The Eternal Vigilance (The Maw)

[Daben Celt]

.:Amusing. Vladimir Faust has once again outdone himself. His ability to find a way past anything truly is remarkable. He could be a powerful ally. Not in this lifetime, though:.

 

::A dark air filled the entire area. It would be associated with Faust's attack, but it was something much, much worse::

[Hou-Jo Poleb]

Hou-Jo was just outside the main chamber when he became cold. Soon after he heard the laughing voice of Vladimir Faust. He was alerted by this and activated his lightsaber. He turned to see if anything else was there when he collapsed, lightsaber losing power when it hit the ground.

 

The wind had just got knocked out of him. Was it Faust's attack? He picked up the hilt of his lightsaber and stumbled back into the room, using the walls to support himself. He was sweating profusely. He wiped the water from his brow. He had suddenly fallen ill, it would appear. He fell back down again, feeling sick in his stomach. Something was wrong with him. He began to shake a little.

 

He closed his eyes. He tried to meditate, to calm himself, but it wasn't working. He couldn't find peace. There was no peace to be found... only chaos. Peace was a lie.

 

He grabbed a hold of the wall above him and pulled himself to his feet. He buried his face in his hands. What was he thinking? How could he be so stupid? How could he possibly have thought that way? How could he put up with this for so long?

 

He lowered his hands to his side. Never a better opportunity than right now. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy.

 

Hou-Jo opened his eyes. He lifted his hands into the air, his fingers pointing in Kaipi's direction.

 

A violent maelstrom of energy came from his hands, blindsiding his old friend. Ara was knocked from her standing position and thrown against a wall. Hou-Jo walked toward her, eyes yellow with hate, filling her body with Force lightning. He could feel her pain. He enjoyed watching her suffer. He gritted his teeth as he tried to kill her. Not only was it Force lightning, but it was a chain lightning, so it traveled from Ara to nearby Jedi. First Aryian, then Armeina, and finally Onderin.

[Dagon]

::Darkwatch fleet elements, already enroute to recover the net bomb components, wipe out the Nightcloak satelites in a co-ordinated strike bomber and warship assault. Daylight is restored to Manaan in a matter of hours.::

[Damon]

As Darkwatch entered orbit and started destorying the cloak system one by one Damon used shadow to station to destory the laser cannon on one satellite and then used a tractor beam to draw it in the hangar.

 

As fast as Shadowstain had nerutralize and capture the satellite Shadowstaion vanished once more. Once abord the droids with in the station disablied the communications and powered down the satellite.

[Ary the Grey]

------------Blur---------------

 

Aryian's ship, analyzing the situation, immediately sends the deactivate codes through an unjammable short-range E band signal, shutting the generator down for safe pickup. All over the yellow nets of energy dissipate, falling silent. The ship tries to update Aryian on the situation, but finds it can't communicate with him, yet it makes a link with something it hadn't linked with in some time. Intrigued, the AI delves into the link, following remote commands from another source...

 

 

-----------------Aryian--------------

 

Reality hurt. This is a known fact throughout the entire universe. For eons people have been enlightened by this very simple fact, and coming to accept it had changed the lives of some of the galaxy's greatest revolutionaries, and enlightened the minds of the best known religious leaders. To understand this one small fact was to realize that nothing was perfect, nothing was free, and everything had a price.

 

But for Aryian, the phrase was literal. And very real. His body reeled as the lightning struck him in the back, lifting him and throwing him against a wall as if he were nothing. This, in turn, knocked the wind out of him and jarred his nervous system like no other, causing his clothes to smolder after he was cast far enough away from the lightning to break out of the chain.

 

He rose, his body aching as if a Bantha just tap danced on his head. But this was nothing compared to the things he had experienced before, although it was certainly a new experience, one he decidedly didn't like. However, it did have him in the proper mood: pissed off. Twin lightsaber hilts jumped from their places on his robe, igniting on their way to Aryian's outstretched hands, drawn by their master's pull. Silver light shimmered on those present, catching the remainder of the lightning angled towards Armiena while he lashed out with the Force, blasting Hou-Jo's lightsaber away from him and grabbing his throat, pinning him to the ceiling with a single band of Force around his throat.

 

Many looked on for a second, wondering if Aryian and Hou-Jo had gone mad, wondering what to do, when as one they sensed it as well, the strong Dark taint within the other Jedi Master. Too strong to simply be emotional conflict...this was the Dark side in its purest form. Aryian let go, allowing the choking man to fall to the floor as he crippled the internal circutry of his lightsaber through the Force, crushing the components with a quick mental whim.

 

"What have you done, Hou-Jo? Why turn against us again?"

 

Aryian kept his lightsabers on the defensive, ready to catch any other Force lightning Hou-Jo was ready to send his way. His Force senses were completely focused, he would know what was coming before it came...and he knew it would come. His mind worked, beginning already the battle thought patterns he was trained on so well, even though in the back of it all, he knew it was the same thing he wanted to leave. Why did it come after him, like a curse?

 

"Stop this, and it will be forgotten. This is your last chance...I sense the dark within you..."

[Hou-Jo Poleb]

Hou-Jo was taken by surprise by the instant grab at his throat. A Jedi normally didn't employ such an aggressive tactic. It was undeniable, Hou-Jo's skill with the Force. As a Jedi he was considered a hero and was held in regard as being one of the most powerful of the Order. This would be a designation these Jedi would regret.

 

Hou-Jo's eyes widened, visibly unaffected by the choke hold. His eyebrow twitched, as a result of his mental exertion. He relieved the pressure around his throat and was powering out of Aryian's hold. Darkfire released him and let him fall to the ground. He crushed Hou-Jo's weapon and 'let him go', probably to preserve morale. He had to let the Jedi assembled there know that it was he that was in control of this situation, not Hou-Jo.

 

Hou-Jo began to close a choke on Aryian, in return. It was more difficult then he thought it would be. Aryian was still the same bumbling padawan he once was in the eyes of Hou-Jo. He put up quite a fight. He undoubtedly felt the pressure around his neck. Hou-Jo believed, that certainly, he would eventually win out and get a lock around his neck. He did not have time for that, though. He was around several of these... dogs. He let him go before he even got a grip on his neck.

 

"Me? Turn against you? The Jedi turned against me. All I ever did was serve this pathetic collection. I gave up my life for you. All I EVER did was for the Jedi. You! It was you! You turned me away! I went after a perceived threat and you punished me for it! You threw me off my Council! It was mine! You had no right!"

 

He pulled Ara's lightsaber from her cloak, as she was too weak to even try and keep it from him. He turned it on. The iridescent blade hummed ever so slightly.

 

"You wish to fight me, Master Darkfire? You're no match for me. I've moved mountains. I've brought down entire buildings. I have created failproof fortresses. I am beyond you. I am smarter then you. If I were to give this up you would just imprison or even kill me. You can't just forget that I have the powers of a Dark Lord."

 

As soon as he said the words Dark Lord, he suddenly had a thought. A foreign though. A lightbulb went off, if you will. He fixed his focus on Aryian again, with a smirk.

 

"You refuse to act on my "transgressions". You refuse to fight back at me and avenge my assault on your loved ones. Maybe you're afraid. Afraid you can't beat me. Or maybe, just maybe, you're just weak. You were always weak. I looked at you and thought 'He'll never make it. He'll never mature. He'll never be a great warrior.' And you're not. You. You're nothing. Nothing but a coward. You're powerless. Not like me. Someday I will be. I will be even more."

 

He deactivated Ara's lightsaber and put it inside his cloak. "Be seeing you."

 

Hou-Jo backed out of the room, into the outer chamber he was in earlier. He used the Force and threw countless obstructions at the door, to block his exit. He turned and walked to his ship. He got inside and sped off Manaan.

[Onderin Starlisk]

Onderin's only warning of the attack was an intense darkness that rushed into the room a second before Hou-Jo Poleb turned aggressive. He saw the lightning attack a half second before it leapt at him and the others, but he wasn't fast enough to prepare his defenses.

 

As he was tossed off his feet, he harnessed a certain amount of the energy in what had become trained reflex. Still, the pain was intense as the dangerous Dark Side power tore through him. He was able to control his landing, however, and as he rolled to his feet, he grabbed for his lightsaber....which was gone.

 

Blast, he thought. It's still on Gala. But a Jedi was more than his lightsaber, and Onderin's body fell into a fighter's stance, his fists raised defensively. If a fight broke out, he would compete without a lightsaber.

 

He watched as Aryian and he who had been Hou-Jo exchanged a few words and apparently some Force-based attacks. Then he watched Hou-Jo flee, clearly outmatched despite his arrogant words.

 

"He mustn't be allowed to leave," Onderin said urgently. "We should send word to whoever's destroying the nightcloak" (Onderin had figured out what it was pretty quickly) "to prevent his escape."

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian watched Hou-Jo flee, relieved he had not tried to fight against him. He was a strong warrior, but Aryian was far better when it came to close combat, whereas Hou-Jo specialized in the Force, regardless of studying Juyo extensively. It was interesting, the lies he spat as he left, the level of corruption he had really fallen to. Ever since Hou-Jo had betrayed the Jedi, Aryian had expected something like this to happen, an it was no big suprise...but at his wedding?

 

He disignited his sabers, standing up straighter and stretching out a bit, the stinging sensation in his muscles not the most pleasant in the world. Silently he tapped into the Force, using his and the other energies in the room to heal those that needed it, for the most part it was relieving the pain that was caused by the electrical attack. Hou-Jo was right about one thing, something Aryian picked up in his thoughts. Aryian had been choking him. And it felt better...like relieving a great amount of built up stress. He knew he was only protecting his wife and the wedding guests, but they were also perfectly capable of defending themselves. No...he had fallen into his trained stances once more, and again it ended in violence. Sith seemed to swarm to him magnetically...

 

"He mustn't be allowed to leave, we should send word to whoever's destroying the nightcloak to prevent his escape."

 

Aryian looked towards Onderin momentarily right before feeling Hou-Jo's presence vanish.

 

"No...it's too late. He's gone. We were right to let him go...Is everyone alright?"

 

His mind reached out to Armiena, connecting with her to see if she was allright. He thought momentarily about asking her if she wanted Hou-Jo tracked before thinking better about it.

 

"We should get out of here. His betrayal could run deeper than we originally thought...plus...well...it would be good to be in a safe location."

 

Aryian was thinking about their honeymoon, wishing they could go to Naboo, but he knew inside this was not a possibility, and was thinking another plan of action would be needed.

[Xen-Que Poleb]

Xen-Que stood motionless, in complete shock of what had just happened. Aryian spoke of Hou-Jo's betrayal, that he had betrayed them in the past, and this was to have been expected. He made himself visible to everyone in the room.

 

"Hey! That's my brother you're talking about!"

 

Xen-Que collected himself. Such an outburst was not like him. He sat down. "Hou-Jo only ever wanted to be a Jedi. I don't care what just happened. He's not a traitor!"

[Prince Vegeta Isolder]

Isolder shared Xen-Que's shock at Hou-Jo's betrayal. He had never much cared for Hou-Jo, but the man had always displayed loyalty to the Jedi. The conduct of Faust and the subsequent actions of Hou-Jo were very strange. Isolder had a strong feeling they might be related to the missing super weapon.

 

Of course, perhaps Hou-Jo just went insane. I can't ignore that possibility.

 

Isolder was not sure what was going on for certain. But he did agree with the newly wedded Aryian. It was probably wise they vacate as soon as possible.

[Ara-Lai Kaipi]

Everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, and before Ara knew it, Hou-Jo was gone, and one of Ara's lightsabers gone with him.

 

From her vantage point on the floor, Ara glanced up, trying to catch her breath. Sanare, on the other hand, was glowing a very angry red, simmering in it's sheath.

 

"Why..." Ara coughed. "Why do people always, always steal my lightsabers?" She rubbed her throat gingerly, working the Force through it to heal the damage that Hou-Jo had done, as well as to ease her nerves. "Blast it. I could try and track the thing with Sanare, given the similarity of the crystals, but he's probably too far by now." The Jedi banged her head on the ground before attempting to stand up. However, she instead wobbled and fell back on the ground.

 

"Ah, what a brilliant Jedi I am. Blindsided by a friend, and now unable to stand on my own two feet." She glanced at Isolder, her eyes shining with thought behind her glasses. "I wonder if that blade you mentioned somehow had something to do with this...? Hou-Jo isn't always the most conventional of Jedi, but I would never doubt his alliances until...well, that."

[ObliviousKnight]

My brow tightly furrowed from combating the pain of experiencing Force Lightning, I eventually came to, just in time to see that Poleb had already fled before his former comrades could subdue him. I groaned weakly, aware that the chill of my face indicated that I had been instantly transformed from a properly blushing bride, into an unconscious woman, her face pale from excruciating pain.

 

It would have been incredible, if I hadn't been the one experiencing it. From such perfect joy, to such perfect agony”¦

 

”œI'm”¦ I'm alright.”

[ObliviousKnight]

((This is not the double-post you are looking for...[/handwave]))

[Syn]

An-Dur phased into the backdrop, disappearing from the view of the Jedi. Though, still present to them, always. He stood near the wall, resting his back gently against the cold durasteel, letting the slight chill dance across his spine. He raised an idle leg and rested that too against the wall, folding his arms across his chest as he did so. He stood silently watching peace unfold all around him, intermixed with the commotion of chaos, but peace nonetheless.

 

The ceremony was a joyous and beautiful one and he was truly glad that he had been able to witness the wedding. Such happiness before him, gave him hope for himself and the future. An-Dur was also saddened by the fact that no one had answered his question, though at the very same token couldn't help but be happy as well. At least he had safety of mind in not knowing, no matter how much it bothered him. He could always hope and prey that he was one day able to be a Jedi.

 

Soon, the wedding ended, not without its mishaps though, two communiques burst through the joyous mood, cutting it like an arrow piercing the heavens. The first was from a group called Darkwatch and their net bomb, then a short while later, after the ceremony another message came for the bride and groom as well as all present. It was a sinister message from the Empire and one of its goons. Who had apparently prepared a gift for the newlyweds and their guests, though his threats seemed hollow and devoid of execution. Though, several minutes later, he was proven wrong as the very air turned deathly cold, all the warmth from him was taken away. He felt naked in the midst of dozens, instinctual-ly he dropped into a low martial stance, ready to defend himself against any threat. He would not yet draw his blaster pistols, lest he became the problem.

 

Though, with the ever passage of time came the answer to that problem, the warmth returned to the air and An-Dur took this as a sign to leave. Before anything worse could happened; he would leave. The young Zabrak quickly caught sight of his friend and waved good-bye to him before he disappeared into the long expansive corridor. After some time of blindly searching he found the correct hanger, keyed in the disarming sequence that would drop the boarding ramp and walked up it. He turned one last time to face the Jedi temple, a solemn tear streamed down his face as he turned away from his destiny, then he pressed a button of the keypad and watched as his ramp raised off the surface, waiting for it to snap-hiss shut.

 

Aboard his ship, he quickly headed for his room and changed back into a dark blue tunic and trousers. An-Dur had never known how big his ship truly was until he was alone on it once again. Haunted by that thought he sauntered to the cockpit, went through the preflight checklist, recheck them. Thumbed the ignition switch and waited as his ship slowly rose from the surface of the submarine, he pulled back on the control stick and his ship responded by turning around. An-Dur pushed the throttle forward completely and the Unlucky 7 lurched forward.

 

Just as before he completed the aerobatic routine before his ship rocketed from the atmosphere and into the dark lonely expanse of space.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads opened his eyes.

 

He had been meditating, on what, even I know not. All that I know is that when his eyes opened, a new flame burned in them. He knew something. He had made a discovery through his intense introspective search. He didn't actually notice Hou-Jo, or the events linked with him, but he did know that Poleb had just done something...Damn IJA member.

 

But Hou-Jo had nothing to do with this new fire burning within Ads. He had reached a conclusion, and he knew this: It has started.

[Prince Vegeta Isolder]

Isolder looked gravely at Ara.

 

"Hou-Jo has always been a fool. Now he's gotten himself in over his head."

 

His rebuke of the absent Hou-Jo complete, the Blademaster debated his next course of action. Kirana seemed distracted, and he felt Xen-Que's suggestion was very important. If there was something they could do to stop this weapon, they had to start trying. Isolder thought about pursuing Hou-Jo, but there was no proof the man had been affected by the sword. Even if that was the root cause, he was already turned. In Isolder's mind, it would be less likely to help them find the Esrever than the Blademaster spirit's advice. The path was clear.

 

"That sounds wise Armiena. But I must pursue a different course for now. I will follow the word of Xen-Que and go to Gala. If you wish to follow me Kirana, I will welcome the company. The choice is yours."

 

Isolder departed abruptly, returning to where Moon had landed the ship. He entered,

 

"I trust you heard everything that was said. I believe it is our duty to do as Xen-Que asked. But since this is your ship, the choice is yours my friend."

[Xen-Que Poleb]

Xen-Que got up and walked towards the nearest exit.

 

"I will take my leave from this world, meditate, and search, and try to see what else I can find out about this."

 

He looked out to the sea of Manaan. "There is good in him, Isolder. Still... there must be."

[Ara-Lai Kaipi]

Ara nodded thanks to Armiena's mother, wincing slightly. Healed or not, burns still hurt, and the brain seemed to take longer to catch up on the fact that there were no longer wounds than the body. "I appreciate the help, Miss Draygo." Her words were uncertain; she still wasn't positive as to how the woman would like to be referred to during conversation. "I've met with Force lightning before, and I can say with unfortunate experience that the only thing worse than that is a disruptor blast."

 

It was then that she noticed the gauntlet that Armiena's mother was using to heal the wounds. You tend to take healing abilities for granted when surrounded by Jedi... With her good hand, Ara removed her glasses to peer at the glove. "That's an interesting implement you have. Quite useful, too. Again, thank you." The Jedi left it at that--if either Armiena or her mother wanted to elaborate on the gauntlet's origins, it was up to them. Ara wasn't one to pry.

 

Ara looked to the new bride and the obvious leader of their group. "I'm not sure I've ever been to the Temple on Phu, to be honest, so I'm not sure I have the coordinates. I'm assuming that Hou-Jo is aware of it as well?"

[Ary the Grey]

Aryian shuddered for a moment as he remembered the planet Armiena mentioned, one he associated with one of his more recent comas, one due to an accident rather than using the Force cycle. Looking back on his life, he seemed to have a lot of injuries, many of them related to his line of work...shaking his head, his attention returned to the matter at hand.

 

"No...not Phu. It's too valuable a place to be found out should our enemy try to track us instead. I suggest Ilum...we have three facilities there, after all. Not to mention..."

 

Aryian scratched his head, remembering something very specific he did a while ago.

 

"A building I built for you. Us, rather...to have the wedding in. Now, it's just another monument to the Force. The coordinates are in the Jedi database, unlike Phu's..."

[ObliviousKnight]

I glanced at my gauntlet for in surprise as my mother removed it from her hand””its index finger suddenly emitted a brief shower of livid sparks.

 

Whoa, whoa, I'm a person, not an ”œimplement”

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kirana had been shocked by Hou Jo's actions. In hindsight she probably shouldn't have been after she heard what had happened on another of the bases during the battle against Black Dawn. But for him to turn on his own kind... He killed many of his own kind before when he destroyed the base... The voice came unhindered into her mind.

 

With everything happening at once she hadn't had a chance to answer Isolder prior. She would however, investigate with him. She was curious about this Moon Knight though she didn't have a problem with it if he was trustworthy.

 

"I will head to Gala and look into it with Isolder so I shall delay heading to Ilum for now. I will see you all when I see you. Congratulations Armiena, Aryian. May the Force be with us all."

 

With those words she took her leave, recalling her ship to land on the EV. Arriving in the hanger shortly after Isolder, she watched him board his ship. She gave a wave in his direction, indicating she would follow. Her own ship landed soon after, to which she boarded it, telling her droid to take off and to set the co-ordinates for Gala. Leaving the EV, Kira took a moment to look down on the ocean where they had just come from. She hoped that they could settle this disturbance soon. The Lost Soul left the atmosphere and rocketed into hyperspace.

[Gavin Ryaro]

Gavin listened to the Grandmaster's comm then turned to his master.

 

"Master, shouldn't we be leaving, like soon?"

 

((I'm just trying to get a post out of you, what am I supposed to be doing Damon?))

[Darth Furion]

Before reaching Manaan space, Julio exited hyperspace and activated the ships cloak and crept towards the planet. He kept the ship just outside planetary sensory range. It was an unnecessary precaution, but you could never be to careful. As an added security measure he pulled his presence in the force to himself, his signature being little less than noticeable. It would be more than difficult for even the masters of that misguided order to sense anything was out of the ordinary. He set up his ship's sensors to monitor ships coming in and leaving the planet. Dominique was right to send him to Manaan. The amount of Jedi on the planet made no attempt to cloak their numbers or the power of those present. It was as if they were begging for attention. He leaned back in his seat, waiting.

 

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

[Onderin Starlisk]

Onderin nodded at Armiena. "I'll be on Gala, preparing the fleet," he said, then turned and headed back to the Lambda shuttle he had arrived in. He had no pilot, but had rather come on his own. The boarding ramp lowered as he approached, told to do so with minor Force use.

 

Then he was swiftly up the ramp and, moments later, in space. A moment after that, the Admiral was on his way back to Gala.

[Moon Knight]

Moon Knight nodded. "I guess we're going to Gala, then. Better strap in," he said, doing so himself. He had initiated the pre-flight check-ups as soon as he had sensed the conversation was coming to an end, so the ship was already primed for lift-off.

 

Engaging the repulsors, ShadowFett maneuvered the ship off the surface of the floating ship that was a Jedi Temple and swung its nose around to face the vast reaches of space above their heads. A quick controlled thrust sent them on their way.

 

As the sky around them darkened and the stars made themselves more visible, Fett calculated Gala's jump coordinates and laid them in. When they escaped the watery world's gravity well, he pulled back the hyperspace levers and made the transition to that great beyond....

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads, responding to the message from Armiena, headed for his ship. When he got there, he found that R10 wasn't there.

 

"Damn droid."

 

Ads turned on his comm and called R10.

 

"R10, Where You At?"

 

Ads then waited until R10 arrived at the landing platform, and they both got in, but first Ads opened the cockpit.

 

Once in, they left the Eternal Vigilance, and headed for Ilum.

[Ary the Grey]

----------------Orbital Space-------------------

 

High above the EV a friendly starfighter with the transponder code Blur smoothly coasted back down to the ship below, returning from an errand it had made to the Shadow station. Now weighing a tad heavier required minute calculations to precisely maneuver, as the cargo it now carried weighted a bit more than its master and counterpart, the Jedi Aryian Darkfire. Still, it reasoned, it was more than capable of the feat, and decided to not be irritated as it returned to the EV's hangar. About that time, it's interlink with the Jedi's mind provided it with a very interesting piece of information as it heard Armiena, now Aryian's other counterpart, request the Jedi that his ship be placed inside her own, the Ghost Breath. This ship was as kin to the Blur, and it was of no dificulty to change the landing parameters and trajectories to accomplish the feat, sending a quick electronic greetings to the sister ship as it did so. After the task was complete, it notified the Jedi of its progress, before powering down into sleep mode for the journey.

 

 

------------------------Aryian---------------------------

 

"It's...already there? How is that even possi-..."

 

Aryian stopped mid sentence, rubbing his head. He was highly confused as to his ship's actions, how it had even known to dock with the Ghost Breath in the first place. These occurences seemed to be happening with more frequency, and he knew it was time to re-tune the AI's subroutines. He turned back to Armiena with a helpless grin, poitive she was already half in the loop as to why he was momentarily confused. Besides, right now wasn't exactly the time to get frustrated, it didn't take a Jedi to tell what she was thinking.

 

He offered his arm, re-clipping his two lightsabers to his belt with his other hand.

 

"Let's be off, then."

 

((Permission to control Aryian to Ilum.))

[Adenn Galaar]

A highly encrypted and untraceable comm came in for Mrakhh.

 

((Check your PM's.))

[Ara-Lai Kaipi]

Ara blinked at the gauntlet and offered a quick apology. Given that Sanare can talk, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. In any case, time to go.

 

With that, Ara went to her ship and flew off planet into hyperspace.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Everything happen so quickly that Kirlocca was as confused as Holden was. The wookiee didn't hesitate to rush him and the boy off to the hanger bay to get a ship that would be flyable. As he raced around the ship, he noticed that Kitt took Holden inside the ship and prepared him for the flight for Kirlocca. Within seconds, all three were off the planet and making the jump into hyperspace.

 

((I had permission to post Kitt's actions.))