Private &nbsp; The Lost World of Kytrand

Nathan Bloodscrawl
Location: CORUSCANT

A “colorful range of emotions” couldn’t begin to describe what Elias was feeling as he prepped the Calypso for departure. It was more like the whole damn visible spectrum, and then some; disbelief at the existence of an army of Force-sensitive clones, anger that

Nathan Bloodscrawl had awakened them, alone, distrust by the secrecy, and a certain unplaced mixture of guilt and justification, all at once. The same thoughts that hit him on Dagobah flooded his mind now. They’d come so far from those tunnels on Sullust, how could Nathan still be such an enigma? Why did he have to hide? What did he have to hide?

Elias was deep in thought on the whole thing as he loaded crate after crate onto his freighter, stopping every so often to check in with

Efret Farr before returning to work. On his last trip up the loading ramp, he looked to her to ask if she was ready.

Efret Farr said:
<Clone-person army? When this, 21 #BBY?>

Elias snorted. He wasn’t sure if she meant to be sarcastic or not, but he took it as a quip and let the humor lighten his mood. <Roger, roger> he answered with a grin, wishing he knew a bit more GBSL - and that his poor impression of a B1 battle droid was as funny to her as he thought it was.

<Glad you come with me,> he attempted with a kind smile. <Ship become… alone?> Elias laughed nervously, rubbing his neck. “Damn, this is harder than I remember.” He gave the crate next to him a triumphant pat.

<Last one. Ready to go?>

The Calypso was stocked with a week’s worth of water, foodstuffs, and all the standard equipment he usually brought with him on expeditions. Even with the few crates of Jedi salvage he rescued from Dagobah still aboard and destined for Bogano, there was ample room for anything of note they might find on Kytrand. All his ship was missing was them.

Nathan Bloodscrawl · Apr 30, 2024

While

Elias Edo and

Efret Farr prepared for arrival, Nathan again felt a deepening pit of anxiety at his situation.

So much had changed. He had changed.

Yet he had never seemed farther from his initial goal then now...

He sensed something as he waited for their arrival. Something familiar, yet... foreign...

He blinked and was in a white void.

"You vex me, Father."

Nathan turned, spotted his daughter,

Laertia Io , in a white version of biker leathers with gold spikes on the jacket. These days, known by her Cultist name of The Parliament.

"What do you want?"

"I am so curious as to why you believe you can convince them to stay quiet about your massive Clone Army..."

"You've been keeping tabs."

"Of course." she replied.

"I am going to destroy the Cult, and you along with it. Nothing you say will avert this desire in me..." he snapped.

"Time and again The Cult has beaten you. Humiliated you. What makes you think this time will be any different?" she asked.

"Because this time I don't intend to stop until your false goddess is a greasy smear on my fist..." Nathan replied icily. (Let the universe howl in despair, for I have returned: 10,000 XP)

The Parliament looked at him crossly.

"You leave me in an awkward position, Father. Would it truly be too much to let it all stay in the past?"

Nathan looked at her in open horror at her seeming inability to comprehend.

"Do you even understand the depth of your treason?" he asked in a pained hiss. "Your Mother was murdered by that thing. That thing murdered me next. And after all that, of having to feel Lysandra being completely obliterated spiritually, what do you go and do when you grow up? You betray and butcher your fellow Jedi, and then you date the reincarnation of the monster that killed your Mother. Then you marry the beast that murdered my parents."

"Okay, okay, the first two parts of that complaint, I get. I do, honest!" The Parliament chirped. "But that last part...even you can't deny that was a self-own, making sure Elaine would get ambushed. Sure, you couldn't have known, but that doesn't excuse you. Abandon this madness! Without me, what will you have? I'm your only flesh and blood left! The Jedi won't treat you even a tenth as well as I could. What's the Light Side given you that the Darkness can't? The Darkness even raised you from the dead!"

She got in his face.

"You will be a slave to a bunch of dusty old fools in bathrobes. All that you have gained, they shall dash aside and tear asunder. Is that what you truly want? Kissing their ass forever and never doing your own will?"

"I live with Lysandra's pain as she died every single day." Nathan snapped. "You have no idea how awful that is. The sacrifices I would make to be rid of it. To silence it. She loved you and wanted the best for you. And so did I..." he said, fighting back tears. "But for the sheer disloyalty you show her in particular...I shall not relent."

The Parliament's eye twitched.

"Just like a Jedi. Stuck in the past. Only remembering the wrongs done, not seeing the opportunity...it's the same thing I hated about men like

Coren Starchaser . " she sneered.

"Your cult murders younglings regularly. Don't you get sanctimonious with me." he replied with cold fury.

"And the Jedi don't? Constantly taking in youth for training, pumping them up with propaganda, and then sending them into some backwater to die in the latest war? Like you would have happily preferred for me? At least my Cult gets to the point quicker." she scoffed.

Nathan eyed her.

"What the hell happened to you to make you so bitter towards them? It can't just be the Bryn'adul. This was building up for a long time, wasn't it? The Bryn'adul was just the final straw."

"What happened to me..." The Parliament snarled. "Is the same thing that will happen to you, if you keep trying to work with the Jedi."

"What is it, Julia? What's the real reason you can't let this feud with the Jedi go?" Nathan pressed. "Is it really conviction? Or just simple wounded pride at this point?"

"I could ask the same of you and your feud with the Cult." she hissed.

"Not an answer." he responded.

"Oh sure, Father, it's easy for you to commit to destroying an evil Cult after they killed your wife! But who punishes your side when all is said and done? Hmm? Who punishes them? No one. No one ever punishes them when they get it wrong. Not really. It's too convenient not to. I'm sick of that." she hissed.

"I used to think my master, The Amalgam, was evil. And then I watched them, really watched as they selfishly threw away a chance to possibly save trillions. If you only heard the pathetic bleatings of Jedi students protesting the idea of team ups, screaming and crying their pathetic little hearts out about how a team up would invalidate their suffering. What's the point in being good? Righteous? If you have to share a space alongside that level of selfishness, just to be called a good person, then I'm glad I've murdered so many of them. They're evil. That's their secret. They're as evil as the Sith are, it's just that they're better at public relations, at saying things fools want to hear. Because it's better than dealing with the ugly truth."

She grabbed him by the collar, and he saw the hate filled madness on her face for Jedi.

"I must bring them low! They must be punished! And if that means helping to destroy this bloated Alliance that they prop up, so they can know what it's like to be a fugitive, so they can finally experience all the destruction they hoped to avoid passing it off to the less fortunate, the ruin they inflicted on the whole Galaxy, shamelessly touting it to be the will of the Force when it was nothing but their own ego telling them what they wanted to hear...then destroy it I shall. Maybe then the lesson will be learned.

"You're sick and delusional." Nathan replied, having heard a rant from her similar to this, albeit with slightly more details and reasoning. But she didn't seem to be lying.

It was the Cult's programming, he realized, fixating her on the reason she rebelled...and yet not triggering her cognitive dissonance. Her hot blooded emotions did the rest.

"Doesn't mean I'm wrong about them..." she retorted.

Nathan blinked and he was back in the hangar, just in time to see the Arrival of the Calypso...

He was badly shaken.

Efret Farr · May 3, 2024

Probably much to Elias' relief, Efret laughed aloud. <Funny,> she signed twice, further communicating her amusement at the impression. <#OK, let's-go.>

At some point during the short flight from Coruscant's star system to Kytrand's, Efret switched on her translation unit. She assumed that Nathan didn't sign but also that Elias might appreciate the verbal interpretation as well. Communication was a two-way street. If he was willing to engage in her preferred mode every so often, she'd do the same for him.

When the Calypso had received clearance to land, Efret made into way into the cockpit, intending to assist with the procedures. She relied on her astromech droid to navigate her starfighter because her ability to see in space even with Nirrah's help was poor. Still, she knew her way around a navicomputer or a switchboard.

If there was anything to do, and after completing the task, she stood and approached the solarscreen. Against the backdrop of a hanger bay now, it was much easier for her to see. The figure that stood waiting for them would not have caught her attention had she not also felt disturbance trickling out of its energetic field as if beginning to breach a dam. "Is that Nathan?" Efret turned to ask Elias. "Is he alright?" It came out as a question, but it wasn't really one. They both were empathetic—surely Elias was feeling what she was.

Elias Edo · May 6, 2024

Tags:

Nathan Bloodscrawl
Location: KYTRAND

‘It’s probably guilt,’ Elias thought bitterly, but he reined in his personal feelings and answered with a more sincere idea.

“This isn’t easy for him,” Elias said with a sigh. It was obvious that the situation wasn’t ideal for him, either. Master Edo was struggling in his own right with Nathan’s predicament. There was so much more at stake than his personal feelings, but with the way things had played out, Elias struggled not to feel jaded. He gave Efret a reassuring smile, even adding sign to prove his genuineness. <Nathan needs friends> he said both aloud and with his hands.

The Calypso’s boarding ramp lowered to reveal the hangar bay of Nathan’s ship. It only took one look at his friend for Elias to see how bad things were.

Nathan Bloodscrawl was practically made of durasteel; he’s the one who navigated rockrender tunnels alone, explored a Jedi necropolis solo, didn’t blink an eye at a Drengir infestation on Kenari, and had slaughtered more slavers on Kazarak than most of the League Defense Force combined… to see him visibly shaken? That was hard.

“Nathan…” Elias said, almost asking, unsure of what to say next. He settled on gratitude. “Thank you for sharing the coordinates with me- with us,” he corrected, gesturing to

Efret Farr as she approached.

He knew that Nathan wasn’t a touchy-feely person, and comforting words would do little to help his cause; down to business was his usual way. “Tell us,” Elias said, eyeing the man carefully, “how can we help? What do you need us to do?”

Nathan Bloodscrawl · May 9, 2024

"Nature made me a freak. Man made me a weapon. And God made it last too long."

-- Logan

Nathan, still badly shaken, and for once unable to fully hide it, had his mood brighten only slightly as he saw

Elias Edo step off the Calypso along with

Efret Farr , someone he wasn't familiar with.

"It's good to see you, Master Edo..." Nathan said, grim faced as they both stepped aboard.

"Welcome aboard Windu's Hand..."

"As for how you can help...it'll be a relatively short trip...if you want to help out on this old hospital ship I'm sure they'd be happy to let you..."

Nathan stepped forward. What he had said to Elias at Dagobah rang out more true than ever. His walk was not the walk of a Padawan, but a weary veteran, who had waded through an ocean of corpses long before he had met Elias.

Yet Elias only knew a small fraction of a fraction of the story. All he knew was that Nathan had been a Jedi Knight--once-- and that he had found this planet and woke up the army. He had no context for how and only some of the why.

"But for the most part it will be a mostly short trip. This Vessel is stealth equipped, so we should be able to reach Kytrand in secret. But let's not stay in this hangar, it's far too drafty for my liking."

Nathan turned and began leading them both through the ancient ship. It was clearly refurbished. Old panels and screws hinted at it's true age. They first made a stop at one of the medbays. Some of the Jedi who were rescued from Dagobah were still in Bacta Tanks, doctors working round the clock to treat them. Others, having lost limbs or gotten burned, were receiving skin grafts of tissue cloned from them, or were receiving cyber prosthetics.

Some of the ten surviving Clone Defense Troopers could be seen in tanks as well, receiving treatment for radiation poisoning they had incurred fighting in the swamps surrounding the temple. It had been a truly terrible battle in that territory. The Clones had been completely outnumbered, yet they had driven back a truly massive droid army armed with radioactive napalm weapons which had killed almost all of them to a man. Ten had survived out of the entire defense teams assigned there.

They had done this with completely outdated equipment, proving once and for all that it wasn't the weapon, it was the wielder that made the difference, and when the wielder wasa Fett Clone, the weapon was just that much more effective than it should have been otherwise.

"Most of them will be cleared for release in another three weeks..." Nathan said, handing Elias a Datapad containing the number of and types of injuries being treated, along with a full headcount of everyone rescued from Dagobah...and a total accounting of the deaths incurred in the swamp, and the severe destruction that had been wrought in the process of the Clones defending the temple to buy time for evacuation.

"That's about everything I can give from my side in terms of final results on Dagobah. The radiation damage the enemy droids inflicted was severe. We cleared out of the temple just before the cloud hit us..." Nathan explained, the pressure he was under making his movements seem stiffer than usual.

"Just try and relax, otherwise. We'll be there soon. I'll be able to explain everything much more thoroughly there..." he said to them both.

One hour later...

The ship had not dared to exit too close to the system, coming out of hyperspace some distance before proceeding towards it in full cloak. Nathan had invited Edo and Farr to the bridge for the moment. He was silent, stoic as ever as he beheld the massive secret he had spent months keeping safe and settling.

Eventually, Kytrand could be seen in the viewports, a blue marble where certain warships could be seen close to orbit as it finally decloaked. Even from here the presence of the light side could be felt...strongly from the planet.

"Don't worry, the warships you see there are friendly..." he said to them quickly. "As to how there are warships..."

He turned to them both. The crew was bound by NDA's so he felt free to say what he said next.

"This ship, as well as some of the ones you see out there, are controlled by Bacta-Works of Epica , who I have a deep association with. The others are controlled by Clan Li-Ves of Atrisia...who I have a deeper association with..."

He looked back the planet.

"The planet is jointly controlled and overseen by these two entities...but the planet itself was discovered, settled, and eventually abandoned by the Bloodscrawl Medical Corporation..."

He blinked. It seemed even saying that last name out loud was enough to get a wince out of him. "This planet...is my family's gift to the Order. It was meant to be, anyway..." he added.

"C'mon, we'll take a shuttle to the surface..."

Nathan headed for the hangar again, still thinking about his telepathic encounter with Laertia...

The Lambda Class Shuttle that waited for them was painted a solid black as he led them aboard, with the energy of a man focused solely on the objective rather than his own emotions. He was silent most of the trip down.

"Brace yourself...the Nexus has a powerful influence on this planet." he told them, once they were settled in and he lifted off.

The powerful planet wide Nexus of Light pressed on all of them as they crossed the threshold into the upper atmosphere to the surface, revealing a lush, temperate world, still largely untouched, with scatted, small settlements in certain areas. He put the shuttle down on an ancient landing site in wide open grasslands, where a pair of Clone Force Commanders waited in their red and white Coruscant Guard-like armor, hands folded behind their backs as Nathan was the first off. He stared at the clones as they saluted him on sight. He saluted back.

(Narrator suffers intense Nosebleeds from the sudden MGS: Peace Walker flashbacks all hitting at once.)

Nathan turned to his guests.

"I swear to you both, I never knew about the Clones before I sought this place out. When I came here, started making arrangements, the planet was meant to be nothing more than a hiding spot and resource for Jedi... that's all it was supposed to be." he insisted.

"They weren't even on the planet. BMC had stored them in stasis aboard old colony ships with their equipment, setting them up to orbit a safe distance from Kytrand's sun." he explained. "It was a scout who found the first of the stations, and a whole bunch of custom Acclamator vessels...

Nathan walked up to one of the Clones.

"Soldier, your designation?"

"FC-791." 791 answered. "Honored to serve as your detail, Mister Bloodscrawl."

"Honored to have you as detail, 791." Nathan replied. "Masters Edo and Farr are accompanying us today."

"We'll guard 'em with our lives, Sir." 791 assured. "A landspeeder is on the way. And, um, Sir? Four-Alarm is gonna be in it."

Nathan's eye twitched, like Inspector Dreyfuss in the Pink Panther films.

"Thank you, 791." he said calmly. "Where do you think a good spot to go to would be?"

"We just brought in a sample of this world's lightsaber crystals created from the local mollusks...nearby settlement specializes in examining them."

"Is that an acceptable first choice for visit to you two?" Nathan asked Edo and Farr.

Efret Farr · May 19, 2024

Nathan needs friends.

I think #Nathan need specific friend, Efret thought as she followed Elias down the docking ramp. It was just intuition, but it was also intuition she best keep that thought to herself. Trust wasn't so easily restored. If that's all it took, the galaxy would be a very different place.

"Master Farr," she introduced herself after Nathan greeted Elias. Other than saying that, she only listened to the two of them for the next while. She did have all the context that Elias surely had, but she did her best to follow along with the conversation. Whatever had happened on Dagobah, she didn't want to think about it, so was happy when they left the medbay behind them.

She did, however, put a hand gently on Elias' forearm and offered him a, hopefully, comforting smile.

Once they had gotten to the surface of Kytrand, Efret watched on as Nathan interacted with FC-791. She sighed and set her lips into one of her thoughtful expressions. Maybe her assumption about clones coming into this meeting was misguided. Maybe there were special considerations given the situation. If Nathan had really not known...

Their conversation suddenly shifted to include the Jedi masters. "I'm sorry. Did you say mollusks?" She wasn't really asking to clarify; she rarely read lips incorrectly. Instead, she was stuck by disbelief. How did that work? By virtue of her job, she almost needed to find out. She glanced at Elias, unable to hide the small smile on her face. "Yes, I'd like to see that."

Elias Edo · May 24, 2024

Tags:

Nathan Bloodscrawl
Location: KYTRAND

Elias was tight-lipped as

Nathan Bloodscrawl led them through the medbay. His emotions were boiling underneath the surface, a bitter mix of gratitude for what the clones had done on Dagobah, resentment that they even existed, and guilt for the attack ever happening at all. "I should have been there," he muttered in a cruel tone under his breath as he approached one of the tanks. Inside, the ghastly blue lighting illuminated a Padawan suspended in the healing gel. Elias placed his hand against the glass, watching the young Jedi float peacefully inside.

The warmth of Efret's hand on his forearm brought Elias back to his senses. He gave her a soft smile, hoping it would tell her how much he appreciated her being there.

The shuttle ride down to Kytrand was rather quiet, save for the explanations Nathan was trying to give about the massive clone army that he'd conveniently found. Elias kept his eyes focused on the viewport, watching as they drew nearer to the temperate world below. He maintained a stoic disposition while Nathan addressed one of the innumerable members of his mysterious army. He raised an eyebrow at their exchange, impressed - if a bit unsettled - by the trooper's loyalty.

He looked to

Efret Farr and shrugged. Kyber crystals growing inside of mollusks was certainly an anomaly he would have found interesting, but for now he would live vicariously through Efret's excitement.

Nathan Bloodscrawl · May 26, 2024

Nathan nodded to both their assent and waited as he sensed a person he detested getting closer and closer.

His hands clenched into fists as he watched

Syd Celsius pull up in the speeder, wearing her gold and navy blue catsuit that unnaturally reflected everything around it, including the faces of the Force Commanders,

Efret Farr ,

Elias Edo , and Nathan himself, in odd, distorted ways.

Nathan glanced at her eyes, saw the tell tale mutations of the whites of them turning bronze, the irises a Dark Green. It wasn't Syd. Not fully. It was that thing that she had merged with to survive, which called itself The Reflection.

It lacked Syd's withdrawn, uncertain posture, and instead had all the confidence of the beast she had been split off from.

"Welcome back to Kytrand, Nathan..." said the creature in Syd's body, exuding an unnatural command over the light side, giving a playful smile that he didn't return.

"This is Surt'r..." Nathan said calmly, introducing her to the others, teeth grinding in his skull just looking at her as he suppressed his emotions.

"She's an assistant. She's been helping uncover the Planet's secrets as we go along..." Nathan explained, knowing if he stopped to explain her it would only open up a completely separate can of worms as he hopped into the speeder.

What are you doing here? he asked her mentally.

Just making sure the masters know it's not just you around here making decisions. Giving the former impression instead of the latter might make them distrust you. The Reflection replied in his skull. Your mind feels much less blood soaked than it normally does...

STAY. OUT. OF. MY. MIND. he silently seethed as the others got in.

'Syd' shrugged her shoulders but maintained that strange smile as they sped off to the settlement.

The piloting trip had revealed a bit more about the world. It was mostly undeveloped but every now and then they would pass by small stone monuments to Jedi of ages past carved into natural rock formations.

By the way, I met one of your adoptive Sisters! The Reflection whispered in his head. They're adorable!

Nathan refused to respond to her telepathic prod, eyes straight ahead as he piloted, tight lipped. The Reflection took the hint after a moment and quit trying to communicate as they sped along.

Eventually they reached the settlement, a series of houses built from stone that surrounded a very small Bio Bacta Tree in a great stone ring glowing softly at the center. People seemed constantly busy as they pulled up and Syd floated out of the Speeder, her shiny body floating above them as she went ahead, to where a number of Fett Clones in training gear were in a meditative position around a collection of black shelled clams that had a strong presence in the Force.

Syd floated to the ground, arms folded as Nathan hopped out of the speeder, walking over to the clam area.

"Every Mollusk we found on Kytrand all bears signs of genetic modifications for survivability and quick turnaround on meat harvesting." Nathan explained to both Jedi Masters, discomforted at how the Reflection was simply in the background, observing him.

"But these dark shelled variants are rare, Force Sensitive clams. It takes a while of meditation, but the results..." he trailed, commanding the Mollusk nearest him to open its shell, and retrieved a very shiny black pearl that sang with the Force, which he handed to them both to examine.

"It creates silent blades, and aids in stealth once installed. We call them Kytrand Dusk Pearls." Syd explained. "This world has some of the largest concentrations of various rare varieties of Lightsaber Crystals I've ever seen...and this is just one variety exclusively local to this planet."

"We think the Light Side Nexus of the planet is causing the crust to constantly form them over a period of time." Nathan added. "The Nexus itself oppresses mentally, but seems to super change light side powers. We think it's artificial... introduced during an ancient experiment."

Elias Edo · Jun 1, 2024

Tags:

Nathan Bloodscrawl
Location: KYTRAND

Elias took the pearl in his palm but his eyes remained transfixed on

Nathan Bloodscrawl and the oddly shimmery

Syd Celsius who'd accompanied them. He hated, loathed that every action, every step that Nathan took was suspect. An army of Force-sensitive Fett clones, a secret world with a Force nexus that rivals Dagobah, and now a levitating compatriot with whom Nathan clearly was at odds with; Elias wasn't sure how much more he could take. He cleared his throat, passing the pearl to

Efret Farr to examine.

"Nathan," he said warily, "all of this is fascinating, but... I have to ask: how does this help us against the Empire? Every moment we spend here is another step closer they are to our doorstep. And you've yet to calm my worst fears about you and your connection to these clones." He sighed, visibly uncomfortable. His weight shifted from one foot to the other as he searched for the proper words.

"How does Kytrand help us, Nathan? How can we trust you?"

Nathan Bloodscrawl · Jun 2, 2024

He sat on the stump nearby.

"Kytrand is a literal Stone's throw from Coruscant. The Hyperspace Route puts us in Coruscant's general vicinity, as well as in the vicinity of many other nearby systems. As Only I and my more..."

He stopped, eyeing Syd a bit.

"...dedicated associates know the Coordinates, my hope is to coordinate an ambush once the Dark Empire attacks Coruscant."

He gestured to the nearby clones.

"The Clones are well trained. Since they were grown by Jedi or Scientists aligned with Jedi, there's no hidden compulsions amongst them other than to aid the Jedi Order. That's what they were grown for. Trained for. For a moment like this. When everything is at stake and a Secret Weapon is needed at a critical point. It's a weapon my family died for to protect from those who would abuse the awesome might of this world's resources and it's army for their own selfish purposes. These Clones with us are members of a relatively medium sized unit. Most of the army itself is non sensitive, but trained to coordinate and work with Jedi."

"My particular line of clones was grown and trained by the Bloodscrawl Family before the Gulag Era..." one of the Clones said to

Elias Edo as they harvested the pearls from the clams. "The initiative was a tentative step to creating an "Emergency Jedi Order", originally meant to be a last ditch option in the event no other Light Side Force User could be located. We were put into stasis until a crisis severe enough warranted our brothers deployment en masse."

"And Nathan here is the last of the old Bloodscrawls..." Syd said as she floated to the ground. "The Bloodscrawl Family produced long lines of those sworn to defend The Jedi Order's temples. To the point they were even given the honorary title 'Defenders of The Code'."

"Before the Plague, My Family had recovered from generations of dwindling numbers and were at the strongest point they had ever been, in control of The Bloodscrawl Medical Corporation. It's primary purpose was producing medicine, like Synthetic Bacta. That was how they had grown rich enough to afford to create such an army. Fingers in the Jedi Order and major pharmaceuticals made for a...potent... combination." Nathan explained, folding his arms.

He sighed, and looked at them both.

"I had begun having dreams about the sacking of Susevfi and Dagobah weeks before it happened. A terrible, all consuming destruction enveloping Padawans, Masters, Knights. Countless civilians. I knew what I was seeing was the fall of the League. So I had a choice to make: Leave the army in stasis, and fight what will become a pure, uninhibited slaughter and possibly die in it as well, or take a chance on the dreams I had where the only outcomes where there was even a sliver of a chance more Jedi and Civilians survive what was coming was when the Army was deployed." he grumbled bitterly. "I was caught between a Rancor and a Sarlacc. Because there's no putting the cork back in once you pop it."

He stood up off the stump.

"I wish I could make it some nice, neat little package that justifies all this behavior, all these decisions made without talking to actual Masters. But after the reaction I got in that Council Chamber, I'm starting to feel at least 'slightly' justified in my choice to conceal what I knew." he admitted, looking at the settlement full of Refugees going about necessary duties like repairs and transportation. "Look what happened; I literally told them, to their face that I, a Jedi Padawan in rank knew where a lost Jedi Planet was! I might as well have left a kettle whistling too long for all the good the confession did!" he exclaimed. "Just imagine what would have happened had I told what I knew the instant I knew it. It would have been mismanaged, mis understood, or, ignored if they couldn't get away with the first two."

The immensely beautiful and creepy Syd folded her arms, suit reflecting the mistrust on Edo's face in odd, distorted ways that hurt the normal eye to gaze upon as she shifted in the skintight suit.

"Nathan is an honorable man who was only trying to save lives when he woke the army. He has no interest in conquest..." She said, reading his suspicion on his face and possibly that of

Efret Farr as well.

"He just has the unfortunate burden of being the last steward of his Family's legacy and obligation to the Jedi. Kytrand is strong with the Light, and it's secrets offer powerful boons to Jedi, allowing them a secret beach front from which to strike. To not have at least a small chapterhouse of Jedi here would be neglecting an advantage." she said crisply and dispassionately.

"My family used the company like a Jedi-Aligned Private Military Corporation before and during the Plague years. That's essentially how it's modern equivalent operates. Anonymous support to Jedi and Jedi Interests. The storing up of wealth to fuel military projects, supply rations and medicine to governments they support. An establishment of hidden safety nets. But enemies must be confronted directly. And as much misgivings as I initially had, even you couldn't deny the difference the Clones made in those Swamps, Master Edo." he maintained, defending his position resolutely.

"Without them, the whole temple would have become an irradiated wasteland before we could evacuate meaningful numbers. I ask you again: If I were an Enemy, a real one...why would I show this, any of this, to you or any Jedi at all? Do you realize that by telling you this, I am placing myself, and those working with me in jeopardy?" Nathan asked calmly.

"If I was an enemy, then it sure is a strange thing that I would willingly evaporate any tactical advantage I might have enjoyed by not telling any Jedi about what I had found. And even stranger that my inaugural act as a supposed enemy is doing everything I could to evacuate the Dagobah Temple just so I could tell you about a planet that was meant for use by the Jedi Order. And then taking you to it exactly as I promised I would."

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. The stress seemed to make him look older. More tired in that instant. He had been in the war too long.

THE war.

"I am aware this army has a terrifying potential for abuse. It's twenty million strong. Supposedly twice what the GAR had when the CIS rebelled at the start of the Clone Wars...but I can't just release them all, tell them to stop working for me. Then everyone else would get them. I also recognize I cannot have total, unchecked power on such a thing. That's partly why I told you about this place. Told you about Kytrand and the Clones. Why I asked you here..." he admitted.

"You ask if you can trust me? I want to offer you Joint controlling interest in the Directing of Kytrand's Clone Military against the Sith and for the support of the Jedi. You'll know every secret I know about this place, and then some. I'm kicking off one of the largest humanitarian relief Efforts in the Galaxy. This world houses Bulwark Cruisers designed to function as mobile temples for Jedi. Matter of fact..."

One of the massive Bulwark Temples came out of a ring of clouds.

"That's our next stop..." he said, gesturing to the ship.

Efret Farr · Jun 3, 2024

As Efret took the Dusk Pearl from Elias, she couldn't help but notice how uncentered he was. She had never seen this side of him. His emotions threatened to pull her relatively calm ones into the storm brewing inside, even though she knew he didn't mean it. Such was the plight of an Empath.

She watched as he, then Nathan, the clone, and Syd took turns speaking. While she needed to read their lips, she wouldn't have a chance to actually look at the pearl, but she could tacitly examine it by rolling it in her palm and running her thumb over its surface to feel each imperfection. A few grains had not been sanded down completely by the mollusk and a small pit had formed on one side.

When Nathan indicated up to the ship that broke through the clouds, Efret looked up to the sky, shielding not her own but Nirrah's eyes to the sun.

More mobile temples.

Efret frowned shortly before fixing her face. She had made her position on them clear in the all-Jedi meeting a few days ago, but it was the Jedi way to explore other standpoints and possibilities. She looked back at Nathan, offering a small smile, then held up the hand that held the pearl. "May I keep this?" she asked with her free hand. "It would make a good museum exhibit someday. It won't display it until you're ready, but some public outreach might go a long way."

Elias Edo · Jun 9, 2024

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Nathan Bloodscrawl
Location: KYTRAND

Elias smiled at

Efret Farr as genuinely as he could muster, but he knew she'd find it hollow. He was just too fixated on Nathan's request to be truly excited about the pearl.

"What you're asking me to do is so much bigger than trust, Nathan. Even if I trusted every word without a shadow of doubt, commanding a clone army? Like the Jedi Generals of the Clone Wars? The Order strictly forbids Jedi commanders, and more importantly, cloning is a high crime in Alliance space - you're asking me to commit treason," Elias said, not hiding his frustration well at all. In Nathan's defense, it wasn't really a secret that Elias had broken that very law years ago, when the New Imperial Order was gaining ground. He led a Rebel cell called Phoenix Squadron into countless skirmishes against the NIO, all of them treasonous and outside the orders of the Jedi Council and GADF command. Elias operated on his own as a vigilante, working on scarce intel and his wits. It worked, until it didn't

A brief flash of the day he lost his entire squad in an Imperial ambush flashed in his mind like slivers of broken glass, each shard reflecting a bitter guilt that he'd never been able to forgive nor forget. It took several years of hiding on Bogano - of rebuking the Jedi Code and refusing to brandish his blade - before he felt he could return to the Order. He wasn't ready to tarnish those years of emotional self-flagellation just yet. He looked to

Nathan Bloodscrawl sternly.

"I will do my best to trust what you are doing here, Nathan. I will defend your cause against those who would seek to tear it down. I will even keep your secrets. But I cannot help you command these soldiers. Certainly not without the blessings of the Council and GADF command, and even then..." he trailed off. He had to chew the inside of his bottom lip as he searched for the proper words. "Even then, I don't know if I can. I've walked this path before, I've seen what happens when good men follow bad orders."

Long shadows formed overhead, cast by the arrival of Nathan's ships above. Elias cast a sideways glance to Efret, already knowing she'd disapprove. She had made it clear in the emergency meeting with the Council that temple ships were a bad course of action for the Order, and she'd been overruled. Seeing even more mobile temples likely wasn't easy for her, but they had traveled all this way to a world that Nathan had worked hard to keep secret from the rest of the galaxy. They couldn't back out now. They owed it to him on account of his trust in them alone to see all he had to offer before making final decisions.

"I'm ready when you are," he said.

Nathan Bloodscrawl · Jul 13, 2024

"These were created by my family and squirreled away when the Plague hit. I've only found a few so far...but there are many more out there, hidden...and their locations I don't know..." Nathan explained as they all traveled in a T-16 Skyhopper up to where the Bulwark Temple waited.

"The general scheme, as far as I can tell, was to create a means to restart the Jedi Order in the event of some unprecedentedly successful purge attempt." he said as they docked, and stepped off onto the hangar deck, which had reliefs of various Jedi Masters from various eras in Jedi History.

"Most of the staff are refugees..." He explained. "People recovered fleeing from conflict areas. We background check them extensively to the best of our ability, and give them employment. The best, most reliable employees get assigned to these vessels."

He stopped by parked starfighters built in a particular Pattern.

"Ession-Class Deltas. I've tested them. I'll vouch for them personally." he said

The first stop took them to engineering, and the distinct, eco-aesthetic of the interior architecture had elements of Art Deco spliced in as well.

"The ships were built at Ession in secret. I know that much... that's where I was born..." he muttered as they entered the massive power plant section, which had a strange, golden interior, readouts and controls that had readouts with secondary translations underneath in the form of musical notes. A Sun Generator was the magnificent golden centerpiece of the whole thing, constantly monitored by various crew.

"The ships are fully functional temples. They have colonization capabilities. Path Engines too, for non standard movement through hyperspace, Full internal security systems as well..." Nathan explained.

"I've spent the past few years building all this up. This is only a small phase of the Relief Effort I'm launching. We're building ships with mobile planetary shield generators, to further frustrate Sith attempts to attack Alliance worlds. I had just started to set up phases of the relief effort in the Trade League before disaster struck..." Nathan added.

He glanced at the Sun Generator, the terrible sphere of its power source boiling on it's surface, but contained in a high tech cage that stabilizes it constantly.

"My Family looked at it as their personal duty to safeguard the Order against attempts to eliminate it. To construct a web of reinforcement that would constantly frustrate Sith attempts at causing Mayhem. They devoted most of their fortune to building all of this, squirreling it away not just for Jedi, but the factions they serve. Even when the Plague hit, they continued operating as long as they could before the horrors of that era began to take its toll on even them..."

There was an edge to Nathan's voice as he said this, suggesting to the two Jedi that whatever had brought down his family was an extremely sore subject, one choked with Pain and Anguish.

And he had indirectly given something else away in the emotion in his voice as he talked of the Plague...

...that he was far, far, older than either of them, even if combined.

"The Jedi don't remember us, of course. Or me. For a long time, I chose not to, either. My...first run as a Jedi Knight during the Plague didn't...it didn't end well...Only reason I even bother using my real name now is because it's so completely forgotten..."

He continued looking at the generator, seemingly hypnotized by it before turning back to them.

"I honestly never expected my second run at being a Jedi to get this crazy..." he admitted, giving away some small hint of his deep uncertainty and misgivings...

Elias Edo

Efret Farr

Efret Farr · Jul 19, 2024

Elias Edo said:
"I've walked this path before, I've seen what happens when good men follow bad orders."

Her brow crinkled just a little at Elias' revelation. It was surprising. He didn't strike her as a militaristic Jedi, but maybe whatever he had experienced had changed his mindset. That seemed likely and the possibilities worried Efret greatly.

The growing shadows distracted her from imagining what all he might have been eluding to. When he told her that he was ready, she nodded. "Against the wishes of my inner child," she began, setting up what was only partially a joke, "I will not be throwing a fit." She gave him a short, amused smile as she stepped onto the Skyhopper.

Once aboard the Bulwark Temple, she kept quiet pace with her companions. In front of the sun generator, however, she spoke up. "You don't have to continue down this path," she offered first with a soft smile, trying to show Nathan that she wasn't intending to be rude. She knew little about him but could tell that he felt like the weight of the whole Jedi world was on his shoulders. "It shouldn't feel like a trap."

At least in her mind, there was a divide between a necessary burden and a strangling obligation. She wouldn't shame anyone for walking away should service to the Order begin to chronically endanger their mental health.

Elias Edo · Jul 23, 2024

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