Chapter Text
Lianna, 2232, one year and three months after the battle of Geonosis
On the planet Lianna, General John Smith waits for the Jedi to finish their memorial service of a fallen Jedi, looking about the battlefield that the Jedi was slain on.
"At times like these," he said to himself. "With how terrible war is, I wonder if we have grown to fond of it."
Smith wondering wasn't long, as Mace Windu, Yoda, and Quinlon Vos joined him later. He was silent as the Jedi spoke, only listening in, here and there.
"...What about your skills?" Windu asked Vos. "I understand you have been carrying a blaster while undercover."
"Indeed," Vos replied. "It has been sometime since I used a lightsaber. I would be honored to test myself against you."
"One should keep one's skills honed. Master Yoda?"
Yoda grunted. "Practiced I had with Count Dooku. Sufficent, that was."
"Let me duel him," Smith said.
"You?" Vos said. "You aren't a Jedi."
"One doesn't need to be a Jedi to use a lightsaber. I did kill Tholme's assassin with his lightsaber when I lost my Katana. Plus, I too need my own skills honed."
"Then you will need this," Windu said as he held a lightsaber out to Smith.
Smith examined the weapon and said, "This is Tholme's. I have no desire to take it, you know."
"I know."
Smith activated the weapon and faced Vos. "Shall we?"
"Don't be easy on me," Vos said as he activated his weapon.
"Define easy."
As Smith and Vos fenced, the Jedi continued the conversation they were doing before hand.
Windu looked back at the fight as Smith switched to the reversed grip and blocked a strike from Vos. "Free the mind and spirit so you don't have to fight. The best use of the lightsaber is not to use it. You need to work on this."
Smith hardly listened in to what they said, focusing more on the fight. He only heard words like "Master Bulq", "Ruul", and "Schism", for some odd reason.
"You are off balance, Vos," Windu said. "If a Jedi has fear or anger within him, his energy becomes tipped, and the force also loses its balance."
Smith sent a strike aimed above Vos's head, which he blocked.
"Big mistake," he said as he whacked Vos with the handle of the lightsaber. "You said don't be easy. So, don't hold back."
"Very well, I won't."
Vos lounged out, but Smith quickly blocked it with a reverse grip in his left hand and punched Vos in the face with his right.
"Stop!" Windu said. "That is enough for now, Vos."
"What happened?" Vos asked. "Was there something I did?"
"That last move was part of a form seven maneuver."
"Form seven?" Smith asked.
"Vaapad, the seventh form of lightsaber combat, is the most aggressive of them all. It can take one down a dark path; with Vos, he walks to close to that path at times."
"I didn't know, Master," Vos said. "I won't use it again."
"Question is: how did you learn that move anyway?" Smith asked.
"Master Bulq taught me it when he retrained me, but he never told me that it was part of Vaapad."
"Steer clear of it," Widu said. "In the meantime, get word to the dissidents that I have agreed to meet them."
As Vos and Yoda left, Smith asked, "What dissidents do you speak of?"
"You weren't listening?" Windu asked.
"Only here and there."
"Master Sora Bulq has called for a meeting on the planet Ruul, where he has an estate there, and four other Jedi Masters are there too. They have requested on the condition that one member of the Council be there. With what Vos did, I must go, no matter what."
"Let me go with you."
"Why? You are not a Jedi."
"Cut the crap and stop repeating another Jedi's words. You know of my connections to the Jedi and you trust me enough to respect your ideals. Besides, I too am curious as to what this 'schism' is all about."
"Very well."
Smith handed back Tholme's lightsaber.
"Keep it for now. None of the others know about you or seen your face. I will think of a story for you."
"You are going to lie to them?"
"A half-truth is what it will be."
"A man on my world named Lord Alfred Tennyson once said that a half-truth is the blackest of all lies."
"Indeed, this Alfred Tennyson is right and I agree, but the dissidents won't trust me or you if you show your true self."
"So, like an undercover mission, in a way?"
"In a way."