Nitestrike

A large, relatively clean CR90 Corellian Corvette popped out of hyperspace and headed in system. Jedi Knight Brad Warren, its pilot, immediately felt the effect of the numerous ysalamiri on the planet. To be stripped of the Force was an odd feeling for him, for he had been in its presence most of his life. He guessed that Aryian wished them to train here to loose a dependence on the Force. Still a capable pilot, even without the Force, Brad brought the ship down quickly at a landing zone. The ship touched down with a slight jolt, and after powering down most of the systems Brad walked down the landing ramp trailed by his droid. He realized that in the woods, Artoo might have some trouble getting around, but it didn't worry him too much. Looking around, he noticed a base, and once inside he saw some of his fellow Jedi had already arrived, and he recognized one of them as Damon. "Hello there," he called across over to the Jedi.

Seeing that many of the Jedi were leaving to go to the Alliance base at Gala, Brad went to his new CR90. After running diagnostics, he sped the ship through the atmosphere and into space. Slight adjustments were made to the ship's course in orbit as it aligned for a hyperspace jump. After a few seconds, the ship lurched forward into hyperspace.

Content that the Jedi were indeed heading to Gala, Brad made sure that Artoo had his new CR90 ready to go. Although the little droid had a highly compatible relationship with his XJ3, the Jedi Knight knew he could count on that little droid. To go from merely something he found in the middle of the desert to one of the things he trusted most was quite impressive for an old R2 unit. Brad was also quite satisfied with the acute personality R2-T2 developed. It appeared that Armiena would be the new grand master of the Jedi, and Brad was quite pleased. She was one Jedi that Brad respected, most likely because she was the one who administered his trials. The Order would do great things under her, Brad was sure. "Congratulations to both of you, Armiena and Aryian. And thanks for replacing my ship Aryian, I owe you one for that."

After answering his beeping calm, Brad sent R2-T2 up to his new Corellian Corvette to bring it down the the planet. The droid had the intelligence to easily make it into the ship and fly it down to the planet. Brad was quite impressed that Aryian had indeed come through on his word to replace his ship. It appeared to him that Alliance connections could be quite useful. Brad carefully watched the proceedings going on before him, seeing what the Jedi masters would do. It was clear that they wanted a change, something different from the last few leaders the Order had. It seemed that Armiena was getting much of the support, and Brad agreed that she'd be a good choice. He didn't want to interfere with the vote, since he was not a master yet, so he remained silent and observed.

The presence of the Force swarmed around the planet of Ossus as more and more Jedi masters arrived. Brad, who stayed on the planet only to observe, was quite impressed with the whole assembly. It appeared all of the prominent Jedi masters of the Order were here and assembled in one place. Although he wasn't quite sure what they all had come to decide, the young Jedi Knight knew it had to be something big. Deciding that standing off to the side wouldn't do any good, he went to mingle with the masters. Brad stood towards the back of the assembly and kept quiet, both vocally and in the Force, as not to disturb the other Jedi. If there was a large issue at hand, it would be bad for him to cloud their judgment. After loosing one of the younger Jedi to the dark side, he felt he had done enough. Stubbornly, Brad refused to see that what happened wasn't his fault. After all this time, he still couldn't convince himself that no matter what he did it still would've happened.

"It doesn't look like there are any functioning databanks here right now," Brad said to Shawmus. He sensed a change building in the Force, a change for the Jedi. "Perhaps this isn't the place for you to be my friend. I believe you should head to the Alliance base at Gala," he said, walking back towards the two starfighters. Brad reached into the cockpit of his X-Wing and retrieved his datapad and a memory stick. Inserting the memory stick, he scanned the data on it to make sure it was the right one. "Here," Brad said, handing the datapad with the memory stick still inside to Shawmus. "That should be quite enough information on the Jedi for right now. Study that on the trip to Gala and don't break my datapad. I'll need it back when I arrive." Brad reached around his back to the rear of his belt and retrieved another silver cylinder. He pressed the activation button and a bright violet blade shot forth. "This is my former master's lightsaber that I retrieved after he died. It is of good craft and of great sentimental value to me." Brad deactivated the lightsaber and held the hilt in his hand, thinking for a moment. "Take this also," Brad said, handing the lightsaber to Shawmus. "Take even better care of that lightsaber. You can use it if you run into trouble and to practice Form I until I arrive on Gala. You'll find the information on Form I on my datapad. I'll arrive in a few days if your master doesn't beat me there. May the Force be with you." ((The information on the datapad is basically what's listed here and here. The pillars of Jedi strength, the code, and stuff on lightsabers and lightsaber forms is what you might want to know.))

((OOC: Oops, my fault. From what Kirana wrote it looked like she was going to duel you Damon. Sorry.)) Brad reconsidered going to watch the duel with the Hopeful. Perhaps it was best for him to wait to observe something like that. He was a little afraid that Shawmus would get the wrong idea. "Actually, I don't believe the duel is going to happen. Study the information in the archives."

Brad laughed at some of the things Shawmus said, as well as the fact that we was nervous. "Yes, you can make the Temple your home, for now at least. Relax, and feel free to explore the Temple and the knowledge held here. You can learn much about the Force, the Order, and many other things by looking through the information stored in the databanks. I sense a duel starting, however, and that might be a good learning experience for you." Brad began to turn, but stopped as he remembered Shawmus had no idea where he was or how to get around. "If you want to go watch it, follow me to the training room in which it is taking place." Then Brad completed his turn and began to walk off. His R2 unit, R2-T2, trailed behind him beeping here and there as it rolled along.

The X-Wing and E-Wing were nearing the Jedi base now and they began a slow descent towards the hanger bay. The flight towards it had been quite tricky, and Brad was surprised at how close Shawmus had managed to stay to his X-Wing. The man had a vast potential in the Force, of that Brad was sure. He was rather inquisitive though, Brad thought, which wasn't unexpected given all that he had been introduced to. "The dark side is not a good thing as you inferred, from a certain point of view. Those that use the dark side of the Force draw upon their emotions, mostly anger, to influence their decisions. They use powers of the Force that no Jedi would ever use because they cause immense pain and harm to the victim. Remember, I said the Jedi are all about protecting." Brad stopped for a second, figuring out the best way to word what he was about to say next. "You must understand though, with out the dark side there is no light side. While evil is unfortunate, it is necessary to achieve balance of the Force throughout the universe. But even the evil powers the dark side employs can be used for good if you try hard enough." Thinking of a good example to use, Brad paused again before continuing. "For instance, take Force lightning. It requires an immense amount of hatred inside one's soul to cause the amount of pain that Force lightning causes. But what if someone's heart had failed? A Jedi could potentially use Force lightning to 'restart' his heart and save the person's life." By the time Brad had finished they had reached the hanger bay and were slowly going inside. Brad's XJ3 X-Wing lowered in altitude to settle softly upon the hanger floor. After climbing out of the cockpit, Brad walked over to the E-Wing. "You can use this fighter and droid as long as you need to, and if you wish you can consider them yours."

An XJ3 X-Wing and an E-Wing exited hyperspace at roughly the same time and began to approach Ossus. The XJ3 sent the appropriate passcodes to be granted clearance to land. He also made sure to note that the E-Wing was with him. The pilot of the XJ3 opened a comm channel up to the E-Wing. "Follow me in close, Shawmus. I'm not sure how isolated, hidden, or big this Temple is and I don't want you to get lost."

"All I can tell you is that we're going to an...unknown Jedi base on another planet," Brad called back over the comm channel. "I can't tell you the coordinates unfortunately. Should you go to the dark side, you could reveal our location to the Sith and cause the destruction of the Jedi Order. It's nothing personal, I can assure you of that. You'll get there just fine though, your R7 unit has the appropriate coordinates." The small X-Wing broke through the atmosphere and was followed soon after by the E-Wing. "I want to get out of the Borleais system as soon as possible. Engage the hyperdrive once your out of the planet's mass shadow." It didn't take long before both ships broke free from Borleais' mass shadow. Brad used the Force to reach out to Shawmus and try to synchronize their actions. Although Shawmus had no training, they both managed to go into hyperspace at the same time. ((Continued in the Ossus thread.))

Brad let out a slight chuckle as the now Jedi Hopeful had a bit trouble giving him a title. A title was not something he had to deal with before, and it was quite humorous to him to start. "Just Brad will be fine, for now at least. I haven't officially reached the rank of Jedi Master yet, so you don't have to call me Master Warren or anything like that." Brad continued walking towards the hanger while explaining what the Jedi were. "The Jedi are guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. We go around defending the innocent, and for the more radical of the Order, striking at evil. We attempt to keep the peace mostly, but sometimes we must act as warriors and sometimes as thinkers." "The Jedi of course draw on the Force for our power. It is an energy fields created by all living things. It surround and penetrates us as it binds the galaxy together. And then there is also this," Brad said, taking what Shawmus would see as a metal cylinder off of his belt. Brad pressed a button on the side of the cylinder, and a brilliant green blade shot forth. The hallway was bathed in a rich, green light as the blade hummed. "This is a lightsaber. It is the weapon of a Jedi. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. It is an elegant weapon from a more civilized age." Deactivating the lightsaber, Brad opened the door to the hanger and stepped inside. He retrieved an R7 unit and showed Shawmus to an E-Wing. "That is all I can teach you for now, and you will learn much more from your master. Now we must go to the Jedi's current base. This R7 unit has the coordinates and will get you there, don't worry." Brad climbed into his own X-Wing and began preflight procedures as his R2 unit got situated. Opening his communications equipment, he relayed a message through the Borleais Jedi Temple to Gala. Brad closed the cockpit and engaged the repulsorlifts. His starfighter slowly rose and proceeded out of the hanger and into the planet's atmosphere.

Brad had sensed the man nearing the Temple long before he arrived. The Jedi Knight felt relaxed and rejuvenated after his meditation and ready for another long flight. As the man entered the Temple, Brad stood up to greet him. "I knew you would come, for the Force told me it would be so. Welcome to the Jedi Temple on Borleais." "I'm Brad Warren, a member of the Jedi Order," he continued. "If you can handle the training and remain firm and steadfast in the Jedi teachings, one day you too will achieve knight. But for now, if you decide you do wish to become a Jedi, we must leave Borleais. The Jedi are under attack on Haruun Kal, and I fear this planet may be next, therefore I am going to a lesser known base." Grabbing his outer cloak and putting it on, Brad turned to leave the entrance way. "Come, if you feel you can handle this journey. I sense you are troubled about not being able to come, but your transportation situation is not an issue. We have some extra ships in the hanger and astromech droids you can use." With that, Brad began to walk along the hall, seeing if the man would follow him.

Brad wandered the Temple for sometime, searching for what the Force was drawing him to. Realizing that what he was sent to Borleais for was not in the temple, the Jedi went to the nearest city to search. He wandered the streets, feeling emotions of the people around him and trying to find someone who was Force sensitive. A cantina seemed to call to him to come inside, and inside Brad went. It was then that the Jedi discovered the Force sensitive he must've been called to retrieve. When the man called out for someone to challenge him to a game, Brad became a bit worried that this wasn't the right guy. Surely the Force wouldn't be calling him to bring a gambler into the Jedi order. But then again, the Force tended to work in mysterious ways. Pushing his doubts aside, Brad approached the man and sat near him, careful to conceal his lightsaber from view. Brad leaned close enough to the mysterious man that only he would hear what the Jedi Knight had to say. "If it's a game you want, I'm sure these regular people can give you what you want around here. Borleais doesn't get the traffic you'd get on another planet, and I'm sure with your abilities you can dominate them in gambling. I offer to you a unique challenge, a challenge to become something greater than yourself, to save those in trouble and protect the innocent." Hoping that he had given the man something he'd be interested in, Brad turned to leave the cantina. "If you're interested, meet me in the temple deep in the mountains." And with that, Brad left the cantina to return to the Jedi Temple. When he arrived, he removed his long outer robe and sat in entrance, meditating to sense the man's decision.

A small XJ3 X-Wing starfigher reverted to realspace in the vicinity of the Borleais system and began its approach to the planet. The pilot, Brad Warren, turned control of the ship over to his droid for the landing procedures at the Jedi base. This wasn't where he had planned to go at first, however he felt the Force dragging him to this planet to fufil some purpose. The ship quickly came through the atmosphere and into the Jedi base's hanger. Brad climbed out of the cockpit and began to search the base for what might have called him here, and Artoo was left in charge of preparing the ship for flight.

Lasers flashed all about him as Brad flew through the thick of the massive space battle. Spinning the starfighter left and right helped Brad to dodge much of the laserfire, and the starfighter's shields managed to pick up any stray bolts. Things were starting to get very intense, and Brad sensed things would only get worse. The Jedi felt something had to be done to aid the capital ships. Jerking the stick away from the thick of the starfighter battle, Brad was flying to confront one of the Victory destroyers head on. He prepared his shadow bombs while taking out the starfighters that stood in his way. He was very close to the bridge of one of the Victory Star Destroyers, level with its transparisteel viewports. With his fingers hovering over the torpedo release trigger, he hesitated. What is he was wrong about this, Brad wondered. If he destroyed an entire starship full of people like this, would it lead him to the dark side, to a life of evil? As much as it worried him to do so, the Jedi Knight shook those thoughts from his head and pulled the torpedo release trigger. Of course, no ion trails could be seen since there was no propulsion on these special torpedos. They'd be nearly invisible, and impossible for the gunnery crews of the Star Destroyer to target. Grabbing the three shadow bombs with the Force, Brad took control of them, speeding them toward the viewport of the Star Destroyer. The traveled faster than a normal proton torpedo would have because they were sped on by the Force. While the torpedos traveled ever closer, Brad broke off from his collision course with the bridge and headed away from the impending explosion. The X-Wing starfighter was speeding back towards the battle when the modified torpedos hit. Two of the torpedos either side of the viewport in order to ensure any safety features would be disabled while the third hit the transparisteel dead center. The viewport shattered into tiny pieces and fire spewed as the atmosphere inside the ship vented into space. The cries through the Force hit Brad hard in the chest, sickening him. He had managed to kill an entire bridge crew, if not more, on a large capital vessel. He had helped the Jedi and the Alliance, and yet it didn't sit right. "Artoo, plot a course outsystem. We'll be leaving soon," Brad called back to the droid. This battle was no longer worth fighting, he felt. The Jedi were no longer on the planet surface, defending the temple. The Jedi and the Alliance both had no further purpose in the Haruun Kal system, and Brad refused to shed more blood this day. Brad's tiny starfigher lurched forward into hyperspace, first to the outskirts of the system, and then off towards another planet.

((Fixer is quite correct Slicer. OHKs are not allowed.)) More blips began to appear on the tactical display in an XJ3 X-Wing, and the droid situated in the droid socket began to frantically address the pilot. The last onslaught from the fighters had almost taken the small droid out, and it managed to knock loose a stablizer. "I know Artoo, I know!" the pilot called back to the little droid. "Lock it down, and see if you can get me a bit more engine output, these E-Wings and Defenders are outrunning me." The droid beeped back a reply, stating that he would do what he could, but they were outnumbered. "You worry about the ship's condition, I'll worry about the flying." The ship lurched forward as the droid managed to squeeze a bit more power from the powerful ion drives. The E-Wings and Defenders were still faster, but the X-Wing was managing to keep up a bit better. With a Jedi Knight behind the controls, the X-Wing could outmanuever the other fighters anyway.

A small XJ3 X-Wing that was cooling off on the outskirts of the Haruun Kal made its microjump back in system. The craft began to pick up fighter targets launched from the Black Dawn craft, slowly beginning to feel the Force again. The tiny snub fighter's moves were gaining more precision, and much more daring. Once the Force was fully back insystem, it would be hard to stop the pilot of this craft, Jedi Knight Brad Warren.

A small, X-Wing starfighter zipped out of the hanger bay of the Argent Dawn and aligned for a quick microjump to the edge of the system. The Dawn continued following its collision course towards the Force Harvester. The reactor was beginning to go critical, way past safe operating procedures. The radiation was what caused Brad to leave rather than stay longer with his ship. The hull of the ship took on a light orange hue as the temperature inside the ship increased dramatically. The sight of the glowing ship would've been pretty without if not for its deadly mission. The large vessel was angling down towards the Force Harvester, nearing the Black Dawn fleet and closing quickly. It began to pass over the top of the Victory Star Destroyers and inched ever closer towards its target. From the outskirts of the Haruun Kal system, the small X-Wing that escaped the Argent Dawn made contact with the Alliance flagship. "Admiral, I've done all I can. Let's just hope it was enough to bring that thing down." The ship began to align another course for a hyperspace jump, however if it was back in system or to another destination would be undecipherable ((Black Dawn, you guys can post the damage to your Force Harvester since I don't know their specs. Maybe you should give us one down early on to give us hope .))

The admiral finally replied to Brad's earlier transmission, and luckily the orders he gave was what Brad planned on doing anyways. "Roger that, Admiral," he sent back to the ship. "I'll hit that Force Harvestor with everything I've got. Lock in the course, Artoo." The droid tootled a response as the ship turned to face the Force Harvestor head on. "Push the reactor, override all the protocols. We need more speed and more shielding." The reactor was already nearing critical states, but that would help blow up Brad's target. The ship's shields flared with the increase and the ship jolted forward, speeding towards its target. "We stay with the ship until the opportune moment, but open the hanger for now." The Corellian Corvette's hanger opened in order for the X-Wing to slip out when the time was right.

Reaching over to his control board, Brad began to flick some switches. A loud siren blared all around his ship while a voice repeated, "Report to the nearest escape pod...Abadon ship..." The bridge crew filtered out towards escape pods as the ship evacuation began. Brad began to set up a crash course towards one of the Black Dawn destroyers like he was ordered. After setting in the prelimaries, he went back to the hanger. Artoo Teetoo greeted Brad and opened the XJ3 X-Wing's canopy when the Jedi entered the hanger. "Hang on Artoo," he called over to the droid, "We need more speed." Using the control terminal in the hanger bay, Brad began to put in overrides for reactor output. The ship's weapons were powering down while the reactor in overdrive increased shield and engine output. Brad hopped into his X-Wing, waiting for the opportune moment to abandon ship.

The matte black Corelian Corvette that was the Argent Dawn emerged from hyperspace shortly after the Alliance fleet. It's captain, Brad Warren, after seeing the Black Dawn fleet had arrived began to issue orders to his ragtag crew. "Get the shields up and the H9's ready to fire immediately, but do not fire until the Alliance does. Artoo, get the X-Wing ready to fly. Com officer, open a channel to the Alliance flagship." The Dawn quickly came up alongside Alliance fleet. The secure channel was opened to the Alliance flagship, and Brad began to address the large vessel. "Commander of the Alliance, this is the Argent Dawn. We've come to over our help. Where do you need us?"

Brad let out a deep sigh on the bridge of The Argent Dawn. He had recognized the ship that blasted off into hyperspace shortly after he arrived as the Ghost Breath, Armiena's ship. "So much for bringing more Jedi to Haruun Kal," he thought to himself. There were few other Jedi he could feel on the planet, and none felt to be the right caliber for the battle on Haruun Kal. There were enough Jedi at Haruun Kal, he decided, so he had a course plotted to the Alliance's current base and set out for it, the large Corvette shooting into hyperspace.

A matte black Corelian Corvette popped out of hyperspace near Manaan and began its descent into the atmosphere. The ship hailed the Jedi base, The Eternal Vigilance, on an emergency Jedi priority code. Its captain, Jedi Knight Brad Warren had a grave message he was carrying. Opening a channel to go along with his hails, he said, "Attention Eternal Vigilance, Haruun Kal has been attacked. I've come to escort anyone who wishes to help the stranded Jedi so they can make it past any Black Sun resistance."

Before Jedi Knight Brad Warren receieved the warning from Hou-Jo, The Argent Dawn was placed on high alert because a disturbence the Jedi felt in the Force. The previously lowered boarding ramp was now closed, and when Black Sun launched their attack, The Dawn was ready to escape. After switching his comlink to the ship's frequency, Brad began to adress the crew his droid had rounded up. "Attention crew members of The Argent Dawn, this is Captain Warren. Report to your battle stations. This is not a drill. Black Sun has attacked Haruun Kal, and we will escape for the moment. Get my sheilds up and my four H9 dual turbolasers running as well. We'll break through the blockade one way or another." With that, Brad turned off his comlink and turned to his droid, R2-T2, next to him on the bridge. "Monitor communications Artoo. Anything from the traitors is high priority and bring anything up when you get it." The droid beeped a 'affirmative' in Droidspeak and Brad fired up the ships turbolasers. The large corvette blasted into action, shooting forth from the hanger at non-authorized speeds. This ship would have no trouble dealing with the transport ship, should it decide to follow, and would be able to take quite a few hits from starfighters. Luckily, Black Sun's capital ships were out of range to hit the ship since it was in the atmosphere. Activating the sublight engines to aid the repulsorlifts, Brad managed to squeeze some extra speed from the Dawn, enough to give him a decent head start. He had to shut it down quickly so he wouldn't overheat anything. The ship quickly made it to the opposite side of the planet and out the atmosphere. After a quick pull-release action of the hyperdrive manual control, The Argent Dawn was outside the Haruun Kal system and plotting its next course. The ship made slight adjustments, and shot off towards its next destination.