Star Wars: Shadows of The Past

[Hrtofdrkns]

(for NoiselessKnife)

3,000 years before the Galactic Empire, the Republic was at peace. The Jedi Order protected the galaxy and the Republic, their commitment to the light strong. And sometimes to protect that light the Jedi had to step between two sides of a war, as Master Gavin had been called to do on the outer rim. A human male in his mid-thirties, he wore his dark hair short and was clean-shaven (so as not to give an opponent a beard to grab onto in a fight). He was just preparing to jump his ship to hyperspace when a small ringing indicated that the ship's computer had received a distress signal. He quickly scanned the message before switching on the ship's intercom.

"Looks like we'll have to delay our return to the temple, I've just gotten a distress call from a group of archeologists." He said over the intercom to his two passengers sparring in the back room of the ship. They were his close friend Master Arjun, and Gavin's padawan Zach.

[NoiselessKnife]

His friend, Arjun, was a member of the original cathar species (not one of the hybrids that had surged later on), and as such he was lion-like in both appearance and body-build: he was strong-looking and tall, the fur of his body was mostly white while his “mane” was gray, his eyes were of a light blue color, he was dressed in light brown jedi-clothing while his sable was of a green color.

His tail switched back and forth happily as he did his best to guard himself from the attacks of this “cub”, his friend’s new padawan: Yitzchak Khaleel, also known as Zach, a strong boy whose planning ability and gift with repairing most things had granted him a place in the few chosen ones to be padawans. Zach was a blond boy with gray eyes, a never fading smile decorated his face, he had never known trouble that he couldn’t handle and he also loved to train, one of the defects that he had was a bad eye, over which he wore a cybernetic goggle to counter this.

“C’mon, boy, focus more and give me a better shot” The lion-like master said before jumping over the boy and roaring to distract him. Zach grinned widely and tried to do as such, first trying to push the master away with a force push but then failing and being pinned down by the massive cathar, who only grinned at him and carried him like a sack of potatoes before putting all his attention on communicating with his friend via the intercom that was in the training room.

“Let the council decide how to deal with that one, Gavin, we’ve been through one already, you wouldn’t want your padawan to have his life in the line over a simple distress call, let the others deal with this” The lion-like male said before putting Zach down.

[Hrtofdrkns]

"The signal says that a monster has been attacking them, picking them off one by one." Gavin replied as he piloted the ship towards the coordinates he had been sent. "By the time the council sends someone they could all be dead. They need our help, at the very least we can evacuate them."

As the ship headed towards a nearby planet Gavin looked out the window, noting the scars on the planet's surface left from orbital bombardment. Massive craters of glass dotted the badlands of the desert planet.

"Some major battles were fought near here during the Old Sith Wars a thousand years ago." He said as the ship entered the atmosphere. "It's possible they've dug up some sort of Sith bio-weapon. We should all be on our guard."

That, he knew, would get the other two up to the cockpit in a hurry. Even without the archeologists needing help, a Sith beast on the loose was a major threat. Almost up there with an actual Sith.

[NoiselessKnife]

“GAVIN! It’s YOUR Padawan who you’re guiding into an unnecessary danger!” The lion-like master roared through the intercom, but, it seemed, the other master was too busy trying to save the lives at peril as to listen. With a growl, Arjun turned to Zach. “Stay here, cub, no matter what happens, don’t move from the ship.”

“But master” The padawan said, confused.

“Child, if we’re heading to a Sith beast you have no chances of survival, I doubt we, as Masters, do” He said and took his robe. Putting it on, he strode out from the training chamber and went to the pilot’s cockpit, where he glared at the man there.

“You’re still as immature, brash and proud as when we were padawans. I have no idea how they let you pick your own so soon” He said as he sat down. “Okay, let’s do this, let’s go headfirst into a planet of which we have no intel about beyond it having a danger on it. I already told your child to guard the ship, if we survive maybe you can start thinking on what you’re teaching him with your actions” The cathar master said as they landed.

Just as they were preparing to go out, Zach joined them, with a confused look in his face.
“May the Force be with you, cub… and with us too” Arjun told him with a nod and prepared his light saber.

[Hrtofdrkns]

Gavin barely seemed to notice the Cathar's shouts as they headed into the planet's atmosphere. "Calm down. I said we were going to evacuate them, not go monster hunting." The human master said as he headed for a small landing pad with a few figures standing around it. "Perhaps you should work on your self-control? At the rate you're going the council will never allow you a padawan. Half of them think you a crazed lunatic."

He turned to the boy as he entered the cockpit, motioning him over to his side. "Zach, you'll be coming with me. Arjun will join us when he has a better hold of his emotional state." And before the Cathar could protest Gavin used his remote starter to lock the controls, in case Arjun wanted to do something foolish, and placed the remote in his pocket. Without so much as a look back he led his padawan out the door, leaving it open behind them.

"Finally." An older human male said as they got out. He was surrounded by guards, wearing the uniform of the Czerka Corporation. "I'm Dr. Habsalon, head of this dig. We need you to capture the specimen alive if possible."

[NoiselessKnife]

“Sure, because not consulting with the council before landing, not taking any intel into a battle field and carrying a child you are just training after a signal of distress coming from an old abandoned war-zone about the which you know nothing about and that might be filled with unset traps is the most Jedi-like thing to do” The Cathar said with irony. “Going headfirst into danger without any calculations is the behavior of a crazed lunatic, Gavin” Arjun said, letting the master move out.

This particular one had never learned neither patience, planning nor even respect, the lion like master often found himself wondering how in hell had he gotten to be a master. Even if he was his friend, Arjun was not afraid to say that Gavin lacked a lot of things. “Don’t blame me if your child dies in this, ol’ friend” He called calmly, giving Zach a last look. Poor boy, with a master more set in being a "hero" than training him.

The padawan hesitated upon having to follow his master, grabbing a hold of his weapon and adjusting his half visor, he followed the man. He didn’t like this place at all but, even so, he tried to keep his smile at all times, even when he felt as if his chest was being oppressed and as if something was watching him. When they came across the guards, Zach looked at his master. Waiting for his decision on this, and also, just a bit, wanting to see if he would hold true to the precept of keeping a promise: That they would not go monster hunting.

There was no blood in the place, but, he saw something beyond the group of men, using his lens to zoom on it, he took a step back. There were bodies there.

[Hrtofdrkns]

Gavin paused for half a second at that. "Arjun, we will discuss this later. Until then I ask you to control yourself while we speak with these people. If you cannot do that then you should just wait on the ship." Without waiting for a response he addressed Dr. Habsalon. "What happened here?"

The man motioned to the mouth of an ancient tunnel. "That opening leads to a maze of tunnels honeycombing the area, apparently the Sith built them underground to escape the heat. About a week ago we cleared out a hallway leading to what we think was a med lab. Inside we found a lot of old, broken equipment we can't make heads or tails of. But then when we opened something that looked like a coffin, there was something alive inside. I...I think it was a Sith. It clawed and hissed like an animal, and disappeared down a hallway we hadn't explored yet. Ever since it's been stalking us, staging hit-and-run attacks, and stealing supplies." He motioned to the large group of scientists, archeologists, and about a dozen guards armed with body armor and blaster rifles. "I've tried to keep everyone together, but every now and then one of the guards decides they're going to hunt this thing down and goes into the tunnels alone. We find what's left of them the next day right outside our camp."

Gavin looked to his padawan, choosing his next words very carefully. "This is why only the Jedi should be digging around Sith sites. Czerka has done this before, keeps hoping that they'll find some of the fabled Sith Alchemical devices, heedless of the danger. And now they've unleashed something the galaxy hasn't seen in a thousand years. Dr. Habsalon, when is your next supply ship incoming?"

"Tomorrow." The old man replied. "I've tried contacting the company, but you know how hard it is to get on the holonet in backwater systems like this. It's sheer luck you were in the area."

Gavin turned Zach so the boy was facing him. "Zach, I won't lie to you. This is bad. But whatever happens, we cannot allow this Sith, if a Sith it is, to escape this planet. If we don't stop it now it will likely escape on that ship tomorrow. Who knows what kind of damage it will do then? It might even be able to start a new Sith order. So we have to stop it here, by ourselves."

He waited until the boy fully processed the seriousness of the situation. "I just want you to know that I have faith in you. I only ask that you have faith in yourself. Together, we can do this."

[NoiselessKnife]

The boy was suddenly confused when his master left his side to go back to the ship and shout at the locked in Cathar master that he should keep calm or stay there, before returning to his padawan’s side to keep speaking to the archeologists. Truth be told, Zach wasn't really comforted by the fact that a Sith was around, there had been no Sith in decades, so, why shouldn't they go back and report this to the Council? If they failed then the Sith would escape anyway. It was just his master and him and he was trying hard to not to lose his smile so Gavin would not worry about his mental state.

But they were only two, and he was only 12.

Zach continued smiling as calmly as he could and just nodded at his master before waiting for him to lead the way.

[Hrtofdrkns]

"Stay behind me." Gavin said as they entered the tunnels. He pulled a glowstick from his pocket and tapped it against the wall, filling the gloom with just enough light to see by.

The old Sith base had held up surprisingly well, probably a result of the arid climate. Paintings on the wall could be seen in the light from Gavin's glowstick, depicting dark-robed figures with red-bladed lightsabers cutting down what appeared to be Republic soldiers, as well as brown-robed figures. But all around the two Jedi was clear evidence of battle, with rubble, bones, and even a few mostly intact skeletons.

"Looks like the Sith fought to the last." Gavin thought out loud. He paused and shined his light on a pile of bloody rags. "Those are fresh, looks like it's wounded."

[NoiselessKnife]

The blond human boy obeyed, keeping himself close to his master and trying not to let the fresh corpses take him by aback. The place had a certain feeling to it which disturbed the boy greatly, even with that, he tried to keep calm, but the darkness made it impossible for the youngster to even determine if there were traps ahead or not.

They were now chasing a wounded Sith, which was not really a good idea, but what did the boy know? He was with his master after all, it was all going to turn out okay.