Star Wars: Return of the Sith

[Paendragon]

Luke

Luke ignored the chill that had fallen over him, when he heard her voice. It was far too hot to be getting chills. Weird.

"Hi Natacia!" He was glad to see her. She was one of the only people who seemed to want him around. "Of course I remember you. Do you need help with something?"

He looked up at her expectantly.

 

[Kelson]

Kelson moved swiftly, laying a firm hand on Daelon's shoulder as he made to walk away from him, the robe about him rustling into position during a brief moment of quiet.

"I know what you fear and what a loss that would be, Daelon. I have known Raine since I was a padawan myself."

The Jedi Master paused for a moment, then stepped nearer his young apprentice.

"You think, perhaps, you are ready for the trials. I have long told you that if you took them it is likely you would pass them. However," Kelson said, stepping up to Daelon's side, his face and eyes looking ahead, "it is what is in the Jedi's heart that makes him a Jedi Knight, or a Jedi Master, even a Padawan."

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Nastasia Vish

"Why, yes," she replied. "Actually, I do. Or at least, I sort of do. i wanted to show you something. Remember when we first met? I had just arrived then, on my frieghter. I wanted to show you my ship, if you'd like to see it. What do you say?"
She looked at him, almost certain he would say yes, smiling.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Marius

I noticed after I'd spoken, the Jedi Master moving quickly up behind Daelon, taking him by the shoulder. I stepped back, lowering my head in respect, and waited as they spoke.

 

[Paendragon]

Luke

"Sure."

He hopped up to his feet, smiling.

"Where is it?"

He waited for her to lead the way.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Nastasia Vish

She took him by the hand and led him toward the hangar. No one seemed to notice, just went about whatever business they were going about. She was glad they trusted her so, but still, beneath it all a pang of guilt began to emerge. She shook it off. No room for that in this business. They were Jedi, and she was in the service fo a Sith. what must be done, must be done.
"It's over in the hangar, dear, right in that one there."
As she approached, the time came to complete the mission and take the hell off. SHe felt around the remote and found the button she was looking for, then pressed it in with a gentle push.
Distantly, something rumbled.
"C'mon, honey," she insisted, "It's just inside."

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Marius

I heard it before Daelon could even reply, or had a chance to as he and Kelson still seemed emersed in their own sharing of thoughts.
An explosion?
It was coming from the back of the complex. Near...the empty storage units?
I hurried outside, moving past guards as they moved toward the scene, some of them eyeing around suspiciously, looking for a possible culprit.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Looks like someone set off some sort of explosive, but nothing too large," a passing guard replied.
I ran after them, taking my lightsaber in hand, though i felt no ill presence. i wondered, deep down, if this Darth Azraiel had managed to elude our guard somehow and was behind this bizaar attack.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Mogo

As we exited the Spotted Owl, i saw the flashing red light from above.
"Uh-oh," the guard said, immediately heading off toward a terminal nearby. Nastasia came in a second later, leading the young boy Luke by the hand.
"A...bombing in the...?"
"Is everything okay?" Nastasia asked.
"Not sure," the guard replied. "Things might be heating up already..."
He started toward the door.
"Wait," she said, catching his attention one last time.
"If things are going to get crazy, we want to get out of here before it gets too crazy. Can you give us clearance to leave? We're not soldiers, afterall."
He nodded, seeming hesitant. There was probably a procedure, but he would bypass it, given the situation and her argument.
He returned to the terminal and punched a few keys.
"Leave when you're ready. The towers know you're leaving."
"Thank you, sir," she replied, but he was heading out the door already.
"Well," she turned to the boy, smiling. "Are you ready to look inside, Luke?"

 

[Paendragon]

Luke

Luke was a bit confused. An explosion? Here? Weird. He hoped no one was hurt. But Natacia didn't seem concerned, and she was a friend of the Jedi sooo...

"Yeah. Lets see it. Is it like Tynan's? His has a lot of weapons and stuff, but it's not very comfortable. Even the bed is hard."

 

[Paendragon]

Tynan

Tynan stood outside of Azraiel's quarters when he heard the explosion. His hand instinctively went to his lightsaber, before he caught himself.

The alarms were sounding, and people were running through the halls. He reached out and grabbed a passing soldier.

"Trouble?"

The soldier looked at him in his Jedi robes, and barely hesitated before answering. "Nothing big, an explosion. No one was hurt."

Tynan frowned. "An explosion? What's the cause?"

"Unknown, as of yet."

Tynan let go of the man, and he ran off.

Something wasn't right about this. He wasn't sure what, but whatever he was, he didn't like it. he had learned to trust his instincts above all else. Master Skywalker always said that these kinds of feeling were the Force trying to tell you something. All you had to do was listen.

 

[Paendragon]

Duu'Raan

Star charts flipped by on the viewscreen. Duu'Raan opened himself to the Force, asking for some direction. He had been at it for quite some time.

Then the planet of Ithor flashed across the screen, and he took his clawed hands of the controls. Ithor was an aboreal world in the outer core.

"Ssssset coursse for Ithor, my Padawan."

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Mogo

She led the boy up the ramp, waving for Orin and I to follow.
We moved in behind the two, me wondering what she was possibly thinking with the chance she'd just taken.
Once inside, she led the boy to the cockpit, showing him all the instrument panels and explaining what some of them did, though not in great detail. A good pilot knows that the words just don't explain what it takes to make the sumbitch move the way you need it to.
When she started toward the back of the vessel, she glanced back at me and rolled her fingers forward in a circle, as if to say "let's get this boat moving."
I understood.
As soon as they were out of my sight, I got to the pilot's chair and started the thing up, raising the ramp and slowly raising the vessel from the platform.
The guard had explained only a few things, but he had mentioned carefully reconfiguring a few of the basics that needed updating. The liftoff was smoother than I ever remembered.
"Alright Orin," I began,"Let's hope this all ends well."
The three of us and the boy onboard, I lifted the vessel out of the hangar as the roof slid away, revealing the sky above it.
In a few minutes, we were leaving the atmosphere, no questions asked, no one pursuing.

 

[Paendragon]

Luke

He felt the slight vibrations of the ship, and looked up at Natacia curiously.

"Why are we moving?"

She looked down at him and opened her mouth, but he forestalled her.

"And don't lie to me. I'm not stupid."

He frowned hard at her.

"The explosion was seroius wasn't it. That's why were moving. Was anyone hurt?"

 

[Call Sign Oracle]

Doprekka

*doing as instructed he moves through the star charts and navigational prompts as he sets the course for Ithor and engages the engines. Sitting back he straps himself in and then feels a strange disturbance as the explosion happens.*

(Master, something has happened.)

 

[Dark Warrior]

Daelon

Daelon opened his mouth to say something to Marius, and then Kelson grabbed a hold of him, silencing him. Again, Daelon opened his mouth to reply to Kelson, but was cut off by the sound of an explosion not far away.
Frowning, Daelon looked away, to see that Marius was already moving in the direction of the explosion.
Daelon glanced back at Kelson, his curiosity almost too much to bear. However, he waited patiently for Kelson's order, knowing that his master, too, must have heard the explosion.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Nastasia Vish

She looked down at him, trying on her best "I'm here to help" expression.
"Yes, it was a serious explosion, hon," she said. "But no one was hurt. We're taking off to make sure that no enemy craft are in the area, then we're going to a safer place. Don't worry, we'll protect you, and the others will catch up to us later."

 

[Paendragon]

Duu'Raan

"Yessss.... but I ssensse no losss of life." Should they go back? He opened himself to the Force.

"We musst trusst in out comradess. We will move onward."

 

[Paendragon]

Luke

Luke nodded, knowingly. "I thought so."

It was time to be brave, which was quite easy since he was with friends.

He clasped his hands behind his back, and imitated one of Tynan's postures. He could hear Tynan's voice in his head, from one of their lessons. "The way you carry yourself can either put you at an advantage, or a disadvantage in many situations.... Carry yourself as if you are in control of a situation, and many will believe you are. Perception is the key..."

"Where will you be taking me?" he asked.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Cloud City, Bespin

Bennison glanced back, wanting to ensure he hadn't been followed. The Sith was alone he was almost certain, but being too cautious could not hurt. When he reached the platform in the abandoned mine shaft, Leroy was already there, waiting.
The man had been a member of the Rebellion for years, and his purpose there was a secret one.
"I mentioned your name," Bennison admitted.
"And?"
Bennison shrugged. "He seemed to buy my explanation, that you're a miner and nothing more."
Leroy nodded, still concerned however.
"Are we found out?" Leroy asked.
"I don't believe so," Bennison returned, "But I can't be certain. Can one Sith destroy you all?"
Leroy shook his head, "I doubt it, but definitely some of us, and he could return with more. We may have to evacuate soon, to chance locations."
Bennison nodded, half-relieved, half-frightened by the idea. The Rebels had been both a bother, and a comfort to him. Their presence one of reassurance that there was still some good in the Universe, but a threat to be found out at any time. It was only recently that this particular group had realized the Sith existed, but the Empire's remaining factions were known to wander the Galaxies in search of Rebel forces.
"Keep things quiet for now, and try and let me know if anything goes wrong, if it's at all possible. I'll have my spies keep an eye out for you up there, when they can," Leroy said, exhibiting a small portion of his decendant, Lando's, leadership qualities.
Benison nodded, then made his way back toward the doorway. He stopped partway, turning back to Leroy.
"Leroy, what's in the coffin?"
Leroy shrugged, thinking.
"Dunno, a body I suspect..."

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Nastasia Vish

"A place called Bespin," she returned. "It won't be a long journey, not after we reach hyperspace. Speaking of which, we'll have to get strapped in. Mogo should be finished scanning for enemy vessels by now. Come, to the cockpit."
She reached down, requesting the boy's hand.

 

[Paendragon]

Luke

Luke took her hand, and followeed her. He couldn't help but wonder where Bespin was. His mind raced with all the possibilities a ten year old boy could come up with, as Natacia buckled him into a small jumpseat in the cockpit.

He nodded and waved at Mogo and Orin.

 

[Kelson]

"Come Daelon, we will speak more of this later," promised Kelson, patting Daelon again on the shoulder before stepping ahead to investigate the sound of explosion.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Daelon

Daelon nodded to Kelson in silence, before following him, as the two of them hurried towards the explosion.
Preocuppied with his thoughts, Daelon moved without a word.

 

[Paendragon]

Tynan

"Good Luck with your quest, Darth Azraiel. I'll be interested to see where it leads."

He backed away from the Sith until he came to the corner, and turned, quickly heading toward the explosion.

He turned a second corner, and nearly ran into a golden, human-shaped droid.

"Watch it, goldenrod," he snarled at the droid.

"Dear me, that does bring back memories. Pardon me, Sir, but have you seen my aquaintances."

Tynan shook his head, and walked past the prissy droid.

"They seem to have disappeared. Dear me."

Tynan stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn back around. "Disappeared?"

"Yes, Sir. I arrived on the starship called the Owl, and they seem to have left me."

Tynan frowned. So much for the mystery. "That's not disappeared, that's abandoned." Only thirty seconds with the droid, and Tynan could understand why. He was already getting on his nerves. "Maybe they left a flight plan. Go check with the hangar commander."

"Oh, thank you, Sir!" the droid called out.

But Tynan was already walking away toward where the explosion came from.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Raine

They knew the word just as he'd promise dthey would. Immediately, one took my hand and they excitedly began to lead me away.
I followed thier lead, seeing thier excitement fade as we moved back toward the swamp and where the large creature that had pursued me earlier had run off to.
I grew a little weary as well, realizing that my earlier battle had been every bit as much luck as skill. We traveled for almost an hour before they slowed and clumped together as they moved, the distant sounds of the same creature, or others like it coming to our ears.
We moved through the heavy swamp, the creatures wading through the muck, actually swimming across the surface of it at times. As we went, I kept track of certain points, in case I would get separated from them for some reason. I didn't want to get lost here.
Eventually, we came to a point where the ground began to slope and the swamp was more water than muck or ground. They stopped here, one pointing and muttering something I couldn't understand by language, but understood overall. What I wanted was in that direction, but I had to go alone. They couldn't travel through the water here.
I nodded, then patted the little guy, who'd been so helpful to me, on the head like a child and thanked them all.
Saber close at hand, I moved into the water and waded on alone, making my way straight forward and listening carefully to my surroundings. Again, I was relying mostly on the glowing fish to light my way, and the fish left dimmer light than the birds had.
Not long into my lone trek, I found the water level lowering again and I moved up a slope and onto another island, this one pparently much larger. Ahead I could see two things:
One, what looked to be an aging metal frame, jutting out of the swamp to the left, where it overtook the island much closer than it did on the right, and ahead, a rock structure, growing larger ahead and consuming most of the island it appeared. In the center was the entrance to a cave.
I took in a deep breath, realizing this must have been what I had come here for.
The structure to the left, mostly hidden by swamp was the Jedi Master's vessel, and the cave held...well, whatever item he had been after.
I debated for only a second before putting my priorities in place.
The vessel mattered more, if it was functioning. The item meant nothing if it was merely trapped here with me. The vessel was my escape.I moved closer, concentrating on the object with the force. A few moments and it was moving, raising from the water, leaving a suctioning sound as it broke free of the muck that it'd sunk into over the time it'd been here.
A few minutes later, I was lowering the vessel onto the ground between my self and the cave.
It was small, only slightly larger than my X-Wing, but not a fighter, possibly not even equipped with weaponry for defense. I doubted that, however, since it was unlike a Jedi to travel in such a defenseless craft.
That done, I decided to check out the cave. I was getting impatient, the feeling that I needed to hurry suddenly overcoming me.