Rive Caedo
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Before the Storm: A Moment Without SinNote: This story takes place almost immediately after "Venom of the Empire" - 3 days afterwards, in fact. Therefore, it could be considered "Chapter 0" of Lies of Bakura, since it takes place shortly before the first events of that story.
Bakura
Three days after the Integrity Incident.
From the large, high ceilinged Council chamber of the Bakuran Jedi Temple, Elris Drow stared out of its crystalline windows with mixed feelings at what she observed.
Beyond the Temple walls, in the wide grassy clearing that lay between the Temple and the forest wall that surrounded the Temple grounds, a group of young Jedi were practicing duelling skills under the supervision of an older Togrutan Jedi.
"That was... ah... better." Koras said with careful choice of words as he helped Rais to his feet.
The sad fact was: it was truthful. Rais wasn't a natural swordsman it seemed. In that past hour of Koras' lightsaber combat "class", the twelve year old Jedi had managed to drop his weapon at least a dozen times. After that, he'd simply flinched every time an attack came at him and failed to even attempt to block it. Finally, just now, he'd managed to raise his sabre and keep eye contact when Koras had made a slow overhead attack towards him... unfortunately he'd then fell backwards as he tried to lean away from the incoming blade.
The other, more experienced, in the group stifled laughter at this latest showing of inadequacy. Koras cleared his throat with disapproval - quieting them. Once Rais had brushed himself off, Koras gestured for the students to get in line. There were twelve in all - far less than usual, even with the new addition of Rais. He suspected that most of the regulars were at the medical wing: hoping to catch a glimpse of Rive Caedo's rumored surgery, the mysterious Mandalorian, the talkative Rodian, or any of the many Mon Calamari - all of whom had come down in a smoking mass of two ships lashed together - the one still in one piece piloted by a space pirate and mercenary.
Koras could hardly blame them for being curious. It was the most interesting group of people to arrive at the temple... ever.
The students now stood side-by-side in line before Koras, with their lightsabers deactivated. A cool wind blew across the grass as Koras issued a quick kowtow to the group. The students returned it in unison.
Koras spoke in the best authoritative voice he could muster, "Very good today. I appreciate you making the time even in this strange week. You've all come a long way and I hope to see all of you - old and new," Koras focused his eyes on Rais as he said the latter, "back here again next week."
With that, he clipped his lightsaber to his belt and turned to walk back to the Temple - which had come to mean "dismissed" for his lightsaber combat "class". He couldn't actually dismiss them because it wasn't an official class. Despite his numerous requests in the past two years - that had been supported by those other Jedi who had experienced the terrors of Kallibann with him - the Jedi Council continued to deny his requests for it to be an official class.
Those events and the people involved hung heavier and his mind than usual - with their unexpected return to the Temple together after apparently running into even greater troubles than the previous occasion. So he headed there now; not out of curiousity like the others but only out of concern. It wasn't rational, but he felt slightly guilty for not having been there to help with whatever had happened: despite not being asked.
As he neared the Temple walls, he caught a glimpse of Council member Elris Drow. He offered her a quick nod. Not to his surprise, she didn't return it. Drow had been one of the more vocal objectors on the Council to his requests for official approval of his class.
"What need is there for teaching the brutality of combat here? We are hidden - we are safe. We teach complex lightsaber katas as a form of precision, memorization, and meditation. We teach laser deflection to increase coordination and focus. What purpose would teaching practical combat techniques serve besides increasing aggression and reducing clarity of thought?"
Koras could hear those words of Drow echo in his mind clearly. It was what she said every time he talked to the Council...
Maybe this new disaster would sway them...
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With Koras now out of sight, the young Jedi were more at ease. The Togrutan wasn't an official instructor, but he acted like one: so they treated him like one. They broke their line formation and almost immediately the eldest Jedi in the group, a seventeen year old Bothan named K'reth, reactivated his lightsaber and approached Rias. He jabbed the tip of the blade towards the younger Jedi. With each thrust, Rias flinched visibly - as he had during most of the training session.
K'reth's furry snout scrunched up as he laughed, "What are you doing out here? The rest of us - all of the rest of us - picked it up our first time!" The Bothan jabbed again - this time actually impacting the glowing yellow blade against Rias' gut. Due to the reduced power output of the lightsaber - for safety reasons - this did nothing more than cause a faint sizzling sound. Still, Rais stepped back and then turned away from the older Jedi with his head hanging low.
K'reth laughed again - a low laugh filled with distaste this time - "You wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes on Kallibann."
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