.8 Ikeeriot awoke early that morning, and sought out the little privacy that the balcony in his Master’s apartment. Ikeeriot watched lazily the pedestrians walking up and down the street, sometimes pulling wooden carts but most always giving each other a happy smile and an even happier salutation. Ikeeriot could sense something amiss right then, but he thought it was only his usual attitude playing tricks on him. They’re happy because they don’t know about the war, he thought. They don’t know anything more then this happy, rural place. Ikeeriot felt a pang of jealousy in him but brushed it out of his mind. I am a Jedi. I am here to protect these people and make sure they have the chance to enjoy their lives as such. Something still bothered him though. He tried to hide it in the Force, but he knew his Master Alec probably already knew. Ikeeriot was experienced enough in the Force, and in combat to be a Knight. So why wasn’t he? Why aren’t I a Knight when Anduil is? A voice, that of common sense would tell him that Anduil was two years older then him. That doesn’t matter, he thought anxiously, feeling his Master’s presence growing behind him. People of all ages become elevated. It is different for all of them. But sixteen? Common sense asked him. Ikeeriot shook his head silently and continued to watch the city only about ten or fifteen feet below him move past busily. He looked out over the jungle too and felt comfort in the vibrance it gave off to him in the Force. I’ve been ready, Ikeeriot thought. What now? Should I press the issue of Knighthood? Isn’t that a sign of the Dark Side at work? Haste? Wanting to move on quicker then the Force would usually allow? He examined it, closing his eyes and taking a thoughtful, careful breath. If I go too far? I won’t tarnish the Order’s name. I’d rather be banished then do such a thing with my inexperience. Ikeeriot heard the footsteps behind him and opened his eyes slowly. "Master." Alec Uban cleared his throat and stepped to his padawan’s side at the balcony’s railing. "There is so much torment in a Padawan’s mind. What have I done to make you so anxious, Ikeeriot?" Ikeeriot looked at his Master in a distressed way that could only convey one thing: confusion. "No, Master, it’s not you, I was just thinking. If I were to ask for the Trials before I was ready, what would that mean?" Master uban wore a thoughtful smile on his face and rubbed his hand over his glistening, bald head, wiping away a few beads of the morning’s humidity. "That would depend on whether or not you really think you’re not ready, Ikeeriot." Ikeeriot frowned and looked back down at the streets below. "Most of the time it’s not me I worry about, Master Uban. It’s them," he pointed down at the street. "What if I can’t protect them? Or what if I can’t figure out what Justice is in a certain situation? It’s all so relative and vague." "All most be one with the Force at one time or another, apprentice." Master Uban said calmly, looking out over the jungle and feeling the sheer life force of it’s inhabitants fill him with the Force. "We cannot protect everyone in the galaxy. If we could, we would never learn from mistakes because we would not be permitted them by the Force. We would not learn anything. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge." "That’s a rather odd way of looking at it," Ikeeriot said, looking lopsidedly at his Master. "When haven’t I been odd, young one?" Alec asked, grinning. "I thought it was just because you were a Master." Ikeeriot sighed dryly. He took a deep breath and gulped once. "I’m ready to be a Jedi Knight, Master Uban." Alec looked at his apprentice, concerned. "Ikeeriot, I’m not here to pressure you into this—I can sense your nervousness—." "It’s something other then that." Ikeeriot said. He frowned. "Something about this whole situation just doesn’t feel right. The Sith? Lord Darchind? It all seems a bit . . off. Why wasn’t a group of distinguished Jedi Masters sent out here, and if these people are Sith, then why aren’t they giving off the Dark Side like smell off a gundark?" Alec chuckled. "The Dark Side of the Force is something more readable to those who delve in it. We Jedi sense it like a shadow at our heels more then anything, the way I look at it anyway. I’m not the most distinguished Jedi Master, you might say." "You’re modest." Ikeeriot said. "I think you’re one of the best in the Order right now, although I don’t know why you’re not on the Council." "Indeed." Alec said dryly. "Perhaps I thought I had more urgent matters to attend to?" Ikeeriot smiled. "I’m ready for Knighthood." "Yes, you are." Master Uban said quietly. "You are a Jedi Knight then." Ikeeriot started and narrowed his eyes. "What about the Trials? What about the Knighting Ceremony and the—." Alec shrugged. "Knighthood is not always in the way you are elevated as much as it is that you are elevated at all." "What about crafting my own lightsaber though? I don’t even have all the supplies to do it here!" Ikeeriot argued. Alec withdrew a gray cylindrical object from his tunic’s many pockets and held it in the air with his grasp of the Force. "I have the supplies needed to make your own, but you can use the crystal in this one." Ikeeriot fell silent and watched the lightsaber float in the air in front of him. "Will the Order validate it?" "Does it matter?" Alec asked simply. "Well yes, the Order has to validate my being Knight if they’re to recognize me by the title, I mean—." "All that matters right now is that you are ready to be a Jedi Knight, Ikeeriot. You have learned all that I have taught and taught me more then I thought I could learn at my age. Take this lightsaber and become a Knight—not for the Order—for you." A moment of thought cross Ikeeriot’s face. It was a fleeting moment and when Ikeeriot picked the lightsaber out of the air, there was no hesitation. "Congratulations." Alec said, resting a hand on his former padawan’s shoulder. "What was it that you finally learned?" Ikeeriot looked up at his former master and smiled. "I can’t protect everyone. I find it a privilege to protect anyone and now I can do that—because it’s what I want. To protect those from evil or malice." Alec nodded in reverence. "A true Guardian if I ever saw one." Ikeeriot nodded and started to take apart the lightsaber, holding each part up in the air next to him with the Force. "Did we get any messages from the Paladins? Or the Warriors for Justice?" Alec nodded. "Both of them." Ikeeriot looked up and narrowed his eyes in surprise. "Both? I was under the impression the Jedi Warriors-for-Justice was on the other side of the galaxy." Alec smiled at the recognition of JWJ’s name. It was very common for them to be referred to as JWJ rather then their name, the simple fact being that given all Jedi fought for justice, why should these men incorporate it into their platoon’s name? Ah, Alec thought silently. It might be that they fight for Justice, rather then justice. Justice, Alec thought dryly, the code name for their organization’s leader. "Master?" "The Force was with us. A good portion of them, all save two, were at Ryloth . .mediating a trade dispute between the native Twi’lek and the Geonosians. They should be here in a few hours." "The Paladins?" Ikeeriot ventured. "They were also nearby, although it might take them until later this afternoon to gather their forces and meet us here on Xolatis." Alec replied. "Where were they?" Ikeeriot asked, fiddling carefully with his lightsaber, as had Anduil two days before. Alec shook his head silently and walked into the apartment. "A small smuggling settlement on a planet called Lok. It was out of the way, as they were chasing a group of smugglers and happened upon the coordinates after snatching them as the smugglers jumped for hyperspace." "Another new planet?" Ikeeriot asked curiously. "We might not know for some time. It could have been recorded in the Temple Records but just never filed for Republic status. As I said, it was mostly run by smugglers, from what the Paladins could tell." Alec replied. "Perhaps we could give them the coordinates to the freedom fighter’s last known position and tell them to meet us there. We could easily go from there to Lord Darchind’s castle and bring the revolutionaries with. We could get notions of peace whispered on mouths by night’s end." Ikeeriot suggested. Alec nodded. "It would warrant a conversation with Master Beserek and Anduil." "Well," Ikeeriot said smiling. "Let’s get a move on then." It didn’t take much convincing for them to go along with Ikeeriot’s plan, but Orsin had suggested he hang back behind the first group in case there was an ambush at the camp site Alec had already gone to. They agreed to this and sent a message via the holotransmitter to the Paladins and the Warriors-for-Justice. Their message detailed the approximate distance away from the settlement on Xolatis and the direction in which the camp was. Landing instructions were to be cautious and watch for their signal. By the beginning of the afternoon the four Jedi had set out over the vast jungle terrain and made good headway. Ikeeriot was still balancing his senses between calibrating his lightsaber and watching the terrain. The jungle was once more teeming with the Force and it filled the two Jedi Masters and Knights with feelings of encouragement and rejuvenated their bodies inner strength, bit by bit. It was a few hours before they arrived at the streambed Alec had finally encountered the disturbance in the Force fully. When they crossed onto the other side, this time they felt no disturbance. Just a certain emptiness in everything except for the sound of the jungle. They were nearing the clearing and cliff side when Ikeeriot finished his lightsaber and clipped it uneasily onto his belt after igniting it and testing it on a few vines. "Good." He said. The blue blade zipped back into the hilt and he concentrated fully on the jungle in front of him. "Padawans are quicker at that then the old days," Orsin Beserek complained to Alec grumpily. It was the first time since leaving Kashyyk that he once more felt the jungle’s humidity and how it sank into his fur and made him a little irritated. "Padawans they are no more." Alec said, continuing through the jungle silently, watching for the cliff. The last time it had just snuck up on him— Once again, he nearly fell right over the edge of the cliff, but the danger sense in between his shoulder blades prickled and he took a cautious step back and warned his fellow Jedi: "We’re here." Before any of them could reply, a vigorous snapping of twigs and branches invaded their ears and the freedom fighters, one hundred and twenty of them in all, dropped or stood up from their camouflaged hiding places. "That you are, Master Jedi." The four Jedi whirled around, five blades(counting Anduil’s extra) igniting as they turned to regard the newcomers. "Stop your weapons or we’ll shoot!" The man, standing in front of them in some kind of bone armor exclaimed wearily. "We are Jedi. Is there any reason for us to be afraid of your men?" Anduil asked through gritted teeth. "Of the fact that you are Jedi I am aware, pup," the man sneered. "I’m sure however, you won’t have any reservations backing down from those." He pointed with his primitive blaster behind the four Jedi. Anduil and Ikeeriot turned. When they did, they each received stun bolts to the backs. The armored man sneered victoriously. "Pups. I guess they just didn’t know that trick yet, huh?" He directed his question to Beserek and Uban. "We’re here to try and commence negotiations." Beserek said, stretching out with the Force to his former padawan and Alec’s former padawan to see if they were alright. Fine. The Wookie was relieved. The man in the armor didn’t know what Beserek had said though and looked at Uban for reassurance. "I’m sure he didn’t just say ‘we’re going to kill you for that’, right?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "We’re here to commence negotiations between you and Lord Darchind. We want to find out why it is that you’re attacking him—." "He’s a bad one. That’s why. He’s a dictator. We want a democracy." The man said. "We don’t have time to talk about this right now though. We’re out in the open here." Alec deactivated his lightsaber and sat down. "There. We’re covered." The man with the blaster narrowed his eyes and glared. He yelled in some unknown language to his men. They all seemed to relax. "You got ten minutes, Jedi. If you haven’t convinced me by then you aren’t working for Darchy himself, then we’re going to shoot you where you lie." "Terrific." Alec said. The negotiations began.