Ossus

[Sandy Sarna]

The shuttle appeared over the planet Ossus. She entered the autopilot coordinates into the navicomputer and turned to her master.

 

"How did I do master?"

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy let her green eyes drift shut as she reached into the force, her hands tightening on the control yoke. In her mind she expanded her force influence and reached out to the planet below, slowly she willed her mind to control the force to narrow to the planet’s surface and was immediately overwhelmed by the immense amount of human and animal life on the surface. All shining beacons in the force. She focused harder and drew her field of vision up until she found a cluster of beings that felt warm and familiar, friends. She turned the controls and followed towards the presence of the jedi, her concentration was holding, but it was exhausting to delve so deeply into the force, and soon beads of sweat had formed on her brow and were snaking into her eyes. She concentrated on the jedi on the planet’s surface and attempted to shut out any of the salty sting that was coming through her eyelids.

 

Rssnerack? Hausvker-

 

Her heart began to beat faster as she heard the familiar screeching voice of a long dead slaver.

 

Aublene jorchs karslan?

 

And the grunting voice of rust coloured togorian. All whispering at the edges of her consciousness. Her eyes snapped open and she tightened her grip again on the controls before diving back into the force. The voices were gone and as she meditated she could feel a large hand grasp at her right calf. She ignored the faint sensation and continued to concentrate at the task at hand. And then she felt it, a tearing wrenching sensation of mass panic and death rip across the force from some place unknown. She wanted to throw up. But she bit down the bile and continued to pilot the ship, hoping that Tobias was not seeing her weakness.

[Sandy Sarna]

Nodding, Sandy ran her hand through her blonde hair and placed it back onto the flight control panel. She adjusted the autopilot so that is would glide gently into a geostationary orbit above where she sensed master Kirolocca, then regained her focus, a little nervous, but that was usually a good thing. She let her eyelids flutter closed again and reached out to the surface of the planet a two dozen kilometers below them. To say that there was an abundance of all kinds of life down on the surface would have been an understatement. Her consciousness touched life here and there and she could feel the hive mind of a swarm of insects devouring a dead creature. It was fascinating how they coordinated, but there was not the high level mind that she was used to of humans and near humans, the mind that thought bad and unclean things. That felt betrayal and love.

 

 

 

There was a relief in the non-complexity of the insentient mind. A lack of cruelty, a lack of grand ambitions that made her feel safe. She sighed, that was not the world destined for her. She withdrew and looked into the teeming forest at plant life. No sentience at all, but the desire to grow and multiply. Cells forming and dividing, warmed by the sun and fed by the falling rain. Also a nice thought. She began to withdraw to bring herself back to the ship and where her master sat beside her but suddenly she felt a hand on her chest and a deep and old weight was on her shoulders. She shivered and continued to withdraw from the force as her vision was slowly filled with a thousand red glowing eyes. She yelped and shut herself off from the force. She forced a laugh and glanced at Tobias.

 

 

 

“Well there are certainly some un fun things down there but there is a distinct difference in the life in the force. The plants and things are nearly undetectable because they feel no thoughts, and yearn for nothing. They have no aura. Animals are all kinds of complex, but they think in no language that I know, and think no clear thoughts…” She trailed off, hoping she had answered truthfully.

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy nodded slowly, contemplating what her master said, her green eyes listlessly drifting over the control panel before her. She licked her thin lips and her eyes regained focus. She looked over to her master as she began the slow descent towards Ossus, “When you enter the realm of the force, do you ever feel really weird things?” She grew quiet, hoping she wasn’t referencing his old path through the darkside, she didn’t want to make him dislike her so she trailed off for a few seconds before forging ahead anyway her words going a mile a minute. “When I go in, at first everything is like super ok and it's so relaxing like Master Adenna said, but after a little while like when I am trying to concentrate really hard things start appearing, feelings, sensations...a lot of bad stuff mate.” She corrected her verbiage to not sound like her Galan Underworld past and continued, “Sorry I mean master, does that make any sense? I'm scared to touch the force and if I spend too much time in it some really bad stuff happens.”

 

The ship angled into the atmosphere and landed it after a few minuted at the complex on Ossus. As she was snapping off her crash restraints she continued. "When I am in the force, sometimes voices talk to me. I don't think I am a bad person, but I feel this darkness in me that is ever present since Thalassia. It scares me a lot..."

[Sandy Sarna]

As sandy walked in front of her master through the pathways towards the entry way she answered his questions, "Master, the voices I hear are from my past, those slavers that had me on Thalassia, and every so often there is another voice. Feminine and strangely beautiful. I don't hear it often, but it speaks to me of power in some place called the Maw? I don't know what that is, but it scarred me enough to never really want to find out. I try not to answer it" She looked back over her shoulder, "But sometimes it compels me to." She shrugged and stopped in her tracks and bowed. For they were before the Wookiee Grandmaster, Kirlocca, and she had lost her voice for the moment. Finishing her bow she managed to say, "Hello master Kirolocca, I am Sandy Sarna, and you know my master Tobias." She knew that they would have much to discuss, and did not want to get in the way.

[Sandy Sarna]

When she saw the Wookiee Grandmaster Sandy could feel her heartbeat spike in a strange terror, like a kid caught with her hand I the bowl of muja candy. she contained a wince of fear and as she finished her bow she had to force herself to not attempt to hide behind Tobias. It must be the fur. She thought, it reminded her of the Togarian slavers. Though her heart was stilled by the calmness that exuded from his aura in the force she still feared him. She feared the purity that she could sense in him, because it reminded her bitterly of her own internal darkness that ebbed and flowed around everything that she did. She thought if she looked in his eyes her very soul would be laid bare and every secret spilled out like a river of blood from a severed artery. She felt so dirty in his presence.

 

She managed a blush at Tobias’s comments and tried to stammer a comment back but stayed silent, embarrassed of making a fool of herself. Most of his comment went over her blonde head, but she knew there would be meaning there she could pick up through meditation and concentration. She nodded and finally spoke, “Yes after Master Adenna’s departure Lord Peregrin took me in, he has been teaching me ever since, and I am most grateful.” She smiled widely, and prepared to listen to the masters talk as an apprentice should.

[Sandy Sarna]

((Dank filler post))

 

Sandy watched and listened with apt attention to the various jabs each Jedi was taking at each other under the table with a strange mix of awe and sadness. Unsure exactly what her master had a problem with in regards to the Grandmaster.

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy looked up from her holopad with a grin. They were going to Carida? How fun! She sprang to her feet and grabbed her satchel. Looking to her master and back to the wookiee she indicated that she was ready to go whenever they wished to leave. Visiting imperials was not what she had really figured they would be doing on their first mission together, but she figured that it was a hell of a way to start off a fun time. She blinked her green eyes and awaited the masters.

[Sandy Sarna]

Having been trained in the best flight sims while waiting for Adenna for those few years on Gala, Sandy flipped switches and went down the preflight check off list like an old freighter hand. When the repulsor lifts reached 98 percent of maximum altitude she ignited the subspace engines, and with a flourish the ship launched into the atmosphere. She ran thin fingers down the control panel for the hyperdrive and inputted the coordinates for the Old Imperial World of Carida. When they cleared the planet's massive gravity signature she pulled down the silver handle, the stars stretched into thin lines, and they were off to the mission.

 

The automated exit timer clicked audibly down from 48 standard minutes to when they would exit the first microjump where they would enter the flow in the Perlemian Trade Route, from there it was a quick stop for fuel over Dakshee when they entered the galactic disk of the Colonies region. She looked at the list of timers, from there it would be a 20 second microjump into the heart of the Empire. If they didn't hit any Imperial choke points or the hyperdrive mines used by pirates in the region, they would be on Imperial Soil within 3 hours. She sat back and watched the timer tick down with a smile.

[Sandy Sarna]

Jedi Knight Haley Nekkia walked towards the landing fields at a jog, she was a member of the welcoming and sorting division of the Jedi Temple, And had been appointed to bring each new comer of adult age into the hopeful section of the temple. She was a Lorrdian from Lorrd, red haired and lithe, a centimeter above one point five meters and a month over twenty five. Her hair mostly covered by a band of cloth that kept the sweat from the morning run out of her eyes, she jogged up to the Hunter, and waved jovially to Correx before speaking, slightly out of breath.

 

“Hello and welcome to the Ossus Jedi Temple! I assume you are here to take part in the life of a Jedi? If so you can follow me to where I will conduct your entrance tests, if not please state your business with the temple.” She indicated the long dirt path up to the entrance with a sweep of her blue roped arms and bowed. "I am Jedi Knight Heley Nekkia, at your service!"

[Sandy Sarna]

((Lets see some character development, expand on what you are thinking in your posts, describe the environment as well))

 

Hayley let a laugh pass her lips and grinned, it had been a week since a newcomer had arrived at Ossus and she was happy to show him his way on his path. She thought for a moment and then said.

 

“My name is Haley, and your knives will have to be turned in to the door guard if that is ok with you. No weapons may pass our doors until you are an apprentice.”

 

She paused at the doorway and indicated where he could stow his knives and when he had done so walked with him to a large chamber with many seats, most of them empty. Closing her glacial blue eyes, Hayley summoned the force and walked to the center of the room.

 

“Tell me Correx, how did you first encounter the force, tell me everything and in as deep of explanation as you can.”

 

Hayley herself thought back to the days of her youth on Lorrd where her first encounter had been with imperial troops in an invasion of her homeworld. She shivered a bit, recalling the rain that had swept the platform as the troopers had gunned down her family, her friends, her brother. Even two decades later she could feel that righteous anger bubble up for a second before she dispelled it. Those crimson bolts, the smell of ozone and burned flesh. Her anger as she lashed out with anything she could muster, throwing that execution squad off the landing platform, where they clattered like tin soldiers on the ground a hundred stories below. Their lives snuffed out like candles in a gale. She was still healing from that day, and though the masters wished she would, she did not feel guilty for it. Evil could not triumph, and she had been saved from a life of it by the Jedi. Perhaps this man’s story was similar.

[Sandy Sarna]

((Well done man, let's work on some basic force stuff))

 

Hayley nodded solemnly as she listened to the Cathar’s tale. Thinking of her own path that had brought her here alongside so many others. The anger was the hardest thing to let go of. She cocked her head to the side, her eyes staring into his.

 

“So your anger is what brought you this far, the rage and rush of death, that is not the Jedi way, would you be willing to reject that past and embrace a life apart from such rage and feelings?”

 

This was a crucial moment in a Jedi hopeful’s career, and was not something to be taken lightly. She sat down in front of him, her legs crossed below her and indicated that he should do the same. Reaching out she took his furry hand in hers and let her eyelids drop closed.

 

“Meditate with me on this, look into that anger and reject it. Feel the force around you in life and learning, it is a soft voice calling for you, heed its voice and flow. Do not turn to the easier path which is also before you, for that is the path of darkness from which most do not return, reach out and touch the force.”

 

((So the idea here is that you can meditate on your past, and describe what affects your character’s rage, reject it, and then move on to feeling the force around you, describe what it feels like, how it speaks to you. Then begin the process of touching the force. You are doing great!))

[Sandy Sarna]

Haley concentrated on Correx’s mind as he followed his journey with the force, his ups and downs, his anger, all there to be read. Though she barely knew him, she was proud of him for the encounter with the Kiltik and even prouder for his determination to face down the shackles of pride that were so common in his culture. She nodded to him and placed her finger on a small pebble next to her boot, ensuring that he saw the pebble she reached out and brought it to float between them using the power of the force.

 

“Touching and even lashing out with the force is the initial step on your path as a jedi, and your confrontation with your past is a path that you will walk for many years, now reach out with the peacefulness, touch it. Feel it surround you, binding you to the earth you sit upon, the connection between myself and this pebble. The force is a subtle thing and rejoices in its use as a tool of the light. But to use such a power in anger is a terrible thing, and something that we do not do lightly in the Jedi. Though you are older than many apprentices you must learn that it will take you a very long time to grasp the force and use it, even longer for you to be ready to use it as a weapon of war. For now…”

 

She let the pebble drop to the tiles, where it clattered loudly in the empty chamber,

 

“Reach out with your mind, touch this stone, feel it, feel the bonds within it, then lift.”

 

((This is of course an 'easy force power for a Jedi knight, but should be something that your character can struggle over and even fail at. Go through his emotions with such a failure in light of his past. Visualize everything you do to life the pebble, describing it as much as you are comfortable with))

[Sandy Sarna]

Haley was unfazed. She reached out with the force and brought the pebble again to rest between them. She looked him in the eyes and slowly nodded her head.

 

“You may think I am disappointed but that is not so, it would be unnatural for you to be not angry at failing at such a meaningless task. The real path is to accept that anger as it comes and dismiss it, do not use the force in anger for that is a manipulation and can easily turn you closer to the dark than you imagined. Let's practise reaching out again, close your eyes.”

 

Hayley let hers flutter closed again and she reached out with the force, expanding her presence to fill the room around the two of them. “Imagine your own presence like a bubble that surrounds you, feel the force flow within that bubble and when you are ready we can begin to expand it beyond your physical reach.”

 

((Doing great man keep it up))

[Sandy Sarna]

The force was like a breath of fresh air, and everyone who touched i added to the breath until it became a wind. It wa always refreshing to see another join the gale.

 

“Well done, now take that tendril of the force that you used to move the pebble and lift that chair over there.” She pointed to a distant ironwood chair that had been used by many masters through the ages to instruct children, and its armrests showed the wear of the ages. “Remember that though you may be intimidated by its size, size matters not. The force surrounds everything and can be used to move objects no matter the size.” She let out a quick laugh, “Though it takes significant strength to channel the force to move something bigger than a starfighter. Remember that your body is the channel for the force, use it as a conduit, and if you abuse the force or your body that conduit may be damaged.”

 

((Now this should be another struggle, but it should be easier than the first time, have your character cast away the frustrations of failure and grow))

[Sandy Sarna]

“Well done!” Haley exclaimed, somewhat surprised by the new hopeful. “You are very strong, but before we go further, I must know more about you. Tell me about yourself, your trials, your family, what makes you a man, what makes you who you are. After that we can begin a bit of combat sparring.”

 

((Type in as much detail your past, like you would tell a real human about yourself. Then also show the characters thoughts and struggles with his own past. Describe with detail if you can. You are doing great with the force, I want to see some development of your character as well. That is a long process, so just start it. ))

[Sandy Sarna]

They hyperdrive jump to Ossus followed the star charts that the Jedi Order had made from the many thousands of similar jumps from a decade prior. Though the charts were old, they shaved hours off the short journey. 

 

Sandy sat in the passenger bay of the shuttle, staring at her bitten hand as the crew rocketed through hyperspace. She was concentrating on the force, willign the tissues to heal and bind but was having no luck at all. The bite seemed actively resistant to the force and as she dabbed Bacta on the bloody wound, it did little to abate the necrosis, little black lines that seemed to be tracing up her palm towards the wrist. She cursed silently before looking up at her companions. She smiled widely at Frond and standing after wrapping up the wound in gauze she embraced him best she could. 

 

“Well done everyone back there and Frond...” She looked up at him. “I am so glad you are back with us.” 

 

The ship pulled out of hyperspace above the planet.

 

She gestured towards the planet rapidly filling the viewports. 

 

"This is a current active facility of the Jedi, though it is reclusive and hidden. We are not likely to encounter the darkness we felt at Gala here. But still be cautious." 

[Sandy Sarna]

The Jedi Order’s presence on Ossus was not as pronounced or as fillled with grandeur as one of the old temples on coruscant may have been, but it was homely enough. The long antennas of the deep space communications array stretched into the grey blue skies as the starship containing the Jedi and Imperial strike force made its landing approach. There was a sharp dip as they entered the crater of the Eye of Ashlanae. Once considered the very peak of jedi power some many thousands of years before, now all that remained was the powerful essence of the force itself and scattered ghosts. It was all still a sight to behold, toppled statue’s whose faces were carved away by the rains of time, shattered monestarial pillars and minarets, now just stumps of withered limestone. The new facility though lightly staffed was mostly filled with communications technicians and archaeologists. The great Jedi Library had once stood at the center of the ruins, destroyed by Exar Kun, and was still under full excavation. There was little doubt to why the Holocrons had been placed in this facility, this was the last vestige of the noontide of the jedi order. 

 

That thought made Sandy slightly ill. They had fought for over four thousand years to restore the jedi order to what they had once been, and still they were no closer. Like beating back the tide with a shovel. 

 

The Master Archaeologist bowed his greetings, his Lekku bouncing a happy jig on his shoulders. He gestured to three sealed crates behind him which were being guarded by three apprentices who wore training sabres and grins instead of any kind of malice. 

 

“Jedi Sarna, we have been awaiting you. Little Corán there-” He pointed to a blonde headed apprentice who smiled widely and gave a wave. “Foretold us of your coming. He said a….No Corán, you speak it better. Come here and give the Knight your report.” 

 

The toe headed young man bounded up with a spring and a bow to each of the party in turn before speaking. “A broken party with deceit in its roots will attempt to reclaim the lost Ark. We had been taught about the Eternal Vigilance last year and for some reason I could see it in my dream you see.” The Jedi Master coughed and the apprentice restarted his prophecy. “Darkness is in the blood, and that they needed the Eternal Holocrons to bring the vessel for redemption.” He shook his head. “I saw death stalking the ship, an old man cackling in its bowels, and the darkness claiming each of you.” He looked distraught. “I...Hope it goes ok…” He kicked at the dust then burst into tears. The Jedi Master shooed him away then turned to the party. 

 

“None the less, the force is stirring here, its touching each of you. I regret that we can not give you more help.” He turned to Aidan. “You will need your father’s login credentials to even get through the bulkhead doors.”

[Sandy Sarna]

The aged stone felt so coarse to her bare feet as setook off her boots and leg armour as she distantly watched the ship be refueled and restocked. She stripped off the white silver armour the imperial knights had given her, leaving her just in her flight shirt and pants, which though stained from the battle beforehand, didn’t immediately need to be changed out of.to relax. The removal of the armour was enough for her, and she loved the feeling of the rock under her feet and the wind in her hair. The thousands of years of rain had left the brown-red stone pockmarked with microabrasions from the intermittent weathering of ice and heat. She climbed up the small hill of stone that had once been an ancient toppled statue and pulling her legs underneath her, meditated. She concentrated first on the decaying wound on her hand, pulling deeply on the force to staunch its corruption, halting the decay if not reversing it. Then her mind began to wander. She found the stark presence of Aidan in her mind, talking to the confused presence of Frond. There was something off about the tree like being, but she couldn’t place her hand on it. There was something there….an ebbing of the force maybe? But Aidan was coming her way and Sandy pulled herself out of the trance. 

 

She opened her emerald eyes and looked down at the handsome Imperial Knight. 

 

“You seem dejected Aidan!” She said it lightly, though she hoped if anything was really bothering the older man he would talk to her. 

 

She lept the several meters down the hill to land at its base near him and grinned. Walking the few paces to be near to him but not too close to be that cringey young girl she had been. 

 

“What is on your mind?” 

 

____________

 

Corán, in his red tunic, apprentice sabre tied onto it with a clip, long braid that stretched from ear to shoulder, strode towards the distant tree like Jedi. Reaching the being whose roots were testing at the nutrients of the Old temple grounds he spoke.

 

“Master Tree, you seem troubled as if anything could shake you to your deepest roots.”  

 

His clear blue eyes stared at where he thought the beings face was.

[Sandy Sarna]

“Of course I would lo-” Sandy closed her eyes for a moment. “I would really enjoy that Aidan, lets get some food that doesn’t taste like metal permaseal and recyc water..” She turned their walk towards the distant other side of the archeology site as she pondered what he had said. 

 

His lightsaber? The one they had made together years before? She took a moment before responding. Her voice pensive, and her eyes watching his face as they walked together. 

 

“I have not seen Frond for many years, before Nal Hutta he was my apprentice before Tobias took him and he was lost they say during that time.” She bit onto her lower lip for a moment. “He is a very strange person, believed that Ang-Ti stuff I think. That was before the Failings of the old Council, most of which stemmed from stuff like that. I will check up on him after we are done, but I have to say his riddles don’t help the conversation at all!” It was a piteous attempt to bring up Aidan’s spirit, so she grimaced at herself and guided them to the small outdoors café that was staffed by a mixture of droids and apprentices on duty stations. 

 

That was certainly something that Sandy did not miss, the duty stations apprentices had to have before they were chosen by masters. They were shown to a table and Sandy picked back up the conversation after thanking the apprentice for the cups of water they were given. 

 

“I am sure you did fine Aidan, some people do not want help in their problems…” She tucked her hair behind her ears and took a sip of water before continuing. “...They just want other people to lay the burden onto. Like if you spread suffering around you don’t feel so alone in suffering? I guess that's the turn of phrase.” She didn’t want to assume that was what Frond had done, but if it was bothering Aidan than much, there had to be more. But she left it there. It was better not to prize into her friend’s hurt, if he wanted to talk He knew she would listen. 

 

She cocked her head towards one of the apprentices that was trying to clean tables with the force. “Did you ever have to do that kind of stuff when you were on Gala or Tython? I know I did on Gala and I hated it.” The fact was she didn't know much about his apprenticeships, other than when she had seen him at a far distance during her own apprenticeship. 

 

[Sandy Sarna]

Their food arrived, handled by a nervous apprentice that looked positively shocked that they had to serve important Jedi other than the normal crew of archaeologists. Sandy let out a hearty laugh as she watched Aidan use the force to manipulate the fork around his plate. She tried to copy him for a moment and succeeded in smashing the glass of water so that it soaked her lap. She grabbed a napkin from the table as she blushed a bright red and continued laughing. The thin white lines that appeared on her flushed face marked where the real worst parts of her apprenticeship had been. But she had moved past that, and though the scars from the trauma were there, she was the stronger for them. 

 

She was thoroughly embarrassed however, telekinesis was one of her strong focuses, but she shook it off as she had devoted very little concentration on the task. And it had left her with a soaked tunic, which was not all that bad of a thing even as the heat of the day began to dissipate into dusk. 

 

“The worst thing I had to do when I was an apprentice was deal the constant ill temper Master Adenna had. She reminded me so much of my mother who I had run away from to escape! She taught me very consistently though which was nice if a bit rigid.” She took a bite of her food, which tasted so much better than anything the ship had produced for the last few days. “Well Aidan, you are a very competent force user. I would be lucky to fight with you beside me whenever we face off against the Sith. You have come so far.” 

 

 Was that too over complimenting? Probably. But they had both come so far since Kashyyyk. Since that damned beach. Her eye caught the apprentice who put down two mugs of Caf in front of them before beating a hasty retreat. She took a sip and put the mug back down, looking at her food then back up at Aidan. They had always talked about work, mission stuff, past memories. And there would be time to talk about that, there would be time to talk about her scars and everything, even if was now. But she wanted to be sure. 

 

“How are you feeling Aidan? Like beside Knights, beside Frond, this mission all that. Like how are you feeling inside? Are you okay?” She quickly regretted cutting so close to the point like she was pointing something was wrong and quickly clarified. "Like not that I see anything wrong, or that my Jedi sensors are going off, but I just worry about you and want to make sure you are alright." 

[Sandy Sarna]

She kept her eyes on his face as she reached for another bite of the delicious bread that had been served as an Hors d'oeuvre to their main course which was just now coming to an end. She was very glad the Imperial Knight was beginning to find himself, to get beyond his father’s legacy. It would be a painful next few weeks very likely, as this mission would take them very close to the older Darkfire’s steps. Sandy regretted it, and was about to say something of an apology when she felt the dark side stir on the verges of her consciousness. It was subtle at first, then burst to life like a dark storm. 

 

The bread turned dry in her mouth as the force echoed throughout the archaeological dig site, dashing upon the two of them like a dark wave. Without her even trying or knowing, her long handled sabre was in her hand and the plate of food left half eaten. She struggled to swallow the mouthful of bread for a moment before she achieved it and leapt over the table to join Aidan. She wiped at her mouth with her sleeve as she began to run towards where they had left the tree like being. The very place the darkness was beginning to disappear from. 

 

“I was so foolish dismissing your concerns like that!” She cursed at herself as they rounded the dig site to see the tree tumble over like its roots had been cut from underneath it. 

 

Sandy dashed forward and picked up the dazed youth, hurrying him away from the fallen Frond and into the arms of his master who had also come running along with half the active Knights and Masters in the digsite. When the child was in safe hands, then she knelt beside Frond and placed her hand furtively on his bark, reaching out with the force to find him inside his shell. 

 

“Frond? Wake up friend. It’s alright. We are here.” 

 

What had happened? 

 

She looked around for the sabre Aidan had spoken about but could not find it. But inside Frond she could sense the tinge of darkness. 

[Sandy Sarna]

How did everything spiral this far outside her control? 

 

Sandy distracted her mind with the effort of putting away her sabre and reaching out with the force, sending a tendril of energy towards Frond. Reaching, looking, trying to find what had possessed him, but she could find no reason other than a vague feeling of shadow and struggle within the Neti until the sabre sprang to life deep within. IUt started as a smell, then a white hot yellow beam came shooting out of the Neti and it caused Sandy to cry out in surprise. 

 

She immediately switched over from her combat mindset to one that she had also trained extensively on, Healing. The sabre came loose, and not knowing all there was about Neti biology she clapped her hand over the hole from which the blazing sber had come. She applied pressure with one hand and with her other hand she pointed to one of the Masters that had been summoned by the darkside presence. 

 

“Medical team. Now.” 

 

A pit droid of all things scooped up the sabre from beside her as she struggled to staunch the flow of red-gold sap that was now thoroughly coating her hands. She gave it a glance and a curse as she saw its familiar markings. It would have to be dealt with later, for now there was a much more pressing matter at hand. She let her emerald green eyes flitter closed as she felt the pulsing of the sap against her hands. The Neti was in dire straights, and with a wound channel as big as a lightsabre, and with bacta likely ineffective on plant like beings, it was now up to the force to save him. 

 

She steadied her breathing and let the force flow through her, gathering it in her palms, pushing it slowly through her hands into his body. It was strange, an alien form that worked very differently than a human form. She concentrated, finding the Neti’s own healing cells, and filling them with the force, accelerating them, finding the gushing central core and beginning to seal off the internal wound. Stopping for the moment, the loss of sap that would end the tree like being. She next touched his mind, letting him know that she was there and to calm whatever was troubling his mind. 

 

There would be questions to be answered, but for now avoiding his death was the top priority. Sabres and apparitions be damned. When the medical team had arrived, she had mostly stopped the internal bleeding and stabilized him for transport. 

 

She stepped beside Aidan as they walked with the medical team to the medical wing and looked at her sap covered hands. 

 

“I….” 

 

She turned her tired eyes on the Imperial Knight

 

“...I failed him.” She hung her head grateful for the lack of eyes that would be looking at her in the momentary show of weakness to her friend. Her head snapped up at the presence of Tobias, and her eyes hardened slightly as they entered the facility, trailing the medical team. She made sure the Neti was well situated in the medical ward before she sat down beside him and wiped at the sap on her hands with a rag covered in medical alcohol. She smiled wanely at Aidan and then leaned in next to the Neti. The sabre would come next but for now she needed to check on him. With permission from the orderly she reached out with the force.

 

“Wake up Frond.” 

[Sandy Sarna]

That sabre was a curse upon the whole group of them. Sandy gave it a glance as the Pitdroid held it up to his master, then looked back at Frond, still reaching out with her mind to give him reassurance. It was nice however to feel the reassurance of Aidan touching her mind as well, it bolstered her, raised her spirits from the self doubt that she could feel gnawing at the edges of her consciousness. That confident spirit overwhelmed her need to self doubt and she gave Aidan a thankful smile. She could feel his own struggle over the sabre and that darkness, and hoped that he could feel how proud she was of him. 

 

Frond grabbed her arm and she turned back to the Neti. He was speaking in riddle again which was by far the least helpful thing she could experience at the moment but she interpreted it the best she could. She could feel his longing for the sabre and it disturbed her. 

 

“Give up on the Sabre frond. It will be destroyed, it is too dangerous to us and you. Frond I need you to tell me if you have been infected by whatever that-” She pointed to the sabre. “Has infecting it.” She placed her hand on top of his. “We are all here for you, to help you get through this, but the desire to leave it behind must come from you alone.” 

 

She turned to Kel who had asked a question about what happened. She gave him a reassuring smile.

 

“The Darkside surrounds us, even when we least expect it Kel. It is never to be tempted with, ignored, or encouraged. It is a dark seed that we should never give an opportunity to take root.”

[Sandy Sarna]

The stirring of the force in the Neti did not fully leave him, but he seemed resolved to try. She could feel a swell of pride in her chest as he dismissed the sabre, a living part of himself and let it go. It was the first step, a step that was necessary to leave the darkness behind. Her eyes welled up with involuntary tears for a moment before she blinked them away, wiping at her eyes with the hem of her tunic sleeve. She looked at Trushan and gave her an appreciative smile as well. 

 

“I am so proud of you Frond.” 

 

She leaned down and gave him a firm and loving hug, before backing off to let the medical team give him another look after he collapsed. She listened to Tobias’s apparition, glanced at Aidan then back at Frond. Her emerald eyes narrowed. Who was he to continually interfere like this? She grasped his hand again. Rebuking Tobias’s command, Sandy spoke loud enough for the group of apprentices and Trushan to hear. 

 

“Do not go back where the shadow’s lie Frond. Rest in reality, not in the lair of shadows. I will return.” 

 

She beckoned to Aidan and with an air of agitation strode into the bacta chambers, where a Jedi medic was staring at the pit droid holding the sabre. She dismissed him with a wave and rushed forward. Reaching out to the force to ask Aidan for help should this fail. The sabre was of the darkside, dangerous, and Tobias could easily be influenced by it or anything 'beyond shadows' again. Frond had released it, so she did what she through was right. With a flick of motion, her sabre sprang to life in her hands, casting a stark white light over the lines of tanks. Acting out of a stern feeling of righteousness she twitched her hand, avoiding the poor pitdroid and cut through the branch like sabre and crystal with ease. The tip of the sabre gouging a furrow from emitter to base, fusing the cadmium battery and blasting the sensitive crystal to smoking pieces. There was a small force fed explosion that knocked them back, but the sabre was as dead as any branch cut off from a tree. Charred and smoking, devoid of life and darkness. She extinguished the saber and looked up at Vos's tank where he still floated. 

 

“What is it Master Vos?”

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy’s eyes narrowed to emerald slits as she could feel the frustration and anger flowing freely from her one time master. She made sure her sabre was safely extinguished and clipped back onto her belt before she stepped forward to help the Jedi master to his seating. She was not quick enough however and one of the pit droids accomplished the task before she could. So she stepped back and watched, she did not bow her head in reference as she might have once done. Instead she let her demeanor remain cool and collected, she was confident in her actions, and could not understand his reaction. The sabre and its darkness had been destroyed! 

 

Three medical orderlies immediately began setting up another bacta tank up for Tobia Vos, trying their best to ignore what was likely a beatdown from one jedi to another 

 

At his words, Sandy cocked her head to the side, her face becoming flushed with her reaction to his words. She bowed once, keeping eye contact as she did so, then she answered him as she walked to the doorway, motioning for Aidan to exit first. 

 

“I feel like we are two very disappointing Jedi, Master Vos. I acted with a clear conscience and the report should reflect that. I will report to Adenna when I am finished with this mission as are my orders. My apprentice is clean of his temptation, at least for now. Without the need to expose any of us further to its malevolence. A malevolence that came from Beyond Shadows. I thank you for your ship, and I wish you a speedy recovery.”

 

She turned before she fully exited and gave him an actual concerned smile. 

 

“And master-” Her green eyes showed her concern for him and his state as the medical officers began to treat his bleeding wounds and place him into the bacta tank. “-May the force be with you. Truely.”  

 

______________________
 

She strode into the medical ward where Trushan, Kel, and Frond were gathered. She lovingly embraced the Fosh Jedi who she had met and adored so many years ago. THen turned to Frond and Kel. 

 

“I felt your pain Frond, I am so sorry I had to do that to you.” She placed a tender hand on his shoulder. "I wish there was another way." 

 

They would be leaving soon, and she needed to let him know that she was there for him should he need her. She was his master afterall, as much as a young woman could be to an ancient being. 

 

[Sandy Sarna]

“Remember Frond, though I may not be here, don’t surrender to that desire to go beyond shadows. You are stronger and better than it. I’ll see you soon old friend.” Sandy gave Frond a firm and loving hug as she stood, then nodding to Kel and Aidan, she walked out of the Medical bay towards the refuelled ship that would take them to their destination. Technicians were finishing the loadup of the power holocrons into the cargo hold, and the navicomputer was being programmed by some of Tobias’s very helpful droids. 

 

It was still a crap shoot to see where the Eternal Vigilance would actually be, but for the ship was loaded and the force needed to be consulted, as did her remaining Padawan and her dear friend Aidan. It was only the three of them now, and with the reduced numbers, should anything go horribly sideways, they could all get captured or killed. 

 

She took a deep breath as she sat down in the ship's cockpit. After a quick takeoff procedure, she spun her seat around and looked at her two friends. Her brow was furrowed, but she had a little hope. 

 

“The last known coordinates taken from the distress and tracking beacons indicate that the EV was heading to the Maw, as such we are headed there. But now I want to…” She stopped the fidgeting of her nervous hands. “...Talk about what happened. What do you feel after that? I may have acted in error, but before we go into any situation, I want us to all be on the same page.”

 

(Continue in SPACE) 

[Sandy Sarna]

A wretched strangle of blood coughing from lungs pulverized, a final gasp, then darkness. Not hellfire or eternal peace. Just an everlasting darkness that could have been eons or even seconds. But there was a loss there. It wasn’t the stumbling loss of consciousness, or the sharp loss of a death of a friend. Just. Loss. Separation. And in that separation there was nothing. No way to calm that loss, no way to subdue it. There was no drink to tide the loss, no thing could drown the sorrow of that loss. That cruel separation. In a moment she had lost the humanity and the life that kept her happy.  And no she was outside it all. Lost and alone. 

 

Had she known this was death, would she have laid it all before that Sith Lord? Did that matter? Did anything she had ever done matter in the face of that great loss and separation? There appeared to be no God, for she could not see him. 

 

There was nothing in that shimmering void of darkness. And nothing could drown the sorrow she felt for it. 

 

A heartbeat. 

 

It was not hers. For she had heard its beat in her ear a thousand times, this was a strong beat, and it carried with it a galliance that she had never borne. It was a familiar beat in its strength, and it thundered in her ears. 

 

Aidan? 

 

Was that the beat in the darkness? Its sound brought her hope and she stirred to find it. It felt like it took her years to reach towards the sound, and when she touched it light began to flood into the darkness. FIrst it was nothing, almost a pinprick, expanding to a candle, then a wave of light. And in that light He was there. 

 

Aidan? 

 

She grasped at him. Pulling herself to him from that darkness until she could see him clearly. Meditating, at peace. Looking for her. She touched him with her presence, letting herself bind to him, as an anchor steadied a ship in an ocean. She relaxed into that bond, feeling their presences intertwine for a brief instance before she was pulled away. 

 

"Aidan?" 

 

But her mouth was full of vile tasting liquid and her lungs were heaving for breath. And she was sure she was not in hell.  

 

Her eyes opened. Blinking against the liquid that filled the cloning tank.

[Sandy Sarna]

Her knees hit the bottom of the tank with a crash that left her gasping. The fluid still in her lungs did not much help the process of course, but she managed to keep from spitting it up all over the tank as she finally found her breath, and with it the force. It flowed into her weakened muscles and her fluid-logged lungs, gently restoring her strength. She lay there for a moment, blinking her green eyes, before she reached out a thin hand and took the proffered towel from the medical droid.

 

Her eyes found the sleeping form of Aidan Darkfire some feet away and she smiled.

 

Slowly she got to her feet and dried the thick syrupy liquid from her skin, then she took some of the water from the tap beside the tank and used that to clean her hair. It was shorter than she was used to. Only coming to rest below the tips of her ears, so she pulled the majority of it back into a short pony tail, Before looking at herself in the mirror. Gone were the scars on her arms and abdomen from the Maw. Even the freckles that normally coated her like a fine mist were mostly absent. Though she knew that they would be back as soon as she saw the sun. She glanced back to the sleeping Darkfire and let the edges of a blush strike onto her cheeks. 

 

On silent feet, she slowly walked to the set of drawers the droid had pointed out earlier. She had to steady herself of course, but she was soon able to pull on a simple tunic that stretched to her knees. It was not her usual pale green set, but a deep blue which she struggled for several seconds to get over her stiff arms. Then she fumbled at the ties for another several seconds before she looked back to Aidan. 

 

She slowly walked to where he lay and she slowly let herself down beside him. Reaching out with the force to touch his mind. Not to wake him up, but more to assure him that she was ok and here with him. She lifted her head and set one ear against his chest, folding her arms around him in a hug. She could hear his strong heartbeat. And she smiled. 

[Sandy Sarna]

The slow breathing pattern of his sleep began to change into a staccato of waking. His heartbeat following in a rapid rise before settling again into a steady rhythm. She loosened her hug, letting him adjust himself to her presence before retightening it and turning her head so that her green eyes looked into his. She gave him a wry smile. 

 

“Long time no see back at you.” She laughed softly at his comment. Matching his goofy grin with her own.  But did not let it wreck the moment, she adored his humor, as corny as it may be. “Then I’ll keep it that way.” There was so much to think about. The war, the Jedi, the imperial Knights, his seeming captivity by that other Knight, but she could let it go. Instead of asking a thousand questions she just lifted her head and pulled herself up so that her face was only inches away from his. He had been here when no others could have been. He had stayed here for days to guide her back. 

 

“Thank you.” She whispered. And leaning in, almost tentatively, she kissed him.