Star Wars: Knights Of The New Republic

Chapter Eight: The Return

Chapter Eight: The Return

Kylar sprinted into the Great Hall, Pyrrha close by. They were utterly appalled by what they saw. So many Jedi lay dead in rows along the floor, being gently wrapped in ceremonial cloth, the ones who were dismembered were hardest to wrap. Kylar felt a wound in his essence as he witnessed so many dead students and warriors.

He could only blame himself irrationally, thinking he could have done something had he been here. He was the sword of the Jedi Order. It was his job to protect them. Instead he was seeking the corpse of another student who gave clues that had come too late to be useful. He knew he shouldn't blame himself, knowing it was out of his control.

Pyrrha saw the face of a young human boy who Kylar could only assume was her friend. She knelt next to his body and sobbed. Kylar felt he should do something to comfort her, but general empathy was not his strong suit. He felt her loss, but he couldn't be the one to make it better.

He approached the masters. "Who did this?"

Sharson gestured to the row of eight corpses, all dressed in Jal-Shey inspired armor except for one in temple guard apparel. "Sith. They infiltrated the temple and went on a rampage, probably using Knight Valice as a decoy to make us look away from the impending threat. "

"How could we not have seen this coming?" Kylar hissed.

"Because no Sith have been heard from in generations." Vestill said, finishing wrapping a bandage and some bio-gel over her wounded shoulder. "We got comfortable. I sense this is what they wanted."

"Does this mean they have an army now? Like in the days of the Old Republic?" Sharson suggested.

Crovel ran a hand over the stubble on his chin, examining the corpses of the Sith assassins. "Unlikely. It's been a rule of two for more than years than can be counted, starting all the way back to the time of Darth Bane. This team, while well trained, could never have hoped to make it out of this temple alive after having killed the Jedi Order. If they had a large army and the element of surprise, they could have wiped us out before we could even react. This wasn't an act meant to destroy. It was an act of terrorism, meant to alert us to the new threat. They want us to know they're here now."

This all made sense to Kylar. As an expert combatant, he saw the flaws and pros to this attack. The one who orchestrated it probably was a proficient strategist as well, knowing that this team wouldn't make it out. Kylar hated that he respected the thought put into this first strike igniting the war.

"While we know they're here, we don't know who or where they are." Vestill pointed out.

"I feel that's part of their plan. They want us to know they're here, not who they are." Sharson said.

"So what? We just wait for them to strike again?" Kylar asked, exasperated. As a warrior, he hated waiting for the enemy to strike from the shadows.

"We have nothing to go off of. We need to evaluate the situation and develop a plan of action." Crovel commented.

Kylar knew he was right. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it though. He noticed that they were the only masters in the Great Hall suddenly. "Where is Master Koren?"

"Master Koren was off world during the attack. He and his padawan were on Jaku assisting refugees." Vestill explained.

Relief flooded Kylar as he learned the master had not fallen. Losing a member of the council was something they could not afford in this time. "Have we informed him of the situation?"

Crovel solemnly shook his head. "We can't reach him on the comms."

Kylar didn't like that. Tatooine was known for having little communication signals, but the silence made him uneasy. A group of younglings had been targeted. The temple had been attacked. A lone master and his padawan would be easy targets. If they were just out of signal, or worse, Kylar still needed to worn them.