Alternate Start (ARCHIVE)

Prologue: The Tear

Kamino was a quiet world. Quiet, save for the endless, cold rain. Tipoca city was quiet, save for the vode who seemed to make it their mission to fill the void with their own noise.

Until it suddenly got louder. Cadets froze in their seats, troopers suddenly stumbled in the training rooms, and ik'aade cried en masse. Even the Kaminoans stopped in their tracks, as a wave of something ripped through Kamino, unaware that even a few Jedi in nearby systems had felt the earth shaking disturbance in the Force.

Colt had found the cloaked man laying limply on one of the landing platforms, and feared for a moment that he was dead, until he drew in one trembling breath. He was visibly shivering, at least Colt thought the stranger was male.

He called for backup as he pulled off a glove and made skin-to-skin contact with the stranger's throat, checking his pulse. It was terrifyingly slow, and his skin was ice cold. A crimson fluid coated Colt's hand as he pulled his hand away from the man's head. The stranger was big, bigger than the commander ever thought that a sentient could be. He removed the mask that was streaked with blue paint, revealing the rest of the scar that trailed under it.

He couldn't identify what could have made it, something hot he could tell, but not the kind of weapon. The stranger's mouth was slightly parted, sharp teeth lined the inside of his jaws that looked to be made for predatory behavior. Colt searched his mind for what he could possibly be, but all possibilities eluded him. The air was buzzing with something he couldn't identify, but it soon vanished after he had noticed.

He mindlessly watched the medical team when they arrived, still trying to figure out what he was. When they'd reached the medical bay, they finally removed the cloak, and Colt noticed the weapon hanging from the man's belt.

A lightsaber, with a curved handle and a blue twinge to it's steel. But what would a Jedi be doing laying face down in the cold rain on an empty landing platform?

The Jedi's eyes snapped open, and he sat up looking alarmed. One of his eyes was visibly cybernetic, while the other was a striking amber with a slight twinge of green mixed in. He looked around, highly confused and still shivering. His tail curled around his leg, a well kept tuft of blond hair on the end clumped together by the rain. He looked like a drowned tooka.

"W-Where am I?" He croaked out, the question aimed at Colt as one of the medics pushed him back down against the biobed. "You're on Kamino, sir. Looks like you took a pretty nasty fall. From where, we aren't quite sure." One of them explained, "What's your name sir?"

"Kaar. Kaar Sal, Jedi Paladin."

He looked at the clones, then blinked for a moment, almost dazed. "Apologies, this might sound odd but, what year is it?"
The medic thought for a moment, unperturbed, then hummed, "Twenty five aught thirty-two, sir."

Kaar's eyes widened, pupils tightening as he mulled something over in his head then mumbled with confusion lacing his voice, "That can't be right. Maybe I did hit my head..."

"You have a concussion sir, you're lucky to be awake right now given how much you're shivering." The medic hummed, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Yes...you're probably right I... don't feel very good."

His pupil became a slit as a different medic shined a light into his non-cybernetic eye, while the first medic explained that they would contact the order for him so he could get back to Coruscant.

Kaar mumbled something about how this was probably a dream anyway, and slipped back to unconsciousness.

Something struck Colt as very wrong here.

How had Kaar even gotten here?