rumble2

Rumble in the Jungle II

Of course, I should not have allowed Mora to take part in the Battle Circle. She claimed it was necessary for us to gain standing with the Mandalorians, but I heard the tone in her voice, saw the intensity in her eyes. It was personal for her, the patience and tolerance I had been trying to instill in her, forgotten. I simply did not have the will to order her to back down. The truth was, I felt guilty for having left her on the Sojourn. She very nearly died along with the rest of the crew of the ship. Of course, Masters Bindo and Juhani had ordered her to stay on the ship, so it would not have been my fault, strictly speaking. But my conscience would not have let me off on such a technicality. I had almost lost my first padawan, and was deeply troubled by that thought. So when she challenged the Mandalorian, I let it go, even though I knew better.

As it was, she easily defeated several Mandalorian recruits that they had sent into the Circle against her. Their tradition dictated that she fight them first before moving on to an experienced warrior such as Zolok. She didn’t seem to mind, but the delay concerned me. I wanted it over and done with.

And then, while I watched her in combat, I was informed that Mandalore was “borrowing” our two shuttles. He was taking advantage of our situation, and I had not been able to prevent it. That’s when I realized that things were slipping out of control, that I was allowing my personal feelings to interfere with my obligation as a Jedi. My self-confidence was ebbing. For a moment, I could see the stern face on Master Bindo’s face when I had to tell him that I had lost control of the situation on Dxun, and that Mora was gone. That I had failed and might not ever be suitable to train another padawan. I would return to Coruscant as merely an assistant Keeper of the Archives.

The simple fact was, being a teacher and being responsible for a padawan was much more difficult than I had expected. I had thought that upon establishing a rapport with Mora, that the difficult part would be over. Master Bindo, himself, had made it seem as if that would be the only challenge there was to it. But training her on Dantooine had not prepared me at all for the eventuality of a dangerous mission, of the possibility of death of my very first student, of the shame of failure. It had all sunk in at once, and I felt its weight bearing down on me.

Mercifully, the distraction of Mora stepping into the Circle against Zolok took my thoughts away from my difficulties. The fight began, and I watched her deftly moving side to side, using the quarterstaff with that same vigor she had used against me in the training room. As she had won all of her contests, she had been allowed to choose the weapons to be used, and she had picked the one she knew so well. And no armor. But if she knew it well, Zolok did not. He appeared confident on the surface, but from him I sensed unease with the unfamiliar weapon. Though he was a far more experienced warrior than I, I saw him making some of the same mistakes that I had, attempting to win the fight quickly with a flurry of attacks meant to keep her on the defensive. But it was easy to predict what would happen even without the Force. She merely stayed out of range, allowed himself to expend his energy until his movements slowed, became slightly awkward, off balance. Then she moved in, the staff moving in a blur, and it was his turn to be on the defensive. Her strikes started to connect. She forced him back further and further, until he received one end of the staff in the midriff, doubling him over. The other end of the staff, landed heavily across the back of his neck, and he sprawled out on the ground, turning over to face upwards. She walked towards him, thrusting the staff quickly at his face, and stopping it only a very short distance from his nose. “You were defeated by a Jedi and a woman at that. Do not forget it.”

“Mora. Enough,” I called over.

She walked over towards me, as I turned to the officer in charge. “This has gone on long enough. It is time we got after the renegades. Does Mandalore intend to help us or not?”

I confess, seeing Mora defeat him gave me a boost of confidence, and perhaps I took more enjoyment in it than a Jedi should, nevertheless, I would be taking control of the situation as of that moment.

“I will help you,” said Zolok, walking slowly over towards us. He turned to the officer, “They will need a scout to get them through the wilderness.”

“Very well. Gather what equipment you need and meet us in the command bunker,” I told him. “Mora, let’s go.” And I led the way across the grassy plain back to where we had found Mandalore at work before.

“Well,” he said, as we entered. “You’ve made quite an impression around here. Zolok is one of our best.”

“Where are the shuttles, Mandalore?” I asked, letting the seriousness of the situation creep into my tone.

“Now don’t you worry. I’ll have them back in a little while. I just needed to move some inventory from the far side of this moon. I’m not intending on keeping them. Of course, they’re too short range to make it to Onderon anyway, and without a ship in orbit, you’ve no place to land them. But like I said, I’ll take you to Iziz when you’re ready. In the meantime, if you intend to hunt down the renegades, I can send a scout with you.”

“Zolok has already volunteered.”

“Then you’re all ready. Don’t forget to check with Kex on the way out if you need supplies.” With that, he turned back towards the computer he had been working on.

I heard myself sigh, and walked out of the command center with Mora in tow.

“He’s lying about the shuttles. He’s going to steal them,” Mora said quietly when we were out of earshot.

“If that’s the case, then we’ll deal with that later,” I told her. “For now, let’s concentrate on the task at hand. Oh, and Mora?”

“Yes, Sol.”

“I’m sorry I left you on the Sojourn. If anything had happened to you...”

“It’s not your fault, Sol.”

“But you are my responsibility. Whatever the Masters instructions might be, it would have been no consolation had you not made it off the ship. I suspect I’m going to have keep a closer watch on you.”

She smiled.

“But, Mora,” I said. “There will be no more taunting of a defeated foe. You will both fight and act like a Jedi. You are no longer a Sith, and you are not some common mercenary.”

“Yes, Master. But did you not enjoy seeing him defeated, even if only a little bit?”

“Perhaps a little. Go to the quartermaster, and get us some rations and whatever supplies you think we might need. I am told that the suspected location of the renegades is a several kilometer march through the bush. We should be prepared.”

“Yes, Master,” She said and walked off across the field

I was left in quiet to contemplate the journey ahead of us until she returned. She’d brought not only the rations but various survival gear as well. We slipped on our packs and moved across the field towards the entrance. When we arrived at there, Zolok was there waiting for us in full armor and carrying an array of weapons. He also had a gift for Mora.

“You fought like a Mandalorian. I took this off a Jedi during the Republic‘s assault on this moon in the War.” He pulled out a lightsaber from his pack and handed it to her.

She glanced at me questioningly, and after a slight hesitation, I nodded.

She took the lightsaber, activating it and watching the red beam extend outwards from it. She tested it for balance, waving it in front of her, and then a smile crossed her face such as I had not seen. Eventually she switched it off.

"Also, I have these for you," Zolok continued, handing us a pair of red tinted visors.

We looked them over and then slipped them on. They had a small microchip attached at the side. They clipped on over the ears, and rested on the nose, much lighter and more comfortable than goggles. A display lit up upon sliding a tiny switch along the side, and Zolok suddenly became outlined in green.

"These visors have a tactical heads up display. Green are friendlies, reds are hostiles. Simple. I don't want to stabbed in the back by one of you should we get into combat. Mandalore had our codes changed after the renegades left, so they positively won’t show up as friendlies. You see the red outline, you take them down,” he told us.

With that we started off into the jungle, moving away from camp and down a path. We made a descent down the hill which the Mandalorian base was situated on top of, and then crossed into the jungle near the waterfall. Eventually after hacking our way in about a hundred meters with our lightsabers, we came across another, largely overgrown path which we then followed.

The rain which had been falling earlier stopped, but the humidity remained. The clouds parted slightly, letting in just enough sunlight to begin heating things up. The thick, moist air made the limbs less willing to keep moving, and I was obliged to take off my Jedi cloak and throw it in my pack. Mora seemed to be handling it better, though she too was clearly perspiring. But still we pressed on.

As the sun was beginning to set, we made camp at the bottom of a pair of cliffs. Zolok advised us not to make a fire to keep from giving our position away to any unfriendly eyes. So we ate rations and talked in low voices before finally calling it a night. The sounds of the jungle were louder here than they had been, and I had some difficulty falling asleep.

We were awakened shortly before dawn grey skies and a light fog. After a breakfast of more rations, shouldered our packs once more. We hadn't been walking long when the skies opened up and the rain began to fall, though not as the light sprinkling we had experienced the other day. Now it came down heavier in a torrential downpour. Mora and I were obliged to pull out rain gear out of our packs and slip that on. But that was merely a stopgap measure. It wasn't long after that we were forced to seek higher ground, as the pounding rain and turned the dirt into a thick mud that covered up sinkholes, where the wrong step could put you in up to your neck. Using the Force, we lifted ourselves up to the top of a ledge extending out from one of the higher cliffs. We leaned against the cliff wall taking what cover we could from the slight overhang above us.

Mora, quickly growing impatient with the situation, using the Force to steady herself, climbed up the rock face against the Force of the rain, and reached the overhang, pulling herself up. She disappeared from view.

"She's your padawan?" Zolok asked me.

"Yes, she is."

"You trust a former Sith?"

"I trust a Jedi padawan."

"How do you know she won't kill you in your sleep? She was an assassin. Her combat skills are probably greater than yours."

I smiled in spite of myself. The simple fact of how often I was asked these questions by Mora, herself, and other such as the Mandalorians was actually somehow reassuring. I'd had enough trouble explaining these things to Mora and knew that the answers were something Zolok could not be expected to understand. How could a Mandalorian be expected to understand the Jedi way? No more than I could be expected to understand the Mandalorian way. Still I felt bound to try. As a diplomat, creating understanding between two parties was necessary for building trust, and this was no different. "She has been given a rare second chance. The Sith way leads to great power and quickly, but exacts a terrible price so that by the end, there is nothing left to sacrifice. Mora has made a difficult decision to turn away from that path, something few Sith do. While the possibility exists that she could turn on me, the damage to herself would be much greater. She has nothing to gain from such an action, and instead would lose all that she has worked so hard to learn from us. Just as Jedi fall to the Dark side, sometimes they return."

"I knew one like that," he told me. "In the war."

I looked at him, surprised.

"I fought her on this very moon with the help of a Republic soldier. I was wounded, and she, completely without honor, attempted to kill me. But we fought her, and with the help of some of my Clan, killed her. It was her lightsaber that I gave to your padawan."

I nodded in understanding. "Many Jedi lost their way in the war."

Just then Mora poked her head out from over the cliff. "I think you two had better come up here."

Using the Force and some lines, we were able to haul the Mandalorian and myself up to the top of the cliff. From there we had such a view as the rain would allow. But even with the rain, we could clearly see off in the distance barely visible smoke rising from amongst the trees perhaps a half a kilometer away.

"They're risking fires because they believe no one is watching." Zolok said "Still, they've moved closer to our camp.

We all were squinting into the rain, attempting to catch some sort of movement, when suddenly Mora and I sensed the presence behind us simultaneously. I was quicker this time, extending a hand and binding the presence in the Force, restricting it's movements. Mora leaped into the undergrowth behind us and pulled out an individual in camouflage clothing, pack and assortment of weapons. On his back was slung a sniper rifle and in his hands he carried a blaster carbine. He had blaster pistol strapped to his waist, and a vibrodagger was stuck inside one of his boots.

“Let him go,” I told her, and she unceremoniously dumped him in the mud. I released my hold on him and allowed him to sit up, wiping the mud off his face.

“Oh great, more Jedi.” he said “What did you lose your robes?”

“Is this one of the renegades?” I asked Zolok.

“No,” he said, but stared at the man strangely.

“Captain Azog Mezzeroth. Republic Special Operations. If I’d known you were Jedi, I’d have kept my distance. You working with them now?” he nodded at Zolok.

“This Mandalorian is aiding us in tracking down some renegades who were responsible for the attack on the Sojourn.”

“What attack?”

“The Sojourn was sabotaged in orbit and destroyed,” I told him. “My padawan and I were the only ones who made it off the ship in time.”

At that his eyes blazed, and he pointed his weapon at Zolok, who did likewise. I immediately stepped in between them.

“It figures,” said Azog, shifting his glare to me. “You Jedi live, and we die. Just like old times. Just like under Revan.”

“Revan was no longer a Jedi because of the war,” Mora suddenly said. “You were right not to trust her, but you’ve nothing to fear from us.”

“Fear? I helped kill a Jedi on this very moon. Another Jedi who couldn’t be trusted. I don‘t fear your kind.”

“Ah, so it is you,” Zolok said, finally lowering his weapon. Then to our surprise, he took off his helmet.

Azog eyed him suspiciously, then his jaw dropped. “Zolok?”

“Yes. I said then that we might meet again.”

Azog slung his rifle over his shoulder. “Guess you were right.”

Zolok turned to me. “This is the Republic soldier I told you about. He fights like a Mandalorian.”

“No. You fight like a Republic soldier,” Azog said with a slight smile. “If you say these Jedi can be trusted then I believe it.”

“What were you doing out here?” I asked him.

“Keeping an eye on the Mandalorians.” He said with a nod at Zolok. “Guess my mission is blown now. Didn’t know there was two groups of you. Didn’t know there was Mandalorians looking to get the war started again either.”

“The sabotage was a surprise to us, as well,” Zolok answered.

“So what’s the situation?” Azog asked.

“We were just about to get in for a closer look,” Zolok said and slipped his helmet back on.

So we did. We slipped through the underbrush back the way Azog had come from, and down the trail he had used. It actually took us past the small cave he had been using as a base camp. The trail was steep and well-hidden from the jungle floor below, and we made our descent slowly.

At the base, the mud was thick, and the rain still had not stopped, though it had slacked off quite a bit. After a brief conversation, we were determined that we should continue on and not delay any longer. So we moved on, slogging through the mud and undergrowth, and waving away the swarms of insects which seemed to have been stirred up by the storm. After awhile, we paused for a quick bite to eat to ready ourselves for our confrontation with the renegades’ advance guard.

We knew we were very close, and did not wish to give ourselves away to stealthed targets. So it was decided, with some deliberation, that Mora should sneak forward using the Force to camouflage herself and have a look about. I admonished her against performing any quick strikes on her own and sent her on her way. Then the three of us waited, taking cover in some thick bushes, forming a small perimeter of our own.

“I don’t trust her,” I heard Azog mutter to Zolok. “Reminds me of the Jedi we killed. You know?”

Zolok nodded.

Time went by and still there was no sign of Mora. The light began to fade with dusk and then gave way completely into nightfall. We didn’t dare risk any light, but simply continued to wait in the darkness. The rain had finally stopped, and the sounds of the jungle were surprisingly loud as the creatures emerged out of their shelter from the storm. We'd forced down some more of our rations, and I use the word forced as I found them only barely edible. Briefly I considered forgoing any more and attempting to sustain myself with the Force, but I needed to conserve my energy for what lie ahead. I switched on the infrared and targeting sights in my visor.

Finally I sensed her, or rather her Force cloak that she had erected around herself, approaching. She appeared in our midst, startling the other two and hungrily reaching for her own rations.

"Well, what's the situation?" Azog asked.

"There's about two dozen of them." She said through a mouthful of rations. "I thought they were a large scouting party, but then I noticed they've a rather large cache of explosives." She looked at Zolok. "Guess they were going to put a crater where your camp is."

"There's no way I can contact Mandalore without them intercepting our signal," Zolok said. "They'd be on top of us right away."

"And I don't have my transmitter here," Azog remarked. "Even if I did, there are no Republic ships in range. Contacting the Sojourn wouldn't have been an option, anyway. They're not supposed to know I'm here."

"We had a chance to contact Admiral Onasi before the ship exploded," I offered.

"Then he's probably on his way," Azog said. "What do we do in the meanwhile?"

"If possible..." I began to say, but that's when things got very complicated.

In the next instant, there was blaster fire all around us, striking the trees and giving the entire area a lurid glow. We all instantly dropped behind the foliage, the other two grabbing their rifles, while Mora and I activated our lightsabers. Zolok and Azog immediately took up opposite positions and began returning fire.

"Better than all this sneaking around," Mora said, her face growing tense. "Let's get this over with." I saw her turn her own visor on.

"Calm, Mora," I told her, and cleared my mind of all emotions, drawing on my peace, centering myself and allowing the Force to flow into me. Then I offered her a smile of reassurance and leaped over Zolok into the clearing, my green blade slashing through the night deflecting the enemy's blaster bolts back at them. Mora followed behind.

In no time, I was upon them, their forms lighting up on my tactical display. My blade moved almost of its own accord, my reflexes and physical senses giving way as the Force guided my hands. The blaster bolts lanced out at me almost in slow motion. I cut down two that stood in front of me while Mora stabbed a third one with her own lightsaber. Then we were running through the jungle towards where we saw more flashes coming from. My adrenalin was pumping, and I felt a rush of power like nothing I’d experienced before. My connection to the Force felt greatly enhanced.

I rushed their position, Mora tailing behind and felt my blade cutting through the thick armor of a Mandalorian. His surprise was evident, and I sensed that none of them expected Jedi to be on the planet. Then seeing his partner bringing his weapon even with my chest, I deflected the one bolt he got off before my blade found its mark. Mora charged two more in a blur of motion and cut them down quickly, and that part of the jungle became quiet.

"Hey Jedi." the voice came over our comlinks.

"Mora here. What's your status over there?" She answered into hers.

“Looks like we’ve got the last two...make that one pinned down over here. What about you two?”

“We killed seven.” There was the sound of speeders disappearing into the distance. “All clear on this side. Apparently the remainder have retreated back to their base.”

“Copy. Zolok is contacting Mandalore. We’ve got it under control over here.”

“You two stay put until he arrives,” I said into my comlink. “We’re going to keep moving.”

“Copy that Jedi. Happy hunting.”

Mora gave me a strange look. “You’re going to attack them.”

“Of course,” I told her. It didn’t seem strange to me. “We’ve got them on the defensive. They didn’t know what hit them the first time, and they won’t this time either. I feel alive like never before. Almost as if I‘ve been in a deep sleep and am only now waking up” Everything had gone still around us as the sounds of blaster fire in the distance suddenly ceased.

The strange look turned to one of suspicion. “Sol, maybe we should wait with the others. You don‘t seem quite yourself.”

“Not at all. I understand some of what you were trying to teach me now. About the need to eliminate enemies in the most efficient way possible. Maybe the Sith did know some useful things.”

Her expression turned to utter astonishment mixed with obvious disapproval. Seeing the look on her face, I paused. Had I actually just said that? It did seem odd, but yet somehow right.

“Sol, maybe we should just stop. Combat is not really your thing. I mean, we are supposed to be finding a diplomatic solution if there is one, right?”

“What do you mean?” I asked her suspiciously. “Didn’t you see me charge those Mandalorians? They never stood a chance. They were weak, and I killed them. They were fortunate to die quickly.”

“Sol, there’s something you’re not aware of.”

“What?”

“We’re very close to the Tomb of Freedon Nadd,” she said, quietly. “I can feel it.”

“I don‘t sense anything.” I reached out with my senses, but all I felt was the myriad of lesser life forms in the jungle.

“You don’t have sense it now,” she said as lights went on in the distance, illuminating a small structure. “There it is. No doubt they want to keep the perimeter visible now that they know we're here."

I turned and stared at a cone-shaped structure rising above the treetops. Then the realization dawned on me of the absurdity of my words, of the unnatural emotions rising in me. I took a deep breath and then closed my eyes, attempting once more to clear my mind. “Well, we won't be going in there. Mandalore and his people will have to handle it themselves. I can't risk either of us going in. I’m sorry, Mora. I’m not sure what happened.”

“I know, Sol,” Mora said. “That’s how it starts. It’s most effective when you’re killing your enemies, but we both know where it leads, right?”

“I can’t believe it could be so subtle. I’d thought it to be a blatant choice one made. I would have never thought the act of killing could be so natural, nor that mere proximity to the Tomb would create such an effect.”

“This is your first brush with the Dark side then?” she asked.

“Yes. Let’s hope it’s the last.”

“Sol?”

“Yes, Mora.”

“You did okay.”

“Just okay is not good enough. Not if I’m to be training Jedi. Let’s go join the others. I must meditate on this.” More difficult lessons to be learned on Dxun. I would be all too glad to be leaving the moon.

We found them where we’d left them and exchanged info on what had happened. They’d spotted the lights too and reported that the renegades had indeed moved their base to the Tomb. Then while we waited for Mandalore, I settled into my meditation.

Funny that I had not been able to sense the Tomb. The Masters had always taught us that the Dark Side was difficult to sense, though I’d never understood how that could be. But, indeed, I still could not sense it though it was closer than I’d rather it be. I’d heard tales of the savage fighting on this planet, the enormous loss of life to both the Republic and the Mandalorians, and I’d heard the account of Azog and Zolok with the Dark Jedi they met. It all made sense now. For that brief instant, the killing of the Mandalorians seemed like perfect, emotionless logic. The path to victory even. Except there was no victory in death. Death was always as a result of failure, a tragedy to be avoided at all costs.

A short while, Mandalore arrived with our two shuttle full of his troops. He joined us while the shuttles continued on, taking Zolok with them, to begin their assault of the tomb.

“You’re in luck, Jedi,” he told me. “The shuttles returned sooner than we’d expected they would. Otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten here so fast.”

“Are you going to tell me now what you were using them for?”

“I don’t see any harm in it now. We’d found some old weapons caches from the War that we needed to transport to our base. Weapons we’ll be using to clear out that Tomb tonight.”

Apparently he, himself, had invaded that Tomb with Masters Marr and Disciple when the Exile came to this moon, and he knew it well. So when they had first checked it over looking for the renegades, he had been able to give them detailed plans.

By the next morning, the fighting was over. We returned all the Mandalorians to their camp, and Mandalore took Azog to Iziz. Mora and took the time to discuss the War with Zolok, and we were able to learn still more about fallen Jedi from him and his experiences. It was a lesson for both of us, and it was clear why Dxun needed to be off limits to Jedi until something was done about the Tomb. A few days later a Republic ship arrived. Mora and I took the shuttles up to it. We were finally headed back to Dantooine.