Holocron One: A New Hope

[Allyson Locke]

Stars lingered unmoved outside of the small circular window. Hazel eyes blinked as they watched pinpointing them wondering if each had a different system and possibly a galaxy much like this one. A hand raised, pressing bare fingertips against the cold window and hot breath fogged the spaces that were exposed. Space was so empty and yet harbored so many secrets - so would calling it empty be justifying? While she mused over the question, Spencer pulled away from the window and wandered over to her newest toy. The series of holocrons rested on small pillows on a large table which sat in the middle of her quarters. Each being uncovered on a different mission through her explorations while with the Fringe. Picking up the first, she twisted it around the design was intricate and complex. The others mimicked the design and she figured they were created by the same person.

Holocrons were works of arts that harbored history, personal thoughts and other things. Each creature had a signature and it took a skilled eye to find that signature. After several attempts she finally was able to get through the locking mechanism and the gate keeper. The knowledge inside spiraled as if it was a small galaxy residing in the device. No one appeared after the gatekeeper and the only thing she could do is pull the knowledge from the inner chamber of the cron. Spencer rose her hand as she moved to reach in and rip the contents out, stopping through she felt something shift in the Force and it made her cautious. Resting the holocron on its pillow, she moved towards a small comm and called for her companion.


“Ashin, I was able to open one. Can you come down and keep an eye on me as I drain its contents?”

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

Ashin wrapped a towel around still-damp hair and descended the stairs to join Spencer. "Drain is such an ugly word," she said. "Absorb -- absorb sounds better. More neutral."

She adjusted her wrobe and folded her arms tight, looking down at the holocron. Even a minor one was a special find, and every time Spencer cracked one open to pull out its secrets, there was a chance of a genuinely special discovery. There'd been a time when the idea of siphoning knowledge directly from a holocron would have been laughable, but Spencer had always been the stronger of them -- and vastly more sensitive, with the deftness and intuition to pull off something like this. Ashin? Ashin shielded things. "Recycle is good too, I suppose. Any clue what this one's in? Cryptic warnings from the gatekeeper, maybe, or did you find it conveniently labeled?"

Truth be told, she worried. Spencer's track record spoke for itself, but assimilating batches of others' memories could lead to madness and loss of coherent identities.

 

[Allyson Locke]

“Recycle sounds odd. Absorb makes me sound fat. Like I’m going to sit here and absorb a cake or something.” Pausing Spencer lifted her eyes from the holocron and looked towards Ashin. “We’ll use absorb, you’re right drain is an ugly word.” Remembering the emotions that surrounded the common word made Spencer cringe slightly. The cold feeling crept up her spine as she remembered the feeling all over again. Her attention refocused on the holocron as she ran her hand over it shifting the force around it trying to sense for any hidden traps the creator could have put into place.

“The Gate Keeper was odd. He was an old man, face scarred to a point of unrecognition. He seemed to be in a state of eternal pain. When he saw my face he smiled and asked me who revived the Jedi Order after the fall of the Empire. Of course it took me a few times I mean seriously how many times has an Empire fallen. After the first time, the answer was Luke Skywalker.” After Spencer spoke the name again, the contents of the holocron started to glow, coming to life. Pressing her lips together, Spencer pondered the affect and then glanced towards Ashin. Doing her best to hide her catching her breath, a soft smile spread across her face. “Hopefully your hair will dry by the time I’m done. If this has anything to do with Master Skywalker, I’d like to see if I can experience his memories.”

There was a feeling lingering in the room as she opened herself up. It was the only way she could pull the information out completely. Eyes glancing towards Ashin sensing her concern. “You’re worried. Why is that?” Not waiting for an answer, her left hand scooped up the holocron while her right hand opened palm towards the opening of the holocron. The Force lifted the holocron from her left hand and blue strands started to pull from center of the device into her open hand. Spencer winced once again, as she started to download the memories locked inside. There was so much flashing in her mind and it took a few moments, but the light that was within in the holocron went dim and she placed it back down onto the pillow.

There was silence now and she closed her eyes as she mentally organized the thoughts. She would have to reverse the knowledge absorption back into the holocron when this was over. Rubbing her temple, she smirked and looked towards Ashin.

“Well, from the flashes that I saw while pulling the knowledge I have a feeling we’ve possibly found the Legacy of Vader and his song Luke Skywalker.” Spencer kept her smirk as she chuckled. “Once your hair is dry we have a date with one of the most infamous men of the galaxy.” The younger woman was far too excited for this.


[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

"Date with a man...would you believe I've never been on one? Tam Ranox and I were sort of thrown together, and neither of us was romantic. Same deal with Akain Karna, and that one didn't last long anyway. A date with a man...well, lover, closest thing I can remember is you, me, Wraith and Anaya on Belsavis." Ashin chuckled and unwrapped her hair, then draped the towel over her shoulder. "All right. Where would you like to start - or how? This isn't my department anymore."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer had begun to shrug off the robes she was wearing to leave her in a light tunic. Blinking, she listened to Ashin ramble off a couple of her lovers and Spencer looked down at her hands and counted all 2 ½ of her sexual encounters. Frowning, she counted Anaya Fen as only a half since it wasn’t completely consensual. Arms crossed, Spencer instantly forgot about what they were about to do and turned her head away pouting. “How many people have you been romantically involved with?”

She couldn't think of a time where they had actually sat down and discussed this. Of course, she had no reason to be jealous or anything of the sort. In the end Ashin chose to be with her above everyone else in this galaxy. Looking towards Ashin from the corner of her eye she continued to pout. “You know, I don’t think you’ve ever taken me on a proper date. The closest thing I can remember is that grungy bar and glitterstim.” Her arms relaxed as she shook her head and sighed softly with a smile. “I think besides that the only time I was ever taken to dinner was when Erich decided to use me as dinner. So yeah two people - I’ve been uh…” Her fingers air quoted as she remarked “Romantically involved with” Waving off the statement she continued, “To be fair though the only person I was truly romantically involved with was you - I’m one of the lucky ones ending up with my first love”

Moving towards Ashin, she stood in front of the taller woman and gave her a quick kiss. “We can travel down your memory lane soon after this. But as for the infamous man, I’m think these have something to do with Vader and that whole era. If we’re right and I”m capable of holding the memories together we’ll be able to experience everything first handed.” Opening her hand, the holocron flew towards her palm and she continued to smile. “I am curious as to whose viewpoint we’ll both get. They say the person you inhabit is a possible past life.” Raising an eyebrow and a sly grin, Spencer rubbed up against Ashin playfully. “Maybe we’ll get Han and Leia eh? I always thought you’d look cute with those buns”

“Any concerns before we go into the flow walk? Get everything out now once we start we dont stop - mostly because it gives me a headache.” [member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

Ashin blinked. "I thought we'd...well, that's all of it, really. Tam Ranox -- I told you about him -- older man, gray Jedi, former Imperial Colonel. He helped me through the early stages of Sith poisoning, even when I hurt him. Before that, we'd just traveled together. I left him to keep him safe, during the years when I was being hunted by the Cult of Shadow. And then...well, then I never saw him again. I hadn't thought of him in ages, until you mentioned a date with a man. And you and Tam Ranox are the whole list. I suppose I could list flirtations, the ones that meant something. Akain Karna -- deadly duellist, kind of a freak. We fought once, went to bed, never sealed the deal. Also ages ago, back when I tore up the Cult headquarters on Arcanix. Garrett Granth, genius techhead, before that -- I saved his life after he found a way to destroy a massive Charon fleet, but then I ran off to Arcanix and he ran off to hallucinogenic R&D. Kayla Masi -- spacer Jedi, sometimes my student, first girl I ever kissed. You'd like her, but I think we'd find her a bit...tame these days.

"And that's the list. Haven't seen, talked to, heard from, or heard of any of'em in many, many years. I don't doubt Granth fried his brain ages ago. Karna's probably playing big fish in a tiny pond, playing with supermodels on some little backwater. Masi...Masi didn't have the stomach for the big game. She was chill. And Ranox is probably dead. The others just make the younger me look silly, but that's the one I regret most. Not because he was the only one I slept with, but because I didn't even leave a note, just took the Skull Holocron and disappeared overnight. He knew why I left, but..." She grimaced. "Anyways. I know you wanted to move on, I know right now isn't about me, but I didn't want to leave things unsaid. Clear the air and all.

"So. Flow-walking. I'm the one that taught it to you in the first place, remember?" She offered a grin and cracked her neck. "Just because I"m no good at it doesn't mean I don't know what we're in for. Let's do this."

 

[Allyson Locke]

“You’re okay at it and I believe it's one of my favorite skills you’ve taught me. But my dear Master I think I might have perfected it” Spencer felt at ease after Ashin explained her long documented love life. It was a reminder of how old Ashin was compared to Spencer. During a good chunk of Ashin’s life, Spencer was busy hiding in a library avoiding play time with the other younglings. Pushing those memories from her mind she focused on what the holocron showed her. Grasping the threads of the memories, she reached out and held onto Ashin’s hand. She lead the woman to a small mat in the room.


Ashin knew what was coming next and Spencer began to focus keeping hold of Ashin’s hand. The feeling was as it always was. The vacuum effect on her mind as she lost herself in the memories. Moving back in time to a place where neither had been alive or were even a thought - Ashin and Spencer found themselves on a ship with bright white lights…

​

​

Sirens echoed in the small room and the sounds of footsteps echoed down the hallway. Spencer looked around mostly trying to figure out where Ashin had gone too. Standing near her were two droids, one about the same height as her and the other a small R2 droid. A disc was in her hand and she flipped it back and forth trying to figure out what it was. The footsteps continued as the sirens were getting louder.

“Princess?” The golden droid looked at her with lights for eyes and the smaller droid started to beep in a panic. “Uh, what?” Spencer took a moment to take a glance at her reflection and then realized she was Leia and the sequence of the memory was to hide the plans! Taking another few glances she ran down the hallway towards what reminded her of an engine room. The ship shook while it was under attack. Kneeling down to be eye level with the droid the memory told her was named R2-D2. “Make sure Obi-Wan gets this message and the plans.” The droid beeped and Spencer quickly recorded the well known message. Finishing it, she couldn’t help but inwardly smirk. “General Kenobi. Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father’s request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I’m afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed.” Spencer continued reciting the lines flawlessly as Leia had done in the actual time. Finally finishing, she could feel a smile across her meditating frame as she delivered the end of the request. “This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

As Spencer played Princess, Ashin would find herself in a very familiar situation. Stormtroopers quickly filed behind her and the weight of a suit of armor rested on her shoulders. The sound of heavy mechanical breathing would echo in her mind.


[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

Now this? This was interesting. It wasn't pure flow-walking, but then again her thirdhand education in Aing-Tii skills had been decidedly incomplete. She didn't have the frame of reference to really know what this was.

For the moment, she decided to accept that she was Darth Vader.

It wasn't hard. Rebel troops broke and ran in a panic; well-disciplined Imperial soldiers fanned out ahead of her to secure this ship. The echo of a thousand scenes from her own life. Frustration and outrage that the cause for which you'd fought was being undermined by pretentious ideologues and thieves. Her hand around an officer's neck, lifting him with thoughtless strength-

"Where," she growled, "are those transmissions you intercepted? What have you done with those plans?"

Implacable, cold -- familiar feelings. The officer babbled something inane, a transparent denial. Worthless, useless courage, meant to make himself feel better. A facade concealing...relatively little. She needed to turn her attention elsewhere.

"If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?"

Of course he dug in his heels. Feth. Ashin's hand tightened, and the officer's neck snapped -- efficiently. She dropped the body and turned to one of her own officers, levelling her gauntleted finger at him.

"Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans, and bring me the passengers. I want them alive." She couldn't keep a snarl from her voice. This long, ridiculous chase should have been over by now. Where did these people think they were going to go? Tatooine, her homeworld? The Devastator's guns would keep any escape pod from getting more than a hundred metres past the hangar bay, and even an unholy amount of piloting skill would still put a fugitive in the middle of the Dune Sea. Tuskens...Tuskens and dehydration.

No, this chase was over.