Star Wars : New Jedi

( Raven's Claw )

Kyle fidgeted with his clothes as he and Jan got ready to sleep for the night. While he had been offered a guest room in the temple, he had declined on the grounds that it wouldn't feel right until he passed his tests.

"So, Mon Mothma," he said to lead Jan into explaining what had transpired at the Senate Building. "Did she finally crack open that case?"

"And read all the dataslates that were in it." Jan confirmed the worst.

"Ah, sithspit." Kyle cursed as he rubbed down his arm where the medical droid seemed to take perverse pleasure in poking him with sharp objects. He had used the Force to heal himself quickly, but the memory lingered. "What did you do?" It wasn't an accusation. He trusted Jan as much as she trusted him. They would never have lasted as long as they had if they hadn't.

"I told her the truth." She expected Kyle to object, at which point she had already prepared her response that he had told his father, but he didn't rise to it. Probably because he agreed as well. "She... well, I think she was ready to get into the good stuff after I left."

"That bad, huh?"

"Well, she didn't believe the Time Travel thing until I told her things that I knew from the future." Jan stirred some stew in a pot. "After that, I explained about what was on the slates."

"What was on them?" Kyle asked, though he knew he shouldn't have.

"Intel reports. One of them was on the Maw Installation, and I think she turned green when I explained what was being built there."

"The Death Star prototype, and who knows what else," Kyle confirmed. "What else?"

"A letter from Luke to our Mon Mothma detailing how the Jedi work with the NRI, not for them."

Kyle winced. He was there when Luke composed that message. "So you had to explain about the NRI."

"And the New Republic, and a quick lesson in what happened. I skipped over a lot of the details," Jan waved her hands around, annoyed. "But I did explain how Palpatine manipulated himself into becoming Emperor, the Purge, the Empire, and the Rebellion followed by her place in the New Republic."

"Bet you she didn't believe you."

"It wasn't like I had a lot to lie about. But her faith in Palpatine has been shaken. She voted him into office because she felt he was a good man, who would do good things for the Republic."

"Ouch. I know what it's like to loose a pillar like that. So, what came of it? In the end?"

"She's hired me as a messenger and agent."

Kyle looked shocked. "And you accepted?"

"Well, yes." Jan grabbed a couple bows and served some of the food. "It give me an excuse to go see her on occasion, and my first mission is pretty much to prove what I told her about Palpatine."

"That could have gone worse. You let me know when you need some muscle." Kyle took the food and handed her some bread he got from the Jedi mess hall. No one blinked an eye when he asked for it, even with his odd dress. "I talked to the Council, they're willing to accept my help as long as I pass their tests."

"What sort are they?"

"Oh, just the usual for Knighthood, just ramped up a bit to make things interesting."

"Define 'interesting'." Jan probed.

"Harder," Kyle clarified as he dug in. "I'm supposed to be experienced, so the normal tests they go for wouldn't count."

"I'll just assume you pass them, then."

"I think I already went through Insight and Body," Kyle said. "Had a nice long talk with the Chief Librarian, Master Nu that Luke would have gone to the Dark Side to have. It was that informative."

"I doubt Luke would go that far, but I get your point. And Body?"

"They did medical tests, and I had to explain old wounds. The medical Jedi, Rowe, was very interested in my sabre wounds."

Jan wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she kept her peace, and her head down. "What are the other ones, anyway? I know there's a test of Skill, as Luke puts a lot of emphasis on that one."

"Spirit and Courage." Kyle said.

"Aren't those the same thing?"

"Nah. Apparently it's an internal-external division that they're looking for. My reading indicates that the test of Spirit is supposed to be where the applicant confronts themselves and their darkest, innermost reality."

"Umm... how are you supposed to do that?"

Kyle shrugged. "It's supposed to be a whole 'are you committed to the Light Side' test, if what was written is anything to go by."

"Kyle..." Jan said in worry. "You and the Dark Side...."

"Hey, as long as no one kills you, I think I can manage." Kyle said with a smile, which didn't ease Jan's mind at all. He sensed that. "Don't worry. I'm past all that now. Luke gave me a clean bill of mental health."

"Still, I'm worried about you, Kyle."

"Don't be."

...

( The Invisible Hand )

Tyranus did not delay his Master in receiving his message. "What is your bidding, Master?"

"Warn your agents that the disturbance in the Force is a plot by those who would over throw you and I," Sidious said without preamble. "It heralds a new threat to our plans. I have seen it." With that warning delivered, the connection was cut, and Count Dooku felt just a pang of worry. What had his Master seen that would disrupt him so?

...

( Private Meditation Chambers )

Master Yoda waited for Master Windu to arrive. It wasn't often that the venerable Master needed advice, but his encounter with the spirit left him little option. It was an event so unusual that attempting to deal with it privately was doomed to failure before it could even begin.

"Master Yoda, you summoned me?" Windu said as he entered the chamber quietly. "You are disturbed."

"Indeed, I am." Yoda admitted. "Sit. Speak, I shall. Listen, you must." Once Windu was comfortable, the diminutive Master relayed his encounter with the 'Master Tal'. Windu sat in silence, trusting Yoda to speak truthfully.

"I do not know what to say, Master Yoda." Windu carefully phrased his words to make his meaning clear. "My first response would be that it is a technique by which one can project their image through the Force, but your senses told you otherwise."

"Hrm," Yoda said without comment. "Tal, to Katarn, was Master. Spoke of as deceased, yet alive."

"I have not heard of such a thing, Master Yoda. Our teachings indicate that when one who is sensitive to the Force passes on, they become One with the Force, not a... spirit that looks like a hologram."

"Ask Katarn, should we?"

"What would we say to him? That the ghost of his dead Master appeared before us to vouch for him?"

"Difficult, the question must be. Motivations, we must suspect."

"Master?"

"Heard, have you, of Obi-Wan's encounter?"

"Yes," Windu wasn't pleased at what he had heard. "How can we trust anything he says?"

"Suspect I do, a strange power at work."

"What do you mean?" It was obvious to Windu that Yoda was taking this more seriously than others.

"Timing, convenient it is." Yoda felt his age for a moment. "War begins, led by a fallen Jedi. From nowhere, another appears. Unknown to us, he comes. Powerful. Touched by the Dark Side. Help, he offers."

"You think he's a trap?"

"Hrm. Think not, I do. Too obvious it is. Not the way of the Dark Side to be so bold and open."

"A response then? Katarn appears after the War begins."

"If he has, why just him? Why not others?" Windu took up the voice of reason. "What would these.. forces gain from sending just one to us?"

"Sending, or came, I wonder?" Yoda mused, "Tested, are we?"

Mace didn't like the sound of that.

...

( Meditation Chambers )

Somewhere nearby, Kyle was sitting and quietly meditating. When Jan had left that morning, she had made it clear that her duty today was to get their paperwork in order, especially as they couldn't depend on the Jedi forever. Kyle approved, and they parted ways, though he was worried about their finances as well. Coruscant wasn't a very cheap place to live, or do business. He offered to loan her his lightbsaber, just in case, but Jan laughed it off.

Of course, all this going through his head meant he wasn't doing that good of a job in the actual meditation part of his day.

In the Force was a great cloud, a veil of darkness that permeated everything he tried to do that wasn't physical. So much so, that he felt that the room itself was turning black as he cast about the Force for some weak point in what ever it was that dulled his senses. It was like nothing he had ever felt before, and nothing he knew could pierce it.

Turning his thoughts inward, he focused on his lightsaber, and gently lift it into the air, rotating it around as he idly played with it through the Force – a technique that allowed a person to develop their skills in both telekinesis and in multitasking.

The door opened and no one walked in, causing Kyle to crack open an eye. A droid stood there, glowing yellow eyes and a stylized face that was grafted into a very slimed shape. With a 'hat', a 'beard' and a 'kilt', the Droid waited for Kyle to recognize it, then approach. "Greetings, Jedi" it said. "I am Professor Huyang, Architect Droid specializing in Lightsabre construction."

"I'm Kyle," the human replied, abandoning his meditations for now. "What can I do for you?"

"I wished to examine your weapon," the Droid said. "As part of my responsibilities, I am to archive all known Lightsabre designs for reference and study." He pointed at Kyle's saber, still spinning. "I do not recognize that one, and I have served the Order for over a thousand years!"

Kyle's saber was inspired by both Luke's, who took his design from Obi-wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, as well as Qu Rahn's and Yun's weapons. He doubted the droid could learn anything about it. "Why?"

"With your impending Test of Skill, I was asked to make a record of your design, should it get damaged." The Droid didn't take offence, though curiosity was definitely in its voice.

"Well, that doesn't fill me with confidence." Kyle stood up, plucking his weapon out of the air. "Do we have to do this here, or can I see your workshop?" He gave a smile, one that would display sincere motivations to any organics, though it was lost on the venerable droid.

"Of course!" The droid backed up, allowing Kyle to follow it out of the room. "Normally, I am stationed on the Crucible, but I do have facilities here in the Temple. If you would follow me?"

...

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