Gabrall stood in awe at the grandeur of the cavern before him. It was a gigantic room that extended at least 5 miles back with a ceiling that rose 50 feet into the air. Strange glowing crystals grew down from the ceiling in all directions and filled the room with a soft, warm light. On the ground, there were hundreds of small huts from which the hiding Ipo were now emerging. From a group of Ipo near the entrance of the cave, an older looking man began to approach the Jedi. The Ipo looked older in years, but the Jedi could sense an incredibly strong presence from him. As the man neared, Gabrall could see the exhaustion in his face. His eyes were sunken and dark and their fabled blue glow was faded and dull. Gabrall bowed his head slightly and went to meet the man.



“Hello, Master Jedi. Your arrival is a welcomed sight,” said Elder Mallis Kuul as he shook Gabrall’s hand.

“As are you. We thought the worst when we saw the city, but now I am glad to see that you are all safe. I am Jedi Master Gabrall Zhantos. My friends and I are here to help,” said Gabrall as he turned towards the rest of the Ipo. He could sense the great amount of fear within them and tried his best to comfort them.

The group of older Ipo stepped forward alongside Elder Mallis Kuul and bowed towards the Jedi. “We are the Elders of this city. I am Elder Mallis Kuul, the one who contacted the Jedi Council. We are so relieved to see that our pleas were heard. Please, come this way.”

Mallis Kuul motioned for Gabrall to follow the rest of the Elders into a smaller cave nearby. As they walked through the cave, Gabrall saw the stone columns had been chiseled into magnificent statues resembling a female figure. One of the Elders saw him looking at the statues and began to him explain what they were. “Those are statues by some of the greatest artists to have been born on this planet. They are the interpretations of what the artists believe our goddess to look like. We Ipo are artists guided by her words, the words of Inspiration.”

The statues amazed Gabrall, as each one was beautiful and unique. As they passed another statue, the group walked around to enter another room within the cavern. In the center of the smaller cave stood a small pillar with a single white orb resting on it. Gabrall watched as the Elders gathered in a small circle around the wall of the cave. Elder Mallis Kuul looked over to Gabrall and began to speak. “As you have noticed Master Jedi, we are a peaceful people. These Separatist monsters attacked our city without warning and without reason . . .” he paused for a second and closed his eyes. The orb in the center of the room began to glow and a strange light flowed in all directions. Gabrall’s senses soon were on overload as a huge amount of Force energy filled the cave. He looked into the center of the room and saw the light beginning to swirl and condense into an image of a large Neimoidian female. Turning back to the Elder, he saw his eyes were now open and looked onto the image with an intense stare. He spoke, “She called herself Boz Elysa. She said she was to be our new master and we were to be enslaved.”

Gabrall could sense the growing tension in the room. Every Elder was staring daggers at the Neimoidian. Another Elder turned towards the Jedi and continued where Mallis Kuul left off, “We have to means to defend ourselves from such forces Jedi. That is where you come in. You have to help us.”

Gabrall saw the sadness and desperation in the Elder’s faces. Their people were in grave danger and the Republic was the only thing that could save them. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. With a big smile, he looked back to the Elders and spoke, “I promise. We will save you.”

The Elders rejoiced at the Jedi’s statement. Mallis Kuul walked over to Gabrall and whispered, “Thank you. Inspiration truly has guided you to your path.”

Gabrall smiled again, but then remembered the other Jedi waiting for him at the mouth of the cave. He turned quickly to the Elders, “I have to leave for a few hours. I’m sorry, but I will return. I have to inform the rest of my team that you are safe and that we have a promise to keep.”

The Elders simply smiled and escorted Gabrall back to the tunnel that lead to the surface. “We shall expect your return, Jedi,” shouted an Ipo from the gathered crowd. Gabrall turned his head slightly and wave his wand quickly to the people behind him. In a burst of wind, the Jedi Master dashed into the tunnel disappeared into the darkness once again.

Back at the mouth of the cave, the other Jedi and troopers were eagerly awaiting a signal from Gabrall. Mathan, Gadina, and Hisoler were all standing at the entrance staring into the darkness.

“What the hell is taking the General so long?” yelled Hisoler as he stood with his arms crossed.

Mathan turned to him and placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “Don’t worry, Captain. Gabrall knows exactly what he’s doing.” He had a nervous smile on his face that revealed he was just as worried about his master as Hisoler was. Gadina laughed a little at the two and turned around towards Melandi. “You two are funny,” she said, “Gabrall has his own version of time. This one time we were on a mission on some random dessert planet. My ship had crashed and I was stuck in the middle of nowhere. I called him for help and he told me he was only fifteen minutes away from my position. It turned out he was completely on the other side of the planet and it took him four hours to reach me.”

“It’s true!” yelled Melandi as she laughed. She was off in the distance training with Cath. Both had their lightsabers out and Melandi was drilling her padawan in defensive stances by striking at her and forcing her to defend. She quickly swung her saber horizontally and Cath flipped backward to avoid it. Her breathing was heavy and her body was tired from the extended training. Her face was blank, yet her master could sense the swelling anger within her.
“Defend!” She screamed at Cath and hurled her purple lightsaber spinning towards Cath. She hesitated and lost her footing on the ground, dropping her lightsaber. On instinct, she raised her hands and stopped the spinning blade with the Force. Cath started panting heavily and glared at her master. “That could have killed me!” she screamed.

Melandi met glances with her padawan, but said nothing. She crossed her arms and then shook her head with her eyes closed. “That was the point,” she said sternly, “This exercise was to teach defense and evasion. An enemy can take any advantage and change their tactics at a moment notice. It is your job to be ready to defend anything with or without your weapon.”

The anger inside the young Jedi had its limit. Her eyes became fierce and she screamed loudly into the air. She grabbed the floating lightsaber before her and charged her master. Melandi did not move. She stared down her padawan and inhaled deeply into her lungs. Concentrating on the Force, she screamed with all her power and unleashed a huge Force wave of sound towards the charging padawan. The wave struck the young girl and sent her flying backward into the ground.

“What was that,” asked one of the troopers?

“That, my friend, was a Force powered scream. A signature move of Master Melandi. She learned it from her master, an Ithorian,” explained Gadina.

Melandi had walked over to her fallen padawan and held her down with the Force. Her face was as stern as ever as she scolded the youngling, “That was the most embarrassing display I have ever seen from any Jedi. You let your anger get the better of you and now look at you!”

Cath’s head was turned away from her master as she spoke, “I am sorry, Master. I will not let it happen again.”

Melandi crouched down closer to her padawan, “You have to learn to control your emotions young one. The path of anger is the path to the darkside and that is a path you do not want to go down. Now get up.” She grabbed Cath’s hand and helped her up.

“Dang. Master Tolome is one tough Jedi,” observed Mathan. They were still waiting at the entrance to the tunnel for any sign of Gabrall.

“She is tough, but under it all, she is a true Jedi. She would never harm anyone willing . . .” Gadina stopped her sentence and spun around to face the tunnel. Mathan grabbed for his shotos and readied his stance for battle. “I sense it too. Get ready,” he said.

The two Jedi had sensed a strong presence coming from within the cave. It approached closer with every second. Melandi ran up next to them as she had felt the presence as well. Looking around, she searched for P24, but the small droid was shutdown a few feet away as he charged in the sunlight.
“Is it Master Gabrall,” asked Mathan?

“I can’t tell,” answered Gadina, “The Force presence seems to be distorted a bit, as if there is some kind of interference around it.”

“Great,” said Melandi sarcastically. The three Jedi stood at the entrance and stared deeply into the tunnel. The presence continued to grow stronger with every passing moment. The group soon fell silent as they waited for whatever it was that was approaching them. Suddenly, they heard a loud rumbling echo through the tunnel. A large cloud of dust then blew out the entrance causing the group to cover their faces.

“What was that?” yelled Hisoler. He looked to the Jedi, who stood frozen and continued to stare quietly into the tunnel.

Then from within the tunnel, a voice echoed out, “I’m fine. Sorry.” The group relaxed and rolled their eyes, as the identity of the presence was now clear. What they saw limping through the dusty air was Gabrall. Mathan smiled and ran to help his master.

“What happened,” he asked.

Gabrall rubbed the back of his head and flinched slightly from pain. He looked to Mathan and then the rest of the group, “I kind of ran into a column and caused a small cave in.”

“Of course you did,” said Melandi. “So what did you find down there?”

Gabrall dusted himself off, stood up straight, and smiled, “I found the Ipo and they need out help.”