Star Wars Chronicles of the Old Republic: The Path of Revan

Chapter 2: The Disturbance

Ryden stirred in bed. His quarters, small and cozy, were illuminated by the soft morning glow of Coruscant's sun. The light passed through the translucent, ornately stitched curtains which shifted slightly in the cool breeze that drew in from a gap in the window, which had been left ajar.

But despite the muffled ambience of Coruscant, Ryden could only hear one thing - screaming. Cries of despair rang out, echoing in his mind. He began to groan and mutter pained words. 

"No.. No..." Clouded by the haziness of the dream, Ryden could see flashes of red light, clouds of fire and could feel and hear the rumble of ship engines. 

'Now isn't the time to be a hero!' A panicked voice yelled out.

'Dishonour begets dishonour' a cold and deep voice spat. Suddenly, with a flash of light and a chorus of screams, Ryden bolted upright in his bed. Panting, his shoulder-length hair was tangled with sweat and rendered a darker shade of brown than usual. He absent-mindedly ran his fingers through his damp hair, calming his heavy breathing. 'What was that?' His mind was racing, trying to process the horrors that his brain had just conjured up. 

Ryden had read about visions and premonitions before, but thought that they were only for Jedi who had committed themselves entirely to the force and its ways, something he did not feel he had achieved. 'Was it just a nightmare?' Struggling to make sense of the experience, Ryden found his thoughts dwelling on the screams of terror he had heard. He instinctively remembered the war that had begun with the Mandalorians, wondering if that was somehow connected. 

The extent of Mandalorian brutality was no secret to the Republic, as Ryden had become aware of. Before their sudden uprise and bloody journey into the mid rim, tales were shared of raiding parties claiming cargo ships and Republic patrols on vicious Blood Hunts, butchering anybody who opposed them. Now the war had broadened the scale of the destruction to never-before-seen highs, and it frightened the Jedi.

Heading over to the window, Ryden brushed the curtains aside and gazed over the city. Hundreds of traffic lanes, all interweaving and turning off to pass by astonishing feats of architecture, filled the air above the lower city. Ryden's eyes followed one of the lines of traffic, which rose up into the atmosphere as a departure lane, and stared into the golden morning sky. He felt his heart rate lower as the wondrous view fulfilled its daily purpose of calming him. 'Some day,' he reminded himself, 'I'll be out there, among the stars.' 

* * *

"Order! We shall have order!" Gul Torth, the Rodian Vice Chair of the Galactic Senate yelled - his voice echoing through the massive chamber, successfully drawing silence from Senators and Delegates alike. 

The Senate Chambers were a gargantuan display of Republic infrastructure and political prevalence in the galaxy. A huge, round building, the Senators each stood in hexagonal pods that stood in incremental layers of elevation - resembling an arena, albeit lacking in the entertainment value of one built for womp-rat fights. 

Supreme Chancellor Tol Cressa stood in the grandest and largest pod, which stood atop a stone column in the centre of the arena, high above the carpeted floor far below. He looked around at the Senators of the Republic systems, weary yet determined as his Vice Chair managed to quiet down the disapproving utterances. 

"Thank you." He said, taking a moment to let the silence hang. "Rest assured, we are doing all that we can to combat the Mandalorians, but as of now we cannot operate alone. The Republic military is ill-equipped to face such an unprecedented threat."

As he continued to address the Senate, Jedi Masters Vandar Tokare and Vrook Lamar stood in their own pod among the Senators, listening.

"Same news." Lamar muttered. "Being seen here isn't going to help our cause. We've been clear on the matter, there's no reason to let the Republic kid themselves into thinking we've changed our mind."