Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic

Fates Saviour

Chapter 1.

Dantooine a lush peaceful planet. Its inhabitants know nothing of war, despite the fires that rage over the galaxy. They live peacefully and without hindrance from the Sith or Exchange or Czerka.

The Jedi Order also calls Dantooine one of its many homes. The enclave here houses many of the youngest and brightest of the Order as well as some of the most powerful and revered of the Jedi Masters: Zhar, Vrook and Vander being three of them. The peaceful ripple of the force breeze's over this planet touching all those who can feel it, soothing whatever inner demons they may have.

A ship is sheltered within the enclave. A smuggler's freighter known as the Ebon Hawk. This ship is the fastest ship in the outer rim, she can outrun many of the Sith starfighters. Within this ship is housed a small party of individuals. A Twi'lik, a wookie, a droid, a Mandolorian and three humans.

Carth Onasi, a legendary solider and pilot for the Republic sat in the cockpit. He wore an orange long sleeve military shirt with light brown trousers and black boots. Carth was rugged in appearance at 38 years of age with stubble but was muscular and capable, as well as a fast draw. Holstered on his waist were two blaster pistols, one was his own personal blaster, the second once belonged to a Mandolorian known as Bendak Starkiller. Carth yawned out of boredom and placed his feet up on the control panel, his hands behind his head. He heard heavy booted footsteps and turned his head to see the Mandolorian enter the cockpit.

Canderous Ordo, like Carth, a solider who had fought in the Mandolorian wars less than 5 years ago. Ordo was older than Carth, but by all means the more dangerous of the two. He was more muscular than Carth and stronger standing around 5 foot 11. He was wearing what looked like Mandolorian armour, without the sleeves and moved to sit down next to Carth.

"You look bored Carth…" he stated in his gruff manner, Carth chuckled slightly.

"Only bored of being left out of the loop, Canderous…" Carth replied. "He's been here what? A month and a half now, and already his almost completed his training as a Jedi…" Canderous nodded.

"Its odd that the Jedi would take him in, but if they're that desperate for additional Jedi than let them train him that's what I say…" Canderous stretched and followed Carth's example and rested his feet on the control panel.

"I understand you're meaning, but he's meant to be way too old to train as a Jedi. They usually train children from an early age, but he's about twenty-five years old, and they consider eight year-olds to be too old to train…" Carth exclaimed. He sighed as Canderous chuckled slightly and they both remained where they sat staring out of the cockpit.

Within the enclave, standing in one of the training rooms was the he they had been referring to. He wore a leather waistcoat over a long sleeve white shirt with black trousers and boots with black knuckle gloves. He was lean, slender and athletic in build, around the same height as Canderous, but less muscular. He was a handsome young man with light black hair, medium length, and under his closed eyelids was a set of piercing blue eyes. He stood in a meditative stance, his hands clasped behind his back as he took calming breaths. His name is Drake, a commando, turned Jedi apprentice within the space of month.

As he stood, a young woman entered the room he was in. she was a beautiful young woman, around 24 years of age, and a padawan within the Order. She wore a form-fitting, tight and flexible full bodysuit. It was a light orange and a dark red mixture of colour. She had medium brunette hair tied in two pigtails, and light blue-grey eyes. Bastila Shan, a Jedi with a rare gift of battle meditation.

Bastila watched with a hint of wonder, as a faint blue glow framed Drake's body sensing the huge amount of light energy with Drake's being and found herself staring at him as he remained quite still, as if oblivious to her presence.

"Is there something you need?" she jumped slightly as he spoke. His voice was soft and monotone yet always carried a hint of confidence and modesty. He was a very humble man something she'd noticed very early on. His eyes opened as the blue glow vanished and he met her sapphire coloured eyes, with his cyan coloured ones. "Or are you content just to stare at me?" Bastila felt herself blush slightly.

"I was not staring…" she responded indignantly "I am simply impressed with your progress, as Master Zhar said, you've done in mere weeks, what many cannot do in years…" Drake smiled sheepishly.

"I guess I learn fast…" he mused Bastila smiled still surprised at his modesty.

"Perhaps…but still what you have done is incredible…" As Bastila spoke, a Twi'lik entered the room. This was Zhar, a member of the Jedi Council and currently serving as Drake's instructor.

"Greetings my young pupil, I trust your training proceeds well?" Zhar addressed Drake. Drake bowed slightly.

"Very well Master Zhar…" Drake replied. Bastila bowed as well. Knowing it was time for her to leave, she smiled at Drake and exited the room.

"Soon your apprenticeship will end, and you will be granted the title of Padawan, the lowest rank within our order…" Zhar began, as Drake stood. "But first you must now prove that you are ready for the trials that await you by passing three tests…these tests will prove you are ready for the mission we have for you…" Zhar waited and gazed at his student "are you ready to begin?"

"Yes I am ready…"

"Very well we will begin. You must first prove that you have the basic understanding of the order and its principles…" the Master explained and then they began "There is no emotion…"

"There is peace…" Drake finished.

"There is no ignorance…"

"This is knowledge…"

"There is no passion…"

"This is harmony…"

"There is no chaos…"

"There is harmony…

"There is no death…"

"There is the Force…" Drake finished. Zhar nodded approvingly proud of Drake's progress.

"You have learned your studies well apprentice, and now I believe you will become a great presence within our order. But… now it is time for you to construct the very thing that symbolises your membership to our order: the lightsabre…" Drake nodded and Zhar gave a small bow "Go to Master Dorak and he will help determine what colour your lightsabre will be…may the Force be with you…" Drake bowed formally and entered the council rooms approaching the dark skinned Master in the corner. The man looked up and smiled very softly.

Over the next half-hour Dorak explained the colours that mark that various positions within the order. Blue Jedi Guardian, Sentinel and Consular. Dorak then tested Drake's responses to various questions outlining certain situations. After this Drake was given a blue crystal, the colour of the Guardian. Drake returned to Zhar who nodded.

"Ah good…you have your crystal you may now begin construction of your lightsabre…" Drake moved over to the workbench and began working. After a short time of forty-five minutes, a dazzling blue glow emanated from the cylinder he had built. Zhar noted the hilt design.

So he decided to practice Form V Djem so and Shien… a curious choice Zhar pushed these thoughts away as Drake approached.

"You have done extremely well in constructing your lightsabre apprentice…your crystal seems to have been perfectly placed…this is very rare indeed." Zhar truly was astonished at this man's progress. "These crystals are very rare…only found in places strong in the force, some alter your sabre's simple properties such as colour of the blade…or more complex things such as the blade width and power…" Drake nodded.

"But first you must know when to draw your lightsabre, as it symbolises your membership to our order and will attract dangerous enemies…the Dark Jedi and Sith will seek to destroy you apprentice and now you must prove you are ready to defend against these threats…are you ready for the final rest apprentice…?" Zhar gazed at Drake as Drake nodded.

"I am ready Master…" Drake stated.

"At this point in time, we Jedi have sensed the a dark side presence on Dantooine. Kath Hounds within the grove north of here have become violent fierce and have attacked several farmers, while Dark Side still taints the ancient grove…"

"Would you have me deal with the kath hounds?" Drake asked Zhar shook his head.

"The kath hounds are but a symptom of the true problem…you must find the source…" Zhar finished "that will be your final test…"

"Have you no more guidance?" Drake asked.

"I can say no more…but know this my young apprentice a true Jedi acts with caution and patience…and judges a situation before he acts…may the force be with you…. I will be here when you return…" Drake bowed and left the room. Bastila watched him leave and sent a telepathic message through their bond.

May the force be with you…

Thank you

She smiled softly. She found herself ever intrigued by this man and planned to talk to him after he succeeded in his task. As Drake entered the courtyard a gruff voice called after him.

"Now were you planning to leave me out of this?" Canderous approached with his heavy blaster rifle in hand and a vibrosword strapped to his back. Drake smirked.

"Well that depends what exactly was I supposed to be leaving you out of?" Canderous chuckled.

"There's a group of Mandolorians harassing the people here for sport…I think they deserve a lesson on what a true Mandolorian is…I have heard one of them killed a number of Jedi…" Canderous explained. Drake nodded.

"Alright then…looks like it's just you and me then…" Canderous shook his head as Zaalbar the wookie approached with two long swords in hand.

Reaching the entrance to the plains, the three had a run in with a number of Kath hounds. They were not much of a challenge. Canderous gunned down the first one, the second was hurled away by Drake using the force, Zaalbar simply roared at the third and it scurried away whining in fear. Canderous and Drake laughed at this and the three continued on.

They reached the second field, the noticed a large group of Duros surrounding a single speed. A blue-armoured Neo-crusader was holding a blaster carbine to the throat of an elderly man.

"Looks like you were holding out on us again…well if you won't pay us what we want…then we'll have to tear it out of you piece by piece" The man backed away fear in his eyes.

"No…take my wife and children instead…anything…" The Mandolorian smirked under his helmet and levelled his blaster at the man's skull. A single shot echoed and the farmer crumpled over his speeder, a large hole in his skull. The murderer chuckled evilly.

"Wife and children…sounds like a good idea…" as he spoke a large torrent of white fire burst into one of the duros. The entire group turned to the party of three that approached them.

"Cowards!" Ordo snarled as he unleashed another white barrage at the group. The crusader levelled his carbine at Canderous and fired. Drake suddenly appeared in front of his comrade, his blue blade twirling in the air to deflect the shot away. The mandolorian getting frustrated began shooting over and over. Drake shot forward, sweeping his blade across his face to send the bolts away, then swept the blade back. Once he got close he swept his sabre down, severing the mandolorian's carbine. Spinning with the momentum he had, Drake brought his blade round to sever the murderer's head from his shoulders. The headless body crumpled, as Zaalbar felled the final two Duros with his blades.

"There have to be more groups out there…if we take care of them we should be able to get the leader to face us." Canderous pointed out. Drake nodded.

The second and third groups were a bit more challenging but fell all the same. Drake was able to retrieve a melee shield for Canderous as well as a number of blasters and datapads. After the third group fell at their hands, the three made there back to the grove.

As they entered the large plains once again they noticed the a reasonably sized group of Mandolorians on their left, where they had fought the second party. In the middle stood a red-armoured mandolorian. He was around six-foot two and held two echani vibro-swords.

"Watch yourself Drake…" Canderous warned, "that's guys name is Sherruk and he's good, I've seen him take down a couple of Jedi before."

"Thanks for the warning Canderous…" Drake replied as he unclipped his sabre from his belt and advanced towards the group. Canderous rammed a full energy cell into his rifle and Zaalbar prepared his swords.

"Ah so this is the meddler…" Sherruk declared the moment he caught sight of Drake. "You have caused far too much trouble for a mere Jedi, I will add your head to that of the other Jedi I have killed and add another lightsabre to my collection." Sherruk leapt at Drake his swords raised. Drake's weapon came to life with a snap-hiss and he parried the attack from the hunter. His opponent turned and came at him again, and they became locked in a fierce duel as Canderous and Zaalbar pounced on the lackey's, Zaalbar taking on two at once, while Canderous exchanged fire with the others. Zaalbar used his immense wookie strength to gain dominance over his smaller opponents, who found themselves hard pressed to block his powerful strikes. Canderous had riddled one of the others with gunfire and was now engaging the second with his blade, as they circled exchanging blows.

Sherruk was a skilled fighter and Drake realised why he had killed two Jedi previously, he was a random fighter, changing style in order to catch his opponent off guard. Drake however was different and this Sherruk would learn the hard way. Drake battered one of the mandolorian's blades away, and ducked under a swipe at his head. Bringing his blade round, Drake parried a stab at his gut and responded with a heavy downward blow that Sherruk was able to parry and shoved the Jedi back.

"Well at least its good to see the Jedi have one decent fighter among them…" Sherruk muttered with a smirk, he was enjoying this it had been a long time since he'd had an actual challenge.

"And I haven't even gotten serious yet…" Drake retorted. As if to prove his point, he began dodging all of Sherruk's attacks, leaning to the side, ducking under them, leaning back, not one blow made contact.

The Jedi-hunter roared in rage, and brought both his swords up for a vicious blow at Drake's midsection. Seeing his chance, Drake blocked the attack, stepping forward to add to the force of the parry. Sherruk was knocked off balance and this proved to be fatal for him. Sliding his blade down, Drake disarmed his opponent, both literally and metaphorically. Sherruk saw the stumps that his wrists had become, before Drake plunged his sabre into his heart. The last thought of Sherruk was

A Jedi apprentice?! To be killed by someone like him ridiculous Sherruk collapsed to the floor as Drake stood over him. Looking over, he saw the last pair of mandolorian's fall and Canderous wiped the sweat from his forehead, as Zaalbar roared in victory. Reaching down he took the two lightsabre's from the corpse's belt and threw them to Zaalbar.

"Make sure the council get these Zaalbar…" the wookie nodded and Canderous approached taking the man's helmet.

"There was a farmer who's daughter was killed by this coward…he offered 1000 credits for me to kill them, I'll collect that from him. "Drake nodded.

"You two head back now…I've got something to attend to" With a final nod, Canderous and Zaalbar wandered away as Drake to a moment to regain his energy. Looking over at the grove, he sensed a dark presence within the ruins.

Taking a relaxing breath, he made his way over to the grove ready to face his final trial….