Invasion A.D.

[Kana Truden]

Telti. Kana didn’t speak of it. For all the theatrics on a conveyor belt was worth she had taken a beating there to be sure. It didn’t help that her only escape from certain death had been a drop from a height that was beyond her comfort zone.

Which, granted, was a drop from any height.

“Yeah.” Kana curled up into a ball. “... Yeah.”

It was just a matter of time until the padawans on Ruusan decided they too wanted to go fight this war. The idea of seeing their lifeless remains be forgotten about on the battlefield was horrible enough, to know they died so pre-maturely before their time even more so. All the fear they would have to process. Fear of their opponent, the fear for their life and for many others; the fear of death. At some point Kana had experienced two thirds out of those with the last third being something she feared every day.

It was the most ironic kind of emotion for a healer of all people to have.

“I can’t leave.” The healer finally said. “I need them.”

The Padawans and Knights and even Masters on Ruusan that was. They were like family, they meant a world of stability that she had been so desperately trying to find before. That in itself was just as equally depressing.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“You can’t stay either.” Khal would mumble softly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His hand brushed his brow, trying to wipe away dust that wasn’t there, before it went over to the familiar scratch of a chin that desperately needed a shave. But there was never enough time for that, there was always a new scheme to come up with, a new appointment to make or more people to train.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Endless motions, Kally. Go with the flow, ain’t looking back, ya dig?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I don’t want it to be the end of you, Kana.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Where the feth had that come from?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khaleel blinked as he realized the words that had just forced themselves out, trying to make it slightly less awkward for himself he grabbed firmly hold of his caf and took a good sip. Forgetting how hot it was and burning his tongue - awkward coughing fit enfolded.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Feth, this ain’t easy.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

“It won’t.” Probably. “I don’t know.”

She had seen things. Death, destruction, things that she could have lived without but it was already far too late to just wipe those images from her mind. The nightmares, the mid-night terrors. The constant fear that it would all happen to her younglings at some point played great part into it. To leave them would be irresponsible.

“I have nowhere else I can go, Khal.” Kana said and sighed. “Alderaan is no longer Alderaan. The Order is all I’ve known for twelve years.”

She could always do like her friend and travel the galaxy, but that required finances that she didn’t truly have yet. Damian was left in charge of those and considering they still hadn’t gone and taken his ship back it was fair to assume he wouldn’t be open to the idea of just upping and leaving.

“I will find a way to make it work.”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“We both know Ruusan ain’t safe.” Khal continued, trying to find a way [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]out[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], but the more he thought about it the more it- then it him like a huge boulder, the fact that he hadn’t thought of it before made him swear just a little bit inside of him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Yavin IV, evacuate the kids and padawans. The Jedi Academy will welcome you there, Shule has never denied anyone safe passage and he won’t start it now. If money is an issue, I will finance the whole thing. It’s only a matter of time before the war finds its way to Ruusan, Kana.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A sigh came.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Even if we don’t want it to.”[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

“I would.” It was the only thing she could say. “Khaleel, you do realise what it would look like if a Healer who turned down the headmaster position just one day tells a whole enclave to leave, right?”

She let her arms set by the armrests of her chair. “Besides, there is more to the enclave than just teaching. Something about a mausoleum? Pretty sure you’ve heard of it. We can’t just leave that one unprotected and a few handful Masters and Knights wouldn’t be enough to keep both the Enclave and the Valley safe.”

“That is my secondary concern.” She sighed. “The Valley is the true reason we are here and last I heard that was the only concern we truly had. The Sith aren’t within range just yet but I appreciate your concern, Khaleel.”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There are more important things in life than a mausoleum that houses the death, such as your life, the life of your trainees and padawans. But Khaleel did not air that out loud, because it wasn’t his position to criticize her decisions when she already had a hard time of dealing with things. Instead the Underlord simply nodded at her explanation, gave a little smile and said he understood what she was trying to tell him. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They kept talking for a while to come, talk about the lighter things in life, perhaps to forget or perhaps to catch up with everything they had missed. Eventually though it had to end, both of them busy people in their own ways.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Agreeing to meet up on Ruusan so she could give him a tour of the enclave and drink some tea, they parted ways for now, Khal back to his own business on Fondor and Kana? Well, probably off to do some Jedi-ish stuff somewhere. Who knew what Jedi Healers did in their free time these days.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]***[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khaleel woke up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Eyes blearily blinking against the sudden intensity of the sun, raising up, his eardrums popped and suddenly he could hear the wailing of the wounded, the soft murmer of Jedi Healers moving from case to case and trying to ease their minds.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Another moment went out and suddenly his own feelings returned.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The demon had returned to its cage, crucitorn worned out and Khal felt the poison raging through his veins and trying its best to kill him. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Underlord screamed.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

“Bacta to the northern section, bandages to the south!” Orders were barked left and right. “I need two more with the younglings, Barrue and Gork just go!”

A hand made its way through Kana’s hair as she tried her best to keep it cool. The academy had been attacked by the Sith. People were missing and many more were dead. Jedi from other Enclaves had shown up to help calm the situation. Kana had been there, she hadn’t seen it but she had felt it. The death and the destruction, the cold emptiness as bond for bond was torn from her in violence. So many padawans succumbing to fear, or worse. It was never supposed to happen yet here it was.

It was her fault. Kana had been told it would happen but she ignored it. Said it was for the best to stay out of necessity, but what had the necessity brought her now if not the exact thing [member="Khaleel Malvern"] had told her about. She was at fault here. Each death was on her and she knew it, she felt it. The guilt and the burn that came with it. Had she done something they would all be alive and she wouldn’t be standing in a crowd of dead or near-dead bodies on their last few stretches of life.

And where was even Khaleel? The second she had gotten out of her clinic, the very second the jedi from other enclaves had come to free her he was nowhere to be found. She worried perhaps too much for her friend. He was alright, he always found a way to get out of trouble, it was who he was.

Oh who was she kidding. He was probably also dead.

“I need-” Her heart pained, breathing got hard. “I need a-”

“Go rest, Master Truden.”

“No, I need-... I must-... I have to help them.”

Kana stared at the knight before he could try to convince her otherwise. How long had been awake now? It felt like a week since she last slept, but surely it hadn’t been that long.

“We’ve got a live one!” A voice called in the distance. Kana rushed her way over. “It’s...” She knelt down by the man covered in dust and grime. “Khaleel!”

Without offering the ‘Underlord’ a chance to react she forced him into an upright position. Her arms wrapped themselves around the man tightly as if she tried to crush a bear with a grapple. For all he would know it was the very purpose of it all. He was in the dead-pile after all.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Nfnnffnfnnarhgghg.” was about all that she got squeeze out of him with her strong hug, it would be around that time that Kana would notice that Khaleel was missing something. Something very important, something that no person should ever miss during their lifetime, he was currently missing his right arm.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The wound itself was cauterized, dried up blood and- well, it wasn’t a pleasant sight. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There was something deep inside of Khal that made him nope, that made him go… not this time. It was a hidden fond of power that he himself didn’t even know he possessed, a quality of men that made him decline looking pathetic in front of her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]So he grabbed that power and pushed the pain away, locked it up and suddenly everything was [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]cold[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Everything was [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]cool.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And the ‘Underlord’ was back in control again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“K-Kana, are you okay?” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Fething smooth bastard.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

“Shut up.” It was all she afforded him. Her grip loosened and she turned to the knights behind her. “I’ll take this one.”

Without much of an explanation for the others she lifted the body of one [member="Khaleel Malvern"] from the ground and onto his feet. They had to get to the clinic, it was cleaner there. Except they had already occupied most of her clinic with the near-dead bodies of the Knights who hadn’t managed under pressure.

No matter where she turned there was the lifeless body of someone she knew, someone close. Her stare set in front of her, anything to not look at the ground as she lead the man towards the one place that couldn’t possibly have been occupied by the others yet.

His own ship.

“Everyone is dead.” She said rather matter-of-factly. “Dead or badly injured. A few remained unscathed, but most of them are dead.”

“We have set up a tighter perimeter. Word has reached us that the Army will be looking to enforce local stability as the Enclave recovers. We will be looking to run a massive recruiting run from other temples such as Ossus to boost our numbers again.”

Of course she wasn’t okay, but pretending that she was had always been second nature to her.

“The Ruusan Enclave is looking to possibly be expanded. Rumors circulating it will become a research facility.” Kana tried to breath but once again the facade began to crack. “Th-They are leav-” She cleared her throat. “They are leaving the project in the hands of Jedi Master Taeli Raaf.”

They approached the man’s ship and she finally let go. “Open the door.”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A few ticks followed as Khal’s vision blurred just a little bit. Crucitorn was all good and well, but suppressing the pain did nothing for blood loss and every other wound that was currently preoccupying his physiology, Icarii were a hardy and strong species… not that Khal knew all that much about them, few did these days. Not after that one purge.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Point was, had he been a human? He would have been dead. No question about that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The door hissed open and with her supporting him they entered the ship, which was around the time that it finally hit him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Taeli Raaf?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Taeli… Taeli. Taeli.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Where had he heard that name be-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Motherfether. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“They are putting a karking Sith Lord from the One Sith in charge here?” the Underlord would hiss to his friend, gritting his teeth as the pain barely managed to be suppressed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Pure technically Khaleel shouldn’t have known that Taeli Raaf was Arcanix, but pure technically one couldn’t just do what she had done and expect to walk out scotch-free. One day one Darth Arcanix disappeared from the One Sith, at the same day Krayt Industries stopped existing in its old capacity which Khal knew because Alec and him had stolen an antimatter generation station right from under the noses of the One Sith.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Then suddenly a new Jedi Master pops up and with her a new company. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And with the new Jedi Master? A lot of classified information suddenly poured out about the Sith and their structure.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Coincidence? No such thing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Are they losing their collective [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]minds[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], Kana?”[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

“She is a former Sith Lord, yes.” Kana took a deep breath. “But she has undergone the-” A panicked deep breath. “Proper-” Followed by another deep breath to contain her panic. “I don’t know.”

The man was injured and she approached the cabin. A bed was considerably more comfortable and with the destination they had in store there was little she could do but tend to him outside of a bacta tank. At least for the first few hours. She still had it in her, she could help fix this. Somehow she could fix this.

“Hold on, I will be right back.”

She practically jumped her way out of the ship’s loading ramp to relay the message. She was taking the man to an off-site as he wasn’t a part of the enclave itself. A lie about not being comfortable wasting resources on something that wasn’t for the Order when they themselves desperately needed to use those for themselves. In truth it was of course an excuse to run away. So that’s what she did.

Rather than rush right back to her friend she went for the cockpit with only one destination in mind: New Holstice. The hospital world had some of the best doctors in the galaxy, it seemed like their best shot at getting him his arm back.

“I am here, Khaleel.” She re-entered his solitary resting place. Her mind was bursting, her heart aching. “I’m taking you away from here.”

The fact that he had asked her about hadn’t gone unnoticed. The healer simply decided that now as not the time for the talk. She didn’t want anything to do with it. The Raaf sister being appointed the head of the Research Station was on Kana’s shoulder too in the end for turning down the position herself.

The ship took off and she proceeded to try and center herself. It didn’t really work, but she tried.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

While she was getting everything in order Khal could only lay there and ponder the implications of what she had told him. The longer he thought about it, the more disbelief spread through his veins and made him blink.

Of course, it ain't like he himself was some kind of saint. In some ways he was probably even worse than Taeli, but then again... he had never claimed to be a Jedi.

Vaud had taught him well in that regard.

"Proper procedure my left butt cheek, Kana." the Underlord would reply, between gritted teeth.

He ignored what she had said when she returned, his sole focus this... crap, maybe it was some kind of shock. To ignore the loss of his arm and the sheer pain that echoed through crucitorn.

"Na'Varro's only crime was defending his homeland against Harkinson's war spree, Sardun is a fething war veteran and a former councilor himself. Both are-"

He gulped as tension increased inside of him, it wasn't smart to get so agitated with the... oh feth.

"Kana, an amphistaff bit me. Poison, I ain't... normal, my body is fighting it, but I don't know how long I still got."

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

Did he ever shut the hell up about social and jedi commentary? No, it would seem the man insisted on agitating the healer further and for each second wasted with unsuccessful attempts at centering herself on his behalf the frustration just grew. How was it that he even knew this much? Sardun had only ever met Kana for all she knew.

“For feth’s sake, Blasto.” Kana said as the pent up frustrations just burst. “I have been slaving over the dead bodies of some of my closest friends, watching each of them stare to the skies like if they were stuck between a dream and reality. I have felt dozens of younglings and padawans lose their lives in a fething attack that I could have prevented and here you are going on about the fething politics of the Jedi Order.”

“So please shut the feth up you total fething chithead before I leave you to rot on your ship.”

If he tried to speak her mouth would promptly cover his mouth to dispel any attempts. She needed quiet, she needed peace and she needed to center herself. He had already gulped and groaned from the pain and the fact that it was poison had her making all the wrong assumptions.

Sith poison wasn’t her deal, she had tasted it once and nearly lost her mind.

“Good.” She finally said as the man went quiet. “Now, relax and try not to let it feed on your anger. I can’t help you, but the professionals on New Holstice can. Hopefully.”

Because nothing reassured people like a ‘hopefully.’

She brought out her sedatives and painkillers. She had no antidote but for what she had seen and experienced of Sith stuff it was all about willpower. With her center found and a measure of calm upon her she finally was able to let it seep into the man and offer a hint of sedation and peace.

At least for the few ten minutes she could keep it up for. Twenty hours of constant stress would do that. Her body collapsed by the underlord’s bed. Her head softly bumping down on his stomach she fell asleep, drooling all the while.

If he needed help there were the sedatives and other painkillers by the endtable of his bed.

###

The ship chimed up in bells or whatever it was that Khaleel’s ship was outfitted with. Not that Kana would know, she was still fast asleep. They had reached the planet of New Holstice, the man was not far from getting his very own protocol droid-like prosthesis. Or well, maybe he’d get an actual useful one, but he wasn’t too far from that one either.

But as stated Kana would not know. She still looked a mess, but at least there was a measure of peace to her as she lay there on the man’s stomach or by the very least on the floor. Deep asleep still.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Look, I am sor-” the rest of the words were muffled away into the darkness, as suddenly her mouth pressed itself onto his and Khal’s eyes widened. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]?!!?!?!!![/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Wha… what’s hap- oh feth it, just roll with it Kally.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He wrapped his only arm around her back and pulled her in, kissing her finally after all these years. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]***[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It did not end in some cinematic night of passion and excess. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Neither of them had any energy left for that, she had lost her family and he was still gravely wounded, in this the kiss had been probably born from desperation, frustration and a need to no longer be alone. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]To fill a hole that had been growing for a long time.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She fell asleep soon after, but Khal couldn’t. Crucitorn was the only thing that allowed him not to keep screaming and thrashing in pain, pain meds wouldn’t do anything - he knew this instinctively, and he couldn’t keep up the technique while sleeping. Instead Khaleel simply laid vigil with Kana sleeping, his hand would absently brush her head, a motion that brought both of them comfort. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That was how the night was spend. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]One woman lost in feverish dreams, one man staying awake and trying to think what this had changed. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]If [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]this had changed anything.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Then a chime sounded through the ship, a signal that the ship had left Hyperspace and was at its destination. She was still asleep and Khal didn’t have the heart to wake her up, she had been through enough already.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Instead he carefully detached himself from her sleeping form and crawled out of bed, vision blurred as the man tried to stand by himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Difficult, not impossible.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Any normal man would have been dead already or physically incapable of doing anything. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The price was large, but it’s worth it… ain’t it Kally.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Underlord headed towards the door.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

There Kana laid in the darkness of her dreams as chime after chime tried to bring her out of it to no avail. She didn’t even react to the man moving her body off of him or the pain it caused him. The closer he got to the door the more her body began to twist and bend as the moment’s comfort was gone. Twist for twist her shoulder found itself approaching the edge.

Then it happened. Her body fell off of the bed’s edge and she collapsed to the ground. Her entire being locked up as a panicked scream called out in the dead silence. Stuttering breaths and panicked sobs began to fill the room as she slowly sat up again. They weren’t really dead, she was just having a bad trip or a really bad dream. The younglings weren’t dead, their lifeless stares that had been etched onto her memories weren’t real.

Without saying a thing she got up from the ground and walked past [member="Khaleel Malvern"] like if he wasn’t there. For the time being her entire body shook yet she took the pilot’s seat irregardless. Switch for switch she reclaimed control over the ship until finally she began the descent.

Lips thinned, eyes practically staring into a void she set her course planetside.

“I’m so sorry.” The weak and hissing whisper parted her lips. “For everything.”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His hand carefully placed itself on her shoulder.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]What to say in a situation like this? Hey, Kana. So your entire family just got killed, yeah I know ‘cuz I was there… sorry to hear that, honey. Yeah… so… about my arm that was cut off. And the poison that’s currently flowing through my veins and causing me agonizing pain…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But even in a drug-addled mind, a mind that didn’t get any sleep and was currently dealing with a lot of pain accumulated, Khal knew that nothing outta that would have made the situation any easier for his friend.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]So Khaleel just stayed quiet, trying to give her some strength by simply [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]being[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] there for her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Ain’t much more he could do.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

Twitch and gasp. The hand brought her back into reality as the ship got through the re-entry with barely any turbulence. It felt like the only right move in a long time and the healer turned around to look at Khaleel. Her eyes were glossing as they strove to make eye contact. Misery was running rampant, ideas of isolation even more so but she knew that she could never work under those circumstances. She had already been away for an extended amount of time in solitude and the only thing that had happened was that she nearly turned crazy.

“I am sorry about your arm.” Kana whispered. “I will fix it when we get planetside.”

She had to fix it. Had he not come to visit her then he’d still have that arm. At the back of her mind it was all the same conclusion. Her parents, Alderaan, Manaan, Kashyyyk, Telti and now this. No matter where she went and no matter what she did the galaxy strove to remind her of her own inadequacies. A lousy daughter, a lousy worker, a lousy fighter and a lousy protector.

She turned around to set her eyes on the planet outside the viewport as they zoomed past building for building. A hand reached out for the comm panel and with the flick of a few buttons the signal for a pick-up was away. It didn’t take them long to respond back. Landing Platform X-006. It would seem amphistaff poisoning had a huge priority. Good for them.

The ship touched down and Kana got out of her seat.

“Come on, let’s go.” She said in a whisper still. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

She grabbed the man by his arm and tugged him up over his shoulders to lead him outside again. His help was soon here, he would be okay and soon she would wake up in her bed as if it was all a nightmare. Just had to get him to the outside first, to the transport the hospital had arranged for them.

“How are you holding up?” It felt obvious, but she had to ask. “They are waiting for us outside, the doctors will fix you up."

Step for step they went down the loading ramp as a twi'lek nurse rushed for them

“This the poisoned man?” The other nurse asked as he too rushed over. “The amphistaff?”

Kana didn't respond in much else but a nod.

“Thank you, ma'am. We've got it from here.”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Just a flesh wound, darlin’” the southern drawl would suddenly pronounce itself heavily, only underlining the fact that Khal was probably running off on a lot of adrenaline, sheer force of will and ironically enough the Force itself sustaining him through the entire ordeal. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Didn’t hurt that her kiss was still burning on his lips.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal stumbled and almost fell, while trying to catch himself with the arm that wasn’t there any longer but Kana caught him just in time. He coughed, ignoring the facts and straightened himself before the Underlord disentangled himself from Kana and walked on his own towards the doctors.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There he paused for a moment, before turning around and dropping her a wink.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I will be aight, mouse. You take care of yourself, okay?” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The doctors didn’t give him time to hear her reply, instead ushering him into the hospital to take care of all the wounds inflicted upon him. It was a miracle that he survived for as long as he did though.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana’s hand raised itself for the man but it was too late. He was already getting whisked away from her just like the rest of them. A look of worry shot for the man and then his ship. She would take care of it, for now. She owed him that much. With a broken stride she got herself aboard the ship for the nightmare to go on. A hand ran down her face as a final stray look set upon the doors as they closed.

This was the last she would see of Khaleel for a while. Between failing psychiatry, the force fed idea that he didn’t exist and the events that transpired on Ord Mirit. She was broken down and in the midst of the chaos the two lost all contact. Not because she wanted it to, but because the therapy backfired. What had been a reality was shrouded in the foggy haze of a delusion implanted in her mind. All this because there were no records of Khaleel having ever been near her.

For all she knew, and thought, he was still dead on Ruusan.

Another piece of the cake that made her turn away from it all.

With her new found freedom there were choices to be made. The reports would indicate her as MIA, the reality be that of a deserter. Kana was nowhere to be found and at best she had been considered capture, at worst the reality of all had happened. She was burning inside. It wasn’t a great fire as much as an ember, the start of something and with the fire she no longer belonged in her home.

These days she didn’t have one. She drifted from place to place always looking for a purpose, searching for something new. But to get there she still had the one road block ahead of her. All depending on the coin flip she kept on hesitating about. Not the part about doing the flip itself but rather the act of carrying it out.

This wasn’t the first time she had parked herself on the height overlooking the Truden mansion and it certainly wasn’t the last. Inside she could feel them. Vera, Calista, Ilyana and Francis. Elias wasn’t there and he hadn’t been for as long as she had camped outside. It was a problem she could fix later as well.

She placed the small coin on top of her thumb again and took a deep breath. Heads meant she did it, tails meant she gave it up. With a second deep breath she flipped the coin into the air. It landed in the palm of her hand and she promptly slapped it on top of her left wrist.

“Heads.” She whispered as her eyes set on the mansion again. “One more time.”

Coin on her thumb she readied herself for another toss. She never did it. Instead her hand opened itself to let it slide into the open palm. Fingers wrapped themselves around the coin’s flat surface and tossed it over the edge. If she was lucky she might hit a window and leave them none the wiser, if not then she most certainly helped some poor sap a few hundred levels down to afford his next meal.

Pocketing her hands in her jacket she set off into the cityscape again. It was odd to be back. Everything had changed yet it all seemed to be the exact same with the occasional reminder of the One Sith’s presence here and there. People seemed content and for all intents and purposes she was willing to believe it all to be true without truly delving into the morality of it that, perhaps, they weren’t as horrible people as she had been left to believe. Yet another lie in the great pile of many other the Order had told her.

Her form carried her past a cafeteria. A quiet place. People were enjoying their drinks, having small-talk. Here and there an occasional laughter could be heard. But Kana, she was not laughing. In the distance stood the figure of a delusion. Something she knew not to be real and something she hadn’t seen since... Ruusan.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"].

Tables flew and people got flung as Kana mowed her way through anything that got in her way. All the while her free hand pointing away at the illusion of a man who had no reason to be here. The man she had lost and the man she hadn’t been able to rescue.

Her ember turned into a bonfire.

“You.” She growled as she reached out to grab at the man’s face. “You are not real.”

“You died just like everyone else. You are dead, you are...” Her arms shook. Whether by resistance or the fact that she touched his face, could he be? “... You're... Real? No, no the doctors said...”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Life after Ruusan had been… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]strange[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It had been a fervor of months, physical therapy a queen while waiting for the cloned tissue to arrive from Kamino and get attached to his body once again. It felt [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]weird[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], not like his own arm, but the doctors said that it would pass eventually after a period of trying it out. Didn’t know how to really feel about it, but Khal didn’t really have any other choices left to him at that point.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Kana was gone. Disappeared. The records stated that she was MIA after the battle on Ord Mirit, fething Jedi, fething Order, fething Republic… he had told her not to get involved with it. But she had never been much of a listener.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His men were scouring the Galaxy, but they were coming up empty. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]If she had been captured by the Sith… he would have known, so he was assuming she simply didn’t want to be found and that was the thing. When a Jedi Master didn’t want to be found… she wouldn’t, and Khal couldn’t go out on a vengeful mission to track her down.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Coruscant was Coruscant, he preferred Nar Shaddaa but you couldn’t get everything in life. Work was keeping him busy, busy from- well, perhaps it was better to say that he was keeping himself busy with work.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Excuses not to track her down, Kally.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He was discussing some business with a restaurant owner, nothing too important, but this could turn into the next big thing for his syndicate. Eating establishments were never much under scrutiny for some awkward reasons, he already had a nam-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Shouting, a rush of emotions, the Force warping itself around the area and then suddenly Khal found himself whirled around, his face slapped and touched as if he was some kind of meat on the corner of the shop.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His mouth half turned into a snarl, until it all melted away at the sight of [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]her[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] eyes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“K-Kana?” the Underlord could say no more in that moment.[/SIZE]