STORY: - The Vault

Some of you may have read this and it was initially slated as the start of Quinlan's back-story but I have changed my mind in that regard, still I think its a good read and its not available else where any more so I have decided to post it here.

The Vault

It has been almost a year since this started, and although he had already been moving away from the Jedi and their teachings this search had done more to help that movement than anything prior.

Quinlan discovered the knowledge on one of his routine journeys through the Jedi Archives. Only a fragment of the original record remained if indeed it had ever been whole to begin with, it was the very thing he sought, ancient knowledge. Such an insatiable appetite he had for knowledge he was willing to do almost anything to acquire it, this obsession had slowly led him away from the Jedi. Their teachings still held meaning for him after all he was still a member of the Order in good standing, but there was so much knowledge that could not be obtained through the Jedi, the knowledge of the Sith.

The force was neither light nor dark in Quinlan’s mind; he had found and accessed a holocron in the enclave that held many applications of the force including those deemed “dark side” by the Council. It had taken considerable planning to break into the secure archives to find it and once possessing the knowledge set about teaching himself the techniques. Although he was learning “dark side” powers he never used them for evil purposes and found that careful application of both Jedi and Sith techniques complimented each other and combined to make Quinlan a master in combat. He knew that the truth of the matter and it was this truth that would one day lead him away from the Jedi, but not today.

The lone Jedi shifted in his seat and dismissed the thoughts of how he came to be in this place. There was a game he liked to play, of course he told himself it was good mental training and would help him in any investigation that he took on, both of which were true enough but not the real reason he played, he simply wanted to know. Scanning the other passengers on the civilian transport, he slipped into us trained mind and started to categorise them. First up and hard to miss was the bounty hunter, bristling with weapons and constantly scanning the room for trouble; a blind republic senator could have picked him out of this crowd. Looking further there was the usual assortment of refugees, traders, gamblers and criminals, more than a few families had taken this particular transport also. Quinlan scanned them all casually as his eyes past one family with the typical arrangement, Mother, Father and 3 children in this case he stopped, something was, not wrong exactly but not right either. It took several room sweeps before he had seen enough to pin it down. The little girl was playing on the floor with the 2 boys and all seemed like happy children except for one thing, her eyes were constantly looking to her parents or more precisely the small doll that was between her parents. A punishment perhaps keeping the toy from the child, but no, they would have stowed it in one of the bags not left it out for the girl to see, there was no malice there. On closer inspection the man’s eyes would also look at the doll, not as much as his daughter but more than was necessary, there is something inside that doll. Withdrawing inside his mind and channelling his power outward, Quinlan started to employ one of the techniques he had learnt from the holocron, a mind invasion. As with all smugglers the thought of his goods was foremost in the man’s mind and Quinlan had no problem determining what it was and what it was probably worth. Any other time a more direct method would have been used, a physical search or direct questioning, today however was different, today he was on a civilian transport not registered on the passenger list under his real name and today he was not a Jedi It had been necessary to choose this method of travel as conventional Jedi assets would raise questions he could not answer easily.

Quinlan cracked an inner smile although his face remained unchanged and withdrew from the man’s mind, if he was caught today it would not be because of Quinlan, rather ironic as those very skills had made him one of the Jedi’s lead investigators. Still smiling Quinlan slipped into a meditative trance foregoing the usually sitting position in favour of appearing to be asleep to the other passengers.

As he meditated he thought about what he was heading for, how far would he go to get what he came for, the answer was the same as always, as far as he had too, but as always he took great care not to think the dark thoughts of what might be required, the old man was a Jedi after all, an average user of the force it was said but still a Jedi, dark thoughts could be picked up on and Quinlan did not want to give him any warning of what was coming, there was still a possibility of gaining this without resorting to other methods. Falling fully into the trance, Quinlan patiently awaited the change in the hyperdrive signalling the end of this journey and the beginning of the next.

Chapter Two


The ship touched down amid the roar of its engines and immediately people rose to their feet and started gathering their belongings, this was especially easy for Quinlan as he had none. He had thought about carrying a bag of some sort to complete his non-descript look but decided against it, there were plenty of refugees travelling with nothing and one more would not be noticed. The Jedi rose and stretched a little, hardly needed as he was a fine physical specimen; it looked the part, and joined the throng of people making their way out of the ship and into the Thani Spaceport.

Not a large city in the galactic scheme of things, Thani was still too large to navigate by foot which necessitated the procurement of alternate transportation. Not wanting to leave a trail of any sort Quinlan made his way over to an area that looked to be set aside for vehicle storage and was soon making his way through the streets of Thani, if the theft was noticed then it was noticed in silence as no one marked his passing.

It took 2 hours before Quinlan arrived at his destination, it was an older part of town and not well maintained. After parking the speeder some distance away he made his way back to the building brushing the frame and depositing a small item before stepping inside.

Dark and dank with a lot of unidentified smells, a shabby cantina for a shabby part of town, Quinlan scanned the room quickly and seated himself against the wall with a clear view of the patrons. The waitress was at his side almost immediately, not due to any desire to serve the customer of course merely to get at his credits.

“What will it be master?”

Quinlan looked her up and down appreciating the view and no one watching the exchange could have ever thought him a Jedi. She was a Twi’lek so very typical for such a establishment although she was Lethan with the rare red skin hue that denoted, a rare beauty indeed and certainly worth the second look that Quinlan gave her, noticing his interest she dropped her cleaning cloth and bent over to retrieve it, a seductive move to anyone else but subtle as a Gundark to the Jedi, he did not miss the opportunity to admire her form from this enticing angle however. When she straightened she had a coy smile on her face.

“That’s on the menu too, if you have the credits”

Quinlan looked up taking in her body once again.

“Juma, and you are out of my price range”

The smile disappeared in a instant and she turned and made her way to the bar, Quinlan smiled, “just another hustle” he thought.

His eyes lingered on the Twi’lek till she had made it back to the bar using it as a pretence to look around. His quarry was a old man sitting at one of the middle tables, he seemed very much at home there, part of the furniture and as he glanced at the old man Quinlan knew his arrival was noted and he was subject to a similar scrutiny. Looking away he scanned the rest of the cantina. In one corner there seemed to be some minor crime figure with this retinue around him, large sentients with ill concealed weapons but they seemed more concerned with laughing at the bad jokes their boss was making and sneaking in glasses of Juma when he was not watching, no one else in the cantina proved very interesting at all.

Turning his attention back to the old man Quinlan began to analyze what he was learning, for one, the old man was not hiding the fact he was a Jedi, clad in robes that had seen better days although they were the robes of a Jedi and with a very obvious lightsaber hanging from his belt the old man was almost advertising the fact he was a Jedi, Quinlan found this surprising but saw no one else took any notice. Obviously the old man had done a good job becoming part of the furniture around here.

Presently the old Jedi got up to leave. He tossed a few credits on the table and made his way out the door. Quinlan did not follow right away confident that the small camera droid he left outside will mark which direction he takes. Soon the old man reaches the first corner and disappears around it, Quinlan instructs the droid to take station on the next corner and watch him, then gets up to leave himself. Dropping enough credits to cover the tab but not enough to appear generous he walks out the door and quickly makes his way to the corner. At the corner Quinlan takes a quick look at the monitor and sees that the old man is still within sight, pocketing the small droid he steps around the corner and allows himself to catch up a little. There are several people around on the street as Quinlan follows the old Jedi around three more corners. Stepping onto the final street Quinlan sees the Jedi disappearing into a modest apartment, at ground level and stand-alone making the job a little easier. Confident that the bustle of the street has rendered him seen but unseen Quinlan turns back around the corner, dropping the droid and instructing it to lock on to the old man’s door. Satisfied that all was taken care of Quinlan makes his way to the apartment he rented through a broker more than a month ago, only a few doors away from the cantina.

The beeping of the monitoring device caught Quinlan running through some movement drills, picking up the monitor he saw the old man walking away from his apartment in the direction of the cantina, quickly dressing, Quinlan also left his apartment and made it to the cantina door before the old man rounded his second corner. Entering the cantina he was pleased to note that the table he occupied yesterday was empty, not only was it a good table for his surveillance but in occupying the same table it lent him a certain credibility in belonging he also noted the emptiness of the Jedi’s table, considering all tables around it were occupied with extra chairs pulled up it was obvious that the Jedi had his place here well and truly marked.

The Jedi soon arrived and took his table. The Lethan Twi’Lek appeared with a bottle, most likely a standing order thought Quinlan, the old man took a long look at her then slapped her on the rump as she walked off, a action that caused some laughter on her part and not much else, another standing order perhaps. Quinlan nursed his own drinks and looked around occasionally appearing disinterested in everything.

Finishing his drink the old Jedi got up to leave dropping credits on the table and making for the door although unlike the day before this time he stopped at Quinlan’s table, a hand that had been concealed in the robes came down palm flat in front of Quinlan and when the old Jedi moved his hand away there was his camera droid. Quinlan was shocked although still careful not to let it show on his face, he raced through his memory to the point of getting the warning beep that the Jedi was leaving and realized that he had not checked the monitor again after that.

The Jedi waited a few seconds for it to sink in.

“Lose something boy?”

His first thought was denial; there was no possible way this Jedi could know that was his.

“Take your droid and leave old man, you been chewing spice, that isn’t mine”

The old man still looking straight ahead and not missing a beat

“Right….”

Taking the final steps to the door the old man stops again.

“You coming?”

With that he walked out the door leaving Quinlan to rapidly decide his next move. Quinlan realized he had handled this badly, his arrogance had caused him to grossly underestimate this old Jedi and now his plan was coming apart because of it. Taking the only option left to him Quinlan left the cantina. The old Jedi was almost to the corner and Quinlan put on a fast walk to catch up, he was not going to further injure his pride by running the fact the old man had not waited was injury enough. They walked in silence back to the old man’s apartment which he unlocked and ushered Quinlan in.

Chapter Three


The interior was sparse, consisting of one large sized room. A kitchenette was squeezed into the back corner on the right while the left of that was taken up with a table and a couple of chairs. The front left held a comfortable meditation area and it was evident that most of the Jedi’s effort was focused there, to the right a sleeping area that was nothing more than a mattress on the floor.

They both sat down at the table, no refreshments were offered or asked for and the two sat in silence taking the measure of each other. The old Jedi spoke first.

“Who are you son? Why are you here?”

Quinlan still trying to salvage this situation played his last gambit.

“I’m a tracker; I was hired to find you as you have infor….”

The old Jedi raised his hand palm facing out to interrupt Quinlan.

“Cut the crap boy, you’re a Jedi, you may not look like it and you have gone to some trouble to mask it but I am not senile yet and I am too old for games”

Weighing up his few options Quinlan decided on a new tact, a mix of truth and untruth, he would try to flank this old Jedi.

“I am Quinlan, Jedi Knight based on Tython, one of the lead investigators for the Jedi, my current assignment is to track down lost knowledge”

Pausing at this point Quinlan waited for the old man to issue any questions he had, he was confident that the answers he had fabricated would be adequate. The old Jedi merely grunted and motioned for Quinlan to continue.

“A few years ago some Knights were sent to the ruins of the temple on Courscant to retrieve as much data from the archives as possible, many of the files returned were fragments most of them not worth the time to decipher but one got my interest”

Quinlan handed over his reader with the fragment data already on screen.

“As you can see the Introduction of the file is highly degraded only three words are visible, Tython, Exiles, and Cache. I have decrypted the security seal on the Location portion of the file but it too is corrupted, it does not have a reference key or a start point.”

The power was building and soon it would be time to release it, the revised plan was hasty and sloppy but it was all Quinlan had to work with, summoning all of his power he channelled it into a Sith mind manipulation technique. Should this succeed anything he said from now would seem the best course of action and the old Jedi would certainly want to please his new friend by giving him the information he sought. There was a danger of course, it could fail, and if it did all doors but one would close.

“So, Gatekeeper…”

This invasion had to be built carefully, first establishing familiarity, Quinlan choose to use the old Jedi’s formal title.

“Please will you tell me the starting location and the reference key to find this cache?”

Precision is a must, if the query is not fully formed then you will miss vital information, it’s certainly not the way you would speak in a normal situation.

“This knowledge will help the Jedi to rebuild, as a loyal member of the Jedi order I am sure that you want to see it back to full power”

Make the appeal to the loyalty of a goal higher than themselves.

And finally the consequence of refusal.

“The Jedi Council would not look with favour upon the Gatekeeper that refused their agent the knowledge that was sought”

Quinlan slowly released the lock on the Jedi’s mind to allow him access to his thoughts; it was imperative that the decision to answer the question was made by him or the suggestion would break down and lose all power. After underestimating this Jedi before, Quinlan was not prepared to make the same mistake; he readied his mind to release the power in an instant and had his next attack waiting to go.

The old man sat there in silence, the lines on his face growing deeper, and then the spell broke. Quinlan felt the power returning down the link a split second before he severed the connection, to receive all of that back would have been fatal. On his feet now with confusion on his face the old Jedi moved back into the centre of the room there was a hiss of energy as he ignited his lightsaber.

Quinlan stood and ignited his own saber as he stepped towards the Gatekeeper, the two combatants started to circle each looking for a opening for the first strike. The confusion was still evident on the old man’s face but fading fast, Quinlan decided to capitalize on this by employing Dun Moch technique.

“A yellow blade, the blade of a Sentinel, of a Watcher, but what have you ever watched, these four walls and little else. A Gatekeeper with no gate to keep, have you ever set foot inside the temple whose secrets you guard?”

The Dun Moch was having the desired effect turning confusion into anger and keeping the old man off balance, care had to be taken not to push too far, the anger could turn into an offensive advantage rather than the fear, doubt and despair that was the intended outcome.

“The mighty Gatekeeper sect, guardians of the Jedi Temple since its creation and how many hundreds of years since any Gatekeeper was in the temple, you have failed as has your entire sect, you secrets will become mine today and your life will end”

Cracks were starting to show in the Jedi’s armour but there was still defiance.

“You’re no Jedi” spat the old man through clenched teeth.

“and your no Sith either, you have a darkness boy, darker than both of them, what you are is wrong”

With this statement the old man laughed.

“I will die here today boy there is no doubt in that, you will leave empty handed, I will tell you nothing!”

The old Jedi lunged bringing his blade to bare and going for a quick strike. It was a clumsy attack and Quinlan easily defeated it with a blocking move from his own saber, utilizing a force push the old man was sprawling on the ground and found Quinlan’s saber pointed down at his throat before he could recover.

Quinlan reached out with his left hand and the yellow saber flew into his grip, attaching it to his belt he stepped back from the old man deactivated his own lightsaber and returned it to the pouch he had chosen for this trip.

The old Jedi coughed and felt a tightness around his throat, it started to get worse restricting the airflow into his lungs, he looked up and saw Quinlan’s arm outstretched in the unmistakable pose of a force choke, then he was flying, slamming face first into the opposite wall of his apartment cracking the wall covering with the force of the impact. He slid down the wall coming to rest at the base where a hacking cough ripped through his frame causing him to deposit a large glob of blood and saliva on the floor next to him.

Raising his head as much as he could the old man looked across the room at his attacker, Quinlan had not moved. Defiance flickered in his eyes once more.

“You will get no secrets from me”

Recovering a little he sat up against the wall

“I will gladly die here and now and my secrets die with me”

The air seemed to change, like the polarity had suddenly been reversed, Quinlan was advancing on the old man, sparks dancing between the fingers of his right hand. Fear began to replace the defiance in the Gatekeepers eyes and Quinlan stopped his advance and smiled.

“That remains to be seen”

Once again he raised his arm fingers splayed to disperse the bolts, more power started to flow down the arm causing the initial sparks to arc out and ground against the floor and ceiling as he built and held the power in his finger tips. It was possible and indeed usual for a lightening attack to be much faster than this, the build up was not a necessary component but it did help to nourish the fear that had taken root in the old man.

Without warning the power was released, Quinlan’s expression did not change as he summoned and directed the pure force energy into his victim. The old man could not maintain such control as the bolts first hit him and then surged through his body. His face was a mask of pain as he felt energies so familiar to him all these years turn on him, muscles popped, tendons stretched and his blood started to get uncomfortably hot. The bolts dissipated and no more were incoming, it was a mild dose as far as these things go, after all Quinlan was not here to inflict pain, only to gather information, As the muscles in the Jedi’s body started their contraction he slumped back to the floor, slight wisps of smoke rising from small holes in his robes where the bolts had entered, he felt darkness closing in around him but it was not death, Quinlan’s voice opened a door in that darkness and the old Jedi’s mind moved unbidden towards it.

“Are you ready to tell me what I want to know…? Gatekeeper”

This last word was spoken with contempt for the creature before him, a Jedi no doubt but one never tested, never a part of the galaxy, hiding away in dark corners passing their secrets from Master to Apprentice. Quinlan had learned through his research and investigation that the Sect was still alive in the Galaxy, culling itself to two members only, Apprentice becoming Master upon the Masters death then taking their own Apprentice shortly after to carry on the legacy and keep the secrets. Quinlan was no fool and he did not believe for a second that this information was passed down by word of mouth for all these years, it was too important to risk this knowledge on a freak death, there had to be a holocron somewhere but his investigations had failed to locate it. One day he will find it but for now the information will have to come from the source.

Quinlan waited for the old man to recover, wanting his next words to deliver their full impact. In obvious pain the old Jedi raised his head slightly, not even able to summon the energy to look Quinlan in the eye.

“Kill me now dark one, you will not break me”

The old man looked up and was surprised to see genuine sadness in Quinlan’s eyes.

“I am truly sorry to hear you say that old man as you leave me no choice. You will die now and I will have to pay a visit to Tennyka. Perhaps she will be more….pliant”

Eyes flashed wide in fear and pain, reserves of strength brought the old Jedi to his feet.

“She cannot help you; I have not taught her the secret you’re seeking.

Quinlan stood there impassive, not showing any emotion or acknowledging the old man at all.

“You have to believe me, she doesn’t know!”

The old man was quivering and almost shouting now, the briefest of smiles appeared on Quinlan’s face, this battle of wills was almost over and he was about to make the final move.

“I believe you”

His shoulders slumped back down and the old man visibly relaxed, Quinlan went for the kill.

“It is a pity that the Gatekeeper’s must end with the death of such a promising young Apprentice. I know who she is and where she is, do not fool yourself otherwise”

It was time to end this.

“I may leave here today with a minor setback, but the holocron will be found eventually and the temple can only hide its secrets for so long, I will get what I want”

The death of yourself, the death of your Apprentice and with her the death of the Gatekeeper Sect, no Jedi has failed this completely for a long time.

Tears were streaming down his face, unable to hold his emotions in the face of such death. All that he knows all he will know and all he is a part of hang in the balance. He could not be the Jedi who killed the Sect, no secret was worth that, his will now broken, the only thing left to break was his oath.

“Chamber of Conclave is the start point and the reference key is the tiles carved with the Jedi symbol. The key runs floor floor Ceiling floor Ceiling Ceiling Ceiling Floor”

Defeated and broken the old Jedi collapsed to the floor and lay there slightly quivering. Quinlan completed his notes on the file with the words the old man had imparted, feeling a sense of excitement that he was that much closer to his goal. A couple of steps brought him over to the old man and he crouched down to grip him under the arms and raised him to his feet. Still feeling quite unsteady the old Jedi swayed a little as Quinlan unclipped the yellow lightsaber from his belt.

“Your Apprentice will live” he whispered, and she would, Quinlan was sure to have use for a Gatekeeper in the future.

“but you will not” as he said it he thumbed the activator switch on the lightsaber, the yellow blade penetrated cloth, skin, muscle and bone with ease passing through the dying Jedi’s heart and finally impaling him on the wall.

Without another word Quinlan left the apartment and went looking for some transport, it was time to leave this place.

One day I might finish this.

I changed Quins direction, instead of coming from the Jedi I am thinking of bringing him from the Sith.

Welcome
Glad you liked it.
There is probably at least another 3 chapters to this story.

I thought of rewriting it from a Sith perspective but it would ruin the "mood" of the story, it would not be so sinister if a Sith was doing these things, it would be quite tame really.

Very good story Quinland, this would have made a good Biography. But I also agree with your other Bio, coming from the sith makes more sense with your character.

Arashi wrote:Very true. Did it take long for you to come up with all that?

About a week
I write to a plan and that is probably about a third of the original storyline.

Sweetness...and that's all I have to say about that.

Cool, i wrote a ruff draft of a short story about a bounty hunter in another guild, mabey ill port it over to this site.

Good story, worthy of star wars for sure.

Very interesting to read, I'd probably read the other chapters.

Very good. I enjoyed it. I agree with bringing him from the Sith. Can't see a Jedi doinng most of that.