462.25 // A Jedi peacekeeping mission to the planet Cyrillia goes horribly wrong!!
Jedi Knight Gorra Barnos and his apprentice, Padawan Learner Jacik Tol departed from the Jedi temple of Ossus on 462.19 as part of an outreach mission to the planet of Cyrillia. Their goal was to coordinate with local security forces to help effectively curtail rising gang activity on the planet while improving community relations with local Cyrillian populations on the planet.
“Missions like these are exceedingly common among the order, and while there is a certain degree of autonomy granted to knights when choosing and undertaking these missions, they ultimately fall under the authority of their local council,” – Jedi Master, N’leka Yaal from the Ossus Temple said during an interview.
Their mission to Cyrillia was believed to have gone as routine as possible, until a heated pursuit of a small swoop gang takes a tragic turn. On 462.24 , while helping a local patrol sweep through a busy inner city block, Master Barnos and his pupil were able to stop an attempted hit-and-run strike by a local swoop gang known as “Screaming Stars” before it turned deadly. The gangsters, in two groups of six, were reported to have sped into the district in a pair of cargo-grade landspeeders before unveiling their blasters and opening fire on security personnel. The Jedi were able to make use of their lightsabers to shield the security squad from oncoming blaster fire until they could reach cover, and once those security forces were organized and began retaliating, the gangsters panicked and began a hurried retreat.
City surveillance equipment recorded the two Jedi as they split up to chase the two different groups, Barnos hurrying north after one and Tol westward after the other. Tol was seen riding a security speeder bike in hot pursuit of the Stars before disabling their vehicle’s repulsorlift engine, causing it to collide into a corner stall and be rendered inoperable. That is when the situation took a horrifying turn. A camera feed recorded the moment when the group of gangsters scrambled out of their wrecked speeder in a disorienting stupor, clinging to debris from the crash or a nearby wall for support. Padawan Tol approached the group, ignited saber in hand, and as one turned with a hand outstretched to seemingly plea with the Jedi, Jacik Tol raised his weapon and struck down the gangster on the spot. Death was believed to be instant due to the degree of the wound, and the other gangsters immediately cowered in fear, covering their heads and pleading for their lives. It’s at this instant Master Barnos can be seen on security feeds from another section of the city breaking from his own pursuit to immediately race towards Tol’s current location.
This uncanny reaction has been described to media sources as a perceived “disturbance in the Force” that allowed the Jedi Knight to immediately realize something was wrong and race to the site of the incident. Nevertheless, local security forces following Tol in the pursuit converged on his location first to find to their horror a criminal unlawfully executed and a Jedi seemingly descended into an enraged state. The security squadron can be seen on camera attempting to first talk down the Jedi and ask him to disengage. When Padawan Tol stubbornly refused, apparently seeming further incensed by the officers’ attempts to disarm the situation, Sec Sergeant Lilan Druv took a firmer stance, demanding the Padawan turn off his weapon and enter Cyrillian custody.
The situation began to further degrade. Witness accounts state Tol immediately questioned the squadron’s ability to arrest him, and accused them of impeding in the Jedi Order’s mission to the planet. An uneasy silence began to overtake the scene before Master Barnos finally arrived, rushing to Tol’s side to demand that he disignite his weapon and comply with local authorities. This finally compelled the student to obey, and at 2145 GST, Padawan Jacik Tol was officially placed under arrest by Cyrillian Planetary Security.
“By all accounts both Master Barnos and Padawan Sol were upstanding Jedi, and we were happy to work with them. We are still investigating to see what went wrong, and what led to this to prevent further tragedy.” – Captain Ruln of the CPS.
Indeed, nothing from either Jedi’s past seems to indicate any potential for such a terrible act to occur. Both Master Barnos and Padawan Tol served in the Stenax campaign and were decorated for acts of merit during battles on Mossak and Felucia.
“This is a tragedy for everyone involved, and to see an exemplary student take a life so callously breaks the heart. We seek to find the meaning behind this senseless act and rehabilitate Padawan Tol while fully cooperating with local law enforcement.” – The final comments from our interview with Jedi Master, N’leka Yaal.
Padawan Tol remains in Cyrillian custody and it is likely at this point that he will be prosecuted for his actions. No word yet from the Jedi Order on what official action they will take at this time.