Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. That is property of George Lucas, the lucky bastard. If I did own Star Wars, then I would keep making movies till I die. Anywho...on with the story.
Twilight Jedi
Chapter 1: Infiltration
Jedi Knight Aayla Secura was walking around the halls of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The beautiful twi'lek's thoughts dwelled on the war. She didn't care to think on how long it had been since the battle of Geonosis.The battle where so many Jedi had been killed. So many deaths...so many good Jedi Knights gone. Even some of the masters didn't make it out of that conflict. Ones such as Master Coleman Trebor. Aayla still had a hard time accepting that he was so easily gunned down by that bounty hunter. In reality, ithad only been a week, but each day felt like a month. But that was the past and the War was the present. She noticed that Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu were walking and chatting. She decided to keep walking and strolled past an open door. Shaak-Ti was just finishing up meditation with a group of Younglings.
"Ahh, Miss Secura. How lovely it is to see you today." Shaak-Ti beamed at her. "Would you be so kind as to aid me in a demonstration?" Aayla smiled back in return.
"Master Shaak-Ti. It would be my honor."
Aayla entered the chamber. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of the bright young students. All of them, so young. Ready to learn. Shaak-Ti said,
"Younglings, say hello to Aayla."
"Hello Master Secura!" The all said in unison
"Now then, I'd like you to close your eyes." Aayla did as she was asked. "I'm going to enable the remote. Visualize your objective." Shaak-Ti released the training droid. It hovered and darted from side to side. It fired and Aayla immediately activated her saber and deflected the blast. Her eyes were still closed and the remote tried several more times to jolt her. Each time, she very gracefully deflected the blasts. Shaak-Ti began clapping, giving the younglings the hint. Although they did enjoy the demonstration, they can't always tell when to applaud or to be silent. Aayla smiled again at the young learners. Shaak-Ti deactivated the remote and Aayla powered down her saber.
"Remember, younglings. The force flows through you. Let it guide you, just as it guides Aayla. Master Yoda will be by soon so you can start on your saber lessons for today. Everyone say goodbye to Aayla."
"Good bye Master Secura!" Aayla grinned and both she and Shaak-Ti exited the chamber.
"Aayla Secura, please report to the hangar bay." She sighed and bid farewell to Master Shaak-Ti. As she was walking, she felt a tremor in the force. A moment later, laser fire was heard outside the temple. A fighter craft had tried to land at the temple but was shot down by a clone gunship. Aayla ran to a balcony and saw a fighter spiraling down and impact with the street adjacent to the temple. She turned and rushed around the corner and ran straight into someone. She bumped into him and they both fell over. He landed on top of her with his face almost buried in her breasts, but he quickly rebounded so she wouldn't think it was intentional.
"I'm terribly sorry about that." she said embarrassed. The stranger extended his hand to help her up. She took it and got her first good look at him. He was tall. At least six foot. He had steel grey hair with a few long platinum streaks that glowed with the light in an extremely long pony-tail. His face was covered but his eyes could still be seen. They were bright crimson. They had a focus to them, but still looked a little kind. Aayla quickly looked him over. He was wearing what appeared to be Jedi robes, but all black. He looked more like a ninja assassin than he did a Jedi. The moment she saw what he was dressed in, she reached for her lightsaber but he force pulled it off of her belt and balanced it playfully on the tip of his finger.
"A Sith!" she said surprised. The strange man said nothing. Aayla went for her lightsaber but the stranger countered by spinning out of her reach. He tossed her saber at her feet and took off down the hallway. His stride was extremely graceful and elegant. He moved with no sound and seemed to fade as he went. Aayla wondered if she had even seen him at all, but her feelings and common sense told her otherwise. She immediately called in to Master Windu.
"Master Windu! There's an intruder here in the temple! I think he might be a sith!" said Aayla through her communicator.
"What? A sith intruder you say?" replied Mace Windu calmly.
"Yes master. I ran into him just a moment ago. He had a lightsaber on his belt and he almost took mine."
"Try and track him. We'll seal off all the entrances and exits." said Windu
"Yes sir!" said Aayla. Aayla bolted down the corridor after the intruder.
He was making his way through he Jedi Archives unchallenged by anyone. At a distance, he looked like any other Jedi there. This rogue force user slipped around the walls of information. He was met by the elderly Head Librarian. She looked at him, smiled and said, "Is there anything I can help you find, young knight?" He shifted uncomfortably and said, "Yes, I seek information on a certain medicinal herbs."
Jocasta Nu raised an eyebrow at this remark. "Of what region and star system do you require knowledge of?" It would appear that this Knight hadn't ever tapped into the Archive's knowledge before, but she dismissed it quickly enough.
"Oh. Um, any star systems that are in reach of planet Haruun Kal." Again, Nu looked at him with suspicion but said,
"Wait here one moment please, I will be back with the information you seek on a datapad." She walked out of sight and immediately contacted Master Windu. "Master Windu, there is a strange young Jedi here asking for information on medicinal herbs that grow among star systems around your homeworld. Should I give him the information?"
Mace Windu's calm but stern voice came over. "Take caution, he's no Jedi. Give him the information he requires. Aayla Secura and Shaak-Ti will intercept him and bring him before the council as he makes his exit."
"As you wish, Master Windu." Jocasta Nu went and uploaded the information, quite a lot of it, and handed him the datapad. "Take care, Young Jedi." The strange rogue Jedi bowed very deeply and walked hastily out of the Archive Library. Upon turning the corridor, he walked straight back into Aayla Secura. She had her lightsaber gripped tightly in her hand but it was not activated. She wanted to attack him, but she knew better than to give in to such petty feelings like revenge. She said as calmly as she could, "You are to come with me, sir. Rest assured that if you come peaceably, you will not be harmed."
The renegade Jedi's voice was very soothing. It sounded kind and affectionate, but it also sounded hardened and tired. It was actually a little disturbing.
"I cannot comply with your request." Aayla looked slightly irritated.
"What are you doing here?" The maverick took a coin out of his pocket and said,
"How about we flip for it? Heads I tell you, and Tails we go out on a date." He flipped the coin in his hand and caught it but did not reveal what it was. Aayla looked very shocked and blushed furiously at his comment. He smirked even though his face was covered and she activated her lightsaber. She aimed it towards his neck and said,
"I will not ask again." Shaak-Ti came up behind him. He did not turn around but said,
"Aayla Secura, and Shaak-Ti. As I've heard so many tales of your beauty, they truly do neither of you no justice. I am willing to bet that your beauty is a match only by your knowledge of the force and your skills with a lightsaber."
"You are full of flattery, dark one." said Shaak-Ti. The renegade replied calmly by saying,
"It's only flattery to someone that denies its truth." He realized that he was cornered, and that he would have to fight his way out. But he preferred to keep fighting as a last resort.
"I will accompany you, so long that I am released afterwards."
"We cannot promise that. But anyway, this way." Shaak-Ti and Aayla led the mysterious man towards the Council Chambers. There was no one there yet, but they were probably all on their way. Shaak-Ti sat in her chair amongst the council circle and Aayla stood next to him. She took his lightsaber and clamped it to her belt. Shaak-Ti could not wait any longer. Her voice was calm, persuasive, and incredibly lovely.
"Why are you here? What did you come here for? Surely not information on medicinal herbs." Shaak-Ti folded her hands inside her robes and awaited his response. The intruder shrugged and said,
"Perhaps I merely wanted to see the inside of the halls myself." Shaak-Ti wanted to giggle at this comment but she knew better. She merely smirked at him.
"Come now, you underestimate our insight. As well as our resourcefulness. You can tell us, or we'll just find out for ourselves." The man crossed his arms and said,
"Well if I tell you, then where's the fun in that? And besides, you already know why I'm here. I needed the information in your archives." Shaak-Ti looked over at Aayla. She merely shrugged and said,
"I can sense no deception in his answer." The mysterious stranger looked at his watch and said,
"Please forgive my impertinence, but time is of the essence." Aayla laughed softly at him.
"What makes you think you're going anywhere any time soon?" The man snapped his fingers.
"Simple. You're going to let me go." Aayla boggled at him.
"What makes you think we'd do such a thing?" Shaak-Ti asked him quietly. The stranger simply said in return,
"Because..." He darted for the door. Aayla went to grab him and he dodged out of the way. He crept down towards the floor. He looked like a cobra rearing to strike. Shaak-Ti and Aayla drew their lightsabers and advanced on him.
"Do not make this harder than it has to be." pleaded Shaak-Ti.
"I'm sorry. As much as I'd love to stay and chat with you beautiful flowers, I'm on a tight schedule." He force pulled his own lightsaber off Aayla's belt. His blade was red. Thus making is seem even more like the stranger was a sith. He held it out in a defensive stance. So far, everything he had done was in defense, not offense. That fact made Aayla and Shaak-Ti very uneasy about him. Sith were known for their relentlessness in a fight. He hadn't attacked once yet. Aayla blitzed the stranger and Shaak-Ti went in to strike. He deflected her saber away and slowly backed towards the door. The maverick forced the doors open and fled down the hallway. Aayla charged him, tackled him to the ground and the two crashed through a window. She refused to let go so she ended up tumblingalongwith him. At the last second, he used the force and pushed her back through the window. She landed head over heels on top of Shaak-Ti, knocked her over. The two helped each other up and stared out the window. They could still see him falling. Shaak-Ticould not stand to watch ashe hit the ground. Aayla stared at the motionless body.
He...he saved me...and I...I killed him... She thought to herself. She stared at the floor then back at him. She watched him stand up, arch his back and then appear to crack his neck. She couldn't really tell from this height, I mean he did look like a little ant from that heighth of the central spire.
"Master, look!" Aayla said alarmingly. Shaak-Ti turned out the window and saw the stranger waving at them. He darted towards the courtyard. A clone gunship was waiting there for him. He was surrounded by troopers. He merely raised his hands and hopped on board. But something wasn't right. Why is he surrendering so easily?thought Shaak-Ti.The dropship closed the bay doors and started to fly towards the atmosphere.
"C'mon Aayla, we'll follow them in our fighters!" said Shaak-Ti, half distressed at watching the young man fall almost to his death, the other half out of irritation that he might get away. The pair of Jedi tore off down the hallway towards the hangar. As Aayla was strapping herself into her own cerulean colored fighter, she called up Master Windu and Master Yoda. They were both in teaching witha group ofyounglings, but also conversing on the side.
"What is it Aayla?" said Windu.
"That rogue is escaping. We think he has clone help. They're leaving in an LAAT/1 Gunship." said Aayla as she was flipping switches and hitting buttons. "Master Shaak-Ti and I are going to pursue him." Yoda's voice came in over the comm. line.
"Be cautious, you must. No Idea, have you on what he might do. Very careful, you must be. His intentions, brought to light they must be." The old sage closed the line and spoke to Mace Windu. "Aided by clones, she says. Only one type of clone, there is that could help this young stranger."
"ARC troopers." said Windu quietly. "But we've had assurances that all were withdrawn from combat zones and put back into stasis on Kamino." Yoda calmly replied,
"Two days ago, Prime Minister of Kamino, Lama Su, contact us, he did. Told us that all of the clones in a certain stasis room had been 'Liberated'. Assault Recon Commandos. Released, thirty-five have been. Strange man we have come across today."
-Meanwhile-
Aayla and Shaak-Ti had taken off and reached their corresponding Hyper-drive rings. They were tracking the gunship and watched it dock with a larger shuttlecraft. They began to follow it, but made sure to stay out of sensor range. Shaak-Ti flew towards the ship and fired a small projectile at it. A tiny homing device attached to the hull of the transport. The ship went into hyperspace, leaving Aayla and Shaak-Ti in orbit around Coruscant. Shaak-Ti radioed Aayla.
"We'll wait a few minutes before following him."
"Alright. Master, can I ask you something?" asked Aayla.
"Of course you can, Aayla." said Shaak-Ti. "And you don't need to call me 'Master'. Shaak-Ti will be just fine."
"Alright Mas-er...Shaak-Ti. My question...It's about this..." Aayla had to search for the right word."...Rogue Jedi, we're following. He appears to be a sith at first glance... I guess what I'm saying is, he can't possibly be one. When I tackled him out of the window, he put me back into safety bypushing me back up. And he seemed to go out of his way to make sure he didn't hurt anyone."
Shaak-Ti replied gently, "Indeed. That and he was really charming." Her voice sounded a little like it was far away. "I'd be willing towager myselfas slave that he's handsome..." she said with a giggle. Aayla looked over at Shaak-Ti's cockpit in a surprised manner.
"Master? I thought I was the only one that daydreamed about...that kind of...stuff." said Aayla a little embarrassed. She reminisced back to the scene where she had the stranger outside of the Archives. Let's flip a coin, shall we? Heads I tell you, Tails we go out on a date. Aayla blushed furiously just at the memory of it.
"So surprised are you?" said Shaak-Ti said in an amused tone of voice. "A girl cannot always ignore what comes to her naturally. It's the same with men."
"Oh indeed it is! My former master, Quinlon Vos, had his eyes on you for a while when he still operated in the temple." retorted Aayla. Shaak-Ti merely shrugged and said,
"And I've seen Obi-Wan glance at you from time to time, dear Aayla. Even Master Kenobi can't stand to notadmire your beauty. I think all of the younger padawans ogle you all the time." At this point, Shaak-Ti was now flat out teasing the twi'lek.
"Oh yeah? Well how about Even Piell's padawan? He had a hologram of you and was found mast-"
"We will not speak of that incident." Shaak-Ti cut in. She sounded pretty irritated at this point and Aayla knew she had won round one.
"We've waited long enough. Let's see where our friend dropped out of warp."
Chapter 2 coming up very soon. Review if you want, just don't burn me too bad.