Space

[Joreel Ordo]

((Since this is going slowly, Xae and I are going to jump into our last stages of training.))

 

The ship moved soundly through the galaxy, swimming in the sea of darkness that surrounded the pair in the ship. Xae and John were alone for the first time in Ages. Master Durron decided to take a ship at the spaceport on his own, and John could not have been more grateful for his kindness so he could spend time alone with his bride to be. He knew this last destination was going to be the hardest for her, but when she completed this, she would be a full fledged Jedi Knight, and then they would wed soon.

 

John looked to Xae, her auburn hair seemed to flow in the laced air, and the streaks of lighter red and darker red could be seen paired with the traditional color of her hair, and it gave her a heightened look, and it lured John even more into her. Her eyes sparkled as they turned to John who knew he was caught staring.

 

"Sorry darling, I can't help myself."

 

He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before a light began to flash on the dash. John hit the button and the ship pulled out of lightspeed above the planet Dathomir.

 

"Are you ready Xae?"

[ObliviousKnight]

Aryian's Blur zoomed through space.

 

Armiena made good use of the time, healing the bulk of her superficial wounds with a healing trance.

 

Force knows what Aryian did, cramped in extremely close quarters with a semi-conscious woman who had literally just broken out of prison and smelled as though she hadn't visited a refresher in over a month.

[SithAcolyte]

While her shuttle hurtled through hyperspace Darla made the most of her time alone. She knew that the peace and quiet wouldn't last. It never did with all the chaos in the Galaxy. Not to mention the fact that chaos seemed to follow Darla across the vastness of space. Not matter how harder she ran, danger and trouble always found her somehow. A long time ago Darla had stopped running and decided to face her dangers and fears head on. As a result Darla had become a little bit of an adventure junkie. Needing to piloting through an asteroid field or facing someone down with a lightsaber in her hand. Darla enjoyed the rush and she couldn't deny it.

 

But for now she was enjoying the calm. She knew that she would soon tire of it but until that moment came she was doing her best to relax. While alone on her shuttle Darla showered, got some rest, then dressed in a clean black jumpsuit. After a day travelling through hyperspace she felt resfreshed and ready to face the Galaxy again. During that day she had gathered her thoughts and decided where to head next.

 

Darla piloted her ship back to Gala, feeling a little bad about how she had left but glad that she had a the very least gotten Darex out of harms way with her quick departure.

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Hanging in space, poised to jump to lightspped, and speed of to Ilum, he had a very sudden, and distnict feeling he needed to return to Gala. So turning his ship around, he sent a comm to his padawan, hoped she hadn't hit hyperspace yet, and turned tail back to gala, on a hunch.

[Dar'Manda]

A lone corvette barrels it's way through hyperspace, it's destination, Coruscant, laying ahead. Aboard this vessel sat Canderous Bralor, a hunter of many shadows. What Piccolo had in mind for them, he did not know, but whatever it be, Canderous was ready.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

((Sorry for being MIA so long. Medical issues, as in a six-day migraine. Back now))

 

Xae-Lin Ardel looked at the spinning mass of green and blue that filled the viewscreen as the Cabur approached the jungle world of Dathomir.

 

She recognized her childhood home-planet immediately. A sense of trepidation came over her. Why had John brought them here? Surely he knew the dangers involved in visiting the Nightsisters.

 

((Apologies for short post...still have the migraine...))

 

((Continued on the Dathomir Thread.))

Edited November 29, 2007 by Guest

[Joreel Ordo]

(( 's all right. Been bored though with nothing to do ))

 

John looked to his fiance and could see the strain on her face. He knew this final trial would be the one of most significance, and that it must be face here on Dathomir. It was the only place such things could be faced. John held his soon-to-be wife's hand and held it close by. Allowing the warmth of his hands warm hers up as well before he even uttered a word.

 

"You are ready for your final trial Xae, the last task you must complete before becoming a Jedi Knight. You have had Trials of the Flesh, and of the Heart. Now it is the Trial of the Self that you must venture forth into, and to do so you must face your family upon Dathomir. It will be dangerous, but I will always be with you."

 

John smiled and stood up from his chair, his wife's hand still in his.

 

"With your talent, we won't be long."

[Malicious Intent]

Atia sat in the copilot seat of the imperial shuttle, much like her previous ship. The only drawback was that she hated sitting shotgun. Actually piloting was much better. To be in control of where you were going. To change your destination at whim. Now she didn't even know where they were going. She glanced momentarily at Torin, his red skin not much different from the red in her robes or the tips of her hair. They needed retipped, but now was not the time to bother him with this. She'd have to do that on her own time.

 

There was something odd about his mannerisms in the hanger. Some thought had crossed his mind he quickly disregarded. She thought about probing to get it out of him, but he gave her the privacy she wanted earlier, so she decided against pressing it. That, and she hadn't really perfected delving into the sentient mind. Besides, he was probably thinking about stealing a ship or the destination.

 

In the depths of space, the boredom of space began to touch her. She knew she should probably spend the time meditating or practicing something. Instead, her mind ran through frivolous facts. Now it had reached her age. She began counting the days and came to a realization.

 

Tomorrow's my birthday. I'll be sixteen. Maybe this trip will be a sort of celebration.

 

She let her excitement show. She couldn't contain her curiosity much longer. Since he said they were leaving, she had to restrain herself from asking about their destination.

 

"So...where we goin'?"

[ObliviousKnight]

An anonymous E-Wing coasted through hyperspace, heading towards Coruscant...

[Torin]

Torin sent an encrypted comm back to Coruscant with the proper codes for it to be recieved by the Empire. Troops would be directly sent to the location he and Atia were approaching, hopefully arriving at almost the same time as the two Sith.

 

He noticed his apprentice's restlessness. He focused on her thoughts trying to probe through her emotions. It was not a difficult task. Never before had he attempted such a thing on another Force User, and only once on a normal human, but Atia was not very focused which made the Lord's job easier.

 

"So tomorrow is your birthday, and you want a celebration?" He turned away from the controls to face Atia. There was certianly something striking about her, but he fought off the urge to pursue her in such a way. He would not give into weakness. He was the master of his feelings. "You are weak. You leave yourself much too vulnerable. Never underestimate the power of the mind. In many ways it can be more powerful than our skills with these blades," he motioned to his saber, "For example, on Coruscant I was able to kill a man just by penetrating his mind and choking his soul."

 

"A warrior understands fear and uses it to his advantage. Your mind must be like everything else, controlled by you, because until you have control you cannot control others."

 

Words were mostly frivolous no matter how true they were. A demonstration was in order, yet he couldn't quite get the thought of the sixteen year old girl stretched out on her bunk wearing practically nothing out of his head. He would have to follow his own advice or else he would fall prey to the same problems Atia was now facing.

 

He turned back to the viewport, "We will celebrate tomorrow, so be happy." He waited for a moment for her excitement level to rise a bit more then with a sudden jerk he stretched out his hand towards the girl and began to penetrate her. He plowed through her flaky emotions twisting and tormenting them. He reached deep into her soul to find the essence of her fear. He would watch her squirm before him.

 

"You are weak little girl. You are not worthy of a true test like we spoke of before. You would have been just as usefull during the attack as a stormtrooper, less even..." He pushed harder with his will trying to make her succumb, trying to break her, "Weakness has no reason to live."

[Malicious Intent]

Anger. Simple and useful. This is all Atia could feel right now. Just a moment ago, she had been excited about her upcoming birthday. What would be a monumental occasion regularly was now soured by Torin's harsh, uncalled for insults. There was a time, and a place, and always a reason.

 

What is his reason, I wonder.

 

But the question quickly fled from her mind. She was sick of it. The patronizing comments. The berating. The insulting. The physical abuse. Well, she actually enjoyed the physical abuse, but still. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of retribution. A witty phrase to respond with, or weather or not a punch in the face was in order. Anger was the only emotion she felt right now. Sure, at first her initial reaction was hurt, but over time she had learned to turn that hurt into anger without even thinking about it, physical and mental.

 

Oddly enough, she had unconsciously complied with Torin's order. She had in a way shielded herself from Torin's mental barrage, though weakly. Her mind being consumed by anger and hatred left little room for Torin to operate in. It was harder to make mental suggestions to someone who was concentrating on something else. Her anger had subconsciously formed a rather crude shield around her mind.

 

"I've survived quite a bit, thank you very much."

 

She choose to take a different approach. Here, she appeared to shrug of his insult like a minor annoyance. It was a more subtle attack on his ego instead of a perpetual string of back and forth name calling. Had she been aware that Torin was trying to enter her mind, she would have tried to will him out, but as it were her unconscious shield would throw up some resistance.

[Torin]

He was achieving his desired affect, but it was not being utilized by his apprentice as he had hoped. She was ignoring his attack, possibly not even realizing it was taking place. She had to learn to recognize such a danger and how to stop it. He pushed harder on her mind trying to break through the wall of anger.

 

"You are an arrogant little girl. Your confidence will be the end of you." As he made this statement the wall blocking him out of her mind became even stronger. He could feel her hatred seeping forth into the air of the ship. He would possess her.

 

He harnessed the Force and with black as night tentacles of raw energy the Sith Lord slammed his Force power into the barriers keeping him from Atia's mind. They crumbled to his will and suddenly he had entered into the first level of her thoughts. She was a twisted individual, there was no doubt in this, but hopefully by the end of this excercise she would be even more so. He wreaked havoc on her mind, and then suddenly pulled back. He extended his arm and brought his hand towards her face devastating her with a painful backhand.

 

"So you like the physical abuse do you?" He stood up and looked down at her, "You could not keep me from your thoughts. That is your weakness. As I said before, you must be the controller of your emotions. They are no good to a Sith if he cannot control them, therefore to reach your full potential you must harness the hatred you have for me and use it to defend not just your physical body, but your mental one as well, only then will you build a successful barrier."

 

Soon they would arrive at their destination, but not until he felt his apprentice understood his lesson.

[Darth Halál]

Halál blasted off into hyperspace, on his way to Kashyyyk. There, he would start training his apprentice.

 

Minutes later, he landed on the jungle planet. Being careful to land 500 miles from any signs of civilation, Halál cut off his ship engines and carried Racao out of the X-Wing.

[Darth Halál]

(Different Trip, Double Posting Doesn't Apply)

 

Halál raced through space, flying as quickly as possible back to Tatooine. He had a mission to complete.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Halál landed minutes later and hopped out of his X-Wing in Hanger 986. It was time to search for those Verpine weapons.

[Malicious Intent]

The fresh tingle of new pain reminded Atia she was still talking to her master, and not one to taunt. The taste of blood found her senses. Her cheek was cut inside. Every inch of her wanted to reach out an cut him, but she restrained herself. Though she hated to admit it, what good was unbridled power? Leaving it unchecked would only result in wanton destruction. Though fun, not always desirable. So he had been assaulting her mind, not just insulting her out of the blue. And somehow she had constructed a weak barrier against it.

 

Think. What had you been doing during that little argument?

 

Being pissed off, that's what.

 

No, idiot. Not what you were feeling. What were those feelings doing?

 

Her mind replayed the incident with remarkable speed, taking note of insurmountable information in such a short period.

 

I could see something in him. Nothing on his face gave him away, but there was something in him. His mind was on something other than verbal assault.

 

Closer, but your still missing the mark. Go deeper

 

Was it something I was doing? I was merely thinking about how pissed off I was.

 

The separate voice of her consciousness seemed to sigh. My god you are stupid. And thinking about how pissed off you were gave your mind something to do other than listening to his commands. When you let one thought consume you, like your anger, it closes the door to others trying to get in. You just need to focus on that. You can even be as blunt as just matching his will in refusing to let him in.

 

But how am I supposed to know that someone is attempting to assault my mind?

 

Simple. Hold tight that wall all the time. Never let it down. With it up you are matching the other's will instead of just letting them in. This way, the only way they should enter is if you either give up or they are truly more powerful than you. But then again, by even trying it they presume they are.

 

Atia chuckled to herself, partially at her more logical half and partly at what Torin had just said.

 

"I only enjoy the abuse when it's correctly presented." The smile had remained on her face. She was indeed quick to anger, but not to break as he had wished. True, she would serve him as far as necessary, but she was not his god damned slave. Now she knew what she needed to do. The protective bubble of force protecting her psyche was built again. This time, reinforced by conscious thought and effort. She could feel him. Digging, probing deeper for a weakness in the wall.

 

But then again, by even trying it they presume they are.

 

Of coarse he thought he was better than her. He had been lorded and she hadn't yet. She was sure her trials had been almost here when she was training under Dominique. Was her task to surpass Torin? Doubtful, but something the Dark Lord would do. But it would all change. Soon she would be lorded. Soon she would be hunting Jedi. Soon she would be killing on her terms.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

Xae-Lin's expression changed as she regarded her lover and master, "Though you think I have the talents that won't put us there long, you should know that, where my family is concerned, there are no short trips. This is likely to get very complicated very quickly, especially with you there, and especially if my mother is still alive."

 

She stood abruptly and left the cockpit to go meditate to prepare herself to face her past and all it's ensuing entanglements.

[Torin]

"Good, I'm glad to see that you finally understand." Torin knew there wasn't much more he could teach this apprentice. She was powerful and had learned a great deal from her former master. It would not be long before she would face her trials. "Took you long enough though," he said with a smile returning to his face. There was certianly resentment on both of their behalfs. Thier relationship could not be called a true friendship, it was doubtful that Torin could enter into such a partnership, but their was respect between the two companions.

 

A buzzer sounded and Torin looked to Atia as if to say are you ready, but no words protruded from his mouth. Instead he pulled the lever and they exited hyperspace.

[Joreel Ordo]

John watched Xae move quickly from the cockpit. Her mood seemed to have changed quite drastically in those last few moments, as though the thought of returning home was one of considerable burden and distraught. John wanted to chase after her, to comfort her, but this was a weakness of his love, it would disregard the training she had to do, and John as a responsible lover, would not allow that to happen. Instead he sat there, his body heavy with the conflict of his brain and heart, and he began to allow the ship to descend planetward.

 

((I'll post first on Dathomir.))

[Syn]

The Unlucky 7 rocketed from the atmosphere of the planet Coruscant. Its pilot An-dur, checked and rechecked the systems as the ship moved farther and father away from the planet. An-dur checked his systems every time he boarded his ship, he checked for any hint of subtle change that would warn him of an extra passenger, some kind of tracking device, or worse an explosive placed somewhere on the ship. After he was satisfied that there was nothing, he began o scan over the sensor array screen to see if any imperial fighters were shadowing him, he saw none, again satisfied with this, he began an series of Random jumps that would take him to his destination.

 

* * *

The trip had been noted with little conversation, it was evident that An-dur was in much of a mood to talk, now as he was safely within the confines of his ship, he reflected largely on the events that led him here, to this moment in time. He programed his autopilot, made some rounds to check on his droids, his engines, supplies, and cargo space. He couldn't really figure out why he did the last part, he suspected the reason but did not want to face it yet. Finally, An-dur goes to his quarters, he changes his clothes, putting on a new set of Forest green robes, his Zabrak combat suit and a small back pack full of necessities. He then walks out of his room, turns to the weapons locker, and stows his blaster and damaged Vibrosword before he pulls out a standard issue military rifle and force pike. An-dur satisfied with his equipment, leaves the locker room and returns to the cockpit. He places his supplies and weapons on a rack near his chair, tells Ichigo to make himself comfortable and drifts off into a deep sleep in which he dreams of his parents and a happier life.

 

After about 12 random jumps, the Unlucky 7 burst from hyperspace above the Jungle world Myrkr. The small smuggling craft had reached the planet of Myrkr ahead of schedule something that amazed and worried An-dur. Just as before An-dur made a series of system checks as he began to bring his craft down into the planets orbit. The ship read normal, well as normal as a ship would given the unique properties of this strange world. Slowly the Unlucky 7 enters the outer atmosphere of the planet.

 

An-dur shot Ichigo his new co-pilot a quick look before he went back to checking his systems and scanning the space around the planet for any subtle hyperspace activity that might signal them as having been followed.

[Deton]

Multiple The Lambda-class shuttles quickly entered hyperspace each one sporting deflector shielding and concussion missiles. It was with the uttermost haste these ships traveled through the galaxy. Their mission was that of reinforcements.

 

The newly promoted Captain Deton quietly looked over his crew of 19, making sure that their gear was correct ect ect. Given how he now had a full company under his command of two hundred soldiers there must have been at least ten shuttles in the group speeding toward the latest hot spot in the galaxy.

 

A grim feeling of determination came over him as the shuttles made leaps and bounds through space. At his destination, good men were dying all because of criminals unwilling to follow the law. If these criminals only put their talents for use with the empire, instead of stealing from the great and mighty empire, the galaxy would already be one step closer to being a better place. However, even with that in mind, he knew that criminals were better than the rebels. At least the criminals were looking out for themselves in a lazy manner. Unwilling to get real jobs, real careers, and leave the world of crime alone. Rebels on the other hand made it their life mission to kill his men for trying to protect the peace and establish order. Rebels were a thorn in the side of the universe that was to small to grab with your fingers. Even the big and powerful force of the empire had been unable to crush the annoyance, not due to lack of trying, but because they slipped out of their fingers time and time again.

 

Soon however he and his men would bring about an end to the rebel alliance, and the galaxy would once again know peace.

[Omega73]

Crosa came out of hyperspace, somwhere in the middle of space. He had orders from Jacen Onnd to send a comm to a certian address. Crosa planned to carry out the order...

 

He prepared to send a comm to the address Jacen had given him...

[SithAcolyte]

Darla's shuttle carried her battered sleeping form safely through the stars. Her destination was a place she remebered as quite and peacefully. The perfect place to recover from her ordeal.

 

Her ship dropped out of hypersapce in the Yavin system.

[CassandraKirk]

Nulmiri's ship Entered hyperspace, it's destination Ilum.

[Dar'Manda]

Comming ahead to Coruscant, Canderous was informed Silas and the others have already left, and Piccolo had never shown up. Felling something was not right, he headed back to Artus, wondering what had happened and why no one was no longer at the Citadel at Coruscant.

 

Exiting hyperspace at an unknown planet within the system he had exited in, he turned his ship and headed back to Artus. Why Piccolo had not arrived, he did not know, but something did indeed not feel right about it.

[Terra]

Terra's ship the Slade exited hyperspace at the coordinates that the Black Sun operative had given her at Krayiss ll. Terra looked around her and saw nothing but stars.

 

This might be a while. I hope they come through with their promise of meeting me.

 

Terra sat back in the Slade's cockpit and activated the shields for an extra precaution.

 

I hope they send me into a fight.

 

Terra relaxed and lay back to wait for Black Sun.

[Deton]

A soothing feeling covered him as he felt the slight movements of the ship jar him awake. His eyes snapped open frantically he looked about. His helmet had been removed and the ceiling was the only thing in view. He looked around the dark interior of the shuttlecraft. To his dismay, he saw only two lone stormtroopers in the craft with him. He struggled to rise, only to fall back down upon the stretcher under him.

 

Taking a deep breath, a sharp pain spiked from his rib cage, pushing through it he stumbled to the cockpit. There looking out of the view port, the remains of what had been a black sun base, began to dwindle out of sight. The most shocking thing was the amount of white plaststeel that almost seemed to liter the ground.

 

Did I cause this? Was this all my fault?

 

The sight of so many men killed in yet another battle moved him to the core. Imperial training be damned. Those were his men down there!

 

He slow sigh escaped him, as he suddenly felt weak. Weak from his injuries, weak from his failure. Hands reached out to drag him back to the stretcher. Shaking them off he continued to stare, as if he was going to burn the sight of the dead into his mind for all eternity.

 

He would never forget. Never.

 

He silently mourned the loss of so many good men, who had died doing their duty. Their duty to protect the galaxy from such scum as this black sun. They had died, but he oh he had lived. He had lived, and he had no regrets. The men below had done their duty and had earned their rest. Now he would fight on for them. He would carry out his orders and bring this galaxy to order.

[The Black Sun Armada]

Several Black Sun ships emerged at from hyperspace at a distant location, disguising their route. Only one emerged at Terra's location, a transport ship containing the familiar Blood Carver. He sent her a message,

 

"I apologize for the wait. The Black Sun is in a bit of a mess right now, but as a former member of Tenloss, I'm sure you are used to it. Link with my transport ship, and we can talk in person."

[Terra]

Terra slammed her head against the cockpit window as the incoming ship alarm blared right in her ear. Rubbing her hurting head and peeling a ration container off of her tunic where it had stuck when she had fallen asleep, she opened the comm.

 

"I apologize for the wait. The Black Sun is in a bit of a mess right now, but as a former member of Tenloss, I'm sure you are used to it. Link with my transport ship, and we can talk in person."

 

You have no idea what I went through in the Tenloss, Blood Carver.

 

Terra opened her channel to the Black Sun ship.

 

”œYes, that's fine, I shall.”

[Andon]

And then it was just the two of them... the three of them.

 

It was the way Jaina looked at him before the ceremony began, the way her fingers had nestled opposite to his, almost looking for reassurance... or to reassure him; Andon didn't really know. The Jedi was still a young man, a man in every sense of the word, but still a young man... all it took was the depth carried through her eyes to reveal the singular truth that would be able to leave his mind blank.

 

Andon Colos was going to be a father.

 

Father.

 

It was perhaps one of the most important words in any language. It was something the renegade had hoped to be one day, when he had further distanced himself from the unpredictable lifestyle he was bred in to... he just never planned on today being the day he had to make such a gesture of finality. Yet through the shock there was something undeniable brewing within him, just a trickle of something that had started at the core and slowly began bubbling outward to breach the warm air and breath free of the restraint of dissenting uncertainty.

 

It was pure and unadulterated joy.

 

It was brimming within him, so much that Andon was surprised he was able to hold it in until he could be alone with his wife. He couldn't get his arms around her quick enough, he couldn't hold her close and lift her up to eye level as fast as he fathomed... he couldn't greet her lips with his for as long as he desired to: so he just had to settle for doing all three within his human limitations. Even after their kiss had ended he still held her up at eye level, the arms around his neck like a sanctuary as he snuggly hugged her waist. Her presence to him a miracle as he rested his face in the nape of her neck. She was so much to him in that moment. His best friend, his most trusted confident, his deepest love, his wife, his very soul... and now the mother of his unborn child.

 

And she was beautiful.

 

Yet even as he held Jaina, his mind could not silence itself as it always did in such moments. He could not quiet thoughts of making a safer ship, of finding a safe haven for them to live, of doing everything to settle old debts so no one would come looking for them years down the line. Even if eliminating the debts would mean for him to betray everything he believed in... even if it meant eliminating them all if he had to. He would have to if that was what needed to be done. No more barely getting by... he had a wife now, he had a...

 

Child.

 

And in that moment it hit him: in nine months there was going to be a life that depended on him for everything. The change in his touch had let Jaina know where his heart had wandered before his mouth gave so much as a hint. Slowly he put her down on her feet, now so very very hesitant of anything near her stomach... even himself.

 

"I was supposed to be a father once," he began. "I was supposed to look after an old friend's son... both of them in fact; I didn't do very good. I didn't get there in time for the first one... and his second, I just couldn't deal with it... so I sent him away to be looked after by a foster family. I wasn't ready to be a father."

 

The Jedi so very cautiously reached out to rest his hand on Jaina's stomach.

 

"I hope I'm ready to be one now. I didn't exactly have the best example of how to be a Daddy when growing up and sometimes I can barely take care of myself as it is. I'm actually scared, Jai. I just don't want to let our child down... I can't."

[Guest]

::Quintus passed through the space thread on a whim.::