Alcmène

"I Thank you master for your assistance." She would be grateful in his help going forwards. For her apprentice had only one final test. She listened with rapt attention to the Twi’lek and her description of prior training. There was much she had been through of course, and there would be much to haunt her steps, but Alcemene could only perceive a desire for improvement, to carry the banner of the light going forwards, but there was still so much more to know. So as she bowed to Master Kirlocca she asked another question of Keenava. A serious question. A question better asked in isolation. But the path of a jedi was never ideal. “When you harnessed the force, did you find in its gaze a glimpse of what you fear? Of your past?” For she could at least surmise that there was fear. For Alcmene say what she feared almost constantly while she let the force fill her every breath. Keenava was not far from knighthood, and there was only a single last test. Once that they would both have to face.

The force moved among the three of them, first as a whisper, a glimmer of song caught at the edges of her hearing. But now it moved in fierce melody pounding through its rhythms as they each began to focus on the force and draw from its miraculous powers. How wondrous it was to feel how each of them tapped into that song. Keenava’s approach was foreign, a tactical thing, guiding her movements as she attacked the Jedi Master. Using the force to quicken and to strengthen as her blows found purchase, speeding each strike as she wailed upon the Wookiee’s arm. Numbing and disrupting. Kirlocca reacted in kind, summoning the force to him in a blast of force fed energy that would surely send the woman flying. The exercise had served its purpose, and though deep within herself she wanted to continue on. To bring her lightsaber up and strike Kirlocca in the back, she depressed the switch on her sabre’s hilt. Watching as the silver blade disappeared with a ‘snap-hiss’, she next let the energy shield deactivate before she held up her hands to both of them. “Enough my friends. Keenava you did very well, and Master Kirlocca I cannot tell you the pleasure it is to cross blades with you. Thank you for holding back.” She gave a wry smile. “What did you feel when combat began? How did you harness the force and what did you find in the depths of yourself when you harnessed the force to strengthen blows?” This question was asked generally, to cause reflection from her apprentice and allow a teaching space if Kirlocca wished.

Danger sense, though slight, slithered up her spine. It was not the familiar signs that accompanied the roar and terror of a battlefield, instead it was soft and calm and barely perceptible. A sign of the restraint of the great Jedi Master, and a reminder that she still had much to learn about control. A glance to her side told her that the Twi’lek had certainly been trained in fighting before, but whatever the next move sent by the Jedi master might overwhelm the still recovering woman. She reached up with the hand holding her lightsaber and pulled at one of the leather straps holding the shield lattice to her left arm, releasing one of the two points that kept the shield firmly attached to her arm. This allowed her to pivot the golden shield in her hand, the long kitesque bottom of the shield being held horizontally to the landing field. The length when held at full extension enough to cover the both of them from the long arcing attack of the Jedi master. This of course broke her rhythm of defense, over stretching herself as to defend the both of them, but allowing the Twi’lek to attack without having to worry about a defense. A method that many pair duelists on her home planet had perfected over the centuries. Though she had her doubts her father would have been proud at such a move. It was improvised, and nothing like the fluid and beautifully deadly duels of house de Moriès-Outremer.

The princess of Outremer gave a soft smile, and lightly shook her head. Her thoughts flitted away to years before, the smells and feelings. The strong embrace of a sister that had always excelled in everything. The star of the planet, of whom her father had placed every hope. Cut down in some forest on Onderon. A failed and fickle jedi assault which had wiped an entire generation of young Jedi Knights from the face of the galaxy when the people had needed them most. “Her death was not by your hands, you carry no ancestral guilt for her death. You have chosen a different road than the one walked before. Keep your chin up and do not dwell on a past that has been left far behind. Step instead forward on this path, those chains do not hold you any more.” She would not force the woman to take the sabre with its intricate carvings and gilding, but the option was there. When she was ready. But for now the first strike would be to the more dangerous opponent. She pushed off her back leg as she brought her left arm up, the lattice work igniting into a plasma shield that she used to crowd and push against the Wookiee Jedi Master. Holding her saber in a high guard.

The adrenaline rush that always came with a fight seemed to be drained in an instant. She placed the yellow blade against the plastine table and it had no effect. A slight plasma burn on flesh was expected but against a solid target, there was no danger. And they were not Sith Lords who delighted in burning their friends and allies. “Your hands will do you fine in a battle with training sabres, though if you do so wish…” She reached out a hand towards her satchel and from the bag arose a handlength of silver metal. Intricately carved in the flourished style of the Outremer. It floated before the Twi’lek, a gift should she wished to accept it. A sabre that Alcmene had trained against for years herself. A thousand memories were embedded in that blade. “I do have another training sabre, though it has not been attuned since its last owner was killed by the sith.” A sister, much beloved. Taken before her time.

Combat was something that she had yearned for since she had been a toddler staring at the tournament fields from a castle window. The pageantry cut to her heart, the great red banners, men and women dueling in rituals that stretched back a thousand generations. A thousand generations of peace. No dreams had struck that young mind of fighting in an intergalactic war. The war of endless hours of tedium. Punctuated by brief engagement of brutality. The smell of blood. When fighting for her life was all that she could think of. Where lofty ideals were dragged through muddy trenches filled with corpses. Friends found with eyes that stared lifelessly into the dirt. No great banners. Just the horrible sound of the breaking of her spine by a nameless mandalorian warrior. The white hot burning of a blaster bolt passing through her abdomen and burning out any chance of continuing her bloodline. The despair of days laying paralyzed and wishing for death as a city burned and everything she had fought for came to naught. Even the small victories had come with a bitter ashen taste in her mouth. There was no joy to be found in gutting a sith lord and watching his body fall into a pit. For it had come at such a heavy cost. And the city had still burned. The children had still died. And what good had the great ideals that she had striven for all her life done for her then? Laying in the dust of a destroyed city, staring into a smoke filled sky while she prayed for death. But this was not such a fight. This was a friendly bout between Jedi that did not care about winning or loosing. A therapy all in its own. Alcmene reached down to her satchel and pulled forth the golden lattice, strapping it to her arm as she took a step back from the table. She grinned with the motion, letting the force and a breath of air carry away the pain and frustration. Her basket hilted saber came next into her right hand, igniting the same time as the energy shield.

How to best describe her reasons for being on the desolate world? She had come by chance, seeking to help refugees but had arrived late from her time in hospital. And the war and conflict were decided while she had been in hyperspace. More friends and innocents snuffed out while she slept in a medical cot as droids rebuilt her lower spine. The muscles still screamed in pain when she moved, though with proper breath control and application of the force all that could be seen of her pain was a tightness around her eyes. But as to how to answer the question… “I am here by fate Master, without much to do since the end of war while I was in Hospital. I was hoping to stretch my muscles and regain some fighting ability in a mock duel, which I am quite looking forward to since our meal is finished.” She looked from the Twi’lek back to the Wookie. “Unless you would like to spar master?”

Hellfire. A wave of strong emotions washed over her like a stormsurge on the beaches of her homeworld. All of her senses flared as they were caught up in the other woman’s memories. Memories that stirred her own. What was that smell which suddenly filled her nose and pitted at the back of her throat? A familiar smell that cut through reverie and the taste of expensive wine like a vibroblade and brought her back to the ruins of Naboo in a millisecond. The sickly sweet smell of burned human flesh, the juttering bone aching blows that had nearly driven her to her knees. The pungent taste of ozone so powerful that it was the only thing she could taste as her yellow blade met the dark swords of a sith lord. She took a stuttering breath. Breathing in fresh air that was not tainted with the stench of death. The emotions were so powerful that she could almost feel the presence of a Sith lord on the landing pad alongside them. She took another breath and was preparing to reach her other hand out to the woman to steady her, but there was no need. Whatever secrets the woman may be hiding about her past, they were certainly dark. But Alcmene smiled, this woman had stared evil in the face and turned away. There was no better candidate for the Jedi Order. A prickling of a presence tugged at the edges of her mind and she turned her head towards it. It was a presence she herself was not intimately familiar with, but it had the edge of comfort. Home. Like a smell from her childhood. Kirlocca. She stood, letting her legs push the chair back and away from the table before she gave a bow of recognition to the great Jedi Master.

A chance to start over. Yes there was redemption in the teaching of the Jedi Order. But there was also the harshness of non compromise. One could not hang onto their old life and also be a Jedi Knight. She herself barely if ever saw her family and had sworn off inheritance and any chance at a throne. A throne that would very easily be hers if she wanted it. But even that temptation barely stirred in her head. The woman was strong and had been through much in her life, that Alcmene could easily tell. And as far as she was concerned, there was no better place to try and right her life than the Jedi Order. And though Alcmene had not come from a background of poverty, torture, or whatever hell the Twilek had stepped out of, Alcmene would do her all to support and guide her through the harsh journey to become a Jedi. There was also no better way to recover from her own deep and lasting injuries than to help someone do the same. She raised her glass and took a final sip. “Then let us begin. Let us touch the force together and find where we may start. When I touch you, I want you to concentrate on silence. On emptying your mind. I find repeating a prayer or phrase very helpful in this. Do not worry about why may bubble to the surface, I will be there beside you in every step.” She took a deep breath and reached her hand out to Keenava, her thin white fingers brushing the blue wrist.

A new objective, a new direction. An opportunity to make new friends, to guide them in the way of the Jedi, and to help ensure the next generation of Jedi Knights. An opportunity she would not give up lightly, for what better way had the force guided her here. It had given her an opportunity to heal, to train, and learn in the few years of peace that there would likely be in a galaxy ruined by generational war. She spread her arms wide and grinned at the two of them. There was hesitation in Keenava, but the source would reveal itself in time, and this was certainly not the time to pick at old scabs. “Then I most welcome the both of you in an informal apprenticeship. The Jedi order has been much scattered by this war, and I am blessed to have you both at my side.” She raised a glass of the expensive wine then looked both of them in the eye. Her Taipani accent was thick when she spoke again. “I swear to you by my life and by my sword that I will guide you in the right path. Through darkness and war. I will not abandon you.” She took a long sip, then set the glass down on the table. Lookign at the swirling red liquid that sat like a cup of blood in her hand. Blood that these two would very likely see. And no Jedi she had ever known had died a peaceful death surrounded by friends and loved ones. It was a hard life. And not a friendly one. Especially with a galaxy already on edge. "Tell me then my friends, what do you know and think of the Jedi order. What is your vision for your life ahead?"

Of course she would miss a key measure of statecraft. No doubt if her father was here he would have been glad that she had been sent to the Jedi order instead of actively attempting to embarrass the household. She had still much to learn, and half a decade in active war footing without time for galas and finery had not been kind to her court etiquette. There was no shame in not seeing battle, and she smiled warmly at Keenava. She gestured both of them to take some of the wine. Her voice was soft when it came her turn to speak again, “My apologies, noble friends for not introducing myself, I am Alcmène of the house of Moriès. And though I am not a comparison in any way to Leena, I am very happy to oversee your training should either of you wish it until she returns.” There was much to be done as jedi outside Ylesia, and as the galaxy again settled back into a cycle of peace, she had little doubt that there were still Sith waiting and biding their time. "Have either of you had much formal training at all?"

Alcmène set the thin woven metal latticework of her shield beside her chair alongside the small satchel of her other supplies. Tucking it all beneath the seat with a quick nudge of her booted foot. Her grey eyes scanned the approaching pilot’s face, and seeing no ill intent she answered him with a wide smile. “Please join us pilot!” She raised a thin fluted glass up at him, and set another plate on the table that looked so out of place compared to its surroundings. Vaguely she hoped that not every pilot in the Alliance would trot over for some aged Cathani, but if they did, the credit chit had enough left on it to cover at least half whatever that would cost. Plus it was her families winery so they would reap a little benefit from such a feast… But her mind was wandering again. She turned her smile on Keenava. “Thank you for this wonderful feast my new found friend!” She took a healthy serving and after taking a bite she looked back at the two of them. “What brings you both here? I myself am still listed as ‘in recovery-’” Here she raised both of her shoulders in an exasperated shrug. “-due to my injuries from my last mission. So I did not see the final battle against the sith. Did either of you see combat?”

Basic rations. Well there were worse things she could be eating, and the grumble in her stomach told her it was probably best to to take a pause anyway. Even if her heart desired to run into combat yet again, even if it was a pale mockery of the real thing. But after Naboo, she was not sure she even wanted to jump back into the real thing. The thought of it made her cringe. And deep in the recess of her mind she could feel the sudden hot of a lightsaber burning up her guts again. Bacta, sandrinium bone replacements, and cloned organs had fixed the wounds, but they still echoed in her with every step and every moment of silent reflection. But after four years of only really eating from a can or reheating pouch, she had a slightly improved idea of what to eat. She inclined her head and gave a slight bow. “You provide the main course and I will bring the wine and dessert.” Her family still had a mainline credit chit in her name, and it was time to make a new friend. A click off her commlink later and a hired orderly from the Taipani sector outreach group brought over two bottles of deep purple Cathani vintage wine, a tray of Sintar cakes and a table that would be set up beside the woman's starship.

The new tunic felt overly soft on her well scrubbed skin. She was far more used to utilitarian linen or micro mesh, from this last half decade of war. There have been no time for finery, for grand galas, or even the festive parties that marked the turning of the seasons on her home planet. She, too, had ignored, religious fasting, and nightly prayers had given way too the study of holomaps. But yet now here she was, dressed in the red and gold of her minor royal house. From an equally minor planet. Her father, no doubt, wished that she had decided to join the Knights instead of the Jedi. At least, then he could have gotten some exterior prestige from her death in battle. Now, instead, she was back to what she had done before the war. But what has she done before the war? What had any of them done? She felt almost entirely lost, and perhaps it was that lost feeling that brought her slowly on winding path to the huge landing fields again. She almost didn’t notice the Twilek, who’s ritualistic combat was as well practiced as hers. Wven in such an unorthodox setting as the landing fields. But what coursed with the woman’s veins? Some sad memory? Some half begotten rage? Each imaginary blow carried a ghost of a spirit. Each drop of memory a hidden and waylaid sadness. An apprentice then? One of the many who had been left orphaned by the war? Alcmene set her bag down, picked up a quarterstaff of her own and leaning upon it she called out. “Katas are good and well, but perhaps a spar would be better?”

Oh how the force moved with him. She felt a grin crawl across her face as they began the voyage home. How would his life turn out? How would the force lead him through his journeys? A thousand such questions swirled throughout her mind as the white lines of stars turned into the blue walls of the hyperspace tunnel. She meditated on his journey as she sat there in silence. Saying the silent prayers of the church of Outremer as she let the concerns of her life flow off of her. Finding the balance. Seeing without eyes. “It is done.” “So it is.” She stood and embraced the trandoshan fully. Hugging him tightly for a moment before letting him go. “Now you must find your own way, Jedi Knight Vox. I am so proud of you.” ((Here I will be leaving you. Thank you for the opportunity to train you for these many months. Welcome to the Order.))

The Jedi knight smiled softly at the trandoshan apprentice as he showed his gem. A magnificent Crystal formed eons ago in the very heart of the gas giant. It had its own history, much like the great trees on Kashyyyk. In which the scholars said, you could read the entire history of republic to empire, to republic again, back to the very beginning’s of humanity. One compact ring upon the other, each telling a billion different stories of life of death, honor and dishonor, of grand crusades against the nameless foe, of disastrous defeats, the great highs and great lows of humanity. Who knew what this crystal had seen? Is it been there for Exar Kun, his defeat and massacre, of Jedi councils long dead, of rebellion against empire, of death stars and brutal reprisal. Every eon of time leaving little mark on the pale gem as it lay in wait for the Jedi Apprentice.waiting for when the force would choose it for this purpose. She smiled and stood. “There is little else I can teach you friend, other than to tell you to make your lightsaber. I will give you the quiet you need as I plot a path back home.” The pointed to the cargo bay of the small shuttle which was stuffed with a multitude of tools, equipment, and all one would need for the task.

“Well done!” Her voice came through the horrible wind as she followed her apprentice at a distance. The Shuttle looming up above them as its AI tracked them through her comm link. It was amazing to watch the Trandoshan work, and such a connection to the force was something to treasure. “Now reach into the force and find what you are searching for.” The illusive Corusca gems were here in the clouds of yavin, buffeted up from the crushing depths of core, and if the force would lead her apprentice, he would find just the one he needed for his lightsaber.

She kept perfectly still as the fierce winds buffeted her small form, tearing at the edges of her crimson tunic and whipping her hair free from its containing golden circlet. She kept her eyes closed, relying on the force itself to guide her through the storm. She could feel her apprentice, the way his mind was working to conquer fear, and how he reached out to the force. He was doing well, better than she had thought. But she had always underestimated him. She projected her voice through the storm, guiding it to his ears as she did so. “You are doing well apprentice. Now find the flow of the winds, feel how they pull you, follow their current.” Everything in nature had a connection to the force, and he would find that they would guide him to where he wanted to go, to what he wanted to find, if he trusted in them and in the force.

Alcmène felt a grin creep over her face. . She reached down to her utility belt and did a quick check for her rebreather, and finding it, she looked back up at the Trandoshan. It was time for him to dive into the force face first. Learning a lesson the same way she had when she had been a youngling on a crashing starship. “Not fly like that Vox.” She took one step forward. “Like this.” Her booted foot lashed out and slammed into his chest and she kicked him bodily out of the transport into the swirling gasses below. Then without another hesitation she lept after him. The Transport banking and veering slowly after them.

The thick atmosphere buffeted the light shuttle as they made the short hop from the jungle moon of Yavin IV to the gas giant of Yavin itself. It had long been a place where dreams and visions had coalesced. Only a few decades ago, the duel worlds had been a part of the illusive League of Augrey. Whose jedi knights had planned their great strike at the Last Death Star. Though those knights had brought an end to Deton’s empire, none of them had ever returned. Their bodies remaining in the ruins of Helix Station, and a swath of prophecy left unfulfilled. Alcmene let her eyes drift closed as they began the dive towards the pale red surface of the gas giant. What doom did this system hold? Stretching back the centuries, the first rebel alliance had made the system their base of operations for both the strike on Sacrif and the First Death Star. With The first Jedi Academies returning a few years later. And before that? Massassi and their master Exar Kun. Now here they were. Prospecting for corusca gems in the depths of the gas giant itself. They were outside history. Walking as tiny ants in its great shadow. The ship shuddered as they passed from one layer to the next, buffeting through the swirling winds. She reached out and thumbed the autoglide feature and flicked open the cargo bay doors. Then she walked back to where her apprentice was waiting. She gave him a grin. “So do you want to learn how to fly?”

As they set down on the planet surface, she pulled herself up and out of the cockpit, stretching her arms and shoulders as she followed Vox and his compatriot out of the shuttle and onto the densely thicketed ground. She let the force flow through her for a moment, centering herself, before she pointed to one of the jumbled ruins that jutted out of the Jungle foliage. “Those are the ancient Sith Temples that was are looking for. There are supposed to hordes of lightsaber crystals in the depths of their vaults.” She smiled widely and pointed to the outline of the Gas Giant Yavin that shone a blue orange in the dusk sky. “Or we can go there, into the crushing depths, where the planet itself forges crystals in its atmospheres. Which will you choose?”

Alcmène, felt her eyebrows creep up in an arch of surprise. She instinctively gave the newcomer a curtsy of the Outremer style. Keeping one hand on the hilt of her saber, taking one step back and bowing with a sweep of her arm. “He is most welcome of course. That is…” She winked, “...If he can keep up.” She gestured to the cargobay of the red shuttle. “Stow your equipment, luckily we have four bunks so choose one and join us in the cockpit.” She grinned at Vox, then climbed up the ramp and began the shuttle startup sequence. ((Post on Yavin our arrival))

“This is an opportunity to use the force, to let it guide the construction. You see It flows through everything, even the metal and the circuitry, but I think we will not know how to make the proper measurements and constructions without first acquiring the gem!” She put her hand onto his shoulder. “We can take my family's shuttle if you need. It’s properly equipped for deep space exploration, so surely it can survive in the gas giant. Grab what you need, the sheet metal, batteries, lenses, emitters in that box there, wiring, and that small tool kit.” She grinned and picked up her bags and the shield lattice. “See you at the shuttle bay?”

She let her eyes wander over his extensive sketch of the proposed blade. It would be an interesting design, not something that she had seen before in her time as a Jedi Knight, but she had seen some Jedi and Imperial Knights use varied weaponry in the form of lightsabers. The famed Imperial Knight Kyrie had used a lightspear to great effect in the defense of Corellia. Laying low one of the Sith Emperor’s vanguard in single combat. A fight that was still much discussed even a year later. A fight that Vox himself had fought and nearly died at. She nodded slowly. “Then if the queen does not possess such a thing, then we must find one ourselves. Yavin I know has green gems suspended in its lower gas clouds.”

Alcemene brought the heel of her palm to slap against her forehead. The slapping sound almost sounding comical as she shook her head and tried not to laugh in frustration at herself. “Oh I am so sorry, of course there is.” She wiped the sweat from her face with a towel, then gestured for the Trandoshan to follow her. They were within the Red and Black afterall, so with the grim efficiency that only the imperial knights could think of, their mechanics shop was only one flight of stairs away. She dropped her pack on the floor and gestured to the long durasteel tables, boxes of batteries, casings, thin cut-to-size materiels, and wiring supplies. “We of course will need to find you a crystal. Do you have anything like that in your clan? Or do you know anyone that might have gems that would give them to you? Maybe the Naboo queen you rescued? Otherwise we have a crate of synthetic crystals the Imperial Knights use if you don’t want to bother with that.” She unfurled a long sheet of flimsplast and passed her apprentice a pen. “Sketch out what you want, then I will show you the first step of building a lightsaber.”