Lone Jedi (pre-Ep I, JP, action, adv, humor. OC+Jedi Council, Obi, Qui & Sith!) COMPLETE!

Interesting point, Masterpool, I never really thought about Cool Runnings when I was writing it. I can see the similarity, but I think there's an important difference in Bordis' case: He could have taken the trophy, hogged the glory and become a hero. He refused because, by taking the medal, he would have been a fake because he'd have succeeded on the backs of those who'd died. He himself risked a lot but sacrificed little.

In Cool Runnings, they failed but won by persevereing and showing olympic spirit, then won when they tried again. That's great for competition sports, but not for war. There's only one consequence for losing a war.

I doubt Disney would ever do Lone Jedi as a feature film. Far too much violence and general reality in it.

Oh, my vigannettes will be delayed for a little bit. I had a road trip to the National Gallery (8 hours driving, not fun) and I'm damn tired now. I'll see you tomorrow.

 

OK, here we are, the Lone Viganette. In true Lone Jedi style, you get two viganettes despite the title. The first is the return of Dooku to the Jedi Temple and a conversation with Lonith. The second is the lament of General Bordis of Alderaan. They contain plenty of surprises, and even a cryptic explaination or two.
Enjoy!
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Lonith eased himself onto his bed in the Jedi Temple after putting Justin to bed. The return journey from Yotopa had been both hard and useful for his Padawan, Justin?s blocking skills had improved considerably with the intensive assistance of both Yoda and Lonith. The real surprise had come when the other Council members had started filing into the room one after another to add their own expertise and advice to the training session. It had been hard for Justin, placed under so much pressure to perform, but it had improved his technique in leaps and bounds. Lonith smiled to himself at the memory, even in training, it seemed, a Jedi was never alone. Lonith started to pull his boots off when there was a knock at the door. Lonith sighed as he heaved himself off the bed and answer the door.

?Hello, old friend.? The visitor greeted. ?I hope I haven?t disturbed you.

Lonith?s smile turned into a grin, ?Hello, Dooku, please come in.?

Lonith let his friend into the room. His fellow Jedi Master pulled a tall bottle from underneath his robe. ?I brought a bottle of fine Naboo vintage back with me, a present from the Ortoloans. I thought we could have a drink or two and talk of old times.?

?An excellent idea, have a seat, I?ll get the glasses.? Lonith searched his cupboards for an ancient pair of wine glasses he kept for such occasions. He continued to talk as he washed the dusty relics, ?I hope it went well with the Ortoloans, I thought you?d be weeks in returning.?

?Actually, I bullied them into submission,? Dooku laughed, ?the Ortoloans lost most of their spines when I suggested that their belligerence would bring the wrath of the senate down on them in the time of crisis. The intimation that the Jedi would support a trade restriction on their planet dissolved their resistance to negotiate.?

?Dooku, do you know how risky that was? When the Senate finds out, your actions could discredit the Jedi with the politicians.? Lonith sat opposite Dooku, placing the clean glasses on the table.

Dooku snorted as he poured, ?You?ll excuse me, my friend, but you?ve been stuck in the Temple far too long. The Jedi don?t have good relationships with politicians any more, the only time we come in contact with the Senate these days is to bring them under control. The Jedi are now suffered by the Republic, we are no longer viewed as an integral part of the whole. Take this last crisis as an example, the Supreme Chancellor ordered an official day of mourning across the republic to honor the twenty Jedi killed by the Destroyers and 90% of members in the Senate ignored the ritual.?

Lonith?s eyes hardened, ?That was a grievous insult, but that still doesn?t give us carte blanche to deal with these matters as we see fit. We?re supposed to be above such pettyness.?

?I?m not giving that as an excuse for my behavior, I?ll take full responsibility for my own actions,? Dooku sipped his wine, ?yes, a excellent vintage.?

Lonith took a sip himself. He had to admit, it was excellent. ?How?d you con this out of them??

?They gave it to me freely and of their own will. They were so grateful to me for convincing the Senate not to cut them off without allowing them to resume negotiations that they felt a little gift was in order. Honestly, I wish they?d given me some of their own Maltan Kike, I hardly ever drink wine.?

?True, I would rate Maltan Kike above this myself but Naboo wine was certainly a princely gift.? Lonith took another swallow, allowing the taste to wash over his tongue. ?Have you seen Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan??

Dooku shook his head, ?The Council sent them on another mission as soon as they reported back with their stolen ship. The way things are at the moment, I would

 

SHADOWS OF THE PAST has been posted! Or, the first bit at least. Take a gander over there using the first link in my sig.

PLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEE!

 

MAN OH MAN!!
Those were some vignettes!!!

The conversation between Dooku and Lonith creeped me out. They were being friendly to each other and yet it was very apparent that they distrusted each other. Now we have an explanation of Darth Ofidis! I hope the full tale shall be told some day. I wonder if Sidious knew that there was a Sith Holocron in the Jedi's posession. Hmm... I felt sick to my stomach as Dooku worked his connection with Jocasta to converse with Darth Ofidis again!! Some people just never learn.

The vignette of Bordis was even more shocking! I can't believe that scum Rubens is his son!! I liked how you described Bordis' loss of his wife. It defied convention. I can't believe I had to reread that last line over and over to understand what happened. A good job of making the destruction of Alderaan a lot more significant.

 

Wow! Amazing vignettes! I was completely caught up in the one with Bordis. At the end, I too, had to go back and read it again to figure out what happened. I liked the details, the way the droid didn't know what to do with the mourner who wouldn't follow protocoll, the way Bordis cursed the sun for being above the horizon instead of setting, the way the sunlight lit his wife's hair, and most especially the way he discovered he didn't have a lighter. Excellent work! I'll always think of them, I think, whenever I see that scene in SW where Alderaan gets blown up.

So, Justin walked in on Dooku while the man was using a Sith holocron? Zikes! I'm glad that Lonith can recognise the change in Dooku over the last years, but it's sad to think he probably believes Dooku when he says he hasn't touched the Darth Ofidis recording since. Dooku did sound rather arrogant when he asked Lonith if he thought he wouldn't be able to continue to stave off the Sith advances, as he'd always done in the past. Does Jocasta really know what Dooku is doing in there, or is the reason she's shielding him because she really does 'have a thing' for him?

Fascinating work!

 

Thank you. <Bows>

Masterpool: Think about it for a moment, where do you think Ruben's first concepts of money came form? His father. Bordis represents one side of the monetary system, the side that can be used for good, to donate to charity, to give your employees healthy and productive lives. Rubens represented greed, the ability of money to allow others to advance themselves on the backs of others. The Light Side and the Dark Side.

Jane Jinn: I know, the scene in Alderaan just happens... several million people up in smoke in a moment, it's not explored in the movie, which is why, I think, so many authors explore it here.
As for Dooku, not even Mace suspected his true character. I'm already flerting with the edges of Mary-Suedom, if I made Lonith aware of Dooku's threat, I might have gone over the line. What I was trying to show by following Dooku into the Library was his duplicity as he manipulated Jocasta's forbidden intrest in him to forward his own ends. The cad.

 

UP!!

 

UP!

 

I would recommend perhaps adding COMPLETE to Lone Jedi's title so people who only read completed fics will check this out.

UP!!

 

YOU WILL ALL READ THIS
(using force suggestion)

 

Yes, hello new readers? Are you out there?

UP!

 

UP!

UP! UP! UP!

 

Another UP!

 

UP!

 

UP!!!

Oh and what is that upcoming novel of yours about?

 

Thanks for the up, Pool, I'll answer your question in the next SOTP post.

UP!

 

OK, I'm proud of this fic, I don't want it to languish in the deapths of the forums!

UP!

 

Might as well nudge this up.

 

Bump.

 

UP!

Lonith Sard was nominated for the winter 2002 best original character awards, so I thought I better keep this marked just in case!

 

Okay, got through the first page. Wow! Lots of action. Should be able to finish this off tomorrow, even if I have to work.

So an up for my convenience.

 

UP

 

That was great, truly, and the vignettes too. I'm really looking forward to more of your work.

Black-bladed lightsabers and the name Starkiller mentioned by the same author... Very ironic.