Gash, however, appeared rather nothing like he'd been described in the rumors Jacen had been told. In part, because such rumors were exaggerated and likely would've painted the five-foot-eleven man as anything from a seven foot behemoth to an underdeveloped runt, and in part simply because Gash had changed.
Sitting in front of a holoterminal with Kasien Treseda (who held a variety of intelligence-related positions in the Rogue Jedi Order, official and less so) opposite him -- the two, close friends, were seldom seen apart during official Ossan Parliament matters -- Gash could easily have been mistaken for a diplomat or admiral, both of which he had once been. Since the bloody Battle of Bastion, a number of changes had altered his physical appearance. For one, the three scars which once marked his face were gone, cured by a Ryll treatment (which was used in place of Bacta, which the Jedi Master was alergic to). His once-famous glowing red eyes appeared a cool shade of green, transformed by contacts the Rogue Jedi needed anyway, for reading purposes -- something which his job demanded frequently. Instead of Jedi robes, he wore a simple dark-navy tunic, and a pair of desert-beige pants.
He looked up from his work, with Kasien also turning to face the two entering Jedi. "Visitors," Kasien said, though he knew the two already had Gash's attention -- and that the Jedi had likely known of their coming long before they reached the door.
"So I see," Gash replied. He studied them for a moment nodding his greeting to Kamon but concentrated primarily on the newcomer. "You are Jacen." The Rogue Jedi Master said, and it was not so much a question as a statement. "Yes. Your powers are strong, developed already."
The man, who was, in Gash's estimation, perhaps little older than a boy, nodded his assent.
Gash stood up from his desk, walking around it to stand beside where Kasien Treseda still sat. "It is my opinion that many Jedi who come to me having already shown extensive ability despite a lack of training place less of an emphasis on what I have to teach them, and more upon their independance."
Gash fished inside his pocket, pulling out a small, dark-blue cube. Dotting the centre of each face of the cube were small, red, spherical jewels. It seemed both mechanical and magical, and its usefulness was instantly apparent. From his belt, he unclipped a lightsaber. "A test, then?" He said, looking down at Kasien.
"You're the Jedi."
"That, I am." He tossed the two instruments -- the cube and the lightsaber -- to Jacen, trusting him to catch them, which he did. "I assume you know what a lightsaber is, and how it works. That cube in your hand is a holocron. Destroy it. Now."
Jacen stood looking at Gash for the briefest of moments. "Do it. I am not joking."