Phu

[Jarin Silocen]

All he could do was stare as she revealed herself. The Jedi? What were they doing on Phu, and why weren't they out in the galaxy making a difference? Azrael couldn't count the times he wished the Jedi were by his side, quelling the evil of man, but they were never there. Now, in a moment when any other helpful individual would do, here they were. Never the less, fate had brought him to this place at this time. The question now was what to do about it? He could just arrange for transport back to Coruscant, get a small job, and build his credits back up until he was in a position to go back to Nar Shaddaa. That would be the smart move. Never change what isn't broken, and his methods had been tried and true for a year now. Then again, he could try to stick around. The Jedi were known for their martial prowess. Maybe he could get this woman to show him a few things, add yet another form to his already erratic style. Even if he wanted to stick around, he'd have to make some sort of deal. It was doubtful a Jedi would drop whatever they were doing just to teach him a few things. He didn't know how long he had remained silent in thought, but when he finally spoke he attempted to do so in a curious and oblivious manner.

 

Oh yeah? And how's Jedi life treating you? Well enough, from the look of your toys.

[ObliviousKnight]

"These?" I laughed freely, adjusting the tough synthleather belt around my waist in a gesture that only emphasized the fact that even outside battle, I was armed to the teeth. The lightsaber on my right hip and the coiled lightwhip on my left made for a fairly heavy load, and this wasn't even an occasion to wear my blaster, grenades, and knives. I'd ceased to notice the weight--I was as conscious of wearing my lightsabers as I was of my clothing.

 

"Products of not knowing what risks to take." Those were good memories, if nearly freezing to death and being subdued could be remembered fondly.

 

"What are you doing out this far from civilization? Pickett--that was the friendly, eight-legged battle droid that nearly jumped on you--" Behind me, the Wolf Spider sank low on its forward limbs, actually performing their approximation of a Jedi's bow. "Reported that you were carrying almost nothing--just a sword."

[Luqen]

(Shorter than usual; sorry. Got a date to catch.)

 

Luqen could hardly contain his mirth as he walked--or rather, speed-walked, trotted, sprinted, you know--towards the temple room he'd sparred with Aryian in. His body was coated in sweat, his inner robes soaked and his scalp slick. So much for that bath earlier. Well, it had refreshed him, and he'd needed it. Two baths in one day, now, he thought, chuckling.

 

His newly constructed saber was clipped to the belt he now wore, bouncing only slightly even when he burst into a sprint. It wasn't two minutes before he was back upstairs in the temple, only to find that his master was waiting for him. He stopped on a dime, attempting to control his raging grin, then folded his arms casually over his chest to right himself as he waited for his masters opinion of the work hanging from his belt.

[Jarin Silocen]

Azrael returned her laugh as she posed the million credit question.

 

I was run out of town. Some people don't know how to show gratitude properly I suppose.

 

When she adjusted her belt, he became acutely aware that Flux was no longer on his back. Now the only thing consuming his thoughts was getting his one worldly possession back. It wasn't that he felt threatened or anything, one the contrary. Just being around a Jedi was somewhat comforting. It was just that without his sword he felt naked. The weapon was just as much a part of him as his hands or legs. It identified with who he was. A weapon of justice, striking down those who would bring evil to the world. It sounded sappy, he knew, but his poetry was never as good as his martial talents.

 

Speaking of my sword, can I, uh...have it back, perhaps?

[Ary the Grey]

((Even shorter post to get right to the point.))

 

Aryian heard his padawan before he actually saw him, and when Luqen finally did come into view, he could plainly see the new weapon that hung from his belt in pride.

 

"Ignite it."

[Luqen]

Luqen pulled the hilt from his waist slowly, almost cautiously, as if he was afraid that it wouldn't ignite again. He held it down and out a bit, pausing only long enough to reassure himself that this would work. It did.

 

The blade ignited in a flashing hiss, almost vicious in how it ripped through the air; he'd noted it was definately not the same kind of a hiss as he'd heard when he'd ignited either of Aryian's sabers, likely meaning the crystal was definately different...and Luqen could feel the difference surging through the hilt as the golden blade appeared to him and his Master, almost sizzling in its intensity.

[ObliviousKnight]

"Pickett."

 

"I beg your pardon." With the mighty thuds that accompanied the droid's stride, the Wolf Spider approached the teenager, presenting his raised left forelimb to the kid's hand. His blade was trapped to the surface below the battle droid's foot, held securely in place by a magnetic "boot". It would have taken a titanic effort to so much as jar the sword, let alone free it, but Pickett relinquished its hold the moment the teenager's hand gripped the hilt.

 

It was curious that he was only armed with a sword. Either the kid was very confident in his swordsmanship--astonishing, considering his age--or very foolhardy. Personally preferred my blades, but practicality dictated that I at least carry a blaster.

 

"Now, what did you mean, 'run out of town?'"

[Ary the Grey]

For a moment the Master stood still as he studied his Padawan's work, a fine tool indeed. Simple yet elegant, traditional yet new. And after that one moment, Aryian stepped forwards, taking his own lightsaber from his belt, igniting it and clashing it against the other, a small eruption of sparks occuring as gold met silver.

 

"It is a fine blade."

 

Aryian disignited his saber, reclipping it to his belt. The comm had been relayed to him as per his request by the proper procedures, he knew it was almost time to go.

 

"The time is upon us, Luqen. Very soon the Jedi will find themselves in a war they did not start, facing enemies whose evil and danger knows no bounds. It will not be an easy undertaking. Last time, I sent you on an errand to rescue another...this time, you will be by my side, you will fight with me. Not as Master and Padawan, but as soldiers, as equals. You may not have the sheer experience I do, nor the command in the Force I once did, but your raw skill and willpower speaks volumes...I highly doubt you fully realize what you are capable of. This...will be a test of us both. And if we make it out alive, I'm buying the first round."

 

Aryian clapped him on the shoulder, looking into his eyes. It was a serious tone, a serious moment. Life and death for the galaxy hung in the balance, and it was high time they went to go tip the scales.

 

"Come. To the hangar...we need to properly arm ourselves before we march off to our fate."

 

Aryian continued ahead, leaving Luqen with his lightsaber behind as he quickly sent messages through his interlink with the Blur, effecting orders to load the ship with armaments and attach the usual load of twenty crates of Class A thermal detonators to the outside of the hull via maglock clamps. Meanwhile, he also had the suits of armor brought to the hangar via driods, where they awaited his arrival.

[fuzzy_ewok]

Pulling out of hyperspace on this particular day and at this particular time comes one of the worst threats to Galactic Peace.

 

The Arach'tar, the Vong all pale in the face of this threat: Feeling pain, fear, and helplessness before the might of this indominatable foe.

 

With a furious battle cry, the skies of Phu are about to be stained red with the mighty clang of a hammer, sickle, and the echoes of two words:

 

"Yub! Yub!"

 

With that cry, the Viet-Wok have returned to plague the galaxy on this fine day, marking Phu as their first stop, riding a fleet of solid gold Death Stars.

 

Let the battle commence.

[Jarin Silocen]

Well, you know when you try to help people, but people are afraid of the thing you're trying to help them with, so instead of being grateful for all your help, they start shooting at? Yeah, well, that's what happened.

 

Feeling much more comfortable now that he was reunited with his one companion through his past couple years. The sword had been the only thing that remained true to him. Every person, every group of peoples he had ever tried to help had in one way or another betrayed him. Either outright throwing him out of the town like here on Phu, or by transgressing back to the point that had gotten them in trouble in the first place. He often asked if all the pain and anguish were worth it. But all it took was the look of a person in need and his heart melted. He was a slave to the galaxy, forced to wonder from place to place, helping in what little way he could.

 

Mind if I stay here a couple days? Get my strength back and I'll be out of your hair. Three days max, I promise.

[Luqen]

Luqen drew the blade back into the hilt and followed his master. The man's words were a boost to his confidence, to be sure, but Luqen was surely not naive enough to think that there was a good chance of surviving this threat his master spoke of. Better odds with us together than us apart, nevertheless. That thought alone brought him hope. He'd live by his master's side, or he'd die by his master's side.

 

All Luqen could do was survive, and he was sure he was heading in the direction with the greatest odds against his survival.

[ObliviousKnight]

”œBe my guest. You'll have to take a tram system to access the actual Temple,”

[Jarin Silocen]

For once he was glad his hostess seemed indifferent toward him. Those that had welcomed him with open arms tended to wish only to use him for their own personal gain. Here he had no expectations, no responsibilities. Just stay out of trouble and rest. The kid inside was excited at the prospect of exploring the temple as far as his her good graces would allow. Especially the physical training room. Since he left home training had consisted of pissing off the meaner looking thugs or out running them. There might even be sparing droids. The very thought of being able to measure himself on a regulated setting was enough to make him want to start now, but he knew Armiena wouldn't be too pleased with him if he just ran off.

 

I wonder what kind of garden they have.

 

Thanks. I'll do my best to stay out of trouble. I'll probably stick to either the library or gym when I'm awake, if that's alright with you.

 

"Grandmaster..."

 

Azrael listened as the wolf spider talked. Something about a golden death star. He tried to visualize it. A space station the size of a small moon made out of solid gold. It seemed...impractical to say the least. He kept trying to figure out how the thing even remained in tact when his hostess asked him if he would like popcorn.

 

Um...sure. I haven't seen a good movie in a while.

[Ary the Grey]

((Let's do this.))

 

Aryian walked into the hangar, noting his wife, another person, and several humongous gold-like planet things hanging overhead in the sky.

 

"What...the..."

 

He held his forehead for a moment, having seen crazier stuff. Two suits of armor had already been loaded into the Blur. He quickly walked over to his wife, kissing her giddy self on the cheek before murmuring something about 'I'll be right back'. Not waiting to see whether his Padawan had boarded ((You may tag if you want)), he ran up the Blur's ramp, piloting the thing out and into the sky, vectoring properly through the huge station objects to reach suitable space, before jumping to hyperspace with ease.

 

((TO GALA!!!))

[ObliviousKnight]

"Actually, we've got a number of them in orbit. Sensors are a bit vague on how many there are, for some reason." Again, I laughed. "I've never heard of such a thing as a golden Death Star, but even a layman would be able to tell you that the thing would never be able to fire. Gold is too soft, too easy to melt down, even boil. I wouldn't trust it for anything more than wiring--you sometimes see it used in alloys for that. How one would even make it out of the shipyard..."

 

And there I went, losing myself for a moment in the technical details. I was still not entirely convinced that what I was seeing was even possible, that the evidence was some hundreds of thousands of kilometers above us, twinkling like artificial stars in the sky. But I simply shrugged, gesturing to the young man to follow me to my ship, the Baudo-class Yacht Ghost Breath. I excused myself for a moment to prepare the popcorn and send instructions to the probes that orbited Phu to trasmit their visual data to the holoprojector in my ship's common area.

 

When I returned with a filled bowl, I saw that the probes had performed marvelously. The holoprojector in the middle of the room was currently displaying images of each Death Star, with a rather morbid countdown steadily ticking down to the moment that each space station became expensive fireworks. Sitting down, I indicated my guest's sword by holding my emerald eyes on it for a few seconds. I'd never seen such a young man who was so attached to their weapon. It was a beautiful blade, and most likely exquisitely forged, but he seemed as attached to the weapon as any Jedi was to his lightsaber.

 

"Who taught you how to use that blade, Mister...?"

[Jarin Silocen]

She had the worst timing possible. Right as she asked him his name, he had just put a large handful of popcorn in his mouth. Slightly embarrassed, he held up a finger to request a moment to finish chewing. It seemed so awkward, especially given the amount of popcorn he attempted to eat at once. He chewed as fast as he could, he cheeks puffed out to resemble a large, pale squirrel storing food as his instincts commanded in preparation for winter.

 

Terribly sorry. How rude of me. My name is Azrael.

 

He took another sip of water to clear his mouth. The popcorn was good, but it wouldn't sustain him like a normal meal. He decided to wait until his host was hungry before thinking of dinner. The thought of repeatedly asking for things from someone he had just met was appalling. He turned his attention from his hunger to the question of his training.

 

As to my skill with this...tool, I'm afraid a thousand worlds would rise and fall in the time it would take me to list all my masters.

 

He chuckled at his own joke as he took his sword from it's sheath.

 

I've been all over this galaxy for training, with several different masters. I've studied under....six humans, two echani, three twi'leks, a duros, a wookiee, an iradonian, an a surprisingly pleasant mandalorian. Everything from combat to philosophy, writing, history, hell, I know more about the hyperspace wars than anyone person should.

 

Another short laugh escaped him at the obscurity of it all.

 

My parents were pretty rich, and were obsessed with me becoming the next family senator. Like a good little boy, I did as I was told and studied from dawn till dusk, sometimes longer. It wasn't until I was about...thirteen when I took more interest in the martial arts. That's when I picked this sword up.

 

His eyes studied the blade a little longer. Not a nick in the blade, despite it's inelegant use. It was as perfect as the day it was made, down to the indiscernible characters at the base of the blade.

 

Maybe one day I'll tell you it's story.

 

He resheathed the blade and took another handful of popcorn, careful to measure his portions this time.

[ObliviousKnight]

I found myself mentally counting down the list of instructors that Azrael boasted to have studied under. No lie was in his voice, but nevertheless, the array of teachers he'd had was eclectic enough to give anyone doubt. And a Mandalorian and Echani? Now that was interesting. ”œI started around the same age. I never had the chance to really devote myself to swordsmanship, though, and it was mostly formal handling. Not at all the practical style you'd learn from a Mandalorian.”

[Jarin Silocen]

You know, I'd be interested in seeing the Jedi styles. I've read about them, but I've not seen them used, thankfully.

 

He took another drink from the half full cup, laughing on the inside at such an optimistic view on something as simple as water.

 

I could spar with you if you want. It's been a while since i've had a...friendly fight as well.

[ObliviousKnight]

Slouched against the couch, I glanced back at the holoprojector, seeing that only a few minutes remained on the countdown. It was so tempting to watch, on a live transmission, of the consequences of building a badly-designed superweapon. Then my eyes returned to the bowl of popcorn, buttered and fresh and hot and salty and everything that made such a snack delicious.

 

I simply shrugged. Come to think of it, watching the demise of potentially millions of sentients, malicious though they might be, was simply cruel and entirely unlike me. Besides, my craving had been sated, and the probes were undoubtedly saving their sensor data to their prodigious memory banks.

 

"I'd be glad to show you what we can do. Up for it?" A final glance at the popcorn followed, and I decided that I hadn't eaten so much that the strenuous exercise of dueling would be a mistake.

[Jarin Silocen]

An eager smile spread across his young face. Finally, a change of pace. A chance for some fun for a change.

 

Lead the way.

[ObliviousKnight]

”œGive me a second, then. I need to get some of my weapons.”

[Jarin Silocen]

His eyes moved from her reddened hand to her puffy eyes. He had heard the commotion in the ship, but it was his position as her guest that kept him from checking on her. Something was wrong, very wrong.

 

Yeah...Yeah sure, Armiena, I'll go.

 

She was distressed over something, and he'd go along with her to keep her safe. It sounded foolish, he knew, trying to protect a Jedi, but it was what he did. It was the least he could do to repay her kindness. He followed her to the ship and took a seat in the copilot's chair. He wanted so desperately to ask her what the problem was, if there was any way he could help, but she was distraught, worried about something beyond his scope. He had seen such pain before. She'd speak when she was good and ready, and not a moment sooner.

[ObliviousKnight]

”œWe'll be leaving immediately.”

[ObliviousKnight]

The ”œnight”

[Ary the Grey]

The Blur shot out of hyperspace, landing in the usual hangar. Armiena was still there, thank god, he didn't have to go too far to find her.

 

"Phu's compromised. We need to leave, now. Begin an automated evacuation of base supplies as well...everything that we need or is useful elsewhere. I'd set the defenses to auto and just leave...whether he was telling the truth or not that he'd have people attacking, we need to go."

 

And finally Aryian stopped moving, sensing her thoughts, her emotions.

 

"It's...a boy?"

[ObliviousKnight]

The meeting had obviously ended in disaster, though I had been listening to the conversation during its entire duration. So Julz wanted my husband to simply”¦ disappear, attempting to manipulate his natural love for his wife to blackmailing him into doing something that was so obviously stupid that refusing his ”œoffer”

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian hesitated...this was his child, it was a boy. A man. Someone strong and able to carry on his tradition...or forever fix it. A moment longer to think of a suitable planet, then an answer.

 

"Borleais. But not at the Dojo...at one of the other settlements. Have some of the Wolf Spiders handy as well. I'll meet you there."

 

He kissed her once, briefly, before pulling away for a moment and kissing her once more, deeply, passionately. This time, he didn't want to leave as he pulled away, bounding back to his ship and getting it prepped for takeoff. But certain things had to be done. The Blur skyrocketed out of the hangar at break-neck speeds, launching into hyperspace as soon as it was able.

 

It was a boy.

[ObliviousKnight]

I sighed as Aryian departed, eventually boarding my ship and sitting down heavily in the cockpit.

 

Thwarted again, eh?

 

”œShut up.”

[Ary the Grey]

Deep in the hangars of Phu, something rumbled awake as a message was received and processed. Startup programs ran, and Saladin began to move. The Master had called.

 

Despite being a tad annoyed at not having a use for so long, the large mech nonetheless could not violate its primary programming: aid and protect Aryian Darkfire. Loading itself onto the transport ship, the mech ran preflight checks and warmup processes, before the ship soared out of the hangar into the night sky, quietly streaking into hyperspace in the space above. Every measure was taken afterwards to prevent a backtrace of hyperspace routes, leaving the planet behind secure.

[ObliviousKnight]

As always, the silence in this cloning laboratory was nearly visible. I woke up alone, surrounded only by the undeviating drone of equipment whose function I could not begin to guess. My naked flesh immediately prickled with goose bumps under the chilled, sterile air””and I suddenly realized that for the first time in years that my arms and legs were genuine meat and bone, not metal””prompting me to sit up to find a set of white Jedi robes folded at the foot of the drab blue medical cot, left for me by the droids.

 

I immediately knew where I was. Phu. At the moment, this Jedi Temple had a population of precisely one””its only other inhabitants were droids.

 

Dressing myself with only half my attention, I tried to cut through my disorientation at suddenly coming into consciousness in a new body. There was pain””quite a lot of pain, but training had long erased the natural to be paralyzed by purposeless agony. I couldn't remember what I tried to do, but I would have tried to use my last few seconds of life to try to take my slayer down with me.

 

Whatever I tried to do with those last few seconds of unconsciousness, it probably hadn't been enough. Darkness came quickly””most of my heart had be vaporized by a lightsaber blade. The last thing I remembered was an echo of my pain leaking into the Force. I was beyond pain at the final moment, but”¦ what about Aryian? Mother?

 

Aidan?

 

Oh, no.

 

Shouting orders to the Jedi Temple, I bolted from the cloning lab with my tunic still over my head, giving the security holocams a good show as I sprinted for the Council Chamber. Never mind that””no Jedi was around to watch me finish dressing. From that cavernous chamber, I reestablished contact with the Wolf Spiders and found out what exactly had happened.

 

Aryian had sacrificed himself trying to recover my body.

 

It was an effort to avoid crushing the control boards in my Council chair. Him and that accursed Force Cycle””I always suspected that he was risking his life every time he used that technique to boost his power. Why did he think it was worth his life for a corpse?

 

”œWolf Spiders””especially you, Saladin, maintain regular contact as always. Contact me immediately if Aryian is sighted, and”¦”