Nar Shaddaa - Rebel Alliance Headquarters

[Sandy Sarna]

 

Hyperspace swirled in a hypnotic fusion of deep blues, whites, and darks that flooded by the central viewport in a never ending wave. Every so often the whirls would be blotted out by a lurking dark shape of a mass shadow that flitted by as their ship made its way towards the small cluster of stars that was the Nal Hutta system. It gave here a good amount of time to reflect and she meditated on the mission and its disastrous results. 

 

It had started with a nearly lethal conflict and argument on Ossus, and now their group, much reduced, was returning beaten and bruised. She could feel the throb of pain and the spreading bruise around her jaw, and her mouth still tasted sour from the blood. But they had survived, Aidan had learned so much, as had Kel. But Sandy herself felt lost. She had killed a Sith Lord for sure, as much it had pained her both physically and metally, but the objective and all the secrets of the Vigilance were lost. Could the secrets of the illusive Augury or the blade masters have saved the galaxy from the Sith? She doubted it, not even Locke Starspanker, Kitt Fitt, or Obi Quiet could have salvaged the current situation. Or at least not instantly. 

 

They were in for a long war of partisans and death. And the Jedi would be in its centre. 

 

How that peace had been! A silent decade of recovery and stagnation, of terrorism and political strife, but there had been peace. Now peace looked as distant as...As what? Things working out in her favour with Darkfire? She shook her head. No. Peace was a goal and one she would likely give her life for, but that dream of love? Love was a passion he could not afford, and she knew it. She doubted any Imperial Knight could afford such a luxury, not to mention that feelings like that could objectively harm him. Could she put him at risk to achieve her own ends? To fall for a moment knowing that it cost the galaxy its future? Was love worth such a thing? 

 

But she chided herself. He didn’t feel anything for her anyway so what did it matter. The end result either way was pain. And she would be damned if she brought him down too. 

 

She could feel and hear his soft footsteps as he came into the cockpit, and a flickering look from her eyes saw him as he was. A strong man, confident if wounded. Careless before the weight of the galaxy and she grinned. She looked at the bruises covering him and considered if she was shirtless it would look much the same, bruise wise. When she spoke, her voice retained its low gutter Galan accent as she did not have the strength to try and correct it to something more core worlds. 

 

“Aye, it’s a lonely and brutally short life isn’t it. I am glad we made it out, but what do you think?  We might have thirty six hours of shore leave before we go out again?” She laughed, then stopped when he asked if she wanted to get dinner. She nodded her assent and was about to say something clever but he had already turned to fetch his shirt. So she turned her seat and called after his retreating back, “I’d love to Aidan. Name the time!” But perhaps her voice was too desperate. And she felt a flush creep up to her freckles. 

 

After a debriefing and chastisement by lady Adenna of course, a nap, and another shower. But she was stuck with her thoughts for a bit as they made their final approach to the Nar Shadda landing approaches. The entire world was covered in the pallor of war. Star Destroyers flickered in the shipyards as hundreds of techs welded plates onto eroded sterns, or repaired destroyed turbolasers. And one glance at the holofeed showed that the galaxy was even more at war than when they had left. 

 

It did not take them long to navigate the military checkpoint, and within minutes of touching down, they were whisked before the Jedi Grandmaster. @Adenna Alluyen

 

They were battered and bruised, but alive. And Sandy was glad for that. Sandy saluted in the military style, her boots clicking together as she greeted her one time master. She was a stern woman but an understanding one. And would be very likely interested in what they had to say. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy’s voice was slow and slightly slurred from the recent damage to her jaw but she told the story of their adventure from its beginnings on Gala to its end in the heart of the Maw. Including the wounding of her two apprentices, the loss of Tobias Vos, and finishing with her duel with the fallen knight errant. 

 

“I do not know how he fell, only that he was a destroyed man, and…” She looked down at her boots. “...I could not save him.” 

 

She considered pulling herself closer to Aidan for support but brushed it off, this was no place to embarrass her friend, and so instead she reached to her belt and withdrew Fynn Relmis’s lightsabre. The one she had been wounded by, and held it out to the grandmaster. Perhaps the only thing of value that she had gotten from the mission, but Fynn had been a friend of Adenna’s and Sandy felt that the gesture was necessary. 

 

“We made it through, though with the loss of the Eternal Vigilance due to his attacks. I apologize that I could not recover it intact.” She looked over to the dark haired imperial. “But Aidan did very well, faced fears and trials that I could never have overcome. I know that I am only a Jedi and have no power over this, but please give my recommendations to the Imperials that I recommend him for Imperial Knight. He did admirably.” She smiled widely through the pain.

[Sandy Sarna]

A Mastership? 

 

But she was nobody, she was no Xae-Lin, no Kyrie, no Jaina Jade, how could Adenna think she was ready for something like this? Her heart cried out as her pale green eyes took in the sight of the saluting troops, and she felt herself being embraced.  It all came in waves and she was sure that her shock showed visibly on her pale face. 

 

Proud? 

 

Adenna was proud of her? 

 

She would have thought a year ago that she would have been long dead before ever getting to the rank of Jedi Master. But there had been struggles, there had been death, there had been love, unrequited as it was. She had been through so much, and even this didn’t feel like a victory, but she knew that it was. It was a scrap of hope to cling to, and even if she felt the sudden looming presence of responsibility on her shoulders, she knew that she could bear it. 

 

The Force was with her. She could feel that strength in her. 

 

She took a breath and saluted the troops gathered in front of her. They returned the salute, then it was a flurry of handshakes and congratulations before she found herself in a briefing room with Adenna. Her voice was strong but filled with emotion as she smiled at her old master. 

 

“It's been a long journey since I was failing to even move a stone on Tython hasn’t it? Through it all, I am honoured to have your friendship.” 

 

She smiled widely. 

 

“Is there anything you would have of me?” Her green eyes sought the Imperial Knight, Aidan Darkfire, but she couldn’t see him. So she looked back to the Grandmaster.

 

___________________

 

A comm arrived for @karyu128, Bidding him to join Master Sarna for a discussion

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy stood and listened to her friend and the Grandmaster lay out the plans for the coming war. She had lost so many friends over the last few years of war that she could barely remember all their names. Some were lost on Coruscant, some were lost on Kashyyyk, Onderon, and a myriad of other worlds that had been devastated by the Sith Lords. She had felt herself being called towards the order led by the Empress of the imperial remnant for the last year, but the plans that Adenna laid before her showed the promise of her promotion to Grandmaster. The old order was gone, likely forever, and replaced by the order of war. Gone were the masters that proselytized pacifism and communing with nature. They were dead and buried in the ruins of Coruscant, Dathomir, and Kashyyyk. But many of the great masters had gone with them into the force, and Sandy could only feel the distant sting of regret that more had not been saved. 

 

She nodded solemnly. 

 

“It would be my pleasure and honour Adenna. You can count on my sabre.” 

 

She grinned widely and leaned over the holographic displays. 

 

“What is our first target?” She only hoped that she would have the time to visit Aidan before she was dispatched on another dangerous mission. 

 

But a knock came at the door and Kel Koon, looking tired but accomplished walked through the doorway. 

 

She smiled widely and beckoned him to come closer. “Grandmaster, may I introduce you to Kel Koon.” She looked at him slyly. “No longer my apprentice after his actions at the Maw. I bestow upon him the title of Jedi Knight with your permission.” 

 

[Sandy Sarna]

Pale skin flushed red with a grin as Sandy let her shoulders relax. She was tired, run ragged for the better part of six months, but still she could feel the excitement on the fringes of her mind. An actual chance to go out as a Jedi knight in action against the Sith? Had such a thing been done since Onderon and its great disaster? Could such a venture hold by its own without the vaunted Imperial Knights like Darkfire, Cassandra, or Eleison? 

 

Sandy perched herself on the edge of one of the spare desks and pulled one of the armour plates from her satchel, she put a gob of the polish on the edge of a cloth and began to meticulously polish the burned chest plate as the grandmaster laid out the plan. She kept her eyes on the laid out holographs and star charts as she polished. The wax based polish melting into the duraplast and buffing it into a clean shine. She glanced at the outdated imperial emblem embossed on its centre and smiled. She was grateful for what the imperials had taught her at Nal Hutta, but The Jedi could do this by themselves. 

“We have our approach avenue then, Shipping. Which lanes are we mining? And what fleet assets do we have on hand?” 

 

She thought of the ongoing slaughter at Kuat and shuddered. If there was anything she was good at, it was not commanding a fleet. But if it gave her the opportunity to attack the Sith, then she would take it. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Orders

 

Sandy Sarna tapped the encrypted datapad against the open palm of her hand as she walked down the winding, prefab, halls of the rebel alliance command centre. The small, mass produced datapad still had its imperial emblem from manufacturing, now hastily covered with  a sticker marking it as Rebel Alliance property. The bright red emblem, with its white circular outline, blazing awkwardly against the dull gunmetal grey of the datapad. She slapped it lightly again into her palm as her mind began to crawl its way through the days events. Masterhood, assignments, and she had heard a rumour from the scuttlebut of the station that Darkfire had received his long due promotion. 

 

She was so tired, but she could let that wait. She couldn’t wait to congratulate him and share her own news. And as her footsteps brought her into the Imperial Knight quarters she shared a smile with a few of the Imperial Knights she passed, though a particularly sly smile from one of them gave her pause. 

 

Was she coming here to fulfill other needs than just congratulating him? Some old desires that should have died back on Kashyyyk? She felt a flush creep up her cheeks before she forced it back down. 

 

The answer was clear, and the war left no time for that nonsense. And love, especially unrequited love, could wait until after the Sith were laid in their graves. 

 

She she drew on the force to calm herself and let her presence expand out, seeking where Darkfire might be. She found him rather quickly, but she could feel that he was asleep. She let her feet take her across from his door, leaning her own tired frame against he white panelled wall. She couldn’t wake him up, especially since they had been run ragged for the last two months. So she slid down the wall and hugged her knees to her chest. Burying her eye sockets in her bony knees and letting herself finally relax. 

 

She meditated, letting her presence echo visibly through the force, letting Aidan know should he awaken, that a friend was there to see him. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Her green eyes snapped open from her half asleep meditative state at the first prick of Aidan’s voice. It took a second to fully adjust to reality but when she did she laughed, a pure laugh, not stained by any of the long exhaustion she had felt a few hours before. It was good to see him as well without the dark lines below his eyes. She held up her hands in a mock surrender and she stood up from her crouch.

 

“Then caf we shall have. What’ll you have? Mass produced imperial, GA, Rebel, or Jedi variant? All of which is overcooked and burned to perfection.” 

 

She smiled and walked with him to the caf station in the small barrack mess hall where she selected a distinctly new variant supplied by the Taipani. She grimaced as she took a sip, vaguely wishing it had cream and sugar. 

 

She sat down across from him and grinned she wouldn’t spoil whatever news he had to give.

 

“So….how did you sleep?” Taking another sip of what could have been the most bitterest cafe she had ever tasted.

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy absentmindedly tapped the edge of her metallic mug with the fingers of her left hand as she listened to him. She took another sip of the stimcaf, letting the bitterness slide across her tongue, and the artificial feeling of being wide awake began to slowly overcome her residual tiredness. She tapped her fingers again then a grin spread across her face at his wonderful news. Her green eyes flashed as she set the cup down and put both hands down on the table.

 

“Well done!” 

 

She grinned widely. 

 

“I am so proud of how far you have come Aidan. I couldn’t have made it without you.” 

 

And she couldn’t have, she knew it. She cocked her head to the side.

 

“Does that mean you will take on an apprenti- I mean a squire? Either way you deserve more than a break.” 

 

He wasn’t exactly falling apart, but the damage he had taken mentally was very obviously still affecting him. The dreams were just a symptom of the battle weariness and PTSD that was likely affecting not only Darkfire but an entire generation of Jedi and Imperial Knights. 

 

She tapped the datapad beside her with one finger. 

 

“I am being deployed at the end of the week myself. Away from the battlelines but its still dangerous. I am trained in some of the Healing Arts, would you like for me to try and help against the dreams at all before I go?”

 

Her eyes widened for a second. 

 

“Oh I also have my own news.” She made her voice as cool as possible though excitement bubbled at the edges of her voice, “I have been promoted to  Master for the events of the EV. All thanks to you of course." 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy left the questions about if the Imperials drafted their apprentices from the ranks, and chalked it off to they probably did the exact same thing the Jedi Order did. Jedu more….militarily. They probably had a full force of testers for new immigrants to feed their ranks and Sandy pondered if the Jedi could use such an apparatus. And decided to ask Adenna the next time she saw her. Her emerald eyes looked up into Aidan’s equally green eyes and she smiled in response to his question. 

 

“I feel absolutely no different than when I was an apprentice. I have a basic idea of how I can get through situations, but i’ll be damned if I don’t just wing it every time. But perhaps I have just gotten better at winging it? There is a lot of pressure sure, but I guess its kind of a pressure that has built up over time for me.” She looked off over his shoulder, as she thought over the deeper implications of his counter questions. “I don’t feel as scared now I guess. When I was fighting Relmis I was calmed and focused.” She touched her stomach where the flesh was still taking ages to mend, she winced a bit and looked back down at her own datapad as Aidan checked his. 

 

She looked up when he did. Guessing that this might be the best time to ask him the question she had been considering since she had gotten her orders. 

 

“Well my Lord Moff and High Imperial Ambassador Finklehorn, may I say you are most welcome to join me on Scarif if you so desire.” She flipped him her own datapad. "I was there a couple years back and even if the mission is hard, it could be a nice place to relax." She laughed and took another sip of the rapidly cooling caf. “But really Aidan, change it or not, you have done your family name more than proud. Your mom scares the shit out of me, and I can’t imagine what your Dad was like. But I know you have more than made them proud. Sorry the name gets you all these side adventures though.” 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy nodded slowly, glancing down into the burned dregs of the caf, where small speckles of the bean floated in the remnants of the drink. She set the cup down and flicked the metallic rim smiling at the soft metallic sound and looked back at Aidan. “Yes, these adventures are persistent enough that I almost miss the galaxy wide peace.” She laughed at the bitter joke and glanced back at the table, her hands wrapping mechanically around the cooling mug. She could feel the tinge of disappointment in her voice as she spoke. They were a good team, and if there was anyone that she trusted within the Rebel Alliance, it was Aidan Darkfire. “Well it should be a relatively quick mission for me without danger so I will see you again soon after we part ways.” There was the silent, unsaid I hope that echoed with those words. 

 

War, especially this kind of war, was brutal, friends departing as swift as meteorites and burning just as bright. And somewhere in the back of her mind she dreaded reading the holo reports in the coming months. Constantly fearing if the little holo name of her best friend would be outlined in red. She looked back up and forced a smile on her face. 

 

“I would be honoured to meditate with you Aidan, if you can catch me before we go off on the missions I will be in my room, and…” She stood as well, extending her hand. “If we don't see each other before we go, please stay safe, and may the force always be with you.” She hated that phrase, it was always spoken with the expectation that the force was not with them. But nothing else felt appropriate. 

[Sandy Sarna]

 

She watched him walk away, flexing the hand that he had so recently grasped, and she was almost completely overwhelmed by a sorrow that bubbled up from the very pit of her stomach. It was a long standing sorrow, and one that she easily pushed away with an exhalation of her lungs that scattered the dismal feelings away. But was it the old unrequited feeling of her heart? Or was it something else? Some kind of premonition of what was to come? She didn’t know, but she did watch the back of his black haired head until it disappeared around the corner of the cafeteria door. She blinked and looked down at her hand, placing it palm down on the cool metal of the table, letting the force calm her tired mind. Sorrow was replaced with a calm pride in Aidan and his journey. 

 

He was strong and had done his family more than proud. 

 

She shook her blonde head, and walked slowly back to her room, letting the exhausted state of her body lead her to the spartan quarters buried in the Jedi barrack. She smiled wanly at the ‘master’ placed before her name on the duraplast door, pushed it open, let it slide closed behind her and with a flop, fell into a deep sleep on the bed. 

 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy awoke with a start, immediately pulled back into the real by the smell of sweat, blood, and burned ozone, accented by the charred meat smell of a lightsabres killing blow. She shivered for a moment as her mind reeled to find itself, the rough linen bedsheets feeling strange against her face. A face that had been used to sleeping in crash webbing and flight chairs for the last few months. She could see Fynns eyes still burned into her eyelids for a few moments as she blinked away her sleep. 

 

When she finally pulled herself up and off her bed she felt stiff as if the muscles in her back had been intensely active for the last several hours. She groaned and sank into a stretch, letting her mind slowly clear as she went through her morning meditations. She could easily identify what her dreams had been, and those yellowed eyes looked ever back at her as she began to work with the force to refresh herself. Trauma, even if it was righteous trauma, still left its scars , and Sandy let the tears come, falling warmly and blissfully down her cheeks as she stretched, letting the emotions penned up by the dreams slowly release along with the tears.She let her breathing calm into a steady beat and let the emotion slowly wash out of her. 

 

Acknowledging each before she let them go. 

 

Fear. Fear for the loss of her own life, the lives of her friends, fear that she would eventually have to do what she did to Fynn to someone else. Fear of failure. 

 

Anger. Anger at Fynn, anger at his fall. 

 

Pride. Pride in her victories.

 

Sorrow. Sorrow at the death of her one time friend and mentor. Sorrow in leaving her friends. Sorrow at the loneliness that beat at the edge of her heart. 

 

She let them flow out of her and when they were gone she took a deep breath. Exhaled, then took a quick sanisteam shower and redressed into her battle gear. Then she went to find Aidan to see if he had received new orders. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy Sarna stood, leaning against the doorframe of one of the walkways between the gymnasium and food dispensary in the newly built rebel base. She held her newly acquired datapad and slowly ran her finger unter the pale blue font of the inbuilt intranet messaging system. The datapads small connection cable attached firmly to the small comm link at in her belt, coiling its wire in a small spool at the bottom of the imperial issued datapad. She had read the message  several times. Including the attached instructions, but her emerald green eyes always were drawn back to the single line. 

 

“I’ll miss you.” 

 

She did not let her heart feel those words but she could still be moved by them. She blinked before rereading the message again, only to be slightly bumped into by a dour looking Mon Calamari. She couldn’t exactly be sure of the Mon Cal’s expression as their faces always were a mystery to her, She recognized the Mon Cal after a second of pondering and a bright smile stretched across her lips. This was one of the specialized Jedi healers of which she had heard bright review from the Imperial Knights. 

 

She snapped the datapad closed and returned the bow, her green eyes inquisitive as she asked, “I hear that you and others have returned from the disaster over Mon Calamari, the Rebel Alliance is scrambling to figure out a counter.” She tapped the closed datapad as if to indicate something of importance. “And we have reports of the environmental disaster on Scarif beginning to reach their peak.” She raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “I know that you likely need rest and meditation after your ordeal, but I would request that you accompany me to Scarif to assist in healing the natives.” She held up a hand as if to forestall any protests, “But it is only a request, I leave tomorrow midmorning, so you have time to come to a decision. Meet me in docking port twelve if so.” She tapped the datapad again with a scarred hand. The faint scars reaching from each fingertip to wrist. She had been skinned alive once a decade before, and the scars, however small and faded, still spoke of her dark journey through the slaver rings on Thalassia. “But go and make your reports, I have a few things to do myself.” 

 

She bowed, picked up her pack, and strode off to the Imperial Knight quarter. 

 

________________________________________

 

She tried the door and it slid back with ease, moving silently on its oiled tracks. The room itself was as spartan as her own temporary room in the prefab barracks, little looked out of place, and even less looked like it actually belonged to him. Sandy figured that the same scene would be repeated throughout the entire alliance. Thousands of rooms were the same, places used as a stopover for a few days between missions that could last months. Nonetheless, Sandy was honoured to have the privilege of being invited into this one small sanctuary of Darkfire’s and so she carefully set her bundle down and slid the door shut behind her. She took a deep breath and walked slowly to the foot of Aidan’s bed, where the cerro-metal footlocker sat. 

 

She placed her unscarred hand over the metal lock and let her eyes flutter closed. The arm had been grown from a coral-like substance harvested by her friend T’ali’au, and had replaced the arm she had lost there. As she let the force overpower the locking mechanism, she said a silent prayer for that friend. Who she had left with promises of Jedi intervention on the overloading core. That had been back when she had been a young knight, and now here she was several years later only now beginning the journey to return. 

 

As the lock fell away she lifted the lid of the foot locker and found the small cube of opaque crystal. She withdrew it from its casing and reclosed the foot locker, placing the holocron on top of it. She placed two cylindrical incense censers beside it then sat on the floor before the holocron. She let her eyelids close and reached out a hand. Fire ignited in the censers, spreading the calming smell of meditative incense throughout the room. It blocked the lingering smell of him, and left no room for distractions. 

 

She breathed in and activated the holocron through the force. 

[Sandy Sarna]

The face stared back at her, looming from the depths of the crystal cube, projected by the force into her mind. The face sat there, waiting, age long lining its curves, the sides of his eyes wrinkled deeply by a long life of mirth. After what could only be described as an eternity a soft voice echoed through her mind. Though it carried the gruffness of age, it was not harsh.

 

What do you seek child? 

 

She felt surprised enough by the question that it caused her to hesitate, she took a breath, letting the smell of the incense wash over her senses. She breathed out, letting all the bitter air in her lungs go along with it.

 

Wisdom she breathed

 

So you seek it all? Or just some of it? There was a wry smile behind the voice that did not condemn.

 

Her eyebrows narrowed. I seek...I seek its path

 

The voice in her head was like a smile. Then you must find yourself firs

 

She took another breath and nodded. 

 

Let us attend together to the path of wisdom

 

((Continued in the Dejarik Board))

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy drew in a long breath and let her eyelids flicker open. She did not know what she expected to see, but what greeted her was the still blank cube of crystal and the sputtering remains of the incense burners. And of course Aidan’s sparse, spartan quarters. She made sure to meticulously clean up after her meditation, leaving his room just like she had found it and the holocron relocked in his footlocker. 

 

After that it there was only time for a quick nap before she needed to report and find the Mon Calamari for their joint mission to Scarif. An hour or so later, she strode into the cafe where Leena was sitting and gave her a friendly wave. 

 

“Are you ready to head out?” She looked inquisitively to the man standing beside Leena and raised an eyebrow. “And who may you be?”

[Sandy Sarna]

“Well…” Sandy let her voice trail off as the two of them talked back and forth. “I am glad to have you whatever order you serve.” She looked back at the young Leena, “The Imperial Knights broke away from our order because the Council and Grandmaster of the time did not wish to confront the Sith. They were right to break away, and somedays I wonder if I should not have gone with them. Now go, and I will talk to your companion.” She looked back to the Jensaarai and raised an inquisitive eyebrow and the apprentice ran to the washing station. “You are welcome to the grand adventure, and though I wish your order may have arrived a year or so ago, I welcome you with open arms.” She leaned forward. “However, Sir Mantis, before you decide to hang around a Jedi Padawan, I would wish that you would tell me all about your order. For her safety and my own inquisitiveness, I will not have an unknown element aboard ship, especially in a strange environment." She paused to a reflect and to correct her words should they need them.  She decided that they did and added, "I do not say this with hostile intent, however.” 

 

She watched the Mon Calamari putting the dishes into the cleaning tray, then looked back to Mantis. She tried her best to keep the tiredness from etching her smile. 

 

“You may tell me of your order and your beliefs as we go if it pleases you.” As the young Calamari came back Sandy grinned. “Now, let us all depart for stranger shores.” 

 

And together they walked to the Jedi transport Eva-Frenni. 

 

(Post in space))

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy pulled the collar of the green jumpsuit up around her thin neck, pulling the strap around into its catchings and buckling it at the base of her neck. She pulled her hair back and wound it into a thin bun that she lanced through with two thin needles of grey durasteel. Next came the cuirass of dull grey duraplast strapped securely against the jumpsuit in its sections, the the shoulders and upper arm protection. While not a full set, even when she strapped on the sections that covered her thighs, it provided adequate protection from spalling of more distant explosives. She looked at the high polished furrows on one of the sections, reflecting on the duel in which she had killed her old friend, the jedi master and dark acolyte Fynn. 

 

She spun on her heel and walked silently towards the medical ward. The fingers of her right hand drumming against the well worn lightsabre handle that hund down beside her thigh. It was a long walk, but it gave her time to steady her mind. But before she could get herself centered, the great metal archway of the medical quarter loomed up ahead of her. And that terrible fate that lay within. 

 

She saluted the imperial knight at the entryway, who smartly returned her salute, before turning and opening the door for her. She gave him a soft smile which he returned and then she was among the hustle of a busy corridor. A right then a left, then she was at a beside of a woman that she loved like a mother. 

 

Sandy reached out a hand and placed it on the woman’s still and unmoving hand. Giving it a gentle squeeze before she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss upon her forehead. 

 

“May the Force carry you to kinder times.” Her voice was the harsh whisper of pent up grief, and as soon as the words were said, the tears came. They fell like little rivers down her pale cheeks, dripping off her nose to fall in dark splotches on the hospital bedding. 

 

She had not known it would affect her so, she had loved her master dearly, and hated her as much. It had been through that raven haired woman that Sandy had experienced some of the worst trauma of her life. That small and lifeless form had represented every mountain peak and every valley Sandy had traveled. From violence, rape, and torture to the joys of knighthood and service. Those eyes had always watched her. Quick to criticise, rarely to complement. And now those stern eyes were now closed against the harsh lights of the medical ward. 

 

But the tears brought the still solace of a finished grief. And as the last of them dried upon the soft sheets that covered the Grandmaster's body, Sandy walked away. 

 

There was no need to wonder at what Sith Soldier had struck the blow, or what fateful mission had brought the Jedi order so very low. The past could not be changed, and there was no call for vengeance. Death was a part of life, and death was the force itself. Joy would follow, in the endless cycle, just as a human would breath in and out. So the force moved. Life and death. All a breath away. 

 

But somewhere in the back of her mind she wished the joy could have stayed. That the good times of a few years before could not been her last. But she knew that the dice could only be cast once. And she would happily take the bad with the good. For there was always the next horizon. For now she had lost her mentor and closest friend, and with Aidan gone into his studies she would not conscience dragging him into this. He had been there, and if he felt any guilt it would only be amplified by her own grief.

 

So instead she let her presence touch his for a moment, giving him the reassurance that she was beginning to feel. A smile flickering on her lips before she rounded a corner to see Leena and another familiar presence. 

 

“Kyrie?”

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy bowed low, the green fabric of her jumpsuit rustling against her armour. While she inclined her body, she did not break eye contact with the master Exorcist and Lord of the Imperial Knights. The other woman appeared different, wounded and placed into the container of a different body. Would it be better to contact the medicals and get a clone made? Sandy did not know, but what did know was that the woman was suffering greatly. 

 

The Song had taken her far afield, and left her in bitter valleys. 

 

“Master Eleison-” She spoke, ending her bow and putting forward a hand to keep the woman from rising. “You are still suffering from your wounds, please let us attend to you before we make our journey...” 

 

She looked back to the room from where she had just come. A symbol of what could come from good intentions and ill preparation. 

 

“Losing you would be a serious wound to our morale, so let us do our best.” She glanced sideways to Leena and placed a hand upon the Exorcist’s burned flesh, inhaling deeply as she did so, a breath that filled her lungs and her mind with the force. She brought her presence alongside Leena’s and concentrated upon the wicked burns. There would be pain in the healing, but she was sure that Kyrie would not mind. Under her fingers the melted and besotten flesh peeled away as if stripped by maggots. She was no master in healing like the Mon Calamari, but it was an art that she had long practiced under her old master. 

 

In the place of the burned and destroyed flesh knit anew the infantile pink flesh of new life. With each pass of her hands over the woman's wounds Sandy could feel more clearly a lurking darkness of rot and decay, it was subtle, it was small. And Sandy furrowed her brow, searching deep within the woman’s mind and heart. It was no rot like the core of Nal Hutta, or the deep darking decay of Ar-Pharazon. It was the plague of good intentions turned awry. The roots of good long stretched and changed by years of battle and harsh decisions. A poison clung to the very depths of Kyrie, and though the purifying force of the Exorcists had burned it almost bare, by their own very nature it crept back in. 

 

Sandy could only admire the dedication of the woman, facing the cold and dark within herself all alone. The Exorcist and the Sin Eater was a lonely journey, and one that left the user without a connection in the  galaxy. It was a life of despair and sacrifice. Sandy knew that she could not draw that poison out, that she could not confront the seed of darkness for the woman. It was attached to her and was fed by the darkness she willingly devoured. But she could help.

 

Sandy’s hands stopped over the wound, and she flung her arms around the woman, pulling her into a hug that was no where near a professional expression of support that the Imperial was likely used to. But there was love there. It was not the love that she had for Aidan, it was the love of a friend and she bathed the woman in it. For love, Sandy knew, was a counter to great evil.

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy let out a laugh as she let the embrace of the Exorcist fall away. Perhaps it was a laugh at the shocked expression on the Anzat’s face, or the roiling shock she could feel from Leena. She moved her hands so that gripped the slender yet muscular shoulders of the Master Exorcist before she stepped back. The woman was strong and full of life, and it would seem the Force had much more to teach them all. For she could sense a distant presence, one of the old grandmaster. Returned to life. 

 

She glanced to Leena and smiled, the creases of her upturned lips cutting across a slew of freckles. “You should not be shocked about seeing love and joy in the Jedi Order. The Force does not call us all to be passionless mystics, and Love and Joy have their bedrock in the lightside. While we should not over indulge or make idol any of these emotions, it does not hamper us on the path to express the goodness of your heart.” She glanced down to her armour and ran a hand along her belt, ensuring all was in place. 

 

“Though that is my belief, other masters might be more keen to voiding all that makes them alive.” She broke into a grin before she extended a datapad to the Exorcist and proffering the other to the Healer. 

 

“There is of course another reason I am here. We strike to find the heart of the dark order and need strong recruits for this scouting mission. The rebel Alliance are sending their best, and we Jedi should also.”

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy drew the breath through her teeth as the sudden darkness of the force washed over her. It felt as if all her senses were just as suddenly muted, heard from a long distance away. She nearly staggered but kept her balance and turned a bright green eye onto the Alliance soldier who just as suddenly retreated and restored their connection to the living force. She waited for the other woman's approach and then returned a swift and crisp salute. 

 

“Captain, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. We are ready to depart if you are. You may fully brief us on the way if you wish.” She slung her satchel back over her shoulder and then beckoned to the rebel soldier again. “Just be sure to leave a small section of the stealth shuttle open for us force users. We lost the entire council to Geki and the Sith Hutt on Corellia due to one of those. If the desire is to sneak in unseen then we can dull our presence in the force without the assistance of those miraculous little creatures.”

 

She had a moment of regret for not seeing Aidan, but after his mission the Imperials had informed her of his desire to be secluded. And if he wanted his space she would gladly give it. 

[Sandy Sarna]

A prickle in the force ran up her spine and Sandy turned on a boot heel and bowed low to Armiena Draygo. She was surprised to see her, and was suddenly glad she had nothing to feel guilty about as she raised an emerald eye to look into Armiena’s own pale green. The woman gave her a returning nod that spoke to the brusqueness of her conversation and Sandy was nearly taken aback by what it entailed. 

 

But there was a truth there. The Jedi order needed a leader, and this woman had led the order during the height of the old wars. But was it even something Sandy could speak on? The answer to that question settled like a rock in Sandy’s stomach and she could feel her face grow slightly paler. There were so few masters now that it really was up to her and the few that stood in the medical ward. 

 

She nodded. 

 

“Yes.” Then she bowed again. “Grandmaster.”

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy returned the hug and felt a surge of emotion roll from the back of her throat to the base of her stomach. She let it boil through her and let it burn off. It was a mixture of deep joy that itched on the edge of pride. She whispered an almost tearful thank you to the grandmaster. For perhaps in time she could call her something more. But that would depend on Aidan, and he was deep in mourning for the failed strike mission. Perhaps he would be more amicable to talking when or if she returned from Korriban. 

 

She stepped back and glanced from Kyrie then to the Rebel Sergeant at Arms. Would this be their collective funeral? 

 

“Then let us go.”

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy futility rubbed at the slight windburn that had grazed her freckled ears as she disembarked the tattered U-Wing. The ride home had been brisk, or at least as brisk as an old model support bomber could be with its 3rd rate hyperdrive. She took in a breath and then crisply saluted the Rebel officer. It had been a pleasure to work with her, and Sandy would write as much in her report to the council. When her verbal report to the officer in charge was finished she made a beeline straight to her quarters, where she deposited her satchel and equipment before climbing into the sanisteam. 

 

A few minutes later she was changed into her exercise outfit and jogging down the concourse towards where Sandy could feel Aidan in the force. He felt different than before, almost contained, as if he was somehow restraining himself. She hoped, as she jogged through the entrance to the Imperial Knight and Exorcist wing, that he was doing better than she had last seen him. The mission led by Adenna had been a disaster, though Sandy could not blame the ex grandmaster for the situation she had gotten herself into. She had stumbled her own apprentices nearly into a death trap made by Flynn Relmis not even six months before. 

 

But what was this? She had felt deep into his heart and his very soul right before his mission. They had meditated together from across the galaxy and she had seen his struggles. His doubts, his angers. 

 

But this feeling was different and it worried her deeply. She said a quick and archaic prayer before rounding the corner to his doorway. She reached out a hesitant hand and knocked thrice upon the door. Plastering her face with a cheerful if careful smile. 

 

Whatever was bothering him, she was going to cheer him up. And what could cheer him up more than a jog and some exercise? But she had her own secret doubts. 

 

[Sandy Sarna]

Though the Lestat yellow eyed gaze seemed not incredibly  threatening to Sandy, it brought with it the culmination of that feeling that had been growing during the last few hours. It was a strange dread. Perhaps it was a realization of what the week of silence from the young imperial knight had been growing to. Was he in custody? Had he done some drastic thing on Serreno? But she had read that report and it was no fault of Aidan’s that they had been ambushed by sith marines. What was this then? Was this some knife held against Aidan’s throat by his order? 

 

Then her mind found its conclusion. THe Imperial Knights must think that he had begun to slip, or to fall to the darkside. But she had been with him, she had meditated with him to release all of that? But then again he had seen everything fall apart far too many times. Just as she had. They both had been fighting for the better part of a decade, since their early teens at least. Sandy even before that. And the shadow of Thalassia passed over her wit that thought. But even if that had once broken her, she had been redeemed of it. So too could Aidan. 

 

But she knew what her face must be showing to the pair of Imperial Knights. The colour had drained away from her cheery face, leaving her freckles a sharp contrast. She lifted a water bottle in her hand and let a shy smile creep back over her face before she made a bow towards the newly introduced Knight. There was no love in that bow, and she did not think her face hid her dislike of the way the Imperial Knights treated their wayward sons. She spoke formally though kindly to her friend and long time pursuit. 

 

“Knight Hunan, Knight Dakrfire.” She did not broach the door but still stood in its archway. “I was hoping that I could go on a run with Aidan, and perhaps discuss some of what had happened and get some fresh air before the next mission whisks us away again…”

[Sandy Sarna]

They started the jog at a slow pace, one that warmed tired and sore muscles from the long ride in the uncomfortable U-Wing. Though it wasn’t a true exercise in that it would not leave her panting and exhausted, she could feel how good it was for her. One could get used to relying on the force to carry them through a hard day or a hard mission. This was very different. She could feel the good it was doing her as they jogged for several minutes. But she did need to eventually speak her mind which she did after they had made it into the hangers. 

 

“Well Aidan…” She began hesitantly as she led them on the right lane footpath beside lines of X-wings and Javelin fighterbombers which were being fueled from large hovertrucks. Which could only mean one thing from their new paint and even newer uniformed crews. A large force was being sent out within the next few hours. She gulped down a breath and plunged ahead with what had been on her mind. “...Aidan, I don’t know what this escort means but I have a little clue. I care a lot about you, hell I know you could feel how I feel about you when we were meditating together before...that last mission.” She let out an anxious sigh as they made another turn beside a line of assault shuttles which were being outfitted with new munitions. “I don’t know what you are struggling with, but I want you to know I am here.” They took another turn past a small group of Jedi in their ‘Ace’ flightsuits who gave them a nervous wave which Sandy returned. 

 

“Ahg, not just here but like I want to be here for you. We are friends and I want to help you if you need help.” She flushed suddenly. “Unless I have completely misjudged what is going on then if so, I am sorry again for butting in.” She let out a laugh of frustration and spared a glance back to the Lasat then glanced to Aidan before returning her gaze to the pathway.

[Sandy Sarna]

A spike of apprehension stabbed straight through her heart at his words about the inquisitors. She had not heard any rumours of extrajudicial killings in the name of the lightside and nor did she have any great impression of darkness from Aidan. But did she deceive herself? She let the thought flow through her as fast as the apprehension had moments before. But the answer was before her no matter the direction she turned it. No one was beyond redemption. Not even Relmis, who carried the weight of millions of deaths on his shoulders, had been beyond it. 

 

What was this forlorn death cult that they would condemn someone so caring, and so talented as Aidan to death? But again she asked herself, was she in deception? She let a tendril of the force snake out and touch Aidan, not a forceful probe, but just a touch and it reassured her. There was no billowing darkness, just what she could describe as the weariness that affected anyone so long deployed. But maybe something lurked there. 

 

She glanced again to his face and gave him a warm smile as they turned for another rotation around the bustling hangers. “Surely they would not like kill you if you felt the darkness pull at you?” It was a dour and dire question, so she followed it with another less serious one. “And does he have to stay around like all the time? Can’t I check you out like a library holo from his care since I am a Jedi master?” She hoped it would make him at least crack a smile. But she knew it would only be a matter of hours before they were thrown back into the front of the war. 

[Sandy Sarna]

Had Serenno really changed him that much? She had seen many deaths in her short career as a Jedi, she had been horribly abused and even murdered by a Sith Lord, so she knew this self defeat very well. Even if it affected Aidan very differently, the root was the same. He had turned into the insular arms of his order, while she had once played a blade across her wrists. Both were equally bloody in their end. But Aidan was now horribly distant, more than he had been before their meditation, and that did hurt. But she let it go along with her anger at his order. If they tried to kill him or something that would have been a different story, but she accepted this, and let her attachment fall away. What could she say after all? Could she promise to cut every Imperial Knight down if they tried? No. 

 

With a breath it was gone, gone were the frustrations of the love she felt, frustrations with his order, with his insincere grin. And she replaced it with a relaxed love. The frustrations banished. And that was enough. 

 

She stopped as well as they together caught their breath. 

 

“Well at least I still get to see you, even with such a noble escort.” She flashed a smile to the larger Imperial Knight before looking back to Aidan. “We will get you fit for duty in no time at all.” She lowered her voice so only the two knights and herself could hear. “It is noble to fight, even in a long defeat.” They were not words about the sith conquest or the rebel defense, but the personal fight against the darkside. Its constant pressure, and its horrible face. For while they might each overcome and even vanquish the evil within themselves, one misstep and it would overcome each of them. And the path of the Imperial Knight was a lonely one. One that she would not see him walk completely alone. 

 

“Keep fighting, we will make it through.” 

 

She looked down towards her belt where the red light of a mission briefing was flashing on her commlink. She sighed and flung her arms around Aidan. Giving him a brief hug before turning to his companion and giving him a bow. 

 

“I will see you on the other side Aidan. May the force be with both of you.” 

But she did not tell him that she loved him. For he knew that already. And there would be plenty of time after his ordeal to figure all that out. Right? 

[Sandy Sarna]

Sandy sat looking at her hands as the assault shuttle made its way into the dark abyss of space.She could vaguely feel her friend’s presence throughout the fleet as they began to prepare for lightspeed. She could feel Aidan and his dour determination, as well as his current guardian, Kyrie, and Leena. She gave them both a nudge of reassurance with the force then let her focus recenter on the mission at hand, letting those tendrils of the force drop away into the ether. 

 

There was much to do, and much to think on. And before she knew it, the Rebel Fleet had left Nar Shaddaa. 

[Sandy Sarna]

A message arrived through encrypted datapoint for The Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, Armiena Draygo

 

Grandmaster, I write you this report with some degree of urgency.

 

The plague (See attached photos and virology page) that was reported here has subsided. However, that is the only good news I have to report. The disease originated from some dark side entity which when confronted fled before we could capture or damage it. It has left a wake of destruction in the refugee populations that have settled alongside our temple, with casualties of up to 90 percent of some villages. The plague itself bears some resemblance to the outbreak seen at Mon Calamari that opened the path to the sith conquest of that world. Some residual digging through our archives here point to something locked behind top secret clearance. When I accessed the documentation it referred to something called the ‘chaos gods’, which I find myself most unfamiliar with. If you find time in your schedule, I would like you to come to Felucia and to help me identify the cause of this malady. 

 

Yours in friendship, 

 

Sandy Sarna. Jedi Master

[Sandy Sarna]

A message arrives for the Imperial Knight Aidan Darkfire from Sandy Sarna. 

 

Spoiler

Hey Aidan, I hope this message finds you well. I miss you, though I know that your order keeps you very busy! 

 

I wanted to let you know that I have been dispatched in pursuit of a lead about the viral outbreaks seen on Mon Calamari and Felucia. I am being sent to the little explored world of Vernza-Torrah. If you have time away from your order, or if they think that it would be a good mission to send you on I have included the coordinates and most recent starmap. (Though it has not been updated for over a decade!) 

 

I love you, 

Sandy Sarna