While I Was Away..

[DARKCOM]

Breath!

Silent steps from the pawed demon sent shivers down the spine of the lone human, slowly it circled intently with a cold, calculating gaze that pierced through the very soul of it's soon-to-be prey. The beast had four thick muscular legs that slowly carried the frame of the oversized feline, the razor sharp claws retracted slowly as the hunter gazed into it's eyes. It's eyes... eyes of a demon trapped in the bowels of Chaos.

The hunter stood his ground gazing into the eyes of the monstrosity, it studied him for a moment slowing it's pace as if waiting for an opening. He would give it no quarter, he was tired of running, tired of living on the edge of breaking, he would surrender himself to the wild side. The animal side.

The beast planted it's feet into the ground and roared with an intensity to shake the foundation of every tree in the jungle, birds fled the treetops taking to the sky to escape the savage monster. The warrior remained stationary, he continued to stare into the heart of darkness before responding with a cry of his own. The human screamed a bloody roar that emerged forth from the strained vocals of the lone survivor. Time slowed to a crawl and within that moment the beast was upon him.

Breathe!

5 years ago....​

​

Kaigann could hear the whine of the engines of his salvaged X-Wing as he entered the lost system in the depths of the Unknown Regions. "She's not gonna make it." The harsh vibrations and newfound noise validating his statement, he wasn't going to make the return trip home in this ship. Truthfully, he had no idea where he was in the galaxy, without a working navicomputer he was bound to wander the stars aimlessly.

"Dammit!"

Several alarms and dash readings surfaced warning the pilot of the damage to the hull and worsening condition of the stabilizers. Kaigann set his gaze upon the approaching blue planet, he had to set it down and make repairs or else he would be grounded permanently or worse trapped in the vacuum of space. Flipping the stabilizers he opened the wings into X formation in order to see which was the problem child.

It had been nearly a year since the apprentice of Graxin Rade, Kaigann Fossk, had joined the mission of investigating the Primeval in the Unknown Regions under the leadership of Ekul Selah, the Dark Man. In that time he had been separated from the group, captured, freed by his own hand, and lost in the vacuum of space in attempting to escape the Primeval.

Wandering the Unknown Regions, Kaigann sought something to turn the tide against the One Sith in the newly developing war against the Republic and the newly rechristened 'Army of Light'. He had heard tales of Revan's exploits with the Rakatan structures such as the Star Forge and in turn followed the footsteps of the rogue Jedi Knight in exploring the vast unexplored territory.

He found signs of Rakatan rule on several planets, long lost structures dedicated to the God-Kings of the Infinite Empire but there were no signs of any secret weapon or long lost artifact that could bring about the victory they sorely needed. In truth, it was a fool's quest, a false savior that would never come. There was no longer any artifacts left by the Rakata, no superweapons to be uncovered, no trace of the long lost civlization other than the rotting monuments left behind after thousands of years.

Kaigann felt like a fool, he had spent an entire year away from his allies and in doing so had slowed not only his own growth but the strength of the Reformation. Every Jedi was a cog in the ever growing machine that fueled Ession's dream of destroying the Sith. They needed every saber, and his was long gone, lost in the expansive void.

The clean cut look the young Jedi sported was now gone, his face now covered by a short beard, his buzz cut grown into middle length slicked back hair. Kaigann continued on his current course towards the unknown world, his skills in piloting had increased significantly from the time he had left Ession, he was confident he would be able to land the vessel and begin the much needed repairs for the trip home. He had to trust in the Force, it would guide him home... so he hoped.

 

[DARKCOM]

The pilot veered the single seated X-Wing to the right, he motioned to steer the vessel in the direction of less resistance upon entering the atmosphere. Minor turbulence shook the vessel but nothing the apprentice couldn't handle after the experiences he'd been in as of the last year and a half. Luck was on his side each time he had visited a world he had been able to feed himself and keep up his strength, he hoped to keep up his luck until he could at least pilot this hunk of junk back to the edge of known space.

The X-Wing sliced through the upper layers of the lost world's atmosphere, parting the clouds as it made its descent. The sight of the bright blue ocean caught the eye of the Jedi Padawan as he stared in awe at the beauty of such an unspoiled planet. That's when it hit him.

A sudden unimaginable pain seered into the back of Kaigann's skull as he shifted to the right suddenly, his ears picked up the screams of hundreds dying on the fields of Kashyyk. His brothers in arms, his comrades... they were dying and he could feel each death through the Force as it battered away at his mind. Kaigann struggled for a moment to keep control of the vessel as the unbearable headaches worsened, a lone tear rolled down his face as he struggled to keep himself from blacking out.

His body began to fail slowly but surely, the encroaching darkness circled his eyesight moving in on his vision. It was in this dark moment that he seized the controls with all the strength he could muster channelling the Force through him to keep him revitalized as he made his way toward a lone landmass dead ahead. With the pain and deathening screams came the unwelcome visage of Graxin's J-1 flying alongside his X-Wing.

"Your not real."

A lone voice mocked him as if replying to his thoughts, "Your insignificant movement will be crushed, I live on even through death."

Kaigann moved his head, his eyes followed the voice to it's source as he gazed out his leftside witnessing the spectral image of the long dead Bith dictator of Ession.

"I killed you!? You aren't real! It's all in my head.."

The Bith laughed at the Jedi before continuing it's taunting, "A true Jedi. You merely showed that you are no different than the Sith you hunt, remind me how you killed me... took my throne from me."

"Shut up!"

"Kaigann."

The lone voice of his father whispered from his right flank, he was now entranced by these figures, so much so that he ignored the proximity alert now ringing throughout the cockpit.

"You let them take Epoch. I always knew you were a coward, now you know why I left you on the Jedi's doorstep. You are nothing."

Kaigann gritted his teeth, he muttered to himself repeatedly, "You aren't real. You aren't real."

Visible manifestations of arms suddenly emerged gripping hold of the Jedi, "I'm right here boy!"

A deathening scream filled the cockpit as Kaigann unleashed the full intensity of the Force inside the X-Wing. "NO!"

 

[DARKCOM]

The ghostly apparition of the long dead dictator, his father, and the image of Graxin's starfighter had driven Kaigann to the breaking point. The vessel he had flown was grounded as it crashed with tremendous force into a beach covered in white sand. Scattered parts and debris were everywhere, the ship's console fried from the surge of power he'd unleashed upon the starfighter.

Inside the cockpit of the downed X-Wing, the pilot remained seated, he was alive but injured. Kaigann woke to the sounds of sparks flaring and flames burning outside. Daylight shined through the broken glass as he reached upward in an attempt to muster the strength to push open the cockpit. Pushing on the top of the latch, Kaigann gritted his teeth as he slowly lifted the top of the cockpit open only to roll out of the vessel after doing so.

He moaned in pain and agony, holding his ribs as he slowly supported himself into a seated position outside of the starfighter. Kaigann leaned against the downed X-Wing holding his seemingly fractured ribs, looking down at his leg he noticed his right pant leg soaked in blood. Reaching downward he tore open the pantleg revealing bone sticking out of his right shin. Chuckling at the sight of blood and the fact his leg had gone completely numb from the pain the apprentice could only stare in contempt for the stupidity of his actions.

What had happened to him? Where did he lose control? It didn't matter, what happened happened there was no changing the outcome.

Kaigann slowly reached inside the cockpit twisting his body as he did so as to not put pressure on the wounded leg. He searched his with free hand for a medpac or emergency medical kit, after several moments of grabbing useless debris and random scrap he gripped hold of a metal case. Eureka.

Pulling the kit out from the cockpit he fell back into place with the medical kit now resting between his arms, opening the case he gazed in horror at the sight of every stim except one broken inside. Grabbing hold of the lone stimpack he used what he could before moving his gaze to his damaged leg. The stim worked in moments, slowly it revitalized his muscles giving him more mobility but also restoring pain to his right leg. He attempted to use the Force to mend his body but to no avail, he was far too weak from the crash and was in no state to utilize the Force.

Slowly he wrapped his torn pant legging up before biting down on the torn off piece. Reaching over toward two large rocks he moved them close to his leg and then raised his right leg in between the two rocks. Twisting his leg back into place he popped the bone back into it's socket and blacked out from the pain...

The Jedi awoke nightfall to the sounds of strange howling in the jungle line near the ends of the beach, he was alone on a hostile world and now he would have to survive the wilderness if he ever wanted to see his allies again.