Public I Have Seen it all but None Will Hear My Story [COMPLETE]

[KitKatt]

They had been walking for over an hour with no sign of their hunters. This was worrisome because Kat could not help feeling this was all a game. She kept glancing at the sun in the sky, but no matter how far north they traveled and how much time passed its position did not change. Were they in some kind of artificial environment? That was troubling because it meant ways off this rock might be heavily controlled.

They started up a steep incline that would take them to higher ground. Hopefully from this vantage point they could get a better idea of where to go.

One boot in front of the other, the Jedi did not see the ground beneath her feet shift. Suddenly the incline was smooth, like a slide. She stumbled and began to slide backwards. The ground had parted, with different slides breaking off into different tunnels that had opened. Clearly the idea was to separate the party and make the hunt more challenging.

Katarine slid into an opening in the ground and watched as it closed, locking her into a tunnel alone. She tried walking back up the slope but there was a steel sliding door locked tight. The hunters clearly had this entire planet rigged and ready and someone must be watching from a control room, or at least these traps had to be triggered somehow. It wasn't a fair fight.

She sighed and turned to stare down the long dark tunnel. She had nowhere else to go, which of course was the point. Hopping the other were okay she started down the tunnel.

A hissing sound started and a moment latter small green clouds of sleeping gas filled the tunnel. Kat was out before she hit the ground.

---

Her head was pounding again but she was no longer alone. There was a small child with his back to her. It looked as if she was still in the tunnel.

“Hello?”

The child spun around eyes wide and guiltily tried to hide Kats lightsaber behind his back.

“Oh I thought you were dead… the others always were.”

“Others?”

His face fell. “The ones we found down here… before you..”

“How long have you been here?”

“I was born here.”

Kats eyes widened. The kid had to be at least nine years old.

“Are you alone?”

“No my family lives here too. Listen… we better go. They always come down here eventually. The … the hunters.”

Kat could feel his terror in the Force. She got to her feet, her head pounding but otherwise unharmed.

“Fair enough.” She held her hand out for her lightsaber but the kid hesitated.

“If I was going to hurt you I would have done it already.”

The kid handed her the weapon and she clipped it to her belt.

“Do you know a safe place to go?”

“My village … but my father … he wont like me bringing a stranger.”

“I will tell him its my fault you did.”

“Okay but we have to go fast. The gas reactivates if there is movement. We dont have long.”

“Lead the way.”

Hawk Hinata Serena Bouie Neli Dispara Na'Gara


((OOC: Just going to separate to add some flavor and allow the faster posters to move freely and give the slower ones time to breathe. Feel free to world build and get into some trouble. We will all catch up at the end I'm sure))

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Hawk stared out of the viewscreen at the Mandalorian death world while deep in thought with his fingers steepled and tucked beneath his chin. The mug of tea that sat before him remained undrunk and had now gone cold. Pain, fear and a sense of pure malevolence radiated from the planet in sickening pulses.

There were so many upon this world dying even as he sat there formulating a plan, and the evil he could sense grew with every death. The image of the black clad Mandalorian warrior loomed in Hawk's mind again. There was more to this cult than mere ritual and superstition. Whatever it was, deity, spirit, or otherwise, that these Mandalorian sacrificed these innocents to...it was real.

"R4, simulate a hyperdrive malfunction then drop the cloak and send out a distress signal...and when they come to scan us make sure it looks like we have passengers on board."

The little droid whizzed to the console and did as Hawk asked. Emergency lighting flickered on as the hyperdrive shut down, and then, as the distress signal began to transmit, Hawk concealed himself in one of the old smuggling compartments and waited.
_______________

The Phoenix shuddered as the Mandalorian vessel docked with it. A few moments later and the airlock whipped open and four small canisters clattered along the ground. Gas billowed from the canisters quickly filling the port side of the ship. Hawk grinned into his breathing apparatus; having watched them get the drop on the other Jedi with gas he had prepared for it. Of course he could have held his breath, but that would have made for some awkward fighting.

"Scans said at least a dozen on board. Switch to thermal, these old freighters have more hidden compartments than Zefin's had women." A Mandalorian cultist said as four of them entered.

Another, clearly Zefin, responded with some choice language. Hawk followed silently beneath them. The bulkheads of The Phoenix were thermally insulated, they would not find him. The four split and Hawk followed the one who had given the orders. The Jedi waited until the other three would hear no sound and slid the flooring beneath the Mandalorian's feet back with the force. The warrior fell into the hidden walkway and as he did Hawk's lightsaber snapped into life, entering at the Mandalorian's neck and driving up into his skull and only stopping when the Beskar resisted it.

As quickly as his blade had appeared it was disengaged again and hung at his belt. Gingerly, Hawk removed the armour and swapped it with his own robes. Hawk looked down at the dead Mandalorian once he had donned the armour. Not so fun being the hunted, he thought with a wry sigh. This part of the plan was simple and much aided by the fact that the Mandalorians had no idea what each other looked like beneath their helmets.

"I got him," Hawk called and dragged the body of the robed Mandalorian into the back of the ship where the others had congregated. "Bloody Jedi, tried to ambush me but I got him with his own blade. I reckon he followed the ones that were just brought in."

There was much grumbling and exclaiming among the Mandalorians as it became apparent that there were not a dozen new victims on board and they made their way back to their vessel.

"Light it up," One of them called.

"No, tow it in. We can use it." Hawk ordered, his voice authoritative as he hoped he had read their power dynamic correctly.

The other three complied with his command and together they set off towards the planet with The Phoenix in tow.

 

[KitKatt]

Kat and her young companion hurried through the tunnels until the passage sloped upward and turned into rickety stairs. The child seemed well knowledgeable of the place, which made Kat’s heart ache. To be born here surrounded by carnage, it was unjust.

Eventually the sun filled the tunnel and they were exposed to the brightly lit surface once more.

"Doesn't it ever get dark on this planet?"

"When they turn off the lights."

Ah so they were in an artificial environment. They had arrived in what looked like a small farming community, set oddly within a dessert. There were fields and beasts to tend them but harsh dessert terrain all around them. It was probably designed to keep the villagers from running, Kat thought with sadness.

She followed the child towards a man with dark hair and broad shoulders. He looked as if he might only be in his early fifties, but stress and a hard life had lined his face heavily. When he saw the child walking towards them his eyes widened and Katarine felt him panic.

"Sef what have you done?!?"

The call caused a woman to look up from a pile of laundry. She had dirty auburn hair and when she saw Katarine her fear spiked three fold in the Force. Katarine stopped following the child, letting him get well ahead of her so that his panic stricken mother could run out and grab him away.

"I mean you no harm." Katarine spoke calmly, holding her hands out in front of her to show she had no weapon in them.

"You have to go. They will be after you. They will follow you here." The broad shouldered man, presumably the boys father by the way the mother hid behind him, was practically shaking with fear. Another man approached them. This one was tall and thin and had longer black hair that framed his sunken cheeks. He bent close and whispered something to the man, who suddenly went rigid but nodded, not meeting Kat's eyes any longer.

This new thin man walked forward, with his hand outstretched in welcome. "You caught us by surprise. Sef has never brought back a living person before."

As the man approached Katarine felt a wave of dizziness engulf her. She had been born with a mutation that made the darkside effect her particularly strongly. If she came too close to the darkside at all she would get weak, dizzy, and cloudy. When the man clasped her hand she stumbled as the outside world spun and she willed herself not to pass out.

"Are you alright?"

She pulled her hand away from his and took a few steps back, wheezing. Her deep green eyes narrowed at the man for a fraction of a second, but then her face rearranged itself into that of a helpless woman.

"I think I'm just dehydrated."

"Then come. We will get you something to drink."

"Thank you."

Katarine followed the man at a distance, frowning at the back of his head. As she passed by the small family none of them would look directly at her. They let their eyes stay glued to the floor, almost as if they were guilty about something.

She had a bad feeling about this.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

"Pack Leader..." Hawk turned toward the voice from where he sat alone in a separate chamber. It was the one called Zefin.

"What is it Zefin?"

"Etrosa, leader of the ninth pack joined with our Lord this morning. With your blessing I intend to challenge for pack leadership."

Hawk looked thoughtful for a moment, which was harder to achieve through a helmet than it sounded, and then nodded his assent. The moment he did so he sensed it; he sensed the deception. Too late! The Jedi dived to one side even as Zefin raised his gauntleted arm and spewing a torrent of fire in his direction. Hawk felt sluggish in the armour and a wave of searing heat washed over him as the fire rippled just over his head. Hawk snapped a foot out into the knee joint of the Mandalorian's left knee causing him to fall. Quickly, Hawk followed up with a punch to the back of Zefin's helmet with his own gauntleted fist and Zefin went down.

The door to the small room opened again and the remaining two Mandalorian stood there.

"He's been saying he'd challenge for Pack Leader for weeks. Never thought he'd actually do it," one of them laughed. "Don't know what possessed him to try now after you just killed a Jedi. Always thought too highly of his skills."

Hawk let out a slow breath allowing the tension to leave him. Zefin had not confided his suspicions in the other two, obviously hoping to catch him off guard and claim leadership of the pack. It did occur to him however, as they dragged Zefin's unconscious body away, that they assumed he had killed him. By the time this had occured to him, and he realised what they intended to do with the body, it was too late. The remaining two Mandalorians had jettisoned the unconscious Zefin into space.

A few minutes later and they flew into the hanger of a smaller dome positioned on one of the many protrusions attached to the larger ones.

"Go ahead without me. I wish to collect the Jedi's lightsaber as a trophy." Hawk said as he and the remaining two Mandalorians disembarked.

They both pressed their fists to the wolf insignia on their chests above their hearts. Instinctively Hawk copied the action and they departed. Hawk boarded The Phoenix and collected his lightsaber and clothing; he then released R4 from a concealed cargo hold.

"I need you to find somewhere secure to plug in to their system and to find the Jedi that they brought in. Contact me when you're done and I'll come find you."

The little droid rolled off with a series of beeps and bops and Hawk clipped the lightsaber to his armour and tucked his clothes beneath his arm before heading out into the hangar, he would see what he could find out about the facility while R4 got to work.

 

[KitKatt]

The little farm hut was shabby but spotless. Kat was sitting at a scrubbed wooden table, clutching a glass of water, and attempting to eavesdrop on the black clad darksider in the other room. After he had gotten her the water he had left to make a call. Kat couldnt hear him properly but years of undercover work had fine tuned her lip reading capabilities.

“Is pack seven done with their task yet? Good. Tell them to get their gear and come to the farm. The Jedi made it out of the underground.”

A noise made her turn sideways to see Sef crouching low behind the furniture. He put his finger up for her to be quiet and then pointed in the other room, where his Father stood. The man was waving Kat towards him.

She got up and swiftly crossed the room to join the father. He was sweating heavily and kept looking over his shoulder fearfully.

“You have to leave, now! He called them here. They are coming for you and if they find out my son helped you they will sacrifice him at the ceremony! Please… I beg of you… please leave us!”

“Do you know where the others are?”

“The underground. They are being hurded towards… towards… it… Please just go! Go now!”

Hawk Hinata

 

[Dispara Na'Gara]

​

There was little conversation between the women as the made their way through the forest, but the hunters behind them had also fallen still. Dispara was irritated, chafing at the idea of being abducted to be entertainment for someone else. She had a ship, a crew, and her freedom, all of which she had been bereft of. Someone would pay. Someone would pay in blood and stark terror.

The pirate witch studied her companions serruptitiously. They were all quite amiable, and she hazarded a guess that they were all Jedi. How she got thrown into the mix with them was a real puzzle.

The half-sephi's musings were interrupted when the ground gave way, swallowing the group, but dumping them separately. Dispara landed on her feet, crouched, ready to defend herself. She could only guess that the other women were deposited into other tunnels. Did they join up anywhere? Drawing her blaster, the blonde pirate began to move down the dimly lit corridor. Not knowing where to go, Dispara simply kept moving. The only thing that changed along the endless tunnel was that the temperature dropped at a consistent pace.

At a cross section, two figures appeared. Large, covered in fur with tusks protruding from their snouts. The had little else, aside from fur cloaks around their shoulders.

"Whipids?" Dispara murmured to herself in confusion. Where they the hunters? The had no weapons, no hunting gear, and seemed to be simply strolling. Then, one of the black-eyed creatures turned to see Dispara and halted in his tracks. One hand shot out to grab his fellow by the arm. Then both eyed the half-sephi aiming the blaster at them.

The first spoke to the other in their language, then held up his hand as if to calm the stranger. "You must not have been down here long...you are still alive. The first spoke in Basic, its voice gravely.

Katarine Ryiah Neli Serena Bouie Hawk Hinata

OOC: Sorry, had surgery and am slow getting back!

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Despite having very little idea where he was going, Hawk walked through the facility with purpose so as not to raise any suspicions. Every so often a Mandalorian warrior would walk past and clamp their fist to the wolf insignia on their chest and utter the words "Pack Leader". Hawk responded by returning the gesture and nodding. He knew that he was walking through one of the smaller hub domes, but even still it was vast; at least the size of a small city.

The Jedi Master took a turbolift to the second floor to get a better look. From higher up he could see training grounds full of armoured warriors going through drills; he could see small transport vehicles carrying them around the hub, and presumably into the hunting biomes. Bile rose in Hawk's throat as his eyes fell upon something else. At first he had mistaken it for just a street marking, perhaps identifying the main thoroughfare, but it was not. It was a pipe, but it did not convey water or fuel...it ran red with blood. Hawk's eyes darted around the hub, blood flowed in through tributaries from all the connected biomes, and it just kept flowing. They must have been sacrificing people on a huge scale.

"What are you doing up here Draen?" Came a drawling voice from behind him.

Slowly Hawk released the rail he hadn't realised he had been holding with a white-knuckled grip and turned. A few meters away stood another Mandalorian. Hawk noted that the insignia upon his chest was different, and considering he addressed Hawk by name suggested that they were on par in the hierarchy. Another pack leader, and the tone suggested a rivalry.

"Whatever I'm doing is none of your concern, Pack Leader," Hawk inflected as much sarcasm as he could upon the final two words hoping it was an appropriate response.

"You know damn well I'd have still won my challenge even if..." The other pack leader bristled with annoyance unable to finish his sentence in his fury.

"Yes, and I'm sure our Lord sees it that way too," Hawk mocked. "Now get out of here before I end up leading two packs."

Hawk didn't wait for a response and strode away as he felt his communicator vibrate. R4 had found somewhere to plug in.

________________

Hawk entered the control room of the hub, taking in the room at a glance. R4 was plugged in in a corner, pretending to run a diagnostic on the system. The consoles themselves were manned by tactical droids. A Mandalorian warrior stood either side of the door and moved to block his way.

"It's time to change the guard." Hawk said waving his hand. The two Mandalorians repeated his words. "A long walk in an ice biome sounds refreshing." They intoned his second suggestion and then departed.

"Fry them."

Hawk directed the instruction to R4 who sent an overload current through the consoles into the tactical droids. The room was filled with a mechanical shrieking and then the tactical droids slumped and smoked.
Shoving one of the droids aside he sat down, and with R4's help he gained access to the system. It didn't take him long to locate the biome within which the other Jedi had been placed.

"I need to get a message to the Jedi in that biome. Flicker the fake sunlight to send morse code. Dim it enough that a Jedi would perceive the difference, but not so much that the others do. Tell them to head North."

Hawk set about manipulating the biome channelling the captives within to a position to the North of the other Jedi. The hunters relied upon their victims being spread across the biome. They were actually outnumbered at least ten to one. Of course the people would be afraid; many had lived their lives being hunted and surviving by trusting no one and looking out for themselves. They needed a leader. Someone who could inspire them to fight back.

 

[KitKatt]

Kat could feel the mans panic for his family and the situation they were in. She looked at him with sympathy, uncertain what to do. Katarine had never been able to conduct herself in the same manner as the great Jedi she'd known. She always seemed indecisive, or lacked confidence in her abilities. Perhaps it was because she had spent so much of her life as a Jedi Investigator, and as such most of her job meant pretending not to be a Jedi, or maybe she just needed more exposure to a true Jedi. Either way she had never managed the grace and confidence of a Skywalker or a Kenobi. Still she felt she had to help these people. The question was how? First she needed a bit more information. That would help her make a plan.

"He is one of them?"

The father didn't seem to want to talk to her anymore, but Sff answered from his hiding place. "No. He was a captive, just like you. He's a Sith warrior. They hunted him, but when they caught him he... he said he enjoyed his time here. He wanted to stay and help."

Katarine felt bile rise in her throat. That was beyond sick, but more to the point a Sith complicated things. Mandalorians were one thing, but she didn't fancy the odds of one Jedi against a Sith Warrior... especially when that Jedi was Katarine Ryiah. She could feel the terror and despair surrounding this place and knew it was no good. She would have to do something. Sadly Katarine Ryiah was what these people had, at least until she could find the others she had come in with. Those women had looked fairly capable. Right... time to act.

She held the fathers eyes with her deep green ones and her voice changed. She was suddenly authoritative and confident sounding. "Round up whoever you can trust and get them to the large barn I saw on the far end of this farm. Get as many vehicles or beasts that can travel as you can. Wait for me there. Do it now."

He looked as if he wanted to argue, but Katarine said these last words with a push of the Force and he nodded, waving for his son to follow him. She glanced over her shoulder towards the small kitchen, where the Sith had been taking a call. She took a deep breath and tried to center herself in the Force. It was essential she survive this next part or all of these people were dead.

She walked into the kitchen, grabbing her glass of water on the way. As she passed a potted plant she tossed the rest of the water out and rearranged her face to look scared and helpless. Not hard to do considering the circumstances.

The thin man glanced at her as she entered the kitchen, but she held the empty glass up and started towards the water unit. He was reading something on his datapad, perhaps instructions from his Mando bosses. Katarine's fingers brushed the handle of the watering unit, but her right hand tightened against the glass. The Sith felt something in the Force and looked up, but too late. A second latter the glass went crashing against his head. He staggered, the datapad falling from his hand. Katarine gave him no time to regain his stance. She launched a kick into his midsection, sending him hurtling through a door at the far side of the kitchen. This turned out to be stairs to a cellar. The man fell down them, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom. He wouldn't stay there long.

Katarine slammed the door and with a wave of her hand slid the refrigeration unit in front of the door. She scooped up the fallen datapad and dashed through the small living quarters, into the sunlit outside area. She could see terrified farmers standing by the barn. Some were on mounts, a few were standing near some Swoop bikes.

Now what?

As if the heavens themselves were answering her call the sunlight changed. It was subtle but the Force helped her pick up on it. Morse code? Maybe one of the others had made it to a control unit? Good enough for her.

"We need to go North. Help is there. Go now before the hunters come."

Some of the terrified farmers started to protest. It was clear they would rather live with their heads down than risk their children. Katarine knew how they felt but it was no longer an option. This was no life and even if she wasn't the savior they needed she couldn't let them sit here and live in terror, murder, and blood. They just needed a little persuading.

Right on cue she heard the scream of rage and the fridge unit being thrown aside. A second latter the thin man in black appeared in the doorway. He howled and sent a wave of Force lightening towards the villagers. With a snap-hiss the white blades sprung to life to absorb the energy.

"GO NOW!"

They didn't need telling twice. She heard hooves start pounding, swoop bikes turning on, and the like.

Unfortunately that was the easy part.

​

A second latter the air was a blur of white and red lightsabers. Katarine danced around the man, careful not to let him get too close. His anger was so thick she could practically smell it. There was another emotion there, fear. He had messed up and he knew there would be consequences, or at least there would be if he had been paying attention to what he was doing. Kat knew she was no match for a Sith, but this one wasn't minding his footing. He was following Katarine into the dessert terrain like a rabid beast stalking a delicious rabbit. He let her dance her way to the edge of a canyon and with a well placed kick he fell. She couldn't believe her luck. She glanced over the edge of the canyon but couldn't see to the bottom. With any luck he'd be falling for a while.

A short moment latter and she was on a swoop bike headed North.


Hawk Hinata

Dispara Na'Gara ((No worries. I wasn't sure if anybody else wanted to continue so I tried to set it up where they didn't have to if they didn't want to. Take your time and feel better!!!))

 

[Hawk Hinata]

"Beep boop whir whistle."

Hawk looked up from the console at R4's sounds.

"Yes, I know they're coming."

"Bop bop whistle whistle!"

"Yes, I know this room is shielded and there's no way out."

Hawk smiled as he moved to kneel beside his droid and placed a hand on it's red dome.

"It's alright R4. I need you to hide behind that end console. Take this, and don't come out no matter what happens...I mean it." Hawk handed the droid his second lilac bladed lightsaber hilt.

The droid protested for a minute more before eventually doing as Hawk asked and tucked himself behind the console at the far end of the room.

With R4 hidden, Hawk ignited his aqua blue blade and set about ensuring that the consoles were no longer usable. It would not do for the Mandalorians to discover all the commands he had entered into their system. Next, Hawk jammed the door controls, and not a moment too soon as the sounds of banging echoed from the other side.

Hawk twirled his blade lightly from side to side and loosened his shoulder muscles. Sparks erupted from the control room door as the Mandalorians began to cut their way through. Hawk moved his neck from side to side, stretching the ligaments. The cutting tools had almost finished their work and Hawk stood ready, his eyes had taken on a glacial blue beneath the Mandalorian helmet he wore, and he gathered the force to him.
The moment the cutting ceased, Hawk thrust out his left hand unleashing a powerful force push. The control room door exploded outwards crashing into some of the warriors outside. Several more rushed in however, but Hawk was amongst them in the blink of an eye. The first swipe of Hawk's blade decapitated the nearest Mandalorian, his body slumping to the left while his helmeted head clattered to the right. It wasn't pretty, but it was a demoralising blow for the others. Three more Mandalorians went down within moments and the rest backed out of the room, no doubt realising that Hawk could defend the small space indefinitely and their bodies would simply pile up.

A small spherical device bounced into the room. A thermal detenator. Hawk lofted a single eyebrow, and toppled the nearest console on top of it with a wave of his hand, then he jumped onto the back of the console as the explosive went off. The Jedi Master was catapulted forward and he span through the doorway, his blade flashing around him as he went, a cyclone of righteous fury. Dozens of Mandalorian warriors fell back from him as he crashed into them, his blade cutting left and right.

Jetpacks fired and several of them took to the air and began firing down upon him. Hawk's blade flashed in a blur of blue motion, but even still he was hard pressed to keep up with the vibroblades and and blaster fire, and the Mandalorian armour already had several smouldering patches and bits had come off in places.

A vibroblade glanced off his helmet, doing no damage but dislodging it. A gauntleted fist crashed into the side of his now unprotected head and stars exploded in his vision. Another vibroblade locked onto the gap in armour on his left let forcing him to one knee. Hawk twisted dislodging the vibroblade and surged to his feet forcing them back again. Pain flared in his left shoulder where the armour had been blown away and a blaster bolt had struck him. His left arm hung uselessly at his side and blood oozed from the blistered and burnt red skin.

Hawk's breath's came in ragged gasps and blaster fire and vibroblade blows rained down upon him. As he fell, Hawk span to face the control room and saw R4, the little droid was advancing out with his electrofork bared. Hawk shook his head at the droid but it continued to advance. With a great effort Hawk threw his head back and roared, a blast of force energy erupted from him. The Mandalorians closest to him were scattered like leaves in a storm and the structure around them groaned. Glass and other debris cascaded all around them, and R4 was shoved far back into the control room as large beams collapsed to seal it off.

Something hard crashed into the side of Hawk's head and he sprawled to the floor.

"No, don't kill him. Take him to see our Lord..." Hawk heard no more as darkness enveloped him.

 

[KitKatt]

It did not take long to catch up with the farmers. They had traveled a good distance North but had stopped to regroup. They were out in the open and this was not a good idea at all. Kat was about to tell them so when she felt the waves of anger and fear falling off them.

“Is everyone okay?”

She swung her leg over the swoop bike as a few of the men started forward.

“No we are ruddy well not okay! You have ruined any chance we have at ever going back home!”

“Why did you come here?”

Kat winced at the words. She was only trying to help. “Listen to me! You cannot live your lives in fear. What you need…”

“What we need is stinking Jedi to stay out of our business! We had it under control before you got here!”

Kat tried to make herself heard but it was no use.

“I say we give her to them and beg for mercy! Its her they are after!”

There were shouts of agreement and Kat watched as the group turned as one to surround her.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Faux oil lamps flickered along the high celininged hall casting shadows that danced like devils along the walls. A memory stirred in Hawk's mind; he knew this place. A heavy wooden door swung open at the other end, and though Hawk did not want to go on he could not stop himself being drawn through into the chamber beyond.

"You'll never get your hands on him you evil old bastard!" A young man holding a baby roared at an older version of himself before he stormed straight through Hawk and disappeared into the corridor.

Hawk span on his heel to watch his father fade into nothingness holding a baby that could only have been him. The older man who remained to stare pensively after them was his grandfather.

"Close the door if you're coming in lad." Phoenix spoke, his eyes suddenly shifting to look at Hawk. "The memories we hold onto are never the good ones. Why can't I be haunted by those three lovely dancers I met on Coruscant?" He asked rhetorically.

"Am I dead?" Hawk asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Do you really think you became one with the force and ended up here?" Phoenix cackled with the shake of his head. "Are you sure you inherited my genius?"

"Can we forego the games, or shall I leave you with more cherished family moments?" Hawk retorted and was surprised to see a flicker of hurt in the older man's ever shifting eyes before he masked it.

Hawk had only sought to know what he needed to about his grandfather. The man was raised on Kamino centuries ago, the cloners there had performed all kinds of experiments on him and others. The difference between him and the others was that Phoenix learned everything he could from them and began experimenting on himself. He became obsessed with immortality, wasting all his life in the pursuit of it. Eventually he had succeeded, developing a genetic therapy that would reverse the aging process and thought nothing of testing it on himself. The therapy had made him young again, but it had also broken his mind. The insane geneticist had started a family, many of the decades of genetic alterations expressing themselves in his son Morgan. The lure of new research was too great and Phoenix experimented on his own son, until the force manifested itself within him and he was taken to become a Jedi.

Hawk had just witnessed his father's refusal to let Phoenix near him, but of course that did not mean that he had not inherited some of the old man's work.

"You're not dead, and unfortunately neither am I. In fact I can't die while you live, but that's not why you're here. You're here because of Tenebris The Dark One; Mandax The Storyteller; Vox The First Voice, and a million other names that that the being you face has gone by since time began."

"This is real," Hawk mused out loud. "You did something. The force is strange here...I can feel it like a heartbeat."

"Yes, I imagine that is what it would feel like. The heartbeat is mine. A long time ago I wove genetics and the force together to create an anchor in life for myself through my descendents. I have paid for my arrogance ever since. But you must listen to what I have to tell you now my boy."

___________________

Every nerve in Hawk's body was working overtime informing him of the agony he was in. The Jedi was suspended over a deep red pool of undulating blood. More and more trickled into the fetid lake from dozens of outlets surrounding it, and a steady drip fell from Hawk's own body into the pool.

"You are resilient Jedi," a rasping voice came seemingly from everywhere at once. "Of course, if I were free than it would be a simple matter to tear the knowledge from your mind..." Hot rancid breath and a spectral finger raked down his face, blood welling behind it. "...but there is something to be said for taking ones time."

Hawk suddenly found he could not breathe. His diaphragm moved and his chest expanded, but there was simply no air. His body spasmed and his face contorted for what seemed like minutes on end, and then just when he thought he would lose consciousness again air rushed into his lungs. The relief was only momentary though as once more the air was simply gone. Hawk didn't know how long he hung there in perpetual suffocation as blood slowly dripped from him, but the bright light that had streamed into the cavern had turned into darkness.

___________________

Hawk blinked and Phoenix looked up at him from above the body of an old woman. It was Hawk's grandmother. She had died an old woman while Phoenix had remained young. Pity filled the Jedi Master as he observed the scene, and something more as he recognised the truth within it for himself. He might not have had to see them age and die, but this was what had happened to everyone he had ever known.

The door rattled behind him and Hawk turned and reached for the handle.

"If you open that door everyone on that planet is going to die, and that's just the beginning of it."

Hawk's hand hovered over the handle. The compulsion to open the door was strong but with a great effort he inched his fingers away, curling his hand into a fist that shook with the effort, and then just as slowly he withdrew his hand.

The moment he turned back to Phoenix it was as if the spell was broken and the compulsion vanished from his mind. The figure of his late grandmother had also gone now.

"You have fashioned yourself quite the prison," Hawk commented but couldn't bring himself to add to the old man's torment no matter how much he probably deserved it. "What do you know of this being, this...Tenebris?"

"In the beginning there was darkness," Phoenix began as he unrolled a scroll he had not been holding a moment ago. "Most think this means that there was simply no light, but they are wrong. The dark was Tenebris; it is what the name means. In the beginning there was Tenebris."

__________________

Hawk screamed as consciousness bathed him in pain once more.

"Where did you go Jedi?" The rasping voice echoed painfully in his head.

Hawk cracked open a swollen and blood encrusted eye the lake of blood swelled beneath him and a shape reared up within it. Hawk screamed again as anger and hatred as he had never felt before lanced into him like hot pokers being slowly inserted into every inch of his body.

The blood formed into a roughly humanoid shape and a face rippled within it.

"You were here, but then you were somewhere else...somewhere I couldn't reach you." The creature of blood spoke with a sickening gurgle. "Fascinating."

Hawk's lightsaber floated up into his vision and the blade bathed his face in blue light. The air vanished from around him and slowly the blade sank into his shoulder. Hawk's face contorted in agony but he had no breath with which to scream.

 

[KitKatt]

“Please don’t do this. I dont want to harm any of you. “

“You've already signed our graves Jedi”

Katarine unclipped her white blades from her belt but did not ignite them. The farmers had circled her but the sight of the weapons did make them hesitate.

“Do you want your children growing up in fear, misery and blood? I know its hard but sometimes the right path isn't always the easy one.”

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Phoenix sat in an oversized armchair and indicated for Hawk to sit in the one opposite. The heavy wooden door creaked ominously behind him but it remained closed, and Hawk did not even dare turn to look at it; not knowing if he would have the strength to resist the will behind it bidding him to throw it open.

"Tenebris was one of many primordial entities," Phoenix spoke as he sat, continuing the conversation as if there had been no interruption. "It is to my shame that I sought to summon such entities myself once, and I succeeded, though with a far lesser being than Tenebris."

Hawk listened patiently to Phoenix's tale. He had learned about these primordial entities and managed to summon a lower level being, which had delighted in aiding the old man achieve his desire for immortality...and the pain it had brought him.

"Tenebris was first among these entities for aeons. There were none among the lesser entities who could challenge him and he ruled his endless dark domain in boredom, and it was in the moment that he yawned that Lychnus erupted forth from his mouth, a great being of light trapped there since the beginning of time."

Phoenix continued to tell him of the battle that ensued between these two deities of darkness and light. The scale of their war was truly cosmic. Primordial entities of all kinds chose sides, aligning themselves either with the evil Tenebris or finding new hope and supporting Lychnus. The war raged for an eternity with heavy casualties on each side, but it was becoming clear that Lychnus was losing the war.
With Tenebris pushing his forces back, Lychnus turned to his wife Matercula with such sorrow in his eyes and held her to him. They had hoped to have a family when the war was over, but it did not appear that they would have their wish. They made love then for the first time, no longer waiting for the war to end because it would surely end with their deaths. No sooner than was the deed done than their son Vital burst forth and with him there came a new energy in the universe. The force.

"So, Lychnus, Matercula and Vital all learned to harness this new energy and with it they turned the tide against Tenebris, sealing him away. The energy which we know as the force went on to breathe life into the whole universe, and the remaining primordials departed for a higher plane of existence."

"So you're saying these entities exist, and that these Mandalorian are attempting to release Tenebris from the prison Lychnus caged him in?" Hawk asked with some skepticism in his voice.

"I am indeed. Tenebris must not be allowed to rise again, for even within his prison his darkness has corrupted the line of Lychnus. The force is no longer just a weapon of the light...so if Lychnus' forces returned to face him the battle would very likely destroy our galaxy."

"How can I stop a god?" Hawk scoffed. "Right now Tenebris has me dangling half dead over his lake of blood. All he needs is the Mandalorians to complete their rituals and he'll be free."

"You're half dead, unconscious, maintaining a link to my spirit and still resisting his will boy. If his rise was assured than you'd already be dead, but he needs to know what you did and that means..."
___________________

"He's vulnerable!" Hawk finished out loud as cruel consciousness came back to him.

Hawk tilted his head to see that the light had all but faded in the domes outside. The show was about to begin. The ground rumbled as the titanic mechanisms that manipulated the terrain pushed the continental plates together in ways that they had never been intended to. R4 had had to override several safety protecols to allow it. The mechanisms wouldn't be able to keep up the pressure for long before the stress would tear them apart, but already the ground was swelling. Hawk hoped the other Jedi had got his message and gathered the peoples of the dome in the North, because if not than they were about to have as bad an evening as the Mandalorians in the dome were.
____________________
The ground erupted in a crescent around the Northern location that Hawk had indicated. Volcanic ash and dust plumed into the air and lightning streaked through it. At the same time several large transport vehicles arrived at the Northern location, each holding weapons and controlled by R4.
The top of one of the armoured transports slid back and the little droid popped his red domed head out. It spotted Kat and the crowd before her and beeped urgently for them to get into the transports. The eruptions would have cut off the majority of potential reinforcements for the Mandalorians, and with the transports and weapons within them these people could storm the control hub dome.
____________________

"To whom do you speak!" Hissed Tenebris the fury peeling from him like concussive waves.

"Just having a chat with my grandfather," Hawk laughed. "I can feel you..." Hawk spoke a little uncertainly," his voice the barest of whispers and yet the undulating mass of blood that was Tenebris froze.

"You serve no more purpose Jedi." The malevolent entity finally spoke and a swarming mass of darkness came forth from the part that was his mouth.

Hawk closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain and death he was sure was to come, but it did not. The Jedi opened his eyes and saw the dark mass striking against a forcefield of light before him.

"I can feel you!" Hawk laughed again. "I can feel the energy of every life you have filled this fetid lake with. It is their blood. Their midichlorians..." Hawk looked down at the steady drip of his own blood into the pool. "I can feel you because you're them, and you're me."

Hawk slowly reached out with a hand and touched the place where the dark swarm touched the forcefield. Light exploded and force energy rushed into his body. The swelling around his eyes faded; the burns; the broken bones, and the damaged organs all began to mend, and the energy kept coming. The light pushed back against the dark swarm filling the chamber with a strange flickering twilight, and then Hawk was falling the light emitting from him in a fiery beam as he descended and disappeared beneath the stormy lake of blood.

 

[KitKatt]

“Get her!”

The farmers started forward but the moment they did an explosion of ash rained upon them. They screamed, some falling to the ground, others scrambling away from Kat, convinced her Jedi sorcery had cause the commotion.

When the transports arrived the farmers gazed in terrified awe. Kats deep green eyes narrowed when she saw the droid. It seemed vaguely familiar, and it was an older style, one from her own timeline centuries ago.

“R4?”

She shook away the foolish notion and instead turned to the farmers.

“This is the best chance you will ever have at escaping this planet. Will you help me?”

---

The Mandalorians in the control hub were frantically trying to figure out what was wrong with their system when the attack began. The farmers werent perfect shots but they had the numbers to correct this. It did not appear reinforcements were coming to help.

When the dust had settled there were three Mando who surrendered. The rest were dead. Kat left the farmers to supervise the new prisoners so she could try and make sense of the control room. Someone had done quit a number on it. Consoles were ruined, and droids were fried, But the operating system seemed intact. Perhaps the droid could control it by plugging in.

The monitors that were intact showed a deep chamber with a large lake in the middle. The lake was dark and Kat had an uneasy feeling it was not water. This uneasy feeling turned to queasiness when she saw people laying on tilted tables, their arms cut open so blood from major arteries could drain downwards into the lake.

“Droid, see if you can plug into the controls and find us a way off this planet. There must be ships somewhere.”

She patted the little droid, still feeling she somehow knew it, but did not linger on the feeling.

She opened a hatch that had a ladder you could climb down. As soon as it was open a putrid smell escaped, making her want to vomit. She began the decent down to the sacrificial pit.

---

The Force felt… off… down here. It felt unnatural and somehow primal. Kat wasn't sure she liked the feeling.

She moved quickly down the rough stone hallway until she reached the place where the draining tables were. She moved past two dead, and reached a third with a weak pulse. Two others were blinking at her, weak from blood loss but alive.

Using the fabric off the dead she was able to make tourniquets and stop the blood flow.

“Just stay still. I will get you to the surface.”

Her deep green eyes traveled to the lake. What was this place and why did she hear whispers from the lake of blood?

Hawk Hinata

((Please forgive typos. Im at the airport on my phone.))

 

[Hawk Hinata]

R4 whistled, beeped and whirred indignantly at Kat in response to her request to find them a way off the planet. The little droid knew exactly where Hawk's ship and the Mandalorian raider vessels were, but he also knew something that neither of the Jedi knew. The enormous interlinked domes could separate and each dome could become an indipendent colony ship...with the exception of the one that they were currently within as Hawk's volcanic stunt had destroyed the launch mechanism. They would have to evacuate this dome manually.
With a final whistle R4 rolled off to save the day. He had millions of inhabitants and one stubborn Jedi friend to rescue.
____________________

Light swirled around the Jedi Master keeping the blood at bay as he descended deeper and deeper into the crimson lake but even so he could see little more than more of the deep red fluid and congealed black chunks of gore drifting within it. Hawk could feel the pain and sorrow of all of the people whose deaths had filled this lake. The sense of their loss was overwhelming.

An arm burst through the wall of light that protected him, the dark spectral flesh upon it burning where the light touched it, but it did not withdraw. It grasped him by the throat in a grip tighter than self-sealing stem bolts and began to squeeze.

"Your powers are as nothing to me Jedi. The light you wield is no match for my darkness even bound as I am."
____________________

R4 rolled through the complex, the fighting was over now and the Mandalorians of this dome had been overwhelmed. It was only a matter of time however before the rest found a way around the volcanic diversion and turned up to slaughter them all.
Finally R4 found what he was looking for: The operations room. A scale holographic model of the planet hovered in the middle of the room. The depiction of the dome they were in flashed red while the remainder of them held a steady green light. Not wasting any time, R4 plugged himself in and began interfacing with the dome network.

"Identify yourself. You do not have authorisation to access...hey, what are you doing?" The dome computer spoke to him via their link. "I don't think so you relic!" The dome computer pushed back against R4's intrusion but severely underestimated the upgrades that Hawk had installed within the old droid and the resistance was pushed aside.

The green lights on the hologram turned blue and the links between the domes began to disengage as mammoth engines beneath them came to life. Forcefields activated and bulkheads slid into place as all around the planet dozens of circular country sized vessels slowly rose into the sky. From many of the domes, smaller Mandalorian ships blasted off into space. It seemed that they weren't sticking around to see if the uprising caught on.

Quite pleased with himself, R4 rolled back through the carnage and down into the lower chamber where the blood lake frothed violently. The other Jedi stood before it as if listening, but R4's auditory sensors could detect nothing other than the obvious sounds which really weren't worth listening to.
R4 rolled up to Kat and bumped her gently, a small hatch opening on his chest area and a grip coming out with the hilt of Hawk's lilac blade. The droid didn't know why he was offering her the weapon, but something told him it was the right thing to do. R4 had spent an awful lot of time listening to his master and knew that lightsabers were linked to the Jedi who owned them. Maybe this Jedi could connect with him through it.

 

[KitKatt]

Kat felt a gentle bump on her leg and it seemed to break her out of a trance. She shook her head, like a nexu clearing its ears of water, and turned her back on the lake. Now that she was not looking at it she could fee the darkside in waves. This lake was dangerous.

Her deep green eyes fell instead upon the little droid, who was trying to give her something. It was a lightsaber, an old fashioned one much like the style of her own and very different than todays current trends. What was more, she recognized it.

“It can’t be..”

Suddenly she felt a swell of relief. Katarine had often said the safest place in the galaxy was the one Hawk Hinata happened to be. He was a great Jedi, admired by his peers, respected by his enemies, and he was a good friend. Could she add alive to that list?

She took the blade from the droid and closed her eyes, giving all her senses over to the Force to find the one area of light she was searching for.

“Hawk…”

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Fingernails of dark mist clawed into Hawk's neck and the light that surrounded him began to flicker and fade. The crushing weight of hopelessness and despair of all the lives that were represented in the vast lake of blood sapped at the strength he had found before. Hawk could sense their love, hopes and dreams just beyond his reach and knew that it was the power of Tenebris that kept it from him while pouring every negative emotion inside him.

Darkness closed in and the light that surrounded Hawk was a mere dim glow. It had not been enough. Tenebris had reached through his shield as if it were nothing and now it was over. In a few short moments Hawk would either suffocate or Tenebris's grip would crush the bones of his neck. The dark god would rise from the lake renewed and the galaxy would fall into darkness.

"Hawk..."

The voice was faint but it was real, and it reverberated within Hawk's mind gaining in strength as it echoed. It was a voice Hawk knew well.

"Kat?" The whisper that left Hawk's lips not even audible to himself.

Perhaps this was death. The beginnings of becoming one with the force. Maybe he would hear the voices of other friends and family he had lost...but no, that was not what this was...Hawk could sense his old friend and she was not a force ghost come to greet him. Katarine was connected to him somehow. With a joyous realisation, Hawk knew that it was Kat that he had seen being taken by the Mandalorians, and she held his lilac blade!

"Kat," Hawk thought to her through the connection. "I need your help."

At a speed that only thought could achieve, Hawk explained to Kat what he wanted to do. Hawk had studied much of the lore surrounding lightsabers in his younger years. He knew they were far more powerful than most Jedi understood. Not merely weapons, or even tools, they were extensions of the Jedi who owned them. The crystal within was almost like a holocron, storing up the essence of its wielder. If Kat so chose l, she could access that essence through the crystal, perhaps experiencing Hawk's memories as she did so.

"What I ask of you will be dangerous, but I see no other choice." Hawk told her. "Look inside the crystal of my lightsaber, focus upon what you find there and let yourself merge with it. You will feel a feedback of me within you and it will be natural to want to block it out, but do not...in this way we can form a temporary dyad in the force and I will take the blade."

The connection to Kat alongside the joy of her being alive had strengthened the shield of light that protected Hawk. The arm of Tenebris was burning again as his fingers clutched at Hawk's throat. Hawk blocked out the pain and closed his eyes, focusing on the connection between himself and Kat, opening every door in his mind ready to allow her in. His right hand stretched out as he did so and his fingers extended. Energy pooled there and he touched it to Tenebris' hand, and with an effort he heaved the god's hand from his throat. Jedi and ancient god continued to drift down further into the putrid lake, locked in a physical and psychological struggle.

 

[KitKatt]

He was alive! She could hear him, and suddenly she felt just like a student again, watching while one of the great Jedi tried to teach her something she could never be. He explained his plan, and just as she had suspected, she knew what he wanted her to do. She had known it from the very moment the droid handed her the lightsaber, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Katarine had been born part of a Force dyad with her twin, and that connection had caused pain and suffering that left deep scars in her mind. It was a twisted miserable relationship, but for one brief second she panicked. Would letting Hawk in end her connection with Daxium? She felt tears well in her eyes and blinked them back. This was foolish. Dax was responsible for the death of loved ones, the cruelty she had endured, and what was more he was long dead. Hawk would never betray this connection as Dax had. The great Jedi needed her help and Katarine should do all she can to assist. The galaxy needed Hawk Hinata.

Kat clutched the blade and lowered her defenses, concentrating every bit of herself on the faint light she knew to be Hawk. Around her she could feel the darkside, and as always the darkness started to make her dizzy. She staggered against the wall of the underground cave but she did not break the connection. The light was growing stronger until it was almost blinding. She felt his presence fully now and for a fraction of a second she hesitated, her mind on her twin, but then she let her own Force signature fall forward into the light.

She could see his outstretched hand, almost as if he were right next to her. She handed him the blade, and miraculously felt it leave her fingertips.

Once free of the weapon her eyes fell upon the dark god creature, but she was oddly less afraid. It was as if Hawks presence was filling her, giving her confidence and strength. She felt wounds healing and mental scars softening under the sheer power of the other Jedi. It was something she had never felt before, and it seemed to strengthen her own Force signature.

Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, in the place reserved for her twin she felt a soft nudge.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

One moment Hawk was Hawk, and then Kat let him into her mind and in turn she entered his, but it was more than that. Hawk had experienced the thoughts of others before, but this was something far deeper. Hawk was Hawk, and Hawk was Kat, but she was also him.
The Jedi Master could feel everything it meant to be Kat; he could feel her self-doubt and even fear upon the surface, and he could feel the things she tormented herself with just below the surface. It was as if they were his doubts and fears, and the torment was his own. There was more deeper down, unacknowledged and...beautiful. In Hawk's vision it was a Palace of light. It was forged of courage, compassion and love. Strength and power radiated from it, and in his mind Hawk touched it.

Hawk's eyes snapped open, one a vibrant shade of lilac and the other matching the colour of Kat's own eyes. The formation of the dyad was complete. The shield barrier of light around him pulsated with a light so intense it was hard to look at. Tenebris screamed as his arm burst into flames, and Hawk reached out with his hand now free to take the lightsaber hilt from Kat.

Lilac light blossomed forth from the hilt and Hawk plunged the blade into the bloody mass of Tenebris' body. The scream of agony intensified as fractures began to radiate from where the blade had entered him, lilac light eminating from the cracks.

"Noooo!" Tenebris screamed, his mouth contorted with rage.

Suddenly, Hawk felt another presence and a wave of calm swept over him. From behind his shield of light, Hawk could make out a figure glowing in the lake beside him. He seemed to be smiling.

"Well done my son," He spoke with a voice that made Hawk's teeth ache. "I will take him from here."

"Lychnus?" Hawk asked in a whisper.

The figure merely smiled at him before placing a hand upon the fracturing shoulder or Tenebris, and in a flash of lilac light they were gone.

The power that had fuelled Hawk now seemed to ebb away and the dyad connection to Kat was fading. The pool of blood was warm, and he was so very tired, but without Tenebris to hold him down Hawk's body began to resurface.

Moments later and he broke the surface, gulping in deep ragged gasps of breath, gagging on the putrid taste of the air and vomiting up more blood than he cared to think about having been in his lungs. He knelt on all fours at the edge of the pool, just breathing for a moment as the blood dripped from him.

"I have to say, I'm not a big fan of gods," Hawk laughed amidst a fit of coughing as he looked up into Kat's eyes, his own now back to their usual emerald green hue.

 

[KitKatt]

Hawk surfaced in truly an awful display of filth and gore, but still the sight was one that brought her hapiness. Her friend was alive and though she did not know how she was still pleased. Pleased but also a little embarrassed at all they had shared moments before.

"I have to say, I'm not a big fan of gods.”

She smiled at him and pulled him to his feet.

“Lets get out of here. R4 should have ships ready. I have a group of farmers and a few prisoners waiting.”

She had no idea what to do with them but one step at a time.

Hawk Hinata