Ossus

[Master Kyp Durron]

 

(The planet's position is indicated by Ossus and the red circle.)

 

Ossus, located in the Adega system (one of the six remaining Auril systems), orbits the twin Adegan suns in a figure-eight trajectory. It was an important Jedi stronghold and learning center in ancient times, and there is some speculation that the Order of Jedi Knights began on this planet. Ossus was once covered with many cities, and a range of rocky mountains was located near the Knossa spaceport. The steep canyon walls are still covered with elaborate murals, and the planet's atmosphere is charged with occasional electrical storms.

 

In Ancient time, following the Freedon Nadd Uprisings on Onderon, Jedi Master Arca planned to send the ancient Sith artifacts recovered from Freedon Nadd's ship there for examination, but Exar Kun was able to retrieve them first. In the chaos surrounding the Great Sith War, Aleema and Crado destroyed the Cron System, loctaed near the Adega System. Ossus was caught in the wave of destruction radiating from the supernova. The Jedi attempted to transport the artifacts and lore from the libraries there, but were only able to take a fraction of the wealth stored there over the millennia. In an attempt to preserve a cache of lightsabers, Master Ood Bnar initiated his lifecycle change, becoming a gnarled old tree with the lightsabers engtangled in his roots. He was nearly destroyed by the radiation from the Cron System.

 

About 4000 years ago all the cities of Ossus were abandoned during the Great Sith War. The Ysanna, a tribe of warrior-shamans who use the Force to guide their primitive weapons, took up residence on Ossus following its abandonment. Over the ages, great cities grew out of the planet's rough, irradiated terrain. In modern times, the planet was nearly wiped out during the Clone Wars. The enemies of the Jedi Knights struck there, attempting to destroy the stronghold and root out the Jedi. Although the planet was devastated, the Jedi survived. Later, following the death of Emperor Palpatine's first clone on Byss, Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar discover the planet's ancient Jedi connection, and are directed there by Master Vodo's holocron just before Sedriss executed Operation Shadow Hand. There find the Ysanna tribe and the ancient Jedi Master Ood Bnar. The planet's electrical storms probably result from the near-devastation it suffered during the Clone Wars.

 

A 10,000 year-old lightsaber, given to Leia Organa Solo by Vima-Da-Boda, surfaced 800 years ago in an archaeological dig on Ossus. Luke Skywalker visited an arid, sandy portion of the planet during the Emperor's reappearance and discovered the Ysanna tribe, an ancient Jedi library, and a vault of lightsabers hidden beneath the roots of the Neti Jedi Master Ood Bnar. At the time of Skywalker's departure, the New Republic was planning to send in excavation teams to explore Ossus' ruins. While on an undercover mission to Borgo Prime thirteen years later, Skywalker and Tenel Ka claimed that they needed Corusca gems to open a sealed treasure vault located on Ossus.

 

In more recent times, Kyp Durron recovered some forgotten Jedi relics on Ossus, including a Holocron, a few lightsabers, and several books and scrolls... He also feels that there could still be some hidden vaults on Ossus, waiting to be found by someone who is persistant enough to search for them...

 

 

Thus begins the Kyberr Quest.

Edited June 30, 2004 by Guest

[Master Kyp Durron]

 

The Redemption emerged from hyperspace, and approached the blue-ish Jewel of a planet.

 

"Not picking up any major technology in use... the planet must have escaped detection from the Empire since the last time I was here. I had to slice into the Imperial Database on Coruscant back then to erase their records... That was back when my daugh..."

 

Kyp cut off abruptly... he almost slipped and mentioned his daughter, and he wasn't quite ready to tell Xae what happened with Serena yet. He thought quickly, and talked quickly to try and cover the slip.

 

"That was back when I found the Holocron and other Jedi artifacts I have locked back in my training room on Manaan. Ok... switch on the Ionization shielding... we're going to need it to get through the electrical storm we're bound to run into on the way down."

[Master Kyp Durron]

"I have a bit of History... but this planet is rumored to be the very origin of the Jedi, at least that's what Master Vodo says in the Holocron. As for the 'rock' we're looking for, it's a special crystal artifact from the Sith War era. It doesn't so much respond to the Force as amplify certain aspects of it. Aspects we'll need if the Jedi are to help the Rebellion against the Empire."

 

The shuttle groaned and shuddered as it flew through the twilight halo separating the pitch black of space from the hazy atmosphere of the cloudy, blue-jewel planet. Kyp grunted as he struggled with the sluggish controls, unable to see anything through the misty clouds obscuring the transparisteel canopy. The ship bucked and shook like a living thing as multiple lightning bolts struck it. Suddenly, an ear-splitting CRACK, and everything in the cockpit went dark. With a shower of sparks from the control panel, and the sickly sweet metallic smell of melting electronics, the Ionization shield failed and the Lambda-Class shuttle went dead-stick, stalling into a free-fall.

 

Xae looked at Kyp, obviously scared... She noticed that Kyp's eyes were narrowed to mere slits, his brows knitted as if in concentration. She opened her mouth... but before whe could speak, however, Kyp held a hand up to silence her. Her thoughts are so full of panic... Calm Xae... Calm. Trust me... Trust the Force.

 

Kyp took a deep breath and released both of his hands from the controls of the shuttle, placing them in front of his chest, fingertips from each hand not quite touching. Xae imagined she saw a faint blue glow emanating from his fingertips, but couldn't be sure... it could just be the lightning playing tricks on her eyes. As she watched him, the sweat on his brow starting to trickle down his face, he reached out with his hands, palms down, and suddenly the ship's erratic fall halted gently, the ship's repulsorllifts appearing to have kicked back in... but no, the control panels were still dead, and the shuttles engines were as quiet as the grave. one final CRACK of lighting and thunder, a slight whooshing sound, and then they broke through the cloud canopy. The ground below was slowly coming into focus, and instead of the rushing fall of death that Xae expected, the shuttle's approach to the ground was gentle. With a grinding crunch of scraping and splintering gears, the wings of the Lambda-Class shuttle slowly folded up to their landing position. Then the shuttle gently set down on the ground, almost more gently than if she had been riding on the repulsorlifts. Once the ship was on the ground, Kyp exhaled and relaxed. Xae looked at him in awe... she hadn't yet seen this sort of Force power in use... manipulation of a physical structure of this magnitude with simply the power of the Force had, until that very moment, seemed impossible.

[Master Kyp Durron]

Kyp had sensed the men watching the ship, waiting for someone to emerge... Mercenaries or smugglers, most likely here searching for ancient and valuable artifacts left behind on the deserted planet. They obviously had seen the ship's near crash, and had come to investigate. Although Kyp sensed their presence, he said nothing to Xae... she needed to learn to be more aware of her surroundings, and if it came to blows, he wouldn't let anything serious happen to her. He grabbed two large belt packs, and filled them with rations. They would be able to find water in the Jungle easy enough. double checking the rest of the ship, he grabbed the personal com-link microcomputer unit and clipped it to his belt alongside the food pack. R2-E6 whistled an inquisitive string of beeps.

 

"Yes, R2, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for you to come along... I'll have you out of the ship and back on your wheels in a sec."

 

Kyp crawled out of the shuttle on his hands and knees, bumping his head on the overhead part of the hatchway. Hearing Xae giggle at this, he just shook his head and continued until he could stand up. He looked at Xae, an indignant expression on his face.

 

"And what are you laughing at?" Kyp asked her.

 

"I guess it pays to be short sometimes," Her eyes glittered in mirth. "That and I find it humourous that the great Jedi Knight hit his head." She looked out towards the trees, trying to get a lay of the land, then she turned to Kyp, "So is R2 staying?" She asked curiously then noticing the food pack on his belt Xae added, "And I'm guessing that I'm to find my own food then?"

 

Kyp reached into his cloak, pulled out another belt pack, and tossed it to Xae. As she reached to catch it, Kyp gestured to the pack, causing it to stop in mid-air, just out of her reach as she jumped to try and catch it. "Patience, Xae... you assume too much. I wouldn't make you fend for yourself when it comes to food, you ought to know that by now." Kyp said with a wounded look on his face.

 

Xae gave him an annoyed look, "I know that Kyp. And you should know by now that I enjoy giving you a hard time, you know...keeping you on your toes and all that." She gave it another try, her fingers just barely brushing the food pack. She was steadily becoming annoyed with him, but she wisely opted to go for the mind-blanking technique he'd taught her to control her annoyance. "So are we just going to hang around here or are we going on the Great Galactic Scavenger Hunt?"

 

Kyp let the pack drop into her open hands as soon as she took her eyes off of it. As she caught it, he turned his attention to the astromech droid. "Yes, we're going, as soon as I get R2 out of..." SPANG!, Kyp was cut off, by a blaster bolt splattering against the hull of the Redemption...

 

Xae-Lin took her own blaster from her hip as she clipped the food pack to her own belt. The petite girl moved back towards what cover the ship afforded, "This just keeps getting better doesn't it?" Whoever was shooting at them must have been the life that she'd been sensing, though she just thought that it belonged to whatever fauna called this planet home.

[Master Kyp Durron]

Kyp reached out with the Force and checked to make sure the attacked had indeed fled before he and Xae ventured into the jungle. Sensing that they were gone, he turned back to Xae

 

"The New Rebellion hasn't really given the Jedi much thought from what I've seen... very few people actually know of this place. Those smugglers were either lucky or unfortunate to find this planet. In either case, they are probably stranded more or less the same as we are." Kyp smiled another one of his all-knowing smiles... "Except I've been here before, which gives us the advantage. Come... we'll head north, toward where the sun is setting behind that mountain over there."

[Master Kyp Durron]

Kyp shook his head and watched as she skittered up the tree, and into the jungle canopy above it. She was truly in her element here... the last time we got to have an adventure... Kyp thought to himself. His thoughts wandered to another time, a long time ago, when he'd last been on Ossus. Of the times he and his daughter had in training at the Jedi Library... A Jedi seeks not adventure... that was what went wrong before. I should have minded what Master Luke told me concerning adventure... then perhaps Serena would still be here. Kyp breathed in and held it, willing the negative thoughts of guilt and pain away as he exhaled slowly. No... Always in motion is the future, and one must not dwell on the past, for it may well cost the future at the expense of the present. All will be well this time. Kyp got up from meditating and checked his wrist chrono. Three hours? hmm... it's been a long time since I got lost in meditation for that long. Kyp then bent down to pick up the main supports of the temporary shelter and finished building the little hut-shaped chambers.

[Master Kyp Durron]

The next day, Xae-Lin awoke with a start, feeling that something was odd. As she got up and slipped on her tunic and robes, she reached out with the Force, trying to get a sense of what was wrong. When she felt for her master, he wasn't there. Alarmed, she rushed out of her shelter, blaster drawn, and ran toward the edge of the camp. There were a couple large, twisted trees at the edge of the camp, and she edged around the nearest of them quickly, almost expecting to run into danger immediately. Instead, she ran smack into Kyp, who had an ear to ear grin on his face. Scowling, she holstered her blaster. Kyp just looked down at her and laughed again."Sleep well?", he asked.

[Master Kyp Durron]

"As I was meditating this morning, I felt something... I had to go check it out. I infused this area with a Force Barrier just in case anyone decided to snoop around... that's why you couldn't sense that I had left initially. When I came back, I decided to test your danger sense, to see how you'd react. Well done, except you should have reached out a bit more with the Force before blindly rushing into danger... but the fault is not entirely your own. Dathomirians generally use the most direct approach. Here's why I left..."

 

Kyp extended his partially cybernetic left hand, revealing what he had found.

 

 

 

"I believe this is the Kyberr crystal which we seek... Master luke found a related crystal, the Kaiburr Crystal on the planet Mimban a long time ago... that crystal was deeply connected with the Sith Planet on which it resided, and lost more of it's power the further away from Mimban it travelled. It was a red crystal, unlike this purple one... and it wasn't set into a decorative base like this one. Curious... It's almost like an ancient holoprojector, some pre-holocron technology or something like it. Anyway, shards of the original Kaiburr Crystal were later used as focusing crystals in some of the lightsabers constructed at Master Luke's Jedi Academy on Yavin IV... including mine. Perhaps that's why I felt the urge to seek this crystal out."

 

Kyp handed the artifact to Xae, and the weight of it surprised her... it was uncommonly heavy for it's size.

 

"There is balance in everything... Just as the Light Side of the Force cannot exist without the dark, I believe that this Crystal is a Light Side Artifact, just as the Kaiburr Crystal was of Sith Origins. The Holocron spoke of this Artifact as being ancient, and was used to enhance Jedi Battle Meditation in the great Sith War. With any luck, it will help us in the coming war with the New Empire. Keep it safe, Xae..."

 

Xae stared as Kyp's form started to fade before her eyes.

 

"Xae... You have done well in the short time I have actually trained you in techniques and how to feel and use the Force. What you don't know, is that I have been teaching you little things all these years... All those talks about the Galaxy and how all life is tied together... About how Honor, Peace, and Wisdom are important... all of those are truths that are rooted in the Force. Every Jedi feels the Force... Every Jedi seeks Knowledge, which you have... And Every Jedi must face their Destiny. And now I must face mine... The Force has called to me... And I must answer that call. You will be safe here Xae... The Redemption is repaired, and she's yours now, should you decide to leave Ossus. I will come back for you... I promise."

 

Kyp's form faded into a shadow, and then into nothingness... Xae set about to right the Camp, and then she needed to meditate... She had choices before her, and for the first time in her life, freedom...

 

 

 

 

*************************************************************

 

A few miles away, a battered old junk freighter rose, protesting with a high pitched whine... the ship had seen better days, and Kyp doubted if the life support systems would hold throughout the flight to Coruscant... but the message jeft for him on the Redemption's comm had sounded urgent. He COULD take the Redemption, which was the easiest path... but the easy path is not the way of the Jedi. The junk freighter streaked off for space, leaving the Jewel-blue planet of Ossus behind him.

[Master Kyp Durron]

Half a planet away from other happenings...

 

It is not yet your time... you must awaken.

 

The harsh static crack of lightning split the night sky, temporarily illuminating the grotto. Kyp found himself amidst the scattered wreckage of a Lambda-class shuttle, with no memory of how he had arrived in such a predicament. He tried to sit up, to survey his surroundings further, but immediately collapsed from an insurmountable pain coursing between his temples. Blackness enveloped him as he relapsed into the realm of unconsciousness...

[Master Kyp Durron]

Kyp woke again with a start as acrid raindrops pelted him mercilessly. Confused, he slowly sat up and surveyed his surroundings once more. Wreckage from a Lambda-Class shuttle was strewn about the grotto... Kyp couldn't remember how he managed to survive the crash, nor what accursed planet he was on.

 

Come to think of it, I can't remember...

 

Kyp looked down at the Lightsaber clipped to his belt. It seemed a familiar thing to him, but he had no actual memory of how he obtained it... Had he built it? Was he a Jedi or a Sith? He could remember his name, and some vague childhood memories, but beyond that...

 

I can't remember... I have to get out of here, find some answers somehow.

[Master Kyp Durron]

Kyp picked his way through the rubble, looking for anything salvagable, yet finding nothing. He was lost on this strange planet, without even so much as a clue as to where he was... Just as well he supposed.

 

It's not like I can wish myself out of this hell hole...

 

He decided to head west as the sun crested the horizon. If there's anything he hated worse than being lost, it was hiking into the sun. He had gotten about 150 yards when he stopped short... it felt like something was watching him, though he hadn't heard anything.

 

Strange... almost like hearing without hearing. Like the faint whisper of a warning, alerting him to the fact that something wasn't quite right. He shrugged it off, and contiunued westward...

[Master Kyp Durron]

((OOC: Sorry, I was going to post yesterday, but had a bit of a rough day. Will move on now with the changling thing being a mind trick defence mechanism, since I was unconscious ))

 

Groggily, Kyp slowly awoke to find himself fully healed. He had no idea of how long he was out of it, but had the vague sensation that he hadn't been alone the whole time.

 

Something familiar... a pressence I've felt before? Someone from my past? If only I could remember.

 

Confused and a bit agitated at his uncooperative memory, Kyp got up and started searching the surrounding area for whoever it was whose almost remembered pressence brushed his mind.

[Master Kyp Durron]

As Kyp wandered down a narrow trail from where he had lain unconscious for the Force only knows how long, a sudden surge of something he couldn't quite identify hit him hard like a hawk-bat grasping a granite slug in it's talons. It was both exquisite and painful at the same time, like a searing energy jolting through his body. Then a soft voice spoke inside his mind...

 

Kyp. It's me, Xae...

 

Then the surge of energy reached it's climax, and Kyp hit his knees... no longer was he standing on the barren trail, but in the middle of a lush jungle in his mind's eye, purplish clouds laced with unnatural lightning. Kyp saw himself, dressed in simple robes, holding a violet-bladed lightsaber in his hands... and a small girl...

 

Xae...

 

Then the darkness enveloped him as he lapsed into unconsciousness once again.

[Master Kyp Durron]

Out of the swirling black mists of vague unconsciousness, a bluish light appeared. Within this light, a deep, soft, peaceful voice spoke.

 

"Kyp Durron..."

 

A figure appeared, both unknown and strangely familiar. Piercing blue eyes, long grey-brown hair and beard, dressed in simple brown and cream-colored Jedi robes of the Old Republic era.

 

"Who are you? What do you want with me??"Kyp asked in this strange vision within a dream... a vision that seemed more real than reality itself.

 

"I am he who learned from a Shaman of the Whills... he who trained Obi-Wan Kenobi. He who has watched events unfold from within the Force itself. You have done great things, Kyp... And terrible things. It is time for you to take up the path you were destined for."

 

Images from his past flooded into his mind's eye, painfully reminding him of things forgotten... Of a life he had tried to forget, power, love... hate... pain. Seclusion on Dathomir... renewed life. The Unknown Rregions. Xae...

 

Awaken.

 

 

Kyp gasped for air as he snapped fully awake, head aching like a band of drunken Gammoreans were trying to hammer their way out of his skull. He still didn't know what planet he was on, nor how he had come to be there... but a broad lop-sided grin spread across his face as he recognized the young woman sitting before him.

 

"Xae?"

[Master Kyp Durron]

A flood of emotion swept over Kyp as he looked up at Xae. An odd helplessness crept into his thoughts as he searched for the answers... his head sank as he closed his haunted eyes and cradled his temples in his right hand. In truth, he had no rational reasoning for what he had done in the past, in addition to the fact that he was still missing parts of his memories of what exactly had happened. He faintly remembered the long-dead ghost of Exar Kun returned to haunt him, but that old Sith spirit hadn't taken control of his actions. No, he had followed that convoluted path himself. In any case, that was in the past. Thinking upon what the spirit of Master Qui-Gon Jinn had said to him in his vision, he came upon the answer he hoped would be a step toward salving the wounds he'd left in his wake. Both Xae's... and his own. He took a deep breath, and letting the Force fill him, he slowly looked up to gaze into her eyes, his own eyes filled with regret. A single tear rolled down his cheeck as he opened his mouth to speak.

 

"Xae... words cannot ever truely express my regret. Yes, it is true, I lost sight of my true path. I cannot give excuse, nor explaination for my past actions that can take away the scars left by them. I failed to make my decisions... and instead, those decisions made me. However, I am here now... and a wise man once told me that Failure is only truely failure when you fail to learn from your mistakes."

 

It was only then that he broke eye contact with her, looking down at the ground. He felt unworthy to even have this conversation, yet that disembodied voice in his vision kept prodding him on.

 

"I do not... cannot ask for your forgiveness. All I can ask is the chance to learn from my mistakes. And perhaps in time, the chance to make up for them."

[Master Kyp Durron]

Kyp pondered the words for a long moment. There was more unsaid, that much was certain. But what that may be wasn't his concern at the moment. He easily could have died in the crash that stranded him here, yet he lived. Xae could have rightfully stuck him down upon finding him, but she didn't. He realized the other man who was with her must be this John she referred to... and yet John too had spared him. He had a duty to fulfill, to both Xae and John. He remembered something from his childhood, a Mandalorian saying that one of his classmates had shared with him.

 

Family is more than blood.

 

No matter how they viewed him, Kyp realized that they both were his family in that sense. And he owed his life to that family... a strange feeling of peace washed over him as he came to the realization that he would die for either of them if need be. He started to curse himself for his past misgivings, but stopped.

 

"That is in the past. This is now... All that can be done is to make up for the past and make the future better" Kyp thought to himself.

 

He rose to his feet, straightened his tattered robes, and addressed Xae again.

 

"Xae, I am glad you didn't follow the path I did. I also appreciate the chance you're giving me. I will follow you, and John, to the ends of the Galaxy, should you allow me to come with you. I have nothing and no one else... You're the only family I've got."

 

As the approaching ship set the ending for the moment, Kyp watched and waited for John to approach. He tenderly carried Xae aboard, and Kyp felt a subtle nudge that he was allowed to follow. He wanted to introduce himself to the man he had forgotten to acknowledge earlier, but he felt that now was not the time, and he should be thankful to even be welcomed to come along... the time for introductions would come soon enough. Kyp silently followed John and Xae aboard, found a seat and buckled his crash webbing, and started to meditate as the ship lifted off.

[Master Kyp Durron]

The deep blue swirl of hyperspace parted into starlines, finally resolving themselves into the individual jeweled pinpricks of light against the cold black backdrop of space as a battered and antiquated freighter executed it's automated course toward Ossus. Warning alarms flooded the air within the freighter, though no life forms were aboard to hear them or respond.

 

"Dwoooo...", T3-M4 mournfully whistled.

 

T3-M4 jacked into the freighter's main computer, attempting to override the master alarms, and stabilize the craft. He was designed for utility functions and navigation, not for piloting... Master Kyp had programmed the freighter with the coordinates and approach vectors for the ruins of the ancient Jedi Library on Ossus, but had not counted on the hyperdrive motivator blowing out and causing the primary repulsors to short out along with it. The viewport glowed orange with fire as the freighter plummeted through the atmosphere. Unable to slow the vessel, T3-M4 reprogrammed the inertial compensator to 200% in the hopes that it would help him survive the inevitable crash intact...

[Master Kyp Durron]

A hiss of static was all that came from the comm as the battered freighter landed with a thump. Landed... T3-M4 was confused, the ship should be scattered across the field in a thousand pieces of wreckage at the velocity it had been travelling only moments prior. He deduced that a Jedi must have intervened... he had seen many Jedi do amazing things, and had one Jedi especially to thank for his continued existance. It was only a shame that Master Kyp had become one with the Force, leaving without giving him a chance to thank him properly. T3-M4 jacked into the ship's main computer, entering the command to open the hatch and lower the boarding ramp. The ship groaned in protest as is complied with the command, and the main computer jolted with a burst of short-circuited electricity and smoke as the primary computer died.

 

WHEET!! T3-M4 exclaimed as the electricity played over his utility arm.

 

Recognizing that there was nothing more he could do with the ship's computer, or the ship itself for that matter, T3-M4 trundled down the boarding ramp and set off for the ruins of the Jedi Library. If Master Kyp's last command was correct, he should find a way to contact Xae-Lin Ardel there.