Been a very long time...

[Cear'bhaill]

It was told in legends of old of a conflict that spanned the entirety of the known Galaxy. A war between good and evil, the Light and Dark...the Jedi and the Sith. Battles raged across the stars, in many different systems, on any multitude of planets. Tales of heroes of both sides were everywhere...

There was one particular story that stands out from the side of the Republic.

A young Jedi Master, by the name of Cear'bhaill Nyrax, had fought through the majority of the Galactic War and into the subsequent conflicts. Tales of her heroism echoed through the annals of the Jedi temples, rallied Republic troops, and beckoned others to succeed in the face of overwhelming odds. Many of her comrades attributed her to some of the Republic's greatest victories during such a dark time.

But, somewhere and at sometime, Cear'bhaill disappeared from the face of the Galaxy. She did not tell a soul of her departure, nor did any know where she could be found. It baffled even her family.

Eventually, however, the conflicts ended, and time passed on, and her name drifted into the records of legend...

Until nearly four-thousand years later...

Somewhere in the Outer Rim

A lone, and ancient, Defender-class light corvette was drifting through the far reaches of space. The ship's paint was faded, and debris from slight damage drifted alongside.

She was dark, no lights, no readings. One might confuse the vessel for a drifting salvage or even antique trophy. But the real treasure lay hidden onboard; the sole occupant of the ancient craft, a person written about in the legends of the Jedi.

She lay in the single cryo-pod, not a single day of aging apparent on her face.

The ship was waiting to be discovered and hopefully allow a story to come to an end...a story four millennia in the making...

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The ship lay before the Dawn like some gem in the rough, awaiting the right miner to come and claim it. "Huh, I can't believe it." the Rogue Master said to himself, "That thing musta been derelict for...a couple millenia at least." he mused. "Analysis shows that the vessel is a Defender Class Light Corvette, a precursor to our own Protecter Class Light Corvette. You observation that the vessel had been adrift for several millenia is correct." the blue security droid next to the Rogue said. "Welp, we may as well board already. See what she's got in store for us."

Within the next several minutes Dax had maneuvered the Dawn into position besides the derelict vessel, the boarding tube attached to the ships docking bay. And soon enough he found himself inside the ancient ship, nothing but his saber illuminating the walls in its eerie glow. "Alright baby...show me whatcha got."

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

Upon entry, the ship would remain in the dark, it's power running out long ago. With power outage, so was the gravity, and every item not strapped down was floating through the derelict.

The path from the docking hatch, and the couple of spaces along the way, held nothing significant.

The first sign of importance would found floating on the way towards the aft section of the ship. It's appearance long and metallic, glimmering in the darkness. The faint feel of the Force from the silent weapon would be the tell-tale sign of a personal lightsaber. An old blade, one that had seen conflict many times. If messed with, the blade wouldn't activate, still waiting for the hand of it's original owner...

...who was in the ship's medical suite, not that far away. Still in stasis. The chamber barely holding onto its own power reserves after such a long time.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The mag boots on Dax's EVA suit hummed briefly before they contacted the ships floor with a metallic thud. Oxygen was good, and nothing had tried to kill him upon entering the ship. Good. The Rogue deactivated his saber, the orange light dying out only to be replaced by the bright white light of the suits flashlights.

Each step forward felt unnatural. Being weightless did that people. Goal number one was to try to restore some systems. Preferrably artificial gravity and life support. As the man made his way out of the cargo hold, his lights glinted off a long metallic cylinder, floating in the center of the hall. A saber. Using the Force, he drew the weapon to him, and into his hand. Thumbing the activation gave no response. 'Power cells must be dead' Dax thought. Hooking the saber onto the belt of his suit the man made his way to engineering...now where to start.

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

The aft of the vessel contained three areas: the engine room, cargo hold, and the med suite. All were quite, but one was faintly lit, the stasis chamber within. Awaiting discovering eyes.

"You have come...finally found...so close..." jumbled words, barely a whisper, could be heard by those attuned enough to hear them.

They were the voices of Jedi long past. They had found their comrade after becoming one with the Force and had silently watched over her for thousands of years...

...and now they beckoned the lone explorer to find the once lost master, and continue her story...

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Barely audible whispers, gone with the nonexistant breeze, caused Dax to swiftly turn around, his saber screaming to life. Nothing. The saber went out once more, but was not returned to Dax's belt. This thing was supposed to be empty..."Please don't be another Starweird..." the Rogue muttered to himself. Indistingushible whispering on derelict ships was typically a bad sign.

Turning back to the engine room, a small light, creaping through the slightly ajar doors of...well actually Dax wasn't sure what that room was. If his own vessel mirrored the layout of this ship, which it appeared to, it would be the med bay. He crept forward as quietly as he could, which wasn't very. His mag boots clanked with every step. He pried the doors open, grunting with exertion. And there it was, the source of the glow. A cryopod.

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

The pod stood against the far wall, emitting an eerie blue glow. Mist impossibly rolled down over the exterior and the glass was frosted, a testament to how long it had been shut. Vital readings glowed beside a small blinking indicator which warned of an approaching power loss.

Within the window, the slight form of a humanoid could be seen, but no details ascertained through the ice.

Cear slumbered peacefully, however, in her dream-like state unaware of her greater surroundings.

Instead, she dreamed, vividly, of a time long forgotten. Friends and allies far gone from this time. And of a little girl she would never see again...

All replaced by an image of a ghost far to familiar to her; Grand Master Satele Shan. This sudden manifestation startled her in her dream but she looked and listened as if it were real.

"Cear, my friend, your time asleep is approaching an end." the spirit/hallucination spoke to her, voice still the same after countless years,"It is time for you to continue on your journey in this new time, this new place. But, do not lose hope in these new surroundings. For though much has changed, I know you have the will and power to persevere alongside and against challenge you face."

She stood, or what could count as standing, and began backing away and falling out of form away from her charge. This frightened Cear, who gave a weighted chase after her former mentor.

"Wait! Master, what is it you speak of?" she attempted to yell, only earning a fond smile from the long dead woman.

"We have watched over you until now. I have faith you will find the answers you seek in due time. Until we meet again, may the Force be you, my friend." and with those parting words, Master Satele faded into the greater Force, leaving behind a very confused and increasingly scared Cear'bhaill...

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The man stepped forward, every footstep echoing in the hollow chamber. The mist, illuminated by the soft glow from behind the crystalline mesh of ice, disappeared into nothingness before reaching the floor. Standing before the frozen capsule, Dax placed gloved hand against the cool glass. Brushing away some of the frost the barest hint of a humanoid face lay behind it. Next, peering at the vitals screen Dax cursed to himself. "Commander is everything alright?" asked One through the comms. "Yeah, yeah I'm good One." he said as he turned and began to thud away back to the engine room, "I'm gonna try to restore auxiliary power first. Then life support."

Within the engine room the man attempted to locate the generators. Right where they were on the Dawn. Hoping against hope the man attempted to start the generator. They whirred, sputtered, then died. Of course. A second attempt yielded the same results. Kneeling down, the man pulled off the protective panel which protected the internals. And set to work. Just needed some kind of a jumpstart it appeared. Well, thankfully the Master was quite adept at generating electricity. Sparks flew from his fingers and arced through the system momentarily. The man attempted to start it again. A prolonged whirring. Then it died again. "Fething piece of chit." He didn't have time for this. Again he attempted to start the generator, sparks flying from his other hand to the generator. Instantly, the generator came to life. "Suck it." he said, taunting the ancient machine.

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

With the new flow of power, only primary systems hummed to life once again: Navigation and captain's console on the bridge, back-up life support, a few of the fire suppressors sprayed, and emergency lights along the bulkhead dimly lit. More importantly, the cryo-pod, and the med bay, received a jump, immediately becoming bathed in the warm glow of fluorescent lighting.

The pod beeped; a rapid and shrill tone...as if it were waiting for the power to kick back on. The equipment began the cycle of warming up it's sole occupant to wake them up.

It would still take the antiquated machine several minutes to do so...

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The whirring of systems made Dax feel a little more comfortable in the ancient vessel. The med bay lights, spilling out into the hallway gave Dax enough light to see by as he approached the cryopod. Slowly, the frost crept back to reveal the face of a woman. Alright...well she isn't dead judging from the vital systems...that was a start.

Moving up towards the bridge, Dax figured he'd get gravity back before she woke up. The Rogue doubted that waking up from cryosleep after nearly four millenia to being in a 0 grav enviroment would make an already disorienting situation worse...locating the artificial gravity systems the man hoped it'd be a simple matter of flicking a switch. Moving to the control console, he scanned over the systems read out of the whole ship. Down, down down, system after system indicated that they were not functioning...well at least not yet. Most called for an auto or manual reboot. Finally Dax found the artificial gravity. Auto boot...lucky him. Pressing the button, he prayed that the system would come online with no issues.

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

With a clang, and a couple crashes, everything that was floating throughout the dead ship smashed against the deck. Clothing piled together along running boards. The state of the vessel would embarrass it's owner. But thinking of how long they had adrift, it could be overlooked.

The air filtration began to work overtime, although the atmosphere would not be suitable for several more minutes.

The panels across the bridge lit up giving a rundown of the ship's poor status. There were messages sent from people long in the past, only now being received.

Within the med bay, the pod began warming up, and body inside, stirred for the first time on thousands of years...

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The message console next to Dax began to beep...curious clutched at him. His hand reached out to activate the console, to hear or read the messages of long passed souls. But he didn't. Perhaps somethings should pass but to the person it was always destined for.

Deciding to deactivate his mag boots, the resounding crashes from the ship letting him know that gravity had indeed been restored, moving was a little easier. Making his way back to the med bay he awaited, both the moment the woman awoke and to be able yo remove his suit. As a side thought, he thought breathing may difficult for the woman at first, so he searched around for a little for a rebreather to assist her. Finding on tossed into the hall by the return of gravity he went back to the pod and began to remove his cumbersome EVA suit. Now in his normal boots, tan cargos and grey and blay hooded shirt, he sat, patiently waiting to greet a woman to a brave new world.

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

The pod cycled through the entire wake-up process, about ten minutes worth of wait, before the casket finally unsealed.

The woman within limply fell out onto her knees and immediately began dry heaving and gasping heavily for air. Her body had not functioned for so long, and the shock of waking up suddenly obviously hurt. Condensation dripped from limp strands of hair before a hand grasped at the fabric on her chest as if it would assist in some way. The body-suit she wore heaved with the shaking of her form, the only parts exposed being hands, feet, and head obviously.

It took several moments for her to recover and assume somewhat normal bodily function.

Cear stood, on shaky legs, not yet aware of her visitor, and braced her body on the nearby workbench. When she finally looked up from the floor, her eyes widened and she fell right back to the ground.

"Y-You! How did you...when did..." her brain was still remembering how to function, but it really caused her alarm seeing her saber across his lap...

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax took the saber from his lap as he rose, put it aside, and moved to assist the recovering woman. He offered forth the oxygen mask and placed a hand on her back, hoping to assist her in not falling over. "Easy, easy." he said, "You're just coming out of cryosleep." Dax couldn't help but feel a little stupid as he said that. He was fairly certain the woman had begun to gather that, even as disoriented as she was, but even still...he'd said it. Hey, people in holofilms did anyways, so it couldn't be that stupid. "My name's Dax Fyre. I'd heard rumors of a derelict ship out here. Came to check it out." Dax watched the clear plastic of the oxygen mask, watching the tell tale fogging and clearing that appeared in the coldness of the ship. "Your lucky I did. Your cryopod was getting ready to give out."

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

She took it all in and nodded as her breathing returned to normal. The information about her cryo-pod made her curious however and she shot a glance at the man.

Removing the breathing assistance she asked,"D-Dax, you heard of my...ship? From who?" she took a quick breath before continuing,"How long have I been...out?"

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

"Rumors had been floating around." the man explained, not quite willing to get into the year yet. "I was just the first one to chase it down. Not sure how many other know your ships here in particular. I'm sure some are gonna be looking." the Master removed the mask from the woman's face and picked up the saber once more. He held it out to her, palm open, "I'm guessing this is yours."

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

Cautious eyes looked from her saber hilt to the man before taking it gently,"Th-thank you."

Cear attempted to stand once more, using him as to stable herself. Once she was up, she looked at him earnestly, trying hard to form two simple questions to ask that would hopefully tell her where and when she was.

"I am assuming you are a friend, but, do you know who I am? And what year is it?"

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax gently guided the woman to a nearby crate, the one he'd been previously sitting on, and lowered her onto it. "Not gonna lie, I've got no clue who you are." the man admitted. He averted his gaze, looking first off to the side, then hanging his head. He took a sharp intake of breath, there was no way this would go over well..."The year is eight hundred fitfty after the battle of Yavin. Which you probably don't know what the Battle of Yavin was....uh, lemme put it this way. Your ship is at least four thousand years old..."

[member="Cear'bhaill"]

 

[Cear'bhaill]

Four-thousand years.

His answer opened a floidgate of new questions. Mouth gaped and eyes widened as she looked away. It was quite a shock to say the least and something the woman would have to come to terms with.

"Four-thousand years..." she whispered before looking back, eyes full of worry,"What of the Jedi? The Republic? The Sith?"

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

"Jedi are still in force." Dax said, understanding how much confusion the woman must be facing. Most cryopods failed after a couple thousand years to begin with..."But they're not as united as they once were. Smaller sects exist. But they all agree that they need to take down Dark Siders. Same thing for the Sith. Here to stay, but fractured." Now the Republic on the other hand...that was a whole history lesson on its own..."Maybe we should get you some food and rest before anything else." Dax suggested, "I'll answer all your questions then."

[member="Cear'bhaill"]