Jedi Insurgency 177

Leaving the meeting room, Corvus was approached by both Jax & Yon. 

Jax was calm, composed, and nodded at Corvus in silent respect. 

Yon, meanwhile, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, and was holding a package between his arms. 

“Oh?” Corvus raised an eyebrow in curiosity. 

The Force almost imperceptibly was imbued in whatever was being carried in Yon's arms. A small, wholesome scent that unconsciously made his mouth water, and lick his lips came from the package. Did his student also become an artificer, like Triss? Curiosity gripped his heart, and he gestured with his hand for the short, black haired teen to continue. 

“My mentor within the holocron has been instructing me in many different skills. Uhh, here you go!” Yon muttered in a low, embarrassed tone, and then shoved the wrapped item into Corvus's hands. 

Tearing open the packaging, Corvus was stunned silent as a plate full of chocolate chip cookies was revealed. The aroma was intense, and he could practically feel the love & care that went into baking them. 

Corvus smiled beneath his mask, and held out a hand to pat the kid on the head. 

“Thank you, Yon, I haven't had a cookie in a very long time.” Corvus sighed with emotion. 

“It’s no problem.” Yon bowed his head, ears red with embarrassment. 

Sneaking a cookie into his mouth, Corvus felt it practically melt. The chocolate was rich, the crust was buttery & fluffy. If only it had some mil-

Yon then held out a glass, and poured some milk inside. 

Corvus saluted his student with the cookie, and dipped it inside. The explosion of flavors was much more intense than any cookie he had ever eaten before. Memories of his mother's baking came to mind, and happy emotions of the past surfaced. A tear drop unconsciously fell down his cheek, and he was all choked up. 

Trying not to appear as if he hadn't just lost his composure, Corvus coughed several times, and didn't say a word as he nommed on a second cookie. 

“Sooo…you like them then?” Yon asked. 

“The best I've ever had. Here, you two have some.” Corvus complimented, and not wanting his students to feel left out, offered them a taste. 

Yon's typically scowling visage was now plastered with an ecstatic, uncharacteristically bright smile. “Good. That's good.” 

“Thank you, Yon.” Jax politely accepted a cookie. His composure nearly broke when he took that first bite, and he did a double take at Yon. 

“Heh heh. My power is rising. You'll be left in my dust before you know it.” Yon joked between nibbles of his own cookie. 

Jax's expression became more serious, and it was as if invisible bouts of lightning had sparked between the boys’ eyes. Although he was silent, Jax's message was clear ‘I won’t lose.’ 

Corvus ignored their rivalry, as this type of staring match was almost a daily occurrence. The boys were rivals, and would literally compete over anything. He once, even saw them compete to see who could hold it in the longest, or reach the highest level in a videogame. Instead, he was focused on the memories, and on making new ones with his students. 

“You two.” Corvus quietly murmured, and looked them up and down to see if they had any new scars. “We've only been apart two weeks, but I can feel that your confidence has grown. Being independent has done you some good, eh?” 

It had been just about five, almost six months now since he had rescued them from the Temple during Order 66. Like a proud parent, he was proud, and maybe a little scared sending them away from the nest. 

“Tch. It was hooorrible.” Yon rolled his eyes, huffed, and crossed his arms in a scowl. 

“Noisy.” Jax agreed. 

Corvus glanced up, and saw the gaggle of girls hanging just a few feet away, and heard their hushed whispers, and giggles. ‘Poor lad.’ 

Yon clenched a fist, and shook it. “I don't know how you fly everywhere, Master. It's so boring~ And then finding the target was such a drag. I had to [Mind Trick] so many people just to find the correct directions.” 

The short, black haired teen looked like he wanted to flop down onto a mattress, and look up at the ceiling for hours on end. However, instead he settled for a pout, and looked at Corvus as if he had been dealt a great injustice. 

“Sorry Yon, that's what being a Jedi is all about. At least you learned some valuable skills while you were out. [Mind Trick] is a valuable tool for learning about the situation on the ground.” Corvus apologetically replied, and spoke like an educator. 

Deep down, he felt bad. Not everyone could have a System built in map that could be consulted. At the same time, he was glad that Yon was learning. He had spammed [Mind Trick] enough times that it was good his students were beginning to follow suit. 

“And you, Jax, it seems you've had quite the adventure? What have you learned?” Corvus asked in a bemused tone of voice. 

“Do not become entangled in others’ affairs. Master, I tried following your orders, to eliminate every name on the list. But every time I removed the interloper, some Princess, Senator, or Governor's daughter was in need of rescue. I couldn't just leave them there, and ended up fighting in more than five frontal assaults. I am a failure as a Shadow.” A hollow look was in his eye, and Jax morosely hung his head in shame. 

As his wintery hair covered his eyes, and his pale complexion took on a look of melancholy, the girls in the background gasped. 

‘You poor bastard, succumbing to the protagonist's curse.’ Corvus clucked his tongue in pity. 

Every main mission was conjoined with a dozen sub-plots. Rescuing ‘the Princess’ must feel amazing the first time, but if that was all you did, and they were always clamoring for your attention? The kid probably barely got a moment of peace with them swooning after his handsome ass. 

Placing a hand on Jax's shoulder, the teen slowly lifted his head. 

“You've suffered. Unfortunately, sometimes the people we rescue can be a bit…much. Just like how no one mentions the stinky sewers we have to sometimes crawl through, or the moral debauchery of Spice addicts, no one in the Temple will teach you how to deal with a rabid fan. Ignoring them will only make them more fanatical. I suggest you use a combination of [Mind Trick] & the money I gave you to pay for their flight. You cannot be expected to protect an ever growing group of Princesses, Senators, or Governor's daughters forever.” 

Jax's complexion somewhat brightened, and he raised his head in relief. 

“Oi, oi, how come Mr. Silent gets the comforting advice?! I saved several slave pens too ya know!” Yon huffed, his arms still crossed. 

“And did you send them out to fend for themselves, or did you try at least a little bit to find safe harbor?” Corvus asked in a knowing tone. 

“Uhhh.” Yon uttered, knowing he didn't have a satisfactory rebuttal. 

“Honestly, you two.” Corvus sighed, and palmed his face. “What am I going to do with you? One gets too deeply involved with others’ affairs, and the other shows not the slightest ounce of responsibility for the unfortunate people he just saved.” 

“Ahem, uhh, you're going out on another mission, right?” Yon coughed into his hand to change the subject. 

Jax silently nodded along, the hope in his eyes spoke of how eager he was to leave the warehouse. 

“Ello, you going on an adventure? Count us in!” Omega bounded over, and snatched a cookie from the plate. 

Dragging Triss behind her, the sunny blonde looked eager for a go at it. Triss, meanwhile, kept her eyes on the floor. The pale, white haired teen was covered in layers of dark cloth, yet her budding cold beauty was only a match for Jax's handsomeness. 

Yon glared at Omega for stealing his gift, and ground his teeth in anger.

“Can the two of you defend yourselves?” Corvus asked, crossing his arms in curiosity. 

So far as he was concerned, the two of them were liabilities last he checked. An overly enthusiastic brat who loved to get herself into trouble, and a teen who had trauma from being a student at Dooku's Darkside academy as well as a fear of him because Corvus was technically the one who had led to her death.

“Can we defend ourselves?! O'course we can!” Omega replied in an offended tone of voice. 

Pulling out the lightsaber Corvus had gifted her for training, a yellow beam of light sprang into existence. 

“You too, bestie!” Omega then nudged Triss. 

Reluctantly pulling out a purple blade, Triss stood with her hood pulled forward, covering her face. Holding out a hand, the weapon levitated in front of her, and was controlled by the Force. For the briefest of seconds, his heart skipped a beat. Not due to her beauty or anything stupid like that-she was still a child in his eyes-no, because what he saw was like looking at a young Kreia from the KOTOR games. 

“Here I come!” Omega joyfully shouted, and ran at him. 

Corvus barely woke himself out of his stupor, and ignited his lightsaber just in time to block. 

One blue blade met Omega's yellow as she used her small frame to dodge, and twirl around him like Yoda. Of course, she wasn't nearly as skilled as the Grand Master, but it had been four months since her initiation in the Force…the little blonde girl had some skills! 

Parrying aside a wild stab, he swept her feet, and then held his weapon at her chin. 

“Is this the sum of your powers?” Corvus spoke in a deep voice, doing his best to mimic Dooku's melodic condescension. 

“Not at all! You won't be talkin so much trash after you've seen how far we've come.” Omega batted aside his weapon, and aimed at his shoulder. 

The move was eerily similar to what Luke had done to Vader during their Cloud City duel. 

Waving his hand, Corvus pushed her back ten feet, forcing her shoes to skid on the warehouse floor. 

Igniting his second lightsaber, he reached behind himself, and red met purple before it could slash into his back. 

“Very good distraction. An ordinary Padawan would have been defeated, perhaps an overly arrogant Knight might lose to such a-” Corvus began, only for Omega to toss out a flashbang. 

‘Sonuvabitch!’ Corvus swore to himself as the lens in his helmet flared, working to compensate for the sudden brightlight. 

As he was going easy on the girls, he hadn't applied any of his buffs. Ordinarily, [Energy Resistance] would have easily deflected such a low level attack. 

The corner of his mouth twitched between a smile and a frown as he then proceeded to block both purple & yellow blades of plasma. A stab at his stomach was redirected towards the purple blade at his back, and whilst Omega had over extended herself, he swiped his red saber-which was in training mode-across her neck. 

Omega's eyes widened in fear, and as the blade collided with her flesh, she dropped to the ground in paralytic shock. 

Triss's already pale skin seemed to go milk white, yet she did not relent. Fear colored her eyes, but the ferocity of her attacks became more vicious, speedy, and aimed at the gaps in his Cortosis-Weave robes. Pulling Omega's lightsaber into her hand with the Force, she wielded it much like how Count Dooku used his own weapon. Her movements were awkward, and rusty, but also held some level of lethal grace. 

Swiping at him high, only to feint and go in for a chest kick, Triss perfectly synchronized her moves with a telekinetic swipe at the soles of his boots. 

“While that is a good idea, thinking my shoes are a weak point…you are sorely mistaken!” Corvus lectured with a feral grin, and then stomped down on the blade without a care. 

His beskar reinforced boots met the hot blade with no issue, and he side stepped her kick, and then delivered a brutal, bone cracking elbow to her knee cap. Triss cried out in pain, and Omega was full of righteous fury as she rose from the temporary paralysis. 

“Don't hurt my friend!” She said in determination, reclaimed her blade, and ran at him with renewed fury. The yellow light reflected in her eyes for but a second, and then it was gone. 

Noticing this brief change, Corvus felt as if something were amiss. 

“Do you have the strength to go on an adventure?” Corvus whispered, and then disappeared from sight. 

Omega swiped at empty air, where he had been a second ago. A powerful punch landed on her stomach, driving the air from her. When Corvus rematerialized, he was standing with his back to her, and had his boot on Triss's leg. He didn’t intend to break it, or step down, but he was curious about something. 

Appearing as if he were grinding Triss's bones with his boot, he looked up at the air. “I suppose this is the extent of your power. A pity.” 

“I said shut up!” Omega pressed, that curious yellow light became thicker around her aura, seemingly boosting her speed & agility. 

Corvus confirmed that it wasn't necessarily the Darkside amping her up either. Rather, when fighting in defense of her friends, she had gained a power boost! 

Matching her blow for blow, he fought until she had drained herself of stamina. Falling to one knee, the little girl growled like a wounded beast. “You. Not. Hurt, Triss.” 

Corvus sheathed his blades, and then cast both [Heal] & [Valor] on the two of them. 

“Most impressive. Come along now, or you'll miss all the fun.” Corvus said dismissively over his shoulder, and left for one of the shuttlecraft that had been stored in the warehouse. 

When Corvus had left, Omega turned to Jax, and spat on the floor. “Your Master is cruel. This was only a spar, he didn't have to take it that far.” 

Triss silently shivered, and shakily stood up thanks to Omega's help. 

Jax held Yon back from saying something insulting, and shook his head at her. 

“You wouldn't understand. Master pushed you both to your breaking points to discover how strong you actually are.” Jax explained, and then turned towards the shuttlecraft. 

“What does that mean?! Idiot.” Omega muttered to herself, and pulled her eyelid down at Jax's back. 

“The Dark Acolytes training under Dooku treated me similarly during ‘spars’ do not worry about it, Omega.” Triss weakly smiled, and patted the tiny girl on the shoulder. 

“It isn't right.” Omega lowered her voice, balled her fists, and reluctantly followed from behind. 

Meanwhile, Corvus had entered one of the ships, and was warming it up. The image of Triss hooded, the way she wielded her lightsaber, it still had him spooked. Then there was Omega's incredible growth rate. She reminded him of a young Ahsoka, or perhaps even Anakin. The Force abhorred Force Sensitive clones, or rather in her case, Force Sensitive artificially created life. However, she was an exception, an anomaly. He couldn't help but want to test her, to see how strong she had grown in just four months…and the results were astonishing. 

Sighing to himself he focused on his map feature to locate the Ongree enclave. 

This trip to Nar Shaddaa was going to be eventful, he could feel it. 

~~~~~~

AN: In case you missed ch 001 of Jedi Artisan, check it out! There'll be more to come in February! I'll maybe post chapter 001 of Uzumaki Survival later today, so don't freak out from all these new stories, lol.