New Je’daii Order Temple Bodhi Rebuild

BUILDING THE JE'DAII ORDER

series of one shots about rebuilding the nine great temples of Tython.

Bodhi, the Temple of Arts

161 ABY

The Busted Plugga flew over the shores of Masara, along the Edge forest and verdant pains, towards Bodhi. The temple of Art was located less than a kilometer inland from the Thyrian Ocean surrounding the continent. Mab sat in the pilot seat, K-0R9 next to her in the co-pilot's seat and behind her in one of the passengers seats sat a young Mirialan. "I'm glad you could come along, ehmm.. Marty was it?" the witch said as she navigated the ship. "Marten, your Majesty. And I'm happy to be here" he replied. "No need to treat me like royalty" the Iktotchi smiled. "But Esbern always…'' Before he could continue Mab interrupted "I am the ruler of Prakith, here on Tython I am the Grand Master. I told Esbern the same but as a Prakithian he insists." "Of course Grand Master Bathor" Marten responded.

On that moment the Navcom began to beep, checking it,  Mab said "there it is" and pointed at a two story structure that seemed to rise naturally out of the surrounding plains. The boy peeked through the front porthole "the temple looks intact" he noted. The witch nodded "the temple was deemed unimportant, the Rakatan weren't interested in art. Even during the force wars the temple itself wasn't of much interest. It was used as a fortress for a while."  she explained as she sloweded the ship's approach. "The force wars?" The green skinned scientist asked. "After the Rakatan threat was gone a great schism began within the Order. Followers of Ashla against Bogen, light against dark" before she could say more the computer began to beep again as it picked up on something at the Temple.

"Master, there seems to be a ship next to the Temple" K-0R9 noted. "A ship? That's odd" she said, but as the Busted Plugga drew closer, Mab noticed the ship as well. "A freighter, the scans are picking up on 5 lifesigns." The droid added as he read the scans. "I'm  taking us down on the other side" Mab said as she initiated the landing sequence and added "We better be careful, as we don't know who they are or what they want." "Are you sure that is wise? Maybe we should call for backup" Marten suggested nervously. "I'm confident we can handle it" she said when the ship touched the ground and then asked "Marty can you handle a blaster?" "A blaster? Ehm.. yeah" the Mirialan replied nervously. Mab could feel the boy probably never been in any kind of combat situation. Switching the engines off she glanced over at him "you'll be fine Marten, Korg will get you a blaster."

Moments later, they three were outside walking towards the temple. "Are you sure anyone is there?" Mab asked the KX- security droid. "Yes Master, my scans have never been wrong." "Then why did no one come to meet us? They must have seen us by now" the witch thought out loud and held her hand on her saber, ready for any surprises. They entered the complex from the southern entrance, the opposite side of which the freighter stood. Stripped of its original beauty Bodhi had become an eerie looking place, that even gave the witch the shivers. During the Force Wars the Je'daii follower of Bogan, Ryo, took over the temple, making it his stronghold and turning the once so beautiful galleries into slave pits. He had scorched the plains and even poisoned the seas until he finally was defeated. After that the temple had fallen out of memory and its location lost but for a few rare tablets and scrolls which held information on its coordinates. Even though the structure seemed to be in a good condition, nature had found its way, covering the central courtyard with tall grass that gracefully swayed in the salty sea wind. The walls were covered in Ivy vines, that rustled as a breeze brushed over them.

"Over there Master" K-0R9 noted and pointed to an open door "they must have entered the temple through there." Using force she began to scan the environment, making sure no one would surprise them as they quietly entered the ancient structure. "I'll take the lead, you stay behind me" Mab told Marten as she took one of her lightsabers in her hand. "Korg will cover us from behind." The droid silently gave a nod.

The temple had not been disturbed for a long time, therefore it was easy to find the tracks of those who had entered before them. She followed them down to a lower level, and as they quietly moved closer they began to hear sounds of tools being used on a metal surface and voices. After a while they reached a door that had been forced open, without saying anything Mab motioned to Marten and Korg to be as quiet as possible, as they were getting close. Behind the open door was a tunnel that led downwards, further below the surface. Mab could guess what would be down there, she has found evidence at the Kaleth database that unlike most temples, the Tho Yor or Bodhi was buried beneath the temple. She had found a log dating back to 25,793 BBY where the Temple Master of Bodhi, Jake Fenn, mentioned storing artifacts of importance within the Tho Yor under the Temple of Arts. All this time she thought that all the Tho Yor, except for the one buried at Stav Kesh were gone, but seeing the Temple of Arts intact and going down this tunnel was enough proof for her that Tho Yor of Bodhi was still there. This knowledge made her heart race, she was excited to see for herself but first they would have to deal with whomever was trying to break into the pyramidal ship.

After several minutes they reached the end of the tunnel, again there was a door that was forced open. Mab signaled to Marten and Krog to stop as she listened carefully to those that were inside the next chamber. "Hold it steady Quill!" A female voice shouted over the loud noise of a drill. "I am holding it still woman!" A man responded. "Stop fighting you two" another male reacted. Suddenly the drilling stopped. "Why are you stopping?" The woman asked "this isn't working. Las, we need better tools" the man said, then the other male responded again "We have the best tools, try again." Few seconds later the drill was switched on again. The Iktotchi looked at the young Mirialan scientist, who stood next to her, pressed against the wall, holding his blaster ready. Quietly she said "I'll go in first, you two stay here in case any of them try to escape". The eyes of Marten grew bigger, it was obvious he was worried but Mab placed her hand on his shoulder, reassuring he had nothing to worry about. Mab then turned around and walked around the corner into the next chamber.

The chamber had a high arched ceiling, and was rectangular in shape. On both sides stood four statues and at the far end another next to a tall metal door. Mab assumed these were depictions of the first nine Temple Master's. At the door stood three Twi'lek, two makes, one blue and white, holding the drill against the metal, whilst a young white female watched them closely. At the centre of the room stood two more Twi'lek, a blue skinned Male who seemed to be the oldest, holding a datapad witch next to him a pink skinned female. The sound of the drill filled the room, none of the Twi'lek had heard the witch enter the chamber.

With a flick of her hand Mab unplugged the drill from a generator. "What the..'' but before he continued the blue male holding the drill noticed Mab. "Who are you!?" Instantly all five had turned and looked at the witch. The older male holding the datapad and the two females reached for their weapons. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" Mab calmly said, but none of them listened, and when the two males at the door placed the drill on the floor they also grabbed their blasters. "Who are you?" their leader repeated as he held his blaster up. With a smile the Iktotchi looked at him "I am the owner of this Temple." The male laughed "owner? This place has been deserted for decades" he stepped forward and added "what you are though, is at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Mab ignored what he said "I suggest you drop your weapons." "Just shoot her Las! She's wasting our time" the other blue male suggested with a grin on his face. "No, I want to know who she is." The leader said dismissively. "If you lower your weapons we can talk." The witch suggested as she kept the hilt of her lightsaber in her hand. "You do the talking, then.. maybe.. I will lower my weapon" the Twi'lek leader flicked the blaster at her. "Very well" Mab began calmly, "I am Grand Master Bathor of the New Je'daii Order." The male frowned at her response "the Je'daii are dead, nothing more than a fairytale from the past." Ignoring his words Mab asked "and who are you?" "I'm Laszlo Kesler, this is my crew. We claimed this place and it's treasure, so you better leave." Then he paused and looked her up and down "or",  his face changed "we could go somewhere more private."

The Iktotchi laughed at his suggestion and raised her eyebrow "you have no right to claim this temple. It belongs to the Je'daii Order, so I suggest you start packing before I lose my patience." With those words she ignited her lightsaber, the minty green blade hummed and crackeld loudly. "You don't frighten me with your empty threats and that relic you are holding" Laszlo approached her slowly. With a flick of her hand she unarmed him, instantly the pink female responded by shooting at the witch, but she deflected back at her with the lightsaber. The female got hit in her thigh and fell back. "Tamzin!" The blue skinned male at the door shouted and began shooting at Mab, who again easily deflected it back. Then with a powerful kinetic pull she unarmed all of them. Their weapons flew across the room and hit the wall behind the witch.

All five looked in disbelief at Bathori as she switched her lightsaber off. "You better leave, I have no intention to harm anyone, but if I see you here again I will." Mab threatened. The leader gave a reluctant nod to the others who began to collect their things. But Mab sensed he was up to something. When they were ready, Laszlo took the lead and walked silently towards the exit, as he walked by he glanced at her with disgust. The other's followed but as soon as Mab took her eyes off Laszlo and watched the other's their blue skinned leader took something from his belt and threw it at her. Having sensed his intentions, Mab responded by using telekinesis and shot whatever it was he threw back at him at high speed. Without seeing it happen, she heard a soft thump as he fell to the floor, Tamzin, the pink skinned female gasped, dropping the drill she was carrying and stumbled towards their leader.  "No Laszlo!!. No!!" she screamed. When the witch looked she saw a throwing knife in Laszlo's throat, the blood caused him to drown. The others froze, worried the Iktotchi would do something to them. "You may leave, but do it quickly before I change my mind." The two males lifted the generator and moved towards the exit, passing their fallen leader. "Tamzin he is dead, just leave him" the blue male said but the female shook her head, crying "we can't just leave him." "We can, he would've done the same if it were you." The moment they had reached the exit they stopped as K-0R9 stepped in front of them. "Let them pass Korg, and escort them to their ship. "Yes Master." The droid responded and turned around. Tamzin kissed Laszlo on his forehead and got up, with tears in her eyes she grabbed the drill and walked by the Iktotchi witch cursing at her in Rylothean.

"Shaza.. come" the white male said when he noticed the young female wasn't coming. But the girl shook her head slowly and looked Mab into her eyes and softly asked "can you teach me?" Surprised the witch looked back at her, when she heard the male again call for the girl "Shaza!". "Teach you?" Mab asked the young pale Twi'lek, uncertain what the girl meant. "Those abilities.. to make things fly" she said with curiosity. "Shaza come!" The girl didn't listen, she wanted an answer from Mab. "Do you have those abilities?" The witch asked the girl. Shaza glanced at her crewmates then back at Mab and gave a small nod. "No she doesn't!, come!! we are leaving." The white skinned male insisted but the girl ignored him. "I could.. but if you wish to learn you'd have to follow our rules." "I would!, whatever you want me to do" Shaza replied excitedly. "Shaza!?" The male exclaimed in shock. She approached him "it's ok Ezra, I'll stay." "No, you won't.  You are coming with us." He shook his head and glanced at Mab with worry in his eyes. "There is no need to worry, she will be safe here" she tried to reassure the pale man who obviously was related to.the girl. He glanced at her with suspicion "you're not taking my sister.. witch!.. Shaza come, you can't stay." "I'm not taking her, she is free to leave whenever she pleases, but if she wishes to stay and learn to use her abilities, she will be welcome." "Ezra, this is my chance, I want to stay and learn" the girl tried to convince her brother. "You don't have to discuss this here, we're not going anywhere" Mab interrupted, suggesting they would discuss it in private.

When the group of Twi'lek left the chamber, Mab finally approached the door. "Are you really going to teach her?" Marten asked her as she placed her hand on the cool metal. She smiled, thinking  about what they would find behind that door, and then responded to the young Mirialan scientist "I will. If she wishes to learn and will follow the Je'daii ways." "But she's a smuggler" Marten said as he stood behind the witch. Instantly she turned around "what has that to do with anything Marty?" "Well. Ehmm" he had no answer, Mab grinned "I was a mercenary, my son raised as a Thief and Smuggler, my future husband is probably the noblest of us, as he used to be Royal bodyguard back on Cathar." His eyes widened in shock and his face got a slight orange hue "A mercenary? But..." With a chuckle Mab continued "Yes, and I even was a Sith for a while" and gave a wink. For a moment he remained silent, trying to comprehend, mouthing Mab's words with a confused expression. Chuckling the witch turned around facing the door and changed the subject

"Do you know what this is?" She asked. "A vault?" She heard Marten say behind her. "Well, you're not entirely wrong, it is a kind of vault. This is the entrance to the Tho Yor." As she explained she touched the doors, "this is one of the ships that brought the first Je'daii to Tython. We can't even imagine what we would find inside." Mab's veins began to glow as she thought how close she stood to the Tho Yor, they hadn't even got this close to the one that was buried at Stav Kesh. "Do you know how to enter?" Marten asked intrigued by her words. "Unfortunately I don't, it will remain a mystery for now.. as we should focus on restoring this temple first." There was a hint of disappointment in her voice as she longed to enter Tho Yor and learn more about the first Je'daii and those who brought them to Tython.

Several minutes later Mab and Marten stepped into the courtyard. The lifeless body of Laszlo hovered behind the witch. Outside they found the four Twi'lek next to the dried up fountain, arguing about the young girl's decision. The girl turned around when she heard them approach and said "I'm  staying" but before she could say anything else her older brother stepped forward "but I will visit." With a single nod Mab replied "of course, I would never ask anyone to cut ties with their family. It is our loved ones that give us strength." "If anything happens to her I will come for you" the Twi'lek threatened. "Oh, I'm sure you would. But now it's time to say our goodbyes." The Twi'lek nodded and turned to his sister.

When the freighter finally took off moments later. The young girl gazed up to the sky watching it disappear between the clouds. Bathori stood behind her, she could sense the girl's sadness. "You will see them again" the witch said calmly as she placed her cold ultrachrome hand on the girls shoulder..she flinched at the icy touch and turned around, hiding her sadness behind a smile she asked "So what will happen now?" "We are going to restore this temple" Mab responded and motioned to Marten to join them "This is Marty." "Ehm, it's Martem actually" he said softly and held out his hand. With some hesitation the pale Twi'lek girl took his hand "I'm Shaza Fortuna" and shook his hand with a smile.  "Well, now that we know each other we better get to work." Mab looked at the Mirialan scientist "Marty.. ehm Marten you take the DRK-1 probe droid for a run" she paused, and turned towards Shaza "we will make the additional scans inside." "Yes Grand Master Bathor" Marten responded, Shaza then repeated the same.

As they walked the darkened halls of the temple, holding their scanners the girl asked "what was this place for?" "Bodhi was the Temple of Arts" Mab explained, but before she could continue the girl responded with surprise "really? I thought it was military." With a frown Mab stopped in her tracks and turned around "military?" "Yeah, a fortress" Shaza turned her face down, her cheeks turned pink as she continued to speak "that's what Laszlo told us.. that it was the fortress of Hawk Ryo." "Ah, that explains a lot.. Yes, at the end of the Je'daii era Ryo attacked and raided the Temple. For weeks he humiliated and tortured the Temple Master before beheading him and displaying his corps on the temple walls." Mab paused, noticing the girl's shocked expression, it was clear she was told something else, to her Hawk Ryo was probably a hero of some sorts. "He turned Bodhi into a slaughterhouse, killing anyone who wouldn't pledge loyalty to him and his leader, the Bogan Je'daii Daegan Lok" the Iktotchi continued to explain. "Hawk was a Je'daii?" Shaza's jaw dropped. "Yes he was a ranger who eventually turned against the order during the great schism. What did Laszlo told you?" Mab asked as they turned into a new corridor. Shaza followed and began to tell what she had learned "That Hawk Ryo was a brave warrior, from one of the great houses on Shikaakwa." She stopped, disappointed she looked up at the witch "but it seems it wasn't true" "well he was brave, but he got corrupted by the darkness of Bogan, as did many" Mab said with a smile trying to make the girl feel less embarrassed.

They entered a large pillared hall, several years prior, Hawk and Daecon had a vision, about armies of darkness coming to Tython. Lok tried to convince the council but they dismissed it, claiming he had lost his mind and exiled him to Bogan. The vision was true though, when the Rakata came to Tython they brought darkness with them. That was when the great schism was sparked and Hawk joined Lok, fighting for Bogan." Her voice echoed in the large hall as she spoke. Mab paused and gazed around, part from the dust the hall seemed to be untouched by time. "In its heyday Bodhi focused on teaching its students to understand the manifestations of the Force through the art. Instructing them in the ways of writing, dancing, drawing, sculpting, music, theater and even cooking" the witch imaged what the temple would have looked like, sound of music and the smell of cooking filling the halls, Je'daii dancing in the courtyard on sunny days while others painted them. A bright smile appeared on her face thinking about it, hoping that once this temple would be restored it would be like that again…

~\*~

It only took a couple of months and a small work crew to restore Bodhi to its former glory. When the Grand Master returned for the final inspection the Temple was cleared from all vines and grass, revealing its true beauty. As she walked through the gates she was welcomed by Shaza, who had decided to stay at Bodhi to help rebuild it. "Greetings Grand Master Bathor" the young white Twi'lek said and made a respectful bow with her head. "Greetings Shaza, you look well" the witch responded as she glanced her up and down. The girl was wearing a white tunic, with a flowy black hooded cloak over it. The girl noticed how Mab studied her clothing and responded "i found these designs in the temple, it's what the Je'daii of Bodhi used to wear." Mab smiled at the blushes that appeared on the girls face "it suits you, you made it yourself?" Proudly the girl nodded "in the the Temple's tailoring workshop." "Well done, i guess you found your place here" "I do Grand Master, I learned a lot about Bodhi during the reconstruction, I'd like very much to stay here" she paused waiting for Mab to respond. "Well, you will to start your training at Padawan Kesh first and after that you will journey to each temple for training. But once you pass your training…" the witch leaned towards her with a wink. "Really?" The girl was overjoyed. Nodding Mab said "now please show me the temple." "Ofcourse, at once.."

They walked across the courtyard, past the large circular fountain, towards the main entrance for the tour. They entered the main west hall through a tall arched passageway. On the ground floor was the exhibition gallery where, in the future, art would be displayed. Shaza showed the witch some of the art that survived, mostly unfinished sculptures and some sketches they had recovered from the workshop on the upper level of the main hall.

Through a collonade they went to the Northen hall which was the music hall, with classrooms as studios in which singers and musicians could gather to combine their art into a harmonious symphony of the Force.

Across the main hall, to the east was the hall dedicated to writing. There was a library, which used to house a vast collection of novels, manuscripts and poems created by writers, calligraphers and poets within the Order. But most of the shelves were empty, as only a little had survived the past centuries. But Mab was confident that one day those shelves would be full again.

The southern hall contained the theatre, where dancers and thespians would act  out plays and danced in ballets reenacting great historical events.

After the tour they stood on the courtyard again, the salty breeze brushed over her skin, carrying the sounds of the ocean. The bright sun reflected on the rippling surface of the fountain. "What's next Grand Master?" Shaza asked the witch who stood with her eyes closed facing the sun, enjoying the moment. "We still have two temples to finish and then" she opened her golden eyes and looked at the girl "the real work of the New Je’daii Order will begin.”