Star Wars The Road to STAR WARS: Episode XI: The Hidden Temple

OOC: Combo with Sinre and Jerjerrod-Lennox

IC: Tiberius Covax, Julee Rouser, and an unnamed Brown-Cloak
Coruscant

There was yet ANOTHER explosion and Tiberius was thrown once again forwards and landed on his stomach.

Ow….

It looked like a warzone had just appeared in the time it had taken for him and Jules to get into the shop and then out again.

And then some man in a brown cloak came to rescue them from some troopers who were about to shoot them dead. I'll thank him when we get back to the ship in one piece.

As he climbed up he wondered if Jules was next to him. He was going nowhere without her.

Another explosion, more blaster fire, and now there wereStormtroopers--yeah, Julee was definitely rethinking the idea of doing these kinds of assignments on a regular basis.

Picking herself back up again, Julee cast about looking for Tib, quickly rushing to catch up to him, and their mystery rescuer.

"Who is this guy?" She asked. "And 'coming' where?"

His face still, he replied shortly. "Well, I thought we could head to your ship and run. You didn't think that you got by Control without help, did you?" He looked up as a Stormtrooper transport drifted into the area. The man watched as it landed to the south of them.

“Please tell me that it’s not that way.”

There were all manner of blaster bolts sounding out in the distance and the screams and the crashing of towers.

Coruscant had fallen.

A passenger. Great. Well there goes alone time if me and Jules get out of this….

"That's up to the Captain here if you can come along" Tiberius responded "If that was you that got us through, thanks but we ran into trouble as you can now see by the hole in the ground".

He looked at Jules "I think the ship is that way. Great. Have to go through a firefight too".

Julee nodded to confirm, "Yeah, the ship unfortunately is that way." If it hasn't been blown up by now.

"Who are you?" She asked the stranger again.

"I can't say - it'll jeapordise the mission I'm on for Director Drayson."

He kept his head down. "Let me get you off-world, before there isn't a spaceport left."

The stormtrooper transport landed in the distance, and he held out the Verpine rifle - which fired slugs - and the blaster rifle, which fired bolts. "Only one of them can pierced that new armour, but a blaster is a blaster." He had another pair of weapons on his hips - pistols.

But at least he was offering to arm them.

"Their armour absorbs energy; you need to aim for the neck and the like. Seams in the armour." He said that while indicating the blaster rifle.

"I don't think we'll be getting any answers from him Jules" Tiberius said with a shake of his head.

"Let's get past these stormies, get back to Fortuna and well...i'll let you decide where to next".

He pulled his blaster pistol he had taken from Fortuna's weapons locker, fumbled around for the safety and then began firing.

Of course having not fired a blaster before his shots were all over the place.

Yeah, it didn't seem this guy was going to tell them who he was or what he was up to--but he'd mentioned Bhindi, without Julee or Tib saying anything about her first, so probably this guy was okay, whoever he was.

Julee accepted the slug-thrower and started shooting at the stormtroopers. "We gonna do anything about Huxley?"

"Tirran Huxley?" The man hesitated. "I'd give him a wide berth. He's a war profiteer, by all accounts." He pulled his pistol and fired at the Stormtroopers, aiming for their blasters and necks. Between the slugs and Tiber's very poorly aimed shots, two were down in an instant, but it became clear that there were more coming -

"That transport probably has twenty troops. We need to find another way -"

He pulled a grenade. "Look away!"

He threw it -

There was an FLASH!

Tiberius turned away and tried not to look at the flash "Any ideas on how we get out of this one? Or are we just going to have to wing it?" he asked Jules.

quickly covered her eyes from the flash, looking around them, then back to their mysterious companion. "Is there any other route to the port?"

The man gestured for them to follow him down an alleyway, which appeared to have a dead end. But he kicked open a chute in the ground. "We'll have to go down, and then back up again." He glanced their way as blaster fire chipped at the edge of the walls. "Do you have a way to remotely lock down your ship? Security system?"

Julee nodded, her dad had showed her how to remotely trigger the Fortuna's security systems from a program on her chrono. "I did secure it before we went to the shop," she confirmed--but she checked the system again just to be sure.

Tiberius wondered why thier mystery guide was asking about security systems but he had to focus ahead.

His main focus was Jules. Nothing more.

“Good, because I don’t know how long we’re gonna be caught up on this diversion.” He jumped down the hole, as blaster fire began to fill the alleyway-

Tiberius wrapped his arms around Jules and prepared to jump down the hole.

He kissed her, making it linger, a promise of more later.

"For luck".

Julee kissed him back. "We're gonna need it," she replied.

"Let's go, before we get blasted in here."

They fell.

It was a bit further than their stranger friend had anticipated, but he hit the ground first and they landed on him.

That meant they had the softer landing... but he didn't.

There was a loud crack and he cried out, a huddle in his cloak.

"Go - leave me. Don't look back." He held out a datapad. "Maps of level 1314. You're here now."

He spat blood at the permacrete floor.

There was a clatter above and a 'trooper began to fire down the hole at them, others shining lights mounted on their rifles -

Ow….again.

Tiberius made sure he took the brunt of the blow, making sure his arms were securely around Jules.

And he realised they might have just inadvertantly gotten someone killed. And he felt sick.

He rolled making sure Jules could get off him and climbed up. All he could say was "Sorry" and he truly was. The Sith artefact was still in his jacket.

He reached for Jules's hand. Time to go.

Julee winced at what she was pretty sure was the sound of bones breaking, and scrambled onto her feet and off of their companion. "Sorry," she echoed Tiberius's apology, taking the datapad.

Before they started off, she asked, quickly, "Is there anything we should tell Bhindi for you?" She didn't know the nature of his assignment, or if he'd completed it, but it wasn't looking like he was going to make it back to report in. He didn't have to tell them the whole thing, but they could take a message back.

"Tell her that she was right. That it's him. She'll know what I mean."

He rolled on to his back, and he pointed his blasters up and began firing.

The troopers began to rappel down, taking bolts but not being phased -

"GO!"

"I think that's our cue to exit" Tiberius said reaching over and tugging on Jules's hand.

He felt awful about causing this man's death.

Julee fired the slug thrower a couple more times at the troopers as they descended--she wasn't sure how many more shots she had, so she didn't linger longer than that, taking Tib's hand and running.

It was funny how one level lower was so dark, so grungy, so uncivilised. But level 1313 had always been the dividing line between Upper and Lower Coruscant. But now it was the line between Devastated and Abandoned Coruscant.

The lights flickered with the orbital bombardment, but the ‘troopers didn’t appear to follow them. But that distance drumming was often accompanied with the creek of masonry and tumbled of small fragments of dust and dirt.

They needed to get moving.

Tiberius let Jules take the lead as she had the datapad, still holding her hand.

"I'm definitely asking Bhindi for compensation on this when we get back. Nowhere did it stipulate we would be running for our lives".

"If we get out of here i'm having a long shower then lying down for a while" he grinned "And I don't mind lying down for a while if you are on top".

Hopefully they would be out of this maze soon.

Julee smirked at him, checking the map on the datapad. "I'm taking that as an incentive to get out of here faster," she quipped back.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @Jerjerrod-Lennox

 

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Bernhardt Johnson
Location: Ajan Kloss

It seemed it was question time.

Johnson had spent the trip getting some rest. Now dressed back in one of his suits he looked at Galen.

"Well I guess the first one is, are you a Jedi? You carry a lightsaber on your belt".

"And since you came aboard the Rogue Shadow after I was captured, what were you doing beforehand?"

“Not a Jedi. I’m a clone of one, though,” he said carefully. “My origin was Vader’s secret Sith apprentice for most of his life. I think I may be a clone of a clone, actually, but who knows.” Galen shrugged.

“I was on the surface of Kuat, taking down something unimportant. Well,” he sighed. “Unimportant now. Seems Kuat wasn’t all that important overall - the New Order didn’t want it anyway, just the Eclipse Fleet, most of which they snuck out while we were taking the rest of the galaxy back.”

“What can you tell me about the AGENT cells?”

Great, more clones…

"Science was never my strongest suit. All I know was my genes were important enough to get shopped in by my then lover. The Agents were created to be the perfect assassins. Emotionless, trained only to kill".

"Out of the six of us selected I was chosen to defeat Smith, the lead Agent who essentially became some sort of virus. It looks like they've tried to upgrade the program thanks to the brute I fought".

"Vonduun crab armour as part of his body. Huge physique. Has emotions though so unlike the original Agents he probably enjoys killing"

“Vonduun crab armour…” Galen beetled his brow. “The Yuuzhan Vong made something like that; Slayers. Cloned from Force sensitive slaves.”

He looked at Johnson. “Our recent history has been determined by a secret war over cloning technology. Kaminoan, Spaarti, Khommite - plenty. Cloning powerful Force sensitives, especially - the hardest part. Palpatine was convinced it was the way to eternal life.”

“So that Dr Gast has been picked up by this New Order instead of, say, cloners… it’s curious.” He wondered aloud. “The virus - it was sentient, and could take another body?”

"Dr Gast is a clone herself" Johnson responded "I killed her on Coruscant but she managed to get her spirit into a clone body".

"She wanted to drain me and had some body of an alien...god I think. Wanted to use that body to create more clones of herself, more powerful ones."

"I'm not a Force sensetive but I found out my genes were well worth me being tortured and turned into an Agent for".

"Her spirit?" Galen wondered about that. "She wasn't Force sensitive, at least from what I can tell. I suspect she created an imprint of herself, a kind of flash-learning... it's how you can teach clones how to fight without needing years of training."

He hesitated. "Spaarti clones, anyway, but nobody makes them anymore."

A shrug. "So your genes may be key to that process, or, to making it more reliable. I doubt it was easy for Gast to do that." He stroked his chin. "But yeah, tell me about the alien God?"

"I think her name was Abeloth, some Chaos Goddess or something like that".

Johnson sniffed "To be honest I was more thinking about how to escape than Gast manically prattling on".

"No surprises, there," Galen said with a sigh.

"We're going to have to go back to Coruscant. Whatever Gast is up to for whoever is behind the New Order, we can't let her carry on her experiments with the AGENT virus, not if she can use it to spread a single personality." He hesitated. "It would be useful to have a sample of your blood."

Don't.

That was Lucrecia's voice…

What was Lucretia doing? Was she keeping tabs on him from her crystal prison? It was getting rather weird.

Thankfully she had not intruded into his dreams yet. Or his nightmares where he relived his torture now with the added bonus that Ilsa probbably watched him.

"No" Johnson replied "We cannot go back there. The Resistance needs our help. Gast will be dealt with at some point".

"And if you take a sample of my blood? Anyone could grab it and create their own Agents. I don't want what happened to me happen to anyone else".

He smiled "But let's talk about something more cheerful. You haven't told me about how you and Juno met".

Galen looked at Johnson with a deep expression. "We either go back to Coruscant and stop the problem at its source, or I take a sample of your blood and stop the problem with a counteragent."

He didn't allow Johnson to deflect him.

Juno headed back towards them, detecting the tension. "Boys?"

Johnson hissed "You are not taking my blood. I did not rejoin the Resistance to become your lab rat or a pin cushion".

"You saw what happened at Coruscant. Going back there is suicide. I may be an Agent but I nearly died again today. And i'd rather not throw myself in to a suicidal mission".

"If we need to go anywhere it's Chandrila to assist with evacuations".

Galen shrugged. "Chandrila will have fallen by the time we get back there. You wanted to get away, and so we're away."

Juno looked from one to the other, held up her hands. "Let's calm down. Nobody is going to be made into a lab rat, or a pin cushion - and nobody is forcing anyone to go anywhere."

Galen stood. "Fine. I'm going to Coruscant."

"And Johnson?"

"He can stay here. If he's too obstinate to see he's being a problem, we don't need him."

"We can't leave him on Ajan Kloss."

Galen looked at her. "No, he can't force us to take him wherever he wants to go. We have a job to do, the same one we have had for years; to dig into the shadows and see what is hiding."

Juno bit her lip.

"Fine" Johnson growled "Go. But you will find only darkness there and basically? You could end up captured or worse. Gast is more dangerous than you know. If she gets you and captures you, you may have Force powers but she will try to use every trick in the book to try and turn you or kill you".

"I came here to get my bearings, to see where we can go next. And the best way to help the Resistance is to either help with evacuations or find out where they are now. Because I need to tell Rose Tico what I have found out".

Juno nodded. “I’ll get a message to Rose - let you know that she’s here.” With an awkward half salute, she went to get the ship up and running.

Galen watched her go, and turned to join her. “Give Lucrecia my regards.”

So it looked like he was going to be by himself. Fantastic.

He had wanted to say something to Juno but she had gone. And Galen had to go digging into his brain. Bloody Force users.

Well done he thought at Lucretia's voice You'll be invading my dreams next. Oh and if you wanted me to spend the rest of my life alone, congratulations. You are getting your wish.

He sat down on the ground. He might as well try and get some rest before someone comes to hopefully get him.

The Rogue Shadow left, and Lucrecia met him in his dreamscape as he expected. “Thank you for not handing anything over,” she said. “Galen and I have met before… It's another long story.”

She sighed a little. “You won’t be alone for long,” she promised. “The Resistance will pull back here. Then you’ll be reunited with your friends.”

"Let me guess, you loved him too" Johnson replied, he was laying on his back in his dreamscape as well "But let's hope the Resistance does come".

"Because I have a feeling Juno and Galen will need help soon. And I think the Resistance itself is going to have one long battle ahead".

"I didn't love him, no," she said, churlish, but amused. "And you loved Ilsa too, I never held that against you. I wouldn't - I have no right to do so." Lucrecia shrugged. "It is what it is."

"I have a feeling we'll end up going back to Coruscant even if we don't want to. Everything seems to revolve around that awful planet," she said with a sigh, and paused. "Did you want to ask about Abeloth? Whether I really injected you with the medium which a monster takes over someone's body?"

"Probably" he said regarding Coruscant "If Rose wants me to go, i'll follow orders and go. But I'll stay away for as long as I can".

"So tell me about Abeloth, did you inject me? Another thing you want forgiveness for?"

“Gast supplied the original material, I simply worked on it. When I met the Abeloth corpse, well, it was already too late.” Lucrecia did sound apologetic. “It’s when I realised that this was too much. It was bad enough that I had feelings for you, but this wasn’t even remotely beneficial research. It wasn’t about creating viruses that cured, no. It was just about control. More and more control.”

"Great so I can be controlled like a puppet if someone feels like it" Johnson sighed "This just keeps getting better and better".

"So is there any way I can get rid of this?"

“I rewired it,” she said, all but present in person in the dream. “So you can use the same method to destroy the virus. The AGENT program is weak to you. It’s why Gast wanted your blood.”

“I can’t take it out of you anymore than I can rewrite your cells. It’s part of you now. A pure sample; undamaged by the SMITH program… by the retooled-Abeloth.”

"So basically what you are saying is I'm the only one who can stop this but I might get turned into a puppet if I get controlled".

Johnson rubbed his hands over his face as he laid on his back "i can't do this alone you know. But I guess after what happened to me, I guess I will be doing this alone".

She began to fade, or, rather, he began to wake. “I’ll be with you. Always.”

Johnspn sighed as he woke up "I don't know if that's meant to be comforting or not…"

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Darth Talon

Korriban

During the trip from Lotho Minor, Talon had been studying the data that she now had access to as a Darth. She memorized as much of it as she could in the time that it took for them to return to the One Sith homeworld.

Once they did return, Talon saw the warships and heard Vua's comment though she didn't respond. When they received a comm transmission from Takaris Yur, Talon immediately recognized him and knelt down while keeping her head in a low bow out of respect.

"Thank you, Lord Yur," Talon said as she remembered their previous meetings.

"The Master has headed to the root of his vision, and your data from Coruscant was most helpful," High Lord Yur said. "The Voice has secluded herself to peer into the future in place of the Master, and I have been tasked to assign the roles of the Fist and Hand."

His eyes roved to the pair of them. "The Fist will command our military; the Hand, will act as the personal blade of the Master."

Talon's eyes widened. She had a suspicion of where this was going...

"Continue, Lord Yur," she said, keeping her head low out of respect.

"Darth Vua, you shall be our Fist."

The yellow eyes swept to Talon.

"Darth Talon, you shall be our Hand."

Vua bowed deeply. "Thank you, my Lord. I accept."

Those eyes penetrated Talon as a teacher would any student.

Talon nodded. "Thank you, my Lord," she said. "I accept. This is a huge honor."

"Good," said Yur. "Your first mission is to take your ship to Coruscant. We require spies - and stealth. We need to find the source of this new threat - this was always our plan, to speed up the defeat of the First Order so that the enemy behind it was revealed. It was obvious that the First Order was sabotaged five years ago to the Master, and so you have been specially trained in this."

"The Emperor's of old invented the Hand as an organization most loyal to the Emperor; Palpatine instead used the Hands as agents that believed they unique. But our Master requires only one Hand, and for that Hand to be invisible." His eyes narrowed. "Is that understood, Lord Talon?"

Talon nodded once again. "It is understood, my Lord," she made clear.

She was surprised that she was going back to Coruscant so soon, though this mission was at least more to her liking. She was an assassin first, so she was more comfortable with stealth than space battles.

Talon was also somewhat familiar with Palpatine's Hands thanks to the research Dician made her do. There wasn't much, since the old Emperor's Hands operated like ghosts and only the highest echelons of the Imperial command structure were aware of their existence. Talon couldn't even find out how many had been the Emperor's Hands in the old Empire, though it seemed that most were dead by now with one exception...

"And myself?" Vua asked.

Takaris Yur looked to Vua. He stroked his chin slightly, like an elderly patrician. "Were I to send a spy on a mission, I would not discuss wider strategies in-front of them in-case they are captured and tortured." His eyes looked to Talon. "Do you want to know what the Dragons are here for?"

Vua hesitated. "I am the Fist, surely I should decide if she knows?"

"Do you want to earn two reprimands in two sentences, Lord Vua?"

The Yuuzhan Vong quietly seethed.

"I am curious," Talon admitted, taking some enjoyment out of hearing Vua reprimanded. "But I only wish to know if I am permitted to know."

High Lord Yur regarded Talon. "You may, but if you are at risk of being captured, I expect you to end your life."

He turned to Vua. "We are evacuating Korriban for a safer world. The Trans-Hydian Borderlands are about to become embroiled in the counter-offensives of the New Order. The forces attacking Concord Dawn are too superior, and too close. It is prudent to relocate, and also to gather our strength for our attack when the true enemy is revealed."

"Now," he regarded Vua. "Do you wish for me to tell Lord Talon where we shall be relocating to?"

"If it increases the chance of her death, of course," Vua said challengingly

"Ha!" Yur chortled. "Well said." His eyes half-lidded and looked to her.

"We shall be relocating to the region of space known as the Cloak of the Sith."

Talon nodded. "That is enough," she told the other Sith Lords. "I do not wish to know anything more now until that information becomes necessary for my tasks."

Yur nodded, approving. Vua sniffed. "So be it. Take me to the flagship." He indicated a Dragon. "And then go; Coruscant waits, Hand."

"Indeed it does. Lord Talon, if you would convey the Fist, we shall begin."

At that the High Lord signed off.

Vua looked at her. "Your empathy for those civilians is damning. I shall watch you, Talon."

Talon glanced at the Yuuzhan Vong. "Empathy?" She sniffed. "You presume too much. Just because I didn't enjoy their deaths didn't mean that I empathized with them, Vua. It doesn't matter whether I liked watching them die or not. Their deaths were required, so I let them happen. I didn't care about them and you would be a fool if you believed otherwise. And foolishness is just as damning, if not more, than empathy in this line of work."

"Foolishness? There are no unnecessary deaths when it comes to the works of our Master," Vua challenged. "Unless you consider the orders of Lord Krayt to be so?"

"Did I say that their deaths were unnecessary?" Talon asked him. "No, I did not. I said that I understood they were required. Do not put words in my mouth, Vua. Especially since I seem to have a sharper memory than you. I know my duty. And I will not have you getting in its way."

Vua sneered. "Deliver me to my ship, and go and spy." He dismissed her with a gesture as he turned to the docking port. "I am the Fist, you are merely the Hand. You may softly strangle and weave, but it is I that shall crush and dominate."

He threw a glance over his shoulder. "We shall see who serves our Master best, who the Voice turns to. Who the High Lord blesses."

He grunted. "Who is One with the Sith."

Talon just smiled.

"Yes, we shall see."

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Tirran Huxley & Tahiri Veila Combo with Sinre
Other side of the shop

Tirran was nearly far enough away from the place before it detonated, without his suit on his environmental tank took quiet a knock off a far wall and roll across the ground. Only the fact that the inertial compensators were maxed and the tank was made to survive extreme environments and drastic changes in outside conditions meant he was alright.

The surrounding buildings collapsed into the gap, obscuring the view of the street over. As Tirran slowly adjusted settings to get his tank to slowly right itself and begin to hover did he notice. . .The skies were alive with TIE Daggers, turbolaser fire crumpling towers, and drop ships spewing forth black-armoured Stormtroopers.

That was just perfect! He would never be able to collect on his insurance now!

Out with the new, in with the new. Again. Turning away from the disconcerting tableau above he found himself faced with a troop of four such Stormtroopers stomping around the bend, and they pointed their blasters at him - Imperials. Lovely. Had to the astrophobic or xenophobic Imps. Shoot the poor alternate species first, loot the shops later.

Snap-hiss!

A lithe blond shape leapt forward, and Tirran was for once relieved to see Tahiri Veila, as she deflected bolts back at the troopers, whose armour took the shots with little starfires before fading. She swiftly moved towards them, dropping to her knees and sliding, before she closed the distance and tucked her feet under her to jump up and cut their four necks.

Not even breathless, she glanced back at Tirran. "Coming?"

"Yes." Tirran stated without hesitation. Bodyguards were so hard to find during a crisis. Not to mention competent? And Free?!? "Possibly could we pass a storage locker or my ship? So I can retrieve a new exo-suit? I am rather limited without one." Tirran added by way of explanation.

Tahiri looked over his battered suit. “Absolutely.” She looked up as a Stormtrooper transport drifted into the area. The Jedi Knight watched as it landed to the south of them.

“Please tell me that it’s not that way.”

There were all manner of blaster bolts sounding out in the distance and the screams and the crashing of towers.

Coruscant had fallen.

"One of them yes. Thankfully my ship is to the west of here, and another locker to the North aways." Bobbing on his tanks repulsers he quickly started hovering for nearly all he was worth the other way. "If you want to snag a comm I can create an unlock key after I have a new exosuit." Tirran added as he did his best to make time towards his ship unless she indicated another direction.

"Thank the Force," Tahiri muttered. She levitated a helmet over to her, pulled a comlink free, and looked down at the dead human. "I recognise that face from somewhere..."

A nameless Stormtrooper, probably taken from his parents at birth, or maybe raised on Exegol or some other Sith colony world? They didn't know enough about the New Order to judge.

"West it is." She deflected an errant bolt that appeared from nowhere, but it hadn't been aimed - the battle had hit the random fire everywhere phase. Indicating with her blue blade, she pointed. "Lead the way." She looked back at the trooper transport landing a few streets over. "Away, please?"

"Take an image capture. We can run facial rec later." Tirran absently called back as he observed the devastation and destruction. Trying to figure out a path back to his private hanger. "Just put out the blade until we need it. I don't wanna die from xenophobia nor association."

With that he set out at max hover. Zipping as fast as he could westward to the closest awaiting exo-suit that he could dock with. It was so exposed to be floating around through a battle zone with nothing but his environmental tank for safety.

Tahiri deactivated the weapon with a glower. "Sure."

Running after him through the chaotic streets, absently conscious of the tank that acted as the true shell of Tirran. But it reminded her of Master Ikrit back on the Yavin 4 moon, the small Jedi who had taught her and Anakin about their bond -

She had not been troubled by the thought of Anakin Solo for many years. But with rumours of something called a Dyadallowing the 'hero' Rey to save everyone fifteen years ago, Tahiri had found herself wondering if she and Anakin had been a Dyad.

Maybe.

There was blasterfire behind them, to the south of the shop.

As they reached the locker where his next suit was kept, Tahiri was very happy that they weren't heading that way. Those new Shadow Stormtroopers? Terrifying. TIE Daggers sweeping the skies were bad enough, but these new troopers definitely told them that the New Order was something different - built off the backs of the First and Final Orders.

Transmitting the tight beam code there was a brief delay before the storage locker swished to the side. Luckily this was a private storage locker that was not on his prior lease and his droids wouldn't have known about it. So things should not of been bothered. Always have to plan to be hacked, but at this moment he was making a small note in his safety protocols to also plan for droid rebellions in event of long term absence.

Floating into the 5x5x5 cube, which most would find claustrophobic due to the clutter of stuff barely leaving a path in and across the center. Straight back was a power rack with his new exo-suit charged and waiting. Sending the coded signal he floated over and down, slowly going through the docking procedures. "Just a minute. Help yourself if you need anything." he stated as he went through the cold start-up and updates procedure.

Around the rest of the storage locker were long term rations, a large tank filled one wall on the left. On the right was racks of different weapons. While the back wall was a droid work desk on the left and a miscellaneous work bench on the right with tools below and above. Along the entrance walls were racks and shelves with spare parts and a lone computer terminal next to the tank that should have access to the local and planetary networks.

Tahiri glanced over and grabbed a few cyroban grenades. “Thanks - flashbangs won’t work well against helmets, and blasters require precision aiming, so this is all for me.”

A hesitation. “Are you gonna charge me for these?” She rattled the grenades at him.

Humming a jaunt little action diddy in his tank he looked at her with a bemused twinkle of his eyes. "Considering you killed those trying to kill me with no reason? We'll consider them paid for already." Finally seeing the final update complete he let his exo-suit go through the standard shut down and reboot. A few moments more and the cables disconnected with a snap-hiss as he took his first few steps forward and did some practice motions.

"Considering their armor, I'll take whatever you think is best if any are left." he stated with a heavy sigh. War, was not his thing.

Tahiri nodded. "Fair is far."

She looked at the armory. "Their armour is anti-blaster. So if you have any projectile based weapons, like a Verpine rifle - fat chance, I know - or just a good old fashion slugthrower? That would be best."

The building shook slightly, and Tahiri tensed, looking at the ceiling.

The boom sounded again, and then another, but this time the building didn't shake.

"They're starting to bombard the city. Thousands are dying."

Looking about as he filled the suits compartments with the remaining explosives. "I'm a singer and a deal maker more than a fighter. I might have a crate though, would have to double check the inventory to see what that psycho droid was doing for deals without my influence over the last years."

Twisting a few internal knobs in his tank he began scrolling through the data files that he had transferred ahead of his arrival, files that were now the sole copies. Beyond government files of course, though those were doctored beyond recognition. Tirran gave a sigh, "We can check one of the main storage lockers if you want. Otherwise I would be open to fleeing in my ship or whatever you suggest." He always had the third option of going for a panic bunker where he could wait things out for a few months, but that was honestly not very appealing. His financial loses would be astounding.

Tahiri nodded. "We need to get going. Hunting for supplies would not likely be our best use of time if a wholesale bombardment is happening." She twisted her lips. "I wish I'd had chance to tell the Order about what's going on, maybe call for some back-up." A slight shake of her head. "But apart from the Battle of Exegol, the Council hasn't agreed to intervene."

"Remember when Grandmaster K'Kruhk said that he'd wait a decade before reintegrating the Order with the New Jedi? Well, we lasted five years. I guess that decade is going to start up again..." Tahiri rolled her shoulders. "Let's get to your ship, Tirran."

"Lead the way."

"Well, of course. We aren't that valuable to them." he bubbled with a brief shrug. "Lets see if we can escape. Although if you have to kill any more troopers, I do want their armor so long as it's not bugged." Happily burbling a little ditty he continued on his way.

Tahiri laughed a little. “Profit is always in your mind, clearly.”

“But we’re not too happy that the Sith artefact trade is on-going…” she eyed him. “Any chance that we could convince you to be altruistic and pass over such things to us, if your contacts give them to you?” Tahiri shrugged.

There were more detonations in the distance, more crumbling towers. Tahiri was distracted from him to watch it. “The fall of the world.”

But none of it was targeted at them, and there were no ‘troopers coming at this direction. They’d be able to reach his ship with no issues…

She kept insisting on using words that he had to look up the meaning of. Altruistic - just a quick phonetic check of the old databanks, and. . .

al·tru·is·tic
/ˌaltro͞oˈistik/
adjective

1. showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others; unselfish. "it was an entirely altruistic act"

Quirking an eye at the definition he looked back at the Jedi with a mild look of surprise. "Did you suffer a concussion? I'll trade them for an extended profit margin garnish. How about that? Although. I was planning on simply burying what I still had in deep storage until our deal was no longer relevant. Unfortunately I just had a labor revolt, and my shopkeep was peddling such wares - one of which was just stolen by two idiots. Golden eye of some sort." Having his ego-suit pat down it's sides he turned and shrugged at her while maintaining pace.

"That's about my quarterly allotment of al-tru-ism." he stated with a large grin and a mischievous wink.

"Thanks for that," she said drily. Slowly, Tahiri nodded.

An eye? "Well, we'd rather take them off your hands and keep them safe."

She refocused on the chaos. "But let's get going."

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: A Combo with @Adalia-Durron @CosmoHender @Sinrebirth and @darthbernael

IC: Lando, Poe, Finn, Rey, Eeth William, Temiri, Zara, Tiber, Feral, Rey, and Babo
Deep space, aboard the Liberator, somewhere in the Colonies

The reports came in and kept coming in. Feral and Delta had spent the time since they decanted from hyper collating them and determining the importance of each. It didn’t look good across the breadth of the galaxy. He sighed, almost wishing he’d carry through on his threat to take his people and secure their territory and leave the rest to their chaos.

When Lando spoke up he glanced up from his work, a wry smile on his face. ”Above my pay grade, up to Rey and the others. The Liberator and it’s squadrons are ready but, as far as I knew, we were needed to jump immediately to rescue any we can and evacuate them.” He picked up the reports, waving them, ”My educated guess is that the battle going on there has complicated things.”

Tiber sat off to the side, Zara closeby. He had seen Babo’s looks but the footage of what had happened had disappeared so all that could happen would be and had been a slap on the wrist. Babo, he was sure, knew better but they could ill afford to have basically an entire wing of people just leave because of Babo’s desire to truly level the book at him. He held Zara’s hand, regs be damned, as he listened to his uncle speak. Leaning close to her, he whispered just loud enough for her alone to hear, ”Not sure Delta’s seen her new fighter, she wanted pink, it’s a bright fluorescent pink now.”

Working with him was all she asked, and as Delta scanned reports, gleaning what she could from them she had taken the opportunity to glance up, to gaze like a silly school girl. Even as he gave his impressions, she rested her chin to the heel of her hand with her elbow on the table, unaware of her appearance at that point.

Zara had been half listening, her hand held while her mind kept drifting, wishing her resignation had been accepted, wishing she was home with Amy. Then Tiber spoke, breaking her thoughts and she spun to him. "Totally pink?!" She hissed under her breath. As Delta was her best friend, she knew Delta had meant highlights, tweaks, not the entire ship! She turned to look at her friend but what she caught wasn't what she expected. Leaning back she whispered, "they so need to talk, communicate on some level other official!"

Eeth fidgeted uneasily. What were they waiting for? As far as he was concerned, there was no debate. Chandrila needed their help and the lives of innocent people were in danger. End of discussion. So why weren't they already in hyperspace? Every minute wasted here would mean more lives on Chandrila that were unable to be saved.

They didn't just need to go, they needed to be gone.

William seemed to echo Eeth's unspoken sentiments. In all honesty, he was not sure why Finn had dragged them both along for this little meeting. He was not sure what he could possibly contribute to the conversation. He ran his hand through what remained of his hair, his eyes glancing to these new people, a slight look of confusion as he saw two these new people whispering to each other but unable to make out what they were saying. He looked down to Eeth, seeing the young Zabrak fidget incessantly.

Waiting... he hated waiting, it was like his life was on pause.

Rey shook her head. "I need to head to Coruscant. There's something going on there. I can sense it in the Force..." Poe glanced at the Jedi at his end, but none of them could feel anything particular about Coruscant over Chandrila.

"If I take the Liberator, we can cause confusion at Coruscant, maybe save some more refugees," she said firmly. "Everything else should go to Chandrila while we still can."

"I'll come too -" Finn said.

"Now hold on," said Poe, "We can't waste time regrouping, we need to go now."

"Who are you taking?" Lando asked, interrupting.

"I shall be heading to Chandrila," said Admiral Babo. "Coruscant is less important than you all make it out to be; always has been." The Bothan sniffed. "I want the Rogues with me." Jess nodded at that.

"Then I'll take Black Squadron, if that's alright?" He eyed the pilots, and Feral.

Poe jerked a thumb at the Jedi. "I've got Sword Squadron here, so."

"Sword Squadron?" Finn questioned. "Really?"

A shrug. "It works. You had a better name?"

"Twin Suns Squadron - the one that Master Skywalker made during the old wars," he said, looking at Rey.

She smiled back. "I think Master Skywalker would love to see his squadron resurrected."

Babo rolled his eyes. "Can we agree, and go?"

Eeth nodded in agreement with Babo. He truthfully didn't care what they were called. He just wanted them all to be on the same page as soon as possible so they could just go without any further delay. Sword Squadron or Twins Suns Squadron or whatever was needed.

Feral, seeing the drift of the conversation, had already made a quiet comm call. As the question was asked he looked up, head swiveling to take in the Blacks, one eyebrow arching slightly as he saw the look on Delta’s face, he’d have to make time to talk to her privately, as soon as they could. He finally turned back to Babo, Jess, and Rey, ”The Liberator and Black Squadron are already prepped, the ship’s crew has the hyper route planned and coordinated, so just give the word and we will be on our way.” He didn’t like mincing words and the rest were correct, the sooner this was done, the better.

Tiber chuckled lightly at Zara’s question. In another whisper ”She was quite…absolute…in demanding pink so yes, the entire craft is fluorescent pink.”

He could tell his uncle was waiting for his agreement. Looking up, ”Yes, Sir, Blacks are all up, now that Delta has her new fighter, and all rearms, repaired, and prepared for as much mayhem as we could consider.”

Delta looked over to Zara, her best friend was giving her husband a look of disbelief and she wondered why raising her eyebrow in curiosity.

Zara closed her mouth. "You're going to pay for that one, not me." She muttered, knowing Delta would be annoyed. She listened as he went on to say they were ready to fight, interesting, she didn't feel like it. Deep down all she wanted to do was to go home, sleep in her own bed, hug her daughter and wear regular clothes. Oh to wear something that wasn't a uniform or flight suit, sounded pathetically silly but she couldn't help how she felt, but she chose to keep this all to herself for now. She caught Delta's expression, and responded by rolling her eyes and giving her shoulders a shrug. She'd know in good time.

William could not help but chuckle slightly. There was so much tension in the air, and this silly argument about the naming of Squadron broke through that and brought a brief, and fleeting moment of levity to William. He looked to Eeth who seemed quite anxious to be on their way already.

He gave a slight nod of his head, yes they really should be going already. Time waited for no one. His eyes still soft, his face neutral he awaited their dismissal so they could prepare and do what needed to be done.

None of them would have expected the hologram to go as badly as it did in the short time they spoke.

A second Eclipse appeared just after the Resistance managed to take out the first, some miracle pilot hurling torpedoes down the superlasers throat. The flagship of the Resistance took a superlaser shot, and then was burning.

Connix's words came over the comms.

All the comms - even theirs - Lando's, Ferals', Rey's, Poe's, Finn's, Zara's, all the military types.

"Rendezvous point G-Minor-2!"

That was an old, old Resistance code.

The code for Ajan Kloss.

"Well, we have our marching orders now, guys," Poe said. "Gear up, we need to head to the rendezvous. Figure it out."

"I'm not going," Rey said, shaking her head.

Babo spoke up. "General's Calrissian, Dameron, Antilles, Finn - and you Jedi - you may want to get going." He showed his own holoproj to them all. "Forces from Warlord Gherlid just relieved Bilbringi - the Knife 9 is on its way to Kuat." That was a Mandator IV-class Super Star Destroyer; eight kilometers of anti-capital ship weapons.

"We need to get going," Lando agreed.

"I'm taking the Liberator to Coruscant," insisted Rey. "There is something in the Force - something important."

Finn shook his head. "I can't feel it," he eyed William, Eeth and Temeri. "None of us can."

"It's something familiar."

"Ben?" Poe said, neutrally. "You said you killed him."

"He died on Exegol too," Rey reminded.

Chewbacca roared. They didn't have time for this.

Everyone leaving Bilbringi, or at Kuat, had to go to the rendezvous and back up Connix.

Babo nodded. "Quite so." He left the conversation, and the Sabaton began to move for the jump. Jess signed off too.

Lando and Wedge cut the feed, and the Scythe and Errant Venture began to shift in orbit above Kuat. The Emancipator was under the command of Poe, which left him and the Jedi on the line with Feral, Black Squadron and Rey.

"I'm taking the Liberator to Coruscant," Rey said, with some finality. "I'll go alone if I have to."

Poe pulled a face. The Emancipator couldn't stay at Kuat, and going to Coruscant on a hunch seemed insane. "Come back with us to the rendezvous for now." He daren't say the words Ajan Kloss over an open comm. "We need to get our bearings."

"No."

He looked to the Jedi for some support, or the pilots of Black Squadron - or Feral.

Chewbacca shrugged and headed off to prep the Falcon, leaving the conversation.

The Force remained entirely silent to them all.

Eeth frowned. Finn was right, whatever Rey was feeling in the Force he couldn't sense it. Instead the Force was unusually silent to him, which bothered Eeth. Usually he could rely on the Force, but at this moment he had to rely on his gut instead.

"You trust her, right?" he asked Finn and Poe, referring to Rey. "If she believes there is something on Coruscant, something important for us to find... then might it be worth checking out? Sure, it might seem insane. But we do insane all of the time."

Feral frowned as the discussion went on. He glanced back at Tiber, who nodded, even though both he and Zara would rather be home, be back with their daughter and not in the midst of war, they’d chosen to come and they’d follow his lead. He turned back, satisfied, proud of his nephew and Zara. ”I’ll restate our position, since it seems necessary.”

His eyes met Rey’s, ”If any of us have the Force it’s minimal, but we understand your importance, Rey, as well as the importance of protecting you. The Liberator, as well as Black Squadron, is with you.” His eyes swept over Eeth’s, ”He has it right, you have our trust. Coruscant may be in the midst of chaos but so is everywhere else. Give the command and we will launch.” His right arm bent, fist clenched, pressed just above his heart, in a salute.

William shook his head in disbelief. It sounded like utter madness, go off to Coruscant? He looked to Eeth. There was a truth to the young man's words. If there was some darkness that only Rey could feel... it was not impossible the Force was a mysterious thing. But the risk on just a possibility... they could lose everything.

He could feel nothing, but... was it possible that it could be...

"Rey you must go," spoke William with a certain firmness in his tone, his eyes firece. He knew he was speaking somewhat out of turn, but it did not matter. There was a certain unexplainable certainty he felt at this moment.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @darthbernael @Adalia-Durron @CosmoHender

 

IC: Asteria Magnus, Randvi
Escaping Concord Dawn

Asteria ran with Randvi until they literally hit another group of Mandalorians and were forced inside a ship. She quickly sensed and saw Mirta, moving over to her with her cousin.

"Mirta!" Asteria called out and Randvi looked at the other Mandalorian with polite formality. She didn't know Mirta as well as Asteria did. "I lost Buir my Mom's." She paused and Randvi spoke up as the ship started to leave.

"I don't know what those things are, but if you need a pilot..." Randvi trailed off. She could sensed her own parents safe on another ship, and was sure Asteria could sensed her own. "We need to go somewhere remote-"

Tag: @Sinrebirth

 

A fun combo with our incomparable GM,@Sinrebirth

*****************

The Sith Stalker grumbled, ignited her double-saber, and removed his head.

Next.

One Year Later...

It was impossibly difficult to clone powerful Force users.

Palpatine had never mastered it, not truly. Or, rather, he had been unable to rebuild the science, not after Snoke sabotaged it. Thrawn tried, and failed, spawning a set of clones on a moon in the Unknowns, most of which had gone mad and killed each other. The clones simply went mad.

Vader, the great tinkerer of machines, had turned his hand to genetics once, and had minimal success. One, two, three Starkiller clones, before the Battle of Kamino. But he had wrecked the Rebel base on Dantooine, so it was no small victory of strategy over tactical defeat against one of the clones; another battle thrown for his ultimate goal.

The Stalker was required to be the same for her master.

But even Supreme Leader Snoke had limits to his patience.

The new clone was decanted, and the PROXY droid was ready to transform into Leia again.

The woman was dead, why couldn't he just kill her?

The Stalker was piqued.

"Change into Rey."

And so it did.

Even as the clone was still draped in fluid, the Stalker passed him a lightsaber.

"She's here to kill you. Defend yourself, use the Dyad between you, steal from her, as she did from you, and used to defeat you, back on Starkiller Base."

"She's a fake." The clone declared flatly. There was a barely perceivable sense of bland disappointment, mixed with a tinge of disdain, even as he suddenly force-pulled 'Rey' towards himself and decapitated her with a precise, though arguably negligent swing of his ignited lightsaber, even as he turned to face the Stalker. The clone's eyes and expression were one of measured focus; to such a degree, that he eyed her, already taking her measure -of her, their location and everything that resonated within his senses.

The clone was already studying and analyzing all that he surveyed. His weapon remained ignited, yet he did not attack, nor did he care to cover himself for that matter.

"Rey is dead."

"Oh is she now," the Stalker said, carefully. A holopad appeared in her hand. "I am afraid to say she's very much alive, Kylo Ren." An image appeared, showing her. "She was last seen at Bilbringi, I believe, aiding the Resistance. Before that of course, she killed your Dark Inclination."

A dry tone. "So you're hardly bereft, Kylo Ren." She enunciated his full name with some amusement. "You could still actually beat her for once..." A flitter of a memory from Kef Bir, of him standing over her, would fill him. Another, of their clash on Ach-To, which had been a draw.. Another, of his defeat on Starkiller Base - after being shot by a weapon that should have killed him, after being wounded by the death of Han Solo.

"Still alive?" the clone murmured, his gaze hardening for a brief moment. The shared images had not disturbed him, as they only served to strengthen his resolve. Inwardly, he was quite pleased at being addressed properly; as Kylo Ren.

Kylo's eyes narrowed as he thought about it further: What was the implication? Could he find her through their supposed bond? Was she to ever plague him as his 'weak spot', the chink in his armor? No, not this time. He would finish it for good.The Stalker was right. He would beat her. He was ready...more than ready.

"She lives on borrowed time." Kylo declared darkly, his weapon extinguishing as he spoke.

"We find her friends and we find her. We crush the Resistance and she'll come. The Wookiee, if he still lives, he could serve as a 'flashpoint'."

Kylo Ren took a breath and the very air around him shimmered with the strength of his intent. His mind was sharp, already formulating a plan. "There will be no escape...this time."

"You seek to pursue them?"

She stroked her chin.

"I could agree to that, if you can prove you will kill her, not bed her."

There was mockery in the woman's tone, even filtered through her helmet.

"Because if you can, I shall take you to your Knights of Ren now. They are waiting for you in the Kuat system, or, they will be." A quirk of humour in Force. "The Supreme Leader has built a shining New Order for you to breathe life into, Dark Lord."

Kylo side glanced the Stalker for her flippant remark, but had to admit at being somewhat amused by it. Siring a Force sensitive scion of his own was not an unwelcome idea, now that he thought about it.

"Yes, I shall join the Knights and we will bring order to the galaxy, once and for all."

His eyes had spied a black robe and only now did he summon it to his hand before donning it as his own.

"Show me the way." He commanded.


Tag: @Sinrebirth

 

~OOC~ Special thanks goes to @CosmoHender and @Sinrebirth for this joint post between us

~IC~Ahsoka Tano + Barriss Sunrider + A’Sharad Hett and Trace Martez

Location: Atrisian Tomb

"What have you done?"

Barriss didn't answer right away. She stood there silently, deactivating her lightsabers while considering Arb's final words.

She didn't buy it.

"Bantha fodder," Barriss said under her breath. "If he really just wanted to destroy the Bogan Collection, then he should have just said so. I was going to destroy it anyway. He didn't need to shoot Trace or almost kill Morai or injure you." Her fists tightened. "What he just said doesn't mean a thing, but his actions do." She turned to look at Ahsoka. "I couldn't take the chance that he might try to hurt Trace or Morai or you again, so I did what I had to do. I am more than willing to risk my own life, but not anyone else's if I can help it."

She turned away from the body, fully expecting Ahsoka to not agree with or approval of what she just did. Not that Barriss needed Ahsoka's approval, since what's done was done.

It was then that Barriss heard the voice from the shadows and saw someone she was surprised to recognize. Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the man's tattoos. "It can't be..."

She remembered someone from her days in the Jedi Temple when she had been Luminara Unduli's Padawan. Barriss had never known him well, but she still knew him. And like most of the Order, she had assumed that he died during Order 66. But there was no mistake, because here he was just as alive as the two of them.

"Master Hett?" Barriss asked.

---

Ahsoka studied Barriss’ face from under the flickering glow of the sconce and the light of the dual sabers. There was resolute in her expression about what she had done to Arbs.

As she listened to Barriss’ reasoning, Ahsoka brought her left arm behind her back and pressed her forearm against the wound. It stung though she has had worse. It’ll need tending to, sooner than later.

No, of course Arb didn’t need to do those actions against them. Ahsoka had poised such a question to Arb and she ended up getting shot instead. It was clear his intentions were to separate them and to slow them down from reaching the Collection before him. Not to kill, otherwise this would have been a different story.

They couldn’t discuss the matter further as another made their presence know to them. Their names were called by a gravelly voice.

At first a swirl of hope ignited inside. Master Vos...?

Ahsoka narrowed her gaze as she tried to make sense of the presence. It wasn’t as familiar as she had hoped it to be and that was made clear upon seeing the man’s face, it was not Quinlan Vos.

Barriss answered first in recognition and greeting. Master A’Sharad Hett?

“Master Hett.” Ahsoka responded in kind and inclined her head as a sign of respect. She knew of him from what Anakin had told her. He seemed to have gained Anakin’s respect over time.

Why was he here though? The same reason as Arb, Barriss and Trace? This was unexpected. Too much of a coincidence with the timings... though given the time dilation going on, how much time has passed on the surface since encountering Barriss? A couple of days?

She cast a wary glance at their drawn blades before kneeling down beside Arb’s prone body. She placed a hand over his brow and bowed her head as she whispered a prayer. Her fingers trailed over to close his eyelids to give peace to his form.

“I’m afraid that all is not what it appears to be.” She stated softly, looking up to A’Sharad. “Forgive me, Master Hett. Have you any news on our other two injured companions?”


"I passed a woman that was looking well-bandaged, and an owl that was hooting at me..." Hett chuckled. "I would have swore that she told me to be careful... and how do I know that she is female?" The Jedi shook his head, and looked down at the body on the floor in his blue tunic - the Black Coat draped besides him.

At the sight of the latter, his eyes slightly narrowed in the sconce-lit corridors, but he spoke up. "I was hunting the rest Bogan Collection. The other collections included artefacts from the High Republic and New Sith Wars, yes, and some from the Great Sith Wars - those that the old Jedi Covenant missed - but almost nothing from the Second Great Schism. Which was concerning in and of itself."

He squatted besides the dead man. "While the Old Sith Wars concerned themselves with Rakatan technology, and the Great Galactic Wars with Eternal technology... the Second Great Schism began with Celestial technology. So I was concerned about the possibility of part of the Bogan Collection being missing."

He placed a hand, a surge of the Force upon Arb's body. "A lightsaber in the back, up through the gut." He pursed his lips, stretching the tattoos on his face. "Very Vader." He looked up at the two of them.

"Many Jedi fell in the Dark Times, so I suppose I should not be surprised." His eyes narrowed again. "This is not the place for a civilian, nor an... owl. They need to be sent away somewhere safe, before we go any further."


Barriss considered Hett's words, frowning. Celestial technology?

Hett was right. That was concerning.

The mention of Vader, particularly comparing her actions to his, made Barriss shift slightly uncomfortably. Her mechanical hand tightened into a fist. She didn't say anything, but while Barriss wasn't quite sure what she was she did know one thing for certain: she was not Vader.

Barriss did nod in agreement with Hett's last statement, however. "Yes, this is getting too dangerous for them." She pulled out her comlink and spoke into it. "Trace, get out of the tomb and take Morai with you. Wait back at the ship. If you don't hear from me after some time, leave. I am okay and so is Ahsoka, but this is no place for you. Please."

She didn't know if Trace would be able to hear her, but Barriss had to try since backtracking would take up too much time and separating would be a bad idea. She was starting to have a bad feeling about this, which meant that she would prefer if Trace was out of the way. She was already hurt... and Barriss feared even worse could happen to her. And if her message got through, Barriss knew that Trace was capable enough to get out on her own. Barriss knew better than to underestimate Trace after five years of traveling together.

Barriss hoped this wouldn't take too long. The sooner that they checked the Bogan Collection's inventory and the sooner that they destroyed it, the better. She was still amazed that Hett was here. The three of them together in the same room, their paths crossing after so much time... it was remarkable.

---

Ahsoka quizzically arched a brow at Barriss’ assessment that had been related to over the comlink.

There was something that didn’t sit well... a nagging thought that none of this should be happening.

The way Barriss took the initiative to contact Trace without question nor consideration. The nonchalant manner of conveying the orders without thinking through the details... especially after the display of affectionate concern between the two women earlier - was Trace being casually tossed aside? Was it an act?

Which raises the questions as to whether the comlink was answered and whether the signal was strong enough to even penetrate through to reach the intended target?

Why exactly were Barriss and Trace here for that matter? Their true intentions were not exactly clear. To keep the collection out of the wrong hands but how though? What were their definition of ‘wrong hands’?

The plans Ahsoka had with Arb and Morai were not shared with anyone... it was isolated. Ever since Barriss and Trace showed up, things were taking a drastic turn and not for the better.

Did Barriss and Trace bring upon Arb’s abrupt change of heart? To act as he did and turn on her? There he was... lying there, needlessly killed by Barriss’ hand, upon warning them about a Dark Man seeking the collection... a partial collection that Luminara had brought here to keep safe... before her capture and death all those years ago.

With it being more than fifty years since the Galactic Republic, how did Barriss straight away know that it was Master Hett to begin with?

What was this Master Hett’s story? How did he know of Vader? And enough to compare Vader’s with Barriss’ actions? Ahsoka knew Anakin and Hett had some differences in which they had worked out together... though did he know what had become of her former Master? Why was Hett here now? At this precise moment?

If he had been stalking them this whole time, she would have sensed it.

Regardless of that... here they are now, with her, after a string of coincidences later...

Ahsoka remembered what Hera had once said about knowing ‘when to hold and when to fold’. Given the pattern of events, and how the ‘stack’ felt rigged against her, it was best to try a different tact.

“Sometimes one requires to take a step back before one can proceed any further.” Ahsoka said softly, the lower lengths of her lekku swished gently against her form. “Given we did drop through a trap floor - who knows how many levels - to reach here. Which is beneath a set of tombs, rigged up to keep force sensitives away... or contained. You must be confident that two injured ‘civilians’ will make it out on their own... Without a sense of how.” She arched a brow.

“They will need help and I shall go to them.”

Ahsoka stepped past Master Hett, not taking her eyes nor her senses away from the two of them and of her surroundings. Then tapped the glyph signifying Wapoe with the tip of her staff - Slamming a thick solid slab of rock down, separating her from them.

Retracing her steps back, Ahsoka saw the glow of her shoto, left behind as a beacon, before seeing her cloak-turned-makeshift nest for Morai. The Togruta collected and deactivated her blade, then inspected the Convor. It looked as though Barriss had used her healing techniques on the little one. Shaking her head, she cradled the cloak close and brought her forehead close to convey what had happened. She then continued to find Trace.

---

Hett let Ahsoka go. Clearly the reminder of Anakin was not a pleasant one; and Barriss had just stabbed a man. He regarded his hand and what he had sensed of him, which was little.

But then he looked at Barriss. “Come. Let Lady Tano take back your friend and the owl. We shall progress on, and discover what was so important in this Bogan Collection.”

He stepped forward.


Barriss was reluctant to see Ahsoka go, but she didn't try to stop her. She felt like they needed to have a talk... and hopefully they would have that chance later.

Barriss sighed and turned to Hett. "Yes, let's head on."

She was ready to get this over with.


Hett nodded slowly. "Yes, lets."

He led the way. "Master Unduli told me about this place, but I was coming at it with very little to work with. Most of the Old Jedi were gone, and I haven't seen any for, oh, a good thirty years. I met Obi-Wan on Tatooine when he hid there." His tone was conversational, for the moment.

"But that's the past, I suppose."

The room was finally before them.

The main features were a quartet of human-sized cylinders to the rear of the room, but there was clearly a centrepiece that included a pedestal. An empty pedestal. Surrounded by it was a disabled set of defences - a small shield generator, some ripped anew plants, even some ancient guardian droids. Indeed, there were the bodies of two Jedi Temple guards as well.

The Tusken Jedi knelt down. "Who could have done this."

He turned over a body, and saw the pockmark damage of Force Lightning.

"A darksider," he said carefully. "But who? And what was it they protected?"

The Celestial technology I buried here was simply too unstable for me to manage, said an arch, slow tone. I eschewed Rakatan or Gree devices, if not Eternal weapons. The Sith thought that the Infinite or Infernal Empire's could offer them true power, but it was I who dug into the Twilight Wars and found Zildrog.

The image swam into existence. A hologram, not a spirit.



He inclined a hand to Barriss.

Your Master thought that building upon my collection would be the safest way to keep it hidden. But even I would not engage with the Celestial technology... I led fallen Jedi to it before, and they destroyed the Vultar system. A true waste of a Great Schism...

He chuckled and faded away, and Hett firmed his lips.

His gaze turned. There it was; the Holocron; nothing new or surprising about that. As pyramidal as the rest... this one just happened to be jet black.

Meanwhile, Trace was cradling Morai, looking up at Ahsoka. Behind her, the way had been carved open, sunlight spilling into the area they had fallen. "That man, he used his lightsabers, cut in. Green blades. Is he... a Jedi?"

"What happened to Arb?"

She was actually crying, after a fashion.

"Is Barriss okay?"

---

Realization slowly dawned on Barriss.

As did a name that she had read a long time ago in one of the Jedi texts that she had studied during her time in the Temple.

"Vitiate..."

Born as Tenebrae. Also known as the Sith Emperor. Also known as Valkorian, leader of the Eternal Empire.

Though many details had been lost in the thousands of years since Vitiate's time, including the true identity of the champions who had defeated this evil entity, his crimes had not been forgotten by the Jedi. Including his desire to consume almost everything in the galaxy and become an all-powerful god.

This was his Holocron.

"We have to destroy it."

---

Upon finding Trace, Ahsoka handed her cloak with Morai over to her. She then gave a cautious glance to the freshly cut passage as the daylight streamed in from beyond.

“That’s new...” Ahsoka murmured.

"That man, he used his lightsabers, cut in. Green blades.” Trace explained as she cradled Morai. “Is he... a Jedi?"

Ahsoka paused to consider. “At one point, yes... for now, I don’t know.” She shook her head. “The passage of time has changed many things. Some are not what they used to be...” she then sighed. “...which is true to nature. I just... just need a moment.”

Ahsoka retrieved her pouch, containing her medipacs, that had been given to tend to Trace’s wound from earlier. She sat on one of the stone debris from the new exit. With the light filtering down and she wedged a small mirror from her other pouch and angled it so she could see her back. Glancing to Trace, the other large fragment of debris jutting up allowed some privacy between the two. She then carefully peeled the burnt material away from her wound and then rolled up her tunic halfway, exposing her midriff.

"What happened to Arb?" Trace asked.

Ahsoka had picked up the undertone of concern and worry in Trace’s voice but couldn’t answer just yet. She had to focused on the small reflection of her back and winced as she flushed the wound clean.

“Is Barriss okay?" Trace questioned further.

“Ahh... Barriss is Barriss.” Ahsoka sucked in her breath as she applied the salve. That stung like hell!
“Arb shot Morai... clipped her. He got in a lucky shot... clipped me too-“ she grunted and torn open the seal to the patch with her teeth. “Something didn’t... I don’t know. He surrendered to me, he was saying something that ‘it didn’t matter anymore’. Before he could explain himself, Barriss silenced him. Impaled through the back. There was a coldness about the way she did it. It was a needless kill. Wasteful. There was an echo of something dark within... something that’s been part of her since that last time I saw her.”

Shaking her head, Ahsoka sealed the patch over the wound. It will do until she could get it seen to properly. Given how Barriss didn’t acknowledge, nor bat an eye at Ahsoka’s injury did speak volumes.

“There are so many questions that need answering...”

Ahsoka sighed and tentatively rose to her feet.

“This man, Hett, you saw. Barriss knows him. They are together now while I returned to recover Morai, patch up my wound and to collect you. We have to leave.”

Clipping the pouch back to her belt, Ahsoka turned to face Trace. Upon seeing the tear stains on the other’s cheek, she paused.

“I am sorry, I understand that this might not be easy for you...“ Ahsoka’s lips part as she took a step towards Trace. “...but we have to leave now. I’ve already sealed the way back to here. They have to follow the path all the way through or forge a different one.”

Ahsoka then looked to their exit, her gaze studying the shape and depth of the space. A few strategic cut could weaken the support and collapse the passage.

“What we can do is ensure no one can enter this way again.” Ahsoka activated both her lightsabers. “Take Morai and what you can carry, I’ll meet you up there. While you wait, decide what you want to do; Come with me or wait for them... Either way, I will be leaving with Morai.”

TAG: @Sinrebirth @CosmoHender

 

IN THE DARKNESS OF THE UNKNOWN REGIONS

It had taken years, billions of credits, and contracts with the Chiss, Warlords, pirates, and private entities. Skirrin was no longer the naïve young girl that had left a trash planet to put together a small fleet for exploration. She was the CEO of the BalaSphere Group, an independent clandestine operation and intelligence company established in the Unknown Regions and known to few, utilized by even less. The loose fleet of fledgling vagabonds and mercenaries she had collected from the Outer Rim years ago was dwindled down to a less than 50 well-trained, battle tested operatives.​

​

Initially, Skirrin and Seeks worried once they arrived in the Unknown Regions about the end of Dol Khan's financial inheritance. The wealth he had transferred to Skirrin was substantial and would allow most in the galaxy to live their lives over and over again without fear of emptying the pot. Skirrin knew that her expeditions to learn more about the Force accompanied by caring for the ships and people in her fleet would drain the endowment eventually. Long before it could end, Skirrin decided to convert her expeditions into information gathering missions. The Chiss were hesitant at first to employ her group, unnamed and unorganized as they were at the time. It took an entire year of performing intelligence gathering missions for members of the Royal Families before the capital began to pour in as their effectiveness began to gain repute.​

​

The galaxy, during these years, continued to move, but Skirrin adapted. She learned from the Chiss and studying their history that the best way to avoid galactic conflict involvement was to keep a low profile and ostensibly profess to be independent and neutral. With the finances and information network Dol Khan gifted her, Skirrin kept tabs on the movements of the major actors in the galaxy, but rarely directly involved herself in their affairs, even when offered a contract. Intelligence gathering, information selling, and hacking were the services offered by the Balasphere to a select special clientele and those services funded the BalaSphere to the successfully quiet company they have remained.​

​

Those services also funded Skirrin's own maturation in the Sight and developing her hardened view of the galaxy.​

​

Dol Khan warned her that the Galaxy was a dark place. There were instances over the past five years where Skirrin and Seeks would completely disappear from the others. No record, no trace to track, and when they would return, Skirrin would say nothing about where she was or what she had done. In the depths of Seeks' old memory files, often cleansed for security, are days, weeks, and months of Skirrin subjecting herself to ancient trials she had read ancient Sith academies had put their apprentices and masters through. There are recordings of Skirrin repeating the long detailed training regiments of the Jedi Order during the High Republic. Studying over ancient writings of the Mistweavers. She became a student of every Force organization that had existed before and thanks to Seeks' processing power, she was able to combine like elements and account for statistically significant negative impacts.​

​

-----​

Skirrin attempted again to access Seeks' "room", to no avail. Seeks was apart of the ship, and every ship in the fleet, in almost every droid aboard. Yet, the droid had claimed a room across the hall from Skirrin and would typically move around the Space Station in what he coined his "Patrol Droid" form.​

​

​

Skirrin, genuinely confused, stared at the console for a moment before making a move to retrieve her comlink as the door hissed open. The white-haired woman walked into the room and looked around. The patrol droid was in front of her inactive. Seeks would be here shortly. She walked to the unused bathroom section of his room and looked into the mirror. She flashed back to the girl she'd once been. She then looked at whom she had created in the reflection.​

​

​

​

She got lost for...a moment or two...​

​

"....irrin....Skirrin....Skirrin." Seeks' voice repeated in monotone several times. Skirrin had accidentally made a habit of spacing out.​

​

"Yes Seeks, I'm sorry. You said you had an alert."​

​

"Coruscant has been attacked."​

​

"Have the Chiss reached out to us?"​

​

"No, they haven't. It does not seem to be incredibly alarming to them."​

​

"Mobilize the fleet. Someone is going to reach out to us, soon."​

​

Seeks processed for a millisecond and remained silent for dramatic effect before asking "Is this something the Sight is showing you?" He was still not a fan of the Force when it came to making company decisions.​

​

"No, Seeks. It is another war. Of Galactic Importance. Someone will reach out. The Sight says that when that call arrives, I must accept. We calculated that the next galactic conflict would be upon us sooner than later. We're ready. I'm ready."​