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[Jedi X]

"Perhaps it was meant to end this way?" Tori states, hiding it behind the question she had long ago asked her own self. "Fate is a questionable ideal- So many have denied it's existence, yet they can never disprove it's existence nor escape it's hidden grasp."

 

Her gaze adverts back to Kari, who was still finding herself locked into place, lost within the void of the entity called the Force. Tori stares for a moment longer, a seemingly sincere smile of love.She turns back to Faust.

 

"It seems you and i are not among the exceptions. Our pasts so very similar, yet we find ourselves finding our own sick redemption within her." Tori leans back farther, the pain of her vibrating organs beginning to burst taking hold of her conscious. "For you, it is because of your failure with your sister, the weakness within her that you could not strengthen. For me, it was my weakness that my sister could not strengthen, my own failure."

 

Tori coughs, blood spilling from her mouth as she did. Yet she seemed at peace, a certain glow of the light beginning to emit from within her. After the moment passes, she speaks again.

 

"Let me tell you a story..." Tori begins, her hand reaching the string of blood that hung upon her aged cheek. "When Kari was killed, i was a Jedi Knight within the Order. I was powerful, that much was true. But Kari was special. She held true power. I was arrogant, believing that because my training had been completed before her's, that i was infallible."

 

"But one day, not long before her death, i challenged her to a friendly duel. I called it a test, but in truth, i wanted to see who was truly the best between us, my older sister or i." Tori coughs again, this time until she begins to throw up. Gasping for breath, Tori sits back up, relentless in her story telling. "She defeated me with ease, hurting the very ego i had built upon for years. And for that, i grew to hate my dear sister. And in my anger, attacked her and nearly killed her."

 

"I could never figure why she forgave me, but it was then i discovered her true power- a power that eventually led her own Master to lust over." Tori laughs for a moment, then flinches at the pain. "Forgiveness is her power, a heart and soul of the purest Light. It was this reason why i practised Sith Alchemy, this reason i could never train her. Only the strong can teach the strong. You will see this one day."

 

Tori coughs again, blood spewing from her mouth and lips as her death inches closer. But in the distance, Kari's presence grows. The Crystals begin to pulsate their light in sync with Kari's own beating heart. Parts begin to slide out of the satchel and hover in place. The crystals pulsate again, sending the parts into a circulating frenzy around the padawan. Piece by piece begins to join, two shapes beginning to form in the process, and then four. But as one looks closer, they see the separate halves of Kari's twin lightsabers. And as the four halves begin to join in two wholes around the crystals, a bright light blinds all.

 

"And so my sister is whole once again." Tori voice echos as visions begin to return to all blinded. Before Lusef stands Kari, twin Lightsaber Tonfas placed appropriately upon her hips, their black tone standing out against her white pants. But beside Lusef sits an unexpected surprise, for all that remained of Tori were her clothes, and upon it, the infamous mask behind which she had hid her face for so many years.

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef listens, trying hard to hide the smug expression he was feeling, watching the old witch slowly fall to pieces. A bit of righteous indignation rose as the suggestion he needed redemption! As if anything was wrong with him... Even if he still wondered whether Anastasia's path was still the better way.... Well, he was still alive and kicking, so that proved enough in his mind.

 

Still, only the strong could teach the strong, and Faust intended to prove that point to Kari, indeed to the entire galaxy, with a trial by fire. As he opens his mouth to speak, and comment, a bright light floods the chamber. When it vanishes, Lusef sees the lightsaber tonfas standing firmy. Lusef gives a nod of approval. "Suitable weapons," he murmurs, glancing over and seeing the discarged robes and mask.

 

Kneeling by them, he carefully examines the robes, openly removing a few items the witch carried on her, then gathering up her robes into a neat pile. Activating his lightsaber, he touches it to the robes, igniting them in a curious mock up of the traditional Jedi funeral-pyre, burning them in lieu of a body. Grabbing Tori's mask, he steps back, letting the clothes of the dead Togruta burn, and places the mask with some respect on a ledge in the tomb.

 

"I think our business is done here," he notes in a curiously neutral voice, glancing over his shoulder. "You are complete, and so is most of your training. You have a fine set of weapons at your disposal." Heading towards the exit, he pauses before his apprentice. "What is your intent now? How do you plan to use what you have been given?"

[Jedi X]

The Tonfas themselves were of particular design, unorthodox and potentially deadly in design. The forward grips were slightly curved for a looser grip, yet it's tip was pointed inward to insure stability- while the rear grip was elongated, capable of resting upon Kari's elbow if need be. But more importantly was the netting like substance than ran completely around it's form, and secured tightly by electrum trim. If one were to look close enough and be able to recognize it, they would be informed of the shell spider silk present.

 

Kari grips tight the hilt of one as Lusef speaks of them, spinning it within her palm and gaining the feel of her weapon. It had been so long since last held the original, and she dared not to activate it without doing so. She remembered well the lesson she learned so long ago, the numb throbbing of a lost limb. Once she felt reacquainted with it, she activated it, it's high pitched hum pulsating with her aura. It was as if it's hum mimicked her very heart beat.

 

"My intent is exactly what i told you that day on Haruun Kal." Kari's voice is stern and her tone serious, almost an uncanny mimic of Tori's own. "I have chosen my side to stand upon." Holding her now deactivated saber outward, Kari chuckles. " This is my weapon... -A Jedi's weapon."

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef looks his apprentice up and down, once more appraising her with all six senses. When she spoke it was far too much like the witch he disposed of for comort. With a very measured tone, he speaks.

 

"So be it, Jedi."

 

At that, a slow smile spreads across his face. Internally, he almost resigned himself to what he must surely do at this point. Still, there were a few last gambits to be had.

 

Lusef watches the tonfas with care, shaking off the feeling that in another place, and another time, strangely concurrent with this one, a wielder of those weapons was seriously annoying him. There was a brief glance of that potentiality, removed from this spacetime, and in an instant, it was gone.

 

"Smart weapons," he concludes. "They seem built right. Remember that distance and speed is your friend in wielding those." Glancing again towards the exit, he muses aloud. "Where to now? Helix, Haruun Kal, or anyplace else?"

[The Chameleon]

Enough was enough Robert thought. Time for action. He stood up from putting on the Mando-Type armor. He smiled as the systems came alive inside the armor. He would have to owe that Black Sun agent something. The captain laughed.

 

He saw Limon, Adams, Ghost, Phantom, and Spook. Spook was a new addition to the squad and had just arrived. The other few that did not make it, would be punished. The men saw that the suits were ready and made haste to put them on.

 

"Alright, when we get down there, remember the story. Actions and watch what we call each other. No military ranks. Is everything stored and in place Adams?"

"Yes, Double checked on the way here." The man said, getting into gear.

 

"Good. Limon, your suit modified correctly?" Robert wanted to check if the communications application that he installed was working properly.

 

"It is Rob." Limon called back. "Wow, that felt so weird to call you that, HAha."

 

"Alright, you three, go cloaked." Mcnamara said to Ghost, Phantom, and Spook. They did, you could tell they were there if you looked hard enough. It worked, Robert smiled. His new algorithms would have to be sent to command later.

 

Now it was time for the mission. The station they were on entered hyperspace. Robert could taste the blood they were about to spill.

[Jedi X]

Kari looks at Lusef with curiosity, his choices of headings unknown to her. Helix? What was this place he thought of? She knew of Haruun Kal. Something about his question threw her senses amok.

 

"It's your decision, Master." She replies, "Where ever that may lead us. However,..." Kari glances down at her hand which still held the tonfa. "It would be wise to go somewhere i can get some training with my weapon. "It's still vulnerable to destruction if i can not use it properly."

 

Though Kari's gaze does not falter, she places the tonfa back upon her hip, instead choosing discard the electrostaff and the Echani Vibro-blade and place them beside her sister's mask. With a shrug toward Lusef, she turns toward the exit.

 

"It's time i leave the past buried." A chuckle is present within her words, though it holds a lightened emotion within it, almost as if her grievance had long passed. "Tori would have wanted it this way." With that,Kari exits the room and leads way up a narrow staircase. "Come. There's another exit that leads out not far from my home. We can rest there tonight."

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef gives a consenting nod, finding the possisive modifiiers all the curious. Clearly, he concluded, the Jedi she was was truly dominant. He wondered how much of his old apprentice was still in there?

 

There'd be time enough to find out.

 

"Let's do that. I can't say I'm skilled in the use of tonfas," he admits, "but I do know a couple tricks about fighting in close quarters with knives. The lessons aren't the most transferable, but you can probably gain some benefit from them. After that, I wish to stop by Helix station I think. There are some friends in the order likely to be there I'm overdue to visit."

 

Following his apprentice out of the cave, Lusef finds a heavy metal case not too far from there, keylocked shut, resting undisturbed on the ground. He hefts it up with little effort, owing in small part to a built in repulsor set, and the other part to Lusef's inhuman strength. "Some training supplies and some private items," he explains, slinging it over his back. "I contacted an old friend to drop it off by air a bit ago." In truth, it was his ship that dropped it off, and the inside contained a few things he wanted to have when visiting Helix.

 

"After you, my padawan."

[Karys Narat iv-Adas]

Calm hands piloted the stolen YT-1300 light freighter as it drifted into space, it's pilot Lord Lucifer the newly titled kiffar sith lord at the helm after just dispacthing of what he thought was to be his new apprentice from the world of the living, however it was not to be. The darkness soothed the sith lord and allowed him to focus the darkside around him allowing him to open his mind to meditation just after he punched in the correct co-ordinates setting the ship to autopilot to arrive away from where the fighting was taking place...afterall he was not stupid, e had heard of the war over the planet and wished for no involvement aterall he was only going there to pick up some lost property why get involved in someone elses affairs unless it affected his plans, although the prospect of causing some mayhem was midly entertaining.

 

That thought was quickly swept aside as the stars drifted away into streaks of light when the hyperdrive was activated. Lucifer began meditating...and would continue to do so until he arrived at his destination.

 

((Next Post Coruscant - Sith Temple ))

[Jedi X]

Kari steps outside of the cave, Shili's moonlight shining down upon her form as it emphasizes her white clothing against her darkened skin tone under it's affectionate beams. It seemed their little trip here had taken more time than she had thought, as well as drained her of most of her energy. She needed rest, and as she gazed upon the distant fields, she saw their refuge for the night.

 

"There, up ahead..." Kari spoke, pointing toward a humble hut sitting just a few hundred yards from the forest's treeline beneath a towering shade tree- most likely the product of nature, it's seedling brought out by the wind and nurtured by the rain and excessive sunlight. "It isn't much. But at one time it was home."

 

The Hut it's self wasn't much as far as huts go, a shack of solitude, separated and forgotten. But as they reached it's location, it was noticeably homely. It's structure still remained strong despite the years it had been abandoned, dust and mold having long gathered through-out it's interior. Kari sneezes briefly as they enter, one of her tonfas finding it's self lit to reveal what darkness had engulfed. Without thought, Kari approaches the manifold of the fireplace and finds a lonely frame sitting upon it. With a chuckle, she picks it up.

 

"It wasn't long ago, you know..." Kari begins, a slight hint of remorse arising within her before it mixed with an inner happiness. "That Angela, Tori, and I were running around here with smiles upon our faces as we played. When mother was off drinking away her sorrows, it was the happiest times of our lives, a moment when we felt like normal kids." Kari sits down the photo and gazes upon the rest of it's interior. "Or maybe it was too long ago. I still haven't quite got a grip on time yet- my memories though old, seem only recently."

 

Kari's eyes fall upon two separate rooms. "Take the one on the right. It was Mother's. I'll take Angela's for the night." There was a third room, though Kari never looked toward it, nor even acknowledged it.

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef follows suit, eyes alert now, wary of Shili's preditors. On reaching the hut, he finds the solitary flame peculiar, wondering perhaps if Tori stayed here the day before.

 

"I grew up in what amounted to a bunker with several dozen others," Lusef admits with surprising candor. "My family didn't fight in the ongoing territorial battles so we had a single mattress of sorts if you could call it that between the four of us." He shakes his head, then looks around. "I can think of worse places to grow up... though you've had two it seems, here and on Haruun Kal." He pauses thinking about that.

 

Heading towards what he room was for the night, he almost pauses at the irony, he of all people getting the wicked mother's room, getting the corrupting, abusive and...

 

As he realizes that, he puts some math together. If this was the mother's room, and Kari was taking Angela's....

 

"The other room," he calls aloud, "that was yours and Tori's, was it not?"

[Jedi X]

"Yes. I suppose you are right..." Kari begins, a humorous chuckle erupting barely above a whisper, a joke of irony that her life could have been worse. In a way, his words relieved her from most of the burden she had been carrying. But even still, it's mark still remained. It would be a part of her forever. After a moment of silence, her lips part again. "We all have our prisons- some more luxurious than others."

 

Kari steps toward Angela's room, it's own interior mimicking their brutal mother's to the very teeth. A single bed, bottles of undrunk liquor stuffed within the nearby drawers beneath cloths that had not been worn in decades, even a chair that sat opposite the beds as if something had forever been watching over them as they slept. But as Lusef mentioned the third room, Kari's eyes broadened and force her gaze to fall upon it's entrance.

 

"That was not our room." Kari spoke, the hint of fear so mesmerizing to those who craved it's stench. But the memories of that place frightened Kari to the very core of her existence. It may have been what gave Kari her strength to survive, but it was also her greatest weakness. Stepping toward it, Kari touches the door's outside frame, running her finger across it's paneling until it's reaches the primitive lock. "This was our cell, our punishment for our existence, our hell."

 

With that, Kari walks away and enters Angela's room. She would need her rest for their arrival at Helix.

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef has not thought of his homeworld as prison in ages. It was a place of refuge for his Jedi parents during the Imperial purges, exile perhaps, but not prison... yet it claimed them the same as any execution chamber. It was the galaxy in writ small, men at their worst: cruel, fighting, and pathetic.

 

Somehow, he sensed parts of that here and then, to his interest, sensed some of the lingering fear in his apprentice.

 

"Fear isn't always a bad thing," he whispers softly. "It alerts us to danger and tells us when something is amiss. We must grow beyond it and harness those feelings into inner strength."

 

Using those words to bid his apprentice a good night, he makes as if to sleep. Instead, after waiting for Kari to sleep, he slinks back into the hall, silently contemplating the unopened door. Opting for safe over sorry, he probes the lock on the door, carefully looking around first. At an easy glance, it appeared as if he had stuck his left index finger into the door- in truth, he extended a cybernetic blade out from under his tip of his fingernail to ply the lock and twist it. Not graceful by any means, but subtle enough and sufficient.

 

Stepping in, Lusef's eyes, still brown from his contact lenses, probe the darkened room, taking in minute details, gaining a sense of the room and what it told him not only about his apprentice, but her sister too, saving the information for one last gambit. Quietly searching it, he is careful not to leave any outward sign of his disturbance. Departing, he fixes the lock, then adurns to his room to meditate into a sleep like trance.

 

He didn't sleep if he could help it, but he needed rest. A lot was likely to happen at Helix, and whatever it was, Lusef Aryan's time as a Jedi Master was likely ending.

[Jedi X]

The thing about Kari being home, other than distant memories and bothersome dust, was the Kari would naturally find it difficult to sleep. Try as she did, she could not close her eyes without memories- both happy and sad, mostly the latter -flooding forth at every opportune moment. Part of herself found peace in returning to this place, though as horrible as it was at time, while the rest of her urged to sleep outside and away from it. So instead, for most of the night, she laid awake, staring at the ceiling above her head.

 

The room Lusef entered that night was about the size of his own, and likely as old unlike Angela's which had been a more recent add on, most likely after their mother's passing. It was mostly filled with storage caches, Koi family artifacts of minute importance, items one would find in a rural family house. But if his search had led him further back, he would have noticed a primitive cage, built to hold animals or small children. This was the hell in which Kari had spoken of earlier that night.

 

Perhaps Lusef had taught too well, or she had not fallen asleep as deep as he had hoped. For as she felt his presence return to his room, Kari sat up in Angela's bed, her gaze falling upon the floorboard underneath the door. The creaking of wood soon erupted beneath her as she stood and made her way toward the door, walking along as quietly as she could. And as she exited Angela's room, she finally brought her gaze upon the third door.

 

When the sun finally rose the next morning, Kari found it's warming embrace comforting as she rose and stretched, her neck and back sore from the way she slept. Focusing her eyes, she looked over to her right, finding she had slept besides the cage all night, her back still against the wall. With a smile, she rose fully, her presence quite cheerful that morning. With that, Kari made way toward the door.

[Lusef Aryan]

If Lusef knew that he failed to disguise his force presense while searching out the interior of the room, he would have been irrate to say the least. If he thought about it, he would have possibly been impressed at the skill and determination his apprentice showed, though his focus on the mundane where she was concerned and his towering confidence might give cause for caution. As it was, he saw the cage and surmised its dark purpose.

 

Oddly enough while there was the faintest stirrings of compassion, they were snuffed out quickly, a bitter cynicism taking root in his soul, once more reaffirming what he thought he always knew in his heart of hearts- people were beasts and treated each other as such. It was and would always be the same the galaxy over. Kari's mother was an animal, she made Angela an animal, and treated the other two like animals. Lusef would have one last chance to show Kari that while all may be animals, she would at least be a preditor, a hunter in the nasty, brutish, jungle of the universe.

 

Waking early himself, checking his face prosthetic face, wig, and contacts for what he thought, might be the final time, Lusef, checking careful to ensure he was not observed, opens the heavy case and dons an all too familiar and infamous suit of white armor and a trench coat, storing it under the folds of his Jedi robe. His apperance is bulkier than normal, but he refused to go into Helix unarmored and unarmed- though he kept his gauntlets in the fold of his coat

 

He heads towards Angela's room and finds it empty. A quick mental search found his apprentice in her old room, causing him to head there and meet her at the door.

 

Meeting her, his eyes gaze to her, then back to the cage. He lets it pass in silence, unsure of what to say at this point. To comfort and nuture freedom and growth? Or to see if the chains held firm for future use? Lost, he gazes back towards the door to the outside world and their ship beyond.

 

"We'll be heading out. I can train you in a few basic techniques along the way to Helix." As he speaks, his hands flourish, and two sharp knives appear in them. "As I said, there's a few tricks I can show you," he adds, his grin particularly woolfish.

[Jedi X]

Kari looks surprised, maybe even a bit unaware as she opens the door to find Lusef before her. Without thinking, she naturally opens herself to the Force, her mind subconsciously probing his own in an attempt to gain a sense of his thoughts as he catches her exit. A testament of her growing skill one might say, but none the less, it remained unintentional.

 

She finds nothing unusual, nor would she, had she knew who it was exactly that she had just tried to probe. None the less, as she tried to speak her reasoning for being there, Lusef spoke first, hindering it for a moment.

 

"Excellent." Kari replies, her aura reflecting of her nervousness as she spoke. "It shouldn't take me long to get reacquainted with the tonfas, but to be on the safe side, i'll adjust their lethality. Wouldn't wanna cut my arm off again."

 

Kari ends her words with an awkward chuckle before offering him the lead.

 

"After you, Master."

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef graciously gives a faint smile at that, flexing his left and artificial hand and arm. "Losing one's arm hurts," he admits candidly, also remembering having to have his right arm reattached after the Jedi witch Kirana sliced it off on Nar Shaada, "but there are ways of reattaching them at least. Failing that, prosthetics can be marvelous these days." He pats his left arm. "If you can keep a secret, I've not had my real left arm since my youth. As I said," he adds darkly, "life on my homeworld was hard and its people harder."

 

Leading his apprentice back to the ship and setting the coordinates for Helix, Lusef stands ready in the hold, standing at profile. His lecture is short, but effective, using his short knives with practiced efficiency. These particular blades were specially alloyed to resist lightsabers- not stop them like his normal armor, but sufficient to spar effectively with his apprentice.

 

"Naturally," he begins, "you'll need to work on adjusting your grip to compensate for the handles on the tonfas, but the manuevers are the same. Speed, defense and a close distance are your best allies." He steadies his footwork, blades moving in hand through the forms. "One hand for attack, one for defense, adjustable as needed, though you'll need to compensate as well for the extra bludgeoning power of back of the tonfa."

 

The move set he engages in is particularly aggressive, a series of shifts with his lead foot to close the distance. He emphasizes speed, showing ways to manuever around a conventional lightsaber and strike for exposed parts at the center of mass jab at the throat.

 

"You have the advantage with a blunt weapon. Normal blades and even lightabers may have resistance on cutting, so their swings must be controlled. The natural rebound of impact can be used to set the blades up for a second strike, bringing in the light blades or a kill." The daggers flourish and spin in his hands as he continues showing the forms.

 

He pauses, holding his blades in a forward and prime position. "You're going to want to look into some protection," he admits. "These are first and foremost, dueling weapons, so range will be an issue, You want to protect your neck and arms. Second," he adds, once more summoning an orb like remote "You're going to need to repractice your defenses against blaster weapons."

 

Stepping aside, Lusef watches the work continue under the remote's painful tutelage. While insistant on doing matters right and giving his apprentice an excellent defense, he enjoyed teaching, and the thought of crafting other minds in his skills, mindset, and image. He still did not trust her though, and amid one of the forms for defending against lightsaber or sword attacks, he left a subtle opening in- small, but at his skill level lethal.

 

Time is running out. Once we reach Helix, child, you're going to have to make your decision.

[HK-52]

It had been a few hours since the completion of the mildly uninteresting city heist at the behest of no real struggle. Although the droid was 10 million credits richer, he couldn't help but feel a little antsy, so he moved closer to the cockpit so his qualms were known.

 

Respectfully sarcastic admission: "I must admit, Master. Your skills at robbing are fairly adept for an organic meatbag. I might even come up with a few more interesting names for you, should my respect for your tactics garner them."

 

HK's words were straight and even; he led his speech with a moderately practiced tone and meditated calm, which seemed his trademark as of late. It was a general form of speech for him that, although peculiar for a droid, was a fairly ordinary trait for a droid like him. It seemed from the surface audio like normal speech, but was physically suppressed as if through mental inhibition. The reason for this though was fairly easy to understand. HK-52 is and was at least half protocol droid. He could read conversations and tabulate certain ways to respond or talk, even if he wanted to be snide and unappreciative. So his meditated or practiced tone, was simply a methodological calculation of his protocol capabilities.

 

Query: "Where Pray-tell, are we headed next I wonder? Could we perhaps go and steal candy from a Wookie baby? Maybe even rob a holo movie from a novelty shop whose owner is out to lunch? Or perhaps might we go for the even bigger bounties? Could we perhaps be robbing an entire Toy Store? Goody..."

 

The HK droid laughed slightly, enjoying his own feeble stabs at humor, but in the end, his tone straightened to a more serious intonation.

 

Suggestion: "Might we take a stab at organized crime syndicates? They might garner more salary for the taking, not to mention it might be more of a game; not merely a snatch and run."

[Desmond Nizar]

He let out a hearty laugh, at the suggestion of the droid.

 

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around. I got just the place in mind too. Might need to stop and pick up some things first but, I like your style droid. You arn't content to take the easy route.... even though it might get you dismembered."

 

He jumped up from his seat and moved to the cockpit. Pulling otu of hyperspace, he replotted the destination, and shot forward a moment later. He had a plan alright. The droid had touched upon something he had been dwelling on for some time. After all it wouldn't hurt him to dish out a little payback. But first he would need information, tools, etc etc. However, when it was all said and done it would be something to remember.

[Jedi X]

Kari watched closely as he described combat with her new weapon, taking in every aspect of his demonstration- each step, swing and block. Her skill with the blades from before would come with remembrance, like an old man riding a swoop bike after 20 years. But in order to get it back, she would need the practice.

 

"Got you." Kari spoke with a grin, spinning the forward hilts within the palm of her hands as she gained a feel for the tonfas. Within moments as her confidence rose, Kari nodded her head and the orb activated. "Let's see if memory serves me correct."

 

Opening herself up, Kari allowed her forceful aura to fill her limbs and tonfas, becoming one with her weapons as she drew ready for battle. She charged forward, the tonfas running parallel with her crossed arm. Blaster bolts flew, Kari quickly pivoting and colliding her left blade with the first as it ricocheted off to her ride side. Her grace and elegance seemed to have never left her side.

 

But as more followed in suit behind the first, Kari was quick to send her blade rotating within her palm, a glowing indigo fan propelling the flaming beams in opposite directions. And as moments passed, so did Kari's skill seem to improve as the orb continuously raised it's difficulty level after each attack. Soon the room filed with scorch marks and stray blaster bolts as Kari stood admist them, her blades rotating and holding strong their defensive manuevers.

 

'Let's end this." Kari said as she out stretched her hand and grasped tightly the orb using the skill Lusef had taught her. In the blink of an eye, the orb collasped as it struggled to break free from it's invisible prison, hittng the ship's floor with a soft clank. Looking down at the scorch mark upon the hilts, Kari frowned. "If it had been a lightsaber, they wouldn't have lasted."

 

"How do Jedi keep their lightsabers from melting to pieces after getting struck?" Kari questioned Lusef.

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef watches carefully, giving frown at the mark on the tonfa, his thoughts echoing what Kari said aloud. He takes the weapon in hand, examines it, and gives it back.

 

To Kari's question, he has only one response, and does so with a remarkably straight face:

 

"How the phrik should I know?"

 

He passed that with, as said, a remarkably, but not completely straight face.

 

"Well, besides phrik and other materials, which given the nature of your weapon might not be out of line, practice, practice, practice- learning to use the grip only as such, and to rely on the blade of the lightsaber alone. You have no weight and no guard, so it requires precision, though good ol' fashioned Force-presense, seeing the strikes before they happen, allows one to hone further these natural abilities."

 

Lusef taps one hand on the arm of his Jedi robe.... unconsciously fingering his unique armor underneath. "Perhaps though you might look into metals to augment that. Cortosis protects against lightsabers. Phrik does so to a lesser degree, but might hold up better too against blasters. Baskar is probably too heavy and dense for use here. An alloy coating can protect your weapon, though it's still no excuse to get lazy and rely on it."

[Deton]

Deep in space, the fleets surged forward away from Vjun on a singular mission. Yet as the mission was about to get underway a kill code was sent in.

 

In light of the withdrawal of the rebel fleet from Coruscant, allowing for Imperial efforts to aid in a recovery the Emperor himself sent the transmission. With only a few simple words to fleet code named punisher, backtracked back to Vjun before making the jump back to Bilbringi.

[The Chameleon]

Robert couldn't sleep tonight, he was sick over expecting orders. His squad was ready to see some action. So they sat, slept and kept in physical shape. They were ready to go at any moment. But for now....he sat in the dark room waiting for that folder of orders to come through.

[Jedi X]

Kari chuckles at Lusef's remark, her gaze still fixated on her marked weapons, but finding her attention drawn away.

 

"I know about Phrik and Cortosis alloys. The Masters at Haruun Kal and Ossus often preached about it's defenses." Kari spoke, placing the tonfas back upon her hips. "But besides alloys, what else can a Jedi use to strengthen their hilt?" Kari looked briefly at her remaining credits, and then with a chuckle, finished. "There's no way one could use the Force to do so? After all, it's free."

[Lusef Aryan]

Lusef gives pause at what his apprentice was asking. He thought she fully understood what she was saying, but it might have just been a hopeful inquiry.

 

"There might be ways to use the Force for that," he adds slowly. "I suppose one could, given the time and energy, microfuse the metal at a molecular level for enhanced density. The other alternative is alchemy and if I gather right, that is what you're refering to."

 

Inside, Lusef exhaulted. Perhaps, just perhaps, he found the leverage he needed.

 

With deliberation, he flexes his left hand, aware of the alchemically reinforced metal making up the parts underneath it. "I've only met one and only one Jedi practicioner of the art. A former grand master of the Order, one who has left this galaxy it seems. The true masters of the art are the Sith. They did many wonderous and terrible things with it, bending the laws of nature. I fear that if you wish to go the route of using the Force for your ends, you would have to go into that dark path. I do not know if I can help you much there, my padawan, but I can teach you what I know."

[Darex Trevelian]

As the Serenity jumped into hyperspace, Darex rose from the copilot's chair and sniffed the air. "Mmm...I smell caf," he said, casting a grin at Skye. He made his way back into the main cabin.

 

"Ah ha," he said, seeing Darla sipping a mug of steaming liquid. "There's the caf. It smells delicious." He went over the kitchenette and poured himself a cup, then grabbed a pack of rations. He then plopped down next to Darla and began to munch on the bland flight food, sipping the caf occasionally.

 

As he finished the food, he sighed with relief. "Not very tasty, but at least I'm full," he commented to no one in particular. Catching sight of Darla out of the corner of his eye, he turned to her. "So let me see if I heard correctly. We're going to heal a businesswoman of the Link, then heading to Corellia. Where exactly on Corellia? What's the plan? Vacation?"

 

He was struck again by how much healthier Darla looked. "The time off seems to have done you a world of good. I can't remember the last time you looked so healthy. You've got a sort of...healthy glow about you."

[SithAcolyte]

Darla didn't know what to say. They did say that about pregnant women, didn't they? That they had a glow about them. It was thing that people said to a woman when they knew she was pregnant. Did Darex know?

 

Suddenly Darla wasn't sure if he was playing with her. If he did know, then that saved Darla the trouble of figuring out how to tell him. It should have been easy, it should have been something that she was happy to say. But she felt so awkward. The more she thought about it, the bigger it became in her head. It shouldn't be a big deal, but it was.

 

"We're heading to see Skye's mother at the Lakehouse. And yeah, I'm thinking just total vacation. Goodbye to the rest of the Galaxy and hell to some peace and quiet. We really deserve it. How many years have we spent running and fighting? and even when we weren't travelling the Galaxy we've been trying to recover from some kind of devastation. Death and War, we've seen way too much of it..."

 

She was over explaining the situation to try to manoeuvre the situation away from her health. Darla sipped on her coffee.

 

"You know what I mean, right?" Some time for just me and you."

 

In that moment Darla realised why the situation they were in was so awkward. Although Darla was in love with Darex, she had never thought about having a family with him. In actuality their relationship was still in it's early days. Not the time when anybody wanted a baby to be on the way.

 

Darla wanted the child more than anything, she just wasn't sure if she wanted to be settled down or even if she could for that matter. Darla loved Darex, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to be with him forever. Did she want to be a Jedi's wife?

 

These were the reasons that Darla couldn't speak. Although the news was joyous, it also made things complex and raised a lot of serious questions that she just didn't have the anwsers for.

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. And that does sound good." A smirk crossed his face. "A little irresponsible, but I've been responsible my entire adult life and much of my childhood. I'm up for a little bit of freedom, at least until this war is over."

 

He could tell something was still bothering her, but he let it go. She would tell him when she was ready, if she chose to. He hoped she would. He hoped she would decide to be honest with him, for that was the foundation for every strong relationship he had ever seen. As he thought about it, it was amazing the progress they had made so far. They had only been seeing each other as a couple for about seven months, and in the long run, that was a very short amount of time. But Darex wasn't concerned. He didn't see an end in his life anytime soon, so they had plenty of time, and Darex couldn't see his feelings changing anytime soon.

 

He strove to continue the conversation naturally. "This war...it's going to be big. All the Jedi are getting antsy about it, and the grandmaster had a vision. After this, we could finally be looking at stability in the galaxy for once. It's been a long time since this galaxy has seen peace. This battle will be decisive, with one clear victor. That much the grandmaster has seen. The Jedi have received assurances from both the Republic and the Empire as to our treatment if either of them win, but I'm not sure what it will look like in a practical sense. It could be that life doesn't change much for us, or it could change drastically. But regardless of what happens, it will be good to have a true peace at last."

 

He rose and poured himself another cup of caf. "But you said you didn't want to talk about the war." He sat down again, the smile returning to his eyes. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

[Emily]

Emily only hesitated briefly before climbing onboard the Serenity, and that was to cast a glance back over at the Shadow's Shine. She knew it had state-of-the-art anti-intruder systems installed, so she wasn't worried about it being stolen, but she knew the Sith were always interested in destroying Jedi bases. It'd better still be in one piece when I get back, she thought. She was not about to let anything happen to her mother's ship.

 

The Serenity was a nice ship though. Spacious, but not too large, which would allow Nishant's master to travel alone without feeling lost in too big a ship, but also allowed her to take on passengers. As the woman showed them around, Emily remained silent, simply taking in the layout of the ship so that she wouldn't get lost later. When Skye showed her the room she'd be staying at, she placed her things on the bed. The news that it had belonged to the Jedi's daughter surprised her. She didn't think Jedi had children. Wasn't it forbidden or something?

 

Of course, she thought, she had heard it was forbidden for Jedi to be in romantic relationships too, and that beautiful woman and the Jedi Master with her were clearly in one. Perhaps it had just been another misconception circulated by the Sith.

 

Nishant's room was right across the hall from hers, so after she had freshened herself up a bit and washed her face, she knocked on his door. "Shall we be social?" she called.

[SithAcolyte]

Darla didn't really think that peace came through war. death could come through and she knew that that was the ultimate peace. But wars were fought for power and dominance. Fighting for peace was an oxymoron as far as Darla was concerned. People may have believed that they were fighting for peace. But all it came down to was pushing back against someone who was knocking you over. Or stealing back something that was stolen for you.

 

Fighting led to little but blood, pain and scars. Darla knew that all too well. She had tried peace, she had tried not fighting but it just wasn't in her nature to be passive. If someone pushed her she would push back twice as hard. Darla wasn't one to turn the other cheek. At least not without some great effort on her part.

 

Darex telling Darla how big and bad this war was supposed to be just fed into her fears. As her spoke she got more anxious about all the things that she had been already worrying about.

 

But Darla knew what to do. She would take all of her own fierce energy and direct it at protecting her child. Darla had always been good at taking care of others in her own way. Usually it was with a blaster or a lightsaber, but she had always been a ferocious protector of those she loved and knew that this tiny person growing inside her was going to person she would love more than anything else in the Galaxy.

 

Just realising how far she had drifted in her own thoughts, Darla came back to the moment.

 

"Ummm...."

 

Darex had asked her what she wanted to talk about, hadn't he?

 

"What do you make of Emily? I sensed a sadness about her... She reminded of people I've known, myself included. I was wondering what her story is. Do you know anything about her, is she a Jedi?"

[Skye Organa]

... A message comes in on Sirvani's old comm number for Emily in the hope that she still uses that frequency... the same message comes through for Darla on her comm.

 

 

-- The invitations are sent from Alora's comm..

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Skye grinned back at Darex and nodded, she could smell caf too. She watched him stride away before turning back to the boards for a final check. As she got up to leave the cockpit, Flitter hovered in. Her double blue eyes blinked in surprise then laughed as the droid told her what had happened from it's point of view. It seemed the only helper Flitter could get was one step away from the scrap heap. At least the parcel they had carried had arrived to it's location within her room safe and sound. When Skye mentioned to the droid that it could have had the parcel sent to the ship, Flitter beeped and whistled in such an indignant manner that it set Skye laughing again. She was still laughing as she left the cockpit, knowing that her droid would keep an eye on things in the cockpit and call her if anything happened.

 

As she neared the living area she heard Darex speaking about the war. Skye paused now in a more somber mood, knowing that whatever happened there would be many casualties on both sides before Peace could be gained. The Healer gave herself a mental shake and took a deep breath to soothe away the thoughts of war before she took the last steps into the living area. She entered just as Darex asked Darla what she wanted to talk about. She listened to Darla ask about Emily as she got herself a steaming cup of caf, curious as well regarding the young woman. Taking a sip, Skye sat down in one of the easy chairs, letting herself relax before she spoke to Darla with a hint of amusement in her tone, "Aren't you going to tell Darex about your invitation?"