Auro Syrdash

[Auro Syrdash]

Outer Rim Territories
World of Clovis
Northern Continent
Temple of Al'Mor'Ah
c. 2919 AOK

Outside the heavy gates of the temple complex at Al'Mor'Ah, Auro stood amongst the coniferous trees as the sun set beyond the mountain. He spun the hilt of his newly constructed saberstaff in his hands. Remarkably, he could feel his own energy resonating through the two, amber-hued crystals he had inherited from his father, Ploush Belatau, who lived and died as a Jedi Knight. Now, his memory lived on in his son, Auro. Unlocking the two small mechanisms at the center of his saber staff, he took hold of the twin hilts that had been locked together. He activated both lightsabers, the blades igniting with a snap hiss and illuminating his surroundings in a golden glow. Auro practiced his forms under the darkening sky, he felt the Force alive within him. As currents of life energy flowed through him, he felt reinvigorated.

Early the next morning, just under a month after he and his squad had crash-landed on Clovis, Auro meditated on the veranda overlooking the courtyard where he had spoken to Master Crrlst four weeks prior. From there, he could feel the hum of life emanating from the beings and creatures below him and yet obtain solitude to focus. He reached out through the Force, listening for its subtle whispers as others arrived.

Along with Pablo-Jill, dozing contentedly in his lap, Auro was now joined by his sister Unna with Ashla, and Gadeon. After careful consideration and consultation with one another, he and his friends had determined what one question he or she would present to Master Crrlst and an assembly of 18 Temple priests and priestesses. Each question was subsequently asked by the four of them in succession and answered. In hindsight, it seemed to Auro that the responses they had received within the temple chamber had been more personal to each of them than they had anticipated.

As Auro had come to learn, no matter how meticulously might plan, the will of the Force often intercedes, bringing forth the unexpected. For his part, Auro had intended to uncover the greatest secret held by General Praeta Syrdash, this reality's shadow of his real mother, the honest woman who loyally and courageously served the Jedi Order as an Antarian Ranger and made the ultimate sacrifice on the world of Tabiid.

It was there that, besieged by Imperial ground forces, Ranger Praeta Syrdash fought her final battle. Armed with a light repeating blaster rifle, she fired into the encroaching enemy lines with lethal accuracy. In a sling on her back she carried her 11 month-old hatchling, Auro. Leaping from one rock formation to the next was her lover and infant son's father, fugitive Jedi Knight Ploush Belatau.

Wielding a blue-bladed lightsaber in one hand and a green-bladed lightsaber in the other, he deflected the blaster fire of their attackers until he reached their right flank and began to cut through the enemy's ranks, before disappearing behind their front lines. Wherever bright green and blue arcs could be seen, the ranks of Imperial infantry would momentarily give way and shrink back before reinforcements would rush into the gaps.

Also with Praeta were Unna's mother, Enhu Hi. She relentlessly sliced into the enemy formation with her deadly disc blade, leaving dismemberment and death in its wake. Unna's father, Ranger Uneer Chaanu fired a blaster cannon toward the menacing tanks at the head of the Imperial vanguard, slowing the massive machines by punching holes in their armor. Together, the four heroes managed to slow the Imperial advance just long enough for Praeta to shove baby Auro into Unna's arms and shout, "Run, Unna!"

The young Iktochi girl ran with her precious cargo toward the dimly lit tunnel still concealing her father's scout ship. Down to his last power pack, Uneer fired his blaster cannon's final shot. Enhu called out to Uneer and, as Praeta laid down suppressing blaster fire, he dropped his empty weapon, drew his heavy blaster pistol from its holster, and fired back at the Imperial stormtroopers gaining ground on his wife and friends as he raced toward his daughter and godson. Without warning, several round, metallic objects were thrown from an outcropping above. That very instant, Uneer sprinted forward and shouted a warning, "Sith Shadows!" Shrapnel from multiple frag grenades had ripped through his flesh before he could clear the blast radius and the explosions landed him face first.

Whether it was the resilience of a seasoned Antarian Ranger or the love and devotion he held in his heart for his family and closest friends, Uneer summoned the will to pick himself up and stumble into the tunnel. Finding his footing, he limped painfully to the ramp where Unna waited for him at the hatch. Already fired the thrusters, she closed the hatch and helped her father to the cockpit and into the pilot seat. Stoically, he gripped the controls and piloted them out the opposite end of the tunnel. As they accelerated away from the battle below, Unna sat in the co-pilot's seat with baby Auro in her lap. All at once, the ground below them lit up with a blinding explosion, the resulting fireball billowing up toward Uneer's ship.

Master Crrlst had spoken true when he told Auro that the greatest secret kept by General Praeta Syrdash would not provide answers to a question he had hoped to shed light on: Was there a shadow version of Auro himself in this universe? Instead, Master Crrlst replied simply, "She knows not to get into that airspeeder with the Chancellor tomorrow morning."

Auro humbly thanked Master Crrlst for his answer. The Chancellor's life was in grave danger. After bowing respectfully, he made his way out of the chamber but paused as one of the priestesses spoke. "Look to the horizon," she ominously intoned. "The Four Stars are rising…"