Changing of the Guard

[Elijah Brockway]

Head in his hands, Sihkar Tarei, general of the Jedi Knights, sat at a desk, muttering to himself. He was holed up in the listening outpost on Ilum - after he got hurt on Telos, he decided Ilum would likely be the best place for him to retreat to in order to rest and recuperate. Now, however, he was already having other problems brought to him, without even a full month's respite. Tython being attacked. News of what had happened on Korriban. More beyond that. It was tiring, and he would've liked to have a bit more time to recuperate before it was decided that he was needed again.

Slowly he raised his head, eyes poring over the computer screen just in front of him. He didn't like the knew holographic displays for computers that were starting to come out. Having letters and images just floating in space with no actual backdrop or anything made it hard to concentrate on them. It continually kept scrolling along as new information was reported in regarding what had happened earlier. He still didn't have any idea what had actually fully occurred on Tython, but by this point, he was expecting the worst, and that eventually a proper full report would come in describing the temple's destruction.

He did, however, know of one being who could give him some information on what was occurring. His fellow general - Vosrik Tanari - had been healing up on Ilum as well, after fighting at the temple on Tython itself. He had left before anything had been concluded, but he could give Sihkar an idea of who had been involved in the fighting, and he might've heard something different than what Sihkar had been told, so the extra information would be useful to him. He turned, ready to get up out of his chair and go look for the other general, when he heard somebody limping up to his door followed by the sound of a knock.

"Come in," Sihkar replied, leaning back in his chair. Vosrik may just have come to him, rather than necessitating Sihkar be the one to engage in the search for his companion.

 

[Vosrik]

The sudden attack on their beloved temple weighed heavily upon Vosrik's shoulders. He had rescued many Jedi from the wanton destruction, but he was unable to stop one of the renegades from continuing her rampage. He had just returned from the medical bay, with a shiny new cybernetic foot. The wound was still relatively fresh and uncomfortable to walk on, hence Vosrik's pronounced limp as he strode to Sihkar's office. Thankfully, the fellow General was already here after the battle above Telos. Vosrik rapped on the door, and entered at the response.

Striding in, he stared at Sihkar a moment, taking in the well-furnished office. Suddenly, breaking into a very large smile, Vosrik pulled up his new foot and whipped off his boot.

"Man, this is so...WEIRD!" he laughed, knocking on the cybernetic foot a few times. Being a General afforded some measure of luxury - it was a very high quality prosthetic that fit quite snugly up against his ankle, where his foot had been severed.

"I hope nobody finds my old foot, it would be such an ugly sight. Plus, look! This thing's got hidden stuff and everything!" Wiggling his big toe, a tiny blade shot out from underneath it. Vosrik wiggled his eyebrows. "Poisoned. It'll put a hole in my boot, sure, but it'll put someone to sleep in seconds and might save me one day."

His moment of amusement gone, the General leaned up against the wall - it was time to discuss the sombre happenings in the last few hours. Wiping a hand across his face, Vosrik let out a deep sigh. "Sihkar, what have we got ourselves into. First a public execution, then the bombing of the Sith Temple. Victories, perhaps, but at what cost?" He shook his head solemnly, a shadow passing over his face. "Too many Jedi died today. It was a massacre."

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Sihkar was momentarily taken aback at Vosrik's exclamation - his own energy for the production of humour had long since been drained away, with what was happening today, so it was good to see that somebody was still capable of cracking jokes and having a good time of being a cripple. He gestured to his bed, that was just on the opposite side of the room from where Vosrik was leaning against the wall. No need to have him stand the whole time of the discussion.

"I have no idea what we've been thrust into," he said quietly. "The public execution was a horrid spectacle and should never have happened - but as Bau ordered, so we did. Then, the bombing..." He shook his head. "Under orders or not - " his tone would make it obvious that he believed it was under orders " - that was a monstrous act. It should have never happened. We pride ourselves on following the Light, on being better to the Sith, more devoted to the ideals of the Force...and then we go and use the same tactics as our enemies. The worst part?"

He turned away from Vosrik, then, and gestured to his computer screen, that still had information flowing in upon it as reports from active Jedi were delivered to Sihkar. Nothing on the screen mentioned anything about Korriban at the moment, but it would be obvious what he meant by the gesture.

"I never even heard about it until I started seeing news of the destruction on here." He slumped backwards in his chair, rubbing at his eyes with his hands. He'd been awake far too long already, when he should still be resting, letting the wound in his leg and all of his bruising heal, after the fight he had with Lord Venator. He'd foregone anything but simple bacta patches for his leg wound and just was letting his bruising heal naturally, leaving any more in-depth attempts at treatment by the doctors at the listening outpost to be given to the Jedi who really needed them. He was tired, he ached, and he had no idea what to start doing to try and ameliorate the problems the Jedi were having right now.

"Anything you can tell me about Tython that I don't already know?" he asked, hands falling limply to his lap as he turned to Vosrik again. "And while we're on the topic, do you have any idea where Bau might be? The three of us ought to get together and talk about all of this stuff."

 

[Vosrik]

At Sihkar's gesture to the bed, Vosrik shrugged and made his way over. "Ah, thank you," he replied. The medics had done their job well; although Vosrik wasn't in any pain, standing for long periods of time was still difficult. It would be until he got used to the new foot.

The General listened intently to Sihkar, nodding in silent approval as the recent grievances and shortcomings of the Jedi were laid bare. "I agree. I heard nothing of either the execution or the bombing, not until it was far too late. It is telling indeed when your own Lord won't tell his closest advisors what he has planned."

Vosrik eyed the man's battered form. He had certainly come out of the battle of Telos much worse than Vosrik had, despite how the joke-cracking General had faced a much larger foe. Vosrik could feel the exhaustion wafting off of Sihkar.

He let out a deep sigh and took a moment before answering. "They hit us so suddenly. One moment, beautiful day. Perfect weather, one where you could sit at Lake Tranquility and there wouldn't be a ripple anywhere across its surface. I was sitting at a monument, just inside the walls when all hell broke loose - explosions, screams, you name it. Two of the renegades rushed in. Kwanli was there, for a moment...but I think he was having one of his moments of hallucination, that old coot." He smiled in fond remembrance of the big furball. "I tried stopping Shae, but it was all too sudden. I hadn't prepared properly, I wasn't as quick as I should have been. I couldn't..." he fell silent, head bowed as he stared bleakly at his foot. If only he could have stopped them, maybe more Jedi could have made it out alive. "I saved as many as I could before escaping myself. I never thought I'd see that glorious temple in ruins, but here we are."

Running a hand through his hair, Vosrik contemplated the General's next question. Rising his head to see him eye to eye, Vosrik replied solemnly, "Haven't you heard, Sihkar? Bau...he's gone, vanished. Nobody has seen him since the attack."

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Sihkar followed Vosrik's words intently, committing everything the man said to memory as soon as it was said and heard. He also, however, noticed the way Vosrik was eyeing him sidelong, and Sihkar could quickly guess as to what Vosrik was thinking. He contemplated telling the other, newer, and younger general about how he'd fought the actual Dark Lord of the Sith, and how he also had two stories of the fort almost dropped right on his head.

In the interest of getting all the information he needed, however, he decided not to derail the conversation like that.

Instead, he felt all the energy he did have left just flow out of him, through his feet and into the ground, at the last bit of information he got from Vosrik. Bau Zo - former High Council member, and Lord of the Jedi Knights, disappeared. Sihkar's own, personal Jedi Master, who he had worked closely with and learned from for the last twenty-two years, had disappeared. "Missing in action," he muttered to himself. "Old bastard couldn't at least leave us a body to find, could he?" Sihkar's immediate assumption was that Bau had died.

There's no way he would've just run off. That's not like him.

He sighed, head dropping back down into his hands. The leader of the Knights was gone, their home temple was probably nothing more than a charred and smoking ruin, and Sihkar and Vosrik were both wounded. Sure, the both of them could get up and get back to work, for the most part, but Vosrik had a new foot to get used to, Sihkar still had a hole in his leg and bruising over the rest of his body, the Sith were angry and rearing for a counter-attack after what had happened to Korriban...

"...Vosrik, what have we gotten ourselves into?"

 

[Vosrik]

Also noticing the sideways glances his companion was giving him, Vosrik contemplated pointing out how the younger and newer general had actually managed to defeat the Juggernaut without even so much as a scratch.

As Sihkar refrained from schooling the younger general, so Vosrik refrained from schooling his superior.

The man waved his shiny new foot around, a scowl on his face as an itch appeared on flesh that didn't exist anymore. Blast, Vosrik cursed inwardly at the inconvenience.

As Sihkar drooped visibly at the weight of their Lord's disappearance, Vosrik opened his mouth to reply, but didn't begin as one of the computer screens flashed in alarm. Squinting at the screen, he thought he could make out "Urgent broadcast from the Sith". Vosrik blinked.

"Noo...it can't be," he murmured, getting up steadily and striding swiftly to the screen without a single limp. Perhaps getting used to the cybernetic wouldn't be so bad after all. Getting a better look, the General's fears were realized as it indeed said urgent broadcast. "Well, here we go," he sighed as he switched it on.

What they beheld was the Galaxy-wide broadcast on the brutal invasion of Saleucami. After the threatening message to the Republic, Vosrik shut it off abruptly. "Sorry, I just...can't watch any more." The usually jovial Jedi was now quite visibly upset at the harsh words of the Ziost commander. He strode back and plopped down on the bed once more, rubbing his face in consternation.

"The Republic won't take well to this, now that the Sith have declared war on them now. We must gather our allies, far and near. Many of us denied it before, but now it stares us right in the face."

Shifting in his seat, he looked intently at the general across him. "Sihkar, we need a leader. With Bau Zo gone, the Knights will be in shambles without a leader and the attack on our temple. I'll be honest, I don't think there is anyone better suited to taking up the mantle of Lord than yourself. You've proven yourself to be level-headed and a competent warrior, and I would be honoured to stand by your side and follow your lead."

 

[Elijah Brockway]

You go and fight the Dark Lord of the Sith next time, you little prick, Sihkar thought, noticing the look Vosrik shot back at him.

Then Sihkar watched wordlessly as Vosrik stood, and turned on the viewscreen to watch the news broadcast on it; he didn't say anything as Vosrik quickly turned it off and flopped down on the bed, any good humour the younger man had possessed immediately drained away. It was reminiscent of how Sihkar had come to feel as the war dragged on. He opened his mouth, about to say something, before shutting it again immediately, hand raising to massage his temple.

Within moments the slight discomfort he felt turned into a raging migraine, even as he felt the currents of the Force whip up around him, as though caught in some violent tempest. The storm quickly passed, a wave of calm breaking over him again like what he had felt before. It was obvious that the Force had just protested, violently, against some great action somewhere, the pain dealt and lives lost kicking up a tsunami that spread, near instantaneous, throughout the breadth of space and time; more than that, though, Sihkar could feel that pain pulling on him, yanking at the fibers of his heart.

"Those worries about a new Lord can wait," he grunted, shaking his head. "We have other matters to worry about now. The Republic needs our aid, now more than ever...and I feel that Saleucami isn't the only world that has been made to suffer lately. I think we'll find ourselves just as in need as the Republic is."

 

[Vosrik]

The intense waves of pressure from the Force hit Vosrik at the same time, causing him to grip his head in pain. So much pain, so much anguish...so much death. His communicator buzzed, and a quick glance let the General know his worst fears were indeed true: Tython had fallen.

Another wave of panic coursed through him as his mind turned to Shalken. Was his brother safe? Did he get caught in the blast? A moment of concentration was all Vosrik needed to find that thread, however thin, of connection he still had to his twin.

Returning to the moment, Vosrik replied, "Strange that the Republic would be targeted by the Sith if their overall goal is to destroy the Jedi...although it seems the Fallen have already done so."

Standing up, he continued, "We need to call the surviving Jedi back here and speak to them about what's happened and how we will move forward. Then we need to get to Chandrila and speak to the Chancellor."

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Sihkar sat stricken in his seat, the waves that had just rippled through the Force having long since washed on over and past him. He shook his head slowly at what Vosrik was saying, dropping his hand to his lap. "Not here," he said after a moment. He turned to his computer, already exploding with activity, reports on what was happening and what had just happened on Tython.

"We have other things to attend to. Speaking to the Republic, yes; but that can be later. Give them some time to begin to heal from what happened, give others time to learn what has happened, and then we'll call them to Tython." He sent a few quick messages out with his computer, before turning around and standing up. "Come, Vosrik; we have some planning to do, and people to write to. I'll gather everybody together on Tython soon enough, so that we can all see what has happened."

 

[Vosrik]

The General nodded in agreement, eager and determined to get to work. "May the Force be with us all. All I can hope is that there is something more than just a crater where that beautiful Temple once stood. At least we have backups to those records, I'm sure they didn't survive the blast."

Taking a stride toward the door, he paused briefly to take a deep breath. The war had begun, after peace for so long. "We can only hope most of the younglings survived."

Finis​

 

[Elijah Brockway]

(2-3 Months Later)​

Some few weeks later Sihkar had returned to the office he had on Ilum, after he and Vosrik had made arrangements with the Republic to rebuild Tython and formalize an alliance between the two powers. The war had continued, the Jedi taking part in it alongside the Republic like they had in the centuries before; the alliance resurgent, to defend the galaxy from the depredations of the corrupt. It was hard and slow going, and the Sith were pushing ever harder, leaving Sihkar to wonder just whether or not he was following on the right path.

The computers were off and the lights were dim, as Sihkar sat on his bed, staring into the green blade of a lightsaber, another one, its match, lying in his lap. Through his fingers he could feel the name etched into the otherwise bare metal of the hilts, while through the Force he could feel what remained of their previous owner as Sihkar had known them. With a sigh he turned the weapon off, gathering it and its sister into his hands, as he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said quietly, waving a hand at a control pad; the door's lock snapped open with a small click, leaving the General on the other side free to enter.

(@Vosrik)

 

[Vosrik]

Once more, Vosrik was back on Ilum. Although it was the new home of the majority of the Jedi, the General still never liked it as much as Tython.

Mainly in that it was too damn cold here.

Although it was much warmer inside, Vosrik was still bundled up in his cloak after having arrived not ten minutes earlier. Knocking quietly, he entered the Lord's room. Breaking into a smile, he began, "Well well, things do seem to be looking up for us. For now, anyway. I think our alliance with the Republic is a step in the right direction."

Taking another look at the Lord, Vosrik's smile faded somewhat. Something foreboding was on Sihkar's mind, and the General could feel it.

 

[Elijah Brockway]

"Indeed," Sihkar replied, his voice strangely flat. Where he had looked tired when last Vosrik had seen him in this room, now he would look haggard. His hair was unkempt, and his eyes were dark with exhaustion. The bright star he had been when he set out to aid his former master had long since dulled to a dim ember. His energy was still there, he was still alive...but quite a bit of the heat had long since been put out of him. He looked down at the lightsabers in his hands again, before straightening up on the bed. His voice strengthened momentarily, taking back some of the air of command and grace it had held before, that had most recently been exercised when formalizing an alliance with the Republic.

"Vosrik, serving with you has been an honour, and I am proud to have called you my brother among the Jedi. Relatively soon, however, the mantle of command will have to pass to another; I am no longer able to hold it." He sighed, shaking his head. "I can't deny that I have had a part in all the suffering we have experienced...and caused. Bau Zo may have been the one who orchestrated it, but in supporting him as I did, in standing by his side, in helping him form this coalition of ours...some of the blame lies with me." He ran a hand over the lightsabers again. More than I would care to admit.

He stood, holding the weapons towards Vosrik, one in each hand. The emitters faced towards him, pommels towards his general - a mark of trust, considering how Vosrik could simply activate him and end him there. "I'm going to Nar Shaddaa...I'd rather not inform you why, though I feel you'll learn about it soon enough, either from myself or another. I can not guarantee I will return." He turned the weapons over in his hands, revealing the name engraved into each: Litorra.

"These were entrusted to me for safe keeping...I'm sure you recognize them. I am, in turn, entrusting them to you. Don't let them leave your side unless you know you will be unable to keep them; in that instance, find another to safeguard them." He passed the lightsabers over, before gathering up his cloak from his bed and shrugging it onto his person.

"Take care, Vosrik. May the Force be with you."

 

[Vosrik]

Listening in earnest to Sihkar, Vosrik stood resolute as his leader poured out what was on his mind. For once in his life, the optimistic, jovial, wise-cracking General was at a loss for words as a much more grave subject was at hand.

Holding out his hands to receive the lightsabers, Vosrik's eyes widened in surprise. He'd seen these before - in fact, one of those had been used to cut off the General's foot that fateful day on Tython. These were the lightsabers of Shae, who Vosrik presumed to be the leader of the Fallen Jedi.

"Sihkar..." he began, his voice hushed as he peered carefully from the lightsabers to the Lord. "How did you come by these? Is Shae...dead?"

As his companion and friend turned to leave, Vosrik would place his right hand on Sihkar's shoulder. "It has been more than an honour to serve under you, brother. May the Force be with you."

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Sihkar stopped for a moment, and turned to Vosrik before leaving. "She was a friend," he replied shortly. "She asked me to keep them. To ensure they were safe...and to prevent them from experiencing the same corruption she did. These are emblems of the light that remains in her - and, I feel, in the others - and proof that they can be brought back into our fold." He stopped for a moment, jaw slightly open as though he wanted to say more.

At a momentary loss for words, he instead grabbed Vosrik, pulling him into a quick embrace. "Don't give up on any of them, Vosrik," he muttered, before breaking free of the man. "Keep these weapons as a reminder of everything we're working for. Make them your badge of office and keep them safe. For me, for Shae, and for everybody else we've lost, to either darkness or death." This time he didn't stop or allow himself to be stopped - should he tarry any longer the leaving would be all the harder. He quickly strode out of the room in silence, leaving Vosrik with Shae's weapons, leaving Vosrik marked as his own successor...if not as Lord then as a master of the same mind and tradition.

Not long later Vosrik would notice as Sihkar's ship left the hangar, before quickly blinking into hyperspace on its way to Nar Shaddaa.

 

[Vosrik]

Only able to nod in reply, Vosrik returned the embrace. Holding the lightsabers tight, his eyes glistened as he watched Sihkar take his leave. Gazing at the lightsabers, he ran his fingers along the intricate blades. Vosrik could sense something emanating off the blades, something familiar. Shae's own being had been imbued into these sabers, and he could feel it deep within the hilts.

Leaving after a few minutes, he entered his starship and opened a secure compartment. Placing the two blades carefully within, the General shut it and walked back to the cockpit, contemplating the future of the Jedi Knights.

Finis​