16 Chapter 16: Reporting

Connor proceeded to explain the events as they happened to his master. He reminded him about the scorch marks on the speeder bike which Connor had deduced to be made from a lightsaber. This had led Connor to believed that Wingwei had destroyed his own speeder bike. Of course, Connor didn't realize this until he had found the holocron at the tusken raider settlement. Although, Connor told Plo Koon that he found a destroyed holocron. This holocron Connor had now suspected that Wingwei had used as payment to have the tusken raiders kill the diplomat. The tusken raiders must have decided that could simply capture the diplomat and nobody would notice.

The main question was why did Wingwei have anything to do with it at all? The answer remained unclear as Wingwei was now dead, but Connor suspected it had something to do with the Hutt cartel. Connor felt that if they investigated Wingwei's finances they would find some credits transferred from some unsavory accounts. Connor then told Plo Koon about how he was able to defeat the Dark Jedi. He mentioned how he was able to use Soresu to slowly wear down the Dark Jedi and also have him let down his guard then he explained how he had rigged his lightsaber to shorten on command to give him an edge over his opponent.

"Well that is quite a lot of information", Plo Koon was once again surprised by his own padawan. His detective skills, his foresight, his decision-making was all topnotch! "Padawan, you have done me and the Jedi Order proud, but now we need to report this in both to the republic and to the Jedi Council", Plo Koon spoke with smile on his face or whatever strange happy expression a Kel Dor made beneath his mask. After speaking to the personnel at the embassy, Plo Koon and Connor made their way back to their starfighters. Plo Koon sent the Jedi Council a general summary of what had occurred and said that he was on his way to give a full report along with his padawan. The Jedi responded by saying that were sending someone to clean up the mess.

Connor and Plo Koon then entered into their individual fighter and took off towards Coruscant. The flight back was rather uneventful, just a quick hop and a skip through hyperspace and they had reentered the Coruscant orbit. Shortly afterwards, they landed at the space port. Connor returned the R-2 droid, after all it was only a rental, Connor would have to get his own in the future.

Connor and Plo Koon mad their way to the Jedi Council Room. Upon entering, Connor bowed to all the Jedi Masters present. Yoda was away on business but Mace Windu would often fill in as acting grandmaster when Yoda was away. The next half hour was spent recounting the events of the mission. When it was Connor's turn, all those present faces slowly turned from calm to surprised to utter disbelief. Was the young man in front of them really a padawan? "Hmm, it is a relief you were able to survive. The Dark Jedi matter is troubling but at least it is less worrying than a Sith. At least with the Dark Jedi, there is a slim chance of there being more stemming from this", Mace Windu finished. All in all, the matter had been thoroughly concluded. Connor and Plo Koon were being rewarded with decorations for saving the diplomat but with the bureaucracy of the Republic, those decorations probably wouldn't be awarded to them for a few months at least.

After leaving the Council, Plo Koon stopped to talk to Connor. "Padawan, I have councils matters that must be attended to here. We might not leave for some time so I would settle into Coruscant." Connor nodded then headed to acquisitions to get a room procured for him. Since Jedi could be absent from Coruscant for months or even years so rooms were issued only to those currently there. And just like that 6 months passed.

These past six months, Connor knew that the early bird gets the worm. Connor's day consisted of a regular routine. Connor first had to make sure that he kept up on his physical exercise, so every morning consisted of a rigorous routine. The next thing Connor made sure was keep up on his meditation even though at this point the amount of experience it gave him was just a drop in the bucket since Connor was so close to another level, his hard work had been rewarded with another level up.

Now he was currently at level 6 with 3 FP in the bank and 2 SP. Connor decided to spend 2 of the force points on his connection to the light side and the other one to increase his mastery in Juyo. This had caused him to gain the Mind trick ability and had also strengthen his other abilities considerably. Connor spent the rest of his time honing his newly found mastery in the force and Juyo. These six months helped Connor to fully cement the power that the system had given him while he still couldn't compare to master of the order, he was no longer a helpless padawan but a someone to be taken seriously.

Connor sat in his room. Well sat was an understatement. He was currently holding himself performing a one-handed handstand. This was an exercise for him in a physical capacity as well as one for him in the Force. Using the Force to keep himself balanced, Connor was alerted by the sound of the phone in his room ringing. "Answer", Connor stated while maintaining his pose. "Padawan, please meet me in the library in 45 minutes", Plo Koon came on the phone and instructed. "Yes, master", Connor replied.

Connor finished his exercise then got showered and dressed. Connor had since disposed of the tired old robes that was required of younglings. Connor wasn't sure why the movies depicted all Jedi as wearing the same robes when in reality it was actually very individualistic. A fair amount of Jedi did in fact wear robes, but it wasn't like the Order has a dress code.

Connor outfit was simple. He placed a pair of semi-tight fitting tan pants on with simple long sleeve shirt made out of a light yet durable material. Both of these would allow for a ideal range of motion while keeping him protected from various elements. Then he put on a pair of combat boots with his pants covering them. To finish off, he wore a grayish blue bomber jacket.

Connor arrived in the library where he saw Plo Koon waiting for him. "Greetings, master", Connor said. Plo Koon returned the salutation. "I'll get straight to the point, padawan. A couple years ago, a Jedi by the name of Ky Narec went missing and the Jedi was unable to contact or find him at all.", Plo Koon informed. "Now, with the increased efforts to remove the dark energy at the foundation of the Temple, myself and a couple others of the council have felt his presence. You and me will go to the planet he is residing to touch base with him, it is outside of the republic's reach so who knows what could happen.", Plo Koon finished his briefing. "Where are we going, master?", Connor questioned. "Rattatak".