The Force Wars (IC)

[rengadeirishman]

Reyn had less trouble with the cold then the others. He was of hardy Mandalorian stock, not to mention he was wearing heavy armor. They entered a large cave, and saw a herd of tauntauns grazing happily on the lichen. He felt a presence, something inimitable.

Something very wrong.

 

[rengadeirishman]

the crash had been harsh, but they had all four survived. They were on some new planet covered in ice, surviving on the strange moss eating creatures.

But now new enemies appeared in their temporary home. The four warriors watched the intruders and then made their move.

"DAKAR!!!!" they roared as they charged.

 

[rengadeirishman]

Reyn looked to the side as he was waylaid by a massive green skinned creature. The creatures massive axe caught him at the right wrist joint of his armor.

He roared in unbelievable pain, and ignited the blades in his left gauntlet, jamming them into the creatures body, he twisted his hand and pulled the blades out, carving a huge hole in the brutes stomach.

The Brute knocked him away as if he were a toy.

"Its the creatures!" he called out to the others.

He gritted his teeth and touched one of the incredibly hot blades to the stump where his hand had been. He cauterized the wound with a hiss, and stood back up.

Finally, the killing could start.

 

[AmenRa]

The Force rippled and pulsed from Tal Varsus as he ignited his lightsaber. He said nothing to the others as he went into battle.

As he became battle.

The serious, decisive movements of the lightsaber style of vapaad were displayed in a furious maelstrom of Force presence. He moved with uncanny speed and without hesitation as his blue-white lightsaber blade flashed and hummed with anger.

He felt a touch of pain in the Force. The Mandalorian Jedi Reyn Ordo had lost a hand. Tal Varsus poured perserverence into the Force, opening himself up to Reyn, and to the others, inviting them to join the most dangerous of Jedi fighting techniques:

The Jedi Battle Meld.

Master Varsus stopped the circular movements of his saber for a half a second, facing one of the Dakari, then he reversed as he became airborne, cutting, slashing, striking the creature a hundred times in the span of a breath. Tal Varsus' body began to ripple with Force energy as his blade claimed the creature's life.

He came to rest, holding his saber in front of him, the hum of the energy blade echoing with the others in the cavern. He calmed himself, returning from that near-dark place he had been. To fight with vapaad was to fight with the very slightest control of anger. Varsus took a deep breath, easing into the Force once again with a calm, serene mind.

He surveyed his surroundings, mindful of Lalena Kar and Alain Talan'vor as they fought these who attacked with the power of the Dark Side of the Force.

 

[rengadeirishman]

The creature he had seemingly gutted kept coming and Reyn leapt at him, his force-claw extended. He ducked under the brutes swipe and ran his blades clean through the its arm, severing the hand at the wrist. The greenskin fell, and Reyn prepared to run him through.

"Finish me softskin, for the Dakari will finish you and your galaxy!"

Reyn plunged his blades into the creatures chest and cut from side to side.

Varsus was an image of death, but he could not see the others.

 

[Wolfsister]

Lalena felt a subtle shift in the Force just before it happened.

Her twin lightsabers came to life as she twirled them to avoid an oncoming attack, seemingly out of nowhere. She sensed Tal Varsus beside her, bringing death and destruction to his self in order to fight. Her own methods were different, though no less destructive.

The Twi-lekkian felt the Force of her lover slam into her body. Because of their more than close relationship, she was far more intuitive when it came to his Force essence. She gasped with the unexpected shock, knowing why he had done it.

Without much effort on her part, she opened her own Force Essence to him and the others, though her link to Tal Varsus was far stronger. She grunted slightly as an elbow caught her in the ribs, bringing her onto her toes.

Swinging her yellow lightsabers around, she caught the Dakari on the wrist and burning flesh assaulted her delicate sense of smell. Her face was blank, terrifying in its own way as she began to dance the dance of death.

Her lightsabers were a twirl of colour as she gracefully arced forwards and swiped her blades across the Dakari's chest, the wounds were not as deep as she would like, but she had to admit that she was off balance. Rolling onto the balls of her feet, she bounded up into the air, twirling in mid fall, before delivering death the Dakari beneath her.

Her lightsabers scissored through its neck with ease as she breathed out a silent sigh, her eyes briefly closing as she sent a silent prayer to the Force to accept this dead soul back into the fold.

She stood ready, her lips pressed close together, her heart pounding, her lekku undulating excitedly around her head. It was done... she had killed her first for today. She prayed it would be her last as well.

 

[AmenRa]

Tal Varsus shot a meaningful glance to Reyn, and a small smile crossed the Jedi Master's face.

Thorror had trained Reyn Ordo and it showed through this day. The Jedi had done well, and Tal Varsus would be proud to say he fought alongside him.

Varsus backed across the cavern, closing the few meters distance between himself and Lalena until he stood back to back with her.

He had felt her battle with the Dakari, even saw it through her eyes as he fought his own.

He steadied himself, echoing the last sentiments she had given: he also hoped this would be the last.

But if not...

"Let them come," he whispered.

 

[Angelus]

As the creature ran towards him Alain's first instinct was to grab the sith lightsaber that hung from his belt, the one that called to him but he knew that was not the way he wanted to go and grabbed the new blade from his belt. As he ignited it the first thought he had was that he hoped it worked in battle but as the creature swung its ax down towards him he knew that there was only one way to test that fact. As his blade stopped the ax Alain looked at the enraged creature's face and could not help but feel elated.

It was then that he felt the intrusion through the force of Tal Varsus and wished at that point that he could be left alone. He knew that it would be easy to fight this way as he could sense those around him but it still felt intrusive to him. It was nothing more than a distraction and as he felt the creature cut close to his hood he knew that it would probably get him killed. As he wheeled around the creature he focused on the connection and did everything he could to shut it down. He just hoped that he didn't hurt the jedi master when he did so.

When he felt the connection leave him Alain looked at the creature again, his grip tight on the handle on his lightsaber. He raised it to stop a blow from the creature's ax again before he wheeled to his left and cut into its side. As soon as he heard the scream from it he hoped that he had struck it a mortal blow but when it raised its ax and moved towards him faster he knew that there was only one thing that would be able to stop this thing, its death.

As he moved towards it Alain knew that in his previous life he would have toyed with the creature and cut into it until he became bored and would have eventually killed the poor thing. He knew that this time he would not do that and as he sliced towards it he hoped that he would be able to end it quickly. It was then that he heard the scream from Reyn and knew that he had to end this.

He slowly raised his other hand and looked at the creature before pushing at it with the force. His eyes widened when the creature stood there, as if fighting the force push towards him and as it raised its head to look at him Alain knew that there was only one thing that he could do. He lowered his hand and ran towards the creature as it raised its ax. At the last moment Alain rolled towards it and stabbed forward with his lightsaber. He looked up when he heard the loud scream just to see his lightsaber hilt poking out of the creature's chest. He just hoped that it was enough to kill it as he pulled it out slowly and readied himself for another attack.

 

[Lansfirestar]

A few miles south of Echo Base, a small fighter ship landed on the frozen wasteland. Exiting the ship, was a famous bounty hunter, Lans Firestar, wearing a special battle armor with a built in heating augmentation. Carrying only his modified Rifle on his back, he went off in search of Verdico's group. Travelling to Echo Base under these conditions (violent storm and the uncertainty of Echo Base still there) would have turned back most bounty hunters but Lans wasnt most bounty hunters. He was here on a mission of honor. His current target, Colin, insulted his pride when he accused him of being a coward when he refused to assist them in their current undertaking. Cursing under his breath, as he tripped on a crack on the ground, he wondered for a hundredth time what was the point of Verdico coming to this desolate planet.

Meanwhile in a nearby hangar of Echo Base, five people were busy hauling away the remaining salvagable parts of the remaining aircrafts. The one in charge of the group was Colin, while Verdico was busy exploring the rest of Echo Base. Colin was eyeing one of the newer members of the group, a young female, at his best guess, she was about 26 or 28 years old, it was hard to tell due to her outfit, a large fur jacket covering her body. Her name is Cristal, and she was hot and deadly, rumors are, she killed her husband for cheating on her with her bare hands. While Colin was busy eyeing their female companion, he never noticed the three creatures bearing towards them until it was too late.

Cristal was trying to ignore the stares of her companion, Colin and trying to do a good job of being helpful to Verdico's group. In fact, she was willing to do any job to get into Verdico's inner circle, or else all those years of hard work trying to get hired by Verdico would have been useless. As one of the top detectives in the galaxy, it was imperative that she get close enough to Verdico and put him behind bars. Carrying the tray to a wreck of a plane, she noticed movement on her left side. Checking to see what it was, she was shocked to see three strange creatures bearing axes running towards Colin. Grabbing her blaster rifle from her belt, she aimed at the coming creature's and fired.

After what seemed like hours, he found the an entrance in the mountains, thinking that it might lead him closer to the base and also to avoid the blizzard, he entered the area. Using his night-vision goggles, he noticed that he was in an abandoned hangar, he could also hear the sounds of laser fires and the clash of steel. Unharnessing his rifle, he jammed a clip of E-Shells into the rifle. He moved forward cautiously into the darkness.

Cristal was busy firing at the creatures along with her two remaining companions. Colin managed to evade the downward thrust of the creature's axe, grabbing his blaster rifle, he fire at point blank range at the creature's head exposing a large bloody hole where the creature's brain was originally. Exaulted by his kill, he never noticed one of the creature's throw an axe towards him until, it cleaved through his skull. Cristal upon seeing Colin dead and her companions dead, rushed to grab the fallen blaster rifle, firing at the creature who killed Colin, who was hit twice in the face. Just when her hand grasped the handle of the blaster rifle, she saw the last remaining creature raise his huge axe over his head. Looking at the creature straight in the eye, Cristal was prepared to die... until a shower of blood showered her. Cleaning her face, she saw the creature's body fall to the ground, its head gone.

A hundred meters away behind a pile of crates, Lans stood up. Aiming his rifle at the surviving member of Verdico's group, Lans slowly approached her.

 

[rengadeirishman]

As the last Dakari fell, Reyn's battle fury left him and he deactivated his force claw. As the adrenaline wore off, he fell to a knee, the full pain of his lost hand finally coming to the fore. he roared in pain, looking to the others.

"Synthflesh, stims, tell me someone has them."

 

[AmenRa]

Master Varsus was on Reyn within an instant, nearly knocking them both over as he slapped a bacta patch he had taken from a belt pouch onto the cauterized stump that had been Ordo's hand.

Reyn needed a full bacta wash on his arm, before the nerve endings atrophied, so they could attach a synthentic hand piece.

"I don't have any pain killers in my pouch," Varsus told the Mandalorian Jedi with a rogueish smile, "but I suppose I could punch you, if that would help?"

Was there a healer among them? Someone who could weave a thread of medicine with the Force? Varsus looked to Alain, the once-Sith. What powers did he hold that may save this noble Jedi?

 

[Lansfirestar]

Lans
"Who are you, girl?" I ask her, as I aimed my rifle at her face. "Judging from the way, you acted, I don't think your one of these dumb mercenaries. And another thing, what where those things that attacked you?" I continued

Cristal
I watched as the one who saved me from death came closer. "Great" I mutter to myself, I recognized him as the one that Colin insulted at their previous stop. He must be after Colin, shame that he's dead from those creatures. "My name is Cristal, I'm a Detective, I was investigating Verdico's group, posing as one of their new hired help. We were just loading the stuff to the base, when we were attacked by these creatures. And I don't know what they are" I answered his questions.

 

[rengadeirishman]

Reyn managed a weak smile "No, but a gallon or two of Ne'tra Gal might." he said, trying to sit up.

 

[Angelus]

Alain moved slowly towards Reyn as Tal Varsus put the bacta onto the stump of his hand. As he looked at it Alain remembered what he had done to his brother before he had killed him and stopped for a second, looking at it. As soon as he raised his eyes he looked straight at Tal Varsus just to see the look in his eyes and knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to know if Alain could do something to help Reyn, could do something to help heal some part of the stump before it became useless and they would never be able to attach a synthetic hand.

He took a step back but still kept his eyes on Tal Varsus. He knew that he could do it, knew that he would be able to help Reyn but it would come at a price. There was only one time that he had done something like that but it had not been as a Jedi. He stood there, looked at Tal Varsus and then looked at Reyn's arm.

"I wish that I could help but I cannot do so. There is only one way I would be able to heal him and that would be to fall into the dark side again. I can heal him but I do not want to pay that price again. Please do not ask me to do so. I am sorry."

 

[Wolfsister]

Barely panting, her breathing fully controlled, Lalena Kar sighed as she surveyed the four bodies sprawled across the floor, motionless. She blinked, staring at their strange bodies, their muscled physiques, their obvious warrior forms. She glanced towards Reyn, but Tal was taking care of him and so picked her way through the warriors. Without touching them, she observed the clothing and various weapons they carried. Shaking her head slightly, she sighed again.

Suddenly, she turned sharply towards the others, a catch of phrases coming to her ears. Her blood pounded as she listened more carefully and sighed with audible relief when Alain declined the ask of help. She knew the stakes, he probably more than her, but she knew them. She carried a glance towards Tal Varsus, an annoyed tilt to her head and a surprised sort of condescension. She hoped he would get the message.

Picking her way back to the group, she finally looked at the wrapped stump of Reyn's hand. She blinked, wondering just how she had missed that occurence while fighting. Her link to Tal Varsus was only just beginning to dissipate and she still felt a solid wall between her and Alain. That he had shied so completely away from both Jedi's touches was troubling, but understandable. She would address it later.

"Jedi Reyn, you seem to know of our attackers. What can you tell me?" she asked, obviously expecting an answer. She was also trying to keep his mind off the pain so that she could do what needed to be done as elegantly and inobtrusively as she could. Of course Reyn would sense what she was about to do, but with his permission, she could save his 'stump'. At least she could try.

Silently, she opened herself up to the Force and felt his unique presence within it. Her lekku unconciously twisted and danced to the beat that was revealed through her own understanding of what the Force was. She took strands, selecting them carefully as she saw the frayed ends of his arms. Nerve endings that needed to be saved. Taking those strands, she first touched his mind to let him know he was safe and then began the delicate process of weaving them together.

Slowly, they formed an intricate knot. Not one nerve ending, in the Phantom presence of Reyn's Force, was exposed and she was finally satisfied with her work. Closing herself off, after touching his mind once again to reasure the born warrior, she sighed. "I'm no healer, but they take longer to unravel than before. We perhaps have a week before my work deteriorates..."

Only then did anyone notice she was sweating.

 

[AmenRa]

Jedi Master Varsus gave Alain a bow, a gesture of acceptance of the Jedi's declination of the unspoken request to help. Varsus could see he was not yet ready to embrace the Dark Side that he feared.

And then Lalena came and began to heal. Tal Varsus nodded at Master Kar's work. She had seemed somewhat annoyed at him for asking Alain to help, but he only smiled at her concern for her student.

Lalena did not understand, and though she knew his deepest, darkest secrets, she had not been there.

Master Varsus had been there, to the Dark Side, and back again. And he knew that only through the total commitment to the Force and the undamning determination of sheer will could one complete such a circle. He knew full well the price it extracted from a soul. Alain was no Padawan, he was a Jedi, and as such Varsus would expect him to take responsibility for who he was...

..and release the Dark Side. Only through mastery of the Dark Side of the Force could one escape it. This was why Tal Varsus fought so violently with his weapon, or without. He did not fear the Dark Side of the Force, he welcomed it, because it did not control him. There was no fear, there was no hatred, there was no anger, there was only the Force.

Varsus understood Lalena and Alain. She knew he was not ready, and he knew he was not prepared. And he would never ask anything of her student again. It was not his place. This was hers to do, and hers alone.

Tal moved to her, and taking a piece of sani-wrap from the small med-pouch he carried, he began dabbing her forehead and face. "Perspiration is dangerous. The water could freeze in your pores. You must control this," he told her, pouring Force energy into her to recharge what she had spent. "And you have my apology," he added, kissing her hand. He was impressed by her Force healing technique, and he would remember to address this as a field of study for her when they returned. He knew the coming war would dictate the need for healers a thousandfold.

He then turned to Reyn, "We've come this far, but I will not push this expedition further if you do not wish to go. We have no way of knowing what we will face inward from here, and should these Dakari return, they will extract a heavier toll on us all. What say you, Jedi?"

 

[rengadeirishman]

Reyn looked to Mistress Kar as she spoke to him.

"I know very little, nothing other what i could observe on tattooine, All i know is that they are big, strong, love killing, and use the force."

He looked down at his arm, he could feel that it had been healed. He sat up and went to his fallen hand, collecting the gauntlet from off it. He looked to Master Varsus and answered him.

"We must go on, Mistress Kar said it would hold a week. I have never returned to Master Thorror with failure, and now, when it might matter most, i am not about to start."

He rose to his feet, a bit shakily, and began to stride off.

"And now they have spilled Mandalorian blood, i would be remiss to leave before the mission was completed." He spun and strode off, his cape swishing through the air. He started to sing an ancient mandalorian war song.

"Kote!
Kandosii sa ka’rta, Vode an.
Manda'yaim a’den mhi, Vode an.
Bal kote, darasuum kote,
Jorso’ran kando a tome.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an.
Kandosii sa ka’rta, Vode an.
Manda'yaim a’den mhi, Vode an.
Bal...
Motir ca’tra nau tracinya.
Gra’tua cuun hett su dralshy’a.
Aruetyc runi solus cet o’r.
Motir ca’tra nau tracinya.
Gra’tua cuun hett su dralshy’a.
Aruetyc runi trattok’o.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an!"

 

[AmenRa]

And so, with the Mandalorian singing a song of battle, they walked ahead, leaving the remains of slaughtered bodies of Dakari warriors and a herd of frightened tauntauns.

The tunnel that opened in the opposite side of the cavern led around a bend, and the walls were thick with ice and very dim.

Tal Varsus stopped, holding his hand upright, and then turned to Lalena Kar.

Do you sense the beast? he thought to her. Ahead of them, down the ice corridor, waited a primordial presence, a beast built on the basics of hunger, survival, and instincts of blood. The Jedi Master got the impression that this creature, obviously a wampa, stalked this corridor for the occasional stray tauntaun that ventured too close.

Varsus knew the others would sense the wampa ahead of them as well.

Should they charge ahead and slay the innocent creature that only acted as its instincts would direct? Or should they try a more subtle approach, with confusing misdirections into the creature's mind by subtle manipulation of the Force? Or, was there one among them that could speak directly into the wampa's primitive brain through the Force and tell it to leave them alone?

 

[Angelus]

Alain stood there and looked at Reyn as his master walked forward to heal the stump of his arm and wished that he could have done something to help. He knew that he could have grown Reyn a new hand easily but it was something that would force him to go to the dark side of the force; the one thing he would never do again. He knew why Tal Varsus had asked him and he hated to say no but it was something that still pulled at him, making him aware that there was still so far he had to go. He knew that there was a part of him that wanted nothing more than death and destruction but it was a part of him that he wanted to shut away; a part of him that he never wanted to hear from again.

He waited until Master Varsus walked out of the cave before he turned and looked at the bodies of the Dakari warriors that lay on the icy ground. He wished that he had not killed them but he knew that if he had not have killed the one he had then it would have killed him. His hand dropped to the hilt of his new lightsaber.

"I will never again kill anyone unless there is no other way. This I swear here and now."

He then turned and started to follow Master Varsus, wondering just where they were being led.

 

[Wolfsister]

"I will never again kill anyone unless there is no other way. This I swear here and now."

Before they moved off, Lalena Kar paused beside Alain, her light eyes surveying him with an unreadable expression. After a few silent moments, she laid a hand on the one that gripped his lightsaber. Gently, she pried his fingers away and patted his hand in hers.

"Killing is nothing to fear or love. Killing is simply the release of the Force within a person, so that they may travel the Ways before binding the Force around them to be born again."

Then, with a last pat, she moved on, retaking her place as the second in line behind Tal Varsus as was her natural place in this procession of Jedi.

Lalena's lekku twisted as she suddenly stopped, Varsus's Force Thought reaching her only a few moments later. Do you sense the beast?

"I do," she answered aloud, knowing that all of them could feel it. She had no need to consult Tal Varsus within the Force for something this obvious. Though she was glad that he kept his closeness to her mind. His presence was one of comfort and love.

She took a few cautious steps forwards, her cloak rustling against the cold, dry ground underneath them. Her shoes were silent a she moved over to a wall, placing her hand on its slick, cold surface.

Without a word, she looked to the mandalorian. She studied him for a moment, her eyes calculating at the best, glinting at the worst. Her head tilted slightly as she silently thought through a swarm of strategies. Just because they were Jedi, did not mean that they did not have to be cautious.

"You are a warrior born," she started softly at Reyn. "Perhaps you could reach the creature's mind better than any of us,"

She took her hand from the wall and took a deep breath. She was not one to show weakness, but it was apparent that feeling the cool, slick touch had been soothing to her in some way.

"Worse comes to worse, we have four Jedi to one Wampa. The odds are not so stacked against us then." She smiled, though it was a berserker's smile, a left over of their battle with the Dakari.

She gave a significant look towards Alain, reminding him of her earlier lesson.

 

[AmenRa]

Tal Varsus cast his glance at Lalena Kar, and he listened to her remark about "four Jedi to one wampa". And while it was very true, he had no desire to kill something that only knew survival. The wampa was an animal, and it lacked the traits of reasoning and logic that the rest of them possessed. It did not kill needlessly, it only killed for food.

The truth was, though, that Tal Varsus still felt the tingle of residual Dark Side energy that had propelled him through the deadly katas of vapaad during the recent battle. It had been some time since he had found using this method, this way of lightsaber combat that harnessed the very emotions Jedi were taught to suppress. Varsus had no wish to awaken the dark part of him with the un-needed slaughter of a simple beast.

And then Tal Varsus knew something: he was afraid. He was afraid of what he might become, afraid of the power he could command, afraid of the destruction he could cause. And as soon as he knew this, he purged it from himself, taking in the Force around him as if it were a deep breath.

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to sufferring."

Master Varsus reached out and took Lalena Kar's hand, and he felt that it was still cool from her contact with the wall. He gave her a little smile.

"Perhaps a simple distraction is all we'll need," he offerred.

 

[rengadeirishman]

Reyn undid the clasp on the holster holding his heavy blaster and inched his way forward his mind reaching out to that of the wampa.

Turn and run, your hunt leads elsewhere he said, speaking to the core of the wampas animal mind. He turned around the corner and was able to see the creature. He held his good hand out and pointed his fingers toward the eyes of the creature.

Turn brother wampa, we are hunters born, but our quarry is not the same he fixed his eyes to the wampa's letting the force flow between them.

The beast poised to strike, but then turned and ran off in the opposite direction.

"Hunt well brother." Reyn said under his breath. He turned to the others "Shall we continue."

 

[Wolfsister]

Lalena surveyed their little group as Reyn moved forwards. She sensed the mandalorian's dip into the Force and was content to await results before following him.

A spike in her conciousness suddenly alerted her to a swirl of mixed emotions from Tal Varsus. She wasn't sure what was happening and she was far too polite to skim the surface of his thoughts, but she was concerned. She placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort as he took her hand, gripping it slightly before lightly stroking it.

She gave him silent comfort, knowing that he would tell her in his own time, should he wish it. For now though, she was there for him. Her sweating had stopped and she felt somewhat refreshed from the cool surfaces around them. She stopped short of taking off her cloak, knowing that it would be an advantage, should they come across more Dakari and had to battle once more.

She cocked her head to the side, moving away from Tal Varsus as Reyn indicated they should move on. She looked back at Alain, her eyes glowing in the soft luminescence of the tunnel around them, "Most times, it is easier and more rewarding to find another way. Battle is not the answer to everything, though if you find you cannot continue otherwise, than remember one thing: Battle to win, not to kill."

With her latest lesson hanging in the air, she moved after Reyn, following him deeper into the cavern.

 

[rengadeirishman]

They continued for another hour or two, moving deeper into the complex until they came to a chamber where they felt the force converging.

"Its behind this door." Reyn said. He quickly sliced open a nearby control panel and found the right wires, ripping them out of their age-old home.

with a painful hiss the door slid open.

 

[Angelus]

As he watched Reyn rip out the wires Alain could feel the dark side flowing through the air, threatening to overwhelm him. It called to him so strongly that he thought he was once again going to become one with it and become once more Darth Victus. He knew though that he could never allow that to happen, that he would kill himself before he ever became a Sith Lord again. His hand fell to the lightsaber that he held at his side and hoped that it would relieve him of his thoughts but still the dark side called to him, wanting him to return to the fold.

Slowly, he turned his back on the group as he heard the door open and closed his eyes. He wanted to return to the light, the path that he had chosen but still a voice called to him. It asked him one simple question, did he want to be a Jedi again or was it a choice that had been thrust on him. He took a slow deep breath, hoping that it would cleanse him of that voice but still it called to him, making him grip the hilt of his lightsaber tighter.

He turned his head slowly and wished that someone here would help but he did not know if they could, did not know if they would.