Ilum

[Dashel Illioni]

((ooc)) I've blame my lack of posting on a major case of adult onset ADHD

 

((ic))

A roar of pleasure escaped from Dashel when he viewed the beauty of the cavern Master Armiena had led him to. It was the roar of the predator prcolaiming victory over a rival that issued forth and echoed throughout the deepest caverns of Ilum.

 

There was a profound silence following his outburst. It was in that silence that he found the flow of the force and accepted its guidance in truly seeing the possibilities represented by the crystals in the room.

 

He stood patiently, confident that the force would show him the way in its own timel. The silence and stillness he stood surrounded by was borken only by his and Maser Armiena's breathing.

 

At times, Dashel felt sure the force had its own sense of drama. The though brought a toothy smile to his face and crept into his observations of where the force was guiding him. Quickly, for he realized just how fragile the moment was, Dashel surrendered himself completely.

 

With a speed and precision possible only with the guidance of the force or years of intense training, Dashel flew at a spot in the wall and began carving the wall with this imbedded saber claws. Skree, when ot vaporized by the flashing claws fell away in ever smaller pieces until two crystals remained. These two crystals remained embedded in the matrix in which they had grown.

 

Dashel paused, and iwth a few delicate motions gently completed freeing both from their surroundings. He slipped the heavier one, about two pounds including impurities into his cloaks larges pocket. The second, a clear gem with blue star sapphire center he held up for Master Armiena's inspection.

 

"I believe we should start with this one," he said. It was only then that he realized she had left and that the gauntlet possessed by her ancestor's spirit was in front of him. Strangely enough, he could hear the spirit's plaintive call trailing off somewhere. He picked up the gauntlet and attuned himself with the spirit.

 

"Hello there. I think I met a contemporary of yours on Ossus."

[Sayn Ta]

Sayn Ta's snapped open. Her Master's presence awoke her from her meditation.

 

He is here! Her former teacher! The man she came to Ilum to see!

 

Somehow the Force told her he would be here. But now that he was, the purple Gungan Jedi Knight had to make a choice. Sayn recalled back a long time ago, to when she was apprenticed to the Wookiee Master. He had warned her to never reveal herself to Imperials. Should she still follow her wise Master's advice? Or, against all logical thought, should she follow her heart and attempt to rescue her beloved Master? If Sayn was to rescue him, she would have to do it quick...her former mentor was freezing to death in the cold.

 

Sayn was torn between her heart and her mind.

 

But fear was not the path for a Jedi.

 

The Jedi Knight would save Kirlocca...or die trying. The way of the Jedi was to help, not to abandon. Sayn was afraid, but a Jedi could not be detered by fear.

 

The Gungan started up her ship and flew it in low orbit. Her scanners quickly picked up the markings of a ship...a Jedi ship. Sayn landed nearby and rushed to help her Master.

 

Jedi Knight Ta ran to Kirlocca. He was cold, so cold. His powerful Wookiee body normally resonated strongly with the Force...but now...now it was just a faint whisper.

 

"I am here for you, Master!"

 

Sayn ran back to her ship and grabbed a thick blanket. She wrapped it around Kirlocca and inserted heat pads between the cushion. It would save his life for the time being, but he needed greater medical attention. Her small yellow N-1 Naboo starfighter wouldn't be large enough to transport them both. Sayn sent an open com to all Jedi on-planet.

 

"Fellow Jedi, this is Knight Sayn Ta. I have found Master Kirlocca, he is in desperate need of medical attention. I need a transport to take him off planet....but I warn you, be very careful. My Jedi senses tell me there is still the threat of a trap."

 

Sayn closed the com and returned her attention to Jedi Master Kirlocca. She used the minimal Force healing abilities she had to help her dear mentor.

[Vladimir Faust]

Standing in the ship, and watching the bellowing Ilum cold seep in as Sayn rushed towards the Wookie, the stormtrooper's blaster rifle rose up, leveling itself cautiously at the unknown individual.

 

"You're with the Jedi, right?" the stormtrooper demands. If the Wookie ended up custody of someone else, or worse, dead, Faust would have his head. "Take the Wookie then." He notices Darex's approach, also guessing that he indeed found the Jedi after all. Slowly he lowers his blaster rifle, his skull like helmet fixed on Darex and Sayn Ta.

 

"General Faust brings a two fold message for your council," the trooper reports in a cold, blunt fashion. "First and foremost, if you're interested in collecting the Imperial who was responsible for Kirlocca's capture and torture, he is on Kashyyyk." Still sensing possible danger from the two, he continues. "The general says that the Jedi Talon offered himself in exchange for this Wookie. Talon's still being held on Ryloth and unless the Jedi Council as a whole can come up with some consession to the Empire to present before him, he is going to be executed in the same brutal manner this fur coat was meant to be."

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Scopr had been watching and waiting. He had indeed detected his former department head arrive on planet. Natural he had went to go see why he felt he was in such a life threatening condition.

 

Problem was he had been surrounded by stormtroopers. He had been about to jump down from his ledge when a gungan had appered. he had felt the force inside of her and naturally had assumed she was a Jedi. It also helped that Darex seemed to show up at the same time. So he had decided to go instead on security detail. He would watch from above what seemed to be a transaction of sorts. If things went sour he would be on the scene to help out. Otherwise he wasn't needed.

 

He scanned a bit past the shuttle for any signs of betrayal. Seeing none with his eyes he streched out with the force.

[SithAcolyte]

Darla focused on completing her saber. Her hands moved fast as she put all the parts in the right places. The force guided her through the task, she could have done it with her eyes closed. Darla had always been technically minded and with the force's aid her natural talents were greatly enhanced. It seemed like very little tim had gone by before she stopped to look at her handy work.

 

All other thoughts had been pushed from her mind while she worked, she couldn't be distracted. She trusted Darex as much as she did Skye and knew that if anyone could bring Kirlocca back safely it was him. Taking in a deep breath, Darla sealed the final part of the lightsaber's casing and then held the hilt in her hand. It was straightforward and practical, no artful design, but just as deadly as any lightsaber.

 

Turning on the blade Darla thought the words over in her mind. Deadly? It was strange to think it, but she had never actually killed anyone with a lightsaber, at least not that she knew of. She had maimed many people, but it had been necessary. It surprised and pleased her that she had never killed with her Jedi weapon. She had come a long way.

 

After a few moments Darla turned off the sapphire blade and sought out her patient. On her way to him she clipped her lightsaber to her belt. The man was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, cleaned up and dressed.

 

"How are you feeling?" Darla asked. "Darex has gone to save someone else from the cold, a great Jedi Master. Do you know about the Jedi? About us?"

 

Darla wondered if he had chosen a name for himself, but she had already asked him enough questions and didn't want to push him in his fragile state of mind.

[Darex Trevelian]

No sooner had he come up to Master Kirlocca when another being rushed to him. It was a female Gungan, and the Force flowed strong with her. Darex guessed she was another Jedi, and one more familiar with the Wookiee than he.

 

He listened to the stormtrooper's message, moving only to wrap his cloak around Kirlocca. It seemed that what he had feared had happened had come to pass. Talon had indeed switched places with Kirlocca. "We will deliver your message to the Council," he replied with a promise in his voice. "Thank you. You have done your duty admirably."

 

He went over to the Wookiee and Gungan. He noticed she had ran off for a few minutes and returned with a blanket while he had been talking to the stormtrooper. Between that, Darex's cloak, and Darla's healing abilities when they took him back to the shuttle, he would be alright.

 

His mind still alert for danger, he relaxed a fraction when he felt Scorp watching from nearby for any treachery. "You must be Sayn Ta. Well, Knight Ta, I'm Darex Trevelian," he told the Gungan. "Come, I have a large shuttle, and on board that shuttle is one of the Order's top healers. We must get Master Kirlocca to safety before anything else."

[ObliviousKnight]

So that was Darex whose presence Armiena sensed in the crystal caverns just as she descended from Ilum's orbit. She refused to reach out to him while he was in the caves out of fear that she might have distracted him at a crucial moment in constructing a lightsaber. In spite of herself and the frostbitten gusts that pelted her face, she couldn't help but grin at that thought.... then feel slightly guilty at being amused by the idea of accidentally causing him to build a disastrously faulty lightsaber because of her curiousity.

 

Still, she did not want her friend to see her in her current state--emotionally raw, grim, even darkly hopeful at the prospect of finding a crucial piece of information that would lead her to Faust. Too late for that.

 

The moment she caught sight of a shuttle's angular outline through the darkening snowstorm, she vaulted from the control seat of the landspeeder and sank up to her shins in the snow, festooned with armor and weapons as she was. The Jedi Master was carrying more weapons than any single Jedi had the right to; twin lightsabers, Verpine shattergun rifle, vibroshivs, monomolecular throwing slivers, a significant number of spheres around her belted waist that defied the designs of standard grenades.

 

If Armiena was dealing with Faust, she would not be caught off guard again.

 

When the Jedi Master neared the relative shelter that the shuttle occupied, Darex and the other Jedi Knight might have felt a flicker in the Force as she obscured her form in a sheet of falling snow and hollowed herself a burrow in the snow. Underneath several inches of powder, she observed the scene between the two Jedi and the Imperial messenger through the electronic scope of the masterfully crafted sniper rifle.

 

If only I could.... of course. Movements as smooth as a hunting katarn, gauntleted hands loaded a magazine of nonlethal rounds that she had developed shortly after she captured a sample of Imperial nanites from Ryloth. With the sophisticated rifle set for one of its lowest firing velocities, striking her fellow Jedi from this distance--and in this weather--was a nearly impossible shot... but merely difficult for a Jedi Master with previous military training.

 

One shot flitted from the muzzle of the rifle. The Verpine firearm vibrated softly against her ear with minimal recoil and even less report, and the Jedi Master watched with satisfaction as a whitish cloud puffed from the back of Darex's robes, obscured even further by a cascade of frigid powder that fell from his shoulders.

 

Armiena's presence briefly contacted Darex, apologizing for the shot... if he could even feel its impact.

 

_____________________________

 

Force Spirits aren't as rare as you might think, Mr. Illioni. Lachelle replied in a neutral tone, not so much agitated by her abandonment by her distant descendent as she was offended by Armiena's thoughtlessness. The real difficulty is in finding a way to linger over the passage of time--without a grounding force to root us to the mortal realm, it's impossible to deny the natural order of death for long.

 

These crystals are particularly well attuned to the Force, the consequence of being visited by countless Jedi over the course of millenia. I'm convinced that through the meditations that accompany the attunement of a lightsaber crystal and the final stages of a lightsaber's construction, these Jedi unintentionally transferred a part of themselves to these caves. That's why Armiena built this gauntlet for me, and from these crystals--I would have been swept away in a matter of hours, but in this lovely little home, I can remain indefinitely and teach her everything she needs to know.

 

Lachelle Draygo did not intend to explain her motives in waiting for her intended place in the afterlife to assist her descendent. Dashel wasn't family; he probably wouldn't understand even if she abandoned her privacy and explained exactly how much Armiena needed her at the moment.

 

It soon occurred to her that she hadn't even introduced herself, she was so caught up in her tiny lecture. Excuse me. My name is Lachelle Draygo. I was alive roughly four thousand years ago; I was a Jedi Master, and I absolutely loved tinkering around with crystals like these. That one you're holding... Her ghostly voice silenced for a moment as she inspected his crystal. It's a fine specimen; obviously a work in progress, but you have quite a ways to go before it becomes more useful to you. What did you have in mind, if I may ask?

 

((Dashel, if you'd like to keep this an OOC secret, just PM me.

[Sayn Ta]

Sayn followed Darex to his ship. She could tell that he was a strong and noble Jedi. Rumors were abound the Galaxy that the Jedi Order was corrupt and had lost their way. The purple Gungan Jedi Knight was happy to see that Masters like Darex and her dear Kirlocca proved those people wrong.

 

"Yes, I am Jedi Knight Sayn Ta. In my Padawan years I enjoyed a lengthy apprenticeship with Master Kirlocca. I would like to deeply thank you for your help and hospitality. I am glad to hear there is another Jedi on-planet ready to heal Master Kirlocca. I am used to warm and pleasent waters, so this cold is murder to my skin...I can't even imagine what a shaved Master Kirlocca is going through."

 

They reached what Sayn presumed to be Master Darex's ship and entered it. The Gungan followed in behind Master Darex and the unconcious Master Kirlocca. The Jedi Knight watched as Darex brought the Wookiee's body to another Jedi. She was a female who was older than Sayn, but still young. She determined that this woman was the powerful Jedi healer Master Darex mentioned. Near her was another man. Sayn didn't sense a strong Force connection with him, but he was wearing a Jedi tunic. The Gungan Knight assumed he was an apprentice to one of the Masters.

 

Sayn watched as the female Master and hoped she could bring Master Kirlocca back to his health.

[Darex Trevelian]

((OOC: Be careful, Sayn, that you don't post other's actions...that's rule #1 around here. I'll let it go this time, but just watch yourself in the future. Oh, and Obsidian? What exactly do those nanites do?))

 

Darex felt a brief impact on his shoulder. His senses were alerted, but when he felt Armiena's apology, he knew he could relax. She was one of his best friends...anything she did to him would be fine. He did wonder though exactly what it was she did do...

 

Sayn moved off quickly, and Darex gave her a hand with the Wookiee Master. He nodded to the trooper and sent a Force-brushed thanks to Armiena and Scorp for their backup. Together, the two Jedi Knights trudged through the snow and wind until they arrived at the shuttle.

 

Darex opened the hatch. "Darla...I'm back," he called. "And you have another patient."

[ObliviousKnight]

Still buried under a layer of several inches of condensing powder, Armiena continued to watch the Imperial and his Jedi-style shuttle through the scope of the sniper rifle. Aside from the inherent stupidity of allowing him to view the Jedi Master leaving her cover, snow was a surprisingly good insulator--even in a furrowed trench only inches deep, Armiena was given quite a bit of protection from the elements, and had little desire to leave it and suffer the cold.

 

As Darex departed, Armiena sensed his presence brush against hers in a querulous manner, no doubt wondering exactly what she had shot him with. Images and concepts from her imagination began to flash before her friend's eyes, assurance that the round was completely harmless--unless he swallowed the bulk of the nanite powder, in which case it might give him a memorable episode of constipation.

 

And she was grateful that Darex still thought of her as his friend.

 

I don't need this right now. Armiena gritted her teeth, disbelieving that her extensive knowledge in manipulating her own body through the Force had failed to shut off that unwelcome part of her consciousness. She willed herself into a perverse form of meditation, just her body and a fantastic piece of ballistics engineering, and the guy on the wrong end of her scope...

[Psyche]

Psyche was still searching for crystals, but when she heard muffled sounds coming from her comlink, she scrambled around for a minute trying to find it. Of course, when she did, the message had been completed.

 

Bother, she thought. It was probably Master Scorp. She could think of no other that would know she was here. Psyche tried to raise Scorp on her comlink.

 

”œMaster? Master Scorp, come in please.”

[Azrael]

Turning his head toward the voice emerging from the lips of Darla. Almost as though he had eyes, he could see her through the Force. The only trick, was he had no idea what the Force was. To him it was as real as his eyes, or his name. He had neither. As he faced her, the light reflected from the Ilum sun struck his crystal eyes and focused beams upon Darlas face. It almost seemed to carve her face from stone as the light went across her face.

 

"The only thing I know of the Jedi, is that I can not be one. You say you are a Jedi, and you have the gift of healing. I have no such gift, so therefore how could I be a Jedi? And as for my name. You may call me Ra. For some reason it appeals to me and sounds right."

[SithAcolyte]

Ra? Interesting...

 

Darla was still puzzled byb Ra's eyes. Unlike any she'd ever seen and not even real....well not 'normal' eyes as far as she could tell.

 

"Ra..." Darla tested the word. "Being a Jedi isn't about healing, that's just a way I've learnt to harness my gifts, a way of putting them to good use. I wondered if you were a Jedi because I sense that you have gifts too. I mean, your eyes...They shouldn't even be there as far as I tell. Do you know what happened to them, how they became...Well as they are?"

 

Before Ra could answer the ramp opened. Darex was back with Kirlocca and a Gungan woman. Darla could tell that she was a Jedi, but she wasn't familiar with her. Somehow she must have known that Kirlocca was going to end up here and come to aid him. A loyal friend.

 

When Darla caught a glimpse of the wounded Jedi Master she was truely shocked. His wookie from was broken and beaten almost beyond recognition. Only small clumps of ragged fur covered his body. It was terrible to see him like this. Holding back a gasp Darla rushed to help Darla and the Gungan to carry Kirlocca.

 

The last time she could remember seeing him was during a battle on Coruscant when they had both tried to save Ara. It took Darla a few moments to get her head around the fact that the robust wookie she once knew was the same broken creature she saw before her.

 

"Let's get him into the cabin." She told her fellow Jedi.

 

After they had carefully lay him down on the bed Darla examined his wounds. There was extensive damage, she was confident that she could save his life, but she wouldn't be able to get him back to his full health, not with the limited supplies on her shuttle.

 

"I can save him," She told the others looking towards them. "But he's going to need some bacta treatment anda lot o.f rest if he's to fully recover. I think we should get him to Skye. I'll do whatever I can here now. But we really need to get him to a proper medical facility."

 

Nivana, where ever you are, we're still coming for you. We've just got something we hace to do first.

 

Darla wished her apprentice was by her side, but she understood that the force worked in mysterious ways. She and Darex had set out to save Nivana and had ended up saving two other lives. How could it n be the will of the force, guiding her to where she needed to be?

 

"Here's goes nothing..."

 

Sitting beside Kirlocca, Darla placed her hands on his body and concentrated deeply on the force. She let it fill her body and flow through her. She guided it to his wounds, guided it to his damaged cells. She encouraged repair, regrow, regeneration. It was all natural, all part of the force. All Darla was doing was speeding up the process, accelerating it to an astonishing speed. She did the exact same thing as she had to Ra, then went beyond, trying as best she could to repair the deep damage. The internal damage.

 

After several minutes Kirlocca's body temperature was back to normal and his surface ounds had stopped bleeding. But there were so many fracture's so much broken beyond what the eye could see. Darla stopped, feeling faint. As she tried to get up she stumbled and then righted herself.

 

"Ive stopped all the outer bleeding." Her breathing was laboured from the effort. "But there's much more damage to repair, it will take a little time. If either of you wish to aid me you could lend me your support through the force. It would speed up the process greatly."

[Darex Trevelian]

As Darla worked on healing the Wookiee master, Darex did all he could to help...which meant focusing on healing his outward, skin-deep lacerations, as Skye had taught him to do. But other than that, there wasn't much the Jedi could do.

 

As Darla turned to them, announcing that most of the healing was done, Darex caught her as she stumbled. He nodded as she made her request. "Of course, Darla. Anything we can do to help you. Do you still want us to head back to Aroucon Morion?"

 

He helped her sit down and brought her something to drink and a nutrition bar. He regretted not being able to finish the mission they had started on yet, but this was more important at the moment. If Ara-Lai was still there, he'd deliver the trooper's message too. He caught Darla's train of thought...it was indeed interesting that they had already had the chance to save two people on this trip. The Force worked in strange ways.

 

He let himself become part of the Force's flow, then directed that flow gently toward his friend. Energy poured through her, and Darex's own strength.

[Ary the Grey]

A small blip appeared on Armenia's comlink, wherever it was. For some reason, Aryian's ship decided to contact her with a short message requesting her location, seeing as she was one of the two Aryian was last seen with. The message obviously wasn't from Aryian, it wasn't even verbal, only a small text mesage. However, if and when traced, it would be easily located to Aryian's ship as the source.

 

Message:

 

Have returned from unknown region, malfunction. Request location and instruction for rendezvous.

[Dashel Illioni]

Dashel completed the introduction to Lashelle and then outlined what his project would be.

 

Before they got started he contacted his contact on Tatooine to check on how his Padawans were doing. The conversation was loud but brief before he turned back to Lashelle.

 

"Well," he said, "Now I can concentrate on learning what you have to teach. Shall we begin?"

[SithAcolyte]

Darla was grateful of Darex's aid. She gladly took the nutrition bar he offered and took a few minutes to rest while she had her drink. It was easy for her to forget how much the force could drain from her when you channelled so much of it through herself.

 

"Yes, we should still head back to Skye. With your help we will heal all that we can but he'll still need bacta treatment. Skye has everything he could possibly need onboard Serenity. Thank you." Darla smiled at her friend.

 

She already felt better after the brief rest and was ready to return to Kirlocca's side. As she calmly opened herself up to the force she could feel Darex's presence wash over her, reinforcing her with his own strength. It felt comforting to know there was someone beside her ready to ease the burden.

 

Eyes closed tightly, hands resting on Kirlocca the words slipped quietly from her lips. "Alright, let's do this..."

 

The wave of healing force energy that flowed forth was much stronger than Darla could have hoped to achieve alone. The Jedi focused intently on the task at hand and before their eyes Kirlocca's form began to change. Scar tissue healed up and visibly vanished, broken bones reformed, fractured tissues rebuilt. Slowly but surely his body repaired itself.

 

Lastly Darla urged the force into the hair follicles all over Kirlocca's skin. Tiny sprouts of hair began to grow. After a few minutes Kirlocca was looking like a wookie again.

 

Darla felt that they had done all that they could do for now.

 

"Thank you Darex I couldn't have done it without you." She was completely worn out but it felt good to have achieved something. "We should go through the pre-flight checks and get ready to take off."

 

Suddenly remembering that they weren't alone, Darla made her way over to the Gungan woman.

 

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, I was too worried about healing your friend. He's going to be alright now. My name's Darla by the way." She offered the woman her hand. "We'll take him to the best healer in the Order, she'll be able to make sure he gets back to full health. The worst bit is over though. Will you be joining us?"

[ObliviousKnight]

The familiar trumpet tune of Reveille jolted Armiena out of her trance-like state in observing the Imperial shuttle, causing the Jedi Master to wonder who in Sith's blood would be attempting to contact her.... and why she hadn't thought to turn off her comlink in the first place. Her irritation only softened somewhat when she discovered that it was Aryian Darkfire--or at least the AI he had installed on board his ship--that interrupted her vigil over the Imperial messenger.

 

"Next time...." her lips formed ghosts of words. Don't call me when I'm buried under a few inches of snow, watching a target from the scope of a rifle. Damn you; thank the Force you're back.

 

The muzzle of Armiena's sniper rifle tracked towards the hydraulic landing skids of the Imperial shuttle. Striking the foremost skid would be an even more difficult shot than hitting her fellow Jedi in the small of his back, but her credits proved to be well spent. Another nanite-laced round flitted away to strike her target, with no muzzle flash or sound from the rifle.

 

Gawd, I love this gun. Armiena allowed herself a predatory grin and stroked the bolt of the sniper rifle with more affection than any firearm deserved, then devoted her attention to the minor problem of escaping her cover before she was completely burrowed in by the storm and enjoyed the side-effects of asphyxiation. In a few minutes, she came up with a fairly unusual solution--with an unorthodox use of telekenesis, Armiena twisted her own body around and began to carve herself a tunnel through the darkness, heading for--she hoped--her abandoned landspeeder.

 

The only sign of her movements was a cartoonish trail of raised snow as she shoved frigid powder from her path.

 

Sometime later, Armiena tore her way out of her snowy grave and nearly whacked her forehead on the undercarriage of her dust-red landspeeder. From there, the Alderaanian returned Aryian's message and gave her own ship a few basic instructions. And then Armiena was off, streaking across the frozen monotony of the snowy wastes at speeds that would horrify any passenger with a sense of self-preservation.

 

___________________________________________

 

Interesting idea. I don't suppose you happen to be a Healer--no, you wouldn't need this much if you were. Lachelle Draygo listened intently to Dashel's suggestions. Although imbuing a non-living vessel with that particular property would be difficult, it was well within the realm of possibility.

 

Now, the most important part of this form of sorcery is preparation--without it, the crystal would fail you, and in this instance, most likely when you need it the most. You'll have to slip into a meditation trance in order to attune it to your mental processes. Further meditation and influence will serve to imbue it with that enchantment... especially focusing on the techniques you desire. It's a somewhat complex process, but I can guide you through the rituals.

 

The ancient Jedi Master finally fell silent and waited for her student to do as she asked. Immediately after Lachelle sensed that his mind descended into the unrecognizable serenity of Jedi meditation, she would touch his presence to instruct him in some of the more esoteric aspects of the Force.

 

((I warned you, this post would be horribly vague.))

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Scorp removed his comlink and quickly relistened to the message to make sure he got it right.

 

---COMM-

"This is Scorp speaking, Do not worry about anything going on out here. Focus on getting your crystals and meet me back at the ship."

___comm_

 

He sighhed and ut away the comlink. He had no idea why Master Kirlocca had been in that condition or that he had even been captured. This had indeed troubled him greatly. He had tailed the jedi for a while after double checking for any hidden sign of imperial betrayal. Yet there wasnothing and so he watched their backs until they were safly on their ship. Then he started back to his own.

[SithAcolyte]

"Well if you would like to come along , here are the co-ordinates." Darla gave Sayn a datapad. "I'm sorry but we have to leave as soon as possible for Kirlocca's sake. He's in good hands, trust me."

 

After parting with Sayn Ta Darla headed to the cockpit. Her strange guest still sat there. She began going through the pre-flight procedures.

 

"Darex, our guest has chosen himself a name. I'd like you to meet 'Ra'."

 

It didn't take long for Darla to get the ship up and running. She wanted to get back to Skye as quickly as she could and then return to her mission with Darex. Darla hoped that Skye could help Ra somehow. Maybe figure out who he was, where he was from or maybe just who he wanted to be and where he wanted to go.

 

"Buckle up everyone, we're leaving this rock."

 

At least they wouldn't be heading to any more ice planets in the near future.

 

((OOC: Darex/ Ra Continue in Space thread or Aracourn Morion))

[Psyche]

Ok, Psyche, Scorp says things are fine, so don't worry about it.

 

Psyche pushed the matter out of her mind and started looking at the crystals again. She found three that seemed to really resonate with the Force, at least for her. Expecting dislocating them to be hard, she reached down with a gloved hand and pulled, gently at first, but the first one came out surprisingly easily. She wondered if all the crystals were like that, but doubted it. When she had collected what she needed she put her goggles back on her eyes and walked back outside into the snow. This time, she just concentrated on what she had come to recognize as Scorp's Force-signature and was able to find the ship with some difficulty.

 

Now, from what she knew about lightsabers, the crystals focused the beam, but they needed a hilt to go in. Psyche assumed that Scorp would help her do this next.

 

"Master, I have the crystals."

[Dashel Illioni]

((ooc)) He does have some healing ability, just want to give him a reserve for battle so he doesn't have to rely on it...and I am doing this post on the fly so it may get confusing...

 

((ic)) Dashel followed the ghostly Master's advice, breaking his journey into the force into three seperate stages. Stage one was simply aligning himself with the force, and was probably the easiest thing to do. Gently, he lowered his awareness into the energy field, letting his senses adapt to the extra information that was brought to him. Once he had become completely attuned to the flow of the force in the area, he began focussing his complete attention on the crystal he had decided would be his first foray into this field of Jedi arts.

 

The crystal thrummed with the energy absorbed from the millenia of Jedi that had passed through here. It felt nearly alive itself, and something from the crystal whispered into the force the purpose it had been born into the universe with. Dashel attuned his senses to that purpose and gradually developed an understanding of those vibrations. For a moment, he almost forgot that he was dealing with an inanimate object and began treating it like a living thing.

 

It was when he brought his knowledge of healing to bear upon the crystal that he found out the truth of the crystal. It indeed was not alive, but had grown into a receptacle which could absorb the force and then unleash it worked right. It was here he paused and sent a questing message to the Master Shaper.

 

"Master, I have found attunement with this crystal and know what I need to do to proceed, but have not the knowledge of how to proceed or indeed, what will happen when I proceed."

[Ary the Grey]

A highly encrypted comm came in for Armenia. This time instead of crappy text it was vocal, and she would be ableto tell it was him.

 

"Umm...Hi to you too I guess? It's very good to hear from you, however I didn't contact you in the first place...anyways, I'm On Haruun Kal now, but not for long. No doubt you've heard the news about Talon Flick...just in case you haven't, I've redirected the message sent to Haruun Kal to your comm unit for your review. Also sent are a set of frequencies which used in tandem can be used to track my ship's position and find me.

 

"Armenia, I don't know whether you'd come or not, but I'm going after Talon. I'm not alone, I have two companions, Jedi Knight Antilles and Cal Regium, but sometimes the cavalry just needs to be called in. And if someone needs you somewhere else, I'll understand, I won't be any worse for it. After all, A Jedi Master of Special Operations is not exactly one to mess around with."

 

The message paused here a bit, as Aryian tried to collect his thoughts.

 

"I guess...I guess I've just...missed you."

 

The recording played out for a few seconds longer, as if Aryian wanted to say something more. Whether he did or not she would never know, as it cut off in the silence. Like he said, information downloaded itself into her comm unit, Darex's message as well as the set of frequencies, tied to a special program he had once created to track people through their comm frequencies.

 

Little did she know it was buried in a subroutine set in her ship's AI, an AI Aryian had copied from his own ship with the program intact. All she had to do was plug them in to the computer and the program kicked in and did the rest, automatically tracking the last message recieved and 'pinging' the target using subfrequencies for realtime tracking.

[ObliviousKnight]

Sometime during the convoluted process in which Dashel Illioni's crystals were transformed into tools of the light, Armiena Draygo had somehow slipped back into that breathtaking cavern that served as the Knight's workshop. By this time, she had left her comlink on and bound it to the side of her head, as a minor wealth of audio information was coming over her personal frequency and the tracking bug that she had pasted onto Darex Trevelian. Considering how events seemed to be progressing, she didn't mind violating her friend's privacy in the least.

 

Rather than interrupt Dashel's lesson, Armiena hung off and simply performed some minor maintenance on her lightsabers. She was going to need them soon.

 

Not bad for a first effort. Lachelle's ethereal voice faltered as she allowed that much, pride in her abilities in life no doubt influencing her words somewhat. Now that your crystal has been properly attuned and charged, it's almost intelligent. When you encounter a situation in which you need that crystal, all you'll have to do is ask it for its assistance--not dissimilar to traditional use of the Force, in fact. It will know what to do.

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Scorp stood up and welcomed her abaord afterwards he sat back down in his piolot seat, cracked open his book and said.

 

"Well then now you get to pick yet again."

 

He drew his next words out slowly as he read his book while speaking.

 

"You may either choose to go to a crime infested city that is boiling hot."

 

He paused as he flipped a page over and continued reading.

 

"Or you may choose to go toe a crime infested city with a two hour drop should you fall off and it stinks beyond belief. Both places will supply you with what you need as well as a little more. Plus both places will test your morals, ethics, and belief in yourself as a Jedi learner."

 

He closed his book. It wasmight hard to find such things, After all everything now adays was in datapad format. You simply scrolled through it on a datapad. It felt nice to have such and ancient thing in his hands.

 

He quickly had the ship calculate two course one for each planet in mind. then he set it for autopilot. When ever she made her choice he would simply start the ship up and let her run the course.

[Dashel Illioni]

Dashel emerged from the intial test of his abilities feeling as if he had hefted an Imperial Star destroyer. He was exhausted physically and mentally but delighted at the results of his first effort. Master Lachelle's extravegent praise lifted his spirits enough that he considered a setting for the five seperated parts of the crystal for the future.

 

For now he wanted to rest, but the immediate future now held more questions than time and he sent a though to Master Lachelle. "I know there is more for me to learn. Is there any particular area you would suggest?"

[Sayn Ta]

Sayn Ta, the purple Gungan Jedi Knight, hopped in her sleek, yellow N-1 Naboo starfighter and took off.

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian's ship pulled out of hyperspace above the frigid planet, yet it did not angle in for a landing. Instead it flew into an extremely low orbit and remained there.

 

The pilot was meditating, slowly, his mind reaching out across the empty expanses, trying to contact one person in particular: Armiena Draygo. It was difficult, however most Jedi Knights could not hope to even attempt spreading their senses out far enough to telepathically communicate with someone who was planetside, unless the person they were communicating with was exceptionally strong in the force as well. Finally, Aryian made contact with Armiena's mind, after several minutes of searching. It might have taken longer, but her presence was a powerful one and easier to find.

 

Now that he knew where she was, he guided his ship down for a landing in the closest possible area, and began to make his way towards her.

 

Armiena...I am here...

[ObliviousKnight]

Naturally, you'll want to improve your technique in the other areas of the Force. It's all but impossible to imbue an object with properties that you don't know the techniques for. Now, Armiena has told me that the de facto guru in this aspect of the Force is Ara-Lai Kaipi. Lachelle Draygo paused for a moment, perhaps considering the reports the considerably younger Jedi Master had fed her about Ara-Lai and measuring her skill from word of mouth. She's also told me that she's felt a peculiar presence in the Force that reminded her of the departed Chaos Gods.

 

Behind Dashel Illioni and the sentient gauntlet before him, Armiena's eyes flashed warningly. Her contact with the Chaos Gods had always been a difficult subject for her to divulge, and she had no desire for her ancestor to casually tell the tale to her fellow Jedi.

 

"It's of Tzeentch. From what little I learned about them, he specialized in this sort of alchemy." Armiena muttered, replacing the lenses in her lightsaber hilts after a thorough cleaning. "I can only guess why a Chaos presence has emerged in our galaxy--aside from the Dark Lord, that is. I was under the impression that The Four left everything behind when they departed..."

 

The woman might have had more to say, but her voice trailed off when she felt a familiar presence caress her mind. Aryian...

[Dashel Illioni]

"Then," said Dashel, "it is time for each of us to continue on our seperate journeys, hopefully enriched by the time we have spent together."

 

He chuckled after intoning the pompous phrase, amused and yet saddened his time with Master Armiena was ending. Yet, he knew that it was time to return to the duty of instructing his Padawans and give them at least one small gift.

 

Lachelle's information concerning Ara Lai he filed away carefully. That was a visit he was not yet ready to undertake. Someday, when his knowledge of the force was more complete. For now, he had a learned a few techniques that he would need to meditate on and practice with before absorbing anything new.

 

He turned to face Armenia before speaking next. "I too have had a small experience with the Chaos Gods. It was not something that I care to repeat and left my former Master in a severe state of disarray so severe she went in a voluntary exile shortly afterwards. Will the Jedi Order be pursuing this shard of chaos?"