Before - Legends From the Private Journals of the Jedi Exile, with Commentary by Master Atris (2012 diary challenge)

Timeframe: Mandalorian Wars (3964-3961? BBY)
Characters: Jedi Exile, Atris, Revan, others
Summary: After the war, young Padawan Bastila Shan reads through the archives, stumbling upon an account of the war that intrigues her and feeds her increasing fascination with Lord Revan and his history.
Notes: for the 2012 diary challenge


Time of archive access: 3 months after the Battle of Malachor V, 23:17 Galactic Standard Time
User: Padawan Bastila Shan

[b]RESTRICTED FILE:

Private Journal of [NAME REDACTED][/b]

Historian?s Note: This Jedi has been placed on the current list of Dangerous Rogue Jedi, and thus all information about, and especially authored by, this exile is restricted. These selected entries have been made available to Jedi of lower rank, to show the follies of the path this betrayer chose.
--Jedi Master Atris, Historian and Chief Archivist

[b]Entry XXX7[/b]

My time with the crusaders has been good so far. I never knew how freeing it could be to stand shoulder to shoulder with brothers and sisters who were so united by their cause that they would die for it, and each other. That is where we are, what we are: the front line, the guardians, the soldiers, the knights of the republic. No matter what the cost, we will not let it fall.

Many Jedi who I am close to do not share my views. I have not seen Mater Sunrider for some time now. Master Kavar is no longer the man he was; ten years ago, he was where we are now, but Vrook and the rest of the Council has sucked him in. My own master wanders far from known space. And Atris? well. She was furious. I think she rose too quickly to her high position on the council, and has become entangled and made cynical by Vrook and his naysayers, and now she parrots a party line abut serenity and non-involvement while millions die. Her rivalry with the Revanchist has not helped the situation either. It?s like a game to him, toying with her emotions, collapsing her oh-so-fine control of her temper. With all that he has to deal with, I?m glad he?s able to find humor somewhere. However, if he could choose someone else to pick on, it would make my life a lot easier. While I do not regret answering the Revanchist?s call, I fear that my decision could cost me my relationship with Atris. She?s been like a big sister to me, and I don?t want to lose that.>

 

I am excited by this one. I love how you write the Exile, and this framed by Atris's comments, viewing it through Bastila's eyes is really interesting. I look forward to seeing where you go with this.

Put me on your PM list if you please.

 

Looking forward to this; I'm a big fan of Atris and I'll be very interested to see how you write her! Add me to the PM List if there is one, if you don't mind

 

Interesting begin and wanting to see more of that period

 

Entry XXX3

Finally, a mission! I can?t wait. We haven?t seen a lot of action as our numbers are still too few to take the Mandalorians head on, and official support is slow in coming. We?ve been forced to do scouting and harassment missions, like the one I?m about to go on. Me! The Revanchist chose me! I hope I don?t let him down. I mean, I?m still a kid compared to most of us, my 18th name-day was only a month ago. I hope I don?t screw this up. Shouldn?t be too hard, though. All I have to do is head to some backwater planet called Serocco and scout it out for use as a potential base. The Navy already has people there, so once we move in it?ll be an impregnable fortress.

Historian?s Note-
As you can see from her unfettered excitement and enthusiasm, the exile was very immature at this time, and though she would soon learn the horrors of war she remained a fool to the end. Not only that, but note her naïveté and arrogance in thinking that she and her rebel friends could succeed beyond even the capabilities of the Republic?s best professionals. Dear reader, know that this is not the least of this traitor?s offenses, and to follow her example is a quick path to the Dark Side, and to desolation of all around you, as the exile would soon find.

 

the eagerness of youth and the grumpy historian

Love this update

 

Hah, this is great. Atris' comments remind me of the Inquisitor in the Ciaphas Cain series.

Can't wait to read more

 

excellent work tjace.
I like the retrospective historians note fetted [bobba ] with the exurberance of youth.

 

Entry XXX4


The Republic military has been very conducive so far to my mission. Admiral Karath isn?t that big a fan of the Council (although I can?t say I am either), but he was glad to have a Jedi who actually is part of the fight show up, even though I?m not going on his ships to be in a gunnery crew or anything. It?s not like I?m Nomi Sunrider, either, swatting ships out of the sky with battle meditation. He was all for rooting out any Mandalorian spies, and has given me every assistance, most importantly in preserving my secrecy. I hope I said that right, still haven?t gotten the hang of the lingo used for these reports. Anyway, the good admiral sent me on my way down to the planet with a Lieutenant Onasi, and I got to work observing the army base that was being set up. The prefab buildings were contrasted against the city of the native species, the Stereb, which seemed to be a primitive settlement composed mostly of clay structures, although they did have some stone pyramids of decent size. As they were the only distinctive thing around, I made sure to go check them out (after giving the camp a once-over).

It is said that Jedi robes are meant to represent our humility and how we relate to the common being. A reminder, that we are just people, after all, and not divine beings or anything like that. I?m no expert on the symbolism of the thing, all that that stuff says to me is this: STEALTH MODE. Look normal, act normal, and no one knows you?re a Jedi (I know, this is probably common knowledge. It?s my first mission, give me a break). No one noticed or cared when a poor-looking human went over to the even poorer native settlement.

The Sterebs are large and muscular humanoids with reddish skin. They don?t seem to like speaking to us outsiders much, and don?t really mind us offworlders walking around. I got bored with the mud huts pretty quickly, but the pyramids seemed pretty interesting, so I went off and explored them for the whole afternoon (it beat walking around in the constant downpour that is the weather on Serocco). As I said, the Sterebs don?t mind us walking around and looking, as long as we don?t cause a commotion. Having heard of similar pyramids on other worlds, I looked for any kind of secret passageways or rooms. Who knew, maybe I could have a Revanchist comm center in one of these pyramids?

My search paid off. There was a recently disturbed portion of the wall, and upon examination I found a secret door behind it. Opening it, I descended a flight of ancient stone steps, and came into a tunnel beneath the pyramid. I had heard that the Sterebs had a tunnel system under each city from Lt. Onasi, but I had no idea that there would be any of this grandeur. I pulled out my glowrod and walked down the tunnel, taking in the ancient glyphs and drawings. I reached a convergence of several tunnels, and held my glowrod up to see the labels for each, although I couldn?t understand them. And that was when I saw it, freshly carved into the doorframe. A mythosaur.



Historian?s Note-
What childishness. No, a child could write better than that. Even as a rogue Jedi, she could not stick to her mission, and went off to go play at the first opportunity. Her mind has never been on where she was, what she was doing. All her life, she has looked to the stars, only now that she reached them, she is still not satisfied. I bitterly regret the day that Master Sunrider found her. It would have been better if she had let that dark Jedi kill her.

 

A mythosaur
Sounds ominous

 

Entry XXX5


Upon seeing the sign of the mythosaur, my hand crept to my lightsaber. Mythosaurs were a legendary elephantine creature that were hunted to extinction long ago, and the graveyards littered with their skulls were equally legendary. Hokey myths and legends didn?t usually concern me, but this one was particularly relevant to me, and to all the Republic forces. You see, the skull of a mythosaur is the ancient symbol of the Mandalorians.

I pulled out my commlink and tried to raise the garrison up above. No such luck. The tons of stone separating us blocked my signal. I was on my own.

I suddenly heard muffled voices from up ahead, so I moved down the corridor that was marked by the sign, trying my hardest to remain quiet. However, stealth was never my strong suit. I made my way around twists and turns, until the voices became distinct. I could not understand what they said, but I recognized from the holovids the language of the Mandalorian savages. Suddenly they switched to common, and my heart caught in my throat as I heard them talking on what must have been a powerful holocomm to reach out from this underground lair.

?Transmission confirmed. What are your orders, Mandalore??

?Maintain transmission of coordinates. If the Republic decides to fight with honor for once, we will need to use your outpost as a foothold and communication station for that part of the planet. But I do not expect them to fight with honor. They never have understood it, institutionally, and discourage it in those who display it. If they act as I expect, then I will treat them as they deserve. It is well that you chose your base so deep underground, for I would not want you killed needlessly when we our missiles hit.?

I was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

?Missiles, Mandalore?? the commando asked.

?Nuclear missiles. This planet will show the Republic just how its lack of honor will be treated for the rest of the war. They shall be purged by all-consuming fire.?

I don?t recall making a sound, but I must have. How could I not? The Mandalore intended to kill every being on the planet, even the innocent, the women, and the children. I must have made a sound (I told you I?m bad at stealth), for the other commando became aware of me.

?Come on out, you little rat! We don?t take kindly to spies.?

I mastered my shock, which was subsumed by a growing cold rage. I stepped out of hiding. ?Well, I don?t take kindly to war criminals.? I activated my lightsaber, and its viridian glow filled the room.

The commandos were unsettled to see a Jedi Knight before them. It?s no wonder they were surprised, as most of us were cowering back in our temples and enclaves. The figure in the holo was not as easily impressed, however. ?Do not worry, men,? he said calmly. ?We have heard no word of their council budging from its idiotic, pacifistic stance, so she must be one of the renegades we?ve been hearing about. Furthermore, you must be going blind if you cannot see her padawan braid. Kill her.?

To be continued...