Gaining a New Perspective

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana sat in the corner of a room on Corellia unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. She had been tracking half a dozen Sith for weeks now, always on their heels, always one step behind. It had been frustrating beyond all believe. She was growing tired. She hardly slept anymore, her hair was disheveled, and she no longer went out during the day. The young Jedi no longer wore her special goggles that allowed her to see in the day, she no longer cared to. Everything about her was beginning to look entirely disheveled.

Her eyes of course were rather broken. Ever since the Sith Lord Velok had surged her body through with Force Lightning her eyes had become damaged, along with several other parts of her. Not to mention the permanent damage that had been done to the rest of her when she had floated through space for nearly four minutes.

Radiation burns still patched her entire body and black bits of frostbite still bit at her skin. To any random person Diana would look like walking death, how she had endured so much and still lived was a mystery, though the Jedi suspected it was due to her connection with the force. She kept moving because she had to, because she had a mission.

Even the force however had its limits, and Diana was beginning to feel that limit. Her eyes became heavy and her body hardly wanted to move. Still she had a job to do, and she would do it. Slowly, almost as if she was in a daze Diana stood up from her bed. She swept up her songsteel sword Tyrfing into her arms. With one swift movement she placed the weapon and the scabbard on her back and settled it into place. She still had not recovered her lightsabers, the two weapons she had abandoned when she had left the Jedi Order behind.

Not having the weapons still felt wrong to her, but Tyrfing was more than enough. She frowned slightly, and then opened the door to her apartment. She had to get to the startport, she had another lead to follow, and so she would.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Corellia. Well, it was nice enough, even if these off Protectorate types were currently in control of it. Phylis was fairly open minded, and if odd Republican Dictatorships wished to control an empire, that was fine by her. She sort of wished though that they'd give Corellia back to the Jedi. Either way.

Walking through the streets in her robes she got some odd, even suspicious looks. And why not? The Republic, with whom most people associated the Jedi, had been acting with resolute unpredictability towards the Protectorate. Corellia had briefly been targeted as a key system in the event of war, but thankfully that threat had passed for now. It was just one more reason why Phylis served the Jedi and the Force, not the Republic.

It was as she neared the spaceport that she felt someone...someone very different. As @[member="Diana Moridena"] entered the spaceport, Phylis turned towards her like a magnet towards iron. The girl, even with hood and cloak, looked like death. Phylis was not entirely up with all current events but she'd heard of this girl, of her battle with Velok and her injuries. It was remarkable that she was alive. And yet she was here, all alone.

Phylis approached the girl, her Jedi robes and simple lightsabre forming a contrast with the younger woman.
"I would say good morning to you, but I think you wouldn't agree, hmm? Might we have a word? I'm Phylis Alince, Jedi Master, it seems."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana stopped dead in her tracks, her footsteps coming to a startling halt. Her head immediately snapped in the direction of the voice that spoke to her. In just a few seconds Diana was able to gather a few things about the Jedi Master. The first of course was that she was indeed a Jedi, the second was that she had a sort of royal bearing about her which made Diana think she was a Master. A frown appeared on her face for just a few seconds, though it quickly disappeared into a look of stone.

She could not tell more about the woman due to the damage to her eyes. The light on Corellia was far too much and it was difficult for Diana to see properly. Of course had she taken her goggles this would not have been a problem...perhaps she should re-think that from now on.

“A word?” Diana finally said in response, her shinning eyes shifting from the Jedi Master and towards their surroundings. “I'm afraid I don't have the time.”

She had a lead to follow, and the last thing she wanted right now was to hear the preachings of a Jedi master. She had already had enough of that when she had spoken to the Council. They had told her how wrong she had been, how her crusade against the Sith would lead her to the darkside, how hunting them was somehow evil.

Diana was in no mood to hear it all again.
@[member="Phylis Alince"]

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Diana Moridena"]

"Nonsense, m'dear. You have all the time in the world. Not literally of course," Phylis said genially. "The Sith purge can wait a few moments I think. You're not following a solid lead anyway, I'm guessing. Still, I'm not going to try and force you, nor am I going to lecture you. No, I'd like to help you, Diana. How? Well, I know things, usually fairly arcane trivia, but other things as well. I know you have a list, checked it twice too...or more...but you seem lost. Perhaps you'd like some direction on where to look?"

Phylis pretty much did her own thing. Strict on the Jedi Code, she had long ago given up on the Council's rulings except as guidelines.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

She stopped, not knowing what to say or do now. Diana looked at the Jedi Master a frown now actually on her face. The Jedi Knight didn't know what to do. She wanted to believe that the lead she had was right, that it would bring her to one of the Sith and that she would be able to bring another one of those wretched souls to Justice. But another part of her knew that the Jedi was right. That this lead like so many others would amount to nothing.

“Okay.” She said reluctantly, as if the part of her had given up. Diana was tired, she was worn out, and all she wanted to do was stop. She couldn't of course, but she could take a break for a few moments. She could listen to the words of this Jedi master.

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Diana Moridena"]

"Hmmph, well, we can't stand around out here and talk. Or we could, but it likely would cause comment. I have a room nearby. Come."
Phylis' rented room was small and rather obsessively neat. The Jedi Master offered her guest a chair and sat on the bed. "Would you like a drink?"

Looking at her visitor, the answer was almost certainly...not. Diana looked like she was beyond mere food and drink. She lived for vengeance, justice and order, all very dangerous aims. Not very nutritious either.

"So, Diana, tell me your quarry."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana followed Phylis quite quickly, though she felt as though she were a phantom the entire time. She no longer felt any pain from her wounds. For a while they had burned and ached every time she had moved, but now they hardly did that anymore...or perhaps they did and she just no longer felt it. Either way, her wounds did nothing to her despite her body being pressed to its very limits.

When they finally reached the apartment Diana just stood in the corner, unable to really find a place to sit nor wanting to. She looked at the Jedi Master inquisitively for a few seconds unsure of what to do.

Then she asked her a question. Diana was unsure for a few seconds. Could she trust this person? She was obviously a Jedi Master, that much was clear but was she trying to trick Diana? Get her to admit to some kind of crime and then arrest her? Such a thing was unlikely, but completely possible. Suddenly the shook her head, getting rid of those thoughts. The lack of sleep was making her paranoid. “I Don't know her name. But she's a Sith who has been spotted in multiple places around the galaxy in half a dozen different conflicts. Apparently she won some items at the auction.”

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis frowned slightly. No wonder the girl was so lost. Such a description was almost as vague as a Sith with black hair. Still, it was perhaps a start.
"Well, do you have any more details on her? What does she looks like? What did she get at the auction? Where have you been tracking her before now, hmm?"
@[member="Diana Moridena"]
She looked at the girl, at her injuries. It wasn't very reassuring. Especially as the Jedi tended to be the good looking ones. Well, usually, though there seemed some counter-intuitively super model Sith around.
She rose. "Diana, I might be able to help ease your pain as well if you wish. I have some abilities in that regard, you know."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana looked at the Jedi Master for a few moments. She had been weary of adding more details about the Sith for fear of being edged out of the hunt. After a few more minutes however she decided to divulge the information she still had.

“She has red hair...and is green. I don't know much more than that, but she's been seen at half a dozen battles like I said before. She got several things at the auction...i have a list somewhere.” She began to search through her pocket for the list of things that the Mysterious Sith Woman had received at the auctionhouse. After a few minutes of digging she found nothing, with an almost pained sigh she gave up the search and simply shrugged.

Perhaps she was a bit too tired after all.

“No, you wont.” Diana said simply as she looked down at herself and at some of the wounds on her. Of course she herself couldn't see the worst of them. Most of her back was a rainbow of radiation burns and her shoulders were permanently disfigured by frostbite. “The healers back at the temple tried before I left, and even they said it would take years to get rid of them with Jedi techniques.”

The burns were something that she had gotten used to, and raising hope of getting rid of them was only further damaging to Diana's psyche.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis listened carefully, staring into space. Finally she flicked a piece of hair from her face. "Pandeima...that's her name, her Sith name anyway. Green skin, red hair. Meanders between factions in the galaxy. I believe her name is...or was...Circe Saven. Had an interesting career, that one. More divorces and marriages than a pop diva."

She called on the Force to pull a datapad to her hand. "Well, we know what she took at the auction, so tracking them down shouldn't be too hard, if they surface again anyway."

She looked back at Diana, meeting the girl's nearly blind gaze. "I may be able to help you. I have access to some rather interesting artefacts of my own. However, do you really want to be healed? I don't mean that as an insult, but as a question for your psyche. You are determined to bring the Sith to justice. Good, you know the risks well enough and don't need me to tell you about them. Trying to stop you going would be foolish and wouldn't work. No, but I wonder if you think you are capable of completing your quest. But I wonder, what would you do if you caught up to Ms Saven? Kill her? Bring her before the Council or Republic you've left? Your mind must be clear before making this choice...whatever decision it is you take, you must make it for the right reasons."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana had to consider Phylis' words. She had no idea if she wanted to be healed, and the thoughts of chasing down the Sith had completely evacuated her mind. The Jedi Knight was unsure of what her next move should be...should she have her wounds healed? Should she be normal again? She had no idea what to do. The Jedi Master had a point when she had said that Diana would likely be unable to complete her quest. She was tired, worn out, and at the end of her rope.

Truthfully her plan had been to find the Sith, place a tracker on her and then get some rest until she as ready to fight again. But with these wounds would she ever be on par with a Sith again? When Velok had damaged her eyes she had felt more confident, more in her prime, more driven...now however it was different.

She was tired all the time, she was in pain, she was in hurt. After a solid few minutes of complete silence Diana began to speak again. “I...I was going to bring her to the Jedi. I'm not a criminal...I left voluntarily. I figured I would bring her back to them and they would take care of the rest.”

Trials were not Diana's thing. She was a fighter not a grand thinker like the Council. Of course she completely glossed over Phylis' mentioning of healing. Diana did not want to talk about it...at least not yet.

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Diana Moridena"]
"I know you're not a criminal. What would be criminal would be to charge heedless to your death. And that, Diana, is what will happen if you leave now in such haste. I could help you track down Circe, but would you be able to take advantage of my information? You desire justice, and that is a good thing, but not when it overcomes prudence and becomes recklessness. You are hurting, I feel it from here. All that has kept you going is this single minded determination for justice, nothing more. You may not value your own life much, but others do."

Phylis sighed profoundly and sat in the chair she had offered to Diana. "I propose a deal. I try and help you personally recover from some of your discomfit, do all I can. If I succeed I give you the information you need and you go on your quest. If I fail I come with you and try and help you bring justice. What do you think?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana looked at the Jedi master for a few more moments, simply staring at her. She could use some help truthfully, she realized that of course. She was not blind to these things...though she was blind to others. The Jedi Knight considered her options, and then let out a light sigh. She had to agree, if there was even a chance to get rid of her burns, of the frostbite and the hurt... Then she had to do it.

They may not have hurt anymore, but they still inhibited her movements. The Frosbite broke deep into her shoulders and had damaged the nerves there, Diana was aware of this, though were wasn't much she could do about it. Until now of course.

After another few seconds Diana finally spoke. “Okay.”

There was a lack of fight in her voice, as if she had given up on trying to go against reason. She was so tired.