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Chapter 1

He saw two dark and cloudy figures in a windowed room. One was kneeling in front of the other and he couldn't see much of him. The standing one was facing him and he could just barely make out the lower half of a horribly scarred face underneath the black hood. An inhuman voice, unlike anything he had ever heard before, came from the standing figure. However, he couldn't really make out what was being said. It seemed garbled and muffled. The exception was one word, which he could hear very clearly. That word was "Sith." Then, without warning, the source of the voice faced him and two red glowing eyes could be seen from under his hood. "Kill the Jedi!" The kneeling figure stood up and began to approach him, but he couldn't move. All he could do was stand and face his impending doom. He expected to see the typical red blade of a sith lightsaber, but instead, a blue blade of light was extended before him. The dark figure raised his blade into the air, rotating it downward while doing so, and brought it down in a stabbing motion into his victim's chest with a- "Dallon!" He awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat, to see his childhood friend and current shipmate Namakwo in front of him saying, "Sorry to startle you Dallon. I couldn't get you awake and you told me to let you know when we're about to land."

Dallon Rikar, was a human Jedi Padawan under the tutelage of Jedi Master Cordora. He was born on Alderaan, in its capital city of Aldera. No matter what adversities life threw his way, Dallon always seemed to be able to pick himself up and keep on going. From very early on, this unique quality was constantly and sometimes mercilessly tested. When Dallon was only four, his mother died of a horrible form of cancer, leaving his father to raise Dallon and his two older siblings by himself. Three years later, Dallon was at home with his family, when he got a strange feeling. He had a strong and urgent desire to go outside. He did not know why, but he did it anyway. Dallon never saw his family alive again.

Once there, the feeling went away and he started a game outside. The game took the child around the local neighborhood, wandering around chasing the voices of imaginary friends. When he was almost home, Dallon saw lots of vehicles with flashing lights and people in uniform near his house. Although he did not know it at the time, they were local law enforcement authorities. As Dallon approached, one of the older looking officers saw him and a solemn look took over his face. He knelt down to the kid's level, "Are you Dallon Rikar?" Innocently, Dallon replied, "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. My Dad says so." The officer sighed, "I'm so sorry son. But…" The officer was familiar with the earlier fate of the boy's mother through official records, so he knew the kid had experienced death before. But he still didn't know how to tell a seven year old child that his family had been murdered. "A bad man came and hurt your family. They're not here anymore." "Where did they go?" "They're gone, son. I'm sorry." As the reality and gravity of the situation began to set in for him, Dallon fell silent. "Don't worry kid. We're going to take you down to headquarters right now. Everything is going to be okay…" He wasn't listening to the officer. The same feeling that had urged him to go outside before was back again. This time it was telling him to run. So he did.

Dallon disappeared into the wilderness and was forced to live on his own for six months. Well, 'forced' isn't exactly the right word. 'Guided' is more accurate. Eventually, he felt it was time to leave the wilderness and upon doing so, Dallon was soon found wandering the outskirts of Aldera by local law enforcement. He was taken to the closest station until they could find family to take custody of him. After a quick DNA test, it was discovered that Dallon was the child that had disappeared from Aldera six months ago after his family was killed. According to their database, Dallon had an older cousin, Celeste, who lived on Alderaan in the island city of Belleau-a-Lir. She was about twenty years older than her younger cousin and was married. The couple had moved to Alderaan right after his family was killed with the intention of taking care of the child. Unfortunately, he disappeared before that could happen. As soon as this discovery of family connection was made, Celeste and her husband were informed of Dallon's reappearance. She hadn't seen the child since his mother's funeral. As was their original intention, they decided to adopt Dallon, to which he readily agreed. It was strange, although he was too young to remember them, he quickly developed a strong bond with them. Perhaps it was the family connection between them or it could be that the time he had spent alone deepened his need for human contact and affection. But despite the love he had for his new family, it was two months before he was ready to talk about his past. Although they were already aware of some of what had happened, his adopted parents didn't force anything from him. They knew Dallon would talk when he was ready. In the meantime, they loved him as much as they could. When he was ready, Dallon described the incident as best as he could remember and said that while he was on his own for that half of a year, he survived because of a special bond that he claimed to have with the world around him. The boy said that even though he was on his own, he never really felt alone. He even described having 'magical powers' in certain situations when he was in danger, but he had trouble controlling them. It wasn't every day that a child survives in the wild for that long on his own. Being inhabitants of a core world, Alderaanians were very familiar with the Guardians of the Republic, the Jedi. The monastic warriors had their main temple on Coruscant, the capital of the Republic. Coruscant was practically right next to Alderaan, galactically speaking. His new parents began to consider the possibility that Dallon was force sensitive. However, Dallon was a bit older than many of the children were at the start of their training, most force sensitive children were discovered shortly after birth and were placed in a clan in the temple at age 3. Dallon was 7 going on 8 at this point, but his new parents decided that it was still worth a try. Almost as if answering them, within a day of their decision, they were contacted by a Jedi recruiter from Coruscant. Apparently she had sensed Dallon from the Temple and had been searching for him for the past eight months. Due to her many responsibilities, she informed his family that it would be several weeks before she was able to make it to Alderaan.

In the meantime, Dallon started asking questions of Celeste and her husband. He never really learned exactly what had happened to his family other than 'a bad man hurt them.' The boy wanted to know if they knew more. Unfortunately for Dallon, they didn't know anything other than what was in the news and police reports. Additionally, they felt that at the time, the child was too young to understand. However, they felt he had a right to know everything he could. "We promise that we will tell you everything we know when the time is right. Be patient Dallon." Patience, not exactly an attribute of a seven year old child, was a tall order. But, he accepted his guardians' wisdom and waited.

The Jedi recruiter arrived at their home two weeks later and performed some initial tests on Dallon. He passed. Dallon was indeed force sensitive. The recruiter relayed the results back to Coruscant. The Jedi Council agreed and allowed Dallon to be admitted for training. Upon being taken into the Temple, he was placed into Bergruufta clan. As the training started, Dallon soon learned that the feelings that had guided him earlier on were the voice of the Force. When the younglings in his clan at the temple heard of his many unfortunate situations as a child and of his uncanny ability to get up and keep going, some noted the similarities to the legendary phoenix. Although he found the connection interesting, he didn't really think much of it at the time.

On his thirteenth birthday, just days before his Initiate trials, he received a holocall at the Temple from his adopted parents back on Alderaan. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have any contact from his family outside of the Temple, but he found some of the rules at the Temple way over the top. This was not to imply that Dallon was insubordinate or a troublemaker. Anyway, this call was too important to ignore. The time had come for them to tell him. "We don't know much Dallon, but we will tell you what we do know. Between the news and official police reports we learned that pirates from the Outer Rim were trying to establish an operations base for an illegal spice trade in the mountains near Aldera. Their plan was to make contact with the existing criminal element in the city. They did not realize that their contacts were actually undercover agents who were already aware of their operation and had been monitoring their activities for months. Apparently, something went wrong during their meeting and the pirates fled. Perhaps someone tipped off the pirates about the agents or perhaps one of the agents accidentally broke cover. We really do not know for sure. They temporarily took refuge in your family's house. Then they left again to avoid capture. Unfortunately, the criminals killed your family before they did, presumably because they wanted no witnesses to their crime. That's all we know son." "Thank you, I appreciate it." He reached down to terminate the call. But before he did and even though they were not his true biological parents, "Oh, Mom, Dad?" "Yes?" "I love you."

Dallon had been having nightmares like this for months now. They all involved the two dark and hooded figures. In each one, Dallon was frozen with fear and could not move, only face what was approaching him. He had wanted to talk to Master Yoda about these dreams, given his unmatched experience in the Force, but the living Jedi legend had been almost completely unavailable recently due to his involvement in the Clone Wars.

As it happened, Dallon was now 21: the Clone Wars had been going on for about three years and he was within weeks of taking the Jedi Trials and becoming a Jedi Knight. For the past eight years, Dallon had been out in the great field known as the galaxy, traveling and training with Master Cordora, to whom he was apprenticed. But for the three most recent of those eight years, the War had many of the Jedi Masters and Knights spread across the galaxy, guiding the clones in battle. This included the Alderaanian Jedi and his Master. From the previous five years of his apprenticeship before the Clone Wars had started, Dallon did have some combat experience from supporting his Master in her role as a Jedi Peacekeeper. As a result, Master Cordora felt her apprentice was sufficiently prepared to continue his apprenticeship at her side in the Clone Wars when they started. In the beginning, she trained him mostly in the defensive Soresu form. However, as Dallon became more skilled, confident and experienced in his lightsaber technique, he began to show proficiency for the Shien and Djem So forms as well. The reason that they were returning to Coruscant was so that Dallon could begin final preparation for his Jedi Trials. Master Cordora believed that he was ready.

The person standing in front of him was Namakwo Ghec, a Mon Calamarian and his current shipmate. He was from a small floating village near the Mester Reef, in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Floating cities and villages were quite common on Mon Calamari, since the entire surface of the planet was one giant ocean. It was quite the opposite of the planet-wide city that covered Coruscant's surface. Namakwo was about the same age as Dallon and was also returning to Coruscant so that he could take his Jedi Trials. Namakwo was Dallon's first friend when he came to the temple in addition to also being in the same clan as he was. So the bond between them had been very strong. The Mon Calamarian seemed to have an uncanny knack for working with technology. Every once and a while, he would give Dallon a lesson in gadget building or in repairing broken tech. Dallon enjoyed spending time with Namakwo and considered him his best friend, almost like a brother, despite the Jedi teaching of non-attachment. Although Dallon generally followed the philosophy, his friendship with Namakwo was an exception and he did his best to not let it get in the way of his training. Besides, while at the Temple in his childhood clan, he was encouraged to view the other children in his clan like his family. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to befriend one of them. Unlike most of the children at the Jedi Temple, he did have a life beforehand, however short it was. As a child entering a strange unknown such as the Jedi Temple feeling alone and like the new person, especially after those six months alone in the wilderness, it was comforting to be befriended by someone who made him feel welcome and at home.

"No, it's okay Namakwo. It wasn't you. I've been having really intense nightmares for a while now. Anyway, you were saying something about us landing?"

"Um, right, the captain has just informed us that we have dropped out of hyperspace and are on final approach to Coruscant. We should be landing in about 20 minutes."

"Excellent. Thanks old friend."

Although they had been childhood friends during their time at the temple, once their individual apprenticeships began they went their separate ways. Such is the life of a Jedi and why having any sort of friendship or relationship is difficult. Dallon's training at his master's side on the battlefield took him down the path of a guardian. Namakwo's innate technical and electronic skills made him ideal for the sentinel class. So for the past eight years they both received practical experience in the fields that the Force seemed to be guiding them into under the direction of two respected Jedi Masters. As fate would have it, they were both now on the same public transport ship on their way back to Coruscant.

"So, Dallon, how have things been on the frontlines?"

"Enlightening, to say the least. I've been able to really expand and enhance my Soresu skills and partially developed some Shien and Djem So abilities. But I still have a ways to go in those areas. But the best part isn't developing my saber skills, it's the people we help along the way. I've learned so much."

"That's good. I'm glad to see that you have been doing well. Anyway, while you've been out saving the galaxy, I've been busy keeping things running behind the scenes. There are a lot of vehicles and equipment that get damaged and trapped in Separatist territory. Master Mons and I are part of a Jedi infiltration and salvage crew. We have several security experts who get us in undetected. Then our slicers and tech experts get to work making any repairs necessary. I've been training to be part of this second group. If you've ever been in a combat vehicle recovered from enemy territory, chances are that I helped fix it. I don't have Master Mons' sense of mechu-deru, but I hope to develop my own one day."

"I have no doubt that you will, my friend. I remember when we were back at the temple and you would show me all those little gadgets that you had built or fixed. I'll be honest. I know that you tried to explain it to me, but half the time I didn't have a clue as to what you were talking about. But to you, it always seemed so effortless and matter of fact."

They continued to catch up for a few minutes, their shuttle descending into the old but familiar setting of Coruscant. Eventually, the metallic skyline of the capital ecumenopolis began to stand out clearly against the soft orange glow of sunset.