MOTF Book I: BOTE Chapter 9

Lights flashed everywhere, the smell of alcohol permeated the air, the walls shook and trembled, and the entire club was filled with music. The patrons were dancing, drinking, smoking, and grinding against each other’s bodies. Amidst the patrons however, stood a lone Zabrak, with flowing pink hair wearing the robes of the Jedi.

To a member of the Jedi council such as her, places such as this were repulsive. She could barely stand places such as this. They were a breeding ground for crime and debauchery. Though, since she was a Jedi, it was her duty to be here, in the dark underworld of Coruscant, following the trail of a small band of Sith that had recently robbed a charity for starving children in the Galaxy.

Part of Odious’s plot to destabilize the Triumvirate the Zabrak Jedi thought to herself. She could only imagine what sick and twisted pleasure the Dark Lord took every time somebody suffered because of him. As long as the people of the Galaxy suffered for Odious’s personal amusement, she would be wherever she was needed to be to find and eliminate his Sith followers, even a drinking hole such as thi-

“Like an orgy in a cave isn’t it?” a voice next to her asked. She turned to face a male Besalisk with stylish clothes and a deathstick in his mouth. “Still though,” the Besalisk continued. “You have to admire the passion and beauty of all of these people experiencing pleasure with each other.”

It was at this point that she began to give the Besalisk a weird look, which he failed to take notice of.

“In a way, all life is sex,” the Besalisk continued as he moved closer, much to her dismay. “And let’s just say I really really enjoy life, and can show you how to… live a little.”

Repulsed, the Jedi took a few steps away from him before saying “No thanks I’m not interested.”

“Don’t I at least get a name sweetheart?” he chuckled.

“My name is Nalaniel, and I am a member of the High Jedi Council, looking for a group of Sith warriors that are hiding down here,” she responded.

“The only words I heard there were Nalaniel and high,” the Besalisk continued in blissful ignorance. “How about this? I go lay down some beats in this club, and afterwards you come back to my place for a little of the old in-out in-out?”

Before Nalaniel could respond, the Besalisk turned around and started making his way over to the DJ booth. Once he reached the DJ booth, the club went silent and turned their attention to him.

“What’s up guys?!” the Besalisk blared his voice. “This is DJ Sinny, with my newest track, Baby Ain’t Nalaniel, Inspired by the elegance of her highness, Queen Nala!”

Immediately the club was filled with soothing music, that went on a little over a minute before a beat dropped and the song started to pick up intensity. The patrons were all entranced by the music as their bodies moved accordingly.

He was good, Nalaniel had to give him that one, even if he did lack skill in other areas, such as picking up ladies. Even if I wasn’t a Jedi I’d still reject him she thought to herself. Much to her own frustration, she felt herself start to move to the beat, but quickly caught herself and stopped before anybody took notice, or so she thought.

A few seconds later she began to notice a pair of yellow eyes staring at her from across the club, then another a few seconds later. As the music kept perplexing the crowd, Nalaniel caught the gaze of two more sets of yellow eyes. Slowly the four shadowy figures began to advance upon her. She could feel their strength in the force and realized that these were no mere Sith warriors, they were Sith Masters, and powerful ones at that.

Behind one of them towed a boy that walked with an awkward gait. Nalaniel quickly noticed that his left leg was cybernetic from the knee down, and came to the conclusion that this boy must be an acolyte apprenticed to one of the masters headed her way, and that he must not be entirely used to the weight of his cybernetic leg yet.

Before long, the four masters stood on either side of her, surrounding her as the acolyte stood next to the one right in front of her.

“Well well well! Looks like we caught ourselves a Sage Master!” the leading master began as he drew his lightsaber. “The Dark Lord would like to have a word or two with you.”

“Now boys,” Nalaniel began. “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. The choice is yours. Come quietly, and I promise you all will survive.”

The master in front of her faltered as she could feel all of their uncertainty through the force. All except for the acolyte.

“What are we waiting for master? Let’s kill her!” he spoke up.

“If you open your mouth again, the next words that leave your mouth will be your last!” his master said in a very threatening tone of voice. “You were lucky to have survived Zygerria, don’t push your luck!”

“Come now Sith,” Nalaniel interrupted “You are only delaying the inevitable. Come now and there will be no bloodshed. Come now, and I can promise you-”

She was cut off as the acolyte sent a blast of telekinetic energy her way. His attack had been painfully obvious. She could sense him gathering his energy since he first noticed her. She could tell he expected to catch her off guard, to attack with force powers suddenly and without her knowing, so to speak. But instead, she instinctively threw up a force barrier that was much more than powerful enough to completely absorb the impact of the young Sith’s attack.

Immediately after blocking his attack, Nalaniel conjured up four telekinetic arms protruding from her body, twisting around her like serpents bound to her will, and each one feeling just as real to her as her own two arms made of flesh and blood. As the acolyte charged at her with his saber, she merely extended a telekinetic arm towards the young Sith’s blade arm. Once the spectral image of the hand passed inside of the acolyte’s elbow, Nalaniel channeled more energy into it, causing it to vibrate at extreme speeds.

Immediately the area was showered in blood as half of the young Sith’s arm was severed in a bloody explosion. As he screamed in agony, Nalaniel gripped him with two of her other telekinetic arms, and hurled him over the oblivious crowd.

Before his body hit the floor, the other four Sith converged on her with their lightsabers drawn. She quickly splayed and thrust her telekinetic manifestations in different directions, each one headed for a different Sith master.

She watched as her manifestations tore through their force shields, and wrapped their hands around the masters’ necks. Nalaniel quickly hoisted them into the air, one on each side of her. After a brief pause of staring at her helpless enemies, she moved all of her manifestations forward, slamming the bodies of the Sith into the ground in front of her, and causing all four of them to drop their lightsabers.

Nalaniel released her grip on their throats, but before they could even sit up, Nalaniel grabbed the four of their lightsabers. One lightsaber was grasped in the hands of each of her telekinetic arms as she pressed the emitter of the lightsabers to their heads, the thumb of each manifestation passing over the power button as her enemies lay helpless before her.

“Now… let’s try this again, shall we?” Nalaniel slyly chortled as she observed the once mighty Sith Masters, now prisoners of the Jedi Order.

——————————————————————————

“I love it here,” Jaira said, amidst the flowers and plant life of the Lightor royal garden. “So peaceful, beautiful, and full of life,” she continued blissfully. The way the bushes and flowers swayed from side to side as the wind blew through them was entrancing. This place was her paradise.

“Yeah,” Arthur said next to her, his voice sounding terribly downbeat.

“What’s wrong?” Jaira asked after a brief pause.

An uncomfortable silence filled the next few seconds before Arthur answered. “Commander Sopex is dead.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jaira said apologetically as she placed a hand on his shoulder. She knew that Commander Sopex was like an uncle to him. A family friend so to speak. “What happened?”

“He died on the Shadikill coast trying to overrun one of their bases,” Arthur responded, sounding slightly less downbeat. “He caught them by surprise and almost had complete control of the base, but then Shadikill reinforcements came at the last minute and caught him completely off guard.”

“Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” Jaira asked, hoping she could help her friend in some way.

“I don’t know,” Arthur replied. “Talking with you is making me feel a little better.” I just wish…”

“What?”

“I just wish I could participate in the war. It doesn’t feel right just sitting here while my people are sacrificing their lives to defend our nation from those monsters. We have the weapons, we’ve been working on them for the past few months. I can’t just stand by while others die for me.”

“Be patient Arthur, your time will come,” Jaira reassured him.

“I just hope it comes soon,” he muttered.

“It will,” she continued. “And when it does, I’ll be right by your side.”

“You were right you know,” he said.

“About what?”

She watched him turn his head towards the gardens. “This place is beautiful.”

——————————————————————————

Inside of the Jedi Temple, Master Nalaniel ascended the High Council spire, which was encased in a pyramid of green tinted transparisteel. She could feel the light side side of the force converging on the Jedi temple, and though she knew that it would not make her more powerful unless she directly drew on it, the presence of the light side felt soothing and comforting, especially after that scum bucket drinking hole she had just left.

She had turned the prisoners over to the Triumvirate military for interrogation immediately after returning to the surface. She knew she could sleep better at night knowing that these Sith would no longer plague the Galaxy. And who knows, if their interrogation proved useful, then they may actually contribute something positive to the Galaxy.

Though the time it took her to turn them over to the Triumvirate army delayed her schedule, and she was now making her way up to the council chambers at a fast pace, knowing she was already a little late for the council session. Due to her time constraints, she never did get a chance to say goodbye to that obnoxious DJ, thank the force for that!

Returning her focus to the council meeting, Nalaniel stepped through the entrance to the council chamber. A dozen chairs were spread out in a semicircle in the council chamber, with a master seated in each chair, and the Grand Master Mongooku standing in the center of the room.

“Greetings my fellow masters,” Nalaniel began. “I apologize for being late. I had other business to attend to.”

“It’s no trouble at all Nalaniel,” the venerable Grand Master Mongooku responded as she took a seat. “I needed a little time to gather my thoughts anyways.

The Grandmaster stood tall at around six feet tall, clad in the brown and white robes of the Jedi. He radiated power, confidence, and warmth as he spoke. His face was obscured by a gray beard. And his eyes were perplexing to all, one green, and one blue. He was the wisest and most powerful Jedi in the entire order. If something was taking him a while to gather his thoughts, then it was definitely important.

“My friends,” Mongooku began. “For centuries now, we have held the powers of the Dark Side at bay. For centuries, neither Light or Dark has held a decisive advantage against the other. We have the people of the Galaxy on our side. But they suffer from the war. For the past several hundred years we have fought the Sith, but the Senate believes we are no closer to purging them from the Galaxy than we were at the start of this war all those centuries ago.”

Nalaniel caught the eyes of several other masters, the look of disgust for the Senate apparent in their faces.

“Some in the Senate believe that we are fighting a war without end, and that our war with the Sith only leads to the suffering of the people.” Master Mongooku continued. “But it is because the people are suffering that we must fight the Sith! It is because the Sith seek to subjugate the Galaxy that they must be removed from it!”

This time, several members of the council nodded in assent.

“Last night, I sought knowledge and clarity from the Great Holocron, and as I was exploring the depths of its many great mysteries, a voice called out to me,” Master Mongooku continued as the council listened with great curiosity. “It was the voice of a woman, echoing in my mind. It said that before I could discover the future, I must first understand the past. It was at that point that I was granted a vision of utmost clarity and vivid detail. I saw the greatest Jedi and the most powerful Sith ever to touch the force.”

“I saw Emperor Vitiate suck an entire planet dry of the force. I saw Darth Bane ascend to unfathomable power and create a legacy of darkness. I saw Grand Master Yoda lead the Jedi Order into its golden age, and I saw Darth Sidious bring down the Jedi Order and the Republic with lies and deceit. I saw Luke Skywalker overthrow the empire and rebuild the Jedi Order so the followers of the Light could return to the Galaxy. I saw all of this in the time it would take a person to blink.”

Now Nalaniel was very intrigued. In her long decades as the Order’s leading Sage Master, she had never once experienced or heard of a vision such as this.

“The Senators were right about one thing,” the Grand Master continued. “The war has been at a deadlock for the past several centuries, and long before that even. But I believe it is nearing its end. Though we have lost friends, we stand strong in the face of death to be the shield the Galaxy needs against the darkness of the Sith.”

Nalaniel glanced over at Amoye Ilu, the greatest blademaster in the entire order. Having lost an apprentice, Nalaniel felt Mongooku’s remark about losing friends and standing strong was meant for him.

“After the vision had ended, I heard the woman’s voice in my head again. She told me that the war between Light and Dark was reaching its end. She told me that someone was coming to end the war. ‘One born from the Light come to end the Dark.’ After thousands of years of fending off the Sith, we now have more than a chance to end the war forever. We have a destiny to fulfill. Each and every one of us. With this knowledge I have provided you, I ask that you disperse across the temple, and each meditate over our destinies in this pivotal time. Meeting adjourned.”

——————————————————————————

Amoye Ilu stood in the empty training center of the Jedi temple and drew his lightsaber. He let the force flow through him as his violet blade materialized in his hands. He moved his arms to the will of the force, falling into a set of lightsaber moves and flourishes, each one with a purpose. Each and every move he made with his lightsaber was more precise than the finest nanotechnology in the galaxy, faster than a bolt of lightning, and more powerful than the winds of a hurricane.

His will and that of the force were nigh inseparable, as it guided his thoughts and his blade. Expanding his focus, Ilu began to reflect on the council meeting that had ended an hour ago. He let the force guide his thoughts and his own inner meditation just as it guided the blade in his hand. Though such an event was unprecedented, he could feel no untruth in what he had been told through the force. But something didn’t feel quite right either.

As he was in the middle of a maneuver with his lightsaber, his hand came to a sudden stop, as if there was something holding it in place. Ilu saw the shape of an arm shimmering in the air, its fingers wrapped around his hand.

“Not in the Tranquility Spire I see,” Amoye said with a chuckle.

“That’s not really where I go to meditate.”

Ilu turned to face the Female Zabrak standing in the doorway. The Sage Master Nalaniel was as renown for her force mastery and telekinetic prowess as Ilu was for his mastery of a blade. “Neither is the Lightsaber training room,” Ilu observed.

“No,” Nalaniel conceded. “But it’s where I knew you’d be.”

“You know me all too well Nala,” Ilu said with a chuckle.

“How have you been?” Nalaniel asked sympathetically.

“Oh losing Kagar has been, painful to say the least, but I’ll manage,” Ilu responded. “What do you think about Master Mongooku’s vision?” Ilu asked, quickly changing the subject before Nalaniel could press the subject of his fallen apprentice any further.

“I trust Mongooku’s judgement,” Nalaniel responded. “The Great Holocron is pure knowledge, and though this event is unprecedented, if it has actually taken up a voice to tell us something, then we have every reason to believe such a thing to the letter.”

Amoye pondered that for a second before Nalaniel asked “What about you Amoye? You pretty much live by the will of the force. What has that told you?”

“I feel as if everything we’ve been told is true,” Ilu answered. “I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something else. Something maybe even the Grand Master doesn’t know…”

Queen Nalaniel is the most powerful and cutest of them all. I want her to fight a stray bantha on Tatooine.

Awesome job, i got a lot of the references(most of them) lol. really great chapter dmb, i love the interaction between Amoye Ilu and Nalaniel. Nicely done

Well done! I want more. At least I can be awesome in a fanfic. :3