Shards Of Evanescence

Shards of Evanescence - Summary: An Ancient Master and a Youngling are thrust together in an attempt to preserve the Jedi Order from its inevitable demise. Will the youngling turn out to be the savior of the Jedi, or will he choose the darkside and become a terror that supplants the Dark Lord of the Sith? Main Cannon Characters: Yoda; Padme; Obi-Wan; C-3P0; R2-D2 Main OC's: Ethan; Liane; Dominique; Sinopa Chapter 1: Coruscant. Truly a wondrous sight to behold. There are few places elsewhere in the galaxy that could otherwise boast comparable splendor and wealth. From space, one might confuse this planet with an enormous glittering Hapes crown diamond. Indeed, the capital of The Galactic Republic was truly magnificent. Not only was this planet the home of the Galactic Senate, it was also filled with some of the galaxies scummiest life forms. In truth, most of those who existed on this planet were truly substandard in terms of character. If anyone would pause for but a moment and listened or established a rapport with their environment, they would sense that while the air bustles with much activity, there was a lingering darkness in the air, which permeated throughout this planet. And yet, one bright spot remained – The Jedi Temple. An ancient structure, built around one massive centrally located spire surrounded by four smaller ones spread to each corner of this unique edifice. There was nothing excessive about the Jedi Temple. It was a culmination of the work of many in the Jedi Order towards the inception of The Republic as a central place of instruction and living for its members. At its peak rested the Jedi Council chambers - a circular room with twelve ornate chairs facing inwards. There was little to be appreciated in terms of decoration. The walls were bare save for the occasional light fixture or window. The Council chambers – and to a greater extent, the Jedi Temple, symbolized the Jedi as an unbiased objective power that held the Republic together as a whole. Now, however, with the Republic entangled in the Clone Wars, the Jedi are called upon to stem the tide of war against the Separatists. And in so doing, their numbers decline, and a plot to eradicate the Jedi is revealed… Chapter 2: In the midst of a routine discussion amongst a handful of council members, a hologram of Jedi Master Aayla Secura flickered to life: “Greetings masters, we have gained control of Cato Neimoidia; although it was not easy being that this is the homeplanet of the Trade Federation. Unfortunately, Jedi Knight Vonik and Knight Si-Pai gave their lives in a brilliant gambit so that we could sneak into the room housing the central computer and disable it.”

“Good, so we control the planet from which many of the problems we now have originated” intoned Master Windu. “It is regrettable that Knights Pai and Vonik have fallen, but at least they are now one with the force.” Mace furrowed his brow. “The council has a new mission for you on Felucia. You will be debriefed in transit. May the force be with you Aayla.” “And with you Mace, Secura out.” Master Yoda sighed. Disturbing this news is. Newly knighted the pair had not been. Aloud he said “Fear I do that a plot to destroy the Jedi there is.” “Certainly the Jedi are in greater danger because of this cursed war, but no more than anyone else who has ever fought in a war” murmured Ki-Adi-Mundi. “No, I believe there to be an underlying, insidious plot to destroy the jedi my friend” said Mace as he stroked his imaginary beard. “Do you have any thoughts Adi?” The female council member easily raised an elegant eyebrow “I have also sensed this plot to destroy the Jedi, but we can do nothing until these suspicions are confirmed. We do not even know who or what is behind it, yet we sense it.” Depa Billaba, the other female council member glanced quizzically in Yoda’s direction. “Do you know if anything can be done to uncover this despicable plot Yoda?” “Know, I do not. Clouded, the force is. Meditate on this, I will.” And with that, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order excused himself so that he could be alone.

Chapter 3 Blindfolded, with only the force as his guide, Ethan focused through it, willing his sphere of responsibility to expand until it encompassed the outer ring of the training circle. Alert, he gripped his lightsaber with both hands, ready for whatever his master planned to throw at him. Quickly, he sensed three separate, coordinated attackers had closed in on his position. From his attacker’s size and shape he determined they were only buzz droids. This should be easy, he thought. A few moments later the droids easily clattered one by one to the training floor. Suddenly the bright lights of the training salle returned and he came to the realization that this particular training exercise had concluded. Uh oh, that was too easy… training with my master is never easy. I wonder if he’s distracted or possibly in an unusually carefree mood. “Umm, master, did I complete this training exercise?” Before he could continue, his master cut him short. “No, padawan,” said Mace. His face twitched slightly in a rare display of emotion as he looked down at the trio of disabled lightsaber training remotes. Each remote bore visible scorch marks of a lightsaber blade and were no longer in any conceivably salvageable state. “The purpose of this exercise was not the destruction of these training remotes. The goal, padawan, was to be able to ascertain in the force the motives of your attackers and act

accordingly. However, you chose to simply destroy them all in haste, and had you not done so, you would have sensed that these remotes all lacked the upgrade that would allow them to fire a blaster bolt.” “Yes master, I’ll try.” “There is no try padawan, there is only do.” Said Mace, wincing as he recalled the number of gimmerstick whacks the troll gave him for using that word. “For the next exercise, you will face remotes with and without the upgrade. This time, if you destroy any without the upgrade, your next exercise could be more difficult. Very well then, begin…”

Across the hall in a similar training salle, Sinopa was again face to face with her master, although, truth be told, it would be more accurate to say that they were again face to waist as she glanced downwards. Knowing full well however that despite the advantage offered to her by stature, Yaddle, her newly appointed master, had not given any indication of weakening while sparring. She thought she could at least corner the short, backwards speaking troll of a master into one of the corners in the room for at least a moment, but nothing she tried had any affect. She was definitely frustrated, even angry. No, not angry, jedi don’t get angry she thought as beads of sweat trickled down her neck. She was frustrated because she knew her efforts had failed to impress Yaddle, and even more frustrated that Yaddle insisted on continuing even though she obviously had reached her endurance limit. “Flow through you, the force must young one. See, I can, in the force, your pattern of movement before attack, you do. Disguise your movements you must. Victory will be impossible, if see through you, your opponent does. Enough for now this is. Fight well you do.” “But master, I didn’t even come close to winning, so how can you say that I fight well?” “Good at winning you were, I did not say, hee hee. Fighting and wining, different, they are padawan. Hrumph, time for dinner it is, and hungry I am. Hurry we must padawan, late we should not be.” “Of course master, but I would much prefer to eat alone in our quarters.” “Very well, humph, join you for meditation there afterwards I will, humph. And padawan, make sure that stretch now, you do, hee hee.” With a tired sigh, Sinopa began warming down her body, watching wearily as her new master hobbled nimbly in the direction of the refectory, and she became acutely aware that she would be doing a lot more stretching as her training progressed.