Before - Legends The Sith Hunters - 7/22/16 - September 15, 2016....

Okay, everyone showered? GOOD!

On a health-conscious note: Well, I went shopping the other day and....well....let's say something smells rotten in Dantoo-Mart:

[image=http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/3282/jarjarmw0.jpg]



----------------------------------------------

The next day was as quiet as it could be as far as the media was concerned. Garvasa had expected a delay from his friends, but he was puzzled that Juna Rapier did not provide her promised rebuilding plan; puzzled, yet not surprised. Delays were always expected in bureaucracies, and more so from those with political clout and tremendous momentum advantage; Rapier held the latter. The potential to gain was expected from anyone in power, and in Garvasa?s view Amidala had inadvertently placed herself on the wrong end of a rescue. In the worse of nightmares, Rapier had been given leverage.

The following day opened with Garvasa?s confidential words in Dreg?s review, which spurred Beldeng to unleash his opinion on the matter universally through the HoloNet before he put it to digital screen early the very next day. There was still no sign of a plan by Rapier Technologies to rebuild Naboo, not as the morning in Theed gave way to noon.

Unexpectedly, Queen Amidala did not hold a conference with her advisors during this time. Garvasa was puzzled, but little worried over this. Seeing no reason to fear anything, he left the Palace of Theed and arrived at the inappropriately named Commoners Grounds; an exclusive café that catered to no common living being based on the one thousand credit charge just to get inside. It had survived the carnage of the invasion with no damage, which would eventually give it a bad reputation as if the owners had paid the Trade Federation off to prevent being trashed. It was a fact, but it did not matter to the elite; it just meant the upset had another reason, other than the high cover charge, to not enter. Exclusivity: the key to all happiness in any class.

Garvasa immediately spotted his cohorts; Dregs and Beldeng, along with various others who were attached to the current Royal Cabinet or to the various levels of politicians of the time. He smiled; they returned with their own salutes, and he literally found a seat amongst his peers. The order of the day was hard Rencede gin.

A time would pass before anyone else would enter the quiet establishment of male dominance. At first it was more of the same; a group of men, but different for they appeared to be very alert and not in a need for scotch. The men, members of a security force, were followed a young and very blonde woman. She was unidentifiable until a much older version of the young woman entered just behind her. Though blonde hair had noticeably grayed in her waning years the Lady Terese Landana was all too recognizable by face alone even without her trademark smile that had made her famous and beloved. Her daughter, Princess Jarah Maltanaw, eyed the scene for the both of them and gave the older version of herself a hand. The older woman had trouble walking but neither that nor her age dulled her luster. Behind them a few more unmarked bodyguards followed, and the attention of the entire establishment had been peaked.

?Oh my?Lady Landana!? Garvasa bolted straight to his feet and everyone else followed his example. He and the others realized, however, that the parade of power had not ended. The former Prime Minister of the doomed Nubian colony of Evramora and Royal Candidate Cessa Fermeia -- formally Evannava and Ferngully until her recent marriage to Cot Fermeia -- entered with her security entourage. Dregs and Beldeng began to show some worry as Garvasa stared on in puzzlement.

Lastly alone to enter came the Lady Juna Angelleia; tall, proud, dark and beautiful to the dismay of all those in the pub. She had not needed or wanted a Royal Guard, and no longer the Queen that was her choice. She came in relaxed, as if she were dared but feared nothing. She was hated by those in the room save for those she had followed in, yet not hated enough to be physically de

 

Good one. Didn't expect Angelleia to retaliate so quickly.

(And that meat pack is just... weird!)

 

In such delicate, important matters, Juna and the Thorns had to act as quickly as Queen Amidala in her decision to pick Juna to rebuild Naboo. But to be fair and honest, like Naressa before her, Juna is not doing this all out of the kindness of her heart: especially when it appears, once again, her kindness is questioned by someone who appeared to had appreciated it.

Alas, Juna knows Amidala is her ally, and she knows she did not say those things, but she needs others to know the truth....

------------------------------------

Dregs turned so red there could had been a galactic alert about him going nova. He and many in the room had been in the camps. Unbeknownst to their countrymen they were far better taken care of. The Trade Federation was not stupid: it was best to keep the word mongers of Naboo happily fed.

Dregs coloration did not shake his opposition. His quick retort attempted to. ?Oh, who are you to talk! You, Juna Rapier, so called ?Warrior Queen of Naboo?, who ran away while your neighbors suffered through the occupation! You, who left the planet so quickly!? There were some murmurs of disapproval towards Dregs. It was not out of respect for Juna.

Juna explained their misgivings. ?Many left Naboo at their own rates of speed when the threat was very apparent, and then very real. The Queen approved: after all, didn?t she, too, run away in perhaps cowardice and not prudence? If it were my war, if I were the Queen, Grainer, I would have stayed and fight. But it wasn?t my war, nor was it something that I had enabled with indecision before hand. I digress: she is young and naïve and I hope she has learned her lesson. ?A young Queen must be allowed a few mistakes?. I mean?..you wrote that, didn?t you, shortly after the end of the occupation??

Dregs choked on his retort; he had no retort. Juna just looked back at Garvasa. ?But enough with the target tangents about myself; it does not help me get the answer that I need. All I really need to know, Lio, is whether or not Queen Amidala meant what she had said to you to say to these?.? She hesitated to find words as she gestured to his friendly press men. ?Fine citizens of digitally worded media??

Garvasa took a drink from his glass and it did not solve his dry throat problem whatsoever. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand did not solve any problem he was in currently. It had occurred to him fleetingly what was happening here when Juna had entered the Commoners Grounds, but now it was weighing very heavily on his mind. One look at who was here spoke volumes. These women were political heavyweights long before they formed the Thorn Party. Terese Landana had served as Queen for a long time, and after her reigned secured the return of term limits. Jarah Maltanaw had the same Royal pedigree as her mother and could be considered creditable if chosen to run for public office or was appointed to a position of power. Cessa Fermeia was not necessarily a great figure in politics but the people remembered she was the leader of the colony of Evramora, and anyone from there was treated with great sympathy. Weena Welchrest had some friends, and although last he checked she was out of a job but her having a recording device to record his words unnerved him. And then there was Juna Rapier, who had just recently offered to rebuild Naboo despite the fact that her ancestral home was stolen and her company?s factory trashed, and lastly also a former Queen of Naboo.

Imperatively, Garvasa was suddenly so worried about two former Queens of Naboo confronting him; it was that fact that had scared everyone else as well when Angelleia and Landana formed the Thorn Party. The two women were forever tied to the Throne of Naboo, as members of the Royal Court; they were in fact the Royal Court as the Royal Constitution dictated it. Without being elected they each held some power; collectively, as stewards of the Throne, they could affect who rules from it. The political realities were much and those who disliked the Thorns feared it so they never spoke of the possibilities.

?Well, Lio,? be

 

Heh. Every Rose has its thorn, no?

Good update!

 

Thanks, Delight!

Like most elements in SW, the political line in it is so non-dimensional and somewhat lacking depth you wonder if there ever REALLY was a debate on the taxation of trade routes in Episode One, and then a call for reform or separation in Episode Two. Long ago, I decided to correct the oversight on my end.

BUT, there lies the problem, and folks writing any fiction really don't want to get into politics if their story isn't centered around politics: its the whole 'you're writing who you are' aspect when you write a fic, so one the last things anyone wants to do is offend the broad audience.

So this prologue and parts of TSH tackles the horrors of politics, but it also puts the whole process on its ear, makes fun of it and the isolating pundits that empower it, exploit it, and ruin it. In order to do it, I have to kind of bring in a little more real life situations into the mix: the kind of things you expect in intrigues.

I gave it some thought over the two years and sort of created that idea on Naboo that although the politicians had their own philosophies, the process was very independent of punditry, and therefore political parties were taboo. So I put the Thorn Party in that void: and to really slap pundits in the face, I had the Party filled with people with different philosophies that in DRL would never mingle and shall never get along. I just had to do it, just to really rub it in.

And Yes: I just had to point out that indeed every (Black) Rose has her Thorns.

I'm thinking of making a splash page for the Thorns, but it's just in the back of my mind.

Unfortunately, I am sad to note, this marks the last appearance of dear Lady Terese Maltanaw Landana.

More soon.

FORWARD!

 

Awe, I feel bad for Lio. Great update!

 

Thanks, Sara.

Some folks take their politics, or rather their points of view, a little too seriously: enough that they'll threaten to leave their planet, or kill themselves. I just wanted to show how absurd and ridiculous some of that thinking can be sometimes. I have had some 'folks' figuratively beg me to 'talk them off the ledge' so to speak the last few years and finally last year I threw up my hands and said 'Jump!'.

They never 'jumped'.

I gave up on them because it was just a repeating snarl loop with them: whining, moaning, complaining about this and that. I could only be so understanding for so long. I took my own advice and 'jumped' off those entanglements: I told them what they had to do, but it was like they were drug addicts, I can help them if and only if I did drugs with them.

Like Lio, you can't live your life that way.

--------------------------------

As we will see in this next part, it's ten years later from the beginning of this Prologue: let's check on Bly Coaxial's one dimensional progress, and see how Darth Sidious exploits it.....

Also we introduce Dace Palpatine's new political competition....

----------------------------------

Dropping the 'pedia, it's overblown: GESSA SAGA KNOWLEDGE BASE

Glace Culot: First appearance in 'The Dark Hope'; subsequent appearances in the Nadja Moranna series. Started as a shore patrolman section of the Republic Guard, he was part of the duo that often teamed up with a young Nadja Moranna during her 'reign' over Coruscant. Years later, after taking a ship commission, Nadja recruited Glace, promoted him to Captain, and dragged him along as the only non-Force user in the group that would become known as The Headbangers. Years later, as an Admiral on the Mariner, Glace Culot would observe the ruination of Vhanba and oversaw the space battle over Evramora in 'The Dark Hope'.

Froms Erdia: First appearance in 'The Dark Hope', Erida was the command Captain of the Republic battleship the Mariner; second in command of the fleet to Admiral Glace Culot.

----------------------------------

Part Three: The Oversight on the Observation of the Growing of Green Grass on the Bright Side of Coruscant Special Select Sub-Committee

The history data documents in the archives of Obroa-skia would state that some years prior to the Clone Wars the shock was not that Nubian Senator Dace Palpatine, an understudy of the late Bendian Rapier had become Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. It was not what he would have eventually become at the end of the Clone Wars. It was the initial first one hundred days of the Palpatine Administration that would shock the galaxy.

Before that terrible war and his reign as Emperor that would truly define him, the first one hundred days had been his trademark as a serious reformer of the Senate. Reforms in the Galactic Republic Senate could only be achieved by one method: dissolving all committees and then reforming them with new members and leaderships. And he had not just been selective in the approach. With the power invested in him, Palpatine dissolved all of the committees; it was his right and privilege as the new Chancellor. It was needless to say he had made enemies very fast, including some who had righteously voted him into the High Chair, therefore it was imperative for Palpatine to make new friends and very fast.

It was shortly after what was erroneously called the Battle of Naboo -- in proper historical reference, it was the Second Battle of Naboo, the second battle fought against an outside invasion -- Chancellor Palpatine returned to Coruscant and shocked the capital with the immediate announcement of Reform. Detractors had the ready made outcry unleashed, proclaiming it a hypocrisy because Palpatine had achieved power on the argument that the Senate as it stood did nothing; by dissolving the committees to reappoint them, the Senate could do nothing until the major committees chairpersons were nominated and appointed, thus the obvious contradiction. Pundits secretly found the idea provo

 

As much as Coaxial believed Grim?s words to be untrue that night he really did not sleep. Grim?s warning stayed in his mind through the night and into the next day, and right up to reception area of the Supreme Chancellor?s office just below the Senate House. During that time Coaxial did not remember getting dress or the conversations he had with his own people, and no one acted puzzled so therefore there was a sense that he was whole and sane. No one noticed a problem until the attractive Nubian woman behind the secretary?s desk had asked him if he needed help. Embarrassed and suddenly aware of himself, Coaxial first checked to see if he was wearing clothes -- yes, he was -- and finally he answered in the negative to the secretary before finding a seat in the lobby. He discovered the lobby was quite full with Senators, and most of them he knew were newly elected officials. If that was not enough the Senators had brought all their underlings with them; Coaxial was no different with thirteen helpers tagging along.

Through the crowd, Coaxial spotted old Feang Feuret of Sullust. Feuret waved him over to the empty chair beside him. Coaxial mused quietly, ?Mining committees??

?Naturally,? was Feuret?s response, filled with a tone of confidence. ?Perhaps the Oversight chair on the subcommittees. You??

Until now, Coaxial never really did think what he thought he was going to get. He just shrugged his shoulders. ?I don?t know: at this point in my career I don?t take a Jedi guess.? And on that note as Feuret went on and on about which Senator he was certain would get a Chairmanship suddenly Bly Coaxial had a replay of his entire political career run through his mind. Those days and nights he slaved in college only to discover his talents for speaking laid elsewhere; the day, in the group known as Free Will Panic, where he raised his hand and shouted he would become the next Senator of Chandiss Prime. Those days he learned that unlike the privilege he could control his greed; accept what the partisans handed to him, ensuring himself that he had not changed except that his bank roll was much fatter. His message was quite clear then as it was now: there were certain individuals that should not rule the Republic!

However as he thought lost to Coaxial, and for many for that matter, was his selfishness. He believed he had never done wrong, and he believed that even with his sins -- the same sins he accused others of committing -- he was righteous and unstained. And yet a realist still lived inside of him; a quiet, unassuming, and slowly becoming available voice of rationale. The realist believed these truths for they were the truth: he only won the last election because his foe was weak and his friends could not find anyone else to replace him. Onidas Grim?s words echoed in his head.

?Damn it, what is that doing here?? Feuret?s sudden change from protocol droid chatter box to a Sullustan in quiet disgust drew Coaxial?s attention towards the departing figure of Onidas Grim. Grim, all alone with no entourages, guards, and advisors, walked undisturbed from Chancellor Palpatine?s office, proud in gait but outwardly neutral. Grim vanished in the sea of entities, allowing Feuret to add, ?I did not see it go in.?

?He turned down the Chancellor?s offer,? began Coaxial. ?Grim stopped by my office last night to tell me he was going to do.?

Feuret then eyed Coaxial rather nervously; the Human didn?t like it. The Sullustan asked, ?And what else did he say??

Coaxial remembered that Feuret had a hate thing about Grim; therefore he weighed the answer. This was a moment where one Senator could lose a powerful ally. What mattered to the Senator was which to sacrifice. Coaxial?s problem was that he thought Grim would care if he told Feuret; on the contrary if Grim did he would have told Coaxial to keep their conversation private -- to date, Grim had never had what was called a ?off the record? conversation with anyone, not even about shockball.

Coaxial chose foolishly. ?Nothing else than that, except that he wanted to have someth

 

Finally caught up! (...DRL...)

Now, there's a thought indeed. Juna following in Palpy's footsteps....

Good stuff. More soon?

 

DRL can always, ALWAYS, be a drag.

That's why I recommend Darnitall!

---------------------------------------

As you will read, hints of 'transition' seen in Episodes Two and Three pop up early....

And I take a shot at knowitall hacks.....

---------------------------------------

The offices of the Chancellor had changed since the last time Coaxial had entered the room seven years ago, and Chancellor Palpatine?s decorators had just finished based on the new smells that lingered in spite of the atmospheric controls attempts to purge them. Structurally the room remained the constant that it was with an overly large window exposing a breathtaking panoramic view of Coruscant behind the desk of the Supreme Chancellor that always caught people?s eyes first. Coaxial did note the unusual stone and metal artwork, though, that brazened the walls of the galley chamber, the hall, and ending at the opening of office; strange works, it appeared to be of heroic deeds, but admittedly Coaxial was no man of fine art. Still, he had a feeling, a creepy one at that, that some of the individuals in the art were fossils and not stone or metal.

?Ah,? began the cherry voice, and rising from his desk and alone, Supreme Chancellor Dace Palpatine of Naboo began to welcome him. ?Senator Coaxial.?

Attention drawn, Coaxial paced quickly in and gave Palpatine a respectful nod of his head; hand shakes on Coruscant were not only taboo but dangerous given how many creatures viewed such greetings more like agreements of business transactions and treaties than well welcomes; nods and well wishes had become the norm after the still-ongoing political fiasco of the Treaty of Leferwite, where the Supreme Chancellor six hundred years ago had accidentally agreed on a handshake, due to a lousy translation, to give the Fogu-plang Colonies one Republic citizen a year to slaughter in order to gain, at the time, much needed ease of trade travel. The sacrifice was to appease the Fogu-plang?s rock deity, Sa?bashu, for allowing outsiders to skirt the edge of their asteroid field. To date no Republic citizen had been made to honor the contract; to date, even though the Republic had never used the trade line, the Fogu-plang were still fighting in the courts, arguing the Republic owes them exactly six hundred and four individuals for sacrifice.

Dace Palpatine was not and never was an imposing man and his new title did not instill fear in anyone. When he sought the Senate seat he had given up years ago again Coaxial?s political resources scouted Palpatine, discovering that he was still the disarming, ?silly buddy? man he was as a mere representative under Senator Bendian Rapier and as Rapier?s replacement. Still, as Rapier?s understudy, Palpatine had learned from the best; his voting record was favor-heavy towards Naboo and ideological wise he was clean light to a prism, scattering in all sorts of directions. During his first run of service Palpatine was in the various revenue policy committees; this time around he was a Loser. Collectively he was the very definition, as Coaxial?s scouts put it, of a professional politician: perhaps moral and honest in real life but an absolute ?go-with-the-wind? man when it came to public policy. Someone who really never had allies, just useful fools.

It boiled down for Coaxial that the older man with receding auburn and gray hair and a crisp, seemingly unpracticed smile had at one time been associated with the Rapier Clan Dynasty. If he did not have a political sense, Coaxial did possess political paranoia: the concept that any little thing was in fact a much larger conspiracy. Palpatine possessed little in terms of real power during his first go around as Senator; a decade off and nearly a decade later that had not changed. Therefore Palpatine?s appointment to the Supreme Chancellor?s chair from afar was suspicious. Of course it was a bureaucratic appointment and not a sympathy one. So Coaxial did his best to keep the facts he knew in line. However he was blinded by his need to be significant, and the conversation he had wit

 

Ha. I love the Fogu-plang Colonies anecdote.

Well done, Palps. Fossils indeed.

Good work with the political intrigue.

 

Thanks, Delightful!

I'll be wrapping this up shortly.

This is the second time I mentioned the Treaty of Leferwite in The Gessa Saga: the first time was in 'The Fading Light'. This though gives it a little more history behind it. But I though after watching enough Star Wars you don't see a lot of handshaking going on: closes thing I saw was Qui-Gon's hand slap agreement with Watto in Episode One (I think Han and Lando shake hands in Episode Six, but I don't have the DVD in front of me so...) But at least in the prequels you don't see it. So I guess in that tradition of other sci-fi stories that nothing is done by hand shaking, I just continued it along with a unique context applied to it.

The Treaty of Leferwite: it is definitely no Drade's Bargain.

REALLY, I DID NOT KNOW!!!!!!!! - In that fine tradition of writing that Juna was the youngest Nubian Queen six months before Episode Two comes out and Padme says 'I wasn't the youngest Queen ever elected', I was suddenly struck curious to do a Google search on the made-up-word Fogu-plang (I just made it up, really!).

I get a hit from cancer-causing website Wikipedia for 'Fugu Plan'. IRONICALLY, it was a colonization plan!

I swear, I didn't know......

More explanation later, but now the post...

------------------------------------------------------

A few days would pass and Coaxial had one of his parties over the key shock ball game of the year, and his invited were again an odd sort no one would ever believe would dare be in the same room. Coaxial was careful though in his picking and choosing of who was invited; the Malastare crisis had escalated at an unofficial formal, not one of Coaxial?s doing, featuring the exchanging of words and eventually the throwing of fists over dip. Because of such fractional tension that always existed in the Senate such parties were taboo, but in the ten years he has had them Coaxial had never had a problem.

The party was well attended by Coaxial?s guest, who most of them one at a time were separated from the rest one by one by Coaxial. Coaxial would take a guest somewhere else in his apartment and offer them a chair on his committee. Everyone he had talked to, three of them as the shock ball game and party continued on, had said yes. There was one more person to ask, and it was a long shot at that.

The last person, Onidas Grim, was the easiest to pry away; others had minor security details or female companionship that would not let them go away so easily. Grim was, again, alone when he arrived, spoke some, mingled only a little, and enjoyed what was offered sparingly. It was like all the other times Grim had attended Coaxial?s parties, only this time Grim really did not appear to be at least enjoying the company.

No sooner had both men went out on the patio deck overlooking the Pandonenium District of Coruscant, Grim said, ?No.?

Coaxial was just closing the transparent partition when his friend spoke. He turned and asked, ?Gee, I?m not coming out here to neck you, Onidas.?

?Bly, I know what you?re going to ask,? said Grim, taking a drink from a bottle of Angstdoubter, a powerful gray-colored lager but the same chilled bottle he had picked up at the beginning of the party a few hours ago upon his arrival. ?I won?t be on anyone?s committee. Particular any committee Palpatine has created out of revenge.?

Coaxial snorted a bit of a chuckle and said, ?Well, if you say so I won?t twist your arm. But I just thought to ask, man.?

Grim shook his head and just asked, ?Why did you take it, Bly.?

?It was there,? said Coaxial matter-of-factly. ?Cripes, isn?t that why you took that space station? I mean wasn?t it?? He had thought Grim?s negative was not going to bother him, but something just snapped. He just suddenly felt Grim was a little too righteous all the sudden. ?The perfect political opportunity presented itself, you took that station back from the Hutts at a time the Rep

 

Now, now, the greater the glory, the further the fall. So get the girl while you're at it....

Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

OOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, by the end of the story........

Whoops, almost gave too much away.

Yes, yes, Merry Christmas to all! I will see you on the other side of the world wide epidemic, if I survive it, of wrapping paper glut.

Maybe......if I'm luck, just maybe.....I will reveal the Blue Field before I start 'Blue Seed'.

SNOW!

BTW - experimental web elements created by me via:

Powerbullet Presenter Freeware 1.44 (EDIT: Warning, do not download 1.44: contains Malware at .exe.)
Gif2swf v2.5 (trial version)
UnFREEz
AutoCAD 2000LT
Microsoft Picture It! 2002
Crayola color pencils

Could PROJECT DARKLIGHT return????????????????

 

What is BLUE FIELD?

What is BLUE SEED?

WHAT IS BLUE HARVEST?

 

FIRST: snow storms and power outages and puppies: OH MY!

Second: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and now Happy New Year....now get back to work!

C: The Sith Hunters webpage has a new toy for you to play with, but you must have both Flash and patience. Best to look at it AFTER YOU READ THIS POST AND THE NEXT ONE, but how can I stop you, really?

IV: Now the final prologue....

--------------------------------------------------

PROLOGUE FOUR: THE BLUE SEED

Fourteen Years before The Sith Hunters, ten years before Episode One: The Phantom Menace

To Jedi Knight Casper Knightshade everything had become so simple five hours ago. That was when Juna Rapier had given him her only child, the baby daughter she had impossibly conceived with the late Vhinphyc Jedi Master Enothchild Sarch, to be raised and trained by the Jedi Order. That simplicity lasted all of one air cab ride to the Jedi Temple, on Coruscant. Then there was a nothing, a rather welcomed neutral calm, of serene clarity without interruption between the parked cab, to the lift, to the top floor, and to the Jedi Council Chamber. Matters of difficulty and consequence soon emerged the moment he had presented Bella Naressa Rapier to the twelve members that had comprised the leadership of the Jedi Order. Lastly, but not finally, they -- Casper and baby Bella -- were told five hours ago to wait outside the Council Chamber by Grand Jedi Master Yoda. Given the climate of that ten minutes of explanation and truth telling, Casper was beginning to surmise the worse.

It was very early in the new day, practically still last night by it?s definition but the chromo on the wall above the Chamber entrance assured all that it was several hours past the beginning of a new day; Coruscant?s sun was a few hours away from making it official. It was never too late for a Jedi Council debate, but the length of one subject -- and this subject in particular -- bothered Casper, and not because he thought Bella deserved to be in a real bed asleep. As he scratched at his beard, he had the strong inclination to take Bella to his room in the Jedi Temple and force the Council to summon them both back, but make them wait.

On that thought he once again peered at the little baby in the ultra-luxury hover buggy; she was sound asleep again, seemingly unaffected by those deciding her fate. Casper had learned to feed her with formula, had changed her twice with the first time yielding somewhat comical results, and had kept her preoccupied by floating one of her plush toys around her head. He had held her more than once and for long times. She was happy the entire time, ecstatic even when the Council amused themselves by looking at her.

Unfortunately for Bella she couldn?t defend herself. Casper had thought he had done his best to speak for her, but it meant revealing some truths he had purposely neglected nearly a year and a half ago to mention: such as the reality that slept contently in the hover buggy. On tangent points it became more about Casper than it did about the fate of the baby, and Casper defended himself the best he could, telling the Council he had felt it was none of their business that a Jedi Master who had left the Jedi Order for good had married and had fathered a girl. He was reminded that once Casper had brought the girl before them, then business indeed for the Jedi it had become. It had dawned on Casper, for the first time, that the Council had known much more than he had, and had known that knowledge for a very, very long time. It upset Casper and he matched their passive explanations and admonishing with direct points of the here and now facts: here was Bella, she has the power of the Force, and she was given to him in order for her to become a Jedi. Mace Windu did not like his tone; Casper told him brutally that he did not give a poo.

The existence of Bella alone should had been enough for the Jedi Council to decide right then right there, and after Casper had explained himself and h

 

Oh! Here we go indeed...

5 hours?! No wonder the Council is so quick to reject young Skywalker, if the experiences of Bella proves to be less than stellar.

 

Young Harry Potter didn't get his Hogwarts Invite either the first time around....or the next thousand of them.

Originally, this debate part was over two days, then a day, and up until Christmas 2008 nine to ten hours. But in the end, with the power outage giving me time to think about it, I shrank it down to five hours and transformed the Bella confirmation into something more sensational. I again wanted to show that everyone on the Jedi Council is an individual, and as much as they all follow and obey the Code they're going to have their own free will interpretation of it.

It becomes a flash point subject given what the Jedi Council knows (which Casper realizes now it's more than what he knows, and that's AFTER he was on the front lines of destiny). Of course he feels that's unfair to Bella who had done nothing, but it's the Council's concerns elsewhere in 'relation' to her that warrant their hesitation.

It's a boiler because after Nue Cadabel created and ran the P.L.C. after the Gheruit Family Tragedy, the Council put great faith in the P.L.C. to chose Potentials and thus removed themselves entirely from the process. But now they're interjecting for the first time in decades. It's understandable they would when it was seventeen-year-old Juna Rapier, and later nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker, trying to become Jedi, however its beyond the view of others looking in that a six-month-old baby, perfect for Jedi Initiate, would cause the Council to act so aggressively.

Reading some other background materials over the years, it's safe to say Juna in 'The Fading Light' wasn't the first to really try the end run around the Jedi Code, and only a few fingers before her and one finger after her (Anakin) had succeeded. Those debates, on the other hand, were very far apart. In the Gessa Saga, I wanted to show how this Jedi Council was really put to the test.

In those thirty-five years of the Gessa Saga, we've seen:

-Yoda step down from the Council to recruit and train Casper, which that in itself is extraordinary.
-Yoda return to the Council eight years later, replacing his former apprentice Qualeggoes who he had appointed to lead the Council.
-Debate whether or not Yoda believed the Age of Darkness had truly begun, and whether Juna was the Dark Hope that caused it.
-Chose to fight the Vhinech, and then with major victory try and shield the surrendered from persecution, even from the very Republic they swore to obey as well as protect.
-Allow an examination of Juna, which prompted Qualeggoes to not only step down from the Council but become one of the Lost Jedi (at that time, he made it The Lost Eighteen.).
-Question and debate the Juna topic long after she left.
-Deal with the aftermath of Qualeggoes trying to murder Juna over something he had firmly told them he did not believe to be true, but his actions proved others.
-Also deal within the Order the fact that Enothchild had physically fought his peer when neither one had succumbed to the dark side.
-And the aftermath of Enothchild not cooperating with the Senate about the whereabouts of the Vhinech the Senate had so willingly sold out.
-And eventually Enothchild leaving the Jedi Order to become the Lost Nineteen.
-Naressa Rapier running around loose as a dark entity.
-The Shut Down.
-This moment in the Gessa Saga.
-Which all of the previous plays into Episode One...
-And the departure of Count Dooku around Episode One to make it the Lost Twenty: in Gessa Saga lore, never had so many Lost Jedi leave so close together in terms of years: for Qualeggoes and Enothchild they were only months apart.

There's more outside the Gessa Saga lore but too many to list, but it gives one this idea that the Council has to (((()))) get their hands around the Jedi Order and squeeze tight. I would like to think this would happen if there was no Age of Darkness, but with what they know they're behaving like all rationale thinking beings would do if they knew their sunset was upon the horizon. But even the wisest have small hands.

MORE SOON.

-------------

BTW - I'm kinda stu

 

Again, Happy New Year, and Loyal Lurkers feel free to de-lurk!

00000000000000

The registration of a new Initiate level Jedi had to wait until the next day; the debate had ran long, and it was not prudent to awaken the child and someone at the Padawan Learning and Development Center in order to proceed. Patience was a Jedi virtue after all, and it did give Casper time to think about many things that were his responsibility now. The Jedi Council had bestowed upon him the power and the burden of parenthood; from this point forward, Casper Knightshade was a father and figuratively speaking his soon-to-be daughter had just been born. To be fair to the truth that all knew, the young man really had no experience with babies whatsoever: which Jedi really did, save those in the P.L.C.?

Casper was quickly reminded of his responsibilities when Bella finally cried for the first time. The noise was loud and far more effective than a warship klaxon. His blue eyes opened wider upon a mysterious, pungent aroma reaching his Human nose, awakening him -- but not by any means refreshing him. Bella?s hover buggy was her bed, a good bed at that and no further than a foot away from Casper?s bed, but another inhale made him wish the buggy and child were on the other side of the galaxy.

?Oh Force,? said Casper, breathing more through his mouth, the smell making him forget he could control his senses with the before mentioned power. ?That can?t be you.?

She disagreed with him with an impossibly -- to Casper anyways -- loud wail; a commandment delivered with such emotion it should surely cripple the strongest of wills. What was learned by parents in the beginning and forgotten by children at the end of their primitive years was that babies won every ?debate?, every ?negotiation?, and every ?battle?: all the stated metaphors used to describe how a baby?s demands were met. Only the most vile, despicable, and quite frankly cowardly ?person? would not submit to the twenty-one inch, eighteen pound ?dictator? that demanded a clean crevice. The diaper changes that were hours ago were at the very least simple affairs, only made difficult by Casper?s lack of changing experience, featuring only urine. Obviously this time the waste material had changed.

?Oh, it is you,? mumbled Casper, standing over the baby. He pulled back her little blanket and picked her up. The smell just got stronger the closer he got. He would have normally cradled her in one hand in order to use the other hand to activate the hover buggy?s multifunction features, but this time he used the Force to apply pressure to the proper switch.

The hover buggy with the three small, discreet Rapier Technology logos -- the letters R and T linked together within a common cog -- began to show its engineered capabilities, lowering itself to the ground and transforming mechanically into a changing table. The smell of Bella?s poopy diaper was almost replaced by the smell of antibacterial disinfectants that had covered the table. A tray of soft cloth diapers emerged from the front of the buggy. Cleaning wipes appeared through a shoot hole next to where the bassinet portion of the buggy once was. The other side had a chute marked with the universal sign for hazardous materials; the symbol could be seen once the chute achieved its opening angle. A holographic image projected upon the bedding and asked Casper politely if he would like a tutorial on changing the baby. Impressed the first time but no longer amused Casper nonchalantly waved his hand through the holographic field, through the NO, and the image went away.

?You do think of everything Lady Angelleia,? said Casper, referring to Juna by her Royal Title. Just as that name hung in his mind he was caught by surprise by a sudden SEESH sound from around the edges of the buggy?s bed area and vaporizing white clouds. A second later Bella slowly stopped crying; her little, teary head turned about, her little brown eyes darting here and there, her tiny nose wiggling -- female Vhinphycs had a strong sense of smell. Casper smelled nothing, but he n

 

Wow. Where's the nearest RT depot? That buggy is priceless!

 

LOL! You would think they would had CADForward baby buggies by now.

But no: it's all about 'easy to stow'.

Someday I'll work on the Baby Buggy Mark One....

---------------------------------------

In no time in a private chamber Casper and Bella were shown to, poor Onso-Uri entered: poor only because he was entering his third year of a ten year term as head of the Padawan Learning and Development Center, and poor because Nue Cadabel?s experience which Onso-Uri could draw on was no longer accessible. The Angowgian -- humanoid save for two necks that supported one flat octagon shaped head and his light purple skin -- was tired from year?s worth of effort the likes of him had to put in every day. Every baby, every Initiate, was unique, different, and far removed from similar and Onso-Uri had to keep pace with those changes. It was also Onso-Uri?s primary duty to respond to applications for Jedi Training, in which there were thousands of applications every year and where only a dozen or more were legitimate despite, or perhaps thanks to the overzealous parents in spite of, the proper medical testing at birth. There were aides, older Jedi too old to patrol and uninterested in training anymore Padawans, and Healers, but their purposes were hard linked to the Temple. Nue Cadabel seamlessly pulled off this duty as an old, slow moving Ithorian with an ornery disposition long before he created the P.L.C.: poor Onso-Uri missed Nue very dearly.

?Jedi Knightshade,? said the not-much-older Jedi Knight, both bowing to each other in respect. ?I have received a memo from the Jedi Council about you coming, and this child is to be your official daughter; a very unique situation to be sure.?

?Rare, but not unique,? responded Casper politely.

?I do mean the situation altogether,? reconfigured Onso-Uri. ?I know Knight Cadabel would have been extremely upset with the Council interfering in the Initiate process he was allowed to create. However, as explained to you and explained in the memorandum, this is a rather special circumstance.?

Onso-Uri pulled out a large, official Republic-looking data pad and handed it to Casper. ?Unfortunately you have the tragic circumstance of having legal joint custody of this child, which by law means you must file a custodial claimant as a separate entity. Tragic for it is four hundred pages long.?

Casper was not one to forgo procedure and law, and he enjoyed reading as much as he enjoyed using the Force. The paperwork in this case on the other hand caused him to make a face. ?Well?.being a part of the Jedi Order would?would it not constitute me as part of a whole entity??

?No,? said Onso-Uri rather quickly. ?You are her adopting father, which requires a foster-ship period which the Jedi Order as a joint and proven foster parent in itself must survey. You do not have over ten thousands years and hundreds of generations of proven history as the Jedi Order entity has. Or the single click option as provided by law.?

?Terrific,? said Casper glumly, looking at page one of the adoption-foster parent form. He had remembered the stories Dizzy and Muriel Arnes had told him about their adoption quest. They never told him about the horrors of the paperwork. He had to wonder if Muriel, trained as an attorney as well as an efficient killer, knew the short cuts. He had wished he could contact the Arnes?, but that would be a violation of the Council?s laid conditions for him and for Bella.

?Oh don?t worry: six or eight hours will pass and you?ll be done in no time,? offered Onso-Uri gleefully. ?In the mean time, as you read and sign and initial and validate, you can answer my questions about this little baby here.? He reached in the buggy, and in no time he sat Bella on the exam table. He took care to position her just right, using an imbedded targeting grid on table. A few key strokes on the counsel near by, and Onso-Uri was ready. ?Do you have her origin information??

Still rather new to the experience, it took Casper a moment to think. Then he remembered that the hover buggy had a series of data cards

 

TBC... mini-cliff-hanger.

And yes, turn around because the good Jedi Master is going to dress up as a monster to give you a scare. *silliness*

Baby!

 

LOL!

Didn't mean to leave you hanging one handed on the cliff.

Context for the next post can be had at TSH website.

BTW - The new row of Blue Example will be updated soon. More familiar names will be added from the Gessa Saga to SW canon. Stay tuned.

---------------------------------------

The terminal itself was one of the most important items in all the Jedi Order. The computer system was dedicated to one sole purpose, it was not networked with any other system, and it had its own computer core that was not part of the Jedi Temple Core Matrix. No other computer could access the core or the information in it, and only one Jedi had access to it; the Senate and the current Supreme Chancellor, was forbidden to have such knowledge; it was illegal for them to have the knowledge, hard written into the Republic?s Constitution. Although it could be said that since Bella Rapier?s acceptance into the Jedi Order was Council approved, and thus they would know who she was, the procedure still had to be done to keep the information from reaching the unsavory, from those who could do harm to the family of a Jedi.

That lone Jedi with the codes, Onso-Uri, was asked to submit the four private codes given to him by the four previous Supreme Chancellors of the Republic; these codes were unique to each Chancellor, codes thought up specifically for this procedure which none of the four Chancellors knew the other?s codes, and it was not a common code they could use elsewhere. The codes remained even with the change in P.L.C. leadership, but they changed when the latest Chancellor steps down from his seat. Although those like Onso-Uri had ways to transfer the knowledge of the codes if he were to suddenly die or suffer some fate worse than death, the protocols were in place to prevent the codes from being discovered. All four codes were needed to gain any access to the dedicated core; lack one code, or get any of the codes wrong, and the core physically melted to slag through its dedicated power plant overheating the system.

Once the codes were entered, the terminal unlocked and had split into two sides separated by a blue digital partition: the program was entitled Blue Field. The left side was entitled Blue Seed, where the origins of the new Initiate were entered. On the right side the screen was entitled Blue Harvest, where Bella?s new identity would be crafted. Once done, the Blue Harvest file would be transferred physically into the Jedi Main Data Base and become the official service record of the new Jedi via a destructible punch card.

Onso-Uri said, ?Okay, you can turn around and come here.? Casper and Bella came forward and join the Jedi at his side. ?Forgive me, but security procedures trump all here. And this computer is very old so this will take time to complete.?

?I understand,? said Casper with a nod. As someone interested in computers he eyed the terminal and realized he didn?t know what kind it was. It was indeed old, complete with a physical keyboard, but it resembled no elder terminal he was aware of, nor did it appear to match any home built Jedi terminal found in the Temple. It was perhaps far, far older than any Jedi in the room; far older than the P.L.C.?s existence for that matter.

Before Onso-Uri began to enter Bella?s origin information he had memorized from the DAUGHTER disk in the Blue Seed side of the screen, Casper said, ?There will be a change in her origin information from here on, Onso-Uri.?

?I?m sorry??

?The Council had mandated it. Her origin file here will be the same as her Jedi file. I thought they had told you.?

?As I understand it, per the Council, you are to provide a new, partially fictional origin file. But I thought that was for her Blue Harvest file.? When Casper shook his head no, Onso-Uri doubtfully and confusing accepted what Casper said. He sighed and asked, ?Very well, both Seed and Harvest will be the same. What is her name then??

Casper smiled just a little thinking about it before he

 

(2nd time's the charm)

Nice. Somehow, someway, that scene's going to come back to haunt both of them.

And we wait....

 

Wait no longer!

----------------------

One Week After The End of Episode One: The Phantom Menace; Five Years Before The Sith Hunters

Very few strong words could really describe the events that occurred just shortly after the Battle of Naboo. The long, public view was centralized on only one fact alone: the Trade Federation was not in the right when it had invaded Naboo, took its citizenry hostage, and attempted to force Queen Amidala to legalize a criminal act by signing a treaty. The finer details were lost to many due to summary expediency. Those same details however were not lost on responsible individuals and certain organized groups with empowered authority. Each detail on its own gained a pair of metaphoric eyes: the Sith detail had the Jedi Order?s undivided attention.

Even as the details were not fully understood ? even now -- the Jedi Council went into immediate action shortly after Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi left for Naboo. There was no question in their mind that a confrontation with the dark side creature was inevitable if the creature indeed sided with the Trade Federation. It filled their hearts with great sadness that, once again, they had figuratively asked Jedi to risk their lives to uncover a disturbing, deadly truth. The Jedi Council, wise above all in the Order of the Jedi and fully understood and practiced the Jedi Code, were not without a conscious. All they could do once they had confirmed that indeed the creature that had killed Qui-Gon was as real as a Sith Lord one could get was to act.

To Sablene Nee she decided that she had inherited the leadership of the Padawan Learning Center at a very troubling time. The very elderly Human had spent some time in the P.L.C. during the tenures of founder Nue Cadabel, but before and in between her tenures as an aide she had fought for justice and trained six Padawans to Knighthood. Like every Jedi her career was tough, and like some Jedi she craved a quiet, peaceful end, but like many Jedi she did not want it to end in the Philosopher?s Guild. She figured she could give the Jedi Order a few more years of service in some way and returned to the P.L.C. Onso-Uri?s death after a long battle against a mysterious illness left a void for Sablene to fill.

The news of the return of the Sith doubled the priorities within the P.L.C., increasing Sablene?s all ready backed up, busy work load. In her office late in the Coruscant evening she had been sorting through the Jedi Archives to determine if the late Sith Lord had ever been tested by the Jedi Order. Blood and genetics had been eliminated; however those were only minor facets to the P.L.C. investigative process. Sablene had no name to work with, or an age to back trace to a relative birth date, but the Sith Lord was a Zabrak from the planet Iridonia; a few Jedi came from Iridonia, some still alive and were being tracked down to see if they had encountered the deadly, disturbingly-tattooed male creature some time in their past, before his descent into darkness.

Sablene was reviewing Nue Cadabel?s old notes on his visits to Iridonia when three beings in Jedi robes entered her office unannounced. Overworked, tired and a little on nerves because of the whole Sith problem, she snapped, ?Who dares!? She then sighed and smiled; she saw familiar faces. ?Forgive me. It has been a rough??

Sablene looked at the chromo and mused, ?Well, it?s been a rough thirty hours for me.?

One of the Jedi smiled at her and said, ?Not bad for a ninety-five year old Human.?

?Ninety-two,? corrected Sablene. ?Would it be sarcastic for me to say I?m overdoing this??

?No laughing matter the Sith threat is,? said the second Jedi.

?Oh, I don?t know,? mused the first Jedi, ?I think our red and black friend in the morgue proved the Sith can?t do the splits.?

The third Jedi only sighed and said to Sablene, ?Master Nee, we?re here on very important business. It is about our Sith problem.?

Paying more attention to the most serious one of the three in her opinion, Sablene said, ?I?m still looki