Faction What Was Hidden, May Now Be Found

[Roman Calipso]

Unknown, Sector 343​

The ones that answered his call were wary, but that would be expected. After all, who would expect to find an old man offering them tea, on an uncharted jungle world, rife with all manner of predator and prey? Cautious though they were, they eased at a bit, even accepting a drink from their tea cups. Looking beyond his own sight, Roman could see that although darkness had touched them at one point or another, they weren't corrupted. Not like the presences from the capital ship, or even from one of the ones nearby. Despite what he considered himself on the surface, Roman still embraced the philosophies of his Order. The knowledge contained by this world was under his protection, and he knew that even if the planet itself did not care who attained it, the Galaxy would.

A light drizzle began to patter down on the group, the first of many drops landing on his forehead, and sliding down his face. "Oh, this won't do." He rose up from his seat, stretching his back a bit, before starting to walk through a subtle path in the treeline. "Your welcome to join me at my home if you'd like to chat more. I make a habit of trying to meet all guests to the planet before they die. Seems like you lot are in good hands, however." Something would sound off in the way he said 'good'. If they would choose to follow, they'd be led by him through the jungle, where the heat and humidity seemed to hug against them like a suit of clothes. It was hot, and very much a miserable feeling. But Roman continued on through it like he hadn't noticed. They'd soon find themselves going up a incline, as if they were climbing a hill. Though the thickness of the trees and their canopies made it hard to tell their elevation.

The sounds of running water would soon become prominent, and the moist earth of the ground would begin to give way to more course and packed gravel paths. Roman would pause, looking back at the group, before holding his hand out, causing the trees in front of them to part, revealing a mountain range they broke through the green of the jungle. In distance, it was easy to make out a multitude of ships of different sizes and classes, half broken and consumed by the flora of the world. The nearest one, however, was perhaps the most interesting. A few hundred meters away, in walking distance, sat the remains of a blockade runner, it's hull dented and bruised, though not yet in as bad a state as some of the other ships. It lie nestled against some kind of outpost, or facility, covered by vines yet not entirely in a state of disrepair. A stream of of water flowed from one of the engines of the ship, dropping off the cliff into a waterfall.

"Ah, here we are. I thought I'd gotten lost."

Attn: Vidalu Na'an , Adelle Bastiel , Sakri

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

Na'an had followed the old man in half a daze. Ever since she and Adelle Bastiel had snuck away from the Emperor's ship to come to the planet's surface, she had been feeling...strange. Sharp, but not in a way that made her feel in control. Although that wasn't entirely true, was it? Whatever was going on with her had peaked as soon as she saw the planet, but nothing inside her had felt normal since they left Dantooine. Between Lady Silara, the Emperor, and the persistent sense of being surrounded and watched every moment on Kalidan, it had been growing by inches in her gut, punctuated by moments like...

Well. Not good moments. Not moments Na'an could think about easily. But those moments....well, they'd been intense like this. The only difference between then and now was that now...

Now felt good.

Everything about this hike, from the air on her sweat-soaked skin to the sound of the birds ahead to the feel of the earth under her toes, held the weird hyperreality of a pleasant dream. Her mouth tasted like tea. Her feet never seemed to slip or even stumble. Her legs hadn't felt so light in months. As she followed the old man's route, cresting the upward incline leading into some sort of ridge path, it seemed like in some moments only her hand in Doc's kept her on the ground at all. Whatever they were there for, it had to be something important. Even if he hadn't given them answers yet, whatever he was showing them had to be the start of that, had to hold some kind of answer--

Then the old man parted the trees to reveal the largest ship graveyard she'd ever seen.

"...What?"

The word slipped out of her mouth before she even thought it. She shook her head in disbelief, wiping away the spray from the waterfall so she could see clearly. For a second, she tried to count all the ships she could see, picking out each shape from where the jungle had started to grow over them. But the graveyard stretched out for miles; she had to give up as the range stretched away into the horizon.

And that wasn't even counting the ones she couldn't see. The ones the planet had already claimed.

"This planet...it doesn't even have a name," she said, suddenly dizzy. "It's hidden by a literal space anomaly. There's no reason for anyone to come here except by accident." She reached out for a nearby tree trunk to steady herself. "But there's centuries worth of ships here. And that transport...that's an Imperial model. It's not even a decade old."

She turned back to the old man, her good eye wide. "It's not you bringing people here, is it."

Adelle Bastiel | Roman Calipso | Sakri ​

 

[Roman Calipso]

"If there was a being that possessed the power to tear ships from the stars and bring them here, I haven't met them in the decade or so I've spent on this world, and I'm not so sure that I'd like to." He continued to walk on, leading them towards the entrance to the facility. The path there was defined, eventually condensing into intentionally placed stones that formed a walkway that led towards it. Small lanterns embedded within them lit up as the group passed over them, providing a better view of the surroundings even as it began to grow late. If they were observant, the woman would notice mosiacs lining the wall of the mountain that they traveled next to, depicting various scenes. A few symbols were even recognizable, such as those often used by entities that were known as republics and empires... and even of light and darkness.

"Oh,and this world definitely has a name. I just haven't ever been able to pronounce it. It's in an old dialect I've never seen or heard before, and I'm quite the studied man." When they neared the entrance, Roman paused for a moment, glancing up at the transport overhead. "Is that who they were? Hmm. I never got the opportunity to ask, before they shot at me. I was brung here a little time before it crashed here. I'd already found this place, and had been studying it. Imagine my surprise when an armed guard and someone bearing a black lightsaber entered it, and threatened me?"

"I'd told them there was no need to fight, but when one them noticed my own lightsaber-" He took it out, activating the blade and revealing a teal colored blade, "-I'll just say that sharing a kettle of tea wasn't going to be an option. They didn't look like any known Sith Order I'd come across in my time as a Knight or Master, and they spoke of an empire I'd never heard of. And I thought that would be the last I heard or saw of anyone like them... until you and your group appeared." He turned towards them, holding his lightsaber up to his face.

"I like to think I've not been on this world so long that I'm no longer a good judge of character, so please, don't prove me wrong." He flicked off his lightsaber. "This world was once home to an ancient Order of Jedi, one that stretches back far into the philosphy's history, that studied and followed the Living Force. They believed strongly in the idea that the Force an organism on a conceptual level, and all beings in the Galaxy were apart of it. They were more scholarly than their counterparts, having few if any combat related techniques, from what I've found. But they were insightful and wise. And so attuned to the Force that it began to effect their surroundings."

"The anomaly, for example, isn't a natural one. It originates with this planet."

ATTN: Vidalu Na'an Adelle Bastiel Sakri

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

The green planet felt alive in a way that Adelle hadn't felt since her time with the order on Felucia. Kalidan practically felt like a tomb comparatively. She let her hands trail over the verdant jungle growth as they walked through, down the hillside into the ship graveyard. The path eased into a walkway paved with stones smoothed by years of erosion, little lights glowing among them. The sky had soft and vibrant hues as the sun set, marred only by the ghost of the Imperial capital ship in stable orbit. Always shadowing them.

She shook thoughts of Kalidan, the emperor, and Silara from her head, brushing her fingers over the large mosaic they now walked past. Some of the patterns she recognized from her Order's old archives. How ancient this place must be, to house an artistic piece of history. A lightsaber snap-hissed. Adelle snapped her attention back to the man, a hand instinctively hovering over the empty place where her own hilt should be. But the man continued speaking of his experiences on this planet and extinguished the blade shortly. Her hand trembled in place and she had to bite her tongue. He should have sensed some of their unease in coming here, or sensed the darkness that shadowed the planet right now. Inhale. Adelle let the planet's energy flow through her and released her tension with her breath.

"What do you suppose happened to them?" she asked at length. "An order with no other records, so attuned as to nearly create a nexus, doesn't simply vanish into thin air."



Vidalu Na'an | Roman Calipso | Sakri

 

[Roman Calipso]

A knowing smile crossed his face as he looked towards Adelle Bastiel . "That may be exactly why they vanished. There may have been hundreds of orders of the Force in the Galaxy, that may have been known by a dozen names since their existence. Often times, there is little done to distinguish between them, besides the light side and the dark side. To the common person, a Jedi is a Jedi, and a Sith is a Sith. Had I said I was a member of say...", he paused for a moment, thinking, "...the Order of the Silver Jedi. Would you be able to determine if I truly was? Most likely not."

He walked forwards, stepping along the edge of the cliff that dropped into a river below. "I've studied the archives of this order for nearly a decade. Some of it's recordings and text match that of others I've seen, even some from my own. It's likely that their stories were mixed into those of others, creating singular accounts of events that never happened. Like mythologies of the various religions of beings."

"And I believe this nexus, as you called it, exists because they disappeared. The Force is a powerful existence. It provides abilities that most would think impossible... including the ability to defy true death. There have been Jedi in history, who have mastered their understanding of the Force and become so attuned with it, that upon death, their bodies become one with it." He turned back to face them.

"Now imagine an entire group of beings, assembled on an already attuned world, dedicating decades if not centuries to achieving that goal. And succeeding. I'm no scholar or great teacher, I will admit, but I believe from my research that this Order managed to achieve that on a mass scale, and that the aftermath of it created the nexus."

ATTN: Vidalu Na'an Sakri

 

[Sakri]

Sakri was not an individual known for her expressiveness. Truthfully, she was not known very much at all, staying far away from most individuals whenever she could manage it. She kept to herself, she stayed quiet and chose her words carefully, and she followed the current where it took her. When the Speaker revealed the mountain range, and the hundreds of fallen ships it held, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. She had felt disturbances, an unnatural tinge to the nature of the jungle, but this.. this was not what she had expected to see.

How many had been pulled here before?

How many had fallen here?

Whatever words she might have had were ripped from her by this sight and its implications. The weight of the dead stayed her tongue as the Speaker continued on; but as he spoke, her eyes stayed surveying those ships in view, as if looking for some clue of its former inhabitants. As they walked further in, Sakri splayed the fingers of her hands by her sides, reaching out into the current..

So much death.

She could feel the strange way the tide shifted in this place, twisting and rolling in an unpredictable accord. She could feel the absences, the voids where so many had fallen, and the way the current moved around them. Something awesome and terrible had to have happened here to cause this.. and the Speaker's further dialogue seemed to confirm this. She listened to his tale, one of vanished orders and lost truths; the words he spoke called to her, and she nodded as she processed what was being said. He spoke of the ability to defy death, and the mass usage of said ability leading to this world's graveyard...

Finally, she broke her silence. "How?" He was right; she had heard legends of such abilities, but had always thought them impossible..


Roman Calipso | Adelle Bastiel | Vidalu Na'an

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

"He already told you. They died here. Together."

Na'an had been following behind the group in silence ever since the ship graveyard, taking in the scenery along the path with a huge eye. Wherever this man was leading them had the feeling of a greenhouse only recently abandoned and starting to overgrow. As she listened to his story, she wondered if the ghosts it conjured were the ones keeping this place intact, letting it melt gracefully into the jungle instead of falling to ruin. Now, however, something caught her eye; her steps slowed, bringing her to a stop in front of a mosaic half-obscured with vines. Her fingers traced the shapes of the pictures underneath. The curve of a galaxy, beings kneeling under a tree's spread branches, the flared points of a bursting star.

"But this planet...it's the most alive place I've ever seen," she said wonderingly. "The Force is strong here, and it's...it's so vivid. Hungry. Wild."

Her thumb found the familiar shape of a human hand; she followed its fingers with her own, reaching out for something long since crumbled away. All that seemed to be left was the point of what felt like an arrow.

"I've rarely felt things like I have in the Unknown Regions, and never like this. Part of me thinks this should all scare me as much as Kalidan does..."

Roman Calipso | Adelle Bastiel | Sakri​

 

[Roman Calipso]

"Living. It's like it's alive. As I said, the order here followed the philosophy of the Living Force. It permeates all but the most miniscule fraction of life in the galaxy, and binds us all together. It is a primal thing, relying on instinct and your connections with those around you. That is why you may feel a bit off, here on this planet. You may not be experienced in attuning with other living beings at all, none the less an entire planet's worth of them."

He turned towards them, his smile fading. Now for the next step. He wondered if this group would take it.

"I'm not the young man I was anymore. And unlike many species in the galaxy, I probably won't live to see a century. I've dedicated about a sixth of my life to studying this order, learning it's secrets. For what purpose, I didn't know. It was like I was being guided, simply being a passenger, along for the ride. But now.... maybe I see my purpose, starting with you three."

He glanced up at the capital ship in the skies above.

"Your ship is like a void, the dark side ripping a hole of decay in the fabric of the Force. I don't know what being, or beings occupy it, but my old eyes can still see the danger they pose to the greater galaxy. You three have some darkness too. But it's conflicted. It holds no solid ground. That has promise. And considering you all have listened all this time, without attempting to make me submit to your power, or cutting me down with my back turned, I don't think you are Sith."

Roman walked towards the ledge, peering off the side into the jungle below, before turning back towards the trio. "Let me teach you what I've learned from this.... hidden enclave of Jedi. Use it, to the benefit of all life in the galaxy. And when your time comes, ensure that you pass it on, and that it doesn't die."

Attn: Vidalu Na'an Adelle Bastiel Sakri

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

She could feel the strange way the tide shifted in this place, twisting and rolling in an unpredictable accord. She could feel the absences, the voids where so many had fallen, and the way the current moved around them. Something awesome and terrible had to have happened here to cause this.. and the Speaker's further dialogue seemed to confirm this. She listened to his tale, one of vanished orders and lost truths; the words he spoke called to her, and she nodded as she processed what was being said. He spoke of the ability to defy death, and the mass usage of said ability leading to this world's graveyard...

Finally, she broke her silence. "How?" He was right; she had heard legends of such abilities, but had always thought them impossible.

There was more to that one word than was said. More that was meant. Adelle had thought the Firrereon Thundercloud--stupid nickname, but she had nothing better--as lively as a statue but she could feel the yearning behind that question. How had the anomaly been created? No. Thundercloud was smarter than that. How had they created the anomaly? Becoming one with the Force, as the old man had just answered. But she had been listening. How had they become one with the Force? That seemed like the right meaning.

Adelle opened her mouth to answer but Na'an answered first.

"He already told you. They died here. Together."

Well that would be largely frustrating and disappointing to hear. But Na'an had lost her own master as a young padawan. He wouldn't have been able to teach her more about being one with the Force than, well, perhaps Thundercloud's masters.

"I think I can explain 'how' later," she whispered to Thundercloud. Right now though, there was more to listen to, more that the old man had to say.

"But this planet...it's the most alive place I've ever seen," she said wonderingly. "The Force is strong here, and it's...it's so vivid. Hungry. Wild."

Her thumb found the familiar shape of a human hand; she followed its fingers with her own, reaching out for something long since crumbled away. All that seemed to be left was the point of what felt like an arrow.

"I've rarely felt things like I have in the Unknown Regions, and never like this. Part of me thinks this should all scare me as much as Kalidan does..."

Well that was an interesting viewpoint. Adelle looked up at the mural that towered over Na'an then back behind them at the jungle outside, shadows deepening beneath the canopy. A living thing, wild and untamed, did have a nebulous autonomous and uncontrollable thing about it. Wild animals and plants acted out of survival and the need to pass on their genes. But a wild metaphysical creature? That had to be mildly terrifying for someone that had never seen it before. Especially since Na'an hadn't really been able to touch the metaphysical side of the Force without interpreting it through physical means.

But a living thing could be understood. Kalidan was a dead planet.

"Living. It's like it's alive. As I said, the order here followed the philosophy of the Living Force. It permeates all but the most miniscule fraction of life in the galaxy, and binds us all together. It is a primal thing, relying on instinct and your connections with those around you. That is why you may feel a bit off, here on this planet. You may not be experienced in attuning with other living beings at all, none the less an entire planet's worth of them."

He turned towards them, his smile fading. Now for the next step. He wondered if this group would take it.

"I'm not the young man I was anymore. And unlike many species in the galaxy, I probably won't live to see a century. I've dedicated about a sixth of my life to studying this order, learning it's secrets. For what purpose, I didn't know. It was like I was being guided, simply being a passenger, along for the ride. But now.... maybe I see my purpose, starting with you three."

He glanced up at the capital ship in the skies above.

"Your ship is like a void, the dark side ripping a hole of decay in the fabric of the Force. I don't know what being, or beings occupy it, but my old eyes can still see the danger they pose to the greater galaxy. You three have some darkness too. But it's conflicted. It holds no solid ground. That has promise. And considering you all have listened all this time, without attempting to make me submit to your power, or cutting me down with my back turned, I don't think you are Sith."

Roman walked towards the ledge, peering off the side into the jungle below, before turning back towards the trio. "Let me teach you what I've learned from this.... hidden enclave of Jedi. Use it, to the benefit of all life in the galaxy. And when your time comes, ensure that you pass it on, and that it doesn't die."

Adelle dipped her head respectfully. "I am willing."

And she was excited. This place held promise. It offered freedom from the dead planet.



Vidalu Na'an | Sakri | Roman Calipso

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

"Yes!"

Na'an wasn't as surprised as she should have been at her own swift answer, nor at how fast she rounded from the mural towards the old man. It seemed that she was getting used to the way her body seemed to know what to do before her mind did here. This planet's effect on her brain...It felt halfway familiar. Like when she'd finally manage to slip into meditation after an hour's hard running, or during the old dances back on Dantooine, when her pulse would sync with the drum and her mind would go blank. But the familiarity was cut with the same sharp strangeness that came with Babylon--the feeling like you were suddenly bigger than your body--like anything was possible, anything within reach.

The Force had led her here, her and Adelle and this third, silent stranger, to this waiting hermit. The Force wanted this, had maybe wanted it for a long time.

"Yes, please," she said again, gripping his hand with hers. "Whatever we can--whatever there's time for, before we--"

The sudden smell of hot dust flooded her nose; her back tingled as she shook the sensation loose.
"Before we have to go back. I think we're meant to learn this, and before I'm around him again--whatever there's time for, I'll do it. Sir."

Roman Calipso | Adelle Bastiel | Sakri​

 

[Sakri]

The first woman's reply was frustrating to hear. She did not understand the question, didn't hear the meaning behind it.. but that was fine. Sakri knew that not everyone would understand her nuances. It was frustrating, but it wasn't something she was going to clarify or debate. She simply sneered slightly; it was a pleasant surprise, then, when the other woman whispered an acknowledgement and an offer of her own. The Firrerreo glanced at her, pausing for just a moment before issuing a single nod.

The Speaker continued, speaking of darkness and greater purpose; Sakri did not consider herself easily swayed, but his words resonated with her, called to her.. felt right. The current's direction was undeniable now. She heard the others chime in, one voice enthusiastic, the other respectful, yet neither evoked a reaction.

"I will stay, and learn."

This was why she had been brought here. This was what the tide had in store for her; she knew this to be true. What this man was offering could not be denied.. even had she had a working ship with which to leave, she didn't think she would at this point.

There was far too much of interest here.


Roman Calipso | Adelle Bastiel | Vidalu Na'an