Beyond - Legends - IN THE SHADOWS OF JEDI - NJO Espionage Adventure; Post Yuuzhan Vong War; O/C; Parts 1,2,3,4

Title: In the Shadows of Jedi
Author: Xzar-Teel
Timeframe: NJO; post-The Unifying Force
Genre: Espionage Adventure
Summary: Master Skywalker sends a lone covert agent of the NJO to uncover the mysteries of a cold war that has sturred between the Galactic Alliance and the so-called "Shadow Government" since the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War.


Dramatis Personae

Ke'Igo; Informant (Male Rodian)
Luke Skywalker; Jedi Master (Male Human)
Mara Jade Skywalker; Jedi Master (Female Human)
Xzar-Teel; Jedi Knight (Male Human)


In the Shadows of Jedi

One

He could feel the informant long before he stepped into the cantina. The cantina?s lighting provided an unsettlingly dark ambiance that allowed him to sit alone without drawing a curious eye from the establishment?s seedy regulars. It was this back water place that gave the Jedi Knight Xzar-Teel a moment of reflection, a thought to how the galaxy had changed in the last five years.

The informant entered the cantina and gave an uneasy glance around, searching in a rather obvious manner. With a light touch, Xzar-Teel made himself known in the mind of the death stick peddling Rodian. The Rodian gave the equivalent of a smirk and moved towards the Jedi?s table in the back corner.

?We must stop meeting like this,? the he said in rather good basic, for a Rodian.

Xzar-Teel looked the creature from head to foot as he sat across the table and motioned for the barmaid to bring him a round.

?You won?t be here long enough to finish that drink,? Xzar-Teel said.

The Rodian swallowed hard and suddenly looked nervous. ?I have gotten what you asked for,? he said and started to reach into his pocket.

Xzar-Teel motioned with his hand. ?Easy, Ke?Igo,? he said. ?Nice and slow.?

Ke?Igo paused and then slowly, as the Jedi said, pulled a data pad from his jacket pocket. He slid the data pad discreetly across the table, ?It was much harder to obtain then we originally thought,? he said timidly, almost whispering.

Xzar-Teel clasped his hands and in setting them on the table, covered the data pad with the sleeves of his modest Jedi cloak. The Jedi Knight inconspicuously pulled it onto his lap and began to study its authenticity.

Ke?Igo looked at the other tables with anxious glances. ?They will kill me if they find out it was me that supplied the Jedi Order with that list.?

Xzar-Teel didn?t acknowledge the Rodian?s plight. He matched code with passwords to break the multi-echelon cipher encryption that was so popular in today?s intelligence community.

Ke?Igo noticed his words went unnoticed and felt rage beginning to rise up from his gut. But before he could gather his thoughts, the rather imposing Jedi before him rose one hand without lifting his gaze from the data pad, ?Easy, Ke?Igo. If I didn?t know any better I?d think you were about to do something foolish with that vibroblade you have tucked in your boot.?

The color from Ke?Igo?s face faded and he began to sweat without really noticing. He gave a second thought to ending their meeting prematurely.

Xzar-Teel smiled inwardly. So predictable, he thought. And with a slight audible ping, the encryption code was broken and the list of names scrolled freely across the screen. The young Jedi felt himself sit up a little straighter. This was it. He had finally found it, the list he had been relentlessly searching for. The list his secret Master had tasked him to find.

It was Master Skywalker?s wish that their relationship, along with the assigning of Xzar-Teel?s unique position among the Jedi Order, deep cover Intelligence Officer of the Jedi Counsel, remain secret. There were too many variables within the Galactic Alliance and Master Skywalker thought it best to not include them in this undertaking. As it was, they were two of just three that knew of the mission Xzar-Teel had been given, Master Jade-Skywalker being the third. It was her training and guidance that he drew his power from.

The list, Master Skywalker told him, nearly nine

 

I can only assume that no one has posted a reply because no one has read my story. Come on guys, the only way I'm gonna get better is if someone tells me what's wrong so I can fix it.

 

Chin up--this sounds like a very intriguing story already. You're doing great so far. Don't be afraid to post some more! At least you know I'll be following it.

 

Ooohh... A very intriguing start. Be patient, more readers will come, me included. I hope to see more soon.

 

Hey, I read it! I'm just really, really bad about giving replies... Sorry, as an author myself, I should know better.

This is very interesting so far. Kinda nice to see the Jedi being the sneaky ones for a change. Usually, they're the ones getting sneaked on.

But before he could gather his thoughts, the rather imposing Jedi before him rose one hand without lifting his gaze from the data pad, ?Easy, Ke?Igo. If I didn?t know any better I?d think you were about to do something foolish with that vibroblade you have tucked in your boot.?

I really liked that part!!

I'm very interested in seeing what you do with this.

 

I usually don't check out L/M stories, but I really enjoy what you've started here. Please, continue when you can. I'm very interested to see what happens next.

 

You are all too kind. I will post part II later tonight, after work. Be patient though, I am stationed in Kuwait and I don't follow the regular 9-5 work schedule. I'm also 10 hrs. ahead of the West Coast *sigh, home*. Thank you again.

 

Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it - let me know what you think.


In the Shadows of Jedi

Two

Tucked safely in a shadowed doorway down the alley from the cantina, Xzar-Teel stopped momentarily to ensure he wasn?t followed. He could sense hopelessness and fear radiating from where he had left Ke?Igo. It was like a wave of horror exploding out from the cantina, and then it was suddenly silenced.

Time to go, the Jedi thought.

Xzar-Teel moved fluidly down the alley removing his brown cloak as he went. He turned it inside out to reveal the black colored inside which was littered with pockets. He folded it over and rapped the sleeves around his waist creating an impromptu sarong. At a glance the Jedi would appear to be a local farmer out for a midnight stroll. From his pocket Xzar-Teel removed a small kit containing a jelly-like form of se?rima, a temporary hair dye derived from a local sea urchin. With a couple of swipes through his hair, the Jedi went from an obvious blonde to a natural brunette. As he walked, Xzar-Teel tossed the small dye container out in front of him and crushed it with his boot heel without altering his stride. When the liquid fused inside the container itself came in contact with oxygen it began to dissolve the contents, and the young Jedi?s DNA.

As Xzar-Teel approached the next alleyway to his right, he slowed and glanced over his shoulder. Just as he expected, the two men hadn?t even seen him.

Tucked under a dark, heavy cloth and concealed behind a trash bin, the Jedi had hidden his swoop bike. Xzar-Teel took a careful glance into the shadows of the alleyway and reached out with the Force to ensure he was not being watched. It was as his senses heightened that he felt something was horribly wrong. Looking up and down the alley and from window to window, the Jedi could not locate the source of the impending doom emanating from the Force. The disturbance left him filled with a sense of dread he had not felt since his covert operations training with his Masters.

* * * * *

Jedi Master Mara Jade-Skywalker had insisted that his counter-surveillance training be conducted within the twisted bowels of what was once Coruscant. It began with him being blind-folded on the surface and then taken down a secret passageway to the heart of the under city. Once the blindfold was removed, Xzar-Teel had been instructed to find his way back to the surface, all the while trying to lose his most formidable foe yet ? Mara Jade-Skywalker herself.

During his journey, Master Jade-Skywalker made it adamantly clear that he was to subdue his Force signature and in doing so, would be maneuvering without the Force to guide him. This, she insisted, would make him a more efficient operator. She often drew on her experiences and the training she endured as the Emperor?s Hand. It was a side of his Master that he had only read and heard stories about.

Since their initial meeting on Haruun Kal when she had discovered him as an unusually gifted force-sensitive child, Xzar-Teel had never felt from her the darkness she had to have held within to have worked so intimately with the personification of evil, Emperor Palpatine.

During Xzar-Teel's instruction as a child, he would often gaze into his Master?s hauntingly beautiful green eyes, searching for the darkness that had long since been overpowered and abandoned. It was now, during his covert training that reminisces of her long since forgotten past resonated.

Xzar-Teel dreaded that he might disappoint his Masters. They had found him. They had instructed him on the ways of the Force. They had been his surrogate mother and father. And his paralyzing fear of letting them down in this endeavor had too often crippled his ability to focus on the Force.

* * * * *

A second ripple in the Force reinforced Xzar-Teel?s sudden dread.

Something is wrong here, he thought.

He stepped to the edge of the alley and peered around the end of the wall, towards

 

Twists, I love twists! Here you go, enjoy.


In the Shadows of Jedi

Three


. . . the Jedi?s eyes widened, and then fiercely narrowed.

In his mind?s eye he saw the innocence that he once carried fleeing down the alley, lost to him forever.

Xzar-Teel straightened and stepped out from the shadows. ?I believe I have something you want,? his words dripping with venom.

Ke?Igo and his two mercenaries instinctually spread out, drawing their blasters to bear.

The Jedi felt several pockets of the light-side of the Force closing in on their position from up ahead. He would only have mere seconds to rectify the situation and regain the upper hand on Ke?Igo. It turned out to be more time then he needed.

Drawing from the shadows of the Force that lay between light and dark, Xzar-Teel burst through time and space.

In a blinding flash of purple and mayhem, Ke?Igo realized that the Jedi had ignited his lightsaber. By the time the snap-hiss had registered his ears, Ke?Igo was hearing something else ? the sound of his mercenaries? bodies dropping to the ground with lifeless thuds. Standing there, the shock of what had just occurred was overwhelmed by the sight of the young Jedi standing a mere meter in front of him, his lightsaber already disengaged and concealed.

Xzar-Teel meet Ke?Igo?s panicked stare with a steely gaze that froze the Rodian where he stood. ?You disappoint me, Ke?Igo,? the young Jedi said, teetering on the edge of the dark side. ?I should dispatch you as well.?

The Rodian stood frozen in horror, unable to think.

?But not today,? Xzar-Teel said. ?As much as it pains me to say, you will be more useful to me alive.?

?What . . . what kind of Jedi are you?!?? Ke?Igo finally asked. ?I thought Jedi only used violence as a last resort. You killed them without provocation. They were only supposed to scare you into giving me the data pad. You are not a Jedi of Skywalker?s order.?

Xzar-Teel tilted his head slightly. ?No,? he said. ?I?m something else entirely.? The Jedi took an imposing step forward.

The Rodian fell to his knees and held his hands up over his face. ?Don?t kill me, Master Jedi,? Ke?Igo cried.

The pestilence of the Rodian stirred the darkness within Xzar-Teel?s heart, but it was years meditation and training in the light arts of the Force that willed the young Jedi to push through it. The pockets of the light side were almost upon them.

?Stand up, Ke?Igo,? Xzar-Teel said calmly. ?You are not meant to die today.?

Xzar-Teel pulled the Rodian to his feet and disarmed him. Gathering up the other weapons scattered about and moving the bodies of the mercenaries into the shadows, the young Jedi ushered Ke?Igo down the alley. Xzar-Teel glanced over his shoulder to see a group of children laughing and playing at the far end of the alley. He stopped and watched as the children ran past the location that was a whirlwind of chaos just moments before; their laughter healed his darkening heart.

With a cleansing breath Xzar-Teel turned to Ke?Igo. He grabbed the Rodian by the jacket and pulled him close enough to whisper. ?There is a cancer growing inside the Galactic Alliance and this list holds the cure.?

?You have the list, what do you want from me?? Ke?Igo managed, trembling.

Xzar-Teel gave a menacing grin. ?I see things, Ke?Igo,? the Jedi said, leaning in closer. ?I can see things that haven?t happened yet.?

Ke?Igo stared in disbelief.

?I know what you?re going to ask me, Ke?Igo? Xzar-Teel said. ?But you wouldn?t believe me if I told you.?

 

Ok, so, what'd you think?

 

Very cool! Is this in the time of the YV war or are you disregarding that? Xzar-Teel sounds like one bad dude. I like the little glimpse into his training with Mara. I can see her being the one to teach him all the covert stuff and Luke being the one to teach him the Force stuff.

You are really good at the spy techno gizmo stuff, like the instant hair dye. (I wish I could do that, but no, I gotta pay $40 to get rid of MY gray! ) I like the way Ke'Igo thought he'd turned the tables on the Jedi and he ended up getting burned!

Great stuff.

 

Why, thank you. I decided to have this story take place almost a year after the end of the war with the YV. It's a time period that I thought I would use as a backdrop. It would allow me the freedom to not have to rely too heavily on the continuity of the EU others had already established.

kayladie97 wrote: "You are really good at the spy techno gizmo stuff"

Did I mention what I do for the Army?

 

Did I mention what I do for the Army?

No, you didn't, but I'm going to take a REAL wild guess and say it has something to do with spy techno gizmo stuff?

Hmm, just noticed I used the word 'stuff' FOUR times in that post...how embarrassing!

 

Stay tuned, I might be able to post Four tonight if I get done with work early enough.

 

I am working on Four as I write this. It will post in the next couple hours . . . stay tuned.

I'd like to give a shout out to my readers (all 4 of you! ):

ThePariah, VadersMistress, kayladie97, and Sara_Kenobi

You guys rock!

 

In the Shadows of Jedi

Four

Xzar-Teel?s apartment was in the part of the city that even the most seasoned criminals tried to avoid. As the pair entered the building, Ke?Igo found himself looking over his shoulder and into the shadows, a feeling of trepidation falling over him.

At the door to the elevator, the Jedi turned and looked past Ke?Igo back towards the direction they had just come. After a moment, Xzar-Teel touched the down call button and it illuminated.

?I don?t understand, we?re on the first floor,? Ke?Igo said. ?There are no sublevels in this part of the city, the buildings are too old.?

?Precisely,? Xzar-Teel said and gave the Rodian a loop sided grin.

Just then the call switch gave an audible ping. Ke?Igo watched as the call button slid down revealing a cipher text keypad. Xzar-Teel waved his hand at the keypad and said, ?Not everything is what it seems, my friend.?

The Rodian stood in amazement as the Jedi punched in his twelve digit code, and with a rumble the doors hissed open. Xzar-Teel motioned for Ke?Igo to enter the elevator car. As Ke?Igo stepped inside he was astonished to find the seemingly new elevator car utterly out of place in such a dilapidated building. Recognition appeared on Ke?Igo?s face, ?You are quite the conundrum, Master Jedi.?

Xzar-Teel stepped inside and pushed another code into the keypad to close the door and select their destination. ?You have no idea.?

* * * * *

The hallway to Xzar-Teel?s apartment was contradictory to the one leading to the elevator downstairs. This hallway was in pristine condition. Ke?Igo felt as though he had been transported across the city to the high-rise prestige of the wealthy and powerful that kept his planet under unyielding oppression. From the majestic Ju?rak marble tiles under his feet to the intricacy of the interwoven Mertonian fabric that lined the walls and ceiling. Xzar-Teel stopped in front of the only door in the hallway when he felt the Rodian looking about in child-like marvel. The young Jedi smiled inwardly as he depressed the keys of his code into the keypad outside their destination, ?Believe it or not, this whole building is designed to thwart eavesdroppers.?

Ke?Igo suddenly realized the Jedi was watching him.

?There is about 50 meters of duracrete under our feet and the walls and ceiling employ some of the galaxies most sensitive anti-reverberation devises,? Xzar-Teel explained over his shoulder without looking at Ke?Igo. ?I assure you, anyone utilizing recording devises will find this floor void of sound. Not very covert I know, but sometimes being overt during intelligence operations creates the illusion of secrecy.? The door?s locking mechanisms released in a deep rumble and the door hissed open. Xzar-Teel looked back at the Rodian. ?Now get in here.?

Ke?Igo stepped towards the entryway, ?Why are you showing me this??

Xzar-Teel motioned for the Rodian to have a seat. ?This is what is referred to as the recruitment phase of our relationship.?

Ke?Igo froze in place. ?Recruitment?? he asked after a second of careful consideration. ?Recruitment for what??

Xzar-Teel made his way behind his Tiberian red oak desk and settled into the chair with a sigh. ?Please, Ke?Igo, sit down. You can rest assured that you are quite safe here.?

?Recruitment for what, Master Jedi?? the Rodian repeated with more vigor then presumably intended.

?First and foremost, I am not the Jedi Master you have repeatedly referred to me as,? Xzar-Teel explained. ?I am merely a Jedi Knight, but not in the usual sense.?

Intrigued, Ke?Igo found the chair opposite Xzar-Teel?s desk and slipped into it as he listened quite intently.

?I will have to start at the beginning,? the Jedi continued, ?as most must do with a story such as mine.? Xzar-Teel waved slightly off to his right and a light gradually brightened, pooling on a table in the corner of the room. As the light continued to brighten, Ke'Igo's jaw dropped in the sudden realization that someone else was in th

 

Part 4, ready for your reading pleasure - give me your honest opinion.

 

Nice job, bro. Is this Xzar-Teel really a Jedi or is he part of a bomb you're gonna drop on us later? Nevermind, no spoilers bro.

I like what you've done with Luke and Mara. I like the unorthodox training Mara gave your O/C and how he's being kept secret from the other Jedi.

Dude, keep 'em coming!