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Gala - Jedi Praxeum Ruins


Amidala Skywalker

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Tomalauin’kquintan’tus, or Tom- his core world name, looked about. The Jedi Aces had been loaded into his ship with the help of a few droids. As the last one was getting looked over by the droids- getting the onboard computers all updated with software and navigational charts, he caught up on Galactic News. Then the messages from Vos. Sitting on a crate that was in some taller grass, he leaned forward getting absorbed into what the message was saying.

 

The Peregrin Order was being closed. Interesting. Tomalauin’kquintan’tus thought. Tobias had gone to meet with Kirlocca, but he was unaware of how in depth that conversation would have gone. The red eyes shifted over the words to the Star Chart attached. He was to hand the Aces off to Sarah and the clone… Very unexpected because that would mean he would have to meet them at the designated rendezvous. Meaning leave Gala, again. He had hoped that Tobias would have considered his recommendations for trying to revitalize the world, and to cover their tracks. The base was already here, and while it may be scacralige to build here- it was a perfect hiding spot. Vos had something else in mind though. While the Peregrin Order was being replaced, Tom had still sworn an Oath to Tobias, and the Jedi. If the two had talked things out, Tom would abide.

 

Calling to the droids in his modulated voice- he told them to unload one of the Jedi Aces- as he would have to depart as soon as possible to Corusant. While he did not want to go back, he figured it was for the best. Several things were about to happen, that much was inbetween the lines in the news that reached him. They would lift off within the day, and he would return to Catnip Station or at least meet at the spot Vos had mentioned. Tom’s cargo would also be sealed away until the Catnip’s crew was informed of who they work for. They were walking a tight rope of political sides, and the GA would have to be reassured that they weren’t the target of the Galaxy’s backlash of all these new events taking place. And how the Jedi Order was going to adapt.

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  • 3 months later...

In the deep cliffs and surrounding forests to the north of the Gala Jedi Praxeum the construction of an Ion Cannon began. As the large round durasteel skeleton of the ion cannon began to be finished, the cliffs surrounding the cannon we're also hollowed out to give enough room for four defensive squadrons of starfighters to park, refit, and refuel.

 

PLANETARY ION CANNON TO BE COMPLETED 10/13/2017

 

AP cost 2

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  • 6 months later...

Gala. A planet that had been forever changed by war.

 

Aelyn's ship, the Open Road, descended on the verdant world. Although it experienced a range of seasons based on latitude, Gala's distance from its sun and its lack of significant axial tilt lent it to long, pleasant summers. Some would have called it a paradise, all its natural gardens and broad meadows teeming with unique wildlife. Had history been kinder to it, that might even have been the prevailing opinion and people would settle there from across the galaxy.

 

As it was, it was most widely known for the location of the military headquarters of the New Republic and Rebellion that preceded it, as well as the neighboring Jedi Temple. Such a high-profile site had drawn all sorts of trouble, and it had been the target of numerous Imperial and Sith invasions and terrorist attacks. Though it had never fallen to the forces of darkness, the scars the war had left on the world were lasting. But these were just the world's latest troubles with war. Before the Empire it had been locked in conflict between its three large tribes: the city people, the hill people, and the sea people. Even now the unrest of those old battles lingered still among its inhabitants.

 

Aelyn, now a Jedi Knight, set her ship down at the Temple. Though she wasn't here exclusively to visit it, she did intend to make use of its facilities during her stay. Every Jedi Temple so far had been a different experience, and as she disembarked she stretched out with her feelings and found that this one was no exception.

 

This was a place that had seen much. Shadows of the dark side seemed to pool in certain areas where battles had been fought against the Sith. Some of the battles had been won, and others had gone poorly, but always the Temple had been restored. Like the Order, it knew loss and sacrifice and yet had prevailed. Aelyn was beginning to see the themes in such things, and the Coruscant Temple in particular had felt as embattled. Like a warrior bearing scars but not diminished by them, the Temple stood in just the same place as it always had despite its storied past.

 

This was good. Aelyn was here because she wanted to remember. She had still been fairly young when the war had ended, but she walked the path of her predecessors. The more she understood about what they had faced and why they had been called to do what they had done here and across the galaxy, the better prepared she would be to make those decisions if the call should next find her.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Although she had been interested in visiting the Praxeum and seeing if she could learn anything from the holocrons there, Aelyn succumbed to her wanderlust after only a few hours of such activities. She knew that the remains of the New Republic base on which her father had served with Admiral Starlisk for many years was within walking distance, and she was determined to see it before she left. It would be a considerably easier trek than it took to reach the Tython temple, anyway.

 

Out in the wilds, all her thoughts about what was had done to Gala seemed for a moment out of place. It was true that the people living here had too often made war their business, but the forests were no less vibrant for it. Planets were hardy things. Before humanity had risen here, before the Rakatan Infinite Empire, before the Builders or whoever it was that had preceded them, Gala had been a thriving world. And she suspected it would still be when humans went extinct. The Force was the same way -- as old as time, a universal constant. Although a Jedi interacted with it in a pure and natural way, seeking to be instruments of its will, it had existed long before the Order. There was some comfort, perhaps, in the thought that even the great evils she had begun to glimpse in the galaxy would come and go and the galaxy and the Force would spin on.

 

But those were thoughts for philosophers who merely observed the universe. Aelyn inhabited it and was invested in it. Her own human morality and that very eternal Force told her that the longevity of the cosmos in no way diminished the need for evil to be opposed and suffering to be reduced, because no matter how transient they were relative to the age of the universe, people mattered.

 

Aelyn found the trees beginning to thin out and before her loomed a bombed-out durasteel structure where people had died. Now nature had begun its own slow encroachment in the form of vines and trees growing up against old shattered walls and security perimeters.

 

She took it in as she neared it, spying a gap in one of the walls through which she easily wedged herself. The destruction of the base had happened after the GA had already abandoned it, she knew, and so there was scant in the way of furnishings among the rubble. She slowly picked her way over it, making her way toward the more intact part of the compound, hoping to get a glimpse of how it might have looked in its heyday.

 

Suddenly her danger sense flared.

 

"Freeze!" a voice called out. "Hands up!"

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Aelyn obeyed, slowly lifting her hands into the air. She must have gotten so caught up in exploring the place that she didn't feel that there were other people here.

 

"Who are you?" the gruff male voice demanded. "What are you doing here?"

 

"I'm Jedi Knight Aelyn Talis... I thought I would just have a look around," she answered.

 

"A Jedi?" It was a second, feminine voice. "Toran, I don't think it's a good idea to hold up a Jedi Knight. Can't she, like, kill us with her mind without looking at us?"

 

"I think those are just stories," the first voice replied, not quite as gruffly as before.

 

"Willing to bet your life on it?" the woman asked.

 

Aelyn slowly turned to face the voices. She spotted the two humans perched atop a crumbling communications array, one of which had an old-looking blaster rifle pointed at her. "Um, hey guys," she said. "I'm not particularly looking for a fight and I don't carry many credits on me. You're welcome to have them if you want though and then we can all be on our ways."

 

Toran looked down the scope of his rifle at her, but then after a moment stood up and let the rifle hang loosely from its shoulder sling. "We're not bandits. Just trying to keep our people safe." When Aelyn didn't move, he shrugged. "You can put your hands down."

 

"You guys live in here?" Aelyn asked. Their clothing seemed to consist of worn, practical all-weather gear with just hints that it might have been patched together from war-era New Republic fatigues and uniforms. "If we're not going to be enemies, can we be friends? You don't have anything to worry about from me or any other Jedi."

 

He continued to look at her appraisingly. She certainly looked harmless enough -- a twenty-something redhead just wandering through the rubble. There was the matter of the lightsaber dangling from her belt and the general tales of Jedi being fierce warriors, but despite the Temple's proximity to these ruins they'd never had any problem with the Order trying to claim the place. "I don't know..." he said.

 

"Oh come on, Toran," his female companion stated. "If half the stories are true, we can't actually keep her from doing whatever she wants with or without our approval. And if the other half are true, she's right that we have no reason to fear her."

 

Aelyn smiled pleasantly. "All I want is to look around a bit."

 

Toran relented. "Alright, sure. What's the harm?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Toran and Corrine turned out to be members of an encampment of humans from all walks of life numbering about twenty total. Scavengers and drifters, most of them had no prior association before coming to live here, but they had been brought together out of necessity and the realization that they had a better chance of surviving together. This made Aelyn's arrival, after the initial wave of wariness that she was here under official business to kick them out, not an unusual sort of occurrence. She was greeted by a few friendly individuals sitting around an old stove that looked like it might have once been in a mess hall, out of which wafted the scent of whatever they had found to cook that day. There were other people nearby, some of which held onto their suspicions but others who were plainly curious about a Jedi Knight paying them a visit.

 

That was something Aelyn was still getting used to. All her life she had just been an innocuous red-haired girl and it was easy to take her at face value. She could just be herself and everyone's first impression of her would be informed by early interactions. But now she wore the robes and carried the lightsaber, things which would identify her as a member of the Order to almost anyone in the galaxy. The Jedi had been almost ubiquitous across the generations, and everyone had heard the stories of what they had done during the war. It meant everyone expected something from her, for her to conform to their idea of what a Jedi was.

 

In practice though it didn't change how she interacted with the people. Though she had come to explore the base, she forgot all about it and just talked to everyone about where they were from and how they ended up here. There were an old Galactic Civil War veteran, a young man and his wife who had fallen on tough times when a mining job had gone wrong, a woman who had stumbled upon the place after losing most of her team fighting a skirmish in one of Gala's own local conflicts, and many others.

 

When the food was ready they generously offered Aelyn a share, but she declined. "Actually it should be me offering you all something," she said. "I'm sure you know how close the Jedi Temple is to here. The Order is generous when it comes to helping those in need. If we can help you -- any of you -- to get back on your feet, or even just make things a little easier around here, I can make sure it gets done."

 

This offer was met with somewhat mixed responses. Some were reluctant to accept handouts: even if they were scavenging what had once belonged to someone else, they felt like they had earned what modest lives they had built here. Others were a bit too shy to say anything once presented with that argument, not wanting to forsake the community they had. But the young couple in particular were eager, looking for any break that might help them get another start. They agreed to accompany Aelyn back to the Temple, and Aelyn was certain to leave her personal contact information, as well as that of the Temple, with the others in case someone else wanted to take her up on the offer later. She neither wanted to pressure anyone into accepting anything nor close the offer as soon as she left.

 

She stayed for a while longer, willing to share a little bit about how she became a Jedi when asked but not much beyond that about her past. Once those who were going back with her were ready, they set off together.

 

There was no doubting why the Force had brought her here. It wasn't to brood over old ruins in some attempt to understand the mindset of a soldier more willing than she to fight. It was to help these people... and it was a simple and clear statement of purpose for her continued career as a Jedi.

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When Aelyn returned to the Temple, she made the necessary introductions. As she had promised, the Order was benevolent, and Aelyn was not the only one within its number that had compassion on those who had fallen upon hard times. Though the encampment she had discovered in the ruins of the New Republic base had managed to find some sort of maintainable stability, no one was there by choice. The Order had more connections than it had funding, and through a number of partner organizations and charities they could accomplish quite a lot.

 

Aelyn was content to stay and see the process through, learning what she could about these partnerships the Order maintained. After all, she was a serial charity volunteer herself and had a soft spot for noble causes. If the Order could be a gateway to her making a difference in organizations like these -- especially if they needed Knights with a passion for such service work -- she wanted all the information she could get about it.

 

It wasn't long into this new venture, however, that she received word through channels leading up to the Council that there was a mission for her to investigate on Talus, mediating a dispute between the Techno Union and some locals. She had to admit she thought it was encouraging that the Order saw her as a diplomat -- it was something else she had a passion for doing despite how difficult it could be. Indeed, the fact that Talus had decided a Jedi needed to be involved promised a complex situation.

 

But Aelyn trusted the Force. She said her farewells and made her way back to the Open Road, then set out for the Corellian system.

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  • 1 year later...

The quiet planet of Gala loomed like a pale green gem in the void of space as the vessel carrying the mixed crew of Jedi and Imperials now Rebels, emerged from hyperspace on the fringes of the self named system. Since the vessel was a private one, with little known Jedi affiliation, negotiating with the Galan sector authority was relatively easy. With the destruction of the New Republic Base some decade and a half earlier, there was little need for Galan authorities to regulate airspace for intrusive entities. The Jedi temple itself was little more than a ruined clump of toppled towers, overgrown with a thousand sapling trees and scrub brush.  As Tobais’s ship set down on the outskirts of the ruins, Sandy gathered the crew for a final briefing. With most of the accusatory tones having settled down, and tensions on the ease, the mood was high. She looked out the viewport and frowned before glancing back at Tobias, Kel and Aidan. 

 

“The Enclave’s records vault was located deep below the surface, beneath the fountain tower.” 

 

She looked again out the viewport, drawing in a breath and feeling very little in the force. Not like it had been before. She had grown up here, and the past stared back with the eyes of a thousand corpses. In just this ten kilometer area, the New Republic itself had nearly ended. The Jedi council had fought the Sith Trinity, and thousands died. The force should have been echoing with that stain. With the horror, but it instead was a dull echo. Why?

 

“If we can gain the access, then we should have little problem finding the track of the Eternal Vigilance. I sense that something is amiss here, so be on your guard.” 

 

The landing ramp descended on the overgrown devastation and Sandy looked about her. The area was silent, untouched by archaeological scavengers. The path was clear to the towers, but there was a foreboding danger in the back of her head. 

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Calix Meus Inebrians

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So he was back. Back to where it all began- the resurgence of the Jedi Order. Keeping his emotions in check, or as best he was able to, he fit into his combat suit and donned his clothes over it. Again with the regular outfit, as he still could not wear the robes of a Jedi. A few last minute conversations occurred in the common room. Now he was here, at the top of the boarding ramp. Rolling his shoulders to stretch them out, he just stood there zoning out, his gaze upon the grass and other vegetation. Since he and the other fought and lost against the monolith, and inevitably winning the fight when Vos reached into the Force to rip the abomination apart the wound in the Force had been healing. The battle still sent a shiver up his spine, even in the warm air coming up from the planet’s surface. 

 

Eventually, the others had come and started to walk down the ramp. Tobias followed, but when it came time to step onto the dirt and the planet itself- he braced himself. His boot hit the dirt and his stomach lurched. ‘Fantastic’ he thought. Leaning on his cane, he hobbled forward. As they were about to come out from under the ship, Tobias was walking just behind Sandy. The two padawans were blazing the trail- the same trail he and Dahar had blazed earlier into the crack in the temple structure- when he subtly held Sandy in the Force, just enough to bring her alongside him. This was the first chance they had to chat privately. As the pair stood there looking at their companions Tobias looked down to Sandy and caught her eye. There was an unspoken conversation that happened so fast you’d just assume it was just a glace between the pair. Because the pair had a connection beyond regular Master/Apprentice they each knew what the other was saying. 

 

Tobias placed a hand on the shoulder closest to him, he gave a lop-sided smile and a chuckle. ‘I’m proud of who you’ve become- but you are still learning your way. Don’t overreact to situations, see them for what they are. I’m speaking of the scene back at the Mandate, and a little bit ago. I am your loyal friend, and forgive you for those instances because I know you are still learning. Just… be careful. You’re doing a great job in finding your place in the galaxy, don’t forget where you come from though.’ At this point Sandy would feel the pride and respect coming from Vos. 

 

Another chuckle after a moment and he nodded his head in affirmation of the conversations end and sealed himself back up, his defenses a little heightened due to his past experiences with this planet. As they walked in relative silence- he shivered as he saw the broken pillar where he had found the two purple lightsabers that had belonged to a former friend of his. A shiver ran through his body- his psychometric abilities had started to really go haywire. Unconsciously, he flexed his free hand, pushing the stitching of his glove- his remedy to the whole situation. 

 

The group angled towards the cracked doorway Tobias pointed out earlier. Then the corpses started to appear as  they started getting into the hallways. It had been a few years since he and Dahar had to slay the feral beasts. There hadn’t been any predators that dared brave the tunnels of the ruined structure so whatever flesh was here and just...dried up. The air was warmer than it had been the previous visit, a breeze was coming in from the entrance. There were changes, positive changes- he still kept his guard up.

With the surroundings pretty much pushed to the back of his mind, he refocused on the other three living beings in the tunnel with him. ‘Everything changes, but remains the same.’ The old saying rang through his mind. Last time he had arrived with one companion, and left with three. This time he was arriving with three- he hoped they wouldn’t be leaving with just two living beings. 

 

Tobias broke the eerie silence… “You each see how a collision of the Force energies can impact a site years after the initial conflict? A few years ago there was nothing but yellow grass that grew near this compound. The battle of dark and light side forces injured the Force. This is a classic example of how the Force is connected to everything, flowing through each individual being in the entire galaxy and interacts with more than just Jedi and Sith. As a Jedi, Kel- you should be aware of this torrent of energies, Aiden, you as well. Every time we touch the Force - it's like a ripple in a pond. Touch it gently and there won't be lasting results. Force two tidal waves into collision in the same pond and that energy has to go somewhere. The waves shatter against each other- and there no control over who or what gets caught in the energies. In such a catalyst of energies sometimes it can fester into something terrible. There are things that can be born of Force energies or influenced by the energies. If we make it that far down- I'll show you the reason some of these humanoids were feral...” he stopped the conversation on a ominous note, just as the crew came upon a trio of feral corpses, and Tobias knew the first drop would be just around the corner up. After a minute or so of walking they would turn left and find it. 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

"I don't think I've ever really been here before...I don't know what to expect. Is there danger here?"

Aidan followed the rest of the group, warily checking their surroundings. Though he didn't consciously realize it, he'd unhooked his staff saber hilt from his belt and was gripping it tightly in his right hand. This place...everything felt weird. Some of the shapes of the rooms seemed familiar though, but he couldn't recall any of it before he saw it.

 

"No...wait. I was here before. I was...very young. This all feels so different..."

 

As they came to the corpses, though, Aidan stopped and stiffened. Why would the Jedi leave this place abandoned for so long when it was so steeped in the Force? He pointed to one of the mostly decomposed skeletons, gaining the attention of the rest of the group.

"What are those?"

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 “Indeed. Sometimes the resulting cataclysm from a battle heavy with the Force- there's sort of a wound that develops in the fundamental flow of the Force. It was a festering pit of despair and ruin. These- beings lingered too long or were too foolish to make their plungering goals faster. Some of these were regular people that were trapped in the lower levels when the battle reached its climax and were caught up in the wave of fallout energies. The Force can corrupt as well as create and that is exactly what happened to these beings.” He sighed and took another breath. “Believe it or not this feeling right now is a parsec better than what it had been three years ago. As to why the Jedi have never come back to repair this place…I know that there were two plans made but to be blunt: both plans were stopped by separate Grandmasters before anything came to fruition.” His voice was salty on the last statement but that was it, it wouldn't be good for him to go into further details. He'd start to ramble soon, if he didnt stop now.

 

The group had found the hole in the floor as Tobias remembered it- but when they leapt down the next passage had crumbled right as they landed. It wasn't a surprise, or at least it shouldn't have been. The whole structure was fractured and thus- unstable. As the group leaping in rapid successionwas what finally set the floor into a crumbling mess. The fall was longer than what the hallways were designed to be tall; another structural failure.

 

Reacting instinctually he reached out with the Force and did his best to cushion the fall for Aiden and Kel- he trusted Sandy to look after herself as she was a Jedi Knight and stronger with the Force than the two apprentices. At the last moment he switched his attention to his own wellbeing, but he still hit the concrete hard. As if it were a magnet, his left shoulder connected with the fallen slab first. Nerves told his brain that something definitely cracked in the bad way on his shoulder, but he bypassed those distractions and reached out to the falling debris. His right hand was extended towards where they had just been and called out to the building material and turned most of the rock into dust. Thus, they were coated in a thin layer of gray dust rather than being pelted with rock and metal.

 

He lay there, resting his head against the slab where he and rolled. Letting the pain roll through him, he briefly savored the feeling in a perverse way he thought that any and all the pain he felt was his due for what had happened in the Empress rescue. 

 

Then he realized something: there was no rubble around him. The hallway was intact and lit. No longer did he have his staff either. The clothes he wore were different and not coated in dust. Pain in his shoulder was not there either. Confused, he rolled to his belly and slowly got to all fours and resting on his knees for a moment looked up and down the hallway. From where he was he could see each end of the hallway clearly and as if the battle here had never happened. Up and down the hallways he looked. Three times he had rotated his head but on the fourth scan, rotating his eyes to the left he knew someone was there. It wasn’t who he expected: Dahar. Tobias jumped up to his feet in alarm, speechless. Dahar chuckled, his medallion swaying with the motion. Slowly the old Grandmaster pointed behind Vos and spoke. “The beacon is down there. May you find what you seek, my friend.” Tobias’s eyes bulged with shock. When Vos turned his head to look he received his second shock that jolted him- Sabatin. 

 

Then he was back in the collapsed hallway, his hand- his bare hand- was touching what had been concrete floor. He jerked his hand away with a gasp and all the pain came flooding back. Groaning, he repeated the motion he had just done in his dream… vision? Slowly to all fours, then slowly up. First his left leg then his right, but significantly slower. Grunting, he put his left hand into his belt to not jostle his shoulder. He took a pained breath through clenched teeth then turned to see the other three dusting themselves off but, to his glance, fine and healthy. 

 

Tobias coughed, pointed, and took a hesitant step forward his cane absent from his grip. Briefly he looked around for it but it didn’t matter. Reaching out with his left hand, he held his palm at an angle. With a good look at the limb, he closed his eyes and reached out to the Force- the staff smacked into his palm and a small puff of air was exchanged from where it had been to where it went to: his hand. Blinking rapidly for another moment to readjust his eyes to the lighting and he rested his right leg as he leaned onto his cane. 

 

‘Kriff, I am getting old.’ he thought to himself.

 

“Well, that was fun. Let’s move along if we’re all fine?” Then waited for the group to move along again.

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Sandy let her eyes glance from corpse to corpse, feeling the aspect dread that seemed to fill the place. It had changed so much since she had been a small bratty child consumed by rage and anger at circumstances beyond her control. The dread of the Trinity was still very much apparent in every corpse they passed. She stayed close to Aidan and Kel as Master Tobias led the way into the deep catacombs below the temple. They walked together for some time in silence, until the darkness and dread became almost unbearable. 

 

They were now in the ruins of the old Library. 

 

Shattered holocrons lay in ruined heaps around dust covered servers. Corpses thick and decomposed scattered here and there, some bearing the wounds of sabres, some wearing the robes of fallen Jedi or Sith. 

 

“Watch the shadows Kel, alert me if they move. Something doesn't feel right here." She beckoned Aidan to one of the file data terminals whose interface glowed with an iridescent orange of emergency power. Likely from the corroded battery bank that sat along the wall. She stepped over the burned body a what looked like a padawan and cursed to herself. Everyone here had likely been someone she knew. Even the bodies of the republic troopers who lay scattered in their beige armour. Victims of the Black Sun and Sith assault a decade prior. But one body, more decomposed than the rest, looked fresher than the rest. His uniform was a dark green, while his armour was black. She nudged him to the side as she accessed the terminal and looked down to see what might have killed him. 

 

“Aidan, please query if there is a holocron on the EV will you?” 

 

What were those semi circular marks on the man’s neck? Her thin fingers prodded the dried bite mark at his neck, horror beginning to peak in the back of her mind. Were those bite marks? Too small for a beast....Human bite marks?

 

Behind them the shadows moved as the dark side began to surge.

 

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Calix Meus Inebrians

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Aidan did alright with the fall, feeling Master Tobais help him with the landing gave him a good feeling about the Jedi Master. Obviously the man seemed irritated at something, and this wasn't typical behavior for a Jedi Master, but Aidan knew by now that bottlenecking people into expectations was a fruitless endeavor. He'd been the victim of it for a large part of his life, and it stung. The fact that Master Tobias wasn't taking out frustrations on him helped to alleviate his tension.

Doing as he was asked, Aidan moved to one of the nearby consoles, attempting to access it. Of course, his credentials weren't recognized, but interestingly enough on a hunch, his father's were. Aidan used to use his father's login credentials to browse the holonet when he was bored as a child, and he was surprised they hadn't changed. Still, the system was an older one, even for the ones Aidan used to mess around on, and he had some difficulty navigating around the software. These units weren't exactly maintained regularly.

"Okay...I'm in, but I think this is going to take me a minute."

Right after he said that, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. 

"...I...got a really bad feeling. Anyone else?"

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The moment they landed on Gala Kel had sensed something was off about the planet. His time as a sage taught him to be sensitive of the air around him as well as the earth on which he walked. As the group meandered to the temple and its depths, Master Tobias shed light on the distorted energies of the force around them. How the fallout of the force colliding against itself had created a metaphorical wound that corrupted everything in its vicinity. Eventually they made their way to the library where they had found yet more fallen warriors along with the shards of shattered holocrons on these forsaken grounds.

 

Master Sandy instructed Kel to watch the shadows while Aidan worked on accessing the terminal. The forboding darkness only added to the ominous air around this eerily silent and desolate space. As Kel peered into the murky blackness around them, he heard what sounded like the cracking of glass down the hall. Not the loud crash of something falling and shattering on the ground, but rather like something had been stepped on. "I heard something."

 

Kel then grabbed the saber pistol from his hip and proceeded to activate the light saber which in turn brought a bright green light to their surroundings.

"Everyone, Sabers out. Be on your guard."  

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The dark side spiked as Sandy listened to Kel and Aidan’s warnings. That queasy feeling at the pit of her stomach moved like bile into the back of her throat as she reached for the sabre at her side. Her pale silver blade ignited with a hiss and joined the bright green of Kels blade with its fine filtered light. As the bright colour washed over the corpse at her feet, it moved. She stumbled back as the corpse latched its teeth onto her hand and she struck out with her sabre in a slash that bisected the corpse and left it twitching on the floor. She screamed in pain and shook her hand with a curse. Spraying bloody droplets over the console she was standing beside. 

 

“Kriff, They are possessed. Sabres up!” 

 

And the corpses rose and came. 

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Calix Meus Inebrians

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The overgrown world of Gala was something Frond could get used to; even the strange aura of the force itself was something that appealed to the aged tree’s distinct views. After having fallen into a trance back in the outer rim, his body had been forced to recover while his mind wandered Beyond Shadows. In that netherworld of the force, Frond has wandered, meditated, and communed with those long since passed on. Eventually a vision had drawn him back to the physical plane. Even he was not sure of what it all entailed, but it had called him here, to Gala, to help in what ways he could.

 

Even after he arrived, Frond had found himself engaging in one of his two oldest pastimes: wandering. Not knowing if he had arrived early, on time, or too late, Frond trusted that the force would draw him to where he needed to be.

 

Traversing the overgrown ruins and wilds of the planet, Frond allowed his mind to wander beyond his body, ethereal tendrils extending out from his body drawing upon the life forces of the plants that surrounded them, his body inhaling and exhaling in sync with the world around him. There he slid easily back into a trancelike state, not wandering beyond, but simply existing, awaiting a sign that it was time to regain his humanoid form and move from his sun-soaked perch.

 

Frond did not know how long he stayed like that. Time was all but meaningless to his kind. He was awakened from his trance by a feeling. Somewhere in the distance, out of sight, a ship landed on the planet and on that ship rode that which Frond has been awaiting.

 

Stirring from his slumber, Frond’s mind grasped the familiar presence that wafted on the flowing lives of the planet.

 

‘a wave comes forward

Sandy, Tobias, and Kel

into the riptide.’


the though echoed on the ripples of the force as a flash of yellow light enveloped the twisted and gnarled tree. Standing where the withered and stout tree stood  now was a hunched humanoid form of twisted bark and limbs, cloaked in slick shimmering blackened leaves. Clutches in his right tendrilled hand was a log, more clublike than anything; nestled safely within was the crystallized seed from the world beyond and the cracked Ilum crystal both humming quietly - a drip drip dripping in the pool that was the force. Pain, hunger, desire, peace: each rippling into nothingness. Frond felt the crystals in his hilt call out. His aura of inaction combatting the call to arms that desired release.

 

It was not something for Frond to ponder. Over time he had grown accustomed to the call and subconsciously he locked horns with the dark call, creating a calm and neutral aura. Right now; however, Frond has other things to ponder. The arrival of his comrades, for one. The edging darkness that even now played at the edges of his tendrilled conscious, for another.

 

With a slow shuffling gait, the tree-like Neti set out towards the call of his comrades. Through the overgrown forests towards the ruins he had left alone, until now.

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Something was watching them. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up, a slight breeze could be felt out of the one corridor that came into the library across the room. Fixing his eyes the entry, he slowly meandered over towards the threshold as the others made their way into the room. This was a corridor he and the others had not entered into previously. Which would mean…

 

Realization hit him as if it were a cold bucket of water thrown onto his face. “Kriff…” He cursed to himself. As Aiden got to work and he, Sandy and Kel spread out just far enough. Tobias pulled a toppled chair over to block the entry into the room from his hallway. 

 

“Trip ‘em up!” He shouted- and pulled his blaster and started to burn holes into the ones leading the charge. Kel and Sandy were similarly engaging the corpses- and Sandy yelled out just as Tobias put his first bolt into a rambling corpse. Five shots into it and that appeared to be all of them, at least from his own hallway. He took aim at a one rushing at Sandy and burned it through the throat and its inertial carried it into a terminal beside his former apprentice. Taking aim at another one going for Aiden- he burned that one as well. Looking back to his hallway- he noticed that there were only four corpses crumpled- the fifth had disappeared and was probably the reason why his danger sense just spiked- and the pain in his left shoulder spiked. 

 

He was close to the threshold of the tunnel when he blacked out as the corpse used both arms to slam Tobias into the wall. Part of him knew he should have just used his saber- instead of a blaster. However, just like his sight- his thoughts were swallowed up by the darkness. A lingering part of his consciousness knew that none of the others had seen him go down.

 

~~~~

 

Suddenly, he found himself in the mechanical room where he had fought the Monolith. No idea how much time had passed since… He sprang to his feet- adrenaline rushing through him. His staff on his back and his blaster in its holster on his right leg. He clenched his fist and smacked it into the palm of his left hand- his left shoulder still hurt like a kathhound bite but he needed to see right now so he completed the ritual- and with an underhanded pitch to the center of the room- a flare of light illuminated the dark room. Forcing himself to remain calm- he held his lightsaber in his hands, but not ignited. If this were another ill timed vision…

 

Moaning, gurgling and a shriek filled the room. As awareness re-surged in his mental capacity, he knew there was a creature in the room- but one that didn’t mean him harm so he dimmed the flare and looked for the entity. 

 

Briefly scanning the room- he tried to spy where exactly this other being was but no luck in pinpointing it. It also seemed as if he couldn’t reach out further than this room. As if he and the Force were locked in this room. Things had just gone from good to bad to good then worse in a rapid succession. Once again, he reached out to the Force and tried to feel what was around him. Again he couldn’t stretch beyond the walls of this room.

 

“Alright, you have me- show yourself.” he called out. A slight breeze rustled past his ears carrying several indistinct whispers. “Enough of the games.”

 

As he walked he found the crack in the floor where he had landed after catching Xae-Lin. Grunting, he shifted his gaze towards the back of the room- he held out his hands and called the objects into his grasp. The cool metal slapped into his palm and he pressed the activation button. Three loud popping noises filled the chamber as violet light bathed everything in its radiance. Having enough senses to be grateful that his psychometric didn’t go haywire right off the bat, he decided to deactivate the blades and clip them to his belt.

 

Another brush of indistinct whispers; he listened intently but still couldn’t make out any specific words. It was frustrating, he wanted them to get to the point so he could go back to the group. As he walked around the room, he felt as soon as he was close enough to this entity it would somehow disappear and  run away from him. It brought him here, then was trying to run from him? That didnt make any sense. 

 

He sped up his search, darting from one rubble pile to the other at an increasingly faster pace. Darting around the room, determined to find it. After about six tries, he was growing impatient with this little game. That's when he sat down, crossed his legs and began breath as if he were about to enter into a meditative trance. He knew he needed to express patience, trust, and knowledge. Rather than trying to chase this entity down- he was wasting time. 

 

A moment into the calming trance he cracked his eyes open, just to see there was some sort of… ethereal light.

 

Hello.” It said.

 

Greetings.” Tobias said, opening his eyes fully. A smirk crossed his face. While the entity was in the shape of a human- there were no discernible features of its face. “Why have you called me here?”

 

The shape tilted its head. “You have unfinished business here, Tobias Vos.” 

 

Tobias tilted his head in the opposite direction. “That business… is…?”

 

A short chuckle, “Think on it...”

 

“Right… sadly, hindsight is twenty-twenty…” Tobias sighed. Another chuckle from the shape. The man raised an eyebrow, “Well… I know…” he remarked to its implied retort.

 

As with so many other times, his mind started to race- some how guided by the . Questioning everything that he had done or said. “It’s not about what you have done- or have said- its how you accept it, fix it if need be, but make amends. Regardless of your personal feelings towards them. Stay true to yourself- stay true to her, stay true to...what you really want to see come of your actions. Don’t be afraid to commit...” The entity said before bursting into a cloud of light and enveloping Tobias. Caught off-guard, he looked shocked for a moment as the gas fell to the ground and dispersed.

 

"But... this place- you need to..."

 

A chuckle, "Don't worry, your friends are clearing out the last barricades of the wound- the Jedi will be welcome here again, the light side is strong here..." and the voice trailed off. The conversation was at an end.

 

A brief vision of a dozen futures flashed through his mind, all in blazing clarity. The one that got to him was back at the lake where he and the Inquisitor had ventured. The wind had left his chest and he was unable to catch his breath for another longer moment as he was left reeling from the emotions that the vision had left him. Wiping a tear away brought upon by the vision, he stood up with a fresh determination and he knew where to go- back up the lift shaft until he got to the hallway they were supposed to have entered through and to the fresh path they had just traveled. As he ascended the lift shaft- he refined his plan so that after they retrieved the EV, he was going to come back to Gala and fix this site. He jumped from side to side, climbed where he could- and finally reached the hallway.

 

A short jog down two hallways- and he stopped in his tracks. It seemed to him that Gala was always full of surprises: “Frond?!” Tobias said in stunned disbelief. “What in blazes… wait, nevermind- come on!” Tobias waved a hand to the walking tree and beckoned him to follow as he lept down to where they had fallen earlier.

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The sounds had caused Aidan to look up from where he was working briefly to find the ghastly nightmare fuel sight of reanimated corpses trundling toward the group. Swearing audibly, he dove back into his work, panicked fingers pouring over the aged keypad. 

 

Error. File unknown or access restricted.

The six little words were quickly becoming the bane of his existence as every search string he put into the console returned either no results or a denial of access. Eternal Vigilance. Access Restricted. Vigilance holocrons. Access Restricted. EV location. Access Restricted. Anything directly relating to the ship or its location was locked down tight, and not even Aryian's credentials as a Jedi Master and former council member would unlock them, meaning the information was confidential to the Grandmaster and potentially directly to any council members involved in secluding the Eternal Vigilance away. Aidan knew from stories heard around the temples when he was a kid that the ship held ancient Jedi knowledge and was hidden many times over its history to safeguard the information, but this was bordering on ridiculous if the Jedi didn't even trust their own Jedi Masters with the knowledge. But the ship existed, controlled somehow through special holocrons, and often hidden in the same manner.

 

The sound of one of the shambling corpses roused him from his thoughts, having risen in the unguarded corner of the room, hidden behind another bank of broken consoles. Without thinking, his saber was in his hand, one end of the staff saber igniting into brilliant silver. His first slash made the ambulatory corpse stagger, but interestingly enough it merely bounced off the chest as this particular one was wearing a chestplate of woven cortosis alloy. As Aidan recovered, he sized up his opponent in a more serious manner, noting a weak spot under the zombie's severed left arm. A quick spin later and Aidan had severed its leg, following up by burying his blade deep in the weak spot, working it in a circle until the innards were a charred mess. And in an instant, a brilliant thought struck him. He could attack his computer problem from the side. 

 

Extinguishing his saber, he returned to the console, running a search string for a list of offworld holocrons. The query returned a database listing several holocrons tracked by the Order, all listing their hosts or purposes, even Sith holocrons that had been captured. That was, all except a few lines which were conspicuously blank, listing only the location. Ossus. The holocrons were on Ossus.

 

"Ossus. Ossus! The holocrons are on Ossus!"

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Kel made his way towards the nearest undead ghoul within sight and sliced it clean in two with an overhead strike. At one point in the fight he heard Master Tobias shouting at us to trip 'em up as he put it. So when the next ghoul came at Kel, he swept its legs and plunged the blade into its head as it landed. After that, Kel turned off his saber and pointed his saber pistol at yet another incoming ghoul and fired off six shots into its head and torso. Once it fell, another more ghouls approached stepping on their fallen kin. Kel knew that switching between the two modes of his saber pistol would leave a brief period where he wouldn't be able to reignite his saber. So he reached out through the force, pulled at any heavy objects he could find whether it was a chair, a table, or a book cae and tossed them at the coming horde. Under the pile of furniture, They were unable to move and Kel shot each of them through their skulls.    

 

Kel looked at the coming horde he tried thinking of a way he could deal with them all at once. a quick glance at the furniture he had used earlier showed that it had had been broken and likely wouldn't be as effective. he briefly pondered if he should push all of them with the force, but quickly dismissed it since a force that great might bring the dilapidated ceiling crashing on top of them. One other possibility came to mind though. A rare talent among the Baran do sages that very few actually possessed. When Kel asked his grandfather about it, he said that he and many others spent decades attempting to master it. Kel asked him what it was like, he described it as reaching for a point between fury and peace. Kel was unsure if he could place his mind in such a state given the current circunstances. So for now he would stick to cutting down and blasting foes with his saber pistol. Kel sparked up his saber once again and rushed further into the fray. 

 

It was then that he heard Aidan shouting the location of the holocrons they were searching for. "Finally, Some good news!" Kel looked back to check on his allies, and while he saw Aidan at the terminal and master Sandy fighting off more ghouls despite her injured hand, Master Tobias was nowhere in site. "Wait a minute, Where's Master Tobias?" 

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It burned hotter than she expected, the pain of the bite came shrieking up her arm as blood thickly coated the pommel of her sabre. She muttered a curse and spared a quick glance at her hand. The creature had managed quite a good mangling, and she could see the white tendon sheaths peeking out from behind the bright red serrated flesh. She gulped down a breath of air, then looked back at the advancing horde of living dead. Another breath and then she had centered herself. 

 

There was no need to be afraid, for they were here together, she was not alone. 

 

She brought the sabre to a high guard as she watched Aidan extinguish his and Kel begin to fight with valour. Tobias had disappeared faster than she had thought possible, but it was alright. She extended her presence in the room, reaching out to touch every mind of her allies, reaching beyond the room into the ruins themselves, touching the departed Tobias and the unexpected mind of her wayward apprentice. Frond. The touch of his mind brought a grin to her pale face and then there was very little doubt to the outcome of the fight. She poured assurance through the connection, linking them all into subconsciousness of battle meditation. Then she went to work.
 

She moved forward to stand beside Aidan, batting away a groping undead hand, then tangling her sabre in the face of a zombie who lurched out of the darkness. As powerful as the Imperial Knight was, he needed to remain undistracted by the melee while he found the location of the jedi holocrons. It was only moments later that he was able to find their location, and Sandy pulled on her connection to the force and to each of the Jedi in the ruins. It was time to leave.

 

“Well done, we must fall back to the ship.” She yelled to Kel and Aidan, and indicated the tunnel from which they came.  “Tobias and Frond will open us a route!”

 

Dozens of more forms lurched from the shadows as they began to fall back. 

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Calix Meus Inebrians

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As he slowly came back to the grips of reality and his surroundings- he became aware that the fight inside the library was not going well. Gritting his teeth, he relaxed into the Force- letting it flow around him as if it were a body of water. It surrounded him, enveloped him. The pain in his left shoulder was gone, the ache in his neck vanished as well. He knew what that entity had meant, upon reflection. He was one with the Force, and he would save his companions.  Outside of the first greeting he and Frond hadn't spoken- they hadn't needed to. Tobias trusted the Neti, and they functioned along the same mindset; mostly. 
 

His staff slung across his back, he pulled out the two lightsabers he had lost so long ago. Clicking them together to form a double blade, he looked to Frond and nodded his own head. Just as Sandy called the two apprentices- the pair rushed into the room and they became part of the cyclone of activity in the Library. These were primal beasts- one mindset: devour anything. Seeing the strange Force aura color emanating off the beasts- he reached out to touch it. It was like a string on a loose garment- you could pull and pull and keep on pulling. That’s what he just did- the mongrels all stopped in their pursuit of the three younglings in the room and focused on the doorway that Vos walked through. 

 

Those immediately engaging Aiden, Kel and Sandy continued their assault- Vos even had to put a blaster bolt in one rushing Aiden. The corpse slammed into a terminal and toppled over it  with how fast it was moving.

 

Holstering his blaster, Tobias welcomed the onslaught. Feral mouths bellowed at him, yet he remained calm- keeping ahold of the force tendril with his mind. He turned all the aggression towards him. Pulling and pulling them towards not his death- theirs. Their release from this tormented reality- this corruption. There was a flood of ghouls here and his blades were thirsty for blood from dark side entities. He would indulge them- but he gave a small signal- and then knelt- and what appeared was a large tree leaping over Tobias and bisected the creatures rushing them. Frond has just entered the fray, and now it was Tobias’ turn. A trip of loud pops filled the room and purple blades came to life. The power cell was a tad unstable as there was an odd crackling emanating from the hilt- worse than the last time he had used these. 

 

A song poured from the blade as Tobias pulled these creatures into the purple radiance. Each one they were able to neutralize equaled the less of a hold the dark side had on Gala. The strings binding the energies here would be severed and the natural balance could be established. With efficiency Vos launched into a complicated tumble; he spun, taking out two; a kick spun a creature around, momentum carrying it away; a somersault forward sliced a few pairs of legs off. Spinning up, he guided the blade in a low whirl around his waist- finishing the creatures who lad lost their legs. Finally planting his feet and coming to a halt- he pumped his fist out and a force wave shot out carrying two others; their bones breaking against the wall. Bringing his elbow back, he knelt and spun into the elbow- the varmint crumpled over his blow- and fell back; but not before a cut landed across its chest. 

 

The smell of seared flesh filled  the room; he didn’t notice. From one tumble to another Tobias pulled the creatures on their strings- letting his companions assist or fall back as they saw fit. As he had space- he drew his blaster and fired off two shots into the closest beast, holstered- and made a vicious overhead spin with the next group that rushed him. The blade sang a passionate song that Vos barely understood- but he didn’t have to know what the words were. In fact there were no words, the blade had belonged to a exorcist- and there was something those Jedi always whispered about. The songs of the light side- or whatever. He didn’t have to completely understand it to know it was a beautiful melody, to know it was a song to be heard- this was its last song- its last reason for hanging on. Sizzling through the air and through the gang of creatures flooding the room- Tobias tried to focus the creatures attention onto himself; the blade sang a beautiful song within the Force. That was all he could focus his eyes on at the moment; the others were nearby but that was it- the song and the flow of battle was everything to him in this moment. He hoped Sandy would pick up on his strategy, he didn’t have time or the concentration to reach out to her.

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Shambling along, Frond followed the ebb and flow of the force as it seemed to guide him towards the Jedi ruins. He was getting closer to his comrades. He could feel it. When Tobias rounded the corner, the aged tree-being paused momentarily, a smile creasing his face as a means of greeting. Not a word needed spoken, the flow of chaotic darkness that followed Tobias said enough. The others needed them.

 

As Tobias turned and urged him to follow, Frond was already reaching into the hollow that opened in his chest and removed the haft of log that he had nestled there. The faint dark hunger sensed the darkness emanating throughout the ruins; it was time to feast.

 

Plodding several paces after Tobias, Frond followed him back into the ruins hearing his Master’s voice. Without a second thought, Frond swung the haft of wood striking the nearest force-powered undead square in the face before following it up with a log sized fist driving the creature’s face into the wall with a sickening crunch. Frond felt the darkness leaving the undead’s body as it’s unnatural life force left it’s body. The force was a mystery, but even as it swirled about the room in a maelstrom of dark perverse energies and calming light, Frond felt his mind settling. He was a beacon of the light, called to bring the balance of a razor’s edge. Even as he clubbed another shambler with his deactivated hilt, Frond could sense the calm peace of the force guiding his actions. All about him swam chaos. Without fear he waded into it flailing his viney wooden limbs. He lashed out at anything that got near him. Wrapping his viney sinews of bark around legs, arms, and necks Frond sent the abominations cartwheeling through the air; following after the storm that was Tobias.
 

Seeing Tobias’ subtle signal and more so feeling it ripple across the force, Frond leaped forwards hurdling over Tobias’ crouched form. As he flew through the air, Frond drew his hilt from right to left in front of his body, the golden blade erupting in a flash of orange flame from the burnt end of his club-like haft. The dark hunger that was just a murmur before erupted in a silent echo that reverberated about the room on the waves of the force; crying out in hunger for destruction. The blade slashed at a downward angle as the eight and a half foot blade carved the first few lines of the pressing force into so many halves.

 

Landing with a crash, that could be felt through the floors, on what would have been his knees, Frond exhaled, allowing the warm naturalness of the planet’s overgrowth to flood his mind and shield him from the clawing hunger gnawing at him from his saber. Driving his blade forward, Frond stood. Swinging the blade back and forth with little skill or grace, but expertly placed to provide maximum dissection, the Neti pushed his way forwards until he came close enough to Kel to reach out with his free hand. He gently tugged on Kel’s shoulder as he squeezed it momentarily, allowing the warmth of his grasp to wordlessly indicate Frond’s pleasure at seeing his fellow apprentice still alive and well. The tug was meant to urge his friend that it was time to go. Letting go, Frond grasper the four handed hilt of his saber in both hands and swept it back and forth as he began to clear a path towards the entryway.

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Initially, Aidan tensed as a huge tree...thing...rounded one of the corners Master Tobias had returned from, wondering if Tobias was fleeing from it, if it was potentially the creature or even Sith behind these attacks, or specifically what its intentions were. That was all answered in a few seconds when it joined the fray against the reanimants, even wielding a lightsaber against them. There would be time for questions later, Aidan was just glad it wasn't another enemy for them to face. This place was dangerous enough as an architecturally unstable ruin, to say little of the Dark side Force zombies that now supposedly infested it.

With haste, the Imperial Knight logged off the console and took up his lightsaber, igniting both silver blades as he took his position helping to guard the rear as the group began to move. They would live to see tomorrow, but they would need to work for it.

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Kel was in the middle of cutting down another ghoul when he heard master Sandy call for a retreat. Not only that but master Tobias and Kel's lost sibling student would be securing an escape route. And no sooner than when Kel shouted "What?!" the ground shook from a large impact as Frond leapt from the floor above them. His bright yellow blade slashing through the undead like one swatting at flies. Kel felt the wooden hand of his fellow apprentice grip his shoulder with warmth and for what felt like the first time in ages, Kel felt nothing but joy. though the reunion was brief and not under the best circumstances, no words were needed as Kel gave a brief nod to his Netti compatriot. 

 

Kel reached out through the force grabbing the broken remains of the furniture from his prior assault. he might not have been able to incapacitate them as he did before, but he could at least slow them down. And so in an instant, Kel had stood the shelves and table on their sides for a make shift barricade allowing him and the others time to escape through the hole they came in from.

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As the combined Jedi team began to push toward their distant ship, Sandy and Aidan took up the rear as they nearly ran full sprint away from the hordes of possessed corpses. The sight of Frond returning in all his glory brought a surge of joy into Sandy’s heart that she pumped through the mindmeld with her fellow Jedi. She let Tobias follow his song as she let the majority of the attacking possessed converge on him. It was now truly time to go, and Sandy let that urgency flow through the connection as well, the path had been cleared. 

 

Before the press of the possessed could redouble, Sandy pushed forward and kept the path clear. She reached out with the force and hurled a wave of the wforce against the shambling corpses. 

 

“First lesson!” Her voice boomed out with a tingle of laughter as the bodies began to stack up.

 

“Retreat when you are supposed to! We make for Ossus, come!” But it was likely that they would not see the last of the corpses. 

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Calix Meus Inebrians

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Over the unholy noise he heard Sandy reorder the retreat; he held his ground to give the others time. Time to put some distance into separating from these abominations and themselves. As he spun, dodged, jumped and everything in-between - he firmly held the creatures attention on himself. Just a moment ago he had wanted to pass the reins over to Frond- but his own borrowed blade sang to him- it knew how to end this threat they faced. It was a complicated technique- one that would require split timing. Forming the intention in his mind- was able to pass it over to Frond without verbally communicating it. Just as an intention through the Force.

 

What they were going to do was as soon as Kel, Aiden, and Sandy were in the tunnel going back to the ship. Frond was to stay in front of the tunnel cleaving any ghoul within range. Tobias would leap over him in a reverse of how they entered the room then they too would run. 

 

They made their move a second later. Tobias kept the purple blades alive for this part as he spun around, maneuvering the hoard so there was more and more distance was inserted between them. Eventually, Tobias landed behind Frond and even tumbled back a few paces- allowing the tree to step back and flip over Tobias- giving him the role of rear guard. 

 

What no one expected was the ritual the exorcists lightsaber wished its new owner to perform. It was an experiment, he'd never even thought something like this would have been possible. The exact situation was a phenomenal set of coincidences; he did not hesitate because, he was trusting the Force. 

 

Frond lept over him, and the hoard refocused on the Kiffar. Then, like a crack in the pane of glass, a sharp change occurred to the man. It appeared as though his flesh cracked apart with purple light- as if the force ran through his veins and was suddenly illuminated to shine light to the darkest of corners. The two blades disappeared as soon as the light show began. A powerful vortex of Force energy collected within Tobias- begging to let loose. The ghouls had paused long enough for Tobias to calmly get to his feet look down at his hands, then reach one out to the beasts. What anyone else would have seen would have been a tendril of energy from the human lighthouse into the ghoul. What Tobias saw was the energy from the crystals he had just crushed in his hand, converting the exorcists crystals to powder and atoms and into himself. The energy contained within him- the crystals desire to rid the galaxy of the dark side- wanted to be set free. It wanted to do what it was meant to. The ghoul burst at the contact with the energy, suddenly and effectively. 

 

Since Tobias could see the unique tendrils of the ghouls- so could the crystals energy. It was like taking a bunch of wires in a single grasp then pulling them tight and finally energizing them- the current followed the trail back to their organic counterparts- and one by one- the ghouls were reduced to a mushy paste that coated everything down the hallway and back into the library.  Soon the light faded from both Tobias and the surrounding area, so he stood there for a brief moment illuminated by the lights. One last bubble of purple energy came out of his finger and *blooped* away. 

 

Chest rising and falling, he tried to avoid what the repercussions of such a ritual- but no amount of slow breathing was going to help him now. The power transfer that had just happened within him had spoiled his insides. In a swift moment- he collapsed to all fours and emptied his stomach. Snot dripped from his nose, blood dripped from his nose eyes and ears. Nothing too extreme- but Tobias was effectively crippled. The conversion had to have taken place- there was no other way it could have happened. Gala would be free of the Dark Side corruption- the exorcists crystals could rest now. The Force here was balanced and for that Tobias nearly paid with his life. He still could- but he was determined to see this through. With jerky movements, he looked over to see Frond approaching him. The Neti could see Tobias in such a state didn't seem to bother either of them. Cradling his left arm into his torso, Frond cradled the fleshy man and guided him to his feet. Then, they started their journey back to Tobias' ship. 

 

~~~

 

Tobias had just collapsed when the reached the surface; the pain had gotten to him. His vision was blurry, breathing through a nose and esophagus lined with blood, a terrible ringing in his ears, dried blood caked onto his face, he was carried into the ship. No doubt the droids would have found a dozen other issues within his body if he had let them; he had not. The only two things he communicated was that Sandy was in charge of the vessel- and to tend to the others wounds. Frond had delivered Tobias to his room and left him there- nothing could be done at this moment. Time, The Force, and hopefully some bacta shots- he'd be feeling better. Maybe even a Bacta Tank on Ossus. Maybe he'd see Adenna there... but something in his mind doubted he'd see her anytime soon. Regret and sadness flooded his mind and he did not resist. He surrendered to it- and the enveloping darkness; somewhere in the back of his mind, he wished he would at least have a pleasant dream. 

 

The last thing before he thought he heard before the final darkness was the engines coming to life, then darkness...

 

 

((To Ossus...)

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