Star Wars Star Wars: Episode VII: Twilight of the Dark Force: Maelstrom

OOC: Combos with @Sinrebirth and @Mitth_Fisto

IC: Barriss, Qel-Droma, and Sam

Jakku

Barriss was thankful for the mask she wore, since it protected her from the sand that would otherwise be flying into her face as she and Rey rode across the desert landscape.

As they rode, Barriss found herself reminded of Mirial. It was a desert planet as well, but it was a cold desert, closer to Jedha than Jakku. Thus her species was not used to or comfortable with hot environments like this. Not that Barriss had spent much time on Mirial. It was not even her birthplace, since she had had been born on a starliner instead. The only times she went to Mirial when she was a Padawan. She and her master Luminara had gone to Mirial together a few times and during those trips Barriss had been able to learn more about her culture. Even though she had a Jedi, Barriss was still allowed to practice some of her people's customs, just like Luminara was allowed. She was still a Jedi first, of course, and Barriss mainly saw learning about Mirialan traditions as a way to get closer to her former master. Some of her fondest memories were of Luminara sharing their Mirialan culture with her.

Barriss was so distracted by this trip down memory lane, that she didn't notice the flames rising in the distance until she felt Rey gunning forward. This startled her slightly and she looked up to see where they were headed.

She didn't need the Force to tell her that something bad had happened.

But the Force did tell her something important, since she suddenly felt a chill that was colder than even Mirial's deserts.

The dark side.

It was here.

Behind her mask, Barriss grimaced and her hand instinctively reached toward the hilt of her lightsaber. She had a hunch that she would be using it shortly.

-

Sam had no time to mourn as her frontline of troopers went down to blaster fire. Casualties were expected. She heard Cardinal and Phasma give the orders to charge, which was a risk. But a quick sweep of the enemy's positions told Sam that their defensive formation was weak, easy to break.

Cardinal and Phasma had their job. She had hers.

"Acknowledged," she said as she heard Rae's voice buzzing in her ear, promising air support.

Then her eyes landed on the other Force user that was on the battlefield.

Darth Riina.

It was at least not Darth Caedus himself, thank the Empire for that. But Sam didn't exactly trust her odds against Riina either.

Of course, she didn't have to win. She just had to hold out long enough for Cardinal or Phasma to get what they came here for.

And that meant distracting a Sith Lord.

Sam pulled out her lightsaber and ignited its pure white blade, knowing that it would attract attention. That was one of the advantages of a lightsaber, how many would focus on it instead of anything else happening around them. It was a good strategy for the heat of the battle.

The First Knight strode into battle, deflecting laser bolts aimed for her head as she made her way straight toward Riina.

Qel-Droma's change was left where it fell. As the woman turned and became consumed by the conflict raising around her he felt a small measure of calm settle within in him.

This battle was definitely being taken up a notch and he knew his part to play in such a thing. Looking at his guards he began sizing them up, trying to tell if he could overpower one and escape? Or possibly if they were distracted enough in the battle for him to attempt to simply walk away.

Those self-same guards were paying absolutely no heed to Qel-Droma, which was a dangerous game. Indeed, they both raised their blasters and tried to catch the attackers in a cross-fire, their bolts rebounding off a silver-Stormtroopers armour -

Behind Qel-Droma, however, the speeder with Rey and Barriss was arriving, in the middle of a firefight, and the guards that were not watching their charge turned and lifted their blasters to fire at Rey and Barriss, the younger woman releasing a shout in warning -

Darth Riina barrelled through the engagement, cutting down a Stormtrooper, gesturing aside Cardinal for a moment to slam into another trio of troopers, and then saw the white lightsaber blade. The unknown Force user was heading straight towards her, and Riina turned from Cardinal, having intended to gut him, deflecting an opportunistic blaster bolt into a trooper's helmet and sending it tumbling off his bloodied forehead.

The trooper, a FN, scrambled away from Riina, and her sharp eyes saw he was heading towards the two troopers she had left to guard Qel-Droma, who were facing him, but targeting a speeder bike? Riina ignored it, conscious that there was a lightsaber ignited before her.

One of the enemy 'troopers dove away from a grenade into her path and Riina decapitated him smoothly, her cloak flowing as she advanced on Sam. Opening her mouth, she issued an order before they crossed the threshold - they were in range of each other.

"Flame troopers!"

The concealed troopers, two of them, leapt up to douse the advancing First Order line -

Then Riina swung for Sam's neck with Force enhanced speed -

When Barriss saw the blasters being pointed at her and Rey, she acted quickly. She launched herself from the speeder, leaping over Rey's head and landing on the ground in front of them. In her hands was a lightsaber and she ignited its green blade just as the blasters of the guards fired. Her blade danced, redirecting the laser bolts with ease. And with that, a third lightsaber had joined the battle as Barriss announced herself.

Sam, meanwhile, stepped back as Riina's blade missed her neck. She allowed the momentum of the attack to carry Riina past her before she swung her lightsaber, aiming for Riina's arm in an attempt to disarm her opponent. She had not yet noticed the third lightsaber that had just revealed itself.

Taking the conflict as his chance Qel-Droma lunged at the nearest guard! He aimed to get the man in a one armed sleep hold while gaining control of the blaster arm so he he could turn it on the other guards. If successful he would try a shot at the flame troopers while running away.

Qel-Droma took down the one guard, the sleep hold absolute in the surprise the man felt. The bolt he fired? It flew with the blessing of the Force, and hit the backpack of a flametrooper - and exploded, consuming the entire squad, a wave of heat buffeting all present -

The detonation tossed a stormtrooper into Qel-Droma, sending him tumbling into Barriss -

Rey dispensed with the other guard with a flick of her staff, sending him into unconsciousness when the flame pushed her to her backside in the sand. She looked over to the other three, as the 'trooper held up his hands. "I'm FN-2187," his eyes flicked from Rey to Qel-Droma to Barriss as he tried to stand. "I'm a member of the Resistance, undercover with the First Order!"

The lie he told curdled in the Force, but his panic was genuine.

Riina saw the other lightsaber but had to focus on the white-blade in front of her, tilting and twisting her wrist to get her red-blade up between them. From beneath the block she lashed out a boot and caught Sam in the stomach, and the Sith Lady backed off, her eyes roving - the exploding Flametroopers put her at a numerical disadvantage; a comlink fluttered to her mouth as she glanced at the knot of people struggling in the sand by a brown speeder bike - and she saw the metal glimmering in the sand; fallen in the tumult

The data.

The map.

The Force told her that much.

"Contact Lord Caedus, I've found it."

Ignoring Sam and Barriss and Qel-Droma and Rey and FN, she gestured a hand out to yank the data to her -

Barriss turned to the stormtrooper. She could tell he was lying, that was obvious enough to her. But she could also sense his panic, his fear.

He didn't want to be here.

She nodded at the trooper and turned to Rey, who she imagined must have been shocked to see Barriss holding a lightsaber. "You two need to get out of here," she said casually deflecting a laser bolt. "It's too dangerous."

Then the Force spoke to her and she looked down, spotting something in the sand.

It was metal.

Whatever it was, it flew out of the sand and toward the outstretched hand of the woman with the red lightsaber. Now, Barriss wasn't entirely sure what the object was or who the woman was. But she did have a pretty good idea that if someone with a red lightsaber wanted something, it probably wasn't a good thing if they did get it.

So Barriss reached out her hand and stopped the map as it flew toward Riina, instead pulling it toward her.

And while Riina was focused on the data, Sam saw her opportunity. She used the Force to throw sand in Riina's face, temporarily blinding her as she swung again to disarm her opponent.

Having been knocked down, turned around, and somehow alive and successful Qel-Droma found himself beset by people. One stormtrooper told an obvious lie about being a Resistance mole. One didn't need any special abilities to tell a rat trying to save his own neck from a true article. Actions as always spoke louder than words, and this trooper had nothing but words.

His rescuer's seemed to accept and disregard the trooper, Qel-Droma would do the same. But he would also never turn his back on the man either. That was when he noticed something shiny get pulled out of the sand and his hand instinctively reached for the hidden pocket/pouch to find it distressingly empty! "The Map!" he cried out in a strangled yell to these people around him. Already one was moving to save the object, he wanted to fire to help, but with that glow stick in the enemies hands he feared he would merely get himself killed instead of aiding in any true method.

Switching the weapon to stun he aimed at her feet and fired.

Eyes smothered with sand and relying upon the Force to keep her from being killed by Sam, Riina couldn't handle everything, and she snarled, annoyed at the resistance she was facing.

Breaking the Force grip to focus on the stun shot, she reflected it back at them and the young Rey took it full-force, flattened to the ground. The ersatz Stormtrooper rushed to her aid, even as the map slapped into Barriss' hand!

There was noise in orbit as TIEs began to fight, screaming at each other, two different variants of design; Sam would recognise both TIE/FOs and TIE Starhunters, a squadron of each, which meant the Finalizer had moved against the orbiting Sith Star Destroyer. More Sith landing craft were evident, and they looked likely they would arrive soon, a trio, each carrying twenty more GAG soldiers.

Phasma and Cardinal were both calling for a retreat before they lost everything; a Sith Lord hadn't been apart of their plans.

This was going to get messy.

Riina deflected aggressively Sam's attacks and pushed off the ground with the Force, disengaging to land atop a First Order transport, and then she gestured to hurl the other at Sam, Qel-Droma and Barriss!

She wasn't even looking what was happening, she was fleeing, her comlink in hand, towards her own ship.

As Barriss felt the map fly into her hand, she also heard Rey's body hitting the sand. Immediately Barriss rushed to her side and helped the stormtrooper lift her off. Fortunately, Riina was distracted, which gave Barriss and the stormtrooper the chance to bring Rey back to her speeder.

"We need to get out of here!" she told the stormtrooper, sensing the arrival of more transports. She looked down at the map in her hands, wondering if it was indeed what she came here for. She would figure that out later, but right now her priority was to get these two away from the battle. Once Rey was on board the speeder, Barriss instructed the stormtrooper to get on and make sure that Rey didn't fall off. Then Barriss climbed on as well and gunned it, hoping to get clear before the Sith Lord's attention was on them again.

As for Sam, she agreed with Cardinal and Phasma. Retreat was ideal. Riina did not have the map, since Sam saw the unknown figure with a green lightsaber take possession of it. If they got away with the map, at least it wouldn't be in the hands of the Sith. Though interestingly, San noticed that one of her own stormtroopers were with the masked figure and the girl, who looked to be a local. Was it a defection during the heat of battle? Or was he just going with the map?

It didn't matter. If this stormtrooper stayed close to the map, then the map itself would be easier to track down. The figure with the lightsaber may have been wearing a mask, but their companions weren't. So if they found the stormtrooper and the local girl, there was a good chance they would find the map with them.

That was the new plan now, at least. As those thoughts were racing through her head, Sam saw a transport being hurled at her and she dove out of the way, while Barriss wasn't anywhere close to it. Then Sam saw Riina fleeing, not even looking to what was happening around her. She was clearly distracted and, seeing an opening, Sam pulled out her blaster and fired a few shots at Riina while her back was turned.

Qel-Droma was heard and then forgotten. That was all he could surmise as he saw the one with the Force steal the map and hasten to flee on a speeder bike. The one who had been fighting the Sith merely dodge the incoming ship and he felt no aid from anyone. Trying to flip and run to get clear to his shuttle he screamed out, to one and all. "Black-boned maggots!"

There was a firebolt from the sky, and his ship detonated, showering the burning village in debris - and hurling Qel-Droma back.

The speeder was, brutally, his only option, as if the Gods of Mortis were amusing themselves with his fate.

Riina spun out from the battle and took a shot on her arm, hissing as the leather there burned and moulded into her skin, as such outfits were want to do. Ripping her cape free, she sent it after Sam to strangle the Force user so she could escape.

The sky was becoming thicker with TIEs, mostly unfriendly, and troopers retreated to the sole remaining transport. Everyone needed to get going, before this became a true bloodbath.

Sam swung through the cape with her lightsaber, slicing through it. She saw Riina fleeing, but ultimately she chose not to pursue. Sam knew that she had to get her people out of here before their losses became too great.

She turned back to the transport and began shouting orders at any stragglers, using her blaster to provide cover fire while her troopers returned to the transports.

Barriss, meanwhile, brought the speeder to a stop when she saw Qel-Droma being hurled back. She had no idea who he was, but he had helped during the firefight and the Force seemed to be telling her something by drawing her attention to him. For whatever reason, he was significant.

"Hey!" she called out to him, waving. "Get on, hurry!"

Chest heaving as he laid there on the impossibly hard sands that somehow rivaled any bulkhead he had ever slept upon, Qel-Droma coughed setting his tendrils quivering. Hearing the urgency in the voice he lifted his head, looking at the speaker. "I take back half the bad things I ever said about you." he called as he rolled over and scramble-ran to the speeder. "Who are you?" he asked in passing as he struggled to get onboard. Maybe he hadn't lost the map after all.

"Barriss," the masked figure answered as she helped Qel-Droma aboard. Once he was on, she gunned it and sent them speeding across the desert back to their outpost where her ship was, leaving the firefight behind them.

-

IC: Ben Solo

The Garden

As Ben woke up, Salban's words still echoing in his head. He was so preoccupied with his dream that he didn't even hear Snoke when he said that he came to check up on him.

He did turn his head when he heard a robotic beep and he saw a small droid creeping out of the foliage. He recognized it as a BB-series astromech droid, which were quickly replacing the R-series astromech droids of all. Truthfully, Ben had also wanted a BB unit, though he was wise to never say so in front of his uncle's old astromech, R2-D2. He knew better than to get on that droid's bad side by admitting he preferred the newer model.

However, despite his awe for the small droid, it unfortunately had to be the bearer of bad news.

The GAG had found him. Or perhaps they had found Snoke. What mattered is that they were here.

And it came down to a choice.

He nodded along to Snoke's words, but one part gave him pause.

I will keep the enemy busy so you can escape.

He turned to his old friend in disbelief. He almost didn't hear the part about Snoke having an old friend on Mustafar.

"No," Ben said, shaking his head. "I can't leave you. Caedus already killed my aunt and my sister. I don't want to lose you too."

After all, he still needed Snoke.

Snoke looked at him gently. "Ben, you have a destiny far greater than my own. My friend, he can send you somewhere, where you'll find power, find people who obey my word, who need the Force to bring justice back to this galaxy." He placed a hand on Ben's shoulder. "You can be that hero. First, order. And then?"

"Peace."

He looked into Ben's eyes. "Can I ask for you to do that? For me? To do what must be done to defeat Darth Caedus?" His gaze narrowed. "To avenge your sister, and your aunt?"

Ben was unable to meet Snoke's gaze.

A hero. Was that what Snoke wanted him to be? The problem was that Ben had no interest in being a hero. Not after learning what happened to heroes. But he couldn't exactly say that to Snoke.

"I will... do what I must," he told Snoke while looking down. He wasn't sure how else he could respond.

The ships pierced the magcon field of the arboretum and began to release Stormtroopers with a clatter. Snoke looked worn, and weary. "Please go, Ben... unless you want to fight." A slight tear to his eyes, cast aside with the back of a liver spotted hand. "Would you fight for an old man like me?"

Ben didn't want to fight, not yet at least.

But he did hesitate briefly, remembering that Snoke wasn't exactly helpless himself. So why was he laying it on so thick? Why was he making himself look so worn and weary? To arouse Ben's sympathy?

"I'll go," he said before finally leaving, heading for his ship.

Snoke nodded, drawing the boy into one last hug and turning back. He lifted his hands, clearly straining his body to do so, and summoned vines and roots to lash at the advancing forces. Sith-Imperial soldiers in Guard blacks roared out, advancing, flamethrowers carving into the foliage and vibroblades cutting back the offending plants -

But none had spied Ben.

He could escape, he could flee, find his way to his ship and to open space.

And to Mustafar?

Well, there were only troop transports evident, curiously - no TIE Starhunters or other Sith-Imperial ships.

Why was that?

That didn't really cross Ben's mind, instead he focused on getting to his ship. He wasted no time, running to where he had left it and rushing onboard.

Quickly he entered the coordinates for Mustafar as he began to leave the hangar of Snoke's station.

His last glance back, were he to take one, would be of Snoke holding his hands, bowed with pain, as the troopers fired upon him. He deflected the bolts with the Force, roaring into it, roaring at them, wishing nothing more but safety for Ben Solo.

A whole hemisphere of the containment transparisteel exploded outward into space, giving him ample coverage to escape and launch for Mustafar.

-

IC: Voe

Minemoon

Three days gave Voe plenty of time to consider her options.

She did experience second thoughts, of course. She knew that if she wanted out, this could be her last chance to do so. And she had almost given up.

But one thing had convinced Voe to stay on board: Snoke.

It was a name that Ren had mentioned and it was a name that Voe had heard before. Master Skywalker had said it and she remembered the context in which he had mentioned it. Apparently Snoke was a very powerful Force user that Luke had met sometime ago, someone who was neither Jedi nor Sith.

Skywalker didn't mention that the Knights of Ren were involved with Snoke and Voe wondered if Luke hadn't known about that.

But what exactly was the connection between Snoke and the Knights? The only way Voe could find out was by spending more time with the Knights of Ren herself. Perhaps they would even be able to lead her to him. And perhaps Snoke would be able to help her where Master Skywalker had been unable to.

At the very least, it was worth a shot, right?

After all, what other options did she have? Go back to Ossus and die? Hide and hope that the GAG don't find her? Seek out Leia Organa and be of no help to her Resistance?

No, this is where she needed to be.

And it was easy enough, tracking down the Knights of Ren. All she had to do was follow the dead bodies...

When her ship made it to Minemoon, the Knights were already in the midst of rounding up - and executing - prisoners. Ren was already standing at the landing zone, next to their own dungeon ship. "So you made it."

He had his helmet off, and grinned. "Snoke'll be pleased."

Voe kept her face neutral as she left her ship and faced Ren.

"This is the second time you've mentioned someone named Snoke," Voe told Ren. "A friend of yours?"

"A friend?" Ren snorted. "The best kind of friend to have, Voe. The kind with money, and contacts on both sides of the Force, y'know? Not working for the Sith, either. Does his own thing, couldn't care less about Darth Caedus; has had us take out some Sith-Imp targets over the years too." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Like here, we're giving the locals a roughing down so they hand over a Sith artefact."

He searched Voe's face. "So why did you come here, Jedi wannabe?"

"Because I'm not a Jedi," Voe told Ren, keeping her face neutral. "Because I'll never be a Jedi. And I sure as frak don't want to be a Sith. So I thought I would explore a different option, especially if you have been taken out Sith-Imps. You can help me and I can help you, just like you and Snoke seem to help each other out."

"Help each other, huh?" Ren drawled.

There were screams down below, deeper in the mine, and malice poured into the Force.

"Well then, Voe, help us clear out these stubborn Mimbanese, and we'll see what skills you have."

Fear rose up into the Force, telling Voe that there were families here too, and danger too, telling her that the miners were armed, and decently, too.

Ren ignited his crimson blade, turned to the jagged ice-rock edge, and leaped into the chasm.

Voe watched as Ren leapt into the chasm. She soon followed after him, though not immediately. As she jumped into the chasm, she used the Force to slow down her fall while drawing her lightsaber. She didn't ignite it, however. Not until she needed to.

Blaster fire, screams, chaos.

The red-skinned Mimbani natives were putting up a fight, holed up before a cave they'd clearly cut into the ice.

Ren was already on the ground, deflecting bolts as the other Knights took cover, using blasters too.

Glancing at Voe, Ren shrugged. "Want to show us what you can do?"

There were at least twenty Mimbani crowded in the cave entrance, using discarded boxes for mining equipment for cover.

But behind them was something palpably dark, clearly the artefact they'd discovered.

Interesting...

Came a voice.

Masculine.

Deep.

Voe paused when she heard the voice.

What?

However, she quickly snapped out of it and ignited her lightsaber, deflecting any boys that were sent flying in her direction. Noting the cover that the Mimbani were hiding behind, she reached out with the Force and grabbed the boxes, moving them away from in front of the Mimbani and giving the other Knights clearer shots.

The Mimbanese began to pull back, and grenades were hurled at them.

Ren gestured a hand and sent the grenades flying to a different direction; they detonated, not with explosives, but a mixture of flashbangs and smoke, which flowed across the Knights anyway. The Knights had helmets to protect their eyes - though Voe and Ren hadn't, the latter still not having replaced it.

The Mimbanese took the chance to pull back, and Vicrul took a trio of bolts, sent tumbling even with the armour.

Half a dozen dead Mimbanese were left behind, but the rest made it.

The voice didn't reply.

Ren, covering his face, pointed with his lightsaber. "After them!"

Voe tried to cover her face as well against the flashbangs and smoke. It made it harder to see, but fortunately Voe did not need to see in order to deflect any bolts that were sent her way. Once she heard Ren order a pursuit of the Mimbanese, Voe joined the rest of the Knights in their chase.

They clattered down the tunnel, Voe and Ren in the lead, blades singing and deflecting and Ren's voice sharp, even though he could barely see. The Mimbanese took no further losses, but discarded blaster rifles were evident as they emptied their magazines.

Suddenly there was a fork in the tunnel, and the Mimbanese went one way, and Ren hesitated. The shadows seemed darker down the other catacomb. The artefact was down there. Licking his lips behind the mask he had replaced upon his face, he looked to Voe. "They're hoping we'll take what we want and leave." A sniff. "Kill them, Voe. Chase them down."

"Then you'll be Voe Ren, and join us..." A smirk in the Force. "And I'll introduce you to Snoke."

This caught Voe offguard. "That doesn't seem necessary," she pointed out. "They're letting you take what you want and they don't seem worth killing. Shouldn't my blade be saved for someone who deserves it? And besides... you do have a reputation to consider. I heard the Knights of Ren were more than just common thugs and murderers. I heard that they want a good death. And chasing down a bunch of aliens who aren't even killing to fight to the last man to protect what they were guarding... that hardly seems like a good death, does it?"

Ren glowered at Voe. "I mean they're going shank you in the back if you let them."

He shrugged, and turned to go. "Your funeral, but you're staying here." He pointed at the cross-roads.

Vicrul, who had trudged up, sporting some new blaster marks on his armour, titled his armoured head. "You want me to babysit?"

"Nah," Ren said. He looked back to Voe. "She knows what'll happen if this goes wrong. She'll be on her own if they regroup and come after her."

"I'm more concerned about us being trapped here," Vicrul growled.

"Then we'll kill off the Mimbanese and Voe for screwing up." His malice poured into the Force, and then he waved aside the moment. "Come on."

He trudged off after the rest of the Knights, and Vicrul stood besides Voe for a moment, staring behind his mask.

Down the tunnel, there was the sound of movement from the Mimbanese, but no warning in the Force.

For now.

I mean they're going shank you in the back if you let them.

Couldn't Voe say the same thing about Ren and her Knights? If anything, they were more of a danger to her than the Mimbanese were.

"I'll stand guard," she told Ren as she stayed at the cross-roads like he said, keeping watch for the Mimbanese while wondering once again if she should really be here or if it was a mistake.

For their sake, she hoped that the Mimbanese would stay away. Because if she had to, she would kill them.

TAGS: @Sinrebirth @Mitth_Fisto

 

OOC: Combo with @Sinrebirth and @Mitth_Fisto

IC: Barriss, Qel-Droma, Rey, & FN-2187
Coming to

The speeder was not in the best condition, and definitely not the ideal method of transporting four people in a hostile war zone.

Rey, the Stormtrooper, Barriss, Qel-Droma...

When the trooper suddenly woke, and threw them off balance, he completed sent the speeder turning off to the side, which was perfect because a Starhunter just appeared over the horizon and shredded where they'd been. Well, thank your lucky stars, the Force, or perverse luck! Because that had been entirely too close and set Qel-Droma's tendrils quivering nearly as much as when Rey woke, too, sitting upright and grabbing at Qel-Droma's waist.

"What is going on!" the Trooper FN shouted.

"We need to keep going to the settlement!" Rey shouted.

"A little late, settlement is gone, or shortly will be. You have me and the map, survival is all we need now." Qel-Droma coldly stated as one hand grasped at Rey's shoulder as the other kept holding on to the speeder for dear life.

"We need to head back to my ship!" Barriss shouted, managing to regain control of the speeder bike as it continued to race in the direction of the outpost. "Just hang on, everyone!"

Qel-Droma said that they had him and the map, but Barriss didn't know how important either of those things were. She still didn't know who Qel-Droma was and she didn't know what she had stopped the Sith from taking, only just now finding out that apparently it was a map. A map to what?

She would have to ask questions later, of course. Right now she had to stay focused on keeping them all alive.

It was then that Qel-Droma didn't, he didn't. Oh, he didn't feel right. "Rey. . .hold me. . .I'm gonna - Ahhh!" he cried out right before one hand to his head as the other formed a death grip on the bike. Then darkness took him.

Rey swore and FN tried to grab at Qel-Droma, his Stormtrooper armour breaking the precarious balance of the speeder, going at tremendous speeds to escape being targeted.

The speeder tipped -

Skirted the sand as it sank -

As the speeder tipped and sank into the sand, Barriss was forced to abandon it, cursing in the process. She turned to the others.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked them, noting Qel-Droma in particular. What the Force was wrong with him?

Qel-Droma's unconscious form didn't respond to the crash, or to anything. If not for his shallow breathing and pulse he was like a rag-doll - totally unresponsive.

FN-2187 sat up, looking dazed, and Rey shook her hair of sand.

"My speeder can't carry us all, not like this," she regarded the crash-webbing on the side, where she usually slotted whatever she'd found on her scavenging. "We need to hoist him into one side -"

Her eyes took in Barriss and the Stormtrooper. "And one of you need to go on the other?"

FN-2817 shook his head slightly. "I'm with the Resistance, we need to get going."

"You are?" Rey said, surprised, as she tried to lift Qel-Droma into the webbing on the port side.

The distant sky still included TIEs, nibbling at each other -

Barriss shot FN-2187 a look. She may not know him, but she could tell that he was lying.

"You are not," she said, crossing her arms. Not fooled for a second. "And you'll be going in the crash webbing on the other side."

She would prefer if she was the one seated behind Rey instead of FN-2187.

Just in case.

FN shrunk his shoulders. "Okay, I'm not, but we need to get out of here. That was Darth Riina, Caedus' apprentice. They're after the map to Skywalker, like my people were."

"Your people?" Rey sounded incredulous.

Qel-Droma was at least partially conscious to hear this interplay. The Force was warning him to go, but also, in his stupor, telling him that the Stormtrooper was his own, quiet light, burning besides Barriss Offee, a name he would recognise from cautionary tales told by the late Master Tionne at the old Ossus academy.

"Not my people," FN said, sweating even more than the desert required. "I don't want to be a Stormtrooper! Is that so much to simply say!" He spread out his hands, not moving towards the webbing at all. "I don't want to be a number!"

Qel-Droma groaned as he shifted into the bundle of netting. "Uhghh." he moaned in response. Feeling the words and the pain. "F - an Toes - come." he weakly spoke, his eyes not able to able to find the white shell in the blobby world that currently was his vision. "We go. . .go." he moaned as he began shaking his head moaning into the netting.

Barriss placed her hand on FN's shoulder and removed her mask, revealing an older but kind face.

"Hey, I get it," she told him. "And if you don't want to be just a number... what would you like to be called? I'm Barriss." She gestured to Rey. "And this is Rey."

"I don't have a name," FN said. "I'm FN-"

"Finn?" Rey said, lightly.

"I like Finn," he said, nodding, rapidly, and promptly allowed Rey to strap him into crash webbing.

There was a sound in the distance; not the whine of TIEs, no, but... something else.

Rey jumped onto the speeder, prepped the throttle. "Speeders bikes?"

"Go!" Qel-Droma weakly cried out. This was not the time for such things! Couldn't they feel what was coming?

Barriss wasn't able to see what was coming, but she didn't need to.

"Yes," Barriss said as she put her mask on and jumped onto the speeder bike behind Rey.

"Go now," she said, agreeing with Qel-Droma.

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combos with @Sinrebirth

IC: Ben Solo

Mustafar

Ben certainly found the creature before him to be... odd. Even in a galaxy full of strange creatures, the Eye still managed to stand out and Ben wondered how exactly Snoke knew this creature.

But somehow he knew that if he did ask Snoke, he wouldn't get a straight answer.

However, the words of the Eye confused Ben, so much that he barely looked down at the objects that had been offered to him.

"Grandson of Vader?" Ben asked. "W-what are you talking about? Anakin Skywalker was my grandfather and Vader killed him."

That was what he had been told all of his life, at the very least.

"Oh, my sweet child," the creature rhymed. "You do not know? The truth of your grandfather?"

"I know," the Eye said, the massive bulbous head bringing him to the lava shore, splashing the riverbank with steaming liquid.

The creatures own gaze met Ben's. "Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader."

"Did your mother really keep that from you? Your uncle? Your siblings?"

A dark chuckle.

Ben stood there in silence, the revelation sinking in.

His grandfather was Darth Vader?

No, it couldn't be. That was impossible. Someone would have told him. His mother. His father. His uncle. His aunt. His siblings. Someone.

Aunt Mara at the very least would gave told him, right?

Ben glared at the creature. "You're lying," he spat.

After all, this should he trust or believe a word that this stranger says? Ben didn't know him.

The creature bobbed in the lava for a moment, looming over Ben. "Believe what you wish to believe, Grandson."

It's spindly hands presented the two artifacts.

The Holocron, and the Wayfinder.

"Two, as there is duality in all things. Choose one, as your master Snoke bade you to."

Ben looked at the artifacts, then up at the creature. His expression betrayed his anger.

"And what's to stop me from killing you and taking both?" he asked, his tone dark as he gestured to the creature with the hilt of his lightsaber.

Whatever game this creature was trying to play with him, Ben was not amused.

The creature chuckled darkly. "Do not muddle with me, I am old enough to not care about your threats."

He placed both on the soil. "Snoke proffered you one. Would you dishonour his memory?"

A snap of his fingers and from the treeline nearby a tangle of robed warriors burst free, rushing to their masters aid.



There were at least a dozen of these creatures rushing him.

The Alazmec.

Ben ignited his blue lightsaber, his anger rising. He lashed out with the Force, throwing the Alazmec back.

"Dishonor his memory?" he asked with a scoff. "Says the one who lies about my grandfather being Vader." He pointed his lightsaber at the creature. "You dishonor my family's memory."

He still couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. His family, they would have told him if it was true.

The Oracle withdrew to the heart of the lake, and clattered a chuckle. "Whether you believe it to be true or not does not change that fact, boy."

The Alazmec charged as one -

Ben turned back to the Alazmec, using the Force to fling rocks at his attackers. Any that got too close he just sent flying through the air.

They were no match for him. Of course they were no match for him.

And Ben was very quickly running out of patience. And quite honestly, why did he even want objects that were associated with the Sith?

Clearly, this creature was trying to trick him. Especially by telling him lies about his family.

So why had Snoke even sent him here?

The enemy was just that, completely overwhelmed.

The Holocron was caught in a surge of the Force, of his anger, and it activated.

Darth Sidious appeared, unmistakably the Emperor of decades ago.

"Lord Vader. Young Skywalker will be ours. I have foreseen it. But we must prepare for the unforeseen. Should he strike me down, you will take him to the Remnicore system. There you will find Tor Valum, Master of the Sith Lord who instructed me."

The Holocron's blue light swirls red. It emit a laser that scans Ben's body. Palpatine's hologram continues in the meantime -

"Here the son of Skywalker will acquire a great ability - beyond what you could hope to command in your damaged state. With it, he will harness the untapped power of Mortis. At last we will realize our destiny, and the full potential of a Skywalker that you could not -"

Ben turned to the Holocron when he heard the voice of Darth Sidious. While his words did intrigue him, especially the mention of Mortis, he remained wary. He still expected this to be a trap, especially with how the Holocron seemed to be scanning him. So he stepped back, his guard raised.

The Holocron began to short.

The surviving cultists were on the floor, holding severed arms, decapitated spears or nursing deflected bolts that had seared their guts. The Oracle reared up again from the lava, looming.

It sought to scan Ben Solo again, a mechanical voice.

CANNOT IDENTIFY SUBJECT. SCANNING FOR SKYWALKER/VADER MARKERS. PLEASE STEP CLOSER TO THE HOLOCRON.

Despite his better judgment, Ben stepped forward.

He had to know. He had to know if his family had really been lying to him or not.

The Holocron scanned him, top to bottom.

YOU ARE NOT ANAKIN SKYWALKER/DARTH VADER.

A coruscating bolt of red lightning erupted from the Holocron and buried into his face -

Ben lifted his lightsaber in an attempt to deflect some of the lightning...

But some of it still hit his face and he screamed as he fell back, burning...

-

IC: Sam Hhat

Jakku

The transport shook as Sam answered the comms.

"No, we did not get the map," she confirmed to Sloane. "However, the Sith did not get it either. There was another Force-user down there... I think it was a Jedi, since their lightsaber was green. The Jedi fled from the battle with a local girl... and one of our own stormtroopers, who went with them. I think it may have been FN-2187." She remembered that stormtrooper from before they left the Finalizer, having made a note then to keep her eye on the trooper. "If we are to continue searching for the map, our objective should change to finding FN-2187 or the local girl, since then we may be able to find the Jedi and the map they took."

Rae hissed. "We're not going to be able to hold position."

A bolt hammered into the transport, and Rae looked off-screen. "FN-2187..."

She hesitated.

"Phasma, that was your regiment? Why has he gone rogue?"

The Captain was hooked into the line, sitting up on the floor of the transport and sounding worse for wear. "FN-2817 has exactly one anomalous entry in his training record, a single instance of prioritizing his squad over his mission."

As if chided, Rae pursed her lips. "Knight Hhat, make recovery of the map the priority. If it leads to FN-2817, then so be it, but he is not the priority."

There was another loud bang as the transport took a Starhunter hit.

Sam nodded as she heard Sloane and felt the transport shake. "Should I continue the search on my own then?" she asked. "Let the others return to the ship? Either way, I think a good next step would be to move toward the spaceports. If FN-2187 or someone else wants to get the map off world, they would have to head to one of the spaceports."

'Spaceport' was a generous term, of course. Jakku didn't have the most... advanced civilization, after all.

"I think the closest settlement that the map could have been brought to is... Niima Outpost."

"Go to Niima, see what you can find," Rae said, firmly. "I'll stage a staggered withdrawal, and hopefully lure most of the enemy away from you." She hesitated. "You have 48 hours, otherwise we'll scrub the mission. You can use the troops you have to hand, and nothing more."

Phasma and Cardinal and three Stormtroopers; that's all she had left.

"Understood?"

Sam looked over the group she had with her and nodded. "Acknowledged," she said.

She then felt the transport shake again. "Is there any way we can get this Starhunter off of us?" she asked, both to Sloane and the troopers inside of the transport.

The pilot shouted back. "I'm out of chaff."

"Unless there is something we can throw at it from the rear?"

Cardinal stood up. "I'll jump it."

"Don't be an idiot," Phasma snapped. "You're a Captain, a key component of our Stormtrooper Program."

She could not have sounded more insincere, and she turned her head to one of the three troopers.

"You should jump."

Sam shook her head. "I don't think that's necessary," she told Phasma as she moved toward the back. "But I think I will need to borrow your blaster."

After borrowing Phasma's F-11D blaster rifle, Sam asked the pilot to open the back of the transport. As he did so, Sam told everyone to hang out as she maintained her balance to avoid being blown out. She saw the Starhunter behind them and she raised the blaster rifle, using the Force to guide her aim.

She fired at the cockpit.

The bolt flew right through the transparisteel of the Starhunter, and the ship began to pinwheel and fly off into the distance -

It crashed.

Phasma snorted, Cardinal silently glowered. "Fine, a more efficient use of your energies."

"Lady Hhat," shouted the pilot. "I'm tracking a quartet of Sith-Imperial speeders heading the same way we are. They've a lead on us, and I don't think our damaged engines will make much of a difference. Orders?"

Sam turned to the pilot. "Follow them," she ordered. "Even if they have a lead, we should be able to catch up to them before they get the map. Don't forget that the map is currently in the custody of a Jedi. The Sith-Imperials will not get it easily, even if they are able to reach the outpost first."

The pilot acknowledged, and Phasma stepped up to Sam, her height looming.

"Sir, I appreciate that our quest is to locate the map to Skywalker, but we have no guarantees as to the cooperation of the former Grandmaster. I would recommend we consider Jedi to be hostiles until proven otherwise." Her voice was cool. "We should have a position of strength when we negotiate."

"We can at least guarantee that he won't help the Sith," Sam pointed out. "The Sith are the hostiles, Captain. Don't forget that. The Jedi may not be our allies, but they can be our tools. And unlike the Sith, they can be negotiated with. Which means they can serve our purposes. And while I understand the need for strength, there is also a need for delicacy in matters such as this. Especially when Jedi are involved."

She handed Phasma's blaster back to her. "But your thoughts are noted, Captain. We will decide how to handle Skywalker when we have the map. Until then, securing the map and keeping it out of the hands of the Sith is our priority."

"Tools," Phasma said, drily. "Aren't we all merely tools of the Greater First Order?"

"That's enough, Phasma," Cardinal said. "We have loyal Stormtroopers here."

She huffed. The ship was limping, but keeping its speed, even if it was way below standard.

Cardinal stepped over, and lowered his voice. "These three were members of FN-2187's squad, sir."

Sam nodded at Cardinal. "Well, then perhaps they will be more willing to take FN-2187 alive," she pointed out.

That was the ideal outcome. Even if FN-2187 was deserting, she preferred to bring him in alive for questioning. Hopefully these Stormtroopers were properly motivated to do just that.

And currently there was no evidence that these Stormtroopers had thoughts of deserting, so there was no need to be overly paranoid... yet.

Were they all tools of the First Order like Phasma said? Yes.

But was that so bad? Tools were useful. Tools had a purpose, they had value. Just like how she had a purpose and how she had value. A tool's purpose gives it meaning, just like how the First Order gave them all meaning.

And of course, tools were not meant to be wasted... though Sam sometimes wondered if Phasma knew that.

-

IC: Voe

Mimban

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes when Ren said that fear was the tastiest when people were running from you. Could he have said anything more cliched? She wasn't exactly expecting class from the Knights of Ren, but she at least expected a little more originality.

When Ren mentioned she would have no choice when she was pushed into the corner, Voe wanted to say that she had no doubt that would be the case. She wouldn't have sought out the Knights of Ren if she wasn't prepared to kill in order to defend herself.

But before she could answer, she was interrupted by the disturbance in the air. She, along with Ren and the other Knights, looked up and saw it.

A black-hulled Star Destroyer.

A Sith ship.

Voe froze. She wasn't ready for a fight like this. Not yet.

But while there was definitely some fear in her from the sight of the ship... there was also anger. But not enough anger to overwhelm her common sense.

"The plan should be to get out of here, right?" Voe asked. "I mean, they could just bombard us from orbit if they want and I think we would prefer to not be here when that happens."

"Oh we definitely need to get going," he responded, sarcastically. "Question is will we make it into orbit without being blown up, or do we turn our little tunnel problem of five minutes ago into our tunnel solution?"

He looked at the Star Destroyer.

"Whatcha's instincts, boys and girls and the rest?"

The Knights began to weigh in, three for risking it, three for heading into the tunnels and waiting out the Sith landing party, if there was even one.

Ren lazily looked over to Voe. "You get a vote too, kiddo."

Voe considered their options. It was probably best not to wait for a landing party, since there was no guarantee that there would be a landing party. Not when the Star Destroyer could just blow them to kingdom come. Voe didn't like the idea of hiding and waiting to find out if they would be killed or not...

But there was no guarantee that they would make it if they headed for orbit either and that would probably just attract more attention to themselves. As much as Voe disliked the idea of hiding in those tunnels, it really was the safer option. For now, at least.

She took a deep breath. "I vote... the tunnels."

Ren felt faintly amused in the Force. "Sure, go, go. You want to speak to your Mimbanese friends?"

The Knights glowered in unison.

Voe glanced at Ren and shrugged. "If they are stupid enough to get in our way, we'll just kill them. That is how it works, isn't it?"

Though she admitted that she wasn't exactly excited to reenter the tunnels and not just because of the Mimbanese.

She remembered the voice.

Wouldn't the voice still be in those tunnels?

Coming back so soon?

Yes, it was.

It was.

Ren looked back at the Knights. "Cardo, Ap'lek, Vicrul, Kuruk, go your way. I'll stick with Voe and Ushar and Trudgen."

Four each way, in essence. Vicrul nodded, glowering at Voe, and turned to lead them off.

"Second in commands," he grinned. "They get so cranky when a noob comes in."

They clattered off, and in the distance, a shuttle breaking the sound barrier to push through atmosphere echoed out. Ren shoved Ushar and Trudgen forward. "Come on, we've got to get deep in those tunnels."

Voe stayed silent as she followed the Knights of Ren into the tunnels.

At least, she stayed silent vocally.

Who are you? she asked the voice.

Who? Not why?

A slight chuckle.

Ushar shoved Voe to pay attention. There was a noise at the opening of the tunnel, and the clattering of Stormtrooper boots; Galactic Alliance GuardTroopers. A voice sounded out. "This is General Girdun. We received a distress call from an illegal mine. If you are either attacker, or miner, you are all hereby under arrest in the name of Darth Caedus." A pause, as Girdun swallowed and spoke again into his mike. "Surrender, or be destroyed."

Ren snorted. "These tunnels go for miles; we'll lead them on a merry chase, take back our ship, and be out of here before General-Big-Mouth can say much more about it."

Voe just nodded. It sounded like a good enough plan. And they certainly had an advantage. They knew what they were dealing with. But clearly these GuardTroopers had no idea they were dealing with Force sensitives. That was good, right?

As for the voice, Voe decided to just ignore it if it wasn't going to be helpful.

They ran, reaching the fork the Mimbanese had taken.

A red-skinned nonhuman was standing there, his arms up.

"Parley!"

Cardo went to point his pistol at the alien -

Ren slapped down the weapon as they skidded to a stop.

Behind them the distant sound of boots grew louder -

"Voe, it's your friend, you sort it," he hissed.

Voe stepped forward, her hands raised.

"Hey," she said. "So, uh, parley, right? You shouldn't be here. There are GuardTroopers coming." She then realized something. "You know these tunnels, right?"

He patted his chest. "I am Mimbanese. I know these tunnels."

"Call me Pomo," he said, eyes broad but honest. "GuardTroopers worse than Knights of Darkness. Lord of Darkness much worse. We wanted the artefact to keep him away; followed the Old Ways." His Basic was halting, as if he was translating to himself each time from his native tongue, but it was understandable.

Ren looked back.

"Anytime today, Voe."

Voe looked at Ren. "He knows these tunnels," she pointed out. "He could help us avoid those GuardTroopers and sneak around them so we can get back to out ships."

She turned back to the Mimbanese. "You can help us. Right, Pomo?"

He hesitated. "Help you, maybe. If helping you means helping Knights of Ren, it cannot be helped."

A shrug. "I come with you, yes?"

Ren answered for him. "We'll see."

Pomo bobbed his head. "I understand. Better some hope than no hope."

He indicated behind. "Follow me."

Ren stepped close to Voe. "I reckon if we pooled our power we could just rip the tunnel map from his head." A snicker. "But you're not up for that, are you?"

Voe turned to Ren. "You can do that?" she asked in surprise. She then shook her head. "You said could, which means there is a chance we could gain nothing from it. It's an unnecessary risk anyway."

"I could do it with help," Ren said, huffing. "But sure, maybe his brain would turn to ooze in our hands and that's not help." A shrug. "Lead the way, redskin."

The Mimbanese rolled his over-sized eyes. "Sure, paleskin."

He began to lead them on the way. There was a set of abandoned weapons and armour, and a couple more dead Mimbanese.

Pomo shrugged. "We disagreed on how best to survive; they died."

A slight wave of his hand, and the Force was evident behind it.

Ren stiffened. The Shadow?

Voe felt it too and her eyes widened.

"You're Force sensitive?" she realized.

"Shadow sensitive, Pomo is," a shrug as they jogged. "There is no light, after all, in the mines."

"Quaint," muttered Ushar.

Voe turned to Ren but said nothing. She wondered what he thought of this.

Ren shrugged. "If he leads us, I don't care."

The mountain ways became winded, and the sound of clattering Stormtroopers still echoed behind them.

But it became more convoluted and even Ren had difficulty keeping track.

"Are we nearly there?"

Pomo looked back, visible only in the slight bioluminescent algae that clung to the walls. "Yes."

Ren began to get annoyed, and looked at Voe. "This goes badly, your head goes off."

Voe just rolled her eyes. "Have a little faith, Ren," she said, annoyed.

She was a bit surprised that he had nothing to say about Pomo being Force sensitive, about being able to touch the 'shadow'. She thought that would interest Ren at least a little.

At least, that's what she expected...

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combos with @Sinrebirth

IC: Ben Solo

Mustafar

Like his grandfather before him, Ben Solo screamed on the shores of Mustafar.

He was barely able to hear the words of the Eye, barely able to form coherent thoughts.

Pain... the way of the dark side... future... past... no longer deny...

Though the pain eventually subsided, Ben could have stayed there on the ground. He could allowed himself to lay there, to eventually die.

But he couldn't die. Not yet.

That was not his destiny.

Ben began forcing himself to stand up, calling upon the Force for strength. With his hands, Ben felt his face. Felt the scars.

They were still hot.

Ben screamed again. But not out of pain.

This scream was bon of anger. Of fury.

The scream burst out, and upended a world.

Lava rose up and crushed the Webbish Eye, killed what few survivors remained, and left Ben on his own.

Landed besides him were the two artefacts.

The sky darkened; a ship was coming down for him, black and angular.

Exultant.

Impressed.

In his pain, he would recognize the pilot.

Ben sensed the death of the Webbish Eye and the other survivors. But it did not give him satisfaction, nor remorse.

He felt nothing toward their deaths.

But he knew he was not alone and when he looked up, he saw the ship coming toward him.

The ship came to land, black and raven-like.



It crested the black-coal floor, the lava dropping to more normal levels.

The ramp lowered.



"Rise, my boy, rise as the Grandson of Vader!"

Ben was surprised to see his friend Snoke here and he blinked in confusion.

"Snoke?" he asked before realizing something else.

Grandson of Vader.

"You knew..." Ben hissed, both in pain and in anger.

"I did," Snoke said, lamenting, as he strode down the ramp, apologetic. "But it wasn't my place to say. I had hoped," he was heavy footed, reflecting his injuries. "that your family would tell you, but clearly they never did."

Ben looked down, unable to meet Snoke’s gaze.

Your family.

"I need to see them," he realized. "I need to go to my parents. I need to ask them... ask them why they lied to me."

He needed to hear the truth from them.

Snoke looked apologetic. "I am your family now, Ben. Leia, Han - they betrayed you. Your Uncle, he abandoned you. Your siblings, all dead, or deranged." He offered Ben a hug, broad arms, completely open and exposed.

Loving.

Trusting.

Monstrous in every way.

Ben looked up at Snoke. At those broad arms.

But he didn't go in for a hug.

"I... I need to go," he said while beginning to head back to his ship.

"To my parents," he repeated, not looking back at Snoke. "I need to get answers. You gave me your excuse for not telling me the truth, now I need to hear theirs."

Snoke lifted his hands, placating.

For a moment, it was a homage to Obi-Wan Kenobi's spirit, who his uncle had described as holding his arms up to appeal to him. "Don't go, Ben. Your heart is true, but it can be used by your parents. They'll turn you into something you are not; their pathetic son."

He reached into his robes, and produced a helm; black, angular.

"Your face, it will need this, it can be modified to put a bacta spray against your skin."

He lightly floated it over.

Ben paused briefly. He turned back to Snoke and took the helm, looking down at it.

"That's the thing, Snoke..." he said. "If I am the grandson of Vader, that is something I cannot change. It is something that will always be a part of me. Just like how I will always be their son. It is unchangeable, it is undeniable."

And while Snoke was right that his parents could use his heart against him... was not the same true for Snoke?

"It is," Snoke agreed. "But you have an opportunity to become whoever you want to be."

A pause. "Perhaps you should go speak to him. His body, it is on Endor. Waiting for you, no doubt."

A shrug. "Your mother, your father, your grandfather... your uncle."

"You can't decide who defines you, but you can decide which one to emphasize, to learn from... to emulate, rather than replicate."

"To become."

Ben was quiet for a moment, considering Snoke's words.

Eventually, he nodded.

"Perhaps I shall do that," he said as he turned and continued heading toward his ship while carrying the helm Snoke had given him under his arm.

He wasn't entirely sure what his next step would be, but he knew for a fact that everyone who had kept this secret from him would have to answer... to him.

-

IC: Voe

Mimban Moon

For a moment, Voe hesitated.

Should she go after Pomo and Ren? Or should she stay to fight the stormtroopers?

Ultimately, Voe realized that she still needed answers. About Pomo. About the voice she heard. If she stayed and fought, she wouldn't get those answers. But if she followed Ren, there was a chance.

So she made her decision and ran back into the Temple.

A gesture from Ren sent the other Knights spilling to the floor, a fate Voe narrowly avoided with her decision.

All of a sudden, her, Ren and Pomo were the only people within the Temple-fortress, the doors slamming shut.

There was noise beyond them, the sounds of the fighting.

Pomo was already running deeper into the Temple, illuminated by a pink glow in the distance.

"Hey!" Ren growled, activating his blade and giving chase -

Voe followed, though she didn't ignite her lightsaber.

Instead, she kept to the shadows as she tailed Ren, his red lightsaber acting like a beacon.

She felt it was wise to have a slightly different approach, just in case.

She was proven right.

A bolt of brilliant purple lightning took Ren out, sending him tumbling in-front of Voe's feet.

They'd just entered a massive room, with an immense statue above it.



Pomo was literally chittering, jumping from foot to foot with glee.

"Lord Pomojema, I brought you food for your resurrection!"

Voe stayed in the shadows as she entered the room, looking up at the immense stature that Pomo was before.

She suppressed the urge to groan. Of course Pomo had to be a crazy cultist trying to resurrect his dead God.

Because why not at this point?

Ren sat up. "What in the Nine Corellian Hells is this."

Pomo was cackling, madly. "Take one! One for you, my Lord, one for me, to sustain me for another century!"

Ren gestured his hilt back to his hand. "We kill him." With a huff of noise, he stood. "Together."

Voe emerged from the shadows, igniting her green lightsaber. "Agreed," she said, having no problem with killing this jerk.

The Crystal launched a bolt of purple lightning at them both, and Pomo chittered, mad, mad, mad.

"Left Handed Lord!" Pomo held out his hands to the statue. "Please, give unto me you true name, so I may be empowered!"

Ren stepped forward, catching a bolt on his blade, and another in his hand -

"Voe, go for it -"

Pomo had his back to them as he prayed to his tentacled God -

Voe nodded. She didn't need to be told twice.

She rushed forward while Ren was blocking the bolt of purple lightning, using the Force to give her a burst of speed... before slamming her lightsaber into the back of Pomo. Hard.

The blade burst from his chest -

Pomo laughed, as the immense statue seemed to grow a shadow and fill him -

"Typhojem!" Pomo cackled, and a wave of energy sent Voe tumbling back -

"I NAME YOU!"

Pomo seemed to sprout flesh, and the crystal leaped from the statue and landed in his chest -

"What in the Nine Corellian Hells -" Ren shouted, as the transformation unleashed another wave of energy, bringing Voe and Ren level with each other, throwing up dust and smoke and even parts of the Temple that were not well secured -

The vortex settled and Pomo turned slowly, to look at them -



Voe took one look at that tentacled... thing and threw her hands up.

"Alright, I'm out," she said before turning to Ren. "We need to leave. Now."

She just saw a crazy cultist turn into a monster and she wanted nothing to do with that whatsoever.

"One hundred percent," Ren said. "What the frak -"

He reached out with the Force for the Temple roof. "I need your Shadow - now."

Behind them was the sound of blaster fire still, but it didn't compare to this.

Ren would risk that over whatever the sin a Typhojem was.

Voe nodded and reached out with the Force, giving Ren her 'Shadow'.

As she reached out, Voe focused on her feelings toward Ben Solo. Her jealousy. Her anger.

Those were feelings that a Jedi was not supposed to have.

But right now, she needed that anger. She needed her Shadow to be stronger.

The roof collapsed inwards, a tumbling and 'Typhojem' looked up, lifting clawed hands, sprouting wings -

Ren drew his shadow back into him, flared his hands and shoved at Voe -

He intended to hurl her towards Typhojem!

He turned to go, running, blade igniting as he stabbed the door -

Voe's eyes widened.

She should have expected this. She did consider it.

But in the moment, it still caught her by surprise.

However, her surprise only led to more anger.

And in her anger, Voe sent her lightsaber flying like a spear... and that spear was aimed at Ren's back while he focused on cutting his way through the door.

His blade was embedded in the door, and then, her blade was embedded in him and the door.

Ren let out a gasp, and sagged, pulling down both blades, cutting a decent sized opening in the exit -

A set of tentacles sought to enfold Voe from behind -

Become my food -

Voe reached out with the Force and Ren's lightsaber was pulled to her. She looked down at the hilt, noting something she had spotted earlier.

Ren's lightsaber was equipped with a kill switch that activated a self-destruct mechanism.

Voe turned to the tentacles, setting off the kill switch and throwing it at Typhojem.

"Eat this," she said.

BOOM.

The shockwave sent her tumbling, but also sent gore scattering across the room.

Typhojem howled, recoiling, half a face missing -

The door gave way as the Knights of Ren outside began to force their way in, looked down at the body of Ren, at the flailing mass of oozing flesh, at Voe -

At their feet were a good two, if not three, dozen Stormtroopers -

Voe turned to the Knights of Ren, still dazed from the shockwave. She wasn't sure how she was going go explain this.

"Get out of here!" she shouted, deciding to settle on a warning.

The survivors took one look at the immense flesh-shaped monster, growing larger, angrier, and lashing out -

A tentacle ensnared Ren's corpse and drew it back in a flash, absorbed into the pulsating mass -

They ran, back into the tunnel system -

And Voe ran as well, using the Force to retrieve her lightsaber as she fled.

The sooner she left this place, the better.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combo with @Mitth_Fisto and @Sinrebirth

IC: Barriss, Sam, and Qel-Droma

Jakku

For a moment, Barriss didn't move.

Instead, she stared at the burning remains of her ship.

It was more than just a ship. It was also a home.

Forgetting everything else, Barriss rushed toward the remains of her ship. Despite the danger, she needed to check if there was anything to recover. Quickly searching the remains, she soon found what she was looking for: a holocron.

Sighing in relief, Barriss placed the holocron in her cloak before rejoining the others as they headed for the Quadjumper.

And following them was the transport, where Sam had gotten into the cockpit. She scanned the ground below them and spotted the unmistakable white of stormtrooper armor.

FN-2187.

"There they are!" Sam said, pointing at the group.

Looking at the ships available Qel-Droma having freshly untangled himself from webbing turned and began heading to the ship that looked more like a wreck in a dead run. "Place like this Flashy is either too secure for a quick escape, been stripped, or Junk is faster. Either way, I'll go that way." he called out running in his chosen direction. He was able to pull it off, the running, but he felt off inside still, off balance. Queasy.

Of course if the others got the Quad running he would quickly change directions, he had no delusions that he would get there first.

The Stormtroopers opened fire, scattering shop stalls, junk traders, and various animals kept for carrion.

They were nearly there -

The TIEs returned, and suddenly the Quadjumper was no more.

Just the hunk of junk left, it seemed!

The transport had landed and Sam disembarked. "No matter what, we can't let them leave with that map," she told the troopers. "If it gets off-world, then we will lost our chance."

Barriss, meanwhile, paused briefly when she saw the hunk of junk that was left. It looked... familiar, though she wasn't quite sure where she had seen it before. But she quickly snapped out of it as she helped steer the others toward their only remaining hope of getting off the planet.

Looking back from his journey to the Hunk of Junk Qel-Droma gave out a low whistle, "I guess shiny might make a more attractive target as well." Turning back he continued to hurry to the ship, if he could get aboard he would be able to initiate engines and get the craft running.

The craft was open, an elderly but hardy look YT-1300.

Finn clattered up the ramp. "I can't fly!"

"Who can pilot?"

Rey looked confident, briefly. "I can pilot!"

"In-theory!"

She began to head to the cockpit -

The Stormtrooper transport commanded by Sam was catching up, but that meant they had to contend with the two TIEs wheeling around in the far distance, and the enemy troopers on the ground trying to make their way through the mess of civilian stalls they had made -

They were nearly on top of the decrepit looking YT-1300 -

Barriss glanced at Rey. "No offense, but I think I am a more qualified pilot," she told the scavenger.

Meanwhile, Sam realized that it was too dangerous to land easily with the enemy TIEs in the air and the enemy troopers on the ground.

So she jumped.

Sam leapt from the transport and used the Force to slow down her descent as she plummeted toward the ground. The Force helped to soften her landing as she touched down in front of the YT-300. She then strode up the ramp, lightsaber in hand.

Running inside the ship Qel-Droma initiated a power up sequence before he searched and found a tool box and then went to the engines to see what he would find. Despite his words of hope for the junker he was not delusional about the planet it was on. He might not be the best engineer and more suited for command, but he still knew his way around a hydrospanner and he definitely knew how to read a ships computers readout on systems status. If there was anything in the red he would see to it immediately. Yellow he would try reinforce, and of course if anything actually showed green on this rust bucket that would be just fine with him.

Rey looked a bit aghast. "Co-pilot?"

Finn didn't know what best to do, either. He looked at Qel-Droma. "Guns?

Meanwhile, Rey pointed at the gunwells, one going up and down. "Guns!"

She ran after Barriss -

The scream of TIEs seemed to be closing the distance -

Barriss nodded at Rey before suddenly pausing. She sensed something. No, not something.

Someone.

"There is someone else on the ship," she told Rey while looking in the direction of the boarding ramp. She drew out her lightsaber.

Qel-Droma tapped the screen, greens and yellows, no reds. It should fly. The stormtrooper was of course stating weapons and he didn't really have an objection to the idea. After all he didn't want to be on a ship when it exploded. Running to the gunwells he ran up the ladder. Time to take care of a noise problem.

Indeed there was, and the ramp had just pulled up to bring Sam up.

Rey hesitated. "We need to get going though!"

Finn was already in his gunwell too, having dropped down. "Who is it, Barriss?"

The TIEs were coming, and they weren't yet in the air, but they were in sight for Qel-Droma, if he could get strapped in, the gun ready, pointed, in time -

Barriss looked back at Rey. "You said you can pilot?" she asked. "Then get us in the air."

"I'll handle this," she told the others as she went to confront their stowaway.

When she spotted Sam, the two sized each other up. Lightsabers drawn, but neither of them attacked. Not right away.

"I just want the map you're in possession of," Sam told the former Jedi. "I have no quarrel with you, Jedi."

"And just who are you?" Barriss asked, trying to get a reading from Sam.

"An ally," Sam said. "I think we both want the same thing, so how about we work together?"

Qel-Droma quickly crawled into the seat, bringing the straps together with ease - honestly the things had enough grime build up they almost held the buckled up shape all on their own. Flicking the switches to the side to power it up he grabbed the headset and began playing with the foot pedals as the final lights came on. With a spin he over shot the incoming a bit, but was able to just as quickly slew back over.

"Your delivery is rejected, return to sender." he stated with a quiver of his facial tendrils as he pulled the trigger as soon a the tone sounded, aiming to keep up a constant barrage as he stitched a line across the incoming craft.

One TIE fighter took shots, but shields turned it into a glancing shot. But the fire surprised both pilots enough that they scattered, the damaged one going left, the pristine one right.

Rey began throwing switches and releasing the landing clutch. "Hang on!"

With a lurch that would run through the entire ship, especially to those not tied down like Sam and Barriss, the Millennium Falcon pulled off the ground, heading towards orbit.

Finn, jostled, shouted out. "Stay low, so the Star Destroyer can't track us!"

"Star Destroyer?" Rey gasped, aloud.

"Sith-Imperial," he promptly clarified. "Caedus-class."

"Into the Graveyard we go!"

She gunned the accelerators -

As the two TIEs regrouped in the distance, paired, and advanced on the upper-side of the ship -

Taking aim at the damaged craft he squeezed the trigger, only for it to go wildly wide as the ship lurched and took to the skies, his next shots doing the same as they suddenly dipped down and away over the sands. Tapping the comms he gruffly spoke with deep irritation. "Kindly inform me of stunts! I can't shoot properly if you keep banking as I pull the trigger!"

As the dunes drifted past Qel-Droma aimed once more at the wounded fighter, he wanted to go for the pristine one, but a sure kill was better than merely adding to their wounded attackers.

Both Sam and Barriss felt the ship lurch as it took off, forcing them to grab onto the nearest thing that was bolted down. As they tried to keep their balance, Barriss reached out with the Force and pushed Sam, sending her back farther into the ship. Her instincts told her not to trust the woman.

Sam grunted in surprise as she felt herself get shoved with the Force. She reached out as well, but rather than target Barriss, she targeted the map that Barriss was carrying. That was more important, after all.

Barriss noticed the map leaving her possession and heading toward Sam. She quickly grabbed the map with the Force, stopping it mid-air. Both she and Sam tried to pull it toward themselves, locking them in a tug-of-war that required them both to strain their Force connection.

"I. Need. That. Map," Sam told Barriss.

The Falcon yawed to the side, bouncing off a Star Destroyer hulk -

"Sorry!" Rey shouted back.

Finn wasn't getting any further forward figuring out the targeting thing, but he fired, and through some act of random, his bolts joined Qel-Droma's and pierced the damaged fighter -

It blew!

The Force sung, in a way Rey would never have recognised, but the others would -

BLAM!

The other TIE hit the Falcon, hard, and there was a splash of sparks from a light fixture above Sam and Barriss -

"Hang on!" Rey shouted and dove the Falcon -



Inside a Super Star Destroyer!

Qel-Droma gritted his teeth as the craft spun and dove into the Super Star Destroyer super structure. One thing that always was hard to understand in open space was just how much space one of these craft truly held. He did his best to time his shots, trying to get a feel for how this reckless and inexperienced pilot was handling the ship.

As the light fixture exploded over them and they felt the craft turn, both Barriss and Sam lost concentration of the map. It hit the floor and spun out of sight while both women just focused on holding on for their lives.

Rey bumped and scraped the Falcon, and suddenly Qel-Droma had lost his viewport, and wind was sucking at him and his restraints -

Every jostle sent Sam and Barriss tumbling, no doubt, and Finn cried out in panic.

TIE fighter bolts impacted superstructure and skimmed their shields, a shower of sparks erupting from an overburdened power coupling and setting the hallway aflame, a gout shooting towards Sam -

A moment later a wave of smoke erupted from the rear of the ship, closer to Barriss, and alarms sounded out about a gas leak -

The TIE kept firing -

"Frak it all!" Qel-Droma grunted, "Top gun out! It's up to Finn." Quickly he settled onto undoing his straps and scuttling down the ladder to see about fixing whatever was alarming now. He didn't want to die like this, on some idotic mission to this wasteland.

Sam and Barriss continued to hold on and for not the first time Sam was grateful that she was wearing a helmet to protect her face, especially as the hallway around her caught aflame.

Barriss noticed the smoke and overheard the alarms, the Force warning her of the imminent danger. She began to make her way over to where the gas leak was, knowing that something had to be done about it.


Finn swore when he heard Qel-Droma, and again when the sunlight stabbed his eyes as the Falcon emerged from the other side of the SSD. Rey did something insane, turning the ship up and over, completely upending the entire ship and its contents -

All of a sudden, Finn saw the last TIE, and fired.

BOOM.

And then Rey tilted the ship into the sky and shot into orbit.

"Hyperspace in 5 seconds -"

Double-checking his restraints, they were going fast, faster than any TIE could, they were going to break at any moment -

Qel-Droma went from climbing down a ladder to clinging no for dear life as gravity decided to flip, he guessed that whoever was piloting still hadn't taken his words to heart about calling out maneuvers to aid the gunners. Still as the ship rattled and then speed gained he finally was able to descend the rest of the way to the deck. Staggering over to a ships computer console near the boarding ramp he punched up the warning. Nodding to himself he ignored the others and to the storage closet in search of a repair kit to make the ship sound once more before they all died, snagging a rebreather on the way just in case he wasn't fast enough.

Barriss cursed loudly as the entire ship was upended, but she managed to hold on. She still had her mask on as she made it over to where the gas leak was and began to fix it. Fortunately, she had a lot of experience with ship maintenance thanks to living on one for years...

As for Sam, she was bounced around the ship and needed a moment to recover. Once her head had stopped bouncing around inside of her helmet, she came to her senses and knew what she had to do. Her first action was to activate a tracking device and hide it in the ship, allowing the First Order to follow her to wherever the ship was headed. Then she began looking for the map, soon finding it where it fell and picking it up.

The easy part was taken care of.

Now for the hard part.

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combos with @Sinrebirth and @Mitth_Fisto

IC: Barriss, Finn, Qel-Droma, Rey, and Sam Hhat

Millennium Falcon

Barriss was still trying to fix the ship while the others confronted Sam Hhat, who was in fact waiting for the others to find her. She had figured there was no point in hiding.

When she saw Rey and Finn aiming their weapons at her, Sam was glad they couldn't see her face behind her helmet, since she couldn't help but smirk. It was obvious to her that the scavenger girl had no experience with that weapon and it was even more obvious to her that FN-2187 had no idea how to handle that bowcaster. She could deal with them easily in seconds... but she didn't.

Since it was at this moment that Barriss showed up, igniting her lightsaber as she stood behind Sam, the others standing in front of Sam. If the Imperial Knight tried to do anything, Barriss would stop her.

"Surrender is your only option," Barriss warned. "And you have something you took from me."

"Oh, you mean this map?" Sam asked while holding up the map. "You can go on and have it if you want."

She tossed the map to Barriss before taking off her helmet and looking straight at Finn. "Hello, FN-2187," she greeted calmly. "You're being missed right now..."

Qel-Droma kept still standing in the back half covered from a bend in the hall. He wasn't one to choose the front line, he was a commander of ships, and. . .well he was only here because of the old adage. If you want something done right....

The exchange seemed to be going well. "We've taken to Finn now. It grows on you." He idly commented as he trained his blaster on the being they were dealing with. "Unless you were trying to be helpful? Somehow?"

"Finn," he emphasized. "I like that. Not FN-2187. I'm leaving the First Order."

"But that doesn't mean we need to fight it out," Rey said, a little alarmist. "Firefights inside ships tend to result in explosions..." She indicated the Imperial Knight. "And what is this map?"

"A map to Luke Skywalker," Finn said, drily.

Rey looked at him, then Sam, Qel-Droma and the others.

"Really? The legends are true?"

"Legends?" Sam asked, scoffing slightly. "You think Luke Skywaker was just legend?" She shook her head. "Luke Skywalker is very much real and I was trying to help find him so that he could be brought back to defeat Darth Caedus and his loyalists." She turned to Barriss. "I'm sure that is what you want as well."

Barriss was silent for a moment as she looked long and hard at Sam, trying to read her face. She felt like the woman was telling her the truth about wanting to find Luke to help defeat Caedus. Maybe it wasn't the entire truth, but it still was the truth. "...yes," she answered before turning to Rey. "And yes, the legends are true. I actually met Skywalker once, though it was a long time ago."
"Yeah, the 'Legends' are true. Even the ones we wish weren't," Qel-Droma piped in. "I was retrieving that map for similar reasons. Best weapon against a Forcy is another Forcy." He shrugged as he stepped out of cover. "Also lets get the kid some cloths and space the armor. That cheap stuff isn't good for anything except shrapnel. And if I can make a call, perhaps I can get my ship to add to our protection on this journey?"

Barriss turned to Qel-Droma and looked him over, realizing that she still didn't know anything about him. She hadn't even gotten his name. "Um, I'm sorry, but who are you exactly?" she asked him.
Bowing slightly he brushed aside and then straightened his gilded robe. Chin tendrils danced as he chuckled. "Qel-Droma, Rigi Ulic Qel-Droma. Commander of the Maw Irregulars and Ally of Leia. At your service." His yellow eyes twinkled in mirth as he looked at Barriss and to the others.

Finn blinked. "Leia? As in General Leia Organa?"

Rey's eyes sparkled. It was as if she was meeting all her heroes. "Definitely, Rigi, use the comms! We get that map to the Resistance, we can be heroes!"

"If Lady Hhat will allow that..." Finn said, not yet moving to change, though he truly wanted to.

Sam kept her face neutral as she nodded. "I believe that aligns with my goals, yes," she said. "After all, we all want Luke Skywalker to return and Darth Caedus to be defeated. We are all on the same side."

"So you say," Barriss said as she crossed her arms. She was still more than a little suspicious of Sam. "You are from a faction called the First Order, right?" she asked. "Well, I've never heard of it."

"It is a successor to the Empire made up of Imperials who fled to the Unknown Regions," Sam quickly explained. "This is the first time we've revealed ourselves to the larger galaxy, but we felt like the direness of the current situation required that."

Barriss turned to Finn, not entirely convinced. "That true?" she asked.
Finn nodded. "We've - they've - been trying to improve the Empire. No evil Moffs, no big bad Sith, no superweapons..." He was tempted to mention the rumours about Snoke, who had helped the First Order plot their territory in the Unknowns, but he'd been absent for years, ditto the Attendants. Rae Sloane had been firmly leading the First Order for years.

Rey looked excited. "We should work together to find Luke Skywalker!"

She grinned at Qel-Droma, too see his thoughts.

Qel-Droma frowned. Hard. "Let's get this piece of a map back to Leia Organa. She can decide whom we will work with to find Luke Skywalker. It's in none of our positions to take that task unto ourselves." With that he slowly lowered his blaster, tapping it against his thigh a couple times before putting it away.

"Now. About that chance at fresh clothes, and clear flights?" he added with an arched brow.

Barriss glanced at Sam, who nodded. "That sounds like a fair plan," she said before turning to Barriss. "Do you agree, Master Jedi?"

"...yes," Barriss answered reluctantly. "Yes, that sounds fair."

For now, they would have a truce.

-

IC: Ben Solo

Deep Space

In the silence of his ship, free of Snoke's invasive presence, Ben was able to reflect on his recent revelations and contemplate his next move. He reached up to touch his face, to feel his scars... and the tears running down them. Now alone in his ship, Ben openly wept. Both from the pain... and from the truth.

His family had lied to him.

And what would they say if they saw him now? What would they think?

In that moment, Ben wished he could have a mask. Something he could use to hide his scarred face.

Though would that just make him more like his grandfather, who Ben now knew was Darth Vader?

Snoke had suggested that Ben could go to Endor and speak to his grandfather, but Ben knew he could not trust Snoke. The holocron had told him to seek out someone named Tor Valum, but Ben did know to which end that would lead.

Right now, he needed to see his parents. But which one?

That was when Ben remembered all of the messages that his mother had sent him, asking him to come home.

Perhaps that was where Ben should head next. To see his mother and to get some answers from her. He wanted to see how she would react to his new appearance.

After all, it was not a look fitting for the youngest member of the Solo family. It was a look fitting for... someone else. But certainly not the version of him that everyone expected.

-

IC: Voe

Mimban

Voe took a moment to attempt to catch her breath.

"Dead," she told Vicrul. "And we'll be dead soon if we don't leave now, because there's some tentacled monstrosity back there and it's mad."
The Knight looked perplexed, but then the eldritch roar echoed through the tunnel and the man began to rush, yanking at the cam-netting. "We still need to get passed that Star Destroyer, y'know -"

Voe thought about this, looking up at the Star Destroyer. "Well... the Star Destroyer can only cover one side of Minemoon, right?" she suggested. "Maybe it's possible for us to fly low enough so that we won't be detected, get to the other side of Minemoon where we will be out of easy range of the Destroyer's weapons, and then jump at the soonest possible opportunity?" She wasn't a pilot, not like Ben. But she had some ideas. "Or we could try to make the jump to hyperspace within the moon's atmosphere, before the Star Destroyer could, well, destroy us. It's risky, but I have heard of it being done before."

"Sure, if you're that strong in the Force," quipped the man, removing the last of the netting. "I'm not, not alone."

The ramp began to lower, as the rumbling noises behind them increased -

The squeezing noises, of something trying to fit down the tunnel -

Voe heard those squeezing noises and knew that she didn't like them one bit.

She quickly ran up the ramp. "I'm pretty strong," she said as she slid into the cockpit. Sure, she was no Ben Solo. But she knew a few tricks, some of them learned by watching her rival.

Voe took a moment to look over the controls, then as soon as the ramp was closed she began to get them off the ground. Her plan was to try to fly to the other side of Minemoon before jumping, with jumping while still in the atmosphere of the moon being her Plan B.

But as much as that Star Destroyer was a problem, Voe was far more worried about that thing in the tunnels.
The tentacles leapt out, and suddenly the viewports were smothered with flesh -

"What in the Nine Corellian Hells is that!"

Unidentified transport, this is the Sith-Imperial Star Destroyer Relentless. Heave to, or we shall open fire.

"We're a bit busy right now!" Voe screamed into the comms while giving more power to the ship's engines in an attempt to free themselves from the grasp of those tentacles.
The ship lurched free, entrails and organelles lapping across the viewports as they were ripped -

A scream, heard in their ears and minds -

The Star Destroyer was directly above them, angling to intercept -

It fired, green blasts erupting from cannons -

Voe gritted her teeth as she swerved go avoid the blasts from the Star Destroyer. Now they were free of the tentacles, Voe gunned it for the other side of the moon. "Got any ideas for where we can jump to?" she asked Vircul.
The Destroyer's bolts soared by -

And hit the undulating mass of flesh.

There was another, piercing scream, and the mouth of the cave seemed to birth teeth, the mountain itself becoming morphed with the monstrosity -

From an orifice a bolt of purple energy erupted, and slammed into the Star Destroyer's shields -

"I think we're in the clear," the Knight sounded rueful. "Where do you want to go? I assume you killed Ren, so you're the Master of the Knights of Ren." The merc shrugged. "I go where you go. You command more shadow than I do."

Voe considered Vircul's words. She had killed Ren. Did that really make her the Master of the Knights of Ren? That hadn't been part of the plan. Of course, it was just her and Vircul now. Unless there were other Knights.

"...do you know where Snoke is?" Voe asked while turning to Vircul. "Because I think I would very much like to speak to him."
“Sure, I do,” Vicrul said, leaned over to key in the coordinates. “We going there?”

"Yep," Voe said as she gunned for the moon's atmosphere. As soon as they were clear, Voe made the jump for hyperspace, leaving the Star Destroyer and the tentacled monstrosity behind.

Fortunately, they wouldn't have to worry about that thing ever again... right?

-

IC: Ben Solo

Deep Space

In the silence of his ship, free of Snoke's invasive presence, Ben was able to reflect on his recent revelations and contemplate his next move. He reached up to touch his face, to feel his scars... and the tears running down them. Now alone in his ship, Ben openly wept. Both from the pain... and from the truth.

His family had lied to him.

And what would they say if they saw him now? What would they think?

In that moment, Ben wished he could have a mask. Something he could use to hide his scarred face.

Though would that just make him more like his grandfather, who Ben now knew was Darth Vader?

Snoke had suggested that Ben could go to Endor and speak to his grandfather, but Ben knew he could not trust Snoke. The holocron had told him to seek out someone named Tor Valum, but Ben did know to which end that would lead.

Right now, he needed to see his parents. But which one?

That was when Ben remembered all of the messages that his mother had sent him, asking him to come home.

Perhaps that was where Ben should head next. To see his mother and to get some answers from her. He wanted to see how she would react to his new appearance.

After all, it was not a look fitting for the youngest member of the Solo family. It was a look fitting for... someone else. But certainly not the version of him that everyone expected.

The coordinates he was given by his mother would take him to a world named D'Qar.

It was in the southern Rim, not all that far away from Mustafar in-fact.

Apparently there was a Resistance base there, hiding away from the Sith-Imperials.

Ben.

There was a voice.

But it wasn't Snoke.

Nor the Eye of Webbish Bog.

I sense you are on the move.

It was Jacen.

Darth Caedus.

An image of him shimmered into existence, a phantom, projected by the Dark Lord of the Sith.



"You've changed."

For a moment, Ben silently gaped at the image of Darth Caedus. How long had it been since they've seen each other? Since they've spoken? Ben honestly couldn't remember the last conversation he had with his brother.

Then Ben remembered that this wasn't his brother he was talking to. It was a monster. His aunt and sister's murderer. He glared angrily at the image.

"I have nothing to say to you, Caedus," he said, his tone cold.
"Nothing at all, to your older brother?" Caedus sighed, laconic.

He held up a hand, thumb and forefinger ready. "I could throttle you here, but I'd much prefer you to join me. Take your place as my apprentice..."

A slight smile. "... as your grandfather's legacy."

Ben's fists tightened at that. "So you knew," he said. "You knew that Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader." He threw up his hands in disgust. "Was I the only one who didn't know?! The only one that was always lied to?!"
"It was what Uncle Luke and Mother thought was best." Caedus clucked. "You'd shown more darkness in your heart than even Anakin, named after our grandfather. So they protected you." A glower. "Did you not find it odd that Uncle Luke took you on as a one-on-one apprentice after the Vong War? All those adventures with Lor San Tekka while Jaina and I went off?"

"Surely you remember being quietly shuffled to Yavin 4 during the war, and even though you were too old, the debates about sending you to the Maw with the other children?"

Ben thought about it, looking at his past through this different lens. Looking at how his family treated his and how they kept him in the dark.

Despite Caedus saying that they were protecting him, Ben had a very different conclusion.

"They were afraid of me," Ben realized, looking down. "Weren't they?"
Caedus didn't lessen the point, he merely leaned into the dismay that permeated Ben. "Yes."

Ben was quiet for a moment, letting that sink in. Then he looked back up, staring hard into the eyes of Darth Caedus.

"And what about you?" he asked, his voice darker. "Are you afraid of me... Jacen?"
Caedus scoffed, but then softened. "Merely afraid for you, little brother. That your future has been squandered by our parents, by our uncle." He looked saddened. "I merely want you to be free of them, that's all."

Ben scoffed. "Be free to do what? To join you? To become your slave and help you kill more of our family? Is that what you want?"
"Avenge yourself upon mother and father," Caedus said, softly. "Or don't. It's your decision, my scarred brother. The Sith way is one of sacrifice, of recreation and rebirth, to fix things."

His tone became pointed. "The Civil War was a disaster. Worlds burned for unnecessary freedoms and demands to be armed to the very teeth. Corellia courted Celestial superweapons and built secret assault fleets to impose its independence; the Bothans sponsored rampant assassinations; the Commenori used biological weapons on Coruscant." His teeth bared. "The Hapan nobles hired a Dark Jedi to kill a child."

He snorted. "Is that what you wish to defend?"

"No," Ben said. "But what about what you defend? Literally everything you just listed the Sith have been guilty of as well. That is the way of the Sith. And I want no part of it." He narrowed his eyes at Caedus. Sometimes he wished he could just let all those old things... die.
Caedus nodded. "But we do it because it needs to be done. Not for selfish reasons such as power," he squeezed his fist to emphasize the point. "We save the galaxy from itself. The Confederation just wanted to divvy up worlds between politicians. Spoils!"

A snarl.

"We could do more. Much more."

He calmed himself.

"Go. Speak to Mother, see Father. See how far they've fallen. You'll see they offer you only chaos... and no future."

At that, Darth Caedus cut the line.

Ben knew that Caedus was right. At least partially.

Did the galaxy need to be saved from itself? Perhaps. Were those saviors the Sith? Of course not.

And they could do more. Much more. Ben always knew he had been capable of that and only know did he know why his family had really prevented him from doing more.

Ben had a lot to think about. But before he reached any decisions, a discussion with his mother was still needed...

His destination remained the same: D'Qar.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @Mitth_Fisto