Duty Calls [TJP/TSE]

[Mariel Dawnrider]

She waited.... not knowing for sure if what she'd felt was real or not. If that had actually been Alden or if she'd been half dreaming. There was no real rest, no real sleep, but there had been moments of half dreams- this was not the first time she'd thought she'd heard a voice she knew, in that place between sleep and what had become reality.

From the beginning of this nightmare, there hadn't been much room for hope. She had done her best to keep other people in her life safe, to keep from giving away anything that would put them at risk. In the end, she'd failed at that. Harper closed her eyes.

She didn't blame herself for that. But it didn't mean she felt nothing about it.

Time flowed strangely in pain. She drifted in and out and then- SLAM- Harper startled as something slammed into her door. Not something.

Someone.

Alden.

She was already out of the way, as far away from the door as she could manage. Since being left here, she had been mostly ignored- mostly. She didn't know why she had been kept, why they hadn't just killed her, but up until this moment, she had thought, in the depth of her heart, that it was only a matter of time.

Hope.

Hope hurt.

The door cracked open, slamming against the opposite wall and she flinched, his voice calling out into the darkness. It... it was really him.

"Hey Al," came the small voice from the corner. "F-fancy seeing you here."

The words were familiar but the tone was not. Hollow, a shell. There was no humor, no amusement. The words shook. Voice raw and hoarse. She tried to get up, but didn't make it far. A hiss of pain.

"How.... how did you know?" That I was here remained unspoken.

[member="Alden Belmont"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Harper Kade"]

He caught her before she could slump back and hit the duracrete.

"Hey, hey easy there, you are-" Alden gulped as he felt the extent of the pain and hurt. Internal, external, the eyes blurry- it was starting to spread towards him the very moment their skin touched. Part of him needed to recoil against it, but Alden didn't. Instead he slowly drew on that pain. Embraced it and gathered it inside of him to give her some moment of ease.

"-you will be fine."

That much was true.

Would make it so no matter what the cost was. Leaning in for a nuzzle he realized that... was not a good idea. Grimacing. "We didn't." The truth- just the truth, because he wouldn't lie to her.

"Things happened- Ember, me, others, we came to rescue prisoners. Didn't know you were captured, until I-"

Brows furrowed as he slowly tugged to see if she could stand on her own feet, if he supported her. "I felt you. Ember always said we had a bond." Alden didn't understand all that stuff. Didn't make much sense to him, but the results? They didn't lie. Not here and now while he was holding Harper. Wounded, hurt, but alive and that made all the difference.

"Can you walk? I am getting you out of here."

No matter what.

 

[Warchief Waddles]

Sliding through the turbolift shaft, Aten was slowly approaching the lowest floor of the facility, the deeper he went the darker things became, the air beginning to stink of the dark, the temperature unnaturally cold. It felt less like a prison and something from a horror holofilm. The shaft which had been stuff before was now freezing Aten’s breath visible. Tightening the jacket he’d been using to aid in the slide down, feet bracing themselves against the railing Aten’s boots could be heard screeching against the railing the bottoms being worn down by the sheer speed in which he was sliding. The bottom of his feet growing warm.

Jerking to a stop before the final set of doors before the turbolift ended, Aten’s grip shifted from the jacket to the ladder steadying himself. Time seemed to slow a dark sensation hitting Aten with the force of a freight speeder, air evacuated the Jedi’s lungs, his stomach bottoming out. Right hand reaching to his chest tightening on the shirt right over his chest Aten felt many things. Pain, suffering, confusion, all from his Master. She was here, being held and something horrific was happening to her. Reaching to his belt Aten’s hand brushed against the silver hilt before drawing it, its hum a comforting sound. Arm shoving forward the azure blade bit into the thick metal, heating it, destroying it. The metal of the doors turned bright orange sparks flying free. Come on, come on…

Pushing down on the blade the Morellian began to carve a furrow into the metal, a long line of orange metal rapidly cooling to a black. All it took now was a leap from the railing onto the ledge in which the spry padawan slid through the makeshift entrance. The halls of this area were dimly lit, the tiles blackened, the section was in complete disarray. Perhaps a psychological thing. Moving lightly through the halls Aten could feel the presences of the Jedi kept below as he neared.

[member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

She could barely put weight on one of her legs. One of her arms was curled protectively against her body. He felt her entire form stiffen as his arm curled around her waist, a sound of pain bitten off, just barely- in its place a grunt, a gasp. The edges of it smoothed out, blunting as he manipulated the Force, and she almost sagged against him with relief right there. It wasn't much, but in that moment, anything was something.

"I can try," she grimaced, speaking through clenched teeth. With his support, they started to move, slowly, stumbling, out of the cell.

"What happened?" She asked, a flicker of panic through her. "If you and Ember are here.... did they.... how did they get more of ours?"

Was it her fault?

What the Empire had taken from her, had they used it that quickly? Harper was completely ignorant of the events that had unfolded in the last two weeks, so it was the only explanation she could see. Force it was her fault, wasn't it? She'd tried so hard, the later moments of everything a blur of pain, but this was her fault. She should have been stronger, should have been a better Jedi....

Should have been any sort of Jedi at all.

Halfway down the hall, Harper's knees gave out entirely. There was nothing left, no reserves. And thinking that the reason they were there at all, that others had been taken might be because she hadn't been strong enough?

Too much.

"I can't Al," she said, choking back a sob. "I'm- I'm sorry."

[member="Alden Belmont"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Harper Kade"]

As her pain faded his increased, but he gritted his teeth against it.

It was bearable.

Nothing compared to what had been done to Harper. Just that when it suddenly was dropped on you like a wave of ice water... it wasn't easy to immediately accept. The move was slow, too slow and Alden knew that they wouldn't make it like this. They were in hostile territory and there were Stormtroopers everywhere. Maybe if [member="Ember Farseer"] managed to get his chit together at the control room.

But who knew how long that would be?

"What? No." In his mind Harper couldn't have had anything to do with what happened. "The Sith- they assaulted the Alliance." He murmured softly to her as they tried to take it step by step. "Coruscant, Fondor, every major world- all at once."

His jaw set against that knowledge.

The Empire had struck at the one beacon of light (as light as it was, he didn't agree with them, but they had at least tried) and shattered it.

"It has-" Then Harp stumbled and collapsed, causing Alden to almost drop with her as the pain flooding through their connection increased. "It's okay, Harp." Alden knelt next to her, "It's okay, I gotchu. This... it will get worse, before it gets better. Do you trust me?"

"I always have."

Al nodded and slowly wrapped his arms around her, when she hissed he drew harder against her pain- embracing it. A moment later he lifted her up. Had she always been this light? No, no, she hadn't been. Two weeks. Two weeks of not looking for her, because Alden had assumed she was fine. Ignoring his own thoughts, concerns because he hadn't wanted to seem....

What?

Anxious?

Alden nuzzles the line of her brow softly as he pulled her against her. "I am sorry I didn't come for you sooner."

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

There was a small, strangled *sob* when he explained what had happened.

Not her fault then.

Not. Her. Fault.

How could she be relieved in that moment? How selfish was she that the stab of relief was so strong?

She curled against him in his arms, head coming to rest against his shoulder. She couldn't even put her arm around him to help, too damaged. Her eyes squeezed closed tight, biting back anything more than the hiss and whimper of pain. Again, the edges smoothed. Not enough to take it away but enough to make it almost bearable. Something in her sagged, and she barely realized it when tears started to streak down her face.

"Don't you dare," she whispered, voice tight. "You didn't know. I.... I'm sorry. I.... lied. About where I was going. I.... you... " She stopped, not saying 'you were so disappointed after the last one, I couldn't bear it.' That wasn't fair. This wasn't on him.

She'd made the choices that had led her there. Not Alden. If she said that, he'd blame himself.

That was the last thing she wanted.

Her shoulders shook. Her voice was small and broken.

"I'm sorry."

[member="Alden Belmont"]

 

[Kahne Porte]

The fields...

The fields...

They were beautiful...

The force was flowing strongly through the Jedi Master, even in his weakened state. Kahne knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer, but he had too. They were getting close, so close. The Jedi Master edge them on with as much strength and willpower as he could. Those that were injured were finding the strength to push forward while those that were rescuing were fighting at their top capacity. Unexpectedly however, a beeping could be heard and it was from his astro droid. There dark presences approaching his location, he could sense them.

A powerful shake strong enough to shake Kahne from his mediation and knocked him forward as he heard the panicked beeps and hums coming from Gala. His ship was being fired upon. Kahne rose to his feet as he stood up, trying to center himself for a moment as the ship gave a small shake again. A message was sent through the force to his allies in the area. He would no longer be able to give them the strength through battle meditation any longer.

I am under distress my friends, forgive me as I'm forced to engage.

The Jedi Master reached for the standard lightsaber that was on his ship as he was forced to used due to his other being lost on Lothal. The Jedi Master moved towards the front of the ship and he could see soldiers through the front windows. "I must go and engage them, they can't do any further damage to this ship, this might be others only way out." The Jedi lowered the ramp to the ship and made haste towards it as two soldiers started their way up and Kahne's hand extended outward and sent the duo flying back hitting the ground hard. "Force give my strength." The Jedi whispered as blaster fire came his way and the engagement began.


[member="Harper Kade"] [member="Alden Belmont"] [member="Aten Ramses"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Zef Halo]

A wave of harmony, belief and nourishment of foreign entity ran through his spirit revitalizing him. A slightly familiar presence, a face he barely put a name to - [member="Kahne Porte"]. He was with them. To say they knew each other would be an overstatement. Porte, similar to Felicity, was one of the many Jedi who have been at the Praxeum at least once that Ember barely knew, unfortunately.

Abruptly, the man's immense aura disappeared making Ember frown. He hoped everything was alright but there was barely anything he could do-

"Be extremely careful where you step on the upper levels, they're riddled with remotely-operated Spiderdoors."

Anari's extremely precise knowledge of the Citadel brought him back to reality rooting him down to the tasks ahead. Very soldier-like. Not that he hadn't noticed it the moment she appeared fully armored and in her movements. The questions sprang once more in his mind but the time for them was definitely not now.

The Jedi Knight gave her a brief questioning look before he turned to enter the turbolift. The controls within were, of course, inactive. Clearly blocked by the control center. Perhaps to Anari's surprise Ember got down to slicing the controls. An electrician since a child, Ember knew his way with slicing as much as he looked odd doing it. The scramble keys were used to near perfection and the turbolift staggered before it shot them upwards to the control center.

The lift stopped but the doors did not open and they looked thick enough to give the Imperials enough time for...capturing the rescuers.

He turned to the perplexing armored philantrope beside him. "I will open the doors but you won't have my blade." Ember stated without giving further explanation. He was in a hurry.

The Jedi took a step backwards so Anari could take point and he called onto the Force. Telekinesis was never his strength but today it had to be.

"I trust you..." He said to her through gritted teeth as the massive doors began very, very slowly to pull apart from each other.

.

..

...

"I trust the Force."

The doors opened with a slam.


[member="Anari Mero"]

 

[Mishel Kryze]

Electricity surged through her body as she drew on the Force, and pulled from the lights that once lit up the corridor. In her mind she could only focus on the old man, on Coren her feet were swift as she kept moving. A blast of energy as she raced by the guards toppling them down one by one the vivid memory of the map offered her a way through to him. She rushed through the path that Aten took feeling the padawan's signature through the Force. She was not going to lose the old man, not today, no - no - no. Mishel didn't have time to stop and wait to realize that the lift was beyond her. Instead she took the momentum through the Force, through her Force Speed to let gravity do the work for her.

She slid down the turbolift shaft and further down she went the more she could feel the call of the darkside. The smoldering ember of black within her heart yearned to grow, yearned to be set free. Mishel refused it, she had come too far to simply turn back to what she was before. As she continued down on a fast pace to the Nethers the temperature began to change and shift. Drawing on her own experiences she thought of heat and fire to do her best to keep warm, looking left and then right she let the heat rise within her hands and then slammed them against either side of the shaft. Feet braced, she was getting closer to Aten now, he was closer in the Force and if those markings on the railing were of any indication...

Mishel emerged from the turbolift shaft a while after Aten.

He was near but so was Coren and someone else. Just how many Jedi were here? A lot more now she thought to herself as she looked at her surroundings. Following the signature of the padawan she encountered before she now made haste in his direction. The Tygaran's now worn boots treaded his path and as they did so she felt another here. She felt his energies and would be grateful for the recharge sooner rather than later...

[member="Aten Ramses"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Darth Ophidia"] | [member="Kahne Porte"]

 

[Hansen]

Anarielle Giala Mero
Lola Sayu, The Citadel, Corridor.

Spoiler

Equipment:

Spoiler

• Backpack
• Golden-Blade Curved-Hilt Lightsaber
• DC-15A Blaster Rifle
• DC-17 Hand Blaster
• Detonation Packs
• Class-A Thermal detonator
• Katarn-Armour Mk. IV [White]
• N-20 Baradium-core thermal detonator
• Security Spikes
• Vocal Emulator

Allies: [member="Alm"], [member="Alden Belmont"], [member="Aten Ramses"], [member="Felicity Skye"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Nixia Amabilia"]
Enemies:
Nearby: [member="Ember Farseer"]

Anarielle drops the seized inert force pike pivoting in white armoured boots to face the hallway that the 'Sith' Troopers would no doubt advance down towards them in time, glancing over shoulder Anari's blue-ring flanked pupils watch Ember begin manipulating the controls and she releases a respectful 'hmph' at the Jedi's skills. It was unusual for most who dedicated themselves to the path to exhibit such abilities which lead Anari to conclude that they were skills acquired prior to training as an adult. Anarielle always thought it reckless to train mature force-sensitive adults as Jedi it was more than an adherence to righteous principles and opening that world to the ignorant and undisciplined was extremely dangerous in her view, believing it a mercy that one sensitive to the force although denied training as an adult was spared the terrible fate of falling into darkness that came with increased communion with the force. Anarielle listens to the door's steadily groan open and waits for them to part wide enough to slip through fortunately for the Jedi Anarielle while limited in her aptitute to wield the force as a tool is quite skilled with telekinetic-based abilities. "That makes two of us.......Worry not Master Farseer, I won't be leaving you behind." Pivoting in boots within the Turbolift Anari's palms rise out before her armoured figure with eyes pursed shut gently and head bowed slightly she wraps the Force's tendrils tightly around the turbolift's two panels that formed a door holding them open for Ember. Anarielle's concentration was unflinching and disciplined standing in complete silence save for passing a comment to coax him forward those long ears detecting the Bulkhead door down the hallway steadily splitting open.

"Can't hold this forever over here." Anarielle reveals herself unambiguously as a trained force wielder and not to an amateurish standard, no. The strength of that exertion could only belong to somebody who had been tutored by somebody with both greater wisdom and strength. Though the Separatist War had ended some nine-hundred years ago for the former Sephi Colonel it felt like a scant few months had passed and forsaken none of her training or knowledge not atrophied in her connection to all things in that time-span. Anari had relented thus far in this environment knowing that none would assume and more than likely be hesitant to believe that some nine-hundred year old war veteran walked among them and would be more than likely that her force aptitude combined with knowledge of the facility might lead Ember to conclude his Sephi ally once belonged to the forces of darkness that now pursued them although that couldn't be further from the righteous truth; Anarielle was a member of the Jedi Order at their Zenith of power and knowledge at the greatest age in the Galactic Republic's long and chronicled history before that tragic fall into despotism. Anarielle fought now to redeem the memory of her friends who had been murdered, to find spiritual salvation here at the end of time where the sins and failures of her generation seemed to haunt the Galaxy thrown into a cycle of turmoil it seemed fated never to escape. Anarielle wouldn't rest until the balance had been restored, when the darkness had finally receded to its' rightful place as it had once been with the Sith all but removed from existence and relegated into the annals of legend, Anarielle had resolved to see this vision come to pass where beauty, hope, light and righteousness would shine brightly and chase the shadows away like a winter dawn scorning away the night's shroud with the arrival of morning.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Harper Kade"]

I should have known.

He bit it back in that moment, because Harper didn't need his self-pity and doubt. What she needed was strength to draw from and hope to keep herself moving -- if not physically, at least mentally from this dark place that had held her for all these weeks. "You out of all people have nothing to apologize for," Alden murmured back to her as the pace of his stride increased at the sounds behind them.

It was distant for now.

But it was there and that was enough.

"Don't apologize." Alden repeated, teeth gritting as he drew more of her pain into him and hurried his step as the elevator came up. Then he tapped his earpiece and made contact with Ember.

Their friend- also battered and hurt by the Sith.

So many.

He should have done more. "I got Harper, Ember, she is-" Setting his jaw as he lacked the words to explain. "Alive. I am taking her straight out, whatever happens today, she will get out." That much Alden was resolved to. To a degree he knew that this went against the Jedi Code. His personal attachment to her had caused him to abandon Ember.

Oh, their friend would see it differently- he had given him leave and told him to go, but Al knew.

This was dangerous territory.

The lift doors closed in front of them just as troopers rounded the corner and came into view. The blaster shots only hit durasteel for now. It allowed Alden to lean back against the wall. Eyes closing, breathing heavy and finally being able to get some of the weight off of his right leg. It was cut and bleeding from the wild rodeo ride through the ventilation.

"This- I." Softly to her as he held her, but sighing out of frustration. "This is a bad moment, but seeing you like this, that." He didn't know what to say. Or how to say it.

[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

"Ember's here?"

Guilt. It over rode like a wave. She had given their named to [member="Darth Carnifex"]. She hadn't been strong enough to keep them secret. [member="Ember Farseer"], [member="Alden Belmont"].... they were risking their lives for all of them.

Harper had given them up to save her own.

It choked her with phantom fingers, wrapped tight and unforgiving. Her own emotions over riding those coming from Alden, suffocating them and drowning them. She couldn't feel them, read them because her own were simply too thick and turbulent to breath through. Even the physical pain of her injuries couldn't overcome the shame of that betrayal.

Everything paled compared to that. And Alden would find his shirt wet as she kept the sobs held back but couldn't stop the tears from tracking down her face.

Her right hand, the good one, unmangled, caught in his shirt, twisting there and holding on.

"I'm sorry, tell Ember I'm sorry," she said again, intense, teeth gritted, as if his gentle admonishment from before had never been spoken. After all, he didn't know in truth what she was apologizing for. Until he did, he couldn't say that she didn't need to.

"Alden please....." But what she was going to say faded out, her body slowly going limp in his arms.

Unconscious.