250 BBY
The Commenor System
A civilian transport from Corellia exited hyperspace into the traffic of the Commenor System. The shuttle weaved in and out of various freighters, cargo haulers, starfighters and shuttles. Eventually the shuttle entered the planet's atmosphere and landed in Commenor's main spaceport and capital city. The city was filled with bustling people, speeders, and spacecraft flying off toward space. As the shuttle opened, a hundred or so passengers stepped out, including a very tall Humanoid draped in a brown cloak. He was only noticeable because he towered over all the other passengers disembarking. This person was none other than the Neti Jedi Shal Urlu. As he disembarked the shuttle, he quickly made his way to the office in charge of keeping records of the spaceport. At first, Shal Urlu was denied access until he moved his robe a bit to expose his lightsaber, then the Jedi was lead in promptly.

"Master Jedi, please take a seat, the dock master will be here shortly," said the receptionist in a calm, cool voice.

The Neti nodded his head. He sat quietly, hoping that Kolar Trassin was sloppy enough to leave a clear trail as he had been on Corellia. Shal looked around the office of the dock master and saw various holos of Commenor's spaceport, planned renovations and a screen projecting muted news on the HoloNet. There was quiet, ambiance music playing and the office was well-lit with lights on the ceiling. After a few moments the receptionist looked to Shal and ushered him to the door that led to the office of the dock master. As he walked down the small hallway, he looked to his left and saw a sign next to a door with "Willo Smeen, Dock Master" printed on it. The Jedi walked through the door to see an overweight, balding Human sitting at a desk. He was dressed in formal clothing and had an ashtray next to him with a burning cigarra sitting in it.

"Master Jedi, I presume," said Willo as the Neti walked in.

"I am no Master, please Mr. Smeen," replied Shal.

The Jedi sat down and took his hood off. The Dock Master looked a bit surprised to see the Jedi seemed to be made of plant material. The office was small, but it was well-cleaned and smelled of cigarra smoke and a thick fragrance that the Dock Master was wearing. As the Neti sat down, Willo put the cigarra out and stuffed the ashtray underneath his desk.

"Now what brings you to my office, Jedi?" questioned Willo.

"I am here to investigate a rogue Jedi Knight that may have landed in your spaceport, he is a criminal and I have come to bring him to justice," explained Shal.

"Ah, do you have the serial number of the ship he landed in?" asked Willo Smeen.

"Yes, the number is…CJA-112B," replied Shal as he looked through his datapad.

"Let me check my computer here and I will see if he happened to land here or anywhere on Commenor, the least I could do to help a Jedi," said Willo as he looked on the screen of his computer and put in the number.

"Hmm, I can't say I have the number, maybe you could check back later? Or maybe you could make it worth my while to investiage further? I mean your friend may have done the same, ya know?" said Willo in a condescending tone.

The Neti took a deep breath and looked Willo in the eyes. He waved his hand and spoke.

"You will tell me if the ship by that number has landed here, and if so, what time and what platform." forced Shal, using a Jedi Mind Trick.

"He landed here yesterday, and his ship is a freighter docked in platform 12B," said Willo in an emotionless tone. He blinked a bit after saying it and Shal walked out.

The Neti made his way through the large crowds of the spaceport. Shal disliked using Mind Tricks because of their evasive nature, but that man had been very weak-minded and greedy. Now all Shal had to do was wait. He had been given the access number to the freighter by one of the masters of the Corellian Academy and he was going to use it to unlock the boarding ramp. As he approached the ship, he saw no sign of Kolar Tressin, and hoped the man would come back to the freighter so that Shal could confront him. Shal unlocked the freighter and stepped inside as the boarding ramp lowered. He closed it back up and locked the ship. The Neti went to the cargo bay and sat on a box, he took his small glowrod off its place on his belt and set it up, he did not want to get sick from a lack of photosynthesis. Shal went into a meditative stance to rest and wait for Tressin to come back.

Shal sat in the meditative trance for a long time, he had not noticed that several days had passed, but he was finally awakened by the sound of the boarding ramp lowering. The Jedi turned the light off and stepped out of the cargo bay to see Kolar Tressin standing, shocked as the boarding ramp closed. The young Human did not know what to make of the Neti, as it was likely he had never seen one. But he looked at the Jedi robes and knew he had been caught. Kolar flung his cloak off and got an evil sneer on his face. The green cloak spilled to the floor to reveal a lank build.

"What are you doing here!? Come to catch me?" asked Kolar in a threatening tone.

"By order of the Galactic Republic, you are under arrest Kolar Tressin," said the Neti, flinging his own brown cloak off.

"Are you ready to die?!" threatened Kolar as he grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber off of his belt.

"I will defend myself Kolar," replied the Neti very calmly.

Shal unhooked his own lightsaber hilt from his belt as Kolar ignited his and a violet blade went striking towards him. The Neti ignited the dark emerald blade in time to parry and deflect the blow. The two lightsabers clashed for a time. Each hit making a loud noise and echoing through the belly of the ship. Sparks flew from the blades and occasionally, one blade would strike the walls or floor of the ship. Eventually, Shal knew he was in for a tough fight, but he had a trick up his sleeve. The battle spilled out of the freighter soon enough and a crowd of onlookers watched in amazement. Many of them had never seen a live lightsaber duel before, and it was something of a spectacle as the two Jedi went head to head. That was when the card that Shal had been wanting to play was needed. He deflected a strong blow from Tressin and sent the man stumbling with a Force Push as the Neti's body began to twist and expand.

Many of the onlookers ran in terror and Kolar looked on with wide eyes as the Neti got to the size of a two-story house. Shal looked at the young Jedi Knight as he put his weapon on the ground and went to his knees. Shal returned to normal size and took a pair of binders off his belt. He cuffed Kolar and took him back into the ship.

"Where is the artifact Kolar?" interrogated Shal.

"Its…Its…Its at a pawnshop, its a hideout for thugs that put out a price for any rare artifacts that anyone could bring them, they offered me a million credits for the thing, and I couldn't resist." explained Kolar with tears in his eyes.

"Greed is a powerful and deadly emotion, can you show me where the pawnshop is?" replied Shal.

"Yes…" whispered Kolar through the lump in his throat.

Shal dragged up the Human Jedi Knight and they walked out of the ship. Shal could sense the remorse in Kolar as they left, he knew that the man would be punished for this, and probably exiled.

Re: The Building Blocks

22 BBY
Above Cristophsis

"Blue Squadron! Check in!" ordered Shal Urlu over the comlink in his headset.

"Blue 12 checking in General!"

"Blue 11 checking in sir!"

"Blue 10 checking in!"

"Blue 9 checking in!"

"Blue 8 checking in, General sir!"

The list continued on to Shal okaying the check in as the squadron pulled into a tight "V" formation. Technicians had installed a glowrod in the cockpit of his Delta-7B Aethersprite starfighter. with a full spectrum of light to prevent the Neti Jedi Knight from "starving".  The Jedi General pulled his starfighter into a port side roll, the rest of the squadron followed. As they leveled out they saw the battle ahead. The Republic cruisers had already engaged the Separatist fleet guarding the orbit of the planet and it was time for Blue Squadron to get into the war. The Jedi Knight did a quick check of all his weapons as the squadron closed in.

"Pull into pairs Blue Squadron!" commed Shal to the Clone pilots.

"On your tail, General!" commed in Blue 2, also known as "Kicks".

"Alright Kicks! Prepare to get into the war!" commed in Shal.

The Jedi General and his wingman flew for the nearest group of enemy starfighters. They were vulture droids crawling on the hull of a Separatist Cruiser. They appeared to be oblivious to the Jedi and Kicks. Shal aimed for the one nearest to him and looked to his left to see Kicks. The Jedi got his attention with the Force and pointed to the group. Kicks nodded and the two tilted their fighters starboard.

"Lets strafe these blasted clunkers Kicks!" commed in Shal to his wingman.

"Yes sir!" yelled Kicks enthusiastically.

As soon as the vulture droids were in Shal's sights, he squeezed down on the triggers of his flight sticks. The four link-fire blaster cannons opened up in a hail of red bolts. The nearest vulture droid was ripped to pieces, along with one ahead of him while Kicks worked the left side of the droids. The rest lifted off and began making a mad dash for safety. The Jedi and his wingman slowed a bit to keep the vultures in range and safely away from them. Shal and Kicks opened fire again, this time, one vulture rolled into another and caused both of them to blow up. The two pilots cheered, but not for long. The Separatist Cruiser finally noticed them and began opening fire. Red turbolaser bolts began filling the space around them. The two rolled and weaved in and out of the turbolasers, but Kicks got hit.

"I'm hit, sir!" screamed Kicks.

"Hold on! I will guide you out!" shouted Shal as he saw the smoking V-19 fly past his forward.

"I think I am o…!" Kicks' comm crackled for an instant and went silent as his cockpit filled up with fire.

Shal watched with wide eyes as his wingman burned alive and eventually spiraled into the Separatist  Cruiser's shield. Shal didn't think very long about it, because what he saw through his cockpit was even worse. Shal had decided to go on the edge of the battle, but the Separatist fleet was retreating towards them. He saw nearly all of Blue Squadron get decimated by the incoming Capital ships. They had shot down all ten of the V-19's before Shal could realize what was going on. Using the Force, he closed his eyes and centered himself. Soon enough the Force took over and guided his movements. He weaved in and out of hundreds of turbolasers. The enemy gunners watched in amazement as the Jedi weaved through them. Eventually he got out of range and opened his eyes to see Acclamators firing at the Seperatists attempting to jump into Hyperspace.

The Jedi looked behind him and saw that the more badly damaged ships would probably be destroyed in the jump. Shal did not get mad at the deaths of his squadron, after all he barely trusted them, Kicks being the only one he actually befriended. In fact the Jedi did not trust any of the Clones. They were bred to kill, he saw them as monsters and monsters always turned on their creators at some point. Soon enough he pulled into the Acclamator he had been deployed to; the GRS Destiny. He landed his starfighter and got out of the cockpit. He was met by the Group Captain that served under him with a salute.

"General, where is Blue Squadron?" asked the Captain.

"They were decimated by the retreating Separatists. They must have thought they were a last strike to eliminate the fleet," replied Shal. Even though he did not trust the troopers, he felt guilty when he saw the look on the Captain's face.

"That's a blasted shame…." said the Group Captain.

"Yes. But it is war, losses must be accepted. They are with the Force now," said the Jedi in comforting words.

"I suppose so, they were brave men, I helped train them on Kamino… Anyways, you are wanted on the bridge to help plan the ground assault," added the Captain.

"Alright I will be there shortly," communicated the Jedi.

Shal walked through the halls of the ship and took a few turbolifts to the bridge. The Jedi had only been in one battle so far, and already he was weary of the death. The fight on Cristophsis would bring more death and the war would not end there. Shal had known a couple of the Jedi that had died on Geonosis with the Strike Team. It had hit him hard that his friends would be killed on some desert world, surrounded by droids. He figured the war would be furthered by politics to make the Republic look like the heroes of  the Galaxy and more worlds would not secede from it. As he walked in the bridge he was saluted by the deck officers and the Admiral. He stood next to the other Jedi Generals and watched the planning go ahead. He did not speak, because he really did not know what to do, he just stood there for hours, only speaking when called upon. War was not his thing, but he was going to fight some more just to do his share, and then he would go back to Coruscant or Almas and help train the future generation of Jedi, in hopes that they would not have to fight this war.

As the planning finished, the Neti Jedi was assigned to command a cavalry unit armed with AT-TE walkers and a few AT-RT's. For this battle, he dawned a suit of armor given to him when he went to war. The armor was similar to the Clone Trooper armor, but it had no helmet and it was more flexible. On the shoulder instead of a unit sign, there was the emblem of the Jedi Order. He rushed to the hangar to meet the men he was leading. They were brand new troopers, but their commander was a seasoned veteran of Kamino and Geonosis. They all stepped to attention and saluted the Jedi as he walked into view. He returned the salute and addressed the commanding officer.

"Hello Commander," announced Shal.

"Hello, sir. I heard what happened to your squadron in space, my condolences sir."

"No need Commander, now we are landing here," Shal took a holoprojector out and showed him the map area.

"It is on the west side of Crystal City and they expect heavy resistance in the city. Our first objective will be to meet with the Christophsian Resistance. They will give us a liaison to guide us through the city to the weakest patrols of the CIS forces. We will then provide a flanking maneuver under the cover of artillery and wreak havoc on the clankers, any questions?" briefed Shal.

"No sir, now lets get loaded into these things and get down there to blast some droids!" exclaimed the Commander.

The men behind him cheered and rushed into their walkers that were attatched to Assault ships. Shal got into the lead walker that was nicknamed "Adenn'Aaray" or Merciless Pain in Mandalorian. The assault ships lifted off from the hangar of the Acclamator and went a different direction than the main complement of LAAT/i's. The journey to the western side of Crystal City involved a long detour through unguarded plains lined in green crystal. They weaved into the western side of the city and landed on a large street. Shal looked out of the viewscreen in the head of the AT-TE and saw nothing unusual, he ordered all crews to be on alert and check the holoprojector. He referenced it to the map on one of the control panels of the AT-TE. They were not far from the resistance.

"Have all infantry troopers dismount the AT-TE's and get into tactical columns in between the walkers!" ordered Shal.

"Yes, sir!" replied the Commander. Shal dismounted as well and met with the troopers on the ground.

He walked in the lead of the columns and had all of them stay on high alert. They traveled down the street for a while until Shal ordered a stop. This was where the Resistance was to meet. He had a trooper fire a signal flare down the street. As it landed, three Christophsians emerged from an alley. They were dressed in armor and armed with Republic weapons that had been dropped to them weeks earlier by Intelligence. The Christophsians were dressed in light armor with only a small amount of plastoid plates protecting their chests and heads. A durasteel ring protected their necks and one of them carried a vibrosword across his back. They were each dark skinned and had strange red markings on their face. Shal bowed to them as they came close to him.

"Greetings Master Jedi and warriors of the Republic. Welcome to Crystal City. I am Ja-Nar. We will be your liaisons through the city. It can be very confusing, even with a map, but rest assured we will not get you lost," explained Ja-Nar with a smile.

"Greetings Ja-Nar, I am General Shal Urlu, leader of these troops. The Republic appreciates your contribution to the war and praises your valiant defense of your homeworld, now do you have a number on the CIS forces in this sector of the city?"

"Yes there are roughly ten thousand droids, they have very few tanks this far from the main line, but we have spotted a few Spider walkers. But I am sure a force this size can destroy such things," said Ja-Nar.

"I would like to hope so, now lets get things moving, no reason to waste time sitting here, call the Recon walkers up here!"

As Shal Urlu had them called, five walkers came up. He motioned for the squad of scouts allowed to the cavalry unit to come forward. Twelve scouts came jogging up. They were dressed in armor that was much different than the troopers. The armor had a visor on the helmet instead of the characteristic fin and the visor was much wider and lacked the T-shaping of the baseline troopers. They carried sniper rifles and a small repeating blaster at their sides.

"Lets move out! When we find the main concentration of the patrols, we will comm in for the AT-TE"s," said Shal.

The group moved quickly through the city, Shal looked back to see the AT-TE's and troops slip into more concealed positions. Eventually after an hour of moving through alleys and side-streets, they came across a square where a large force was guarding an artillery gun. Shal had one of the scouts get on a holocomm channel with the Commander of the AT-TE's. He had them move to their position. Shal had the scouts set their rifles up and nail the "Super Battledroids".  The Jedi then had the walkers sprint toward the forces while he took the Christophsians around the back. As blaster fire broke out, the Jedi General used the Force to sprint from behind and took out the unsuspecting battle droids taking cover behind the gun. The first few AT-TE's showed up not long after that. They blasted through a majority of the battle droids as the Clone Troopers flooded in from all sides. The gun was quickly taken, but Shal felt something was wrong.  As Shal approached the gun, he noticed it was a fake. That was when he sensed something from behind, a betrayal!

The Christophsians put their blasters to the back of his head and made him back away. Shal complied as he saw a thousands of battle droids spring out from the surrounding buildings and start firing on the cavalry unit. Shal backed away into the darkness with the Christophsians. He contemplated how he was going to get out of this mess and watched as the Clones surrendered. He closed his eyes and thought for a second, he needed to get them to look a different direction for just an instant. Only then could he get away. He decided to fool them into looking up so that he could hopefully turn and face them with his lightsaber. He picked a moment when they exited an alley and looked up.

"The LAAT's are here!" he shouted.

The Christophsians looked up in time for him to roll forward and ignite his lightsaber. They fired on him but he deflected the shots, aiming one to the head of Ja-Nar. The man fell dead, his brain incinerated. The other two fired more and more as Shal worked his way towards them, but it was futile. He sliced one of them from shoulder to hip and the other was impaled in a split second after that. Shal quickly ducked into a building near the alley and perched himself on a roof. He looked down to see the battle droids moving the surviving clones away from their AT-TE's. He suddenly heard footsteps behind him and crouched down. He saw a clone emerge armed with a rocket launcher. Shal quickly ran up to the trooper and told him to stay quiet. They needed to get their men back.

"We have to get support, there is no way we can take them all…Do you know how to work the Mass Driver Cannon on one of those walkers?" asked Shal.

"Well General I'm a cavalryman, we all know how to work those things in case of emergencies like this one." explained the trooper.

"Good, now we need to snag a pilot from that group…" said Shal as he pondered how the two could do it.

The two followed from rooftop to rooftop looking for the pilots. When they saw one being jerked away by two droids, they found their man. He had been jerked away for making snarky comments and was going to be executed. As the droids shoved into a wall on his knees, Shal jumped down on top of one and sliced the other in half with his dark emerald blade. He grabbed the pilot and quickly hauled him off. They eventually returned to the AT-TE's and commandeered one. The pilot started it up as the rocketeer trooper climbed in the Mass Driver position. The AT-TE went full speed toward the Clones being taken as prisoners. When they got in range, Shal acted as spotter for the Mass Driver Cannon and the trooper fired into the droids. The shell exploded and they droids looked back. There were still thousands of them, but the captured troopers caught the hint and scrambled for the fallen droids' guns. Eventually with cover, the pilots made a scramble for the other AT-TE's and AT-RT's. Soon enough the clones were back in business. But not for long. The rest of the thousand droids soon showed up to support their surprised comrades. Shal ordered a retreat soon after that. The ran through the city with the droids on their tail. Soon enough they ran into Republic forces headed that way.

"Are we glad to see them!" shouted the Clone Commander as he spotted the Republic forces.

The retreat was covered and the Clones returned to the front. But the battle for Christophsis would come at a high price, but it would be won soon enough.

Re: The Building Blocks

19 BBY
The Jedi Temple, Coruscant

An eerie silence fell over the Jedi Temple as Order 66 was declared by the newly, self-christened Emperor. There was a booming sound outside of the Jedi Temple as thousands of white-clad Clone Troopers marched up the steps through the Processional Way. At their lead was a mysterious, darkly clad Jedi with anger and hatred in his eyes. None of the Jedi in the Temple that had stood for over three hundred centuries even noticed what was happening. As the Clones entered the lobby of the Jedi Temple, shots rang out as the Temple Security Forces caught wind of what was about to happen. Jedi from near where the first battle was about to erupt ignited their lightsabers only to see the betrayal they were about to face at the hands of the white-clad men they had lead into battle on a thousand worlds.

Shal Urlu sensed a grave disturbance in the Force as the Clones entered and bolted from a meditation room to the nearest turbolift. From the center spire he traveled downward to the gardens. Once in the gardens, he saw carnage vastly different from what he had seen during his time serving in the Clone Wars. Thousands of Clone Troopers at every angle being sliced down by Jedi young and old. Jedi dying all around him, slowly being overrun by the Clones that had previously served them. Shal's suspicions of the Clone Troopers had now been realized. They had turned into a force that wanted to engage in genocide on the Jedi Order. But this would not happen if the Neti Jedi Knight had anything to say about it. He threw off his brown cloak and ignited dark emerald lightsaber. He looked to his left quickly to see Temple Security Force crouched behind an overturned table. They were blindly firing at a squad of the highly trained 501st Legion. Shal ran with the Force, speeding at the clones in a flash of emerald. They did not know what hit them as he began slicing through them.

The slow, but precise and powerful blows Shal's lightsaber form was known for cut down the troopers before they had time to react. The Jedi Knight called forward the Temple Security Forces as he advanced on more Clones. Two Jedi Knights and their two Padawan Learners were attempting to cut through a whole platoon of Clone Troopers but they were backing themselves into a corner. Shal had the men concentrate fire on the outer sides of the lined up platoon as Shal threw his lightsaber through the helmet of the trooper in the center and guided it so it would arc back through another's mid section. This action did not take long to draw attention to the Neti, and the blue blaster bolts fired on him now. Unknown to the troopers though, Form V specialized in defense against blaster-wielding opponents, but more specifically groups of them. The Jedi Knight easily blocked several bolts, and caused a few to hit the Clones that fired them. The Security Forces behind him were slowly, but surely picking them off, and the Jedi that had been forced into a corner now went on the offensive, striking the turned troopers.

Eventually, the platoon was downed, but more Clones were coming. Jedi Brutes and Sniper battled furiously above. They had been specially trained to defend the Temple, and were doing a hell of a job. But there were too few of them and too many opponents.

"Come! We must get to the younglings!" shouted Shal to the Security Forces and the four Jedi that he had saved.

They followed him as he rushed to find any remaining Jedi children. He had hoped that the Clones had not advanced to the training areas that the young Jedi were usually ushered in to in case of emergency. As the group ran toward the training area, Shal sensed something. It was evil, hate-filled and the Dark Side permeated it. A dark-cloaked man walked through a hall adjacent to the one the group was traveling in. They all stopped dead on their tracks. The five Jedi at the front and the Security Forces with their weapons trained on him. The dark figure ignited a blue lightsaber and the Jedi next to Shal charged at him.

"Run Shal! We will stall him!" screamed one of the older Knights.

Shal reluctantly left them to deal with whoever it was and blaster fire rang out, along with lightsabers clashing. Screams were heard and everything went silent behind the Neti. Shal sprinted to the nearest training room and quickly dialed in the unlock code. The door slid open to twenty small children in Jedi clothing. They were Wolf Clan, a clan Shal was very familiar with. He had taught many classes with these particular students. They all looked to him with fear and tears in their eyes.

"Master Urlu! What's happening!?" asked a frightened young Phuii. His name was Mandoo

"I will tell you later, but now, we must leave! Hurry!" ordered Shal.

The younglings quickly followed Shal out the door and through a number of hallways. He was working his way to a landing area in hopes that it would be free of Clones and a Jedi owned ship would be there. As they rounded a corner near the landing area, a wall exploded and a squad of commandos burst in.

"Jedi! Lots of them! Fire at will!" shouted their commander.

The Neti Jedi blocked and deflected many blaster bolts. He used the Force in desperation, his mind was racing, and he needed to get the children safe. He called on the Force will all his might and sent the most powerful Force Push he had ever seen himself do at the Clones. The troopers flew at a wall with break-neck speed. A few of them screamed as their bones popped and cracked when they collided with the cold, hard durasteel. The Neti ran full speed and twirled his lightsaber into the remaining squirming Clones. The children ran silently to join him at the end of the hallway. There was one door remaining to cross through and they would be safe. The Neti paused for a moment to regain some energy. He centered himself as much as he could and used the Force to give him strength. He pressed the key code on the lock and it opened to the landing area. But there was only one problem with it, an LAAT/I was dropping more clones off.

"Run to the nearest ship and hide!" screamed Shal as he ran to the LAAT.

He used the Force to leap as high and as far as he could, landing on the view screen of the gunship. He jammed his dark emerald lightsaber through the transparisteel and into the neck of the pilot. As the clone inside died, the ship began to spin out of control and Shal quickly cut one of the engines connecting a wing to the ship. He was then thrown from the vessel as it spun quicker and eventually crashed into the ground, bursting into flames. As the Neti flew through the air, he watched as surviving clones ran from the wreckage, screaming in pain as flames engulfed them. The Neti only saw this for an instance before hitting the ground into a tumble. Pain went through his body as he tumbled and hit a wall. He thanked the Force he didn't have bones to break and stumbled to find the younglings. His clothing was in tatters and pieces of the twisting plant matter that made up his body had splintered and torn in places. The Jedi didn't care, he only cared about the safety of the children, the future.

Shal found the small children crouched behind a freighter. He had one type in an unlock code and the boarding ramp slid open. The Neti Jedi Knight ushered the children in. They were so quiet, they must have been in shock. Shal sat in the pilot chair and started up the starship. He reached under the control panel and felt for the tracking device that the Jedi typically installed on their ships to keep them registered and ripped it out. He then flew the ship out of the landing area faster than he thought the old thing could move. He felt on his belt for the glowrod that he used to keep himself from "starving" in space and rubbed the pouch. He wasn't worried about the old thing at the moment, his main priority remained the small children he had in the back. The Jedi closed his eyes as he looked on one of the consoles, LAAT/I's were closing in, fast. The Jedi closed his eyes and let the Force take over his weakened body.

"Hold on young ones! This is going to be bumpy!" he yelled as he jerked at the controls.

The ship dodged and weaved through laser fire and Coruscanti traffic. But eventually, the back was hit by a proton torpedo and the ship began to falter. Shal looked calmly on, turning the ship in a nose dive, trying to keep it from crashing into a building and killing them all. He dove into the lower levels of Coruscant and out of view of the gunships. He jerked the flight sticks to pull up, straining his arms and even attempting to use the Force to influence the ship, but he ended up crashing into a large, empty alley way. The last thing he remembered seeing was a sign for a pornographic holo shop hit into the freighter's port side and hitting the transparisteel viewport. An unknown time later, the Neti woke up surrounded by small children in a sewer pipe. They were filthy, and mildly injured, but still alive. He noticed a few had perished in the crash, but did not have time to feel sorry or mourn them. He dragged out his glowrod and switched it on for a few minutes to refresh himself.

"Master Urlu, we are in a sewer pipe, and there are Clones everywhere! What are we going to do!?" asked a frightened little girl.

"Do not worry young ones…I will try as hard as I can to get you far away from here and far from this danger, I promise," reassured the Neti.

He would do it if he had to sacrifice his own life. But how?

Re: The Building Blocks

19 BBY
Lower Levels, Coruscant

Shal had finally worked up a plan after nearly an hour of quiet contemplation. He needed the rest after all, and had used his lamp a few times to help heal the damaged tissue on his body. He felt very energized, but it would not last long and time was something he and the younglings were out of. The Neti Jedi Knight had watched as Clones swarmed the wreckage and searched near it. The Jedi could feel the puzzled thoughts of their commanders as they searched near the site of the crash. To them the Jedi and his young charges had disappeared, but the Clones failed to truly open their eyes and see that they were right under their noses. After a while, they posted what looked to be a small and handleable patrol around the crash to prevent onlookers from discovering what had truly happened. Shal knew the deception that had lead to the destruction of the Jedi Temple and the mysterious, dark Jedi that lead the destruction all had strings attached to them. Those strings had to lead to someone high in the government and possibly to a Chancellor that did not want to give his powers up after the war had ended.

Shal used the Force to attempt to prevent the patrol from noticing as he sent the younglings through the shadows of the wreck. He then emerged from the sewer pipe to destroy the patrol. He used the Force to levitate large pieces of metal from the crash and fling them into the unsuspecting Clones. Only a few had dodged the attack, the others either crushed by the heaps of debris or incapacitated. The Neti used the Force to enhance his speed and went running blindly into the remaining troopers. They were easy prey, as they had become completely bewildered by the attack, only one had moments to shout "Jedi!". As Shal cut through the last of the Clone Troopers, he began to lead the children from the shadows only to be confronted with another hindrance. Snipers perched on several roofs around the crash began to fire into the small crowd of young Jedi. A few were picked off before the Neti caught on to their positions. He hurled his lightsaber into the nearest sniper's belly and leaped to retrieve it. He then used the Force to grab onto one and send him falling into the metal only to be impaled by a jagged piece of the broken freighter.

Shal leaped across the way and beheaded another. The next sniper produced a sidearm and began firing on the Jedi. One bolt hit him in the arm, searing the plant material that made up his "shoulder". The Jedi blocked and deflected blue blaster bolts as he slowly inched his way towards the attacker. He angled his lightsaber inch by inch eventually arcing the bolts into the Trooper's torso and sending him to his knees. The trooper let out a blood curdling scream as the Jedi's emerald blade seared his internal organs. Shal watched as the children rounded a corner and heard their screams as a mass of Clones opened fire. Shal fell to his knees as he felt the terror and sadness pour from the younglings as they died. The Force echoed tremendously causing the Jedi to hold his head in pain as the Jedi died. He had let them down, let them all down. The future of the Jedi that could have possibly ended all of this were now just a pile of cold, dead organic material. For the first time, Shal was scared. A small piece of the Jedi died with the children that night, but he knew they were at peace now, with the Force. Shal fled into the shadows of the night, hoping he was not tailed. Now he would need to make his way to Myrkyr to the forests. The Jedi would need to preserve himself and the teachings he held of the old Order that was now in ruins.

2 Days Later
Imperial City, Coruscant

A tall Humanoid draped in a dark coat and hood walked through a crowd of lower class workers. They all stood and cheered as the Declaration of a New Order was declared and the thousands of years of the Galactic Republic was thrown away in a matter of days. The tall Humanoid shook his head in shame at the crowd of cheering civilians. The HoloNet screen above them boomed a speech given by their disfigured Emperor. The man that had ordered the destruction of the Jedi Order and branded all surviving Jedi as fugitives and traitors to the Galactic Empire. Shal was in truth a traitor to the Empire, but he was no traitor to the Republic and democracy. The Neti walked, keeping his coat and hood closely clenched. Underneath he bore a vest and baggy pants to conceal his Jedi robes and cloak and his lightsaber. The Neti blended in perfectly with the crowd of beings. He was dressed poorly and even looked the part of a hunched over laborer. He had been searching for a way off Coruscant, but all civilian transports were being heavily guarded and all passengers thoroughly searched by soldiers. He had heard whispers of a group in the underworld that was harboring refugees from the Temple and smuggling them off world. He intended to find this group if it killed him.

The Neti pushed through the crowds and walked down an alley. It was lined with junk traders and more bustling poor people. They all had somewhere to be and something to do. None of them looked healthy or like they had time for any sort of enjoyment. They all struggled for everything they got and Shal could sense this. Over the past few days he had grown to respect these people. Their lives were similar in hardship to the Jedi way of life. They enjoyed few luxuries and had few personal possessions, just as the Jedi did. The Neti eventually made his way to a cantina called the "Rough Side of Town". It was where he had been referred to by someone saying they knew of this group. It was a place where many of them met under disguises and whispers. This group was called Whiplash and he hoped that they existed and this wasn't someone's spice-fueled, alcohol induced story. As he walked in, he got no strange looks as he had on other worlds when he entered a Cantina in a Jedi outfit. Here he blended in in his tarnished clothing and secretive demeanor. He walked to the bar and sat down. The stool was a little small for the Neti, but it held sturdily. The bartender walked up and looked at him with a smug expression.

"What'ya want?" he asked in a gravelly voice.

"Nothing right now," said the Neti in a near whisper.

The bartender walked off muttering something about bums and not ordering a drink in a cantina. Shal looked around. He used his senses to scan for something out of place in the bar and looked to a small booth where the light had been turned out. He could barely make them out, but a group of people sat draped in shadows. They spoke with hushed tones and often looked towards the door. They were barely noticeable as it had looked that the light had died over the booth and no one was there. The Jedi knew better though and came up with a plan to draw their attention. He got off the stool and walked by the booth. He saw hints of movement as he neared, when he was within earshot he whispered to them.

"Whiplash…"

"What did you say!?" came a voice from the darkness.

Shal looked to see that he was now at gun point by five blasters. A Togorian pulled him in quickly, Shal smashed his head on the wall but was still dragged in.

"How do you know about Whiplash!?" whispered an angry, accented voice.

"I have heard of it, I heard you help refugees from the Jedi Temple get off world and I am interested," said Shal calmly.

He was suddenly pulled by a muscled Twi'lek man through the back door and outside to an alley. The Twi'lek searched him quickly and produced the Jedi's weapon. He looked at it with wide eyes and handed it back.

"A Jedi!? I apologize very much for our horrible conduct Master Jedi!" begged the Twi'lek.

"Do not apologize for precautions," replied Shal with whatever smile he could make.

The Twi'lek lead him down alleys and over fences, eventually they reached a trash receptacle. The Twi'lek removed the massive bin and a covered hole was revealed. It was large enough for the Twi'lek and the Neti Jedi to crawl through comfortably and the Twi'lek replaced the bin as they crawled. Eventually it lead to a drop, the Neti and his accomplice dropped down into a large room. It smelled of cigarra smoke, trash and rodents. In the room various consoles sported views from cameras around the trash bin and three Humans ran to them with blasters drawn. They quickly lowered them with a smile.

"Who is your guest Makla?" asked a rough-looking, strong built Human.

"This is a Jedi, I never caught his name," replied Makla with his accented voice.

"I am Jedi Knight Shal Urlu," explained the Neti, lowering his hood.

"A pleasure Master Jedi, I am Ten-Mu, this Jalanx and Horis, and I am sure you have met Makla. Welcome to Whiplash headquarters." said Ten-Mu with a bow.

"You are the first Jedi we have met since Palpatine took over the Republic. It is truly an honor. It will take a few days for us to get you a ride out of his mess, but do not worry you are in good hands." explained Jalanx, a red-haired, slender Human.

"There are no words I can express for the thanks I have. I owe you all my life, the Force watches out for those who do good deeds in times of darkness," said Shal. If he could cry tears would have been in his eyes.

Shal was shown a place he could rest. He took off the ratty clothes that covered his Jedi robes. The Jedi robes and cloak were taken by Horis to wash and the Neti was given water. He poot his feet-like roots into the water and absorbed it. He hung his glowrod over his bed and rested. The Jedi did not awaken for two days as his still wounded body healed and his mind rested. When he awoke, his body was refreshed and he was ready for transport. The final step in preserving himself was complete and now it was time to go into exile on Myrkyr and take root in the forests that he had grown from a sapling in to.

Re: The Building Blocks

16 ABY
Myrkr

The skies oif Mykr's Great Northern Forest lit up as night changed to day. The dew on the canopies of the trees made them sparkle like glitterstem spice. Birds began to spread their wings and search for a morning meal, both large and small. Below the canopies, a mottled darkness whirled with movement as ground-dwelling animals began to awaken to find food, their biological clocks and empty stomaches making the rush for food even more excited. Predators preyed, rodents foraged, and herbivores snagged leaves and fruit from the trees. Everything stirred, even the trees as the light bathed them in the precious energy they needed to produce photosynthesis.  There was one tree in particular that was different from the rest. The bark of the tree looked a bit different and it seemed to be ancient, even though it had only taken root in what was once a clearing for thirty years. The tree was in fact, not a tree at all but a sentient being. It was a Neti and a Jedi Knight in exile named Shal Urlu. He had taken root in the old clearing that he had germinated in over three centuries before. A place like that was something no one forgot, and it was safe because the Empire didn't like the forest, or the predators that stalked through it. Even if they had gotten in, they would be on a wild gundark chase searching for the Jedi they probably never even heard of.

Shal had kept his sanity, but barely. He had used his nearly three decades on the planet to study the animals that came through his clearing and develop an almost telepathic link to them. He understood well enough the simplicity of the small creatures and the complexity of the predators. They had become his only friends, and they were many. He had seen generations of rodents pass through, warding them off with telepathic messages that his bark was dangerous to burrow in. This had kept him from being killed by burrowing animals cutting him open and making a home. He had also used this time to go into long bouts of meditation and rest. He tried as hard as he might to clear the memories of Order 66 burned into his mind, but he was unsuccessful. Some things were never meant to be forgotten, no matter how much someone wanted them to be. The solitude from sentient beings had also degraded his people skills, and the tree-like Jedi doubted he could use the sense of humor that had become a valuable social asset could ever be used again. This solitude would end soon enough though, he just didn't know it yet.

The Force had a strange plan for bringing the Jedi back to the events of the conscious, sentient world. It always had a plan for those who thought they would cut themselves off from the world for good. As it neared late morning, a team of botanists and a small boy neared the clearing. They had come to study fauna and flora that had been extinct on other worlds, but present in the Great Northern Forest. One of the botanists, a young Woman brought her young son on the trip. They were a society of botanists on Coruscant attempting to bring greenery to the city planet that had so long ago rid its surface of plant life. The young boy was incredibly curious and asked questions about everything they passed, stopping to climb trees he deemed interesting; which were nearly all of them.  As they approached the clearing, the boy saw the strange-colored tree and immediately climbed  on it. Whether it was the sudden spur of emotion that peaked the Jedi's senses or the fact that he had a sentient being touching him for the first time in thirty years, something awoke him from a deep, decade long rest he had assumed to pass the time. He sensed the boy and felt strange as he was being climbed. He established a telepathic link with the young Human as he touched the Neti's bark and entered his mind.

I am not a tree!

"What!?" shouted the little boy.

He backed away slowly and ran to his mother. He was not terrified, but surprised that he had encountered a talking tree, or at least what he presumed was a talking tree.

"Mommy! Mommy! The tree talked to me!"

"Calm down Nal, trees can't talk," replied his mother with a nurturing smile.

"It told me it wasn't a tree! It really did!" persisted the youth.

"Zara, the tree is a strange color, and we have seen weirder things on other planets, maybe he has something here. We should scan it," suggested an elderly Bothan.

The dark-haired, young woman took a scanner off her belt and switched it to thermal. Her eyes went wide as she saw a strange heat signature.

"This thing has the temp of a sentient! Its off the chart for a tree! We definitely  have something here!" said Zara, excitement teeming in her voice.

The Neti then did something he thought he would never do. He was never someone to trick those who did not need to be tricked. His branches and roots began to untwist with rings of yellow energy penetrating him. He slowly transformed into the Humanoid shape he had thought he would never take again. He dusted the dirt off of himself and reached for a dirty, sealed container that had rested under him for over thirty years. He took out his old Jedi clothing and shook the articles out. He dressed rather quickly and finally belted his tunic. Slipping on his cloak, he turned to face the botanists and was reminded of the botanist that had found him so long ago. He smiled, or what he could do with his "mouth".  The onlookers were incredibly surprised by what they had seen transpire and it took a few moments for Shal to get in the mindset to speak.

"I am Shal…Urlu," he said  in an unsure tone. It was a name he hadn't spoken in a long time, or heard spoken in longer.

"I am Zara, this is my son Nal. These are my associates; Ran Sua'Tey; the Bothan and Keemo Reis. We are botanists from the New Republic world of Coruscant," said Zara, a bit shaken by what she had just seen.

"A new Republic…You mean the Emperor and his Galactic Empire have been banished?" asked Shal with hope gleaming in his eyes.

"Yes, they surrendered almost eleven years ago during the Battle of Coruscant. How long have you been on this planet? And where did you come from?" questioned Zara.

"Well I left Coruscant in 17:2 GrS, and well, what year is it now?"

"52:4 GrS,"

"Then I have been here for thirty-five years, it seems like only an instant though," replied Shal, trailing off in memories.

"If you do not mind me asking sir, are you a Jedi Knight?" queeried Ran Sua'Tey. The greying-blonde Bothan seemed to be studying the Neti's clothing very closely.

"Well since I can sense no deceit, I will not bother lying. Yes I was a Jedi Knight those many years ago. And I can sense that you wonder exactly what I am. For that question I am a Neti, probably the last," replied the Jedi in a tone that hinted he had to explain what he was many times before that.

The group of botanists caught him up briefly on the events that had happened since the fall of the Republic. They told him of the Galactic Civil War, the Death Star, the hero and now rebuilder of the Jedi Order; Luke Skywalker and many other things he had missed. The one thing the Neti couldn't figure out was that he felt like he was missing something. He looked on his belt and saw his lightsaber and it came flooding back. He had disabled his lightsaber once he had found the clearing, and he had hid the crystals near his rooting spot. The Jedi searched for a few moments before coming to the conclusion that the soil the crystals had been buried in had probably washed away with the rain that sometimes fell in heaps on Myrkr. This would present a big problem for the Jedi, as he was sure the Emperor had destroyed anything to do with the Jedi, and probably a majority of the lightsaber crystals that existed as well. Even though the crystals in his lightsaber were fairly common when he had built it, doesn't mean they would still be. The Adegan crystal would probably prove the easier of the two, but he still needed a color crystal.

There were many questions he had, but the time to seek answer for them was not at that moment. The Jedi stayed with botanists and used the knowledge he had attained while with Kal to assist them. Eventually when they departed for Coruscant, he went with them.  Shal took a shuttle to Yavin, to the Jedi Praxeum. He wanted to see this New Jedi Order, this Luke Skywalker before he could decide if it was truly a "New Jedi Order". He didn't expect it all to be the same, but you don't get into the water without testing it with your toes first.