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Thread: Shadows of the Republic: The Beginning of the End

  1. #1

    Shadows of the Republic Open Shadows of the Republic: The Beginning of the End

    Serena pulled a brush through her long red hair, trying to catch her reflection in the tiny mirror that graced her quarters on board Serenity. The years had not been unkind to her, but she was starting to feel... old.

    It probably had something to do with all the younger people around her. Rhianna and Morgan, her two padawans, were in their early twenties. She was looking fifty standard years in the face. Serena smiled, then put the brush away, separating her hair into three strands so she could braid it before she went to bed.

    Thinking back, she remembered being Rhianna's age, just a young Jedi looking forward to all she could offer the galaxy as a Jedi diplomat and healer. Had it really been that long ago?

    Serena tied off her thick braid with a hair tie, and padded over to her bunk, lying down on top of the thin blankets. With a wave of her hand she turned off the lights, and lay in the darkness. Thinking.

    Remembering.
    Last edited by Serena Laran; Feb 18th, 2010 at 12:52:42 PM.


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  2. #2
    Serena
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    Twenty-nine years ago...


    "Come on, A'na!" Serena laughed in spite of herself, tugging at her friend's sleeve. "Help me get these ducklings in a row, or we'll never make it to the assembly on time." She indicated the youngling class that was running in circles around the pair of Jedi, not without a touch of exasperation. "You don't want to miss the big news, do you?"

    "Of course not," A'na replied, and clapped her hands. "Come on younglings, let's line up." The children giggled, full of high spirits because they'd had lightsaber training for the first time, and reluctantly began to settle down and get into two raggedy rows.

    The dark skinned Jedi leaned close to Serena. "Think they have news about Geonosis?"

    Serena gasped, "We're not even supposed to know about that, A'na. If you hadn't eavesdropped -"

    "Tsk," A'na Eldhil waved her hand. "Right place, right time. How was I to know the Council was in session?"

    Serena sighed, and took a line leader's hand. "Come on children, we don't want to keep the Jedi Masters' waiting."

  3. #3
    Salemescro Avesca
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    Just behind the train of younglings, there was an older boy following on. After every few steps he had to pause and wait for the group in-front of him to move, and with each delay the look of exasperation on his sharp features grew.

    “Come on, come on,” he muttered, giving an encouraging nudge to the Togruta in his way.

  4. #4
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    Ilias took sparring sessions as a time to relax. As odd as this sounds, there was something about exerting his body that worked quite well to calm him, and it was one of the few things that irked him to have it disturbed. Especially since it was the only practice that truly sated other things without indulging them directly. He had been in quite a lock with his opponent when the call for the gathering came. The skilled healer and warrior had less and less love for the council as time went on.He had his reasons, and was sure they had theirs - no matter how ridiculous they might seem. It was only his Jedi vows and deep-set convictions that kept him from outright going against them.

    "The call comes, my friend. Perhaps this gathering will provide insight as to why my master has been so sleepless these recent weeks." Ilias released the other man from the hold he had on him, and wiped his sweaty brow with the top of his right forearm. "Another time. We will finish this."

    Another moment he stood, before turning and rushing out of the training grounds without another word. It was only another few minutes before the Jedi - only a few years between him and thirty - joined the exodus that was headed for the gathering. There was Serena and A'na, leading sizeable lines of younglings like hatchlings following their mother's path, and other Jedi slowly joined, and followed along in an orderly fashion. He heard something about eavesdropping when he came alongside them, and it made him upturn the corners of his mouth in a small smile.

    "Good day, Serena...A'na." He glanced back towards the younglings again. "I cannot imagine how one could possibly compete with all that energy and enthusiasm..."

    At the end of one line, he noted young Salemescro Avesca. The impatience was apparent on his face.

  5. #5
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    Inside the assembly hall, little Lilaena looked up and around at the far away ceiling and many huge statues of past Jedi Masters. They were like, huge! She reached up a hand with her index finger pointing out, and pretended she could touch the ceiling with it.

    Jedi Frrr'nn gently put his big hand on top of her little one, and pushed her arm back down. He was a zabrak, and her class teacher. "Patience, youngling."

    Lilaena sighed big, and held her hands in front of her like all the Jedi did. Her classmates were quiet too, but pretty soon someone started whispering, and then everyone was whispering. It sounded like it was raining in the big hall, what with all the whispers. And more Jedi were coming in all the time!

    She stood on her tip-toes, trying to see the dias where the Jedi Council were going to show up and talk to them all. Lilaena was only five, but she knew that one day she'd be up there, too.

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    A six year old Wei Wu Wei had done it again.

    Quinlan Vos turned his back or stopped to speak to another master. In the time between, the Youngling managed to trade his hand for the hand of his stuffed Rancor Ron'ald and climbed to the top of the nearest Jedi statue he saw.

    His glasses were wonky. Bent and damaged from falling, tripping, and idle play. There was some rough housing involved though. Wei especially like that. He also like the laser swords. the Jedi statue in question had its stone lightsaber pointed aloft towards the center of the domed ceiling.

    Feeling impetuous, the youngster bravely walked towards the tip of the statue's blade.

    "One foot in front of the other," he whispered to himself, holding his arms out to his sides.

    "MASTER QUINLAN!" The boy shouted proudly. "LOOK AT ME! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!"

    Of course the boy stopped to wave his hands and bounce in place even though no one could miss him from his perch.

  7. #7
    Dae Jinn
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    "Boys."

    Dae Jinn was seated quietly with the rest of her youngling class, arms followed across her chest and feet tapping a nervous rhythm. She watched Wei Wu Wei out of the corner of her eye, half hoping that he wouldn't fall. The rest of her decided she would pinch him extra hard when she saw him next for being a show-off.

  8. #8
    Josie Grigori
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    Amid the seated and whispering members of her class, at least one of the older students sat in expectant silence, patiently waiting on the assembly to begin. Jossel Grigori, 'Josie' to her classmates, sat nearest to Dae Jinn, and though her blue-eyed attention was also briefly drawn to the spectacle of the silly boy, she somehow refarined from commentary. A roll of her eyes was the only outward sign of her feelings on such antics..

    Sitting stiffly, wishing her peers would show a little more decorum, Josie folded her hands in her lap and watched the last stragglers of the youngling classes enter.

  9. #9
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    "How were you to know?" Serena looked almost speechless, and A'na smiled with all the peace and calm of a true Jedi Master.

    "Yes, well -"

    "Good day, Serena...A'na. I cannot imagine how one could possibly compete with all that energy and enthusiasm..." Ilias jogged up beside the pair, sweaty from another long sparring match no doubt.

    Thankful for the interruption, A'na inclined her head towards the other Jedi Knight. "It takes all of our patience. But," she indicated the line of younglings following her footsteps, "They are quite capable of holding it in when needed. Its only during time of free play that the children are quite exhausting."

    She winked at Serena, the newly minted Knight pretending she didn't see. "Just yesterday Serena had to pluck young Flyrid out of the way of Master Jocasta in the Jedi library, and get him to pick up and sort all the datacards he'd accidentally spilled onto the floor."

    Serena sighed, nodding. "It took hours."

    Before Ilias could reply, the trio entered the assembly hall. A'na walked the younglings up towards the front, where the larger Jedi and padawans would not block their view. Serena helped her get them all seated comfortably.

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  10. #10
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    Zem Vymes got the summons as he was preparing to leave the temple. There was to be a briefing. He sighed, thanking the protocol droid for the message as he stood on the balcony of his dormitory room. Beneath him was one of the many great artifical canyons of Coruscant. The wind blew with a constant faint warmth, carrying with it a thousand sounds and smells. He loved the city. It was a place to live, a place to feel. The temple may have its wisdom and training, and dogma, but whenever that was not at hand, he ventured out.

    He sighed, slipping his long robe over his shoulders, and flipping his padawan braid forward. What more boring and procedural tidbit would this be? He'd confided to his master that he wished to serve offworld, but Master Xensu said that he should find needs to fulfill that were near before reaching afar.

    Then why did you leave?

    It was a sudden departure. They were meditating in the Ithorian district, in one of the countless arboretums. A Jedi Knight he didn't know had interrupted his solitude, and with that, he was off to some star system, leaving Zem behind.

    The padawan paused as he exited his dorm, turned around, and retrieved his lightsaber from the bedside, heading to the meeting area with an energetic burst of speed. A few turbolifts later, and he was there. Already there was a throng assembled. Taking the lead of the other older Jedi, Zem filtered his way toward the back. Was he the only service-age Padawan in here? Everybody older was a teacher. Everybody younger was a youngling. He was an island.

  11. #11
    Serena
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    Serena had time to smile in welcome to Ilias as he joined their little troupe, and then A'na steered the conversation and the group into the assembly hall. The taller red-haired Knight kept quiet, feeling more subdued now that there were other Jedi around.

    A'na always seemed able to push her buttons and get the normally reserved and serious girl to open up. Serena sat her youngling class down in an area set aside for the children, and A'na got her class settled as well. The assembly room buzzed with quiet conversations.

  12. #12
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    Ilias would have happily settled into place along with A'na and Serena...

    He was fond of being around healers other than Master Yuma (his master). Even though the elder healer was a genuinely caring individual, the red-headed Ilias felt certain that the man held his innate talent against him sometimes. There was (between Yuma and the council) an amount of either jealousy, distrust or even mild fear when it came to the halfbreed. His not-quite-human genetics were a sworn secret, and in circumstances such as these, one the skilled nearly thirtyish healer would likely take to his deathbed. Master Yoda himself knew what it was that Ilias might be, and it made any decisions regarding his advancement..uncertain.

    ...he would have happily sat along with the two women, but the hard-to-ignore antics of one young Wei would have caused an elderly Jedi cardiac stress. To Ilias, it merely reminded him of when he was that age, and he would have succumbed to smiliing, if he didn't know that such an expression might encourage the boy further. He glanced back at A'na and Serena and jerked a thumb at Wei, and almost helpless look on his face, then jogged a few metres closer to the scene, stopping alongside the same line in which Dae Jinn and Josie Grigori sat. He pinned Wei with the most stern look he could muster, and called out, making very sure that the boy would hear him.

    "Wei Wu Wei, do you know what a consequence is?"

    The boy looked at him, appearing to consider the 'old man's words. He shook his head, grinning. It wasn't clear whether the child really didn't know, or if he was just pulling the Knight's leg, so to speak.

    "You will surely find out if I do not find your feet in contact with the ground, post haste."

    This wasn't the first time he had voiced similar words. Ilias Nytrau had caught the six-year-old in the midst of his incorrigible antics more than once before.
    Last edited by Ilias; Aug 22nd, 2008 at 09:30:21 PM.

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    "Ok!"

    He sized the jump. Ron'Ald was his best buddy. No matter what, Ron'Ald always caught him.

    The little boy used his basic command of the Force to boost his jump out over his stuffed animal, curled up into a cannonball, and landed atop the stuffed Rancor with giggles and shrieks.

    Quinlan Vos looked down when he felt his arm get a slight tug, only to find Wei still holding his hand.

    "Don't go running off or climbing the statues," Quinlan said. "You'll get into trouble again.

    Wei smiled, glancing at Ilias. "Yes, sir. I'll be good."

    Then he climbed up his teacher's side and took a seat on the Jedi's shoulders.

  14. #14
    Fionn Halcyon
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    The moment the Bladderwrack lowered its boarding ramp, the lone Jedi passenger was sprinting down it, jumping the last few metres to the ground. Inwardly he cursed himself for his impatience, but at such a time like this? How easy it was to push aside the habits of a lifetime of training, and abandon serenity and reason for something more feral.

    But maybe that side had always been more a part of him than all the training in the world could have erased - how else would he have found the courage and nerve to take this particular path...? But that he cursed now, too, wishing to stop the pain he felt.

    Inside the temple, throngs of Jedi of all ages, younglings, padawans, knights and seasoned masters were already streaming from all directions towards the place of assembly; all possessed of a quiet grace, all so patient and peaceful. As the tall Corellian pushed his way through his fellow people, his face full of anguish, of pain and fear - all such un-Jedi-like emotions - he left a trail of disturbance behind, eddies of disquiet in the Force that surrounded them all. The hall of assembly itself was not yet full, only a few youngling classes and a few other, older Jedi in attendance already, a quiet buzz filling the hall with hushed conversations.

    It would not be full. Too many were missing. Too many would never return. And she...?

    The faces of those closest to him as he settled into a quiet corner betrayed nothing of what had happened so recently. Had they not felt it then? That same sudden spike of failure, of pain and death, of overwhelming loss...? Far off from the battlefield yet still attached to it in a way through her, it had forced him to the ground, rang through his head and heart with agony, made him cry out with that loss that he hadn't been able to shake ever since.... had none of them here felt any of it? Were they all so weak and numb to the outside world that they could not even get such pain through the Force, or was it his own fault for feeling too much? Had he opened himself to it when he let her inside his heart? Was that why the others did not seem affected, seemed so innocent?

    My love, where are you...? What's happened to you? I still feel you, so you aren't gone from me, but... I fear for you! So much!

    One more time - he didn't know how many times before he had tried - he fought to gain control over his tumbling thoughts and emotions, but succeeded only in reaching a state of lesser agitation. It would all be up now, no more secrets after this day, no more hiding the obvious. He couldn't contain it any more, and right then, didn't care anymore either: he just needed to know where she was, and more importantly: how she was. Nothing else mattered.

    Biting his lip in frustration, he forced down a choking sob before it could draw any more attention to him - quite a few sets of eyes he could feel trained on him already, and he didn't dare meet their stare - and focused on a spot above the dais of the council, waiting, waiting, waiting... if only they could hurry, and he would know already...

    He didn't know what would happen then.
    Last edited by Fionn Halcyon; Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:27:38 AM. Reason: Forgot something.

  15. #15
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    Lilaena watched the goings on around her with wide eyes, and was about to say something to Master Frr'nn about the boy on the statue across the hall when the boy jumped down. She grinned, wishing she could climb up on a statue too.

    Everyone was talking quietly, and the little girl occupied herself by wiggling a tooth around with the tip of her tongue. It was pretty loose, but not quite ready to come out. She wiggled it some more. Back and forth.

    Master Frr'nn looked at her, and knew what she was doing, so she stopped. Lilaena smiled at him, and he smiled back, but then the Jedi Council walked in. Or rather, half of it.

    "Jedi Masters Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ki-Adi Mundi are currently en route from the planet of Geonosis." Master Shaak Ti was speaking, her exotic montrails and lekku catching the girl's attention.

    En route meant 'traveling.' Lilaena touched her loose tooth with her tongue, but resisted the urge to wiggle it again. Then she wiggled it anyway. It was getting looser and looser!

    The Jedi and padawans all in the hall were quiet now, hanging on the Council's every word. Lilaena tried to pay attention, but Liam, a little boy in her youngling class and who was sitting next to her, had smuggled in a grasshopper, and it was hopping around! Younglings shifted and one or two squeaked in surprise when the insect jumped onto them. Master Frr'nn quickly intervened, scooping up the bug and placing it into a pocket inside his robe.

    Liam got a stern look, and Lilaena thought proudly how she wouldn't have squeaked if the hopper had jumped on her.

    The assembly gasped, and she looked up at the Council. "Out of the two hundred Jedi who were called up and taken to Geonosis, one hundred and seventy-nine were killed by the Separatist's droid army." Lilaena looked confused. Jedi didn't die... did they? They were all strong and powerful!

    The Council kept talking, something about clones and fighting, but Lilaena was distracted by a big Jedi who was standing nearby, staring at the council. He looked... mad. Or sad. Maybe mad-sad. He was fidgiting worse than if he had a hundred hoppers in his robe.

    He looked down as the Council kept talking, and Lilaena caught his eye. She smiled, wiggling her tooth with her tongue... and the tooth fell out! Surprised, she gasped, and held up the first tooth she'd lost so Master Frr'nn could see it.
    Last edited by Lilaena; Dec 2nd, 2008 at 03:48:08 PM.

  16. #16
    Salemescro Avesca
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    There was a hushed silence about the room now. Unlike many of the younglings gathered in the chamber, Salem understood with perfect clarity what had just been said – yet it was difficult to accept. Not because of any sense of sadness, but rather because of the sheer scale of it. To have lost that many Jedi, in a single battle, seemed absolutely impossible – they were all better than that, surely. At least, that was what Salem had always believed. They were supposed to be unstoppable...

    Frowning, he crossed his arms over his chest and glanced around to the rest of the elder Jedi, awaiting their responses.

  17. #17
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    A'na wasn't aware that she was sitting with her mouth open until Serena leaned over and gently tapped her chin. The Knight closed up, her eyes wide. The Council fielded a few questions from other Knights and Masters that were in the Temple and had not gone on the ...the suicide mission to Geonosis.

    If it had not been for her youngling class, A'na would have gone as well. But someone had to stay with the young ones.

    One hundred and seventy-six Jedi... dead. Jedi and grown padawans. Some of the younglings looked confused, and Serena hushed their questions by promising to explain and talk about it when the assembly was over. A'na squeezed a boy's hand reassuringly, and tried to pay attention to what the council was saying now.

    "The Republic, thanks in part to Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, has obtained a vast clone army from the cloners on Kamino. Most of the survivors of the battle..." They just seemed to drone on and on.

    A clone army? A'na frowned, wondering at the implications in the Force of so many people sharing the same DNA and midichlorian imprint. No one seemed to be worried about it. And wasn't it convenient, Obi-Wan finding an army just when the Republic needed it?

    Looking over her shoulder, A'na caught sight of Zem Vymes, an older padawan who was being held back by his master for some reason. Masters always had a way of discovering ones flaws and requiring one to fix them. She had never been close to the man, but as children in the temple they had once been friends. She raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask, What do you make of this?

  18. #18
    Fionn Halcyon
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    When the council finally appeared in only half its numbers, the tall Corellian's heart skipped a beat. Cold dread numbed his bones, fear he had never felt so palpably before then. He tried to push it aside, tried to tell himself that she could not have died without him feeling her loss, but... But.

    Nothing seemed certain anymore.

    When the council spoke, he listened dutifully but dully. When they announced the number of the dead, he closed his eyes, trying to imagine the death of one hundred and seventy nine Jedi - JEDI! - and trying not to see her death amongst them. So it had been all those lives, and those of this strange clone army, that he had felt die. He struggled to care about thir deaths, to feel horrified at this grand loss as he had at the moment it had brought him to his knees, but now there was simply fear and the terrible terrible worry and dread he felt for her.

    It was threatening to burst from him. Opening his eyes he stared down at his hands and only then noticed he was holding his lightsaber in them, clutching it as if it was his last hope. For one frantic moment he wondered what had made him pull it, then gave up and put it away with trembling fingers. He cast a glance around to see if anyone had noticed, and caught the openly curious stare of a little youngling sitting nearby.

    But that one look was final straw to collapse his resolve to remain calm. That look in the little girl's eyes - so much like Nya's - brought forth all the agony he felt inside, all the fear for her mother.

    He shoved his way through the few people standing in front of the dais until he reached Shaak Ti. There he stopped, at her feet, and hoarsely called out to her: "What of Jedi Knight Selkie? She was one of those who went to Geonosis - Berit Selkie?"
    Last edited by Fionn Halcyon; Dec 2nd, 2008 at 04:49:50 PM.

  19. #19
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    The Jedi were what? By robots? Wei couldn't believe it. He decided then and there that no robot would ever kill him and he'd become the best lightsaberer in the galaxy if not the universe.

    He hopped down from Quinlan's shoulders and padded towards the front of the room to get a better look at the speakers. Ron'Ald followed behind him in a lumbering gait.

    Wei tripped over Lilaena where she sat and nearly fell on Dae. Ron'Ald likewise fell over the back of Lilaena's head.

    "Oops! Sorry."

  20. #20
    Dae Jinn
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    "Hey!"

    Her voice was harsh whisper - if they weren't supposed to be so quiet, she would've yelled at the boy who'd nearly fallen on her. Instead she reached out with the force and planted a hard pinch on his arm.

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