The Last of Us

[Darth Empyrean]

The Blade of Ruusan was a malignant thing, a shattered visage of the light made manifest into a cruel blade against the dark. There was nothing exceptional about it, no craftsmanship; even its creator lost to time immemorial. What was there to have pride in, to consider when looking over the aging weapon?

Nothing. It was a tool, and nothing more.

The thought of that disgusted Maliphant, forcing a sneer on his face as he desperately brought his concentration back to the massive singularity he had formed on Hoth. Compared to Sidious’s own force storms, it was something miniature, but it was the safest he could produce one, lest he too be consumed by its never ending gluttony. Every second it threatened to break free, the chains enslaving it crying out under metaphysical tension, sending echoes through the massive ice mountains of Hoth like the dying voice of a beast the world was never meant to see.

It was this concentration that cost him -

The Light created by Cedric infiltrated the storm, broke through it all despite weakening as it desperately fought Maliphant’s own ability to contort the force. Even debilitated however, it hit Maliphant with a terrifying prowess that forced him to his knee as he let loose the first sound of pain he had made in more than a year. The thought of it brought back quick images of that damnable staff, and how close it had come to taking him entirely, no doubt leaving its scars on his soul.

It was this pain that drew his attention, that caused the storm to slip from its shackles and tear something wild through the winds of hoth. Snow came back, though it was far from even the harsh ice it once was; each shard seemed invulnerable to shatter, enforced by the light and the force together, only to be shot through the air as more than a thousand miles an hour - reality seeming to break as the storm took its time shatter the very balance that they stood in.

Maliphant had only a moment to respond as he covered his face with his arms, gritting his teeth, and using all his momentary power in the force to protect him from the burning of the light, and the reckoning of the Force Storm now given freedom. It would do little more than stop him from dying as it rose into the atmosphere, and took with it a massive crater.

When he awoke, nothing beside remains. Boundless and bare, level and vast sands stretched endlessly across an empty world with reddened skies and nothing to see, but a single distant blackened city that barely poked over the horizon, as if shattered and sunken beneath the aged winds. Closer however, was the Jedi Maliphant had only just fought with him in the world beyond.

Maliphant struggled to stand for a moment, realizing that the world itself fought him at every second, to take from him the things that he demanded most of all - His Identity. For a moment, Maliphant wondered if that which nagged on him was what the Jedi called ‘becoming one with the force’, and the calmness of it all, the passing of it all seemed so tempting. He yearned for peace, and the winds here could see him swept into stone and be swept away with it all.

Yet, just as his knees began to give out, he heard Sidious whisper something dark in his ear, and the urge passed. He grit his teeth, stood higher and harder, and trudged forward step by step.

“This is where I was meant to be, Cedric.”, Maliphant said as he moved slower than ever before, the sands themselves seeming to fight him far better than the Jedi had ever hoped.

“It is here I shall build myself.”, yet his voice seemed haphazardly quiet.

This world was threatening to tear them apart at any second.

---

Cyebele watched as the storm grew and shook, taking much of the ice nearby with it to the atmosphere with a growing intensity. Suddenly, her connection to Maliphant disappeared, and she realized something was wrong; leaving her with a single action. Reactors roared to life, and the singularities within seemed to force the entire vessel into a life it hadn't seen in years- watching as the storm grew ever closer. Engines fired, ice cracked, and the Acerbitas began to soar into the sky just as the storm began to pull the edges of the ship's plates from her.

She could almost feel it, the danger and fear of dying as the storm grew wilder. Every second it dragged upon her, and for a single moment she considered what it would be like to die; would she remember it? Did she have a soul?

It was a pointless calculation, as she broke free of its pull only to watch the storm shudder and shake. The vacumn of space greeted her just as the storm's energy completely collapsed and it sent everything it had collected in a massive implosion that only sent things flying further than they would have before - a shockwave that shook her even in the thin atmosphere of Hoth's most distant sphere.

Had Maliphant died?, she wondered as she began to idle the ship, running ever diagnostic she could.

Would she see him again?

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[D.E.L.T.A.]

Two two men she saw in the distance became further enveloped in the storm of darkness, so thick and impenetrable that not even the might of a thousand suns could pierce it. She had little knowledge of the workings of the force, it was always above her pay grade to understand those things, and she had never come into enough contact with it to bother learning on her own time; not that information on it was easy to come by. So she watched, silently waiting for the storm of darkness to abate, for she had no other option as far as she was concerned.

She would not have to wait long, a piercing ray of light shot out from the center of the storm, first it was just one, then two, then three; the rays multiplied faster and faster until the storm of darkness became a torrent of light. Even her augmented eyes couldn't help but close themselves at the sight of this torrent of light. Not even this would last long it seemed, as soon the storm of light began to destabilize, its brightness fluctuated, its borders began to shift. The storm could not sustain itself forever and soon the walls collapsed.

With a bright flash the storm imploded on itself, before vanishing just as suddenly as it appeared. A thick cloud of snow sat over the area where the storm once was, she would have to wait to determine what had actually occurred.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]
[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Desmond C'artyom]

Desmond sat with his feet resting upon the dash and his hands behind his head, quietly asleep. He had plotted for his ship, The Tin Can, to take them to Hoth for some illegal salvage operations and in the spare moments of time he had opted to catch some much needed Z's. What made this salvage mission so illegal you might ask? Schematics. Desmond was illegally downloading floor plans from downed warships. Or at least he was going too if the popo didn't catch him. He snored rambunctiously in his captain's chair when suddenly the modified Muurian transport that was Des's ship began it's reversion warning.

"Wake up you piece of turd!" The ungrateful ship beeped at him and Desmond shot up right wiping away a sliver of drool from the corner of his lips as he did so.

"Wha- what is it?!?! Imperials, the fuzz!?!?" Des panicked

"We're almost to Hoth, grab Lulu and get ready to go make some dough you lazy bum," The ship beeped in dumpster

"Oh...You know, you sure do have a foul mouth! Guess that's what I get for installing a garbage droid's processor in my ship..." Desmond finished with a sigh as he tugged on his brown leather Bantha hide coat.

He made his way through the dimly lit halls and as he did so the lights began to brighten. The ship's innards were a sty. The lights flickered, parts and wires were exposed, and tools were strewn about everywhere. Desmond walked through the mechanic's nightmare into the cramped cargo hold and skirted around the parts to an old X-wing and a fully functional swoop pod hung on a cherry picker. He smiled as he looked to the old X ship and regarded it fondly. Pausing only a moment he made his way to the other end of the hold and into Lulu's private closet/room. Desmond knocked on the door

"Lulu we're about to rev-"

Desmond was cut off as the ship shuttered violently, reverting from slip space and taking evasive maneuvers. While he had flown on ships his whole life Desmond couldn't help but become off balance. He swayed slightly before regaining control of his inertia. Spinning round Desmond raced back through the cargo hold and towards the cockpit.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?!?" The Chiss alarmed

"FETH, FETH, FETH! A unmarked warship just flew out of the planet's atmosphere! We'll be passing by in five!" Came the rapid beeping reply from The Tin Can

Desmond nearly pissed himself. The Imperials had found him was his first thought. This propelled him to speeds that would make Usain Bolt jealous. He reached the cockpit in record time. The unknown capital ship encompassed the entirety of the view port and Desmond had to yank hard on the yoke in order for The Tin Can not to become a bug on the big ships windshield. To his surprise and joy however the vessel continued forward and didn't stop to tractor beam them in. Desmond let out a breath he had not known he was holding and wiped the beads of sweat from his palms.

"What the feth was that?" Desmond said, a hint of disbelief tinging his voice

A warship this far in the outer rim? What the heck? Desmond thought privately, but before he could ponder on the quandary further he was interrupted by the ships beeping. He placed an elbow to dash and head to hand. He looked up to see Hoth floating before them as the ship beeped something about seismic activity on the planet's surface. Desmond shook his head only half listening. He didn't want too, but figured if anywhere was going to have warship schematics it'd probably be that ships lift off point. He gulped audibly and plotted a course towards the location.

[member="Lulu"]
[member="D.E.L.T.A."]
[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Lulu]

THE LAST OF US​

​

Meditation was a curious thing. For many a millennia it was a cultural taboo among her people, that being the Mandalorians, for those gifted with the potential to connect with the force more than most to actively pursue such. Indeed, Lulu had known to some degree she had the potential for such a power, but the indoctrination of a tyrannical empire long had since subconsciously driven into her that it was a tool for the weak, not born to be great. But there was something - some pull - that lead her to sit alone in a room of her Chiss companion's vessel. There was no particular force spike that could be noticed, even by such powerful masters that she was about to come in contact with.

It was a hum at best. As she frequently cursed her inability to retain some form of focus. Not from a lack of effort, but the incessant knocking that came on her private "chamber" (a room less luxurious than a prison cell.)

And then it came. The reversion. That sent her toppling head first, smacking her cranium against the crudely constructed 'furniture' in the room, potentially knocking her out or losing consciousness for a brief few seconds, afterwards stirring herself back to reality, adjusting her eyes. Am I in the Great Heavens? This is what I get for trying to use that karking force.

Without a second thought, apart from wiping a streak of blood dripping from her nose using her hands and gripping the chain and sickle she used as a weapon, she quickly passed through the hunk of metal, the conglomeration of broken, exposed wires, the boxes laid astrewn on the floor, the small oil spills that threatened to cause a repeat of what happened moments ago. But through it all, she managed to somehow get to the cockpit without giving herself brain damage from such obstacles.

"Are you planning on getting any better at flying or do you think the prospect of giving me brain damage is humorous?" loosening the grip on the weapon, rolling her eyes and glancing out on the iconic surface of Hoth, blissfully unaware of the warship close to them as she arrived too late to view it, nor did she even bother to look out of the viewports. "I suspect I am woefully underdressed for such an affair, I'll see what I can muster." glancing back around and strutting back down from where she had just came.

~ [member="Desmond C'artyom"] I [member="Cedric Grayson"] I [member="D.E.L.T.A."] I [member="Darth Maliphant"] ~

​

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Reality broke at the seams.

The great purpose that had filled Cedric's entire being winked out like a switch had been flicked. The radiance that had billowed out from his outstretched hands crashed into the unknowable sea of shadows that whirled all around him. The results of the two energy fields colliding was nearly indescribable. Colors the likes of which Cedric had never seen before flashed across his vision. Sounds of explosive violence thundered in his ears, and the ground shook as if the entire world were beginning to collapse. Ethereal energies flew all around the Jedi Master, entombing him in a crypt of blinding light and explosive power.

Cedric could only scream as the Force tore itself apart all around him. There was no graying here, no neutrality born of the two polar opposites intermingling, only chaos. Cedric's scream grew silent as his throat hoarsened and the effort became to painful. It was only then, exhausted and near death, that he saw the truth of why he had been brought here. In this chaos, this evil that he was now witness to, he understood the fundamental truth of life itself.

The Dark and the Light would never know peace. There would never be an understanding. The ideals of unity and progress that his progenitors had held so close to their hearts were unfounded, and the millions that had fought for those ideals had died in vain, trapped within the confines of their ignorance.

The shadow was a cancer, a malignant tumor that drew upon the life force of the galaxy. Its followers were parasites that only served to expedite the death of the Force itself. The Light simply was the Force, and the Dark was...something else. Something monstrous and alien and incomprehensibly evil.

It had to be destroyed. Every last flicker of descent would need to be stamped out. Every stubborn practitioner tried for their crimes against life itself. This was the Force's will, and this was why it had brought him here.

Rumbling laughter shook the Jedi. He threw his head back, opened his mouth wide, and let his spiteful mirth spill forth for all the galaxy to hear. He had come quite far in his quest for peace and tolerance, and that quest had only brought him full circle. The truths he had learned as a child and came to reject as an adulthood were entirely certain now. All those that had fought and died for him had done so in ignorance.

Ession had died for a lie.

Cedric slumped forward as the laughter died, replaced by a sense of purpose so powerful that he could not keep his legs from falling out from under him. Tears feel freely down his cheeks as he looked up to the heavens, ruined arms outstretched to embrace the gods that he knew were watching.

"I am your eternal servant. I swear to the Ashla, and whatever lords might have wrought it that I will see this corruption purged from the very stars themselves!" He roared, his voice broken from all the overwhelming emotions that had taken hold of his once rational mind.

As if responding to his words, the skies above began to clear. The monstrous energies crackled, sparked, and then died all around him. Within mere seconds, Cedric was down on his knees alone in the snow drifts. It was only then that the pain began to wrack his body. He braced himself with his hands, and called upon the empyrean to preserve his life as he realized how grievous his wounds truly were.

He could no longer see out of his left eye. A small sea of crimson spilled forth from dozens of canyons that had been carved through his flesh by Maliphant's morose power. He became keenly aware that much of the flesh had been flayed from his body, exposing the bone and meat beneath to the falling snow. His armor was completely ruined, a traditional set that had served him for more than fifteen years was rendered to naught but twisted metal and ash.

Death called to him from across the void. It wore the face of dozens: he saw his twin sister Caida reaching out with an open hand. He looked upon his smiling mother, and his somber father as they stood behind their daughter and gave him a beckoning stare.

Cedric had felt this pull before, but it was far less powerful now, despite his grievous injuries. The purpose that had filled him remained, and he clung to it, calling upon the Force's aid to make sure his lungs still drew air, and that his heart continued to beat.

With death certain, Cedric reached out into the empyrean. He called out to anyone nearby, his voice akin to a psychic scream within the minds of any unfortunate force sensitives that might hear it. That scream extended ever further, reaching far as Cedric willed it to land in the mind of one person. [member="Prennis Keeoli"] would notice it immediately as Cedric barged his way into her mind. His voice was clear and recognizable, though it clearly came from her mind rather than her ears.

"Hoth," it begged.

Expended, Cedric muttered a prayer to his ancestors, the Ashla, and any gods that might be watching as he fell back into the snow, his eyes dangerously heavy.

“This is where I was meant to be, Cedric.”

The snake hissed within his mind. Cedric could only offer a weak smile.

"Good. I want you strong when I come to destroy you, devil."

[member="Lulu"], [member="Desmond C'artyom"], [member="D.E.L.T.A."], [member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

{ Location: En route from Kashyyyk }​

{ Equipment: Cold wear, blaster pistol, medkit, ​

holographic disguise matrix }​

{ With: (NPCs) Eustachya Myrian +
Staff Sergeanthttps://www.tvinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/114294_1800b-1014x570.jpg Idris Rooseveil }​

{ Tag: [member="Cedric Grayson"] }​

~ † ~​

It wasn't a lie in a semi-elaborate scheme to play hookie when Prennis called into the Halls of Healing sick with a splitting migraine.

It just wasn't the whole truth, either.

Granted, even she didn't know that, but she could piece together the gist of it: Cedric's voice, clearly troubled; a planet's name; the state in which he left Commenor not a month or so ago. It was clear that he had lost whatever he had set out to do, and was currently dying on that snowball of a planet.

She had told him so, but even what had happened between them last was not enough to allow her to knowingly let him suffer. Was part of her holding onto hope that under all this awkward heartbreak she was feeling they were still friends? That something could be salvaged? Or was it simply her Hippocratic Oath which propelled her into Idris' barracks?

No matter; either way, she found herself on a Silver freighter to her old stomping grounds. She didn't even think about it until Eustachya came into the medbay to tell her they had entered the Anoat sector. "Thank you," she said with a small smile despite herself. When the would-be doctor turned back to the counter she was piecing together a medkit on, sudden movement caught her eye. She didn't have time to respond, though, before a ice cold hand wrapped around her wrist. Prennis gasped and dropped a scalpel to the floor. Her attention flew to the bed beside her which now was inhabited by the form of a male stormtrooper dressed down to his blacks. His head rolled over and he croaked, "I...I can't see ya, Doc."

Fortunately, when the ship jolted in the very next moment the vision dissipated. It left Prenn alone again, but not for long, as Eustachya rushed into the room. "We are above Hoth," she informed, "but Idris says it is not how it is supposed to appear." Quickly clicking closed the kit, Prennis followed the ex-padawan into the cockpit. A large, cohesive swirl of clouds and ice covered the wasteland below.

Indeed, this was not how Hoth was supposed to look. Surely, the First Order had not left one of their charge planets like this. How could they have, even if they had wanted to? Momentarily, Prennis considered their reptilious invaders, the Ssi-ruuk. No.

But, that other one...that Cedric saw in her old apartment. What was his name?

Without turning from the main console, the ranger asked over his shoulder, a little bit rhetorically, "What sorta friends do you have, Prenn?" "Ones that need help," she answered without missing a beat. "And direly, evidently," Eustachya offered. "Find a safer place to land. I sense little disturbance on the surface, but I would rather us not decend through that."

 

[D.E.L.T.A.]

Once the light had abated she pulled back up the macrobinoculars, looking for the two men who were there moments before. However something far worse was coming to bear, the ship behind them began to roar to life. She managed to spot one of the bodies, luckily it was the one she was loooking for in this case. She would have to get him out of there as soon as possible, as once this ship lifted off it would be impossible to find him. She slid down the ridge which she sat on, noting a cave not too far away. It would probably be their only hope of surviving the liftoff of the massive vessel. She reckoned she only had half an hour before the ship could initialize all its engines; if she ran she could probably make it with time to spare.

The walk over was mostly uneventful except for the slow rumbling coming from the massive ship in the distance. Its long dead systems were coming to life. She had never seen a ship that large up close, it seemed unreal how large it was from ground level, when that thing took off it would be a death sentence to be standing in the open. FInally she had made it to Cedrics grievously wounded body. Deep cuts covered him, and he seemed to be barely alive. She didn't have time to give him medical assistance, not yet. They would all die if they didn't make it to the cave in time.

She grabbed Cedric, lifting him up onto her shoulder. She didn't bother to check if he could walk, she was simply focused on getting away from the massive ship that was about to take off and send them flying. The rumbling from the ship became louder and higher pitched, the engines inside were starting up and would soon be enough to bring the ship into the sky. Luckily the cave was just up ahead.

Once they were inside, she laid him down and began to assess his wounds. The ship would be taking off soon. They they couldn't leave until the storm it would create had abated.

[member="Prennis Keeoli"] [member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Lulu"] [member="Desmond C'artyom"] [member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Burc’ya Narric]

- Finally, A New Start -

Over eight-hundred standard years, over 9599 months, over 292000 standard days, 7008000 seconds, trapped inside of the confines of real-space. Drifting through the extragalactic void, it was nearly as nihilistic of a life as one could imagine, and Burc’ya Narric had been forced to live every last moment of it. He could manage to make peace with the situation that brought him to his current mess, after all, eight-hundred years of mourning will eventually make the pain fade, the hurt becomes a much more distant memory, even when all you have to do is explore the depths of your mind, but it was the unending boredom that threatened to send the droid over the edge. The only factor that had changed with the freighter was the failing power, and the collapse of systems gave the droid at least some form of stimulus every now and again, the lighting going off shocked him nearly to death, well, if something like that was possible for a non-organic.

No, the entire expanse of reality for Burc’ya had been watching the stars in the distance slowly grow larger and larger, slowly he would inch his was across the Nothingness to find life again. He stopped focusing on the passage of the time itself, saving the madness of it to the ship's computer until that also eventually failed. Properly, the vessel couldn’t even be directed anymore, moving off of the old velocity from before the subspace engines themselves died out, what remained of their power mainly suggesting that the ship might move a bit more to the right or a bit more to the left if you held the directional interface in the correct way for just long enough, though that was rare now of days.

Life had turned into replaying his memories inside of his head, a personal holoshow just for Burc’ya, every last second that he was able to access his memory banks, from the first time Alloss had powered him on, the many days working at the shop, the slums of that grand city, stocking shady goods for his Mando allies, and eventually, side by side missions with his comrades. That droid, though, seemed to be so distant, so far away. Instead, the carbine simply was something he lugged with him through the ship whenever he found purpose to move, something breaking up the monotony.

Songs helped a fair bit as well, old chants, Vode An being a particular favorite, echoing through the darkened halls of the starship as he wandered, killing time, killing as much time as he could manage anyhow. Even the repeated blinks of the distress call had left by now, the ship, completely and truly, dead in the water.

How long had it been since he looked out of the cockpit window? The viewports? Anything of the sort? Time was melding and melting, it was as eldritch of a concept now as the Force itself to the droid, and the spot on this chair was just so enticingly comfortable, well, as comfortable as a durasteel frame could be, it didn’t matter, did it? If he just turned everything off for a while, forget about the worries?

He was shaken into reality again, his daydream shattering as reports sounded on the aft of the vessel, repeated tinks against the hull that reverberated deep into the rest of the craft. The droid brought himself to his feet, rushing to the cockpit of the freighter, the first thing catching the bright white of his eyes being the snow blanketed orb hanging just in front of his sight. Just there, so close the droid felt as if he could reach out and touch it, how he would give anything for that, any form out new stimuli, anything besides durasteel and unresponsive controls. Then, the source of the noise, crystals drifted directly across his visage, into the depths of space. Was that… ice? Yes, he supposed it was, for whatever reason. The droid’s logic center didn’t dare touch the worry.

Burc’ya again glanced up to the planet in front of him, wherever he was, he had no knowledge of the world. No records of it could be summoned from his memory banks, but… something seemed off. The ship was gaining speed, it was already heading to the world at a rather breakneck pace, but now something more, something faster. The increase was far from steady, and the Ca'tra rocked from side to side as it went, the center of mass threatening to send the ship tumbling any second now. The planet’s gravity had caught the vessel, and now was sending it screaming to the surface.

“Nayc, nayc, nayc!” Came the digital call of the droid’s voice, hands desperately grabbing and pulling at whatever it could find to on the command console. Something had to work! Anything at all had to work! This couldn’t be it, this couldn’t be it.

“Nayc as ibic!” There was a low hum that came with the hitting of a switch forward, more akin to the moan of a dying beast. If it wasn’t for the slight shimmer that had summoned just beyond the increasing view of white, the droid would have never known he had managed to engage the shields, though weak on power they would be.

This was when the vessel began to twist, and then it began to roll, and the droid inside of the ship was tossed about akin to a ragdoll. The streaks of flame and heat starting to accumulate on the surface of the freighter as it began to enter the atmosphere of the snow world.

Organics are blessed by their frailty, they are blessed by flesh and bone and mind, they are blessed in the sense that an organic would have fallen to shock by now and passed out due to a concussion. The droid, however, face a much different situation. He was to endure every scratch on his plating, the rending of long strips of the hull being torn away from the base of the freighter, the fading of the engines and the cracks forming in the transparisteel window, threatening to send him flying from the scene into the unknown. He was forced to endure the crash, bouncing off of snowbanks and covered rock formations over and over as a stone thrown by an angry God across the pond of life, and when the ship finally found a nice sheer face to slam into, the droid was forced to endure that as well. It was a blessing there wasn’t any power to the engines, or any system for that matter, as undoubtedly they would have exploded during the impact.

Once he had finally managed to bring himself to stand, having been confined to the cockpit during the entire fall of the ship, he found he was lucky enough that the backend of the ship was the one railed against the rockwall. He was greeted by cracked transparisteel and endless whipping storms of the harshest winter the galaxy had to offer. Looking behind him, the entire vessel’s midsection had seemed to have dented in on itself, sections of steel jutting through the entryway behind him out of the driver’s area.

Grabbing his carbine from the captain's chair, the sling having wrapping itself several times around the leather seat, Burc’ya looked up at the viewport in front of him, taking in, for the moment, the endless wastes that lay in front of him.

He brought the blaster up, and with a harsh thumd-thumd the twin-barrels slammed into the clear material, already damaged, shattering into a million crystalline pieces. The rage of the wind filled his audio sensors as nature called into it’s newest claimant, the freighter had finally been given a chance to rest.

The hoarfrost was better than real space, at any rate. With that, slinging the carbine over his shoulder, Burc’ya began out into this new and strange world, keeping mind of his motion sensor as he went. Anything, be it beast or man, would be a treat after 800 years of talking to yourself.

“Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an. Manda'yaim a'den mhi, Vode an…” The song called out to the Nothingness, yet again.

---

⦾ [member="Prennis Keeoli"] ⦾ [member="Cedric Grayson"] ⦾ [member="Lulu"] ⦾ [member="Desmond C'artyom"] ⦾ [member="Darth Maliphant"] ⦾ [member="D.E.L.T.A."] ⦾

 

[Desmond C'artyom]

Desmond flipped a few switches allowing for The Tin Can's scanners to survey the incoming planet. His leg shook uncontrollably and as Lulu entered he tried hard to steady it. The sight of her was oddly calming, it was always good to know that if you were about to be vaporized or smashed to bits that you wouldn't go out alone. A selfish thought, but one that Des couldn't help but think at the sight of her.

"Are you planning on getting any better at flying or do you think the prospect of giving me brain damage is humorous?"

He sighed as she began to speak. His leg was still convulsing a tad and he was contemplating on whether he should tell her of the near death experience they just shared together. In the end he decided it'd be more amusing to let her believe he purposely liked screwing with her. Metaphorically and literally. An idea that appealed to him greatly and seemed to calm his nerves. He smiled as she spoke again and decided a witty quip to be a deliciously inappropriate response.

"I suspect I am woefully underdressed for such an affair, I'll see what I can muster."

While Desmond enjoyed messing with the woman he was not suicidal. He waited till she was halfway down the hallway and out of arms reach before shouting

"And I suspect the locals would much rather see you in nothing! Besides I can think of a few ways to keep you warm!"

Desmond yelled mischievously after her retreating form. His gaze lingering on her behind a little longer than it should. Desmond sight shifted from the bodacious bottom back to the cockpit terminal as the flying dumpster began to beep it's own quip.

I'd take a picture for you, but then you'd never leave my bathroom... Scanning is complete.

Desmond stared at the readings as they filled the screen. He was surprised at the amount of crashed salvage their was on the planet below. Ships seemed buried deep within every layer of the ice. Ancient derelict vessels preserved by snow just as old. It would take too long to melt the ice and get to some of the deeper ones, but the ones closer to the surface would be more attainable. Desmond searched the scans for any nearby caves that might allow admittance to Hoth's inner layers.

He was satisfied when he found one that ran relatively deep into the planet, but curiously enough was surprised when he saw humanoid life signs not found in his Hitchhikers guide to native species on Hoth. Desmond instantly remembered the giant warship that had nearly turned them to pulp moments ago. They must've come from it! Probably victims of whatever pirates inhabited that vessel. Desmond sighed knowing it was his duty as a spacer to rescue victims of said attack, but more motivated by the idea of a reward. Desmond envisioned himself rescuing a princess and her rewarding him with ample riches and even more bosom.

Motivated by both lust and greed he decided upon his staging area. He tilted the yoke ever downwards, beginning there slow spiraled descent. It was but a moment before they found a firm enough sheet of ice that was near the cave for the ship to land on. Desmond parked the craft and stood from his captain's chair. Making his way through the mess of scrap, tools, and parts Desmond tread towards the cargo bay/Lulu's room. He entered the bay and pressed a button which began the hydraulic opening of the ships cargo ramp. Immediately he was greeted by crisp freezing winds and a torrent of snow.

He pressed another button bellow the previous one and the cherry picker holding the swoop pod began to extend. It held the land vehicle above the planets surface and Desmond grabbed a strap dangling from the picker. He yanked on the pulley and the craft began it's descent to the planet below. Having completed the task of setting down Desmond raised wrist to mouth and spoke loudly over the blizzard.

"Begin locking up once Lulu exits the craft, stay in low power mode!" He ordered the dumpster

⦾ [member="Prennis Keeoli"] ⦾ [member="Cedric Grayson"] ⦾ [member="Lulu"] ⦾ @Burc'ya Narric ⦾ [member="Darth Maliphant"] ⦾ [member="D.E.L.T.A."] ⦾

 

[Lulu]

"I. Heard. That." the woman scowled loudly back at him, putting a brutish, mocking tone to her voice.

The constant remarks at Lulu's slightly above average attractiveness was a source of constant disappointment from the warrior; Desmond's playboy attitude though cute to a few lonely girls in the lowest levels of Coruscant seemed to make no real attempt to put a spin on that might even tempt her to wrassle. For now, if he was so adamant on trying to get his temporary bodyguard into a permanent relationship he would have to start trying harder. Perhaps it was for the best she didn't understand the reprogrammed dumpster droid's mutterings, otherwise she might have a violent outburst that wouldn't be discouraged by the possibility of kicking her off the 'ship' on Hoth.

Then again she could just steal the freighter.

As the captain plotted a course least likely to knock Lulu unconscious again, she made headway for the prison cell she called her bedroom for the past few days.. was it weeks already? By now she had forgotten. Time flies when you're scavenging to make ends meet, or better yet, make someone elses ends meet. Lost in her thoughts and on autopilot, her arm lunged for a snow white blizzard coat, with synthetic fur capable of obscuring some of her facial features and the woman's athletic outline (much to the disappointment of Desmond surely). After a few seconds of readjusting herself, tossing some non-essential gear and placing the sickle and chain on the outside, loosely connected to its interior strap she looked like a Wampa, but more importantly she was ready.

The chill of the evergoing and eternal Blizzard hit the unprepared Mandalorian, who promptly fought back with a few steps into the obscured environment. Unsure of where Desmond was, she merely headed for her own pod - fairly basic in design and lacking any personality - started it up and descented to the planet below; the only thing to guide her the faint shadow of her companions vehicle.

Above the volume of the blizzard she yelled, though she was unsure if he would even be able to pick up the sounds of her voice. "What the kark have you dragged me into this time?"

~ [member="Desmond C'artyom"] [member="Prennis Keeoli"] I [member="Cedric Grayson"] I @Burc'ya Narric I [member="Darth Maliphant"] I [member="D.E.L.T.A."] ~

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Death was an old friend, and it had come to greet him not for the first time.

Cedric stared up into the raging sky with something akin to apathy. The fire that had burned within his heart had dimmed to dull embers, and they were crackling desperately in hopes of not being snuffed out. The cold of the world sunk into his bones, though he did not feel it as viscerally as he would have any other time. His energies were spent, his ill deflated. Maliphant was defeated - not dead, but delayed at the very least. he had accomplished his purpose.

Blood-soaked hands reached up as the Acerbitas tore through the skies above. A nostalgic smile found itself onto his face as he watched the massive warship ascend toward the heavens. For a long time, the Acerbitas had been his base of operations. It was fitting that he be allowed to see the vessel one last time before he became one with the force.

His fingers curled around the Blade of Ruusan as if it were his lifeline. He drew upon its power as best he could, working to both preserve his failing body and ward off the freezing cold that assaulted it. his efforts were in vain, but they at least slowed the creeping death that approached.

Then, everything began to move. He was vaguely aware of something lifting his body and throwing him over its shoulder. He chalked it up to a pre-death hallucination - Hoth was a wasteland, and the odds of anyone being nearby enough to find him were slim to none.

A quiet sigh escaped his lips as he allowed his eyes to drift shut. He reached out deep into the empyrean, and allowed his spirit to swim through the depths of the Great Ocean one last time. He felt the tides turning around him, the islands above, and....something else.

Life, connected to the creature carrying him, and others nearby. The Force was no liar - he was truly being saved from the snowdrift.

Unconsciousness threatened to take him as he forced his eyes open to find himself in the mouth of a dark cave.

"W-what?"

[member="Lulu"], [member="Desmond C'artyom"], [member="Burc’ya Narric"], [member="D.E.L.T.A."], [member="Prennis Keeoli"]

 

[D.E.L.T.A.]

He spoke. That was a start she supposed. It was nice to know that he was not in fact dead already, given that he had been lying there profusely bleeding out of dozens of holes around his body for well over 45 minutes at this point. Perhaps it had to do with this force thing. She didn't know for certain, but by some miracle he managed to let out one weak word.

"Be quiet and try not to move. Muscle movements worsen the bleeding." She said in a slow, monotone voice.

She never spoke with any emotion, it had always been that way, ever since she was "born." She had been born with the inherited trauma of a 40 year old soldier, and her brand new mind reacted by simply rejecting emotion entirely. HARDLINE found it amusing and decided not to try again, calling her his little "experiment." Though what he meant by that was never clear to her.

Delta grabbed the first aid kit from the survival kit, and assessed its contents. It had bacta salve, bandages, and various other more traditional medications. It was fairly well stocked, but that was due to regulations on what ships needed to carry. She decided to try and preserve bacta if she could, and pulled out the synth-flesh spray. She looked around Cedric's wounded body, it was so bloodied that it was difficult to figure out where the blood was coming from; however with a bit of searching she managed to find most of the major wounds. She sprayed the synthflesh over the larger wounds first in order to stymie the major bleeding. The advantage of synthflesh would be that it would stop the bleeding immediately, though it would lengthen recovery time over bacta, but at the current moment it didn't seem to be that much of a concern. Hoth was a barren wasteland and wampas didn't explore too far outside of their own caves.

She then pulled out the medical scanner, giving him a quick look over to ensure that there weren't any broken bones, which would need more than what she had on hand, luckily it seemed that the implosion had not done more than make him bleed. Luckily, given her medical acumen and resources, was something she was capable of handling. Then she grabbed an autoinjector containing a dose of painkillers, and stuck them into the jedi's leg.

"You should rest. It may-" She said before stopping. She had heard something outside. It was a swoop pod. "Be quiet." She said dragging him behind a boulder, checking the survival rifle she had with her to ensure that it could fire.

She had no idea who was coming, but it was probably some kind of scum like scavs, pirates, or slavers. She thought to herself on which would be more fun to scalp.
[member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Lulu"] [member="Desmond C'artyom"] [member="Burc’ya Narric"] [member="Prennis Keeoli"]

 

[Burc’ya Narric]

You begin to miss the oddest of things once you’ve spent the past eon in the same situation, or at least you begin to notice odd things after a half-hour of walking. One of these small things, that Burc’ya never thought twice about was variation in height on the floor! It seems like a strange thing to point out, but the droid actually found himself stumbling a step or two as his servos attempted to reorient themselves to natural gravity as well as inclines and declines. For the first ten minutes, it appeared as a child, first learning to walk, utterly unbefitting a Mandalorian soldier. This, thankfully, was a minor blow to the droid’s pride that no one else was around to witness. The crunch of the snow beneath durasteel slowly falling into a rhythmic march as he regained basic functions again. Left, right, payt, staabi, into what exactly? He was on a world he didn’t known, in an era he was a stranger to, without any form of communication with anyone, he didn’t even have firm knowledge that this planet was habited, it hardly gave the appearance of it after all.

This, settled as an odd calm for the droid, for if the planet was berth of any form of habited species, it had little to no chance of being lost in sense of resources, and if it came to it, out of what salvage he could find and whatever minerals he could mine, he would set to work for however many hundred of years it may take to virtually rediscover the subspace drive, but only if it came to that. He stopped for a moment dead in the winter, was he really that lost that he would be considering that a viable option should worst come to worst? He supposed he was.

He was just about to begin off again before he noticed a peculiarity with his head’s up display, it had been so long, he had nearly forgotten what had meant what among the symbols and emblems, but then it dawned on him, something was coming this way, from the direct left of him. The object was fast, making double it’s location nearly every time the droid’s motion tracker registered it.

Falling down to one knee, the droid brought his carbine from his shoulder, holding it at hip’s height, but not sighting down on it just yet. There was no sport to firing first, no point in picking a fight if the one finding you doesn’t intend for one or can’t put a proper one together, that was a lesson that Kahtaag had made sure to hammer into his skull. We aren’t brutes clammering the wilds anymore.

Quicker, quicker, the object came. Burc’ya’s body unmoving, steeled as he could be against the oncoming force, he expected to meet it, establish the nature of the entity, and take whatever actions that would be needed. It was nearly pointless to mention that the droid was giddy with excitement deep inside over the thought of what could be coming, something other than snow, other than dark, something that might breathe and think and eat, something that might be able to even speak! Oh, how he longed for a conversation…

He nearly lost himself to his mind again, the motion sensor suddenly calling out, the object wouldn’t be more than twenty paces out, and the droid saw nothing, heard nothing besides the roar of the wind, until the object reached the apex, where it should have been directly infront of him, near enough to touch, but the blinding snow made even that sight impossible, and just as it came, it went, zooming off in the other direction past Burc’ya.

There was something he caught… a noise… something familiar.

That was the call of a Swoop! Just like the ones he knew back on Coruscant!

The droid, laughing, the odds of it all, nearly mathematically impossible! An entire planet and he happened to be passed by the only damned swoop for a subsector! Wait… passed by…

“Pare! Pare! Gedet'ye!” The droid yelled fruitlessly into the snowstorm, standing and breaking into a full sprint after the speeder, praying that it kept a semi-regular course, or else he would end up headlong running into… well, more nothing.

---
⦾ Prennis Keeolihttp://starwarsrp.net/user/17176-prennis-keeoli/ ⦾ Cedric Graysonhttp://starwarsrp.net/user/8234-cedric-grayson/ ⦾ Luluhttp://starwarsrp.net/user/21710-lulu/ ⦾ Desmond C'artyomhttp://starwarsrp.net/user/12895-desmond-cartyom/ ⦾ Darth Maliphanthttp://starwarsrp.net/user/14637-darth-maliphant/ ⦾ D.E.L.T.A. ⦾

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

{ Location: Hoth wastes, nearing cave }​

{ Equipment: Cold wear, blaster pistol, medkit, ​

holographic disguise matrix }​

{ With: (NPCs) Eustachya Myrian +
Staff Sergeant Idris Rooseveil }​

{ Tag: [member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Lulu"] | ​

[member="Desmond C'artyom"] | [member="D.E.L.T.A."] }​

~ † ~
Staff Sergeant Rooseveil was in the process of veering right to avoid the cyclone, raging below them within Hoth's troposphere. Suddenly, a series of high-pitched beeps rattled through the cockpit. Stach whipped around and hurried to the wall-mounted sensor array. Something gargantuan was just obscured under the clouds and it appeared to still have momentum. Eustachya's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Bank left!" before shoving Prenn's towards the Main Hold. Apparently, the stratosphere was not as far below them as either she or Idris had though, for the pointed nose of a super star destroyer flew at them from its cover.

"Kriff!" Idris swore as he did what his friend bade. The sharp turn against the freighter's established grain ground the starboard hull against the larger ship, but the maneuver avoided a t-bone collision that the smaller craft would have definitely lost.

"Steerin' loss!" he called the next moment. After fighting with his safety belt to undo it, which was proving nearly impossible to do with the ship's violent shaking, he slid a switchblade out of his sleeve. Once he was cut free, he ran to usher Stach back into the Main Hold as well, but not before hitting a particular button. "30 kilometers," the stoic AI announced. "Go, go, go!" Idris ordered curtly. "20 kilometers. 10 kilo--" "Better off in the snow," he muttered as he manually overrode the airlock. The heavy blast door hissed open to reveal the howling of the cold Hoth air.

Eustachya stepped up first, where Idris told her something Prenn couldn't quite here, and then she disappeared past the threshold. Perhaps emboldened by the severity of the moment, Prennis stepped forward. "Curl up," Idris advised over the wind. "Stach'll try to catch ya, but it'll still be a rough landing."

This was not how she had been picturing her sick day off.
~ † ~
Eustachya thought it was a miracle that she managed to break Prenn's landing at all after catching herself because the Force still did not always work in her how she wished it would. More often than not, this power seemed to be some sort of phantom limb that acted completely out of turn, but was not easy to force back into submission.

Idris just thought it was lucky that they all fell on relatively soft snow, not onto thin ice or sharp icicles, and within a short walking distance to boot, given the entrance velocity of their ship. He was so relieved that he lay prone in his bank, grounding himself. Was this was real? Had they actually made it?

"Remind me to make you a crown of orchidfern crown when we return to Kashyyyk," the ever-sweet voice of Eustachya drifted to his ears. As she had suggested on board, any trace of the storm was now absent from the planet's surface...excepting its newest wreak, of coarse. "What?" Prenn asked, confused by the Sargus Novian's reference to tradition. "If the Novian Games had an event in ship crashing, the Sergeant would have won gold." The young woman appeared in Idris' peripheral vision. Taking her extended hand and pulling himself up, he chuckled. "You like that? I call it H.A.N.O."

Stach canted her head. Prennis mirrored her confusion. Antarian Rangers and their acronyms. Storm and deathtroopers too.

"High altitude, no opening." Another laugh, but then he moved on from the joke quickly. It probably only made sense to him. "Come on, we've got to find shelter."

The women walked on either side of him. Eustachya shut her eyes and reached out to the Force for help sensing lifeforms. It was moving, pulsing against her hand, but refused to let her in. Sighing, she opened her eyes again. At least, with both Cassius' and Master Nooran's help long ago, it was easier to call on Tapas to warm herself. ​Idris placed a hand on her shoulder, skin already slightly icier than hers. "Being ornery?" She nodded. "That's alright. We'll figure something out."

 

[Desmond C'artyom]

Desmond watched as Lulu departed from the ship and nearly doubled over. She looked like a furry Pillsbury dough boy! He wondered if he would have to help her large cotton covered form into her speeder, but was only slightly let down when she managed to enter the craft of her own accord. He wanted to cop a feel was all. It wasn't that the thought of even being close to her made Desmond melt inside despite the blizzard warring all around them...

Bah, these thoughts were unbecoming of his charming allure.

That being coming onto whatever female passes his way until he found that one in a million. Desmond shook his head, having only now realized that he had been staring at the woman like a lost puppy. He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with him. Probably those spoiled portions he ate. They were only expired three days! He patted his gut and began walking through the crisp sheets of snow and ice to his speeder. The snow crunched beneath his boots and soaked the soles. Despite his thermal under layer and natural csillan tolerance to the cold he still had to fight the urge to shiver. It wouldn't be long however until he could wrap himself in the warmth of his pod.

Desmond's pod was painted matte black and had enough curves to make a woman jealous. He had dubbed her Christine after a girl he used to be sweet on from his home planet. Desmond rubbed the edge of the craft lovingly before vaulting over the side and into the cockpit. He closed the glass canopy and immediately activated the heaters. He blew into his clasped hands and rubbed them together in order to try and get some of the warmth back into his bones. Satisfied that they were sufficiently warmed, he placed hands to throttle sticks and revved his engines. They roared to life and Desmond smiled. Men and their toys...

Desmond drove by Lulu waving at her to come on and together they sped off in the distance. Des drove for a little less than twenty minutes and during that time he saw almost nothing. The one thing that he did see however was most peculiar. A droid shaped snowman, which he could've swore was wading through the blizzard. He chalked it up to the cold getting to him and cranked the heater in his pod up a little higher. Desmond reached the mouth to the cave and banked his pod left of it. He raised the glass canopy to the craft and exited the vehicle.

Desmond stared into the mouth of the cave as he waited for Lulu. He would go in by himself, but if a Wampa rested within, he wanted to have a little backup. At least someone he knew he could outrun if things got hairy.

[member="Prennis Keeoli"] / [member="Burc’ya Narric"] / [member="D.E.L.T.A."] / [member="Cedric Grayson"] / [member="Lulu"]

 

[Lulu]

How do you work these STUPID THINGS. This most likely wasn't Lulu's first time on a speeder, and probably not her last given such journeys Desmond was intent on taking her on, but perhaps it was the fact they were standing in easily sub-zero temperatures, her hands threatening to give into frostbite at any second if she did not stay in constant movement, or maybe that the entire interior's control panel was now plastered with snowflakes. Oh no.

It struck her that could actually cause some damage.

Rather than wait any longer, or hope that the self-centered Chiss would render her some aid, she inelegantly lifted her left leg onto one of the protruding durasteel pieces hoisting an engine structure, but then clumsily falling into the pilot's cockpit facedown, all the while kicking a button which ended up closing the glass covering of the pod, preventing any further damage to the controls. As she readjusted herself upwards again, she scanned the controls after wiping them clear of the frost, in turn also turning on a button which sprayed water around the cockpits glass covering; within seconds the water had dripped down and turned into small streaks of ice which Lulu was sure could pass for modern art somewhere.

Within a few seconds she was off, having nothing to guide her but the faint glimmer of an engine light in the distance which she assumed was Desmond's, tracking it through the blizzard. Just as the Droid had spotted Desmond, another Swoop passed the droid at a dangerously close distance 20 seconds later, perhaps even threatening a decapitation if Lulu didn't quickly swerve to the right, dodging what she could only assume was a piece of the planet's strange wildlife.

Soon after Desmond stopped, so too did Lulu meters behind him, raising the glass shield and vaulting out over the crude door, and simply staring at him first to take lead. Of course she would have went in herself, but she needed Desmond to act as bait if one of the foul snow beasts appeared, and given she was clearly faster than him that was her only chance of escape.

"Gentlemen first, as they say."

~ [member="Desmond C'artyom"] I @Burc'ya Narric I [member="D.E.L.T.A."] I [member="Cedric Grayson"] I [member="Prennis Keeoli"] ~

 

[Placeholder 0128]

(Phone post)

Cedric held his tongue and did what he was bidden. He was in no state to protest his strange benefactor even if he wanted to. His consciousness stood upon the point of an imbalanced knife, and even the slightest shift in weight would send him tumbling off into the darkness. He had little intention of abandoning his coherence in the presence of a stranger, even if that stranger seemed to be benevolent.

The empyrean twisted and coiled all around him. The storm that raged outside had started to wane for a time, but now it seemed things were picking back up once again. The unnatural tempest began to tear its way across Hoth’s surface, sending massive shards of ice and drifts of snow flying miles into the atmosphere. The ground seemed to vibrate beneath them with the force of the cacophony. The violence came to a head when thick veins of purple lightning began to crackle at the apex of the storm. The explosive energy filtered out from the clouds, crashing into the ice below and sending debris flying as if it had been hit with artillery barrage.

One of those lightning veins collided with a far off mountain. The malevolent energy sliced clean through the solid rock, removing the mountain’s peak from its body. There was a loud roar as the mountaintop grinder it’s way down the side of the mountain, crashing and rumbling wildly into the valley below.

Cedric drew in a sharp breath, his brow furrowed with concentration as he was paced behind the rocks.

“This storm will scour half the world. Stay inside.” He muttered, his voice wounded, but it brooked no argument.

He felt those approaching within the empyrean. They were of a different sort, but not malevolent. He was confident they meant him little harm - they likely did not even know he was within the cave.

“Let them in.” He added, waving a hand at his benefactor to get her attention. “They’ll die out there, and I doubt they mean us any harm.”

His wounds aches terribly, but the basic sutures the woman had provided served to at least keep him alive. He drew comfort in that, though he did not dare to stop drawing upon the empyrean to preserve his life. If the damage to his body didn’t kill him, the cold certainly would.

 

[D.E.L.T.A.]

Delta looked over to Cedric for a moment, taking a second to process all he had said, before nodding and laying the gun against the boulder. She hadn't dealt with Jedi much but she knew that their powers of precognition were impecable.

So it seemed that there was a supernatural component to this storm as well. Even she could feel the "magic" in the air; the sick feeling of dread. Unnatural lightning flickered in the distance, and doom pervaded every breath of air.

The force was beyond her by it's very nature, and now it felt even more mystical. Two men alone did this to an entire planet. It seemed surreal. She would need to question Cedric further once he was more lucid.

"I believe we have met before; briefly. I am Delta, I work with HARDLINE. I do not expect you to remember me but I thought it pertinent to bring up." She said, looking to him before eyeing the cave entrance, listening to the swoop pods power down. "If our visitors prove to be hostile I will be unable to ensure your safety. I hope you understand this."

She sat down next to the boulder that Cedric was laying by, quietly awaiting the arrival of the strangers. She didn't like simply allowing them to enter her "territory" uncontested. Her instincts told her she should be defending it to her last breath. However, she did not want to anger the person she needed to find her master; that was the last thing she wanted.

 

[Darth Rage]

It is here...

Rage held palm against the massive Kyber crystal formation. He was seated in a Indian manner before the formation and the crystal was warm to the touch. His eyes were closed in concentration and as he meditated Palpatine spoke. His voice echoed through Rage's mind and the Sith pure blood could feel his power emanating from all around him and yet nowhere at all.

The Shade materialized behind Rage and Audroti's eyes opened, revealing red embers illuminated by the dim glow of the crystal. Rage stood, but kept hand to Palpatine's Heart. He dare not look at the shade, lest it strike him down into the throws of madness. It was dangerous to summon the ghost, but Rage needed it's guidance. He stared into the crystal and saw no reflection but his own, still he knew the spirit to be there...

"The true Sith Lord rest upon this planet. I have seen him in the ethereal realm..."

Rage nodded silently at Palpatine's word. Despite all of Rage's power, he was but an insect compared to the late Emperor. A shiver was sent up his spine as he felt cold bony fingers rest upon his shoulder. They squeezed only in the slightest and Rage was sent a vision. The Force destroyed, chaos ended, the death of billions, and finally, balance. It was a agonizing message which sent pain stabbing into his mind. Rage experienced the death of each individual that was slain in the name of Maliphant, but saw that it led ultimately to a divine truth.

The extinguish of what made this galaxy so dangerous, the end of the Force. Rage escaped the wisdom and felt his body writhing on the floor. His eyesight slowly came too and as he regained control of his body he lay curled in a ball. He stared at nothing as the horror of what he saw seemed to fade. The vision had not lasted an eternity as he had thought, but merely seconds. He watched as the robed feet before him began to fade and the voice once more echoed through his mind.

"Serve Maliphant as master. End the Force,"

Rage stood from the deck of the ship and the lights seemed to turn on of their own accord. He knew what he must do...

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Elrood ​

Radall Central ​

18:00​

Glimmik Beats​

Shoulders dipped downward as her fist swung upward into the oppressive pad, marking the "six" for the second move of the combo. Four more swings and they'd reset and repeat. In close proximity to her training partner, she followed suit with her left arm coming in at a hook. The Abednedo sparring partner lifed his pads up to counter the block and apply resistance to her punches. She countered her weight and gave more distance with a right-hook, spacing herself back a bit and the next hit would have been a feinted jab with another hook and slip combo, all already rehearsed with the Abednedo. He knew the counter blocks to push back against the fellow Wraith pilot.

The hook met the pressure of the padded palm, and she was supposed to duck now. Instead, her concentration was broken with a shrill interruption.

With death certain, Cedric reached out into the empyrean. He called out to anyone nearby, his voice akin to a psychic scream within the minds of any unfortunate force sensitives that might hear it.

She grunted and tripped forward, instead of going backward, right into what was supposed to be a faux strike from her opponent into a real one. It smacked her rightside on the head and her disorientation landed her on her back, blinking in confusion as she clutched her suddenly knotted stomach.

"Woah, what just happened? You okay?"

Her wrapped hands went to press against her pulsing temple and she propped herself up on a single elbow, only emitting a low groan in response.

"XO? I swear I didn't mean to actually hit you."

"I'm--" she paused in her affirmation on how well she was. The pulsating echo of wretched pain plagued at the edges of her mind. It had intruded so quickly and desperately that even if there were no words associated with it, the sheer terror to it was enough to overwhelm her constitution. She could only manage to move the hand that had braced her temple into a swat, an attempt to dissuade the concern. She grit her teeth through the flood of inherited pain her mental state felt. "..fine, just maybe we.." she moved to a sitting position, surprisingly out of breath. "--take a break." She struck out an arm, which the sparring partner wrapped and hoisted her to stand. Loske squinted at the digital chrono on the wall, realizing the time "Or rather, finish for the night. Thanks for your counts."

She offered a pained smile and started to unwrap the cloth around her knuckles and palms, indicating the session was over. The fellow pilot gave a concerned nod and offered some commentary before turning and disappearing into the lockers "Take it easy, you're looking a little pale."

The voice was not one Loske was particularly intimate with, in fact, it only had traces of vague familiarity. There was some already predetermined connection there. That much was certain. Anything beyond that eluded her for now.

Still, the nausea in her stomach and the pressure that permeated in her head were her inarguable indicators that this was a Force related misfortune. She grumbled about that on her way to the locker room, where she showered before retreating to her temporary bunking quarters. As soon as the door hissed open, Frank rolled into view and animated with a few lights.

You're back early. Couldn't last another round?

As usual, they ignored each other's suggestive quips. "I think something is happening with this stupid Force." She tossed the towel that had wrapped around her tresses to the bed and joined it, sitting on the edge and holding her stomach. "I feel like I'm going to vomit."

So just like Metellos and Sullust?

"Yeah, except on Sullust was with my clone brother. So we could communicate."

Did you try to respond on Metellos?

Embarrassment crossed her features, and a muted "....No." came out of her mouth after a few minutes of staring blankly at the stupidly wise astromech. Darn you, Kaili.

If Frank could have evidenced a triumphant look, then he would have at that time. Along with a puffed out chest and a dismissive shrug to his own genius.

"I don't even know how?"

Just sit there. That's what Jedi do. They just sit there and do things. Maybe if you think about it hard enough it'll happen.

Frank wasn't wrong. They both knew there was obviously much more to a Jedi's power than thinking and willing something to happen, but from an observational point of view, there wasn't much more she could do. She didn't even know where the voice came from, all she really could do was think of a response.

"Should I put on some jungle sounds? The whale calls of Dagobah for concentration?"

Please no.

The nausea in her belly didn't subside as she closed her eyes, furrowed her brow and concentrated.

For about an hour or so, she sat on the edge of the bed thinking the word hello? over and over again.