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Sandy Sarna

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Everything posted by Sandy Sarna

  1. Sandy brought brought a hand up to her face and grimaced at the pain. She looked up at Aidan and shrugged, ignoring the dripping blood that made little rivulets down her chin to splash into her green tunic. “I should have paid better attention. I-” The distinct sound of blaster fire broke her awkward attempt at a conversation and her white lightsaber came up into a defensive guard. She could feel death, and she gestured towards the open door at the back of the chambers. What looked like a stormtrooper in a cloak had just appeared and carried a smoking blaster pistol. Bacta, the ship, and escape could wait another few minutes. For it appeared that the Sith Empire had tracked them even to this backwater hellhole. She summoned the force and built a defensive shield between Aidan and herself and the newcomer. She gestured her white blade at the headless corpse in the middle of the room as an answer to his query.
  2. The first arrow splashed through the edges of her tunic, and then her lightsaber moved, a brilliant white line that intersected the next three. The subconscious power of a Jedi Master. Death had come to Vernza-Torrah, and Aidan had brought it to the Darksider. All around them the power of the enemy faded away. The bodies that lay across the room shuddered as the power dropped from them. Those holding bows dropped them, and the world returned to what it had once been. A dirty backwater world. And it wopuld stay that way, for this era at least, the stains of Chaos were wiped away. SHe spat out another mouthful of blood and then grinned as she began to draw on the force in a different way. Not the power of death over life, but of life itself. A healing power that was special to the consulars. She was no Leena Kil, but it did not take five minutes to stop the bleeding. And then there would be patchwork to be done on her face, but that could wait until later. “Aidan?” She asked. Her voice both fearful and hopeful.
  3. She could not see if the knife struck it was so fast, but she could do what she had done to the Hutt back on Kuat. Still with her eyes closed she began to weave the force around the being. Binding him with ropes of the force, slowing him down, to keep it still enough for the final blow. Go for the head Aidan! She ignored the flurry of arrows that had been launched her way and bound the being tight. Smiling through the pain.
  4. She spat another mouthful of blood onto the already slick ground and let herself fall into a low fighting stance, her silver blade held at an angle that pointed towards the ceiling of the temple. There was so much feeling here, the lust could almost be tasted in the air. The words of the enemy lingered in the air. It was a distraction that had led her to almost losing her life. It was time to be still, it was a time to listen to the silence. To cut everything else out, and to deal with this enemy before them. The saber moved and intersected one of the stone arrows, turning it to molten slag that spattered to either side of her. It hissed loudly as it contacted the wet floor. The saber moved again as she let her clear green eyes flutter closed. And then the force moved. The air shimmered in front of her, catching another several arrows in the conjured energy field that snaked out to intercept another arrow before it could hit Aidan. She was the silence now, and the force moved where she willed it. It was now time to break the concentration of the being who had made this their sepulcher. There in the midst of the crowd, a Falleen. Laying sprawled beneath the bodies, his face a plastered and wicked grin. Feeding on the lust of the room. And beneath him there was the feeling that they had felt in the maw. A rift in the force. Dark and ominous, as old as death. And it was feeding on everything. A rapturous maw that devoured the force. Dampening it and manipulating it. “There.” She extended the force to bat aside another arrow then brought the force to bear. A shockwave threw the writhing masses aside and left the being exposed to Aidan’s blade. While she wove a shield around him.
  5. Her eyes scanned the ground as they trudged the last few steps and as she let the force flow through her she could also feel his tiredness. Not as sharp or as visceral as before, not the tender feeling of exhaustion. Just the dullness of tired despairing muscles. She reached hand out and placed it firmly on his shoulder. Letting the force flow from her into him. A soothing touch of a consular, drawn from the steadfastness of her heart. Not from love, or desire, but a calm warmth of familiarity. They would get through this together. Then the feeling hit her like a block of ice getting drawn down her spine. It was not the now familiar sense of rot and decay, lust and desire that she had felt on Felucia and here. It was the sharp prickle of dangersense. The kind of dangersense that was a predecessor for the stone tipped arrow that slapped into the side of her face with the force of a sledgehammer. It was almost shocking that she had not seen it coming. It was the logical conclusion after all, they had pursued a dangerous potential force god to the top of his temple and she had not even seen it coming. Or at least not seen it until it was far too late. Her lightsaber ignited in her hand as she was thrown back against the staircase, but her mouth was filled with blood and she could feel that the right side of her face had been almost cut away. Her cheek torn open to the teeth, and the arrow had disappeared into the voice behind her. But this was not a time to think about her looks. This was a time to fight or die.
  6. Her green eyes narrowed as she looked back at Aidan, there was certainly something off with him, but without her bond, it was almost hopeless to know what. So she looked at his facial expressions and could read nothing, same with his body language. Just a general vague tiredness that she was sure was also reflected in herself. Especially at the sight of those stairs. “Let's tap into the force, just slowly for now, to keep our muscles fresh.” The force hit her like a breath of fresh air, flowing into her lungs and dispersing throughout her body, seeping pain and aches away as she let her gaze return to Aidan’s face. “Race you to the top.” They could build a friendship again and even a love without lust. She was sure of it.
  7. Sandy ran a hand through her hair, letting her fingers pull at one of the tangles that had persisted from her shower. She looked up at the dark tower that loomed over them all, whose shadow had followed them through their search. She squinted up at the distant peak and shivered. “I had thought the food is imported like most other things on this planet. Unless you are suggesting....” She grimaced. “But I do wager the temple overhead has answers.” She motioned and pointed towards the distant and spiraling staircase that wound itself up the side of the obelisk. Its peak was covered in the evening shadow, and when she extended her mind she could feel a vague darkness in the force.
  8. The soap did not take the smell away. It seemed burned into her nostrils, that disgusting feeling of being used by some darkside entity could not be easily scrubbed away. So instead, as the water ran through her hair she let her focus return. She had been in grosser situations before, she had been in darker times, she had waded through the rotting remnants of a refugee village on Felucia. And even though the darkside was strong here, it was not overwhelming. They had broken its hold, even at such a ruinous cost. So as the warm water rolled down her back she listened to what the threads of the lightside were saying. He must be reassured that it is not his fault. There was truth there, Aidan was one to internalize his trauma, and this had been especially traumatic. But that would come in time, for now she would be strong. She was a Jedi Master after all, even though there had been much disapproval at that promotion. She would be strong. She had to be strong. ______________ She toweled herself off and reached into her satchel for her uniform. The pale green tunic went on first, then the soft brown glove, then boots, belt and saber. The saber she had built with Aidan. She stepped out of the refresher and nodded to the Imperial Knight. “Let’s go, the sooner we end this the better…”
  9. Sandy shook her head as they sidestepped the masses of tired flesh that marched through the streets. They took a turn to the right, then it was up a flight of stairs. THen another and they would be safe. She spared a glance behind her and followed Aidan’s eyes to where a corpse was laying in a pool of degenerating flesh in the gutterway. But his question had merit. She could not escape the tinge of emotion that crept up the back of her throat as she answered him. “Did we even look Aidan?” She swallowed back a sob and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her thin tunic. How had she even thought to wear this outside? You could practically see everything through the thin material if you looked hard enough. “Think, we didn’t even investigate the initial rumour of the Sith popping up until they had taken kriffing Onderon. Long after the Remnant had been fighting them for years. We didn’t even check.” She wiped her eyes again. Irritated at herself. “Plus it has been hidden so well.” But his second question hung longer, unanswered as she pushed herself up the staircase. She swiped her card and grimaced as the hotel room door slid open. It smelled like sweat and sex. And she wanted to cry. “It doesn’t feel like a Sith. But they can also be subtle, think about what we found at the Maw and Gala before that. There was a subtlety there. And on Felucia it was subtle too. Even in the center of the plague you could barely feel the darkside underlying.” She felt gross. “I need another shower to get this feeling off of me.” Then she felt another pang of remorse and lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”
  10. “Of course Aidan.” She pushed her way to the front of Darkfire and gestured that he should grab the back of her thick leather belt in case he needed it. She could also feel a massive headache starting from behind her eyes. Perhaps it had been there for a long time and was now just showing itself. She lifted a hand and brushed one of the ghouls aside, he stumbled but kept plodding on, his thin lips stretched into a thinner smile, the woman at his side a ghastly mess of greying skin and garish makeup. “Let's just get back to the room and we can plan from there.” But she doubted that the room would offer much solstice from the oppressive consumption of the planet. She pushed past another ghoul and stepped into the shadow of the great temple. Almost instantly she could feel that they were being watched. A furtive glance up and she saw the faintest glimmer of yellow eyes looking down from the high facade of the building. She shivered. And everything in her wished that she could just turn and surrender to her pain. To bow to the wishes of whatever was staring at her. She swallowed another putrid breath and pushed on. Not looking back to the Imperial Knight who was her temptation.
  11. It was worse than death. Far worse than she had ever dreamed. It was like feeling him die right in front of her and like she was the one who had killed him. Her emerald eyes looked into his. Past everything in the dive bar, only at him as she carved out both of their hearts. She had done this, and she could not look away, even as tears boiled down her face. They had been used, and now they would need to find what had been using them. She blinked away her tears and hard emerald eyes found equally hard emerald eyes. She let the force wash through her, allowing her to see with new eyes all that was around her. And it was ugly. The comfortable smell of food was replaced by the distinct odor of unwashed flesh and rot. The bright sunlight dimmed outside, and the overweight duros in the next booth looked sallow and tired. The streams of visitors and tourists walking outside took the appearance of ghouls. Men and women whose pleasures had left them used up husks. Even she felt tired as they bounded through the door into the open air of the pleasure district. She looked at Aidan and shook her head. “I think the grandmaster’s fears may have been affirmed.” What had happened between Aidan and Sandy would need to wait. It would be a long journey back. But she was ready for that when it came time.
  12. His lust for her, while flattering, was nearly overwhelming. Those eyes, his eyes, emerald eyes looking at her with such love, such need, such desire. Inhuman desire, inhuman passion, inhuman Lust. Of kriff. Oh gods, why had they sent her? The one Jedi in the order that had someone that loved her more than life itself? Why did the the cosmos play such dirty tricks? He was suffering, being eaten alive in front of her by the burning passion. Her eyes found Aidan's and she could feel her own fill with tears. She had to protect him. She reached one shaking hand out and put a finger on his wrist. This bond would consume them both. She summoned the force to her, letting it move and flow through her like a sieve. Filtering the air, the very life that she was breathing. Seeing the many tendrils that bound the two of them together. Every breath that she breathed was his and every breath of his hers. They were bonded body and soul. And somewhere there was an infection. Perhaps it was the planet itself, perhaps this was the result of two strong force users that were entwined inseparably. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted to feel every part of him. To be consumed by him, by his desire. But it was all wrong. Everything was wrong, every feeling. Every desire that she had held since they had both been on the temple at Gala together. That beach at Kashyyyk. Unrequited Love. The flush of embarrassment before their first kiss. The stone walls of Ossus. They were bound unto death. And the tears on her face felt like boiling water. With a breath she blew out the candle of their bond. Severing every tendril of love. Otherwise they would both fall facefirst into darkness.
  13. Sandy had learned from a very early age to let her emotions flow with those around her. Aidan did not need her to be the weepy scared girl, and if she was being honest, she did not much need that either. Plus, well, Corellian cuisine was nothing to shake a stick at. She looked out of the corner of her eye at Aidan and shrugged. “I grew up in the slums of Gala, remember, literally anything that is not boiled garbage sounds good to me. Plus the locals can’t be wrong right?” Her eyes scanned the restaurant’s facade and she noted a pink and purple plastered flier that advertised one of the many pleasure domes that scattered the area. She wrinkled her nose at the thought and pushed her way through the door of the diner, her sense of smell being overwhelmed by the sudden smell of deep fried meat and potatoes. It smelled delicious and she gave Aidan a nod of approval before sitting down at one of the window booths. As he sat down across from her she grabbed his hand. Almost marveling at how large and muscular it was compared to her own. She leaned down and gave it a kiss, cradling it between both of hers. “Aidan I….” What was that? What was that tugging inside of her? That sudden burst of very real lust. As if she could tackle him right here in front of everyone. That wasn’t her. She loved him and desired him, but it was a pure thing right? This carnal lust for him was something different. She let go of his hand and glanced up at the Imperial Knight. And behind him on the wall was another pleasure house flier. A great pink and blue outline of a stone temple, a skull in its center, and the skull had bright yellow eyes. She shivered. There was something wrong here, and it was not Aidan and herself. It was something in the air, something in the force itself. “...Aidan... I don’t feel right.”
  14. Emotions were running high so she simply hugged him closer to see if love could batter down his defenses. “Your silence, while worrying, did not make me feel bad or awful. Hell I was working on Felucia to combat a plague for the better part of two months and then the Sith kriffing arrived and killed both villages I had worked to save. I did not have time or the emotions for a long holocall.” Though it would have been nice, but that was an afterthought. As long as he was ok, that was all that mattered to her. “I want to affirm you Aidan, do not apologize, we both have very busy operational lives and this time more than makes up for it.” She pulled herself up from the bed and wiped at her face with her hands before turning around and extending a hand to help him off the bed. There would be no forced tensions here, “Yes I am quite hungry, so find us a place to eat while I take a shower. Or after the shower, whatever you want.” She gave him an inviting smile, before making her way to the fresher unit and turning on the hot water. But still, those yellow eyes lingered. And she wondered if he was following his father's footsteps more than he knew.
  15. So here they were then, some of the strongest force users in their orders. Broken despite their power. She reached a hand out and let it rest on the side of his face as she hugged herself into him. Her fingers brushing across last night's stubble, letting her fingers feel the almost sandpaper texture. The feeling was therapeutic and it helped her mind come back to the now, to concentrate on him and what he was saying. It was not a surprising thing to her, they both had done their fair share of killing, but there was a darkness in his description that scared her. Not enough to pull away from him, or to even think twice about his hug, but it was a check. And if anything it made her love him more. “I love you more than anything Aidan. Thank you.” She lay there in his arms, the tears drying on her face as she reflected on his description of his blackouts. Her mind quickly looking past her own trauma to see if she could help fix his own. She hugged him tightly, planting a soft kiss on the side of his cheek and pulling the blanket open and throwing a part of it around him. “I want you to be okay too, Aidan. The Knights have put you through so much. Is that why you have been quiet for so long?” The war had put them both through far too much for their young age. And though this was a respite from the war, she worried about how long it would be until they were both called back. For them to damper their emotions, and to jump back into a war where they might never see each other again.
  16. The silver handles dropped from her hand and it fell onto the sweat stained sheets. She took another breath and let it out through her clenched teeth. Letting the sensation of the cool breath playing across her lips calm her beating heart. But the eyes were still there. Seared with the power of a sunbeam into the back of her eyelids. She trembled, feeling like the little apprentice again. The apprentice trapped behind bounded iron. Screaming in the dark. Her hand found itself on her abdomen, and she let the tears fall freely. This was not something to conceal, the force had brought the memories back up, and it was time to do something other than shoving them back into an already stuffed bottle. She had no strength for that any more, and he was here beside her. Her totem, the bright spot she always looked to. She looked up with tear filled eyes and nodded. The nodding brought her conviction. And the sight of his face, even through the tears, brought her the strength she needed to get out of bed. She could almost laugh at the audacity of a Jedi Master having had an episode like this, but that in itself had some dark truths. She had seen and done so much in her short twenty three years of living that many considered her one of the beacons of the Order. She had been there for every fight in the last half of a decade, and it had left her run down. Run to pieces in the ever revolving, ever grinding galactic war. She had seen peace, but it had been in peace that she had experienced her greatest trauma. Perhaps that was why she kept running. Mission after mission. Grinding herself into the dust so that she did not need to take a breath. She shook her head and pulled on a light outer tunic that had been dropped from her satchel. Not much against prying eyes but he had seen everything anyway. She accepted a steaming mug of caf and gave him a grateful smile. “Yes. I think I do need to talk about it. It happened when I was very young. During my first year of apprenticeship.” She left her mind open to him as she spoke. “We had been dispatched alongside the CoreSec outerring force to crack down on a slaver ring at Thallassia.” She laughed brutally. “I didn’t even have my real saber yet. Just a training one given to me by Master Adenna.” She shrugged and wiped at one of her eyes with her sleeve. “You can guess how it went. They were ready for us. And a training saber does not do much against determined resistance.” She took a long sip of her caf, and looked Aidan in the eye. “And I was captured and tortured, both physically and...well. You can guess the rest. I have been running from that ever since.”
  17. Love. What did it mean to love? Was it an easy love? A result of long lived lust? A result of early twenties hormones and passion? There was that of course, there was passion, the passion of two tired warriors who would grab at anything to distract themselves from a moment of traumatic memory. Anything to distract from the bodies and the shuddering dead. A slaughtered village, a plague, Sith ground troops pushing in from the Felucian Jungles, a woman with a red face and a silent fury. Great yellow eyes that looked with lust and desire. The eyes of a leering Togorian on Thala- She woke up with a shout. Her lightsaber slamming into her hand from where she had instinctually yanked it with the force. Her satchel spilled its contents across the room as it was dragged along with the silver handle. Sandy could feel her pulse flying as she gasped for breath. The room bathed in the soft silver light of her lit lightsaber. Its white hue throwing shadows that danced across the room like the smoke of a campfire. She shook her head once, twice, then snapped the lightsaber off as she took a steadying breath. It had been years since she had such a dream. She pulled the sheets against her nakedness and let the adrenalin shivers run their course as she steadied her mind.
  18. Sandy laughed and shook her head. “I can’t lie to your mom you know, that's who my reports go to.” She cocked her head to the side, “You know I am on the council right? I don’t have to tell your superiors anything, nor will they care what I am doing here unless we find something vital to the war effort.” It was strange though, for someone usually withdrawn and sulky, Aidan was acting like a horny teenager. It was not disturbing, she was positively flattered and leaned in to give him another kiss. “You deserve some R&R Aidan and I have missed you so much.” She kissed him again and pushed him lightly down with one hand. “Let's take tonight to relax, and tomorrow we can figure out what this world has in store for us.” She smiled widely and pulled herself on top of the Imperial Knight. “I love you Aidan.”
  19. She let her heavy pack slide off one thin shoulder then the next, letting it fall softly to the floor beside the doorway. She observed his attempts at set up romance with a grin then gave him a tackle of a hug onto the bed. She took his armour that he had set there and pulled it out from underneath them before she spoke. “Spast the plan Aidan. I’m happy just to see you.” She gave him a long and passionate kiss. Reveling for the moment in the love that she felt for him. “I can’t believe the Imperials would just let you go like that.” She smiled appreciatively and put her head on his chest. “How have you been?”
  20. Sandy felt her own smile creep across her face as her hands found the flight controls. He was here, and it made her glad, so she accelerated the Jedi vessel and bade it to land in the ancient city. The place was a tourist destination . so she was forced to take an old reserve pad near one of the tourist shuttles which was busy disgorging a mass of semi attractive middle aged couples. She disembarked herself, and took a breath of the cool air. She felt her comm link buzz on her wrist and weith a glance it told her exactly where the Imperial Knight would be. She took another breath of the air and let the sensation of the cool air in her lungs wash away the fluttering of her heart. It was more persistent this time, and it took her several more breaths before she could shoulder her pack and begin her walk to the hotel complex that Darkfire had rented a room from. It was a long walk through a dozen mismatched turns that finally brought her to the rugged stone hotel. Built to look like it matched the great mountains that surrounded them in the valley. She let the force guide her as she walked up to his room door and tapped softly on the wooden door with a finger. Her face in a grin.
  21. The small Jedi shuttlecraft burst out of hyperspace over the old planet of Vernza-Torrah. It had been more than a decade than the planet had been touched by the galaxy at large. Though it had long been within strike range of the Alliance’s holdings at Bothawui, the planet had lain untouched. A relic of an earlier age, with no natural resources or shipyards to bother with. Nor had the planet reported any particular sign or contagion of the ancient Sith Powers. But Sandy let herself listen, expanding her presence in the force, listening to the stillness of the planet. Looking for a hint of anything. For if the ancient threat had reawakened, then the Council needed to know. And quickly at that.
  22. A message arrives for the Imperial Knight Aidan Darkfire from Sandy Sarna.
  23. Sandy inclined her head in a subtle acknowledgement of the Grandmaster’s soft rebuke. She was thankful for the kindness behind her eyes, even if there was ample reason for the rebuke. She had pursued her passions, and if somehow the Temple at Ossus had heard then her reputation was close to ruined. It had been an incredibly fruitful time, but it also had its own consequences and for that she let the sorrow show on her face. “I take your meaning well Grandmaster. I apologize for rumours that reflect poorly on your family, it was not my intention.” She straightened from her partial bow. “Then I think I must find Vernza-Torrah and see if there are stirrings there as well?” Then after that maybe she could see Aidan. To see if there was something wrong.
  24. “I met one Sith Lord, but she retreated just as quickly. She said some disturbing things about our Imperial allies, but being a Sith Lord and one of the people that perpetrated the massacre of those two villages I cannot think to believe her.” She shook her head and ran a hand absentmindedly through her hair while the grandmaster explained about the old gods that had threatened the galaxy so many decades ago. Sandy herself had been only a small child when they had been removed but the thought of them returning made her frown. “This certainly seems to fit this Nurgle’s operating style. But I did not feel some great and overwhelming force presence. It was certainly there, but faint and ancient. Not powerful enough yet to effect the galaxy at large.” She cocked her head to the side. “Did they have bases of operation back in the day? Some place we could check if they have returned?” It was a long shot, and she doubted it was even them but it was worth it to check, but it was most likely a Sith founded operation to distract the Jedi and Rebel resources from their real operations. She let the conversation turn as the Grandmaster finished up her thoughts on the old force entities and asked a personal question. Since Leena was not here and they were alone, there was no better time. But still she lowered her voice. “On a personal note Grandmaster, have you heard from Aidan? He...has not responded to my calls.” She smiled sheepishly. Knowing that if anyone knew more about Aidan it would be his mother. Especially if Aidain was acting like his long gone father. Perhaps this absence from communication was a family trait.
  25. The distinctive ‘ding’ from her belt brought Sandy’s hand to the clipped on comm pad that lay beside her lightsaber. She clicked it open and glanced at the small holoscreen before clipping it back to the belt. It was the Grandmaster, and it cut short her quest for any dispersed Sith forces. She turned her jog around and made her way back to the landing pads near the front of the temple. There she waited for the grandmaster.
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