The Rebel Faction

Vodo, from underneath the hood that always obscured his face, stared in serene silence at Silus. He had, of course, heard of the former Sith's arrival on Naboo to complete his transition from the dark side.

That didn't mean he was still comfortable around him.


"Yes, I am doing quite fine..." Vodo said, looking Silus up and down for a moment, reaching out with the Force. He felt no danger whatsoever. Perhaps all that about Silus turning from the Dark Side were true.


He had originally met Silus on Coruscant. Vodo had been pursuing a criminal that had been harassing the spacelanes around Naboo. Vodo had caught up with the criminal and was about to take him into custody to be prosecuted by the Royal Naboo, when Silus, then a Sith Apprentice, intervened.

They fought then, a very long and hard battle, that neither won. Vodo had suffered grevious wounds, and had inflicted them in return.

He thought for a moment, the poorly-constructed lightsaber still in his grip. Leia was still offplanet, leaving Vodo and Kenshin in charge. Perhaps Silus could help?

"I'm sure you are aware of the ship that crashed near here." Vodo began, "There was one survivor."

Vodo lead the way back into the infimary, where Tobal was laying and Irtar standing silent guard, "He was carrying this," Vodo held up the lightsaber.

"Yes, I am doing quite fine..."

Silus breathed somewhat easier. That didn't mean matters were settled, but it did show there was a chance at forgiveness. Silus only needed to work for it.

"I am sure you are aware of the ship that crashed near here. There was one survivor."

Hands held calmly behind his back, Silus followed Vodo into the infirmary.

A pair of doctors - although one could certainly be a nurse; Silus found it hard to tell - were working on the patient with the calm efficiency of experts. Whoever the survivor turned out to be, he was well taken care of.

Silus greeted Irtar with a nod. He'd noticed the apprentice training during a few of the times as he walked the academy. He had plenty of potential.

As for the patient...

"He was carrying this," Vodo held up the lightsaber.

It was, indeed, Tobal.

"I know this man."


Years ago, before Silus had even began his dark fall towards the Sith, he had been nothing more than a common mercenary. He was good, of course, but he was one in millions.

He was a little uncertain of events that had taken place. The only thing he did remember was meeting the man, and being hired before the Jedi attack against the doomed Dark Circle.

Silus had failed the mission, merely damaging the ship he had been hired to destroy. His attempts had been stopped by a Sith, and he was soon captured and imprisoned.

It had been the first among a sequence of events that had finally led him here.


"His name is Tobal," Silus crossed his arms. "A 'Shadow' Jedi."

Silus noticed the apprentice's confusion. "It was before your time. They had disappeared, probably before you even came here. They believe in a balance of the... two sides of the Force. While we walk the way of the light and others the way of the dark, they believed in serving the thin line between them. You could say that led to their downfall, although I have no idea what actually happened."

It was a rough description. Silus would let Vodo explain things better, if he wanted to.

"It has been a long time since I last saw him. I'd thought the Shadow Jedi had faded completely, until now."

He doubted very much that these events were only a coincidence.

Sounds filtered oh so slowly through the dense fog that surrounded Tobal's head. He struggled to regain control of his facilities. He could hear people speaking, and he could feel hands touching him, but he couldn't properly interpret these sensations. The he felt something urgent. A feeling of alarm. Then caution.

Light filtered through his eyelids, and Tobal stirred. He could feel control of his limbs returning, though highly limited. He could understand what was being said now, albeit with difficulty. "Shadow Jedi ... faded .... .. now". There was something familiar about the voice.

His eyes opened. The light was bright, almost painfully so. There was an alien standing above him.

I'm in the Jedi Temple? But...

Naboo.

Jiren.

It made perfect sense for a moment, but different factors came into the equation very quickly, making a mess of the train of thought. Uncharacteristically, Tobal said the first thing that came to mind.

"Am I dying?"

Irtar was just thinking about the words exchanged between the two. Shadow Jedi? Both light and dark? Was that even possible? What happened to those who walked down the dark path always fell completely? This entire thing just felt so foreign to the lessons Irtar had recieved so far. And what was the 'Dark Circle'? The questions in the young padawans head were just spinning around his head.

That was when the Shadow Jedi, Tobal if Silus was telling the truth, returned to the waking. His first question almost shocked Irtar. 'Am I dying?' How bad was that guy feeling?

The doctor, after his little jump of shock from Silus patting him, smiled sheepishly and returned to his scans. "Well young man, consider yourself lucky." The doctor said, looking at the scans. "No major damage, but you're still suffering from a concussion. Protocol says that I keep you in here for two days to make sure that there's no signifigant damage to your brain. Also, to give you time to recover from your other wounds. So, Tobal is it? Well, make yourself comfortable..."

Irtar still just leaned agains the wall in thought...

Vodo went to Tobal's side and looked down at him. He drew back his heavy hood, revealing his slightly insectile face. he held the Shadow Jedi's lightsaber in his right hand.

As Tobal became fully alert, and after the two medics backed away, Vodo spoke.

"Not dying, my friend. In fact, you will be just fine, like the doctor said. Your ship crash-landed here a while ago, and we brought you to the Jedi Temple for medical assistance."

Vodo glanced about at the other curious Jedi. Tobal sat up a bit and took a good look at all of them.

Vodo was never one for beating around the bush.

"Are you Tobal Hadul?" He asked, fingering the lightsaber in his hand, "The... Shadow Jedi?"