The Devils Inside the Walls/Part 1

1,388 BBY

Narasi cranked her gunner's turret hard to the right, squeezing the trigger for strafing fire, but she knew it was a lost cause. The laser bolts pursued the retreating enemy fighter without catching it as it fled back toward its ship. Sitting back in her chair and peeling off her comm headset—which she had to wear with the band across her forehead like a tiara and the speakers stuck into her large ears—she loosed a grumble of dissatisfaction.

"Calm, Narasi," she heard Tirien's voice from the headset in her hand. "We've done all we can."

"Yes Master," she said in the direction of her hand, though she was still a little vexed. She hung the headset up on the gun, watching the sensor screen as the bright red dots indicating enemy craft clustered at the edge of the combat zone. When the largest spots started to wink out as the corresponding ships vanished into hyperspace, she spun her chair around.

The Crescentia had a number of dual laser cannons, every one of them manned by a Jedi, but Narasi would have preferred to be out in the battle herself. The Second Chance, as good a ship as it was, was not yet fit for combat, but she knew some of the Padawans were allowed to pilot Aurek starfighters along with their masters. However, Narasi had not yet convinced Tirien himself to fly in battle, and she could not go without him.

She met him in the access corridor. "Master, any chance they've—"

"Narasi," he said, "that was our eleventh battle in the nine weeks we've been here. I understand it's annoying, and I put the request in, but I don't think 'custom headsets for non-Human ears' is a top priority."

She sighed, but when he put it that way it did seem less urgent. "I guess I'll make do."

"We're humbled by your sacrifice for the war effort," Tirien said dryly. Then he added more seriously, "Learning to adapt and overcome is important for a Jedi."

"Besides," said a mechanical voice, "you shoot well for a girl with oversized ears."

They turned as the Jedi Knight Slejux Nissatak joined them from his own gunning station, and Narasi grinned. "Thanks. You're not bad for a blind guy either."

An odd, buzzing chuckle came from Slejux's vocoder. Tirien rolled his eyes, but otherwise let it go, having come to accept his Padawan's bizarre friendship with the other Knight.

When they had first met, Narasi had found it awkward talking to Slejux. A Melitto, he had no eyes or mouth, "seeing" from the vibrations on the countless, super-sensitive cilia all over his insectoid body. The breathing tubes and vocoder connected to his faceless head gave her a general direction to look, but it was still an unusual experience. She had quickly learned that the Jedi could "see" a lot more than she would have thought, and his jolly sense of humor and quick wit put her so at ease that she found it odd to think she had ever felt uncomfortable with him.

"I'm sure the tactical screen has its uses," Slejux finally replied, "but I trust in the Force."

"Are you ever going to tell the Republic pilots you can't see them?" Narasi asked.

Slejux waved one hand airily. "They're intrepid warriors engaged in daily battles to preserve civilization as we know it. I see no need to burden them with trivia."

Narasi giggled, and Tirien said, "You've managed not to cut my head off yet, I think they'll be fine."

"Speaking of which, nothing to work out lingering battle tension like a sparring session?" Narasi hinted. She would enjoy it herself, but she was also developing a fondness for watching her master fight Slejux. Tirien was all grace and speed, well-balanced as a throwing knife and lightning fast, but Slejux's mild, almost ethereal Form III left the two of them at a nearly perpetual stalemate, both conserving energy, both having to struggle for a decisive mark of contact. That they were both Consulars and strong in the Force made it even more exciting for Narasi and the handful of Padawans—and more than one Knight—who liked to congregate for the matches.

Narasi remembered being a young Initiate when Master Tem-Fol-Rytil had come to teach her Clan, and posed them a paradox: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? As a child she had spent long hours struggling with it, and as a tween she had dismissed it with a laugh as idle speculation, but now she thought she might actually have an answer.

"I must remind you that Jedi are forbidden possessions," Slejux told Narasi; his vocoder did a decent job producing a stern tone. "You simply can not continue this scheme of charging admission, Padawan Rican. Especially when you do not cut your master and me in."

Tirien laid a hand over his face, and Narasi and Slejux shared a chuckle. Eventually the Pantoran resurfaced to ask, "Did you forget where we were going when they sounded battle alert, Narasi?"

"Oh," she said, sobering. "Right. Council."

Tirien nodded. "An attack justifies delay. Your combat voyeurism doesn't."

"Yes, Master."

"Another time, friend," Slejux said.

"I look forward to it, Slejux."

As they parted ways with the Melitto and made their way through the ship, bypassing fellow Jedi and the handful of non-Forceful crew, Narasi felt the usual apprehension twist her stomach. Apparently Tirien felt it too, because he glanced at her from the corner of his eye and said, "Be mindful of your thoughts, Narasi."

Considering where they were going, that didn't help her anxiety. "I know, Master, he's…it's just creepy."

Tirien frowned. "He's a Jedi Master, Narasi."

"I know," she sighed. She also knew her master was less than sympathetic to her disquiet, so she worked to pull herself together as they went up a deck and came to the door of the Praxeum Council. Tirien signaled for them both, then stepped inside when the door opened to admit them.

In the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the High Council enjoyed a spacious chamber, its dozen seats arranged in a circle—allegedly to promote the flow of dialogue and the Force among them, although Narasi privately thought the Council Masters enjoyed the ability to encircle their guests. Aboard the Crescentia, however, space was at a premium and certainly not available for a circle of twelve. Not that the praxeum ship would have had enough Jedi Masters to fill them all anyway.

Here, there were only five high-backed chairs, and they made only a crescent arc. Narasi bowed along with Tirien, trying to mimic his impassive expression of polite interest as he said, "Masters."

"Kal-Di," Master Sil Kadych acknowledged him, his cold eyes flicking to Narasi and narrowing before turning back. Narasi repressed a shiver. The bald Umbaran Jedi Master lounged in his center Council seat, his casual posture belying the lethality for which he was famous. The Bane of Darths, she had heard him called. His irises were so pale gray that he seemed not to have any.

"More mercenaries, I'm told?" the Umbaran asked in the same uninterested tone.

Tirien nodded. "A few battleships, and one of Lakalt's destroyers as a command ship, but nothing else serious."

"He continues to flee the decisive engagement," a H'nemthe Jedi Master to one side of the arc observed.

"Coward," spat a Human on the other side.

"Not cowardice," Master Kadych said. "Tactics."

Narasi, who was inclined to agree with the Human Jedi, tried to keep her mind blank, but of course Master Kadych looked at her anyway. Uneager to meet that chilling stare, she focused instead of Caamasi Master Multiqi La'altac, seated to Master Kadych's right. The patient, gentle Caamasi had a gift for putting others at ease that his Umbaran colleague altogether lacked; that they were said to be close friends never ceased to mystify Narasi. His snout made smiling an alien exercise, but his eyes were kind.

"You called us before the battle, Masters?" Tirien hinted.

Narasi felt the weight of that cold stare leave her, and looked back to find Master Kadych studying Tirien. "Yes. You're going to Byblos."

He added nothing more, and after a moment Tirien asked, "…indefinitely?"

"We hope not," Master La'altac said. "A Jedi needs your help."

Narasi perked up. "Did he ask for us specifically, Master?"

"He did not ask for help at all," Master Kadych corrected.

"But under the circumstances," Master La'altac added, "we think it would be best."

"And what are the circumstances?" Tirien asked.

"His name is Javrin Flek. Do you know him?"

Tirien shook his head. "Should I?"

"If you did, he would have done something wrong," Master Kadych observed. His eyes had tightened with what Narasi would have thought some sort of dark humor if she had thought Master Kadych capable of that emotion. "He's a Jedi Shadow."

She sensed nothing noticeable from Tirien; his own mental discipline had firmed since they had begun having regular contact with an Umbaran telepath. But Narasi saw him straighten; looking up at him, she caught a hint of yellow as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Both of us, Master, or just me?"

Narasi frowned. Since Taanab, Tirien had never tried to take a mission without her; she wasn't sure what it meant. He seemed to feel her curious gaze, because he shook his head. Later.

She didn't know if Master Kadych caught the thought from Tirien's mind or her own, or if he could simply pluck it from the Force in the air between them, but the Umbaran's pale eyes shifted back to her. "Take her with you. The realities of the galaxy don't become less real for being unseen."

Tirien made a face, but nodded. "Yes Master."

"You'll rendezvous with Javrin in Colonists' Park in Byblos City," said the H'nemthe, Master Thifrieu. "From there…the needs of the mission will carry you."

"Understood."

They waited, but the peripheral Council masters had nothing to add and Master Kadych had subsided back into his bored look; Master La'altac had to seize the initiative to add, "May the Force be with you both."

Narasi's curiosity dogged her, but she recognized her master's Not here expression and held her silence as they retrieved their gear. In the main hangar bay they found the usual shipboard vehicles packed in as tightly as possible without creating a navigation hazard. A Givin Jedi of the ExplorCorps was fueling one of the Crescentia 's shuttles.

"Good afternoon, Jedi Kal-Di," Soolorl Throkhab said.

"And to you, Soolorl," Tirien replied. "Is the Second Chance ready to fly?"

"It is." The Givin turned his skeletal face to Narasi. "Hello Narasi. Let f(x)=∛(x²+4x) and let g(x) be an antiderivative of f(x).  If g(5)=7, can you find g(1)?"

Narasi swallowed. "Um…"

"Too hard," Tirien advised.

She sensed Soolorl's resignation. "Yes, of course. Regardless, I wish you safe travels."

He crept away, bowlegged, arms held out from his body like a marionette. Narasi stared until she realized what she was doing, then hurried to catch up to Tirien. Taking the copilot's seat, she handled the comms while Tirien took them out into space. She had a brief glimpse of the Republic battle group the Crescentia was supporting before the stars blended into the blue-white blur of hyperspace.

"Soolorl knows we're not Givin, right?" Narasi complained.

"It's their form of politeness," Tirien replied. "But I think he's stopped taking offense."

"My class hasn't even started trigonometry…" Narasi grumbled, mostly to herself. Noticing her master's expression, which was halfway between amused and baffled, she asked, "What?"

"You've never commented on how he looks or moves. Which is good," Tirien added. "That's part of being a Jedi—seeing beneath the surface, not what externally might seem alien. And yet you're so uncomfortable with Master Kadych."

Just the thought made Narasi squirm in her seat. "That's different. It's not the telepathy, it's…shouldn't a Jedi Master be a little nicer?  It's like he goes out of his way to make people uncomfortable."

"The Sith will go out of their way to make you a lot more than uncomfortable," Tirien retorted. "Sil Kadych is a hard and dangerous man, but he's what he's needed to be for the work he's done. He's on the side of good, but being good doesn't mean being nice."

"Hmph." Narasi crossed her arms; regardless of her master's counsel, she thought Master Kadych took pleasure in discomfiting her. As she thought about her latest experience under his cold, telepathic microscope, though, her initial curiosity returned. "Master, what's a Jedi Shadow?"

Tirien sat back in the pilot's seat, a frown twisting his mouth. "They're a specialized type of Jedi Sentinel, for the most part."

"What do they do?"

"Ostensibly? Their role is to seek out traces of the dark side and eliminate them."

Narasi blinked. "So…what do we do, then?"

Tirien's frown quirked up into a half-smile that lasted a half-second. "These days, the Shadows are mostly concerned with the dark side on our side of the line. They confiscate Sith artifacts and root out enemy collaborators.  Lots of stealth and sabotage work."

"Oh." It sounded kind of interesting, and Narasi wasn't sure why her master looked so disapproving. "Was that what your master did?"

"No. Similar skill sets, I suppose, but no."

"Huh. I had never heard of them until today."

"A lot of Jedi haven't, even Knights," Tirien agreed. "There aren't many of them."

"So how do you know about them?" Narasi asked.

Tirien looked out as hyperspace blazed by. "A little over a year ago—only a couple months before we met, actually—they tried to recruit me."

Narasi frowned. "I thought you said they were Sentinels."

"Most of them are, but they have a handful of Guardians and Consulars too. Millennia ago, during the Galactic War, all the Shadows were Consulars."

"Why'd they stop?"

Tirien's expression darkened as he turned back to her. "Because Shadows—how did the one who talked to me put it?—'accept the need to make moral compromises in the face of an enemy who threatens to compromise the existence of morality in the civilized galaxy'. In other words, they walk as close to the line of the dark side as you can while remaining a Jedi.  You know that Consulars specialize in a deep understanding of the Force; they ultimately couldn't stand for it.  It's one thing to face the dark side head-on and with honesty, but courting its attention and flirting with its power is something else."

Narasi considered it. "But they're still Jedi, right?"

"Yes," Tirien said, though with obvious reluctance.

"Well…maybe it's like Master Kadych," she suggested. "Good doesn't mean nice?"

Tirien fixed her with his yellow eyes for a moment, but eventually his grave expression lightened and he chuckled once. Giving her a half-bow, he said, "I concede the point, Master Rican."

She laughed with him, then said, "Do we have time for remote training?"

He nodded. "Byblos is hours out, and we'll have to reroute at Duro anyway. Go get in some practice, and I'll come back and spar with you in a while."

"Yes Master," she said, cheered by the prospect. But as she left the cockpit he turned back to stare at space, and Narasi saw the tightness had returned to his eyes.