KEEPING SCORE
Wasskah, 40 BBY
“How does it feel, Jedi, to lose to a Trandoshan?”
Plo Koon remained silent as he sat cross-legged in the cage he had been placed in. The Trandoshans standing guard had spears pointed at him through the steel bars, ready to strike if he so much as flinched. Their leader chuckled, a guttural sound, as she paced away from the cage and walked over to the second captive Jedi. Lissarkh was sitting on her knees, her hands binded by stun cuffs, as she looked downcast at the ground, wincing as the older Trandoshan brushed a claw against her face.
“You have done well, daughter,” the lead hunter hissed. “With this catch, the Scorekeeper will award us many points.”
“I didn’t,” Lissarkh stammered, tripping over her words. “I’m not—”
“You’re not what? Not my daughter? Was it some other hatchling that was taken from my nest by that wretched Wookiee Jedi? Trandoshan Jedi are a rare sight in the galaxy, and you are young enough to be that very hatchling. Unless there is more than one female Trandoshan Jedi in the galaxy that is your age, which I very much doubt.”
Lissarkh squeezed her eyes shut and Plo Koon could sense his Padawan’s growing apprehension and anger. He sent calming thoughts to her through the Force while keeping his attention on the older Trandoshan female.
“If you are indeed correct that my Padawan here is your daughter, Hunter Yavassk, then I believe you have a different account of the story than from what I have been told.”
Yavassk snapped her head back to the Kel Dor Jedi, her forked tongue slithering from her mouth. “And just what is your version of events, Jedi?”
“As I understand it, the Wookiee Jedi you speak of—Master Tyvokka, my former teacher—came to this sector seventeen years ago to rescue Trandoshan hatchlings from being sold into slavery. Your daughter happened to be one of them and, sensing that she was Force-sensitive, brought her with him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.” Plo Koon inclined his head slightly. “Is that accurate to how you understand it?”
“What you Jedi saw as slavery, I saw as an opportunity,” Yavassk retorted. “The Zygerrians were offering to train our children to become skilled hunters, the best that Trandosha would ever have to offer. Eternal servitude to their future masters was a small price to pay for pleasing the Scorekeeper. You Jedi had no right to interfere!”
“These hatchlings included not only your own but those taken from the Speaker-Above-All himself. Many Trandoshans believed that the Wookiees were responsible for the kidnappings and the Senate sent us to investigate. You overstepped your boundaries and that incited a response from the Jedi.”
Yavassk sneered at Plo Koon, baring her teeth. “You think I care what the Spineless-Above-All thinks? He is too weak willed to stand up against Senator Yarua and fight for the representation we deserve. His children would have fared far better under the guidance of the Zygerrians.”
“I do not believe kidnapping children is making quite the statement you want it to make,” Plo Koon said.
“Enough!” Yavassk snarled. “We have wasted enough time already. It is time for us to hunt.”
“But you have already captured us.”
“Capturing a Jedi is one thing. Killing is another.” Yavassk grinned wickedly. “You will be released into the wilderness and my clan—including my daughter—will hunt you down. Whoever kills you will be rewarded greatly by the Scorekeeper.”
“No!” Lissarkh protested. “I will not participate in your game. He is my master and—”
“You are a Jedi no longer,” Yavassk snapped at her. “You are a Trandoshan, now and forevermore. You will do as the Scorekeeper wishes.”
“No. I won’t—”
“Lissarkh,” Plo Koon said calmly. “Do as she asks.”
Lissarkh stared at her master in surprise. “But—”
“My decision is final. If your family wishes to hunt, then a hunt they shall have.”
“That’s more like it.” Yavassk motioned for the guards to step away and open the cage. “Since I’m feeling generous, you will have a ten minute head start. That should make it challenging enough.”
Plo Koon rose to his feet as the cage opened. As he stepped out, he gave one last look at his Padawan, who stared back at him with wide eyes of confusion. Without a word, he then turned and ran into the forest.
* * *
True to her word, Yavassk did not shoot the starting blaster until exactly ten minutes later. By then, Plo Koon had found his hiding spot and waited patiently for the Trandoshan hunters to make their way through the forest.
He had expected that this mission would have led to this. The Council had been hesitant to send any Jedi to Wasskah to investigate claims of missing children, both Trandoshan and Wookiee alike. When Master Tyvokka had investigated similar such claims seventeen years ago, it had only worsened tensions between the two races as many Trandoshans believed that it had all been a set-up by the Wookiees and that the Jedi had deliberately sent Tyvokka in order to paint the Wookiees as heroes. As most Jedi separated themselves from the culture of their homeworlds, the Council had not expected such a connection to be made and were thus reluctant to potentially make the same mistake.
It was only when Plo Koon volunteered himself and Lissarkh for the mission that the Council agreed to send Jedi to Wasskah and potentially bring an end to the kidnappings. While Lissarkh had long since distanced herself from her people’s culture, having been brought to the Jedi Temple mere weeks after being hatched, the presence of a Trandoshan Jedi being the one to save the missing children would have hopefully convinced the Trandoshans that the Wookiees were not to blame and that Yavassk was acting entirely of her own accord.
As it turned out however, there were no missing children. It had all been a trap, as Yavassk had been banking on the fact that the Jedi would send someone as they had in the past, and her family would be able to acquire “points” from their deity the Scorekeeper for killing a Jedi. The fact that Yavassk was also reunited with her daughter was merely a bonus, from what Plo Koon had gathered.
Reaching out with the Force, Plo Koon could sense that the Trandoshans were on their way to find him, Lissarkh being among them. He and his Padawan had been both deprived of their lightsabers, although Lissarkh had doubtlessly been given a weapon of some kind by her mother. He only hoped that she did not give into her emotions and use it for the wrong reasons. This would be a trial she would have to face alone, without his guidance, if she wished to become a true Jedi Knight.
In the distance, Plo Koon heard something snap, followed by an alarmed wail. By the sounds of it, a trap had been sprung by one of the Trandoshans—likely a trap that had been intended for Plo Koon himself. Were the hunters so blind as to miss their own traps?
A few moments later, he heard another cry as one of the other hunters fell into a pit. He then listened as a third was taken out by flying darts, a fourth by a log thrown at his face, and a fifth was launched into the air, flying directly over Plo Koon’s hiding spot. The bushes behind him then startled to rustle and he braced himself as he slowly turned around, ready to face his hunter.
“Master?”
Plo Koon allowed himself to relax as Lissarkh poked her head through the bushes. “It would appear you have won the game, my young Padawan.” He gestured to where the Trandoshan hunter had flown over. “Was that your doing?”
Lissarkh nodded somewhat sheepishly. “I pretended to know exactly where you were and led them into their own traps. They were too focused on the hunt to realize what I was doing.”
“It would appear you did know where I was hiding.”
“Well, yes. But not where I made them believe they were hiding.”
Plo Koon chuckled as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Well done, Padawan. Now then, let us have a talk with your mother.”
“I’m right here, Jedi.”
Master and apprentice turned around to see Yavassk emerge from the bushes opposite of where Lissarkh had emerged from, a vibrostaff clutched tightly in her claws. Both of their lightsabers were secured safely to her belt, placed within a lock that would make it difficult for either of them to grab their weapon with the Force.
“You disappoint me, daughter,” Yavassk growled, glaring at Lissarkh. “You could have earned a place in the Scorekeeper’s good graces.”
“The Scorekeeper means nothing to me,” Lissarkh protested. “I am a Jedi and I trust only in the Force.”
“Only because that is how the Jedi have warped your mind,” Yavassk hissed. “There’s a reason they kidnap children so young, before their minds have had a chance to develop even the most basic of functions. It is so they indoctrinate you with their ideals and make it so that you can never question them.”
Lissarkh narrowed her eyes. “That is where you are wrong, mother.”
Yavassk laughed bitterly. “And how is that?”
“Because I have questioned it. Many times.”
Plo Koon glanced at Lissarkh but said nothing. She stepped forward until she was between him and Yavassk, separating them from each other. “During my final year as an Initiate, I met a youngling who had been brought in from Gallus. Because his species lived on formaldehyde, he had to be placed in a small vat or exo-suit filled with it in order to live. I then asked my clan’s teacher why he couldn’t have been taught on Gallus, and I was told that it was because all Jedi must cut ties with their homeworld in order to become a true Knight of the Order. I didn’t understand that reasoning, and none of my teacher’s answers satisfied the question that was really burgeoning in my head.
“I didn’t get my answer until my second year as a Padawan. My master and I traveled to a planet where the people were under the threat of a warlord. Said warlord had a connection to the Force, but it was raw and uncontrollable. It made him a danger to everyone around him, including himself. Unfortunately, his powers got too far out of hand and we were unable to save him before he perished. If he had been found by the Jedi Order at an earlier age, then perhaps he could have been trained to control his powers and become a respectable Jedi Knight. Maybe then, he and the people he killed would have still been alive.
“The Force is a gift, but it can be a dangerous one when left unchecked. That is why the Jedi Order exists; so that power can be controlled and used for good, rather than evil. But it must be done from an early age, or else it will be too late to temper the storm that will come.”
Yavassk snorted in disdain. “It is just as I feared. Your mind has been warped too much by their teachings. I am afraid you are too far gone. But no matter.” She raised her vibrostaff over her head. “I am sure the Scorekeeper will reward me greatly for killing two Jedi instead of just one.”
With a battle cry, the Trandoshan lunged at the two Jedi. Before she could reach them, a blue blade emitted from one of the lightsabers secured to her belt, breaking through the lock she had on it and stabbing her in the leg. As Yavassk cried out in pain, Plo Koon summoned his lightsaber to him with the Force and used it to cut through Yavassk’s arms, dropping them and the vibrostaff to the ground. Howling in pain, Yavassk dropped to her knees as Plo Koon pointed the blade of his saber at her neck.
“I’m afraid the Scorekeeper will not be keeping score for you today,” the Jedi Master said coolly.
A furious glare was the only response the Trandoshan gave him.
* * *
“We will be sure to inform both the Chancellor and Senator Yarua of your successful mission,” the Republic Judicial said as Yavassk was led onto an awaiting shuttle. “I’m sure they will be intrigued by the fact that a Trandoshan Jedi was responsible for the apprehension of such an elusive criminal.”
“That they will,” Plo Koon said. He looked over to Lissarkh and saw that she had her back to the rest of them, staring into the forest from which they had escaped. “Give me a moment, lieutenant,” he then said to the Judicial. “I must have a brief word with my Padawan.”
The young Commenori man nodded and walked back to the shuttle, leaving Plo Koon alone with Lissarkh. Walking over to his apprentice, he put a hand on her shoulder and she broke her gaze from the forest to look up at him.
“Your master was the one who brought me to the Temple, wasn’t he?”
Plo Koon nodded. “That he was.”
“Was it a coincidence, then, that you chose me as your Padawan?”
“In the Living Force, there are no coincidences,” Plo Koon replied. “From the moment you were brought to the Temple, Master Tyvokka informed me that you would be a special case. And I knew he was right when I first saw you at the Apprentice Tournament.”
Lissarkh continued to stare at him, as if she was studying him with her reptilian eyes. “He had just died, hadn’t he, when you took me on as your apprentice? Did his death influence your choice?”
Plo Koon sighed as he looked away, staring at the forest himself. “Perhaps it did. I had always believed that he intended on making you his Padawan once you were ready. Perhaps the Force guided me to you when he became one with it.”
“Are you glad it did?” Lissarkh sounded half-joking when she said this, but Plo Koon did not take it that way. He turned to face her directly, both hands on her shoulders.
“Very much so.”
Lissarkh’s mouth curved into a grin. “So am I.”
Plo Koon’s comlink chimed at that moment and the Kel Dor Jedi answered it. “Master Plo, this is Lieutenant Dodonna. We are all set. Whenever you’re ready to leave….”
“We will be joining you shortly, lieutenant,” Plo Koon replied. With a nod to his Padawan, the two Jedi turned away from the forests of Wasskah as they headed back for the ship, ready to leave it and the history it carried well enough behind.
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