Carida

[Haphaestus]

Though through photoreceptors Haphaestus appraised the wookiee Jedi Master, he perceived in the Force the slithering crack of the shatterpoint creeping from the heavens down to Carida. One strike and it would burst into a trillion shards of possibility, reflected in their facets a myriad futures. An untrained strike would cast the pieces about to land where they may, guided alone by chance or fate. A strategian might time the strike to his advantage and, upon observing the results, attempt to capitalize upon them in a way more beneficial than could his rivals. Haphaestus, however, could see a step beyond and so strike in a way that he already knew where the pieces would fall.

 

His intellect already made him superior to Grand Master Kirlocca. Whatever wisdom the wookiee claimed to have gathered by his acquaintance of years or his mystic augury of the Force were merely whispers of shaky insight interpreted by a flawed mind. The fact that Kirlocca found himself rooted now in Jedi traditions betrayed the lack of sound reason guiding his behavior. Jedi were neither pragmatic nor ambitious; their lack of those key qualities harshly limited their potential for real power. They rejected the things that might otherwise have delivered them greatness.

 

"I might ask you why you have also trained in its art," he stated, motioning again for NYX-1 to return to the ship and watching the little droid head off. "Surely you agree that there is no goal a sentient might pursue that the Force does not enhance. And are there not wells of Force energy that cannot be detected by any mechanical instrument known?"

 

Intellect alone would not often be sufficient to overcome Kirlocca in battle, but Haphaestus enjoyed physical advantages as well due to his mechanical construction. His heavy darkmetal staff, waiting for him in the capable hands of his apprentice, was an optimal weapon against lightsabers. Though the traditional weapon of Jedi and Sith was formidable in well-trained hands, its lack of mass and momentum made it very poor at handing impact, as it transferred the energy of a strike into the arms of its wielder. Even a wookiee would not long find himself able to weather the blows of a stronger being wielding such an instrument.

 

The odds were in his favor even before considering that he was not solitary in his undertaking here. The repercussions of the Jedi Grand Master being slain in the very capital of the Remnant would ripple across the galaxy. The shatterpoint was approaching its critical moment.

 

A comm report found its way to his receiver. The Enyo-class droids, acting under Kitaara's orders, had swept the area, located an Imperial agent, and permanently silenced him. He cocked his head. "It seems that Head of State Zinthos was having you followed," he said. The comm jammer was on, so their presence would have gone unreported. Finally he called upon the dark side, and his staff levitated until it came to rest in his outstretched hand, exposing some aspect of his nature hitherto concealed. "Her concern was warranted."

 

The shatterpoint was struck. There was no available recourse but to fight and win.

[Adwin Antares]

When dinner was over, the leftover food was dropped into the micro-incinerator and the dishes were stacked up in the sink. Adwin and his family were eerily quiet for the remainder of their meal and the clean up was similarly silent. It was as if all of them had swallowed their tongues and were too afraid to mention the tense falumpaset in the room.

 

Arana scurried upstairs as soon as she found a break in the awkward silence and Adwin headed straight to the basement door, eager to continue work on his project. But, a soft hand found the top of his right shoulder before he could key in the door code. He turned, wary of the physical contact, and found his father's puffy red face staring back at him. Splotches of tear stains matted his formal attire and his face was a mess of grief.

 

“I… I miss her too.” Captain Antares said, choking out sobs.

 

With his father’s tears falling freely on his face, Adwin felt his own tears tickling the small hairs of his upper cheek. Hot salty liquid marred the fair white skin of his face and ran down to the floor with inelegant haste. The two of them closed into a warm embrace that only exacerbated the water that fell from their icy blue eyes

 

“I just want you to know, my Son. I’m never going to give you up. I’m never going to let you down or run around and desert you.” Captain Antares chuckled a little in the midst of his sobs. “I’m never going to make you cry and never going to say goodbye. And, I’m never going to tell a lie and hurt you. I love you and always will. To the force and back again, I will do everything in my power to stay by your side in all of your endeavors.”

 

The two of them stood like that, sobbing together, for a few moments. Pain melted at the strength of their embrace. The whole world seemed to stop around them. And both of them let everything out. An entire year of bottled emotions rolled out onto the floor of their house and crashed onto the tile beneath their feet.

Edited September 18, 2017 by Guest

[Kitaara Shiri]

As the darkmetal staff sailed out of her fingertips, wrested by the control of its master, Kitaara broke into a broad grin. The success of the Enyo-class droids was not surprising in the slightest, especially up here in the mountainous regions. The single ISB agent dispatched through the wilderness to track the Wookiee had been woefully ineffective against a cadre of elite droids. Reports continued to stream in through her earpiece: no surveillance equipment of any kind was detected, and the heavily forested area meant that even satellite footage from overhead would not be able to acquire an adequate sensor read to determine their identities. Not only that, but they were far enough removed from the Weyler estate to be well outside of its surveillance boundaries, and many of the townships in this area had suffered heavy damage from the plummeting wreckage of ships. With Imperial attentions turned elsewhere on Carida, all domestic resources poured into attempting to repair the broken fragments of a wounded society, and the droids' jamming in full effect, they were invisible.

 

The staff landed in Haphaestus' palm with a deliberate thud that seemed to silence itself at the perimeter of the trees.

 

Chills ran up Kitaara's spine to the tips of her lekku, and every muscle quivered in anticipation as she clambered higher in the trees. Poised to leap into the fray from above, her movements silent and her presence hushed within the Force, she gripped the warm pommel of her lightsaber in her left hand and watched with keen eyes as the droids announced through her in-ear comm that they were tightening the perimeter.

 

In her teacher's actions, she spied the shatterpoint of which he had spoken. On the pine-strewn soil of Carida, they held the knife on whose edge the galaxy rested, and their actions here would plunge the blade into the heart of chaos; stirring war and strife from one end to another, shattering fragile systems and testing the weakness and strength of one and all. Easily, they could have walked away, concealed their intentions from the Jedi.

 

But a distant drumbeat pulsed in her veins as the dark side cried out for victory, as though the heart of the galaxy palpitated with excitement. Chains would be broken and slaves freed when the cruel overlords of the galaxy were cast down. This shatterpoint demanded blood.

 

And none but the Jedi Grandmaster's would suffice.

[Emily]

It seemed like ages, but finally, Emily was let out of the bacta tank. The medical personnel were strict, and wanted to make sure she would make a full recovery before releasing her. Emily didn't fight them, but submitted to their ministrations quietly and without much comment, answering only direct questions, and then only briefly.

 

One afternoon a few days later, her head doctor came in. "Alright, Miss Skywalker, I have your final test results. There is no permanent damage to your kidneys, liver, or intestines. However, I have bad news. The damage to your uterus was severe. We put you back together the best we could, but it is highly unlikely you'll ever be able to become pregnant again. And even if you were, it would be an extremely high-risk pregnancy due to the massive internal scarring." She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

 

Emily took the news calmly, but numbly. She had had her suspicions all along; if the Cult had been so threatened by her baby that they had--done what they had done--then they would have also done their best to make sure she couldn't reproduce again. She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry too," she replied hoarsely. After a pause, she added, "Thank you for telling me, doctor. And thank you for your help these past days."

 

The older human woman put a hand on Emily's shoulder and squeezed. "You're welcome. On a happier note, you'll be released this evening. Stay safe out there. And may the Force be with you."

 

Once she was alone again, Emily found herself musing over the traditional Jedi farewell. If the Force was going to be with her, she hoped it would be that calm peace she had felt a few days ago, and not the rage and darkness she was accustomed to.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca had things become far more focused as he could feel the Force move, and this Vulkas called a staff to him. It was when the staff moved that he could now sense another in the Force. Things began to dawn upon him for where he was standing. The currents pulling together was a shatterpoint within the Force, as he was sued to finding them with his own form of Wru'torr. He could now sense the falling of the galaxy was where they stood. He had this one chance to prevent a galactic war, the decent into madness, the chance to redeem everything that the Jedi Order had let slide over the years. Now was the chance for the Wookiee to act as the Grandmaster and become a Keeper of the Peace. He had to in order to save Raven Zinthos. Pulling his own lightsaber, the familiar wood and metal hilt. With the snap-hiss, his silverish blue blade sprang to life.

 

<< You are trespassing on Imperial territory. By order of the Galactic Alliance and the Imperial Remnant, you are to vacate this space or be turned over to the local authorities. >>

 

Kirlocca knew that Vulkas would never leave. He clearly wanted a fight. If the Jedi Master could find a way to bring him to justice, he could avoid a war breaking out. This was now the line in the sand. He had to force this Vulkas to back down or engage in the fight and stop the galaxy from being ripped apart.

[DoctorOblivious]

“I wouldn’t ask you to disrupt your training. I don’t know why….” Sophia cut that sentence short, realizing that asking Aidan his motivations to join the Empire’s military after his mother’s ruinous struggle against that same government was perhaps impolitic for the moment. “I mean, I don’t see why it should be necessary for you to take leave so soon. What I’m hoping for is to find out what happened to the people that your mother cared about--friends, family, you get the idea--and to understand their perspective of the war. I’d be perfectly happy with exchanging messages--I just… felt that after our first exchange, I would need to speak to you in person.”

 

Sophia eyed the young man’s investigations of the holocron with some wariness. “I still haven’t been able to get that thing to work. I know that some of the Jedi holocrons have security precautions in place to ensure that only a trained Force-Sensitive can access their contents, and even then, I understand that they can be somewhat finicky.” That was putting it mildly; some of them had security precautions so sensitive that they could even sense the experience of their peruser and prevent them from accessing information on dangerous subjects. “I once managed to get that metal… disk… thing operational. From what I’ve been able to determine, your mother built it as a type of archival device and comlink. It’s filled with records from her time in the Jedi Order--and it’s how I was able to contact you.”

 

Sophia glanced warily at the ebon holocron. The historian thought she perceived a flicker in the glow radiating from within its crystalline lattice. After many hours of poring over the device with her naked with her naked eyes, the assistance of a set of low-power loupes, and even an archaeologist’s scanner, Sophia hadn’t been able to detect anything aside from featureless black crystal. If it hadn’t been for the continual electrical activity that the scanner picked up, the historian might have considered the possibility that it had suffered irreparable damage from exposure to low-atmo in the Gravedigger. Now, after countless hours of being pored over and examined, it seemed as though something from the seemingly-innocuous, palm-sized prism had woken up, was staring back at its examiners, and trying to decide what it thought of them.

 

“You’re not feeling as though it’s watching us, are you?”

[Haphaestus]

Haphaestus stretched his back and arms as he entered a fighting stance, the seams in his carefully-tailored clothing popping as they were put through a range of motion they had never been intended to allow. Becoming visible through the slits and tears was the Sith Master's skin, bluish and pale. His flesh of mysterious nature, his gift from Nurgle and the source of his power; that which he commonly hid from the galaxy and thus far even the hidden Kitaara Shiri in large measure, and that by which he had in turn empowered NYX-1. Absent was any reluctance to reveal it here, to a foe mortal which he believed would soon perish. More important by far was allowing himself the free range of movement he would require to carry out his grisly task.

 

Around him the Caridan wilderness was for a moment still, though from creatures beyond sight and under shadow an orchestra of sounds provided the backdrop for the battle to unfold, mixing with the thrum of his opponent's lightsaber. The stillness of their immediate surroundings belied the nature of the wilds untamed; predation, competition, starvation, and the steady putrefaction of carrion all existed within a few square kilometers. The apparent peace was a lie.

 

Seeing that Kirlocca made his stand, Haphaestus took the initiative. With a great leap he covered the distance to his foe, his staff striking and crossing upon the keen silvery blade, testing its weight against the wookiee's strength. Driving the blade aside, the Sith circled the Jedi, then unleashed series of wide strikes utilizing both ends of his staff and maintaining its momentum to drive him back towards Kitaara, of which he was certainly not yet aware.

 

The contest would rage only briefly. Against Kirlocca alone Haphaestus had never been tested, and so with no empirical certainty could he predict the results of a duel, his reckoning of physical advantages notwithstanding. Against Haphaestus and his apprentice both, two beings who had trained together exclusively in a fashion complementary rather than competitive, not even the greatest warrior would long persist.

[Kitaara Shiri]

Predatory eyes tracked the flash of the icy blue saber as it met her teacher's staff in an odd sort of lovers' dance: parting ways and coming together, time and again, in a whir of color and rhythm. The Wookiee's strength, inherent to his breed, did him credit; few foes could even begin to counter the superior strength that Haphaestus' hybrid limbs possessed. For the moment, she opted to remain hidden, waiting for the appropriate minute to strike as her teacher's familiar style of attack pushed his foe further backward. Soon, he would be standing just beneath Kitaara's perch.

 

Irony filled his words; Kitaara and Haphaestus had not so thoroughly buried themselves in their work as to remain ignorant of the political undercurrents of the galaxy. For Kirlocca to call earnestly upon the transient authority of entities such as the Galactic Alliance and the Imperial Remnant exhibited a short-sighted and utterly flawed view of the galaxy. Those with the power to wield the Force should be beholden to its power alone. The Jedi Master had revealed his chains: a slave of the crumbling bureaucracy, he wasted his power on maintaining antiquated and damned political structures. Dampening his own power and access to the Force by hinging it on the whims of governing entities, he had willfully chosen to bypass entire realms of possibility available to him. And for what purpose? The approximation of worthiness evaporated before her eyes in the foe that faced them now.

 

Destroying him would be analogous no longer to smashing a hallowed work of art. The denizens of the galaxy deserved the fate he had built for them.

[Emily]

True to the doctor's word, Emily was released that evening. She was given some standard quarters to stay in and basically left alone, which she was grateful for. That night, she slept fairly soundly for the first time in--she couldn't remember how long. But in the middle of the night, she had a dream. She was six years old, sitting on her father's lap. John was reading to her, talking through some deep discussion on the nature of the Force. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but the memory was strong and when she woke, she was struck again by sadness at her father's death. If only he was still here.

 

She laid in bed for a long while, lacking any motivation to get up. She knew what she needed to do, but it was going to be painful, and she was dreading it.

 

Sunlight slowly crept across the room, and still she laid there.

 

All in all it was late afternoon before she dragged herself out of bed. She still felt exhausted, and had a splitting headache, but she was thirsty. As she got a drink of water, she realized suddenly how much she wanted to go home.

 

Seizing the motivation that thought offered, she got dressed. The Imperials had provided a simple white tunic with brown leggings and simple flat ankle boots. She had lost her armor and her lightsabers. Not that it made much of a difference. Nothing really mattered anymore.

 

Making her way to the spaceport, she found that the ship that had delivered her here was just being released from lockdown, and a deck officer told her it was being remanded into her possession. "Since no one else has use for it," the man said with a shrug.

 

"It's been cleared and ensured it's free of tracers, right?" she asked.

 

"Yes, of course. It's clean."

 

Emily stared at the ship with distaste. But after a moment, she sighed and climbed aboard. It's just a ship...

 

Slowly, she ran the pre-flight checks and lifted the ship up. A few long minutes later, she had entered space and threw the switch to send her into hyperspace.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca suddenly had to move, allowing for Haphaestus to land and swing without putting himself in danger from the wild looking swings of the staff. Of course, they were not wild, anything but really. The reveal that Vulkas was Haphaestus told the Jedi Master enough about the danger that now resided on Carida and how much his words to Raven would become wisdom ringing loudly. Kirlocca knew enough about biotic hybrid Sith from other Jedi who had reported on him, that he was cunning, dangerous, and extremely tactical in his engagements. For both, this would be a first time. The Sith Master had never engaged against a Jedi using Wru'torr, nor had Kirlocca engaged in a battle where the other was far more deadly as the match went on.

 

Stepping back and making a few spins here and there, Kirlocca used the very essence of Wru'torr to allow himself to spend as little energy as possible while making the biotic hybrid Sith outwork himself. Although, would Haphaestus even get worn out and tired? Could he become fatigued if the duel went on and on? Those were questions that the Wookiee did not have luxury of waiting to find out. He would need to race to end the duel faster then normal. Yet, he could not sacrifice the harmony of the Force and body, which was also key for Wru'torr to be successful. With each movement and second passing, the odds of winning would become less and less for the Jedi Grandmaster. This was the test of all test.

 

Keeping his own mind present on each swing, which brought with each blow a heavy sting felt in his paws that were holding his hilt, Kirlocca was also still very much aware of the other Force user present. He couldn't figure out why they waited, or why they would wish to be avoided, but his only sense was that it was a trap being laid. He would need to keep part of his senses alert to their movements and what they would bring to the fight when they finally decided that they would join. Overall, the first fifteen to thirty seconds of this engagement on Carida was slowly becoming one of the more difficult challenges he had ever faced in his entire 250 years of young life serving the Jedi Order. Now more then ever, he would need to rely upon the Force and it's ultimate wisdom.

[Haphaestus]

Though they maintained between them a vast philosophical divide that had turned them into enemies, the two combatants fought in a way that was not dissimilar in form and stance. For the wookiee, his conservative movements redirected the energy of his opponent's attacks in order to save what strength he could for whatever opportunity arose to counterstrike. Haphaestus' own forbearing movements sought to weary him nonetheless, though each was as minimal as possible to still carry out its planned intent; in this way he conserved not energy by design but time, lest he offered a window too readily in which the Jedi Master could counter.

 

Through the Force each bore foreknowledge of the other's every sway, step and strike, and each strove to make better use of it than his enemy, but in parity of foresight neither could yet find purchase in their blows, nor error upon which they might capitalize. The wookiee's form was perhaps without equal for staving off the power of Haphaestus' blows, his ability to turn them aside a poor testimony to their strength, which was evidenced instead when a narrowly avoided swing impacted upon a tree which shook from bough to root.

 

Lacking muscles and being of stamina untold, Haphaestus guessed in course of time that Kirlocca would falter well before he. But cognizant as he was of the consequences should a third party become aware of the battle, the luxury of time he could not afford. A fair contest of staff and blade was of distant concern behind victory.

 

Inviting a counterattack, Haphaestus held his parry, then withdrew a step. He extended his left arm and from a nozzle hidden beneath his flesh in his constructed frame of metal and circuitry there spewed forth a gout of ignited chemicals towards his foe. Though it gave him great pain as he burned away the protective flesh of his arm, the wash of fire arced brightly across the twilight air between them, tongues of flame consuming the underbrush and setting ablaze a nearby tree.

 

After only a second did the attack cease, and in its wake his physical assault redoubled, seeking some new advantage.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

A highly encrypted comm comes in on Kyrie's personal channel.

 

I don’t know where you are Kyrie, but I know you’ve made me proud. I felt you on Tython, but our paths parted before we could meet. That may yet be the case again as I go hunting Faust who is holding a Jedi Master captive. You know Il-Andon as well as I and that he won’t stand for us to sit idle while such evil roams freely. I sense I was brought back for this purpose. I only pray that I am strong enough to fulfill it. I’m headed to Onderon if you are able and willing to take the leap of faith and the risks that come alongside it.

 

If I am destined to die, rest assured that I will join Il-Andon as your guide. You won’t be rid of me that easily.

[Kitaara Shiri]

Closer. Seven meters.

 

The clash between the opposing masters blinded Kitaara, the silvery-blue of the Wookiee's weapon robbing her of her visual purple. For one who had spent most of her young life in utter darkness, the flash of the Jedi's weapon served simply to irritate. Molten weaponized energy spewed from Haphaestus' arm, driving Kirlocca back.

 

Closer. Three meters.

 

Blows came to blows; staff and saber vying for the upper hand as the Wookiee was driven back by the relentless onslaught of her teacher. As accustomed to his modes of combat as she had become, the cyborg told Kitaara plainly through his offensive ferocity that this was not a match into which he had entered for sport, or even in order to test his skills against a foe with whom he had not yet crossed blades. The feral cat had finished playing with its meal and its hunger was winning out. As the underbrush smoldered in protest, Kitaara's palm gripped her saber even more tightly.

 

Closer. One meter. Good enough.

 

Breathlessly, she launched herself from the understory on powerfully muscular legs, hurtling like a cerulean rocket with deadly accuracy towards the furred master beneath her. Just before she reached him, the ambient light from her auburn blade tempered the fierce blue of the Wookiee's as her thumb caressed the activation plate and it instantly sprang to life. Twisting her wrists, she brought her lightsaber plunging down towards Kirlocca from above, using her physical agility and her prescience in the Force to deliver a surgical strike aimed for the Jedi Master's spinal column.

[Tobias Vos]

Kirlocca's comm beeped- Council message

 

 

 

"Council- Be aware that there is Sith presence around Onderon, presumably as a response of Master Organa's message. I had no choice but to back off or risk casualties planet side. My apprentice and I have left the system, going to try a different approach.

 

P.S. - Does any have a lead on Mass Shadow Generators, we might be able to do something with that?

 

-T"

 

[Aidan Darkfire]

((I just now saw the post! Sorry!))

 

Aidan shifted uncomfortably as his gaze fell back on the black tetrahedron.

 

"Yeah, actually. My hair is standing on end a bit. I wonder if..."

 

Aidan took a deep breath, trying to remember what uncle Kirlocca had taught him a long, ling time ago. Eyes closed, breathing slow and steady...it was how he used to force himself to sleep some nights. But this wasn't trying to go to sleep, this was...something else.

 

The key wasn't to force it...but just...let it happen. He remembered as a kid being able to see a lot more, now it felt like feeling around in the dark, but at least he could feel. Slowly, he reached the tetrahedron, studying it in his blindness. Somehow it felt...different...there was something...

 

Aidan heard a click as something seemed to trigger, though he was uncertain if it was audible.

 

((Leaving the rest to you.))

[Dordjooba the Hutt]

An unmarked comm signal arrives on Caridan bureaucratic military channels.

 

“Hello,” a deep bellowing bass reverberated through the comm static. “My name is Dordjooba the Hutt. I come to the Remnant as a businessman and interested party. I have business to discuss with someone of importance in the Remnant. May I speak with a financial administrator. Or, alternatively, is there a place we could meet?”

 

[DoctorOblivious]

Sophia gave Draygo’s son a sideways glance when he closed his eyes and forcibly slowed his breathing. She recognized Aidan’s intention immediately; the upright posture, the conscious effort to control his breathing in a steady, deliberate rhythm… this was an attempt at Jedi meditation. It was the same thing that Sophia had done in her final and only successful attempt to access the stores of knowledge within the former Grandmaster’s archives, although, most likely, Aidan was actually making accessing his latent connection to the Force rather than simply calming his wrought nerves.

 

The historian silenced a pang of jealousy. Despite being Force-Sensitive, at least in purely biological terms, Sophia was unlikely to ever share that connection to the Force.

 

The holocron flickered to life, a blue-white mist emanating from the tip of the prismatic archive. A smile sprouted on Sophia’s lips in anticipation of the wealth of information that they might be about to access. The form of a thin, middle-aged woman clad in the robes of a Jedi Librarian soon came into focus, standing at roughly knee height. The gatekeeper gave her surroundings a glance, first making eye contact with Sophia, whose smile at their triumph immediately evaporated. Then the figure turned and stared into Aidan’s brilliant green eyes, folding her long, thin hands into her sleeves.

 

”Greetings, cousin.” The holographic figure gave a minute bow and looked into Aidan’s eyes, a small smile on her lips. Her thin, wispy hair was neatly tied into a small bun and secured with a plain wooden stick in the middle of its knot. ”My name is Lachelle Draygo. I am the gatekeeper of this holocron. I imagine that you have many questions you would like to ask.”

 

Sophia, for all her previous composure, had gone pale and was staring at the miniature woman, wide-eyed with horror.

[Raven Nasra]

Worry clouded her mind. It was all that she could think of, she barely knew the Grandmaster, but she was strangely attached to him nonetheless. After fretting for an hour, Raven dispatched a message to her personal guard to find the Grandmaster.

__________

 

After a few minutes of getting passed from bureaucratic desk to the next, the message from Dordjooba the Hutt landed on the desk of the Esteemed Head of State Raven’s desk. She glared at the message before realizing the Moff of the Economy was likely still at the Gala, and unable to answer such a message. She sighed deeply and brushed away the worry she held for the Grandmaster and answered the comm, looking at a face she had not seen for many years. Since her time as one of the Senators representing the Remnant. She had stood beside Senator Serbatoio Veers of Carida, and her old friend Cadio during that testimony.

 

“Doordjooba, pleasure to see your...face again. Are you here to push your spice on the citizenry of the Imperial Remnant?"

 

She glared daggers at him through the comm link.

 

[Dordjooba the Hutt]

A reply came swiftly to the Head of State's witty repartee.

 

Dordjooba's smile was inherent in the sound of his voice. It was impressive that she remembered him from so long ago. With a somewhat genial expression, the Hutt paused before continuing his electronic communique.

 

"No Actually. Not much profit in spice these days. Believe it or not, I am no longer in the spice trade. I have legitimate investments in pharmaceutical companies that help prevent and treat spice addiction. Some might even say I am 'using my resources' to help remove some of the substance affliction in the Galaxy."

 

Dordjooba paused to clear his throat. "I am calling about some business that I would much rather discuss face-to-face than over a comm line. If that is alright with you, Head of State."

 

[Raven Nasra]

Raven nodded and transmitted a landing Clarence that could be used for a three day visit at the luxury landing pad that was dedicated to the use of the head of state.

 

"If it is non illegal business you wish, then please feel free to come visit me with your retinue on Carida. Bring your full financial records, for audit. Thank you."

[Wookiee Jedi]

With each strike landing upon his lightsaber, Kirlocca could feel the weight and sting from the staff that Haphaestus was wielding as his weapon. It brought forth a strange sense of brokenness within his mind. Although, despite such feelings, the Jedi Master could feel his own body becoming more in harmony with the Force. There needed to be a way to open up a more offensive approach against Haphaestus. Suddenly, his swing tingled as he could sense danger radiating from Haphaestus. It took him just a second before fire came at him with a vengeance to burn him alive. Thinking quickly, Kirlocca leapt backwards in the air with all speed away from the fire spray of death. The fire did catch him, requiring a quick push of the Force to blow it out, leaving singed fur on his left leg the size of an ewok's head.

 

Almost as soon as he landed, the attack from Haphaestus had ended, yet there was still a sense of danger that was strong. It was then when he heard a snap-hiss that he remembered that there was another lurking around. The Jedi Master turned to block the blade, something that looked red, yet wasn't quite there. He had managed to turn himself around just in time to deflect the drop attack. On instinct alone Kirlocca was able to mount his own turning kick to the falling attacker. It was only after he had finished his kick that he saw a glimpse of the new attacker who made herself fully known. The blue skinned Twi'lek looked nimble and agile enough to be a real threat as long as he still had Haphaestus to deal with.

 

The sense of urgency was beginning to take a strong hold over Kirlocca. He felt like he needed to make a bigger push. Lifting his right paw, he sent a Force push towards the blue skin Twi'lek, Simultaneously making a sudden leap with great speed towards Haphaestus. His intent was to now put the strong foe on the defensive side in a flurry of attacks that should drive him back. If he could keep up the push, he could also keep the Twi'lek away long enough for an opening that would allow for the turning point.

[Aidan Darkfire]

"Greetings, cousin."

 

Aidan's eyes snapped open, seeing the projection of the small person and listening to the rest of her greeting. Cousin? He didn't even know he had an aunt or uncle...aside from 'Uncle' Kirlocca, anyways...and while his head now swam with questions, it was so overwhelming that he lashed out, swatting the thing away from him as he shoved himself backwards on the couch, trying momentarily to put distance between himself and the thing. It clattered across the floor a few feet, coming to rest at its original state, just an inert but ornate black tetrahedron, the projection of his supposed cousin now gone.

 

"That...that was the Force, wasn't it. What I did." It was a statement, not a question. Aidan had seen firsthand what a Jedi was capable of, and he was even here to help hone his skills. But all this was a manifestation of fragments of teaching he'd remembered and a jagged edge of one meditation session he'd been party to for all of two minutes. "I don't know if I'm ready for this. I...don't know what to do. You're the first person I've heard speak honestly about my mother in years. I haven't heard from my father in twice as long. And now I have a cousin, apparently? I only came here, to Carida, because I figured I could make a difference, but ever since I came here I've questioned whether I'm doing the right thing."

 

Aidan rose, walking to a window and leaving his back to her as he leaned in, watching some troops in the exercise yard outside. The one question that mattered was one that couldn't be answered by the holocron. A part of him trusted this woman, more than anyone else he'd met in a long time. "Am I? Doing the right thing? I came here because the Imperial Knights sounded like Jedi who actually accomplished things. And to waste my gifts...I was always taught to help those I could. And I have, when I could. But I feel I could help more...I just want the warring and conflict to stop, you know? I just..." His voice trailed off.

 

"What would you do?"

[Haphaestus]

Upon two fronts now the wookiee would be required to fight, when even upon one he had been taxed greatly. His immediate approach was sound of theory; with kicks and Force blows he strove to limit his opponents' ability to outmaneuver and flank him. A short time this strategy could buy him, but with every passing second his peril grew, for just as a parry misplaced would be fatal in a duel, now too would be the failure to keep both Sith from engaging him even for a short moment.

 

Haphaestus knew this well. Kirlocca would be required to slay one of them immediately to maintain any chance of victory. And so when the wookiee turned upon him with a great flurry of strikes he weathered it expertly, forgoing his own offense temporarily in exchange for giving his apprentice a moment's time to recover and reengage. He did this with canny direction, however, in all things planning a step ahead; as he gave ground he maneuvered back to the foliage still ablaze from his fiery attack. Matching the wookiee's sorcery with his own, using the same Alcazarin techniques he commanded so readily in the forge, he drew into himself the heat of the flame, and the smoke followed as a cloud until it sheathed him as mist clung to a mountainside. Lacking any need to respire or lungs of any form, and possessing of keen sight in vision spectra unaffected by the haze, he turned it against his biological foe to sting his eyes and choke at his breath.

 

The heat itself as energy surged through his flesh, and by ancient Sith technique he'd learned long ago at the feet of Nurgle, he forged it into bolts of lightning like the Tionese god after which he had been christened. Striking from the haze he unleashed three powerful strikes, blue light dancing off stone and leaf and blade of grass, peeling away shadow with its furious brilliance. Into them he poured his malice towards all Jedi, that which resided deep within his mechanical heart, though often he hid it behind cold logic and reason, his choicest tools for matters not of the dark side. In directing these bolts he chose care nonetheless, lest he imperil Kitaara by directing them upon her position to be misappropriated by their solitary foe.

 

The final moments were coming near. Even as Haphaestus' strikes were unleashed, the Enyo-class droids began to return to their master and their vessel, the area secure. Were the fight not resolved in the moments before they arrived, their added firepower would surely end it.

[Kitaara Shiri]

The Twi’lek dodged the Wookiee’s swinging leg, but the shift in momentum required to do so rendered her saber attack wide of its mark. A tingle of premonition preceded the Jedi’s follow-up attack, a firm shove from an invisible hand, but Kitaara braced herself against it. Instead, she took the energy of the attack and twisted it to her own devices, letting it throw her like a doll even against the exceptionally high gravity of Carida into a back handspring that left her in a low crouch, her burgundy blade held wide in one hand.

 

Mustering her own energy, she broke the plane of the Wookiee’s attack, wriggling out of the onslaught of pressure through the Force. Facing her once more was the Jedi Master’s back, and as crackling cerulean light erupted from Haphaestus on his other side, Kitaara saw her opening and charged, saber held in both hands at a vertical guard, her sights set on the promising target the Grandmaster presented.

[Wookiee Jedi]

With his attacks being so well guarded and defended with every blow, Kirlocca felt suddenly like he had made the wrong choice. Haphaestus was not the one he should have kept his focus upon. It was rather, the Twi’lek. But his own choice was turned into a fault, he could sense something so strongly within the face of the thing that was both machine and man.

 

The Jedi Master had no choice, he turned and had to immediately pull his lightsaber up to defend himself against the surge of lightning erupting forth. It was a rough and lashing version of the technique, Kirlocca was certain he had never seen such a display before. It took all of his own physical strength and pure concentration in the Force to not get shaken and lose his ground. But it was then that he felt it…

 

Pain… red hot searing pain within his very spine. It wasn’t a stab that would take his breath away, but rather a downward slash that drove through his spine, burning fur and almost as soon as everything was done, paralyzing him instantly. His paw dropped his lightsaber hilt, to which the blade retracted upon Kirlocca losing his own focus to keep the blade. His body suddenly hit the ground hard, and it was then that he realized his own visions that he kept having were of this very moment. The blue sky filled with clouds, his own hilt laying on the floor not far from him. The humming of the red blade now coming into focus. He tried to turn like he does within his visions, yet he found himself unable. It was then he heard something within his own mind… Something familiar.

 

"Kirlocca... Let go..." It was the sound of Kitt Fitt, his longtime friend who had long ago joined the Force. He could feel his sudden presence all around him as his voice spoke again..."Kirlocca, it’s okay. You have completed your mission. Don’t turn away, join us..." Kirlocca did his best to keep his own focus on Raven Zinthos, how badly he wanted her to become the leader she needed to be. Dahar, the friend who he felt like he failed. Jaina, the Jedi who had lost her way but refound it. Tobias, how he would need guidance and a friend through all of the trials that were well on the way for him. Then he thought of his own Master, Mari. "But you don’t need to think of me..." Kirlocca turned, and was finally able to move, although he knew better that it wasn’t his own body moving.

 

He saw her… Standing next to Kitt. Onderin Starlisk, Ara-lai Kaipi, Lei-kim Ness all stood behind them with welcoming smiles. "Kirlocca… It is time to join us. Do not mourn for those you leave behind, as you will one day see them again. Do not mourn for the coming darkness, for you have and will always serve the Force. Become a true Jedi Guardian. Bring your body in harmony with the Force..." Somehow… her words brought comfort to him. He could feel his own body letting go now… he was able to move, and he did. He got up and walked away from the battle, leaving behind the troubles of the galaxy. Now he would walk in the Force and into the light…

[Kitaara Shiri]

Time seemed to slow as her blade seared through fur and flesh, carving downward in the Wookiee’s back, rupturing internal organs, collapsing lungs, and sealing the damage done. With the movement of the burgundy blade, the galaxy plunged into darkness; the closed fist of the Sith Empire replaced the Jedi upper hand. A single victorious tear streaked Kitaara’s cheek, not a gift for the fallen form of the Jedi Grandmaster, but an expression of triumph she released into the atmosphere.

 

The knife’s edge had turned, the path of the shatterpoint secured. War would return to the galaxy once more.

 

Seizing the fallen Wookiee’s blade, she glanced at Haphaestus and nodded, silent communication passing between them as the two returned post-haste to the Helios, the Grandmaster’s body levitated before them and loaded onto the ship. Their complement of Enyo-class droids having returned, master and apprentice departed immediately, blasting out of atmosphere and into hyperspace as simply as they had entered, guests at a benefit gala returning home.

 

They had, after all, contributed an exceedingly large sum to the welfare of Carida.

[Aidan Darkfire]

All of a sudden, Aidan lurched forwards, banging his head against the window as he did so, violently dry heaving. Mercifully, he'd not eaten anything recently, else that would have spilled forth. What he felt, though, was a sharp burning pain running through the middle of his back, and a strong smell of the Wookiee he'd once known as his 'Uncle' Kirlocca. Aidan had a strong bond with him, and he always felt like the Wookiee had kept tabs on him from a distance, even after he'd run away from the Jedi to seek his own fortune.

 

But...everything he felt...what he was going through...it could only mean one thing. Kirlocca was dead. Tears ran down the young man's face, though he was still uncertain of it all, every fiber of his being told him it was true. He didn't know how to react, how to feel...so he simply dropped to his knees and succumbed to his emotions. For a moment, though he didn't know it, Aidan shone in the Force, a mourning funeral pyre for his uncle and friend and mentor.

[Raven Nasra]

Raven sat alone at her desk pouring over datapads of the ordered Imperial II Star Destroyers, figuring what increases were necessary in conscription and salaries for the several hundred thousand personnel these new fleet increases would require. Revenue would have to be increased. She sighed and began to compose a memorandum to the Moff Council for an increase in rev-

 

Suddenly she felt a presence. Pure, unadulterated, loving, the feeling of closeness from Kirlocca, and then suddenly a white blinding pain that shot from her heart to her spine, through her body and out. She knew that she was screaming, but she couldn’t hear the sound, and could only feel the hoarse escape of breath. She could feel each stab of pain, it was dreadful. Bile roiled up from her stomach and she realized that she was standing, black hilt of the old lightsaber in her hand. Its red blade humming and sputtering in front of her as she instinctively held it in defensive posture. Her body shaking with the pain that reverberated from her heart. Like a sudden wind, the presence and pain was gone. Leaving behind a hole in her heart. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she struck out with the lightsaber in desperation, carving the desk in front of her into a smoldering hunk of slag.

 

With each swing of the saber a long splash of molten metal and obsidian flew into the air, peppering her clothes and arms, burning deeply and setting her clothes to smoke. The pain was the only relief she could feel as she struck again and again, datapads and the obsidian desk melted into slag before her until the fire suppression systems filled the room with missing steam. With a flick of a finger the blade disappeared and Raven was left in near darkness, the cool water of the fire suppression systems coating the long burns that covered her. She sat in the middle of the room, sobbing uncontrollably as her spirit became hard and resolute.

 

Finally she stood and looked at the bewildered troopers that had made forced entry she waved off the medics and stalked into her personal chambers. Her eyes drying and becoming hard points of amethyst light. She pointed to her ISB Ubiqtorate Lieutenant, and he followed her into the room. She looked at him, her voice a growl.

“Find where the grandmaster went. He was killed here on Carida by agents of the Dark Side. You and your men have full powers for enforcement as per Emergency order 503, you have no protocols to restrain you. Track his comm device’s location until you find his body, keep me informed, and if you find anyone responsible, they will have no trial. Execute them on the spot.”

 

All outbound traffic was tracked and stopped. All departures from the moment of Kirlocca’s death were backtracked. If no body was found, they would have more leads. There would be no hiding from the Empire.

[DoctorOblivious]

The historian never felt the wave of distress that coursed through the Force, her sensitivity being only slightly more developed than utter blindness. However, Aidan had clearly felt it, having recoiled from the plush armchair and slammed his face into the window. Sophia rose from her chair, accidentally knocking the holocron from the table as she moved over to grab Draygo’s son by the shoulders. Even though she hadn’t experienced the disturbance, Sophia knew that something terrible must have just happened: the death of an extraordinarily powerful Jedi, a destructive event on a planet-killing scale, or awakening of an eldritch abomination...

 

“Look at me. Blink a couple times.” Sophia looked into Aidan’s eyes for a moment, checking the size of his pupils. He’d hit his head against the window pretty hard; she could already see a bump swelling on his forehead, and there was a possibility of concussion. At the very least, he’d probably have a dreadful headache in the morning.

 

Sophia thought back to years ago, when she and Armiena had been all but inseparable, working together shoulder to shoulder in an attempt to guide the galaxy out of the hell of the final months of the Civil War. In those dark days, when the Empire was on a resurgence and even the most aggressive offensives launched by the Republic were failing to find purchase, the Jedi Grandmaster would sometimes repeat a mantra to herself when she was alone.

 

I am proud of where I am. I am proud of who I am working with. I am proud of what I’m working for. She would say. At first, the words were spoken defiantly, Armiena staring into her reflection with a set jaw and with conviction. However, as the months of monitoring the final days of the war in the isolation of a Jedi Praxeum continued, and the casualties mounted, and the losses of entire fleets and generations of Jedi and soldiers continued, the words were whispered desperately. Months of sleep loss and being cooped up in the Jedi enclave had stolen the color from her face and left heavy bags under her eyes. Still, the mantra continued, all the way until the last, desperate days of the war.

 

“Are you proud of where you are? Who you’re working with? What you’re working for?”

[Aidan Darkfire]

Aidan groaned as Sophia checked him out, and he still felt nauseous as he rose to his feet, bracing himself against the wall. He couldn't believe Kirlocca was gone, but he'd need to deal with it later. He was still in enough shock that he could shove the emotions aside, and deal with what was in front of him.

 

"I...literally just joined the Empire. Hell, I don't even know if I'm proud if what I am and what I've done."

 

Aidan let a small pause pass between them, before thinking about it a bit and continuing.

 

"But...I believe in what the Empire wants to do. I believe that the Imperial Knights are a step in the right direction from the Jedi Order, and I believe Master- um, sorry...General Kyrie to have those ideals close to her heart as well."

 

That was as good as anything, right? Blind faith was better than no faith, at the least, or so the young man reasoned. Passion was something the Jedi preached against, but passion directed properly could heal worlds or break them. And passion was one thing Aidan had felt a lot of lately.

 

"I can't tell you much about my childhood. I barely saw my parents, enough to know their faces, but I knew Gramma and Kirlocca pretty well. Um, Misal, I think her name was...never really called her that and only heard it a few times. They were the ones mainly that ferried me to the next hiding spot after the one we were at got compromised and the Sith closed in. I never saw much fighting."

 

He knew nothing he could really say would be helpful, but he still wanted to help her as much as he could. While he had certain misgivings for his parents, he always had felt closer with his mother. His father was always distant and never invested time to intentionally see Aidan. Kind of like how in a different dimension a green man named Piccolo had raised a boy named Gohan, but nobody would even understand what that meant.

 

"Where will you go? When you're done, I mean. I mean...you don't have to leave if you don't want. I'm sure the general could arrange accommodations for you if you like."