Master Potter and the Renewal of the Jedi

By TeraWatt

Chapter 03

Harry and his new Master got on quite well in the first few years they worked together. Harry had been a fair swordsman before he had become Plo's apprentice. Having fought a basilisk at the tender age of twelve, Harry took time to learn the art of the blade after the war. But using an actual metal sword and a lightsabre are completely different matters. The moves look the same but the blade itself has no weight and it takes skill to apply blunt force to a weightless blade. Never the less, as an initiate, Harry had given his all in this new life to reclaim his grace with his new blade.

Plo Koon was an expert swordsman. Perhaps not as renowned as Master Windu with a blade, but then Master Plo hadn't created his own form. It had been Plo's intention to apply his skills in combat as much as reasonably possible in his early knighthood, but that was before he met Harry. Harry had re-sparked a long dormant interest in his own roots as a Kel-Dor force sensitive. He had once wanted to learn from the Baran Do Sages but had somehow lost interest in this aspiration somewhere along the way. No more; Harry had rekindled his enthusiasm for other force cultures and so, they had found their way to his own home planet soon enough.

The Sages didn't have a quarter the number of practitioners as the Jedi and were, quite frankly, a dying breed. The Sages were thrilled at the chance to preserve their culture in any way they could and taught Master Plo and his new apprentice all they could in the short time they had to work with. Plo was glad they had gone through with their plan to learn from the Sages. It had given him a unique sense of pride in his people's accomplishments and his own history.

Every spare moment they had, however, Plo drilled Harry in the art of the lightsabre. Harry flourished under Master Plo's tutelage and found himself improving in leaps and bounds every lesson his Master gave.

Another interest Harry sparked with his Master was that of history. Harry would sometimes regale his Master with accounts of Jedi long since dead who had been instrumental in creating what they knew as the current incarnation of the Order of the Jedi. The legend of Revan, the Prodigal Knight. The story of Satele Shan, Grand Master of the exiled Jedi for the duration of the unprecedented truce between the Sith Empire and the Republic. Tales of Lord Hoth and the Army of Light and their sacrifice at the Seventh Battle of Ruusaan. The Fall of Ossus and the construction of the Temple on Coruscant. The Force Wars on Tython and the formation of the Order. Accounts of the 'First Schism' and the birth of the Sith Empire on Korriban and Ziost. The fall and redemption of Ulic Quel-Droma.

And through these sagas Harry blessed his Master with an insatiable love of history. Wherever they went, on missions or assignments, Master and Apprentice soaked in the rich histories of the planets where events took place that transformed the galaxy. They were fortunate enough that the Council seemed to take into account their interests and gave them assignments on 'interesting' worlds or missions with 'interesting' people.

They once received a mission to escort a diplomatic cruise ship which was hosting a year long voyage. There were fears that pirates would be drawn to such a large collection of ambassadors and a Jedi presence was requested. The ambassadors represented each of the inhabited planets in one solar system who were negotiating trade tariffs and the possibility of a unified government for the entire system. It was going to be a long process but they were determined to see it through.

This was not a regular assignment. Two Jedi would not be enough to defend the ship should it come under attack from without or within. Whilst Master Plo and Harry had been chosen, Master Jinn and Obi-wan were selected to go as well.

Harry and Obi-wan discovered that two of the ship's security officers were Matukai practitioners. With permission from Masters Jinn and Plo, Harry and Obi-wan soon found themselves being tutored by their new mentors. Harry was a fast study due in part to his own experience in martial arts from his past life; ironically, it wasn't until years after the war that Harry took up martial arts. Harry had been a practitioner of Ba Gua Zhang and Northern Shaolin Kung-fu back on Earth and had already learned the basics of Teras Kasi, which seemed to be the main martial art practised in Republic Space.

Obi-wan and Harry had grown up a lot since their days at the temple pranking the older initiates. Obi-wan was occasionally still clumsy at times and Harry had finally passed puberty, again. But they were still thick as thieves and picked up their friendship as though they had never parted. Long days were spent recounting their apprenticeships to date. Harry had been shocked to discover that Obi-wan had been assigned to the Agri-Corps on Bandomeer for a couple of months before he had been taken as Qui-gon's apprentice. Harry had shuddered at Obi-wan's near death experience in the mines and later in the story been astounded at his friend's ingenuity in disarming the explosives set to rip apart the planet. Obi-wan had been fascinated with Harry's account of learning from the Baran Do Sages and amazed at Harry's adventures.

But, as with all things, all good things come to an end and so did the voyage. Realistically, the padawans knew that nothing would immediately have transpired from the ambassadors' talks. Regardless, there was a slight sense that all their efforts had been for nothing. Even if their presence alone had deterred any attacks, their primary mission had been accomplished; all the ambassadors returned home safely. The padawans had learned a great deal from their Matukai instructors and resolved to practice so as not to waste their new abilities and skills.

And so two good friends parted ways once more, but they refused to lose their renewed closeness. Apprentices Potter and Kenobi kept an almost constant correspondence, whenever their respective missions would allow.