Nar Shaddaa

[Sandy Sarna]

A message, hurriedly constructed from a mix of emotions like fear, anxiety, and of course that one emotion that caused most mistakes in the galaxy; love. Came rocketing into Aiden’s commlink, from the Jedi Knight Sandy Sarna.

 

 

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN SCREENED BY THE ISB

 

PASSED TO AIDAN DARKFIRE FROM A JEDI KNIGHT COMMLINK #8859-559-2022-331

 

ISSUED TO A SANDY SARNA. YOU MAY DISREGARD THIS MESSAGE IF YOU BELIEVE IT IS SPAM

 

 

“Aiden, its Sandy, I pray that you have made it through the fighting on Kuat, and if this message finds you well, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. The Empire, you, anything. I’m here.”

 

[Sandy Sarna]

The Soresu was a cramped hulled vessel, a design that predated Sandy’s birth by almost fifteen decades, but according to the captain Rana Kusaseka, a Zabrak who had served the jedi order for nearly that long, or at least dating to before the Master Starlisk, the hull was tight and she could ‘stick it to the enemies of peace for as long as a star destroyer.’ Sandy heavily doubted that, but the ship would nonetheless would likely be appreciated by the empire. Watching the last week of holoreporting had been heartbreaking for Knight Senya, and her mood was dour as she stood around the small holotable at the center of the command module in the Soresu. She had never been good at leaving her emotions behind her, and captain Rana was giving her a glare for whatever sourness she was passing into the force. The two pilots in attendance, both jedi aces and twins from Dathomir grinned at her from behind faces of tan skin. Liamiar Kalistrasos the male, and commander of the aged Y-wing bomber squadron with his bulging arms of muscle smiled broadly at her apparent frustration. It wasn’t a smile of mocking however, but a smile of knowing encouragement. Both he and his sister had been ardent supporters of the interventionist policies of Adenna and the other knights that had followed her.

 

That was the initial curse of the Imperial Knights, Sandy thought, Revanchists had taken the creme of the jedi order with them. Leaving only the indecisive, the pacifists, or the obscenely loyal of the Jedi. When if they had merely stayed another few months, the internal revolt of those that desired to bring the Jedi wholesale into the conflict would have driven the entire order to war. Instead, brave and alone, the Imperial Knights had fought their battle against the Sith and had payed for it.

 

The silence was broken by the sister, Tenna, who short and lithe was everything her brother was not, which also reflected in her command of the A-Wings attached to the Soresu.

 

“So we strike for Nar Shadaa? This is the will of the grand master?”

 

Sandy was about to retort that it was of course the will of the whole jedi order but Rana held up a hand.

 

“It is the will of the force miss Kalistrasos. We cannot let our old friends stand alone against the darkness. Their empress has been captured by the Sith, and is enduring torture and who knows what else. If you listen to the force, it is preparing to break like a wave on the sands of time. This will be our last hurrah against the darkness and I for one will not stand by and let the young form the spearpoint. We have our orders yes, but this is a much larger game.”

 

The hyperspace deliminator began to flash and he sighed.

 

A minute later the Soresu and its escort came out of hyperspace over the Imperial Frontier.

 

It was Sandy that gave message of their arrival to the Imperial forces, and she opened a comm on the channel designated for use by the Imperial Knights which had been given to her by Kyrie.

 

“Jedi Corvette Soresu, responding for the call of aid to the Imperial Knights.”

[Sandy Sarna]

It was only in the safety of the cockpit of the venerable Jedi Ace Pernition that Sandy began to come down from the adrenaline high of the fight. First her fingers became numb as the cold of the Ace’s interior finally pressed past her body's defenses. She shivered, and cried out at the pain from her shattered chest armour. Probing numb fingers came back bloody and a glance at the reflection of the viewport showed the entire front of her tunic was a dark red.

That's when the pain came in and she hissed and pressed her fingers back onto the wound.

The R4 unit chortled something uncouth and Sandy let out a biting laugh as she fished on her belt for her medical pouch and when she had retrieved it she broke open the hard case with a rap against the steering yolk.

Bacta. Cauterize. Bacta Again. Gauze. Tape.

And it was only a few hours later that Sandy arrived over the now bustling small world of Nar Shaddaa. Letting the imperial fighters guide her into a birth belongside the landed Jedi vessels did not take much concentration, and when she had stepped from her cockpit, Imperial medics gave her a one over in the hanger before clearing her as walking wounded.

The planet smelled like fear. It was rank on the now capital of the Imperial Remnant. Or whatever was left of it. It took nearly an hour of sifting through the murky haze surrounding the planet to find her erstwhile apprentice, and some hours later she found him beside one of the GA frigates that was undergoing maintenance. She was paler than normal and was in a spare imperial BDU. Stark grey, with red bloodstripes, her Jedi tunic and armour having been discarded by the medics earlier.

“Kel!” She pulled him into a fierce embrace before stepping back. “How was your journey? What did you learn?”

[Sandy Sarna]

“Brother we have lost so many in so short a time.” Sandy let her green eyes drift up the carbon scoring that had scoured the side of the majestic Galactic Alliance frigate. Marks of a bitter and inevitable fight. Sandy remembered it from her childhood in Gala, the brutal realities of seeing Rebel ships dropping from orbit in streaks of emerald fire. The hypergolic fuels of hyperdrives igniting in the thin atmosphere of that old Rebel territory. That territory whose accent still plagued every sentence Sandy Sarna spoke.

“Onderon, Coruscant, and the Imperials at Kuat.”

It had been Armageddon for the forces of good. Perfect justice for the narcissism and arrogance that had let them lower their guard and allow the GA to become so weak. She could feel the touch of Aiden’s mind in the force and it forced a smile to spread across her pale face. She softly prodded back in the force to see if he was ok but left it at that. She had grown up, and she was determined to not be a fool in front of him again.

She took the extended sabre and admired its craftsmanship. It was well made. “You have done well Kel.” The blade snapped to life, drawing stares from several technicians maintaining a TIE defender with red striping on one of its damaged solar panels. “It is a good blade.” Her smile widened as she deactivated it and handed it back to him. “I am very proud of you Kel.” Though when she spoke his name she winced at the pain in her chest from the still healing blaster wound. She could feel her commlink buzzing in her pocket but she ignored it for now. 

“So what do you know of healing Kel? Shall we meditate together and you demonstrate what we have learned so many months ago?”

((Begin the process of meditation and stitching Sandy’s wound back together. Go into detail and also the struggle you face by the dark presence of Fear and Anger that has filled the planet.))

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy let a laugh break through her calm demeanor, turning it into a giggle as she pulled the edge of the tunic back over her bandage.

“Bed Rest Kel? In this current galaxy?”

She stuck her tongue out defiantly and picked up her comm link.

“You did very well Kel, you have learned so much so quickly. I’d say we were close to your trials in the next few months if you felt that you were ready-”

Her eyes narrowed as her voice trailed off insto stark silence. With a swipe of her finger on the comm holo display, she sent the audio translation over to Kel’s link.

“As I was saying, we are off to war yet again. This time to rescue an Empress.”

She stood, swayed, then steadied herself against the bulkhead of the Galactic Alliance frigate they were beside and wished the flush that came to her face from the embarrassment of almost passing out would go away quickly as the mind of Aidan prodded her again. She let her eyelids flutter closed and concentrated on her response. The force wasn’t a comm link, no matter how many people portrayed it that way in holofilms. So she did her best to convey the bridge of the Ara-Lai. First showing the bulking size of the star cruiser, then the large panes of transparisteel that overlooked the bridge. She knew the excitement of the coming mission was bleeding through as well. So she sent calm reassurance through the link before she broke contact. She hoped he would join them on board the frigate. It would be good to see him. No matter what he felt.

She motioned to Kel and they took off together for the Jedi fleet.

(Aidan fell free to post in space joining us, the Ara-Lai is open to you.)

________________________

Together on the bridge of the star frigate, the young Jedi knight, her apprentice, and the commanders of the Jedi strike forces made their plans before clearing the gravity well and jumping into hyperspace.

(To space!)

[Sandy Sarna]

In the company of some five Imperial Knights including Aiden Darkfire, Sandy Sarna stood wrapping a bacta patch around a nasty blaster wound on one of the imperials. All of them including Sandy seemed like they were on the last dredges of an adrenaline rush. Their armour scored by half a dozen blaster burns and the other half’s red uniforms had dark patches where sprays of blood had speckled the fine fibre a darker crimson. Sandy ran a bloody hand through her hair which caused a chorus of laughter to echo through the medical ward and she blushed crimson. Her freckles standing out before she too joined in the laughter and furvetvely wiped the blood onto the uniform of the man to whom it belonged. She turned and leaving the men and women of the Imperial Knights behind, she strode towards her old master, Adenna, who was busy discussing with the Imperial Empress. SHe bowed her head twoards the two of them and continued her walk towards the Shistavanen who was busy making a ruckus on the floor. 

 

The chart above his bed told her that he was a Galactic Alliance officer of some rank, so she headed him off before he could make a scene or interrupt the Grand Master. 

 

“Master Von Howlster, I believe that it would be in the best interests of all involved that you follow the medical teams advice and rest a bit further. But I know what it feels like to be cooped up in medical wards.” She put a kind edge on her voice that was curtailed a bit by her bloody uniform, clearly shown lightsaber, and imperial crest emblazoned across her white plastoid armour. She lowered her voice a little and put on a friendly smile before holding her hand out, “Jedi Knight Sandy Sarna at your service, you are probably looking for your clothes right?” She opened another container and pulled out an imperial jumpsuit. The kind that form fitted with the press of a button. This was specially designed for alien use and was so labelled. She extended it to him before perching on the container she had retrieved it from. 

 

“So tell me Von Howlster, what brings you into service with the Galactic Alliance?” 

[Sandy Sarna]

Tired green eyes considered the Galactic alliance Major somewhat skeptically as he found his belongings with a growl. Sandy shrugged and placed the disregarded jumpsuit down beside her with a soft sigh.She ran her fingers through her dirty and her left hand played absentmindedly with the tight braid beside her ear that traced down to her burned shoulder pauldron. It was an ancient symbol of apprenticeship but she hadn’t cut it. She did not quite know why she hadn’t cut the braid in some ceremony, but the reality was that she never had time to even have an official ceremony. The Jedi had been too divided and scattered at the time and she still could feel some of the rejection from the older knights. There had been a bitterness and a rebellion behind her knighting and so she embraced it.  So she still wore the braid, fraternized with the imperial knights instead of her own people and randomly talked to GA officers when they wanted to be left alone. Her voice was soft when she replied to the Shistavanen Major. 

 

“Well we mystics haven’t done much to earn your trust have we. And for that I can only say I’m sorry.” 

 

She frowned and jumped off the container so she could stand with her boots firmly planted on the tiled floor. 

 

“I may be young Major, but I have fought and defeated Sith. I wouldn’t discount me or other knights because of our Imperial devotion. The force knows alliances have shifted in the past, but it's far past time that the Jedi order took part in this Rebellion. You won’t need to stand alone against the Sith ever again.” 

 

Her green eyes glanced to the stump where his arm should have been. The medical cross on her arm's sleeve spoke for her authority for what she had next to say.

 

“Do you need a replacement for that?” 

[Sandy Sarna]

She smiled up at the Shistavanen with sparkling emerald eyes. 

 

“Corruption comes to all us all soon or late, someday you may have to kill me you know.” 

 

Darkness was the ever present danger of the Jedi Order, and the ship stank of it. She would find the guest who brought it soon enough. 

 

She laughed softly as she sat down beside him and placed her hands on the rounded stump where his arm had used to be. Her eyelids fluttered closed and her breathing became more even, soft shallow breaths that almost appeared to be of sleep. SHe could have been perceived that way of course if not for the distinct warmth that radiated from her hands as she began to apply the healing powers of the force to the torn nerves and flesh as a 2-1b rolled in on quieted treads with a Shistavanen designed arm. Durasteel lamellant, retracting claws, the works. Though such a precise cybernetic would need exact attachment and rehabilitation.  

 

Hands prepared the site for the implant as she placed it against the stump. Then bit by bit, the flesh separated through the will of the force and the cybernetic unit attached to the nerve endings and muscles. She and the droid applied a bacta salve and a bandage that covered the joiner between metal and flesh and she smiled again. 

 

“You will need weeks of therapy with the nurses to learn how to use it properly, but I have dulled the pain best I could.” 

 

Her senses relaxed from healing, her pointed ears picked up a skirt of conversation, Tobias speaking about the travesty that had been broadcasted all over the holonet. Anger from a Jedi she recognized. She patted the Shistavanen on the arm and stood, wiping the bacta off her hands on a towel. 

 

“Now my friend, I must report to the council and say my piece. As this is happening in the medical ward I can only say you must stay in bed.” A wink. Then the Jedi Knight in imperial livery pushed her way out of the medical curtains and to where the council was meeting.

 

Her eyes found the furious eyes of Armiena Draygo as the younger jedi ducked into the room.  She was someone that seemed to carry the weight of the galaxy around with her, but Sandy found reassurance in seeing her. Sandy suppressed nervousness, afraid for a moment that she did not belong. But she reassured herself that she did. Nal Hutta, and her defeat of Mandalore over Chandrilia spoke enough for her. Perhaps her Revanchism and pairing with the Imperial Knights spoke against her, but she knew that she would need to speak her piece. Morals were important and when there was a pause in the conversation, she took a breath and bowed to the Grandmaster and Empress. When she spoke her voice was clear and calm. She was no longer that cowed child on kashyyyk. 

 

“Grandmaster, the sabotage to the station that left many hundreds dead was done by one of our own.” Her emerald eyes found Tobias and looked at him with a mixture of hurt and confusion. Then she looked back to the crowd of very much more important dignitaries. “Such things go against our order and must be rooted out with all haste. We cannot afford the Darkside to corrupt us so.” Perhaps that was the imperial knight side of her speaking with such conviction. The armor she wore certainly bestowed confidence. She bowed her head and stepped back so that the Heads of state could continue.

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy stared defiantly back at Tobias Vos for what felt like an eternity before the man looked away and she fixed her green eyes on the Grandmaster. Her response was calm and necessary, reassuring, along with what the Empress and Aidan’s mother also spoke. Hearing what amounted to an agreement on keeping the budding rebellion and Tobias’s men in check she let a soft smile cross over her freckled face. She nodded her thanks to those that had spoken and clicked her boot heels together in a crisp military manner before she turned and left the antechamber. She smiled at Aidan's mother as she passed the woman. She was a fascinating Jedi Master and Sandy felt if given the opportunity, they could be friends, though Sandy expected she had much to learn from the woman. 

 

The corridors were long and winding and gave the young Jedi knight the time she needed to think. She let her connection to the force drop for a moment and exhaustion slammed into the back of her head and she stumbled against the wall of the corridor. She let out a groan and steadied her breathing. Chandrilia, Black Sun Station, all of it was eating away at her. She hadn’t had much more than a nap for days. Her eyelids drooped until she opened back up her connection to the force, life spilled back into her arms and legs like a switch had been flipped. She blinked twice, took a deep breath or two and then started back down the corridor. 

 

A few minutes later and she was striding into the ward dedicated to the Imperial Knights, a brightly lit bay that held many different amenities including a Cafe machine that she eyed jealousy. She wasn’t an imperial knight, but perhaps she was the closest a Jedi Knight could get without actually taking the blood oath to the Empress. She could sense Aidan down the bay a bit and a glance told her that he was cleaning his armour and lost in his thoughts. She paused a moment before swallowing her embarrassment at the stupid flirting she had attempted so many times before and walked down to the grav couch opposit him. She sat down gingerly and pulled at the strappings to her own armour, pulling the plates off her chest and arms with a sigh. She adjusted the tunic under them and frowned at the sweat marks that the armour had left after nearly an entire day of wearing it. Uhg. Her nose was delicate enough to discern her own smell wouldn’t offend Aidan or the other knights that were in the area since they were all in the exact same situation. She took a look at the bacta bandages that still wrapped her side and shoulder and convinced that she wasn’t leaking any vital fluids she looked up at the dark haired man across from her. 

 

She leaned forward and reached out with the force in the jedi equivalent of a shoulder tap. 

 

“Can I borrow a bit of your polish? We aren’t issued any in the Jedi Order?” She gestured towards her carbon scored armour. It was an open invitation to conversation or silence whichever he preferred, she didn't mind either way. It was nice to just sit with a friend. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy grinned sheepishly as she gratefully accepted the small container of polish and offered rag that Aidan passed her. She grimaced when she was called out at not knowing how to actually polish her armour and had been liberally applying the polish and rubbing like she had been doing with the dark brown leather boots. His hands however were warm and rough, and surprisingly gentle as he showed her to polish along the grooves of the armour. She whispered her thanks and gulped down whatever rush of feelings that had caused. She listened to him carefully as he talked about his fallen friend and his unfulfilled desire to see combat. She let him finish then looked up at him with clear emerald eyes. 

 

“Of course we would say its super noble and valuable of you to be caring for the wounded. I mean it is valuable that you helped those people but that doesn't mean that your feelings of wanting to serve the empress and fight aren’t valuable. You are an amazing fighter Aidan, I have seen a little of it, but perhaps it's good that you didn't blindly follow your feelings.” She shrugged her thin shoulders, then winced at the pain, “We can’t always be killing our way through endless hordes of Sith and Black Sun. I’m proud of you following duty instead of your feelings, that’s really important.” She took a tired breath then grinned, "Plus there's always like tomorrow when we can go take our revenge for what they did to the empress." That had been especially nasty. 

She rubbed at the armour a little bit before pausing and pressing against the bacta patch on her shoulder. Considering if she should press a bit further into what seemed to be paining him. “Tell me about Raistlyn, I know he was a friend of yours. I am so sorry he didn’t make it back”. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy kept her silence as she scrubbed slowly on the pauldron of her armour where a phosphoferrite round had struck and burned through the first level of lammelated plate. The carbon scoring was thick but she worked away at it with a mix of fingernail and polish. She stole a glance out of the corner of her eye at the black haired Aidan and with a gentle application of the force she could sense a rising turmoil of emotions seething just under the surface of his handsome demeanour. Her blonde eyebrows raised to peaks as she slowly turned to the man. She sat the armour down beside her and wiped her hand on her tunic, leaving a dark smudge of chromium polish. She ran her hand through her bright blonde hair and answered with a wistful smile on her lips. 

 

“Yeah I’m a Jedi Knight, though some thought I shouldn’t be. I even have an apprentice somewhere around here.” She turned fully towards him, so both of her booted feet were firmly on the metal tile. “Aidan I would be happy to teach you anything I know, I struggled a lot over my emotions and feelings. Let me show you...” There was no better way then dragging him along. 

 

She reached out and took one of his hands in both of hers. Feeling the rough calluses of years of sword practice as she let her connection to the force reach out to his so that he could feel and see what she did if he pushed into the connection. “Now, I was always taught the best way to teach was by bringing someone along with you so please pull away if you need to, you will see stuff you may not want to- “

 

She let her emotional suppression drop, the filters that surrounded her traumas dropped and she invited the full storm of them upon herself. Something she had not willingly done in several years. The colour drained from her face so that she was nearly as white as the walls and the blue veins in her forehead traces a river through a terrain of dark freckles and small white scars. Her breathing increased in rhythm, becoming fast and shallow. She invited him wholly into her trauma in order to show him how she addressed it. 

 

Darkness 

 

Fingers scrabbled at the stone floor of a dark Thallassian cell as tears lashed a face covered in cuts, arms covering nakedness as a giant Togarian stared down with a lewd smile, his hand reaching down as she screamed in defiance. The fear and terror that bubbled over the connection turned to disgust and shame as the scene changed again, to a knife held in her own hands dragging up the length of her arm. The carelessness and disgust and self harm to keep down the deep set boiling rage. Panic attack turned to frothing anger as Sandy spoke shakily. A red flush replaced the sallow white of her cheeks. 

 

“Now we begin to address it.” Her voice was strained and her hands gripped Aidan’s fiercely. 

 

“First we must ground ourselves. Use one of your senses to do so. Concentrate on that sense. Tell yourself what that sense is. For instance I am focusing on the roughness of your hand, the strength of its grip. Use that centre to branch out.” With a solid connection to something tangible she could begin to concentrate on bringing her breathing into check. “Then we have to address the feelings themselves, I used to bottle them up.” Her hands squeezed his tightly. “That's really not healthy. Take the emotion…” She took a deep breath. “Acknowledge the validity of it hold it before you. Then when you have acknowledged it you can let it settle. Take the edge off the rage and let it go, let it leave in each breath while focusing on that centre.” 

 

Her emerald eyes flickered open. She let the embarrassment slowly ebb away as the rage from her ordeals bled away as well with each breath. 

 

“Now that is a whole lot to take in. Do you have the energy to try?” She cocked a tired smile. "Or if you trust me, do you want to talk about it? What is bothering you?" 

[Sandy Sarna]

Her grip remained steady on Aidan’s rough hands, the heat from the two pairs of hands melting the wax based polish that was still staining her fingers until it rad like chromium blood to drip onto the tile floor between them. The journey he took them on was strange to Sandy, esoteric and somewhat terrifying but she stayed with him the entire time. She watched as he worked, cutting and pruning the emotions he held against his father she could feel the malady of pride surge in her as she watched him work. Pride at every emotion and how well he embraced what she had urged him to do. As he slowly withdrew from his inner emotions and into the cold reality of the room, so did Sandy. She took a few steadying breaths and slowly looked back at him. She pushed back the desire to give him a fierce and congratulatory hug and settled for squeezing his hands instead. She didn’t want to thoroughly embarrass him so soon after he pushed through such emotions anyway. She cocked a tired smile. 

 

“Exorcism is a valuable thing, but if we used it constantly I think you would burn up to a crisp before you ever got to fight a dark lord. I am so proud of you.” It wasn’t meant to be a demeaning observation, but one that hard a word of caution. She had been taught exorcism as well and it was always a double edged sword. “Thank you for not pitying or judging me for my experiences, it’s something I am always afraid and embarrassed about.” She let her smile become soft and she squeezed his hands again before letting go and sitting back wiping at her wet eyes with a finger that left a dark streak over her lower eyelid of polish.. “Thank you for sharing with me Aidan. It means a lot that you would trust me like this.” She looked at her hands and laughed at the smeared greasy polish and futilely wiped it on the front of her dirty tunic. She sighed exasperatedly at the futility of it and stopped trying to clean her hands. 

 

“Do…” She looked back up at him. “Do you want to learn more? Like I can’t officially teach you anything but I think we have a lot to learn from each other.” It was a mutually beneficial officer but she would understand if he chose not to. They were from two different orders plus he was older than her by almost four years. But she felt like she had to try. It was so nice to have him as a friend and with death always around the corner any chance at all she could get to know and learn from someone like Aidan was a chance she would take. 

[Sandy Sarna]

 

Sandy scrunched up her mouth as she thought about what the Imperial Knight had said. She decided on a joke to ease any tension that might have been building inside her on the offshoot it would make him laugh. “If it’s anything like the Jedi, I’m pretty sure to get promoted you have to fight a dark lord then drink some of their blood from a chalice. That’s how I got promoted. Tasted pretty gross.” She waggled her blonde eyebrows before she embarrassingly laughed off her stupid joke and felt some of the profound tiredness that was looming over her lift for a moment. It was nice to relate to him and not just fawn over him like a stupid little girl. She let the blush drain from her cheeks and looked at her smudged hands before she reached for the cloth and polish again. She rubbed at a carbon burn for a second before getting frustrated again and looking back to Aidan. “Well, if I can help I will. Do you find yourself lacking in anything that you see as being Imperial Knight like? If your training was any like mine you were probably just carried from battle to battle without much pause to learn the real basics like the Code or how to meditate?" She quickly dropped the cloth and put out a hand as if to ward off whatever she may have said that could offend.  "I don’t want to presume though, but I’m happy to help.” 

[Sandy Sarna]

Her green eyes widened along with her smile as she yet again put the armour down, its polishing momentarily forgotten with her anticipation. 

 

“Really? You would teach me how to shoot?” Her voice quivered with excitement for a second before she plowed on ahead with a counter offer. “I could teach you Vom Tag if you taught me how to shoot!” Her voice betrayed her excitement, because she had wanted for a long time to learn that skill but had never been brave enough to ask anyone. She flushed with embarrassment. 

 

“I’ve always been nervous about shooting, though if the Sith use one of those lizard bug things that drain the force I will definitely need to learn.” 

 

[Sandy Sarna]

She grinned at his wink and watched him as he walked away, She sat back and scrubbed at the armour again as the smile clung consistently to her face, her heart brimming with equal happiness. It was nice to have a friend, despite her feelings for him. She was just happy to have made a friend for what felt like the first time in her life. Her green eyes strayed to her own dirty tunic and the smile fell into a grimace. She tossed her armour into her small duffel bag and then searched through  it to find a clean tunic before she raced to the refreshers. 

 

She looked left and right as she crossed into the refresher stall, stripped and turned on the warm water with a press of a button. No one else in the ‘freshers which was nice, and the water was comfortable as she washed as quickly as possible. She combed her hair, dried and threw on the fresh tunic on before she braided her still slightly wet hair. She changed the bandage on her shoulder and brushed her teeth.  She maintained a connection to the force all the while, drawing on its power to keep her strong and awake as she finished up and walked to where Aidan was waiting. She grinned at the young imperial knight ass she walked into the cargo hold. 

 

“So sorry to keep you waiting.” She stuck out her tongue and looked at the blaster rifle before sitting down next to him. She leaned forward and placed her hand on its stock before she looked back at him.  “So tell me about it, how does it work other tan pressing the trigger?” 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy’s grin stretched ear to ear as she watched Aidan’s skill with a blaster, the drone took long haltering dives after each blast until it was floating quite a ways down the firing line. She solemnly took the rifle from him and adjusted her stance to a squared blade, one foot slightly behind the other as her eyes looked down the scope. She let his hands adjust her stance, trying not to blush. The reticle burned red against the distant drone and per Aidan’s instructions she let her breathing drop to a slow crawl then depressed the trigger. The bolt flew nearly true but passed a little low and to the right of the drone. Causing it to spin in the wake of burned ozone but remain relatively unharmed.

 

She muttered a curse under her breath and tried again, the bolt this time going even wider. She let her eyelids flutter closed as she looked back at what Aidan had told her. That was it, she was jerking the trigger too much. She let the slack fall out of the trigger, slowly depressing it until she found the release then pressing through, slow release until it clicked and press again. The bolts arced out like crimson lines of fire, hitting the drone three out of four shots. Then on the last shot she of course missed by being over eager. The bolt spanning into the wall a meter or so above the drone. She groaned a curse again.

 

She grimaced and turned her flushing face back to Aidan. Almost willing herself not to hug him for the joy of the experience. 

 

“I assume I shouldn’t be touching the force to adjust my aim right? That kinda defeats the purpose?”

 

Her eyes caught an unassuming figure behind the handsome imperial knight and went wide. Her flush went darker, highlighting the pale white lines of scars that crossed her face that had been carefully concealed by healing routines. Her mouth went dry and she looked back down range before glancing back, putting the blaster rifle down and pulling herself into a bow towards Master Draygo. She concentrated to slow her hammering heart and mumbled a hello. While placing a hand protectively on Aidan's shoulder. 

 

"Welcome master." 

 

[Sandy Sarna]

His embarrassment flooded over her senses and she had to resist the urge to yank her arm back like it had been dipped in carbonite so as to save him the additional embarrassment that would bring him. So instead she squeezed his shoulder lightly and let her hand fall away as she backed up a pace to lean against the cargo containers that had made up their makeshift firing zone. She was here if he needed her, but he was plenty a man enough to handle himself so she simply nodded in greeting to the other Jedi behind Draygo and pushed herself up so that she was perched on the edge of the container. She studied her cuticles then the precharged energy magazines that were laid out in a row. She would have to apologize to him for that motion after his mom left and she pushed down the flush that it brought to her cheeks. 

 

She pulled her knees up to her chest and locked her arms around them, her emerald green eyes watching Aidan converse with his mother. Trying for all the world to not look like she was listening in, but really it couldn’t be helped. They were like the only ones here, so she gave up the pretense and simply stared quietly at the trio. The rebellion was certainly brimming with drama, and how she had spoken out against her friend Tobias at the meeting surely hadn't helped the ego filled room. If anything it had divided it even more. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy suppressed the wholesome feeling of pride in Aidan as he talked about dealing with his trauma and turned it into a smile in return to Aidan’s glance. Then she looked back at the blaster on the table and picked up an energy magazine for it and fiddled away, trying not to be too awkward while she waited for their intimate conversation to end.

 

She hoped this would help him, she hoped that a connection with his parents would start to heal the wounds he carried so heavily.

[Sandy Sarna]

A full smile stretched across her thin lips and Sandy Sarna let a grin follow it. Aidan’s journey and interaction with his mother had filled her with joy. She bowed low to the Jedi Master and indicated the blaster rifle on the makeshift bench. If the Jedi wished to show and teach her, Sandy would be grateful. But for now Sandy was just merely content in seeing Aidan overcome one of his biggest struggles. It would come back, trauma always did, but Sandy was confident in Aidan Darkfire. Smiled at him and then looked away again towards the range, not wanting him to catch the flash of other emotions she had suppressed.

[Sandy Sarna]

The Jedi master made firing and aiming look easy even if she missed the first few rounds. There was always an adjustment to using a new weapon. Sandy herself couldn’t have done better so she didn’t smirk or laugh, but simply smiled and nodded her appreciation as she watched the woman tear the blaster carbine down and show her how to put it back together. Sandy repeated the process herself, though much slower with a great amount of getting stuck on the small parts. She sat back and watched the jedi master continue to fire until Aidan exclaimed about her hand. Sandy watched quietly as she did not want to interfere in the moment. She was a jedi healer, and if she was needed she was there. But it was not her place to barge into an emotional moment between mother and son. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy could feel a pang of guilt for her presence interrupting what was very much likely to be a very special moment between mother and son. She coughed and hopped down from the stacked cargo crates as Aidan addressed her. She blushed slightly before she snapped her lightsabre off of her belt and held it as she bowed to the Jedi master. 

 

“Yes, I was hoping to show him the stance I used against Mandalore when I faced her over Chandrilla. Vom Tag, its an overhead stance that you use primarily against those who are using devices to get the high ground. Like those damned mandalorians are very fond of using. Or that Sith on Nal Hutta.” She bowed again, “If I have your leave?” 

 

The long handled sabre in her hand sprung to life and she fell into the familiar stance that she had been using for nearly half her life. Her blonde hair shining with the silver colour of the blade. She moved her right leg back and gave both of her knees a slight bend. 

 

“Legs bent, weight almost evenly distributed with a bit more focus on the back leg so that you may spring forward as necessary.” 

 

She angled the sabre above her head so that her arms were bent as well, her doubled fists held six inches above her scalp, the blade at a high angle. She brought the blade down three times in fast angular cuts that she spun back in transition. “You strike from high to either beat someone down, or should they be bigger than you.” She laughed. “Which most everyone is.” She spun the blade in arcing cuts as she moved forward. Then as she moved backwards in a shuffle, mimicking a counter attack. “While I do not recommend it against blasters, it is a fast stance, and allows very fast cuts if they are above you, and very powerful cuts if they are on even ground with you.” 

 

She snapped the sabre off and looked back at the two Darkfires. “I know that was super fast but what do you think of it? Useful? If you think so I am happy to instruct.”

 

Her comm buzzed annoyingly at her waist. And she glanced at its readout. She groaned and quicktyped a message to her apprentice. Before looking back at Aidan. "We still have time before the mission if you wish?" 

 

_________________

Message to Kel

 

"Meet me in Cargo Bay 12. Mission to go on. thx"

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy nodded at Aidan, then bowed to his mother. She did not know what was next in store for them in this quest, but she had little doubt that the mother-son bond would be easily broken. It was magnificent to see Aidan grow and for the love for his mother and parents actually begin to shine a little around the edges of his normally brusque personality. "Thanks for teaching me Aidan, it means a lot." She put the blaster rifle back into its case and pushed the magazines into their little slots before she turned and bowed to Kel Koon her apprentice that had showed up with Tobias Vos of all people in tow. 

 

Was that the catch? Was this really the crew sent to find the old Jedi training ship? The man who she had loved much alike a father who she had publicly denounced in front of everyone he cared about? Social and personal crimes were a harsh display of Karma. She looked around furtively and found that his ship was also here, waiting to be boarded. First she addressed her padawan, then she would address her old master. 

 

“You have done well Kel, your trials await you on this mission. Are you ready? All packed?”

 

She took a deep breath and swallowed her pride. He had saved her life after all. And it was best that she make the first move. 

 

“Master Vos!” She let an actual smile cross her lips. “I am so happy to see you as part of this mission! I may have spoken too harshly in front of the council.” 

 

She looked back to Aidan and introduced the two of them. “This is Aidan Darkfire of the Imperial Knights, and Aidan this is Tobias Vos, my old master.” She looked at the extended boarding ramp. “I think we have much to discuss, but the comm was most urgent!” 

 

((Lets carry on these convos in space as we make for Gala))

[Sandy Sarna]

Methodically, the white blade of the lightsaber peeled away layer after layer of melted duracrete and durasteel as she carved a passage through the rubble of a fallen prefab residential tower. The small group of non combatants that huddled behind her, staying silent as they watched her carve a way through the fallen building. She spared them a glance through sweat stung eyes and gave one of the children a reassuring grin. 

 

Most of them were the younglings of both orders, a mix of children from age twelve to the two toddlers that were being held by the older kids. At the one glance Sandy caught the eyes of the two oldest. Both Imperials, whose high cheekbones betrayed their royal lineage as either from Kuat or one of the inner rim colonies. They were the most calm, and gave her a reassuring nod as she pushed her saber through the last half a meter of permacrete. They knew their orders, and knew that one of the last shuttles out of the doomed planet lay on the other side of the fallen skyscraper. 

 

The two oldest kids made sure everyone else was on their feet, then when they were ready. Sandy kicked the permacrete apart. It came away in a large section, and she was greeted by a blast of superheated air and the prickly copper taste of radiation. She took a step back and called upon the force. Letting that singular joy run through her body before she let the force form itself into a shield around the opening. 

 

It was time for the children to go. The engines of the Corvette were already flaring to life and the support crew waiting on the ramp. The last transport out of Hell. 

 

“Go quickly.” The shield would not last forever, and with the large amount of radiation that was raining onto the shield from one of the many nuclear detonations nearby, Sandy doubted she could hold it much longer than it would take the last kids to make it to the corellian corvette. 

 

The kids ran then, the last one turning to give her a look of appreciation and regret as they sprinted their way through the rubble. Sandy watched them run, keeping the shield positioned above and around the stretched out line of children. That is until one of the Imperial Acolytes tripped on a chunk of transparisteel and slammed her head into the ground with a wet thud. Spilling the toddler she was carrying into the hot ground. 

 

Sandy moved, pulling heavily on the force as she kept a shield over the two fallen forms as well as the others. She knew she was close to the end of her reserves, the long day of battle meditation, fighting, and rescue operations stretching her to near a breaking point. But this was now a matter of life and death, and Sandy could afford to risk it all. The planet beneath her feet was dying, and would take many billions of innocents along with it. But for now all she could concentrate on was what lay before her. 

 

In half a second she had covered the distance and she scooped the two forms up into her arms. Joining the rest of the children as they ran up the ramp into the Corvette. At least one part of the next generation of Knights and Jedi would survive. 

 

And the starship sped up into the atmosphere.