Private The New Hope

[Darth Themis]

Wearing: Serpentskin

Armed with: Divining Rod

Aboard: The Colossus of Tython


All in all, the Colossus of Tython wasn't a bad place to be exiled to. The Economic Capital of the House, it sold goods in secret all over the Galaxy. Laertia had been generous after what Themis had done.

Darth Themis, The Bright Lord of The Sith meditated in the built in Enclave of the Light Sith aboard the massive vessel. Like most days, she meditated on her failure with Laertia, and how her own haste...her own desperation, had finally tipped Laertia all the way into the arms of the enemy.

But was that the case? Truly? Or had Laertia always been planning to betray her? She didn't know.

And now there was another unexpected wrinkle, one of many bitter surprises at how her vision had so badly failed her.

Her Jedi student, Nathan Bloodscrawl lived once more.

Themis had been defeated, humbled. Humiliated. Her position preserved only to avoid an all out war with the Light Sith and some lingering sentiment Laertia still possessed for her. Her authority was shaken this past decade in her own Order. But she was not yet defeated.

Being on this wondrous ship gave plenty of time to think...to reflect...

...and to search for new apprentices...

That was why they were out in this sector of space on the outer rim. Themis's visions still worked, but only if she focused low scale.

She had had visions of a man named Logan Halo . Visions that had made her order the ship out to this sector, close to an Asteroid Field.

The currently beautiful looking Sith left the enclave clutching her lightsaber spear, gorgeous figure covered by a skintight purple catsuit with black boots and gloves. She strode through the arcology like sections of the vessel, telltale signs of its deluxe tech everywhere as she headed to her personal hangar, taken the lambda shuttle out into space. It was forbidden for her to leave the ship by House Io law. She regularly defied it.

All she got of Logan were flashes. Bits and pieces. But her visions, varied as they were, all insisted on one thing...

Logan Halo, for reasons of his own, was out here, in space. Today.

The Light Side was pointing her to another direction. At this point, Themis was out of ideas. She was willing to take the chance. Because she needed a spark of hope. Any hope.

Themis flew close to the Field, trying to extend her senses to search the area. She didn't trust her visions much these days, given how they always failed her when it counted, but at this point, it the art she fell back on the most when nothing else worked...

It was a bitter irony. She at last resented her visions now...

 

[Logan Halo]

---

TAG: Darth Themis

In the Asteriod Belt Logan floated in his capsule, a pod of golden sarcophagus. Looking out to the stars he yearned for a second chance. The Jedi had failed him, and he did not have it in him to be a Sith. Was he to revolve in this belt forever? To be one of many pieces of rock without a voice. Silence flooded his head, The Connection was faint. Had The Force forsaken him?

Laying there he tried to seek, to quiet his mind and instead all he saw was violence, a flame spreading across a forest world and the sound of crackling sabers. The dark arts had left their mark, tainted his soul and yet to behold the Light once more before being put in this floating tomb. The caresses of the Daughter, the warmth of Ashla, how he had forgotten them as he became a peon of Darkness. There had been no rest for him at the Sith Academy, the spooks wrapped in black capes to cover their bones and cruel tones, they were misguided and fickle, offer power when they had no power over themselves. There was only one flicker, one solitary ember he fouhd meaningful, the tenet of passion. When it took hold he became stronger, and almost could see The Light. How wrong were they.. the dogmatic tribes of both sides? How blind were they to the true mystery because of prejudices and bias. Oh yes, there was incentive to keep them blind guides, to keep the war that had waged more years than any could count. This Hersey was the why for his confinement. And so there he spun with only dull rocks for company. All his refinery and pedigree, all those tutors and lessons of no avail in this sarcophagus.

The Life support systems were on tilt and his last fluids containing proteins had been drained. Resigned that this was The Will of the Force, Logan held out his gloved fingers against the frosted glass that was in the shape of the porthole, and wiping it, he then arched his arm back and began to conduct his fingers as if in orchestra, in the distance he saw the great flashes of light as stars died. A comfort that such old sphere of light perished too. And so as his black leather index finger waved, and middle finger and thumb made the shape of the crescent, his pod shook from a tremor.. movement. As it spun around he looked through the glass for the source, nothing in months had come through this derelict place, the belt was a floating graveyard of rock and starships long dim, that had drifted towards Him. This on the other hand was motion, caused by thrusters. Logan leaned back, his oxygen measurer rang loud, “WARNING! you have 2 Minutes of Oxygen Remaining.”
The Young Aristocrat began ro chuckle.
“On fairest leaf salvation brings, and none to breath.. for too late to spread thine wings..”
With those words Logan felt the pressure shift in his capsule as the alarm rang louder. He felt the cold and held his arms with both hands.
“Fairest Light.. if now to die, forgive my blight and let me never again be kept from your sight.”
A prayer as he felt his throat dry and his breaths become shallow.
Gasping he sang out,
“This little light of mine.. I am gonna let it shine’.. cough.”
He felt himself beginning to lose the strength to lift his eye lids, and it felt as if a hand was pressing down on his head, not violently, but in a way that was meant to sooth him into slumber, a final rest unless something unexpected happened next….

 

[Darth Themis]

Themis's power stretched out, searching the Force for her visions, until she finally landed on a vision where his capsule would most likely be found. She Piloted the shuttle carefully through the endless field of rocks until she found him. Sensors indicated he had a minute left.

Themis had a few seconds to make a decision. Too many futures began forming the more she hesitated.

What if she was wrong? What if he was another Laertia?

Could she bare such a failure twice, let alone survive it?

But then Themis remembered being dead. It was not pleasant.

Themis already had an environment suit on as she depressurized the cabin and opened the hatch. Hissed spells drew the capsule of Logan Halo into the shuttle, where it repressurrized and oxygen flowed back in as she slowly opened the capsule, praying her visions were not leading her astray, that this one would not be a disaster.

She had lost too many students as it was...no need or point in losing more...

 

[Logan Halo]

TAG: Darth Themis

Logan had felt himself begin to ascend, his soul rising up from his body in the capsule. Part of him was ready, another part wanted to wrestle his spirit into submission, not ready to go.

Then suddenly it recoiled, the inner self settled back in the mortal shell and Logan can feel breath restored as he began to cough. It took him a moment as his sensory system was overloaded from the lights, fresh oxygen, and a presence.

Shifting in his black robes adorned with golden chains and lining, and his mask venting fluid. He turned to look at his Savior, a woman with long raven like hair and lips lush and red like bled kyber. Her skin was smooth and slightly darkened while still light as well.

Bowing his helm down he addressed her
“Many thanks to you for your timely intervention, I owe you my life Milady.”

Logan was not one to mince words, he spoke with a refined and sophisticated accent denoting his upbringing. He removed his art deco mask to reveal a pale face with cyan blue eyes and a smile from ear to ear.

“I suppose an explanation for why I was floating in a capsule in an asteroid belt deserves an answer. The short version is I was marooned here by Sith because of my views.. honestly I am rather supeised by their elbaorate method of death and torture. They were not the sharpest the Sith Order had to offer. Anyways, any questions or queries you wish to mI will answer. As far as I am concerned I owe you a life debt and am bond to you.”

 

[Darth Themis]

Themis eyed him as he spoke. She kept silent, didn't smile.

"I see..." she finally spoke, as he proclaimed his life debt to her.

She wanted to believe he was the one. She did. But she had been wrong, disastrously wrong before.

He would be tested.

"My name is Moya De Lifte. I am a healer in these parts..." she trailed, not disclosing what she was quite yet. As she was a Light Sith, nothing about her aura would show nothing out of the ordinary in comparison to a normal light adept.

"If you swear a life debt...if you're...bound to me...I have some business to take care of on Kashyyyk..." Themis said.

"But you're in no condition to travel. We'll wait before we go..."

Handsome fella. Reminds me of Morris... she thought to herself.

Fifteen minutes later...

Themis silently prepared a meal for Logan Halo to eat in the ship's galley, still in a her skin tight suit. The cowl was off, her face fully visible as she prepared food.

As she cooked, Logan would be able to see small personal effects, photos of her and Laertia Io from the days when she was still with the Silver Jedi. Her lightsaber-spear was stored away, and he hadn't gotten a look at it yet. She was just a healer at the moment.

"You were...very lucky I happen to be out here..." she said. "Another minute, and even I couldn't have saved you."

"So, what's your name?" she asked wrestling with doubt and terror to the point her hands threatened to start shaking, only a supreme effort on her part hiding visible signs of distress. She had moved them out of the field, and the ship was on a steady course in hyperspace.

Should she be doing this, she asked herself.

What if my failure is even worse than before?

"I'm not with the Jedi, by the way. I just use the Light Side..."

 

[Logan Halo]

TAG: Darth Themis

The Young Man gave a slight bow as she gave her name. He did not attempt to search in The Force for any deeper revelation. He had exhausted the use of his power staying alive in the capsule.

The mention of The Wookiee Homeworld intrigued the rater sapped Lad. He was relieved she acknowledged his condition and the offer of a meal was a boon. He had not eaten in two weeks, one more and his body would feast on his internal organs.

As she prepared food, ahe askes his namesake which he responded,
“Logan Halo, I am most grateful for your aid. I agree that luck, or The Force was instrumental in my deliverance from the ‘shadow of death.”

When she divulged she was no Jedi, that was a comfort to him, he replied, “I am neither Jedi nor Sith, something in between.. a blasphemy..”

His bright blue looked downward and downcast.

“That is what they called me as they put me in that coffin.”

His emotions were rather frayed, the whole experiance of near death had lent him perspective.

 

[Darth Themis]

"A Blasphemy...such a condemnation coming from them should be taken like a badge of honor..." Themis replied to Logan Halo .

"For what it's worth, I don't think you are a Blasphemy at all..." she said as she served him up.

"Just someone who has their own take on The Force. It's not like the Jedi and Sith have been making things better..." she mused, not eating with him.

It's not like YOU have been making things better either. a small part of her thought to herself.

"So what was it?" Themis asked as she straightened out a few things in the interior.

"You had to have done something that caught their attention. You tried to do something noble, perhaps. Usually, they just torture people to death." Themis noted. "When they go to that kind of trouble it's usually because they want to make an example of an especially egregious violation of their twisted beliefs."

Themis went silent, wondering if she had perhaps spoken too much as it was.

 

[Logan Halo]

TAG: Darth Themis

Logan began to feast and he did his best to control his complusion to comsume the food as if he were an animal at a troth. He was so hungry and yet he used the fork and knife as sophisticant, taking his time to chew and keeping hism outh closed as he used a napkin to dab his mouth.

When she inquired about his blasphemy, and why they had not simt tortured him and executed him in the more traditional Sith fashion. To this he offered an answer,

“I commited sacrilege, I took the path of Gravid and destroyed Sith holocrons. The action of annihilating ancient secrets of the dark side made my superiors see fit to devise a means to do me harm in a way that would be agonizing. So they created my coffin, gave me rations to prolong my suffering, and left me exiled in an asteriod belt to affixate when the oxygen ran out. I must say it did clear them of my intiate estimation of their stupidity, in the realm of torture and death Sith are sages.”

He took anorher bite of food. It waz delicious, though deceptive, a crust of bread could pass as Naboo Pudding when one was famished. Still it was a easent fiction, to believe with his taste buds that this was the best meal he had ever had, then again it might be, that was the problem with starving, no way to be certain of how good anything truly was.

 

[Darth Themis]

"Chit, man, that sucks..." Themis said, playing dumb a little, as she watched him devour her meal.

It reminded her of her own situation when Darth Phyre had butchered her family. She still thought of those days. It was what had cemented for her once and for all that the Jedi way didn't work.

"I did hear destroying the Holocrons is a no-no. Heard even Jedi will wanna throw Hands if someone destroys a Jedi Holocron in front of them..." she said. "It seems I was fortunate in locating you..."

Themis said nothing else as Logan Halo continued to eat.

Hours Later...


The Wookiee Homeworld was a blue and green marble of fierce beauty in space as the shuttle set course through the atmosphere before settling down on what looked to be an ancient landing pad on an old, abandoned Tree City.

Themis stepped off, waiting for Logan to follow her.

"It took me weeks to uncover and locate this place..." she said. "It's a particularly large Tree City, abandoned during an incident in which a Kyber Crystal was apparently... misused, somehow." she explained, knowing that this place was actually an infamous Light Sith Training Dungeon hidden in the tree that this village served as a facade for. With any luck, it was already subtly trying to influence him to subconsciously seek out it's entrance.

"I occasionally use it as a Drop off point and supply drop. I know a local who will be here to deliver me something. Just sit tight." she assured, hoping he would do the exact opposite...

 

[Logan Halo]

TAG: Darth Themis

Logan nodded, his destruction of holocrons had made him anathema and to her saying fortune was at work in her rescuing him, he replied,
“Or misfortune..”

It was a cryptic statement as they made there was across the stars.

The descent into a woodland world that he had heard of, though never had the pleasure of visiting was serene. He sensed at once a vergence, something in the Tree City beckoning. As She bid him stay put and mentioned this “being a drop off” point, he wondered of she was discharging him from her care. To this he placed hus gilded mask back on and looked as he walked away, and began exploring the trees, one of them stood out on sight, he knocked it with jis black gloved hand, it was hollow, and he searched in The Force and saw a low hanging branch, on it stem with two notches made of knobs, he twisted them and hidden door in the trunk opened and he descended down inside.

There was lanterns made of lightning bugs, and stumps that seemed arranged ahead in a pattern, he stepped on one and there was metal sound, and suddenly the floor all around fell and there was spiked, and on walls flames steaming past, meaning he had to leap from to stump to stump, he at one point was one one foot teetering ad he saw the spikes were moving now and it grinded at the towrr of wood he was on and it began to fall, he leapt over to another, and flamee began to fall, ahead was a golden door with no means open it. He looked around with his visor and saw on the tan stone walls symbols, one was a red triangle, another was a blue crescent, he looked at the door and saw two new paint over a small crescent and triangle, he grabbed at triangle as flames swept over his head and singed his hood, he levitated the smaller triangle to the larger one, scraping till it slide in place. He then leapt to another stump log, and reached for crescent in The Force, another stump fell to spiked below, knocking the crescent which fell, Logan gasped as he held out both hands, a flamethrower coming his way, swaying up and down, so he pulled the crescent up and leapt as the wall of fire hit his stump and immolated it, he caught the crescent and threw it as he guided it to the large blue crescent and as it scrapped to find its place yhe flames on both sides coming and he was on the last stump ws he heard the spiked sawing it at the base and it teetered, the smaller crescent beat the wall and as his great log he stood on began to fall, it latched and the fires stopped and the golden door opened as he leapt from the falling tower of wood and pulled himself inside.

There he saw a skylight illuminating a pillar with a holocron on it glowing purple, a cube of gold. He placed his hands and levitated ot into the air, the outside had glowing megenta lines that were not in allignment and so in the Force he endeavored to shift them back into pattern, which was tricky because there was obstructions and it required that he solve it like a puzzle. He was so engrossed in the holocron, he did not take notice of hooded figures with glowing magenta eyes and metal faces. When the last pice finally aligned he shouted,
“Yes!”

Then he saw The Magna Guards which snapped their Elsctrostaffs to life. There was six of them, and there screeching staffs spun around him, he blocked the non-electro ends with his arms and some of The Force, he stretched out his fingers bad oushef one into another’s staff causing it shake all over and drop its staff, rolling at his feet. He grabbed it and ignited the two purple lightning ends and parried the four others that swept at him like spears, he spun the staff around his body and knocked them aside, he thrusted his top into the face of one, smashing it with a surge of energy, he then dropped as one swept over his head and he tossed the dead Magna Guard into his comrades, he leapt and met one in a flurry, the two staffs hissing as they met, the light of megenta all around as they fought, Logan lnew the three others would recover soon, and so he leapt and grabbed the enemy’s staff and with the Force pulled the Magna into his electo point, and then wielded two staffs that he spun in hrrat purple circles around him as he kept the Three circling him at bay. With a sudden movement he tossed the two staffs into yhe other two which fell on their metal knees and he turned to final one unleashing a stream of blue bolts that made it short circuit and fall. Walking towards the two quaking guards he commanded with bith hands the two to fly into each other, piercing one another as he walked up to the holocron that chimed.