[Star Wars Fic] Galaxy of Chaos: The Enslavement of Berloc Ironfist

Disclaimer: Star Wars and it’s expanded universe belong to Lucas film and several other companies working under licence from Lucas film. I am just borrowing the concepts and setting of the world for my own and possibly the enjoyment of other fans.

Note: This was originally The Prologue for The Training Camp. However, it doesn’t really fit as a prologue to that specific fic but more as one for the Entire Galaxy of Chaos future fic verse.

This is set more than 1600 years after a New Hope and deals with a very different Star Wars galaxy. I know EU canon will probably eventually render this AU so I’m going on and giving it the label.


Galaxy of Chaos:
The Enslavement of Berloc Ironfist

Berloc Ironfist, looked out at the lush green hillsides of Korriban as he made a sweep around the hospital wing that had been reserved for Mandalore. The current leader of their people was depending on the medical expertise of the Yuuzhan Vong healers to retain his position. He had plenty of enemies so it was important that none of them get close to him while he was being treated for a rare degenerative nerve condition.

“Greetings Mandalore Ironfist,” a voice called and he froze turning quickly to see a strange blonde woman standing casually behind him. He trained his gun on her as he took in her appearance. She appeared to be a baseline human but appearances where often misleading. “You have nothing to fear from me Mandalore.”

“I am not Mandalore,” he stated simply keeping his weapon trained on her. “Identify yourself or I will kill you.” There was something about the woman’s presence that unnerved him and he was sorely tempted to simply kill her and be done with it. If it wasn’t for the fact that the Vong were extremely touchy about violence committed on their healing world, he would do it in a heartbeat.

“You are not Mandalore yet,” she said ignoring his gun as she turned toward the hospital. “That old fool in there will live another ten years after which he will die gasping for breath after naming you his heir apparent.” She turned back toward him and smiled. “After you get off duty come to the Skywalker Memorial gardens, all your questions will be answered there.”

Before he could say anything or take any action she was gone. He was about to radio it in when news came that the Vong healers had finished their work and Mandalore had come through fine. He scanned the area one more time before heading back to the hospital to get new orders. He decided not to report the disappearing woman until he had more answers.

He was having second thoughts by the time he was relieved of guard duty and heading toward the Skywalker Memorial Garden. He wasn’t sure he should be doing this alone but something stopped him from calling in back up. He glanced at one of the statues of the famous Jedi scattered around the gardens. He knew the Vong had a major case of hero worship when it came to the Jedi, especially to the Skywalker line. He didn’t know why the statue of the woman standing there with a determined look on her face caught his attention but he found himself staring at her and thinking she was almost familiar looking. A quick glance at the plaque showed that was impossible since she had died more than a thousand years ago.

“Mari Skywalker,” the woman’s voice said from behind him. “It is not surprising you should be drawn to her as your origins are intimately connected with her.” He ignored her as he continued to stare at the statue. “She is considered the last of the direct line of Skywalkers,” She said with a knowing smile. “She died facing the last remnants of the Sith achieving what many believe was a final lasting victory against their teachings.”

“Enough of this,” he said letting his irritation show. “I don’t know why you insist on bringing up ancient history, or why you’d say I’m intimately connected with a woman who died thousands of years ago but I’ve had it just say whatever you came here to say.” He felt the sting of shame after that outburst. He’d let his unease show and he hated showing weakness of any kind.

“What do you know of Korriban,” the woman asked smiling darkly. “Do you even understand that before the Vong took their revenge on the sith by eradicating every trace of them they could find that this world was the Sith’s home world?” He knew all that already Mandalorian society had been tied up with the sith so often over the millenia that he had learned quiet a bit about them. He personally thought it was fitting that the Vong framed by the sith had razed the Sith burial world to the bare bedrock before remaking it into the galaxies premier hospital world. “I can sense your thoughts little man and you know nothing the Sith were great once and we will be so again.”

“You are claiming to be a Sith?” He asked resisting the temptation to laugh. “So you are a representative of a dead order of pathetic magicians who got wiped out by the Vong and Jedi.” His unease was being replaced with pity as he realized she was insane.

“Mock me at your peril Mandlore,” She said darkly. “My master served under Palpatine the greatest sith whoever lived.” He couldn’t help it; he actually laughed in her face as the sheer ridicules nature of her boast. “Do not laugh at our master,” she said angrily.

“Are you insane Palpatine lived more than sixteen hundred standard years ago,” He did his best to suppress his chuckles. “I’m sure there are races that could live that long but the Jedi would have dealt with any survivors of Palpatine’s empire centuries ago.” He like most Mandalorians didn’t think too highly of the Jedi but even they couldn’t screw up that badly.

The anger that was clear on the woman’s face suddenly vanished and she turned back toward the statue of the female Skywalker. “Mari was pregnant when she died,” She said flatly. “The master was the one who actually killed her after she had taken down the survivors of the scattered sith fragments.” She turned a cruel smile on him. “All so he could gain the genetic material of her unborn child.” She continued to smile at him as she added. “Incidently you are one of twelve clones of that unborn child that we seeded Mandalorian society with twenty-five standard years ago.” She then outright laughed as she went on. “You Mandalorians and your quickness to adopt played into our hands perfectly.”

“You are insane,” He found himself saying. “Even if your master killed this woman why would he wait more than a thousand years to clone her offspring.” He began to carefully move toward his weapon once more feeling unease replace the pity he had felt earlier.

“Why don’t you take off your helmet so we can talk face to face,” She said casually and to his completely shock he found himself obeying. “This is why,” she said producing a small vial filled with a slimy creature with multiple tentacles. She smiled at him. “You’ve been in its presence long enough now for it to take control.”

He realized she wasn’t kidding when he tried to put his helmet back on only to find he couldn’t. “Why are you doing this?” He asked hoping to keep her talking long enough to figure out how to get out of this mess. He thought about shooting the creature only to find suddenly he couldn’t move his arms.

“The master needs the next Mandalore to be the centerpiece in his grand plan for the galaxy,” She said smiling. “So this parasite was created, it is a wonder of sith alchemy, Vong biotech and centuries of research the only problem is it takes a thousand years to grow and must be a 100% genetic match with its target.” She looked insanely proud as she approached him. “So he waited a thousand years and seeded Mandalorian society with twelve clones knowing he would use whichever one was the most successful.” She ran a cold hand down his face. “Congratulations you get to live all the rest of the surviving clones are being hunted down as we speak.” She looked even more deranged as she added. “A few of the failures did us the favor of dying early.”

“I’ll never stop fighting and I’ll beat this parasite someday,” He vowed as she uncorked the vial. She only laughed at him as she grabbed his jaw and forced it open. She pushed the vial into his mouth and suddenly there was a sharp pain at the back of his throat. He tried to scream but couldn’t as a terrible pain filled his head. He was suddenly somewhere else on a dark world watching as a horrible monster rose from the water. He realized it had to be the master she was talking about. Even as he realized this was taking place entirely In his mind he still found himself giving into utter despair. He knew looking at the abomination that was twining its tentacles around him that he would never be free.

The End.

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Galaxy of Chaos Master Post

Galaxy of Chaos

Galaxy of Chaos is an Expanded Universe AU set around 1600 years after A New hope. The vast majority of characters who will appear are original characters though there are references to the past.

I have several fics plotted for this AU but at the moment only one ficlet and part of a written in part are done. More will be added as they are written.

The Fics

The Enslavement of Berloc Ironfist: A Mandalorian is forced into the service of a dark threat.

The Training Camp: Set Twenty years after The Enslavement of Berloc Ironfist focusing on a joint training camp between the Jedi and IMperial Knights. Is not very action heavy as it is more about introducing several of the central characters for this AU. EAch Chapter alternates between four pov's Two Jedi students and two Imperial Cadets.

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty One Chapter Twenty Two Chapter Twenty Three Chapter Twenty Four Chapter Twenty Five Chapter Twenty Six Chapter Twenty Seven Chapter Twenty Eight

Prophecy of Inevitible War: The Queen Mother of Hapes recieves a prophecy from the seer who has served her family for generations.

Necessity of Exile: The Empire is about to demand that Rath Sho be handed over as a deserter

Stepping Back: Tasha Baldour is told to step back and stop trying to see the future constantly.

His Mother's Visit: Tor Varga gets a surprise when his mother visits him during his house arrest.

The Next Generation: Master Talz B'nar the grand master of the Jedi observes something that feels him with hope for the next generation.

Waiting on the Next Step: A few of the Jedi from the training camp wait to be assigned their new apprentices after passing the trials.

Proud: A mother preperations to celebrate members of her family becoming Jedi.

Ill Omen: While trying to help her padawan learn to control his visions Tasha Baldour witnesses something horrible.

Attack on Bothawui: The Kligsonites carry out an attack on the Bothan homeworld.

Meeting with the Chancellor: The grand master of the Jedi order meets with the Chancellor of the Alliance.

[Star Wars fic]Galaxy of Chaos The Training Camp Chapter one

Disclaimer: Star Wars and it’s expanded universe belong to Lucas film and several other companies working under licence from Lucas film. I am just borrowing the concepts and setting of the world for my own and possibly the enjoyment of other fans.

Note: This is part of my Galaxy of Chaos AU future fic series. Most of the cast is OC since it is set far in the future though there are references to EU characters scattered about. This fic will contain het as well as same sex pairings among the cast.

This is set 20 years after The Enslavement of Berloc Ironfirst.

Galaxy of Chaos: The Training Camp
Chapter One
Tor Varga

Tor Varga headed through the halls of the Imperial Knights headquarters on Bastion searching for his twin brother who had missed their monthly dinner last night with their great-grandmother. As usual when his brother pulled this stunt he had to listen to her go on about what a disgrace his brother was and that he should do something to straighten him out. He felt simultaneously jealous and irritated that his brother could so easily blow off his responsibilities as a member of the royal family.

He paused outside his brothers private quarters and felt a sense of dread. He hoped his brother was alone the last time he’d dropped by his quarters unannounced he’d found his brother with a pair of Twi’lek dancing girls. He reached out and pushed the alert button to let his brother know he had company. He realized his brother wasn’t alone the moment the door cracked only partially open revealing his brother’s messy long black hair and blood shot blue eyes. “I’m kind of busy right now, can the lecture wait until later?”

He ignored his customary reaction of disgust at seeing his brother’s unkempt appearance ever since he’d started closely cropping his own hair his twin brother had seemed determined to let his grow wildly. “No, it can’t so tell whoever is in there to get dressed because I’m coming in.” His shirtless brother stepped aside opening the door to allow him in. He was glad he wasn’t going to have an argument out in the hallway this time. He got a shock when he saw who his brother was entertaining. “Silas,” he said forcing himself to keep it a light as possible a greeting to the blond haired grey eyed Imperial knight who was getting dressed quickly.

“I should go pack after all we are leaving soon,” he said and after a quick kiss with his brother the other high ranking apprentice was gone. He found himself staring at the door with what he knew had to be a confused expression on his face.

“Go ahead give me the lecture about corrupting other apprentices and how I’ll ruin Silas career if word of our debauchery gets out,” his brother said darkly. He turned back toward his brother and frowned. He wasn’t surprised to see his brother with a man. He’d seen a parade of sentients of several genders and species coming out of his brother’s bedroom over the years. “Well go on get it over with.”

“I can’t pass judgement on whom you choose to get involved with,” He said watching his brother look genuinely shocked. “Who you choose to see is entirely up to you Corvin.” He watched as his brother smiled at him for the first time in a long while. “I am surprised however that Silas enjoys the company of men,” He said choosing his words carefully. “In all the years I’ve known him he’s never given any indication he has taste in that direction.”

“I don’t think he really does,” His brother said challengingly. “He’s a lot more into it when there’s a woman involved with us.” He wasn’t going to give his brother the satisfaction of reacting to that. “I think he’s angling to join the royal family and the disgrace whose ninth in line for the throne is his best bet.”

He watched his brother give him a knowing smirk at the appalled look on his face. “Look Corvin I didn’t come here to fight,” He said honestly. “I just came to tell you that our great-grandmother expects you for dinner tonight since you missed last nights.” He watched as the fight went out of his brother. “Please, just go see her, I know she can be irritating with her lectures on what it means to be a member fo the royal family but she is our great grand mother.”

“Fine, I’ll go listen to Former Empress Azia Artis tell me everything that’s wrong with me,” Corvin said smiling slightly. “But you have to do something for me.” He felt his face fall it was never good when his brother asked for a favor but he nodded his head. “While you’re on that trip don’t give Silas a hard time if he sleeps with any Jedi we have an open relationship.”

“I won’t,” he said feeling a slight annoyance. “I still don’t get why everyone who isn’t going to this thing thinks it’s just an excuse for Jedi and Imperial Knights to have sex with each other.” He knew he was glaring at he continued, “This is a joint training exercise that has been done once every three years for the last eight hundred years it is not and has never been a dating game.”

“Grandma, gave you contraceptives didn’t she?” His brother said laughing. “I bet she gave you a handful and warned you not to let any royal bastards happen.” He knew his blush had given it all away. “I knew she would that’s why I didn’t go, besides it was much more fun to say a private goodbye to Silas.” He sobered up. “Relax, I know it’s important to you and that it probably is just a training exercise but those of us who don’t get to go have to amuse ourselves somehow.” He smiled slightly. “And talking about you elite students having freaky relations with Jedi amuses us.”

He wondered not for the first time if his brother was jealous. His brother hadn’t volunteered to try for one of the ten spots available but you never knew with Corvin. “I should really get going I have preparations to make.” He said feeling guilty that his once close relationship with his twin brother was so strained. “I’ll see you again before I leave.” His twin just nodded and motioned for him to leave.

He left the room feeling a mix of relief and guilt; he still wasn’t sure how his relationship with his twin brother had gotten so strained the last few years. “Apprentice Varga wait a moment,” A voice said and he turned to see the Elomin Master Zholl Codi who would be over seeing the ten Imperial knights gong on the training mission.

“Yes, Master Codi,” He said stopping to bow respectfully. He hoped nothing had gone wrong with the training exercise because he was looking forward to it a great deal. He felt a sense of dread as he waited for the Elomin to speak.

“I need you to go help Apprentices Sho and Task with loading the shuttle for our trip,” Master Codi finally said. “After the three of you have accomplished that task you need to seek out your masters and receive any final instructions from them.”

He nodded and then began making his way down to the dock they were scheduled to leave from. He arrived quickly enough to see the Nagai Rath Sho and the Yellow Zabrak Obran Task already hard at work loading the supply crates lifting them with the force and settling them gently down in the cargo bay of the shuttle.

He quickly joined in after saying a quick hello to both of them. He got along well enough with Rath Sho but rarely ever spent any time with Task. He knew from experience that the Zabrak almost never spoke unless he had something to say. He knew some of the younger apprentices thought the Zabrak was actually mute.

“Looking forward to the training exercise,” he finally asked once they were nearly done loading the shuttle. He wasn’t surprised when Rath said a quick affirmative and Task only nodded his head in agreement. He supposed that was as much as he was going to get since having actual friends was hard for him because of the fact he was a member of the royal family. He supposed he understood why his brother would put up with someone like Silas just to have someone to interact with.

Once everything was done, he bid them a quick good bye and headed to find his personal master Delmon Kalar a Lethan Twi’lek. He found his master easily enough as he knew this time of day duty permitting usually saw his master meditating in the Pelleon gardens. He arrived to find his master dressed in traveling clothes which surprised him. “Master Kalar I am here for any last minute instructions.”

“Always by the book as usual,” His master said opening his eyes and smiling at him. “You already know all you need to for this training camp just enjoy yourself.” He stood up and stretched. “You might make some actual friends among the Jedi after all that’s where I met my wife.”

His master didn’t talk about his wife much since she was a Jedi and while it wasn’t against the rules it was certainly frowned upon. “Are you going somewhere while we are going to be away master,” He asked not feeling comfortable talking about his master’s wife with him. He hoped his master wasn’t going on a dangerous mission alone.

“I’m going to Ossus to see my newborn son for the first time,” Master Kalar said smiling. “My request for leave was delayed until you left for the training camp.” He felt guilty when he heard that. “Don’t blame yourself it’s your Uncle’s policy that keeps me from taking you to Ossus on a stop over during a mission.”

He knew that it wasn’t technically his fault since his Uncle barred taking apprentices anywhere near Ossus. “Why does Master Artis even allow this training camp to continue if he’s so concerned with keeping Imperial knights away from the Jedi?”

“Galen, wouldn’t even dream of trying to cancel it as long as his grandmother is alive.” He had to suppress a smile at his master’s words. “You know how much value she places on the traditions of the Empire.” He certainly did it was why his great grand mother had stepped down from the throne like tradition dictated on her 80th birthday after all. “Don’t worry about anything on this trip just have a good time and learn what you can.”

“I will master,” He said. “I hope you enjoy your visit with your family.” He took his leave then heading back to his quarters to double check that he hadn’t forgotten anything. He didn’t expect to have forgotten anything but it never hurt to double check.

To Be Continued...


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[Star Wars fic]Galaxy of Chaos The Training Camp Chapter Two

Disclaimer and Notes on Chapter One

The Training Camp
Chapter Two
Tasha Baldor

Tasha Baldor opened her eyes with a start after yet another true dream. This was one that she had once before herself standing with a female Chiss Imperial Knight discussing their options to get past one of the exercises at the camp. She had dreamed about the Chiss Imperial knight several times since learning she had been chosen as one of the ten Jedi apprentices attending the training camp.

She got up and pulled on her robes glancing back at the book on the history of her people the Firrerreo and how they had recovered following their near extinction at the hands of the Empire and Yuuzhan Vong. It helped her to deal with the more disturbing true dreams to read about how close her people had come to extinction and managed to survive. Her master discouraged her reminding her to simply trust in the force. She still had trouble separating her Jedi training from the upbringing she received on Kinooine before her dreams started coming true and she joined the Jedi order.

She left her room finding that a sleep before the departure was proving too difficult. She was grateful she was only dreaming about the Imperial Knight she would be paired with instead of the formless shape beneath the waters. Her master and other Jedi had tried to help her see further but ever since she was a child she would only ever see the shadow of it and feel a terrible fear. She knew that some of the Jedi doubted that it was a true dream but she knew with complete certainty that someday she would face whatever dwelt beneath the water.

She decided that some exercise might help clear her head so she went to a nearby practice room. She frowned when she heard laughter coming from within as well s the sound of light sabers in use. She glanced inside and saw that it was Tuc Tinto and Dev Guri so she turned and headed toward one of the other rooms. Tuc being a Mandallian giant took up too much room for her to fit comfortably into the room with them. She was glad to have that excuse because Dev had a crush on her and she was simply not interested in the Togruta as a romantic prospect. She hoped he wouldn’t continue his pursuit of her during the training camp.

She arrived at the next room and found another of the Jedi who would be going to the joint training camp with her. Iella Sallin was practicing a light saber kata, her green double bladed Saber whirling around her. She stood back and watched the red-haired human woman’s practice not wanting to disturb her concentration. Iella stopped after a few more minutes and turned toward her. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I was wondering if you minded me doing some remote drills in this room.” She knew she could have simply walked over to the other corner and begun the drills but she preferred not to interrupt if the other woman wanted to be alone.

“Go ahead,” Iella said and then reigniting her light saber resumed her kata completely ignoring her presence in the room. She headed to the corner where the remotes were located and flicked one on with the force igniting her yellow light saber she closed her eyes and waited for the first shot from the remote.

Time seemed to pass impossibly slow as she blocked shot after shot from the remote. This was always her favorite way to meditate on the force letting her considerable precognitive talent guide her to block the shots. She flicked on a second remote to increase the pressure and to further occupy her mind. She considered adding a third remote but sensed that doing so would result in some welts as her focus wasn’t there to handle three remotes at the moment.

She worked until she felt her concentration slipping and turned off the remotes shutting down her light saber and allowing her focus to come back to the present. She found Iella staring at her with a curious expression on her face. “I hope you are not offended but you are the Firrerreo that has an exceptional precognitive gift correct?” She nodded an affirmative wondering why the other padawan brought it up. “I have to ask; have you had any visions about this foolish training camp we are being sent on?”

“Just a few brief ones,” She said curious what the other woman meant by foolish. “I just saw a few glimpses of myself working with a female Chiss Imperial knight.” She could tell instantly the woman had been hoping she had seen something else. “What did you hope I’d seen?”

“I was hoping that you had seen something I could use to convince my master to ask the council to call off this farce.” Her face was clouded by a dark look but she could sense no anger radiating from her. “We should not be associating with Imperial Knights they are no better than dark siders,” She snorted. “Not to mention how quickly most of our fellow padawans chosen for this foolishness are to form attachments.” She shook her head her red hair still tightly bound at the back of her head. “I will bid you goodnight then.”

“Goodnight,” She said to Iella’s retreating back. She considered using the remotes again but decided against it and left the practice room deciding to try sleeping again. As she made her way back down the halls of the Praxeum of Ossus she found herself thinking about Iella’s attitude and comments.

“Trouble sleeping my padawan,” A voice said and she found herself facing her Jedi Master. Sarli Hoosha a Cathar and a great seer in her own right. “You have not been having the vision again have you?” Her master asked with a touch of worry.

“No master Hoosha,” She said, “I dreamed of my partner for the training camp and then had an interesting conversation with Iella Sallin.” She saw her understanding in her master’s eyes. “Why is Iella being sent on this training camp since she disapproves of the Imperial Knights so much?”

“You’ve already answered the question it is because she disapproves,” Master Hoosha said laughing. “She is being sent to learn the difference between what is different and what is evil.” She still didn’t understand and her master sensing it elaborated. “The Imperial Knights philosophy is different than the Jedi’s and there are some areas that are problematic but they are not followers of the dark side.” Her master shook her head. “To treat them like they are as Iella does is a disservice to them and to herself.” Her master rested a hand on her head. “Go and get some rest my padawan the transport leaves first thing in the morning.”

“I will, Good night Master Hoosha,” She said and after her master’s response headed back to her room to attempt to sleep. She lay there thinking about what Master Hoosha had said and wondering what Iella would say if she had heard what her master had said. She pushed such thoughts away as it was pointless to speculate and closed her eyes trying to get some sleep at last.

To be continued..

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[Star Wars Fic] Galaxy of Chaos The Training Camp Chapter Three

Disclaimer and Notes on Chapter One

The Training Camp
Chapter Three
Jenica Maral

She felt stiff as she set in the shuttles seats in between Prellon the Chiss and Dag Feskin the green Nikto. She approved of seating them by the assigned rank they had earned in the trials to qualify for this camp but she was irritated with herself for coming in behind the chiss. She had known Rath would take the top spot he always did in competitions but she had beaten both Chiss before.

“Okay apprentices,” Zholl Codi the Imperial Master assigned to preside over the Imperial half of the training camp spoke up. “As you all know this camp is a joint exercise with the Jedi Order for apprentices on the verge of knighthood.” He turned to look over them. “You are the best of those who volunteered to represent the Empire and you will be expected to do so well.” She joined the others in shouting an affirmative. “Now when we arrive you will be paired with your partner Jedi and engage in a brief Light saber duel to get acquainted with each others skills.” He looked over them sternly. “I want you to win but do not do serious injury it is to first fall only.”

She looked down at her dark skinned hands and then closed her eyes to focus drawing the force into her. She hoped she wouldn’t get matched with too exotic a sentient by the Jedi as unlike the Imperial Knights who were predominantly humanoid she knew from stories the previous class of Cadets had brought back that there was no guarantee of a humanoid partner when Jedi were involved. She shuddered as she remembered one Cadet’s horror story of being paired with a Celegian Jedi apprentice and losing every physical competition.

“We are here,” Master Codi announced as she felt the ship touching down. She opened her eyes and stood up falling into her place in line easily. “It appears the Jedi are already here,” He said as the cargo doors opened to reveal the Jedi lounging about an already assembled camp sight in groups. She glanced around searching for the Jedi master who was to accompany them but all she saw were apprentices and what looked like an antique droid modified for light saber practice.

To Her surprise the droid spoke up greeting Master Codi by name. “Padawans this is Master Zholl Codi of the Imperial Knights who will be supervising the training camp with me.” The droid gestured toward the Elomin and she watched as all the Jedi stood up and bowed respectfully.

“Apprentices,” Master Codi said drawing her attention to him. “This is Master Nextor of the Iron Knights and the Jedi who will join me in supervising this training camp.” She bowed as expected of her even while she was dealing with her surprise. The Iron Knights were legends who had been around since before the birth of the Empire. “I will call you up one at a time to meet your partner and engage in a brief light saber duel to first fall.” He looked to the head of the line. “Rath Sho step forward.”

The Iron Knight seemed to be staring at Rath as he walked forward to join the masters. After what seemed like a long moment the droid finally called a jedi out. “Kale Lasek,” The droid said pointing toward a handsome blond human who walked forward smiling brightly. “Begin,” The Jedi droid said stepping back quickly. She was shocked at how quickly the match had begun but both Rath and the Jedi had acted instantly.

She was a bit surprised to see the Jedi using two blades a standard blue length lightsaber and a green shoto. She began to look forward to this match with greater anticipation Rath was very good but Jar’Kai duelist where not common in the Imperial Knights. She watched as the two clashed in a flurry of blades. As they dueled back and fourth she had to admit the Jedi was almost as good as Rath which she found worrying since the Jedi had no clear rank order there was no way to know if he was the best or not.

As the fight progressed she realized that as good as the Jedi was Rath was still slightly better and it was only a matter of time before he knocked the Jedi on his backside. As Rath batted the blue blade away at a bad angle for the Jedi she knew all he had to do was wait till the too short shoto passed and then step in and end it. She was so sure that was what was going to happen that she was shocked when the shoto blade suddenly extended to full length causing Rath to have to twist awkwardly away from it. She was still staring in shock as in that moment the Jedi dropped down and swept Rath’s legs out from under him while he was off balance winning the duel.

“That was a risky maneuver to pull you could have killed him,” The Iron Knight said as the young blond Jedi readjusted his apparently duel phase shoto to it’s normal length before deactivating it and putting it and his other saber on his belt.

“I knew he was good enough to dodge,” The Jedi said as he leaned down smiling to help Rath up. “Your one of the best I’ve ever seen with a light saber.” She saw Rath smiling as he accepted the other man’s hand to stand up. She was surprised Rath was taking his loss so well.

“Stand behind us please,” Master Codi said before turning back to the line. “Nitin you are up next.” He called and she watched as the female Chiss headed forward. She turned to see that one of the Jedi was already walking forward a young near human woman with gold skin and two tone hair.

“This is Tasha Baldor,” The Iron knight said not seeming surprised that the young woman had volunteered herself. She watched this second battle curious to see if this Jedi was going to be as good as the last. It became clear very early on that while the Jedi seemed to have great reflexes and could parry nearly any attack she wasn’t as good at attacking and all too soon Nitin sent her flying onto her back.

Prellon was called next from the Imperial Knights and she watched the Chiss male striding confidently up to face his challenger. She guessed based on his confidence that he assumed the Jedi were also going by rank. She felt he might be right when the Iron knight called for Maks Reyal and a feline alien with rosette spots walked forward looking nervous. As soon as the match began however the feline lost all nervousness and demonstrated a skill level that rivaled the first Jedi. She watched as he easily defeated the very startled Prellon.

“Jenica Maral,” Master Codi called her name and she went forward looking back the gathered Jedi and found herself hoping she didn’t get matched up with the blue Ssi-ruuvi student. She found it slightly repulsive that the Jedi could let species like that into their ranks.

“Swa Lu,” The droid voice said making what she dreaded come to pass as the blue saurian figure walked forward to join her in the ring. She shot a glance at the Iron Knight and got a sense that they had done this intentionally sensing her thoughts. She ignored the surge of irritation putting it out of her head to focus on her opponents weak points. She assumed with a saurian body type the Ssi Ruuvi would be vulnerable on the side as long as she avoided her arms and tail.

She ignited her silver blade and watched as her opponent ignited her blue one. She was surprised at how quick the Ssi Ruuvi moved and realized that this fight was going to be more difficult. She was a bit startled to see how well her opponent was guarding her side. She realized that to win this she was going to have to take some risk and catapulted herself up into the air planning to land on her opponents back. To her shock and horror the Ssi Ruuvi sprung forward into a summersault causing her to land in a vulnerable position which got her feet swept out from under her by the Ssi Ruuvi’s tail.

She suppressed a curse as the match was over and she got to her feet. She walked behind the masters as quickly as possible feeling irritated with her poor showing. She ignored the Ssi Ruuvi who took the place beside her and focused on the next match. Dag Feskin was up next and she hoped he would give the Imperial Knights another victory thanks to her loss the Jedi were in the lead.

The red haired woman introduced as Iella Fallin activated a green double bladed saber which was another variant that was not common amongst the Imperial knights. She was good but Dag was better and soon enough she was dusting herself off and walking with Dag to join them.

Silas Quest was the next of her team mates to be selected and he got mached up with a huge Mandallian Giant by name of Tuc Tinto. She was not on good terms with Silas as he had propositioned her several times even after she made it clear she wasn’t interested. Still she felt slightly sorry for him going up against someone that large and powerful. The huge orange light club he wielded was nearly as tall as Silas himself. She had to admit she was impressed when Silas actually managed to win the fight by out maneuvering his opponent.

Her interest perked up at the next match Tor Varga was a member of the royale family and due to those duties hadn’t been able to participate in the full ranking challenges but had still managed to rank seventh so she was curious how good he might actually be. His Togruta challenger Dev Guri seemed unconcerned. She realized soon enough the Togruta was an idiot not taking the fight seriously and ended up losing quickly.

“Dev you must take things more seriously,” the Iron knight said with as much exasperation as a droid vocator could produce. “Ferfer Tobian you will be up next,” the Iron Knight said calling one of the Jedi up before the imperial knight challenger for the first time.

She watched the Ryn walk forward even as Master Codi was summoning his Zabrak opponent Obran Task. This was another challenge that surprised her as even though he was one of the lower ranked among them for other reasons the Obran had always been an incredible duelist. However the Ryn almost seemed to be dancing around Obran it was frightening to watch how easily he beat him. “Ferfer is the best of us all with a lightsaber,” The Ssi Ruuvi next to her said in a whisper.

She refused to acknowledge the statement even though it appeared to be true. She doubted that even Rath on his best days could have kept up with that Ryn. It put aside any claim that the Jedi were lined up by rank and made it clear that they were being paired up in whatever arbitrary order the Iron Knight decided.

She watched the next match warily and was relieved when Arkanian Nick Berus easily defeated the Khill female Geela Sedaya. That meant that currently they had five wins and the Jedi four which meant complete victory for the Imperial knights was left to their lowest ranked cadet. Dass Streng an incredibly handsome dark skinned human who barely made it into the selected group. He was actually ranked eleventh but another Cadet dropping out had let him in.

She knew as soon as she saw his opponent the last Jedi Bocetta Long was a Bothan that he would lose the match. She didn’t know all the details but she had heard that his family originally from the Alliance had lost everything to a Bothan swindler and had to move to the Empire to find work. She had seen him around the few Bothan Imperial knights enough to know that he wouldn’t handle being paired with a Bothan well. She wasn’t surprised when he lost because he got too aggressive trying to beat his opponent.

“All right everyone,” Master Codi said speaking up loudly. “The camp officially begins tomorrow with the first week being done as if this were an Imperial Academy so I expect you Cadets to inform your Jedi partners what to expect afer you unload the ship.”

“I suggest Padawans that you assist the Imperial Knights in unloading and setting up their camp while Master Codi and I discuss arrangements for the final week of the training camp.” The mention of the final week reminded her that after the first week they’d have to learn like Jedi and then during the final compete in a series of exercises with the team that performed the best being awarded as the winners.

She didn’t know what that meant for the Jedi but within the Imperial Knights it was a high honor and was very good for your future career prospects. As unhappy as she was with her Ssi Ruuvi partner she needed to work well with her. She began to look for her but found her working beside Rath and two other Jedi. The feline humanoid and the blond human partner of Rath’s. She recalled how surprising the skill level of all three had been with the light saber. The fact they appeared to be close to each other laughing easily explained it.

She made her way over and asked, “May I join you?” Her partner bobbed her saurian head and moved aside to let her join them. She was immediately struck by how comfortable Rath was around the Jedi and she felt a sense of foreboding.

“I have never seen someone with your body type move like you did Swa-lu,” Rath asked of her Ssi Ruuvi partner as they were moving a few of the crates that would set up into the barracks. She was curious if her suspicion about the source of her partners skills was correct.

“I have spent a great deal of time working with Kale and Mac to master my body’s advantages and disadvantages,” her partner said. She was pleased that she had surmised correctly. “I have to say you are the first person to try landing on my back,” the Ssi Ruuvi said turning toward her. “I will have to be mindful of that tactic in the future.”

“Your skills were impressive enough that I was forced to take a drastic action,” she said wondering if the Ssi Ruuvi was mocking her. She turned her attention back to unloading the shuttle and getting things set up.

All too soon it was all done and the masters told them to separate and get to know their partners. She found herself walking silently with the Ssi Ruuvi unsure how to go about getting to know her. She glanced around at the other pairs searching for an idea. She noticed that most of the other pairings seemed as uncomfortable as she did. The only pairing she noticed that was really getting along was Rath and the blond human. She was a bit surprised at how close they were standing to each other talking to each other. “Your friend does not have much respect for personal space does he?” She found herself asking the Ssi Ruuvi.


Swa-lu’s large blue head turned to look immediately at the blond man and Rath. “Kale’s adoptive mother is a Zeltron so he tends to crowd in on people sometimes.” That would certainly explain it. “Your friend doesn’t seem to mind though,” The Ssi Ruuvi said with a slightly musical laugh. She had to admit the Ssi Ruuvi was right and that surprised her. Rath had never been standoffish but he was always very proper with other Imperial knights he shouldn’t have let the Jedi stand that close.

Of course she realized that could explain it. He didn’t have to be proper with the Jedi because he was not an equal. She found that made her feel slightly better and decided that outlook would allow her to work with Swa-lu. “So that we have the best chance for winning I have to ask what area of expertise are you best at?”

“My talents primarily lie in healing,” Swa-lu said which she had to admit surprised her. “I have worked hard to become as good as I am at combat but my natural affinity has always been to heal.” The Ssi Ruuvi said anticipating her questions. “And your strengths are?”

“I’m very well rounded,” She said quickly. “I excel in virtually all the skills necessary to be an imperial knight though healing is probably my weakest area.” She had no problem helping herself with her own healing abilities but she had always seemed to have something of a block with healing others.


To be continued...

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[star wars fic]Galaxy of Chaos The Training Camp Chapter Four

Disclaimer and Notes on Chapter One

The Training Camp
Chapter Four
Kale Lasek

His partner the Nagai Rath Sho was holding his green duel phase lightsaber and activated as he pushed the switch that jumped it form shoto length to full blade. “There aren’t many Jar’Kai users amongst the Imperial knights and this is the first time I’ve seen a duel phase shoto,” the Nagai said staring at it.

“Well it’s really just a duel phase lightsaber with the default blade length set to shoto,” He said as an explanation. “I modeled it after the pair my mom carries,” he could tell his partner was curious so he went on. “She’s an exceptional duelist and prefers to use two shoto length blades for precision most of the time.”

“You must have inherited her skill with light sabers,” Rath said as he passed the blade back to him. “I have noticed that particular skill sets tend to run in families and I was told that my father was a formidable warrior by my mother before she passed away.” He looked down, “He was a Jedi his death is the reason my mother defected to the Empire being a former alliance soldier.”

“I’m adopted,” he said surprising himself for volunteering that information but Rath had shared first. “My folks were on Metallos during the riots there and a woman walked up to them and handed me to them,” He couldn’t read Rath’s face so he went on. “We think she was my biological mother because Mom said she was force sensitive.” He shook himself. “She told them my name was Kale and that I was to be a Jedi then ran off into the rioting crowds.” He didn’t feel sad about it anymore but he wondered sometimes, “My folks looked for her but never found her so when they went back to Ossus I went with them.” He couldn’t help but smile as he got to this part of the story. “Since they couldn’t have kids naturally they adopted me and the rest is history.”

He didn’t know how Rath was going to respond to that because before he could someone called out his name. “Kale, can you and your partner come over here for a moment.” He turned and saw that it was Geela and her partner the Arkanian waving them over. He glanced over at Rath and saw him nod so they headed over. “My Partner Nick here wants to ask your some questions about your duel.”

“Go ahead,” He said wondering why he felt a sense of foreboding a glance at Rath showed he was equally closed off. He found talking with his partner easy but something about Nick Berus set him on edge and he wasn’t sure why.

“I was curious if your are completely baseline human?” The Arkanian asked after a moment. “Nagai have an advantage and in strength and agility over normal humans and you kept up with Cadet Sho very well.”

“That question is pointless,” Rath Sho said speaking up and surprising him. “The force compensates and strengthens any Jedi or Imperial Knight their biological differences don’t matter.”

“I disagree,” Nick Berus said fixing Rath a condescending look. “Based on Arkanian medical knowledge and my own observations on the science of the force species does play a role in the effectiveness of the force user.” He turned to look back at him. “I could do a genetic break down on you and tell you exactly what species you have in your ancestry if you don’t know.”

“No thanks,” He said backing away. He was about to make an excuse to get away from the creepy arkanian when he heard Geela snort with laughter. He, Rath and Nick all turned to see what she was laughing at.

“He’s sniffing around the wrong tree,” she said pointing out the blond imperial knight who was paired with Tuc talking to Iella Sallin with a flirtatious look on his face. She looked over at them. “Come on Kale you know what Iella is like she hates attachment and embraces celibacy to be absolutely sure she will never get attached.” She gave Rath a wink. “I’m no fan of attachments myself but I greatly enjoy the carnal pleasures if any of you boys are interested.”

He could tell Rath and Nick where thrown but he was used to Geela and just ignored her. “Rath and I need to get back to getting to know each other for the camp so we will be going,” He led his partner away glad to be away from the both of them. “Don’t worry about Geela she flirts with every male she comes across she’s not completely serious.”

“You should worry about Nick,” Rath said darkly. “He’s very determined when he wants something and he’s very bitter about placing so low in our rankings for this camp.” He glanced back at Nick who was talking with Geela and motioning toward he and Rath. “Just be careful around him.”


“I will,” He said realizing how strange that he was trusting this man that he also knew nothing about. “You said your dad was a Jedi right do you know very much about him?” He asked watching Rath shake his head no. “Then lets go talk to Master Nextor he’s been around for ages and might remember him.”

“Your master is busy with Master Codi,” Rath said sounding distant there is no need to disturb him at this time. “I have never seen an Iron Knight before is it true that within the droid body there is a force sensitive crystal alien?” He recognized that Rath was intentionally changing the topic so out of respect he went with it.

“Yeah, called a Shard,” He said to his partner. “They live a long time Nextor dates to the days before the first Galactic empire.” He could tell Rath was impressed. “He used to tell us stories during our early days at the Academy of what life was like during those turbulent times.” He found himself laughing at the memory. “The great figures of history like Luke Skywalker and his family and friends really don’t look how you’d picture them,” he said still smiling. “For one thing a lot of them were really short.”

Rath actually laughed and he was pleased to find it was a nice one. He noticed several Imperial knights had turned at the sound and were giving them odd looks. “You must not laugh much back home in the empire.” He found himself saying and felt a bit guilty for saying it.

“No, I don’t,” Rath said not appearing to mind. “At the Imperial Academy there are not much opportunities to just enjoy oneself as working toward the goal of being an imperial knight is a full time job.” The Nagai gave him a concerned look. “You will find out tomorrow when you experience Imperial Knight training I hope you can handle it.”

“Training to be a jedi isn’t a picnic,” He said letting a challenging smile appear on his face. “I think I can handle anything your master dishes out.” He saw a matching smile appear on Rath’s and decided that he definitely liked Rath even though he didn’t know him that well and was going to enjoy this experience.

“Your parents are not human are they?” Rath asked after a moment. “Forgive me but Nick’s earlier comments reminded me that you don’t quiet act like the baseline humans in the Imperial Academy.”

“My mother is a Zeltron and my dad is a Felacatain,” He said and then out of curiosity had to ask. “What have I been doing that is so different?” He began to mentally review his behavior and couldn’t place what it was that revealed the fact he’d been raised by non baseline humans.

“You stand very close,” Rath said and he became aware that they were much closer than most folks stood. He recalled that some of the other padawans at the Ossus Academy had told him the same thing. “I’m not bothered by it but it is unusual.”

“Yeah having a Zeltron for a mom will do that,” He said laughing glad that Rath didn’t mind. “I mean visiting the grand parents made it clear that Zeltrons have no concept of personal space on Zeltros at all.” He caught site of his two best friends and their partners. “I have to ask the Chiss paired with Mak and the human paired with Swa-lu are they good partners for them?”

Rath turned to regard them. “Prellon is an exception Imperial Knight though a bit stiff I doubt your Horansi friend will have any problems even if they don’t get on well.” He was impressed that Rath could identify his friend’s species most folks guessed wrong since you didn’t see many Treka Horansi off world. “Jenica is another matter,” Rath said solemnly. “She firmly believes Imperial Knights are superior to Jedi and she has voiced disapproval of the Jedi accepting aliens with bad track records into their ranks before.”

“Are you saying she might give Swa-lu a hard time?” He asked feeling worried for his firend. She was one of only a handful of Ssi Ruuvi in the Jedi and really hadn’t fit in before he and Mak had kind of adopted her as their new friend.

“No Jenica would never be that unprofessional but I feel she might not work as well with her because she is looking down on her internally.” Rath said drawing his attention back. “I think based on what little I have sene your friend will eventually prove her wrong but it might be too late for them to stand any chance of winning the competition.”

“Yeah well the competition doesn’t matter,” He said with a shrug. “I just want her to have a good experience here she gets a lot of flak from some of the races the Ssi Ruuvi have history with.” He saw Rath giving him an odd look. “What?”

“You don’t care about the competition at all do you?” He couldn’t tell from Rath’s tone if he was upset or not. “We have heard nothing from our superiors except how important it is and that we must do our best to win it.”

“Frankly, no I don’t,” He said giving Rath a curious look. “Winning this competition doesn’t really mean anything among the Jedi.” He looked over at Iella and pointed her out. “Sure that one over there would love to win but that has more to do with her dismissive view of Imperial knights like your Jenica has about Jedi.” He hoped he hadn’t offended Rath who was silent. “You don’t’ have to worry you’ll get top notch performance out of me and I’ll do my best to win if you really want to.”

“I just think it would be nice to be able to write the contest off,” Rath said surprising him. “I think I envy the freedom you Jedi have somewhat.” He didn’t know what to say to that but he didn’t have to say anything as Rath spoke back up, “I believe we should spar again with our lightsabers it should help us learn each others limits.”

He found himself smiling as he stepped back and activated his blades. He soon found himself involved in an intricate dance of deadly glowing blades as he and Rath tested each other. He had always enjoyed dueling and it helped him to really get to know another person without words just by how their body moved during a duel.

They were just getting into it when a voice rang out loudly ordering everyone to gather around. He deactivated his blade noticing Rath looked as annoyed at the interruption as he did but they both headed over to where the Master’s were gathering them. “The day is ending so it is now time for us to explain how this tradition began and why it continues to this day.” The Imperial Knight in charge said. “I’ll allow Master Nextor to handle the history lesson because I have learned history is a passion of his.”

“Thank you Master Codi,” Master Nextor said sounding like a pleased droid. It was easy to forget sometime that there was a millenia old Jedi organism in that antique droid body. “What most of the galaxy is unaware of is that this planet holds one of the most powerful force nexi in the galaxy.” He perked up as he realized what must be on this world. “This is the planet Ruusan and just beyond the forest behind me is the Valley of the Jedi sight of a terrible tragedy involving the brotherhood of darkness and the army of light.”

The Iron Knight waited while they all digested that. “Eight centuries ago a Jedi and Imperial knight fell to the Darkside together and came to the valley.” Master Nextor looked around at the assembled group. “Relations were tense between our two orders at that time and both blamed the other for the fall of their member.”

He looked around and could guess a few of his fellow apprentices were thinking especially Iella and that Jenica woman. “The truth of which lured the other to the dark side was lost as well as who won the fight between them to be the sole owner of the Valley and it’s power.” Nextor said before turning and pointing back to the forest. “This forest was grown by them with stolen Yuuzhan Vong Biotech to guard their prize and it killed many Jedi and Imperial Knights who came to try to end their hold on the valley and it’s power.”

“In the end it took a group of Jedi and Imperial knights who put aside their differences working together to end the threat and purge the valley of it’s acquired dark taint.” Master Nextor said turning back to them. “In honor of that event the Jedi and Imperial Knights agreed to create this training camp to help show future generations of both Orders how to work together to overcome a crisis.” The Iron knight looked at each of them as he continued, “If you are here to show the superiority of your own order you will fail.”

He looked around and saw Iella and a few others staring at Master Nextor in shock. “The point of this camp is not to show which order is better it is to show how cooperation and understanding between us can achieve our mutual goal of serving the force even though we disagree on how best to do that.”

“Master Nextor is correct,” The Imperial Knight master said. “I suggest you all think about that tonight as it is time for us to retire to our group barracks.” The elomin looked over at them all. “Tomorrow morning we will begin at O500 hundred Hours Imperial Standard time so be prepared to awaken early.”

They said their goodnights to their partners and headed to the Jedi camp barracks. He and Mak immediately settled on the bunks closest to the bunk that had been built for Swa-lu’s body type. “Did you really mean what you said Master Nextor?” He heard Iella asking the Jedi master who was supervising them.

“Yes, I did Iella,” Master Nextor said clearly surprising the girl. “I do not know if my counterpart Master Codi meant it but I have supervised enough of these camps that if you are trying to prove the Jedi way superior you will fail.” He could tell that Iella still wanted to argue but wouldn’t dare do so to a master. He glanced over at Mak and Swa-lu and smiled this was going to be a fun he could tell.

To be continued...

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