Sandy Sarna

Sandy let out a gasp as she was hurled back by his initial countering blow, the blow threw her meter until her booted feet found purchase at last and she fell back into the fighting stance of her apprenticeship. Makashi in its essence, mimicking the fluid style of her opponent, her legs firmly beneath her, muscles coiled like springs to launch her into action. The darkside was very strong in the being she fought, but she was not bowed. She couldn’t be, there was so much left to do and if she perished, then surely Aidan and Kel would come next under the blade of the dark jedi. She breathed deeply and drew upon the force, the darkness emanating from the Dark Jedi was smothering and she almost choked on its effect before she forced herself to center. She took another halting breath as he bounded off his throne. But she did not leave those metal shards where they lay. What could she draw on? The answer was right there, even in the shadows of the Maw, she could draw upon love and happiness. Thats what defined the lightside to her. She concentrated on the few smiles that Adenna had given her, and her mind fell upon Aidan. That awkward childhood crush, now a dozen meters away and suffering, but he was there. He was calm, and he was a rock in the force that she could tie herself to. Her memories of him, that awkward blushing time on the beaches of Kashyyyk, the armoury of the Misericordia. When she had finally grown up from a girlish crush to a solid friendship. Her mind touched his for a wistful moment and she saw him overcome the fear and doubt in his heart and she was glad. Her freckled face broke into a deep smile as the Dark Jedi rushed forward. There was no darkness in this galaxy that could snuff out the light No Sith, no Dark Jedi, No Krathian sorcerer, could take that light away. Whoever this monster was, for he was surely revealing himself to be one, would not prevail against the light. It would be his curse. The force filled her, breaking the hold of the shadows that the Dark Jedi was projecting. Everywhere she looked there was malice, anger, despair. And with those came a hundred lightsaber strikes, But only a few brought with them Intent. Her lightsaber moved with stunning grace as it blocked, reposted, and she moved like a blademaster, avoiding blows and diverting them with little effort as his shadows wasted their malice on air. But he was quick, and a single blow slipped through a millisecond ahead of her blocking blade. Her reflexes saved her from a wicked goring, and her blade batted his aside just as quick, but the red blade had smashed along the light armour that she wore and burned through her tunic and undertunic. Searing a patch of skin with a burn. Not fatal, not something that would hampen her ability to fight, and entirely superficial, but its pain sharpened her mind and she let out a hiss through her clenched teeth and lept back. Saving herself from his wicked unarmed trikes. She countered with two quick slashes at his exposed arms and legs before she pressed her own attack. Reaching out to the room and into herself. The force moved in the room, as Sandy drew upon it, touching the many small needle like shards that the dark Jedi thought discarded from her first attack and brought them like a guided lance towards his unprotected flank. Matching it with a pressed attack with her blade. Five, six, seven, strong attacks with her lightsabre, which flashed and danced in her hands as she fell into the rhythm of the force. The cuts arced and spun for his midsection, sabre arm, neck, legs and finished with a solid plunge towards his exposed chest. Sweat dripped down her hairline as she concentrated. She had long favoured forms of mass telekinesis and sabres. Their harmony reflecting an inner monologue, as her mind touched the weapons at her beltline and she drew in another breath. This one tasted of ozone and fire as the light inside her began to grow, her grin nearly shining with it. She didn't need to retort, her actions would speak for her. There was joy to be found in the battle, for it was for her friends that she fought, not power, not greed. She fought for love and joy. And nothing could bury that light. ((2))

“Whoever you are, you must have never met Grandmaster Adenna.” What was the aim here? She could kill this thing of course but was that the correct course of action? Her mind raced as he finally revealed himself, a thickly marked being of malice. Glowing red eyes, a cape of crimson and an attitude that coursed with derision and superiority. Or what could be considered a classic Sith Lord or Dark Jedi. She could feel a glimmer of hate in her own heart spike up when she saw his eyes and looming form but with another protected breath she let the anger slide away to cold sadness. Would she really have to kill this thing? But the decision was made for her and any hopes of a negotiated peace flew away in a blast of the force. She could feel Kel’s pain but not his death and she set her jaw. She had not killed Lucifer and what a galaxy that had left. Were such beings beyond redemption? Having sold their souls so thoroughly that no light could touch them? But her apprentice was wounded and Aidan was in danger. There was no time to talk, there was not time to grieve. It was time to act. Another breath and she steadied her nerves. Another long breath and she brought the force to bear, stepping forward towards his throne of shattered boxes and durasteel. A king of shadows, a king of night. Her voice did not tremble, and her conviction was brought to bear with the authority of a Jedi Knight. He had given up any discussion with his first blows against his crew and her apprentice. "The discussion ends here." And she struck, tapping into the force and forming a wave of energy that hurled the neat piles of metal he had laid out before them like a thousand needles towards his sitting and vulnerable form. The path was clear and she followed the wave of destruction a split second later, her sabre held before her like a beacon of grey-silver light. ((1))

Sandy watched the overly nervous woman pace in front of them, showing all the telltale signs of a severe deathstick dependency. She was obviously very agitated, and the facial tics that showed between each drag were almost disturbing. Sandy had seen much worse than a woman jabbering on and not answering direct questions and she was about to tell her to pipe down and help them find the Sith or to go back to her ship and escape when the stirring in the force brought Sandy fully alert. Careful Aidan! She did not need to warn Kel who was beside her. She tapped into the force and brought a protective shield around herself and Kel as the breeze blew past them. It took a great amount of concentration but they were protected from the stirring gas or poisonous acid, or whatever it had been that killed the woman. THis was all one giant trap, it always was. At least she had to give credit to that nameless Sith, they hadn’t bungled it like so many Sith she had seen in the past. But with the force, everything had its source. And having found the darkness that flittered at the edges of her vision, and now this new attack the lines were beginning to cross. She took a breath and let the force fill her mind. She let her presence blow away the shadows that surrounded them and fell back to their source. A single being with immense power not very far away at all. The tendril of her presence seized onto the form of the Sith Lord and pulled. Not very hard, not with the strength of ten men, but enough to destabilize him, break his concentration. Her voice followed. “Enough tricks, leave now or be destroyed.” She adjusted the silver sabre and smiled. A drop of sweat tracing one of the small and hidden scars that plagued her face.

Caution The feeling in the back of head that she always associated with danger sense spiked yet again and she glanced at the blaster she had handed back to the woman a moment before to check that its muzzle wasn’t pointing at her. It wasn’t, and she was safe for the moment. Sandy took a step back and expanded her force presence to fill the area, searching for that evil feeling. She caught hold of Aidan’s inclination and let him go, if there were Sith on this ship they would be close, and Aidan could take care of himself long enough to get reinforcements. She began to draw the force into herself with an intake of breath. The force was strong here, and she would be prepared if something rounded the corner on them. She eyed the woman again, “If you are a hostage here to the Sith, then stay behind me, we will free your people. We will not retreat in the face of the Sith and their terror.” She looked to @karyu128 and glanced at his belt. “Kel. Sabre on, get ready.” She lifted hers to shield the woman as she reached out to warn Aidan. Then she raised her voice, letting her presence in the force begin to pierce the shadows that swirled around them. It was here, and she was beginning to focus on his presence. The malice that flared bright against the background. "Come out then Sith."

Sandy let an eye settle onto Aidan as she gave him a smile. This was a dangerous game to play, but she trusted him. They could all feel the very real darkside permeating this entire ship and the darkness of a force user harnessing its power. He was just much better of a negotiator then she was, she knew that already, so she trusted in his plan, and improvising, she handed the blaster pistol back to the woman who was now very neatly smoking a death stick. She let her eyes wander to the wall, where a giant if faded insignia of the Jedi Order lay adorned on the white walls. What was the woman’s plan here? The ship’s transponder signal, the insignia's on the outside of the ship, and the requirement of the ship to be powered by holocrons indicated pretty clearly that this was a Jedi vessel. Was the woman really going to claim ignorance? But she kept her voice calm, and lowered the sabre a degree to show an accommodation of the woman’s worry. The brilliant light of its brilliant silver blade reflecting from the broken Gonk and scattering across the tiled floor in a myriad of rainbows. “If there is danger to us all on this ship then we can help each other. I am Sandy Sarna of the Jedi Order and Rebel Alliance. I have no intention of killing you or anyone else actually. But Jedi have senses enough to tell us that there are Sith aboard so we reacted to the threat. Are they perhaps, in your company?” Her voice was calm and friendly again, but her eyes looked to the shadows.

The sudden stab of danger sense that flashed up her spine was more than enough to bring her lightsabre up and into her hand. It was an old lightsabre, rebuilt from the one that Fynn had given her so many years before. Her finger hovered over the activation switch as her emerald eyes scanned the winding corridors that stretched out in front of the three of them. She took a shallow breath and looked back at Aidan and Kel. “The Bridge is a good Ide-” Her voice trailed off as another flash of danger sense brought her head snapping back around and the lightsaber back up. At the sight of a blaster raised and levelled at her and her friends, her finger did not hesitate to ignite the sabre. A blazing pillar of white light filled the dark corridor from her silver blade and she held it in a high guard. She extended one hand and with an ample amplification of the force, she seized the blaster in the woman’s hand and snapped it harmlessly to her outstretched palm tumbling several times over the ten meters. Sandy’s voice was more of a growl then normal as she spoke. “This is a Jedi Ship. We are Jedi. You and yours must leave immediately, this is not a ship for scavenging.”

Sandy simply nodded in return and settled back down into the arms of the force, letting it guide her every movement. The slight touch of her right foot on the pedal that controlled the starboard thrusters, that, mixed with the twist of the control yoke that slewed the ailerons brought the craft into a sharp banking turn that snapped them up over the large expanse of the Eternal Vigilance, to the exterior docking tunnels on the other side of the ship away from the other docked vessel. She pulled back swiftly on the throttle, ceasing the starships motion and just edging it under one of the long wings that jutted out of the EV’s side. She matched the speed of the drifting starship and initiated the docking sequence. With a double ‘clunk’ the two ships were magnetized together, the two docking tunnels connected but not yet sealed. She looked up as her concentration waned. “Very well done you two.” She kept her voice soft, as if the Sith inside could hear them. She picked her lightsabre off her belt and took two deep, steadying breaths. The boarding tunnel was right behind their cockpit, and it was now or never.

The deep range scans brought up Kerns vessels for the split second it took for either ship to acknowledge each other, a single unidentified blip against the background static of massive amounts of radiation. It was not that however, that brought Sandy’s attention, it was the very sudden and very real spike of the presence of the darkside. It had moved, it had focused into a blink of rage enough to tighten her grip on Aidan’s hand and for her presence to give warning to both he and Kel. It was enough to know that there was a Sith here, likely on the Eternal Vigilance. She let the stress and fear escape with an exhale of breath. Then, concentrating on the force, she hit the accelerators. Riding the edge of dangersense and the pull of the force, she pulled the starship in a long loop, bouncing between eddies of ionized gasses, trusting in the force and in her friends. The grey blip of the Eternal Vigilance slowly grew in the viewing pane mounted in the cockpit, still safe, still silent, but the force raged there. She could feel its pull from kilometers out as she plotted the approach. But there was the other ship, tucked there in the safety of one of the boarding tunnels that the Eternal vigilance used. She looked at both of her friends. She was doubtful, but the darkside was definitely present aboard the EV, and that meant the Sith had gotten there before. “Should we attack it on the approach?” It was only a few minutes away at the rate of approach, and it was a simple question, but a necessary one. Take the risk and send a half dozen torpedoes into what could be innocents? Trust that somehow not attacking a Dark Jedi’s vessel couldn't possibly bite them in the ass? She wanted to for sure, but this was not her decision alone.

The sight was truly breathtaking, and Sandy could feel a strange longning in the back of her mind as she watched the swirling existence that was the Maw. Ionized gas from a long dead nebulae gave the entire field a blue tinge that misted into the pine dark points of the black holes themselves. There was something incredibly awe inspiring and dreadful about the entire field that pulled at her subconscious, this was certainly not a stable system, nor could it ever have naturally formed. She looked back at Aidan and then back at the control panel. “It’s so beautiful…” That tinge was there again, a faint feeling of shadow in the back of her mind, creeping across her subconscious. “But it’s so dangerous…” She grimaced and looked at the reading from the initial pass the ship made on the system. Very dangerous indeed. She looked back at Kel and motioned to the shield relay system on the control panel. "Ok watch and learn, work on preparing the ships shields to resist Hawking radiation and ionized gases something tells me we will be hitting a lot of it. Draw on the force and let it guide you." She hit the deep scanner controls and the ship began to search for the frequencies of the Eternal Vigilance. But it was doubtful that it would return anything of value at all, not with all the interference. She reached her hand out to Aidan. “I think we may need the force to guide us to the EV. What do you think, should we try?” Such an attempt would require a lot of trust, a mind meld of the type that was required for navigation was something that she had not tried since she was an apprentice.

Sandy looked back at Aidan with an embarrassed expression on her face, a blush slowly and silently filling her freckled cheeks. He was totally right of course, the Jedi training vessel was a floating safe space for the Jedi Order. Was she really just ignoring every little bit of her training in the effort to be too safe for her Apprentice and Aidan? It was ok to spin down once and a while and not be so high strung right? Of course it was, and now her paranoia was very apparent to everyone aboard the the ship. She sighed loudly and shook her head. “I am sorry Aidan you are perfectly right, there is little there that should threaten us, but with what happened at Gala and Frond I think I am just on edge.” She fingered the lightsabre on her belt and looked back at the control panel. “But I think I will feel better if we prepare just in case. Who knows, the ship might have a lot of rabid Mynocks or something.” She smiled to ease the tension. But the shadow of doubt was still in the back of her head. What were they getting into? The vessel triggered its hyperspace countdown and dropped them out of hyperspace on the edges of the expansive Maw. A field of black holes and hawking radiation that stretched out for lightyears in either direction. Tucked in the safe space between three of the clustered behemoths, the grey hulk of the Eternal Vigilance sat. Once a great underwater vessel, now looking oddly out of place against the pale light rings of a distant event horizon. There was no danger from the black holes themselves of course, but the darkside was present here. Not as oppressive as the Wound back on Gala, but it permeated the entire cluster. She looked up at Aidan, her brow furrowed in concentration as the distant feeling of darkness splashed over the ship. “Have you been to the Maw before? I can't say if it is the system itself or the EV.”

The feeling coming off Aidan’s presence in the force was much akin to her own, Sandy thought. This was a horribly awkward mess that was only going to fester more as time went on. Not like her actions could cause a split in the order of course, but there could be serious censure if Adenna thought her actions warranted reproval. But the heart of the problem was that she didn’t feel that she had done anything wrong at all. What would that mean then? If she wasn’t remorseful, then could things really spiral out of her control? Her constant companion while an apprentice was the horror and fright of getting kicked out of the order, but she was beyond that now. She had a responsibility to her apprentices and Aidan to set those fears aside and carry on with the mission. They knew where the old Vigilance was now, the scrying done by the Jedi on Ossus had been imprecise, but close enough to pinpoint an area of space they all knew. The Maw. A collection of black holes, stellar debris, and hawking radiation. They were less than an hour out of the beginning of the maze that took them through that space so they had time enough to finish their conversation. She smiled at both Kel and Aidan, feeling for both of them in the force, seeing if there was anything that they held back. It appeared that they did not and she was glad of it. “I must thank you both for what you did as well in assisting me with Frond and Master Vos. Aidan....” She looked at him kindly, wishing that she could help in a more tangible way instead of the stoic way of a Jedi, but trying her best anyway. “...You did your best and did everything you could. Frond did not seem open to having his views changed at all. What happened was not your fault at all. As a Jedi and as your friend. You are guiltless in this.” The light above the hyperdrive console began to flash urgently. She glanced at it and took a quick breath. “If there is anything we need to take from the ship, get it on now, who knows what we will find at the Eternal Vigilance. If Gala was anything to go by, we might be in for a fight.”

“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’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.

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?”

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.”

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.”

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.

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."

“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.

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.

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.”

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."

As the combined Jedi team began to push toward their distant ship, Sandy and Aidan took up the rear as they nearly ran full sprint away from the hordes of possessed corpses. The sight of Frond returning in all his glory brought a surge of joy into Sandy’s heart that she pumped through the mindmeld with her fellow Jedi. She let Tobias follow his song as she let the majority of the attacking possessed converge on him. It was now truly time to go, and Sandy let that urgency flow through the connection as well, the path had been cleared. Before the press of the possessed could redouble, Sandy pushed forward and kept the path clear. She reached out with the force and hurled a wave of the wforce against the shambling corpses. “First lesson!” Her voice boomed out with a tingle of laughter as the bodies began to stack up. “Retreat when you are supposed to! We make for Ossus, come!” But it was likely that they would not see the last of the corpses.

It burned hotter than she expected, the pain of the bite came shrieking up her arm as blood thickly coated the pommel of her sabre. She muttered a curse and spared a quick glance at her hand. The creature had managed quite a good mangling, and she could see the white tendon sheaths peeking out from behind the bright red serrated flesh. She gulped down a breath of air, then looked back at the advancing horde of living dead. Another breath and then she had centered herself. There was no need to be afraid, for they were here together, she was not alone. She brought the sabre to a high guard as she watched Aidan extinguish his and Kel begin to fight with valour. Tobias had disappeared faster than she had thought possible, but it was alright. She extended her presence in the room, reaching out to touch every mind of her allies, reaching beyond the room into the ruins themselves, touching the departed Tobias and the unexpected mind of her wayward apprentice. Frond. The touch of his mind brought a grin to her pale face and then there was very little doubt to the outcome of the fight. She poured assurance through the connection, linking them all into subconsciousness of battle meditation. Then she went to work. She moved forward to stand beside Aidan, batting away a groping undead hand, then tangling her sabre in the face of a zombie who lurched out of the darkness. As powerful as the Imperial Knight was, he needed to remain undistracted by the melee while he found the location of the jedi holocrons. It was only moments later that he was able to find their location, and Sandy pulled on her connection to the force and to each of the Jedi in the ruins. It was time to leave. “Well done, we must fall back to the ship.” She yelled to Kel and Aidan, and indicated the tunnel from which they came. “Tobias and Frond will open us a route!” Dozens of more forms lurched from the shadows as they began to fall back.

The dark side spiked as Sandy listened to Kel and Aidan’s warnings. That queasy feeling at the pit of her stomach moved like bile into the back of her throat as she reached for the sabre at her side. Her pale silver blade ignited with a hiss and joined the bright green of Kels blade with its fine filtered light. As the bright colour washed over the corpse at her feet, it moved. She stumbled back as the corpse latched its teeth onto her hand and she struck out with her sabre in a slash that bisected the corpse and left it twitching on the floor. She screamed in pain and shook her hand with a curse. Spraying bloody droplets over the console she was standing beside. “Kriff, They are possessed. Sabres up!” And the corpses rose and came.