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Rattatak


Darth Heretic

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Sahv saw before him many images of his master, standing still. As soon as Dashel Illioni began trying to deflect them from his mind, Sahv decided to take another approach. He reaced out with the Force, trying to detect life.

 

~Only one image is the real Neo~ Sahv thought.

 

The young man stepped back, trying to survey the now hectic scene. He could feel Dashel trying to block out the negative, erring images.

 

"Dashel, try and distract Neo while I root out his real location."

 

Sahv could feel life straight ahead, in a group of 7-8 Neo imitators. He quickely strolled over to them, and one by one, erased them from his minds eye. All of the surrounding lookalikes were gone, and one 4 remained, ahead.

 

Sahv could feel Neo's life signature, but could not erase any of the imitations, and thus by process of elimination find the real one.

Sahv remembered Neo's words... "you must learn to use it [the Force] effectively..."

 

Sahv Yorr quickly devised a plan. Neo had clearly tried to spread out his life signature in an attempt to remain hidden among three other imposters. With a quick motion through the Force, Sahv reached over to the lake, and brought up a quantity of water, equaling about 10 gallons. Sahv had no trouble lifting the water as his abilities in this matter had greatly improved since his first encounter lifting the benches on Coruscant. With a quick flick of his wrist, the water went flying over onto the group of four, and hopefully would reveal the real man.

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"Excellent work my apprentices, see, working together is vital for survival, as they say, only the fit will survive. You two surely seemed fit, now, moving on."

 

Neo moved back to the lake and splashed some more water onto his face, it was cool and felt good as it ran over his eyes and mouth.

 

"The time has come for me to part you two, for now, Sahv, I want you to show Dashal a few things I have taught you, and when you are finished, I want you to leave this planet, using my ship, and find a crystal, on the planet of Ilum."

 

As he talked onwards, he mentioned that the coordinates were already programmed in his ships database.

 

"It will take you a while to find such a tool, and I want you to use any way possible to grab it. No matter what the cost."

 

Neo looked over his apprentices, they had a little confusion on their faces, he knew it was quick, but it didn't mean they were constructing their sabers that quickly.

 

"Once you achieve this goal, that crystal will become your life, you will protect it with all your strength, it will be needed."

 

Neo began to pace, folding his arms against his chest.

 

"A crystal to the Jedi, is like sand to a beach, if you don't have one, it wouldn't be a beach, you wouldn't be a Jedi. The pigs, don't use crystals, they use their hatred to create their sabers, discarding everything that makes them a being. If you lose the crystal, or your saber, you lose your will, your... yourself. You won't continue unless this task is achieved. Are we understood?"

 

This was a lot for his padawans to endure, even his newest who had been barely trained, but it was surely a task that needed to be done.

 

"If you get into any trouble, you know my number."

 

He smirked and waved them off, he then Force Ran into the forrest, he needed some time off.

 

((Alright, I swear this is my last vacation... I have to go visit family, and I figured this would take up Friday-Monday. Like I said, if you get into any trouble that you don't think you both can handle, comm me, I will be there on Monday. If not, leave quickly, and head to the Last Call. I want you guys to do this, to take up time and have something to do, and, if you do complete your task early, duel, just don't kill each other. Remember, the crystal won't be hard to obtain, but make it, use descriptive posts, please! Alright men, see ya on Monday.))

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Dashel acknowledged the compliment. A hypothesis formed in hid mind, and he acted upon it. He focused on the water and attempted to scoop a bit out to wash himself with using the force. He reached out with his thoughts and trusted that the force would be there.

The force was there but it behaved erratically once more. Or rather, it behaved erratically by Dashel's imperfect understanding. He felt himself flung backward, landing in an undignified position in patch of mud farther away from the lake. He saw a flash of someone else's memory, except this time it was of an old jedi master admonishing a padawan learner. A learner whom would one day wield the lightsaber he had found in the swamps. In his vision, Dashel heard the old master say, ”œBeing able to use the force in any manner is a privilege granted to but a few. You should practice with it, build up your knowledge, and use it only when and if you need to. Never should you rely on it to the detriment of your other skills. Doing so means that you possess it and the force cannot be possessed. Besides, possession leads to jealousy which leads to hate which leads to the darkside.”

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"If you get into any trouble, you know my number." Neo said, before running to the forest.

 

"He certainly likes his daily meditations, eh Dashel?"

 

Dashel seemed to react to the situation by falling in some mud. Sahv sensed an uneasiness in him which he'd not sensed before.

 

"Dashel, we must keep on target. We will train together. As for this mission, I'm not sure what kind of crystal we are being sent to find, but we will take this one step at a time, I suppose."

 

Sahv scratched his head for a moment, noticing that the spike in his hair had gone flacid... he would need to remedy that situation soon.

 

"Let's head over to Neo's ship. Will you have your astrometrics droid meet us there with Ilum's coordinates? We can leave your ship here for when Neo wishes to rejoin us."

 

Sahv walked over to the ship and assumed a position at the helm, preparing its systems for flight.

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Dashel smiled, carefully keeping his canines covered to convey amusement at the remark about Master Neo's meditation habits.

 

"Sahv, my Nav droid has additional information on Ilum. I will order him to transer it to Master Neo's ship. I will have R3 take the Ti to the temple at Coruscant or whatever place we will be meeting with Master Neo next."

 

He paused for a moment, considering what little he knew about the Jedi, then asked, "Since Master Neo mentioned that the crystal we are to find is to be a metaphor for our heart and soul as Jedi should we seek guidance from the force? Perhaps together we can learn enough to find what we are to seek and where we are to seek it."

 

Dashel gathered the lightsaber and holocron the master had seemingly forgotten. The lightsaber he kept while putting the holocron back on his YT-2450.

 

Once he was safely aboard Master Neo's ship, he sent the Ti away on autopilot towards the Jedi temple, suprised at the sophistication the systems had revealed. That had not been there before. R3 had been performing modicfication above and beyond his normal sphere. It was starting to bother him, and he sincerely thought about a memory wipe for the little droid. He shrugged it off and went on. Nothing that the little droid had done so far had harmed anyone.

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Sahv and Dashel were aboard Neo's ship, preparing for blastoff when Sahv decided he'd like to learn more about his fellow apprentice.

 

"Dashel, your ship, the Ti, has an interresting name. Where is it originated from? I have a ship of my own, an old Republic diplomatic transport. Its name is the Napoleon IV. I also have an astro droid similar to yours. It's an older edition, I believe."

 

Sahv ignited the engines of the ship and felt the power of its thrust capabilities.

 

Neo's ship blasted off into space where it quickly jumped into hyperspace, headed toward Ilum.

 

(Dashel, lets post in the Space thread. I'll post there in a couple hours. [Look for me there.])

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Neo exited out of the forest.

 

"I slept a little too long," Neo said to himself as he cracked his neck.

 

He fingered his comm in his robe jacket, pulling it out quickly. He called for a Space Taxi, and in five minutes one had arrived, and took off as quickly as it had come.

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  • 7 years later...

Cephi enjoyed the soft affectionate kiss of Jacquelyn as he began to take controls of the ship out of auto pilot, and guided the ship as plummeted from orbit and descended toward the barren red tinged planet below. Cephi held a steady course toward the southern side of the planet and with his left hand pulled up information on Rattatak on his navicomputer trying to find a good place to land his ship.

 

"The political instability of Rattatak makes it impossible to determine if we can land in one place one month from the next. No ruling government, just warring clans that spill each other's blood, in all likilihood, I may have to level an area in one of the villages for us to land," Cephi said in a manner akin reading a textbook to his Apprentice.

 

The ship descended into the atmosphere and soon out of the transperisteel window, they could see the wasteland of Rattatak below them. Barren and covered in red dust and dark skies, it was hard to imagine Rattatak being a habitable planet anyhow, but perhaps that is what made their violent and primitive people such admirable warriors. The Sith Lord lowered the throttle and the ship slowed down as a village grew larger in the distance.

 

"No landing pad, they don't have space travel on their own, too concerned with killing each other," Cephi began as he flicked open his control for his missile bay, and targeted the largest building on the outskirts of the small village that had the label ORPHANAGE over it. A wicked smile grew on his face and Cephi fired the missle and watched as a bloody explosion erupted and the building was cleared, a blackened crater was only left its wake. Within moments a flurry of the pale, bald and tattooed people came from their hovels to look at what had caused a disturbance.

 

The ship landed on the crater and without hesitation he got up from his seat, calling for Jacquelyn to follow him and activated the ramp out of his ship and he walked down with his lightsaber in hand, activated his mind set with the steady passion of an impending massacre. His eyes were wide, the pain that still echoed in his body was a fuel for his aggression and he had not satsfied his murderous urges in sometime.

 

His boot his the hard dirty ground and at once a trio of Rattataki came at him, sharpened blades out and a howling scream as they attempted to cleave him. The Sith Lord laughed as he cut their weapons off as easily as if it had been made of nerf butter. The Rattataki were not stopped so easily, and thethrew their weapons down and attempted in all their rage to hit the Sith Lord, who spun on the spot parrying them with his arm and various kicks before he picked up the hilts of their broken weapons in his left hand while he continued to parry them.

 

He took the hilt of one and shoved it into their eye socket, and then with an amount of the Force he had overdone, he thrust it through until the hitl existed out the back of his skull and bits of brain and skull had fell to the ground. Another blast and one of the men was slammed into a solid wall nearby with a splat that painted the wall with his now crushed cranium, and the last was in shock at what happened to his friends, allowing Cephi a split second advantage, and using his augmented strength of steel and automation, he sent a left hook into the man's jaw which tore it from his body, and he fell to the ground, choking on his own tongue and blood, wretching below him.

 

The rest of the Rattataki had now surrounded the landing site, their primitive weapons in hand and awaitng to strike at the Sith Lord who had wrought so much devastation already. The Sith Lord could dispose of them easily, but he decided a different plan.

 

"Bring forth your greatest warrior, your most accomplished killer, the one you keep imprisoned because he will murder your children should he escape and bring him and I will offer my own champion to fight him in the gladitorial ring for control of this tribe."

 

The Rattataki considered him, they were warriors, and the Alpha controlled the tribe. This is how Asajj Ventress was able to amass one of the largest clans in the history of the planet. Cephi knew of this weakness in their heirarchy and it woudl be exploited.

 

"We accept, bring forth your warrior scum, we will show you your death today," came the harsh voice of a large, formidable looking Rattataki woman.

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Sith Lord and Loyal Servant of the Darkest Lord

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At the sight of landing, the Kaalian Sith gathered her utility belt and weapon. The only one thus far given to her buy the Sith Lord- Vibroblade. While Lord Cephi picked a location to land, Jacquelyn took in the sight of the locals- who were now gathering by the ship. Merely moments later, a savage grin crossed the Sith Lord’s face, and then seconds thereafter, a loud bang emanated from below the ship.

 

“Grand entrance- ‘tis the only way to do it,” uttered the teen Sith while taking in the view of the now blood covered glass doors of Cephi’s ship. It was then that the Sith Lord’s textbook like words reverberated in her head. “…and I am assuming we will be exploiting and capitalizing on the Rattataki’s lack of ruling government, right?” Jacquelyn’s words were more so rhetorical statement than any. She’d only been with the Nagai a short time, but the more the days go by the more she grew closer to him. In fact, the teen could guess the man’s next move even before her offered his words- which only served as a confirmation of her thoughts.

 

Several body parts, some akin to children’s body parts, flew in front of their ship. Jacquelyn’s attention was now on the voice of her master- who was beckoning her on. Doing the Sith Lord’s biding, the teen gathered her blade, and adjusted her utility belt while walking right behind the man. Cephi of course had his lightsaber ready to activate. “You know, I’ll need that second lightsaber. If you don’t mind Lord Cephi,” came the teen’s words at the sight of three severely tattooed Rattaka males walking up to the pair.

Right when the teen’s words came out, the three men were attempting to attack her master. With a swift, but yet calculated move, Lord Cephi maneuvered his blade around the trio, thereby successfully warding off his attackers. Seconds later more attack came at the pair, but the Naggai again maneuvered his weapons and within minutes the trio was dead. Jacquelyn grinned a sigh of relief realizing, however, that sigh of relief was interrupted by the Sith Lord’s boast.

“Bring forth your greatest warrior, …. and I will offer my own champion to fight him in the gladiatorial ring ...”

 

In a way it pleased the teen, but in another way it pleased her that the man placed such high premium in her combat abilities. What proceeded Lord’s Cephi’s boastful words merely confirmed the teen’s prior suspicions- “…for control of this tribe.”

 

“Please say no, please,” came Jacquelyn’s mumbling cry- knowing that she would be the one fighting said accomplished man. Interestingly enough, a rather savage- huge appearing Rattakain came forward to accept the Sith Lord’s challenge. Judging the way she carried herself, she may be the queen leader- or whatever it is title the populace refers to her .

“We accept, bring forth your warrior scum, we will show you your death today,”

At the sound of the woman’s voice the teen Sith trembled- though inwardly- then felt a gab propelling her forward to her challenger. May as well say my final words no, thought the girl as she moved slightly past her master and lover. Perhaps the same zeal that overtook her during her raid of the village at Carida will aide her.

 

Meanwhile Jacquelyn shook the fearful knot inside her took out her only weapon- the Vibroblade- and then charged forward taking hitting the first man attacking her in the heart, then the second straight in the eye, and then finally the third man also in the heart. Within minutes, there were one set of eyes rolling on the dirt floor, and two sets of mildly pulsating hearts next to two dead bodies. Charging forward again the female Sith apprentice dived her blade straight inside the third man’s heart, rendering him dead within seconds.

 

The three dead bodies fueled Jacquelyn’s passion. Just what she needed to take down her biggest opponent yet….

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He watched as his apprentice randomly killed a few men for what appeared to be sport. They had not assaulted her in fact, all the Rattataki had stopped their attack since Cephi had murdered the original three attackers. She must truly have embraced the ways of the Sith to viciously attack now without being provoked into a fight. It was glorious and Cephi couldn't have been more proud as he watched her gut three Rattataki. However, to stop her from doing more the Sith Lord sped to her side and reeled her back from the crowd as they watched in anger and walked away, tied to their own warrior ways.

 

"The Rattataki are a tribal people Jacquelyn and they have populated this planet well. If we do not take control of a village, we will have no safe base on the planet while we further our training in the Dark Side of the Force, each of the tribes would endlessly attack us, and while I may be skilled, a thousand Rattataki out for my blood would inevitably be something I would be hardpressed to overcome. If we win this tribe from them, we have their alleiance and then we can continue."

 

He turned to his apprentice and smiled before leading her out into a small clearing past the ship. He turned to her and examined her once more, taking in her body and memorizing it.

 

"You will win this battle against their warrior Jacquelyn, with the Force at your command their is no way you cannot beat him, even with just your bare fists. Besides, I don't want you all scarred up, you are far to fair for such unattractive things like scars. So you will have to be near perfect with your fighting abilities."

 

Cephi raised his hands and curled them into fists nodding for Jacquelyn to put her hands up too.

 

"The Force has the ability to give us premonition as you well know, and you learned how to use that ability. I need you to be better at it. I need you to properly judge a swing, a swipe and dodge it. You are not to fight back during this exercise, just avoid me as best you can."

 

Cephi rushed forward and made the following combination of moves. A left jab toward Jacquelyn's face, a right hook toward her side, and a backflip kick that would, if it hit her, kick her in the jaw. When finished the Nagai stood and looked to see if he had caused any damage to his apprentice.

 

((Just post coming with me after your murder spree, listening and some comprehension of why we are taking this tribe for our own, and then post dodging my moves and making a retort of your own.))

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Sith Lord and Loyal Servant of the Darkest Lord

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  • 2 weeks later...

It wasn’t until after her master pulled her back that the teen realized that she’d been perhaps unreasonably truculent. In Jacquelyn’s young mind, however, the Rattataki were equally violent group. All she was doing was making her mark. However, her master appeared indifferent towards the teen’s apparent methods.

 

The female Sith relented- more like pause with her killing spree- and then turned her attention to her master. The crowd of villagers by that time had scurried on to others things. Who knows? Perhaps to fetch the village warrior that Jacquelyn was supposed to fight. Sheer adrenaline ran through the female Kaalian; even so, she gave a long pause, enough for the Sith Lord to speak.

 

"The Rattataki are a tribal people Jacquelyn ….. If we do not take control of a village, we will have no safe base on the planet while we further our training ……. If we win this tribe from them, we have their alleiance and then we can continue."

 

Lord Cephi’s words finally made sense. Jacquelyn even wondered why she’d miss the mark and killed the three warriors. … Not a tinge of remorse crossed her mind though. She simply gave her master an affirmative nod; her ‘yes’ of sorts. Meanwhile the Sith Lord turned to smile at her. Their eyes crossed momentarily. Jacquelyn then gave a forced smile.

 

Moving right along, Cephi led the teen away from the Rattataki, past their ship, into a small clearing. Scattered body parts could be seen on their way. A reminder of the small sacrifice it took for the duo to land their ship. Words again were exchanged by the Sith Lord. This time Jacquelyn was reminded- no commanded- to win the forthcoming battle. And just to demonstrate how, Cephi proceeded with a just in time training.

 

The teen nonetheless was slightly disappointed as she expected her lover to hand her a weapon.

 

“…So you will have to be near perfect with your fighting abilities." Jacquelyn later heard while been instructed again to raise her hands. Obliging, she did; though albeit cautiously.

 

Yet another set of instructions immediately followed- "The Force has the ability to give us premonition as you well know,…..I need you to properly judge a swing, a swipe and dodge it. You are not to fight back during this exercise, just avoid me as best you can."

Per Cephi’s instructions, Jacquelyn kept her hands up and avoided a fight. Each attack aimed at her was met with a non-threatening rebuttal....

 

First Cephi’s left jab hit the dead air as Jacquelyn moved to his right to avoid the inevitable bruise to her perfect face! Lord Cephi’s second move was also rendered futile as the teen simply pivoted to the opposite direction of the right hook. Meanwhile, Lord Cephi was by that time attempting a back flip move, one that nearly hit Pringle’s jaw. But like the first and second attack Jacquelyn dodged the jaw move by simply bending her upper body lower momentarily. Seconds after the kick passed the teen finally rose up.

 

“You sir, put much premium in my abilities,” the teen finally uttered in between gasp for breath. “Though I may have appeared unreasonably truculent earlier, rest assured, I will not fail you, my Lord” she added.

 

With that the teen grabbed one of the scattered dead Rattataki body parts- through the Force. She held it up with her left hand, and then leaned in closer to her lover. She didn’t like the blood stained robe he adorned, but it was reminder of the battle he needed to face. Alone. The female Sith’s face finally closed in with Lord Cephi’s. “I’ve got one more to go it seems.”

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  • 1 month later...

Cephi was pleasantly surprised by his apprentices ease of fluidity in combat. She avoided the Sith Lords movements with ease, making the Nagai proud his Apprentice had grown so much in their time together. He remembered her idealistic attitude, her love of the Jedi, and he need to be good, all soiled, ruined, and broken and then she was rebuilt, tainted and twisted. Cephi had done well with this one.

 

When the Sith Lord stopped his attack he stood still and looked at his lover, seeing she had not even broken a sweat in dodging his flurry of attacks. He kept his mind calm and looked to his apprentice.

 

"I have durasteel plating covering my entire skeleton. So your natural power will not be able to do anything against them. You will need to use the Force to empower you, like you do to make you jump higher or run faster, you can add more power to your punches with the natural energy of the Force. I want you to test this power by breaking five of my ribs."

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Sith Lord and Loyal Servant of the Darkest Lord

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The very depth of the female Sith's stomach churned. Suddenly, Jacquelyn felt the need to vomit. Perhaps the mixture of dried blood, coupled with the smell of the dead child's head in her hands was the cause. While the Sith Lord spoke, the Kaalian female, slowly backed away....

 

She'd fix Cephi's wounds, only to witness him take down the bandage, and thus leave his deep oozing wounds open. Normally such an act wouldn't affect Jacquelyn, but Cephi's blood smeared all over the young women during their act of lust. As Lord Cephi spoke, Jacquelyn completed backing away from the man. Seconds later, she was fertilizing the dry ground with her vomit, thus Lord Cephi's words would fall on death ears.

 

Merely seconds later, Jacquelyn finally rose up. For a second, she was thankful the pair were out of view- in a private area of sorts- away from the Rattatakers prying eyes. Even so, she could hear the people chant in a foreign tongue... She was after all set to fight their best warrior.

 

Walking back up to the Sith Lord, Cephi's final instruction will fall on his lover's ears....

"I want you to test this power by breaking five of my ribs."

 

Jacquelyn paused to think about the words she'd just heard. Break five of his ribs, she thought to herself. Why should she? The idea in of itself seemed ludicrous- never mind the fact that his entire upper body seemed to be in need of medial attention. What felt like eternity- in between the girls response- was actually seconds. She thought of her first kill- the villagers at Cardia- and the two men she'd just single-handedly killed....

 

With a slight move of her head, Jacquelyn walked closer to her master and uttered an affirmative "no." A response of sorts to the man's instructions- though albeit truculent. Upon reaching inches away from the Sith Lord, Jaquelyn stopped- silence ensued, as she awaited her master's response to her actions.

 

Reaching down to her gear, she grabbed a clean handkerchief to wipe the emit around her mouth.

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  • 5 years later...

A matte grey ship appeared out of hyperspace in the Gutar Wade system and headed for orbit around the dull red planet that was fifth in orbit around the system's star.

 

Emily had never been to Rattatak before, but the planet held no interest to her. She immediately began scanning for the Traitor's Hope, and settled into orbit, ignoring the messages from the ground air control. They were obviously concerned, since she broadcasted no identification, but she didn't think they would bother her if she showed no interest in them. Sure enough, after fifteen minutes, the messages stopped coming, although she was sure they were keeping an eye on her.

 

Roe'gall had emerged from the bacta tank fully recovered, although he was still licking himself clean and the odor of the bacta lingered in his short fur. Emily fed him a larger than normal meal, and forced herself to eat as well. Who knew when her next opportunity to eat might be? And she needed to keep up her strength.

 

During the hyperspace journey, she had been able to forge and set one of her lightsaber crystals. It had been more exhausting and time-consuming than she had expected, so the other saber still was empty. But the knowledge she had of chemical processes--one of the legacies of her father--had allowed her to make some cosmetic adjustments to her crystal as she built it. Now, she ignited the blade, and was unsurprised to see that it glowed a deep bronze color. It was simultaneously a warm color and a cold one. It hinted at hope, while promising all the flexibility of cold metal. Her first instinct had been to create another silver blade, but for now, she didn't want the memories that color evoked.

 

As she waited for Jaina, she worked through some lightsaber forms, and tried to remember everything she knew about Nhagathul. It wasn't much. She had never heard of it before Jaina had mentioned it a few hours ago, and the databases hadn't discovered much. She would have had better luck connecting to her father's library, especially with it's new connections to Furion's records, but she hadn't had time to link her new ship's datacore to the one on Raxus Prime. She twirled the lightsaber one-handed. Hopefully Jaina could tell her more. But regardless, she'd just have to take the adventure that lay in store.

Emily%202015_zps34rpkjob.jpg

 

"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Traitor's Hope entered realspace as suddenly as Jaina herself had returned to life. A quick scan of the transponders of the surrounding ships yielded no sign of the Shadow's Shine, and the familiar Nubian vessel wouldn't quickly go unnoticed. But perhaps Emily was stronger in the Force than Jaina gave her credit for: her presence leached into the space around Rattatak pervasively. Pulling into a high orbit above the planet, she slipped back into her boots and clipped her saber to her hip. Practiced fingers wound her long hair into an elaborately braided knot.

 

A glance down at her green and grey robes gave her pause. Carrying the mantle of the Jedi Order was yet a new phenomenon for her, and, although all species wore such a variety of garb that she may not be singled out simply for her appearance, sporting the traditional robes felt akin to walking around with a target on her back.

 

But there was an element of strength she drew from them, the reminder of hundreds of brothers and sisters in arms, and the vision of their aloft sabers at the Wookiee's memorial would not soon fade from her mind. She was part of a family, now, and she carried their strength with her. She reached for her niece, watching, waiting. Emily was indeed, quite close, leading Jaina to believe that she had not come here in her mother's ship. Reaching through the Force as she readied herself for their meeting, she touched the tumultuous mind of her niece. I'm here...

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...why are the pretty ones always the most hazardous to your health?

May the Forth therve you well...

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Emily was aware of her aunt the moment Jaina entered the planet's orbit. She let out relieved sigh; Jaina's absence when she had arrived had caused doubt to rise in her heart. After all, Jaina hadn't shown up last time they had wanted to meet.

 

She headed to the cockpit. A chime on her scanners indicated that they had detected the Traitor's Hope, and Emily opened a tight-beam comm channel. "It's me," she simply said. "Do you have comm coordinates, or would you prefer we docked?"

 

Part of her hoped Jaina would say the latter. There was much the two women needed to discuss, both personally and in regards with this mission, and Emily knew it would be simpler to do it face-to-face during the journey to Nhagathul rather than over comms.

Emily%202015_zps34rpkjob.jpg

 

"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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Warning bells went off in her mind, but as quickly as she would silence them on her pilot's console, she hushed them within. Dare she invite her fissiparous and volatile niece into her place of safety? To let another family member enter her home to leave ghosts behind? The cold protective instinct within her screamed to maintain her distance, to fly casual as she entered the atmosphere of their relationship. But why else had she come? Powering down the shields around her heart, she toggled her comm to life.

 

"Come aboard the Hope. It's a long journey, and we need to stay together," she said simply.

 

Preparing the docking clamps, she threw her heavy grey cloak about her shoulders and moved toward the rear of the ship to prepare for Emily's arrival.

53bzzl2.png

...why are the pretty ones always the most hazardous to your health?

May the Forth therve you well...

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There was a pause, then the invitation was issued. Emily nodded, even though Jaina couldn't see her, and brought her smaller ship around to dock with the Traitor's Hope. A few minutes later, the two ships were clamped together securely. Emily linked her ship's systems with the Hope's, letting the two ships' brains communicate for a moment. Then she rose and headed to the airlock. Roe'gall met her there, and she spent a moment in silent communication with the beast as the docking tube pressurized. Jaina is part of my pack, no matter what, she told him. You will treat her as such.

 

She could sense his disappointment, but acceptance. He would never defy her orders. She scratched him under the chin. She was eternally grateful that he hadn't been with her on Coruscant, or she had no doubt that he would have been slaughtered by the Cult.

 

There was a chime as the pressurization finished, and Emily took a deep breath, then strode forward, her skirt billowing around her, Roe'gall following a few paces behind. The far door slid open, and Emily offered a small smile. "Hello," she said softly.

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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Haunted. Hollow. Brushing onto the Traitor's Hope with an air of malnourished sorrow, the spectre that was her niece joined the cadre of ghosts aboard the ship. A shade of the vibrant young woman who had met Jaina with the same greeting on Raxus Prime, Emily appeared so wispy and unsubstantial that if the ventilation systems were to kick on too strongly, she might be swept away.

 

Holding her arms out wide, she folded the younger woman into an unyielding embrace. "Hello, Emily," she said thickly, swallowing to keep emotion out of her voice as she pressed her cheek against her niece's. "It's good to see you."

 

When she finally pulled back, she extended her arm as an invitation as she led the way through the ship's corridors to the crew lounge. To say that Emily seemed thoroughly wrung by her grief was an understatement, but for the moment she would refrain from stating the obvious. "Let me get you something to eat," she said, allowing no room for protest, "and we'll get underway."

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...why are the pretty ones always the most hazardous to your health?

May the Forth therve you well...

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The hug was a little stiff, but Jaina's response was overall positive, and that heartened Emily. "You too," she returned after a moment.

 

Jaina pulled back, then drew her into the kitchenette. Her aunt immediately put some food on, ignoring Emily's half-hearted protestation that she wasn't hungry. She wasn't, but she wasn't going to deprive Jaina of a potential coping method. Instead, she sat down quietly at the table. Silence stretched between them as Jaina prepared the small meal. Everything Emily thought about saying was alternately too shallow or too deep.

 

Eventually, Jaina set the food down on the table and took her own seat. Over the food between them, Emily reached over and took Jaina's hand. “Jaina, things between us are just starting. But I’ve already set it off on the wrong foot." Now that she had spoken, she wanted to keep going until she had said everything she wanted to say. "You know nothing of me but anger and jealousy, and I regret that. I wish we had been able to start off well. I am a mess. I freely admit that. I’ve made some major mistakes, not just with Raynuk, but with my life as a whole. I own those.” She took a deep breath. “And that means I have to admit something to you. I...it’s my fault that Andon died.” She paused. “I had the chance to go with him, to learn from him, to help him reclaim his memories of you and Tirzah. I thought that was going to be my path. But in the end, I had to choose between following him and following Raynuk, and I chose the latter. Andon had told me that he was in danger, and I could feel the Force closing in on him. But I ignored the duties of family. I abandoned him to fight his battles alone. And by the time I had the chance to look for him again, he was gone. I doubt he ever forgave me. And I’m not sure you should either. But if there is a way I can rectify it, I will. This ritual...in the end, once the Cult is defeated, I will do everything I can to bring Andon back. I swear.”

 

Whatever Jaina’s response to that statement would be, Emily didn’t wait to find out, but instead pressed on. “I don’t really like the woman I am today. But I want to change. And I know that’s going to be a long, messy process, but through it all, we’re still family. If you’re not willing to walk through that with me, I completely understand. But I firmly believe that we have a bond that cannot be broken. I want to get to know you better, to learn who you are and how your life experiences have shaped you. I think there is probably much that I could learn from you. But the choice is yours. Whatever you decide, I will honor."

 

She paused. "And whatever decision that is, it won't affect my dedication to help rescue Tirzah. I'm in this, and there's no dissuading me from that. I..." she choked on the words, "I lost my own child." She raised her eyes to meet her aunt's. "I won't let you lose yours."

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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Dizzying words wound around her as Emily spoke. Remorse echoed through the Force, and the taste of regret was strong in the filtered air, but Jaina's mind could not move past one thing Emily had said that she utterly did not understand. She spoke of Andon, of Raynuk, of Tirzah, of the ghosts that held Jaina's hand unrelentingly and constantly, a reminder of her failures and her weaknesses. But to take responsibility for the death and absence of her husband... Jaina had always assumed that Andon had tested the edges of the galaxy at the leading of the Force. That his travels had taken him there in pursuit of some greater cause. She had never found a satisfactory answer to why Tirzah had evaded her father's care, but she had never once considered the idea that Andon had forgotten them.

 

He had crossed the galaxy time and again for her, pulled her back from the edge of darkness, remembered her when she had no memory of herself, hoped for her when she had no hope left. She had been the fire in his eyes. Who had extinguished that flame?

 

With no regard for Emily's tears concerning her own lost child and Tirzah, Jaina's eyes filled with tears of a different sort. "Andon... he... his memories?" Her tone was pleading, begging Emily to tell her something, anything about what might have occurred to build a wall around Andon's family within his mind.

 

Even the scent of cooking meat could not tempt her as her eyes locked on her niece.

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...why are the pretty ones always the most hazardous to your health?

May the Forth therve you well...

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It hadn't occurred to her that Jaina didn't know. But now that Emily thought about it, there was no way for her aunt to have known the details of her husband's last days. Taking a deep breath, she forced her mind back to their encounter on Tatooine. "I was on Tatooine. I ran into him--literally--and recognized him. He seemed to remember me. But when I asked about you, he...had no memory of you. It was as if the memories had been stolen, and nothing but haze was left. I told him you were his wife, that he had loved you...and then for a moment, it was as if he remembered. A fire lit in his eyes. He was determined to track down whoever had stolen the memories of the two of you from his mind, to regain those memories, and to punish the one who had taken them. I was eager to help him. Forgetting one you loved, who loved you back...that would be a terrible fate. He seemed to think it was going to cost both of us a lot..." her voice trailed off. "Actually, if you want, I'll show you the memory."

 

Reaching out, she took Jaina's hand. The Force flowed between the two masters, and Emily opened her mind to her aunt. She tried to shield Jaina from the worst of the intensity of her emotions, but she knew it was going to be difficult; her mind was a shattered place, and Jaina would have a hard time navigating it. Bringing the memory to the forefront, she slowly relived the scene, letting Jaina see every expression in her ex-husband's face, up until Raynuk's voice had echoed through Emily's mind, calling her back to him, and Emily deciding to go.

 

After it was over, she dropped her aunt's hand and avoided her eyes. "I'm sorry."

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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When Emily's hand released hers, Jaina's face was blank. The other woman's apology was meaningless, lacking the teeth of conviction, and carrying only the selfish burden of her negative feelings. And yet, Jaina could not fault her for this. At least, for what seemed like the first time, Emily was beginning to confront the errors of her past.

 

It was terribly inconvenient that such travesties had to do with the things most near and dear to Jaina's heart. It made such teachable moments quite difficult to navigate.

 

"It did cost you both a lot, didn't it?" The reply was dispassionate, a thinly veiled mask of the whirlwind storm within. "Sorry doesn't bring him back, Emily. I'm not angry with you, I just..."

 

Her own conflicted feelings about Raynuk roared to the surface in a tidal wave that she had somehow managed to hold back at every point up until now. Shutting down the part of her mind she knew he had access to, the flood of emotions washed over Emily in a torrential accusation.

 

"Somehow, he manages to wind every female he comes across around his finger. Somehow, he talked you out of your loyalty to An--to my husband, when you were the only one he had left in the entire galaxy. Did you ever think you were robbing him of the chance to find Tirzah? That maybe none of this would be happening? Somehow, he wound up adopting a girl who was your apprentice, who now hangs on his every word like it's the water of life." She knew she was being unfair, but could not muster the strength to withhold her feelings. "Did you ever think that whoever stole his memory, to begin with, may have just been biding their time to take the next step of revenge? You dropped everything at the whim of a man you barely knew, who has done nothing but betray and discard those who have no use to him anymore, even his own child."

 

No longer able to remain seated, she turned her back on Emily, her muscles quivering with grief and rage. "I suppose it was the perfect opportunity for him to teach you what it means to be a true Sith."

 

All her doubts about her own feelings concerning Raynuk rushed back to the forefront. He had dealt gently with Tirzah when the girl had sought him out on Corellia, but that did not mean he was prepared to lay anything on the line for Tirzah or, for that matter, Jaina herself. His offer to help had been words, more words. But she had turned down his offer nonetheless. Maybe, something whispered at the other side of her mind, maybe he would have come through this time.

 

The vicious, vengeful look on Andon's face was seared into her mind's eye: when she closed her eyes, it became brighter rather than dissipating. Can't I just let you go?

 

His words, imparted by her niece's memory, burned a hole like a lightsaber through her gut. Tell me what you know of emptiness.

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...why are the pretty ones always the most hazardous to your health?

May the Forth therve you well...

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For someone who claimed to not be angry, Jaina clearly was. Emily didn't blame her at all, and didn't say anything as her aunt's words gushed forth. She knew she deserved every one. And it was nothing she herself hadn't thought about. But it was really something hearing it all laid out like that. "You're right," Emily replied quietly as Jaina's words ran out. "And that's just it: I didn't think. I didn't think Andon needed my help. He was a Jedi Knight, and I thought he'd be able to face any challenge. That he would find the two of you without me. It felt like he was offering to let me tag along because I offered." She paused. "Of course I was wrong. I understand now. I understand so much more."

 

She bit her lip. She didn't want to talk about Raynuk. But she wasn't going to hold back anymore. "I left him because my loyalty to Raynuk was stronger. I followed him blindly, because I trusted him. Because, even then, I loved him. That love ended up costing me everything, and it was in that moment that the blinders fell off my eyes. He never was what I thought he was. He made promises, but when the time came for him to make good on them, he abandoned me. I know he regrets that, but it doesn't change what he did. He...deliberately chose not to intervene when I was captured by the Cult. And that's not something that will ever go away." Her voice trembled with emotion. "He manipulates everyone around him, and I fell for it the worst of everyone."

 

Jaina turned her back, throwing out one last jab, and Emily just took it. "Rather, he proved me to that he is a Sith first and foremost, and nothing will ever change that. His moments of gentleness or kindness are just more tools he can use against people in the end. The darkness has taken him fully."

 

Her heart still twisted inside her at the harsh words. She was done with Raynuk, and that would never change, but a person didn't just stop being in love with someone in a day, and part of her still clung to him. She loathed it, but part of her missed the blindness that she had lived in. She had been blind, but at least she had been happy. The truth was costly. She sighed internally. Tell me what you know of emptiness, Andon had said. Back then, she hadn't understood. Now, she understood too well.

 

"I know I can't change the past. But I'm trying to change the present." She tried to meet Jaina's eye, as painful as it was. "And hopefully, the future will be brighter."

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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While her own words were unfair, she didn't come face-to-face with that until Emily's own words pricked something in her heart. The man she had become reacquainted with aboard the Ravenhammer, whose eyes swam with bittersweet regret, was not completely consumed with darkness, as the younger woman had suggested. The tenderness with which he had dealt with her in her sterile hospital chamber on Corellia was not indicative of someone who had given himself over to bitter cruelty. Maybe it was just another way to manipulate her, to draw her in and discard her as Jaina had warned.

 

But she didn't believe it. Not this time.

 

Slowly, slowly, she tentatively reached through the bond for his presence, finding a melancholy--but incredibly focused--consciousness on the other side.

 

"It will be," she said cautiously, presciently. "We'll put our family back together. And it starts with going after Tirzah."

 

Glancing hesitantly at Emily, she asked, "In the interest of clearing the air, do you have anything you wanted to ask me?"

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...why are the pretty ones always the most hazardous to your health?

May the Forth therve you well...

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Emily held her aunt's gaze. Then she shook her head. "No," she replied. "That's it. Let's go save my cousin. I'm with you to the end. I won't abandon you like I did Andon."

 

The food Jaina had been cooking had gone cold, but Emily didn't really care. She hadn't been hungry anyway. She grabbed a slice of the meat and fed it to Roe'gall, who had been sitting behind her. He gobbled it eagerly and eyed the rest of the plate. She reached back and rubbed his head. "Did you get to meet Roe'gall?" she asked Jaina. "My loyal partner through thick and thin, he's someone I can count on. And he'll protect you, too, if it comes to it."

 

She fed him another slice of the meat, then took one herself. There was a chime from the navicomputer, indicating that it had finally accepted the coordinates Jaina had given it and plotted them a safe course. Emily raised an eyebrow in mild amusement, trying to lighten the mood. This ship certainly was old if it had taken that much time to find a route.

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"Days in the sun...what I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done, and bring back the light."

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