The trio of Jedi scaled and bounded their way upwards from tree to tree for hours. Ayin remembered that when he was younger, this part of the exercise left him exhausted; now, Ayin had enough endurance to climb from the forest's fourth level to the top without his breathing becoming sporadic. He looked back at Jacen, who followed him persistently. At least Ayin's apprentice didn't struggle in the same areas that Ayin had in his youth.
"Ah!" Ayin exhaled with glee as he broke through the forest's canopy into the brilliant sunlight. He stood on top of the thatched walkway built on top of the trees by the wookies. Ayin stretched his back and extended his arms upwards; his body made several fresh popping sounds.
"So good to be out of there... I'll remember this place more fondly after I've left it."
As he spoke, Majernik and Jacen broke through the treetops as well, landing nearby. "We're arrived, Master," the kid said. But Ayin did not acknowledge them; he busily fiddled with the device that controlled his ship remotely.
"Hrm. These walkways are strong, but the wookies didn't build them to uphold starfighters like they did in their actual cities," Ayin commented to himself as he eyed the device. "Guess we'll have to board the crafts while they hover overhead." With a press of a button, Ayin summoned his ship, inputting the coordinates where he estimated they were. When he finished, Ayin pocketed the device and laid down on the ground to wait for the ship's arrival. Without Ayin having to say anything, Majernik followed suit and did the same with the device controlling his gray-coated ship.
"Well, I declare this exercise a success," Ayin announced, addressing no one in particular. He crossed one leg over the other as he lay on his back, and after gazing at the piercing cerulean skies overhead, he shut his eyes to enjoy some relaxation. Thankfully, his old master and his apprentice left Ayin alone, not even speaking to him. In no time at all, the Jedi master slipped into a light, peaceful sleep.
While he slept, Ayin felt the twinges of a presence flow through his body. Images pierced through the fog that cloaked Ayin's resting mind; a figure, tall and foreboding, stood among the shadows. The silhouette burned against the shrouds that surrounded it, as flames consumed the darkness in a majestic and powerful plume of fire.
Ayin's view panned out, and his mind's lens focused on the amber sky. The air above him burned crimson as flames swathed above the planet. Out of the fire, a face emerged: Indigo eyes, firm jowl, and hair that glowed golden from the fire. The face's mouth curled into an amused grin.
The sky burned away until nothing remained but darkness, and the grinning face. Then the darkness became matter, and formed what appeared to Ayin as the corridors of the Coruscant Jedi Temple. The silhouette stood isolated, surrounded by dozens of Jedi whose blue and green lightsabers sparked, tips pointed at the figure. A silver rod lit from the figure's hand. The Jedi rushed at him in unison, each one struck down by a single blow. They screamed as the silver blade pierced their chests, severed their hands and cut through their faces. The figure now stood alone, surrounded by corpses. The destructive force of his lightsaber slithered back into its cylinder handle.
Ayin suddenly found himself standing in the room, facing the figure. The figure's chuckles echoed in the enclosed space of the temple, reverberating into a chorus of taunts. The figure extended his hand and a sunburst-colored orb conjured in his hand, which floated towards Ayin. When the orb reached halfway between the two, it erupted into a wall of flame. The flames passed through Ayin, searing through his heart and head and chest. The flames grew until they consumed the Jedi Temple, and then the entire planet. The sky burned again.
When Ayin opened his eyes, he found Majernik standing over him. The flames in the sky behind his old master grew white hot, then fizzled out into clouds in a sea of blue. Ayin blinked.
"That... was weird..." he said.
"What was?" Majernik inquired.
Ayin sat up. "There was this figure who burned down the Jedi Temple, slaying all who opposed him."
"A dream? Pay it no mind."
"Yeah. Except that the images I saw lasted for a few moments after I awoke," Ayin explained. "Maybe it was some kind of vision. I do feel... some sort of familiar presence now. I just can't pinpoint where that aura comes from, or who it is."
The elderly Jedi folded his arms and nodded. "I see. Perhaps you are right. Dreams are much shadier and less reliable than visions; visions are sometimes gifts from the Force to give a Jedi a hint of events to come. Whether it is a dream or vision, I cannot say. Regardless, you should inform the council of this. They may not act on your testimony, but their wisdom will certainly help to shed some light on the truth."
Ayin sighed. "Yeah, I figured you would say something like that. I doubt they'll listen... 'Young upstart is forging visions to manipulate us' and jazz like that. I can hear Bajakian's beard flap with his lips even now."
"You two still bicker?" Majernik asked. "I thought you had put your argumentativeness behind you when you became a Knight. And now, you and he share seats on the council?"
"Yeah, well you're one to talk. You used to share his views, especially about me," Ayin quipped. "It's not like I want to miff him off. He just won't let me reconcile with him, or introduce my ideas without accusing me of blasphemy. Old fart has something against me personally."
"Mm. Perhaps I should not have abdicated my post as council member to pursue the advancement of the Jedi Archives database. I could have acted as diplomat between you both," Majernik said. "Still, you will have to adapt to Bajakian's demanding nature if you want to win the trust of the rest of the council, even if he is too hasty to misjudge you."
"Tch. Somebody knows the art of understatement."
Just then, the whooshing sound of Ayin's black starfighter reached the Jedis' ears. The craft's quiet engines made hardly as much as a whirr; Ayin could just barely hear the sound of the air creating friction with the craft's exterior. His fighter came to a stop thirty feet above the walkway Ayin sat upon. After arching his head up to see his craft hovering there for him, Ayin stood, brushed off his jacket with his hands, and then saluted his old master.
"Well, here goes. After I talk to the council, I'm heading to Coruscant - alone. You take Jacen to the Yavin temple until we find out if my vision comes true or not, or until I have a better idea. Enjoy the bond-making."
With a massive leap, Ayin rocketed through the air using the Force to spring him up to his starfighter. The Jedi landed with both feet in unison on the fighter's left wing; Ayin crunched down and slid into the cockpit after consulting his fighter's remote device.
Once inside, Ayin pressed a square-shaped button on the dashboard to execute the automatic atmosphere-penetration routine. The ship lurched forward as the twin rear thrusters spewed flame. It then pointed skyward, and within minutes, Ayin saw that the sky around him had changed from a deep cerulean to a pale azure. The stars flashed at him in the distance.
Ayin activated his ship's communicator, and patched its frequency through to the droid that sat in front of Master Lorac's seat. Ayin's Mark-Grade astromech droid beeped several times while establishing a communication link. Within moments, visual of the council chambers appeared on the ship's navigational screen. The calm, purposeful voice of Lorac Fiien met his ears; Fiien's ocean eyes fixated on Ayin's own.
"Master Tsade, what is it?"
"The 'Hunt' exercise with my new apprentice went swimmingly. I'm returning to Coruscant at the moment."
"Is young Jacen not with you?"
"No," Ayin replied, "he's with Master Majernik, en route to Yavin. I didn't want to put him in any kind of danger."
"Danger, Tsade?" Ayin could hardly prevent himself from squinting his eyes upon seeing Tso Bajakian's veiny cranial cone come into view. "It is deplorable for you to abandon your apprentice already! He would have been better off at the moisture evaporators as I suggested!"
"Can it, conehead," Ayin snapped, "I'm not in the mood to deal with your hot flashes right now. Oh, I'm sorry, you're probably too old to understand that comment."
Bajakian's head looked ready to spew steam from his ears at any moment.
"Why, of all the despicable upstarts...!"
"Ahem." Fiien's interjection indicated that he did not have the patience for Ayin and Bajakian's petty disputes. "Master Bajakian and I were just meeting alone to discuss his views on the future of Jacen's training. I assume you have a good reason for believing he would be in danger if he were returning to Coruscant with you?"
Ayin released his annoyance with Baja and nodded. "I believe I have had a vision. It depicts a violent struggle within the Coruscant Temple walls. Countless Jedi fell before the power of a single opponent with a silver lightsaber. The whole planet appeared to burn away to cinders."
Bajakian snorted, his large, flat nostrils flaring. "Already you think you can manipulate the decisions of this council with false tales of visions no one else has shared? The Sith's power died out seven years ago at the fall of Siphon. They could not possibly mount a force powerful enough to challenge the Jedi Order and the Republic defenses of Coruscant."
"You forget," Ayin said, "that the Sith have been known to crop up again quickly, like weeds, as Siphon and his followers did. Don't underestimate them. Anyways, I don't care what you think; I'm interested in what the wise council leader has to say."
Fiien remained silent for several moments longer, Bajakian's fuming puffs of air blowing in the background as he thought. He delivered his reply in the same rational tone he always spoke in.
"Your disagreement points to a greater truth: underestimating the power of the Dark Side is costly and foolish. At the same time, I find it difficult to believe that such a powerful figure could escape our notice. Surely, several members of the council would have sensed his presence by now.
"But, assuming he has evaded our watchful eye, it would take an army equal in size to that of the Imperial Armada from the Galactic Civil War to execute a successful invasion of Coruscant. I see no need for alarm. Still, your thoughtfulness for your apprentice is admirable."
Ayin exhaled loud enough for Bajakian and Fiien to hear his discontentment. "I figured as much. Well, fine then. No one can say I didn't try to warn you. I understand if you don't think a single vision is enough evidence to abandon the temple, but... at least bolster it's defenses and ready some transports, or something."
"We will keep your suggestion in mind," Lorac told him.
"Yeah. You do that." Ayin cut the transmission and and planted his forehead against the palm of his hand.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid. Like a few guards are going to do anything against that Sith Lord I envisioned." Ayin tapped his foot as he considered that his return to Coruscant could mean exiting hyperspace right in front of the guns of an enemy fleet. He then shrugged.
"Maybe I'll get lucky and will be completely wrong. Wouldn't that just make my day."
With that, Ayin flipped the switch to power his ship's hyperdrive engine. In a few seconds, Ayin Tsade soared through space with countless streams of light shooting past him as streams of lines.
[Ayin heads to Coruscant in the thread, "A First Encounter."
www.knightsandlords.proboards56.com/index.cgi?board=temple&action=display&thread=55]
