| 1. The Mission |
| -Dow-Ma- "My father." Kala said. Dow-Ma, Jode and Rejean stop. "What?� Dow-Ma asks. "It is my father. He is following us He wants us to lead him to the tree, he wants to gain the power, then he has plans for me. I feel him. He is close." "Are you sure?" Dow-Ma asks. "I can feel him, he is watching me know." Kala shivers. "I'm cold." "What�s going on Dow-Ma?" Jode asks. "I think we have a problem. On Commenor, Kala and myself encountered a Dark Jedi, her aunt. We also found out that her supposedly dead father was there, also a dark side user. They must be following her, trying to find her. He tried to turn her once with a Sith holocron, so I doubt he will just give up." "Oh great, this makes life peachy!" Rejean mumbled. "So they are here, on Coruscant," Kala nodded at Dow-Ma's question. "Where?" "I don't know, other than his presence, I can't feel anything else. I couldn't find him if I tried, he's, hiding." Dow-Ma looked at Jode and Rejean. "What do you think?" "It's the galaxies biggest city, even a ten foot Wookie could hide from a Jedi if they wanted to, so it would be no problem for other force users. I say we find out where this tree is and make a go there, wait for these Dark siders to make their move, otherwise we will be wasting time," Rejean says . "But confronting them at the tree will surely be better for them, they will be more powerful, their dark powers will be heightened just by being near the tree." Jode says. "Rejean�s right, Jode, we have to wait for them to come out and confront us, it will be difficult, but surely it is nothing four Jedi can't handle." "Three," Kala says. The three male Jedi look at her puzzled and worried. �My father will not harm me, and I will not fight someone who refuses to defend themselves." "Great time to develop honor. Got yourself a nice little Padawan here Dow-Ma," Rejean says. "Settle. I agree with her Dow-Ma. You can't ask her to do that; it would lead her to the dark side to attack her father if he won't defend himself against her. Then he wins, she is dark." Jode responds. Dow-Ma nodded. "Where to from here then." "Surely the best place to start will be the Jedi library." Rejean says. The four walked off. *** Fernal looked at the four. He was amazed he could get so close and not be discovered. His concealing powers must be better than he thought. He smiled, looked at Shestin and Orphant. �Let us follow. Sister, Orphant." The two nodded. Fernal was pleased, the Jedi would lead them to the tree, he would then kill them and then he would have his daughter back, the way she should be. -Kala Ann Marie- Kala felt my blood run cold as the four walked away. "Where is the Jedi Library?" Kala asks, uncertain of what to say. *** �No one knows my true identity, and they never ever will,� Fernal thinks to himself. -Jinn- Master Jinn watched Fernal from a far. �This one is very powerful it took all my abilities and a little luck just to realize he was here. Master Yoda was right, there is more going on then meets the eye. I had better contact Master Yoda and let him know that I have arrived,� Jinn thinks as he contacts Master Yoda. �Know your wish to let the knights know of your presence I do. But follow from a far you must or lose the advantage you have I think,� Yoda replied to Jinn�s question. �Yes, master I will wait but would it not be better to drawl them out now so that we all may confront them and finish this?� Jinn asked impatiently �Master Jinn patience you must have. More at work here then can be seen, clouded the future of this mission is. Do them more harm then good I think if reveal yourself you were to now � Yoda replied sternly. �Yes master I see the wisdom in your words� Jinn replied as he turned of the transmission. � Master Yoda is right as usual so I will wait and just follow. But know matter what is right or wrong I swear I will not let another Jedi be harmed by the Sith!� Jinn thinks to himself as he careful began his pursuit again. -Jode Val-Ednu- The four walked down the corridor towards the great Library. "You go on ahead," Jode says to the others, "I'll catch up." "Anything the matter?" Dow- Ma asks. The others looked at me. "No, no problem, I�ll just take a couple of minutes." "Ok but hurry up, we need your help, you know the most about the Sith," Dow-Ma calls back. Jode walks slowly to the window over looking Coruscant. �I should know the most about them, I�ve been Hunted by the them for a long time now. You get to know your enemy real well when they want your blood and your head on a stake. I had gotten to know them so well that I could tell when one was around. Not through the use of the Force just sheer instinct. When the hair on the back of my neck stood up for no reason, a Sith was usually close behind. Why they didn�t attack now, while I was alone was beyond me, but I knew that they would not be able to tell that I knew they were around. Chalk up one advantage to me. I'll let them think I don�t know they're here. I also felt another one behind them. The Sith were getting sloppy these days. He was tracking them as we were leading. Leave it to Master Yoda to send back up. He sensed that I knew he was there and acknowledged me. Good to have someone at my back. I wont let the others know about him or the Sith, not yet. The kid might give us away, and Dow-Ma and Rejean were good, but I have known Sith to take information out of your mind without you even knowing that you had information. I alone knew I could withstand their mental assault if it came down to it, id been doing it for years,� Jode thinks to himself. "Jode Val-Ednu, always getting in over your head," a voice came from behind me. Jode turns to see Jedi Master Adi Gallia looking up at him. She was even more beautiful then when Jode last had seen her. Jode took her hand and kissed it. "As dashing as ever," she continued smiling, "with no sense of protocol." "Who can think of protocol around such beauty?" Jode smiles. She slips her arm in mine and we walk down the corridor. "Your strength has increased since I last saw you," she remarks, "If you keep it up you might just become a Master sooner than you think." "Is the situation as grave as everyone fears?" Jode asks, knowing all about her fabled contacts. She grew grave, "worse," she said," Lord Mandalore is mounting an incredible army and laying off system after system, we don�t know where he is getting the manpower from. Not to mention the Tree Of Woe reappearing after all these years and Sith coming out of the works," she stops and looks up at me sadly. "I�m afraid the Sith will be after your head with even more vengeance now." Jode smiles. She begins to walk away, "be careful Jode, the council knows that you are probably the only Jedi who can conquer the Tree, but beware of the Dark side, remember what you were taught and come back to us alive." "I will" Jode replies. He watches her turn the corner, and then he heads off for the Library. �Looks I�m going to get that battle I wanted after all,� he thinks to himself. -Dow-Ma- Dow-Ma, Kala and Rejean entered the archaic building. Dow-Ma had been here many times, Master Koon had insisted that the Jedi Histories were just important to know as how to build a light saber. Kala was obviously new to the library and was suitably impressed. "Are all these about the Jedi?" "Not all of them, some are merely records of systems, other notable people and notes on all sorts of species. I heard that Obi Wan Kenobi did one of the newest entries to this library. He gave a brief account of Qui-Gon Jinn's encounter with a Tydorian, don't try mind tricks on them is the word, and have a fair amount of money." Dow-Ma said. Jode finally caught up with them. "Welcome Back." Rejean said. "Finished whatever self exploration you had to do?" Jode gave the other Jedi a harsh look, but then saw the comment for what it was. "Yeah, no problems here." Dow-Ma wasn't so sure. There was something in Jode's stance that made him look uneasy. He would have to discuss this with his old friend later. "What are the odds that we will find anything here, I mean this place is huge!" Kala says, still a little wide-eyed. Jode and Dow-Ma looked at each other. Dow-Ma shrugged as if to say not my fault she doesn't understand Corellians. "Don't talk to Corellians about Odds." Dow-Ma reminded his Padawan. "And don't stare, you will make the librarians all superior. They get like that when someone is impressed with their library." Rejean looked around. "Still she's right, Dow-Ma. How do we find what we are looking for?" A small being that was the same species as Yoda waddled up. Dressed in Jedi robes and still carrying a small saber that had probably never been used. The Library's head Librarian, Yacko, was legend among the Jedi who studied here. "Here is how we find any information." Dow-Ma says. "Are you well Yacko?" "Ah, Jedi Moeli and Jedi Van-Ednu. Neither have here been for many years. Neither of you have I seen for a long time. Why here you come?" Yacko said as he peered over small spectacles. "Yacko, I would like to say that myself and Dow-Ma are here for a social visit, but no. We need to find anything about the Tree of Woe." Jode said. Yacko's face took on a more serious expression. He closed his eyes and began walking. "How rude!" Kala said. "No he is leading us, not leaving us." Dow-Ma explained. The four walked off. Jode continued. "Yacko uses the will of the force to guide researchers to the exact location in the library they need. There might be hundreds of records or one. The fact that he is walking means there is something here, we just have to hope it is something useful." "Ah, here the records are. Not used very often, these are not." Yacko says. "And please come again Jode and Dow-Ma, miss you I do." The Jedi looked at the records that stood before them. There were at least seventy data pads. "That�s at least six hundred pages of information!" Rejean said. "I know. Lets get a start!" Jode said pulling out one of the pads. |