a sudden jolt in the force woke him from his quiet meditation, but there was no malice to be felt, it was more like someone announcing their presence and Sar knew who it was.


    He quickly turned away from the window and looked behind him.


    There stood the Jedi Master Shaak Ti. Wearing the traditional brown Jedi robe which greatly contrasted her blazing red skin, white markings, and the white, and blue striped lekku. She was beautiful even among her fellow Togruta, but the presence she gave out reminded one that she was a warrior before anything else. It wasn''t domineering or pressuring it merely showed one that the person it belonged to was a master of the force.


    Sar kept his cool while calmly apologizing to his master.


    "My apologies master I was lost in my meditation and did not sense your arrival" Sar quickly followed the words up with a small bow.


    Shaak Ti waved her hand in a dismissive manner while responding.


    "There is no need to apologize young padawan" She let out a soft smile before continuing "Many young Jedi forget the importance of meditation. It makes me happy to see that its importance is not lost on you, young one"


    Sar felt happy for receiving the praise but felt he did not deserve it since he had never really meditated much and the reason for him meditating was only because of the rare circumstances, but before he could get a chance to explain it.


    Master Ti put her hands into the sleeves of the Jedi robes before heading for the door on the far end of the hallway. When she noticed Sar wasn''t following she looked over her shoulder.


    "Come young Sar, I wish to begin your training immediately"


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    Sar quickly responded "yes Master!" before quickly catching up to her and following her over to the training hall.


    ***


    The training hall that Sar was led to was different than what he had become used to during his time as an initiate. First of all, it was much smaller, which he probably should have expected considering these halls were designed to house only the master and his or her padawan.


    The second thing that surprised him was how artistic the hall seemed. The hall itself was constructed like a circle in the middle of the circle it deepened as if a crater had opened up in the middle of the hall. This would be where he could train his lightsaber skills. Inside of the circle where five statues depicting the five lightsaber forms.


    The statue that depicted the first form Shii-Cho was in an upright position having his stone body turned slightly to the right with his lightsaber in the left hand holding it at an angle over his chest.


    The statue that depicted the second form Makashi was in a slightly crouched position with the lightsaber pointed vertically as if the statue was preparing to stab someone through the heart.


    The statue that depicted the third form Soresu was standing with the knees bent slightly and the lightsaber horizontal as if it was preparing to block something. If you looked closely you could also see slight ripples on the stone saber as if something had hit it.


    The fourth statue that also depicted the fourth form Ataru, the style that Sar had used almost all his time trying to master, was constructed so that it looked as if the statue was mid-jump with his legs bent under him, his lightsaber held in a two-handed grip above his head preparing to strike down is imaginary foe.


    The last statue that also depicted the fifth form Shien stood even straighter than the first. Holding it''s saber in a two-handed grip lifting it above its right shoulder preparing a powerful strike.


    The statue all filled Sar with a sense of awe and respect for the different forms. He could have stared at the statues for much longer but was pulled out of his thoughts by his master.


    "Impressive aren''t they? No matter how many times I see them I must still admit to being impressed at the workmanship" She removes her hands from the sleeves before pointing at the fourth statue.


    "The fourth form Ataru thought to be the most agile of the forms here speed and flexibility matter most though it is not very useful when fighting many enemies or blocking blaster fire" She glances at Sar who is standing to her right looking up at her. "I hear from your instructors that you excelled quite a bit in this form"


    Hearing the question that didn''t really sound like a question Sar quickly responded.


    "Yes, Master. I did indeed focus most on this form. Though I would say that I am proficient enough in the third form for it to cover the weakness that is present in the fourth form" Sar was talking calmly doing his all to quash the feelings of nervousness and pride that were slowly surfacing.


    Shaak Ti let out a soft chuckle.


    "Young padawan I can sense your nervousness. There is no need to be on edge" Sar relaxed slightly at her words replying with a soft "yes Master" before Shaak Ti continued.


    "I do not feel like we need to start training you further in lightsaber combat at the moment and should instead turn our attention to deepening your connection to the force"


    With that said she jumped into the small crater in the hall before sitting with her legs crossed in the middle of it. Sar quickly followed suit sitting before his master. Excited to learn the ways of the force from her.


    Shaak Ti''s mastery over force telekinesis and other force powers was legendary and Sar hoped to glean all he could from his Master''s teachings.


    As such started the teaching of a young padawan which name would resound throughout the entire galaxy. Though whether that name would bring hope or fear only the force knows.

 2: Learning The Ways Of The Force

    Sar sat staring at his Master while she just sat calmly in front of him. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing calm and steady. Sar could feel the force with each of her slow exhales. The young padawan shifted a little in his cross-legged position, unsure of what to do.


    Master Ti, while keeping her eyes closed and her breathing steady, sensed the unrest within the young boy.


    "Patience, selflessness and harmony these are the traits we seek through our meditation" she slowly opened her eyes looking straight at her padawan "You have already trained meditation in your time as an initiate. However, this will be far from enough if you wish to master the force."


    Sar nodded slowly, hanging onto every word that his Master spoke.


    "Remember young one the reason you meditate is to find harmony and inner peace only then will you be able to truly wield the force. Do not let it control you and do not try to control it. You must try and exist together in harmony."


    When she had finished her teaching, she once again closed her eyes and sank back into her meditation. Sar immediately followed suit, closing his eyes and entering the meditation.


    "OK, inner peace, harmony should be easy enough...right?" Sar tried to steel himself within his own mind. He emptied his mind of all thoughts and just "were". He wasn''t in the temple, nor was he training, he was merely there, within the force. When he felt the force slowly flow through him, he got excited, but as soon as that feeling appeared, it was gone.


    Shaak Ti felt it as well letting out her mild, wise voice once again.


    "Patience padawan, you must not try and rush it you must let it f,low through you on its own, not by your will."


    Sar kept his eyes closed while he responded, "yes Master" delving into his meditation once again. It was sudden when the feeling of the force once again appeared, but this time he didn''t let his feelings get in the way and merely felt the way that the flow of force got slightly stronger as time went on.


    Sar lost all concept of time he was merely within the warm flow of the force until he felt something else, something very similar to the flow he was experiencing yet also very different. The presence he felt was dark. It sent chills through his body and slight fear through his brain, and yet it oddly warmed his heart and hummed pleasantly in his ears.


    Just as Sar wanted to reach further into the mysterious presence he was jolted from his meditation. Snapping his eyes open the first thing he saw was a standing Shaak Ti, who once again had her hands in her robes, gazing calmly at him.


    "Master?" Uttered Sar in slight confusion as he could feel that while Shaak Ti did not reveal it she seemed slightly displeased.


    "Young padawan an impressive first true meditation. You were in harmony with the force much longer than I was the first time, however"


    When Sar received such high praise he couldn''t help but feel slightly proud of himself, but Shaak Ti was not finished.


    "You still show great impatience. You felt a certain presence towards the end of your meditation, yes?" Shaak Ti narrowed her eyes slightly after she asked the question.


    Sar still confused quickly went to answer.


    "Yes Master I felt a very strange presence it was nothing like anything I have ever felt before it was dark yet oddly soothing" Sar still did not understand why his master took such great interest in the matter and how she even knew about it.


    Master Ti hummed softly "Hmmm, soothing indeed, many Jedi has been let astray by that very feeling. Just as many has harnessed its power for evil for millennia"


    Hearing those words it finally clicked for Sar and cold sweat started to emerge from his back as he softly muttered.


    "The dark side"


    "The dark side is indeed its name, but do not worry my young padawan. The fact that you felt it means that you were truly in a state of harmony with the force. Do not let your fear rule you" Shaak Ti quickly followed up to calm the young padawan while she did not enjoy scaring her padawan it was a lesson necessary for his growth.


    Sar could not seem to quite get a hold of his fears as he quickly asked his master.


    "Are you sure that was the dark side, Master? It''s nothing like I thought it would be"


    Master Ti nodded slowly.


    "Yes Sar that was indeed the dark side, it acts much as those who wield it, offering great power and comfort yet corrupting your very being till nothing remains of the one who sought those things in the first place" Seeing as Sar could still not let go of the fear he felt she continued "While the dark side is powerful and deceitful as long as you control your fear and emotions it will remain in the dark"


    Sar thought a little before closing his eyes once again slipping into meditation reciting the Jedi code he learned all those years ago as an initiate:


    "There is no emotion, there is peace


    There is no ignorance, there is knowledge


    There is no passion, there is serenity


    There is no chaos, there is harmony


    There is no death, there is the force"


    With every unspoken line of the code the presence of the dark side seemed to fade bit by bit until there wasn''t even a trace of it left.


    While Sar should feel happy and accomplished he actually felt a little...sad? "No!" he quickly denied, he explained the thought as nothing more than a last attempt to lure him into its clutches.


    He opened his eyes once again this time with the calmness that a Jedi should posses.


    Seeing that the little padawan had overcome his quick encounter with the dark side. She smiled a full fledged grin this time before saying.


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    "Very well done my padawan. Remember there is no shame in feeling fear or other such things what is important is keeping them under control and not the other way around" She walked up to the still cross legged Sar, patting him on the shoulder.


    "Come follow me we have one last lesson before we call it a day" without waiting for his response she force jumped out of the training crater and began heading for the door. Sar smiled wryly to himself thinking that his Master was a little too decisive just heading out without even waiting for him to follow. Quickly jumping out of the crater and catching up to his fast-paced master.


    ***


    They had walked in silence for a good fifteen minutes before Sar opened his mouth.


    "Umm, Master may I ask you a question regarding the current affairs of the order?"


    Master Ti just let out a little hum of affirmation without even glancing at her padawan. Sar immediately asked his question as if afraid that she would refuse to answer should he tardy.


    "Why is that boy that Master Qui-Gon Jinn brought from Naboo so special?"


    Shaak Ti glanced at Sar who just looked at her curiously, before turning back forward and answering.


    "Hmmm, I''m not sure ''special'' is the right word to use, at least not yet, but let''s just say that the high council suspects he may be the one to bring back balance to the force"


    Sar was shocked at this answer for two reason one for the probable discovery of the chosen one and the other because she revealed what seemed like very important information to him, but seemingly having sensed the shock of her padawan Shaak Ti went to explain.


    "This isn''t confirmed yet the boy mostly became a member of the order on the background of Qui-Gon''s last wish before he became one with the force" She now turned fully to look at her padawan letting a small smile spread on her lips "and also I am your teacher and as such I am obligated to answer your questions whether they be about training or the order itself"


    Hearing the answer Sar felt not only cleared on the subject, but also touched that his Master would trust him enough to answer his question and he would strive to repay the kindness she had showed him.


    Though there were more questions he wanted to ask namely who had killed Master Qui-Gon, the council had kept the exact killer a secret, he knew however that it would not be right to push his master too much, and so he swallowed the question back down.


    They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence each just enjoying the short walk and the force around them.


    ***


    They finally arrived at the destination and Sar was quite surprised although he had lived in the temple for more than ten years there was still some places he had never seen or even heard of. This location was one of them.


    It was a literal huge stone garden the whole garden was made out of weird grey stone that sent warmth up through Sar feet even though he was wearing shoes. And even though this garden was clearly outside none of the noise from the Galactic City could be heard there was complete silence and tranquility.


    Sar walked a bit away from the entrance though Shaak Ti remained watching the young boy looking around in wonder.


    Sar''s gaze quickly landed on something he had heard about.


    Force Monoliths.


    These Force Monoliths where located in the middle of the huge garden. There were ten in all, but they were spread apart so the formation resembled a pentagon. Each where blacker than black and about 150 cm tall looking completely smooth. They looked like huge smooth Kyber crystals. They each had a little holder where only a little of the bottom where inserted.


    Sar had heard about them before they were supposedly used to train a Jedi''s strength and control in using the force. It was said that Grand-Master Yoda picked up seven at once and walked around the temple with them.


    "This is where the final lesson for the day will be taught" Sar was broken out of his swooning by his Masters strict yet kind voice. He quickly responded.


    "I understand Master, what would you have me do?"


    She turned to look at the Monoliths before pointing at them and saying.


    "You shall meditate here and while you do so you will need to lift two of these Monoliths at once without exiting your meditation" She put her arm down and turned to Sar "I would suggest that when we are not on missions or training your lightsaber combat you come here and meditate"


    While Sar was a little worried about the task he had enough confidence that he would be able to pull off the task without much trouble. Though arrogance was never a good trait in a Jedi confidence was another matter.


    " I understand the task you have given me Master" Sar said with a small bow.


    Shaak Ti chuckled a bit before turning around and heading for the exit.


    "I have business with the council so I shall take my leave, but remember to meet me in the training hall early tomorrow so we can begin your lightsaber training" after seeing you nod she said before she exited the garden "Remember to be patient young one, mastery of the force comes only through understanding it"


    And with those words, she had left.


    Sar mulled over his teachers exiting words before sitting down this time on his knees with his back straight and his hand closed into fists which he laid on his thighs. As soon as he closed his eyes he thought he heard a soft whisper, but ignored it and immersed himself completely in being in tune with the force.


    If only he knew that dark schemes were brewing this very minute, and the role he would play in them.

 3: First Mission

    The Jedi temple was silent as it was early morning and most of the inhabitants were either sleeping or meditating. Well most of them anyway as inside of one of the training hall the distinguishable sound of lightsaber hitting lightsaber resounds.


    The iconic humming of the sabers as they swing through the air and the fizzing like sound of plasma hitting plasma resounds through the hall. Two figures are seen sparring in the center hall. One standing firm in a stance from the Makashi form, the other is using the Ataru form.


    These two individuals were the Jedi Master Shaak Ti and her padawan Sar Landala. While Shaak Ti looked calm and relaxed in her Makashi form Sar looked practically like the dead. Pale face, sweat-soaked robes sticking to his body and his breathing so heavy you would think it was laced with Mandalorian Iron.


    Shaak Ti slightly shifted her form righting her posture before addressing her padawan.


    "You''re still impatient young one. While you have a very good understanding of your form and your lightsaber attacks are well polished. Your urgency and desire for victory makes you predictable and exposes your weaknesses"


    Sar was too tired to respond so all he gave was a weak nod of the head which looked more like the gesture one would make when falling asleep at a desk. Shaak Ti merely smiled and continued with her teachings.


    "Let the force guide you saber, let it help you predict the movement of your foe. Remember Sar the force is not a tool it is an ally it will help you if you only listen to it" Once again his Master shifted her form this time slipping into the form of Soresu.


    "Now come once again and this time listen and let yourself be guided"


    Sar closed his eyes slowly letting the force seep into his body and nourishing his sore muscles and relieve a little of his fatigue. He then righted his form and adjusted his two-handed grip on the lightsaber.


    He just stood there observing his Master trying to glean anything from her yet it almost seemed like she wasn''t even there at all. Taking one final deep breath he sprinted at his master. Using the force to flip over her and try and strike her exposed back.


    The attack failed as without even turning around his master merely put her sky-blue lightsaber over her shoulder behind her back easily blocking the attack, before turning around with enough momentum to catch Sar slightly off guard and try and hit him from the left.


    Sar quickly pulled back his saber and did a quick back-flip away from the fast strike, but before he even landed Shaak Ti had caught up and begun her unrelenting assault. Sar was desperately blocking the heavy blows, the sound of plasma hitting plasma got more and more frequent.


    Sar''s mind was running faster than light speed trying to find a way to get out of the unrelenting assault, and then he remembered what his Master had said and he simply stopped. He stopped thinking about victory or defeat and merely focused on his lightsaber and the force around.


    Shaak Ti felt the immediate change in her padawan and couldn''t help, but let out a small grin of pride. Sar''s combat suddenly changed the parrying of his Masters, attacks while still desperate, became smoother and more refined. He felt like he could ''feel'' his Masters moves before they were even made.


    Sar slowly but surely went on the offensive now using all his mastery of Ataru to its fullest extent. He used the force to enhance his speed and reflexes making more attacks in less time. An attack from the left then a kick followed by a flip and a strike from overhead before quickly parrying and dodging any incoming attacks from his Master.


    He found a kind of rhythm in the battle, and he felt closer to the force than he ever had before. The fatigue he had felt before had all but dissipated, there was only him, his lightsaber, the force, and his foe.


    This went on for a couple of minutes before they got caught in a saber lock. The violent sound of two plasma blades being pushed against each other echoed throughout the room. Sar looked into the eyes of his Master and saw the outline of a small grin on her lips and warmth in her gaze, but he knew that she would not hesitate to plant him firmly in the ground. She had proven that several times in the beginnings of the lesson.


    And it would seem that this time would be no different as she shifted her lightsaber breaking the lock and crouching down low before sweeping the feet out from under him using her strong leg. Sar hadn''t sensed the attack and barely managed to respond to the lock breaking and before he realized it he lost the grip on his lightsaber and fell down his back colliding with the hard stone floor his sight shifted from the front to the sky. He was now laying down on his back gazing at the grey stone dome-like ceiling.


    Lifting his head a tiny bit without moving his tired and sore body he came face to face with the ends of two lightsabers one sky- the other sapphire blue. His Master had probably caught his on her way up from her position.


    Shaak Ti chuckled at the sight of her padawan before turning both lightsabers off and kneeling down beside her worn out apprentice.


    "Quite the impressive display you put on there at the end. Though your inexperience still shows, that will quickly be rectified through our training" Shaak Ti laid Sar''s lightsaber down beside him before holding her arms palms on his chest. As soon as Sar felt her hands touch his chest a warm feeling spread out in the area her hands were touching.


    Force Healing is a technique that many Jedi use though their skill in it varies Shaak Ti is one of the best in the temple even surpassing Yoda in this department. While she was healing the young padawan she continued the conversation.


    "Entering a battle trance is quite the achievement little one, and I can see that the instructors weren''t lying when they said you were incredibly talented in the use of Ataru"


    She stopped injecting force into Sar who sat up into a sitting position as soon as his Master removed her hands. Sar hung onto the concept she had mentioned, so the weird state he had been in was called a battle trance. Something he should probably learn more about at a later date. Sar was once again brought out of his musings by his Master something he felt was quickly becoming a habit.


    "While it is good to focus on one form to specialize in we will need to train you in the other forms as well. It is very important to be able to shift smoothly between the forms, and it always a benefit to know how the forms work if you are ever against an enemy who uses one of them"


    Sar agreed quickly with his Master while he had never really thought about it that way, but the logic behind was as sound as any. Seeing that her padawan agreed she moved onto another subject.


    "So how goes your force training?" She knew it had only been one day, but she needed to keep a record of his progress to review. Sar stood up and attached the lightsaber to his waist as he answered the question.


    "There has not been much progress I have not even been able to lift one of the monoliths yet, however, I was thinking heading over now to continue the training" Sar responded in a calm voice, but could not hide the slight bitterness at his failure to lift even one.


    Shaar Ti merely let out a soft sigh before telling him.


    "Once again there is one thing you tend to forget my padawan. Patience." The last word was said in a strict tone of voice, but without any irritation or reprimand for the young Jedi. Sar nodded quietly in response.


    "Well, I see no reason to keep you any longer. Go train your force abilities" Shaak Ti was just about to head out before she turned around.


    "I almost forgot later this evening meet me outside the council room in the fourth tower it would seem they have a task for us to complete. Do not be late" Finishing that she once again headed towards the door.


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    Sar smiled and said.


    "You know Master for one that keeps reminding me that to be patient you always seem to be in quite the rush"


    Had this been the Sar from yesterday he would never have dared make such a joke at a member of the council, but after getting to know his Master he felt comfortable coming out of his shell a little.


    Shaak Ti stopped in her tracks right before the door because it came as quite a surprise that the quiet boy of yesterday would crack a joke like that. She turned around a little looking down at him before responding with a smile of her own.


    "Hoh? Interesting observation little one yet I do not remember hearing you complain about me rushing through our little sparring sessions"


    A little teasing grin formed on her face, while she had always been serious about her duties she could not see the harm in participating in some light banter with her padawan.


    Sar''s grin froze at the mention of sparing. Hoping he had not just dug his own grave he quickly went on the defensive.


    "Of course Master! Forget I said anything you truly are wiser than me" Sar said it in such a polite tone of voice that Shaak Ti could not help but chuckle a little before turning around and exiting the hall.


    Seeing his Master had left Sar remained for a few more minutes in the training hall, almost as if he was waiting for something, but he quickly snapped out of it and headed to the stone garden to continue his training.


    ***


    Sar was once again sitting in the stone garden in his kneeling meditating position. At the moment he wasn''t trying to lift the monoliths he was merely immersing himself in the feeling of the force.


    As time went on Sar began to hear soft whispers these whispers had come in his meditation last night while he was meditating in his room. Sar knew that these whispers were the dark side trying to seduce him, but his will was strong and soon the whispers faded.


    When the whispers were completely gone Sar began reaching out with the force. He had decided that starting with lifting one of the monoliths would probably yield a better result than trying to lift both at the very start.


    Feeling the distinct feeling of the force around the monoliths Sar began to lift it. There was only one word to describe the task difficult. The monolith was heavy and no matter how much Sar strained he could not lift it more than a millimeter, but soon his strength faded and the monolith dropped popping back into its socket.


    Sar felt frustrated and was just about to try again when he remembered his Master''s teachings.


    "I need to be patient. I can''t control the force I need it to help me willingly" Sar muttered this to himself before closing his eyes once again and entering meditation. This time however he did not focus on the monolith but merely immersed himself in the force. He guided it like it was his own hand towards the monolith, he felt the force surround its structure and while it still felt heavy it wasn''t nearly as bad as before.


    And then, he lifted it.


    Sar slowly opened his eyes and became overjoyed at the sight before his eyes right in front of him was a clearly floating monolith spinning slowly above its socket. Sar once again closed his eyes and slowly lowered it back into its socket.


    Sar opened his eyes stood up from his position before throwing his hands in the air and exclaiming.


    "Woohoo! I did it, take that you overgrown Kyber crystal" A huge grin was spread on his face.


    After a few minutes of celebrating Sar gathered himself once again, but the smile was still clear on his face. That was until he glanced at the time and he turned a bit pale.


    "Oh, kriff! I''m going to be late" Sar quickly force sprinted towards the exit quickly heading towards the council room. Sar knew that if he was late his Master would have his head when they next sparred.


    ***


    Sar was currently standing inside the council room next to his Master. He had just made it on time so he escaped any punishment that his Master might have given out, and while only for a moment he sensed his Master being a little disappointed at this which just made Sar sweat a little more.


    The council room was actually smaller than what one might have expected it was located at the very top of one of the four towers that made up the temple. The room was barren except for the huge windows that made up the walls, and the twelve seats that were placed in a semi-circle along the edges of the room.


    Currently, only five of the twelve seats were occupied and one seat remained open due to the Jedi Master Dooku leaving the order earlier in the year. The five seats that were currently occupied belonged to Master Plo Koon, Master of the Order Mace Windu, Grandmaster Yoda, Master Kit Fisto, and Master Eeth Koth. Normally Shaak Ti would also be seated, but considering that the current subject concerned her padawan she opted to stand beside him.


    Sar had to admit that he was very nervous standing face to face with five of the most powerful members of the order, Grandmaster Yoda was even there for kriffs sake! But he did not show it discipline was a valued trait for all Jedi and he would not shame the teachings in front of the high council.


    Master Yoda opened his mouth and began speaking. The little green powerhouses voice was laced with the calming effect of the force.


    "Welcome young padawan"


    Sar hearing Yoda addressing him respectfully responded.


    "Thank you Master Yoda. It is an honor to be invited inside"


    Yoda let out a little chuckle which sounded like the combination between an old man''s cough and a child''s laugh.


    "Told me about your force training, Shaak Ti has" Yoda made a sound that sounded a bit like clearing his throat "Impressed with your quick understanding of meditation, I am"


    "Thank you Master"


    Yoda continued


    "Strong in you, I sense that the force is" Yoda closed his eyes "Yet impatient in mastering it, you are"


    Sar bowed a little and said.


    "Yes Master I will strive to be more patient in my training"


    Yoda nodded sagely before Master Windu picked up the conversation in a strict tone of voice.


    "Due to your quick understanding of force abilities and your mastery in lightsaber combat the council has deemed it fit for you to accompany your Master on her mission"


    Sar hearing this remained calm but felt very excited at the prospect of his first mission.


    "I understand Master, may I ask what the mission entails?"


    Master Windu nodded slowly before responding.


    "You will be traveling to the planet Eoliv as we have received information about certain dark side activities"


    Sar looked confused.


    "Dark side activities? Sith? "


    Master Windu and the other Masters glanced at each other before nodding and looking over at the young Sar and Master Windu responded.


    "We can not be sure, but we cannot rule out the possibility of Sith ever since Qui-Gonn''s murder"


    Sar just received some shocking new Master Qui-Gonn was killed by a Sith? He was still shocked when Yoda said.


    "Strong on Eoliv, the dark side is. Careful, you both must be"


    Sar and his Master responded at the same time.


    "Yes, Master Yoda" bowing slightly. Master Windu then finished with.


    "We have prepared a ship for you to leave in tomorrow" Seeing that the Master and padawan pair understood Master Windu gestured towards the door "Then this concludes the meeting you may leave young padawan, may the force be with you"


    Sar bowed and responded with a curt "thank you Masters" and headed out of the council room and headed towards his own room. He had to be well rested for his first mission after all.


    Sar headed on his way with a small grin on his face not aware that a dark presence had taken an interest in him.

 4: Disturbing Visions

    Sar had been very excited for his first mission, and while he still was. His initial excitement had quickly been quelled quite a bit as soon as he saw the Starship he would be traveling in.


    The thing was old, bordering on ancient. It was a transport class, and while it was quite big that was pretty much the only thing it had going for it. The ship was designed after a foreign bird called a Swallow. Therefore the wings ran along with the elongated shape of the ship ending in two big engines at the end. The cockpit was raised slightly above the hull and was constructed mainly of metals with a slim window in the middle.


    But make no mistake the ship was basically just a scrap pile, it was so rusted that there was more rust than the original off-white metal color the ship had probably held in its younger years. His Master had already started the engines and activated the deflector shields, so Sar could quite clearly hear the wheezing of the two engines.


    While sitting in the co-pilot chair in the cockpit next to his Master he tried to observe everything he could from it, and everywhere he looked he would either find more rust or tech that was outdated by a few decades.


    Sar worriedly turned to his Master and asked.


    "Master are we sure this piece of hover junk can even get off-world?"


    Shaak Ti turned to look at her concerned padawan before hand-waving his concerns away and starting to enter the coordinates for Eoliv into the navigation system.


    "Not to worry Sar while I wouldn''t count us lasting long in a space battle it will be adequate as a mean of travel to Eoliv"


    Hearing his Master''s carefree reply Sar merely mumbled something along the lines of "Does this thing even have a Hyperdrive?" in a sulky tone.


    Shaak Ti ignored her padawan''s grumbles and exited the atmosphere all the while the ship shook and sputtered in protest from the sudden change in pressure which did not ease Sar''s worries. When the ship entered the vacuum of space she immediately confirmed her coordinates and entered Hyperspace.


    The ship slowly stopped shaking and the motor went silent while the scenery from outside the slim window changed from a world of stars to a narrow tunnel of blue streaks of light.


    Seeing and feeling that the ship had entered Hyperdrive without a problem Sar finally began to relax before leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes, only to be interrupted by the teasing voice of his Master.


    "Faith is also an important trait for a Jedi you really should have a little more in me young Sar"


    Sar opened one of his eyes looking at his mentor.


    "Well I would have more faith if the thing you were going to be flying wasn''t a huge chunk of rust"


    Shaak Ti smiled and responded.


    "Yes, I will agree that this is not the most...Luxurious of Starships"


    Sar opened his other eye and sat up a little straighter in his seat, before switching to a more serious face and asking his Master.


    "Master, what exactly makes the council believe that there is something related to the dark side there?"


    Hearing Sar''s question Shaak Ti also put on a serious face before answering.


    "Well Eoliv has always been under observation by the order, along with a lot of other planets throughout the galaxy" Looking at her padawan''s curious and confused expression she continued "Before their destruction the Sith had plenty of planets under their control which the order keep a close eye on, one of which just so happens to be Eoliv"


    Sar thought it strange to think that long ago the Sith actually controlled whole planets while they were now no more than a scary story. Sar still did not understand one thing.


    "But Master if the council has always known about Eoliv''s history then why are they sending us out now?"


    Shaak Ti nodded a little and answered.


    "Well, while we have always known about their history we have never actually felt a presence on any of the former Sith planets until a few days ago when we got the word about the dark presence on Eoliv"


    Sar finally understood the necessity for this mission and reaffirmed his resolve to accomplish whatever it entailed. Seeing and sensing that Sar had understood the implications of the mission Shaak Ti addressed him.


    "Now, that your questions have been answered I suggest you use the time we are in Hyperspace to meditate" Shaak Ti gestured towards the window in the cockpit "We still got some time before we arrive inside Eoliv space"


    Sar quickly agreed before rising from the co-pilot chair and heading towards the small room in the ship to meditate.


    ***


    Watching as Sar left the bridge Shaak Ti also decided to meditate. She quickly slipped into the quiet and tranquil embrace of the force with practiced ease before reflecting over the past few years.


    A lot had happened from the discovery of the chosen one to Qui-Gon''s death. Also, the possible survival of the Sith was a huge cause for concern while some on the council did not believe it. She had no reason to doubt the word of several Jedi''s and the evidence presented.


    However, the force always worked in balance, proven by the acceptation of her request for a padawan. She had always loved teaching others but had debated whether to actually take an apprentice due to the fact that it would take time away from her duties to the high council, but in the end, she decided that having a padawan to teach would not only strengthen the order but her connection to the force as well.


    And she thanked the force for granting her Sar Landala as her padawan. While at first glance he seemed like a troublemaker the truth was that he was a very well disciplined and intelligent young man. His talent with the lightsaber and force was astonishing and his willingness to learn pleased her immensely. Though he could be quite the cheeky brat at times he seemed to take the Jedi teachings very seriously.


    Yet his impatience was still a cause of worry for her. While he had gotten better had it he was still far too eager to master everything immediately rather than taking it slowly. She had actually wanted to oppose the council''s suggestion that she take him with her on this mission, but she knew that Sar was more than capable enough take accompany her on a scouting mission and that she should not let her feelings get the better of her.


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    Who knows maybe he would learn some patience during this mission.


    Emptying her mind after her little reminiscing. She truly began to meditate. Time passed and she was deeply immersed in the force when suddenly a dark chilling feeling assaulted her. Snapping her eyes open she quickly sprung up from he seat reaching for he lightsaber, only to realize the lightsaber was no longer attached to her waist.


    Looking around in confusion Shaak Ti noticed something troubling. She was no longer standing on the bridge of the transporter but in a world of shadows.


    Everywhere she looked there was darkness however the darkness seemed to be moving almost like completely black smoke floating through the air. While confused and on guard, due to the sudden situation Shaak Ti still remained completely calm. Using the force she tried to see if she could sense something.


    Her force sense caught a faint presence different from the dark world around her. She quickly turned toward the direction of the thing, or rather the person she had sensed. For there stood a robed figure wearing robes even blacker than the world around them, sick yellow eyes gleaming with a sinister glow from under the hood. He or she stood about as tall as Shaak Ti herself but still seemed to somehow tower over her.


    Shaak Ti got into a hand to hand combat position as she felt that the person in front of he had no good intentions.


    "Who are you!"


    Shaak Ti demanded in a strong calm tone of voice that carried her strength in the force with it. The shadowy figure merely ignored the question, only shifting slightly making the shadows around it move slightly. Then the distinct sound of a lightsaber being lighted resounded throughout the darkness. A ruby red blade emerged from the hand of the figure.


    It lifted the hand holding the lightsaber slightly pointing the blade at Shaak Ti, before chuckling in a coarse manner. Shaak Ti could still not glean anything from the figure, and before she had a chance to say anything else, the scenery once again changed.


    She knows found herself on her knees in a little clearing on a planet she didn''t know. It would seem to be some kind of forest however it seemed as if a great battle had taken place with the forest on fire and the grass in the clearing scorched and destroyed. Looking up slightly she once again came face to face with the shadowy figure from before.


    It was standing right in front of her looking down at her with its arms in its robes. She could still not see the face of the figure beneath the robe, only staring into those horrible yellow eyes.


    After a minute of seemingly nothing happening the figure finally removed its hands from its robes. One of them holding a lightsaber. The figure ignited the lightsaber and the sound of humming filled the dead clearing. Slowly lifting the lightsaber up over its head in a two-handed grip it finally spoke.


    "The Jedi have failed!" The hoarse voice clearly belonged to a male, and she had a strange feeling that she had heard it somewhere before. Before she could think any further the figure spoke once again "YOU HAVE FAILED, SHAAK TI!"


    And with that shout of hatred and malice, the ruby red lightsaber was swung down.


    ***


    Sar was in his room meditation when he suddenly felt a sudden disturbance in the force. Quickly opening his eyes he sprung up from his meditation position and sprinted for the bridge. Quickly opening the door and entering he spotted his Master on one knee, her hand on the floor and other holding the side of her head as if she was in pain.


    Quickly running and kneeling beside his Master he grasped her shoulder and utilized what little he knew of Force Healing to ease her pain. Sar asked his Master in a very worried voice.


    "Master?! Master are you okay?! What happened?!" Sar quickly asked what was on his mind in a rapid-fire way. Shaak Ti sent a calming force stream into her worried padawan through the force pathway that Sar was using to heal her.


    "I am fine Sar" Hearing his Masters words and the calming force made Sar relax a little.


    "That''s good" Sar exhaled a relieved sigh before he frowned a bit "What happened, Master?"


    Shaak Ti removed the hand from her head and stood up a bit unsteadily prompting Sar to try and steady her only to be stopped by the palm of her hand.


    "I said I am fine Sar" Her voice was strict meaning that she would not accept his help.


    "As for what happened. I''m not completely sure myself, but it would seem I had a rather disturbing force vision concerning the Sith"


    Hearing his Master''s words Sar''s frown deepened.


    "Should we head back and report to the council?"


    Shaak Ti steadied herself before shaking her head and replying.


    "No, I suspect that the recent dark side activity on Eoliv has something to do with the vision. We will continue our mission and report to the council afterward"


    Hearing his Master''s words Sar wanted to argue out of concern for her wellbeing but he knew that what she said made sense and that the decision would be made based on fear and that was not the Jedi way.


    "I understand Master" So Sar replied as a Jedi would.


    Shaak Ti patted the top of Sar''s head before sitting back down in the pilot seat and gesturing for Sar to take a seat in the co-pilot seat.


    "It would not be wise to continue meditating and risk getting caught in another vision. We should be exiting Hyperspace shortly"


    Sar nodded and took his seat and looked outside of the slim window in thought.


    ***


    A few moments passed and the shaking and wheezing of the ship started up again waking Sar up from his slumber. When he looked out of the window he once again saw the familiar sight of millions of stars in the darkness of space.


    There was just one thing that seemed out place. It was a huge grey planet there wasn''t really anything inherently special about it except for the intense feeling of that bittersweet presence that Sar had come to know as the dark side.


    Sar was dragged out of his immersion, in that feeling he had experienced the very first day of meditation training with Shaak Ti, by his Masters'' voice.


    "Well, Sar there it is. The planet Eoliv" She looked away from the window and over at her disciple who was also looking at her before continuing


    "Or as the archives refer to it...The Planet Of Betrayal"

 5: Where The Past Joins The Present

    "Planet Of Betrayal, Master?" Sar asked with a curious look. Shaak Ti just nodded and said.


    "Indeed that is what the archives refer to it as, though they did not state the reason why"


    Sar sighed a little at his Master''s words. Considering the sinister name of the planet it would probably have been in the Master, padawan duo''s interest to actually know where its namesake came from.


    "Why do I have a feeling we are going to find out for ourselves?"


    Sar said with a little worry laced in his voice. Shaak Ti looked at her padawan and replied.


    "Do not worry padawan whatever of the Sith remain on this planet will be more than a millennium old and will most likely not pose much of a threat to us"


    Sar thought a bit about his Master''s words, but could not quite believe that there would be no threat to them considering the earlier incident when his Master was meditating. Shaak Ti clearly sensed his doubt and began explaining a bit further.


    "Young Sar there is a difference between no threat and no danger. There will most likely be Sith related traps and such but with our abilities, we should be able to overcome them relatively easily. The vision was most likely a method to seed doubt or concern in Jedi"


    Hearing his Master''s wise words Sar realized that he still had much to learn about combat and the force as a whole but he merely responded to his Master''s words with a sincere thanks.


    As their chat had gone on they had finally entered the atmosphere of Eoliv. The surroundings were just as bleak as the planet itself or at least they seemed to be as there wasn''t really much to be seen because of the thick grey mist that seemed to be everywhere on the planet''s surface.


    Shaak Ti closed her eyes a bit to get a sense of where exactly they should be headed. She quite quickly sensed a place where the concentration of the dark side was stronger than the rest of the surrounding areas. She clicked some buttons on the console on the ship while addressing her padawan.


    "We will land here and continue on foot"


    Sar just nodded and began making his way towards the disembarking ramp.


    "I understand Master"


    ***


    The ship had landed and the hissing sound of the locks disengaging from the disembarking ramp sounded out in the mist covered area. Shaak Ti and her padawan stepped out of the ship and onto the planet''s surface.


    Sar immediately noticed that the surface of the planet had much in common with the so-called ''dust'' planets like Tatooine except instead of desserts of sand there were desserts of gravel. The grey stones seemed to be everywhere one looked though admittedly that wouldn''t really be saying much as the thick mist greatly hindered their vision.


    Something that surprised both Sar and his Master was that there seemed to be quite a strong wind yet the mist never seemed to move almost as if something was keeping it in place. Shaak Ti removed her lightsaber from her waist and Sar followed suit. They did not ignite them but were ready to do so at any sign of danger.


    "Keep your guard up padawan. This mist is unnatural and I feel that it is laced with dark powers" Shaak Ti addressed her padawan before beginning to slowly move towards the direction of the anomaly she had sensed.


    Sar followed right beside his Master pushing his force sense to the limit. He would not allow himself to get overconfident and sloppy on this mission.


    The closer they got to their destination the thicker the mist seemed to get. Sar felt like that at any moment the mist could become solid that was how thick it currently. He glanced up at his Master, who if she shared his worries, did not show it.


    It felt like they had walked for hours when suddenly Shaak Ti stopped. Sar saw this and stopped as well but could not feel anything strange except the increase in the dark side''s presence.


    "Master?"


    Shaak Ti did not answer her confused padawan she merely lifted both her arms palms facing in front of her. Sar could see the mist in front of her bend inwards slightly as if something heavy had slammed into it. Shaak Ti then changed her arm posture by turning them so that each of her palms was facing opposite directions. Then as if manually opening a sliding door she began to separate her two arms. It seemed as if she was struggling at first but just a second later she quickly separated both her arms fully in a fluid motion.


    Just as the action finished Sar could hear the whooshing sound of the force passing through his ears and then he saw a huge chunk of the mist in front of him and his Master separate. Now with a clear line of sight Sar finally saw what had made his Master stop, though, from the surprised look on her face she didn''t seem to have expected exactly what they saw.


    In front of them stood a massive pyramid. It was made of some type of shiny black rock with vein-like streaks of glowing red crystal ruining all along the structure. It looked ancient as there were cracks and signs of decay all along the pyramids body and a huge chunk of the top seemed to have been blown off.


    The pyramid practically pulsated with the dark side. The entrance seemed to be a huge ancient gate which depicted two lightsaber dualists fighting. All in all, it practically screamed ''Sith''.


    "Master, is this a Sith temple?" Asked an on-guard Sar


    Shaar Ti kept observing the pyramid while answering her padawan.


    "No, I don''t believe so. From what I can see the structure has more in common with an ancient Sith throne hall"


    Sar looked confused at his Master.


    "Hall? But Master look at the thing it''s huge!"


    Shaak Ti looked at her confused padawan before chuckling a bit.


    "Yes the ancient Sith were said to be quite vain" She looked back to the pyramid "That statement would seem to be true"


    Sar still found it quite strange considering the fact that there were no other buildings around. Who would build a throne hall in the middle of nowhere? But they had a mission so he would have to put his doubts aside for now and focus.


    Shaak Ti, followed by her padawan, began moving toward the gate of the pyramid. Arriving right in front of it they began to study it. Shaak Ti uttered in a slightly impressed voice.


    "This is a force door. It would seem that it was constructed in a way that made it only open for dark side users"


    Sar also focused on the door and felt the distinct feeling of the dark side flowing in an intricate manner through the door.


    "Well, then how are we supposed to get in? As far as I know, neither of us are Sith and I have no interest in becoming one"


    Shaak Ti nodded before answering.


    "You are correct if we had arrived a few millennia earlier we would probably have had no choice but to head back" Shaak Ti lifted her arm and pointed slightly at the door "Now, however? It would seem that the mechanism has decayed quite a bit since its construction"


    Hearing what his Master had said Sar tried to examine the door again with his force sense and realized that she was right. It was as if the dark side that was present in the door was supposed to flow a certain way but there seemed to be something clogging most of the pathways making it impossible for the dark side to move.


    "Master, are you saying we can overwhelm the dark side presence with our own force?"


    Shaak Ti nodded at her padawans words.


    "Very good Sar to be able to sense that shows that your mastery of the force is improving"


    After praising her padawan Shaak Ti waved a lazy hand in front of the door. The doors trembled slightly before the eyes of the battling figures depicted on the door lit up in a sickly yellow light. There was a sound of something clicking and moving past the door before the sound of stone grating against stone sounded out as the door slid open.


    Sar and his Master both peered inside the now opened pyramid but could not see anything as the insides were completely dark. Shaak Ti looked at her padawan before gesturing for him to follow her.


    As soon as they walked over the threshold of the door the sound of stone grating against stone once again sounded out from behind them. Quickly turning on their lightsabers they spun around facing the now closed entrance.


    Seeing as nothing else was happening they once again turned their backs to the door keeping their lightsabers on so that they could navigate in the total darkness.


    "What now Master we''re trapped"


    Whispered Sar to his Master.


    "Yes, this is quite the unfortunate turn of events. Stay close to me Sar we will have to go further in"


    Shaak Ti whispered back while slowly stalking ahead followed by Sar. They did not have to walk far because as soon as they had walked a few steps the room lit up. The quick change from complete darkness to bright light disoriented them a little and quickly fell into their positions getting ready for a fight.


    But once again this proved unnecessary as except for the blinding light nothing else seemed to happen. Easing up a little while still keeping their guard up they began observing the room they were currently in.


    There was only one room. Which they both found strange having constructed such a huge building for only one room but the ancients Sith love for power and status was well known so they guessed it wasn''t that strange. The room''s walls and the floor was made of the same black stone as the rest of the pyramid.


    The room was rather barren with the exception of the torch holders along the walls of the entire room each torch held a bright white gem that brightly shined. The only other thing of note was in the middle of the huge hall. There on top of a small platform stood a huge black and red throne facing the door in which they entered the room.


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    The backrest was about 5 meters tall which made the throne look strange as the seat itself and the armrests seemed to be built like a normal throne. On each side of the throne stood two weird looking droids and seated in the throne itself was a robe-clad skeleton.


    Sar examined the two droids standing at the side of the throne trying to see if he could remember something about them. They looked almost exactly like one of the Magna Guard droid he had once seen accompany one of the senators visiting the temple back when he was still an initiate.


    Except these were much larger easily reaching about three and a half meters in height, and instead of the iron-plated body and the weird looking rag that they wore around their head, these droids were completely exposed. You could see all of their wiring and their circuitry. A further sign that these droids had been here for a long time.


    They stood straight with two-hands on their weapons which looked like the electrostaffs that their younger brothers used except these did not have the electric charges instead each end had a sharp glaive-like blade. The weapons were pointed down and were located in front of their robotic faces making them look like two guardian statues.


    Sar and his Master looked at each other before turning off their lightsabers. They currently sensed no danger and there was no need for light now that the room was so brightly lit, but they still kept their lightsaber hilt in hand ready to be used at any moment.


    As they were walking up to the throne they suddenly sensed something once again igniting their lightsabers they quickly slipped into their stances and this time it paid off as shortly after they had ignited their blades the two droids came to life.


    Their eyes lit up in a blood red light and the sound if rusted metallic joints filled the large room. They slowly removed one of their hands from the spear-like weapon they held having it dangle along their side. They then began moving towards the duo at a slow lumbering pace.


    Sar could not help but make a quick quip at the current situation.


    "So much for there not being anything that could be a threat to us, huh Master"


    Shaak Ti kept glaring at the two droids approaching them while responding to her cheeky padawan.


    "It would seem I have underestimated the technological abilities of the ancient Sith" She then shifted her sight slightly to glance at her padawan out of the corner of her eye "While the situation is unfortunate this might be a good time to test your combat skills. You will take the one on the right while I handle the one on the left"


    "Yes, Master!"


    Sar quickly replied to his Master before strengthening his legs with the force and at the same time as his Master shooting towards his metallic foe.


    As soon as he was in the range of the droid he swung his lightsaber in a vertical manner trying to hit the droids right side. The droid responded immediately by meeting his weapon with its own. Sar was shocked to find out that his lightsaber could not cut through whatever the spear-like weapon was made of.


    The droid made an unnatural motion making its wrist turn a full 360 degrees shaking off Sar''s lightsaber and tried to stab him with one of the ends of its weapon. The strike was fast and Sar could hear the wind splitting around the blade as it came towards his chest but Sar had sensed the attack coming and used the force to jump up into the air.


    While in the air Sar maneuvered his body in such a way that when he landed he did not land on the ground but instead on the shaft of the spear-like weapon that the droid had stretched out in its attempt at stabbing him. Steadying himself with the force he struck down in an arc at the wrist of the robot. Using the fifth lightsaber form, Shien.


    This time with the added power from the form, and the relatively thin metal protecting the wrists, Sar managed to separate both of its wrists from its body. Just before the weapon fell to the ground Sar made a backflip landing a few meters from the droid just as the weapon clattered to the ground.


    The droid made a strange whirring noise its eyes also flickered slightly as if it was wincing because of having its wrist cut off. That fact did not seem to slow it down however as it immediately began charging at Sar.


    Seeing this Sar once again used the force on his legs and began running at the charging droid. His lightsaber was held slightly sideways trailing behind him as he ran. When he sensed that he had closed the distance enough he once again force jumped into the air this time doing a front flip. At the end of his flip he brought his lightsaber into a two-handed grip over his head and right as he felt he was within striking distance of the droid, he used the force to force himself down in a quick manner while at the same time he brought down the lightsaber.


    Sar had timed it perfectly as he soon felt the distinct feel of his lightsaber hitting something solid and the distinct sound of plasma melting metal filled his ears. He had hit the top of the three-meter tall droid''s head and the momentum of the fall had made it possible to cleave right through the middle of the droid''s whole body.


    All this only took a few seconds and Sar soon felt the shock of hitting the stone floor travel through his legs yet he remained firm. The same could not be said for his foe as there was a clear bright orange line going through the middle of it. Its red eyes turning off and on before finally turning off completely. The two pieces of the droid then clattered to the floor.


    Sar sensing that the droid had been destroyed turned off his lightsaber and attached it to his waist.


    "Very well done my young padawan. You show great improvement in your combat abilities"


    Sar turned to look at his Master who stood a few meters from him a proud smile on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. At her feet lay what remained of her opponent though it looked more like a heap of scrap than anything else.


    "Thank you Master" Sar replied before glancing at the pile of scrap at his Master''s feet "What did you do to it? Put it through a trash compactor?"


    Shaak Ti turned towards the throne and gestured for Sar to follow her before she replied.


    "No, not quite. As I have said before the force is a powerful ally for those who know how to wield it" She then began walking towards the throne with Sar at her heels "But enough about that I still feel the strong pull of the dark side and I would venture a guess that the person who this throne belonged to has something to do with it"


    They both walked up to the large throne and began examining it. Shaak Ti began examining the skeleton sitting on the throne while Sar circled around the back of it.


    "Strange, these bones seem to belong to a human male but then what are these horns attached to the skull" Shaak Ti was brought out of her musing by the voice of her padawan


    "Umm, Master? I think I might have found the reason as to why this planet is called the planet of betrayal"


    Shaak Ti joined her padawan at the back of the throne and Sar showed her what he had found. At the back of the throne was a hole which seemed to have been made by a lightsaber. The hole was also a direct parallel to where the person sitting on the throne''s heart would be on the other side of the backrest.


    "Judging from the fact that there seem to be only one entrance it seems highly unlikely that whoever made that hole was an assassin" Shaak Ti circled back around now looking at the front of the throne looking at the hole from the front "Which makes me believe that whoever killed this Sith was someone he knew, probably his apprentice"


    Sar circled around and joined his Master at the front of the throne before replying.


    "So just Sith being Sith, then? That is pretty anti-climactic"


    Shaak Ti frowned a little at hearing the dismissive way her padawan described the situation


    "Betrayal is never simple Sar and while the Sith has a long history of it they are far from the only ones who have experienced it. Betrayal is one of the easiest ways to fall to the dark side it must nev-"


    His Master''s lecture got cut short as both of them sensed a disturbance in the force prompting them to ignite their lightsabers and get ready for a fight. The lights in the room went out and the room became completely dark.


    Sar immediately noticed that something was wrong as the darkness was nothing like it had been when they had first entered the temple. First of all the light that his lightsaber gave out was absorbed by the darkness granting him no vision. Secondly, the darkness seemed to be moving around as if it was actually made of smoke.


    Sar also couldn''t sense his Master anywhere so he tried to call out.


    "Master! Master where are you?!"


    Sar received no response except the sound of his echo resounding through the darkness. Even though he did not know his Master''s location Sar did not panic he steeled himself and gripped his lightsaber a little tighter before pushing his force sense to its limits.


    Sar slowly spun around in place so that he did not leave his back open for too long. Suddenly sensing something he stopped spinning and slipped into Soresu for a firmer defense.


    "I know you are there!"


    Sar yelled into the shadows before pointing his blade forward towards the darkness.


    "Show yourself!"


    As if responding to his command the darkness seemed to part as if making way for something, or rather someone. A silhouette of a figure could be seen inside of the dark smoke-like shadows, two sickly yellow eyes also peered out of the shadows. The shadows parted a little more


    and out stepped a dark robed figure.

 6: Battling A Sith

    Sar stared intensely at the dark robed figure whose body practically vibrated with the powers of the dark side. Sar had never felt anything like while he had plenty of experience with the dark side thanks to his meditation, the presence around the figure felt utterly different.


    While the feeling he usually felt around the dark side could be summed up as the voice of a seductress, sweet and tempting but every word laced with poison, the impression the robed figure excluded was like a freshly sharpened executioners blade ready to behead him at any time.


    Sar was afraid that he could not deny, but he refused to succumb to his fears and prepared to face the unknown foe head-on.


    "Who are you?!" Sar demanded in a firm voice conveying that he was not afraid of the dark force user.


    Hearing Sar''s question, the figure in front of him shook a little, and soon after, a loud and hoarse chuckle escaped from under the persons hood. The chuckle sounded ethereal as if thousands of different voices was chuckling at the same time, their voices echoing in the darkness.


    "Who am I?" the figure repeated the question while slowly walking in a circle around Sar the shadows around him seemed to be slowly following him as he walked.


    "Well, now I am but a mere echo of a past long forgotten, but when I was alive, I was a powerful Sith. My name spread fear and respect in all corners of the galaxy. My name was Darth Marr."


    When he uttered his name, the shadows around him seemed to spike as if his very name injected them with power. The robed figure, now known as Darth Marr stopped circling Sar and Sar stopped as well keeping his blade pointed at the Sith.


    Marr then lifted his arms from his sides and slowly pulled his hood back, revealing his ancient face to the young Jedi. Sar was quite surprised at how normal the Sith Lord looked. The person who stood in front of him looked like a middle-aged man with a full white beard and a head of messy white hair. There was nothing unique about him except the sinister yellow eyes and the two jet black horns in his forehead.


    Marr lowered his arms back down and kept them along his sides. His face then broke out in a grin.


    "The first visitor in over a millennia and its a Jedi how ironic." Marr seemed to find some weird amusement in his earlier statement as the grin never left his face. Sar did not see the humor in the situation and gave the Sith a curt question.


    "What do you want Sith?"


    Hearing Sar''s question the Sith once again began circling him wit Sar following keeping his blade pointed at the Sith at all times.


    "Want? Oh, I don''t want anything, at least not anymore. I merely wish to speak with this generation of young Jedi."


    Hearing Marr''s answer, Sar merely narrowed his eyes. He knew the Sith was lying and was keeping something from him. He would have to play his game for now at least until he found a way out of his current situation.


    "And what would you wish to talk about?"


    Hearing Sar''s question, the Sith''s grin broadened.


    "Let''s talk about your order. Do you believe the Jedi have your best interest in mind?" Marr asked with mirth in his tone. Sar narrowed his eyes at the Sith.


    "I do not care whether or not the order has my best interest in mind. The Jedi are peacekeepers we keep the peace in the galaxy" Sar answered in a confrontational tone.


    "Peacekeepers, you say? I find that hard to believe considering the fact that all the Jedi I knew where all bloodthirsty animals hiding behind their code as a means to get away with their crimes" The grin never left Marr''s face as he gave his reply.


    Hearing the Sith''s blatant insult of the Jedi order incensed Sar, so he quickly yelled back.


    "You lie!"


    Another chuckle escaped the Sith. Speeding up his circling a little, he once again replied.


    "Is that anger I sense young Jedi? Tsk, tsk you should know better after all anger leads to the dark side."


    "Shut up!"


    "The Jedi will never change they are cutthroats and murderers serving only themselves and their search for power, all the while hiding behind their codes and ''noble'' beliefs."


    "Lies!"


    "And yet you can not help but doubt them, can you?! You wonder if you were truly taken into the order to uphold peace or because the order wishes to use you as their tool! The order will betray you along with the one you call, Master!"


    Sar let out a growl of anger and was getting ready to lunge at the Sith force be damned! ''How dare he insult his order! HIS FAMILY! He deserved death.'' And just as he was about to charge he heard a voice that echoed in his mind, ''There is no shame in feeling fear or anger Sar. There is only shame in letting them control you.''


    It was the voice of his Master, and as soon as the voice entered his ears, it was as if Sar was pulled out of a pool of tar, allowing him to think clearly again. It would seem that Marr''s dark powers had a more significant effect on him than he had initially thought, having enhanced his feelings of anger.


    Sar allowed a confident grin to surface on his face as he continued following the circling Sith with his lightsaber.


    "I will be betrayed, you say? That''s hilarious coming from you considering the fact that you were literally stabbed in the back by your apprentice maybe you should change your name to Darth Moron?"


    Sar had clearly hit a nerve as Marr stopped circling him and the grin faded from his face his yellow eyes narrowed in evident anger.


    "You should watch your tongue young Jedi." While Marr was replying, he had put his right hand into his left sleeve, pulling out the hilt of a lightsaber from it. "You never know what kind of trouble it will get you in."


    Sar tensed greatly at the sight of the lightsaber he could feel that the Sith Lord was significantly weakened due to his current status as a force specter, but he was under no delusion that he would be able to face the Sith alone.


    "I will give you one chance Jedi, join me as my new apprentice and I shall grant you power beyond your wildest imagination" The grin had returned to Marr''s face, but it did little to mask the anger in his voice.


    Hearing Marr''s offer Sar got into his Ataru form and pressed his force abilities to the very limits.


    "I will never live as a Sith!"


    Marr broke out into hysterical laughter igniting his lightsaber where a blood red blade sprung out, before charging at Sar while yelling.


    "Then die as a JEDI!"


    Sar was surprised at how fast the Sith was as not more than a moment had passed before the Marr was upon him swinging his lightsaber down at him. Sar quickly blocked the blade and felt the heavy strike hit his lightsaber the sound of plasma hitting plasma resounding throughout the darkness.


    Marr gave him no time to rest as he quickly followed up with strike after strike Sar managing to block them by the skin of his teeth and by the grace of the force. The bright sparks that came from where the lightsabers hit each other seemed to cut a little of the darkness away as if the intense heat from the battle between two force users scared it.


    Sensing that he was getting nowhere, Sar decided to be a little bold so the next attack from Marr that he blocked he turned into a lightsaber lock the familiar sound of fizzing plasma grated at his ears. As soon as the lightsaber lock was started Sar used all the strength in his arms to push his lightsaber forward, making the unsuspecting Sith stagger a little backward. Which he quickly took advantage of by delivering a swift kick to Marr''s stomach.


    Marr let out a grunt of pain while sliding a small distance backward. Sar used this opportunity to take some distance from the Sith by using the force to jump back, landing a few meters from the Sith.


    Marr removed the hand he had placed on his stomach before letting out a guttural growl of anger the dark side around him, getting further strengthened by his increasing rage. He deactivated his lightsaber and brought up both his arms both arms outstretched with the palms facing the Jedi standing a few meters away from him.


    Sar instantly felt the power of the force pushing against him, quickly raising his own arms in the same manner he tried to resist with his the power of his force, but Marr was much stronger than him, and it proved little more than a slight delay before Sar felt the force slam into him sucking the air from his lungs and throwing him backward making him hit the stone floor with the back of his head.


    Seeing that the Jedi was laying on the floor, disoriented Marr began sprinting at him before jumping into the air preparing to strike him from above. Sensing danger approach Sar forced himself to get up into a crouching posture just in time to block the red lightsaber coming from above.


    Marr seemed to hang in the air, continuing to push his blade down towards the young Jedi. Sar quickly removed his left hand from his lightsaber while he kept blocking the Sith''s attack. Using the force, he pushed forward with his left hand effectively throwing Marr backward, but he merely used the momentum of the force to complete a backflip landing on his feet in his original position a few meters from Sar.


    The moment of respite from the Sith''s unrelenting attacks allowed Sar to stand up although a bit shakily before righting himself and slipping back into his Ataru stance. The Sith Lord seemed to be enjoying himself as the grin had returned to his face, and he was currently playing with his lightsaber spinning it lazily around.


    "It would seem I underestimated you young Jedi. Are you sure you would not join me? You would make a powerful Sith."


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    Sar did not respond to Marr''s taunt; he just kept staring at him with a determined gaze.


    "Hmmm? I grow bored of this farce as well. I will put an end to it then!"


    Seeing as Sar did not respond to his taunt Marr once again charged at him. This time Sar did not wait for the Sith and charged the Sith as well. And soon the two figures collided.


    As soon as their lightsaber hit each other, the darkness around them was pushed away because of the force flowing around them. The battle took a fast pace as strike after strike was struck at their opponent ¡ª the sound of lightsabers burning the air around them and colliding filled the room.


    The battle almost looked like dancing: Parrying, turning around, striking left, then right, stabbing at the opponent and then using a flip to get out of range. Sar was using the Ataru form so his strikes were fast and his movement nimble while Marr used a form he did not recognize but greatly favored powerful strikes.


    This fast-paced fight lasted about a minute before they both entered another lightsaber lock this time however it was Marr using his strength to push his lightsaber against Sar''s. Forcing him down into a kneeling position with one leg straight on the floor and the other one bent slightly down. Past the two fizzing blades, Sar could see those two yellow eyes looking down at him.


    Sar could sense something, something he had never sensed before. Sar could sense his death approaching.


    ***


    Shaak Ti had once again found herself in the dark world she had been transported to while meditating on the ship. She once again found herself without a lightsaber. She tried to find Sar, but she could no longer sense.


    She forced herself to bury the feelings of worry and guilt that were quickly taking root in her mind. Thoughts like: Why had I taken him with me, or is he okay? Were swiftly buried and swept away by her will.


    There was nothing she could do at the moment, and those thoughts would only make her sloppy. She tried to see if something was changed, but except for the clear absence of the robed man that had been present last time, everything else seemed the same.


    She was just about to begin exploring to find a way out when suddenly the shadows around her began to move and twist her vision shook, and then she found herself somewhere she knew very well.


    In front of her stood the Jedi temple; however, it was immediately clear that there was something wrong. Three of the temples four towers was caught in flames, and the fourth was destroyed beyond recognition.


    Around her were the corpses of the Jedi she knew from the temple Jedi padawan''s, knights and Masters alike. She wanted to check on them to see if even one of them were still alive, but she could sense that should she do so she would be lost.


    So, she let the force guide her and began walking towards the main temple gates even though every step felt like a thousand she kept moving. She had to find a way out of here and find her padawan and the force was telling her that whatever laid beyond those gates would allow her to leave.


    Arriving in front of the gates Shaak Ti used the force to push them upon revealing what should have been an entrance hall but was instead a massive wall of grey mist the same as what had surrounded Eoliv. Shaak Ti knowing she had no other options, walked through it while surrounding herself with a thin layer of the force.


    After having walked in blindness for a bit, Shaak Ti arrived in another room this time it was the room used to train the younglings in the ways of the force. Except the room looked now as if a battle had taken place the furniture was overturned or destroyed there were marks of a lightsaber along the walls and on the thick red carpet lay the corpses of dead younglings.


    Great sorrow and despair filled Shaak Ti as she observed the room. She felt the dark side creeping all over her body, trying to force her over to it. She kept circling the light side through her keeping the feelings of despair at bay.


    Forcing her sight from the dead younglings, she turned her gaze to a dark corner of the room. Where she once again faced the mysterious robed man she had encountered earlier. He stood with his left side to her, his red blade held in his right hand pointed down towards the floor. His head was bowed slightly as if he was looking down at something.


    Following his line of sight, Shaak Ti saw what he was looking at, something that even brought the powerful Jedi Master to her knees, for at his feet laid her padawan, Sar Landala. Sar''s lifeless eyes were staring listlessly at the ceiling of the room. Probably sensing Shaak Ti''s despair, the man turned towards her the veil of darkness still covering his face and the same evil yellow eyes staring at her. He slowly stalked toward her with his lightsaber still held at his side.


    Shaak Ti didn''t seem to care her sight locked onto the corpse of her padawan. All the feelings she had kept at bay came crashing into her, guilt, fear, rage it all came rushing back. She could hear the dark side whispering to her promising her the power to save them. All the while, the man was slowly getting closer to the falling Jedi.


    Shaak Ti was just about to reach out to the dark side when she suddenly had another vision. This time she wasn''t in the dark world but the stone garden back in the temple. She remembered this scene it happened during the second week of Sar''s force training he had once again failed to lift both of the force monoliths and had gotten frustrated and walked off.


    She had found him on a balcony overlooking the city he was leaning on it looking out over the city. She had walked up next to him before asking.


    "I sense impatience and doubt in you young padawan. Why do you insist on mastering everything in but a moment?"


    Sar snapped his head towards his Master before exclaiming.


    "Because I''m weak! How am I supposed to help anyone if I can''t even lift two kriffin rocks?!" Sar let out a weary sigh before once again turning his gaze to the city. "I just feel so helpless, Master."


    Shaak Ti stared at her padawan for a while before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder before turning her gaze to the city as well.


    "There are plenty of forms of strength. Wisdom, compassion, and bravery these are the strengths that help us in our darkest of moments. Patience will be needed to master the force but do not mistake that as weakness my young padawan."


    Sar looked up at his Master before a smile broke out on his face.


    "Then it would seem you have found your answer to your question Shaak Ti."


    Before Shaak Ti could question the strange answer, Sar had given her she was pulled back out of the vision and once again found herself inside the world of shadows. The robed man had gotten significantly closer and was almost upon her; she could now hear the humming of his blade as he approached.


    Shaak Ti slowly gathered herself and began standing up. The robed figure stopped widening his eyes in surprise and slight fear as he slowly took a few steps back.


    Shaak Ti ignored his surprise and bent her knees slightly closed her eyes and stretched out her arms on either side of her body fingers facing upwards and palms facing the walls of the room. The sound of the force flowing around her got louder and louder the air around her seemed to vibrate with power.


    Then she opened her eyes. The sound of the force being released was deafening almost like a contained explosion it moved like a transparent wave washing away everything in its path the furniture, carpeted floors, and even the robed man was washed away by its power and momentum.


    And then the world around her shattered.


    ***


    Sar and Marr were still locked in their positions. Sar knew it was only a matter of time before the Sith got through his defense and ended him so in a last attempt he used all of the force around him and used it for one final push. It worked somewhat as he broke the lock they had been in however due to the fatigue from the previous bout and him just using the force he did not manage to entirely block Marr''s follow up strike which glided along his lightsaber slicing through the tendons in his shoulder.


    Sar screamed out in pain as his right arm fell lifelessly along his side, making him drop his lightsaber which turned off before clattering to the ground. He tried to punch the Sith with his left hand, but before he could even lift his arm Marr force blasted him in the chest, flinging him across the room before he landed on his back.


    Sar tried to get back up, but he couldn''t move he could only lay there gasping for air as three of his ribs had been broken from the force blast. After a few seconds, Sar felt even greater pain in his chest, making him scream out in agony as Marr had placed a heavy booted foot on his broken ribs.


    The Sith was grinning wickedly while looking down at his defeated foe. He shifted his lightsaber into a two-handed grip pointing the tip of the blade downwards aiming directly at Sar''s heart before lifting it over his head getting ready to drive it through.


    And just when Sar sensed the attack coming, the Sith Lords eyes widened turning his gaze to the left, right before a transparent wave slammed into him flinging him away from Sar allowing Sar to once again gasp for air with the weight from his chest removed.


    Through his blurry vision, he seemed to be able to see that he had returned to the brightly lit throne room. Sensing something Sar used the remainder of his strength to turn his head to the right where he saw the one person he respected more than anything in the galaxy.


    "Master" Sar managed to utter before the relief of unconsciousness took him.

 7: The Lesson Learned From Death

    Shaak Ti blinked a couple of times as the bright lights from the throne room assaulted her eyes. She adjusted to the light just in time for her to see the force wave she had created slamming into a middle-aged man flinging him across the room.


    Shifting her sight to whatever the man had been standing on, she spotted her beaten padawan managing to hear his soft gasping breath before he slipped into unconsciousness. Sensing the state of her padawan filled her with rage, but she got those feeling under control quickly. She ignited her sky-blue lightsaber and got into a fighting form facing the prone form of the man she had thrown across the room.


    Marr quickly got up from his prone position growling in pain and anger while getting up, his yellow eyes seeming to glow with the power of the dark side. Coming face to face with his new opponent Marr could immediately sense that this Jedi was on a completely different level than the one he had faced a few moments ago.


    "Ah, you must be the boys Master" The grin from his face was gone, and he was now fully focused on Shaak Ti "It is a shame that you fought so hard only to watch him die."


    Shaak Ti did not let herself be angered by the Sith Lord''s clear taunt. Instead, she replied to him in a calm and leveled voice.


    "You speak with the assumption that you are going to get past me Sith."


    "No, I speak with the certainty that I am going to kill you." The Sith replied with venom on his tongue. Shaak Ti merely twirled her lightsaber around before pointing it at the Sith and declaring.


    "You may have stood a chance at killing me back when you were alive, but now you are nothing more than a specter of the past preserved by the powers of the dark side."


    This statement seemed to anger the Sith Lord as he screamed out in unbridled rage before charging at Shaak Ti. She quickly followed suit charging at him as well. The two clash right in front of the throne sending the sound of their lightsabers hitting each others echoing out across the room.


    This was the start of a battle that went way beyond what Sar had experienced. Here there was no holding back as both force users pushed their skills to the limit. The sound of two lightsabers hitting each other seemed to sound out every few seconds. They swung right the swung left they struck from above and below. They spun the lightsabers behind their backs to confuse the opponent before trying to hit them from another angle. They used the force to retreat. To push, pull, or lift their opponent.


    This duel took many minutes before it finally reached its climax. Shaak Ti blocked a heavy blow from her opponent but right when she was about to strike back Marr force pushed her back. She managed to steady herself with the force but still slid back until the back of her legs hit the seat of the throne.


    The Sith Lord was quick to pursue her already having closed the distance between them quite a bit. It was at this moment that Shaak Ti had an idea. She quickly spun around, jumping onto the seat of the throne before running up along the backrest. Marr''s lightsaber struck down precisely at the same time as Shaak Ti began running up the backrest, barely missing her and slicing through the seat of the throne and some of the backrest.


    Shaak Ti sat off from the backrest going into a backflip with the help of the force before landing on her feet right behind the Sith. Marr was quick to respond quickly, turning around to block whatever attack awaited him, but he was too late. As soon as he turned around Shaak Ti circularly spun her lightsaber managing to cut off both of Marr''s hands sending them and his lightsaber to the floor.


    Before the Sith Lord even had a chance to register the loss of his hands and weapon, Shaak Ti followed up with another attack this time slicing across both his thighs, sending him into a kneeling position. As soon as his knees hit the stone floor, Shaak Ti plunged her lightsaber into his chest, making the Sith widen his eyes and let out a soft trembling breath.


    Pulling out her lightsaber, she spun it around again before turning it off and attaching it to her waist. Looking down at the now defeated Sith she noticed that black smoke seemed to be coming out of all of the wounds she had inflicted and that Marr''s skin seemed to slowly crack and let out more of the dark smoke.


    Marr let out a burst of pained laughter before addressing his soon-to-be killer.


    "Well, it would seem I am the one who underestimated you Jedi." Marr let out a burst of wheezes and coughs. "Though my death will not help your Order. You. Have. Changed. Nothing!"


    Marr broke out into hysterical laughter though, coughs and wheezes interrupted him between laughs. Shaak Ti frowned before saying.


    "I will not be swayed by the illusions created by the dark side!"


    "Ilussions? No little Jedi...merely...the...future." And with those last words, the Sith Lord Darth Marr burst into black smoke which dissipated soon after.


    Shaak Ti paid no heed to the Sith''s lies and began rushing over to her Padawan she had just taken a few steps when the pyramid around her began to violently tremble the lights on the wall flickering on and off.


    "What is with this planet and its love for sudden dangers?!" Mumbled Shaak Ti in annoyance before she quickly rushed over to her Padawan slinging him over her shoulder before using the force on his lightsaber pulling it towards her and grabbing it in the air then attaching it to the other side of her waist.


    She then began rushing towards the doors they had entered from, all the while cracks had formed in the stone floor, and pieces of the ceiling was coming crashing down around her. Dodging falling debris while carrying a person on your back might have been hard for an ordinary person, but for a Jedi, it was nothing more than a slight inconvenience.


    Shaak Ti nimbly dodged the falling stones before spotting the door a couple of meters in front of her. Seeing as the door was still closed, she gathered as much force power as she could into the hand not keeping her Padawan on her shoulder before she pushed it forward releasing the gathered force, blasting the stone doors open with ease and letting in the sunlight from outside.


    She ran until she sensed that they were a good distance away before she turned around to face the crumbling structure with her Padawan still on her shoulder.


    It was clear to see that the release of the dark powers that inhabited the planet had caused the pyramid to begin decaying. The red vein-like crystals that ran along the body of the pyramid had turned entirely black blending in with the rest of the building. Cracks were spreading along the pyramid''s body at a pace noticeable for the naked eye.


    It took but a few moments before the building began caving in on itself reducing the once impressive structure into a ruin. After having confirmed the destruction of the building, she then lowered her Padawan down from her shoulder, gently placing him on the ground.


    Using Force Healing on his chest to mend his ribs and heal the bruising. Although she could completely heal him, she still had to get him to a medical droid. Exhaling a sigh of relief once she heard her Padawans steady unlabored breathing Shaak Ti began to notice that something was different about Eoliv.


    It wasn''t that hard to notice since all of the mist that had been there when they had first arrived on the planet was gone ¡ª allowing one to get a clear view of the seemingly unending gravel dessert they currently found themselves in.


    Shaak Ti allowed herself a few minutes of rest to gather her thoughts before deciding it was time to head back to the ship. She needed to report her and Sar''s findings to the High Council back on Coruscant. She once again put her unconscious Padawan on her shoulder before beginning the short walk back to the ship.


    Arriving back at the ship she lowered the boarding ramp which made a ''hiss'' sound before slowly lowering down. Just as she was about to step onto the ramp, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. There, right beside the ramp was a tiny patch of grass, a speck of green in an ocean of grey.


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    Shaak Ti smiled at the sight before heading up the ramp boarding the ship, handing over her Padawan to the medical droid, turning on the engines and deflector shields before leaving the planet''s surface and atmosphere.


    ***


    Sar awoke with a splitting headache and sore body. He could feel bright light shining onto his face through his closed eyelids. He slowly opened his eyes only to close them again quickly as the bright lights stung his eyes and worsened his headache. Waiting a few minutes, he tried again this time starting by squinting adjusting to the light before he fully opened them.


    He seemed to be currently laying on his back, looking straight up at a bright lamp shining down at him. He used his arms to lift himself into a sitting position with his back placed against the wall behind him, before looking around the room.


    He realized that this was the med-bay on the ship they had used to get to Eoliv. The room was small, with only a single bed, a few medical instruments, and an operating table. Sar was just about to get off the bed when a mechanical voice interrupted him.


    "You have awakened Master Jedi this is good news."


    Sar looked to the right casting his gaze on the medical droid that stood a little distance away looking at him. The droid was a standard 2-1B medical droid most ships had them. This one looked the same as the rest. It''s head looked kind of like a skull with what looked like a microphone at its mouth. It had a human-like shape, though its chest was formed a bit like a thin barrel.


    "How bad shape was I in" While Sar was asking he put a hand to his forehead and began massaging it to try and relieve some of the headache.


    "You had mild bruising on the chest and a cracked rib, I also had to perform surgery on your shoulder to reconnect the severed tendons" The droid slowly turned around going back to fiddling with something. "You should be able to move around, but I recommend not doing any strenuous activities with your right arm for a while."


    Sar just nodded, even though the droids back was turned before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and heading to the bridge.


    Opening the door and stepping onto the bridge, Sar felt the presence of his Master sitting in the chair. Shaak Ti turned around, smiling at the sight of her Padawan before throwing him his lightsaber while saying.


    "It would seem you lost something."


    Sar caught the thrown lightsaber with his left hand and attached it to his waist before making his way over to the co-pilot seat and dropping down onto it with a grunt. Sar just sat there staring out the window looking at the passing blue streaks outside before he opened his mouth and said.


    "I almost went over to the dark side" Sar looked down in shame after saying that.


    Shaak Ti merely raised an eyebrow at her Padawans declaration before answering.


    "What is your point, Padawan? I sense that you remain on the side of the light."


    "Perhaps, but I was tempted!" Sar exclaimed before lowering his voice and continuing. "I tried telling myself that it was Marr''s influence, but now I am not sure."


    Shaak Ti looked at her depressed Padawan before shaking her head and replying.


    "We all get tempted by the dark side Sar. You, Me, even Master Yoda. While anger and pain both lead to the dark side, it is love and the wish to protect others that lead most Jedi astray." She looked into her Padawans. "It is our ability to resist these temptations and keep moving according to our beliefs that make us Jedi."


    Hearing his Master''s words seemed to make something click inside Sar''s head. He quickly closed his eyes, trying to immerse himself in this sudden feeling of enlightenment. The force danced around him, and he felt his body vibrate with its power. Sar smiled at his Master and replied.


    "I understand now, Master."


    Shaak Ti smiled back at her Padawan.


    "That''s good then. You should get some rest Sar we still have a bit of time before we arrive in Coruscant and I will need you well rested when we report to the Council about our findings."


    Sar nodded, closed his eyes, and drifted off. This time willingly.


    ***


    Sar and his Master stood beside each other in the middle of the Council room, a heavy atmosphere hung in the air as they had just finished their report. There was, however, an additional Master was present; Master Adi Gallia.


    Yoda was the first to break the silence.


    "Powerful in the shadows, the dark side has grown, troubling, this news is." Picking up after Yoda Master Windu spoke.


    "This Darth Marr, did he leave any clues as to why he had decided to appear?"


    "No, he did not seem to really know himself, though it may have something to do with the sudden appearance of a Sith." Shaak Ti responded. Windu frowned at the mention of the Sith.


    "Obi-Wan killed him on Naboo. He no longer poses a threat." He looked like he was about to continue but was cut off by Master Yoda.


    "Coincidence, this may be, but sensed the dark side grow, we have." Yoda closed her eyes. "A disturbance in the force, I sense. Meditate further on this issue, I must."


    After that, there were a few more words exchanged before Sar left the Council room with his Master. They walked a little down the hallway before Shaak Ti addressed her Padawan.


    "Go meditate in the garden I sense that your strength in the force has grown considerably since we left Eoliv. We will focus on your force training until your shoulder is healed."


    Sar agreed to his Master''s walking beside her towards the garden.


    ***


    It had been a week since Sar had returned from Eoliv. He was currently sitting in a kneeling position in the stone garden two force monoliths floating in front of him. Sar exhaled a soft breath before focusing on the third monolith. Slowly but surely it started to float upwards before it was at the same height as the rest of them.


    Sar''s eyes were tightly closed, his forehead creased and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He managed to hold the three monoliths for about a minute before his eyes snapped open, making them drop back into their sockets with a soft thump.


    Sar exhaled slowly wiping the sweat from his forehead before standing up and heading towards the training hall to meet his Master.


    Entering the hall and jumping down the small hole in the center, he came face to face with his Master who stood with her arms in her Jedi robes waiting for him.


    "Your mastery over the force has grown my Padawan, and now that your shoulder is healed I will once again begin training you in lightsaber combat." She removed her arms from her sleeves, revealing that she held her lightsaber in her right hand. "Now after I have finished beati- I mean sparring with you we will expand your force abilities."


    Sar frowned at the sparring part but got quite excited at the mention of furthering his ability in wielding the force. Sar had felt just how important such abilities was in his battle against Marr.


    "Is that arrogance I hear Master? Now that is no way for a Jedi to behave." Sar jabbed back at his Master before turning on his lightsaber and getting into his Ataru stance.


    "Not arrogance Padawan, wisdom." Shaak TI replied back smiling as she lit her own lightsaber and got into her own stance.


    The two force users used the force to close the distance quickly. Sar and Shaak Ti collided in the middle their lightsabers pushing up against each other a grin on each of their faces.


    Needless to say, the two had both grown on their mission to Eoliv, and the Master and apprentice were closer than ever before.


    Though Sar still got beaten to the ground before he even had a chance at hitting his Master.

 8: Young Jedi Meets Politics

    Steady steps sounded out in one of the many halls in the Jedi Temple. The sun shone through the window panes along the corridor, lighting up the hallway in bright orange light. Outside you could see the bustling Galactic City.


    A young man was currently walking through the hallway. His dark red hair was tied up in a ponytail, and his light-blue eyes seemed to contain the hint of a smile. He walked with his back straight and excluded a warm presence. Along the way, he was politely greeted by the different people walking by.


    This young man was, of course, Sar Landala, Padawan to Shaak Ti. It had been three years since the events on Eoliv and the little twelve-year-old boy had grown into a young man. The events that transpired had made Sar well known both within his Order and the Galactic Republic.


    During these three years, the Dark Side had continued to grow. Every Jedi could feel it clouding their senses during meditation, and this had the whole Order on edge though none would admit it.


    While there was nothing that could currently be done about the slowly approaching Dark Side, his Master still sought to prepare him for the probable danger that was to come. That was why during these last three years he was not only trained in all the lightsaber forms, though he still excelled at Ataru the most, but was also further trained in the ways of the Force.


    During the first few lessons, Sar had quickly realized that there was much more to the Force''s capabilities than he had formerly been aware of. There were many different ways to use the Force; these abilities was narrowed down into three categories.


    The first category was called Control. This was something he had been taught all the way back at when he was still an initiate. As control was the first lesson, all Jedi must be taught. These Force abilities were used to better open your mind to the Force and control your body. Some of the Force abilities belonging to this category was namely, Force Healing and Force Concealment.


    The second category, which was also the first that Sar was taught by his Master, was called Sense. These lessons were to teach Sar how to broaden his understanding of his Control abilities. Mastery of Sense was an essential part of becoming a Jedi Knight as these abilities allowed the Jedi to be in tune with the Force at all times.


    The third and last category was called Alter. This was also considered the most dangerous category and was only taught to Jedi Knights who had mastered Control and Sense. Alter abilities, were the abilities which used the Force to alter the world around them. Some stumbled upon these by accident while others created their own Alter abilities.


    The Alter category was further split into three: The Light Side, The Dark Side, and neutral abilities.


    The Light Side was of course practiced by the Jedi who used abilities to protect, defend, or heal others. Though records of many of these powers were lost during the wars with the ancient Sith, there were still examples of many of the abilities.


    The Dark Side was of course practiced by the Sith, and almost every single one of their powers were designed to dominate, maim, or kill their opponents. Though almost nothing is really known about the specific abilities the Sith used, back when they were still roaming the galaxy, it is said that the most powerful Sith Lord''s could use the Force to bend any person to their will.


    The neutral abilities are of course abilities that any Force user can use. These are also the most commonly used by today''s Jedi as the training methods for many of the more advanced abilities were lost. The more advanced versions of Force push such as Force Wave, which Shaak Ti had used back on Eoliv, and Force Repulse belonged in the neutral category.


    Sar had been surprised about how much he had not yet been aware of in regards to the true scope of the Forces powers and while he had not yet mastered Control and Sense he was close and was fast approaching the day in which he could undertake the trials to become a Knight.


    As he finished his reminiscence of his training these last three years, he arrived in front of the door to the High Council Chamber. Wiping the smile off his face and standing even straighter he used the Force to open the door and stepped inside.


    The chamber had not changed at all during these few years, and no Jedi had been selected to the High Council leaving only eleven out of the twelve seats filled. Sar stood in the middle under the eleven Jedi Master''s keen eyes. Sar quickly addressed them.


    "You summoned me Master''s?" Sar bowed a little, and his voice was filled with respect.


    Yoda made that little humming sound before he spoke.


    "Yes, young Padawan, speak to you, we must" Yoda smiled a little and continued "Powerful in the Force, you have grown, a fine Jedi, you are."


    "Thank you for your praise Master" While Sar was calm on the outside he was practically giddy on the inside getting praise by Master Yoda is no small thing after all.


    Probably sensing the young Jedi''s true thoughts, Yoda just chuckled before Master Windu took over in his stern no-nonsense tone of voice.


    "Yes your progress in the Force is astounding, and your commitment to the Jedi teachings is indeed worthy of praise." Windu shifted slightly in his seat, leaning forward a bit more. "But we have other things to discuss."


    That statement seemed to cause a ripple effect as all of the other Master now wore a serious expression.


    "High Chancellor Palpatine has specifically requested your presence."


    That statement left Sar quite confused. ''High Chancellor? What would the man in charge of most of the Republic Senate want with me'' such thoughts went through his brain, but before he had chance to voice it his Master, Shaak Ti spoke.


    "It would seem he needs a Jedi for an assignment and considering our alliance with the Republic and the fact that most of the other Jedi have other duties to attend, he asked for you."


    This just left Sar even more confused. While he knew that they were allied with the Republic and defended it, he did not realize how intimate the relationship was.


    "Master, are you saying that I will be going on some mission alone?" Sar asked, confused.


    "Yes, that will be the case." Shaak Ti nodded.


    While Sar did not know how to feel about the revelation of how deeply connected the Order was to the galaxies politics, on one hand, it made sense to be involved with the governing entity of so many systems, on the other hand, it felt like a conflict of interest. They were supposed to uphold peace in the galaxy not run around doing errands for politicians.


    Sar quickly snapped out of that train of thought. He would not doubt his Order that would only lead him to the path of destruction, so he buried his doubt and answered the Jedi Council.


    "I understand. I will go and meet him now." Sar answered in the affirmative looking past everything else a solo mission would be a good way to further train himself in the Force.


    "Thank you, young Padawan and may the Force be with you," Windu responded.


    Sar nodded and bowed to the rest of the Council before leaving through the door and heading for the Chancellor''s office.


    ***


    Sar was seated in front of a large desk inside of the High Chancellors office. Behind the desk sat the High Chancellor Sheev Palpatine himself. Sar had seen Palpatine before as he often times came with the Jedi Masters to the temple. Though it may seem weird for a politician to take an interest in the Orders affairs, considering the relationship between the Order and the Senate it made sense.


    The Jedi were essentially the Republics last, and most powerful defense against enemies. Although there had been peace in the galaxy for many years now, so most people did not realize that the Jedi held such a role.


    While Sar did not like politics or the people doing them, he could not deny that they were important for the continuation of the current peace. He also couldn''t help but have a favorable opinion of the High Chancellor himself. Though he often wore expensive and luxurious robes, he never gave the impression of serving his own interest. Sar had heard of the many things he had done to make sure that peace remained within the galaxy.


    "Master Jedi, it is an honor to meet you." Sar was brought out of his thoughts by the kind voice of the man in front of him. As to not be rude, he quickly responded.


    "The pleasure is all mine Chancellor, although I am no Master I shall do my best to meet your expectations."


    Palpatine smiled at Sar''s words before standing up from his chair and heading over to the large window behind his desk. He looked over his shoulder and gestured for Sar to stand next to him. Sar quickly stood up and went up beside him.


    "Beautiful, isn''t it? The city, I mean." Palpatine asked in a quiet voice.


    "Yes, it is quite something Chancellor." Replied Sar in a calm voice.


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    "I have fought my whole life so that people can continue to enjoy this sight in peace throughout the whole galaxy." Palpatine''s eyes hardened a bit. "However, there are those who seek to destroy this peace and all that we have built."


    Sar could sense the frustration and anger coming from the Chancellor as he mentioned that last part.


    Sar knew what the Chancellor was talking about. When you have lived in peace for so long, you forget how it was like when there weren''t peace the thing that is common among all sentient lifeforms sets in greed.


    Greed for credits, status or fame all of these things spreads like cancer, even reaching parts of the Republic. These people were only interested in lining their own pockets; everything else be damned. Palpatine turned his gaze from the city and looked at the Jedi next to him.


    "What do you know about the Hutt''s, my boy?" Sar raised an eyebrow at the sudden question but responded quickly.


    "Well, I know that they are the largest crime family in all of the galaxies and that multiple planets are under their control." Palpatine nodded at the answer before he added on.


    "Yes, that is indeed correct. The Hutt''s are infamous for their role in the black market and the slavery business, but let me ask you something else why are they still allowed to run rampant even though we know of their crimes?"


    The Chancellors question did make Sar think. Why had no one done anything? While the Hutt''s were powerful they wouldn''t stand a chance against the Republic to say nothing of the Order, which brought another question to Sar''s mind, why had his Order not done anything to stop the Hutt''s.


    "I-I don''t know Chancellor," Sar said with shame. Palpatine placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before saying.


    "There is nothing to be ashamed of my boy. Few in the Senate know and even fewer bothers to ask. The straightforward reason is that many of the Senators within the Senate deals with the Hutt''s."


    "But they are part of the Republic why would they deal with criminals?!" Sar exclaimed in disbelief.


    "Why would anyone ally with criminals? If not to line their pockets with more credits." Palpatine shook his head as he said this.


    Sar was actually shocked. Palpatine had opened his eyes to how naive he had been. He had thought that all the people in the Republic had the same goals this he realized now had been way too naive. Though there was also one more question which remained, why did his Order do nothing but watch and answer when called? Sar did not realize it, but for the first time, he questioned his Order, and with those questions came doubt.


    "Then what can be done about it, Chancellor?" Sar spoke with more respect in his voice than he had before.


    "For now, nothing much, but I will continue to strive for a just and fair Republic." Palpatine then waved his hand a bit before saying.


    "Which brings us to the matter I have requested you for."


    Hearing this, Sar straightened his back and got ready to listen.


    "A couple of days ago a Senator''s son was kidnapped by a band of space pirates. We managed to track them to the planet Srilomnia in which the Hutt''s retain a big presence. We later learned that the pirates sold the Senator son to a well-known slave trader there." Palpatine walked over to his desk where he pressed a button making a hologram appear of a human male with a large scar across his right eye.


    "This is the slave trader Humna Ak Smoll. Now, this is where you; my friend, comes in. We will send you to Srilomnia to rescue the Senator''s son while at the same time dismantling Humna''s slave operation on the planet."


    Sar nodded to the Chancellor confirming that he understood the mission.


    "Good, now there is one more thing. You will be working alongside a Bounty Hunter during this mission."


    Sar hearing this got confused.


    "Bounty Hunter, Chancellor? Are we sure we can trust him, after all almost all bounty hunters are employed by the Hutt Cartel, I can''t imagine that they will be very happy with what we are planning on doing."


    "I understand your concern, my boy, but we have no choice since we do not have any jurisdiction in Hutt space we will need someone familiar with the criminal underworld on the planet. We have paid him a hefty sum of credits and just the fact that he has taken the credits, makes him an enemy to the Hutts." Palpatine explained.


    Though Sar still had his doubt about the Bounty Hunter, he still wished to destroy the slave trading on Srilomnia, so he forced himself to bury his inhibitions about the Bounty Hunter.


    "I understand, Chancellor. Where will I find him." Asked Sar.


    "He will be waiting for you when you land on Srilomnia. His name is Alister so just ask after him when you arrive in the port." Palpatine informed him.


    "I understand then should I assume that I will leave immediately?" Asked Sar.


    "Yes, I have already arranged for a ship it is waiting for you in the hanger, good luck Master Jedi." Palpatine said with a smile.


    "Thank you, Chancellor, may the Force be with you." Replied Sar before he left the office and headed for the hangar. Though he had learned a lot from his conversation with the Chancellor, most of it bad, he still felt excited to be on his first solo mission.


    With a smile on his lips, Sar headed for the hangar bay.


    ***


    The ride to Srilomnia had been uneventful, and Sar was currently heading down the ramp and onto the landing platform where he had landed his ship.


    He had concealed his lightsaber and face under a thick dust cloak, which was also rather convenient, as like most other Hutt influenced the planet, Srilomnia was covered almost entirely in sand.


    Looking around the port, he saw many different species walking around, but the common theme among them was that they all looked shady and carried some type of weapon on their person. The port itself was badly maintained with cracks and stains all over the landing platforms, and empty liquor bottles spread out all over the place.


    A bit from the landing platforms was what seemed to be a market. Stall vendors from all parts of the galaxies stood and yelled in all manner of different languages, probably trying to sell whatever they were selling.


    Sar was walking through the market when suddenly he sensed someone coming from behind him. Not wanting to draw attention, he swung left into an empty alleyway and waited for his pursuer to follow him inside.


    When he sensed that whoever was following him had entered the alleyway, he spun around, drawing his lightsaber and igniting it.


    As soon as he had fully turned around, he came face to face with his pursuer.


    What greeted him was a young Trandoshan probably about his age. He was wearing what looked to be a chest plate made of some kind of light grey metal. His pants were dark green color and reached down to about his ankles. He wore no shoes or sleeves, allowing one to see his large green arms and clawed feet. His elongated lizard-like face stared at Sar with his red eyes narrowed a bit.


    He had a what looked to be a modified blaster rifle strapped on his back and a DeathHammer blaster pistol attached to his hip. He raised his hands towards Sar quickly trying to explain.


    "Hey! Hey! Easy there Jedi, your friends sent me, my name is Alister!" Alister''s voice was raspy and a bit high-pitched as he tried to calm down the Jedi.


    "I was supposed to come to you." Sar replied still having his lightsaber pointed at the Bounty Hunter.


    "I know, but you were acting so suspicious that you were practically screaming ''Hey Hutts I''m here to rob you come and kill me.''" Replied Alister


    Sar raised an eyebrow at that. He didn''t think he was acting suspicious but he was out of his element and considering the fact that he sensed no lies from Alister made him turn off his lightsaber, but he remained on guard should it turn out it was a trap.


    Seeing Sar turn off his lightsaber, Alister lowered his arms before he began speaking.


    "I heard that the Jedi were uptight, but seeing really is believing." Alister spoke in a joking manner.


    "Yeah well I am in Hutt territory and from what I hear being uptight avoids getting a blaster bolt in the back." Sar moved closer to the Bounty Hunter.


    "Hahaha, I guess not everything they say about the Jedi is true some do have a sense of humor, though not a very good one." Alistar''s face split into a grin as he stretched his clawed hand out.


    "Well let''s try the introduction again. Alistar, Bounty Hunter and ladies man at your service."


    Sar took the clawed hand and replied.


    "Sar Landala, Jedi Padawan and sole Jedi with a sense of humor."


    Sar''s statement made Alistar break out into a peal of raspy laughter, and Sar followed suit.


    Bounty Hunter and Jedi. It is a pairing few would expect, but here it was, and a few unlucky people were soon going to be made very much aware of them.

 9: Srilomnias Underworld

    "I said do not hurt the merchandise you kriffin imbecile. Four words, FOUR! How hard is that to understand?!" A loud, angry voice sounded out inside of the dark room.


    "I-I''m sorry boss. It was just, she charged right at me with that spoon I just reacted on reflex." A nervous voice answered.


    The person which the first voice belonged to stopped his previous pacing staring right at the person in front of him before a warm smile spread out on his face.


    "Oh, she charged at you with a weapon? I see then it all makes sense. I''m so sorry for yelling at you earlier, and please accept my sincerest apologies."


    A relieved smile spread across the owner of the second voice''s face.


    "Oh don''t worry about it boss we all make mistakes, the importa-."


    The guy got cut off halfway through his sentence by a blaster bolt hitting him in the face. The person who had stood in front of him had drawn his blaster and shot him. Holstering his weapon, he went over to the door which let out of the small storeroom.


    Opening the door, he entered a large room that was dimly lit by blue lights that were hung on the walls. All around him was the sound of cheering and yelling from the drunk pirates which were located in the room. Some were passed out on the sandstone floor others were located at the bar in the middle of the room chatting.


    Ignoring all the noise around him, he headed straight for another, which let into his office. He quickly entered the room and closed the door muting all the noise from outside. He was also greeted by a female Rodian leaning against his desk.


    "What were you doing in the storeroom Hulma?" She asked with her huge red eyes narrowed.


    Hulma answered while making his way past the bookshelves and display cases on the wall heading towards his chair that sat behind the desk.


    "Cutting down on staff." He answered simply before sitting down in his chair and swinging both his legs on top of the desk leaning back in his chair.


    "Again? This is the third time this week!" The Rodian spun around putting heavily, slamming her palms down onto the desk. "You can''t just keep killing the crew! How the kriff are we going to get anything done if there is no one left to do it?!"


    Hulma just rolled his eyes before he pulled out a Cigarra from his captain''s jacket and igniting it. Just when he was about to put it to his lips and take a draw, he noticed the unamused expression on his oldest friends face.


    "Come on, Viera. I can''t work with these morons! I mean the guy shot a girl because she came at him with a spoon. A SPOON! They are screwing up at a time where screwing up can get us all killed." Explained Hulma in an exasperated manner before taking a draw from his Cigarra and blowing the smoke into the room.


    "I told you that making that deal with that Tyranus guy was going to spell trouble!" Viera put a large green hand to her forehead. "I mean kidnapping a Senator''s son has just put us on the Republics most wanted list, what does that Tyranus even want with a Senator''s son for?"


    Hulma swung his legs down from the desk and sat up straighter yet still leaned back against the chair.


    "Don''t know, don''t care." He began rubbing the fingertips of the hand not holding the Cigarra together "All I know is he wants that Senator brat, and that he pays a lot, and frankly that''s enough for me."


    "What about the Republic? What if they send a Jedi?" Asked Viera in a calmer tone than she had used before.


    Hulma, hearing the last word burst out into laughter.


    "Jedi? Hahaha, now that''s funny! Those robe wearing weirdos never leave their little Temple on Coruscant. Though even if one did..." Hulma patted the blaster attached to his waist. "They would die the same as the rest."


    Viera sighed wearily.


    "Let''s just get this over with and leave this dustball of a planet." After having said this, she walked towards the door, preparing to leave, probably to do something about the body in the storeroom, but she was interrupted by Hulma''s voice.


    "Listen, Viera, you''re my oldest and only friend, and I love you like a sister, but should you ever, and I do mean ever, question my decisions again I will have to cut you off as well."


    Viera did not respond but did softly nod her head before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.


    Seeing that she had left Hulma put out his Cigarra before standing up and heading over to one of the bookcases. Pulling on a little red book, a part of the bookcase slid to the left, revealing a black safe place in the wall behind it.


    Hulma entered the combination to the safe making the metal door open with a ''hiss'' revealing its contents, a heavy blaster pistol, a couple stacks of credits, a bottle of expensive liquor and a holopicture.


    He grabbed the holopicture and the liquor bottle before he closed the safe and headed back over to his desk. He placed the holopicture on his desk before sitting down in his chair and taking a big sip of the liquid inside the bottle.


    After feeling the burning in his throat and the lightness in his head, he placed the bottle onto the desk beside the holopicture.


    He grabbed the holopicture and looked at the hologram which he had looked at a thousand times before. It was a hologram of a young girl with the same features as Hulma. Feeling the pain spread through his chest, he quickly put it away.


    He covered his face with his hands before slowly dragging them down, looking slightly up at the ceiling of the room. A couple of tears rolling down his cheeks while he whispered something to himself.


    "Don''t worry honey. Daddy will bring you back."


    ***


    Sar was currently located in a seedy bar underneath one of the huts located near the port. He had followed Alistar all the way from the alleyway to here. He had been told constantly to pull down the cloak covering his face since it just made him draw more attention than without it, well according to Alistar at least.


    Sar and Alistar were sitting next to each other while Alistar was currently trying to gather information from the weird looking alien manning the bar.


    "I keep telling you that 200 credits for that kind of information is way too much!" Alistar was apparently getting frustrated at the alien, though Sar could not understand what the alien was saying.


    "Swa''lrk Lok''st Vasm''rt Raik''st Vo''lerst." Replied the alien in its foreign language.


    "What do you mean I ripped you off last time?! That is a most offensive accusation. We will take our business elsewhere then." Alistar quickly tried to make me stand up so we could leave, but before we could even leave the bar area, three shady looking men blocked our path their hands on their holstered blasters.


    Sar did not need to know the language the alien spoke to realize they were in trouble. He leaned over and whispered harshly in the green Bounty Hunters ear.


    "What did you do to that guy?!"


    "How was I supposed to know he was holding a grudge over a tiny disagreement," Alistar whispered back trying to defend himself.


    "What kind of disagreement?!" Sar did not let up and once again whispered into the lizard''s ear, the pirates around them still blocking their path.


    Alistar mumbled something while looking down.


    "What was that." Asked Sar since he could not understand what had just been said.


    "I may be, probably, could have, accidentally stolen 3000 credits worth of goods from him," Alistar repeated this time clearly though he seemed to fumble over the first part of his words.


    "You what?!" Shouted Sar so shocked that he forgot to whisper, making the alien shout something in its languages.


    "Pl''umst!"


    This seemed to be some sort of command as both the three men in front of him and Alistar quickly drew their blasters. Sar lit his lightsaber just in time for him to block the bolt that had been fired by the person in front of him.


    Alistar, at the same time, managed to shoot the person in front of him through the chest, making him collapse to the ground. Sar used a Force Push to blast the two other people backward, making them hit some guys table breaking it and spilling the drinks that were placed on it.


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    This seemed to trigger a chain reaction as everyone in the bar stood up from their seats and aimed their blasters at the two young men. Sar and Alistar looked at each other before they both turned around and sprinted towards the exit.


    All the while, blaster bolts shot past them. Sar blocked the blaster bolts heading toward both him and Alistar, while the latter occasionally turned around and fired his blaster into the crowd of pirates and smugglers chasing after them.


    Managing to get back to the surface the Alister spotted a Speeder parked in front of the hut they came out from. Alister quickly got Sar''s attention and pointed towards the Speeder.


    "I can splice it so we can use it to get out of here!" Yelled Alistar while running toward the Speeder. While Alistar jumped on top of the Speeder, Sar turned around and used the Force on the sandstone doorway of the hut making it collapse and block the exit, though it would not last long.


    It only took Alistar a couple of seconds before he managed to get the Speeder powered up, making it hover slightly above the ground. Turning in his seat he yelled to Sar.


    "Quick get on!"


    Sar didn''t hesitate and turned off his lightsaber and jumped on top of the Speeder. Seeing that Sar was on, Alistar turned back around and grabbed the handles of the Speeder, making it zoom ahead.


    The Speeder sped through the market, making the people on the street jump to the side to avoid getting hit, all manner of profanities was yelled after them as they sped past. They quickly got out of the small spaceport turned shady marketplace and entered the desserts of Srilomnia.


    After they had driven for a couple of minutes in the desert and the port was no longer in sight, Sar patted Alistar on the shoulder to get his attention before shouting to be heard over the noise of the wind around them.


    "I think we can stop here; I can''t sense anyone following us!"


    Alistar nodded his head and quickly pressed the breaks bringing the Speeder to a stop on top of one of the many sand dunes.


    They both got off the Speeder before sitting down beside each other in the warm sands. There was a minute of silence before Alistar broke the silence.


    "Well, that could have gone better." He spoke in the same raspy voice, but somehow he managed to sound a bit embarrassed.


    Sar snapped his head to the Bounty Hunter.


    "You think?! What gave you the bright idea to ask for information from someone you stole from?!" Sar sounded both baffled and angered though his anger was well under control.


    Alistar scratched the top of his scaly head while answering.


    "Well he was the guy I usually go to for information, and I didn''t think he knew it was me who robbed him."


    Hearing Alistars answer made Sar raise an eyebrow.


    "You rob from the people you deal with? How does anyone trust you then?" Asked Sar confused at how anyone would trust Alistar with anything if he stole from his partners.


    Alistar seemed to find the question stupid as he just snorted and replied in a bitter voice.


    "Trust? You have been living in your temple for too long Sar. This isn''t the Inner or Middle-Rim this is the Outer-Rim, and out here there are only two things you can trust, credits and yourself."


    Sar frowned at the answer.


    "Then why are you out here working with me? I can''t imagine there are enough credits in this job for you to defy the Hutt''s." This was the main thing that still had Sar confused.


    From what Alistar seemed to tell him it seemed he agreed with the earlier statement yet he was willing to work with some a Jedi on a job that put his life at risk. Even if the pay was good, he was still putting all his bets on a single stranger which didn''t seem to align with what had just been said.


    Alistar seemed to realize this too as he sighed and looked out at the desert before he began speaking.


    "I don''t want to tell you my whole life story so I will keep it short. Back when I was still a little kid, my father would tell me stories about how the Jedi saved people." Alistar put his hand down on the sand and began digging in it while he continued. "I wanted to be just like that, saving people I mean, so I would just sit and listen for hours to his stories."


    Sar seemed to sense great pain and sorrow for Alistar.


    "One morning, however, some of the Hutt''s henchmen came to our house, said we hadn''t paid what we owed and that they had come to collect interest." Alistar clenched his clawed hand and gritted his teeth. "When my dad told them he couldn''t pay, they shot him, all over 30 credits."


    Sar and Alistar both sat in silence for a while before Alistar continued.


    "There wasn''t anyone there to help my dad, no Jedi, and no Republic was there to help. So I guess when I was passing through the Middle-Rim, and I heard talk about the Senate looking to hire a Bounty Hunter to guide a Jedi I wanted to see for myself if the stories my dad told me were true."


    After having heard Alistars story, Sar just sat there ashamed. He had looked down on the people here thought them nothing more than, thieves and liars, but most of all he was ashamed that his Order who called themselves protectors of the galaxy are doing nothing to help the Outer-Rim.


    "I''m sorry for the loss of your father, Alister. I know that this won''t bring him back, but please help me prove to you that your father''s stories about the Jedi weren''t lies." Sar put a hand on his lizard friends shoulder and looked into his eyes as he said this.


    Alistar looked at Sar for a moment before he stood back up and got on the Speeder. A smile had returned to his face as he addressed Sar.


    "I think I might know another way to find our slaver friend."


    Sar smiled at Alistar''s answer and jumped onto the Speeder as well, before they both raced off across the sand heading in the direction of whatever Alistar had been talking about.


    ***


    "This is your genius plan?!" Whispered a worried Sar into the ear of the lizard lying next to him.


    "Well have you got a better idea?" Whispered the lizard back.


    The two were currently laying prone on top of a small rock formation that jutted out of the desert. Below them were the parked Speeder they had used to get there. They were currently looking at a rather larger compound. It consisted of an electric fence which entrance was guarded by two guards.


    Inside of the fence was located small pens which each held about ten slaves.  These pens were guarded by even more men. In the middle of the compound was a tall metal tower.


    All in all, it looked like a well-guarded fortress. Sar once again whispered to Alistar.


    "Could you just repeat the plan one more time?"


    Alistar sighed but replied anyway.


    "You sneak into the tower, find Hulma''s lieutenant, asks him about Hulma''s location. Then you sneak into the control room and shut down the fences surrounding the slaves freeing them, while I cover their escape with my rifle." Alistar repeated the plan like he had done two times before.


    "Okay, but what if I get noticed before I reach the lieutenant?" Asked Sar.


    He could understand that they would have to find another way to get information, and he did want to help the slaves but was this really the only way?


    "I don''t know, improvise, use your Jedi tricks to tie him up or something." Sar was about to retort that, that wasn''t how the Force worked but just swallowed his retort back down, instead simply saying.


    "Fine, but you better have me covered or I''m coming back to haunt you." And with that Sar was on his way toward the electric fence.


    Alistar just snorted.


    "Ha! Who does he think he''s talking to?" Alistar sat up slinging his blaster rifle off his shoulder and aiming down the sight. "I''m the best damn shot in the Outer-Rim."


    This plan was shaky at best and idiotic at worst, but unfortunately, the two didn''t have the luxury of time, so this was the best they could come up within a short amount of time. Though the plan was like killing two birds with one stone, they could help a couple of slaves, while also finding out about Hulma''s whereabouts.


    This was where the mission truly began.

 10: Infiltration And Information Gathering

    Sar had never really been trained in or considered the fact that learning stealth techniques could come in handy; he was beginning to reconsider. Sure, he could use the Force to mute or mask the sound of most of his movements, but other than that he was on his own.


    He was currently he was studying the fence in front of him, the way he saw it, there were only two ways to get in. The first would be to somehow get rid of the two guards guarding the main entrance, but this option was immediately ruled out as Sar did not believe he could pull that off without being discovered. Therefore, he chose to go with the second option, jumping over the fence.


    While the fence was way too tall for any ordinary person to jump it was no more than a slight inconvenience for a Jedi, the problem, however, laid in the fact that if he jumped over it, there was a chance that he might get spotted by one of the patrolling slavers.


    "He couldn''t have found me a way over the fence?" Mumbled Sar annoyed.


    Sar spread his Force Sense out, trying to figure out a time to jump over the fence. During the three years since he left Eoliv hed had meditated constantly every day honing his Force Sense. This would prove quite useful now. Normally he would have had trouble considering the fact that there were so many people gathered over a small area, but now he could clearly sense who were slaves and who were the slavers.


    He waited for that moment where he would be in the blind spot of the slavers before he used the Force to jump over the fence and then using it to make his landing silent. Sar was worried that the slaves would make a fuss alerting the guards around them, but this worry was proven unfounded though the reason was not pleasant.


    The slaves around him were all malnourished and dirty; they looked like they hadn''t eaten a proper meal in weeks. While Sar was disgusted by the handling of the slaves, he had to admit it was clever. They had fed them just the amount required to keep them alive, which, meant that the slaves had no strength to run or fight.


    This also meant that Sar''s and Alistar''s current plan was bound to fail. Even if Sar got to the tower and disabled the pen''s fences, the slaves would be too weak to run much less fight. Sar''s mind was racing; he had to come up with another plan. What he decided was finding Hulma''s lieutenant and then contacting Alistar to inform him about the state of the slaves.


    Having arrived at his conclusion, Sar once again began moving, going from crate to crate avoiding the flashlights and spotlights. This was a more difficult task than it seemed as Sar had neither experience nor skills concerning stealth operations, though his ability to use the Force to silence his movements proved invaluable.


    He had slinked his way past the many patrols going between the many slave pen''s and had finally arrived at the base of the tower.


    It seemed that the tower only had two functions; controlling the fences and serving as an office. There were once again two guards guarding the entrance to an elevator that Sar assumed would lead up to the top of the tower which was of course where he needed to go.


    This would have been a problem if not for the fact that these two were pretty isolated since Sar couldn''t sense any patrols nearby. Sar quickly used the Force on both of the slavers lifting them off the ground and before they even had a chance to realize what had happened, Sar slammed them together, knocking both of them out.


    Letting them drop to the ground with two soft ''thumps,'' Sar made his way in front of the elevator door. He noticed that the door had to be opened by entering a code onto the panel next to it, but Sar merely waved his hand in front of the door using the Force to make it slide open.


    The elevator was small, it would probably only be able to fit two people at a time, and even then they would have to stand shoulder to shoulder. Inside there were only two buttons; one had an arrow pointing up, the other pointing down. Seeing that only the button with the arrow pointing up was glowing Sar pressed that.


    Sar barely felt the elevator move, but almost as soon as he had hit the button, the elevator doors slid open once again. Apparently whoever designed this elevator did not like to make people wait.


    Sar stepped out of the elevator and into the room still on guard for any enemies. The room was designed like a very simple office, a metallic desk with a computer sat at the back of the room. There were a sofa and a couple of bookshelves along the wall, and a bright red carpet covered most of the floor.


    What drew Sar''s attention was the door that seemed to connect the office to another room, Sar suspected was the control room. Sar tried spreading his senses around trying to find his target. However, he could not sense anything around him.


    He instead went over to the computer at the desk; he assumed that there would be at least a clue to Hulma''s location hidden on it. The problem was that the computer was locked with a password and Sar couldn''t use the Force to unlock it.


    Sar was getting impatient it seemed that at every turn something was going wrong and Sar was begging to think it was his fault for not planning ahead well enough, but there was no time for self-reflection right now, the senator''s son was running on borrowed time, and he had to find him soon.


    Sar pulled out his transmitter and proceded to contact Alistar. The sound that the transmission had been accepted sounded out, and Sar immediately got to the matter at hand.


    "Alistar, we have a problem," Sar said while he paced around the room looking through the books for any clue as to how to open the computer.


    "Problem? What kind of problem." Alistars confused, and slightly distorted voice sounded out from the transmitter.


    "The kind that''s going to cost that senator son his life." Sar stopped what he was doing and concentrated on the conversation. "First off the slaves are too weak to fight, I can''t find Hulma''s lieutenant, and the computer which might have the information is locked."


    Alistar was silent for a moment.


    "Okay, okay, I get it. Try going to the security room maybe there is something there." Sar was just about to turn off the transmission when Alistars voice once again sounded out. "And Sar don''t try to free the slaves we can''t help them now."


    This made Sar freeze for a moment. He knew that Alistar was right the slaves could neither run nor fight so opening the cages was little more than a death sentence but were that really the way a Jedi should behave?


    Sar once again forced an important question down with his will and the Force and just responded in a monotone voice.


    "I understand Alistar, just be ready to cover me." After having said this, Sar cut the transmission and headed towards the door.


    Sar was just about to open the door, but it slid open by itself, and before he could get his bearings, he was kicked in the stomach launching him back a little. It would seem that there was someone skilled enough to avoid his Force Sense.


    He guessed that it would probably be the lieutenant so he decided to finish it quickly so that he could get the information he needed. He studied his adversary to discover that the person in front of him was a female Rodian. She was currently aiming he blaster pistol at him.


    "So, they really did send a Jedi?" Though the Rodian had said this in a soft tone of voice, Sar still heard it clearly.


    "Yes, they did. Surrender yourself, and I promise no harm shall come to you." Sar tried defusing the situation, but the only response he got was a blaster bolt fired straight at him.


    This time Sar had sensed the attack coming so, he quickly used the Force to pull his lightsaber to his hand and using it to deflect the bolt. The Rodian did not let up as she continued to fire red blaster bolts at him, all of which were deflected.


    Blocking a couple more bolts, he quickly closed the distance between him and the attacker. Once he was close enough, he used his lightsaber to cut through the blaster, destroying it. Seeing that her weapon had been destroyed she tried to pull out the Vibroblade attached to her waist, but Sar was faster delivering a Force Blast that launched her into a nearby wall making her groan in pain.


    He then used the Force on the dropped Vibroblade and threw it to the other side of the room, before pointing the tip of his lightsaber at the Rodian''s throat. It seemed that she was unwilling to give up as she kept trying to get up.


    "Enough!" Sar embued his voice with a bit of the Force to really get the point across, and it would seem that it worked as the Rodian finally resigned herself to her fat, slumping against the wall. Seeing his enemy was pacified, Sar began asking his questions.


    "Who are you?"


    She just glanced at him before she gave a simple answer.


    "Viera."


    Sar sighed at the short answer.


    "Well, then Viera I''m going to ask you a few questions and trust me. I will know if you lie." Viera just snorted in response.


    "Where is your boss currently located." Viera just shook her head.


    "I''m not telling you anything, Jedi scum." She spat out.


    It would be no lie to say that Sar lost control of his anger as the stress of the mission and the sight of the slaves just made his rage boil over. He made a grim face before he did something no Jedi should ever do. He held his hand in a way that looked as if he was chocking someone, and soon both of Viera''s hands gripped at throat while she gasped for air.


    Sar lifted his hand a bit making her float a bit above the ground he feet desperately swinging back and forth trying to find something solid to stand on. Sar could feel the whispers of the Dark Side get louder, but he merely ignored them, proceeding to ask his questions.


    "I will ask another question then, the password to the computer, what is it?" Sar tone was completely calm, which just made it all the more frightening. He also relaxed the Forces hold on her throat a bit to allow her to breathe.


    "Starlinker432134." Viera managed to squeeze out between wheezes as the hold on her throat still hadn''t faded. Sar sensing that she wasn''t lying released the hold on her throat, making her drop heavily to the ground gasping and coughing.


    Ignoring the coughing Rodian, Sar turned towards the computer, but just as he had turned around, he sensed an attack coming from behind him. He swiftly turned around and in the same motion cut off the arm that was holding the blaster aimed at his back.


    Viera screamed out in pain as she watched her arm and the small blaster pistol drop to the ground, but before she had any further chance to plead or say anything, she felt the room spin and soon after she felt like she hit her head on something.


    Sar had not been merciful as shortly after having cut off her hand he quickly raised his lightsaber before swinging it horizontal decapitating Viera making her head go flying.


    Sar waited a moment before he turned off his lightsaber. He stared at the corpse at his feet; this was the first sentient life he had ever taken, but strangely enough, he didn''t feel much about it. He convinced himself that he did it because it was necessary and that this was actions necessary to complete his mission, but somewhere in the dark part of his mind was a small whisper.


    It felt good.


    He calmly turned away from the dead female and once again headed over to the computer. He entered the code Viera had given him shortly before he had killed her. The screen briefly flashed green before a bunch of files were spread out in front of him.


    There was a lot of useful information such as Hulma''s clients, routes and secret hideouts, but there wasn''t time to sift through all of that right now as Sar could sense that he was running out of time. He quickly looked through the list of slaves before he found the name he was looking for. Sar downloaded the coordinates before he turned off the computer and headed towards the security room.


    The security room had a lot of panels and cameras surveying the whole compound; it was dumb luck that Sar had made it through without being discovered. Sar spotted the fence control but walked past them he knew that it would be a fruitless endeavor. Instead, he headed over to a big button located on the wall to the left of the door.


    His hand hovered over the button for a while. He wasn''t going to do this for revenge; this was necessary to the mission, and sometimes you have to do things you don''t want to for the greater good. Having finally convinced himself, he pressed the button.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ***


    Alistar was still on the cliff overlooking the compound. His blaster still aimed at the windows of the tower. He was getting a little nervous, it had been a while since he had been contacted by Sar, and the last time they talked there wasn''t any good news.


    He turned the scope of his blaster away from the windows and scanned the different patrols walking around. There seemed to be about six patrols with four people in each. They would be hard-pressed to take all of them on which was why Alistar had demanded that they leave the slaves since they couldn''t fight with them.


    Alistar was pulled out of his musing by the sound of an alarm going off. Quickly aiming down the sight, he saw the patrols panicking and aiming their blaster towards the tower. Shortly afterward Alistar''s transmitter began beeping suggesting that someone wanted to contact him. Accepting the transmission Alistar kept aiming down the sight of his blaster while he asked.


    "Sar?! What happened!?" Alistar exclaimed hurriedly keeping his sight on the slavers.


    "I was spotted they sounded the alarm!" Sar responded. "I''m going to have to fight my way out, cover me!" After he said that he cut the transmission.


    "Sar?! Oh, for kriff''s sake!" Exclaimed Alistar adjusting his shooting position and placing his clawed finger on the trigger.


    Suddenly all the windows of the tower shattered but not in a natural way it was as if a large explosion had happened inside pushing all the glass outwards. In that exact moment, Alistar fired a bolt that went straight through the head of one of the slavers.


    The slaver crumpled to the ground a fist-sized charred hole in the back of his head. Seeing their ally crumpling the remaining three slavers turn towards the direction of the shot.


    This was a huge mistake, however, because Alistar soon saw Sar jumping out of the now broken windows landing silently behind them. He proceeded to stab one of them in the back, making the lightsaber emerge from his chest.


    The other two finally realizing something is wrong turned around to face Sar, only for the one on the right to be shot by Alistar and the one on the left to be decapitated by Sar''s sapphire-blue lightsaber.


    And just like that, a whole patrol was wiped out.


    This was not the end; however, as two more patrols were heading towards Sar one coming from a left pathway the other from the right. Sar seemed to sense it as he began running towards the group coming from his left, which prompted Alistar to focus on the patrol coming from the right.


    He managed to shoot one through the head and another through the chest before the remaining two took cover behind a couple of stacked crates blocking Alistars line of sight. Alistar searched for a way to get a clear shot but could not find one.


    This was quickly solved when the crates suddenly flew over to the right removing the two slavers cover. This was all that Alistar needed as he didn''t hesitate to put a bolt into their heads.


    Turning his sight to the culprit he was just in time to see Sar cut one down with his blade, before using one of his Jedi thingies to throw another one into one of the electric fences surrounding the slave pens, making the slaver scream out in pain before collapsing to the ground smoke rising from his body.


    The other two from the squad already laid dead on the sandy ground. One was missing a hand and had a long scorch mark across his chest, and the other had lost his head.


    That was three down now there were only three to go. Alistar looked through his scope, trying to locate the remaining survivors. He soon spotted all three squads on the outside of the fence heading towards his location.


    "Well, that isn''t good." Mumbled Alistar while adjusting his sight zooming in a bit more on the squad closest to his location. Alisat wickedly smiled as he spotted a Fragmentation Grenade attached to the belt of the slaver leading the squad.


    Alistar aimed directly at the Grenade before whispering a soft "boom" and pulling the tricker.


    The bolt struck true and ignited the grenade, making it explode wiping out the squad. The explosion was loud, and it made the remaining two squads hesitate a little, but they still ran ahead ignoring the corpses of their comrades.


    Alistar knew he wouldn''t be able to pull that off again, so he quickly slung his rifle over his shoulder and unholstered his heavy blaster pistol. He then contacted Sar via his transmitter.


    "Sar, I could use some help here, friend!" Alistar had to cut the transmission as he heard the footsteps of the remaining eight slavers at the foot of the cliff. Still holding the pistol, he dived behind a rock leaning his back up against it and occasionally peeking over it.


    He didn''t wait long before he heard voices.


    "Did you see were that lizard went?" Asked a gruff voice.


    "Nah, I was too busy keeping an eye out for any more explosions." Responded a slightly hoarse voice.


    "Yeah! What the kriff was up with that?!" Exclaimed an annoying and high pitched voice.


    "Enough! The other guys will keep an eye on the Jedi we have to find that Bounty Hunter!" Reprimanded the gruff voice.


    Alistar was relived at the information if all eight slavers had decided to come up then he wouldn''t have had many options considering his current equipment and the terrain. He did, however, feel a little offended that they had only sent three men after him, but considering they were also against a Jedi it did seem fair.


    Alistar clutched his blaster tightly before he popped out from his cover and fired a bolt straight through the chest of one of the three slavers. The slaver who got shot fell heavily onto his back, the other two quickly turned around and dove behind cover, before yelling.


    "You just shot Jimmy! You''re going to pay for that!" Yelled the annoying high-pitched voice.


    "Oh yeah? Why don''t you come over and get me then?" Taunted Alistar.


    "We won''t have to." Responded the gruff voice from behind the cover. Soon after an object was thrown, Alistar immediately knew what it was, and his eyes widened, he quickly jumped out of cover right before the grenade landed and exploded at his previous location.


    Luckily for Alistar, the grenade kicked up a lot of dust making the two slavers unable to get a clear line of sight. Alistar decided to run through the dust straight at the two slavers. The two were currently standing up looking for Alistar through the dust. Therefore the rock that they used as cover only covered them up to their waist.


    Alistar jumped onto the rock surprising the slavers; he then proceeded to slam a knee into the skinny blond haired slaver''s nose, launching him back while he screamed in his high pitched voice in pain.


    Alistar was about to slam his fist into the big guy next to him but was swiftly kicked in the stomach sending him onto his back though he was still holding his blaster pistol. He quickly got into a crouched position, before he spotted the slaver he had knocked down earlier trying to get back up.


    Alistar shifted his blaster onto the head of the slaver before firing a bolt. The bolt traveled clean through the head of the skinny slaver who had gotten onto his hand and knees to try and steady himself. He lost all strength in his arms and just heavily crumpled face first onto the ground.


    Alistar once again shifted his aim to the slaver in front of him, but his hand was heavily kicked making him lose the grip on the blaster. This caused it to slide over the sandy ground. Alistar reacted quickly to the loss of his weapon by rolling backward and avoiding another kick. Alistar was now in an upright position facing the muscular slaver in front of him.


    "I don''t suppose you would believe it if I said I was just getting a breath of fresh air?" Alistar had already gotten into a fighting stance.


    The slaver didn''t respond to Alistar''s joke; he just closed the distance and began by throwing a heavy punch at the right side of Alistar''s face. Alistar responded by blocking the punch with his forearm, although the brute in front him was probably stronger than him Alistar''s scales served as great protection negating most of the force from the punch.


    The fight soon sped up with both of them hitting each other all over. Alistar used his speed and agility to his advantage, while the slaver brute used his raw strength to keep him at bay. This fight didn''t last long as the slaver managed to grab onto Alistar and pull him to the ground.


    The slaver now sat on his chest as he began punching Alistar in the face. Punch after punch rained down onto Alistar, who was trying to block them by using his scaled arms. However, some of the punches got through his defense hitting him.


    Finally, his defense crumbled, and his arms fell to his sides. Seeing that the lizard had lost strength in its arms, the slaver grinned stopping his assault on his opponents face removing something from his waist. It was a Vibroblade. Which he then pointed the tip down towards Alistar''s throat before stabbing down.


    Alistar managed to gather the remaining strength in his arms to grab hold around the slavers hands holding the blade, stopping it from penetrating his throat. The tip of the blade was barely a centimeter from his throat, and he was losing strength in his arms fast.


    Alistar tried to turn his head to see if he could somehow dodge the approaching knife. Instead, he spotted someone he had been waiting for. Alistar managed to gasp out while still struggling with the slaver.


    "Took...you..long...enough."


    ***


    Sar had just finished off five of the remaining eight slavers that were located around Alistar''s location when he suddenly felt through the Force that his friend was in danger. Quickly arriving at where he had last seen Alistar he was greeted by the sight of two dead slavers and one currently with his back to him.


    Sar immediately noticed what was going on and quickly arrived behind the slaver while being careful that he wasn''t heard. He heard what Alistar said and so did the slaver as Sar immediately sensed him tense up, but it was too late. The sound of a lightsaber penetrating flesh sounded out as he stabbed his lightsaber through his back.


    He then used the Force to make the corpse fall sideways, and off of Alistar.


    Sar waited a few moments while he was just watching his friend lying spread eagle trying to catch his breath. Sar did feel slightly guilty for involving Alistar, but this was necessary these guys couldn''t be allowed to deliver information back to Hulma.


    Sar soon snapped out of his short guilt trip and reached a hand out to the green Bounty Hunter. Alistar quickly grasped it and with a grunt of effort, he was pulled to his feet. He began laughing and patted Sar hard on the back.


    "It''s a tie, I Alistar just tied with a Jedi!" He exclaimed with a huge grin on his scaly face. Sar lifted an eyebrow before asking.


    "Tied what?"


    Alistar managed to look smug before answering in his usual raspy voice.


    "Well, by my count I got exactly as many of these idiots as you."


    Sar''s eyes widened a bit before he began counting inside his head. Then he began laughing while shaking his head.


    "You forgot the lieutenant, my friend. That puts me one ahead." Sar just chuckled as he passed the gobsmacked lizard that then proceded to count using his fingers. Sar meanwhile had sat down on a rock and was relaxing his worn out muscles.


    Alistar came out of it before he turned around and pointed at Sar.


    "You told me you couldn''t find the lieutenant!" Sar just shrugged.


    "I didn''t, she found me. Who do you think sounded the alarm?"


    Alistar''s pointing arm slumped down his side in defeat before he sat down beside Sar and asked.


    "Well, did you learn anything then?"


    "I did, indeed learn something." Sar nodded before he pulled out the datapad he had used to download the information. "I got the location of the senator son and who it is Hulma is selling him too."


    Alistar raised an eyebrow at the last piece of information.


    "Who is buying him?" Asked Alistar more out of curiosity than anything else.


    Sar tapped the datapad a couple of times before he pulled out a file. Right at the top where written the owner and the buyer''s name and the name that appeared after the buyer was.


    "Tyranus"

 11: The Rescue

    The sound of a Speeder cut through the otherwise calm dessert as a trail of sand and dust was kicked up by the racing vehicle. The people sitting on it was, of course, Sar and Alistar, who had left the slave camp after having rested enough and they were now on their way towards their original target.


    "So, who is this Tyranus guy exactly?!" Alistar had to yell to get heard over the sound of wind rushing past their ears. Sar yelled back shortly after.


    "I''m not sure. There was almost no information other than a name, and I have never heard the name before."


    Alistar gripped the accelerator of the Speeder a little tighter as he did not like the lack of information about the mysterious buyer, but he swallowed his doubt and decided to trust in Sar''s Jedi abilities.


    "Okay then, but are you sure this is the right way." Alistar moved on to his second doubt as they were currently just heading towards nothing but more dessert and he had never heard of any smuggler base being spotted out here.


    "I am. I am beginning to sense them; it''s just a little further." Answered Sar while he had his eyes close, sensing the lifeforms located a little further ahead.


    Alistar just shook his head before he sped up a little more zooming ahead.


    Sar kept trying to sense were exactly their base was located. Suddenly he sensed something and quickly yelled for Alistar to stop the Speeder. Although he was confused Alistar stopped the Speeder, and Sar quickly got off looking around.


    "What are you doing? There is clearly nothing out here." Alistar gestured to the wide empty dessert they had been traveling in for the last hour.


    Sar ignored the question still looking around before his gaze stopped at a specific spot in the sand. He lifted his hand using the Force to push the sand out of the way, revealing a metal hatch and a control panel.


    Alistar''s eyes widened before he let out a high-pitched whistle.


    "Well, well looks like those smugglers were smarter than I gave them credit for."


    Sar just shook his head before he turned to look at his companion.


    "Don''t worry this hatch looks old I think they just stumbled on it by accident." Sar was under the impression that these smugglers with Hulma maybe being the exception probably wasn''t the sharpest of the bunch.


    Alistar just shrugged his shoulders before getting off the Speeder and stood next to Sar, before crouching down and looking the hatch over.


    "Well, your right on account of this being old looks like one of the Hutt''s old bunkers, but it''s still sturdy. How exactly are we going to get in?"


    Sar just tapped Alistar''s shoulder and gestured for him to step back. Alistar raised his scales where his eyebrow would be before he stood up and stepped back with his arms crossed before raising a hand to signal for Sar to go ahead.


    Sar just ignited his lightsaber and stabbed it through the metal hatch, the screen on the control panel flickered before turning off. Sar made a circle with the lightsaber, while the distinct sound of melting metal filled the air.


    When Sar had finished the circle in the hatch fell into the now opened entrance. Sar then glanced over at Alistar, smirking, before jumping down into the bunker without using the ladder.


    Alistar just grumbled while moving over toward the ladder and then began his descent while mumbling something along the lines of, "Kriffing Jedi, too good for ladders now?"


    ***


    Hulma was currently not very happy.


    He was currently sitting in his office his index finger rapidly tapping the top of the desk while his head was currently running through various thoughts at a rapid pace.


    "How did this happen?!" Suddenly he slammed his fist onto the desk. Anger clear in his eyes. He had just finished waking up his men and making sure they were armed and on alert, or as alert as those drunks could be.


    He knew that the Jedi was on his way to their location and that he had no problem with cutting them down according to the surveillance video he had just seen from the outpost he had sent Viera to.


    Weren''t Jedi supposed to be defenders of peace or something? That psychopath not only tortured and executed Viera but also sounded the damn alarm! Hulma had to admit that he was taken completely aback by the ruthlessness of the Jedi.


    He had lost an outpost, a friend and competent subordinate and the advantage of ruthlessness. He had gambled on he would be able to use the other slaves as a bargaining chip should the worst come to worst, but now he was not so sure that would be a viable option.


    Hulma leaned back in his seat, sweat rolling down his forehead. Failure was not an option, and currently, his odds of winning did not look good. He had gone through plans ever since he saw that video, but he currently only had one option: Kill the Jedi.


    While he did have an escape tunnel, he would have to abandon the senator''s son, as it would be hard to explain to his crew why he was escaping the base with their payday.


    "Currently, I only have the option to kill that Jedi or I have to escape and plead with Tyranus to give me another chance, whatever the case I have to live." Hulma was so stressed that he had begun to talk to himself.


    He had hated the Republic ever since they had taken his daughter and wife from this world, and now he had a chance to bring them back, only for the Republic to once again rip them from him. Had the circumstances been different, he would have charged at them with everything he had even if it would cost him his life, but with the chance of getting his family back, he had to survive.


    Standing up from his chair he entered another code into the safe he had used earlier this time however instead of the safe opening, a small part of the wall opened up revealing a tunnel that was completely dark.


    Hulma knew that if the Jedi survived this last stand that he would have to get out as fast as possible or all his hopes would be extinguished.


    ***


    Sar and Alistar were currently sneaking along the tunnel they had climbed, or in Sar''s case jumped into. The tunnel was well kept as he had expected it to be falling apart considering the fact that it was a smuggler hideout, but it seemed well maintained.


    Though, Alistar and himself were alerted by the obvious lack of smugglers patrolling which did not match the usual tactics of these criminals.


    Alistar had drawn his blaster-pistol, and Sar was using his Force senses to the limit while being ready to ignite his lightsaber at any sign of danger.


    "You may be right that I was too quick to take back my prejudice about these guys intelligence," Alistar whispered to Sar while keeping his blaster pointed forward and sneaking down the hall. "No guards? These guys really are morons."


    Sar shook his head while he kept moving beside Alistar.


    "No, there seems to be more to it than that." Sar then stopped and closed his eyes. Alistar moved forward a bit more before he noticed that Sar had stopped. He turned and looked at Sar before he asked him.


    "What happened? Are your Jedi senses telling you something?" Alistar spoke in a slightly mocking voice as he already knew that Sar was sensing something, but it had become a habit to ask anyway.


    "Yeah." Sar kept his eyes closed, but a small frown had emerged on his face. "It would seem that they know we are coming. I sense a lot of lifeforms in one room."


    Sar then opened his eyes and looked at Alistar who was currently twirling his blaster around while leaning on the tunnel wall. Sar raised an eyebrow at the lizard''s relaxed posture because in the short time he had known him he always seemed very much tense.


    "You don''t seem that concerned about this news," Sar stated in a confused voice.


    Alistar''s face split into a smug smirk revealing his sharp teeth.


    "This is actually good we know where they are, and they are trapped in a room." Alistar stopped and looked at Sar as if he expected him to realize something, but seeing that Sar just kept staring at him, he continued.


    "We have constantly been running around in the dark, but now we know not only the location of our enemies but the most likely location of our target, not even these morons would leave their merchandise un-guarded."


    Sar widened his eyes in realization as Alistar was right. .While it wasn''t good that they knew they were coming, it was a clear advantage that the duo knew were their enemies were. But Sar was still not sure how to use this to their advantage just yet, but it would seem that Alistar had a plan.


    "I assume you have a plan?"


    Hearing Sar''s question, Alistar pushed off the wall and began explaining.


    "Oh, I have a plan, alright." He paused, and Sar rolled his eyes at the over-dramatic lizard. "We go in, kill the smugglers, rescue the son, and get paid." Alistar puffed out his chest, which made him seem very proud of his plan.


    Sar just stared at him until he realized that he had just been told the whole plan. He let out a sigh, dragged a hand slowly down his face before he held up his hand with his palm facing Alistar.


    "So let me get this straight. Your whole plan is to just charge through the front door?" Hearing Sar''s question just made Alistar smile wider while nodding. Just as Sar was about to question his new friend''s sanity, he was interrupted by Alistar.


    "Listen, Sar; you aren''t from around here so you might not realize that us two are a rarity in the underworld. Even the most feared bounty hunter and assassins when it comes to it are just amateurs compared to military forces. Most of them are really just drifters or junkers looking to make some fast credits. They are drunk half the time, and even when they are sober, they aim like blind people." Alistar finished his more detailed explanation before he gestured for Sar to follow him.


    Sar was a little shocked at Alistar''s sudden lecture, but he realized he was right they weren''t fighting warriors or soldiers, and Alistar really knew more about this environment than he did so Sar relented and began following the lizard.


    Seeing that Sar was following him made Alistar smile at finally getting the upper hand on the know it all Jedi.


    Luckily there was only one path to follow, so there was no chance of them to get lost, though that would have been difficult with Sar''s abilities. It didn''t take long for them to arrive in front of a door.


    "This the place?" Alistar looked over his shoulder and asked Sar, who closed his eyes before opening them shortly afterward, nodding.


    "Yep, it is." Sar could feel the many people through the Force; he could also sense faint emotions of nervousness and fear, probably coming from the slaves. He then moved to stand beside Alistar, who was currently leaning up against the wall right next to the door his blaster raised slightly.


    "You ready?" Asked Alistar while he looked towards Sar. Sar just nodded before he quickly ignited his lightsaber, while Alistar quickly pressed a button on the panel next to him making the doors slide open with a soft hiss.


    Before the door had even fully opened, they were greeted by a barrage of blaster bolts. Most of the bolts hit the not fully opened doors while the few that got through was quickly deflected.


    As soon as the door had opened enough, Sar charged into the room switching seamlessly between the second and third form to remain mobile while at the same time deflecting any bolts coming his way.


    It would seem that Alistar was right as these smugglers couldn''t aim at all, most of their shots hitting the metal walls or some of the furniture in the room. Sar used the many tables as springboards as he jumped from table to table, cutting any smugglers in his way down.


    Seeing their colleagues getting cut down like nothing made some of the smugglers panic, causing them to fall over furniture or empty bottles laying on the floor.


    One of the smugglers saw this and attempted to raise their morale and courage.


    "Come on, boys! We kill this Jedi, and we will go down as legends!" Some of the smugglers calmed down slightly as the man''s words ignited their greed. Seeing that it was working the smuggler continued.


    "They boss promised 50.000 credits to whoever kills that Jedi sc-." He was suddenly cut off by a blaster bolt hitting him in the face ending his sentence part-way through.


    Alistar had peeked around from his corner and felt it was appropriate to shut the loudmouth up.


    When the other smuggler snapped out of their shock at seeing the shouting smuggler crumble to the ground, some of then began focusing their blaster fire at Alistar. This made it so that about half of the focus was now on Alistar, the fact that Sar quickly used to his advantage pushing the smugglers focusing on him down at an even faster pace.


    The smuggler didn''t stand a chance Alistar had been right when he had said that they weren''t trained as most of them were either farmers or henchmen tired of working for the Hutt Clan. They had never encountered enemies as skilled as Sar and Alistar.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    It was currently only greed that kept the smugglers from surrendering, but even greed had its limit, and when the number of their people had dropped from the original 60 to 20, the result became obvious.


    It didn''t take long before one of the smugglers threw his weapon down before raising his hands into the air, and once that first smuggler surrendered the rest soon followed suit. In just a few seconds, the rest of the smugglers all had their arms in the air saying things like.


    "We give up!"


    "Master Jedi, please show mercy!"


    Sar sensed that they had lost their will to fight, so he stopped cutting them down and yelled for Alistar to come out.


    Alistar soon emerged from his hiding place, keeping his blaster pointed at the nearest smuggler.


    "Do you have anything to restrain them with?" Asked Sar.


    Alistar nodded and was just about to say something when Sar interrupted.


    "Good, restrain them I''m going after Hulma." And with that, Sar stormed towards the office before Alistar even had a chance to reply.


    Sar Force Blasted the door so hard that it flew off the wall hitting the wall at the other side of the room. He quickly entered the room and used his senses to find Hulma, but he soon spotted the opening in the wall.


    Sar walked up to the wall and stared into the darkness all traces of Hulma''s presence was gone. Sar turned off his lightsaber, before quickly turning around and using the Force to lift the desk inside the room and slam it into the wall, making it splinter into small pieces.


    He then walked out of the office as if nothing had happened. As he walked into the bar area where he had left Alistar, he was greeted with the sight of 15 or so smugglers tied up with what looked like some sort of restraining forcefield.


    He spotted Alistar at the other side of the room crouched down next to the body of an unconscious young man that was propped up against a wall. Sar recognized the man as the person he was sent to rescue. This made him relax a little, though he was still annoyed at the fact that Hulma had escaped.


    Alistar, probably having heard Sar entering, stood up from his crouched position and walked over to him.


    "No luck with Hulma?" Sar just shook his head as respond before heading over to one of the tables that hadn''t been destroyed in the battle and sat down on a chair in front of it. He then gestured towards the Senator''s son.


    "How is he?" Alistar waved his hand in front of his face as if to dismiss the question.


    "He is just fine he probably just fainted from shock." As he was answering, he was moving towards the bar area located in the middle of the room.


    Sar looked down and rubbed the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache, while he asked another question.


    "And the other slaves?" Sar raised his voice slightly as Alistar was currently over at the bar rummaging through it looking for something.


    "I think they were moved to another location; it would seem that they only cared about keeping the Republic rich kid."


    Sar leaned back in his chair before letting out an exhausted sigh, he had been running around and using the Force all day he was pretty tired, and the fact that Hulma had slipped through his fingers didn''t help.


    Sar pulled a device out of his robes it looked really small and looked just like a triangular piece of metal, but Sar pressed down on the device making it emit a slow beeping noise while a red light outlined the small triangle blinking in tandem with the beeping.


    "I''ve sent the extraction signal. The Republic will be arriving soon." Sar then placed the device on the table and looked up at Alistar who were currently placing two small glasses and a bottle on the table before sitting down opposite of Sar.


    "Oh, can you convince to let me keep some of the smugglers some of them have bounties on them." Seeing Sar''s disapproving look, which just made Alistar shrug. "Consider it my tip for being such a good ''guide.''"


    Sar just shook his head and sighed a bit at his lizard friends antics, but still relented.


    "Fine, I''ll ask." Sar then spotted the glasses and bottle on the table, which made him raise an eyebrow. "What''s with the bottle and glasses?"


    Alistar smiled before he grabbed the bottle and removed the cork, which made a satisfying ''plonk'' noise before he poured the brownish liquid into both glasses.


    "Well I always drink after a job well done, and these have, or I guess had some really good stuff." He raised the bottle a little bit before turning it around so that Sar could read the label. "Tevraki Whiskey, this stuff is pretty rare and trust me its good stuff."


    Sar had never tasted alcohol before, and he was a little unsure on whether he should participate. Alistar probably noticed his hesitation as he began speaking again.


    "Come on Sar; we''ve been working ever since we met let''s kick back a little and share a drink until your friends get here, or do your Jedi Oath forbids you from enjoying yourself?" The last part was said with a mocking tone of voice.


    Sar frowned before he jabbed back.


    "First of all its a Code, not an Oath and second knowing you, this will probably catch fire as soon as I pick it up." Sar looked at Alistar, but the same smug grin was still on his face.


    "Fine, I''ll drink with you." Sar relented which caused Alistar to grin even wider before he pushed the other glass toward Sar.


    "Bottoms up!" They both picked up the glasses and downed the drink in one go.


    Sar immediately felt the liquid burn it''s way down his throat, making him break out into a coughing fit. Alistar laughed at this as he filled both glasses up once again while poking fun at his friend.


    "Would you look at that the great Jedi Sar defeated by Whiskey."


    Sar just sent a glare Alistar way which just caused him to laugh even more. It took Sar a couple of seconds to recover.


    Having recovered Sar was able to actually taste the drink, and he had to admit that Alistar was right; it did taste good. It had a slightly smokey flavor, but there were also hints of sweetness and now that he got used to it the burning in his throat did feel pretty good.


    "So what do you think?" Asked Alistar when he saw that Sar had recovered.


    "I have to admit you were right; it is pretty good." Answered a more relaxed Sar.


    "Now, that''s the way, my friend." Alistar seemed happy as he pushed the refilled glass towards Sar again.


    The two just sat at the table talking and drinking whiskey as if they hadn''t just wiped out a whole group of smugglers hours before.


    "So what do you think?" Asked Sar having paused the drinking to ask a question.


    "Think about what?" Alistar asked while he filled his own glass.


    "This, helping people." Sar was curious especially after the story Alistar had told him.


    Alistar was just about to down another glass but stopped hearing Sar''s question. He placed the glass on the table before holding his chin as if he was deep in thought.


    "To be honest, it wasn''t quite what I expected. I had thought that things would be clearer that I would unlock something I guess." Alistar removed his hand from his chin and looked at Sar.


    "But it didn''t feel any different from my usual jobs really." Alistar tilted his head slightly. "Well with the exception of working with a Jedi." Alistar smiled a little. "So I think I really am made for this Bounty hunting business after all, though there is one thing this adventure changed."


    Hearing this last bit made Sar raise an eyebrow.


    "And that is?"


    "The number of things on my list of things I trust." Alistar leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Sar, who just began to smile.


    "Oh and is this new thing going to be: incredibly good looking red-haired Jedi, by any chance?" Sar wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke in a teasing voice.


    Alistar sat up again and chuckled at the joke.


    "Haha, no nothing that specific." Alistar lifted his glass up before he exclaimed.


    "To friends!" Sar smiled at this and lifted his own glass, clinking it on Alistar''s before he also exclaimed.


    "To friends!"


    ***


    Hulma was currently standing in a lonely canyon a long distance away from his former hideout. He had escaped using a Speeder he had placed at the exit of the escape tunnel and quickly escaped to this canyon.


    He was tightly clutching the blaster he had hidden behind his back as he waited for Tyranus. He was constantly cursing the Jedi and the Republic as he waited. He had the blaster as a last measure if he could not convince Tyranus to give him another chance, he hoped to threaten him to reveal the method to revive his daughter and wife.


    He didn''t have to wait long as he soon spotted a ship heading towards the canyon. The Ship was shaped almost like an eyeball with two triangle shaped eyelashes at the top and bottom of the eye.


    Hulma recognized the ship as it had been the one Tyranus had traveled in the first time he met him. Sweat began to roll down his forehead, and he could feel fear creeping up his spine as if telling him to run, but he couldn''t do that.


    The ship had arrived inside the canyon and turned around so that the back part was facing Hulma. A ramp then lowered, and a door slid open, revealing a dark cloaked figure.


    Seeing the figure made Hulma tense up. The figure slowly began moving down from the ramp, his footsteps leaving no sound or footprints even as he walked on the sandy ground. He stopped a little distance away from Hulma.


    "Lord Tyranus, I-" Hulma quickly went to explain with a shaky voice, but he was interrupted before he even began.


    "Your failure is already known." The voice coming from the cloaked figure sounded aged, but it carried great strength and dignity.


    Hearing those words made Hulma gulp and he was ready to draw his blaster at any moment, but he was caught off guard off guard by his next words.


    "Afterall, your failure was expected." The voice remained indifferent to Hulma''s growing confusion and concern.


    "Ex-expected my lord?" Hulma asked in a trembling voice.


    "Yes, after all that senator''s son was no more than bait, I already have what I came here for." The voice made no sense, but Hulma was relieved that it didn''t seem like he had messed anything up and had somehow fulfilled whatever they had wanted from him.


    "Th-then my lord, what about my wife and-" Hulma was just about to ask him to fulfill his part of the bargain but was once again interrupted.


    "You seem to misunderstand." The robed figure lifted his arms a bit pointing all ten of his fingers at Hulma. "Our deal was that I would revive your wife and daughter after you bring me the senator''s son."


    Hulma eyes widened, and he was just about to plead for another chance, but Tyranus continued.


    "And yet I see no such person present. So I have no more use for you." The aged voice finished, and Hulma quickly tried to point his blaster at him, but before he could even react blue lightning shot out of Tyranus''s fingertips engulfing him.


    "Arghhhhhhh!" Hulma screamed out in pain as he felt every muscle in his body constrict due to the strong electricity. The lightning stopped, and Hulma crumbled to the ground, white steam floating from his body.


    "Everlin, Lilly..." With his last breath, he uttered the names of his wife and daughter, the people he had hoped to save.


    Tyranus just looked at the body before turning around and entering his ship. He entered something into his hologram-device before kneeling down before it. The image of another robed figure emerged. You could only see the bottom half of the figures face, and even that was darkened.


    "I have accomplished your task, Master," Tyranus spoke to the hologram in a respectful voice while looking up at it from his kneeling position.


    "Good, very good." The voice sounded sinister and hoarse. "Your observation, my apprentice?"


    Tyranus answered immediately for fear of angering his Master.


    "The boy shows great potential as you have already said, Master."


    The hologram broke out into slight laughter.


    "It would seem I will have to make a slight change in the plans." The figure then returned to its dark and sinister tone. "You know what you must do now Tyranus do not fail me."


    Tyranus looked down before answering.


    "Yes, Master." As soon as he had said this the hologram disappeared and Tyranus rose from his position. He acted quickly and entered the coordinates to the place where his next task was.


    Dark plots were starting, and the galaxy would soon come to know that the Sith weren''t as extinct as they all thought.

 12: Knighted

    It hadn''t taken long after Sar and Alistar''s little celebration had ended, that the Republic extraction team arrived.


    They had already escorted the rescue target into one of the shuttles and were currently reporting back to his family. They had also sent a couple of medics into the bunker to check on the other slaves that remained.


    While it was unknown exactly what to do with them, currently they would be transported to Coruscant and taken care of there for the time being.


    It was decided that the captured smugglers would be handed over to the local authorities, which basically just meant the Hutt''s though Sar did convince them to hand two of the prisoners over to Alistar so that he could get his ''tip.''


    All of this had taken a couple of hours to get settled, and it was time to head back to the Temple and report back.


    "I guess this is where our paths diverge." Alistar was currently standing at the foot of the landing ramp looking slightly up at Sar who was standing on it.


    "Don''t get all emotional with me now." While he was saying this, he extended his hand.


    Alistar looked down at the extended hand before he gripped it with his own in a firm handshake.


    "I''ll be seeing you around Jedi." Alistar let go of Sar''s hand and ended the handshake, before turning around heading towards the two prisoners that were tied to a Speeder a little distance away.


    Sar also turned around and headed into the ship. The ramp shutting behind him.


    ***


    The journey back had been calm and uneventful. This gave Sar a chance to reflect over his recent mission and what had occurred.


    It was clear that there were clear flaws in the way the Order handle its image in the galaxy. From the way, Alistar spoke of the Jedi it was clear that their own image as keepers of the peace was far from the image that the rest of the galaxy had of them.


    While Sar knew that this was a problem he wasn''t sure how to solve it, but his belief in the Order, while shaken, hadn''t been erased and he would have to report this news back to the Council.


    Whatever the case, there was still something that bugged Sar about this mission.


    It seemed like he was being led around by the nose the entire time and whoever this Tyranus was, Sar felt that there was more to him than just some scumbag slave buyer.


    He was left with a lot more questions than he had started out with. He would have to meditate on these issues and let the Force guide him as it always did.


    Though a few positives did come from this mission. His abilities and senses had become sharper, and his path towards greater power seemed far clearer than it was before, but along with this newfound path to power came even greater temptations.


    Sar leaned back in the chair he was currently sitting in. He was more unsure than ever; he had realized that his view of the universe had been way too shallow, but he still believed that the Order was necessary to keep the peace in the galaxy.


    And if it weren''t, he would deal with that when the time came.


    ***


    "You have truly done a remarkable job, Sar."


    Sar was currently sitting in Chancellor Palpatine''s office giving his report of the events that transpired during the mission. He had immediately gone to report back to the Senate which was strange as normally Jedi would report to the High Council before going to the Senate.


    Sar however now knew that both the common people and the politicians saw the Jedi as an unpredictable threat that only answered to their own rules, and while the rest of the Jedi cared little for politics Sar knew that their current image could put the Order in danger.


    Therefore he had decided to report back to the Chancellor first to show that the Jedi were still part of the Republic and respected their rules, even though they served a different set of ideals than the rest.


    "Thank you for the praise Chancellor, but I don''t deserve it. Hulma did escape after all." Sar spoke from his current seat in front of the Chancellor''s desk. Sar truly didn''t see the mission as a success considering the fact that Hulma had escaped.


    Chancellor Palpatine just let out a soft chuckle and shook his head.


    "You are too hard on yourself, my young friend. Hulma will turn up; the important thing is that you rescued the person you were sent for."


    Sar felt great respect for the Chancellor; he seemed as wise as even Yoda and Sar felt a special kind of pull that made him trust him. So hearing those words from the Chancellor made Sar smile a little, though he still felt that he should have done more to capture Hulma.


    Palpatine probably noticed the expression of uncertainty on his face as he asked him another question.


    "Something else seems to trouble you, my young friend."


    Sar snapped out of his daze by the question switching his attention to the Chancellor. He considered whether he should just ignore the question and say that he had to report to his Order, but he decided to say what was on his mind.


    "This mission just made me realize that there are more to the universe than I was led to believe." Sar shifted slightly in his seat before he finished his sentence. "I''m just not sure whether the current way the Order is heading, is the right way."


    Sar sounded confused as if he didn''t fully know what he was trying to say himself, but luckily it seemed that the Chancellor had understood what he was trying to get across.


    Palpatine rubbed his chin before he answered the question.


    "I understand your concerns, my young friend. It is never easy to change one''s own mind concerning the things you have been taught since you were a child." Palpatine stopped rubbing his chin and looked directly into Sar''s eyes. "But do not be mistaken doubt is always a good thing."


    Sar tilted his head at this, as he had always been told ever since he was young that doubt would lead one astray.


    "It is?" Asked Sar genuinely confused at the Chancellors words


    Palpatine just nodded.


    "It is. While I know that your Order tells you that it will lead you down a dark path. I feel this thinking is too shallow. Doubt is what makes people able to take something and make it better so that they can remove the doubts they have."


    Hearing Palpatine''s answer made Sar realize something. He was right that doubt was needed as long as it was used as a tool to make something better. This removed most of the guilt Sar was feeling from the doubts he held about the Order''s current practices.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    He would have wanted to talk at length with the Chancellor, but he knew that he had to report to the Council, so he decided to end the talk.


    "Thank you, Chancellor, for your kind words." Sar stood up from his seat, the Chancellor following his lead and also standing up. "I will take your words to heart, but I must attend to my duties."


    The Chancellor just gave a little smile and a small nod. Sar gave a small bow and exited the office.


    He still had to report to the Council.


    ***


    Standing in the familiar council chamber, Sar had just finished his retelling of the events. Currently, he was alway reporting about his observations concerning the rest of the galaxies view of them, but the response he was getting was less than ideal.


    "Our duty his to protect the galaxy, not play petty politics." This curt reply came from Master Windu and while some Jedi frowned at his phrasing Sar could see that they all agreed.


    Sar tried not to show it but he felt that this outlook was very arrogant and short-sighted. While he understood the Order''s need of being seen as a neutral party in the galaxy, outright dismissing politics was exactly the kind of arrogance the rest of the galaxy accused the Order of possessing.


    "Master, with all due respect, politics is a necessary evil, if we outright dismiss it the common people will believe that we see ourselves above the law and you all cannot seriously consider that to be an acceptable outco-!" Sar had gotten a little heated during his rant and was abruptly stopped by Yoda''s raised hand.


    "Calm yourself, young Sar," Yoda lowered his hand. "Your concerns, understandable are. But the Order untainted, it must remain." Yoda closed his eyes and indicated that the conversation was over.


    Sar was disappointed to say the least and was about to argue again but stopped himself. It was clear that the Masters had no intention of changing their ways at the moment.


    Sar sighed, then made a little bow before turning around and heading for the exit.


    "Padawan, wait a minute." He was stopped by the clear and firm voice of his Master Shaak Ti. Sar turned around and looked curiously at her from his position in front of the door.


    "There is one more thing." Shaak Ti stood up from her chair and waved for Sar to approach. When he was in front of her she placed a hand on his shoulder and began speaking.


    "You have shown yourself capable and willing of the responsibilities that come with being a Jedi and a member of our Order. You have shown your skills in both the lightsaber and the Force. You have shown courage during both our mission three years ago and during your recently accomplished one. You have shown your spirit in your desire to protect the galaxy and the people that inhabit it. You have shown the mettle of your flesh in the trials you have undergone and your unwillingness to bend to the darkness. And finally, you have shown your insight in navigating an unfamiliar world and emerging from it better than before."


    Sar eyes had become wider and wider during Shaak Ti''s speech and now they were as wide as they could be. He was, for the first time in a long time, truly flustered, but he maintained his silence since he knew what came next.


    Seeing that her Padawan had understood what she was hinting at a proud smile emerged on her face, before she once again went over to stand in front of her chair and ignited her lighsaber holding it in a two-handed grip, the blade pointed vertically upwards in front of her face.


    The other Masters followed suit all standing up and igniting their lightsabers.


    Sar remained silent before he went over towards Master Yoda, who was currently standing on his chair, his emerald green lightsaber also ignited.


    He kneeled down in front of the Grandmaster and placed his lightsaber on the floor in front of him before looking down.


    When Yoda saw that Sar was in position he began the ceremony.


    "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 "


    Yoda then looked at Sar before placing his lightsaber just above his left shoulder.


    "Sar Pandala."


    After saying his name he than shifted his lightsaber position to just above the right shoulder and finished his knighting.


    "By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi, Knight of the Republic."


    After having said this Yoda removed the lightsaber from Sar''s shoulder before he took the same stance as the rest of the Masters.


    Sar just took his lightsaber, stood up and left the Council, all in solemn silence.


    ***


    Walking back to his chamber after the ceremony was a weird feeling. Sure physically nothing was changed with him, but Sar still felt like his mind was covered in a weird haze as he pretty much hovered towards his room.


    For all his newfound doubts about the Order, he still considered it his home and its members his family, so the honor of being knighted weighed heavily on the former Padawan''s mind.


    When he finally reached his chamber he threw himself on the mat that served as his bed and stared up at the ceiling. For the first time in many years Sar felt truly tired. While he still slept it was often a meditation induced sleep, but this time Sar felt he needed real sleep.


    Sar thought a bit more about his future. He could feel that something was coming, what it was he did not know, but he knew it would be here soon. And it would require more than just strength. Now that he was Jedi Knight he would have a lot of freedom.


    He would have to use this freedom to further both his combat ability but also his understanding and knowledge of the world.


    He would look into what he wanted to learn tomorrow after his training, and then take it from there he was sure that the Force would guide him onto the right path.


    Having finally quelled the various thought swirling in his head Sar was finally able to sleep, but his sleep would not be as peaceful as he would have wanted.


    Dreams have always held some importance to Force users Jedi and Sith alike, and Sar''s was no different as for what he saw in his dream?


    Well let''s just say that nothing is set in stone and the galaxy had better hope that this particular dream doesn''t prove that statement wrong.

 13: Know Thy Enemy

    The Jedi archives were perhaps the largest holder of knowledge in the universe. It had entries that could be dated back to even before the Old Republic. Some texts even predated the Jedi and Siths themselves.


    Though much of the knowledge were either forbidden or redacted due to the Orders ever present concern about the temptations of the Dark Side.


    It was in this great building of knowledge that Sar now found himself in. He had the night before grumbled over what paths he should take beside the obvious one of furthering his Jedi abilities.


    He had come to the conclusion that reading up on, and learning a bit more about the Jedi''s ancient enemy could come in handy. While pretty much everyone in the Order and the universe itself believed the Sith to have died out millennia ago. The events that had transpired these past few years left Sar uncertain of their demise.


    Sar had certainly felt a shift in the Force in recent years. A shadow slowly covering the things that used to be so clear in a veil of fog and uncertainty, and he had a ever growing suspicion that the Sith would one way or another have a role to play in the events yet to come.


    So, learning about your foe could prove invaluable, and who knows, maybe learning of their ways would further Sar''s path in the Force.


    But as you might imagine information about the Sith was heavily restricted even with his newfound rank of Knight, he still found his path to more knowledge barred, and what little information he could glean from the few files were filled with Jedi rhetoric and propaganda.


    Growing more and more frustrated by the lack of clear information about the Sith, Sar decided to go over what little he had uncovered.


    Much like the Jedi the ancient Sith also had a clear hierarchy. Though, it was clear that the names of the ranks was to make clear who was in charge and who was not. Ranks such as Lord and Overlord clearly demonstrated that these rankings were meant to dominate.


    What perhaps surprised Sar the most was that he discovered, after having sorted through all of the Jedi propaganda, that it was actually Dark Jedi that had inadvertently created the Sith by trying to enslave and alien race that would later form the Sith.


    The last really meaningful thing he managed to uncover from hours of research and going through almost all of the relevant files, was the fact that while the Sith did draw power from the Dark Side their strength came from emotion and passion. This was something that completely opposed the Jedi''s way of thinking and something that left Sar curious.


    This was a strange thing to learn about as Sar had spent pretty much all his life listening to people telling him that emotions was the bane of every Force user and they must be kept in check. While he had no interest in the Dark Side he did become curious about the Sith''s way of thinking, something that should the other Jedi learn about his thoughts, he would probably be kicked out of the Order.


    But Sar could not turn his back to this. He had already learned that the Order was by no means perfect, and this knowledge could perhaps not only further his own understanding of the Force but every Force users understanding.


    Sar began skimming through the few remaining files, searching for further information about the Sith''s training methods.


    Of course Sar never found any actual Sith training methods as those would have been destroyed by the ancient Jedi long ago, but he did manage to find something that might yield some of the results he was looking for.


    In one of the text there was mentioned a Sith Code. While the actual code was not written down the fact that one existed was a huge discovery for Sar.


    There was a reason why the Jedi Code was considered so important for the not just the Younglings but for the Masters as well. The code contained not only the doctrine of the Order but the very core of all of their knowledge about the Force.


    If Sar managed to somehow obtain a copy of the Sith Code he would be able to learn about the core of the Sith''s understanding of the Force. Not only that, since there had not been a ''real'' Sith order for thousands upon thousands of years the Code would have remained unchanged as opposed to the Jedi Code which had countless iterations throughout the years.


    Ancient knowledge was not only rare, but very beneficial as it held insights in the Force that had been lost to time.


    Sar felt that he had a clear goal set now, he had to find a version of that Code. It would not only grant him insight into the Force, but also more knowledge about the Sith themselves and what to expect from them.


    Having written his notes down, excluding his plan to search for the Sith Code, Sar leaned back in the chair and stretched his sore muscles, before planning his next move.


    While he certainly knew what he was looking for where to start in order to find it was a totally different question, one he did not have an answer for at the moment.


    He dared not ask anyone from the Order or the Republic about it as that would just be inviting trouble, so he had already lost pretty much all of the sources he had. A few more minutes passed by as Sar sat and thought about where to begin when it suddenly clicked.


    It had slipped his mind because he had only heard about it once three years ago, but he remembered his Master mentioning a list of planets that had been under the Sith''s control. The fact that his Master had mentioned the list so casually meant that it was probably not seen as that important by the Council, another testament to how sure they were of the Sith''s extinction.


    Sitting up straight in his chair Sar began typing away at the holo-computer in front of him until he found what he was looking for.


    A list of planets popped up in front of him. Each planet had a short description of its history and when it had last been visited by a Jedi. Many of them had been left to their own devices for centuries or where a barren wasteland with nothing of interest.


    Sar spent about an hour scrolling through the list until he finally landed on something promising.


    It was a planet that had no name merely listed in the system as Unknown #23. It hadn''t been visited by a Jedi in about three hundred years and there were apparently an ancient Sith temple located on the planet.


    Typing a few more things into the system Sar soon had the planets coordinates stored. Now he had a destination but before he could begin his journey. Pulling up yet another file a document with many strange symbols and letters popped up.


    The Sith language was actually one of the few things the Order did not restrict access to about the Sith, probably because a dead language held little threat of turning anyone to the Dark Side.


    And so Sar set out to do the grueling task of learning an ancient dead language. Though, of course he also made sure that he wrote a lot down so he had some kind of makeshift dictionary. This removed the need to learn the entire language before he set out.


    ***


    Setting foot on the planet alone was a weird feeling. While Sar had experienced a solo mission before that one had been sanctioned by the Senate and he had been given clear instructions, plus Alistar had accompanied him on that little adventure.


    This time he was truly on his own. While the planet was uninhabited it certainly wasn''t lacking in life. Huge trees and foliage spread out in front of Sar''s eyes and surrounded the clearing he had landed in.


    The dense fauna may have proved a hindrance in finding what he was looking for had he come here back when he had just earned his Padawan title, but now his senses and mastery over the Force made it easy for Sar to find his way.


    Using his lightsaber to cut down the plants and trees that stood in his way Sar made his way through the humid jungle-like forest.


    He was glad he had changed his normal Jedi robes for something a little more practical.


    He was currently wearing a simple combat suit with a few pieces of armor covering his chest, back and legs, his hands were wrapped with some kind of coarse bandage, and his face and hair was covered in some kind of cloth shawl leaving only his eyes exposed.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    As he moved through the forest he followed the weird sensation he had felt when he first landed on the planet. It was unlike anything he had sensed before. It was diffidently the Dark Side but it seemed almost faded as if it had long disappeared and only a weak echo remained.


    Finally he arrived at a clearing and came face to face with what he had been looking for.


    Like the Sith structure he had encountered on Eoliv, this one was also in the shape of a pyramid. Although it was a bit smaller and made out of some kind of mundane brown stone.


    You could definitely see the tears of time on the structure as most of the rocks were cracked and covered in vines. The huge staircase that let up to the entrance of the temple was missing chunks of the railing and even many of the steps had crumbled.


    Removing his lightsaber from his waist Sar moved towards the entrance to the temple, remembering to keep his guard up.


    The insides of the temple was pretty much what you would have expected from an ancient structure, barren with pieces of rubble scattered across the cracked stone floor. The room was ,however, surprisingly well lit due to the various holes in the pyramid that let in streams of sunlight.


    Sar''s gaze soon landed on the wall right in front of him. The wall was covered in mysterious writing that emitted the weird dark echo that Sar had been following.


    Stepping closer and inspecting it he soon figured out why the Jedi had not either burned this temple down or kept it''s location under better guard.


    The writing was indeed Sith but a more advanced and rare type of dialect, namely High Sith. While Jedi had an understanding of Common Sith, High Sith was generally ignored due to its rare  use.


    That was probably why the Jedi had left the temple, they had simply thought of it as some common Sith handwriting and left it here to crumble, but Sar knew that High. Sith held more power than mere writing.


    While Sar had a pretty good understanding of the language it was really his makeshift dictionary that allowed him to decode the writing on the wall. While it was not the Sith Code he had hoped it would be, he still felt that it held a secret that would be revealed by reciting it.


    So he did.


    "Strength comes from passion. Show no mercy. The Dark Side guides no one who cannot guide themselves. Let hate and love flow through you and open your eyes to the true way of the Force. The way of the Sith."


    With each word recited a letter of the writing lit up in a inky black color on the wall. When he finished the short text all the words shone with the same black color.


    Sar studied the weird phenomenon that clearly had something to due with the Dark Side, but didn''t really have long to think before the black color faded from each of the words, and after the color faded so did the letters, before a crack appeared down the middle of the wall and it parted revealing a small room behind it.


    The room was barren except for a white marble pedestal, upon which sat a small black and red pyramid.


    The pyramid was made out of a kind of dark gleaming metal and red tainted glass. The metal was engraved with a cryptic markings which pulsed with a red light.


    Sar''s breath halted for a bit as he realized what that thing was.


    A Sith Holocron.


    Much like the Jedi these Holocrons held powerful knowledge, but Sith Holocron as you would expect was very rare and was seen by the Order as the most dangerous artifacts in the universe.


    Cold sweat ran down Sar''s back. How in the Force was there a Sith Holocron in this unassuming temple?! Thoughts raised through his head and he was unsure what to do.


    His duty would be to bring the Holocron back to the temple so that the Masters could seal it in a secure location, but this course of action would make the Order question why he was out looking for Sith temples and how he knew how to speak High Sith.


    His other option was to just leave it here and seal the room. This would eliminate the need to explain anything to the Council and Sar could just act like this never happened.


    But Sar opted for telling the Council about his discovery despite the trouble and potential danger it would bring. For at the end of the day, despite Sar''s disagreements with the Order, he was a Jedi and it was his duty to keep the galaxies safe even if that meant disadvantaging himself.


    Taking a deep breath Sar reached out and grabbed the Holocron, but as soon as he touched it something he had not expected happened. Sar knew that only people who wielded the Dark Side were able to open Sith Holocrons, so when the small pyramid began glowing and opened he was truly caught off guard.


    Sar tried to throw it away but it was too late as a thin lazer. like beam emerged from the now opened pyramid and entered his forehead. Immediately fire-like pain engulfed his head. While Sar was no stranger to pain this one was so intense that even the well-trained Jedi Knight dropped to his knees, his lightsaber slipping from his grip and clattering unto the floor.


    Sar grabbed his head and screamed as ancient knowledge of the Sith flowed into his brain. The changes brought forth by the artifact did not stop there as the pain in his head transferred down to his right hand.


    Sar removed his hand from his head and grabbed the wrist of his right hand with that of his left as he tried to keep the screams of pain locked in his throat.


    His eyes soon locked onto his pained right hand. It was violently twitching, each finger seemingly having a mind of its own as it tried to escape the unbearable agony it was in. Soon his hand starting from the tips of the fingers started to turn an ashen grey color and black veins slowly crept up his arm.


    Sar''s eyes became wider and wider, and an unbearable fear started creeping into his mind even as he tried to gather his wits and fight back against the dark powers that had infected him. It was useless however as soon black lighting started to coil around the fingers on his right hand.


    The lightning became more intense as time went on, before it slowly began forming a dark electric sphere that kept sparking with the dark lightning. It was unlike anything Sar had ever seen before and he could feel the powerful precesnse of the the Dark Side within the lightning.


    The sphere kept expanding until finally it exploded into a wave of black electricity that engulfed Sar''s body and launched him out of the room and into the air.


    The pain in his hand had been replaced with the numbing feeling of electricity coursing through his body as Sar felt himself sail through the air, time seemingly having stopped, allowing him to observe the condition of his body.


    Until he hit the cold stone floor and rolled a small distance before coming to a stop, unconscious.


    ***


    When Sar awoke once again the first thing he noticed was that he no longer felt pain, except for the state of soreness his body was in. Sitting up from his prone position with a groan Sar quickly looked at his right hand only to find that it had returned to normal.


    After that he closed his eyes and was relived to find that beside the thing he had actually come for the other Sith knowledge had seemingly disappeared, though he was a bit perplexed as to why.


    Now standing up completely, Sar directed his gaze to the small room to make sure that the Sith Holocron would not cause more trouble. His worries were unfounded however as the Holocron, still open and no longer glowing, laid on the stone floor with a plume of black smoke coming from it.


    Relived to see that he had avoided both being killed and having to deliver the Holocron to the Council Sar used the Force to grab his lightsaber that he had lost during the ordeal with the artifact.


    Attaching it to his waist Sar slowly limped out of the temple and down the stairs. When he was a good distance from the temple entrance he felt a weird wind brush against his back quickly turning around all that greeted him was the clearing where the old temple stood. Turning around and shrugging his shoulders Sar walked the rest of distance to his ship, and left the planet.


    However, Sar had not realized that when he had felt the wind and turned around his eyes had glowed briefly...with a sickly yellow color.

 14: Explosion = Bodyguard

    Sar Landala was not having a good day. Then again he hadn''t had a really good day in close to seven years. The young fifteen year old boy had turned into a young twenty-two year old man. The events at the temple seven years ago had lasting effects on the mind of the Jedi Knight.


    While there was no physical damage, Sar''s every sleeping moment were haunted by nightmares. He had not had a truly restful sleep in all these years. He had learned to live with it, but the experience had taken a toll on his mind. He was by no means insane or unstable, he was still very much the image of a proper disciplined Jedi.


    He was however more blunt and eccentric than what he had been.His changes had been noticed especially by his Master, and he had admitted to his fascination with the Sith history, though he had left out his journey to the Sith Temple.


    He still remembered the scolding he got from his Master. She had lost her composure and forbidden him from leaving the Jedi Temple. His Knight rank was almost revoked but he got off with a stern scolding from the Council and meditation sessions with Grandmaster Yoda.


    That was were they had left it for about two year, and Sar kept furthering his mastery in the Force and his lightsaber skills, while also continuing his research of the Sith, this time way more moderately. Yet as the strange dark veil made the their ability to sense the future more and more unclear, the Masters realized that something was approaching and allowed him to resume his studies, this time officially, under the condition that he kept all research within the Temple.


    And so the years went by and Sar soon earned his reputation as a respected, if odd, Jedi. While Sar did not exactly have ''good day''s during this time he was by no means unhappy, feeling himself grow stronger and more knowledgeable drove him forward.


    He, however, had to admit that this bad day took the cake. He had woken up from his meditation, and was heading towards the training grounds to start his lightsaber excises only to be pulled aside by an Initiate telling him he had to report to the Chancellor''s office.


    Apparently there had been an assassination attempt on the former queen of Naboo, Senator Padme Amidala. Her body double had been killed along with the crew on her ship.


    When Sar arrived inside the office some of the members of the High Council was already present, such as: Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and Kit Fisto. They were discussing the action the Republic would take and the Jedi''s role in them.


    Sar''s ears perked up when the Separatist movement was brought up. In the recent years a group had formed within the Republic that wanted to break away from it and establish their own coalition of Systems separate from the Republic.


    As you could imagine this sparked mass confusion and violence in both the Systems that remained in the Republic and those that had joined the Separatists. It was also this unrest that had brought Amidala to Coruscant, as she was to vote on the idea of forming a Republic army to assit the Jedi Order in maintaining peace in the galaxy.


    Sar could feel that they were on the edge of the first full blown war in millennia, and he was afraid that the construction of an army would see the Order be reduced to mere soldiers in a war that could be avoided with some compromises from both sides.


    "I will not allow the Republic that has stood for a thousand years be split in two." The calm, if slightly angry, voice of the Chancellor snapped Sar out of his musing as he refocused on the conversation.


    This time it was the firm voice of Master Windu that spoke out.


    "But if it does there will not be enough Jedi to protect the Republic," Windu leaned forward a little with his hands folded. "We''re keepers of the peace not soldiers."


    The statement about them not being soldiers relieved some of the worries Sar was having, but his phrasing did make him frown.


    "While I agree that we should not be used as soldiers isn''t there another issue this potential split presents?" All eyes turned to the red-headed man that stood at the right side of the chair that Master Yoda was sitting on.


    Sar''s interruption could be considered rude, considering the fact that he had interrupted a Jedi Master while only being a Jedi Knight, but it was well known that Sar possessed abilities that could easily earn him a seat on the Council. Along with wisdom and knowledge that could not be ignored, his council was heeded.


    Seeing that the Jedi and politicians had an eyebrow raised in confusion Sar continued his explanation.


    "Well, every time we have faced a threat it has always been another faction or invading entity," Looking around the room and making sure everyone was following him he continued. "But this time we are talking about a faction formed by members of the Republic, members may I remind you that we also swore an oath to protect."


    The issue that Sar had raised was one that had been considered briefly but ultimately the Separatists had been deemed traitors and hostile to the Republic. And while that was true the issue was more complicated than that, while Sar was sure that some Systems had left due to greed he also knew that many just wanted to escape the corruption within the Republic and create something better for themselves.


    But Sar had steeled himself that if the worst came to pass he would fight alongside his brothers and sisters on the side of the Republic.


    "Your concerns have been heard my young friend and do not worry I will do everything in my power to make sure that this is resolved quickly and peacefully." Came the light voice of the Chancellor.


    Even after all these years Sheev Palpatine still managed to hold onto the position and Sar''s respect for the man had continued to grow during these years as Palpatine had always been ready to help Sar when he required something for his research.


    The discussion continued for a bit before a hologram popped out from the Chancellors desk. He spoke a few words to the alien on the other end of the hologram before it disappeared and the doors to the office slid open.


    A group of senators walked in, at their head was Senator Amidala. She was indeed beautiful if slightly too young for the position in Sar''s opinion but he really had no right to judge as you could argue that he was too young for his own.


    Master Yoda was the first to greet her.


    "Senator Amidala, heard of the attack on you, I have, seeing you alive warms my heart." Yoda was placed his palm on his chest and made a little nod towards the senator.


    "Thank you Master Yoda." She maintained a respectful tone as fitting a senator but Sar could clearly feel the impatience and anger she excluded as she hurried on to the real reason she had come.


    "Do you have any idea who could have done this?" Her tone was rushed and Sar could clearly feel the underlying pain the senator was masking behind her calm facade.


    Master Windu rose from his seat and answered in his normal curt and calm tone.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "We believe it to be some disgruntled space miners from Naboo."


    Sar found himself unable to believe that, while the idea that it was someone out for some kind of misplaced revenge could be plausible, the attack in the port was way to coordinate for it to not have been done by a professional. Considering the fact that they would actually have managed to kill a Republic Senator had they not been fooled by the body double.


    It would seem the senator was in agreement, however Sar was not happier with the theory she came up with instead.


    "I don''t believe that miners would be able to pull something that soffisticated off," She looked at the Jedi in the room before finishing her sentence. "I believe this attack was orchestrated by Count Dooku."


    The Jedi immediately tensed up at the mention of Dooku''s name, Sar included. Rage formed up inside the pit of his stomach at the insult this girl had just thrown their way, but managed to swallow it down, before he responded.


    "With all due respect senator you have no facts or evidence to support you claim," Amidala''s gaze locked onto him and he realized what rubbed him the wrong way about the girl, she was naive and stubborn, a very annoying combo. "And that''s not even considering the fact that he is a former Jedi."


    Oh boy, she did not like that. Her eyes blazed with anger and Sar was certain she would start yelling at him if she wasn''t interrupted by the Chancellor.


    "Whatever the case may be one thing is clear," He turned and looked at Padme from his position by the window. "You are in grave danger."


    Padme removed her angry glare from Sar and replied to the Chancellor.


    "We will tighten secur-" She was interrupted by the Chancellor''s raised hand.


    "Whoever these attackers are they have clearly shown their ability to bypass our security measures," He lowered his arm and turned to look at Yoda and Windu. "As such I would request you, Jedi Masters, to place the senator under your protection."


    Amidala''s eyes widened with displeasure and Sar nodded calmly.


    It was a wise decision. There were few places safer than under a Jedi''s watch and it fell right in with their common duties anyway.


    Before Amidala had a chance to speak up Master Windu had already jumped on the question.


    "That would indeed be possible, Master Kenobi is just returning from a mission and Landala here is also free."


    Now it was Sar''s turn to be taken of guard, while he had felt it was a smart move he did not want to be the unlucky soul that had to do it, but it would seem his fate was sealed.


    "Excellent, young Sar has always carried out his duties to the letter I have complete confidence that with him and Master Kenobi as guards senator Amidala will be quite safe."


    Sar and Amidala''s expression could be summoned up in two words deadpanned acceptance.


    Maintaining his serious expression the Chancellor waved Sar and Amidala off with a hand gesture.


    "With those things settled it would be best if Sar would escort senator Amidala back to her residence."


    Sar just gave a small bow before he motioned for Amidala to follow him. He received a glare before she briskly walked out of the office with him following behind him.


    ***


    Anakin Skywalker was not a person who got nervous. Even way back when he was still a child slave living on Tatooine he had rarely felt nervous. Even when he had first been brought to the Jedi Temple to train he had kept his cool and remained calm.


    Now however, all of that seemed like nothing compared to the current challenge ahead of him.


    "Would you relax? Your so tense even the elevator seems relaxed in comparison." Anakin looked to his right where his bearded mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, stood.


    "Tense? I''m not tense, it''s called being on-guard." Came the quick reply from the young Padawan.


    Anakin was playing it off like he was just nervous about the mission, but what he was actually nervous about was meeting her again.


    Anakin was very well aware of the rules and stigma the Jedi had for attachments, especially were they of the amorous kind, but he couldn''t bring himself to follow them completely like the rest of the Order, including his Master.


    While Anakin was grateful to Obi-Wan and his late Master Qui-Gon for saving him from slavery, somewhere deep inside he also harbored a feeling of anger towards the Jedi for forcing him to leave his mother back on Tatooine.


    It was probably why he had never bought into the whole ''no emotions'' talk they kept spouting back when he had just started his training. But his distaste for the rules was eventually overruled by the love he harbored for his mentor. He would not be able to disappoint the only other person beside his mother he saw as family.


    That was the reason he was so nervous, he was afraid that seeing Padme again would reignite those feelings he did not understand back on Tatooine.


    "Yeah well be a little less on guard then Anakin, composure is essanstial for a Jedi." Came Obi-Wan''s reply which snapped Anakin out of his daze.


    Wanting to change the subject Anakin brought up the other person that was supposed to be with them for this mission.


    "So, Master, do you know this Sar Landala? I don''t think I''ve seen him around the temple before."


    Obi-Wan glanced at Anakin clearly sensing that he was intentionally changing the subject, but paid it no further mind and answered.


    "Hmm, I wouldn''t say I know him, but I have spoken to him a few times," Obi-Wan rubbed his beard before he gave a cheeky smile to Anakin. "He is rather blunt I think you are going to like him."


    Obi-Wan spoke respectfully about his fellow Jedi Knight, it was clear that his mentor held some form of respect for this mysterious Jedi.


    "You sound like you respect him a great deal?" Anakin voiced it as question as he once again glanced at his Master.


    "I wouldn''t really call it ''respect'', as that would indicate that there are some in the Order I don''t respect which would not be accurate," Obi-Wan looked at his confused Padawan and chuckled. "All Jedi deserve some form of respect, something you could learn a thing or two about."


    Anakin glared at his Master which elicited a chuckle from him. He was just about to comment on the fact that he had learned all that he knew from him when he heard Obi-Wan mutter.


    "Ah, we''re here."


    Immediately the feeling of nervousness returned stronger than ever an a small wave of dizziness assaulted his senses. He barely registered stepping off the elevator and being led down the hall by senatorial guards, before finally entering a large penthouse.


    When he finally snapped out of his daze he was greeted by the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. All his feelings of nervousness and fear was quickly washed away by the rays of light that seemed to radiate from her, only to be replaced by a warm aching feeling in his hear and belly.


    His mind spun with only a single thought.


    Wow, an angel.

 15: You Stay Here!

    Sar''s meal was interrupted by the sound of the penthouse doors sliding open. He immediately tensed up in case a threat had somehow made up. However, he relaxed when he saw a familiar figure, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi.


    Sar had talked to Kenobi a few times, but hadn''t really formed an opinion on of the man. From what he had felt from their few encounters the man was a dedicated Jedi, which Sar had great respect for, he had also heard of Kenobi''s borderline prodigal use of the third lightsaber form.


    Shifting his gaze from the bearded Jedi his gaze landed on the young man, only a few years younger than himself, that stood next to him.


    Sar had, of course, heard of ''The Chosen One'' and he certainly understood how he had been granted that title, while still, young an unrefined Sar could clearly feel that the young man was strong in the Force to an abnormal degree.


    Sar sat up from his position on the couch and left his half-eaten steak on the small coffee table, and headed over to his two fellow Jedi.


    He stopped, however, as he felt a disturbance in the Force that came from Skywalker. Sar was greeted to the boy looking dazedly at the Senator. While Sar was not one hundred percent sure what that expression meant he had an idea as to what it could mean.


    While Sar certainly had his disagreements in regards to the Jedi''s way of handling things, forbidding romantic relationships was not one of them. Ignoring the Jedi''s belief in the fact that emotions turn you to the Dark Side, the existence of such a relationship does create an exploitable weakness, something Sar felt should not be present in a profession where the work they do concerns the peace of the entire universe.


    Resuming his approach he sent a little wave of Force at Skywalker snapping him out of his daze and making him snap his head towards him.


    "Greetings Master Kenobi, young Skywalker," Sar greeted them with a thin smile and a small bow. "I hope that no problems occurred on your way over here."


    Obi-Wan returned the smile and made a little bow of his own.


    "No, no problems at all," Obi-Wan sent a cheeky smile to his Padawan who was currently sizing up Sar. "Although, my young Padawan here had to stir up some trouble with the locals."


    Anakin made a dismissive snort, but said nothing in return he just kept staring at Sar with the occasional glance at the Senator.


    "Hmm, patience is an important trait in any Jedi young Skywalker. You should not strive to create unnecessary trouble." Sar spoke in a calm tone. He did not want to scold the young Jedi, but he still felt it should be said especially after the foreboding expression he had worn before.


    It would seem Anakin wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by the soft voice of the Senator, that until that moment had just been passively listening to the greetings.


    "Wait, Skywalker?" When she repeated the name something seemed as her face lit up in realization. She pointed at Anakin and asked. "You''re Ani?!"


    Her voice was tinged by surprise, but Sar could clearly sense the feelings of happiness that emanated from the Senator.


    The Senator was not the only one to be surprised apparently, as Anakin jumped a little at the sudden mention of the nickname she had given him all those years ago, but it would seem that the Jedi training had rubbed off on him somewhat as he collected himself and responded with a confident ''yes''.


    It did not take long for those two to slip into an isolated discussion and they moved away from the two Jedi Knight''s and began talking over by the window.


    Sar considered interrupting the conversation and pulling Anakin back, seeing as that foreboding expression had returned to his face, but he seeing as the Senator did not seem interested in that sort of relationship he let it go for now.


    While he was looking at the tow of them while rubbing his chin, Obi-Wan had walked up to stand next to him.


    "He still has a lot to learn but I have seen the potential he has." Obi-Wan said while also looking at the young pair.


    "I know," Sar said before he sighed and shook his head. "But we both know that the discipline required to be a Jedi is the hardest part, and even the strongest of us struggle."


    Obi-Wan just nodded his head and kept silent as the two stared at the young pair animatedly talking about what had happened in the time they hadn''t seen each other.


    It was Sar that eventually broke this silence.


    "Well Master Kenobi, it doesn''t look like they''ll be done talking anytime soon," Sar lifted his right hand and used the Force to open a cabinet and levitate a bottle of rum and two small glasses, before placing them on the coffee-table. "Shall we converse over a drink while we wait for the kids to finish playing?"


    Obi-Wan grinned and raised an eyebrow.


    "Drinking on the job Master Landala?"


    Sar just smiled and sat down on the sofa, Obi-Wan following his lead and sitting in a sofa located in across from him.


    "One of the perks of being a Jedi," Sar poured a glass for each of them, before he raised his. "We don''t get drunk unless we want to."


    Obi-Wan raised his own glass and clinked it against Sar''s.


    "Haha, truer words have rarely been spoken my friend."


    ***


    Sar and Obi-Wan had been drinking and chatting for a couple of minutes when Captain Panaka, the man officially in charge of Padme Amidala''s security, finally arrived in the penthouse.


    He had been running around making sure that everything was secure down on the ground floor and that no one had been able to slip through a crack in his security, and also assigning people to actually track down the assassin.


    "Master Jedi, please excuse my delay." While his speech was polite Sar was able to clearly detect that he was not happy that he and his fellow Jedi had been assigned as guards without his approval. A trait Sar found quite admirable. Loyalty was an important trait for any being in Sar''s opinion.


    "There is no need for that captain; we can hardly fault you for doing your duty." It was Obi-Wan who answered the man, and after a few more exchanging of words we got down to business.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Everyone in the room gathered at the sofas and coffee-table, Padme sitting on the couch with her back facing the window, Panaka standing right next to her. The three Jedi sat on the couch opposite of her.


    Sar cleared his throat and began talking.


    "So, Now that we are in charge of your security miss Senator, let me go over the rules." Sar clearly saw Padme''s look of displeasure at the mention of rules, but he did not care about the girl''s feelings he had a job to do.


    "Until the vote you will be staying here, since we are three Jedi one of us will patrol outside the penthouse every now and then. While two stay with you. You will under no circumstances leave this room, is that clear?"


    Padme snorted and gave a reply.


    "I do not need protection I need answers," She locked eyes with Sar. "Something I cannot get if I''m locked in this room. So to answer your question, no that is not ''clear''."


    Sar remained calm, even though he did not like the girl''s attitude he also recognized that her rebuttals were not malicious, merely misguided. It was not Sar however that responded, but the young Skywalker.


    "Don''t worry Padme, we''ll figure out who is out to hurt you, I promise."


    Sar snapped his head to look at the young Jedi. This was not the way of a Jedi to act, but it was not his place to rebut him that duty fell to the man who spoke up next.


    "Anakin, our mission is to protect the Senator, not find her would-be killer," He then gestured to Panaka. "That duty falls on the Captain and his men."


    Anakin did not seem pleased with that answer as he once again opened his mouth.


    "Yeah, because they did such a great job at that the first time."


    Arrogance, was the first thought that came to Sar''s mind when he heard the boys statement. It would seem that Kenobi had not been kidding when he said the boy still had a lot to learn. It would seem that the statement had also rubbed the Senator the wrong way.


    "Ani! That is highly disrespectful and short-sighted of you to say such a thing," While Sar would be the first to say that he did not like the Senator he had to admit that she had fire. "Apologize to the Captain immediately."


    Anakin looked like he had been hit by a rock as he mumbled a soft ''I''m sorry'' while looking down. Seeing as they were moving further and further away from the original subject Sar decide to put an end to this debacle.


    "Enough! We will protect the Senator, and I mean only protect the Senator," Sar stared both the Senator and the young Padawan down before he continued. "The Captain and the Republic guards know what they are doing they will find the assassin, until then we will stay here."


    Sar had used a bit of the Force so that each of his words had carried a bit more weight.


    Padme and Anakin both gave out a low displeased ''understood'', before Padme excused herself and went into her chambers.


    When she was gone Panaka gave us a final glance before he also excused himself, he was probably eager in joining the hunt for the assassin. Sar received a glare from the young Padawan, he realized he was probably not the boy''s favorite person right now, not that he cared all that much anyhow.


    Sar stood up from the couch and looked out the window. The sky had turned dark, and the various buildings and signs were all lit up in different colors signaling that nighttime was upon them. Turning his head a little, he addressed the other Jedi Knight in the room.


    "Obi-Wan, I will take the first patrol around the building, you two stay alert this would be the opportune time for an attempt on the Senator''s life."


    "Do not worry, my friend, Anakin, and I will keep her safe. You just make sure you don''t start any trouble out there." Sar gave a small grin and shook his head before he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and headed out.


    ***


    On top of a roof a couple of buildings away from the penthouse that housed Amidala and the Jedi. Two figures could be seen arguing.


    "I''m telling you, Fett, there are three of them!" The raspy voice of a woman rung out as she was pointing a finger at a man wearing a full set of Mandalorian battle armor.


    "Shouldn''t our payment for the job be raised?!" The woman sounded highly agitated, but the man remained silent.


    "Say something!"


    "We already accepted the job, Sam," The calm voice, slightly muffled by the helmet, answered. "And we failed our first attempt, trust me when I say that we are lucky we get a second."


    It would seem the woman, Sam, wanted to argue more but she gave up and let her raised arm fall limply to her side.


    "Fine, then what the plan?" She asked exasperated.


    The male assassin, Fett, reached into the belt that hung around his waist and detached a long metal cylinder.


    "Overload Charge," He handed the cylinder over to the woman. "Attach it to your droid and fly it right up to the Senators bedroom window detonate it and that whole room will be nothing more than rubble. Even the Jedi can''t sense a droid."


    Sam nodded. It was a good plan, even if the Jedi somehow caught wind of it and tried to save the Senator they would just be blown to smithereens along with the target .


    Just as she was about to get into her position, she was interrupted by Fett once again.


    "Oh, and Sam don''t get caught." And with that final warning, he walked around the corner of the building and disappeared into the shadows.


    Sam just snorted as she unpacked the droid she had brought with her and started attaching the Overload Charge to it.


    "Don''t get caught you say. Why don''t you just do this work yourself." Sam smiled a wicked grin as she pulled out a hologram that displayed a bounty poster. The picture was that of a Mandalorian helmet, and underneath stood a name.


    "Jango Fett, 100.000 credits."


    Sam closed the hologram and began humming a tune as she unpacked a load of parts for a large stun gun, which she had hidden inside the various gaps in the droid''s armor.


    "Two for the price of one."

 16: Nice Try...

    Taking a short break from patrolling the streets below the Senator''s penthouse. Sar had decided to take a small break on top of one of the electric neon-signs that covered the great Galactic City.


    He had found nothing out of the ordinary but he knew that he couldn''t lower his guard just because of that, so he had his Force Sense stretched to its very limit. He was gathering his thoughts about the complications that were sure to arise in the coming conflict.


    Best case scenario would be the Republic relenting and giving in to some of the Systems demands and letting them back into the Senate, worst-case scenario, and the one Sar felt was most likely, all-out war.


    The thing that Sar was still not clear on was what role would the Jedi play in a galactic war? Their role as peace-keepers in the galaxy only held because of their perceived neutrality, but Sar knew that if war did occur that the Republic would enlist Jedi as soldiers in the conflict. This would effectively end the Jedi''s neutrality even after the war ended.


    The only thing Sar felt he could do was to keep firm in his belief in the Order and mitigate any damage that was sure to occur in the coming days.


    He was snapped out of his thoughts when he sensed something suspicious. Standing up from his sitting position he raced towards the location where he had felt the sensed the suspicious sensation.


    While Force Sense could not reveal a person''s exact thought they could give a skilled Jedi an inkling into you intentions, therefore doing battle with Jedi meant not only hiding your move from them but from yourself as well.


    Sar had clearly felt hostile intentions towards the Senator''s penthouse. While keeping. his pace as he rushed towards his destination he pulled out his communicator and contacted Obi-Wan. As soon as he heard the call connect he hastily explained.


    "Obi-Wan! The Senator is in danger you have to get her out of the penthouse!" Sar had to yell because of the wind and the rushing hoover cars.


    "What kind of danger?" Came Obi-Wan''s voice from the other end.


    "Don''t know! Just get her out!" After saying this he ended the connection and sped up even more.


    ***


    Hearing the call disconnecting Obi-Wan frowned before he put it away and moved towards the Senator''s bedroom in a hurry.


    "Master?! What is going on, is someone attacking Padme?!" The anxious voice of Anakin sounded out.


    "Sar sensed something, just keep calm Anakin." Obi-Wan didn''t really have time to properly steel his Padawan as time was of the essence.


    Both of them entered the bedroom practically blowing the doors off the hinges as they rushed into the room.


    Padme was immediately awoken by the loud noise and practically sprung up from the bed.


    "What is going on! What are you two doing?!" Her voice sounded slurred and drowsy clearly indicating that she had just been awoken.


    "No time to explain milady, we have to get you out of here." Responded Obi-Wan in a stern but calm tone as he picked Padme up by the hand and began rushing her out of the room, with Anakin following behind.


    He had just exited the room and was on his way out of the penthouse when both he and Anakin got a glimpse of something flying towards the bedroom window. Obi-Wan just used this as an excuse to rush even more, but Anakin rushed towards the drone with lightsaber blazing at his side.


    Obi-Wan''s eyes widened as he saw this and he sensed something bad approaching.


    "Anakin! No!" He shouted before he rushed towards his hasty Padawan, as there was no time to use the Force to pull him back.


    He managed to just barely grab Anakin''s shoulder before he chucked him back into the living room. He then quickly turned around and was about to run through the doorway, when a distinct sound sounded out.


    "Click."


    "Booooom"


    Obi-Wan was halfway through the doorway when the large explosion caught the right side of his body and flung him into the right wall in the living room. A large crack was left in the wall as Obi-Wan heavily landed on the floor.


    Padme covered her mouth with her hand as tears began appearing in the corner of her eyes. Anakin''s eyes widened to an almost impossible degree as a highly worried expression came to his face. He practically sprinted towards the limp body of his Master.


    He heavily threw himself onto his knees and rolled Obi-Wan onto his side to check his injuries.


    Half of Obi-Wan''s robe was burned off revealing the severely burned flesh underneath. A bit of his face and beard had also been burned, luckily, not enough to actually damage his eye or brain. It was clear however that the impact to the wall had broken his ribs as evidenced by the clear bruising forming on his chest.


    Anakin tried to keep himself steady even as he could feel himself clearly spiraling before he pulled out a communicator and called Sar.


    "Master Landala! Obi-Wan, he, he is heavily injured."


    ***


    Sar had just put down the communicator when he came to the spot he had sensed the presence come from. Jumping onto the ledge that was lit up by an orange and pink neon sign he spotted his target.


    It was a woman who was kneeling down on a single knee fiddling with something on her hoover bike probably preparing it for her escape. She was surprised by the sudden intrusion as evidenced by the jerky motion she made when Sar had jumped on top of the ledge.


    She however quickly pulled the cloth veil that hung from her open-faced helmet over her mouth and nose before she stood up and aimed a heavy-blaster pistol at him and fired a couple of shots in quick succession.


    In one fluid motion, Sar ignited his lightsaber and deflected the bolts before he used the Force to remove the blaster from her grip and throwing it off the ledge. Then he grabbed her with it and made hoover over the ground slightly, before sending her flying into the neon sign behind her making it flicker and spark.


    Holding her up against the sign and sensing no further danger he turned off his lightsaber and stepped towards the restrained assassin.


    "I have some questions for you mis-" His sentence was interrupted by the sound of a loud explosion coming from the penthouse that housed the Senator. Sar got a bit distracted a thing that the assassin immediately took advantage of as she pulled out a small device and pressed it.


    A compartment in the hoover-bike opened and a large stun-gun emerged sending out a light-blue pulse-like bolt at Sar''s back.


    When Sar finally sensed the attack coming it was already too late as the shock-bolt hit his back and sent electricity throughout Sar''s whole body making him lose his grip on the assassin who dropped down and hit him in the face with a knee before running away.


    Sar, however, used the Force to mitigate the shock before he threw his lightsaber at the feet of the fleeing assassin. The sound of a lightsaber spinning through the air was soon sounded by the sound of plasma cutting through flesh, and the pained scream of the assassin.


    Smoke emanated from the stumps of where her feet and ankles had once been and she moaned in pain as she tried to slowly crawl away.


    Sar used the Force to expel the last effects of the shock bolt before he stood up and walked over to the crawling assassin. He crouched down and turned the assassin onto her back and placed his knee on her chest restraining her.


    "Nice try, but as I said before I have some quest-" His sentence was once again cut off as he quickly raised his right hand, stopping a small metal needle with the Force, and without thinking sent it back to where it had come from.


    He saw the needle bounce off the chest-plate of an oddly armored figure, the needle did nothing and just clinked onto the ground, but it would seem the action had left the person flustered as they staggered back a little before fleeing.


    Sar was tempted to give chase but felt that leaving the assassin he had already caught was too big a risk for something that might not even reap any rewards.


    "Well, it would seem that the Senator isn''t the only one who is unpopular now, is she?" He looked down at the assassin who had passed out and was a bit shocked to see her previously human face morph into something more reptilian.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Disguising technol-" His muttering was interrupted by the sound of his communicator beeping.


    "What is it with people interrupting me today?" Sar frowned and said a bit annoyed.


    "Anakin, what-" He didn''t even get through the sentence when he was assaulted by the panicked explanation from the flustered teenager.


    When he finally ended the connection a grim expression adorned Sar''s face, and only a single word came to mind when thinking of the situation.


    "Kriff"


    ***


    Sar was now standing next to a worried and depressed Anakin Skywalker, while they observed the now bandaged Obi-Wan Kenobi.


    Yoda and Windu had just left after giving Sar permission to interrogate the captured assassin, but first, it would seem he had to console the distraught Padawan, oh joy.


    "It''s my fault, if I had just acted rationally he wouldn''t have gotten hurt." The soft voice of Anakin sounded out inside the hospital room. Sar was almost getting choked in the guilt and anger that was radiating from the boy.


    Sighing, and pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers Sar began talking.


    "Listen, kid, I''ll make this quick so listen carefully because I''m not going to repeat it." Sar''s voice brought Anakin out of his self-pity as he now focused on Sar.


    "You are right, what happened was your fault." Sar''s voice was calm as he continued. "You did not act like a Jedi but rather like a small hot-headed child, and that got your Master and friend hurt, that is a fact and nothing said will change this fact." Anakin was now looking down staring at the floor, dark emotion emanating from him like a waterfall.


    "With that said, however," Anakin gaze was removed from the floor when he heard Sar continue. "That is the risk we take as Jedi, Obi-Wan and I both know that we could be killed at any time whether through a fault of our own or one made by others." Anakin looked at Sar now a little confused.


    "Yet, we take that risk because we believe that what we do will make the galaxy and people better, so if you truly feel guilty for your Master''s current state," Sar removed his gaze from the injured Obi-Wan and turned his gaze to Anakin. "Be. Better."


    Silence persisted for a few minutes as Anakin contemplated the words and Sar just waited. He could already sense the dark feelings had eased off the boy a little. After about ten minutes of this Sar cleared his throat.


    "I will be leaving as I have other duties to attend to," He once again looked into Anakin''s eyes. "And in fact, so do you young Skywalker." And with those words, Sar left the room leaving behind a conflicted Padawan.


    ***


    The Rublics interrogation rooms were a rather drab affair, a small room with a steel table, two chairs, and a white light hung from the ceiling. The walls were a boring brown color and the air in the room was humid and cold.


    Inside the room sat two figures, one with her hands restrained by metal cuffs, the other one was leaning back in his chair while reading over a file he held in his hand. After a couple of minutes of reading the file over, Sar put it down onto the table.


    "Sam Wesell huh?," He looked at the human-looking woman in front of him. "We don''t see many Clawdites, though I suppose that makes sense considering your abilities."


    The woman, now known, as Sam just stared at the Jedi without uttering a word. Sar smiled a bit at that and began tapping the surface of the table sending out soft clinking noises.


    "You know, it was pretty hard gathering any information about you. Guess that''s what happens when you can wear any face you want," Sar leaned slightly forward. "But then I went looking around snooping around the Republic''s records and wouldn''t you know it," Sar placed a device onto the table were an image then emerged from.


    "Bounty: Jango Fett. Reward: 100.000 credits."


    "This was accepted three days before the first attack on the Senator. I recognize that helmet, you do as well, don''t you Sam." Sar then pressed the button on the device and the image disappeared and he once again leaned back in his chair.


    "So, we know who your associate is, now we just need to know who hired you and where good ''ol Jango has gone." A frown that had gradually deepened during their conversation was now sat to a scowl on Sam''s face.


    "I have nothing to say to you, Jedi scum!" Sam''s words were filled with venom but Sar was unfazed.


    "Of course you don''t, because you haven''t heard my proposition yet," Sar''s smile was removed and replaced with an ice-cold expression.


    "Your employer and associate want you dead, but you''re probably not afraid of that, but I know one thing every bounty hunter is afraid of," Sar leaned forward his eyes. "I wonder what the Hutts would think should they learn that a bounty hunter wanted to capture one of the bounty hunters on their payroll because of Republic credits." Hearing this Sam''s eyes widened and for the first time, Sar sensed clear fear from her.


    While the Hutts hardly cared about bounty hunters betraying each other, when they did so because of Republic credits it became a challenge to their authority in the underworld. It was generally understood that you were not to go after bounty hunters on the Hutts payroll because of Republic credits. If you did, the punishment from the Hutts would be...severe.


    "Now, I can give you a cozy cell in a Republic prison away from any of your...collegues. But to do that I will need you to answer to of my questions." Sar''s smile returned as he waited for Sam''s answer.


    Sam was swaying a little in her chair as if she was a little drunk, and it was clear she was conflicted about actually telling the Jedi anything, but in the end, the fear of what the Hutts may do to her made her cave.


    "Fine Jedi, I''ll talk." Sar smiled and leaned forward once again.


    "Smart choice, Now I only have two questions. First, who hired you?"


    "Jango," She paused before she sighed and continued. "Jango approached me with the job, the pay was good and Fett has a pretty legendary reputation so I figured cashing in on the opportunity was a good choice," She glared at Sar. "I was obviously wrong."


    Sar frowned a bit.


    "You say Jango hired you? Did he ever say who hired him."


    Sam shook her head. "No, he didn''t, but whoever it is they were powerful enough to even scare him."


    "Scare him? Was he being threatened?" Sar asked more as a precaution than out of actual worry that Fett had been coerced.


    "Nah, he was probably just worried they would kill him should he fail. It isn''t uncommon, but Jango has a track-record of killing his employer should they try and stab him in the back. He did not seem convinced that would be an option on this job."


    Sar just nodded.


    "Fine then where is he going?"


    Sam shrugged. "I''m not sure he never discussed anything of the sort with me."


    Sar frowned. "Nothing? He must have let something slip."


    Sam seemed to think a bit longer. "He did say something about a job on a planet," She thought a bit more before she remembered the name of the planet. "Yeah, Kamino that''s what he called it."


    After that Republic guards led Sam back to her temporary cell, and Sar was left alone in the interrogation room.


    He was pleased to see that his interrogation tactics had gone well. He had picked some tricks from studying the Sith, they were truly master manipulators and understood a person''s mind if nothing else. He had used the Jedi mind trick to put Sam into a semi-drunk state which made her more likely to answer the questions truthfully.


    The other tactic he had used was finding her weakness in the form of the Hutt Clan, which had proved to be difficult luckily he found that bounty and with a bit of help from an old friend he had her information.


    Standing up from the chair and stretching a bit Sar let out a weary sigh, he still had a lot to do and now that Obi-Wan was out of commission he had to count on an unruly Padawan to help him. He headed out of the room and towards a previously agreed location where he would meet with his Order.


    They now had to figure out what to do with the Senator situation.

 17: Ready Made Army

    "The boy is not ready for such a task, especially considering his emotional state after what happened with Obi-Wan."


    Sar''s calm voice echoed out in the dimly lit room.


    After having visited Obi-Wan and Anakin in the hospital he had moved over to this room where most of the Council members had gathered to discuss their next course of action. There was an overall heavy air in the room. It wasn''t something common for a Jedi to get this badly hurt and never before had it happened on Coruscant.


    "Hah, while I agree with you Sar, we are truly out of options." This voice belonged to Plo Koon who sounded just as tired as Sar.


    Hearing this Sar narrowed his eyes.


    "Fine, I understand that we need to track down this Jango Fett and the other Council members are occupied with trying to calm things in the Senate, but why are we sending him and the Senator to another planet?"


    This was the part that confused Sar the most. While he could reluctantly agree that Anakin was the only viable option for the Senator''s protection. He simply could not understand the need to send them to another planet where not only they wouldn''t be within the Order''s protection but Padme would be unable to participate in the vote.


    "The Senate is afraid of further damage on the city should Amidala remain. They have decided hiding her away would minimize both risks towards her and the Republic." Windu''s matter of fact voice answered Sar''s question.


    Sar snorted at this.


    "Oh? And I can guess that the Senators suggesting this action somehow has something to gain from open conflict with the Separatists?"


    While Sar was not a fan of Amidala. He knew that she was the only one standing between peace and all-out war. Her voice carried weight and her character and background rallied respect from the other Senators. It was obvious that her opponents did not want her to participate in the vote.


    "Perhaps, but that is not our business. The Senator will be allowed to select a representative to vote on her behalf." Windu seemed non-perturbed by the implications Padme''s absence could mean for not just the Republic but the entire Galaxy.


    "You realize that a representative can be bought or coerced. Should they vote against Amidala''s wishes war is the only remaining option." Sar did not relent and wanted to continue but was cut off by Yoda.


    "Uncertain, the future is. Strive to protect the Senator, we must." Yoda''s eyes were calm and serene but his words suggested that there would be no further discussion.


    "Fine, I will go inform the Senator and Skywalker of the arrangements and then I will travel to Kamino." Sar did not wait for an answer and turned around and walked out of the chamber heading towards the Senators abode.


    ***


    Had it been the Anakin of yesterday he would have been jumping around in joy knowing that he would be alone with Padme, but the events with Obi-Wan had crushed such childish implications. While he could not boast that his feelings for Padme were gone. He could say that he would not allow them to get in the way of protecting her.


    He while waited outside her door while she was getting ready to leave, he thought about the conversation he had with Master Landala.


    While at first, Anakin had not liked the man much, he realized that Sar just took his duty as a Jedi very seriously and had little patience for willfulness. He was also surprised at how annoyed Sar seemed while giving him his orders, it was clear that the red-headed Jedi Knight did not agree with the Council''s decision.


    He was soon brought out of his musings by the hissing sound of the door opening. Padme soon stepped out he luggage floating on a small platform behind her. Anakin immediately noticed the dark circles under her eyes, it would seem that Anakin wasn''t the only one that had trouble sleeping after what happened to Obi-Wan.


    "Ani," Padme''s voice was soft and held little of the same energy it had the night before. "Are we ready to leave?"


    She must have felt guilty since technically Obi-Wan got hurt because he was protecting her, but Anakin did not know how he should console her so he just answered the question he was asked.


    "Yeah Padme, we are ready." He gestured with his arm and Padme smiled a soft smile before she moved ahead of him towards the spaceport where their shuttle awaited.


    Anakin vowed that he would not only keep her safe but also bring back her confidence.


    ***


    Sar was meditating on board of his ship as he was heading towards Kamino. He was trying to calm the sense of unease he was feeling.


    All of this was so strange. The Separatists, the assassination attempts, this mysterious planet Kamino, and the Dark Side blocking the Jedi''s sight. It was all coming at once and Sar could not shake the feeling that what he discovered on Kamino would not be as simple as a bounty hunter''s hideout.


    When he sensed that he was approaching the planet he stood up and exited his meditation room and headed towards the cockpit.


    Looking out of the window he laid eyes on Kamino.


    It appeared to be some kind of water world, as a grey ocean covered the entire planet. Black clouds covered the sky and rain and lightning constantly emerged from them. If Sar had to use two words to describe the planet it would be depressing and sinister.


    Flying around a bit he finally laid eyes on a huge metal structure were a couple of round platforms, probably landing spaces, extended out from the main building. Sar steered his ship towards one of the landing platforms and landed.


    The rain and wind were so strong that Sar''s robe was drenched as soon as he stepped out of his ship. With hurried footsteps, he arrived at a blast door. Sensing a lifeform behind the door he grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber should he be walking into an ambush.


    The door slid open and Sar came face to face with the creature standing behind it.


    It was a bizarre creature, it had a thin elongated body and an even thinner and longer neck, along with two huge black eyes and a tiny mouth.


    Sensing no hostile intentions from the creature Sar eased his body a bit but kept up his guard.


    "Ah, Master Jedi, we have been expecting you." From the sound of its voice, it would seem that the creature was female.


    Hearing what she had just said Sar raised an eyebrow in confusion and wariness.


    "You have been expecting me?"


    "Certainly, but we were beginning to think you weren''t coming," Her tone was calm and her body posture suggested that she was not expecting any kind of fight. "The prime minister will be pleased, please, follow me." She gestured to Sar before she began moving down the pure white hallway.


    Not knowing what was going on, Sar decided to follow along, it would seem there were something involving the Jedi going on here.


    The two did not walk far before they entered another room, this one just as white as the hallway, where an alien of the same race like the one he had been following stood.


    This one looked very similar to the one he met at the entrance but wore a finer set of clothes indicating a higher status.


    "May I present Lama Su, prime minister of Kamino," The alien gestured to the alien he now knew was called Lama Su. "Prime minister this is Jedi Master..." She trailed off but Sar got the hint.


    "Sar Landala" He gave a small bow which was returned by the prime minister.


    "A pleasure to meet you Master Landala," He then waved his hand and tow white chairs descended from the ceiling. "Please, have a seat."


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Seeing no reason to disagree Sar took his seat across from Lama Su.


    "Please tell your Master Sifo-Dyas that his order will be ready on schedule."


    Sar immediately tensed up at the name Sifo-Dyas and his hand once again rested on the hilt of the lightsaber.


    "What order?" Asked Sar trying to keep his voice calm.


    Lama Su seemed a bit confused as he asked. "Did Sifo-Dyas not tell you? The army he wanted of course."


    Sar felt that this just got weirder and weirder but decided to play along for now.


    "Yes, of course, my apologies, unfortunately, Sifo-Dyas was killed ten years ago."


    "Oh, I''m sorry to hear that, but I''m sure he would be pleased with the army we have built."


    Sar felt that these circumstances were truly strange, had Syfo-Dyas somehow foreseen these events and tried to prevent them or was something else at play here. He felt he needed more information.


    "Just to clarify, who exactly is this army for?"


    "The Republic, of course," Lama Su stood up from his chair. "Come let me show you, I guess you would want to inspect the troops."


    He then went out of the door followed by the alien that had let Sar to him. Sar also stood up and followed the prime minister.


    They walked a couple of minutes before they entered a glass tunnel and Sar was truly surprised by what he saw.


    Countless incubators containing small babies ranging from fetus size to full-grown baby. A single word came to Sar''s lips.


    "Clones."


    "Indeed, impressive arent they?" The proud voice came from Lama Su as he continued ahead without even looking back.


    The further they went the stranger things became until they arrived at a small balcony, where Sar saw a truly incredible sight. Countless white armored soldiers being loaded onto transport ships each marching with perfect synchronization and discipline.


    "We have used a special growth enhancement gene to make these clones reach full maturity in only ten years." Came the voice from Lama Su which forced Sar to look away from the impressive sight.


    "They are much better than droids, and created to be loyal and obedient while retaining their ability for strategic thinking making them truly the best soldiers you could ask for."


    Sar was truly impressed but also confused. How had Syfo-Dyas known that this army may have been required and where did he get the capital to actually pay for it? Finally, the real question Sar wanted to ask was.


    "Who did you clone?" This was what Sar had a pretty foreboding feeling about as he had a suspicion he already knew the answer.


    "A bounty hunter called Jango Fett," Lama Dyas turned around and began walking back towards the way they came from. "He only asked for an unaltered clone to be given as payment."


    It would seem Sar had been right and this clone army just kept getting stranger, but that last sentence caught his attention.


    "Unaltered clone?"


    Lama Su nodded a strange sight due to the long neck and answered.


    "Yes, no accelerated growth or other augmentations just the unaltered DNA."


    So the bounty hunter had a son? Sar did not know how to feel about considering what he may be forced to do should Jango attempt to evade capture.


    "I would very much like to meet this Jango Fett, would a meeting be possible?" Sar asked.


    This time it was the female who answered Sar''s question.


    "Of course, follow me."


    They arrived in a different section of the facility this one seems like a barrack with countless grey doors marring the pure white walls. They stopped in front of the doors and Sar''s guide pressed a couple of buttons.


    Shortly after the door slid open revealing the figure of a young boy no older than ten. His face was expressionless until he laid eyes on Sar after which his face immediately twisted into one of suspicion.


    "Well hello there Boba, is your father here?" The alien spoke in a kind voice and received a nod in response. She turned to look over her shoulder and nodded at Sar as they both entered the room.


    Sar caught the glare he got from the child but ignored it.


    They entered what looked to be a living room and finally, Sar came face to face with Jango Fett.


    The man had a lean but muscular built. He was slightly short in stature but his whole body looked like it had been forged for battle. His face was square and he some rough features. His head was adorned by a head of short black hair.


    Sar stepped forward and reached forward with his hand.


    "Jango Fett?"


    Jango raised an eyebrow but took his hand and shook it.


    "That would be me." His voice was gravelly which went well with his overall appearance.


    "You wouldn''t happen to have been to Coruscant recently?" Sar maintained a soft smile but his tone was anything but friendly.


    Jango''s eyes narrowed and Sar could see his body tense up. "Can''t say I have. I have plenty to do here after all." He gestured to his son.


    "Yes...I can see that." Sar moved a little closer to the bounty hunter. "I must admit I find it strange why a bounty hunter would volunteer for this."


    "I didn''t volunteer, some guy named Tyranus hired me." Came Jango''s reply.


    Hearing that name Sar dropped all pretenses and outstretched his right hand using the Force to send Jango into the wall. The people in the room were surprised, the boy Boba ran into one of the adjoining rooms, the alien seemed uncomfortable but did nothing to stop Sar, and Jango himself glared at Sar as he struggled to get free.


    "Jango Fett, I''m placing you under arrest for crimes against the Republic." Sar''s voice was calm, but his eyes blazed with a kind of fierceness that said that should Jango even try to escape he would be cut down.


    "I don''t think so Jedi." Jango gave a smile, which unsettled Sar.


    He then sensed something and turned around just in time to see Boba coming out of the room he had run into holding an implosion grenade.


    Boba primed the grenade and threw it towards Sar. His eyes widened and he released his grip on Jango before he dove for cover. Jango wasted no time and ran into the room Boba had come from.


    The female alien had already vacated the room and Boba was also nowhere to be seen so Sar did not have to worry about them. He used all the Force he could gather to protect himself from the impending explosion as the grenade hit the floor with a metallic click, but instead of an explosion smoke emerged from the shell of the grenade covering the room in a layer of grey smoke.


    Using the Force he had gathered to blow the smoke away, but Sar was not pleased with what he saw. In front of him now wearing his distinct set of Mandalorian armor was Jango. His back was bent pointing the tip of the missile attached to his jetpack right at Sar.


    Sar barely had time to raise his hand before Jango fired it straight at him.


    Sar managed to stop it with the Force but the missile''s continued velocity made it hard to keep it still. This made Sar incapable of stopping Jango from pulling out a detonator.


    Sar had a very bad feeling about what that detonator did.


    Sar was proven to be right because as soon as Jango pressed down on it the momentum of the missile stopped completely and its tip began glowing red.


    Sar''s face grimaced as he uttred a single sentence through gritted teeth.


    "Oh shi-"


    BOOOM!

 18: A Fathers Sins

    Saying that Sar''s recent advancements in regards to the Force saved him would not be an understatement.


    As soon as Sar realized he could do nothing to stop the impending explosion he gathered strained his Force abilities to the fullest to surround him in a sort of shield.


    He was just in time as shortly after he was hit by the kinetic wave and shrapnel from the weapon before he was flung back. While he avoided lethal injury he could not save his right arm from fracturing and his ribs from creaking as he was flung backward into the large glass window behind him.


    He quickly utilized the Force to mend his fractured arm and bruised ribs. Sar had no talent for using the healing arts that some Jedi were taught but he was at least able to make the pain tolerable so that he would be able to wield his lightsaber.


    His short respite was shortlived however as an armored boot slammed into his sternum fully breaking the glass behind him and sending him out into the stormy weather of Kamino.


    But Sar minimized the damage by using the Force to let him do a backflip midair, making him land on his feet, though he did slide a small distance do to the slippery landing platform.


    Grabbing his lightsaber and turning it up Sar once again focused on the now fully equipped bounty hunter.


    Fett soon emerged from the shattered window using his jetpack to hover over the platform giving him the hight advantage before pulling out two small blasters and beginning a barrage of laser bolts.


    Sar quickly slipped into the third form going on the defensive though his reactions were a bit slower due to his injured arm. He was narrowly avoiding getting blasted as he deflected the bolts coming at him.


    Sar knew that he would not be able to keep this up and Fett did not seem like he would run out of bolts anytime soon.


    A thing that Sar had learned about combat as a Jedi was that it was not all about how good you were at the various forms but how well you utilized them. You could be a master at the second form only to be shot by a blaster if you did not know when to use the third.


    And Sar was about to prove this fact.


    Shifting from the third form into the fourth Sar nimbly dodged the bolts coming at him from above. Using the acrobatic and mobile fourth form to close the distance between him and his opponent, while using the defensive third form to repel his attacker''s bolts.


    Seeing that Sar was closing in on him. Jango leaned his body to the left to try and flank his attacker and regain the advantage.


    This however briefly exposed the right side of his jetpack. A chance that Sar immediately capitalized on.


    Sar had practiced this move but was not totally sure that he would be able to pull it off but right now he saw no other alternative. So, he threw his lightsaber sending it spinning through the air vaporizing the raindrops in its path as it headed for its target.


    It was a very difficult task to use the Force on the spinning lightsaber while simultaneously moving his body but Sar''s efforts paid off. The lightsaber cut through the exposed side of the jetpack rendering its right thruster destroyed.


    Using the Force to quickly pull it back into his hand Sar watched as Jango Fett was sent hurling to the left due to the loss of his thruster.


    But Jango did not earn his name as a skilled bounty hunter by being flustered. So in a fluid motion, he detached the rouge jetpack from his back sending the device hurling to the left before it tilted down towards the dark waters below disappearing into the crashing waves.


    He braced for the impact by reducing it by going into a combat roll when he hit the platform and in one smooth motion entering a crouching position before once again firing at Sar with his dual blasters.


    Sar had to admit that he was impressed but with the loss of Jango''s height advantage, he had no problem deflecting the bolts while calmy heading towards his target who had exited his crouched position.


    As Sar closed in on him he could sense Jango''s nervousness, but it was not the kind you would feel in the face of almost impossible odds, but the kind where you were waiting for something you weren''t sure was going to make it in time.


    Sar was on full alert wondering what ace in the hole the bounty hunter had prepared. Sar did not have to wait long as he saw a large mask formed ship emerging from the side of the main building before hovering at the edge of the platform its powerful thrusters almost scarily quiet.


    Sar managed to glimpse the image of the clone child that had opened the door for him and his guide before he sensed the impending danger and quickly used backflipped away from his position.


    It was just in time as well as the two powerful laser cannons located on either side of the strange ship melted the spot where he previously stood, metal and wire getting completely destroyed.


    Sar did not get a chance to get his bearings as he noticed the ship once again turning to face him. While he was dodging the laser fire from the ship he noticed Jango sprinting towards it.


    It was only Sar''s vigorous Jedi training that kept him from flinging curses left and right, and just barely. Nothing on this mission had gone right and he was just about to let a dangerous bounty hunter escape.


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    Sar was tempted to just throw a tracker on their ship and follow them but he wasn''t sure they didn''t have some sort of jammer or another such thing on their ship.


    So, he did something incredibly risky. He dodged another of the ship''s attacks and while it was turning to once again blast him he stretched out both of his arms using the Force to slowly bend the barrels of the two laser cannons upward.


    Normally the strain wouldn''t have been too great but Sar was using the Force to heal his injured body and had used it greatly in his fight against Jango so when he finally managed to bend the laser cannons he was left on one knee panting.


    Lifting his weary head he saw the boy in the cockpit panic slightly at the loss of his weapons, before he turned to his target that had almost reached the ship.


    Even though Sar was feeling weary he still reached out with his right hand feeling the Force grip around the fleeing bounty hunter''s left foot before he jerked his hand back literally pulling Jango''s leg out under him.


    The bounty hunter wasn''t prepared for the sudden loss of balance and landed on his stomach sending water spraying into the air.


    Seeing that he had stopped his targets momentum Sar used his left hand to grab a better hold of the Jango before also jerking that hand back dragging the bounty hunter towards him and away from his ship.


    Jango rolled onto his back getting onto a knee and putting two fingers on the side of his helmet as if he was trying to communicate something.


    Sar cared little for what he was saying but he could sense anger and sadness coming from him as he closed the distance.


    Whatever the bounty hunter was saying was cut short as Sar sent a Force covered kick into the right side of his helmet snapping his head to the left and sending the helmet rolling across the wet platform.


    Sar once again came face to face with the dark-haired Jango Fett who spat out a bit of blood, before he stood up still a bit dazed from the kick he had received. He had holstered his blasters when he was attempting to escape and before he had a chance to pull them out he had the tip of a lightsaber pointed towards his chest.


    "It''s over Fett, you''re under arrest," Sar let out a hoarse cough before finishing his sentence. "For the attempted assassination of Senator Padme Amidala."


    Jango just stared silently at Sar. Sar suddenly sensed extreme sadness from the man as he muttered something along the lines of ''I''m sorry son''. He then extended his right arm his hand in a fist pointing downward giving a clear line of sight for the device attached to his gauntlet which sent out a thin metal needle.


    Sar was to close and too tired to stop it with the Force, so he spun out of the way and as he finished his spin he swung his lightsaber slicing clean through the neck of Fett who''s head flew through the air before hitting the platform and rolling over the edge into the waters below.


    Jango''s corpse stood for a few seconds before it crumbled, torso first, to the floor.


    Sar turned to the ship where he saw the young clone desperately banging on the window in the cockpit as tears streamed from his eyes down his cheeks. It would seem that it had been the boy that Jango had contacted in his last moments because after sending a glare filled with the deepest hate Sar had ever experienced, he typed something into the terminal causing the ship to turn, so its back was now facing Sar before it rapidly flew away from the platform before finally leaving the planet''s space.


    Sar listlessly watched the ship disappear before he almost mechanically turned towards the helmet that laid on its side. He slowly walked towards the helmet even as he released the mending powers of the Force sending a wave of pain through his body as he slowly walked towards the Mandalorian helmet.


    He felt a wave of nausea hit him as he neared the helmet. Sar had killed before and he had never felt bad about it, as they had always been slavers or the worst the galaxy had to offer. He had never witnessed the consequences of taking a life entailed, until today that was.


    He knew, no matter how he tried to comfort himself with the fact that the boy was a clone, that he had made an innocent boy an orphan.


    He finally arrived in front of the helmet. He stared at it, watching as the raindrops ran down the metal surface of the helmet and running across the glass outlook that gave it that distinct look. Sar leaned down and grabbed it between both of his hands turning it so it faced him.


    "Hehe," A hoarse chuckle came from Sar as he stared down at the cold helmet. "HAHAHAHAHA"


    It soon transformed into a full-blown laugh as tears began rolling down his cheeks.


    It was not a laugh of happiness and neither was it of insanity it was merely the effect of so many repressed emotions bubbling to the surface in the form of a hoarse laugh and salty tears.


    The Jedi Knight continued laughing as he watched his tears fall onto the object in his hands.


    A reminder of the innocent life he had ruined, and the father he had slain.

 19: On The Brink Of War

    When Anakin first heard of his assignment regarding the protection of Padme. He had to admit he had been excited at the prospect of being alone with her, as much as he tried to quell his feelings of love for the woman. He could never manage to completely destroy them.


    But soon after the happiness came the indignation and shame. It did not sit with him to be sent away when someone else hunted the one who nearly killed his Master and friend. He had managed to find a balance in between the anger and happiness by taking his bodyguard duties very seriously.


    And yet it was nothing like he expected. He had thought that he would be fighting off assassin after assassin, instead, all he had seen during these few days where the green plains of Naboo and the few politicians Padme had been meeting.


    And today was much like any of the others Padme and he had wandered onto the grassy plains in front of the huge house that they had been living in these couple of days. Padme had laid out a blanket and a basket filled with various dishes and a bottle of fine wine.


    Anakin had stood at her side scanning the plains for anything suspicious while his hand rested on his lightsaber.


    Or he would have, but Padme had asked him to sit with her. At first, he had tried to refuse, saying that he had to be ready if something happened, but the woman was adamant and Anakin soon relented sitting down next to her.


    So, currently, Jedi and senator were sitting next to each other while watching the gentle breeze rustle the grassy plains. Until Padme opened her mouth and posed a question.


    "It''s beautiful isn''t it?" She muttered silently as if it was to herself.


    Anakin, however, heard the soft-spoken question as he turned his head to look at her and answered her.


    "It sure is." Anakin kept looking at her as he gave his answer before he quickly turned back to plains.


    "Though it kind of reminds me of home," He grinned a bit a deep look filling his eyes as he thought back to the place he had grown up. "Just much greener and less Tusken Raiders looking to kill you."


    This time it was Padme who turned to Anakin. She had seen his home and she knew that Anakin''s feeling towards the place where complicated.


    "Do you miss it?" She asked as she looked at the young man sitting next to her.


    Anakin turned and looked at her shaking his head a little.


    "No, not anymore." He looked down looking at the soft blanket they sat on. "But, I can''t help but feel that I betrayed her when I left her back then."


    Padme was well aware that Anakin was talking about his mother who they had to leave back on Tattoine as her owner was not willing to release her. She was just about to offer some comforting words but was interrupted by Anakin as he shook his head as if getting rid of the bad feelings that were welling up in him.


    "My mother is strong, she''ll be fine," He offered her a slightly strained smile as he steered the conversation in another direction. "What about you Padme? From what I have heard you have done a great deal in the Senate."


    Padme allowed him to change the subject as she answered with a wistful look on her face.


    "I suppose, but entering the Senate has been an eye-opening experience." She said that the last part with a bit of disdain.


    Anakin raised an eyebrow at that.


    "How so?"


    Padme sighed.


    "From the first day I was introduced to politics I was taught to look out for myself and never trust anyone," She began fiddling with one of her braids as she continued. "When I became queen I had thought that those times would be over that I would be able to actually help my people without the interference of greedy merchants and politicians."


    She stopped he slight rant and began pulling on a loose thread on the blanket.


    "When my term as queen ended I joined the Senate to change it." She gave a self-deprecating shake with her head. "I have seen the good that the Senate can do when they put their thoughts to it the number of people they could help and yet I am helpless to change it."


    Anakin looked at Padme as she ranted her brows furrowed with anger as she riled herself up.


    And I''m forced to watch as the greedy line their own pockets while billions suffer. I just feel so stuck, but at the same time, I know it''s the place I have to be. I just wish I felt like I-"


    "Belonged."


    She was cut off by Anakin''s soft voice. Anakin stared right into her eyes as he continued.


    "I know how it feels to know you are where you should yet feel so out of place at the same time," Anakin gave a soft smile. "But, I know I''m where I should be, and, somehow, that has to be enough for now."


    Padme looked at Anakin for a few seconds as they just stared into each other''s eyes finding a sort of peace in each other''s gaze. She then smiled a warm smile before she leaned in a gave Anakin a short kiss on the cheek.


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    Without waiting for his response she stood up and rushed towards the house leaving the dazed Jedi Padawan on the blanket rubbing his cheek. Anakin finally snapped out of it when he realized that Padme was gone before he rushed after her.


    A huge grin on his face.


    ***


    Getting back on his feet had always been one of Sar''s strong points. Even after his encounter with the Sith back when he and his Master had gone to Eoliv he had picked himself up and moved on fairly quickly. This time was no different.


    Sar had gotten his feelings under control and locked them away deep inside. However, no matter how hard he tried he could not quell the complicated emotions that had sprouted from the killing of Jango Fett so he did the next best thing. He buried them.


    But somehow he knew that it would only be a matter of time before they bubbled to the surface and he would seek to rectify that when he had time. For now, Sar stashed Fett''s helmet in the cargo hold of his ship before he contacted the council.


    He did not have to wait long as a holographic image of Mace Windu and Yoda soon appeared before Sar. He gave a respectful bow.


    "Masters"


    "Ah, Sar, it''s good to hear from you did you discover anything?" Mace Windu asked as the hologram shimmered slightly due to the strong winds outside.


    "I managed to track down Jango Fett, unfortunately I could not capture him alive but," Sar pulled out a data-pad he had found on Jango''s corpse. "I managed to find this data-pad. He managed to delete his hyperspace logs, but I found out that a great deal of Trade Federation ships has gathered way outside of their space."


    Mace Windu frowned at the last part.


    "Trade Federation ships? Where?"


    Sar looked at the name of the planet on the data-pad before he responded.


    "Geonosis, Master."


    There was silence for a few seconds before Windu continued.


    "Very well did you discover anything else?"


    "Indeed I did Master. It would seem that the cloners are convinced that Master Sifo Dias ordered a clone army ten years ago," Sar sighed. "But from what I can tell the project has largely been organized by Tyranus."


    Windu raised an eyebrow at the familiar name.


    "Tyranus? you mean-"


    Sar nodded. "Indeed Master I believe it to be the same Tyranus I encountered years ago."


    He could see Yoda and Windu''s expressions turn thoughtful and worried.


    "Troublesome Tyranus'' involvement is, given us much to consider you have," Yoda rubbed his small chin with his fingers before he said. "Return to Coruscant, consider our next actions we must."


    Sar stopped Yoda from cutting the transmission by quickly suggesting what had been on his mind.


    "Master! With all due respect I believe it would be wiser to send me ahead to Geonosis," Sar saw that he had the two Masters attention so he hurriedly continued. "As much as it pains me. I do not believe that a peaceful solution is still possible. The Geonisans have shown increased support for the Separatist movement and know with the Trade Federation present there I am certain that they will formally form an alliance."


    Sar''s gathered breath as he continued.


    "Whether or not the vote turns out in favor of open hostility with the Separatist the threat that they will present after they form an alliance will force the Republic to form an army, but this also means that the one who is responsible for this sudden alliance will be present on Geonosis," Sar looked more determined as he finished his long-winded explanation. "Therefore I would like to go there and confirm who it is."


    The two Jedi Masters looked at each other before looking back at Sar who stood calmly and awaited their answer.


    "Very well Sar, head to Geonosis and await support from us," Mace Windu answered. "We will go and witness the vote before visiting these so-called cloners."


    Sar bowed.


    "Thank you, Masters."


    "May the Force be with you, Sar." Windu cut the transmission after the usual Jedi farewell.


    As soon as the hologram shut off Sar collapsed onto a chair giving a deep sigh of weariness.


    It was really going to happen after all these years of peace the galaxy would see yet another war that would impact all life within the galaxy.


    Sar began rubbing his forehead with his fingertips almost as if he was trying to grind the tiredness out of himself. He would become a soldier and fight a war.


    Sar sat himself up entering the coordinates for Geonosis. He was ready to fight, he had to be. He had promised himself to stand with his Order no matter what the circumstances and he intended to honor that promise even if it meant he had to walk through a war.


    As the ship entered the familiar state of hyperspace Sar leaned back in his seat closing his and entering meditation.


    Sar had no idea what this war would bring, but he intended to be ready no matter what was thrown at him.


    This was after all the will of the Force.

 20: Betrayel Is A Bitter Medicine

    Sar had arrived on the home planet of the Geonosians and had already infiltrated the large palace where he suspected the meeting between the Separatists and their soon to be allies would be taking place. He used the Force to mask the sound of his steps as he slinked his way through the large hallways.


    Sar figured that the area most heavily patrolled by guards was likely to be his destination so he followed the various hovering guards towards their destination. He knew that the Masters probably didn''t have this in mind when they had allowed him to scout ahead but Sar was still shaken from the killing of Jango and needed something to occupy his mind for the time being.


    When he sensed an intense presence of guards Sar quickly Force jumped onto some wiring that hung from the ceiling managing to avoid detection from the group of guards that soon turned the corner.


    When Sar was sure he was in the clear he continued on his towards his destination.


    It was clear that he was in the right place considering the fact that he had spotted guards from the banking clans along with the familiar presence of the Trade Federation who had both voiced their support for the Separatist movement.


    Sneaking into the large meeting room was easy for the well-trained Jedi-Knight and he quickly got into a position above the large circular table in the middle of the room. Various figures were sitting around the table, some Sar recognized, namely Nute Gunray.


    Yet his attention was immediately drawn to the aged figure who sat at what looked like the seat of honor.


    The former Jedi Master Dooku.


    Sar¡äs face immediately switched into a grim expression. It would seem he had been too quick in reprimanding the Senator about her accusation of the retired Jedi.


    Sar hoped that this was some sort of trick but the distinct power the man radiated could only come from one who had mastered the ways of the Force.


    Pulling out a recording device from his robe Sar began recording the meeting. He would be able to use the recording to discover the identities of the various people attending the meeting when he returned to the Temple.


    It was just when he began the recording that the slimy voice of Gunray echoed out in the large meeting room.


    "I will not sign a single thing until Padme Amidala¡äs head is on a silver plate in front of me!"


    Sar could not say he was surprised about Gunray¡äs outburst. He had done little to hide his hatred and disdain for the young Senator ever since she, with the help of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, had destroyed his blockade of Naboo all those years ago.


    "Be at ease Viceroy, my friend in the Senate have already given me her location she will be dead soon enough," The voice who answered him was of course Dooku. Sar could feel the echos of power from every word he spoke, though he also sensed the distinct presence of the Dark Side. "The matter of the treaty must be handled immediately with the combination of our army the Jedi and the Republic will have no choice but to meet our demands."


    Sar felt a cold chill run up his spine. This was not good.


    It would seem that Gunray and the others were satisfied with Dooku¡äs little speech because after a short time of conversing with one of their aids or guards present they all turned and lifted their hands in the air.


    "Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation will back you, Count Dooku."


    "Passel Argente of the Corporate Alliance agrees to these terms."


    "San Hill of the InterGalatic Banking Clan sees this endeavor as a lucrative one."


    "%"&!/ (!/"#¡è/(! #" "!¡è #"!#¡è (Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild will support this deal)."


    "Wat Tambor of the Techno Union - #static# - supports this treaty."


    "Click, Click, ClickClickClick (Poggle and the people of Geonosis will honor the treaty."


    "Both I, Po Nudo and my Friend Tikkes will support the decision of the table."


    When all the members present had each given their consent they all lowered their hands and silence once again returned to the room. Sar did not know it yet but he was currently staring at the nine members of the Separatist Council.


    It would seem that Dooku was pleased with the reply as a thin smile grazed his previously stony face and he lifted himself from his seat while keeping his palms on top of the table.


    "A wise decision my friends. Then let us end this meeting here we have preparations to make."


    The way Dooku had said the last part had been especially foreboding and had Sar remained in the room he would probably have become even more worried, fortunately, or unfortunately Sar had already left the room and was on his way back to his ship.


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    As Sar exited the large palace and was greeted with the red sands of Genosis he began thinking of what he had just learned. Dooku was apparently a traitor and the mastermind behind the attempted assassination of Padme, there was a traitor in the Republic, and he had just formed a war council consisting of the wealthiest men in the galaxy.


    The thoughts kept spinning through his head and he was starting to feel like they were all being played. Everything had just fallen into place setting up the perfect circumstances for all-out war.


    Sar felt like the previously solid foundation he had stood on was slowly crumbling and turning into sand. It was hard to not be affected by the rapid way that this conflict had escalated to the point that Sar knew war would be unavoidable.


    The Republic would vote for an army and the Chancellor would be granted emergency powers. Sar was by no means well-informed when it came to politics but even he could predict how the vote would turn out.


    Closing his eyes as he continued running he calmed himself down and repressed all the feelings of doubt that had begun to spring up. He would achieve nothing by losing himself in paranoia and regret. Dooku had revealed that he had already learned of the Senator''s location and had sent someone else to kill her.


    That was where Sar''s focus had to be at the current moment.


    He arrived at his ship in the narrow ravine where had left it wasting no time in contacting Master Windu and Yoda. It did not take long for a transparent image of the bald Jedi Master to spring up in front of him.


    While Sar wondered briefly where Master Yoda was, but he quickly determined that he did not have time for such frivolous questions.


    "Master Windu, I need to speak with Skywalker and Amidala I have reason to believe that they are in grave danger." Sar quickly began explaining before Windu even had a chance to open his mouth.


    "Danger? What did you learn Sar?" Windu asked with a worried frown.


    Sar just shook his head.


    "I''m sorry Master but I really don''t have time to explain I need to speak with them right away."


    The reason to why Sar could not just contact them himself was that in the event he was captured the enemy would not be able to use the footprints a hologram left to trace it back to the Senator. Therefore only Windu and Yoda who were currently at the temple had a way to contact them.


    "Very well, I''m sending through the signal now." Windu did as Sar requested when he realized that time was of the essence.


    Windu''s image was soon replaced by that of a familiar figure.


    "Master Sar, I hear you have some news about the man who wants me dead." Amidala''s voice was calm on the outside but Sar could hear that she was hiding something but he didn''t have time to interrogate her right now.


    "Senator, you and Anakin are in danger the enemy has learned of your location and his heading towards you this very moment." Sar quickly explained but looked puzzled at the expression that slowly began spreading on the Senator''s face.


    "Um, you see, Master Sar I do not believe that will be a problem," The holographic Padme sheepishly looked at the floor. "Considering the small detail that we are currently not on Naboo."


    Hearing the last part of the sentence made Sar enter a state of eerie calmness as he asked in a monotone voice.


    "You''re both not on Naboo?"


    "No, we''re not on Naboo." Padme was a bit perturbed by Sar''s sudden shift in the mood but did not let it show on her face.


    "I see, and may I then ask where you two find yourselves?" Sar continued in the same tone of voice.


    "Well...Tatooine." Learning that finally made Sar''s mask snap.


    "Why the hell are you on Tatooine!?," He was just about to go on a rant when he noticed something, or rather he didn''t notice something. "Wait a se- Senator where is Skywalker?"


    Sar was stressed and to be honest a little angry though his emotions were well under control some of his irritation still slipped through.


    "Well, he isn''t here." Padme offered with a wry grin.


    "Yeah I can see that but he is near you rig-," Sar didn''t even need to finish his sentence the look on Padme''s face was answer enough. "Amidala. Where. Is. Anakin." While Sar had started out a little annoyed he was now downright disturbed by Anakin''s disappearance.


    Probably sensing this Padme was quick to answer.


    "He went to get his mother."


    There was a solid five seconds silence before a shout rang out inside the cockpit of the ship.


    "HE DID WHAT!?!"


    It may have been the first time that Anakin Skywalker managed to set off Sar Landala but it certainly wouldn''t be the last.

 21: Sometimes, The Monsters Win

    Anakin was scanning the little camp of Tusken Raiders. He was standing on top of a small outcropping of cliffs as he analyzed the village with a pair of binoculars.


    His teeth were gritted as he searched for any sign of his mother among the savage Raiders. He had still not located her but he could sense her nearby, but along with her location, he could also sense her pain.


    Every time he sensed the distinct feeling of his mother getting hurt he felt himself sinking deeper into the growing pool of tar that was otherwise known as the Dark Side. He used every Jedi trick he knew to keep his head clear but it was getting harder and harder to control his bubbling hatred.


    Putting down the binoculars and returning them to the bag he had left on the speeder behind him. Anakin began heading down from the cliff and towards the village. The sky had long since turned dark and the scorching winds of the dessert had turned freezing.


    Sneaking into the small camp proved no trouble for the young Padawan, which was to be expected as the Tusken Raiders had never been known for their intelligence or cunning. Hiding behind one of the tents Anakin closed his eyes and tried to sense where his mother was located.


    He was hit by a wave of pain and sounds of screaming, but he managed to locate the tent his mother was held in.


    He made his way towards his destination while avoiding the occasional Raider. It would seem that most of the Raiders had already went to sleep and the Raiders patrolling the camp were a small group of men on watch.


    Anakin finally arrived at the tent and he slowly and carefully lifted the tent flap a little before peeking inside. The tent was only lit up by the embers of a small fire in the middle of it but it illuminated the interior just enough for Anakin to spot the woman chained to a wooden pole.


    When Anakin saw the woman he threw caution to the wind and rushed into the tent and towards the woman. In one smooth motion, he arrived next to the woman, ignited his lightsaber and severed the rusty chains that bound the woman.


    He caught the woman in his arms before she collapsed to the ground and slowly lowered himself into a crouching position so her lower body could lie on the floor while he propped up her upper body and stared at her face.


    Anakin¡äs face showed a face of anger and sadness as he looked at the condition of his mother.


    Her body was thin and malnourished, her hair was so dirty that it looked black instead of her usual chestnut brown hair color, various scars and bruises marred her arms, legs, and face, and the only thing protecting her from the cold was a thin ragged robe.


    Anakin tenderly brushed some of the dirty hair away from her face. The action seemed to wake the woman as her eyes began moving behind her eyelids.


    Seeing this Anakin called out in a shaky voice.


    "Mom..." His eyes began filling with tears as he watched his mother struggle to open her eyes.


    "Ani? Is that you..." She managed to open her eyes slightly and asked in a hoarse voice.


    Anakin gave a very forced smile and tried to get his shaky voice under control.


    "Yeah, mom, it-it¡äs me," His voice faltered towards the end of the sentence and the words came out choked. "I¡äm going to get you out of here."


    Anakin tried to move his mother but stopped as he heard her pained groan at being moved. He began panicking scanning the room for anything he could use to help. When he found nothing he began admonishing himself for not knowing any Force Healing.


    Anakin was snapped out of his dark thoughts by the feeling of his mother¡äs thin but warm hand on his cheek.


    "Oh Ani, my sweet boy," She smiled a warm smile, even as her face twisted in pain. "I will always be proud of you. I¡äm truly happy that I got to see you one last time..."


    Her voice drifted off and the hand she had on his cheeks slowly fell limply to the ground. Her eyes closed and did not open again.


    "Mom?" Anakin¡äs voice cracked as he began rocking his mother¡äs body back and forth. "No, no, nonononono! Don¡ät do this mom, please!"


    Tears began rolling down his cheeks and landing on the peaceful face of his mother. A painful sob emerged from his throat as he lowered his head towards the ground.


    "I¡äm so sorry, I never should have left you here alone. Please don¡ät leave me!" Such things streamed from his mouth as tears continued to fall from his eyes. He just sat there rocking his mother¡äs body as sobs escaped his mouth.


    Until finally the rocking and sobbing stopped. Anakin¡äs face turned into an expressionless mask as he gently laid his mother¡äs body completely on the ground.


    He leaned down, wiped off the tears that had landed on her face and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.


    "I¡äll be right back mom," Anakin whispered as he stood up and headed towards the exit to the tent.


    He finally let go and let himself sink into the Dark pool that had steadily been growing inside himself. He ignited his lightsaber and headed out of the tent.


    He was immediately spotted by two Raiders that were patrolling the area outside of the tent. They were armed with two crude-looking spears which they raised as they shouted their well-known warcry.


    The one on the left was the first to rush towards Anakin as he calmly walked towards them.


    Anakin didn¡ät even acknowledge the charge as he just stared ahead while he waved his left hand in a lazy motion. The charging Raider was violently thrown to the left and crashed into one of the tents destroying it. The sound of him being impaled on something sounded out soon after.


    The other Raider seemed to be a bit taken aback by the sudden loss of his comrade but seeing the calm stride the enemy walked towards him with he still chose to charge.


    This time he managed to close the distance between them and launched a strike with his spear.


    Anakin once again didn¡ät even acknowledge it and simply sidestepped the attack while in the same motion swinging his lightsaber towards the Raiders midriff. The attack hit and the Raider was severed in two.


    He continued on his way towards the huge tent that was in the middle of the camp.


    It would, however, seem that the commotion had woken the rest of the camp as soon a dozen or so armed Tusken Raiders gathered in front of the large tent ready to protect it. Most of the Raiders carried spears but a few of them were armed with crude-looking laser-rifles.


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    The spear wielders charged and the rifle carries began firing. Anakin calmly deflected the bolts as he continued on his way towards his destination.


    The spear wielders arrived and began attacking the lone Jedi...It mattered little.


    Anakin dodged the various attacks before he began the slaughter. Every time the sound of the lightsaber cutting through the air sounded out a Tusken Raider were sliced in two.


    Each strike of his lightsaber also sent out a wave of unbridled Force power blowing Raiders and structures away. He grabbed one of the spear wielders with the Force and threw it at one of the rifles bearers. The Raider with the spear was thrown with such speed that when he hit his target both of their bodies were launched back and collapsed in a heap of broken limbs and gore.


    It only took a few moments before the dozen-strong Raiders were reduced to three rifle wielders in the back. One thing that you had to respect the Raiders for it was their courage, or stupidity if you were being blunt because even after they saw their fellow Raiders being slaughtered they showed no sign of fleeing.


    Instead one of the Raiders said something to the two others in their language before throwing down his rifle and drawing a large knife from the sash around his waist. The one next to him did the same while the last one headed towards the entrance of the large tent and guarded the entrance.


    Anakin, of course, did nothing that would indicate he had seen any of the events that had just transpired and kept moving towards the tent.


    The two Raiders charged him, but before they had even taken three steps towards him Anakin had thrown his lightsaber severing the head of the one coming from the right and before the body had even hit the ground he Force gripped the one on the left and threw him into a sharp wooden pole that emerged from the ruins of one of the tents.


    His lightsaber returned right after and Anakin caught it in his right hand and continued towards the final Raider. The Raider managed to lift his rifle before Anakin lifted his left hand and made a choking gesture.


    The Raider dropped his rifle and grabbed his throat with both hands while weird muffled choking sounds emerged from him. Anakin lifted him off the ground so his legs began madly kicking to find something to stand on. Finally, Anakin closed his hand into a fist and the crunching sound of a neck being broken sounded out and the final Raider dropped limply to the ground.


    Anakin finally arrived in front of the tent and entered inside.


    Inside were Tusken children and women all huddled together and exclaiming fearfully in their language as they moved away from the threating figure that had entered.


    There was a brief moment when Anakin emerged from the Dark pit he had fallen into but he quickly feel back in and the humming of the lightsaber swinging through the air soon returned.


    And the screams resumed.


    Anakin emerged from the tent soon after. His lightsaber turned off and hanging on his waist. He used the Force on some burning logs from a bonfire nearby and threw them at various tents, including the big tent, making the cloth tents quickly catch fire.


    Soon the entire camp was burning and Anakin headed towards the tent his mother¡äs body was located in. He walked inside just as the tent caught fire an carried his mother in both his arms as he exited the tent.


    He walked with his mother in his arms as he walked away from the burning camp, smoke, and embers flying around him as he walked.


    Anakin did not look back once, even as he felt the heat from the burning tents.


    Or as he remembered the screams of the innocents he had slain.


    The sun was beginning to rise when Anakin was finally done building the pyre for his mother. He had not used the Force for the task as he felt it was something he had to do with his own hands.


    As he stared into the flames that were consuming his mother he felt a wave of nausea as he remembered what he had done the previous night but he forced himself to push it down, finally grateful for the Jedi teachings he had received.


    He looked at the embers that were floating towards the sky and a sad smile emerged on his face. He and his mother always talked about leaving Tatooine and exploring the galaxy and while she had lived and died on the planet Anakin hoped that at least in death his mother would be free to explore the stars.


    Finally, he turned around and jumped on the Speeder casting one last glance towards the pyre before driving away.


    ¡è¡è¡è


    Sar had just arrived on Tatooine and it wasn¡ät long after greeting the Senator that the two of them began arguing.


    "It¡äs his mother for goodness sake!" Came the indignant voice of Padme. "What was he supposed to do?!"


    "He should have informed the council," The calm voice of Sar sounded out, though there was a hint of annoyance in his voice. "He could have put both himself and his charge in serious danger."


    Padme snorted.


    "Isn¡ät the only reason you know we¡äre here because you wanted to warn us that Naboo wasn¡ät safe."


    Sar frowned as he couldn¡ät really refute her statement but that didn¡ät mean it was entirely correct.


    "It¡äs about more than just being lucky," Sar said unwaveringly. "It¡äs a question of discipline and responsibility both of which Anakin has now shown he lac-" Sar¡äs sentence was cut off by the distinct sound of a Speeder approaching.


    Both Sar and Padme exited the hut. The former had a stern expression on his face while the latter wore a relived one. The Speeder came to a stop and Anakin got off.


    "Skyw-" Whatever Sar had wanted to say died in his throat as he saw Skywalker¡äs face, he had never seen or sensed such intense pain. It would seem that Padme had noticed it too as she rushed towards him.


    She embraced him in a hug and they both crumbled to their knees as Anakin slowly wrapped his arms around her and began quietly sobbing.


    Sar looked at the two before looking up into the sky and closing his eyes. He would talk with Anakin later and then he would decide if he reported what he had witnessed to the Council.


    Sar had not just refrained from saying anything to Anakin because of the pain he sensed but also because he noticed the faint presence of-


    the Dark Side.

 22: "The Talk"

    After Anakin¡äs breakdown, he had slept for almost a full day before he awoke. Unfourtnantly he moved around like a rusty droid and his eyes were void of light. Padme had tried to comfort him but it seemed that the young Padawan was stuck in whatever trance he had entered.


    Sar had given him a couple of days rest before moving all of them to the ship where they were now traveling back to the Jedi Temple. The threat toward Padme was now over or at least lowered to a degree where the protection of Jedi was unnecessary.


    The vote had gone the way Dooku had wanted and while Gunray probably still wanted the senator dead, his machinations would be much easier to manage than a former Jedi Master.


    Sar had asked Padme to give him and Anakin some space so they were currently the only ones sitting in the cockpit of the ship while Padme had returned to her quarters. Sar observed the young man sitting in front of him and he could clearly sense his anger and pain radiating off him in waves.


    Sar leaned forward a little before he snapped his fingers in front of Anakin¡äs face to snap him out of his daze.


    "Skywalker!"


    Anakin jerked a little before slowly turning his gaze to the Jedi in front of him looking at him with an empty gaze.


    Seeing this Sar let off a soft sigh before he leaned back into his seat.


    "I¡äm sorry about your mother Anakin," Sar noticed Anakin twitch at the mention of his mother. "but we have to address what you are currently going through"


    Sar could truly understand why Anakin was having such a difficult time letting go of his anger. While Jedi normally had no attachments to a family due to them being taken to the temple at such a young age Anakin had been 9 years old when he had been brought to the temple.


    Even Sar could understand that the bond between parents and child was a strong one not easily broken, but he also knew that such an explanation would not be enough for the High Council to refrain from imprisoning him due to his Dark Side Tendencies.


    "What I¡äm going through?" Anakin finally responded though his voice was soft and hoarse, that was until he suddenly snapped his head towards Sar practically snarling as he talked.


    "What is there to talk about?! My mother was just murdered because I wasn¡ät there to protect her," His voice got softer as he finished his sentence. "Because I was to busy playing hero somewhere else."


    Sar understood now Anakin felt guilt, which was understandable with Anakin¡äs power protecting his mother from the Raiders would have been no trouble at all, but it was also unfair he wasn¡ät omnipotent after all.


    "Anakin, I won¡ät claim to understand your pain," Sar sent a calming wave of Force towards Anakin. "But I can help you understand and control it."


    Anakin just slumped defeated into his chair.


    "What is the point? I will surely be kicked out of the Order upon our return anyway"


    Sar shrugged his shoulders and gave a wry smile.


    "Only if they find out"


    Anakin lifted a curious and slightly surprised eyebrow.


    "And you would be willing to lie to the Council?" Anakin pointed a finger at Sar. "You, Sar Landala, mister ¡ädiscipline is everything¡ä would lie?"


    Sar frowned a bit annoyed at the tone of voice the young man had used.


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    "I may respect and abide by the Order¡äs teachings but I¡äm not a mindless husk. I have my own will and what the Council will do upon your return is un-just and rooted in ancient fear."


    Anakin looked at Sar for a few moments before finally nodding.


    "Fine, I¡äll trust you"


    It was clear to Sar that the young man was still in a great deal of pain, but Sar believed that if he could overcome this is powers would grow immensely.


    "I will teach you a meditation I developed during my early days of Sith research this should help you resist the Dark Side that has already seeped into your mind"


    At the mention of the Dark Side Anakin hesitated before he opened his mouth.


    "Master Landala, wh-what I did to those Raiders I-I was-"


    Sar stopped the Padawan¡äs clumsy rambling by raising the palm of his hand.


    "Anakin whatever you did, however horrible, that wasn¡ät you," Sar shook his head. "At least not really it was the result of a moment''s weakness that allowed the Dark Side to briefly poison your mind I cannot stress this enough."


    Anakin looked like he wanted to say something more but closed his mouth and nodded.


    "Good then let us begin"


    Sar spent the next couple of hours teaching the young man his technique of resiting the Dark Side and suppressing the emotions that were clouding his mind. When he sensed that Anakin had reached a stable meditative state he exited the bridge so that Anakin could have peace while he gathered the pieces of his grief-stricken mind.


    Sar let his thought wonder and a sad frown soon emerged on his face as he covered his eyes with his hand.


    "I¡äm a liar" Sar couldn¡ät help but mumble as he heavily sat down on his bed.


    Sar could have helped Anakin by talking about his own experiences with the Dark Side. Instead, he had hidden this fact and while the technique would help Anakin the remnants of the Dark Side would continue to haunt him.


    Sar knew that all too well.


    While Sar had claimed he had developed the technique due to his research of the Sith the truth was that it was really developed to resist the whispers of the Dark Side that he been with him ever since he was a Padawan.


    In the years that had passed those whispers had developed into full-blown voices which kept talking promising power and knowledge, the Jedi could never hope to offer.


    And to Sar¡äs shame, he had begun to talk back. His whole life he had been told that the Dark Side was a vile and cold thing, yet whenever the voices talked to him they contained boundless warmth and comfort.


    Sar¡äs loyalty to the Jedi was what kept the Dark Side at bay. He had managed to stay true to his teachings but he felt himself slipping more and more these past few months.


    Sar lowered his gaze to his hands turning them so that the palms were facing upwards. Black Lightning briefly flashed across his hands the distinct presence of the Dark Side obvious in the dark sparks of electricity.


    Sar gritted his teeth cradling his head in his hands. He had many times sought the Force for guidance yet all he was greeted with was its ever calm silence.


    Sar could feel that this coming war would change a lot in the galaxy and a lot of people.


    But Sar, he was already forever changed.

 23: General Sar Landala

    It had been a little over a week since the start of the war between the Republic and the Separatists and things had escalated quickly. Systems across the galaxy quickly chose a side and various domestic conflicts sprung up due to the chaos caused by the sudden war.


    Sar was currently onboard one of the Republic Star Destroyers headed for the location of his assigned mission. He was standing on the bridge with various commanders and admirals all surrounding a circular device that was currently displaying the hologram of Mace Windu.


    Sar and his crew were currently receiving a detailed briefing from the stern Jedi Master.


    "You all know your destination, the planet Liv," Windu paused for a moment as a hologram of a planet sprung up next to him. "Specifically the region the locals calls Vont"


    The hologram of the planet zoomed in on a specific location on the spinning globe and highlighted it with a lighter blue color.


    "This region is where the Liv rebels are currently holed up. Sar, you and your team will meet up with them and train the rebels," Windu looked at Sar and when he saw him nod he continued. "Our goal is to put the rebels in power, converting Liv from Separatist controlled space to Republic, and ensure that the rebels are strong enough to maintain control."


    As Windu said rebellion had sprung up in Liv. This wasn¡ät all that surprising considering that the current royal family had misused their powers for as long as any Liv resident could remember.


    So why had Rebellion sprung up only now?


    The simple answer would be money.


    Since Liv was a large trading planet much of its power came from the various trading groups that operated there. These trading groups had managed to keep the flames of rebellion down by keeping any supplies or war equipment out of the hands of the common people.


    But, now that the galaxy was at war and the Liv royal family had voiced their support for the Separatists, all trade with the Republic or its allies were banned. This placed the trading groups whose largest clients came from the Republic at a huge disadvantage and loss of revenue compared to their Separatist friendly competitors.


    Obviously, this led to the Republic friendly trade groups to begin funding the already unsatisfied populace, and so a rebellion was born. Not because of a genuine wish to make something but out of greed.


    A fact that the royal loyalists did not hesitate to point out, nicknaming the rebels Avarice rebels and referring to the overall conflict as the ¡äGreedy Civil War¡ä.


    "The situation on Liv is complicated but we must ensure the rebels achieve victory." Windu gave a small nod. "May the Force be with you."


    The hologram of Windu and Liv vanished and the various soldiers returned to their positions leaving Sar to ponder over his mission before he was interrupted by a familiar voice.


    "General Landala, all preparations are complete and we are ready to deploy."


    Sar turned to look at the source of the voice and came face to face with the captain clone trooper of his little squad. Along with the captain were three other clones all wearing their helmets and standing at attention.


    Sar gave a stiff nod at the captain''s words.


    "Thank you, captain."


    The captain gave a salute and fell into line with the rest of his brothers.


    Sar looked them over remembering each of their names as his eyes glided over them.


    The one standing furthest right was named Mend, he was the squad medic and had a red lines running across his otherwise white armor.


    The clone standing next to Mend was named Taxer, he was the squad Heavy Gunner and had various markings across his armor making it look battle-worn, although he had never actually been in active combat yet.


    The one next to Taxer was Flex, the squad engineer. Flex wore the standard trooper armor and had no markings or distinguishing lines on his armor. He did, however, have a large backpack strapped to his back which looked a bit strange when he stood next to his brothers.


    And finally, there was the captain named Glitch, he also wore no distinguishing features except for the blue markings on his armor which indicated his rank as a captain.


    These were the members of Sar¡äs squad.  ''


    As for the reason why each of these clones where wearing their helmets even on board of a Republic Star Destroyer. It was simply because every time they showed Sar that familiar appearance of the bounty hunter he had slain he was reminded of that boy he had made an orphan.


    Sar knew that he had to overcome this feeling of guilt sooner rather than later but currently he felt it was more important to focus on the mission ahead.


    "Then let¡äs get going." Sar walked towards the hangar where the drop pods were located followed closely by the exclamation of the four clones.


    "Yes, sir!"


    ¡è¡è¡è


    Sar and his squad soon arrived in the forest of Liv their drop pods had destroyed some of the trees but had otherwise left the area undamaged. The reason for using drop pods instead of a ship was due to the likelihood that a ship would be picked up by the enemy''s scanners whereas a drop pod was much too fast to be noticed.


    Glitch and Taxer were the first to exit the drop pod their weapons trained on the area in front of the drop pod. They were quickly followed by Mend and Flex who circled around the pod to make sure that no one was sneaking up on them from the back.


    Finally, Sar calmly stepped out of the pod his eyes scanning the areas between the trees as if he was looking for something. While he was doing this Mend and Flex came back to the front.


    "We¡äre all clear from the back Glitch." Flex and Mend relaxed their stance a little but remained vigilant.


    Glitch gave a nod and also relaxed his stance but gestured to Taxer to keep his weapon trained forward. He then turned around and addressed Sar.


    "Sir, we seem to be in the clear."


    Sar nodded to Glitch indicating that he agreed with his conclusion before he pulled out a rectangular device from his robe. Activating the device revealed a grid-like map wherein a small red dot was blinking.


    "The rebel base should be about a kilometer north," He then made a hand gesture that signaled for the clones to form up and follow him. "Let¡äs get going."


    The trek through the forest was a rather uneventful affair the hostile wildlife was quickly dispatched by the clones or by some of Sar¡äs Force abilities so it did not take them long to arrive at a clearing that seemed to be their destination.


    "Stop!" A wary voice sounded out as soon as they exited the treeline.


    A group of young men each holding a laser rifle stood in front of the Jedi and his squad.


    Glitch returned the hostility by signaling for the clones to also raise their weapons. Sar glanced at the clones and the young men before he raised his hands.


    "Captain lower your weapon."


    Glitch didn¡ät hesitate and lowered his weapon, the other clones following suit. The rebels seeing that they had lowered their weapons seemed to relax before the person at the front directed a question towards Sar.


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    "Identify yourselves!" Sar could sense that the man was nervous an obvious sign that this man was no soldier by trade.


    "Sar Landala, Jedi Knight of the Republic." Sar calmly replied while looking towards the figure who had emerged from the building in the middle of the rebel camp and was currently rushing towards them.


    "Wha-" The young man began but was quickly interrupted by the figure who had finally made her way over to them.


    "Jordan! Lower your weapon immediately!" The voice was calm but there was a recognizable sternness to it making it seem louder than it actually was.


    "Commander!" The men panicked and they quickly lowered their weapons before backing up slightly.


    The female commander ignored them and walked over to Sar who had already lowered his arms.


    "I apologize for the hostile reception," She gestured towards the group of men behind her. "They are a little on edge due to our...new circumstances."


    Sar just gave a small smile before reaching his hand out.


    "No harm done commander..."


    Sar trailed off at the end but the commander picked up on his hint and took his hand while she replied to the unasked question.


    "Slate, Slate Pendorra."


    Sar shook her hand before he let go.


    "Well, commander Pendorra, we have a lot of work to do so I would greatly appreciate it if you could brief me and my squad on the current situation."


    "Of course, follow me," Slate glanced at Jordan and his group. "Continue keeping watch, and try not to shoot any of our allies."


    Sar used this short walk to analyze the woman walking next to him. She was beautiful for sure, but not in the traditional sense but more in a warrior kinda way.


    Her hair dark hair was cut in a short in length and it was clear to see that they didn¡ät have access to any showers the way it was mattered with dirt and grime.


    Her face looked rough due to the large scar that ran from the top of her right eyebrow all the way down to the bottom of her chin. Whatever attack had caused the scar seemed to also have taken her right eye because instead of the light green color of her left the right was a milky white.


    Her body was further evidence that she was a warrior. It was slender but clearly well trained. She wore leather armor which looked to be made for ease of movement rather than actual protection. On her back hung a large sniper rifle and holstered on her hips were several throwing knives.


    Sar¡äs impression of the woman could be summed up as such: Strong warrior and competent commander.


    Sar turned his sight forward again just in time to see Slate open a large door and entering.


    Inside was what looked to be a war room. A large hologram projector stood in the middle of the room displaying various buildings and people. Sar also noticed the various people running around with files or crates.


    "Welcome to the heart of the rebellion." Slate made a waving gesture towards the chaotic room with a tone of self-deprecation.


    "Most of these guys were farmers up until a week ago. Hopefully, you can do something about that." Slate turned her gaze to Glitch who was standing slightly behind Sar.


    "We¡äll do our best ma¡äam." Glitch gave a curt answer.


    Slate just nodded in response before she turned to the hologram projector. She walked over to the console connected to it and began typing something into it.


    "While your soldiers are busy with the training I was hoping that you might help me, Master Landala?"


    Slate kept typing as she addressed Sar and his team.


    "It would be my pleasure, miss commander."


    Sar turned to the squad captain.


    "Glitch, take Taxer and gather some of the rebels and begin their combat training."


    Glitch and Taxer gave a salute and a "Yes sir!" before they both exited the war room.


    Seeing them leave Sar turned to Mend.


    "Mend, find the infirmary and see if they need any help."


    Mend also saluted and began searching for the infirmary.


    Sar then looked at Flex.


    "Flex I think you know what to do, go see if something needs fixing."


    Flex gave an "of course general" before he walked towards some of the people inside the war room probably to inquiry about anything that needed, as Sar had put it, fixing.


    Having delegated orders to his soldiers Sar finally walked up to the projector just as Slate finished whatever she had been doing. A hologram of a large complex popped up and began spinning.


    Sar looked over the hologram and he couldn¡ät help but utter the first thought that came to his mind.


    "A prison?"


    "The prison to be more precise." Slate heard Sar¡äs question and answered. She made a hand movement and the hologram zoomed in showing the layout inside the complex.


    "The royal family constructed it a long time ago to imprison their political opponents or critics."


    Sar rubbed his chin before he pointed at a location on the hologram that was highlighted in red.


    "I would guess that we are rescuing whoever is located there."


    "You would be correct," Slate made a swiping motion and the hologram shrank and the model of a young girl roughly fifteen years old popped up. "This is princess Lema Polaris."


    Sar raised an eyebrow.


    "Princess? Why is a member of the Liv royal family in a prison for their political opponents?"


    Slate gave a wry smile.


    "Let¡äs just say that the royal family hates illegitimate children just as much as their opponents."


    Sar nodded in understanding but there was still a single question that nagged at his mind.


    "Why is this girl so important? She doesn¡ät seem like a warrior."


    While Sar was intellegent he wasn¡ät well versed in political matters so he had a hard time to see how this girl could swing the tide of battle.


    "She isn¡ät but her worth is much larger than any warrior. While she was still free she showed great disdain for the current royal family, I¡äm confident that she will be willing to join the rebellion should we free her, and this will give us a powerful weapon," She paused and a hologram of a great palace was displayed next to the prison. "A claim to the throne."


    "If we wish to maintain power after the war we will need someone of the Polaris bloodline on the throne otherwise the various trade groups will quickly take power. Lema will allow Liv to remain friendly with the Republic even after you leave."


    Sar finally understood but still found something unsettling about what Slate had said about claiming the throne but pushed his doubts down. The alternative was either the current royal family or the greedy trade groups who would no doubt turn their back on the republic if offered a better deal.


    "Well," A small grin came to Sar¡äs face and his figure became clad in the power of the Force.


    "Let¡äs go save a princess."

 24: Plan? What Plan?!

    "You weren¡ät kidding about the size of the place."


    An impressed Sar whispered from his position next to Slate. They had made their way from the rebel headquarters to the prison and were currently scouting the building.


    Sar was looking at the various droids defending the prison through a set of binoculars he then handed over to Slate. Slate took the offered equipment and began looking over the defenses as well.


    "This is bad," Slate whispered back as she scanned the prison complex. "It wasn¡ät nearly as well defended two days ago. Sneaking in will be even more difficult now."


    Sar couldn¡ät help but agree even with his Force abilities sneaking in undetected was something he did not have great confidence in. Sar began thinking of an alternative plan when suddenly he had an idea.


    "Wait here and cover me I think I have an idea," Sar whispered to the confused Slate next to him. "Take this as well."


    Sar handed Slate a communicator even under her curious gaze.


    "What exactly are you planning, Master Jedi?"


    Sar just gave her a pat on the back before he began running towards the prison complex at full speed.


    "Just pull back when things get too heavy, and wait for me to contact you!" Sar shouted back before he used the Force to launch himself further ahead and out of earshot.


    Slate remained very confused but just let out a sigh and pulled out her sniper rifle and began looking down the scope.


    As soon as Sar entered the grounds of the prison complex he was greeted by the synthetic voices of the Separatist droids as well as a lot of blaster fire. Sar used the fourth form to nimbly avoid the bolts and narrow the distance.


    Igniting his lightsaber he jumped into the air before he slashed down effectively cutting a droid in half. Not wasting any time he swung his lightsaber sideways cutting down the droids next to him the sound of metal disintegrating filling the open space in front of the prison.


    Sar also managed to spot a couple of the droids being taken out by the occasional laser bolt courtesy of his sniper support, which allowed Sar much more leeway to cut down the droids around him.


    "Shoot the intruder!" A yellow command droid shouted in a slightly panicked voice, though whether it was real or simulated was unknown.


    "Roger, roger." Came the reply from the droids before they simultaneously began shooting at the lightsaber-wielding intruder.


    Sar switched between the fourth and third form as he deflected and jumped between the various droids cutting a great number of them down, but no matter how many he cut down it seemed that more took their place.


    Sar used the Force to grab one of the droids before throwing it into its companions sending sparks and droid parts hurtling through the air. Switching between his lightsaber and Force skills was a lot harder than it looked but Sar had vigorously trained his ability to switch between the two so his movements remained uninterrupted.


    But even Sar couldn¡ät keep it up forever and as the battle dragged on it seemed that more and more droids were beginning to surround him. He also noticed that the sniper bolts had stopped some time ago which probably suggested that Slat had to pull back.


    "Guess its time to start the plan," Sar muttered to himself as he cut another droid in two before jumping back and creating some distance between him and the other droids. He then turned off his lightsaber before pointing both of his palms towards the ground.


    Sar¡äs clenched his teeth and his arms became strained as the Force grabbed hold of the ground. He then slowly began lifting his arms the ground trembling and cracking as two huge chunks of it began to rise. Finally, the earth gave way and Sar managed to completely bend his arms two huge chunks of earth suspended above the ground.


    "Oh no." Muttered the command droid as it saw the floating pieces of earth before it.


    Sar just gave a huge grin before making a motion as if he was hugging someone sending the two chunks flying towards the group of droids and the prison entrance.


    The droids had no chance to avoid the rapidly approaching earth and were soon swept away. The commander droid tried diving for cover but its fate was the same as the others. Even after destroying the various droids the two pieces of the earth didn¡ät slow down and continued on their way towards the entrance to the prison.


    A huge impact sounded out as the thrown earth impacted the metal door of the prison. Even the metal door had no chance against the attack and bent inwards until the metal locks holding it in place snapped and created a huge opening.


    Sar looked at his handiwork as his gaze wandered across the broken battle droids and the huge hole in the prison wall. He then began walking towards the entrance lightsaber at the ready. The various droids parts crunched beneath his feet and he had to finish off the occasional surviving droid but soon he arrived at the self-made entrance and stepped inside.


    The inside of the prison was no less impressive than the outside. Large metal corridors and various cells as far as Sar could see. Spreading out his Force senses revealed a huge number of prisoners and even more droids.


    Sar sighed and pulled out the communicator and contacted Slate.


    "Slate I¡äm inside the complex," Sar said as he began walking deeper into the prison.


    "What?! You¡äre inside the prison? How?!" Slate¡äs confused shouting soon emerged from the device.


    "Not really important," Sar replied as he walked up to a console that hung on one of the walls. "I¡äm at a map console send me the princess¡ä location."


    He did not have to wait for long before a beep from the device on his wrist beeped indicating he had received whatever code was required for finding the princess¡ä cell. Tapping a few keys on the console a detailed image of the prison popped up, a red dot blinking in the top part of the image.


    "Top floor, huh?" Sar muttered as he scanned the image. "They just couldn¡ät make it easy could they?"


    Sar closed the image before tapping a few more keys on the console trying to access a record of the droid forces stationed inside but what just with a blinking red denied screen.


    "If I had known there would be this much tapping away on consoles I would have brought Alistar," Sar muttered annoyed as he closed the console and began speaking to Slate again.


    "Alright Commander, I¡äm on my way to the princess."


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    Just as Sar turned off his communicator a blaring alarm began ringing inside the whole prison along with blinking red lamps.


    "Alert, alert. An intruder has entered the prison. Begin safeguard procedures immediately."


    What sounded like a droid began repeating this message through the various speakers. Sar¡äs face twisted and he began picking up the pace.


    "Safeguard procedures?! Great, just great!"


    He ran through the various corridors using his lightsaber to cut through the various blast doors that were blocking his way. Finally, he entered what seemed to be the main building. It was one huge room with thousands of holding cells. Above and below him were various walkways crisscrossing across the huge room.


    What was most troubling however were the huge amount of standard battle droids and super battle droids currently executing the various prisoners in their cells. Every second the sound of blaster would sound out and the prisoner would drop to the ground.


    Sar stared at the mass execution with shock. They weren¡ät securing the prison they were abandoning it. Sar gritted his teeth and began moving upwards trying to ignore the frightful screams and sound of blaster fire.


    He didn¡ät have the time or ability to save these people and he had to reach the princess before she met the same fate, if she hadn¡ät already.


    Jumping from platform to platform, Sar managed to avoid most of the marching droids but still had to stop up and dispatch a few of them before he finally reached the top of the prison. Running along the walkway until he entered another room this one only containing a single cell.


    The laser field was down and the cell was empty, but out of the corner of his eye, Sar spotted a human man wearing an intricate uniform being escorted by four super droids while he was dragging a young girl towards a blaster door.


    Unfortunately, the man glanced over his shoulder just in time to spot Sar. His eyes widened and he used his free hand to frantically wave towards Sar while shouting.


    "Th- the intruder! Shoot him! Shoot him, you piles of scrap!"


    He quickly entered through the blast door dragging the girl with him just as the four droids following him turned around to face the Jedi standing at the other end of the hallway. Their wrist-mounted lasers pointed directly at him.


    Sar did not get flustered however and used the Force to grab hold of some wiring that ran along the wall next to the left-most droid ripping it off the wall sending blue sparks of electricity flying everywhere.


    He then willed it towards the droid. As soon as the sparking wire hit the droid it was engulfed in electricity completely frying its sensors and sending the hunk of metal to the ground smoke still rising from its metal body.


    This did not deter the three remaining droids in the slightest who immediately began firing at Sar.


    Due to the small space, Sar was not able to fully utilize the fourth form but instead blocked the bolts with his lightsaber sending the bolts into various items stacked in the hallway. Breaking into a sprint he rushed towards the group of droids while continuing to deflect their attacks.


    While the super droids were much tougher than their average battle droid counterpart. They did not have a great mind for strategy beyond doing what a commander tells them, therefore they merely remained in their positions even with Sar rapidly approaching.


    Sar finally reached the first droid diving into its blind spot and separating the arm that was currently firing. At the loss of its arm, the droid tried to raise its remaining limb but Sar quickly ran his lightsaber through the face-looking thing on its armor destroying its vital sensors and shutting it down.


    Instead of removing his lightsaber from the droid Sar, with the help of the Force. turned the body of the droid towards the remaining two just in time to block a barrage of blaster bolts. The remaining foes had switched to rapid-fire by utilizing both of their wrist-mounted blasters. Luckily the super droid''s armor was much tougher than the average battle droid so Sar was saved from getting blasted.


    Just as the droid¡äs armor was about to be destroyed Sar placed his left palm on the surface of the droid he was using as a shield using a Force blast to hurl the hunk of metal at its two fellow droids sending them tumbling to the ground.


    Sar wasted no time and jumped in the air his lightsaber pointed downwards as he stabbed it heavily into the back of the nearest downed droid and through some of the floor under it. Sar managed to pull the lightsaber out just in time for him to catch a laser bolt in the left shoulder before blocking the other one with the lightsaber.


    Sar¡äs armguard absorbed most of the damage so he could still use it but it hurt enough to make him grunt in pain. Sar quickly used the Force to lift the last droid into the air. This turned out to be a mistake, however, as the droid continued its assault forcing Sar to make an awkward backflip to avoid the laser bolts.


    At the end of the flip, Sar threw his lightsaber cutting the droid at just below its shoulders separating it in two but because of the awkward circumstances of the jump, Sar couldn¡ät stick the landing and landed heavily on his back.


    The lightsaber no longer had the Force to guide it and turned off before the hilt hit the wall and clattered to the ground.


    "Well, that could have gone better," Sar mumbled while he stared up at the ceiling before leaping back onto his feet and Force grabbing his lightsaber.


    Sar walked over the various super battle droid parts and walked up to the locked blast door. Normally he would just have Force blasted it open but considering he risked injuring the princess he opted for a more ¡äsubtle¡ä approach.


    Stabbing his lightsaber through the reinforced door and cutting a hole in the door was what counted as subtle in this case.


    Sar soon entered a large luxurious office where he came face to face with one scared warden using what Sar guessed was the princess as a human shield. He was standing behind a large oak desk and just in front of a huge window showing a view of the entire prison and beyond.


    The warden said nothing except a nervous squeak and pressed the barrel of his blaster pistol harder into the girl''s temple.


    Sar cleared his throat before he began talking.


    "Greetings, My name is Sar Landala Knight of the Jedi Order," A grin began forming on Sar¡äs face. "And apparently rescuer of princesses."

 25: Free Fall

    The panicked warden did not react to Sar''s introduction, merely continuing shouting obscenities and orders at him while he kept a firm hold on his ''insurance''.


    Sar pretty much tuned the angry warden out as he scanned the room for a way to disarm him and ensure the princess'' safety. Seeing that the warden had his finger firmly on the trigger of his blaster made the option of pulling the weapon out of his hand with the Force invalid, as Sar could not guarantee that he would be able to fire it before being disarmed.


    As for a mind-trick, the warden, while probably weak-minded, was much too on guard for it to actually work on him. Sar briefly considered using a Sith method he had learned during his research to force his way into his mind, but quickly discarded the idea.


    He also couldn''t use any of the items in the room as the warden had his back almost right up to the huge window behind him. This honestly did leave Sar at quite a loss as to what he should do.


    While rapidly scanning the room once more Sar''s eyes finally fell on the huge window the warden was standing in front of. His eyes narrowed as an idea came to mind. It was a dumb idea for sure, but right now it was the only one short of getting captured.


    Sar let out a soft sigh before lowering his raised arms to his side. This did not sit well with the already on edge warden as he briefly removed the blaster from the princess'' temple to point it at him while shouting.


    "What are you doing! Stay where you are or else I swear I''ll blow a hole through her head!" Spittle flew as the warden practically screamed, but realizing that he had put himself in a vulnerable position by removing his blaster from his hostage''s temple. He returned it to its original position.


    This action would prove to be futile as Sar had another plan in mind. As the warden was returning the weapon to its position Sar swiftly stretched out his right arm sending a Force wave at the warden.


    Sar had made sure that the wave acted like a strong wave so when it hit the princess it did nothing to hurt her but did send her flying backward, and with the warden holding her he flew backward as well while maintaining his grip on her body.


    The warden was hurled backward with such speed that his body shattered the large window behind him letting a stream of warm air inside as he and the princess were sending hurling towards the ground.


    All this was so unexpected that the warden didn''t even react until the cold wind began rushing past his face and by then all he could do was scream.


    The princess was silent as she lifelessly fell towards the ground. She had either been knocked unconscious from shock or from the rapid shift in atmosphere as she was exposed to the 300-meter fall.


    Sar wasted no time as he quickly jumped over the oak desk and jumped headfirst out of the shattered window. Sar pointed his head towards the ground to speed up his descent and used the Force to stabilize himself as he headed towards the falling princess.


    Even though the loud sound of wind whipping past his ears Sar could clearly hear the shrill screams of the flailing warden. Sar just ignored the man''s sobbing and begging as he rapidly approached his target.


    When he was closed enough he used the Force to flip him over so that his feet were now pointed downwards as he reached out and grabbed the princess. He held her under her knees with his left arm and used his right to prop her up to his chest.


    He managed to secure the princess just in time as the ground grew ever closer. Sar gathered all as much Force as he could around his legs to protect them from the incoming kinetic damage.


    Just as he managed this, a wet thud followed by several cracks sounded out as the warden''s screams finally cut off. Shortly after Sar felt a sharp pain run up his legs and through the rest of his body and another, quieter, crack sounded out.


    Sar took a sharp intake of breath as he looked down towards his legs. Several web-like cracks spread out under his feet, but other than that there was no visible damage to his body only a dull ache in both his legs.


    Sar glanced a bit to the left where a pile of gore was visible. The warden looked a bit like an abstract porcupine as several broken bones poked out in various places as blood oozed out of the head that had been cracked open like a large egg.


    Sar did not have long to study the aftermath of his little leap of faith as several metallic footsteps sounded out in the courtyard.


    Slightly behind him a huge group of Battle Droids, Super Droids, and Droidekas marched towards him. As soon as he was withing eyesight one of the Battle Droids at the front stopped and pointed at him.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "There he is! Let''s get him."


    Sar did not wait long and bolted in the other direction as countless blaster bolts were fired at him. He used the Force to the fullest to avoid the many bolts.


    While dodging the droids'' assault he activated the communicator attached to his wrist and contacted Slate.


    "Commander Slate, I have secured the princess but," Sar paused and sidestepped a blaster bolt that was dangerously close to hitting his back. "We are in a little trouble and could use some support."


    Sar spotted the outer wall that surrounded the whole complex just as Slate''s reply echoed out from his communicator.


    "Roger that Master Jedi," There was a pause. "You may not want to stand to close to that wall though."


    Sar''s face twisted into a confused expression.


    "Wha..." Sar trailed off as a huge explosion sounded out in front of him sending a massive shockwave towards him. Sar managed to protect himself and his escort with the Force but the closest droids were not so lucky and were knocked to the ground.


    Black smoke obscured the newly created huge hole in the wall but Sar could sense several presences rushing through.


    "Hell yeah! Come get some clankers!" Sar heard him before he saw him as Taxer emerged from the smoke and began firing his heavy rotary blaster sending a stream of blue bolts towards the army of droids persuing Sar.


    Emerging next was the other three clones from his squad followed closely by Slate and several Rebels.


    With the new support the pressure on Sar was relived and he soon arrived next to his allies. Looking towards Slate who met his eyes and gave a small nod Sar continued past them and ran through the hole.


    The others continued laying down covering fire as they also slowly exited through their makeshift entrance. Taxer, however, did not seem to notice the retreat as he continued yelling and firing at the droids.


    It was only when Glitch patted him heavily on the shoulder and signaled for him to pull back that he unwillingly stopped firing and pulled back with the rest of his brothers.


    Sar was waiting beyond the breach lightsaber in hand. He had already handed off the princess to one of the medics who had already run further into the forest where they had stationed their various speeders.


    Sar covered the retreating rebels before joining up with his squad and Slate.


    Slate continued firing a pistol blaster into the breach making the occasional droid cry out in panic. Sar went up to her.


    "Let me help you with that," Sar looked around before he noticed a huge boulder lying near the breach. Stretching out both his arms Sar grabbed hold of it with the Force lifting it up and then forcing it into the hole plugging it up and stopping the droids'' advance.


    "That won''t hold them for long," Slate commented as she holstered her blaster. "Let''s get out of here."


    Sar shrugged his shoulders.


    "You won''t have to tell me twice."


    The group of clones, Jedi, and rebel commander pulled back and headed in the direction the other rebels had taken the princess.


    ***


    Having safely returned to the rebel headquarters the clones had returned to their original task of training the rebels. Sar and Slate had meanwhile met up with the various other leaders of the resistance movement and were discussing their next move.


    They were standing in the command center around the hologram-projector, which was currently displaying an image of a large palace.


    "Now that the princess is safe. We finally have a real chance at removing the royals from power." An excited officer commented.


    "Sure, but what about the trade-groups? They are certainly looking to make a play for power if the royals are defeated." Another officer added cooling the excitement of the room.


    "Enough, you are getting ahead of yourselves," This time it was Slate who spoke. "We will deal with the trade-groups when the time comes. For now,"


    Slate pressed a button on the projector. The image of the palace switched to what looked like a transmit-tower.


    "We will need to bolster our ranks. While we could probably storm the palace with the help of Master Sar, maintaining order will require more manpower." Slate looked like she was going to continue but was interrupted by the previous officer.


    "So you want to hijack their transmitter?" He raised an eyebrow in what seemed to be disbelief. "You can''t be unaware of the defenses the royals and the Separatists have to protect that thing!"


    Slate shook her head and replied.


    "I''m well aware of the risks, but with the loss of the princess, the royals will be panicking. They won''t hesitate to execute anyone they suspect of being part of the rebellion," She swept a sharp gaze around the room. "Which means we are running out of time."


    A silence descended on the room before it was broken by Sar who opened his mouth for the first time during this meeting.


    "I may have another idea," Sar instantly attracted the attention of all the people in the room. "I and my team will be able to hijack the transmitter, while you guys protect the various villages in danger of being eradicated."


    Everybody in the room began murmuring before it slowly turned into hums of agreement. The fact that Sar had single handily infiltrated the prison had made the rebels trust him much more.


    When the room returned to silence Slate once again spoke.


    "Are you sure?" She looked intensely at Sar. "We can''t afford to leave that transmitter in our enemy''s hands it will be vital in maintaining order once this is all over."


    Sar just gave a small smile and crossed his arms over his chest.


    "Not to worry commander, this is what we Jedi are trained for."


    Slate looked at him for a few seconds, before softly sighing.


    "Very well Master Jedi, we''ll follow your plan. We''ll take a few days to prepare before moving out. We will protect the villages while you take control of that transmitter," Slate placed her palms on the projector and leaned forward a bit.


    "If we do this right. Victory will be just around the corner."


    Shouts of confirmation rang out in the room. After which the various officers returned to their posts to prepare."


    Sar turned to look at Slate who was still in the room. He patted her on the shoulder before saying.


    "I can sense your fear commander have heart and the Force will guide you."


    With that said Sar turned and left the room. Slate waited until he had left the room before she muttered a reply.


    "I really hope you''re right, Master Jedi."