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The Eternal Vigilance (The Maw)


Tarrian Skywalker

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Darkness, the natural state of all things... then all at once, a deep glow began to permeate the docking port... it was imperceptible at first, but slowly the light source grew, and the then sparks showered through as a red blade cut through the darkness illuminating the entryway and the hallway beyond. This process repeated half a dozen times, each time the heavy armor of the blast door that locked out the entryport to any who would seek to enter the hallowed ground of the jedi. Finally, the heavy door was compromised, and an application of the force saw a round segment of the heavy door sent flying into the cavernous hallway beyond.  The round chunk edges glowed a fiery red, as it began to cool, shedding an eerie darkness. 

 

On the other side of the door, a small number of crew members from the freighter stood ready in oxygen helmets and suits. Kern stood behind them in the dimly lit portal. Deactivating his primary saber, he folded his arms and turned to pacing back and forth, impatiently. 

 

Yava spoke up after taking readings for a moment, her sedate and calm voice piercing through the comm system between suits and to Kern. "Still nothing, but I am getting movement, about 100 meters in that direction, could be someone, or it could be a wamprat." Yava said confirming it once more.

 

"So what now, we just stand here?" The young twilek crewmen said angrily. 

 

"Now we wait." Kern said as he took a breath from the work he'd labored at for what seemed like hours. The Eternal vigilance was now open to him, and he was about to enter as an unwanted guest. He imagined this scenario so many times... he had imagined the faces of everyone of his former folly, the looks on thier faces as he invaded with dozens of trained soldiers, and struck them down one by-

 

"How long?" the twilek piped up. 

 

"Have you ever heard the story of the Dreadbeast of Baklor?",Kern said after sighing and looking off into space.

 

"What...? No." The young man said at once.

 

"The Dreadbeast of Baklor was known as the most dangerous creature on Baklor... the beast ate anything it wanted, animals and men alike. IT killed anything it wished, until one day a group of warriors from a local kingdom came to slay it."

 

"Oh my gods a story... now?" Yava wondered aloud.

 

"The beast growled and thundered from it's cave but it would not come out."

 

"I don't-"

 

"The leader of the warriors Can'on decided that he didn't want to go first into the cave, and so he sent in his brother. Fod the foolish. Fod entered the cave and was immediately eaten. So then the warrior sent his sister, Der the First. Der entered the cave next, stealthily but no matter, for she too was eaten. This pattern continued until eventually Can'on himself entered. But the beast was so full at this point, that it was sluggish and tired, and Can'on slew the beast. He returned him victorious, and was given a castle and power beyond measure."

 

"What a terrible story, are all Sith this bad at telling stories." Anthyn grumbled, the young Twilek not amused by his story. 

 

"Do you know the moral of the story?" Kern said as he stopped in his tracks to stare at the young man. 

 

"I have no-" 

 

The twilek was swept off his feet and in one swift motion was sent hurdling through the void into the darkness of the room beyond. 

 

Yava burst out laughing, and continued to chuckle as the man dropped into barrel of old hazmat suits. 

 

"Never be too hasty." Kern finished as he motioned for the rest to enter as well. Then after a moment he entered as well. 

 

"The internal defenses appear to be off, for now" Yava said as she was careful to enter after Kern, keeping him within arm's reach. 

 

The room was still dark, but was now being lit by the illuminators of the various crew. The twilek got up helped by his other crew members. 

 

"The items I seek will be in the sanctum of the vessel, likely near the quarters of the old Masters, possibly the jedi council room itself." 

 

"Should we follow-?" Yava asked.

 

"No, best continue the repairs, I will continue alone. Keep the comm line open, I may need to leave quickly. If anyone else shows, just say you're salvaging a part to repair the ship." Kern ordered and then continued alone. 

 

"And see that young Anthyn is looked after, his anger amuses me." Kern said with a smile, that only he could see. 

 

---

 

Skye has given me mentoring in the ways of Healing...But shes more of a companion than a teacher to me. What's on your mind...

 

I'm guessing you've alot of questions...

 

You see, the Jedi are afraid. They're afraid of the Dark Side because it is so powerful ...because it is the eventuality of all things. 

 

The Dark Path is the truth, the path for those with sight of reality. Eventually you will understand.

 

The words played in his mind as he carefully made his way to the first major junction on the ship. It enraged him to be taunted by unwanted memories, but he supposed being on the vessel of the jedi was sure to elicit strong emotions. 

 

The ship was a muddle. The darkside and the light were in conflict here, it felt like a battlefield with no casualties. Kern concentrated, looking for the presence he'd felt earlier.

 

"Show yourself..." He said aloud, sensing a fleeting presence that seemed elusive. 

Edited by Fynn Relmis

"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

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The Maw was oppressive to the outside galaxy, and the Eternal Vigilance sat in the middle of a slew of black holes.

 

"Show yourself..."
 

To the erstwhile Dark Jedi, there came only the distant shuffle of feet towards him. The ship was silent, only vague emergency power reaching the edges of the ship where the docking ports were. 

 

Suddenly the force stirred and a voice could be heard, as if carried on the wind to the fallen Jedi Knight. Sounding guttural and echoed from a dozen individual voices whose vocal chords had not been used for a decade. 

 

“Ah the first….” 

 

More feet dragged their way towards him. The dark side reaching out like tendrils from the center of the ship and inhabiting shambling forms of the dead that walked. 

 

“Come my servants will guide you to the Library. I await you there…”

 

The dark side surged again, heavy and oppressive.


“Fynn”

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Guarding the Eternal Vigilance Since 2019

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"Ahh... so you can speak." Kern said as the voice manifested. The strong and unmistakable presence of the darkside filled his lungs, pushed passed muscles and into his sinews, but the darkness here was different. It was like a dark chasm, with endlessness, the maw itself seemed to fuel it. and it seemed to peer into his very depth of his being. It was unending fathomless pain... and It was exhilarating.

 

"I was wondering how long you would hide yourself, I admire your stealth. It's not many who can hide from me so effectively." He continued, as the voice guided him to follow the pathetic shambling shells of the once living. Their original forms were long since twisted into shapes that no natural process could create, and Kern found himself marveling at their hideousness. Whatever animated them, clearly had tremendous power. The thing were not alive, yet they were not truly dead either. 

 

"Fascinating, you used the darkside to accomplish this? Truly ingenious." Kern said genuinely jealous of the beings abilities. This was a power that was not within his grasp... yet. He desired to learn it, to create the same monstrosities. The idea of them was intriguing. To control the living was relatively simple, a string pulled here a manipulation of the mind there, but controlling the dead or un-living? This was a power that Kern had witnessed only once before. He was almost in admiration for...

 

"Fynn..."

 

The being used a jedi name, a name foreign and alien to him. Kern felt a supreme urge to murder it with the utterance. It was a supreme disrespect, to mention such a weak and feeble thing that once inhabited his form.

 

"You mistake me for...a pathetic jedi? Most insulting. Your 'records' are out of date, whoever or whatever you are. That person no longer exists, he was burnt away in the depths of Coruscant by the Dark Lord Furion. My name is Baron Kern, subjugator of the unknown regions... I come to claim this ship and all it's contents for the Eternal Kingdom of the Sith." Kern said sternly, only subjugating his rage to continue speaking. Kern remained ready, but considering that the being had so far treated him cordially, he kept his weapons at bay. 

 

As Kern moved along to where the beings guided him, he recognized the bodies of former republic soldiers, and even some former jedi robes of minor assistants and attendants to the order. Whatever the being was had managed to overcome them all, and installed itself at the heart of the vessel.

 

"What are you? No jedi certainly, but not Sith... speak to me, have you claimed this vessel?"

Edited by Fynn Relmis

"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

Member Since '05 - The Old Ones | Character Sheet

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The voice was rambling, slow, distracted, as the shambling hordes escorted the fallen jedi to the centre of the ship. 

 

“Are you truly not Fynn Relmis? A miscreant shadow of him perhaps, but the kernel remains. Hidden by this terrible rage. Come now Baron, rage is for children and primitive peoples!” 

 

Laughter cackled from a thousand throats. 

 

“You see this vessel was built upon the heart of another Jedi vessel, stolen from its burial in the outer rim. It’s very bulkheads reek with death. Generational Death. It is only right that I should bring the living dead here to enjoy their temple. I serve other masters than the Sith or the Jedi. They are nothing compared to the power of the true force.” 

 

Upon entry to the great library he could see a wizened old man sitting upon a simple wooden chair, surrounded by holocrons, and a shimmering discharge of the force. The dark side was heavy in the room, and the unrecognizable man was very obviously ancient beyond his years. The nexus in the maw was feeding the terrible power that filled the room and bid the dead to walk. Behind the man stood three in very old armour. Unmoving.

 

“This ship is not something to be claimed. You are one against a Legion. The engines cannot be powered by the force alone, they miss their key which is being brought to us by the Jedi.” The man’s pure white eyes seemed to stare off into nothing, as if seeing through different eyes. "Some which you may have known in your past life." A deep wracking cough shuddered through the old man. “Though if you wish to serve a Dark Lord, there are treasures enough here that you may have.”

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sandy looked back at Aidan with an embarrassed expression on her face, a blush slowly and silently filling her freckled cheeks. He was totally right of course, the Jedi training vessel was a floating safe space for the Jedi Order. Was she really just ignoring every little bit of her training in the effort to be too safe for her Apprentice and Aidan? It was ok to spin down once and a while and not be so high strung right? Of course it was, and now her paranoia was very apparent to everyone aboard the the ship. She sighed loudly and shook her head. 

 

“I am sorry Aidan you are perfectly right, there is little there that should threaten us, but with what happened at Gala and Frond I think I am just on edge.” She fingered the lightsabre on her belt and looked back at the control panel. “But I think I will feel better if we prepare just in case. Who knows, the ship might have a lot of rabid Mynocks or something.” She smiled to ease the tension. But the shadow of doubt was still in the back of her head.

 

What were they getting into? 

 

The vessel triggered its hyperspace countdown and dropped them out of hyperspace on the edges of the expansive Maw. A field of black holes and hawking radiation that stretched out for lightyears in either direction. Tucked in the safe space between three of the clustered behemoths, the grey hulk of the Eternal Vigilance sat. Once a great underwater vessel, now looking oddly out of place against the pale light rings of a distant event horizon. There was no danger from the black holes themselves of course, but the darkside was present here. Not as oppressive as the Wound back on Gala, but it permeated the entire cluster. She looked up at Aidan, her brow furrowed in concentration as the distant feeling of darkness splashed over the ship. 

 

“Have you been to the Maw before? I can't say if it is the system itself or the EV.”

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This was something Aidan had never thought he'd ever see before. The view was terrifying in an existential sense, representing guaranteed death if something went wrong. But it also had an absolute sense of beauty to it, the accretion discs of the several black holes all twisting and tangled and feeding into each other.

"How...how is something like this even stable?"

Aidan's stomach dropped as he stared, not exactly answering Sandy's question, but answering enough for her to understand that no, he'd never seen the Maw before, and he was already lost in it. Absentmindedly, he fiddled with the hilt of his staff saber, both nervous and entranced. This was not something he had expected when they set out for their mission from Nar Shaddaa. Aidan had wanted to escape authority and see the galaxy for a long time, but he was completely unprepared for it.

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The sight was truly breathtaking, and Sandy could feel a strange longning in the back of her mind as she watched the swirling existence that was the Maw. Ionized gas from a long dead nebulae gave the entire field a blue tinge that misted into the pine dark points of the black holes themselves. There was something incredibly awe inspiring and dreadful about the entire field that pulled at her subconscious, this was certainly not a stable system, nor could it ever have naturally formed. She looked back at Aidan and then back at the control panel. 

 

“It’s so beautiful…” 

 

That tinge was there again, a faint feeling of shadow in the back of her mind, creeping across her subconscious. 

 

“But it’s so dangerous…”

 

She grimaced and looked at the reading from the initial pass the ship made on the system. Very dangerous indeed. She looked back at Kel and motioned to the shield relay system on the control panel.

 

"Ok watch and learn, work on preparing the ships shields to resist Hawking radiation and ionized gases something tells me we will be hitting a lot of it. Draw on the force and let it guide you."

 

She hit the deep scanner controls and the ship began to search for the frequencies of the Eternal Vigilance. But it was doubtful that it would return anything of value at all, not with all the interference. She reached her hand out to Aidan. 

 

“I think we may need the force to guide us to the EV. What do you think, should we try?”

 

Such an attempt would require a lot of trust, a mind meld of the type that was required for navigation was something that she had not tried since she was an apprentice. 

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As Kel gazed at the maw, Kel couldn't help but be reminded of his home world of Dorin. much like that dry dust bowl he once called home, their objective was precariously placed between a set of black holes. His astromech companion R5, sounded off a set of beeps and trills.

 

"No R5, I think navigating this will be a tad trickier than the Dorin run."

 

before beginning our approach master sandy instructed Kel to operate the shields to protect us from the maw's high levels of radiation. "Yes, master."

 

Kel turned to his station and began operating the levers and dials of the shield generator "R5, divert power from non essential systems to the shields." the astromech then moved to a nearby terminal and began operating the ship's power grid via scomp link. several of the ship's lights turned off leaving only low power led lights for certain areas.

 

"Whatever you're about to do, do it fast. our shields won't last forever."

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Aidan admittedly didn't know an exceptional amount about space travel, but his gut told him the answer.

"I don't think we have a choice."

Slowly, he allowed himself to relax from the view he had transfixed on, going through some of the calming and meditative techniques he'd been taught. It was a little more difficult than at other times, but Aidan still managed through. He began to reach his senses out, feeling the eddies and pulls of the Force that mirrored the space in front of them. In the Force, the black holes themselves weren't voids or absences, but rather highly concentrated spots of energy representing enormous mass compressed past its Schwarzchild radius. 

Aidan opened his mind, allowing his companions to make use of what he could sense, letting them enhance themselves by using him as an extension of their limits. It was only something he'd done a handful of times before, but at the least he was familiar with what was required of him.

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“There's something out there.” Yava, said coolly, as she studied the sensors on the bridge.

 

“What? No chance, who would be stupid enough to-” the Twilek responded

 

“We shoud just leave, I mean what's he going to-” the mechanically inclined Trandoshan chimed in. Kajun had been hesitant to resist Kern, but the situation had clearly changed.

 

“We leave him and we'll be running from the Sith for the rest of our lives. I don't know about you but I like not being tortured to painful slow death. You weren't there when they invaded Coruscant, trust me serving them is far better then not.” Yava said, remembering the awful image of the murderous rampages from years before.

 

“Now shut up, both of you.” Yava said to two crew as they went about repairs. She hit the comm button on the command chair to send the signal as she'd been instructed.

 

“We picked our side already. There's a ship out there alright, and it's probably jedi. Shut off all power except shields and life support, that will give us time-” She instructed quickly.

 

“But what good will-” Twilek barked back.

 

“Well it might... It'll lower our power signature. With any luck the radiation of the cluster will blind them to our presence. And if they do scan us she wants them to see a barely functioning ship with no weapons and little defenses, no threat to them.”  Kajun said as Yava began making adjustments.

 

“Fine, remember a few days ago when we were just running illegal spice.” The Twilek said as he left the bridge.

 

“If they think were in league with Kern the jedi will kill us, just a little faster.” the old Trendoshan said worriedly.

 

“Just do your job. Kern has a few surprises for them, and he's promised me this whole damn ship when we're done, I'm not about to screw this up.” Yava said feelingly slightly sorry for the fools that would dare cross Kern.

 

---

 

Baron Kern listened intently standing in his simple Keshiri armor and mask that covered his face save his eyes which remained temporarily exposed. He heard the old man prattle on about his minions and his dominion over the vessel. It took him a moment to consider the words, and take in the breadth of his abilities. The control of corpses was a neat trick, but it wasn't the grand mastery that it appeared to be. The tendrils of the darkside that animated the forms was a simple mimicry.

 

Though if you wish to serve a Dark Lord, there are treasures enough here that you may have.

 

Kern was silent for a moment as the old man stopped speaking. Then he let out a small chuckle, it slowly turned into a boisterous hearty belly laugh, that finally became a roaring torrent of amusement.

 

“I'm... sorry, are you finished?” Kern said after a moment. “I just didn't expect-” He said trying to compose himself. He casually dropped the satchel he carried on the ground, and turned away from the old man to look at his 'servants'.

 

“You are entertaining... truly, but you don't frighten me. You are but a toothless old sage roaring at the volcano as it rumbles in the distance. You don't know what is coming for you.” Kern said as he tapped a button on his sleeve, activating a trap that he'd set in the landing bay area remembering mention of the arrival of others.

 

Kern shook his head slowly as he folded his arms in disgust. After a moment, the closest servant of the archivist suddenly ceased up, it's body contorting in different unnatural ways, powered by Kern's own manipulations... until finally the darkside ripped the body apart as it screeched, scattering it's bits to the far corners of the massive room as pieces dark red and black viscera now the only signs of it's former existence. The display of power was a simple warning. The darkness here had amplified his power, making it far easier to call upon the force to do his bidding.

 

“Your 'legion' is pathetic. Send them...send ten times there number, and I could still cleave that bulbous block you call a head from your shoulders before you can mouth the word 'mercy'. You've captured a vessel? How quaint. Truly a triumph. I have bathed in the blood of myriad upon myriad who thought to resist me. I have broken more beings then you have dreamt of. I need no vast array of mindless undead minions to do my bidding.” Kern announced. His will was focused, his goal in sight, his entire being ready to accomplish his task.

 

He turned back to the man with eyes as red as the molten core of Kesh itself. It was a flash at the raw power at his beckon call, a deep seething cauldron of hatred that emanated from a place darker then any black hole, Kern himself. He walked past the zombified beings with sullen confidence. He heard a small beep in his helmet, finally, he had expected guests.

 

“Now, as for the jedi? I have felt there coming since before I arrived here, my entire voyage has been foreordained. Do you imagine that you are the only one with vision and means? You think you know Darkness? Pure arrogance. The Sith ARE darkness. Powers vast, unknowable, and unsympathetic have brought me here, and you dare stand in MY way? In the way of the Sith? Pure Folly.” Kern said with a clear promise. His anger rising as he spoke. Threats were for lesser beings, Kern did not threaten.

 

“The holocrons' are mine, and when the Jedi arrive, I will deal with them in my own inimitable way. If you assist in handing this vessel to the Sith, you will be accommodated, possibly rewarded. Resist... or attempt to intervene and you will be punished.” Kern said as he walked towards the holocrons that loomed before him, fascinated by their appearance. He could almost hear the recordings held deep within, ancient knowledge of Sith ways and methods that would pave his way to power beyond measure. 

Edited by Fynn Relmis
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"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

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The deep range scans brought up Kerns vessels for the split second it took for either ship to acknowledge each other, a single unidentified blip against the background static of massive amounts of radiation. It was not that however, that brought Sandy’s attention, it was the very sudden and very real spike of the presence of the darkside. It had moved, it had focused into a blink of rage enough to tighten her grip on Aidan’s hand and for her presence to give warning to both he and Kel. 

 

It was enough to know that there was a Sith here, likely on the Eternal Vigilance. She let the stress and fear escape with an exhale of breath. Then, concentrating on the force, she hit the accelerators. Riding the edge of dangersense and the pull of the force, she pulled the starship in a long loop, bouncing between eddies of ionized gasses, trusting in the force and in her friends. 

 

The grey blip of the Eternal Vigilance slowly grew in the viewing pane mounted in the cockpit, still safe, still silent, but the force raged there. She could feel its pull from kilometers out as she plotted the approach. 

 

But there was the other ship, tucked there in the safety of one of the boarding tunnels that the Eternal vigilance used. She looked at both of her friends. She was doubtful, but the darkside was definitely present aboard the EV, and that meant the Sith had gotten there before.

 

“Should we attack it on the approach?” 

 

It was only a few minutes away at the rate of approach, and it was a simple question, but a necessary one. Take the risk and send a half dozen torpedoes into what could be innocents? Trust that somehow not attacking a Dark Jedi’s vessel couldn't possibly bite them in the ass? She wanted to for sure, but this was not her decision alone.

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The question jarred at Aidan's concentration, pulling his focus away briefly and causing a slight disruption to their connection. The ship slowly veered slightly off of its safe heading, but as he snapped his attention back to the task at hand he was able to help fix it.

"I'm...not sure...valuable ship...probably shouldn't..."

It was all he could manage to mutter as he rededicated himself to feeling out the strong gravimetric currents, finding a path of safety among the turbulent cosmic waves. Maybe Kel would have something to say on the matter, but Aidan couldn't afford more than that, lest he risk their entire mission again.

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The laughter echoed again in a raucous cacophony of rotted throats. Two voices were not heard, for the Archivist was looking at his dismembered thrall with what almost appeared to be pity. His expression softened as he turned back to Kern, portraying a world of sadness in a single look. His Legion began to converge around Kern, their voices echoing a thousand different words, some hands empty, some holding blasters, or other implements they may have died with. The Pure white eyes of their master blinked and the sorrow was gone, replaced instead with a look of disgust. 

 

“Listen to yourself, you are no Sith Lord. You act like a child who only wants his dessert, throwing a tantrum with little restraint or consideration. You are nothing more than a Dark Jedi.” 

 

He shook his white head and stood, leaning on a long staff of black metal. 

 

“You know nothing of the Sith. Those Lords who once carved their galaxy out of a million worlds. They did this.-” he extended a frail hand. “-With restraint, with patience. It was only when they gave into the base instinct of greed and power that they fell from their grace. Until you learn those lessons you will never succeed.” 

 

His voice became solemn. And the force moved heavily. Rooting Kern’s feet to the decking. 

 

“So will you fight and die, or will you learn your lesson?”

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Sandy simply nodded in return and settled back down into the arms of the force, letting it guide her every movement. The slight touch of her right foot on the pedal that controlled the starboard thrusters, that, mixed with the twist of the control yoke that slewed the ailerons brought the craft into a sharp banking turn that snapped them up over the large expanse of the Eternal Vigilance, to the exterior docking tunnels on the other side of the ship away from the other docked vessel. She pulled back swiftly on the throttle, ceasing the starships motion and just edging it under one of the long wings that jutted out of the EV’s side. She matched the speed of the drifting starship and initiated the docking sequence. With a double ‘clunk’ the two ships were magnetized together, the two docking tunnels connected but not yet sealed. 

 

She looked up as her concentration waned. 

 

“Very well done you two.” She kept her voice soft, as if the Sith inside could hear them. She picked her lightsabre off her belt and took two deep, steadying breaths. 

 

The boarding tunnel was right behind their cockpit, and it was now or never. 

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Aidan appreciated Sandy's praise, but there were much larger things to worry about right now. He moved with the rest, speaking up as they entered the ancient spaceship.

"Hey, by the way...I know you both probably feel the Dark Side's influence here, and I just want to say I'm not entirely sure it's just from the region. On approach...well, I thought I noticed another small ship docked on the far side of this thing. I could be imagining things, but...well, I think we all know I'm not. Keep on your toes."

Aidan looked around the hallway they had docked to, lit by nothing more than low powered lighting. Much of the ship would have been in an energy-conserving mode, awaiting full reactivation. That was the logical explanation of course, but it didn't make seeing it any less spooky. After seeing literal zombies on Gala, Aidan wasn't sure what to expect from the Force anymore.

"Well...I've never been on this thing. If I was, it was as an infant, but at the least I don't remember it. Do either one of you two have any idea which way we should head first?"

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Kel simply nodded at his master's praise. As the three of them walked through the boarding tunnel, Kel felt a dark presence distinct from the chaos of the maw. Aidan's warning went without saying. We were not alone on this ship.

 

When the 3 jedi and R5 entered the landing bay they took a moment to discuss their plan. Aidan started off by asking where we would go first. "I think the we should start with the helm. If we can restore power to the bridge, we should be able to get a better idea of where to find what we're looking for."

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"They ignored us..." Yava said grimly.

 

"Thank the maker..." The young twilek said plainly. As he breathed a sigh. 

 

IT was luck. "The Trandoshan said quickly. He went back to fixing the panel below the captains chair.

 

"Either way, were still here, how long on those repairs?" Yava asked firmly.

 

"Another hour, the motivator for the hyperdrive is-" the trandoshan mechanic said as sparks flew.

 

"Just hurry." Yava said as she strapped on a blaster and left the cockpit. She slipped a small utilty belt and pulled her dark hair back from her face. 

 

"Where are you going?" The young twilek asked as she hustled away. 

 

"I've got to stall them." Yava said sternly. She looked at the sensor panel and could see that Kern hadn't moved. 

 

"Thats crazy, they could be pirates, or commando's, or...or...or freaking jedi... what are you-"

 

"I don't know... but Kern is stuck somewhere in that ship, if we don't stall them they could board us or worse. So we stall." Yava replied resolutely.

 

"How!?" The twilek asked stunned.

 

"Like Kern told me... by telling them the truth." Yava said. As she left the bridge. 

 

---

 

"A child... and you are the wise elder? To teach the naughty child to mind his manners..." Kern said as he realized the quick force hold that the entity applied. A simple move, one that only a simpleton or novice in the force would be concerned with. How many times had he been here, aggrieved by a being or person that thought him inferior, that doubted his resolve, that questioned his power? How often had he been underestimated and discounted. The level of disrespect hurled his way by those who could not see his path, that did not have his vision enraged Kern beyond measure. But he contained his rage, he channeled it into ingots of fiery vengeance, it did not control him as it had when he had first turned. He had learned to use the fire, to turn it hotter, to make it his power... 

 

"So, another who doubts me, this grows tiresome." Kern said and with a simple turn of his head grasped the weapons of the zombified crew, the assembled blasters in their hands began firing wildly, Kern skillfully directed each blast away from himself, twisting in place with speed and agility as bolts flew past him as he concentrated on his own aim and accuracy. Finally he retrieved his shorter yellow light saber blade, flicking it to life with a quick hiss and using it to ward of anything that managed to get past his defense. Then he laid into the closest cretin with savage fury, moving from one to the next. As seconds passed, rows of the 'legion' began falling to blaster  shots that blew them in half, cut through their number, and accurate slices from from Kern's blade, forcing them to drop their weapons and writhe about armless, headless, and without mouths to scream. The assorted crowd wobbled as they fell over writhing in sickening other-worldly motions. One bolt managed to pierce his defense, a blast from what appeared to be a former pilot, shorter then the rest. Kern growled as the bolt permeated through his mask, burning a portion of the left side of his face above his temple. 

 

He was tiring of this delay, of this distraction. The last few undead malformed beings he grasped in quick succession, the pain of his minor wound inducing an even greater surge in his ability to draw from the darkside force. This had been a workday for him, but the injury made it personal... more direct. This was no longer an errand. He would inflict suffering on the being that dared stand against him, it would be more then mere revenge. Five of the remaining forms around him were distended beyond recognition, then they burst from the pressure of the direct and humbling power Kern directed. There bodies showered black and red viscera on him and the surroundings, their remnants lay strewn across the large room and bloody remains of intestines and sinews dripped from the ceiling. 

 

The scene was of unbridled gore, as Kern now focused on regaining his ability to walk. He struggled at first, but the force empowered him now, and finally his feet moved from his own will, past the simple yet effective move the entity had used. 

 

"Now then... where were you? Ah yes, challenging my identity as Sith, insulting my petulant rage? I have more then mere rage, I have purpose, I have will, and I have no need to prove myself to a pathetic old creature trapped in a cycle of regret and melancholy." The crowd now dispatched Kern reached out himself, using his concentrated anger to grasp the neck of the unholy being that had the audacity to challenge him. Kern began to use the force to peel back the layers of protection the being had erected for itself using the force, He found every crack, every crevice, and into each he poured even more pressure.  He approached the beings elevated position. "All my life I have encountered beings that have been nameless and vast in their presence, enigmatic and powerful... seeking to control me and my destiny, but now I have a chance to kill one... and I would know it's name before I do. Tell me... who were you before the deception began? Someone with small dreams and pathetic ambitions? A jedi perhaps? A lick-spittle, a lonely lost inconsequential cog in the vast machinery of the universe... so cold and alone that the loss of the ship turned you into this, this shadow... this mere wraith that seeks to humble me?" Kern said, as he stretched himself, look deeper into the feelings of the being had tried to massacre him with his minions. 

 

"In my time as Sith I have peered long into the darkness, Do you know what I discovered? I can see thoughts where others only see blackness, I can see desires and disappointments as clearly as others see the contours of land on a map. All those things you hide... all those things you felt are behind you... I see them, I use them, they become mine. You become mine, your thoughts your desires, your secrets, for some the burden they carry become their chains, chains that are for me to hold. You are not unknowable, you are not vast and cut off, far from it. The more you hide, the more you are laid bare, and the closer I get to-"   

 

That's when he felt them... they were like stabs to his heart, several new beings in the distance, force users, two... three? One was stronger the others more faint. They had slipped in unnoticed, thieves, robbers... brigands!

 

Damn...why hadn't Yava signaled...? Had he been betrayed? The whole ship was covered in so many damned vortices of the darkside and the force, he had missed them...

 

The time had gotten away from him... the jedi had approached unnoticed... he screeched internally, a wave of rage and anger disrupting his attempt to peer behind the vast curtain in front of him. There was no time for that now. 

 

"Damn... damn... damn... damn... damn it to hell! Always interruptions!" Kern said loudly. The attack on this thing would have to wait. "This isn't over... 'thing', when I have dealt with them, I will return for my prize... then you and I will finish this." Kern said, as he flicked his saber to life and sliced in half yet another of the beings minions who attempted to stand in his way, and left to enter the corridor that led away from the chamber.

 

---

 

Yava had just gotten clear of the boarding tunnel, when she spotted the three... she was dressed in the typical garb of cargo crew, a grey and black jumper with many pockets, and two belts for holding various tools. Her heavy boots and gloves were standard Corellian issue, as was the blaster a simple DH-16. Her long hair draped to her shoulders, framing a very pale face with dark piercing eyes.   

 

"Hold it!"

 

She said barked as she pulled the blaster from her hip, if they tried anything. If they were Jedi, she wasn't sure how effective this would be. Still she had to try. The small droid to there side was also of concern, but she recognized that this was no normal group of scavengers as she hoped. She moved from around a large fallen girder, and stood a dozen meters or so away, keeping her eyes locked on the motley group.

 

"No sudden moves tentacle face. Same for you kid, I don't like shooting people as a general rule, kids' even less but today is an unusual day." She said to the Kel Dor closest to her while holding her stance. She approached the teen slowly, looking the trio up and down.

 

"Now, you mind telling me who the hell you people are?" She demanded quickly, gritting her teeth, but keeping her distance.

Edited by Fynn Relmis

"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

Member Since '05 - The Old Ones | Character Sheet

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The sudden stab of danger sense that flashed up her spine was more than enough to bring her lightsabre up and into her hand. It was an old lightsabre, rebuilt from the one that Fynn had given her so many years before. Her finger hovered over the activation switch as her emerald eyes scanned the winding corridors that stretched out in front of the three of them. She took a shallow breath and looked back at Aidan and Kel. 

 

“The Bridge is a good Ide-” 

 

Her voice trailed off as another flash of danger sense brought her head snapping back around and the lightsaber back up. At the sight of a blaster raised and levelled at her and her friends, her finger did not hesitate to ignite the sabre. A blazing pillar of white light filled the dark corridor from her silver blade and she held it in a high guard. She extended one hand and with an ample amplification of the force, she seized the blaster in the woman’s hand and snapped it harmlessly to her outstretched palm tumbling several times over the ten meters. Sandy’s voice was more of a growl then normal as she spoke. 

 

“This is a Jedi Ship. We are Jedi. You and yours must leave immediately, this is not a ship for scavenging.”

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"Hey! Whoah!"

Aidan moved quickly, getting between Sandy and the woman, but he kept his eyes on the stranger for obvious reasons.

 

"Look, what she said is true, but this ship was also left here, intentionally for a long time. The only people that are going to have any use for it is the Jedi, and if you're looking for a salvage claim or anything, they're likely going to be your best option for getting some kind of reward out of this floating metal heap. But that also only happens...if you work with us. So...how about we put the blaster away, yeah?"

Aidan had worked the space lanes for a while before finding employment with the Imperial Knights, and he remembered a lot about intergalactic code and scavenger's rights, and while the Jedi were wise to try and hide this ship, they did also open themselves up to a lot of legal loopholes in doing so if someone ever found it. Of course, everything he'd said was also true, not many people could even begin to understand the systems on the ship or how to work it, and it would be unworkable without the control holocrons, anyways. That made it an interesting relic, but near worthless to salvage teams once they made this realization. It was a large floating hunk of metal at that point, and more money could be made from mining asteroids.

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“This is a Jedi Ship. We are Jedi. You and yours must leave immediately, this is not a ship for scavenging.”

 

"Sure, just take it, not like I'll need to defend myself now that your here." Yava said sarcastically. Looking at the blaster that was now far from her hand.

 

"Look, what she said is true, but this ship was also left here, intentionally for a long time. The only people that are going to have any use for it is the Jedi, and if you're looking for a salvage claim or anything, they're likely going to be your best option for getting some kind of reward out of this floating metal heap. But that also only happens...if you work with us. So...how about we put the blaster away, yeah?"

 

"Oh my maker... are you two doing a good guy bad guy thing? Seriously? You guys need to swap notes on negotiations... this old routine was stale before the old republic days."

 

Yava went to her shirt pocket, "Relax guys, it's not a thermal detonator, its just a death stick." Yava said as she one out and began taking it in. "So you're the big bad Jedi?" She asked, walking towards Aidan slowly, stopping only when she got within a two meters of the woman with saber.  

 

"I must do nothing, you aren't in charge here, and this hasn't been a Jedi ship for a long time. Look around... do you see anything here that resembles some great Jedi stronghold? It's a derelict, forgotten, full of lost things and lost people. If I wanted salvage rights, you'd have to kill me, my crew, blow up my ship... You think that thing is supposed to scare me? I've seen a lot worse...recently." Yava said undaunted by the saber piercing the darkness. 

 

"So let's see, force powers check, sense of moral superiority check... unbearably naive... double check." Yava said sharply. 

 

"Yup, your Jedi alright. Last I heard you were like being hunted by Sith, or are you  Imperial knights now?... I'm not really a news person." Yava said as they checked every box Kern had told her about. 

"First...I'm not salvaging anything, and second I didn't even know this ship was here until a few days ago. Hell, If I had my way I'd be in a Sauna on Corellia being pampered... instead I'm at the arse-end of the galaxy being confronted by you people." Yava said undaunted by the woman's posturing. 

 

"So now what? You cut me in half and eject me out the airlock or do you want to tell me your names, I tell you mine and we talk about this like normal people?" Yava asked as she turned away from the trio, and leaned against a broken Gonk Droid on it's back.  

Edited by Fynn Relmis

"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

Member Since '05 - The Old Ones | Character Sheet

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Sandy let an eye settle onto Aidan as she gave him a smile. This was a dangerous game to play, but she trusted him. They could all feel the very real darkside permeating this entire ship and the darkness of a force user harnessing its power. He was just much better of a negotiator then she was, she knew that already,  so she trusted in his plan, and improvising, she handed the blaster pistol back to the woman who was now very neatly smoking a death stick. She let her eyes wander to the wall, where a giant if faded insignia of the Jedi Order lay adorned on the white walls. What was the woman’s plan here? The ship’s transponder signal, the insignia's on the outside of the ship, and the requirement of the ship to be powered by holocrons indicated pretty clearly that this was a Jedi vessel. Was the woman really going to claim ignorance? But she kept her voice calm, and lowered the sabre a degree to show an accommodation of the woman’s worry. The brilliant light of its brilliant silver blade reflecting from the broken Gonk and scattering across the tiled floor in a myriad of rainbows.  

 

“If there is danger to us all on this ship then we can help each other. I am Sandy Sarna of the Jedi Order and Rebel Alliance. I have no intention of killing you or anyone else actually. But Jedi have senses enough to tell us that there are Sith aboard so we reacted to the threat. Are they perhaps, in your company?”

 

Her voice was calm and friendly again, but her eyes looked to the shadows. 

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Calix Meus Inebrians

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"Aidan."

It was the one thing he said in reply, through a forced smile with gritted teeth. Unbearably naive? Yeah, okay lady, like I didn't just save your butt from the business end of a lightsaber. You're welcome. He decided to not speak much more after that, having accomplished his goal of calming the woman down to the point where she would talk. Though deep down, a part of him regretted it. Whether it was the Dark Side here whispering at his inner emotions or his own subconscious, he wasn't sure. He still couldn't shake the feeling that something was just...wrong.

 

Aidan started to walk away from the group a bit, not too far, just scouting the hallways for maybe a working console that still might have been hooked into the primary ship systems. At the least, a cursory diagnostics could tell them a lot about the state of the Vigilance. It would also likely net them a workable map. He let Sandy know through the Force what he was doing, but otherwise let her do the talking.

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"Aidan." Yava repeated his name back to him, and then turned to the female jedi, the apparent leader. 

 

"Sandy Sarna." She did the same for the woman. Her voice almost carried a hint of recognition.

 

"Yava, Yava Warsaga." Yava replied as she looked over the trio. 

 

"Guess ol' squid face is 'feeling' the creep factor of this place too." She said noticing the third companion didn't speak. 

 

"Ships basically dead, our scans show the reactor is functional but powered down, plus there is way more movement then there should be... it's like the whole ship is filled with people, but we don't get any life signs. it's more then a little creepy." Yava said as she took another drag.

 

"Like I said, I'm not here for salvage rights, and I'm not looking to make any deals. Me and my crew aren't a part of your business, but we were hijacked in deep space by-" she stopped all at once, noticing the the young kid casually moving off, but trying desperately to look like he wasn't. Classic, why was it always the kids who did the stupid? 

 

"-Um... I wouldn't wander off if I were you!" Yava said as the young man began to do precisely that. 

"See the thing is, this whole docking area-" Yava continued with a long drag on the stick clutched in her slender fingers. 

"-covered in traps." She finished shaking her head as to his foolishness.

 

"And before you ask, No, I don't know how they work, or what they'll do when they go off, and I'd just as soon not find out." She said taking another drag. 

 

"Now, you want to make a deal? Ok... I'll go. Put down your light-saber, and walk out of here. That's the deal. Dissappear, scurry back home and tell your other little Jedi friends you couldn't find this place. It's the best I can do." Yava said with eyes of someone who had seen more then she was willing to say. There was a deep darkness to her face, as if her voice wasn't entirely her own, and her actions even less so. Her defiance was undaunted. As if anything they could do was nothing to what was behind her thoughts. 

 

There was a groan in the distance, as if some large metal girder had begun to bend unnaturally, it could have been the natural forces of gravity trying to pull the ship apart, or it could have been something else, but with all of the swirling vortices of the darkside dancing from every shadow, there was no way to tell. Yava had turned to hear it as well, but then she slowly turned back, her earlier playfulness almost vanishing.

 

"You're all running out of time..." Yava said hauntingly.

---

 

Aidan...

 

I am Sandy Sarna of the Jedi Order and Rebel Alliance.

 

Sandy... 

 

Sandy... 

 

The name, I know that name... why do I know that name... I know that name... 

 

Kern turned the name over in his mind, ripping it's syllables to shreds, filtering each sound as if it were a puzzle to be solved. The revelation darkened his thoughts.

 

Of course... the same... the one and the same...

 

The stage, the audience, everything just as it should be. 

 

Kern activated two buttons on his armlet, placing several of his little surprises into the armed position. He stretched his neck once, and smiled, feeling as if he'd been given a tremendous gift. The dark-side was indeed bountiful in it's offerings. The time was almost at hand... 

 

Edited by Fynn Relmis

"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

Member Since '05 - The Old Ones | Character Sheet

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Caution

 

The feeling in the back of head that she always associated with danger sense spiked yet again and she glanced at the blaster she had handed back to the woman a moment before to check that its muzzle wasn’t pointing at her. It wasn’t, and she was safe for the moment. Sandy took a step back and expanded her force presence to fill the area, searching for that evil feeling. She caught hold of Aidan’s inclination and let him go, if there were Sith on this ship they would be close, and Aidan could take care of himself long enough to get reinforcements. She began to draw the force into herself with an intake of breath. The force was strong here, and she would be prepared if something rounded the corner on them. 

 

She eyed the woman again, “If you are a hostage here to the Sith, then stay behind me, we will free your people. We will not retreat in the face of the Sith and their terror.” She looked to @karyu128 and glanced at his belt.  “Kel. Sabre on, get ready.” 

 

She lifted hers to shield the woman as she reached out to warn Aidan. Then she raised her voice, letting her presence in the force begin to pierce the shadows that swirled around them. It was here, and she was beginning to focus on his presence. The malice that flared bright against the background. 

 

"Come out then Sith."

 

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Kel watched on silently as the exchange between the scavenger and his companions took place. From minute 1, he knew that this woman was hiding things from them. firstly because no scavenger would willingly come to the maw unless they knew something worth their trouble was here. Second, the only way someone would know about this particular ship would have been from another interested party. Which means that she's likely working for someone. Although from the sound of it, she was not doing so willingly.  Which is why he chose not to say anything while Aidan and his master negotiated with said scavenger who had now identified herself as Yava.

 

Eventually Master Sandy had seen fit to return the blaster Yava had pointed at us a moment ago. Upon his master's order, Kel drew his saber pistol from his belt and ignited the bright green blade. "R5, Follow Aidan. I'm certain you could be of assistance to him." The astromech trilled in response before rolling off to locate imperial knight.   before mentally preparing himself for the coming battle, he turned to Yava. "We came here because we have a job to do. I'm sure you of all people can understand that much. As for you and your crew, we can help you get out of this mess. But only if you let us. This ship contains valuable knowledge that could tip the scales of the war. The Sith would abuse that knowledge to sow fear into people like you and the rest of the galaxy so that you will become their subservient pawns. If what you and your crew desire is freedom, TRUE freedom, then help yourselves by helping us."  

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Finally, Aidan found a working console in a T-junction, though without accessing it he couldn't know whether or not it was actually connected to anything usable. As expected, the console was locked down. The Jedi really had prepared for the worst when they'd hid this vessel. Desperate times called for desperate measures, though...

As he tried to login to the console, however, the only warning that something was happening was the shrill whistle from Kel's R5 unit as the blast doors around the junction closed off, and vents opened from the ceiling allowing large streams of water to jet into the room, rapidly forming a large puddle on the floor that grew with each passing second.

Great. The Jedi had trapped the place, too. What were they so worried about that justified this level of secrecy? Was it some kind of knowledge contained within? If it was the ship itself, surely the Jedi could have simply built another over time... However, none of this applied to the current situation. Clearing his head, Aidan looked around, paling a bit when he realized a loose cable hanging down from the ceiling. If that had power running through it, and it likely did, he'd not only drown, but he'd be electrocuted as well. Badly.

Panic began to set in, enough to where his companions would easily be able to feel it, but then he began to think rationally. He had a lightsaber, he could cut his way out. The water supply wasn't endless, it was likely only meant to fill the room and then some. Activating one silver blade of his saber, he jabbed the blade at the door, only to be surprised as the blade promptly cut off once it jammed a few centimeters in. Quickly he checked his hilt, thinking the problem was with his saber, before trying again with the same result. The realization quickly set in with him: this was a Jedi vessel, the doors were lined with cortosis. And not just cortosis alloy, but raw cortosis, effectively rendering this escape plan useless.

Super. They'd thought ahead. The water was halfway up his calves by now, and his thoughts whirled. The Force felt far away from him, not offering any hints or insight to what he needed to do. He could hold his breath, likely for a long time if needed, but when that wire made contact with the water, it wasn't going to be pretty. He couldn't think, every single plan he started to devise ending in failure.

But this was a Jedi vessel...and he was forgetting the core tenets of the Jedi. Sandy had tried to teach him back on Nar Shaddaa some of the absolute basics with his visualization of the tree. The tree represented...harmony, working with the natural order rather than burning down the natural order and trying to supplant it with one's own will. The water was waist deep now. Aidan couldn't always control what happened to him, but he could accept it and move past it, move through it.

He could accept it, and move through it.

It was risky. The Force offered him nothing. It was something he'd never attempted before, and something that required complete trust in something he could never hope to fathom. It was a pure act of faith. The water had reached his upper chest now, when it reached his eyeline it would meet the exposed conduit. He reached out, allowing himself to fall into the embrace of the Force. Like their approach to the Vigilance, he felt connected to everything nearby, he felt the Light side, the Dark side, the black holes, everything. For a brief moment, he found the eye of the storm. He knew this was a Hail Mary at best, and nothing but surrendering himself to the full will of the Force would get him through.

The water touched the conduit briefly a few times, the ripples catching it and making contact, the first few nips lashing out at Aidan's body viciously. But he accepted them, allowed the energy to course into him, through him, and with help from the Force around him. No harm came to him, as the Force allowed him to absorb some of the energy, and redirect the rest. But this was merely the first drops of rain from the hurricane, as the water finally made a full connection with the live wire, and the ship's power grid suffered a momentary dip as a large amount of energy was grounded and dispersed throughout the mostly flooded room.

The cascade of electricity was unlike anything Aidan had felt before, but despite it all, despite the temptation to flinch or acknowledge it, he allowed it to happen. His trust in the Force strengthened with every passing second, and after an indeterminate amount of time he felt grated drains activate beneath his feet, allowing the water level to rapidly fall. The trap release had been triggered with the jolt of electricity, disarming the room.

After a moment, once the water was gone, the blast doors unsealed themselves, with the R5 unit waiting on the other side for him. Aidan was soaked, but he was strangely calm. He felt better than he'd felt in years. And it wasn't because of the Force absorbing the energy  and filling him with a bit of vigor, it was simply because he'd made a critical realization, one that hung in front of his nose since he'd been alive but he was simply too blind to see it. The kind of realization that only a Jedi makes: it wasn't about him. It never was.

 

He stood, giving the R5 unit a slight smile. "Yeah, buddy, I'm okay. I mean, I guess I could use a towel, but we can worry about that later. I'm fine. Let's go back and find the others, okay?" The droid whistled an acknowledgement and began trundling back as Aidan followed, lightsaber hilt still in hand. Whatever they faced, whatever awaited them here, he was ready. 

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"Come out then Sith."

...

"If what you and your crew desire is freedom, TRUE freedom, then help yourselves by helping us." 

 

"You want to kill him, don't you? Me too... but he's always in my head. Doesn't matter where I go, or what I think... he's there. I hated it at first, but over time... you get used to it, it's warm... like standing next to a lava flow, at any time that lava could burn you to a cinder but it doesn't. It's terrifying... but you learn to like it." She said to Sandy as she dropped the last bit of the death stick and rubbed it into the ground with her boot. 

 

There was a moment where the air seemed still. Where it seemed as if she would receive a reply. That some voice would answer her. But there was nothing a but a hollow thud and metal clang of metal in the darkness, and something out of sight that seemed to shift, the air seemed disturbed, as some small and insect like thing skittered past them in the darkness. The pair of Jedi could feel the force shift at the edge of their perception, a shadow that seemed to dance just out of reach. In the distance an airlock door crashed and snapped into a locked position. The heavy clanging sound was repeated a second time, and then a third. There was another sound, a slow and low whistle... steady and smooth.

 

Yava looked intently at the other Jedi, her head tilted to the side as she took another drag of the death stick.

 

"This ' true' freedom your talking about? What is it exactly? Can you eat it? Can you touch it? Will it keep you warm in the vacuum of deep space?"

 

"My business is carrying stuff, one place to another...people want stuff, we get them stuff... and in my line of work if you can't touch it, then it ain't really there, and if it isn't there... then it doesn't exist. Freedom? Freedom is just a word people with power like you and your boss lady over there made up to keep us arguing over scraps. You keep your freedom, way things are going, it won't mean much." Yava spat a loogie on to the ground in front of the Jedi and turned back to Sandy. 

 

"I gave you my help already. That death stick... pretty much helped me burn off the toxin. But I guess I took in.... to much-" Yava voice was growing increasingly agitated, but then it stopped. 

 

A sudden gust of wind seemed to come from no where and everywhere all at once. Yava was stopped in her tracks. In another moment she dropped to her knees, her eyes looking surprised and then tranquil as if she collapsing into a deep sleep. The air smelled different... it smelled acrid now. The slow increasing smell of something deeply organic and earthy now slowly turned into the stench of death. The smell was growing stronger, becoming overwhelming. This was no longer natural, it was heavier, harsher... and it began striking at the pairs lungs. Even the Kel Dor's antiox mask was not completely immune, but for how long it would hold up was in question. 

 

"Out of ti-" her last words were muted, as if carried on a tiny shallow breath of her form. There was a final word, a name that was barely audible.

 

Kern...

 

---

 

A voice cried out to Aidan as he tried to find his way back. The voice was many things, like a light beam being being split through a prism. Whatever the voice was, it was in pain, panicked, fearful. 

 

Hello!... is someone there...!? Please Help!

 

The voice rattled through the hallway... bouncing from surface, it's echo's unnatural and strained. The source seemed to be a locked hatch door just to his right. A door where only the bottom portion was held open by a large fallen girder it's weight clearly in a precarious position. A life was in jeopardy... it cried out in the force. It was bleeding, it's energy ebbing... something was dying, and soon it would be no more. It squirmed, it struggled, it clung to life begging to be saved. 

 

Someone had survived, beyond all odds, a pilot, or an officer, someone small and insignificant had survived. The person was there, but they were in mortal danger.

 

"Hurry! I cant-" the voice pleaded, begged, but then suddenly stopped... frozen as if silenced by something terrifying and sharp in darkness. The girder began to shift, and in a moment it would slam down, slamming shut the chance of survival for whatever was trapped. There was very little time to decide, save whatever it was, or allow it to be forever ended. Join his friends, or attempt to save this precious life from it's final fate.

Edited by Fynn Relmis

"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

Member Since '05 - The Old Ones | Character Sheet

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Sandy watched the overly nervous woman pace in front of them, showing all the telltale signs of a severe deathstick dependency. She was obviously very agitated, and the facial tics that showed between each drag were almost disturbing. Sandy had seen much worse than a woman jabbering on and not answering direct questions and she was about to tell her to pipe down and help them find the Sith or to go back to her ship and escape when the stirring in the force brought Sandy fully alert. 

 

Careful Aidan! She did not need to warn Kel who was beside her. 

 

She tapped into the force and brought a protective shield around herself and Kel as the breeze blew past them. It took a great amount of concentration but they were protected from the stirring gas or poisonous acid, or whatever it had been that killed the woman. THis was all one giant trap, it always was. At least she had to give credit to that nameless Sith, they hadn’t bungled it like so many Sith she had seen in the past. But with the force, everything had its source. And having found the darkness that flittered at the edges of her vision, and now this new attack the lines were beginning to cross. She took a breath and let the force fill her mind. She let her presence blow away the shadows that surrounded them and fell back to their source. A single being with immense power not very far away at all. The tendril of her presence seized onto the form of the Sith Lord and pulled. Not very hard, not with the strength of ten men, but enough to destabilize him, break his concentration. Her voice followed. 

 

“Enough tricks, leave now or be destroyed.” 

 

She adjusted the silver sabre and smiled. A drop of sweat tracing one of the small and hidden scars that plagued her face. 

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Calix Meus Inebrians

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Even as Aidan felt the new cry for help, he was calm. Initially he was wary, as there should have been nobody on the ship other than salvagers that had come with the woman they came across. Still, against his better judgment, he decided to try to help, even knowing this was likely another trap.

 

Calming his thoughts, he reached out, feeling the ship connected to him from the gravity generators in the deck plating to the atmosphere recyclers overhead. The door's closing mechanism was a simple design, and with a slight pull Aidan managed to disconnect the wiring powering it. While the door no longer threatened to seal shut, it was still heavy, and Aidan had to concentrate to lift it up enough to where he could crouch underneath. It wasn't exactly an easy task as he'd never attempted to move something this large before, and he felt himself strain under the weight of the thing.

He ignited one of his silver blades to light the room behind the door, calling out to whoever had cried out for help. "Hello? Keep talking, I'm coming to get you out of here..."

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The rush of wind stopped all at once, as the tendril of the force that Sandy had reached out with grabbed hold of something in the darkness and shadows. The powerful presence seemed to stop all at once, suspended in a moment, paused like a boulder falling over just before being pulled by gravity into an inexorable fall. A deep guttural growl pierced the air, and a the words of an unknown tongue floated through their ears and the force itself, a dark curse and rumination that sounded less like words, and more like the cries of a beast as it prepared to strike at it's cornered prey. 

 

"R'the Ly'ru anjma grol'tha!"

 

This unknown language was the tongue of the Kesh, in particular a phrase that had no translation into galactic basic, a dark ominous spell that was an invocation of a people to whom life and death had no purpose, only the pursuit of battle and conquest. The phrase was a promise, and an invitation, a call to a deep instinct in all beings that were mortal... a reminder that death was near. The wave of fear and panic that washed forth was all-encompassing, a feeling of malaise and unease that was all but overwhelming. It was like some great number of people were about to die, and could do nothing about it.

 

Then with a violent reversal, the force which Sandy expended came back upon her with lighting speed, but instead of a gentle tug, this was monumental push. Her power had been absorbed, refracted through one of the vortices of the darkside, and shot back at the pair as a wave of debris and metal fragments, broken droid parts and cargo containers, and the ragged remains of bodies separated in torrent of upheaval. The darkside rolled towards the two Jedi like a tidal wave rising ever higher eventually reach the ceiling of the docking bay area, the sound of crashing metal upon metal almost deafening. Yava's unconscious form was nearly dragged into it as it approached Sandy's defiant position but at the last possible moment the wave subsided, leaving a clear if messy path towards a lone figure at the far end of the room.

 

The figure wore an unsettling mask, covered in markings of a culture unknown to any save a few, it's exaggerated features protruded with sharp angles and from it's eyes, seemingly devoid of life, emanated two darkly crimson and fiery iris's, glowing in there intensity. A short blood red half cape fluttered behind it's shoulder, a mark of royalty, and beneath the mask a body covered with a strange foreign armor it's true contours obscured by darkness and only illuminated by Sandy's lightsaber, and the hot red glow of the eyes. The sex of the being was hard to determine, the tall figure itself was almost asexual, giving nothing away.

 

"Now, now. Sandy, your old master would never have approved of such idle threats of destruction...would she?",the Sith said in a mildly corrective tone that was darkly scolding and foreboding. 

 

The wreckage and debris still hung in the air, suspended as if on invisible strings, tied together only by the manipulation of the force and the sheer reverberation of power the Sith in front of them was exuding. Sandy's defense held, but the Kel Dor was then struck by an armature of some large docking mechanism. The jedi's unconscious form was dragged into nearby shipping container, and the lid slammed shut tightly. Then a moment later the container was flung and crashed into the far corner, lodged in place by an even heavier girder.

 

"Alone at last. I bid you welcome to my ship, sister. Do make yourself at home. You'll forgive me, I haven't had time to tidy up... it's been a rather long day."  The voice was altered slightly by the mask and the vocalizer within added a raspy sheen to it's tone, the edges of the words slicing though the air with precision. It was then the body of Yava was picked up by the force, and deposited near the mysterious figure. Yava was gently laid at their feet as if she were to be an offering to the heathen gods.

 

"I'm so pleased you have finally arrived. With an auspicious occasion such as this... allow me to prepare the setting." The figure said solemnly as it stood stone still it's form only moving slightly as it breathed, it raised a gloved hand, and with a flick of a wrist, several containers and smaller pieces of debris flew to a place near Kern's position, they quickly formed a small throne, several levels elevated the chair, with an odd assortment of desiccated bodies and droid parts, forming a short series of steps, finally coming together just as the Sith non-nonchalantly climbed them and sat down. As they did so, the debris hanging in the air fell, piece by piece, raining in neat little piles that stacked up and formed a long causeway devoid of anything except bare metal flooring. 

 

"Now I believe we have much to discuss." The figure said as it leaned back on the makeshift throne slightly, it's intensely glowing eyes staring intently at the Jedi, shining like two red-hot coals peering down on her. 

 

---

 

As Aidan approached, the feeling of panic increased, finally he could make something out pinned under a fallen metal container. The figure was still almost in darkness. They were tantalizing close, and just as he came close enough to see...

 

A metallic click alerted him to a trap. Before he could react, even with his attuned senses, the Sith device spewed forth from a nearby counter top. The gust of toxic air blasted him in the face, and and acrid smell of toxin and poison filled his nose... 

 

The figure he was moving towards was revealed. A desiccated corpse of a jedi youngling, trapped in the final moments of life. It's dried skin was black and cracked. It's hand outstretched in pain and anguish. It was clear that it had scratched long scars into the metal flooring within it's reach, as it attempted to crawl free... it's last moments of panic and fear had forever trapped itself in endless loop of the darkside, an attempt in vain to free itself using the forbidden powers at it's disposal. It was a perfect place to set a trap.

 

Now there were voices... voices that screeched aloud to him, the sounds of anger and pain and fury that poured into his ears, past his physical ears, to a place within his core... each screech and guttural yell the sound of someone dying with no relief in site. 

 

"You came too late..." the voices scolded. A trio of figures approached him, shadows that had form but no real shape. As they grew closer, they formed sharp relief in the darkness, outlined by an unseen energy beyond all reckoning. 

 

"You didn't save us..." A large statuesque figure loomed over him, almost tree like. It's voice boomed, as it took shape.

 

"You couldn't help us and you can't help your friends..." said another smallish form, almost childlike in appearance. Suddenly the scene changed, and Aidan was transported to another place, somewhere cold and and barren, a field of dying brown grass... and burning fire belched onto distance cities in the distance as a monumental war took place in skies above. In the distance, a spire that looked like the jedi stronghold on Courscant fell to the ground, as many voices screamed in violent death.

 

"Aidan!" The regular size figure finally materialized. "What the hell are you playing at? You really think that you are worthy of carrying my name pulling stunts like this?" the visage of his father stood light-saber in hand at the long end of the room, arm's folded disapprovingly. 

Edited by Fynn Relmis

"Some things... are worse then death, being forgotten for example..."

Member Since '05 - The Old Ones | Character Sheet

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