Post by 1+Only Uziel on Apr 6, 2009 0:12:42 GMT -5
The soft steps of the Jedi could only be heard due to the lack of people in the hall as he walked. It wasn't due to the fact that the halls of the Coruscant Jedi temple had been abandoned. It was that there were so few Jedi in the galaxy there to inhabit them. The building was several stories tall, with no walls actually enclosing the top of the temple. Though the sub-levels had walls and ceilings, the top was very much open, so that anyone could walk in. In the height of the Jedi Order, there were enough Jedi in the temple to protect anyone from anything.
This was not such a time. Merely ten years ago, there had been hundreds of Jedi. Now their numbers were in the low dozens. The Great Jedi purge had taken such a heavy toll on the Republic and the Order. Sure, the Sith had been done in, but at what cost? These thoughts ran through the Jedi's mind as the halls continued to echo his otherwise unidentifiable footsteps. His quickly tossed them from his mind. There was no need to think about these things.
He remembered when such emotion filled him and drove him. Dustil Onasi had learned many lessons from those days, those days when he was a Sith. Now, at the encouragement of his father, he had begun to bring his powers for the Light. He had trained and focused himself under the tutelage of the Lost Jedi for many years, had performed many deeds to help heal the Republic. These wounds, however, would not heal in his lifetime. Perhaps not even during his millennium. Each person, however, played their role in the galaxy. Dustil now intended to make sure that his contribution was one of healing.
Being the son of the Grand Admiral, Dustil played a peculiar role in Galactic and Jedi politics. His status as a Jedi brought him recognition, respect, and fame-for better or worse. His being Carth's son made him a perfect liaison between the Jedi and the military. As such, Dustil was a very busy man, spending most of his time either on Coruscant dealing with politics, or somewhere out and about in the galaxy, pulling off missions.
The Coruscant Jedi Temple was scantly occupied, with just a few Jedi. Most were on Dantooine, which was were most of the Younglings lived, hence where the Grand Council was situated at the moment. Dustil was one of the small handful that made his residence in the Grand Temple. Most of the Jedi here were actually Padawans attending to certain duties, mostly protecting the temple. With so few Jedi, the Council found interesting ways to teach Padawans when their Masters had to tend to other tasks.
One of the Jedi present was not a Padawan, but rather a member of the Jedi High Council. Dustil had encountered him before, of course, but he'd never met him, despite having met most of the recognized Jedi Knights, the Masters in particular. He was some war veteran, an engineer, from what Dustil understood. The man had contacted Dustil on one of his very few breaks about something that he had stated was of the utmost urgency. Despite being so urgent, it had been delivered by a Padawan, which had been slower than Dustil liked. Ah, well, he probably had his reasons.
As Dustil reached the main Council chambers, he realized that he had forgotten the Master's name. Beoder? Deober? Boader? Something like that. Dustil hoped that he wouldn't have to remember it. Not because of any desire to impress the Council, but rather wanting to avoid an awkward situation. Names aren't important-identity is. Even though Dustil was skilled (for a Guardian) in finding Force presence, he didn't feel this Master's presence for some reason. Dustil found this rather disturbing. Was the Master there, or simply using the Council's holoprojectors?
Dustil found out that the Zabrak Jedi Master was, indeed, present, and was much more unconventional than the young Onasi thought he would be. One arm had been severed at one point, and was now some sort of unique mechanical one, held together by some kind of blue energy field. He did not wear robes, but rather wore a tight-fitting shirt underneath an engineer's vest, which had pockets and pouches. On his belt was an array of tools and parts, with a blaster and, predictably, a Lightsaber. An orb floated around him, darting from one place to another randomly.
Bao-Dur, it clicked. That was his name. Dustil had seen and heard Bao-Dur before, but only on the rare occasions that the Zabrak actually wore Jedi robes, which hid his arm. Now that Dustil had actually seen him without the robes, he knew who he was. Bao-Dur was an engineer that was helping restore worlds. Dustil had heard of him as an engineer, but he never put two and two together. Bao-Dur the Engineer and the Zabrak master were one and the same. Dustil had thought that the engineer was a private citizen. The Jedi Guardian had been too busy with other things. He was glad he realized the connection now.
“Knight Onasi,” Bao-Dur greeted. His voice was soft and soothing, and his face was sort of boyish, despite the wrinkles and wear that had obviously formed on his face. One eye was partially closed, and the cheek right below was slightly swelled, adding to the boyish sort of look. Dustil guessed that Bao-Dur had some surgery recently.
“Master Bao-Dur,” Dustil replied, bowing as he entered, “What can I help you with?”
Bao-Dur held out his mechanical hand and the sphere came to him. The Zabrak squeezed something on it, and a panel opened up. So the sphere was a droid or machine of some kind. Dustil had thought bao-Dur was tossing it about with the Force. The Zabrak took a hydrospanner from his belt and began to tinker with the droid.
“As you know, we are on an extreme shortage of Jedi. It's painfully apparent all over the Galaxy. We've been assigning two Padawans to a single Master, and even group-training them, with several master and many more Padawans. There isn't a single student that does not either have a fellow or more.”
“You're asking me to help train Jedi? I can do that, I'm sure. I'll be happy to help.”
Bao-Dur was silent for a few moments, almost as if he were waiting for Dustil to be finished. It made Dustil feel that he had interrupted. He had jumped to a conclusion. But there weren't many other conclusions.
“I understand that your position in the Jedi order is a unique one, Dustil. It's also one with plenty of strain. You move about and interact with so many different people. There were some in the Council that wanted to give you a month of meditative leave instead of give you the responsibilities of training students. But you seem to have made an impression on Juhani and Jolee. They were quite adamant of your ability to handle this. Yes, we want you to teach. No, you will not be going to Dantooine to do so.”
“Why not?” Dustil knew Bao-Dur was going to explain anyway, but it would be rude not to give him a reason.
“Yours is a special case. The Council wants to bring about a sense of normality to the Order. You will have only one Padawan, and you will train this Padawan as the Jedi have for thousands of years. You will spend time in the Temples and the Enclaves. You will go on missions and perform duties. We need to know that we can go back to the way things were, even if it will take many decades to do so. Jolee wanted to give you two Padawans, but there are others that wanted to see a return to tradition.”
“What do you think?”
“What I think is irrelevant. I believe that this is the right thing to do. Even if returning to the old methods is not where the Order should go, we must explore all venues. You were not my first choice in this matter, but I believe you capable enough. Particularly when you meet your Padawan. This one is very...Unique.”
“Is my Padawan...You know...”
“No, you will not be training that one. Bastila wants to keep a close eye on that one. You will see soon enough why your Padawan is so unique.”
((I've always wanted to do an Interactive, choose-your-destiny sort of fics. So here it is. Set a number of years after KOTOR 2, this Padawan is the main character. Choose who they are. The SPECIES of the highest votes will win, and the higher of the two genders within that species will win. So think first of the species, and then pick your choice in gender. I don't care either way, I'll roll with whatever you come up with. The poll will close Wednesday or Thursday. Never can tell with these kinds go things. Hopefully it will let me change the poll once that's done.
Do not post comments in this thread. If I'm allowed, I will post a comments thread.))
This was not such a time. Merely ten years ago, there had been hundreds of Jedi. Now their numbers were in the low dozens. The Great Jedi purge had taken such a heavy toll on the Republic and the Order. Sure, the Sith had been done in, but at what cost? These thoughts ran through the Jedi's mind as the halls continued to echo his otherwise unidentifiable footsteps. His quickly tossed them from his mind. There was no need to think about these things.
He remembered when such emotion filled him and drove him. Dustil Onasi had learned many lessons from those days, those days when he was a Sith. Now, at the encouragement of his father, he had begun to bring his powers for the Light. He had trained and focused himself under the tutelage of the Lost Jedi for many years, had performed many deeds to help heal the Republic. These wounds, however, would not heal in his lifetime. Perhaps not even during his millennium. Each person, however, played their role in the galaxy. Dustil now intended to make sure that his contribution was one of healing.
Being the son of the Grand Admiral, Dustil played a peculiar role in Galactic and Jedi politics. His status as a Jedi brought him recognition, respect, and fame-for better or worse. His being Carth's son made him a perfect liaison between the Jedi and the military. As such, Dustil was a very busy man, spending most of his time either on Coruscant dealing with politics, or somewhere out and about in the galaxy, pulling off missions.
The Coruscant Jedi Temple was scantly occupied, with just a few Jedi. Most were on Dantooine, which was were most of the Younglings lived, hence where the Grand Council was situated at the moment. Dustil was one of the small handful that made his residence in the Grand Temple. Most of the Jedi here were actually Padawans attending to certain duties, mostly protecting the temple. With so few Jedi, the Council found interesting ways to teach Padawans when their Masters had to tend to other tasks.
One of the Jedi present was not a Padawan, but rather a member of the Jedi High Council. Dustil had encountered him before, of course, but he'd never met him, despite having met most of the recognized Jedi Knights, the Masters in particular. He was some war veteran, an engineer, from what Dustil understood. The man had contacted Dustil on one of his very few breaks about something that he had stated was of the utmost urgency. Despite being so urgent, it had been delivered by a Padawan, which had been slower than Dustil liked. Ah, well, he probably had his reasons.
As Dustil reached the main Council chambers, he realized that he had forgotten the Master's name. Beoder? Deober? Boader? Something like that. Dustil hoped that he wouldn't have to remember it. Not because of any desire to impress the Council, but rather wanting to avoid an awkward situation. Names aren't important-identity is. Even though Dustil was skilled (for a Guardian) in finding Force presence, he didn't feel this Master's presence for some reason. Dustil found this rather disturbing. Was the Master there, or simply using the Council's holoprojectors?
Dustil found out that the Zabrak Jedi Master was, indeed, present, and was much more unconventional than the young Onasi thought he would be. One arm had been severed at one point, and was now some sort of unique mechanical one, held together by some kind of blue energy field. He did not wear robes, but rather wore a tight-fitting shirt underneath an engineer's vest, which had pockets and pouches. On his belt was an array of tools and parts, with a blaster and, predictably, a Lightsaber. An orb floated around him, darting from one place to another randomly.
Bao-Dur, it clicked. That was his name. Dustil had seen and heard Bao-Dur before, but only on the rare occasions that the Zabrak actually wore Jedi robes, which hid his arm. Now that Dustil had actually seen him without the robes, he knew who he was. Bao-Dur was an engineer that was helping restore worlds. Dustil had heard of him as an engineer, but he never put two and two together. Bao-Dur the Engineer and the Zabrak master were one and the same. Dustil had thought that the engineer was a private citizen. The Jedi Guardian had been too busy with other things. He was glad he realized the connection now.
“Knight Onasi,” Bao-Dur greeted. His voice was soft and soothing, and his face was sort of boyish, despite the wrinkles and wear that had obviously formed on his face. One eye was partially closed, and the cheek right below was slightly swelled, adding to the boyish sort of look. Dustil guessed that Bao-Dur had some surgery recently.
“Master Bao-Dur,” Dustil replied, bowing as he entered, “What can I help you with?”
Bao-Dur held out his mechanical hand and the sphere came to him. The Zabrak squeezed something on it, and a panel opened up. So the sphere was a droid or machine of some kind. Dustil had thought bao-Dur was tossing it about with the Force. The Zabrak took a hydrospanner from his belt and began to tinker with the droid.
“As you know, we are on an extreme shortage of Jedi. It's painfully apparent all over the Galaxy. We've been assigning two Padawans to a single Master, and even group-training them, with several master and many more Padawans. There isn't a single student that does not either have a fellow or more.”
“You're asking me to help train Jedi? I can do that, I'm sure. I'll be happy to help.”
Bao-Dur was silent for a few moments, almost as if he were waiting for Dustil to be finished. It made Dustil feel that he had interrupted. He had jumped to a conclusion. But there weren't many other conclusions.
“I understand that your position in the Jedi order is a unique one, Dustil. It's also one with plenty of strain. You move about and interact with so many different people. There were some in the Council that wanted to give you a month of meditative leave instead of give you the responsibilities of training students. But you seem to have made an impression on Juhani and Jolee. They were quite adamant of your ability to handle this. Yes, we want you to teach. No, you will not be going to Dantooine to do so.”
“Why not?” Dustil knew Bao-Dur was going to explain anyway, but it would be rude not to give him a reason.
“Yours is a special case. The Council wants to bring about a sense of normality to the Order. You will have only one Padawan, and you will train this Padawan as the Jedi have for thousands of years. You will spend time in the Temples and the Enclaves. You will go on missions and perform duties. We need to know that we can go back to the way things were, even if it will take many decades to do so. Jolee wanted to give you two Padawans, but there are others that wanted to see a return to tradition.”
“What do you think?”
“What I think is irrelevant. I believe that this is the right thing to do. Even if returning to the old methods is not where the Order should go, we must explore all venues. You were not my first choice in this matter, but I believe you capable enough. Particularly when you meet your Padawan. This one is very...Unique.”
“Is my Padawan...You know...”
“No, you will not be training that one. Bastila wants to keep a close eye on that one. You will see soon enough why your Padawan is so unique.”
((I've always wanted to do an Interactive, choose-your-destiny sort of fics. So here it is. Set a number of years after KOTOR 2, this Padawan is the main character. Choose who they are. The SPECIES of the highest votes will win, and the higher of the two genders within that species will win. So think first of the species, and then pick your choice in gender. I don't care either way, I'll roll with whatever you come up with. The poll will close Wednesday or Thursday. Never can tell with these kinds go things. Hopefully it will let me change the poll once that's done.
Do not post comments in this thread. If I'm allowed, I will post a comments thread.))