The Eternal Vigilance (The Maw)

[Horus Saast]

"I've flown before sir."

You always had a way with understatement. You were practically raised on this model. He took a seat in the captain's chair, and grasped the controls. For a time he simply sat there and checked the gagues, but finally it was time to bring the ship into sublight speed. He didn't know where they were, but he did know that he was ready to start training.

 

((Hope this is the right place.))

[Apollo]

Raziel watched as the water covered planet of Manaan came into the forward view screen. It was a magnificent view; of course better then any picture he had seen. The small island city below them was amazing in its construction and would be quite the treat to stay at. They would work with breathing techniques, reflexes, and some defensive training here.

 

”œVery good, our time here will be well used and well enjoyed.”

[Horus Saast]

"There is no emotion; there is peace.

There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.

There is no passion; there is serenity.

There is no death; there is the Force "

 

He had learned this not long ago, although it felt a lifetime. The world they were on was beautiful, and was covered mostly in water. He would probably have time to swim.

 

"Where are we Master?"

[Apollo]

It was quite good that he already had the code memorized; it would come in great importance at times. He continued to idly walk down the hallway, followed by his padawan. He politely greeted those he passed by, encouraging Horus to do the same.

 

”œWe are on Manaan, tonight we rest up. Tomorrow”¦we test out your reflexes.”

[Horus Saast]

Sitting across from his master, Horus allowed his mind to drift. As the sun set over the shoreline, he thought of his childhood on Chandrila. His mother would have been breaching the surface with him, as his father would watch and draw. But those days were over, cut short by the empire. He would have never known that the trips they took were to rally support for the rebellion, or to train the green recruits into speciallized combat operatives.

 

There is no emotion; there is peace.

There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.

There is no passion; there is serenity.

There is no death; there is the Force

 

It was soothing really, to simply have only the code in his mind. He sat on his bed meditating for the remainder of the night.

 

As the dawn broke over the seas, Horus woke. First he practiced his stretches, and next his Kata, armed and unarmed. The silver beam of the practice saber, and its soft hum, helped focus him. He whirled the blade about, performing complex maneuvers that would be impossible with traditional blades.

 

Stab, Parry, Thrust, Block, Stab. He continued on for almost an hour, occasionally hitting himself with the blade. It hurt, but only so much that he knew when it happened. Afterwards he went for a swim. The water was cool and clear, perfect for swimming. It had been a long time since he had an oppertunity to enjoy just floating. After some time, he came back into the hotel, and began to cook breakfast for him and his master.

 

"What shall we do today, Master Shardik?"

[Apollo]

Raziel was awake before dawn, out side. His violet blade penetrated the early morning darkness as he practiced and furthered his training. His padawan was coming along quite nicely, once he was finished taking him around the galaxy and training him some then they would return to the temple. It would be good for him to associate with some other padawan's like himself.

 

The violet blade was all but a blur with the green Twi'Lek in the middle of it. He was not the strongest Jedi, nor was he the greatest, but known of that mattered in the end. He was a Jedi none the less, he would train every morning and evening of every day. He was quite graceful though, his movements were fluid in everything he did. The way he walked, carried himself, and used his weapon. One parry fluidly moved into another attack.

 

After another good hour or so of practice he returned inside and began to meditate working to find his balance again. The combat training was good, but it had for some reason or another always off set his center of balance. Piloting on the other hand”¦always brought him closer to it.

 

Raziel looked up at Horus as he spoke; he had felt him practicing as well. He also felt when he moved into the room. The smell of breakfast lured him from his position on the bed”¦it had been sometime since he had pleased his stomach with something good and not just rations from his ship.

 

”œToday, well today we shall test your reflexes and hone your vehicle operations skills. We will be taking a swoop each out over the water. Perhaps when we finish up we could both enjoy a nice swim.”

[Horus Saast]

"Another swim sounds nice." Horus nodded. He set out the plates and silverware, and added two glasses of water. The meal was spartan, crepes, sausage, and potatoes, but it was well cooked and would be noutricious. Horus had looked forward to this since first arriving at the temple. He had just "Rescued" Shy, and they were there to help find her master. It's sad, He thought She never saw him concious. What had happened to her he didn't know. All he knew was she had ended up on Mimban at about the time of the jedi attack, and had died. He hoped she had found Darex in the end, but from the darkness he felt as her force atman passed over him, he knew this wasn't the case. He hadn't seen her in the temple, so she probably hadn't been recloned by then. But the last time she was cloned she ended up where she started, on Tatooine! As soon as my training allows I will go and search for her there.

 

The food tasted good, but more because the ingredients were good, rather than his cooking skill. His skills lay elsewhere.

 

"Master, this part that I searched for on Hoth, what is it for? I know that cycling field generators are used to make high output energy beams, but this one is the smallest I have ever seen."

[Apollo]

Raziel ate his meal quietly, observing his padawan. Something was troubling him. The taste of the food was extremely good, even more so because he had not eaten real food in some time. He savored the taste of it, but still watched Horus. He pondered Horus's question, thinking over just what he would tell him about it.

 

”œYou will know in due time Horus.”

[Horus Saast]

"Shy never saw Darex awake, and now she is dead." He took a sip of water, and set his glass down slowly.

"But she may still be cloned again. The last time she died she arrived on Tatooine, and I found her there. I will search for her, I owe her that much."

[Apollo]

It was an interesting thing, Raziel had met Shy once before. She always seemed to be in some kind of trouble or another. He helped save her one of the times, when he had still been but a padawan.

 

”œNever you worry Horus; the force will watch over her and take care of her. I was actually planning on taking you to Tatooine next; we will look around for her when we head that direction. She seems like a strong, self sufficient girl so I am sure she will be quite alright.”

[Fracas]

Sorry wrong Alias.

[Horus Saast]

His master had taken off with incredible speed, out over the water. Horus hopped on top of the remaining swoop and shot off behind him. The swoop was like his speeder, the controls were of the same layout albeit without the blaster controls. Horus sent his swoop flying sideways past his master, laying it almost parallel to the water. Returning himself to an upright position he pulled up next to his master.

 

"What do you want me to do?" He asked this telepathically, doubting that he would be able to be heard over the roar of the engines.

 

((Woops))

[Apollo]

Raziel felt at home once more behind the controls of a vehicle. He connected with it, it become an extension of his body almost to the point of being like his saber. He had always loved piloting ships and vehicles of all sorts. He received Horus's inquiry through the force, but rather then answer it outright he would show him.

 

He focused, found his center. He closed his eyes and through the force stirred up the water before Horus. He would have to make split second decisions in order to not be tossed off of his swoop”¦but eventually he would realize that in order to succeed he would have to give his will to the force and allow it to guide his hands. Once he did that, he would be fine for the time being.

[Horus Saast]

The water in front of Horus began to churn, throwing flotsam into his face. He moved left, and it moved left; he moved right, and the disturbance moved right. Thinking it might be an undersea predator, he attempted to outrun it. In that instant, the water shot violently into the air. In an attempt to control his swoop, he sent the vehicle into a controlled spin. He landed away from the disturbance, but it was soon beneath him again. What is this? The day was calm, with nothing more than a gentle, balmy breaze from the shore.

 

There was something wrong, inexplicable, and apparently unavoidable going on here. Watch through the force, Horus. You're training to be a Jedi now, and you'll have to start thinking like one. He looked through the force, centering himself, and adding that sense to his conciousness. The disturbance was caused through the force, but the next step was how to avoid it. Master Vortex said that you can let the force guide you. Horus disengaged, allowing the force to lead him. Now he was coming towards the shore line, with beautiful white sand and lush foliage behind it. If he didn't change course he would hit one of the trees. As Horus turned back towards the sea, the waters geysered into the air a second time. But the force was with him. The swoop suddenly accelerated backwards, and the waters subsided.

 

Horus pulled up beside his waiting master, hovering almost a foot over the waters.

"So what was that? I'm guessing you caused it. How did you do that?"

 

((Sorry that took so long, RL happened.))

[Apollo]

Raziel watched his padawan, ready to move in if things got out of control. He handled himself quite well; his reflexes were also coming along nicely. Raziel glanced out towards the edge of the sky as far as he could see; admiring the shimmering blue that was the ocean. He only turned back once Horus spoke.

 

”œYes, like I said we would be testing your reflexes.”

[Horus Saast]

"Yes master." Horus removed the top of his robes and placed them in a saddlebag. He had seen where the bag went down, and would probably be able to retrieve it with relative ease. Standing on the seat of his swoop, the Padawan reached upwards and force jumped into the water. It had warmed some since the morning and the fish were much more active for it. At first they shot away from him like so many tiny little bullets, but when they realized that he wasn't a threat, they began to take little note of his passing.

 

Master Shardik had picked an area of dense coral to toss the bag down. The water was deeper than he would have initially expected, it was a continental shelf, one moment only two metres deep and a good fifty metres the next. The bag was nowhere to be seen, and his master had not physically taken it to its final resting place. I wonder if I could feel for a trace of where he touched the bag? His force signature was easily recognized after spending the time that they had together, and it was little trouble to find the bag through the force. The only problem was getting to it.

 

Horus first tried what his master had recommended, pumping Adrenalin into his system in increased albeit safe amounts. He increased his nervous system's sensitivity, and increased his lactic acid threshold. This helped but there was still more that could be done. He made his pores secrete the slick substance that allowed him to move more quicly through the water, and with less effort. Finally he reached the small terrycloth sack, suspended from a piece of kelp. The return trip took less time than normal, because Horus could flush the exess Nitrogen build up in his bloodstream without waiting to decompress first. The young man leapt onto his swoop completely under his own power as his mother had taught him.

 

"More parts, Master?" He asked puzzeled upon emptying the contents of the bag.

[Apollo]

Raziel patiently waited for his padawan to finish his task. He slipped into a trance like state until he heard the water break and his padawan resurface. He smiled as his padawan completed his task. He was progressing quite well, he was very proud of him.

 

”œVery good job Horus. Yes, they are more parts and soon you will have all of the required parts. But for now, we must go. Now, we can stay here for the rest of the day or begin to make our way to Tatoonie. It is up to you.”

[Horus Saast]

Horus and his Master took the swoops back to their pens, and all the while he had been thinking. He was eager to get to Tatooine, but there was much this planet had to offer. Finally he came to a decision.

 

"We should probably start off for Tatooine. For what would I need these parts? I knew what the last one was, but I don't recognize this."

 

They packed their bags and made for the ship, where Horus tossed his bag into a locker. The padawan turned to his master,

"Would you like to fly, or shall I?" He was finally able to do this without any major disruption to his motor functions.

[Apollo]

Raziel turned to Horus after receiving his message threw the force. He had already finished gathering his own things up and was only waiting on his padawan now. He spoke with an aura of subtle confidence about him.

 

”œNow, Horus. The force is a great ally, but it is not one to be used every chance you have. It will always be flowing through you, but only use its power when it is necessary.”

[Horus Saast]

He followed his master into the ship, where he sat in the copilots chair. He turned up to his master, and wondered aloud -

"Master, what can you do with the force, apart from the Blast, Push, Pull, and other things I've learned?"

[Apollo]

Raziel ran over the pre-flight checks quickly preparing for take off. He glanced at his padawan as he spoke then turned his attention back unto the ship as he replied. ”œThey are a great many things you can do, but I can not show you all of them. I am going to show you a particular useful technique soon, after that we are going to Ilum.”

[Skye Organa]

Serenity came out over the water planet of Manaan, it's pilot sending out the codes to allow access to the Eternal Vigilance. After docking in the underwater mobile base, Skye shut down her ship, leaving I-Nine onboard while she went through to her son.

 

"I'm sorry Krishna, I shouldn't have let my temper get the better of me..."

 

She paused for a moment, her voice still laden with grief, before leaving him to his own thoughts, he would come to her in his own time. She left the ship, moving into the Eternal Vigilance, feeling guided to the room in which she had gone to the first time she was here. As if following a pattern from before, she sat down in the middle of the floor of the tranquilly decorated room to recite the Jedi Code, the only difference this time was that she had tears streaming down her face, her thoughts upon the padawan she had just lost, the one that she'd created a bond with. In one way or another she had lost all of her padawans, each one having experienced death. Even she had died alittle with the death of that 'original though modified' body, when she'd had this one cloned and her awareness shifted into it.

 

So much had changed, so much had been lost. In the time since she had last been here, she'd had a family - and lost all but one of her children, their father out to destroy her, she had lost her brother, Nahstaa. Darex, Rizzy... Fynn. Everyone that had mattered to her had been taken from her in one form or another. Skye let her grief out, another emotion to release and let go, that she blamed herself for his death. Fynn... I wasn't there for you... I hope wherever you are, you can forgive me... I hope both Darla and Niv can forgive me for not being there for you...

[SithAcolyte]

As her ship descended into the atmosphere Darla searched the planet for any settlements. She was surprised to find that Manaan was a water planet. Worse than that, it was a stormy water planet. Torrents of rain poured from he heavens. It seemed that even the planet was crying. Darla was still disoriented from grief and pain. while the ships sensors searched the world for any land Darla went to get a first aid kit and bandage up her damaged hand. She could have healed it through the force, but didn't have the strength to. When Darla arrived back at the cockpit she was a little alarmed to find no land masses at all on her sensor screen.

 

There was only one thing to do. If this was the right planet she would have to find Skye's presence through the force. Reaching out with her senses she touched the place in her mind that was bonded with Skye. Her presence shined like a beacon. A screaming beacon of grief, loss and sadness. It was then that Darla reminded herself that Skye loved Fynn too.

 

Still weak and confused Darla could only get a partial sense of where Skye was. She must have been underwater in some kind of city like the ones on Mon Calamari. Reluctantly Darla sent out a comm message.

 

"Skye...We're here. I've never been to Manaan, is the Eternal Vigilance a city of some kind? I can't find you." Darla's voice was hoarse and crackly, threatening to break into tears.

[Niv]

Niv was rapt, no, she was obsessed with constructing her lightsaber. She was entirely absorbed in the undertaking. So lost in it, was she, that the entire trip through space seemed to take mere minutes. When the signal sounded through the ship Nivana shook off her dogged preoccupation with her weapon. She quickly gathered up the left over parts, set them mindfully into a satchel and moved through the ship.

 

With each step she took the weight of her sorrow multiplied two fold. The hurt returned with a vengence. She swiftly adopted a cloak of denial to shield herself from any and all pain that rained down upon her at the thought of Fynn. She would let herself grieve in time.

 

"Skye...We're here. I've never been to Manaan, is the Eternal Vigilance a city of some kind? I can't find you."

 

Niv heard Darla's pained voice from within the cockpit and it caused her to halt. The sting flared up again... Niv shoved it sternly away. She was able to hold her sorrow for Fynn at bay, for the moment, but was still distressed at the agony Darla must be in. She continued on into the cockpit and peered out at the turbulent planet before them. "The storm that rages, rages torpid, compared to the tempest within." Niv muttered, remembering something her grandmother had said once...a long time ago. Niv hadn't truly appreciated the allusion of the words until now.

 

Niv looked down at Darla, noticed her bandaged hand, but didn't comment on it. She wanted to offer words of condolence, but none would come. None that could truly help ease the other's suffering. She placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and squeezed it gently, letting Darla know that she was not alone.

[Skye Organa]

Hearing Darla's sad voice coming over the comm. Skye brought her's out to answer. Giving her the location of where she was to come and the access code required for the underwater base. Her tears hadn't ceased, her voice not hiding her grief either.

 

"I'll... see you when... you get here..."

 

Skye had thought that being in this tranquil room may have helped to ease her grief, though it hadn't. For she wasn't only mourning Fynn, she was grieving for Amon and Morgana, of the family that had been a happy one until Tzeentch destroyed it. She'd had a look at the footage once she'd gotten into the new ship, had watched it even during her pain over Fynn, had seen how everything had changed on Yavin IV. Krishna's and her home gone. The place where she had trained Fynn... gone.

[SithAcolyte]

Darla shakily put her hand on top of Nivana's and offered a weak smile.

 

"Thanks..."

 

After Entering the co-ordinates and letting the ship descend beneath the sea on auto pilot, Darla gathered a few things up into a small bag. She looked over her shoulder to Nivana.

 

"It times like these when everything we've learnt goes straight out the window...Suddenly the galaxy seems bigger and crueller...I keep wondering what Id do if I found Fynn's killer...Would I show mercy and compassion? Or would the darkside take me over?" There was slight chill to the tone of Darla's word.

 

"Let's go see Skye. There's no-one else Id rather be around at a time like this."

 

Once the ship had docked, Darla spared no time in finding her old friend. Darla could feel her pain burni9ng through the force. The closer she got the worse it felt. The worse it felt the quicker Darla walked. Soon she found herself running. Until Skye was within reach. Darla said nothing at first and wrapped her friend in a tight embrace.

 

"It's so good to see you...I thought that you had died too..."

 

The icy anger that Darla had felt on her ships descent melted away. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but not in mourning for Fynn. She cried because seeing Skye Organa alive filled her with joy.

[Skye Organa]

"Darla"

 

Skye returned her friend's embrace, needing the comfort as well as giving it. Her glance went to Niv, wishing to include her in the embrace so she wouldn't feel left out. Her eyes went back to her best friend,

 

"I would have... if I hadn't of taken precautions, but I did alittle I guess you could say, when the 'old body' got killed. Tares and I worked together to shift my awareness to this one before I sent the 'orginal' off to that battle. They sent all their Champions to Maltauros, whether we wanted to be there or not. I sent a clone in my place and so did Shy. He wanted me dead, all but one died there. I think the others have been revived or something, but he... He's destroyed my family Darla, I only have Krishna left, I have no idea where Amon or Morgana are and he changed Yavin so you wouldn't even recognise it, Darex couldn't find Amon, he took footage of what it's like now. He stripped me of the force too, I've only just got it back... just before... Fynn... he never liked Fynn... I haven't heard any details on how he died, but I just know it has something to do with him... "

 

She knew she was blabbering, but she couldn't help it, the words just spilled out. It was so often that she was the one giving comfort, so often that it seemed this was the first time that she'd actually had a friend with her to comfort her in turn.

[SithAcolyte]

Darla couldn't believe it. Everything she had seen her vision, the terrible battle, her friends dying...It had happened. Rage and grief battled inside Darla. Part of her wanted to give in to the darkness within, she wanted to tear apart the souls of the men who had done this. Part of her just wanted to surrender the fight and succumb to the grief. But neither part swayed her. Skye was alive and although they had lost Fynn, she would be eternally grateful that Skye was still with her.

 

"I can't believe it! The bastard... Amon...Magana..." New grief added to Darla's pain. She had been there at the births of both of Skye's lost children. They had been like family to her. Fresh tears filled Darla's eyes but these ones were tainted with anger and bitterness.

 

How could they rebuild their lives after this? How ere they supposed to go on?

 

Darla's fear had been proved horribly right. whatever he was man, god...Tzeentch was evil. How could anyone so brutally destroy the life of their children's mother? How could anyone destroy their own children? Darla was truly sickened. She cursed her feeble body. She wished she had the strength of a true Dark Lord. She wished she could do to Tzeentch what he had done to so many others... But the sad true was there was absolutely nothing she could do.

 

For quite some time Darla held onto Skye and wept on he shoulder. When she had calmed down somewhat a thought came to her. Alora and Ryu had been in her vision as well. She had felt Alora's passing...she wondered what had become of them.

 

"Skye...At the battle, did you see a Sith woman? She's very beautiful, she used to be..." Darla couldn't think of a name to describe what Alora was to her. "...a friend of mine. Her name was Alora. I saw her in my vision with you...and Kakuto Ryu. He was there too. Was this all real? What happened to them?"

[Niv]

She followed along side Darla and kept up with her slowly speeding pace...until Darla broke into a run. Niv decided to hang back, her own pace slowed to lazy looking stroll.

 

Alone, she thought about what Darla had said in the ship, "It times like these when everything we've learnt goes straight out the window...Suddenly the galaxy seems bigger and crueller...I keep wondering what Id do if I found Fynn's killer...Would I show mercy and compassion? Or would the darkside take me over?"

 

Niv wondered the same. How would she react if she ever came face to face with Fynn's murderer...whoever or whatever it was? A knot of considerations formed in her mind but before she could untangle them Nivana was standing in the doorway staring silently at Darla and Sky embracing. She stepped forward to join the two but decided against it. She didn't want to intrude on their reunion. Niv leaned against the door jamb and rested her hand on the hilt of her training saber. She closed her eyes and battled back the hideous sorrow that was trying to rear it's head yet again.

 

She could hear Skye and Darla's conversation and felt even more that her presence was an encroachment into their private territory. She opened her now tear dampened eyes, watched the two ladies and was glad that they found some solice in each other's fellowship. Niv wasn't easy with such interactions. In times of grieving she'd only ever found solice in cold, callous solitude.

 

She cleared her throat and forced a smile. "I'll be back." she said quietly, not certain what the proper protocol was for taking leave from such a situation. "You probably would prefer some privacy. So... I'll get out of your hair. For a bit. I need time alone... for a little while. Anyway." Niv shifted uneasily, some part of her wanted to remain and try to find some semblance of comfort in the presence of Darla and Skye. But the greater part of her concience urged Niv to run and find comfort in the ever waiting embrace of seclusion. She turned and left before they could say anything, knowing it was rude to do so but Nivana had to hold herself together in her own way.

 

She roamed quickly through the halls, suddenly feeling as if repressed emotions were about to burst her open at the seams. Niv stopped and slumped against the wall. She took a few moments to calm herself then whispered, "Why did you have to die....damn you." Anger suddenly sparked to light, a brilliant glimmer in the midst of her nebulous misery. Nivana began to fantasize about what she'd do to Fynn's killer if she had the power and opportunity to inflict justice on the creature who murdered her master.

[Skye Organa]

Skye had seen Niv walking off, part of her wanting to comfort the padawan of her old padawan, part of her just not wanting to move. She again became the consoler as well as the consoled.

 

"Amon, Morgana, they're not dead... just... gone. I'd know it if they were dead. Krishna... I... he's upset too. I said somethings I shouldn't have, told him... I could teach him how to kill his father if that's what he did want... stop his heart... stop the oxygen flowing round his mortal body. I... gave into the pain. I... just hope I haven't made it worse for him than it is already. How do you comfort a son of a god that just does things like this on a whim?"

 

She again rested her head against Darla's shoulder, more hot tears streaming down her face from the bitterness she felt towards the father of her children. How could he do this to us? Where was Amon... Morgana...? Her mind caught the words Darla spoke... another friend there? As well as Ryu?

 

"There were many there. Nahstaa, a Serpent called Rocketblaze spoke with me. I think there was a beautiful woman there, had the taint of Slaanesh about her, was talking with Armiena. Ryu... I think he killed both of them... as he did the clone I had sent in my place, and as well as Shy's. Wouldn't surprise me if he had won that battle. The viciousness in which he pulled the wings off my clone..."

 

She fell silent again, having seen everything her clone had seen. It was why she felt that part of her had died there with it. And Tzeentch, he hadn't let that part of her awareness go without tainting it first... coz she wouldn't fight for him... Skye shook her head, the tears ebbing to a halt for the moment.

 

"I... don't know if we should stay here or go to Helix. I haven't been back there since I was carrying Morgana and it has moved once more. The administration officer told me where it was. I... got rid of the Destiny's Dream. Anything you had on it has been transfered along with my things to the new ship... 'Serentiy'. I ... didn't want any reminders of him... and Chen did give me that ship."