Jump to content

Kala Ianauria

Members
  • Posts

    36
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation

0 Neutral
  1. ”The only light I had to guide me in my journey through the singularity was the flame of belief in the Song of the Force.” Kala Ianauria, Memories of a Thousand Knights. ”Wait, are you telling me I am living three other lives in three other times? You realize how crazy that sounds? And how exactly does that work?”. Kala Ianauria and Visas Marr. The torn black cloth given to her seemed small after her experiences at the Temple on Carida. She reasoned that its small size, like a mustard seed, held the potential for something greater than its relative size indicated. Maybe that was why she heard the notes of the Son so clearly, so bright as to be nearly blinding. Kala took the scrap of cloth gingerly. The stuff seemed delicate, unnaturally so. The taint of the Darkside crept from the stuff and into the tips of her fingers. Notes from her Song immediately intensified and held the subtle poisons at bay. Still, they held a tiny beach head and with it the beginning of the most minute of paths to her heart. Taking a deep, calming breath, Kala stoked the flame of heart with fiery notes of purity and purpose until it felt as if her soul might melt from the glory and joy that was her fires. Then she poured forth her flame along the branching nerves of her fingers until the fiery light flowed to her fingertips and in to another battle in the timeless war between the Light and the Dark. The light of her blazing inner fire met the cloths Darkness in mortal combat and lo! and behold! The darkness fell to the inevitable might of the Light and Hold Soulfire. A brief second of battle, a near flawless victory with the Darkness and the cloth disappeared and the Light rejoiced, triumphant and glorious and shining. Almost flawless. One miniscule breath of Darkness escaped, a small note whose existence was measured in milleseconds, found a way to strike back, to create the seeds of a story that both terrible and beautiful, joyful and sad. At her moment of victory, Kala’s mind splintered. She stood in four places at once, one was a beautiful, ruined world where she saw a man, beautiful and powerful, bend down and pick up a mask. Her vision shifted to the great Temple of Coruscant, where she sat among near silent halls and and listened to her lover’s soft encouragement. Last, she stood aged and decrepit over a vast family on a technologically advanced world of unknown architecture. A family where not being Force Sensitive was the exception. When the visions finished, she found herself holding a small pile of ash that she quietly put Into a capsule for proper disposal.
  2. As she waited aboard the 0Dawn Mistress, the modified DT-47 taken from an Imperial impound yard by her ‘Wild Bunch’, Kala and the crew reached a point where everything came down to routine. At some point, she found herself with a long stretch of off duty time and headed for the relative peace and quiet of a small, unused space aboard the tightly packed ship. Stretching herself into the Force resulted in her hearing and feeling the notes of the Force-Song, allowed her to travel with the notes into a place of complete calm. Her emotions, her sense of self submerged completely, or as nearly as completely as an apprentice was capable. In that moment of calm, she heard an indistinct voice singing in a unknowable distance, someone from far away and long ago. Farther back then her own doppleganger, but not by much. Stretching herself far far out, she touched just the faintest essence of the singer, a simple trill in the Force that served to say, “Hello”. She waited for a response, not expecting any, and after hearing the other’s song fade out, started to submerge herself back into the full flow of the song. Then her trill returned to her along with five distinct notes took her three and added two more to it. Excited, thrilled at making contact with another Exorcists, she sent back her three, the new five, and seven new ones. The resulting melody established a connection between them. “Huh,” she thought, “now I am some kind of network interface.” The spurious thought was buried when the voice of her new contact sounded in her head in a manner similar to that of Master Kyrie, only far stronger. A Master, if Kala understood the level of contact correctly. “Whom are you?” asked the voice. Kala thought things through before replying. She felt no malice, no hate from the being and decided that simply introducing herself might be a reasonable and friendly start. “I am Kala ianauria, Imperial Knight and Exorcist, apprentice to Lady Kyrie.” “Well met, apprentice,” said the Voice in a beautiful voice that made the listener want to meet the speaker in person. “I am Exferren Ben-Havram, Master of the Confessing Order of Exorcists.” Intrigued, Kala asked simply, “The Confessing Order of Exorcists?” “Yes,” said Exferren, “We are researchers turned to warriors by necessity. Have you chosen an order yet?” “Last time I checked, there weren’t enough Exorcists to have separate orders.” The presence in the Force…smiled. At least that’s how Kala interpreted what she felt. “Not in your time anyway, young Kala. In mine, while we were rare, there were enough that we could separate like unto like and reach a greater understanding together.” “My time?” asked Kala, very confused. “You are thousands of years removed from me dear. And yet I sense you are close in time to me too. How is that possible?” mused the voice. Kala sat silently, patiently, not knowing how to respond. The idea of researching things intrigued her, of using that knowledge to create something new, something wonderful, of extending knowledge far beyond the closets frontiers . The voice of Exferren continued. “Ah, I see. Oh, how interesting young Kala. Thank you for bringing something new to me. That was unexpected.” “I don’t understand.” “You will in time. Now, how about I begin teaching you?” “Is that possible?” “With the Force, all things are possible. Now relax, and let me see.” “See what?” asked Kala, feeling confused and a little frightened. A sensation of calm, of pure and good lightness rolled over, under and threw her fears until they burned way. As the negative feelings burned away, she felt another light join with hers, their individuals songs merged in the Force to create a stronger melody for a few fleeting moments of pure ecstasy. Kala understood, fully and completely and felt further thrill and complete trust. Exferren was reading both her mind and her soul from somewhere in the far, distant past. She knew Exferren’s time as a time of danger, both present in felt about to bring great change to the galaxy. A time of peace like Kala’s time, at its final moments, but yet unknown to its inhabitants. “A Healer, a creator, insatiable curious yet driven to take that curiosity and form it so that helps others. Not to mention a warrior’s spirit, one unyielding and faithful to any evil. I think I like you Kala, apprentice to Kyrie.” That the Master read her very soul like an open book bothered Kala not at all. After all, she’d seen the bared power of her Master and accepted that a Master might be far, far stronger than a Knight. That strength, from her viewpoint, meant greater capabilities, some even unimaginable with her current level of understanding. Something had to be taken and accepted with faith. “Let me show you something,” said the Past Master. The song changed and soon Kala felt herself both hearing the Force and seeing the vision of a being she’d never heard of before. Before her, she saw a living plant, one both mobile and sentient. She knew this through the Force, through the eyes of Exferren. “Yes,” said Exferren, “this is an example of a Neti, most specifically Exorcist Yinnue of my order. Stretch your senses out and learn.” Not knowing how she did it, Kala did as she was instructed, reaching out through time and space until she felt the notes of her song gently touch the young Neti and settle on the sentient plant. She wound her song around and through the being, guided and channeled by the notes of Exferren. “What do you see, young Kala?” Kala concentrated trying to form words from the incredibly vague images simmering through her consciousness. “I see possibilities,” said Kala. “The cell structure, the cell structure can be adapted?” she asked softly. Adapted to what?” “A question specific to you, I think,” said Exferren. “Research, you must. Notes to take, things to build, things that ask question your answers. Go now, young Kala. We will talk again.” At those words, Kala felt herself both pushed and pulled back to her own mind, her own time. Light flooded her eyes even as a cool rush of pure oxygen entered her mouth and flooded her lungs. She stirred, fighting against the mask, wanting no part of it. A strong pair of hands held it in place and she resisted using the Force to push away those holding her down. She stood and felt fatigue, hunger and exhaustion sway so strong she barely kept her feet.” A young medic, a medical doctor in his own time, Warrant OfficerS Hwyvet looked at her in alarm. “Ma’am, please calm down,” said Hwyet,”we just found you, you’ve been down her over a week.” The truth of his words hit as consciousness of her body returned to her. She felt the film of filth on her body and in her hair that came from not bathing from multiple days. The smell entered her nostrils moments later. The warrant officer jumped up and steadied her as she swayed again, both from weakness and embarrassment at her current state. “I was meditating,” said Kala. “I figured,” said the medic. When the Captain found you, he called me immediately because he knew I’d had training for just this eventuality where Imperial Knights were concerned.” “What,” said Kala. “Force Immersion, the kind where you forget your physical presence and risk losing your life.” “Oh,” she said at a loss for words. He placed his shoulder under her own and helped her from the room. “If its okay with you ma’am, let’s get you to sickbay to get some nutrients into you. Should I bring you anything from your quarters?” “A notepad, preferable one with Holonet access,” said Kala, “and my gear. Need to get it ready for the Operation.” “Yes ma’am. But understand, I will be keeping a watch on you and if I think your overdoing anything before your fully recovered, I will put and end to it."
  3. Kala heard her master speak of fighting slavery to Jedi Alluyen. She shivered as she considered that doing so might bring her into conflict with her own family. A smile graced as face as the chill turned from one of fear to one of pleasure. Dismantling the wealth and luxury brought to her family brought her no pain. Still she watched silently from behind her master as her master opened negotiations with the Jedi in order to secure allies for a coming fight. She watched, but somewhere within her mind she wandered what part she would be playing it. She reached to open her bracer's comm unit and contacted the 'Wild Bunch' via a simple code word. By the time she joined, her ship and crew would stand ready to serve the Empire.
  4. Kala's caf, heated in a Kyrie's small microwave oven smouldered in an elegant, durasteel cup engraved with "Wild Bunch" on one side and an engraving of Lady Justice on the other. The entire force had them, courtesy of their recent victories in bringing justice for some natives some wealthy Kuati attempted to exploit. One of the natives made them from the armor of destroyed Imperial walkers instead of the battle armor he once created. As she sipped, she remembered something she'd made for Kyrie. She set a cup exactly like hers on the table between them, only one side had the seal of the Imperial Knights and the other side with the crest of Excorcists on the other. Inside was her gift to her lady, a rosarie of prayer beads with s single pendent on whose sides were carved with the same signs as that of the cup. Only the crests on the pendant om the rosarie came from Kala's hand and showed her inexperience. Still, she wanted to give her Master something in thanks and the design seemed to fit. She nodded at Kyrie's words to her and to their guest as she mulled over her Lady's offer. She felt torn between the two of them. She hungered for the knowledge Il-Andon represented. Her fingertips burned to seize hold of the small object and she began to reach for it with a clear hunger in her eyes. As she did so, though, she felt something dark cross the song, bending the notes in unnatural ways, causing her to physically wince. Of their own accord, her hands returned to grasp the cup of caf. Small tremors caused ripples in the surface of the dark liquid as she stopped to reconsider her options. That feeling of darkness, of discord in the song cooled her hunger and warned her way from her own greed even if it was for knowledge and wisdom. She floundered at the thought, of greed for knowledge and wisdom being as corrupting as that of someone desiring power. Or were they one in the same with the only difference being that of semantics? It only took a second before she reached her decision. "Kyrie, ma'am, I think I will attend Grand Master Kirlocca's funeral with you." Kala paused, trying to organize her thoughts before explaining her reasoning. "While I would like to study Il-Andon's Holocron, doing so without your guidance at this point in my training seems to bend and distort the notes of the Song. The distortion is something unnatural and cold. I've known that feeling before, during the raid on Carida's former temple." As her final words lingered in the air, she consider what she said and then added for clarification. "That Sith Lord, his presence distorted the Song in the same way." And with that her nebulous thoughts coalesced and she understood. Kala shuddered before continuing after taking a steady sip from her caf and waited for her Master's reply.
  5. Her Scout-Snipers provided them with an early warning about the two new squads of soldiers approaching their position. Kala’s Captain immediately moved to cut the bonds holding her wrists together. Her “Wild Bunch” immediately set to making an ambush that followed the Imperial rulebook for such contingencies. Master Eleison warning through the Force ripped the carefully created plan to shreds. When the two squads of heavy enemy troopers marched into the square, they found themselves confronted by a vision of the past. To their eyes, a single Jedi stood in the moddle of their square, her hands around a double bladed lightsabre that remained unlit. They brought their weapons to bear on her. From behind her, in their ambush position, the “Wild Bunch” watched as their young Knight brought their small corner of the war to a grind halt on nothing more than a hunch from the Force. In front of her, twenty rifle barrels remained unwaveringly trained on her. Neither side moved for several seconds.. Slowly, Kala moved her hands to her sides, clipping the lightsabre to its resting position on her back. She then sat down. At a signal from one of the troopers, the rest dispersed into defensive positions. The trooper walked forward and sat opposite Kala and removed her helmet. Long red hair cascaded downward and back over her heavy armor. “Commander Nara Schiahavilli, 301st Imperial Combat Engineers, retired,” said the woman. “Imperial Knight Kala Ianauria.” Both sat in the middle of the square while an unreal, tense silence existed in a bubble around them for several seconds. “So why are you here, Kala?” asked the woman. “Initially to rescue an Imperial hostage and eliminate any resistance,” said Kala. “Heard about you Knights. Never thought I would see Imperial Jedi. Yet you are talking to me,” said the woman, “So why?” “Because something’s not adding up and I had a warning from my master.” “So you took a chance and walked out here to talk to us?” “Not entirely alone. Got three squads of troopers and air support on the other side of the square.” Nara’s eyes went wide in recognition. “Your that group of commandoes that cut through our forward positions.” “We call ourselves the ‘Wild Bunch’. And if you check, most of the 1st batch of troopers we encountered are still alive.” Nara shook her head. “Considering your tactics, your moniker is appropriate. And you have been had. There is no Imperial hostage. General Theiux resigned his commission over the treatment of the natives. Your rescue mission is a case of your superiors not telling you the whole truth.” Kala closed her eyes to center herself in the Force. Doing so allowed her to better hear the song, especially where it swirled around Nara. The notes coming from Nara felt warm, felt right, felt alive. There was one senior Imperial official Kala knew of whose notes made her shiver. She opened her eyes and reached for the comp built into her bracer. Information from her troopers sprayed across the screen as they scrambled to try and confirm the Commander’s story. “Stop,” said Kala into her mic. With a deep, steadying breath, she turned to Commander Nara and asked, “Commander, why did General Theiux resign her commission?” “We came here on a survey mission. Found a massive liquid Tibanna deposit underneath this city and began making deals to benefit the natives. You know, jobs, monetary compensation, that sort of thing. A partnership according to the G.A. model instead of the old Imperial method.” Kala smiled encouragingly and fed peace and serenity to the Commander through the Force. She waited for the woman to continue, wandering what went wrong. The woman looked at her curiously for a few moments before continuing. “Just when everything’s up and working, we found the natives got cut out of their share by some consortium of businesses out of Kuat. Seems some of the nobles decided they preferred the old ways and that meant thugs being sent to make sure they got all the profits.” “Mother,” muttered Kala. Mistaking her muttered word for something vulgar, the Commander nodded. She continued speaking, “Next thing we know, the natives got restless and we were facing a full scale rebellion. Despite her youth, Kala filled in what came next. “An Imperial citizen got hurt or worse and someone call for the Stormtroopers.” “For a massive deposit of liquid Tibanna already spun sealed?” asked the Commander incredulously. “They sent a dozen legions and a half dozen Star Destroyers.” “When did the General resign?” “When she got orders to use lethal force against civilians.” “And so that’s how we got here. Someone decided to stop the native forces by relieving them of what made them effective by staging a rescue mission,” stated Kala in a shaking, angry voice. Her communicated chirped. Commander Nala nodded affirmative when Kala silently pleaded to be allowed to answer it. “Yes Captain?” “If its true, what do we do?” The question stopped Kala’s thought process for a second. “I thought Empress Raven made firing on civilians illegal in most cases.” “According to the conventions put into place. As is using military assets to suppress rebellions created by corporate maleficence.” “Quoting the book?” joked Kala. “You don’t want to hear my thoughts on the matter. Its going to take some time for us to confirm this.” “We’ve got as much times as remains on the mission time. So you better get started.” Forgetting she sat in front of the Commander, Kala continued, “As for your thoughts, if their like mine they involve lightsabers and blasters to certain offending parties. We’ll need to settle for arresting guilty parties.” Kala heard the smile in the Captain’s voice. “Already started Knight Kala. What should we do in the meantime?” “Stay put,” said Kala. “And your pressed for time. We do have evidence of our own supporting this if your willing to let us help prove our claims.” “Captain,” asked Kala, “what do you think?” “Send it,” said the Captain. Twenty minutes later Kala found herself calling down their ride. Beside her “Wild Bunch” stood Commander Nara and her two squads of troopers. A grim look graced every face in the bunch. Between the evidence presented by General Theiux rebels and what her troopers discovered or verified, she needed to arrest several Imperial officers for bribery and corruption among other charges. Along with the Imperial officers, they intended to arrest several Imperial civilians for similar and worse charges. As the broached atmosphere, she sent her report to Master for her Master’s eyes only. She wanted to arrest the first several people with the element of surprise. To her surprise, a certain controller had not been on that list. And since being a bigot was not illegal, he got left alone. Well, until he received orders permanently assigning him to the ‘Wild Bunch’. All on the word of a sixteen year old Imperial Knight outraged at the miscarriage of justice that created the Rebellion on the planet below. A ceasefire held while the rebellion and Imperial troops waited for the outcome of her mission. She did not know her actions would change of Imperial procurement law, how Imperial troops supressed rebellions, and provide a training example of how the new Empire needed to work on multiple levels. When all was said and done, she ended up arresting over 200 civilians and military personnel over serveral hours. Many of them, realizing they faced a tougher justice than they were used to immediately began implicating others. It soon began obvious that the investigation needed to be expanded and conducted by more than one Imperial Knight and five squads of increasingly angry troopers. Kala tapped the transport’s pilot on the shoulder and ordered him to return to the station. Taking up a seat at the comm station she called her Master and sent her the information she had and what her prisoners were telling her. She also sent the results to General Theiux and her rebels along with the planetary garrisons. Both sides withdrew until a more permanent solution could be found. According to one diplomat, they wanted to reset to the original contracts. Along with her report, she put in a request of her to spend some time training with her troops and exploring more of what the Force had to offer. The ‘Battle Meditation’ seemed to be a good place to start. Before that though, she wanted to explore the facets of the Force in greater detail. She wanted to know what abilities and mysteries the Force might hold for her.
  6. ”There were moments with the Wild Bunch that left me humbled, proud, and terrified. My first days with them on Carida opened a window into worlds the Jedi Code too often denied its knights.” Take for example those early days on Carida. The solution for utterly obliterating three heavily armed squads of troopers on Carida came from Spec 4th class Mackenzie Liellenhammer. I started to unravel her history while she explained how to turn the power cores of three anti-infantry spider droids into stun bombs. Something I would not have known without the aid of a beginning battle meditation or a Imperial Magistrate that decided the young woman’s bomb making talents could be made to serve the Remnant instead of rotting in prison or falling into the hands of some terrorist group.  Ianauria, Kala. Wild Knights of the Imperial Remnant, Bastion City, Ravendark Publishing, 3285, ebook. One of their Nemesis gunships called in a sighting of heavily armed troopers moving into a blocking position directly in front of their line of advance. The Troopers assigned to overwatch quickly confirmed the sighting and a very daring scout scrabbled close enough to count eyebrows. When presented with the intelligence, Kala, the Captain, and 1st Sergeant all swore. The three squads had selected a beautiful defensive position that threatened to derail their entire mission. The Knights drew back to a temporary holding position, with just a couple of Troopers left to watch the enemy. As they gathered themselves, Kala felt a disturbance in the Force that seemed to hover directly over Specialist 4th class Mackenzie “Boomhammer’ Liellenhammer. Kala looked over to the young woman, doubt crossing her features as she looked over the young trooper. She shook her head, understanding that once again the Wild Bunch held a welcome surprise for her. “What do you think, Specialist?” The Captain and 1st Sergeant all looked at her like she’d lost her mind. Both shook their heads, understanding that their Knight once again knew something due to the Force. Kala smiled, knowing that the surprises would slow as they became closer knit because of something the 1st Sergeant had told her during the initial search for the Troopers. The specialist came over and knelt to examine the data they leadership had displayed in front of them. The 1st Sergeant quickly and brusquely brought her up to speed. “Easy. We take the power cores from those droids we disabled earlier to set up a wide field stun and concussion bomb and shove it down their throats.” “Because it’s not possible under field conditions,” grunted the Captain. “I can rig all three for you in under 20 minutes,” said the specialist with a great deal of confidence. “In fact, give me half of an hour and couple of repulsor packs and I can make things really interesting.” Kala’s Captain turned towards the Specialist and said, “You got 10. Take three others and get it done. If you’re not back, we’ll find another way.” Kala felt hope the specialist could fulfill her promise, because that meant being able to hold their three supporting craft in reserve for the extraction. She expected that to present some kind of major problem and wanted all the firepower she could get. Or at least that’s how the Captain had explained it too her. The Captain strode away from the all towards the remained of the Troops and began speaking to some of them individually. The 1st Sergeant tapped her gently on the shoulder. Kala turned back towards him as he motioned her to follow. “Captains going to order some probing attacks to keep those in their holes until we get those bombs or we find a way around those troopers. Gonna be a long wait, ma’am.” As promised, those ten minutes, two probing attacks, and sniper’s duel left the enemy with 4 wounded and one dead to Kala’s one wounded seemed to last far too long. A woman whose embarrassement of the wound outstripped the in pain. The only both sides lost was time. The Wild Bunch lost time in getting to their target, the enemy Troopers lost time before the Wild Bunch struck, and the hostage lost time. Specialist Mackenzie arrived with her floating bombs after thirteen minutes. She arrived just in time to prevent a rather difficult attack on the positions held by the enemy. As promised, she brought the three cores from the droids. They floated on repulsor packs, tied into s triangular formation, with one forward and two back. Relief flooded Kala and something else. Suddenly, she wanted to see the contraption detonate, to see if it was effective. She also knew that the unshielded cores would need defended until they got to the target and that their equipment was not suitable or recharged sufficiently for the task. Before she might let her doubts stop her, she jumped on top of the front core, looked over to the Captain and said, “Cover me.” A Force Push quickly sent the young Imperial Knight and the floating bombs towards to the enemy. A second and third Push accelerated her towards an almost nightmarish speed. She steadied her emotions, letting the fear and terror be replaced by the song of the Force even as the first enemy bolts went past her. She found her focus, and quickly began deflecting bolts back towards the enemy troops. More than a few made it past her defenses to impact on the trio of bombs. A subtle hum crept up through her boots, increasing in strength every time a bolt hit. When she was about 5 meters from the enemy, she realized that she needed to get clear. A convenient doorway presented itself to her relief, an she jumped into its minimal cover. A fourth Force Push helped the trio of bombs close the distance to the enemy in the barest fraction of time. Kala hoped she left herself enough physical distance, felt her breath catching in her lungs from her exertions, and felt her emotions slowly catching up to what she’d just done. She felt an infinite sadness about the necessity of all of this. As her sense of the Force shifted from pure defense to something else, Kala felt the general health of her troops and a shadowed sense of their emotions. Kala became aware of the enemy through the Force while a few stray bolts splashed around her. The hum from the bombs suddenly cut off. She resisted the urge to look, felt the infinite microsecond of utter peace just prior to the detonation of the lead sphere. Both of the rear ones exploded sympathetically mere seconds after the first. She felt the awareness of each of the enemy troops as they faded but did not merge with the Force. A half dozen stubbornly remained conscious. Yelling, Kala jumped from the doorway with her lightsaber ignited and leaped into their midst before any could react. Seconds later, the enemy lay scattered around her, either dying or stunned. Her troopers caught up with her, looking around at the destruction wrought by the bombs a mere second before scattering to the soldiers. They bound those merely unconscious and gathered the dead into neat rows and began immediately searching them for actionable intelligence. She heard her Captain ask their medic, “How long will they be out?” “A very long time. Specialips knows her business.” Kala stared at them for a moment just before one of her troopers presented the Captain with a datapad. “Hey folks, they left us a nice easy map. Seems the troopers keep springing their own traps. And this group was initially assigned to defend the hostage.” “Too easy,” said the 1st Sergeant. “Agreed. That’s why when you take a second look at the map and combine it with Lady Kala’s senses, look what we got.” “Well,” said the 1st sergeant, clearly beginning to get a grasp faster than the Captain and Kala about what kind of troops the Wild Bunch would be, we have a location and a whole bunch of enemy armor to help us get there.” “And our resident Jedi?” asked the Captain. Kala held out her hands in front of her with her wrists close together. “Just leave me enough room to cut them off with my saber when the time comes.” The Troopers, grinning maliciously, stood guard over each other as they changed into the enemy armor. Each carried their own armor, planning to tell anyone they met about their spoils of war as they made their way to the where the hostage and her captors waited. The air about them took on the grim resolution of their task.
  7. If anyone was watching, then they would certainly see that the part of Imperial troopers facing the main gate of the facility only contained 13 of the 20 individuals assigned to the Wild Bunch. 2 were piloting Nemesis class gunships named Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, 1 was piloting a spec-ops M.A.A.T named Becka by a man recently inducted and promoted to the rank of lieutenant on the order of Knight-Apprentice Ianauria. Who had landed with the others, than ran off to a point around 100 meters away from the main group, followed by 4 others, including the group’s 1st Sergeant and four of the roughest troopers of the ‘Bunch’. They carried a mortar, 2 heavy repeaters, and an automatic grenade launcher in addition to their standard loadout. Once they reached their position, they paused long enough to ensure that both groups remained undetected. The enemy remained blissfully ignorant of the group right up until the moment Kala signaled for the fireworks to begin. Appropriately, they began with her small command. The heavy repeaters and grenade launcher both opened up on the main gate, with her remained troopers firing as fast they could pull their triggers and reload their weapons. The whole point being to make it seem as if her group was a far larger Force and draw the droids to them at an angle canted to the gate. She herself was not actually participating, instead listening to the Song of the Force, attempting to find guidance towards the woman that the terrorist were holding hostage. The nearest XM droid turned towards gate, firing its weapons directly towards the troopers whom found a way to increase the volume of their return fire in response. Only, they never targeted the droid, opting instead to use the cover of the droids fire to finish their destruction of the gate. The gate quickly fell, groaning as it did so amid a flurry of sparks. That quickly brought the other two droids scuttling forth until all three began advancing towards the small quad across the two hundred yards or so of open space. The original droid led, with the other two spaced out diagonally from the leaders left flank. Once that last one cleared the gate, the 1st Sergeant gave the night’s second signal. As he signaled, Kala opened her eyes and marked a direction on her bracer’s computer than unlimbered the light repeater she carried and joined her troops into pouring fire at the lead droid. All three droids stopped and began firing on her position, their shots splintering trees and throwing up dirt around the troopers. A pair were actually hurt by flying debris but quickly rejoined the firing line after administering basic first aid. Among the second, larger group which had been absolutely silent until signaled, two troopers watched the screens of night vision enabled rangefinders, swinging their equipment around until all three droids were visible inside their viewing screens along with a very wide swath of the initial blocks past the gate. With the press of a single button, they uploaded their data to the M.A.A.T and Nemisi whose pilots immediately fired a total of 18 ion rockets into the targeted area from three different areas of the compass. The M.A.A.T fired a pair of guided ion missiles towards a large power source that Imperial intelligence believed powered the area. Both groups of troopers immediately activated portal shields capable of deflecting the ion bursts, keeping their equipment safe even as all three droids and and ten blocks of the target area went completely and totally black while the power generating plant shut down, cutting the majority of power throughout the rest of the targeted area. The M.A.A.T and gunships immediately shifted to new positions below the firing horizon of the city after firing their ordinance, waiting for any new orders. Both groups met up at a preset rally point past the main gate after planting demolition charges on the droids. The destruction of the droids soon rumbled through the night. At the rally point, the reassembled group separated into three fire teams, with Kala leading a scout group along the line she sensed led towards the hostage. A hostage the Captain warned everyone to not trust, to secure her until Imperial Intelligence had a chance to interrogate her in case she had begun identifying with the enemy. One of the other teams followed behind the scout group in direct support, while the other, equipped with jump packs, went to the top of the nearest building to provide overwatch. Once all three groups were in position, they began moving deeper into the area, every trooper using passive sensors built into their helmets to check for threats of any kind.
  8. Cold crept through Kala’s veins at the contempt in IC-426’s speech. The sudden lack of compassion or forgiveness startled her until the man’s other line registered with her concerning her progress towards a ‘Battle Meditation’ with her troops. She turned towards her troops and spoke in a cool, level tone. “Let me handle this. Captain, you, 1st Sergeant Viggen, and River will stay here with me. The rest of you, get to the nearest squad bay and draw the equipment necessary for a hostage rescue in hostile territory. If you don’t like what they issue, get creative. Stay on comms for further orders. Dismissed.” She watched her troops file out, felt the warmth return to her veins after the last trooper disappeared through a hatch approximately 4 or 5 meters away. She bent over the tactical map, motioning for her remaining troops to join her and begin plotting the most efficient route through the area. As the three began making notations in the holotanks viewing area, she turned to address IC-426. There were a few points that needed clarifying and she felt it her duty to make her points crystal clear on behalf of the Empress and her troopers. . “IC-426, there are a couple of things you should consider before speaking of indigenes as making their home smell, before you openly discriminate against anyone whom you disagree with. The Empire cannot allow itself to repeat the mistakes of the past. It must be compassionate and merciful when appropriate unless we want a repeat of the GCW on our hands. That includes in our hearts and minds.” She turned, walked over and stood within an inch or so of him. Too her irritation she had to look up to lock eyes with the man, yet not nearly as much as she might once have had to. The growth spurt seemed to be coming in handy for more than just causing her coordination problems. “You should know most of my troopers, my Wild Bunch came from places that, except for architecture and history, have residents used to conditions found in a city like that. The Captain comes from some of the worst slums on Coruscant, never saw sunlight till they day she transported for Carida. My 1st Sergeant comes from Nar Shadaa, his parents were adult entertainers. They specialized in live theatre presentations.” Without closing her eyes, she let the Song of the Force play within her mind, felt the way the notes wrapped around IC-426, then compelled them to tighten about him and lift him about a meter from the floor. She barely resisted the temptation to toss him across the room. “As for River, she was a bondservant to my House on Kuat. If your unaware, that meant she was a slave. I was born a Kuati noble. All of that means nothing, we all serve the Empire now with the same rights, responsibilities and freedoms. The Old Empire with its intolerance and hate must never rise again.” Just before she dropped him back to his feet, she snarled angrily, “And last, I am not a Jedi, I am an Imperial Knight and our mandate is to defend and protect the citizens of the Empire. All of the citizens, regardless of class, race, or wealth. If you have a problem with that, being a Knight carries enough rank to see you cleaning latrines for the rest of your enlistment.” Finished, she turned away from him and back towards the three at the planning table. Much of the fire from her trooper’s ire washed from her nerves, replaced with the icy competence she and the Empire needed from her troops. There was the faintest hint of approval behind the competence. “Captain,” said Kala, “when you get a chance, brief my troopers on my family. Let them know that at some point I am going to half to return home and confront my mother and my family’s legacy directly. Anyone whom wants to join me will need to volunteer as its going to require them to be ready for anything.” Closing her eyes to focus her attention on the exercise at hand, she pointed to the map. “Alright, tell me what we got, what we want, and how were going to use it.” The discussion raged for the next next half hour, with Kala mentally noting that their tactics seemed limited to just using issued equipment. She quietly wondered why until it occurred to her they just simply didn’t know what else they might acquire and were having the good sense not to mention anything unusual in front of the command staff. “Enough,” she said. “Let’s continue our planning in the squad bay once we find out our loadouts.” The four of them stood straight, saluted the command staff and walked out the door. Once they were out of the hearing of the staff, River turned towards her and said, “I want to be there when you confront your family. I have some questions for them.” Kala nodded towards the young woman. “I figured you might.” Something stirred in the Force and Kala extended her senses towards it, not thinking about having to do so, just doing it in a way that made it seem almost like a sense she’d been born knowing. “Well 1st Sergeant, out with it.” The man looked over her in surprise for a second. River spoke for them all. “This takes some getting used to, working closely with someone whom can sense at least the form of our thoughts.” Kala smile, still waiting for the 1st Sergeant’s report but joining in the banter, “Wait until my ‘Battle Meditation grows stronger and your able to understand each other’s emotion, intentions, and eventually each other’s thoughts.” River responded quietly, “A ‘battle meditation’ can go that far?” “A strong enough practitioner can do so for entire fleets light years apart,” said Kala. “Or so the Jedi believe anyway. The Sith have an actual example. A certain Emperor once extended his control to the entire fleet at every outpost in the Empire on a daily basis.” Chills went up four spines at Kala’s pronouncement. The 1st Sergeant’s voice broke the spell. “Well Lady Kala,” she began. Kala felt a warmth from the trooper when she called her that. “The lieutenant didn’t like our loadout at all. Thought they should give us more than what they did, so he took two of troopers with high piloting aptitude and went scrounging.” “So what did he find,” asked the Captain. “Well ma’am, he just reported acquiring some heavy andlight repeaters, grenade launchers and a couple of man-portable mortars when his group came upon a SpecOps M.A.A.T., we call them Starhunters, and a pair of Nemisis[/i} class gunships.” “Serious firepower, Knight Kala,” said her Captain. “Good,” said Kala, “let’s show them what the ‘Wild Bunch’ can do.”
  9. Eight hours and three different hostage rescue scenarios gained Kala a better knowledge of the troops in the two squads she’d run to the training grounds with. Of them, she felt sure she wanted Captain Sannis, SFC Morakaran, and Corporal River to be a part of the eighteen troops assigned to her. Something in the Song told her the others might have a future as Storm Commandos or in the squads of other Knights, but not in hers. Once the troopers bedded down in their temporary barracks at the training center, she went directly to the Captain to talk to her about keeping the three of them and searching for others. Unceremoniously opening the door to the Captain’s office, she found the occupant of the office and 1st Sergeant Tuan going over various reports. Both rose in greeting with the Captain offering her a seat and speaking first. Physically exhausted from the day’s training, Kala gratefully accepted. “What can I do for you Knight Ianauria?” “Its about the two squads we worked with today, Captain,” Tuan Ngo spoke up at the point, “Most of us won’t be going with you.” Kala and the Captian looked over at the 1st Sergeant. “I’m not Force Sensitive, but I know difference between troops fighting well together and those that fight as one. Lady Kala, Troopers River, Morakaran and you Captain all worked as one when you barely knew each other. “ Captain Sannis and Kala looked over at the 1st Sergeant for a long time before anyone spoke. The 1st Sergeant broke the silence first. “I’ve already spoken to those not going with Lady Kala doing the various exercises we ran together. I also took the opportunity to put together a list of Troopers that’ll work well with you.” He handed two identical lists to Kala and Captain Sannis. Both scanned over the lists. To Kala, they seemed to be a list of names, ranks, and specialties, about half of which she did not know the meaning of. To the Captain, the list meant something else. “1st Sergeant, half of the men and women on this list are confined to quarters with the others in the brig for charges ranging from insubordination to actually striking a superior officer.” “Yessir, that’ s true. But I urge the four of you to visit them and decide for yourself instead of only seeing those reports.” “What do you know?” asked the Captain. “You have a feeling about them, don’t you?” asked Kala, speaking in a voice barely above a whisper. The two of them glanced at her. Kala looked back and raised her voice to a conversational level. “You have a feeling about them, not one from the Force, but because you’re a professional soldier whose learned to see what others cannot.” Kala smiled at the two whose faces betrayed the slightest hint of surprise at her insight. “I’m a Kuati noble, remember? We start training early on how to recognize servants and soldiers of high quality.” Neither of them detected a hint of condensation or conceit within her voice. Instead they heard a young woman making a simple statement. Both approved and when among their own ranks, would speak of their approval. “What do you think Knight Ianauria?” asked the Captain. “Shall we follow the 1st Sergeant’s advice?” The song of the Force crashed to a massive crescendo in her mind at the suggestion. “Yes, Captain.” “1st Sergeant,” said the Captain, “Knight Ianauria, River and Morakaran will be moving to new quarters in the morning.” “Then we will go and see the names on this list.” When morning came, the four of them met at the barracks entrance, left, and moved to claim a barracks that looked to have existed from the time of the Old Republic. Entering, the Captain and the troopers went to the commander’s quarters and the squad bay. Kala stopped at the entrance, hearing an odd note in the Song and wondering why. Since the other three headed in the same direction as the note, Kala followed behind them. While the captain and troopers looked over the rooms, Kala turned to a blank wall. It took the others a short time to realize that Kala had not followed them. They turned to watch her stare absently at a blank wall, then stared harder as her hands began moving in a seemingly random pattern. They stared harder as she walked through the wall. Kala found herself in a small room completely free of dust, lit by a single overhead light panel. On two of the walls she found a dozen recording devices marked with the names of various lessons by a number of different Jedi Masters concerning everything from saber techniques to Force theory. Most meant even less than 1st Sergeant Tuan’s list, but one did stand out. She recognized the name of the Healing Master she’d been studying before leaving the Temple. To her surprise, the devices display lights all indicated full and complete functionality. They looked to have been recently maintained. On the third wall, a single holocron sat inactive. Kala reached out reverently to touch the small pyramidal structure and found it to be slightly humming with constrained power. When her finger was just short of the object, the object’s guardian project above it and spoke. A female Chiss of incredible beauty wearing a Jedi Master’s robes looked directly at her, red eyes reaching directly into her soul. “When you’ve mastered what you see on those two walls, Kala Ianauria, you’ll be ready for what I am guarding. Until then, I’ll answer the questions you have.” Kala looked at the small figure, then shook her head. “What should I call you?” “Lady Irejyna,. Now, before you take these objects and gather your troopers, there is something about the young man taking care of this place you need to know. ” When she backed out of the room after less than a minute, the Captain and the two Troopers watched the wall completely fade from existence. Kala looked over her shoulder at them and smiled. She packed the items into the remarkably handy duffel stored below the holocron and turned towards the three. “We need to find some troopers.” After securing their excess gear, the four set off to begin visiting the names of the list. It took nearly three days. There were more names than slots available, and some were refused by Kala or one of the others for various reasons. In the end, she ended up with fifteen additional troopers with ranks from specialist to 1st Sergeant. The last addition came when they returned to the barracks. A young lieutenant stood looking at the small room Kala found earlier. He wore the off duty uniform of the StormTroopers, wore a mirrored visor over his eyes, and carried a small set of tools. He looked utterly bewildered at the now empty room and stared incredulously when eighteen very angry men and women pointed several different types of blasters in his direction. All of whom stood behind a young woman holding an un-ignited double bladed lightsaber. Someone female in her troopers yelled, “What the hell? Why are you here?” The question hung in the air. Kala spoke to both the troopers and the lieutenant. “He’s here to maintain the recording devices and care for the holocron we locked away earlier today.” The young man took an instinctive step backward. “Relax everyone,” said the Captain. “Knight Ianauria, what shall we do with him?” “He’s our last member. Also the first non-human, non-Imperial to be a member of our troop despite those lieutenant’s rank cylinders.” Kala turned to face the young Miraluka. ““Lady Irejyna told me young man. Captain, he’s a pilot and expert in a number of very useful fields. He’s also more than capable of acting as a junior officer.” Every one of the troopers and the young man looked at her. “Well, we need to get moving. There’s training to be accomplished. And according to my Master, that training will have to be done on platform A-96. Well, after we run through a few scenarios here at the training center concerning hostage rescue. Kala felt utter calm about this group despite the ragtag and misfit nature of their group. That calm helped her confidence and let her feel like they were hers and she belonged to them. Over the next two days, they demolished every scenario thrown at them. They also demolished a bar and the company of MP’s sent to take them into custody after their last training session at the 1st’s base. Reporting to a local airbase, they appropriated a series of modified Tie Hunters and Kala’s fighter, now equipped with the necessary gear to maintain her group for short term deployments and still defend itself. Reporting into IC-426, Kala simply announced, “Wild Bunch, reporting. Where do we start IC-426?”
  10. What followed might charitably be called training from the trooper’s point of view. The morning’s conditioning started with what Captain Briana “Ripper” Sannis called a warm-up, an hour’s worth of heavy calisthenics that left Kala barely able to breathe and aching from muscles she never knew she had. Sweat soaked into the body-stocking beneath her armor which began to chafe in some sensitive places. Captain Sannis barely broke a sweat. 1st Sergeant Tuan “Snowblower” Ngo looked bored by the whole thing, completing the exercises with a face set in stone with hard eyes that watched and evaluated them all. Kala felt like the Tuan’s eyes constantly rested on her for that very long hour. Once the warm-up was finished, the Captain called the troops into formation to begin what he called a short run. Corporal Cheyna “Cold Toes” Morakaran standing next to Kala looked over at Kala with a cold grin upon her face. In a whisper, she spoke to Kala, “Hope you’re ready to do 20 km., in armor, with a full weapon’s loadout, Jedi.” “You got something to say Corporal?” shouted the Captain. “No, Ma’am,” said Cheyna, “Good,” said the Captain, “Then you won’t mind carrying the guide-on through the run.” The Corporal groaned softly, so as not to be heard. Kala felt sympathy from several of the other troopers directed towards the young woman. An impetuous, suicidal impulse born of both her intuition and the Force swept through Kala. She stepped out of line and strode past the Corporal and the rest of the troops. The Captain and 1st Sergeant stared at her during her approach, both questions and something else flashing through their eyes. Surprise flowed from the troopers like sweet nectar as Kala seized the guide-on. She turned back towards the Corporal who stepped back into line. Several of the other troopers stood a little straighter, wondering if their Captain and their Knight might struggle whom actually commanded them. Kala’s eyes locked on the symbol displayed there. The flag at the end of the pole carried a simple number. While she was sure the small flag meant a great deal to the troops, it helped mark her as an outsider. So she tossed the pole into air and when the height failed to satisfy her, used a Force push to elevate the staff and flag further. The eyes of the Captain, 1st Sergeant and the rest of the troopers bored into Kala as she watched the item reach its maximum height. She ignited her lightsaber and clumsily leaped up upwards. A couple of cuts followed and the flag and staff fell in five pieces. Kala landed softly beside the pieces and collected them into a single pile. After shutting her saber down, she pulled a blaster, and fired into the pile, setting them ablaze. “We are no longer troopers and Knights,” said Kala quietly. “If we want the Imperial knights to be a symbol of the Empire than we need to be something new, something far greater than Knight and her troopers.” Silence greeted her words. “Like the cycle of Captain Azzer Captain Roth,” said River. “Exactly,” said Kala. “Explain it too them.” “Captain Azzer is a Kuati legend. He fought during a war between two noble houses. During a battle he found himself separated from his comrades and in unfamiliar territory. He discovered the camp of another noble house. Curious as too their presence in land not their own, he hid and watched.” Kala looked towards River, her thoughts gone quiet and empty. “While he watched,” continued River, “troopers from the third house came into camp with troops from Azer’s house and the house he’d been fighting against. He waited for night and snuck into the command tent of the 3rd house. There he found the plans of the third house to destroy both their houses by weakening them through deception. He took the plans and fled.” A small smile graced Kala’s face at the beginning of the legend. Her governess had told her the story, how Azzer found Roth, an enemy commander searching for his own lost troops. The two of them rescued their troopers and defended both their homelands against their common enemy, somehow becoming friends in the process. When the 3rd House was finally defeated, they convinced their houses into an alliance that lasted for centuries. One of the Troopers jokingly called out, “So they became House Azzeroth? If they did, what kind of flag did they march under?” “They became House Ianauria,” said Kala, “and my house has never used flags. Our soldiers only use a symbol they placed upon their chest and arms, both on their armor and as tattoos.” “Not that symbol that grace’s River’s face,” said one of the troopers. “No, that’s the symbol my former family used to mark property,” said Kala bluntly. “Imperial slavery?” said someone. “No, Kuati slavers. We’re taught our duty lies to House, world, than to whatever political body we’re currently a part of. And like with our laws.” “Trooper River,” shouted the Captain, “you and Ianauria find us a symbol to use on your own time. We have a run that needs running.” “Sir,” they both said in unison. “Alright troopers, double time,” cried the 1st Sergeant as they began the run. The twenty kilometer run took just under an hour and fifteen minutes. Kala felt pools of sweat sloshing around inside her armor, with the various straps further chafing a large section of her torso. As she bent over trying to catch her breath, the contents of her stomach spewed onto the pavement. Not that much remained after the first two times. At least she missed her armor unlike a couple of the other troopers. When Kala looked up, she found herself staring at a complete set of mock-ups for various scenarios faced by Imperial troops. Over the entrance to the combat areas a sign hung proclaiming, “Imperial Special Forces, 1st Storm-Commando Training Group. “Catch your breath, ladies. We start training in 30 minutes.
  11. Kala’s heart stopped at her Master’s words. She felt the pain of the loss of the troopers at the Sith temple all of over again, revisited the memory of the Captain’s death all over again. Strength from deep inside the Force overwhelmed the grief, fear, and terror of that fateful march. As her subconscious helped sweep away the memories, she became aware of the troops in front of her. An echo of emotion from the Force drew her feet forward from where she stood. Inexperienced in the Force, she did not know enough to give name to the emotion. Yet it still drew her foreword until she found herself a couple of ranks deep within the troops and facing a trooper slightly shorter than she expected. The trooper’s bone white armor lacked any identifying mark save a serial number: R1V33R3D903C. Kala found herself only slightly shorter than the trooper, but unable to meet his or her eyes because of the trooper’s helmet. She stared into those soulless prisms for a moment before she felt and acknowledged someone standing beside her. A modulated voice quietly asked her, “Is there a problem, Knight Ianauria?” She turned to find a trooper whose armor bore the same markings as the Captain that saved her in the Sith temple. “Captain,” she said, “Tell me about this trooper.” “What do you need to know ma’am?” Kala kept staring at the trooper for several more moments before replying, trying to understand exactly what she felt through the Force. A Jedi maxim flitted through her mind about using the Force for knowledge and defense. She calmed herself and let the Force flow through her. Close up to the trooper, just about face to face, she recognized notes in the song of pain, of hate, but overlaid and wound about with deep and terrible sorrow. “Let me see your face.” She sensed the trooper’s hesitation as did the Captain. “You heard her,” barked the Captain’s modulated voice, “Get that bucket off.” The trooper ‘s hesitation ended at the Captain’s order. Gauntleted hands reached up, unlatched and removed the helmet. Hard brown eyes in a scarred face of a young woman stared defiance back at her. Beneath the pattern of scars, she recognized a tattoo far too familiar to her. The sigil of her former house stared back at her. At its’ sight, Kala snarled something completely un-intelligible. Nothing happened on the outside, but she felt several of the trooper’s tense. She kept her focus on the trooper before her though notes of worry swirled into the song from the troopers and the Captain. “Was it willing?” she asked the trooper, still whispering. In a menace filled voice even quieter than Kala’s, she replied, “I was [/i]bought[/i] on Nar Shadaa when I was five to serve the Lady of Ianauria.” “You are not much older than me.” The soldier’s scarred face smiled, but her eyes did not. “When I was twelve, a set of fine glasses went missing and the Lady Ianauria blamed me for their loss. She sent me to a brothel for the soldiers of your family.” “You never arrived there, did you?” said Kala. “Your one of the ones that escaped with the aid what my father called that ‘damned Underground’”. She met the eyes of the trooper moment for moment in a strange battle of wills. The moment stretched out for several heartbeats. Both struggled to come to find something to say. Kala spoke first, “What’s your name Trooper?” “I took the name River.” The Captain corrected her, “Its an old tradition of taking a new name when you enter Imperial service. Its not really taken, more earned and given by your fellow soldiers. “I see,” said Kala. The idea of being accepted by these men and women, of earning a name of her own held an appeal and created a desire in her she did not yet fully understand. During the moment that Kala and the Captain spoke, the trooper sorted out some kid of internal argument and spoke, “Lady, I have a message for you. It comes from the woman whom rescued us that day.” The Captain and Kala both stared River whom did not wait for either to give her permission before speaking. “Never turn your back to an open window.” Kala needed a moment to steady herself after hearing those words. Her governess had been rescuing people directly under her father’s nose. It also seemed her governess’s lessons were multi layered. Kala looked at River and responded, “You might miss the sun chasing shadows.” “Ma’am?” asked the Captain. “My governess left me a message,” said Kala. “Concerning this trooper.” The message had a deeper meaning than that of course but Kala did not need to speak of it here and now. She did need to command her troops, though, and there were more than just River to deal with. An instinct told her, though, as long as the question of her family title remained, than that would be extremely difficult. “Captain, do you have a knife handy?” “Yes Knight Ianauria.” Kala reached back behnd her head and undid the ties that bound her hair into the elaborate coif that marked her as nobility on Kuat. Her hair fell straight and long to the middle of her back. “Trooper River,” said Kala, “Cut it off,” even as she turned her back towards her. Trooper River took the Captain’s knife and hesitated a mere moment before reaching up to grab Kala’s hair and with a single slashing motion shortened the long tresses until Kala’s hair ended raggedly just above her neck. Kala felt stronger, as if she’d committed to something larger than herself. Had she turned about, she might have seen River take a fairly large amount of that hair and stow it in a small side pouch. Neither River nor the Captain said a single world over the matter. Later, in the barracks, River would explain to her fellow troopers and her Captain what had happened. River put her helmet back on as Kala turned and walked to the front of her troopers. The Captain joined her. Kala turned to the Captain. “What was your schedule for today, Captain?” “Basic conditioning, followed by live fire and tactics training on the assault courses." “Let’s go Captain.”
  12. Kala badly copied her Master’s pose, knowing from the slight pains in her joints that she needed a great deal of practice to Master even the most basic meditation forms. The thought might have made her nervous or frustrated, but her focus lay on the question of what connected her to the Force. As her sat, she focused her conscious mind on just breathing, a Jedi technique she’d never mastered while at the Temple, the better to let her subconscious mind work through the question. The idea was simple, to create a rhythm of breathing that induced a trance state. A state that in turn allowed a Jedi to better concentrate on the Force. In theory, and in practice by older Padawans, Knights and Masters, the concept worked. For inexperienced Padawans like Kala, the concept rarely allowed them full contact with the Force. This time proved no different. She quickly found the trance state, determined to succeed. But everytime the Force and her subconscious sent even the most ghostly image to her conscious mind, Kala broke the trance state and found herself starting back over. The multiple restarts, the constant effort required to find her feeble connection to the Force began to frustrate her, began to irritate her in a way she knew led somewhere she did not want to go. At the end of that journey, she instinctively knew, lay the Sith. Recognition of that risk helped her find calm. She never wanted her feet to trod the Path of the Sith. Not after the events of the Temple, not after watching a true Sith so effortlessly wield palpable and soul freezing evil as a weapon. Not after he casually made her helpless than stripped away something precious from her and left her for dead in that decayed and broken mausoleum the Sith once called a temple. Her subconscious began replaying snippets of her part in the battle for that place and eventually focused in on her battle with the Wookie madclaw. A single note of the Force played through her mind, one with a double echo in the past that blazed off into the far flung future. Something that brought images of the battle that were slightly more focused than before. Still hazy, still mostly unsubstantial except were the note and the images of the blonde woman intersected. Than the note blazed loudly and the feeble trickle of the Force became a steady stream of light and sound that eased her anxiety and served as an answer to the question. In that woman, Kala saw what she wanted to be. The warrior woman seemed serene, gentle, but strong and determined with a clear purpose. A purpose Kala knew because the song of the Force sang to her to the woman’s purpose. The woman guarded the weak, the innocent, upheld them and with the light and song of the Force guided them in and against the darkness, no matter the cost. Opening her eyes, Kala looked towards her Master. As she opened her eyes, she glimpsed her lightsaber floating, a tad wobbly, just above her knees with tongues of white and green fire faintly playing upon its length. Her eyes continued upward to her Master’s where they fully focused and locked. “My connection to the Force,” she whispered in a voice that sang with conviction as the song of the Force quietly filled her heart, “lies in defending other sentients, to use my strength for the good of those without their own, without thought of recompense or privilege. To stand against any evil, at any cost, even that of my own life that others might live free and unharmed and doing so with virtue and faith as an living witness.” She felt the words too formal and yet inadequate for what sang in her heart. So she sang softly, a complex composition that filled the air with her determination and gently strengthened and brightened the faint tongues of fire playing about her lightsaber’s handle.
  13. The figure that strode from the Imperial armory no longer looked like a denizen of the lower levels of Coruscant. Then again, she felt quite conscious concerning a constant series of small stumbles that prevented her from getting anywhere near the easy grace expect of Kuati noblewoman. The five inches she grown while submerged in the bacta tank affected her walk, her balance and her self-image. She kept finding door edges, often with the top of her head or even set a foot down short of the floor and head to catch herself before dropping to a heap on the floor. Added to that, she now wore gear patterned after A.R.C. troop phase 2 armor, heavily modified with current technology with a full length Kama that wrapped around her body from just below her knees to her waist. Granted, she doubted an old time A.R.C trooper got to wear a forest camouflaged body suit, or had armor patterned in much the same way. The tech sergeant whom outfitted her also included a full cape, currently rolled tightly and stored beneath a small, almost empty backpack that rode comfortably at her lower back. The lightsaber she’d earned in the Sith Temple was fastened within easy reach on one side of the pack. She refused to wear a trooper’s mask, instead taking a commando's kepi and a pair of mil-spec smart glasses linked to the computer and holoprojector hidden in her left bracer. He’d insisted on a pair of X-30 blasters for the pockets on the Kama. She’d nearly refused unto he mentioned, casually, that Leia Organa carried the same blasters during her assault on the shield generator on Endor. Kala admired the woman for just about everything she’d accomplished, even for overthrowing the Empire. It took courage and conviction to overthrow a corrupt government, let alone one as massive and powerful as the Empire had been. The rest of the pouches and pockets rode empty, waiting for her to customize a loadout dependent on whatever mission she might be on. For now, though, she needed to join her Lady in the training chambers. Her experience in the Temple left her keenly aware of her lack of training, and she looked forward to becoming what had been glimpsed during the early stages of the fighting. She stopped in a small alcove and gently quieted her mind as best she could. It took little while, but she finally found the focus and strength to call out to her mistress, “Lady, I will join you in the training room shortly.” Once she felt like she was back in her own mind, she set off for the training rooms. Among the many white armored troopers she passed and whose salutes she found herself very awkwardly returning, she found her Master’s respect reflected on her. She’d forgotten her own part in the Temple battle and the letters she’d written to the families of those troopers she’d dictated over the course of her bacta treatments. Unbeknownst to her, word had gotten around the barracks concerning both. One old trooper, returning to the barracks coated in blood and mud took one look at her and after saluting walked up to her. She waited as he looked her up and down. His gaze held no desire, just a sizing up of what he saw before him. Their eyes met and she found herself staring into a pair of eyes hardened by a long life of sad and difficult experiences. Listening, she heard the song of the Force turn sad around him, and brought faint images of friends lost and horrors that the mind found incomprehensible. She wondered what he was thinking. He raised his right hand and rested it on her shoulder. The action felt like some kind of benediction, some kind of gesture of approval in a moment incredibly intimate and extremely fleeting. Neither said a word before parting, he moving away with his squad behind while she found the correct door to right training room. She went in and found where her Mistress waited for her.
  14. Kala awoke, finding herself submerged in a bacta tank. She awoke slightly groggy and unable to completely comprehend where she was. After a moment of nearly panicking, she remembered where and why she found herself floating in the warm, fluid like embrace of the near miraculous treatment. Her skin crawled with the feeling of eyes intensely watching her. After a moment, she calmed herself enough to look around outside the tube to see what woke her. She felt the need to find the person responsible for the crawling feeling haunting her nerves. Looking out from the tube, she saw a standard Imperial med-bay with a line of identical tanks all of which looked occupied. Closer, she saw an Imperial Cross pinned on top of a footlocker with her name scribbled on it in marker. For a moment, Kala stared at the small award with sadness in her heart and felt a need, a compulsion to make good on her promise to personally write the letters to the families of those troopers whom died in the former Sith Temple. She sighed in the breathing mask, looking around for the timer that allowed her to see how long she needed to wait until her release. Once she found the timer, she closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. She had a few minutes left yet before they decanted the tube and allowed her to return to duty. At least she hoped so, she felt a need to return to her Master’s side and continue her training. It came from a sense of duty and sense of need to be a part of the effort to protect people against the likes of the Sith Lord that assaulted her in the Temple. When she opened her eyes, she located the source of the stare causing the creepy feeling. A boy no more than ten or so, sat being examined by a doctor, wearing the remnants of his own bacta treatment. He kept finding a way to stare over the doctor’s shoulder at her. She stared back for a second before having a small, ornery thought flit through her consciousness. She smiled even as she took a very deep breath and found the faintest trace of the Force. The connection was weak, weak as her body would feel when she exited the treatment. Enough flowed that she managed to rattle her a couple of locker doors quite loudly. The doctor, the boy, and his worried mother looked over at her. Kala pointed directly at the boy. The doctor laughed, the boy blushed a deep crimson even as his mother covered the boy’s eyes with her hand. Over the boy’s head, she smiled at Kala. Able to relax, Kala collected her thoughts and found a faint shadow she though might be her Master’s song. She realized quickly she needed training to be able to make sense of the world she found herself violently introduced to. The timer ran out and she quickly founded herself needing to once again stand under her own power. She found herself stronger than she thought she might be. While she wasn’t as strong as she once was, she knew she had enough strength to walk out of the hospital and go and find her Master. After a quick examination, a long shower, and dressing in the remnants of her gear, she headed out to find her Master. Her only stop was to find an armory, exchange her damaged gear for more standard issue.
  15. In the chaos following the death of an entire city, the space battle and its subsequent rain of evac pods, and the battle of the Sith Temple, the Remnant military created a massive crisis relief center for the tasks of sorting refugees, processing prisoners, and rendering medical aid. They were the best equipped and best trained of those with the resources and expertise to create such a center. As a bonus, with a bonafide planetary emergency declared, they were the easiest to mobilize. The commanders of the resulting tent city found themselves hoping the civilian agencies caught up in their mobilization so that they could relinquish overall command of the refugee city as quickly as possible. In Post-op, Area 4c, Kala stirred fitfully upon the narrow, military issue medical bed. She lay in the twilight between dreams and wakefulness reliving the events of the fight at the temple to the alarm of those around her. Worse than the nightmares, however, were the objects suddenly levitating whenever she unconsciously tapped the Great Song. A calm voice from deep within the Song eventually came to her. It started as the earliest, kindest memory of her mother, morphed into Kyrie’s, and eventually became that of a blonde woman whom looked very familiar. Yet Kala felt sure she had never met the woman in real life. The woman’s voice calmed her, small objects returned to resting on their stands, and she eventually opens her eyes to see the weary eyes of a nurse gently stroking her hand. Looking into the man’s eyes, Kala knew he carried the weight of great loss even while remaining on duty. “I am sorry,” she tried to croak out. The nurse stiffened even as Kala tried to rise from the bed. She got as far as halfway when she felt herself grasped in a desperate hug from the man. Tears ran down his face and onto the hospital issue gown that replaced her armor from the temple. Ackwardly, sorely, she reached up and held the man. She wondered how her simple words managed to unleash a torrent of emotion held overlong. Ever the trained noblewoman, an ancient memorial for the dead dredged itself from somewhere deep in her mind. “We live that that those who pass might never be forgotten. They become stars, lanterns in the night to guide us home.” Looking past him as his tears flowed openly, she saw restraints upon her wrists. The restraints where attached to cords that led to the frame of the cot. The nurse stopped sobbing momentarily before saying, “We had them on because you kept thrashing in your sleep. Every time you did, this flew from your gear to your hand.” Kala followed the nurses pointing figure to her gear that lay at the end of the bed in a disorderly pile on top of which lay the lightsaber she found in the temple. She stretched out her hand, felt the force flow if weekly, and the lightsaber floated gently to her outstretched hand. The nurse pulled back, looking at her warily. Kala weakly chuckled and then reversed the flow of the Force, trying to gently return the saber to the pile of gear. She missed, short by a good foot. The Nurse smile wanly, reached out after looking to Kala for permission, and reverently set the lightsaber back on the pile of gear. The nurse dried his eyes and gently called a doctor over to where she lay. He scanned her quickly and called over a free roaming medical droid to quickly scan her. He looked over the results and nodded, seeming satisfied with what he saw. “So, Miss Ianauria, your awake. Good. You should know you’ve been given high priority for a deep bacta treatment. We’ll move you there in the next couple of hours.” Still slightly groggy, she missed the sound of disapproval of her going before other patients. Had she been more awake, she might have learned that military personnel and the Imperial Knights had been given far greater privileges with the onset of war along with far greater responsibilities. Or at least they were forthcoming. Weary, and feeling her energy flagging from even such a short encounter, she allowed herself to be gently lowered back to the bed even as her eyes closed in a far more natural sleep.
×
×
  • Create New...