Auro Syrdash

[Auro Syrdash]

Outer Rim Territories
World of Fray
The Academy
Detention Center
c. 2918 AOK

In the center of a holding cell, Auro Syrdash found himself suspended in a containment field. He hung suspended in mid-air between an orb below his feet and a second orb above his head. His body was tilted forward and steadily rotated 360° in a bluish cone of magnetic energy. Metal cuffs secured each of his wrists slightly in front of his sides, while a matching pair held his ankles firmly in place, roughly shoulder width apart.

Electrical impulses wound their way through the containment field, compounding the already disorienting effects of constantly rotating and further disrupting both his concentration and his connection to the Force. However, by focusing his mind with the use of meditative techniques, he was able to withstand the sensory assault well enough to reflect on the implications of all that had transpired, along with the trials that he now faced along with his Saber Brother Graff and their fellow Saber Blades.

Just hours before, Auro had been standing on a tranquil beach at Graff's right-hand side as his friend exchanged wedding vows with Jenna, the woman he loved, before a Twi'lek officiant. This, of course, contradicted what Auro had learned about risks associated with attachment and the dangers of unrestrained passion from Master Truer and Knight Passik on Alderaan. While he did find it curious that the same two had maintained a romantic relationship of their own, Auro himself was the son of a Jedi Knight. These observations had led to his speculation that perhaps, with proper discipline, a romantic relationship need not end in catastrophe and ruin.

Nevertheless, Graff was prone to emotional outbursts, a flaw that Auro had as yet been unable to help change, despite his best efforts. Given that reality, Auro had done everything he could to warn Graff of the grave consequences his romantic relationship with Jenna could one day have. No matter what approach Auro took, Graff would not be swayed. As the other Sabers activated their lightsabers, forming an arch for Jenna to walk under, Auro cautioned Graff one final time before finally resigning himself to the inevitable. Knowing how much this meant to his Brother, he thanked Graff for sharing this important chapter in his life with him.

Suddenly, as the ceremony was approaching its conclusion, airspeeders supported by gunships converged on their location, accompanied by none other than Auro's childhood Xexto friend, Gadeon Halvran. Clearly outnumbered, Graff ordered the Sabers to surrender their lightsabers. Trusting their leader, Auro obeyed and lay down his own lightsabers. Immediately, each and every one of the Sabers was roughly subdued and taken into custody, including his small albek companion, Pablo-Jill!

Auro was completely blindsided by Gadeon's betrayal. Although he routinely followed the Sabers on their nightly patrols, Gadeon had personally given Graff his word that he would not follow the Sabers that night. Instead, it seemed that he had reported to the Academy's Headmaster, Master Aero'Vida and convinced him that the Sabers were planning to assassinate the boy king of the world of Fray.

Auro couldn't imagine what had possessed Gadeon to do such a thing. Although the two had recently found themselves at odds with one another in matters ranging from differing Force philosophies to how best prevent an impending crisis, Auro always believed that Gadeon's intentions were good.

Manacled in binders with his Saber brethren, Auro grasped for that belief on the airspeeder ride back to the Academy. He entrusted Gadeon with the protection of the six holocrons he had assumed guardianship of after they had crash-landed in this galaxy. Auro asked him to secure Pablo-Jill's release from the transparisteel cage in which the poor albek was now trapped and to look after him. He wanted so badly to believe that Gadeon had made a simple error in judgement. However, as he sat beside Graff in binders with Headmaster Aero'Vida smugly gloating while Gadeon stood by, Auro couldn't be sure if this really was just a terrible misunderstanding. Had Gadeon changed so much that Auro hardly even knew him anymore? Only time would tell…