Chapter 104: 104. Chapter

-From the perspective of Nizzal-

The destructive invasion unleashed by the Separatist forces upon Coruscant's already weakened defenses has created panic in the hearts of ordinary denizens. The separatist forces, using their overwhelming numbers to their advantage, have launched a ground invasion on the surface.

Thousands of droid transport ships have entered the atmosphere seemingly without regard towards the constant workings of anti air defense systems which were utilized to their limits yet still only managed to destroy but a portion of the invading forces.

The sight of the seemingly endless destruction was indeed horrifying to witness. The sky was colored by endlessly traversing laser beams. While an armada of different ships tried to navigate themselves in such treacherous circumstances.

Unit transporters, fighter ships from both sides, were clashing among the tall buildings, sometimes crashing into one, leaving behind a short blast of flames. Above the desperate battle, the once blue sky, as if in rage to witness such destruction took on an ominous red shade while huge chunks of destroyed and now unstoppably falling battleships appeared among the clouds, heading towards their inevitable fate, their engines struggling to the last second in a futile effort. They could not escape the gravitational pull of the planet.

The war was here, the war that usually only happens on faraway distant planets, somewhere on the outer rim, or anywhere else but here, has eventually found its way to Coruscant for a second time in a few days.

Meanwhile, inside the Jedi temple on Coruscant. In the guest room, which had been appointed to the Grey Grandmaster.

Nizzal was standing with her back towards the room, while sensing the chaos happening around her, enchanting the already sharp senses of her body to the limit. She was trained by her master, from a very young age after all and now she had greater insight than she could ever realistically hope to achieve. Her eyes were closed as the elders and warriors of her order waited carefully around her.

Her eyes suddenly opened, then she stated in a clear voice.

-The time has come. The fate of our order now depends on the success of this operation. We must search for the child of the prophecy. That has been foretold by the seers. It was, after all, the very reason why we had to interrupt the flow of things, and why the force made me, a child to be the next leader of our order. We must use this opportunity to our advantage and find the one while the Jedi are otherwise occupied. Do not forget, if you find her location, don’t do anything short sighted, just observe and call for me, I will be there as soon as possible.

One of the warriors seemed confused. He decided to ask a question.

-Grandmaster… forgive me for asking, but this is a bit sudden? I never heard of this prophecy you mentioned earlier, and how would we recognize the child when we see it?

-A good question, if a bit impatient. I was just about to share this information. Our target is a teenage girl about fifteen or sixteen years old. She resembles a human, but she is definitely not one, not anymore, at least. Her unique characteristic is two large bladed bony wings growing out of her upper back. You can’t really miss it. The only other advice I have is to trust in the force. It guided us this far. It would not leave us here empty-handed.

-I understand… could you repeat the lines of the prophecy once more? All of this is a bit much to take in.

Nizzal nodded.

-Yes, of course. Even I had trouble coping with this new information. After all, the seers make all sorts of prophecies. Some are more important than others, but who is to tell which one is which before it is revealed in greater detail? And so it is quite often that some of them are forgotten and their existence only reappears after further prophecies or events solidify their importance. Lucky for us, the force keeps track of such events and warns us, if only at the last second. So it happened that this one just reached my ears a few days ago. Coming from a very unusual source too…

-Who was this person, if you don’t mind me asking Grandmaster…

Asked this time, a young woman belonging to the infiltrator class.

I shook my head lightly, feeling amused.

-No, I do not mind. She is a mercenary… how should I put this? A descendant of one of our citizens that was believed to be lost in an exploration attempt of a new galaxy. Unfortunately, the presence of zerg lifeforms were already abundant in the sector and this led to the destruction of the convoy, miraculously a few survivors escaped, and managed to settle among the people already living there. The human population in this system is calling themselves terrans and is in a continuous struggle against zergs and a different type of alien lifeform called protoss.

The people in the room carefully listened to what Nizzal was telling them, and when she finished her monolog, one of the elders called Master Lone Noorna pointed a question to her.

 -And where is this mysterious woman at this moment?

-She should be already safely teleported away from here. I evacuated her and some of my friends through the established teleportation link between the Dark Seeker and the Light Seeker.

Noorna nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

-A wise decision, grandmaster. We wouldn’t want them to be consumed by the flames of this ceaseless war. Even with our combined power, we could only do so much in the midst of such enfolding chaos. I loath to admit it, but we are out of our depth here. Our community, strong as it is, cannot rival the sheer power put behind the galaxy wide mobilization of troops and machinery.

I nodded, then my expression became solemn once again.

-Yes, that is true, otherwise what reason would we have to seek shelter among the ruins of forgotten civilizations and never before witnessed star systems? Believe me, master Noorna, I am perfectly aware of our less the ideal situation, especially after spending half a year enslaved, all that with the blessing of a certain council, which you are a part of…

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, as it lingered for a while above the participants of the secret meeting. Then the clearly agitated twi’lek girl’s shoulders dropped with a sigh. In reaction to that Master Noorna answered with carefully measured words.

-Of course, Grandmaster. Forgive me if I overstepped my boundaries. However, I will not seek forgiveness for the last part, as it is one of my duties to ensure that the right person leads us. The right person in the right circumstances, if I might be so bold as to add.

Nizzal nodded, hearing those words, still a bit frustrated but now much less obvious about it. She spoke up soon after.

-Now I believe that we have wasted enough of our time. I will repeat the words of the prophecy once again, then we shall go and find the girl. I have already confirmed that she is here, as I met her not long ago. Alas, I couldn’t act in the presence of the Jedi’s Grandmaster, and the Master of their Order.

Sigh…

-It doesn’t matter. Listen carefully, as I will not repeat it a third time.

The others stated simultaneously.

-Yes!

Lost memories on a quest long forgotten,

Hidden among grotesque forms.

Containing the key within,

To protect our cause.

 

The one who appears in the shadows,

Through familiar means.

Who is one with the enemy,

Wearing the face of a child.

 

Once innocent, now tainted,

Comes from the lines of old masters,

Holder of great knowledge,

But not what she was meant to.

 

To appease the beast,

With endless hunger.

 

It will come to the Jedi in its search for freedom,

But will only find death, in place of that freedom.

 

In the shadow of the chaos that shall arise,

An opportunity is bound to align.

 

Thoughtful silence filled the room in the wake of the words. Then a different elder asked this time. His name is Mokebald Non, another mandalorian elder.

-I see, this indeed sounds like a prophecy, but what does it mean? I cannot seem to comprehend the exact meaning… The chaos that the verse mentions is obviously this war… I can understand the opportunity too. However if I am right then this creature was meant to die here? Probably as a causality of the war, at least if I interpret the meanings right…

I nodded and said.

-She was meant to die, yes, but I believe that has already changed. Based on my estimations, she should have been killed in the betrayal of the clones. At least that is what I believe. It is only a possibility, though, as anything that concerns matters of the future.

Noorna spoke up again.

-That seems like a troublesome prophecy, and ominous too. If I am right, then that beast mentioned has something to do with the zergs right? They seem to expand ever further with a growing speed. We initially thought that they were not going to come here, as we didn’t have that crystal which they like to consume. Alas, it seems wherever they go, the crystals also start to grow. As if the two had some sort of symbiotic relationship, which is most likely the case.

I nodded, agreeing with their words.

The third elder spoke up with a flicker of annoyance leaking into his voice. He was another mandalorian, named Ladth Zakirt.

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-She is supposed to be a holder of knowledge… but not what she was meant to hold? She must be an apostle… but I don’t understand the second half… No, that’s not it. I believe I understand it, but I simply don’t think it to be possible. I mean, how could someone overwrite an archive’s stored information?

I nodded.

-It is possible to do such a thing, however it would take an unbelievable amount of effort to pull it off. Even if you have a bunch of supercomputers to work on the solution. Even with the help of the force, it is a tremendous effort. Therefore, it is a very unlikely thing to happen, but possible none the less. What I am more afraid of is the chance that there might have been a flaw which we didn’t notice. A flaw that could lead to our destruction.

The air in the room became grim as the new possibility was mentioned by the Grandmaster. A few seconds went by in such a state, then the childlike figure sighed again and closed the discussion.

-Is there any other question?

She asked, but there was only silence.

-Then, the meeting is done. Go look for the child. Call me if you find her location. I hope that I don’t have to tell either of you to be discrete in your endeavors. And watch out for the jedi shadows, use those stealth generators for force’s sake. Yes, I am talking about you Surri…

One infiltrator class master sitting in the far corner of the room shook slightly, feeling a bit awkward at the specific mention of her name, especially in front of the elders. More than a few pairs of strict eyes turned towards her. That made her swallow the cheeky comeback she was already preparing. Instead of that, she decided to nod and stay silent.

With that done, all the necessary preparations were finished, and the gray masters one by one sneaked out of the room, heading out to search for the girl mentioned in an almost entirely forgotten prophecy.

Nizzal now found herself left behind in the company of the elders. She was currently facing them in silent contemplation.

The atmosphere of the room was beyond awkward.

Yes… I was expecting this to happen. Still, I shouldn’t have scolded them in front of their disciples earlier, but I couldn’t help it. I was still annoyed at the memory of being enslaved and fooled in the grandmaster's trials. Even if it was all that, a trial… I won’t apologize for that either… I didn’t ask them to make me the next grandmaster, well… my master kind of did… but, ugh… okay, fine.

I sighed and rolled my eyes simultaneously exaggerating it as much as possible.

Ahsoka would be proud of me, seeing my masterfully constructed act of annoyance.

-Okay, fine… Forgive me for my earlier outburst. You were just doing what you were meant to…

The awkwardness quickly dissipated after that. As the elders spoke up one after another.

Noorna reacted first.

-Of course, Nizzal. You might be our Grandmaster now, but you, as of this cycle of reincarnation, are still young and naïve. The trials might also serve as a reminder to strip you of that childish naivety. You were admittedly easy to fool. I would lie if I said that I didn’t enjoy it, though.

-Ugh…

Seeing my expression, she only laughed and then allowed the others to also comment.

The next person who spoke was Mokebald Non.

-It is as Master Noorna says. You should listen to the advice of your elders. You might have far greater knowledge than us together, but having raw knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean that you have assimilated and understood the teachings at their core. Applying them to real-life scenarios might still be hard to achieve. Especially in the heat of certain events.

I suppressed the childlike sense of frustrations bursting in my chest after being lectured by the elders. Still, I had to do it, because what they were saying was absolutely right… even if I didn’t want to admit it. In fact, they were hitting the nail on the head with every comment. The obvious truth of the matter just made me more frustrated… Then, I saw the amused glint in Noorna’s eyes as she watched me fidget uncomfortably. She was enjoying this waaay too much for my comfort…

At last, Ladth Zakirt also added his two bits of insight.

-Do not forget young one, the Grandmaster trials do not always seek the one who can fulfill the role already. Sometimes they seek the one that has the potential to eventually grow into that role. You have earned your title, but you are far from being able to truly fulfill it just yet. For starters you must cleanly differentiate the ego of your predecessors from the one you currently have. As having a great sense of achievement in a body that could not hold up to such deeds is not just dangerous, but beyond foolish. Do you understand, young lady?

-… I ugh, yes… thank you for your guidance.

They were still waiting for me to say something else… Ugh… I knew it…

I lowered my head slightly with a huff.

-Ugh… sorry for leaving Unity… without notifying either one of you… it was a bit reckless…

Noorna shook her head, obviously frustrated by how I said that. She stepped closer and flicked my forehead with her finger. An action that took me by surprise as I shouted with annoyance.

-Ouch! Hey, what the…

However, when I saw the way she was looking at me, I chose to shut up. She was angry as hell… what the flip? She then started to scold me.

-Reckless, you say?! Ha; I guess that is a way to look at it; you fool! You were basically blind when you left! What was even going on in your head when you decided to leave without proper equipment in the company of a jedi that was destined to become a Darth massacring children, of all things!

Okay, that made me blush quite fiercely, not gonna lie about that…

-Hey, that… that was just a possibility? Okay, he wouldn’t do it without the manipulation of that Sith… I mean…

-You didn’t know that, couldn’t know that for sure.

She pointed that out, with such obviousness, and I couldn’t find a reasonable argument against her logic. As a result, my heart was immediately filled with annoyance and another wave of frustration.

-Oh yeah? You didn’t seem to care when I was captured by the pirates… or the jedi…

I said with a flicker of anger, but the moment I finished the sentence, I already regretted it as I realized that it was quite a different situation back there... Sadly, it was all too late.

It was Noorna who rolled her eyes this time.

-Because both of those factions, just like the slaver queen’s palace, were filled to the brim with our capable agents. You were in as little danger as possible.

I looked to the side, suddenly ashamed by my fresh outburst, which was also quite foolish in context… It was pretty obvious that they would sneak in agents, there too… I already realized it after I said that… damn…

Now I was annoyed by myself... I shouldn’t have said that… all of this was making me more frustrated… I can’t seem to find my patience to handle it as I used to do… Is this puberty? Or just the fact that the elders are capable of reading me like an open book? Probably both… Ugh… Damn… It was supposed to be the other way around… This is unfair! I wanted to say it, but instead of that, I bit down on my lips and stayed silent.

I decided to not make a bigger fool out of myself than I already did, and that seemed the easiest way to achieve that at the time. So I closed my mouth tight.

This action clearly amused Noorna quite well. She lightly shook her head again, placed her hands on my shoulders gently, and said while deep streaks of worry formed on the skin covering her face, showing off that 361 years of age for the first time.

She said with the kind and disarming tone of a grandmother. Or in this case, a great great-great grandmother… or something like that…

-Nizzal, don’t act stubborn. You know that we are right. We are willing to let go of this if you promise to not act so recklessly anymore. Look... If we fail a mission, the force might be able to provide us with new opportunities, but if we lose you. And the precious memories you carry… then we will suffer a blow that is unrepairable.

I shook under her gaze and quickly caved in.

I couldn’t argue if she used the archive’s safety as the basis of the discussion. Not just because of the logic behind it, but the conditioning that I received with the archive. I knew the reasons behind it, but still I couldn’t go against it. I was physically incapable. And that was definitely unfair.

-Sigh… fine, I promise. Are you happy now? That was so underhanded to use the archive existence as your argument…

Noorna smirked in my face.

-You forced me to do it, little one. Acting so unreasonably stubborn all of a sudden. And it is not the ideal time for such arguments, still. I guess that was a bit unfair.

-Exactly!

I shouted, but I wasn’t really angry anymore.

She laughed good-heartedly, and hugged me lightly. I rolled my eyes, but let go of our disagreements. She was family after all… to be honest, I was considering the entire Order as my family. A family of misfits, who argued more often than not, but still stood up for each other when it really mattered.

My eyes, widened a bit, by the unexpectedly comfortable thought. Maybe... just maybe this was, my true inheritance. Until now, I believed that power, knowledge and responsibility were the true gifts, and the Order just a tool to preserve those... but maybe... could it be that it was the other way around... all this time?

I couldn’t help but smile, feeling content all of a sudden.

Yes. This seems right, familiar?

I was having a true déjà vu feeling right now.

Then memories showcasing a similar sense of peace and contentedness appeared and blinked across my mind. They belonged to different masters. Each of my predecessors, yet the essence of the memories, was always the same. The sense of responsibility, attachment, trust, and love towards the order we were meant to care about.

At that moment, something changed inside me. I didn’t know it at the time, but when I looked back at it, after a few days, I realized that this was the moment when I truly accepted the responsibilities coming with my new role.

The role of being a Grandmaster.

A passion that I similarly shared with my predecessors, maybe, it was even conditioned into us through the archive. I couldn’t really know, but for some reason, I never cared about it.

It was real enough for me.

 

 

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