Onderin Starlisk

-- Incoming Comm for Kirlocca using Jedi Encryption -- "Master Kirlocca, this is Onderin Starlisk. I trust you are well? "I am on Ilum, where the Temple was recently infiltrated by a group of Sith and one other individual with whom I understand you have interacted. The Jedi here discovered the ruse and have imprisoned the intruders. I have just spent some time talking to the one called Qaela, whom I believe you confronted on Cloud City. She has described to me a set of circumstances in which you separated her children from her, presumably for their own good." There was a slight pause. "I have a strong feeling from the Force that this decision needs to be reversed, and I have agreed to return Qaela's children to her. However I can find no record of where they are currently being kept. Can you provide me with their location?" -- End Comm --

Onderin nodded at Qaela. That should be sufficient information--he had Kirlocca, Delta, Qaela, and Cloud City to key his searches off of. He decided not to tell her that the Jedi with whom she had interacted was on the Council, but there was a good chance Onderin was going to end up dealing with the wookiee directly to get to the bottom of this. Ultimately, it meant he was going to have to call the other Master out on what he had done, the very idea of which would make most Jedi squeamish. Onderin, however, would not back down from seeing this through for any reason, even if he had to get Darex involved. "I'll be back when I have something," he told her, still not taking his eyes off of hers. Finally he turned and left and the Jedi outside resumed their guard. It seemed unlikely that Qaela would make an escape attempt at this point, and indeed Onderin was almost on the edge of letting her walk the Temple freely now that they were working toward a common goal, but he wasn't quite that convinced that she didn't have a second goal which she had so far hidden from him. Although he was determined to try to help her, it didn't mean he should entrust her with anything she could use against the Order if she was so inclined. He promptly headed for the library and was soon digging through the files. He had sufficient information that he was able to find a record of what had happened on Bespin. Not everything was named, and there were some missing details, but together with what Qaela had told him he was able to get a decent picture of what had transpired. Although Qaela, too, had left out some details--perhaps some relevant details--it didn't change Onderin's willingness to proceed. The problem was, where the children had been taken was simply not recorded. He wasn't sure if Kirlocca had told anyone else where he had taken them, but it certainly wasn't recorded here. The Jedi Master mulled the development over. Finally he shrugged. It simply meant that he was going to have to call Kirlocca now and get the location from him instead of eventually confronting him later after the fact. Onderin stood up from the computer terminal, went to the holocomm room, and began his call....

Onderin watched her carefully as she made her vow. He wasn't sure if the word of a Sith was worth anything, but then again he was more certain than ever that she was not a Sith. She simply hadn't told him what she was. It was clear that she used the dark side, especially given how she had allowed her anger to well up when she had begun talking about what had happened on Cloud City. Anyone who served the dark side cared more about power and their own selfish ambition than self-control or restraint, but Onderin did not necessarily believe that they were all completely without honor. This threadbare woman seemed to be telling the truth. It didn't matter though. While having her hold herself to that vow could potentially remove an enemy from the Jedi Order in a way that even killing her might not, this simple act of compassion was an end unto itself for the kind of Jedi that the galaxy needed most right now. Onderin stood up, intending to make good on his offer. He started to leave, then turned back. "I'm unlikely to find anything in the archives unless I have something to go off of. Your name or theirs, perhaps?" It would be nice, he decided, to at least know her name. He felt perhaps a prodding in the Force. He had the chance to make a difference in this woman's life. If things went just right, maybe he could put her down the first steps to changing her destiny forever.

Onderin frowned. He was aware from the last Council meeting that there had been some interactions between Master Kirlocca and a Black Sun vigo on or concerning Cloud City. However, it seemed rather unlike Kirlocca to deliberately separate a mother and her children, especially if he even slightly understood how angry that would make her. On the other hand, he could see the moral dilemma; particularly depending on who the father had been, it might have practically been a foregone conclusion that these young individuals would become the next generation of powerful opponents for the Jedi Order, terrorists who murdered for pleasure. If they could be diverted from that path, it seemed noble to try. It was justifiable, he realized, but it wasn't right. Forcing Force-sensitive children from their parents was not going to turn them into model citizens. This situation was a perfect example of what was wrong with the Jedi Order these days--they had forgotten compassion and peace in order to hurt their enemies in any way they could. It was like how Onderin had allowed himself to think in the war until Armiena Draygo had marched into his office and round-house kicked him to set him straight. He hadn't known it at the time, but looking back he realized he had never been closer to the dark side than in those days. It was why Jedi made poor military commanders and vice versa. It had been impossibly difficult to be both, and he had always found himself choosing. It was why he was glad that the war was over. Onderin allowed the prisoner to feel how troubled he was by what she was saying; so far, he had nothing to hide. "I... find that I agree with you," he said after a moment. He remained sitting despite her obvious anger. "Whichever Jedi made that choice was wrong. Too many of us have allowed our war with the Sith to impair our ability to tell what is right and what is wrong." He considered the next step. "What can I do to make this right? I would like to find them for you." He still had reservations about giving her access to the library due to all the information in there that she could take back to the Sith if this turned out to be a deception. Onderin did not believe that he was beyond being deceived. But through acts of good faith he might convince her that not all the Jedi were bad, and once she believed that, her path would lie open.

Onderin went over to the corner and sat cross-legged on the floor. He continued to study the prisoner's face as well as probe her with the Force. She had definitely recognized his name, which wasn't surprising, but it at least told him that she hadn't been living under a rock somewhere. It also told him that she hadn't been some sort of long-term Sith prisoner kept secluded from the galaxy--despite her scars which may have suggested that story. As she answered his first question in a round-about way, he could detect no deception from her. He shook his head at her question. "I'm afraid I never found time for that. The war was my life for a long time," he answered, keeping his mind open so that she would not feel he was being dishonest or deceptive. "But through the war, I have witnessed firsthand the devotion of which you speak. Soldiers who lay down their lives to protect each other, civilians, and especially their families." Even on Onderon, from whence he had just arrived, he had seen mere civilians fight down a nightmarish assault to protect their homes and families. It had been insane... but it had been enough. Such courage seemed uncommon, but they had found it when enough had been at stake. "But tell me... what does your coming here have to do with being a mother?" Sitting on the floor as he was, defenses largely lowered, he was rather vulnerable to attack. Granted, he had his lightsaber on him, but by disadvantaging himself he hoped to prove that he was here for no other purpose than to talk and learn. He was not expecting this to turn into an escape attempt, and he hoped she would meet him on that neutral ground.

Adar was pleased to have someone around that was experienced in dealing with Sith, even if he wasn't the Jedi Master that was reportedly on his way. "We have fourteen Knights here to guard the prisoners. There are three prisoners on world. One of them seems open to talking," she explained, referring to Qaela, "but another one seems to either be experiencing amnesia or feigning it. I would recommend the latter as the one you should speak with; Master Starlisk from the Council is on his way with the authority to treat with the former on behalf of the Order. "They arrived via a shuttle, which is still here--it's the one without Jedi markings. You can inspect it at any time if you wish." --------------------------------- The Jedi standing outside Lallu's cell was taken aback at her persistence. He was starting to believe something had happened to her. But still, it was too convenient. He couldn't exactly let her out of her cell to walk free, even if she was experiencing some sort of mental trauma for having been separated from the powerful Sith with whom she had arrived. It was possible that he had dominated the poor girl, and only now was his Sith magic wearing off. On the other hand, she could be setting a trap. He turned on his commlink and called it in to the command center, hoping for some guidance ((i.e., waiting for Fynn to take over with Lallu)). ---------------------------------- Finally, an E-wing starfighter, an agile and powerful snubfighter than had been critical in the war but had almost never been seen since, appeared out of hyperspace over Ilum. Its pilot was Onderin Starlisk, just arrived after a long jump from Onderon. He had spent the entire jump in a Force trance, and now that he was here he had recovered from the various bruises and cuts he had suffered at the hands of his adversaries there. As soon as he began his descent and checked in with the Temple, he stretched out with his feelings, breathing in and then releasing the presences he felt below. There were three dark side blots in an area of a little over a dozen Jedi... one of which was oddly familiar. Soon he had landed at the Temple in the ice, popped his canopy and descended. He almost faltered a step when he walked through the front doors and saw none other than Fynn Relmis talking to one of the Jedi stationed here. Memories from the war came rushing back again and Onderin recalled some of the military actions he had taken in which Relmis had been involved. The man had served in several circumstances as a military coordinator of sorts for the Order to work closely with the then-Rebellion against the Empire and their Sith lackeys. Believing firmly that it was the will of the Force that the Empire and Sith be actively opposed, Onderin thought highly of Fynn's similar stance on the matter. On the other hand, he remembered painfully the debacle surrounding an attack on Kamino in those days... and the controversy that had sprung up around Fynn's role in it. He hadn't heard from Relmis in a long time. Whatever had happened back then, Onderin felt no darkness within him, and so his stance on taking action against evil made him ideal for exactly the kind of situations Onderin was pursuing. It was quite possible that Onderin's destiny lay down a similar path to this one's.... "Jedi Relmis," Onderin addressed him. "I must say I'm surprised to find you here." Adar turned to face him. "I'm Jedi Adar, Master," she said. "Jedi Relmis just arrived and offered his assitance regarding the Si--er, dark siders that we captured. Technically, we're not certain that they are Sith." Onderin nodded and looked back at Fynn. "Your help is more than welcome; we should be able to cover ground twice as fast if we divide and conquer. I think the prisoner has been waiting long enough, though, so we'll have to catch up later." As usual, Onderin was straight to business. It was often in a Jedi's nature to sit and talk everything through, debate the will of the Force for hours, days, or weeks before getting involved in a conflict. That was not Onderin's stance--he proceeded directly and purposefully toward each conflict as it presented itself so that it could be solved as quickly as possible. He trusted his instincts and interpreted them most often as being the will of the Force. Without a guide, he immediately headed toward the strongest dark side presence, though to him it felt different from that of a Sith. He had soon arrived outside a cell, where three Jedi Knights were standing guard. They stood up a little straighter when they saw him. "Master Starlisk," one of them greeted him as Onderin reached for the door controls. "She seems willing enough to talk, now that we provided some food and drink. I should warn you, though, that she's currently--" The door slid open and Onderin blinked, then shut it again. "--Naked," the Knight finished, wincing. Onderin blinked once or twice more. "She was wearing clothing when you captured her, right?" he asked. "Yes, Master," came the response. "Apparently, she decided she didn't like wearing it. Maybe she's trying to prove a point." After another moment Onderin shrugged. He could control himself. He opened the door again, stepped in, then shut it again behind him, clearing his throat then bringing his eyes to rest unwaveringly on the prisoner's own, once he had glanced her over one time to try to understand the purpose she was trying to make clear by going without clothing in such a cold place as this. She had an athletic, attractive body refined through combat and trial. It was, however, quite thoroughly scarred, suggesting a long history of physical abuse. The scars were far too much to have been earned in a singular event: such an event would certainly have killed her. This suggested instead drawn-out torture sessions or self-infliction. Onderin imagined a Sith might be a part of either as their depraved lust for power led them to do unspeakable things to themselves and others. "I am Onderin Starlisk," he introduced himself. "And I'm here to find out just who exactly you are and what you are doing here. It's quite possible that we can help each other."

Onderin looked down at the wounded Arach'tar, his face hard as it asked him for death. "Gladly," he said, pulling his blaster pistol out of its holster. "A trillion people died the last time you invaded the galaxy. That will never happen again if I can possibly prevent it." He pulled the trigger and a bolt of energy burned through the invader's head. The Jedi Master turned to face Darex. "Thank you for coming when I called for backup, Darex. During the search I received a comm from the Jedi Temple on Ilum, reporting that they have captured what they suspect are Sith that were posing as Jedi to infiltrate the crystal caves. Now the Force is calling me there." He took a deep breath and let it out. "Sometimes, I think the war isn't over. The Arach'tar lingered, and the Sith are still a threat. I had thought when I resigned my commission the Force would lead me down a different road, one where I could train padawans to exist solely in the living force, in a galaxy at peace where only the peace was in need of keeping. Now, I'm beginning to realize that all the time I spent in the military was the road the Force had for me. I can no more deviate from the path of war than I could cast myself away from the Order," he said as though he was discovering the words just as he gave them voice, his gaze growing distant. Then he snapped back to the present. "I should go. Comm me anytime if you need me." Without another word he turned and headed back to his starfighter, leaving the details here on Onderon to Darex if he felt they needed further resolution. Soon he had departed.

Onderin took a deep breath and let it out when the Onderonian army arrived on schedule. He was glad to know that they had taken the situation seriously and scrambled what seemed to be a sufficient force to handle the threat. It seemed like this ordeal was coming to an end... he only wished he had been able to arrive sooner and prevent the first few attacks. Still, concerning all that was at stake, this was an acceptable resolution. ...Or it nearly was. He set his jaw when he heard that the last injured invader had disappeared without a trace. "Set up a perimeter, Lieutenant Commander. Put people everywhere you can. We have to make sure that even one Arach'tar cannot escape, or this whole battle may have been for nothing," he said. "Even if we have to dig through the rubble, we can't stand down until we have as many Arach'tar bodies as there were living ones at the start of the fight." The officer nodded. "Understood, sir," he said, clearly not resisting accepting orders from a man he knew from the holonews as the Admiral responsible for coordinating the New Republic's war against the invaders when they had come in force. "And officer? Make sure these people get any medical attention they need. They're the ones that saved their town and all of Onderon." The man nodded again and left. Onderin turned wearily to what was left of the civilian volunteers. "You have survived your most desperate hour, overcome the highest adversity," he said. "And never did you waver. It has been an honor." He bowed to them and then started picking his way through the rubble and out of the building, reaching out through the Force for strength and also searching for the Arach'tar in the Force. He knew them, he could feel them. He wanted to get off this world, suddenly more than anything, but couldn't turn away from this loose end.

((Sorry Fynn, Onderin's not actually on planet, I've just been posting as NPCs. However, there is plenty going on here that warrants his attention and I will get him here within a week--I just have to wrap something up on Onderon now that Darex is back.)) In the Temple ops center, Knight Adar paced restlessly. "Give me some good news, Arec," she said. Arec gave a slight smile. "The Council is most interested in what we've found," he responded. "I'm told Master Starlisk is coming." Adar's smile mirrored his. "Good. The sooner the Council takes over, the sooner we can get these dark siders out of here." She got a signal from the front desk, informing her about the arrival of a Jedi Knight named Fynn Relmis. She quickly went out to meet him. "Jedi Relmis, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said. "I'm Knight Adar. Before I ask your purpose here, I must warn you--we have three prisoners currently that are suspected of being Sith. I would choose caution." -------------------------- The Jedi outside Qaela's cell once she had finished eating and decided to renew the talks nodded to himself. It seemed that she was still open to talks, as long as all parties could remain civilized. He liked that stance, and thought that as a Jedi it was indeed responsible to remain civilized. However, word had just trickled down that a Jedi Master would be coming around. "We have a representative from the Council coming in from offworld to speak with you," he said into the intercomm, unaware of the prisoner's current state of undress. "He'll be here soon. Until then, we've been instructed simply to hold you."

A female Jedi Knight approached Lallu's cell, hearing her crying out. She didn't know anything about the Twi'lek, but she did know that the prisoner had at the very least been impersonating a Jedi Knight; chances were she was also a Sith Lord. That made the Jedi naturally mistrustful of her, for chief amongst the Sith's arsenal was deception. This woman was a Jedi Knight, and like all Knights she had had a Master who had taught her well about the perils of the dark side. During her experiences here on Ilum in the crystal caves, and again during her Knight Trials, she had faced the dark side and resisted its call. She didn't know if the dark side was more powerful or whatever the Sith claimed, but it didn't matter: she followed the light side because it was right, and because power alone was not her chief desire in life. She would speak with the Sith they had caught, but she would be wary. As she reached the cell, she peered in and narrowed her eyes slightly. "What are you getting at?" she asked. "It's very unlikely that the stun blasts would cause a sudden bout of amnesia, so I don't think playing this game is your best course of action. There might be a way out of this cell, but I will need to know everything about who you are and why you came to Ilum first. We don't hold Sith without a purpose." ----------------------------------- Meanwhile, the Jedi outside of Qaela's cell sighed. He felt like she had been close to giving something up, but then she suddenly locked down and made it clear that the talks had at least temporarily ended. That was fine, he supposed. She would probably change her mind after a few days in this place with nothing to do and no apparent avenues of escape. At least he hoped she would, because he was uncomfortable with her even being here. Dark siders had a significant effect on the way the Force felt around them. Things were muddy, clouded. He couldn't be absolutely certain what she was up to, sometimes could seem to think clearly. He had all faith in the Temple's ability to hold her here, but he had just too little experience to be positive that one such as this could be held at all without something drastic like ysalamiri. Having those lizards around would just make things even worse, though. "Fair enough," he finally said into the comm. "I'll have something brought in and we can talk again later. You will sit against the wall farthest from the door until the food and drink have been delivered and the cell has been shut again." He called in the request and a few minutes later a protocol droid came shuffling down the corridor with a tray with a container of water and some basic provisions. Once they had made sure the prisoner was away from the door via security camera, the droid entered, set the tray down, and turned to leave again without even giving Qaela a look.

The long period of silence before her response was encouraging for the Jedi. This woman, dark-sider though she may be, could provide a critical piece of information to the the Jedi Order that could help them defeat the Sith once and for all. And she was seriously considering it. He could feel through the Force her fear at betraying ones so powerful, but also her sudden resolution to hold herself to something... something that he couldn't quite divine. It wasn't very Sith-like, though. "I might believe you when you say you are not Sith," he responded, ignoring for now her question. "But surely you cannot say the same for those with whom you were travelling. Where did you meet up with them? Where did the Sith take you to inflict those scars upon you that you say you have? Surely you know where at least one of their hidden Temples are." He wanted to assure her that the other Sith would never know that it was her that leaked the information, but that struck him as dangerously close to the dark side itself. He was content to let the Sith be Sith and the Dark Jedi be Dark Jedi, but he would not lower himself to their level, even for information as significant as this.

The Jedi were smart enough to know better than to take her up on her offer to go inside and talk. They still didn't know for certain how powerful she was, and there werw Sith Masters out in the galaxy so powerful that they could overcome even a small team of Jedi Knights, just as there were Jedi Masters who could fight through a Sith Temple. Still, the vehemence with which she denied being a member of the Sith Order was believable. In this case, however, it didn't really help her all that much, since she was radiating the dark side. Sith, Dark Jedi, or whatever she was, she would be staying in her cell until they had some answers. All that said, they were Jedi. If a peaceful solution could be found, they would prefer it over pretty much anything else. Especially if this woman hated the Sith, maybe a bargain could be made. The Jedi who had spoken earlier did so again. "We might be able to help each other, then," he said. "The fact is that the Jedi Order is having difficulty learning of the Sith's plans and whereabouts. We may be able to provide for you the specific information you seek from our library, as well as arrange your freedom, for solid, verifiable intelligence regarding the locations of Sith Temples." It was no secret among allies that both the Jedi and CoreSec had teams of people following leads looking for Temples and keeping a close watch on any reported Sith activity they could find. The dark side organization was in the shadows, but the Jedi had no reason to believe that they were close to defeat. And if they were... well, then the information about their last few refuges was even more valuable.

Someone was indeed listening to Qaela. Instead of opening the door, one of the Jedi that were guarding her door hit the intercom so that his words would come into her cell. "I apologize for our lack of manners," he said curtly. "The charge is impersonating a member of the Jedi Order as well as potentially being a member of the Sith Order. Did you really think you could come to a place like this and not be found out?" Getting her talking would be a good first step. They honestly didn't know who she was at all. Sith were notoriously egocentric and often willing to sell each other out for some slight gain. Maybe one of the prisoners would make an offer. ((I am willing to RP this out. However, if you would like to escape or something, I'm not going to stop you, so you needn't wait on me unless you want to. Just don't go killing all my NPCs or destroying this Temple.))

((I assume Rezjal-el was going to concede as well. If not, the three day rule applies.)) The attack went without a hitch, Adar was pleased to see. Within three seconds of the ambush being sprung, every one of the intruders had fallen unconscious, succumbed to multiple direct hits with close-range stun fire. The Jedi teams quickly reported in, then fit their captives with stun cuffs that would give a nasty, even incapacitating shock if the prisoner struggled or tried to use the Force. "Alright," Adar said over the comm to both teams. "We're going to take the leader--the one who had this lightsaber and called himself Master Rengar--and get him off-world right away. We can't have him coordinating with the others, and having him separate will further test their cover story if they failed to prepare one adequately. Lock the other ones up in our most secure rooms with extra cameras and guards. I'll contact the Council and get them to send someone who can give a proper questioning... I heard Master Starlisk has a background that might make him suitable for it, plus he's hunting Sith." Her orders were carried out quickly and effectively. For now, the intruders were pumped full of sedative to make sure they would be secure before they came to. Furion (though they knew not that name), was loaded onto one of the shuttles and promptly taken off world toward the core systems. Most likely he would be taken to Coruscant to see what CoreSec, the Jedi's allies against the Sith, could get out of him....

"Certainly," the actual Jedi answered the one whom was only posing as one. "We can take you there immediately." Of course, they had no intention of leading the dark sider to a library terminal. Instead, they headed for the ambush that Arec and Adar had coordinated. With her lack of knowledge of the actual layout of the Temple, their soon-to-be prisoner wouldn't know any better, and if eveyone was doing their part to hide their intentions and presences from the Force, all would go well. -------------------------------- Meanwhile, the two Jedi with Furion and Lallu were approaching their ambush right on schedule, and so far the Sith hadn't shown any signs of knowing that there was a trap ahead. Everything seemed to be going well so far. ------------------------------- Both traps, Adar noted with satisfaction from the ops room, had come together perfectly. She was still apprehensive, not knowing the full power of the Sith that had come to Ilum posing as Jedi, but they had stacked the odds as well as they could against them. Hopefully, in just a few seconds they would have a full set of prisoners. She ordered the Force user holding cells to be readied. -------------------------------- Simultaneously, the groups of Jedi Knights launched their ambushes as the Sith's escorts neared opportune corners. Each group was attacking by six Knights, each armed with a blaster pistol spewing stun fire as well as their blazing lightsabers, ready to assail and knock aside any defense the intruders made. They coupled the blaster assault with telekinesis, hoping to freeze their targets in place with their combined strength and keep evasion from being used as a defense. << Capture Shots Requested on Qaela, Lallu, Furion, and Rezjal-el. >>

The two Jedi led Furion and Lallu into the crystal caves, hoping they hadn't tipped their hand. It was not an easy task to deceive a Sith Master, and the six other Jedi hiding in the caves would have their work cut out for them to sufficiently cloak their Force presences to keep from giving away the game before the ambush could be sprung. They also hoped that eight Knights would be sufficient to bring this man down; by all means it should be, but there were powers so great in the galaxy that it was not guaranteed. As they got into position, the ambushers checked in with Adar to see how the other front was getting ready. The ambushes would have to happen at the same time or one of the groups could alert the other.... ((From that perspective, I will hold off on the ambush until I see how Qaela fits in.)) ------------------ When Qaela left her room, there was no one waiting outside, but as she headed for the exit, a pair of Knights approached her. "Are you looking for an escort, Jedi Mandela?" one of them asked. "Master Rengar is still in the caves." ((If you want Qaela to leave before things go down, you may have her exit next post. I have no intention of stopping her.))

When Adar arrived, Arec's face was grim. "I don't know who they are, but they're not Jedi," he said when she approached him and he hung up the comm. "The Force is strong with them, and they had lightsabers," Adar answered. "If they're not Jedi, they almost certainly are Sith. Besides, we have this." She produced the box that had been handed to her by one of the Jedi that had initially greeted the visitors. When she opened it, there rested inside what appeared to be a normal lightsaber, but there was something unusual about it. "Feel it in the Force. I don't think you want to touch it." Arec brushed it carefully with his mind. "That is not the weapon of a Jedi," he agreed. "So... how are we going to do this?" He knew what had to be done, but Adar was going to make the call. "We can't assume anything about their story is true," she answered. "As far as we know, they're all Sith Masters. We have the numbers to take them down, but we have to be careful. The Order hasn't run into many Sith recently, and we don't know where their Temples are or how they learned about the location of this one. It might be worth capturing them." Arec nodded. "Risky, but possible if we capture the element of surprise," he figured. "So we set them up with their escort as intended, but never leave them outmatched, and set up an ambush. We know these caves much better than they do, so as long as we're careful, we can pull it off." Adar scratched her head. "Alright, so here's what we're going to do...." -------------------------- Perhaps a minute after Adar had left, two Jedi Knights came back to Rengar and his apprentice. "I was told you wanted an escort into the caves?" one of them asked. "We'd be happy to accompany you, but the Force will largely be your guide to finding the crystals suited to you." The other shrugged. "We can leave right away, if you're ready."

There were a few things that didn't check out, Jedi Knight Arec Talis realized. Standing now in the Temple's small but effective operations center and analyzing the data sent to him by the ship registration and the additional information that Adar had called in, he had a bad feeling about the whole thing. The ship registration seemed phony, for one; it belonged to a vessel that was reported to be under repair half the galaxy away. He might have been able to overlook that one because sometimes those cross-checks were outdated, but it was enough to raise warning bells, especially given how rare it was for visitors to come to Ilum, especially in such a number. Usually it was one padawan and his or her Master, or a class of younglings. At Adar's request, Arec made the call into the secret Tython Temple with the apparent goal of reporting a potential Sith crystal-harvesting operation on Ilum, but with the ultimate goal of double-checking whether the names of these Knights and padawans checked out. It was the only way to be certain that they were actually members of the Order. And if things didn't pan out... well, they would cross that bridge when they got there. He would hope that a dozen Knights would be up to whatever challenge these strangers represented. ----------------- Adar, meanwhile, was also getting a bad feeling about the Master she was speaking to. He seemed genuine enough, but she was feeling something unusual coming from the lightsaber that hung on his belt. It just didn't feel right to her. "If you'll excuse me, Master Rengar, I have some duties I need to see to," she said to excuse herself. "I will see to getting you a guide for the crystal caves immediately." She headed immediately back to the ops room. Something wasn't right, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Once two Jedi Masters had the upper hand, their opponents tended not to last long. Just the right parry by Darex and Onderin swept in for a blow that took off the Arach'tar's sword arm. Then he and Darex made the last cut together and there was only one invader left. Thankfully, that second invader was still out of the room, causing Onderin to wonder just how bad his grenade had caught the being. It also occurred to him that it could have retreated, realizing that it was the last of its kind and the only one capable of renewing this assault at a later time. He checked his chrono. Still seven minutes out, and the civilians were faltering. A few of them had fallen to the onslaught of blaster fire coming in from the ranks of zombies, their bodies only serving to dishearten their allies. Frankly, Onderin wasn't sure if they were going to make it the way things were now. "Darex, give me a hand," he said. Dropping behind cover and stretching out with the Force, he telekinetically grabbed a chunk of wall that had been dislodged by the earlier grenade and drifted it to the doorway, starting to block it off. If they could get the doorway sealed against the zombies, they could just hold it until the Onderonian army arrived and finished everything off. There was still an Arach'tar out there, and he hoped desperately it wouldn't get away or kill too many Onderonian soldiers, but the matter was effectively out of his hands. With all the scrapes, bruises and burns he'd picked up already since the battle had begun, he wasn't sure how much help he would be against it anyway.

It was for just such times as this that Onderin had spent so much time developing and perfecting his Shien form. He had begun to wonder if the form would no longer serve him as well now that the war was over and whether he should spend some time on the related Djem-So form in case he crossed blades with Sith. Yet so far Shien had served him fine in his confrontation with Darth Ares, and now he was back on a sort of battlefield again and the focus it had on the deflection and redirection of blaster fire was perfectly suited to evening the odds a little in this otherwise-desperate stand. Alas, the analytics would have to wait for another time. He and Darex were holding well against the bionic zombies, but the other Jedi Master knew as he did--it was only a matter of time before the Arach'tar stormed the room. In close quarters such as this, he was genuinely worried what would happen to his band of civilians. His speech may have served to rally them to stand even in the face of death, but it did not inspire actual competence. Against an Arach'tar, they would make mistakes and they would die. Even now one arrived at the doorway and the other, apparently having scaled the wall of the office building, could be seen just outside a large shattered hole in the wall caused by the earlier grenade detonation. Onderin looked closely at the one in the doorway, then released the concussion grenade he had been holding there. He dropped into a crouch as it exploded, shielding himself with the Force from the shockwave and hoping the civilians were sufficiently entrenched to avoid the worst of it as well. Still more chunks of wall fell away, and the Arach'tar in the doorway fell back a few steps, probably coming to the correct decision that it would be unwise to charge in at less than full strength. It wouldn't be out for long. The other, meanwhile, forced its way through the wall, and Onderin and Darex stepped up to meet it. "Watch the doors!" he called to the civilians. They were still needed to stem the ongoing tide of zombies and provide focus fire were the Arach'tar to come back before the two Jedi Masters had finished with this one. Even now the Corellian crossed blades with it and could tell that this one was even stronger than the others he had fought today. Even together he and Darex would have trouble bringing this one down.

It was nice to have a moment out of the firefight while the invaders slowly closed on their location, a moment to think and prepare for their stand. But he could tell that the volunteers were terrified and many of them were injured. There wasn't much hope of survival left in the room, and many of them clearly regretted their decision to stay behind. Onderin understood that sentiment full well, coming from civilians. They never signed up for this, they weren't trained for this, and they didn't deserve to be put in this position. He would have taken real soldiers any day... but that didn't mean they weren't just as valuable. Taking the cue from Darex, he started talking to them. "Today has been one of the greatest challenges of your lives," he said. "It will continue to be until this fight is finished. The Arach'tar are ruthless and efficient, bred and designed to wage war on an intergalactic scale. I have fought them before, I can tell you that they know what they're doing. But when I look at you men here, staunch in the face of adversity, I'm reminded of why we sent the Arach'tar running both times they have tried to take us. It's because we are stubborn, we are resilient; it is because this is our home, and we will not give it up. "I see the same things in you that I see in the best of soldiers trained for such fights--I see the willingness to stand despite the odds, to risk their lives to save their families and their homes. You may not have the experience, but you have replaced it with fervor and defiance toward our attackers. I have been on many battlefields for decades, but never have I seen the fire of someone fighting to save their own home town. Surely any force can be overcome by such men. "The best part is that we have already won. The Onderonian army is fast approaching. All we need to do is hold out for fifteen minutes until they get here. We might not all make it, but the fight we are about to win is one much bigger than saving this town and your families--we're preventing a war that could rage across the entire galaxy! How many countless lives have been saved today!" His voice was strong, proud. "So I urge you to stand and fight, prove our resilience and show the Arach'tar yet again that we will never yield our homes. For such a cause I would lay down my life a thousand times if I had a thousand lives to give, and in the company of such men as you I would die knowing that no matter the odds the day would still--" Suddenly there was a crash and a small metallic ball came flying in through the window. Onderin immediately realized what it was. "Get down!" he shouted, then grabbed the device with the Force and flung it back out the way it had come in. It detonated spectacularly just outside and the shock wave knocked him off his feet, cracking the wall and knocking loose office supplies everywhere. "Get to cover. Watch the doorways. Don't let anything make it through!" He grabbed a concussion grenade from his belt and held down the trigger with the Force, rolling it into the doorway. When the first of the attacking force came through, he would release it and see if he could take a few of them down.

Onderin was impressed by the competence of this individual Arach'tar, especially with only one arm. It was able to press an attack against Darex even while warding off each strike he made against it. Still, Onderin was patient, keeping the pressure up but his senses alert to a breakdown in his opponent's impeccable defenses. He knew that Darex could hold out for quite a time with his Soresu, and honestly he was more concerned about the volunteers. Still, he could serve them best by making sure the threat this powerful foe represented ended here. When the Arach'tar dealt out a powerful kick, something subtle changed. It felt for a moment like it had the upper hand, and its fight became less desperate. Onderin called on a reserve of strength and his movements accelerated as he delivered a rapid assault of lightsaber blows, demanding his opponent's full attention. When Darex advanced again, his assault suddenly ceased mid-strike. The Arach'tar hesitated for just a split second and the Corellian Jedi froze its blade arm in place with a surge of telekinesis. That bought the moment for Darex to strike, and strike he did. "Back! To the Dxacron office building!" he called to the volunteers. They retreated and he moved between them and the approaching force, deflecting as much fire as he could that bypassed what was left of the barricade. Several of the volunteers had fallen before they made it through the glass doors of the multi-story building, and those that were left were either terrified or grim. "Up the stairs. The evacuees have the head start they needed, so the assault will be a total loss unless they capture us. We will make a stand on the second floor and hope help is coming." There were only two Arach'tar left, but even one of them could cut through the volunteers, and both Onderin and Darex were growing weary. As the group hustled up the stairs, glad to no longer be under fire for the moment, Onderin knew that they had barely scratched the zombie force, even with the torpedo. They just didn't have the strength to end this invasion here. Not without backup.

The sound of blaster fire drew Onderin's attention back in the direction of the blockade. The volunteers had engaged the zombie force. Calling again on the power of the Jedi, he sprinted back toward the pile of speeders, picking up his defeated opponent's high-powered blaster rifle on the way. He was back there in a moment, a grim look on his face. He hoped Darex had managed to bring down his Arach'tar, for there were still four or more of them out there. As he reached the barricade, he peered over the top and realized just how close the main force had gotten. The zombie-like infantry were armed with blasters and armored with Arach'tar tech. As he watched, one of them took several direct blaster hits before stumbling and falling. It was clear that the barricade would be overrun well before the small defensive force was able to put a serious dent in the approaching force. The Arach'tar commanders walked in the group for now, but it was them that he was most worried about. Even one of them would cleave through the volunteers as easily as Kirlocca would cleave through a squad of space pirates. It was time to bring in the artillery--the one weapon the Arach'tar would never expect such a rag-tag group to have. Drawing on the Force, Onderin dropped himself behind the barricade and picked up the shadow bomb he had been holding nearby. He shut his eyes again, and in his mind he moved the warhead well around the outside of the barrier. He couldn't afford to risk moving it into the line of blaster fire that was being exchanged. It took him about thirty seconds to bring the weapon into place at the left flank of the attacking force, but once it was there, he triggered it for a three-second delay. "Get down!" he shouted to the volunteers, putting the Force behind his voice. They dropped just in time for a tremendous explosion to be heard. The shockwave tore away perhaps half of the barricade as the baradium and proton warhead detonated, all the oxygen in the area being sucked into an expanding ball of fire and death. The Jedi Master popped up from behind cover and found a crater replacing the left flank and zombies and Arach'tar picking themselves quickly up off the ground. It had made a difference, shattering maybe a third of the attacking force. He counted the Arach'tar again and counted only two, and he was extremely glad to realize he had gotten two of them with the blast. Then he heard one of the volunteers cry out in pain, and when he looked he saw a third Arach'tar, on his side of the barricade, skewering a civilian with its pulse blade. The rest of the men cried out in shock at the gruesome display. "Fall back! Find a building and hole up!" Onderin cried out, lighting his viridian lightsaber again and throwing himself at the Arach'tar. The barricade's purpose had ended, and as Onderin locked blades with his second opponent, he hoped the Onderonian army was indeed coming....

Before he had been a fleet Admiral, before he had become a Jedi, Onderin had been a CorSec officer. Sometimes, CorSec simply trained police officers who did the usual business like handing out traffic tickets to reckless speeder pilots. But others were a little more adept at field work, investigation, and stakeouts. Onderin had been a promising officer even in his youth, showing tremendous intuition in the field that he now attributed to his sensitivity to the Force. Even from a young age, he had learned to trust his gut and it had turned out to be right almost every time. Now he was a mix of a cop on a stakeout, a military officer planning how to take down a superior force, and a Jedi Master capable of taking down targets that ordinary soldiers wouldn't dare to face. If the swoop-riding Arach'tar successfully flanked the barricade, the battle would be lost before it even began. Keeping a low profile, Onderin entered a nearby building and ascended two flights of stairs in a few Force-aided bounds, then made his way to a window. He could hear the whine of the swoop engine as he closed his eyes and opened himself to the timing of the Force. When he felt it was right, he dropped himself out of the window and fell two stories. Just in time, the Arach'tar swoop came around the corner, nearly complete with its flanking maneuver. Onderin's lightsaber thrummed to life and he slashed downward. His enemy's preternatural reflexes served it well as it abandoned its vehicle even as he sliced through the chassis, snapping his eyes open again at last. He landed and found incoming high-power energy bolts coming his way. He brought his lightsaber around in an arc, but it was intercepted by what he knew was called a pulse-blade--a sword with an energy beam comprising its forward edge. A weapon that could challenge a lightsaber. "Jedi," the Arach'tar hissed. "Crusader," he responded. "You're a long way from home." He spun and slashed, and his blaster pistol ended up in his left hand, peppering fire into the mix. The Arach'tar didn't even bother to dodge the shots, its armor easy handling what shots Onderin was able to land. It counterattacked with the pulse blade and Onderin caught the attack, then pushed his blade on top of the alien weapon and down toward the ground. The Arach'tar's blaster rifle filled the gap, and Onderin twisted, for a second giving the creature a shot at his back. When the shot came, though, it was high, so he ducked and raised his blade, deflecting the bolt back even as it passed him. Amazingly, the Arach'tar mirrored the feat, its pulse-blade returning the shot a second time. But for all its speed, Onderin was even faster, and caught even the ricochet, deflecting it down away from the previous block and into the Aracht'ar's knee. The powerful bolt from its own weapon blasted away the armor there and his opponent dropped to its other knee. With a swift move, the Jedi Master capitalized on its pain and brought his blade through its neck and shoulder. "You came a long way to die."

Onderin watched as Darex ran off, light beginning to distort around him. The former Admiral simply nodded, figuring it was time to ascertain for certain whether the bionic zombies were living or dead. Unfortunately, he realized, it would make things even more difficult if they turned out to be alive, because even in that circumstance he could not advocate using any lesser force to stop their advance. Thirty casualties was well worth the millions or billions of lives that could be saved by ending this invasion before it began in earnest. It didn't seem like Darex was capable of understanding that, and it could become such a point of contention between them that it could have lasting repercussions on Onderin's relationship with the Jedi Order. To him, this was not a situation of the ends justifying the means, it was a simple cost-benefit analysis as performed by the mind of a man who had been sending men and women to their deaths for his entire career. Perhaps it was extremely unbecoming of a Jedi, but he had never denied that Jedi should not become military commanders. So while Darex was gone, he continued to prepare. The volunteers were making progress on the barricade, and soon they had speeders, furniture, and anything else on hand piled up. Now the Arach'tar force was looming before them, getting close to weapon range. Their mobility was somewhat hindered by the plodding advance of the zombies, but they did seem to have a vanguard on swoops. Onderin found it somewhat unusual that the Arach'tar would use such primitive technology, but he supposed they had to make due with what they had available on this rock. Just as he was doing in an attempt to stop them. He doubted they would expect the kind of artillery he could call upon though; it was truly a boon that the Force had called him here. Without support, this town would have been caught unaware and the size of the invading force would have tripled. Soon the other Jedi Master returned and made his report. Onderin breathed a quiet sigh of relief that Darex would no longer countermand him on this. "We still don't know their capabilities, but the Arach'tar never did anything halfway," he added to Darex's briefing. "I suspect they will make up for their lack of mobility by being resistant to blaster fire. You will focus fire as a group--start from the right and work your way left across the group as they fall. If they get close, don't hesitate to fall back." With that, he leapt up onto the barricade and looked out at the approaching force. "May the Force be with us. Open fire as soon as they in range. Darex, let's see if we can do something about those swoops." No sooner had he finished speaking than the swoop riders revved their bikes and blasted around the outside of the barricade, quickly moving to flank the group. Onderin kept his lightsaber off--it wasn't yet time to tip their hands and reveal to their enemies that there were Jedi in the mix. Instead, he picked the swoop on the left and called on the Force to dash off toward it, pulling his blaster pistol in his left hand and considering for a moment how he would take down such a dangerous opponent.