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In 25 ABY, Jedi Kyp Durron and his Dozen-and-Two Avengers stumbled across a new threat to the galaxy at a barren planet called Helska IV.  Durron was the only survivor of the ensuing skirmish, which would be the prelude to a war that consumed the entire galaxy.  The Yuuzhan Vong would not be defeated until 29 ABY, and they left behind a very different galaxy than the one they found.

Among the survivors of that conflict, none were left untouched.

CHAPTER ONE: An Unwanted Task
32 ABY

     The Templar Archive on Oros was a beautiful place by any standard.  Tucked into a beautiful valley, the low but sprawling complex was constructed from blocks carved out of natural stone.  Numerous fountains, statues and gardens dotted the top level of the complex, which was, in a way, deceptive.  The Archive itself was hundreds of feet underground; this beautiful stone structure housed only the living quarters, training area and guest facilities, along with a few token libraries, a sprawling workshop and the ‘public’ council chamber.  This Archive was home to over a hundred Templars, with dozens more coming and going and usually a dozen or so Jedi and Vhal’dan visitors. 
      One of those visitors was Edda Veek’s reason for coming to Oros, and her destination at the moment was the Council Chamber.  Unfortunately, she was now hung up at her least favorite place on the planet; the entrance.  A great stone wall encircled the Archive, and a massive arch made up the entrance.  Standing in the middle of the arch, a forty foot statue of Rakham Crescentfall, wearing solemn hooded robes, but nonetheless grinning around a great stone pipe clenched in his teeth.
     He would hate this.  Edda thought with a small smile to herself as she pictured the giant man learning that the Order had seen fit to build an enormous statue in his honor.  The little smile vanished as the droning of the guard brought her back to reality.
     “...your Identity chip isn’t working, Madam.  Would you like to apply for a visitor’s pass?”  He intoned, attempting to hand an ID chip that appeared to have been stepped on by a Rancor back to Edda.
     “Would I like to apply for a visitor’s pass to the Archive I founded?”  Edda asked, almost dumbfounded.  “No.  No I would not. I would like to go before the council as I’ve been ordered to-“
     “Madam, I cannot allow you to enter the Arch-“  The guard attempted to cut her off, which only served to anger the already frustrated Templar even further.
     “No!  You listen to me, whelp!  I was wearing the crystal before you were born!  I fought the Revenant at the side of Rakham Crescentfall, then I fought the Yuuzhan Vong beside him again!  I am the Scourge of Yuuzhan’tar, the Valkyrie of Dantooine, I am the Burned One, Yuuzhan’s Bane, and you will not prevent me from entering MY Archive!”  She stepped closer to him with each shout, the rasp in her voice turning it to a snarl as she marched down the taller man.  He worked his jaw, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to think of a response, but before he could, the scarred Hapan stepped around him, straightened her robes with a sharp tug, and marched inside the wall.

     To one side of the path, a group of young apprentices meditated in a circle, under the watchful eye of one Sahka Tekk.  Edda nodded at her old comrade, who returned the gesture with a toothy smile.  On the other side, a groundskeeper droid was carefully tended to beds of flowers.  As soon as one passed through the wall, an aura of tranquility settled in.  Edda shook it off.  She wasn’t ready for tranquility just yet.  She marched into the Archive with purpose, the hard soles of her heavy black boots making a distinctive sound on the stone floor as her black robes and cloak flowed behind her.  She didn’t even slow down as she reached the tall wooden doors to the Council Chamber, instead flinging them open with the Force and stomping in with the air of a conquering queen.
     “Kepressa, I’m beheading the next one of your guards that asks me for a starsdamned ID chip!”  She said angrily, drawing the attention of the masters gathered there in the once-peaceful room.  Facing the door was a half circle of chairs in a round room that was cover floor to ceiling in bookshelves.  In five of the seven chairs sat Templar Masters.  Faradi, who had an amused expression on his face.  Rawbacca, who was examining his claws uninterestedly.  Koryn Stykes, who was shaking his head and staring at his feet, trying to hide a grin.  Dala Crescentfall, with a slight expression disapproval and concern, a Rodian woman who Edda recognized but could not name, and finally, Tasrii Kepressa, who stared evenly at Edda, locking her gaze on the Hapan’s sharp green eyes.  She glared for a moment before cracking a grin.
     “Alright Edda, I’ll warn them of the danger.  It’s good to see you in one piece.” 
     Edda’s hardened facade fell away almost instantly, and she suspected Tasrii of calming her through the Force, but she couldn’t bring herself to be angry.
    “It’s good to see you too, Tas.”  She said with a defeated sigh.  “I apologize; I’m always on edge this time of year.”
     “I understand, more than anyone.  There’s someone here you should meet.”  Tasrii replied, and gestured to the fifth person in the room, who Edda had failed to notice.
     It was a human man, wearing the traditional robes of the Jedi Order.  He had shaggy, jet black hair and a graying beard, with narrow, angular brown eyes.
    “Templar Veek, meet Knight Bollin.”  Tasrii said, and the Jedi responded with a slight bow and wide smile.
     “Happy to make your acquaintance, Mistress Veek, But please, call me Jorn.”
     “The pleasure is mine, Jorn.  My first name is Edda.  I’ve heard that you require my assistance, but details have not been forthcoming.”
     “I believe I should allow your Masters to explain that.”  He said with a concerned look.  “They tell me you aren’t going to like it.”
     “Of course I’m not.”  She said quietly, and sighed again.  “Let’s hear it then.”
     “We need you to take him to the old Archive.” Tasrii said.
     “No.”
     “Please?”
     “Hell no.”
     Edda turned around and headed for the door.
     “Coruscant. The second time.” Tasrii’s voice made Edda stop in her tracks.
     “You know you only get to use that once, Tas.”
     “I do.”
     “And now’s the time?”
     “It is.”
     “Pack your bags, Jorn, we’re leaving in half an hour.”

...

     Edda’s ship was small and sleek.  It was technically a luxury yacht, but she’d somehow managed to squeeze it into her operational expenses.  Equipped with such tactical resources as hardwood floors, adjustable mood lighting, spacious living quarters, an enormous bath and a full kitchen complete with a culinary droid.  In addition to the culinary droid, Edda kept two YVH-1 Battle Droids on board, just in case.

    As the Templar and the Jedi approached the ship, both of these droids could be seen flanking the off ramp, glaring around menacingly.  Edda ascended the ramp wordlessly, entering the ship’s luxurious common area.
     “Alright Jorn, bedrooms are down that hallway.  The master at the end is mine, the other two are open.  Cockpit is in the front, guest refresher is over there.  Kitchen is through the door to the left, the droid can cook just about anything.  Make yourself at home.”  Edda said, pulling off her cloak and tossing it over a chair as she made her way towards the cockpit.

...

     The deep, rhythmic thumping and shouting vocals of Mandalorian street music filled the cockpit as Edda’s hands worked the controls.  She didn’t understand the Mando’a lyrics, but she’d picked up a taste for the beats from a Hit Squad commando.  As the ship broke free of Oros’ gravitational pull and the autopilot kicked in, she leaned back in the seat and kicked her feet up on the console, closing her eyes and letting the music wash some of the stress out of her mind.
     It was a short lived moment.  The door behind her slid open, and Jorn appeared. 
     “I didn’t know the Templars were at the Battle of Dantooine.” He stated.
     “Who said Templars were at the Battle of Dantooine?”  Edda reached over and increased the volume of the music, but Jorn refused to take the hint.
     “It’s that time of year.”  He replied.
     “Yeah, well, we all did our part for the war effort.”
     “I’ve heard you did more than your part.”
     “Aren’t you a bit nosy for a Jedi?”
     “Perhaps, but it’s important to know who’s flying me around and watching my back.”
     “I’m not watching your back, I’m letting you into a building.”
     “Things change.”
     Edda sighed again, and turned the music back down, swiveling her chair to face the Jedi.  “Alright, fine.  You go first; why do you want into the old Archive?”
     “A Jedi was inside when it was sealed.  He was carrying a map, and I need to try and recover it.”     
     “What does the map lead to?”
     “Old Jedi temples.”
     “Oh.  That map.”
     “You’re familiar?”
     “We recovered it back in the day, before Skywalker brought the Jedi back.  I’ve seen it.”  Edda replied.  “My turn.  Whatever you want to know, ask.”
     “Well, are the stories about you true?”
     “I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.”
     “They call you Yuuzhan’s Bane.  They say  that when we retook Coruscant, you felled a hundred Vong by yourself.  They say that the Burned One has never been bested in battle.”
     “I’ve been bested many times.”  She answered with a dark look as Rakham Crescentfall’s last lopsided grin flashed in her mind.  “No one fought the Yuuzhan Vong without losing something.”
     “True enough.”  He nodded grimly.  “I was at Dantooine too, you know.  What were Templars doing there?”
     “Observing.”  Edda said honestly.  “We had yet to officially contact the new Order, and my Master and I had been following Skywalker from a distance for some time.  When it became clear that there would be a battle, we called in a Templar strike team led by Master Kepressa that was tailing us.  Of the Templars there, only Tasrii and me made it out.  They called me the Valkyrie of Ithor afterwards, because I spent the entire battle trying to drag the wounded to safety.  Most of them were dead by the time I got them out, but I kept going.  I had fought before, in squabbles between Force sensitives that retained a certain nobility despite their barbarism, but that battle showed me what war really was.  Is that enough of my life story for you?”  The words came wearily, as though she were describing a bad dream.
     “You were the Valkyrie?  Do you know how many lives you saved that day?”  Jorn asked in astonishment, mouth agape.
     “Not enough.  Now, again, are you going to keep pestering me for war stories like an irritating nephew, or are you going to leave me in peace?”
    Jorn merely nodded and backed out of the room, a newfound respect in his eyes.

     As the door closed, Edda turned her music back up and resumed her relaxed position, hands clasped behind her head.  This time, however, the bearded, sad eyed but always grinning face of her master haunted her rest.
     “I’ve got this, Edda.”  His voice echoed, sharing space in her head with the sounds of apocalyptic battle.

CHAPTER END

Wow, that is quite a different setting, albeit a really creative one! does it spoil Brothers knowing they end up on Orso though?  Perhaps not, who is to say what is/isn't canon.  Will be fascinating to see how this plays out.

very interesting!  I've been looking ahead of late and wondering whether to follow more of the "Legends" canon or official canon.  This may be the deciding factor.  I love the setting and these characters.  As LSG said, you'll have to be careful about spoiler but this has the makings of a wonderful new tale...

There won’t be any plot spoilers for Brothers, don’t worry!  That story will be wrapped up by around 10 ABY, and this one is concerned only with what happens after 25 ABY.  There are minor things like the new Archive, but that’s already been started, in a small way, in Brothers.

I’m really happy you guys enjoyed it!  I’m excited about this one myself.

Cool. I like this story already. I am interested to see why Jorn wants the map, but we'll find out soon enough I suspect. Not knowing much of the Legends between ROTJ and TFA, I am hoping to stay out of it for the most part. The way I write, I make sure that everything fits with Canon even if it does touch the Legends. But that is just because I wouldn't mind seeing my stories become part of SW Canon sometime. Still, an interesting premise. Good job.

Oh this looks delicious already.  Headstrong individualist who seems mostly intent on staying away from all the reminders of parts of her past, forced to take an overly curious, if respectful Jedi back to one of those very places.  Hints and tales of bits of that very past she seems to want to leave in the past, yet she has s sense of fairness.

I have to say, there was at least one spoiler, we know Rakham survives the current conflict in the Brothers tale.  There is still lots and lots of room for drama, and story building, even knowing that, though. 

Hmm..     A Jedi was ... buried alive in the Archive?  With this map? 

Oy....   So we're starting with a classic "Indiana Jones" or "Tomb Raider" kind of scenario.  And maps that people die for generally don't lead to good things....  ;-)

Depending on your perspective, they might lead to VERY good, useful things.  *grin*

Like Ahch-To.

This story is truly a remarkable departure from what we've been writing about and already I'm hooked! It's fascinating to see an established character having matured, changed, for better (hopefully) or worse (we've yet to see...).  But now what consequences have occurred that we have to catch up on...?

Where is Rakham?  What's happened to the Templars?  I doubt that everyone is alive after the Vong War... Keep it up TDC!

So, the next chapter of Brothers is finished and the next War Journal is halfway done, however, due to technological skullduggery, I can't access either of them.

So, have some Edda, and remember, the next chapters of my other stories are coming soon!

CHAPTER 2: Ghost

     The Archive landing panding pad, once home to some of the finest custom starships in the galaxy, was now no more that a graveyard for rusting hulks of twisted metal.  The Vong had destroyed most of the ships on the pad in their initial bombing run.  The mountain bore the scars of that attack as well, with craters and blast marks dotting it's surface.  Sitting alone amongst the wreckage was one pristine NV-2000 luxury cruiser, and sitting crosslegged on the that cruiser's ramp, one Jedi who was either very deep in meditation, or very bored.  Edda and Jorn had landed before the sun rose, and now it was high in the sky.  She'd said something about 'the mountain sleeping' and wandered off, occasionally stopping at different places to run her hands over the stone and mutter to herself.  She'd been at it for hours, and suddenly, the peace was broken.  There was a long string of curses from behind a cratered Corellian freighter, followed by the sound of solid stone being kicked savagely and then another, higher pitched string of profanity.  Before Jorn could stand and go check on the Templar,the ground began to shake and a rumbling grew below the Earth.
    "Edda?"  Jorn called nervously, rising unsteadily to his feet and stumbling down the ramp.  He made his way around the destroyed Corellian freighter blocking his view of Edda as quickly as possible, and found her collapsed on her rear before a gaping black maw in the mountain, ruefully rubbing her foot.  As suddenly as the shaking began, it stopped.
    "I got it open."  She shouted back over her shoulder, and dragged herself to her feet to peer inside.  "Go ask one of of the droids for my Mountain Kit."
   
    As Jorn hustled back to the ship, Edda steeled herself.  When she'd sealed the Archive five years ago, she'd never intended to open it again.  This place was tomb, both for friends and for enemies.
    "Got it!"  He shouted as he rounded the wrecked freighter, dragging a bulging rucksack.  "What's in this thing?  It feels like a ton of rocks."
    "Gear."  She said brusquely, and began digging through it. She grimaced and paused for a moment as she realized that her hands were shaking, then furiously went back to work.She produced two web harnesses first, and handed one to Jorn.  "Put this on."
    He inspected the piece of gear.  It was an old tactical harness.  Each of the shoulder straps bore a patch; one was in the shape of a coffin with a trident in the middle, the other bore the words 'Hit Squad' in stylized letters.  Jorn shrugged and put it on, tightening the belt to fit his slender frame and moving his lightsaber to it.  It was covered in pouches and holsters.  There was a battered, outdated but still powerful DL-44 blaster pistol on the belt, a rugged utility knife, a set of flares, several back-up torchlights, a climbing pick and half a dozen other explorer's tools.  Edda had already clasped hers on and was producing more gear from the sack.  Two long coils of metal-reinforced climbing rope, which went around their shoulders, two grappling hook launchers and a large torchlight for each of them.
     "Do we really need all of this?"  He asked incredulously.
     "We probably need all this to get across the threshhold.  I don't know what we'll need to reach the Vault."  She answered, and flicked on the beam of her light, shining it through the door. It revelead a chasm fifty feet wide and, as far as either of them could tell, bottomless.  "I tore the floor out from under the Vong who were chasing us..."  Edda said quietly, her mind flashing back to that day. 

     The smell of smoke filled her nose, and the din of battle rang in her ears.  She heard the screams of the dying, the war cries of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors and the shrieks of blaster fire mixed with the hum of lightsabers.  For moment, instead of standing beside Jorn, she was leaning against Tasrii Kepressa, her back bleeding in a dozen places and her head swimming, and with a wave of her bloodsoaked hand, the floor under the charging Yuuzhan Vong warriors crumbled away into a bottomless pit.  At the will of the Burned One, walls collapsed, ceilings fell in and chaos reigned as the ancient keep destroyed those who dared invade it.

     "Are you okay?"  Jorn asked, laying his hand on her shoulder and dragging her back to reality.  She shrugged off the contact.
     "Of course I'm okay."  She snapped at him, and shouldered her grappling hook launcher.  She fired it at the ceiling halfway across the gap, hooked the line through a loop on her harness and, without warning, leapt across the gap, swinging safely to the other side and reeling her hook back in.  Jorn followed the same steps with competence and landed beside her.
     This was what remained of the great hall.  The long, finely made wooden tables had been turned up on edge to be used as cover by the Templar's mercenary forces, and then smashed by the attacking Yuuzhan Vong.  Most of the defenders were still here, armored skeletons scattered behind their makeshift barricades, mixed with those of Yuuzhan Vong fighters and their Voxyn hounds.  Edda crept quietly, respectfully across the floor, until her feet crunched on broken glass and she stared up at the broken window to Berra's office.

     She was standing inside the office, now.  Looking through the window at the mercenary defenders as they were overrun, sweat dripping down her brow as she struggled to regain her breath, her lightsaber still activated in her hand.  The hilt was sticky, and she looked down to see blood, her own blood, running down her arm.  She turned to speak to Berra, to check on the blind Miraluka who could not see the Yuuzhan Vong attackers, but instead of the Templar master, she was face to face with Vong fighters as they rushed in through the door. A Voxyn launched itself at her, and she buried her saber in it's guts, but the eight-legged hound's momentum carried them both through the glass, and they landed in the middle of the melee below. She smacked her head against the floor, and her vision began to fade in and out as shards of glass dug into her back.  By the time her mind cleared, the fight was all but lost, and Tasrii was dragging her to her feet and towards the entrance.

    It was with the pain of broken glass cutting into her knees that she snapped back to the present.  She cursed and stood up, shooting a glare at the very concerned looking Jedi behind her.
    "Come on, Jedi.  Through here."  She pointed to the door on the back wall, that led to their old meeting and dining room.  She pulled the door open slowly.  The walls had closed in her, and they hadn't fully reopened.  A corridor had been formed that wasn't more than ten inches wide.  The floor was cluttered with bones, and the walls were stained with blood.  Halfway down the corridor, the tables and chairs had been turned to a splintered mass that blocked any hope of passage.  Edda placed her hands against the walls and attempted to move them, but the mountain refused to budge.  She gave a frustrated groan, and Jorn placed a hand on her shoulder.
    "Please, allow me."  He said quietly.  Edda took a step back and gave a go ahead gesture.  He reached into the gap and closed his eyes.  The shattered furniture levitated off the floor and drifted towards them.  He aloowed it to fall gently into a heap outside the door.  "After you."
     Edda nodded in response and began to squeeze into the corridor, attempting to suck in her chest and shuffle sideways down the narrow path.  There was a time when rubbing against the dried blood would have sickened her, but now she didn't even notice, and the crunching of bones beneath her boots was miles away from her mind.  What worried her now was the visions.  She thought that they'd stopped for good, but they were worse than ever here, and as she came out the passage and into a roomier hallway, she half expected another one to trigger.  She could remember very clearly the last time she was here.  Tasrii was shouting that they were under attack, the mercenaries were rushing through the dining room and her first thought had been that she had to reach Berra and help her escape.  By that time, the Vong had broken through, and she fought them all the way up the stairs to Berra's office.  One of their razor sharp amphistaffs opened up her arm from shoulder to elbow, but in the heat of battle she never noticed it, and by the time she reached the top, she believed all of her pursuers to be dead.
 
     "Come on, Jedi.  The Archive is down here."  She pointed down the hall and set off.  The hallway was littered here with Vong corpses, and the walls were scored by lightsaber cuts.  Faradi had cut through them like a demon, and with Tasrii's help had been solely responsible for the survivors' escape.  As they drew closer to the Vault, the bodies and cuts grew thicker, and eventually the floor vanished into another bottomless black chasm.  Edda dropped down to one knee and peered into the darkness, the beam of her light dissapearing into it.  "The Mountain was protecting the Vault."  She said, mostly to herself.  The hallway ahead of them took a sharp right turn, and the floor had dropped at least to that point.
     "What do we do now?"  Jorn asked, shining his own light into the darkness.  "Is there another way?"
     "Not to the Vault.  See those ledges?"  She pointed to narrow, jagged edges running down each wall where the floor had crumbled away. At their widest, they only protruded a few inches from the wall. "We'll use those."
     "Use them for what?"  Jorn asked in alarm.  Edda did not answer, instead pressing her back against the wall and beginning to shuffle down the ledge on her heels.  Jorn watched incredulously as bits of stone crumbled away under her feet and vanished into the chasm.  She stopped after ten feet or so and looked back at him.
     "Do you want your map or not?"  She shouted, her raspy voice echoing.  Jorn gulped and began to follow her, shuffling down the opposite side of the hallway until they were face to face.  "See? It's not that hard."
     "It actually is."  Jorn said, bead of sweat shining on his brow.
     "Don't worry, Jedi.  If you fall, I'll probably catch you."

     Progress was slow, but fortunately, after making it around the bend in the hallway, there were only a few feet left until the floor came back.  Jorn, in his haste to find solid ground again, moved too quickly and very nearly fell into the blackness, and certainly would have if Edda had not reached out with the Force and stopped him.  He thanked her, and she said nothing, but made her way off of the ledge and over to a door twenty feet down the hall.  She grasped the handle and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge, so with a savage kick she knocked it down.  Jorn caught up quickly and shined his light inside.
     The Vault had been mostly empty when the attack happened, and it was in the process of emptying it that they'd uncovered the map they were now looking for.  However, a mostly empty Templar vault is a room brimming with treasures to the average person, and Jorn'seyes went wide as his light uncovered the dusty artifacts.  The beam also uncovered something else leaning against the far wall; a skeleton in hooded robes, surrounded by slain Vong and still gripping a lightsaber.  In it's other hand the datachip holding the map rested, covered in dust.
     "There's your map.  He was down here with Faradi when they attacked.  Our defenses only lasted for a few seconds, there were just too many of them."  Edda said.  Jorn walked over to the bones slowly and knelt down.  He took the lightsaber first, and held it in his hand for a moment before hanging it on his belt.  Then, the map went securely into a pouch on his harness.  When he stood and turned to face Edda, there were unashamed tears in his eyes.
     "Did you know him?  She asked, her demeanor softening to the Jedi for the first time since they'd met.
     "He was my brother."  Jorn replied, wiping the tears away from his cheek.  "Nett Bollin."
     "I'm sorry, Jorn."
     "Don't be.  The Vong took something from us all."  He replied, with a smile that never reached his crying eyes.
     "Why did they send you here to do this?"  Edda asked, her tone compassionate.
     "I volunteered.  It seemed right that I should be the one to visit my brother's tomb.  Why did they send you?  It's obviously very painful for you to be here."
     "Me and Faradi are the only ones left who can manipulate the stone here, and Faradi is the warden of the Oros Archive, he only leaves it if there's an emergency.  The Masters most likely felt that our Order owes yours a debt after your brother died on our watch, and this is how they repay it, so it was worth a little suffering."
     "I'm sorry, Edda." 
     "Don't be.  This isn't the hardest thing I've ever done by a long shot.  Now, let's go home."  It was Edda's turn to smile sadly now.
     "Agreed." 

...

    The trip back to Oros was uneventful.  By the time they reached the Archive, Edda and Jorn had established a friendship that would last for the rest of their lives, but he was to return to the Jedi Order, and Edda was given a new assignment.  They said their goodbyes outside of the council chamber.
    "Take care of yourself out there, Jedi."
    "You too, Templar."
    "Edda!"  Tasrii's voice rang out from the other side of the door. 
    "Duty calls, it sounds like.  I'll see you around, Veek."  Jorn said with a grin.  Edda clasped him on the shoulder, and without a word turned around and swept into the council room.

     Most of the masters had left.  Only Tasrii still stood within, wearing her crimson robes and turning over her lightsaber in her hands as she gazed out of a huge window at the setting sun.
     "What do you need, Tas?" Edda asked, taking a place beside her.  She was in an uncharacteristically good mood.
     "I have another job for you, it should be simple, just smash and grab. Exactly the kind of job you like.  A Hutt Cartel has has recovered something of great value, and we need it."  Tasrii paused for a moment.  "There is a catch.  The something that we need is more of a someone.  A Force-sensitive child.  The Hutts have this idea that they're going to turn him into a weapon."
     "Alright.  Send me the coordinates, and I'll go scoop him up. What's the planet?"
     "Just like that?"
     "Just like that."
     "He's on Tattoine.  I'll send the exact location to your ship.  Take care of yourself out there, Edda."
     "I always do."

     
CHAPTER END

interesting.   I love how Jorn goes from a wide-eyed groupie to having his own anchor there.  And they become friends.

And very nicely written.  The aftermath of a battle like the one the Vougn would have fought with the Templars would be nasty.  Skeletons everywhere...  As you describe.  And how would a veteran from that fight react to re-visiting it years later?

Rather like a member of the 20th Maine standing on the ridge at little round top on the 20th anniversary of Gettysburg... 

Nicely done.

Edda and Jorn are wonderful protagonists.  Added to the backdrop of the aftermath of the Vong War, this has some SERIOUSLY oppressive ambience for our heroes.  But, moreover, I can't wait to read more about what has transpired to the Templars during the interim of years...

And TDC, take your time^^  We're not going anywhere  ;)

I agree with Karm and TD, and while I haven't read any of the books on the Vong wars, I did wookieepedia them a while back, and they do not sound like an easy battle. Anyways, I really liked this chapter because it felt almost like the Fellowship's trip through Moria. Well done, and I'm excited to see who this child is.

The Vong and their tech come from outside the known galaxy, and it is all force-invisible.  And they have some pretty amazing biotech.  In fact, they see what we would consider normal machines as an utter abomination.  They were utterly alien and incredibly tough.

What happened on Coruscant...   Wow....

Lot of wreckage to sort through after the Vong war, and not just the psychical kind it seems. How much have either of them really recovered, there is a grudging sort of acceptance to both o the characters here  that 'the Vong took something from all of us," exactly what that was i'm not sure is not as simple as the old archive and a brother.

Well, if the trajectory of the Legends canon novels are a guide, the Jedi lost a LOT of their innocence.  Jacen fell to the dark, killed Mara, and was in turn killed by his sister Jaina during the Vong war.  Luke lost his son Ben and his wife.  Han and Leia lost a son and nearly a daughter.  And the Jedi became a fighting force, not the peace keepers that Luke had hoped they would become. 

I imagine that loss of innocence and hope for the future was far more universal, and honestly the Vong were a very unique challenge for force users. 

I would be VERY interested to see how an Aethan might have dealt with them...  ;-)

Jacen's fall to the Dark side was actually after the Vong War and after this story, but it was almost my certainly an aftereffect of the War.  Force Lords with PTSD; not a pretty thing.

Another interesting note about the War and the Yuuzhan Vong's abhorrence of technology: the YVH battle droids such as those that our protagonist uses as bodyguards were designed from the ground up to be capable of defeating a Vong warrior in single combat, for there could be no greater shame than being bested by a piece of tech.  The YVH had a devastating effect on Vong morale.
Thanks for the kind words all around!  I get the impression that some folks don't 100% dig the later period, but have no fear, I'm not leaving the GCW behind.

Personally I love this setting, the Vong were a great enemy, the problem was I think the novels dragged a bit and things stopped making sense when a second galactic civil follows a few years after...but anyway that's not a reflection on your story but on the EU.  I think you've adapted the setting very well and especially looking forward to delving into what these characters lost fighting the Vong, notably the Templars in terms of man power, we already see a huge loss in the old archive, who else isn't around...



Well the biggest advantage the Vong had over the Jedi was being dead in the force, as per LotA C 34

What was an Aethan without the Aether?

A being that possessed reflexes and physical strength four times that of a human, an endocrine system primed for war and reproduction three times more efficient, cognitive capacity that rivalled Givin and Siniteen and a culture that taught them never ever rely on the aether to survive or fight nor be shocked if it were stripped from them.

Plus their utter ruthlessness, Chiss intelligence and habit of watching how their enemies fight before striking and relatively safe position in the Deep core...lots of Vong blood if they tried anything.

LOL   To true.  Pity the fool Vong who ventures into the deep core!  :-)

CHAPTER 3: A Minor Annoyance

       Coruscant.  The Second Time.  X-Wings streaked across the sky, chasing Coralskippers.  Every few seconds, a fighter on one side would destroy one on the other, and it would shriek down to the surface like a meteor, blending with the chaos of constantly dropping artillery. 
       Edda was arguing with Tasrii.  The two were alone, separated from their battlegroup.
       We can’t just leave them!  They’ll die! Tasrii shouted.
       If we don’t get to the objective, EVERYONE will die! Edda screamed back.
       We can’t just leave them!
       We have orders!
       I’m not a soldier, and neither are you!
       Tasrii ran off then, and Edda felt like howling in frustration, but rather than doing so, set off towards the objective before changing her mind.  She sprinted off towards Tasrii, activating her red saber.  The alleys were winding, and cramped, and there was no sign of Tasrii.  Soon, though, she bumped into someone else; a Yuuzhan Vong warrior, armed with an amphistaff.  She brought up her saber, but before she could step forward, something hit her, knocking her onto her back.  Edda sprang to her feet and brought her saber up, to find… Tasrii, with an amphistaff buried in her chest.  It had been thrown by a Vong warrior on a fire escape above them.  Tasrii fell to her knees, and then, with a gasp, Edda was lying in her bed, the sheets soaked with sweat and the blanket thrown to the floor.

       She swung her feet off the side of the bed and sat up with a sigh, reaching for the datapad on her nightstand that was tied to to the ship’s nav systems.

       Six hours to Tattoine.  Great.

       What followed was an almost nightly routine for the Templar.  She went to the kitchen, and had the droid make a pot of coffee.  Then, returning to her quarters, she dug through a chest filled with priceless tomes and manuscripts that had been on loan from the Archive for far longer than they were meant to be, and curled up in one of the chairs in the common room with a cup of the coffee and a book.  This would generally last for about two and a half to five minutes, before the book and the coffee were forgotten in favor of turning on music that was both loud and offensive and pacing the ship.  The pacing would go on either until morning arrived, or she wore herself out and passed out in the captain's chair.

...

     The hard edge of the seat’s headrest dug painfully into Edda’s cheek, which was the first thing she noticed upon waking.  The second thing was an awful crick in her neck from sleeping with it twisted, and the second was the collision alarm filling the cockpit as the great red disk of Tattooine rapid swelled in the viewport.  She stretched her arms and yawned languidly, then her hands danced over the controls.  The ship slowed to a safe entry speed, and she sat back in the captain’s chair, blinking the sleep out of her eyes before bolting upright.  It was time for her second daily routine; a shower, a second pot of coffee that she would actually drink, and then half an hour of healing meditation.  The meditation served a dual purpose; to lessen the effects the contracture scars covering most of her body had on her movement, and to slow the process of aging.  That practice had fallen out of favor among many members of the Templar Order, and the secrets of the technique were shared with only masters of the Order, but Edda wasn’t quite ready to resign herself to the passage of time.

       By the time she was done, the ship’s computer had landed it in the middle of the desert.  According to Kepressa’s coordinates, the compound she was looking for lie ten kilometers to the south, and that meant a long walk through the scorching desert.  She commanded her droids to watch the ship and double checked her gear before setting out.  Plenty of water, a datapad loaded with mil-spec slicing algorithms, a pair of macrobinoculars, a quality audio headset and her trusty lightsaber, alongside a handful of other useful gadgets.  She wrapped herself in a loose fitting robe made of light brown material, very similar to the garment worn by the native Tusken Raiders, and set off.
       
       The walk was peaceful, and would have been almost pleasant if not for the scorching suns high in the sky.  It took the better part of two hours for Edda to reach a suitable vantage point from which to plan her attack, as after the first few kilometers the terrain turned to foothills before becoming mountainous.  The compound the coordinates led to was nestled in the base of these mountains.
       It was fairly typical for Tatooine; a handful of low white domes sticking up out of the sand, with a majority of the structure being hidden underground to protect against the elements.  Security at a glance seemed minimal, but first impressions are often wrong, so Edda settled in, hiding herself in a stone outcropping and producing her headset and datapad.  Before doing anything else, she keyed up a list of booming Mandalorian music.  Then, as the angry vocals and rhythmic thumping filled her ears, she she reached for her binoculars and patiently began to watch the compound.

       There were routine patrols of Gamorrean mercenaries at the perimeter, but there was no other obvious security.  Edda made a note in her datapad; Possible landmines.  She kept scanning.  She noted peculiar windows near ground level in the domes which could potentially hide snipers, but beyond that, nothing.  Hours passed before she saw what had been in front of her face the whole time; a discolored spot in the rocky mountainside behind the building.  She grinned and zoomed in on the spot.  Under close observation, the rocks could be seen to occasionally flicker and shine unnaturally.  Satisfied, she carefully retreated from her hiding spot and picked her way back into the desert.  By the time she made it back to her ship and shook the sand out of her clothes, it was midnight.  She briefly considered climbing into bed, but decided against it.  Instead, she pulled a crate of equipment out of her closet and began to gear up.  An unadorned black flight suit with a high collar, some old Hit Squad web gear with a compact sawed down blaster, medpacks, and several thermal detonators hanging from the belt, heavy leather boots and gloves and, finally, something that she didn’t often get to use.  A burnished steel mask with a T-shaped black visor that concealed her head and tucked into the collar of the flight suit.  Edda picked up her lightsaber, spun it in the air and clipped it onto her belt.  It was time to go.

…

       The three Gamorrean mercenaries were trudging along the perimeter dutifully, grunting amongst themselves in complaint about the food in the base’s cafeteria.  One of them squealed suddenly, and pointed out at a nearby hilltop.  Vaguely, against the backdrop of a clear night sky, the silhouette of a person could be faintly made out, though the Gamorean’s eyesight was far too poor for them to be certain.  They began to squeal anxiously back and forth, arguing over whether or not to raise the alarm.  Unbeknownst to any of them, as they argued a black gloved hand had dropped a thermal detonator into one of their backpacks.  By the time it went off with an earthshaking blast, Edda Veek was approaching the domed buildings.  A quick probe with the Force had revealed that these building were devoid of life.  Edda couldn’t help but shudder, the thought reminding her of the war, and of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors who were invisible to the Force, but it didn’t slow her down.  She kicked in one of the glass windows and dropped inside the building just as an alarm began to blare.  The room was completely empty save for dust.  Should have put snipers in here. she thought to herself with a grim smile as she strode to the door and peered outside.

       Sure enough, the holographic camouflage on the mountainside rippled and blinked as as the mercenaries inside rushed out to investigate.  She pulled a datapad from her belt and started the music from earlier back up, then counted slowly to five and snapped her fingers.  At that moment, one of the mercenaries fell to the ground, then another, then another as sniper fire whistled in at an astonishing pace from Edda’s YVH battle droids hiding in the hills.  That was her cue, and she took off at a sprint, lightsaber hilt in hand, out of the building and across the sand towards the rock face as the defenders scattered and ran for cover.  She activated her saber as she hit the holograph, the red blade screaming to life as she dashed into the unknown.

     It was, as she’d suspected from the size of the opening, a speeder bay.  There was a row of old military speeder bikes along on wall and a smattering of different utility speeders along the other.  There were half a dozen mercenaries strapping on helmets and night vision headsets by the bikes, and a few were already straddling their bikes and warming the engines.  It took a second for one of them to notice Edda and shout, and two seconds for her to lob a thermal detonator, using the Force to slam it into the shouting man’s face as she sprinted for the cover of the utility speeders.  The detonator went off a second later, causing a chain reaction and turning the row of bikes to scrap metal and the riders to paste.  The door to go deeper into the base was located at the opposite end of the speeder bay, and Edda wasted no momentum, sprinting towards it even as the shouts of mercenaries grew closer.  She reached the door before they did, and waited patiently, spinning her lightsaber in one hand and bobbing her head to beat of the music playing in her headset.  The door slid open with a hiss to reveal a dozen mercenaries, and the spinning lightsaber became a scythe as Edda charged into them.  Within seconds she was the last thing standing, and all of the mercenaries lay on the floor in various states of disrepair.  She could feel a Force-sensitive presence close by, along with more panicking mercenaries, but most of them were in the opposite end of the facility.  She put a spring in her step, hoping to make it out before reinforcements arrived.  It didn’t take her long to reach the room where the boy was being held.  Outside of it were two Gamorrean mercenaries, who didn’t even slow Edda down.  What did slow her down was the electronic lock on the door, but not for long; she slowly plunged her lightsaber into the top of of the door and began to cut a circle big enough to step through.  By the time she’d gotten halfway there, the sound of boots on the hard stone floor approached.  Five or six mercenaries rounded the corner into view and began squeezing off rounds, forcing Edda to stop cutting and weave her saber into a defensive pattern with one hand, drawing her blaster with the other.  It only took a moment for the flurry of bolts she loosed to deal with the mercenaries, and she went back to cutting.  As soon as she finished, she grabbed the center section she’d cut out with the Force and lifted it away.

     The room on the other side was tiny, and barren but for a bed.  There was no sign of the boy, but she could sense him hiding under the bed.  She sighed and deactivated her lightsaber, then knelt and removed her mask.
       “Hey, it’s okay.”  She said, reaching out a gloved hand.  She realized that her raspy voice and scarred face might not be terribly reassuring, but it was better than the mask.  She hoped.  “I’m gonna get you out of here.”
       “Are you with the Hutts?  Is this another trick?”  A small voice came from under the bed, shaky and afraid.
       “No, I’m not with the Hutts.  I’m a Templar, and even though you probably haven’t heard of us, I can promise you, we don’t do bad things to little children.”
       “Do you want my powers too?”
       “No, little one, I have powers all of my own.”  To prove the point, she took the crystal Templar pendant from around her neck and levitated it under the bed slowly.  “See?  I just want to help you, but we have to hurry.”
       The boy was silent for a moment, but after a few long seconds, a small hand appeared from under the bed, followed by a head of shaggy blonde hair and a dirty, tear streaked face.  Edda helped him to his feet with a smile.
        “My name is Edda.  I need you to stay right behind me now, okay?  We have to move fast if we want to make it.”  She gently took the Templar pendant from his hand, and placed it around his neck.  “Keep this on, and it’ll keep you safe, okay? Now, let’s get out of here.”

       The boy nodded, and Edda replaced her mask and drew the lightsaber from her belt.  As they ran through the halls, it was only a little while before the ran into the pair of YVH droids, who, having cleared the outside of enemies, had switched to heavy blasters and cleared a path for Edda’s escape.  Before they knew it, they were passing through the hologram, and their feet hit the warm sand.  Edda picked up the shoeless boy and carried him from there, over the nearest crest of dunes and to her waiting ship.  An hour later, and they were safely in space with a course set to Oros, and the boy was in the kitchen, rabidly scarfing down food as quickly as the culinary droid could provide it.
       “You have to pace yourself, little one, or you’ll make yourself sick.”  Edda said, sitting down across from him.  The boy swallowed and looked embarrassed.
        “I apologize, ma’am.  My mom taught me manners, I swear, but the Hutts only ever gave me scraps.”
        “What happened to your mother?”  Edda asked.
       “The Hutts killed her.  My dad died in the war.”  He mumbled, and a tear began to slowly run down his face.
        “I’m sorry.”  She said sincerely, and point to the scars on her face.  “When I was young, maybe only a little older than you, my family’s ship crash landed.  Both my parents were killed, and I was burned.  I was lucky, though, and I met a group of healers.  They saved my life, and taught me to be a healer too.”
       “The Hutts wanted me to hurt people.  They wanted me to be their soldier.  I don’t want to hurt anyone.” The boy said with a pained look.  “Why did you become a soldier if you were a healer?”
       Now, it was Edda’s turn to wear a look of pain.  “I had to.”  She paused for a moment, and a determined expression came over her face.  “Little one, I have to make a holo call, so I’ll be gone for just a moment.  Did you know that the droid can make sweets?  Anything you want, just ask her.  I’ll be back soon, okay?”

…

     It was sunny on Coruscant as Edda’s ship sat down on a landing pad at the new Jedi Temple.  Standing on the pad, with a brown cloak covering his shaggy black hair, was Jorn Bollin.  As the ship’s ramp came down, the young boy was the first one to descend it, very nearly running into Jorn, and bubbling with questions.  Jorn laughed, a rich, hearty sound, and patted the boy’s head, advising him to take a breath.  Edda had also made her way down the ramp, but she stopped and leaned against one of the ramp’s pillars, arms crossed and a smile on her face.  As the boy ran back to her, she knelt and caught him in a bear hug, and made him promise to behave, then stood to leave.
       “Wait!”  the boy said, and pulled the pendant off of his neck.  “You forgot this!”
       “No, you keep it.  It’ll keep you safe, remember?”  She replied with a smile, and giving the beaming Jorn a final nod of appreciation, ascended the ramp and, within a few moments, the ship was lifting off.  With a curse, Edda dried a spot of wetness from her eye, and dialed a number into her holocommunicator.
       The form of a human woman appeared over the console, leaning against a bookshelf and eating a piece of fruit.  She had messy, unkempt brown hair, and tanned olive skin.  She was abnormally tall, six feet four inches in the measurements of her father’s home planet, and her eyes were a deep brown, and permanently bore a look of sorrow, even though she was always grinning.
       “Hey Aunt Edda, what can I do for you?”  She asked cheerfully.
       “Funny you should ask that, Rhia.  I need you to find some way to tell Kepressa that I gave the child to the Jedi, preferably before I arrive in…” Edda glanced at the clock. “...twenty hours.”

CHAPTER END

For choosing one specific Templar to focus on, I'm glad that you did so with Edda.  MANY disparate, hidden layers, especially given the adversity that she's encountered.  The Vong War was literally galaxy changing; it's no surprise that its individual citizens (those that survived) would carry the scars ever-after.

I have to admit, the more that I learn about Edda's past, the more that I want to know.  And just who is Jorn to Edda?  Regardless, thanks for including more of this, TDC!

Indeed she's a bit different for various reasons, and some of her actions, like giving the bo to the Jedi don't seem to be strictly what the Templars want - a to of back story here slowly being resolved - which i think is good it feels like something that shouldn't be rushed. .

Thanks, guys!  Edda is really one of my favorite characters to write for, and it seems like I'm actually conveying to feelings and information about her that I want to.

Also, if nobody caught the reference at the end, I'm a bit dissapointed.

Testing the spoiler function on this board real quick...

[Spoiler]test[/spoiler]

You mean Edda's 'Niece' who seems to share coloring and a certain lassiez fare approach to grooming consistent with another character currently absent in this time series apart from a statue, i noticed that but wouldn't want to get my hopes up...

Decided to finish this chapter off a bit early so I can concentrate on the next installment for Brothers.  I'll have part 2 up soon!

CHAPTER 4: The Summit, Part 1

     Tasrii was on her knees, her armored hands wrapped around the amphistaff.  Edda was still on her back, but a scream of rage tore itself free of her lungs.  The Vong may have been outside the grasp of the Force, but the world around them was not.  She sprang to her feet, and with a motion of her fist snatched down the fire escape were the Vong warrior who’d who’d thrown the spear stood.  The heavy metal structure came down with a crash, crushing both Yuuzhan Vong.  Satisfied that the Vong were dead, Edda rushed to Tasrii’s side.  Before she could decide what to do, the amphistaff became pliable, and snaked out of the wound it had left and towards the shadows.  It’s deed was done; Tasrii had been impaled and poisoned.  Edda reached for her communicator to try and raise a medevac, but before she could speak, the scream of a crashing X-Wing split the air, then the sound turned to a screech as Edda’s alarm snatched her away from restless sleep.  She rubbed her bleary eyes and climbed out of bed.  Time to land the ship.

...

     She sighed as the ship’s engines powered down.  She sat there for a moment, contemplating whether or not she could get away with taking off again and flying to another planet, and at the same time noticing that landing pad was unusually crowded.  Unfortunately, a welcoming party was already walking across the tarmac, led by Tasrii and Rhia.  By the time she got to the ramp and let it down, they were waiting for her, Tasrii in front, her face bearing an exasperated look.  Behind her, Rhia gave Edda a wink and subtle thumbs up. 
     “Tas…” Edda started, but the other Templar cut her off with a motion.
     “Was it the right thing to do?”  She asked.
     “Yes.”  Edda replied firmly.
     “Then let that be the end of it.  I will say though, in the future, keep in mind that we have a hard enough finding recruits without giving them away to the Jedi.  Find me for a full debriefing later.”  Edda nodded in response, wondering why the Master was in such a rush, as Tasrii turned around to return to the Archive, her escort of Templar knights following dutifully.  Only Rhia stayed behind, the eldest “child” of Rakham Crescentfall charging Edda and wrapping her in a bear hug.
     “It’s good to see you!” She exclaimed as she crushed the air from Edda’s lungs.Edda returned the hug without quite as much enthusiasm, but couldn’t stop a smile from creeping into her face.
     “It’s good to see you too, little one!  Where have you been lately?”  She asked
     “Outer Rim.  Standard stuff, digging through dusty old temples and caves.  I think we just missed one another on Tattooine.  Sorry about the goons, Tasrii seemed to have this idea that you might cut and run, and she wanted you around for the meeting.”
     At the word ‘meeting’ Edda’s eyes went wide in realization and she immediately spun on her heels, but Rhia grabbed her arm with a laugh.
     “Sorry Aunt Edda, but I’ve got clone strength.  You can’t escape.”  Edda cursed and turned back around.
     “Clone strength isn’t a thing, you heartless monster.  You have your father’s strength.”  Edda said, resigning herself to her fate and cursing herself for forgetting the date of the Templar Order’s annual summit.
     “His eyes too, according to Mother, but I suppose that makes sense.  Come on, the meeting isn’t that bad.  All of us are here this year, they’re saying.”
     “This many Templars in one place makes my teeth itch.”
     “Come on, the only place I’ve ever been that’s safer than the Oros Archive is the Vhal’dan headquarters on Zonama Sekot, and it isn’t our fault we couldn't find a living planet to set up on.”
     “Safety is an illusion, young Crescentfall.”  Edda said, cracking a small grin.
     “Well in that case, I think training is in order.  Come on, when’s the last time we had a good sparring match?”
     “The winter of ‘28.  When I ushered your test for Knighthood.”
     “See?  That’s entirely too long.  It’s a miracle that my skills haven't rusted enough to get me killed.”  Rhia joked.  “I bet we could manage to get to the training grounds without too much trouble.”
     “Alright, let’s go then.”

…

     The Archive was generally a busy place, but at the annual summit, it was absolutely crowded.  Along with the ever present visitors from other Orders, every Templar Knight and Master had been recalled to the Archive.  Normally, there would be stragglers who had business too pressing to leave, but this year all five hundred and seventeen active members were there, and with a few dozen guests on top of that, the Archive had standing room only.  The underground Templar barracks had overflowed, and late arrivals were sleeping either in their ships or two to a room in the guest quarters.  While the summit was officially a business meeting, the affair looked much like a party outside of the council chambers, all of which would be in use constantly for the week the summit lasted, with apprentices being evaluated for ascension to Knighthood, Knights evaluated for ascension to Mastery and general scheming being done.  Everywhere else, long time friends reunited over games, drinks and music.  Young Apprentices were given the week off from their studies, and, in general, the Archive went from a place of quiet study to one of fellowship and camaraderie.

     Edda, of course, did her best to avoid all of that as she and Rhia made their way to the training grounds at the back of the complex.  They could hear the sound of lightsabers humming and clashing before the grounds came into sight.
     The training grounds were in a shaded grove behind the main Archive building, nestled against the great stone wall surrounding the facility.  Great trees grew around the grassy field, and at intervals along the field were around twenty circular stone pads.  On these pads, the Templars sparred.  There were several ascension tests going on, with young apprentices facing off against more experienced Knights to prove that they were ready for Knighthood themselves, and others simply honing their skills.  Rhia made her way to a pad towards the back, somewhat isolated from the busier sections, and shed her heavy brown cloak to reveal a sleeveless sand colored tunic.  Her arms were covered in a myriad of tattoos.  She did a few stretches to warm up, then reached for her lightsaber.  The hilt was massive and immaculately polished.  It bore a three-pronged emitter, with a curved neck and bulky handle that terminated in a mace-shaped pommel.  A shimmering blue blade sprang into life as she pressed the activator.
     “Still haven’t built a saber of your own?”  Edda asked as she drew her own battered hilt.
     “Sure I have, but I prefer this one.”  She responded with a smile.
     “I can understand that.” Edda said, holding up the hilt Rakham had given her all those years ago at the original Archive, and without further comment, she activated the blade and assumed a low guard. 

     Rhia moved first, closing the distance between them, but staying just out of Edda’s reach as the two circled one another.  The permanent lopsided grin her face constantly bore flashed into a smile, and she pounced on the smaller woman, opening with a flat strike towards her neck that bounced off of Edda’s parry and turned to an off-hand shot at her opposite hip, but Edda’s party came with more force than she expected, knocking her blade aside and opening her up to attack.  Edda took advantage and unleashed a savage overhand strike, forcing Rhia to skitter sideways.  Edda pressed the attack, swinging her blade into a series of alternating strikes to her left and right sides.  After losing half a dozen paces of ground on the defensive, Rhia regained her composure and managed to trap Edda’s blade with her own, and she attempted to use that leverage to spin the saber out of Edda’s hands.  However, Edda slipped her saber away, causing Rhia to lose her balance, and with a quick sidestep, brought the crackling red blade to her chin before deactivating it.
     “Good work!”  She said sincerely, reaching up and patting Rhia on the shoulder.  “Your defense has gotten very, very tight.”
      “I’m gonna beat you, one day.”  Rhia said back with a smile.
      “Anything’s possible.”  Edda allowed, hanging her saber from her belt. “I’ve gotta find Tas, do you know where she might be?”
      “Probably the Memorial.  I should head there myself.” Rhia replied, a look of sorrow forming in her eyes.
      “I’ll go with you.”  Nadia said, and wrapped an arm around the young woman as they walked.  It still shocked her sometimes to see Rhia all grown up, when in her mind she was still the little girl with dirty knees and a gaptoothed grin she’d once been able to carry around on her shoulders.

…

     Visiting the memorial was one of the most important traditions of the Summit.  As Rhia and Edda reached the Memorial, located in the very center of the Archive, they both pulled their hoods up as a sign of respect before entering.  They opened the door gently and entered the Memorial.  The courtyard they stepped into was brightly light by beautifully clear sunlight, and the ground was carpeted in lush green grass, spotted by beds of flowers and bubbling fountains, and crossed by stone paths.  There were several great stone slabs standing in the courtyard, their faces carved with names.  Tasrii had knelt by the one furthest from the door, and Edda and Rhia took places by her side.  The names on each stone were from one battle: this one was the Battle of Yuuzhan’tar, or the Second Battle of Coruscant.  Edda glanced up at the names, even though she’d long ago memorized them.

G. HALLO
C. MORN
S. MORN
N. KEPRESSA
K. CRESCENTFALL

And on, and on.  Tears ran freely down Tasrii’s face, and Edda began to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but stopped herself.

     You don’t deserve that. she internally scolded herself as she stood and walked to a different stone.  This one contained even more names, all from the first battle the Templars fought in; Dantooine.  Edda knelt before it and stared at the names. 

B. TARUN
TEKS
R. CRESCENTFALL
H. CRESCENTFALL
S. WIN
I. FARAD
F. GLAYZ

The list was a dozen names long, but Edda had squeezed her eyes shut long before reading all of them, and her breathing became ragged. Over and over in her mind, she repeated the same phrase like a mantra, even without willing to.
   
     I’m sorry.  I’m sorry.  I’m sorry.  I’m sorry.

     She didn’t know if she imagined her master’s voice, or if his spirit was reaching out to her, but the sound filled her ears regardless.

     Don’t be.

TO BE CONTINUED

Tragic...sounds like they got the heart of the organisation ripped out in the war...and its still ripping based on Edda's repeated reminiscences and painful half in half out way she approaches the other Templars, Tasrii in particular.

I remember reading the Vong War (some good books, some...not so much...) but just the number of casualties--in the trillions--was something that always stuck with me.  Edda's memories and especially her reticence to visit during the annual Templars gathering is MORE than understandable considering all that she lost (that last memorial with virtually all of the "main" timeline Templars names makes the scene all the more haunting).

Edda is one of my favorite characters because we see the juxtaposition between the girl she was and the stoic warrior she becomes...yet there is still SO much that we don't know about her.  This makes for the best writing  :)

Oh, and I LOVED the Vhal'Dan easter egg TDC!

Yeah, the Legends timeline is definitely the darkest one for the Order.  I'll be doing a Canon timeline story as well however, and it won't be as dark.  Not sure which one I'll consider canon in my story, but it doesn't matter so much.

I agree with you guys, the names are heartbreaking.  Nice writing, btw: We have investment in these characters, to see the names through Edda's eyes in this way brought her sorrow right into our own experience.  That was well written.

The Vhong war ripped the heart out of the Republic.  No one was spared.  It was utterly horrific, made the Galactic Civil War look like a friendly.  That is captured here, as well.  Nicely done.

Wow. I have been struggling to catch up with all the stories, but I really wish I hadn't gotten behind on this one. Everything about it is so intriguing. The dark characters who were once so light and full of joy. The deaths at the hands of the Vong and everything else. I haven't read any of the Legends books about the Vong War, but I have heard quite a bit about it and read quite a bit about it on Wookieepedia, and from what I know, this captures the essence of the aftermath perfectly. But the hardest thing for me was seeing the names of 3 different Crescentfall's (Crescentfallen? ;) :-\ ) on the memorials. Counting that out, that would be Rakham, Heddit, and Dala. My three favorite characters from Brothers. And then you see that for some reason Edda blames herself? I don't understand why, but I think you will show us why in future chapters. Masterfully done TDC. Masterfully done.

Well, I'm back.  I can only apologize for my absence.  I started having a hard time shortly before I vanished.  I struggled for a long time with clinical depression, self harm and suicidal thoughts.  That was part of the reason I started this story; Rakham was a shameless self insert, and Edda became one as well.  Rakham was the part of me that I liked, the person I had been and wanted to be again.  Edda was who I was becoming.  Things have gotten better for me, however, and I wanted to return to you guys and continue adding to the story that I hopefully convinced you to invest your time in.  So, without further ado, we pick up where we left off:

Chapter 5: The Summit, Part 2

     Edda ran her hand along the the cool, smooth stone wall of the hallway as she walked away from the memorial.  The Archive was bustling, and occasionally someone would throw a friendly hello her way, but it was all she could to nod in return, revealing glassy, tear filled eyes and lips pressed together tightly, to stop them from quivering.  The carnage of Dantooine played through her mind over and over again, starting as her boots hit the ground as they ran off of their ship and into the fray, through the chaos of the battle, the screams and the blood and the tears, and up to the last time she ever saw her master, the last wink he gave her, his beard singed and his face covered with blood and soot, the words he spoke with a lopsided grin as he ordered her to leave him
     I've got this.

     She let the guilt and pain wash over her again and again as the scene looped over and over in her mind.  She knew, deep down, that she was punishing herself.  That she was wallowing.  But on the surface, every part of her felt that she had to, that she deserved to be punished, and that no one else would do it for her.  Despite that, it was a relief when the portable holocommunicator on her wrist beeped, and displayed the name of the caller; Jorn Bollin.  With a genuine smile, she ran a sleeve across her eyes to dry them and tapped the button to accept the call, leaning her back against the wall.
     “Hey!  How's the boy settling in?”  She asked as his head and shoulders appeared in front of her.
     “He's doing just fine.  A few of the masters are still keeping an eye on him, but all the signs are good.  What happened to him was truly tragic, but one hopes that time will heal.  How are you doing, Edda?”  He replied in his normally cheery manner, only slightly betraying his concern.
     “I've been worse.” She said, hoping that he couldn't see the redness of her eyes.  “But I'm betting you didn't call just to check up on me.”
     “Well, don't be surprised if I do from time to time, but this time you're correct.  How would you fancy a bit of adventure?  Truth be told, I could use some backup on this one.”  He replied.
     “I'm sure I could convince my superiors to allow me a little bit of time for a personal assignment, especially one that furthers our relationship with your order.  Would it happen to be related to the map from the Archive?”
     “It would.  I've been asked to follow it.”
     “Well, I'm happy to come along for the ride, but what does it lead to?”
     “That's a very good question.  Not many are aware of it's existence, and few who are agree on what lies at the end.  Those who do agree tend to believe that it's nothing.  Some believe it leads to an artifact of incredible, but potentially dark, power.  And some, my brother included, before his passing, believe that this map leads to the prison of an incredibly powerful, undying or near undying Sith Lord.”
     “What do you believe, Jorn?”  Edda asked, her interest piqued.
     “I don't know.  I don't believe that a battle with a Dark Lord of the Sith awaits us, but neither do I believe it's nothing at all.  That's why I'd love to have some backup.  However, know that the Jedi Order doesn't necessarily condone this partnership.  Those who know of the Templars see you as, at best, a potential threat.  Many believe that some of your old traditions are a perversion of the Force, and that your willingness to use the Force as a weapon is wrong.”
     “Oh, we're well aware.  But, hopefully our willingness to cooperate will bring some of them around.  Can you meet me on Oros?  I'm stuck here for the next two days either way.”  Edda asked, happy to have something to look forward to at the end of the Summit.
     “I'll be there in three.  See you soon, Edda.” 
     “Safe travels, Jedi.”

…

     The day stretched on for what seemed like weeks, but looking forward to the trip with Jorn made it go a little easier.  Edda was happy to finally end up in her rarely used quarters at the end of the day.  She would almost have preferred to sleep on her ship, but found herself too exhausted to make the long walk back.  The room was dimly lit and furnished comfortably.  The quarters were split into three rooms, a kitchen, refresher and living space, with a bed, several couches and holo projector.  Edda kicked off her boots and let her cloak and robes fall to the floor before collapsing onto one of the couches.  Her heart felt heavy, like a stone weight hung in her chest.  It had been a hard day, but she knew that the hardest part was yet to come, because now she was alone, and there were no more distractions, nothing that could give her the strength to put up a false facade.  Feelings of powerlessness, pain and frustration washed over her, and as the tears welled in her eyes she felt a sob rising in her chest.  Every wrong decision she'd made, and the faces of everyone who'd been hurt because of them, began to run through her mind, and the weight in her chest pulled her into blackness.  There was no way out, no way forward, no way to change the past and no way to make the present better.
     She lay there like that what felt like hours before there was a knock at the door.  Edda bolted up, shouting in a cracked voice.
     “Just a minute!”
      She rushed to a chest of drawers near the bed and retrieving a plain white shirt to cover her bare upper body.  She wiped her face and opened the door, and was surprised to see Tasrii Kepressa.  A quick look of sadness crossed Tasrii's face as she saw, or more likely, felt, the pain in Edda, but she regained her smiling composure immediately.
     “May I come in?”  She asked, holding up a bottle of Correllian whiskey and two glasses.  Edda looked unsure at first, searching for some excuse to say no, but relented and wordlessly stepped aside.  She walked over to the couch ahead of Tasrii and kicked her discarded clothes into a somewhat neater pile before sitting down cross legged on the couch.  Tasrii sat down too, carefully pouring a measured amount of whiskey into each glass before speaking.
     “Edda, I just hoped that we could talk.  We haven't in a long time.”  She said softly, offering a glass to Edda, who took it with a nod but didn't raise her downcast eyes or speak.  She took a sip, then cupped the glass in her hands and stared into it.  She could tell that Tasrii was trying to reach out to her, but she couldn't let her in, and she didn't know why.
     “We care about you here.  I care about you, Edda.  I know that being here, being around us makes you hurt.  I just want to help you.  I can feel the pain you're in.  I want to make it better, not worse.  I don't want to make you hurt.”  Tasrii said gently, putting a hand on the smaller women's shoulder.  Edda placed her hand on top of it, and met Tasrii's eyes with her own.
     “It isn't you, Tas,” she rasped softly.  “It's what I did to you.  What I took from you.”  Tears began to fall again.
     “Edda…”  Tasrii stood up, and took the glass from Edda, setting it down along with her own.  She sat down again, this time next to Edda, and put her arms around her. “Nothing that happened was your fault.  Nothing.”  she said quietly, opening her emotions to the Force to try and soothe Edda.  Edda laid her head on the Zabrak's chest and let the tears fall as Tasrii brushed her long dark hair away from her face.  They stayed like that for a long while, until finally sleep took them both.

…

     For the first time in a very long time, Edda's sleep was peaceful.  She awoke in the same way she'd fallen asleep, with Tasrii stroking her hair.  Tasrii was reading a data pad,  and seemed to have been awake for a while already.  Edda yawned and stretched.
     “Good morning.”  Tasrii said with a smile.
     “Good morning!”  Edda replied warmly, staring into Tasrii's bright blue eyes.  Without warning, Tasrii placed a hand on Edda's cheek, and leaned in, kissing her softly on the lips before pulling back to see Edda's stunned face.  Embarrassment immediately washed over Tasrii, and she stood up, removing her arms from Edda.
     “I'm sorry.”  She said nervously, but Edda grabbed her hand and stood as well.
     “No.”  She said, and wrapped her arms around the taller women's neck.  “Thank you, Tas.”  She whispered, then pulled Tasrii down into a deeper, longer kiss.

…

     “We're lifting off in twenty minutes, get the last of those supplies loaded up!”  Edda barked at the worker droids who were milling listlessly about, lazily transferring goods from Jorn's ship to Edda's. 
     “If you don't like this speed, you're gonna hate the next one!”  One of the droids buzzed back at her, making a rude gesture.  However, it did increase it's pace.
     “What's wrong with them?”  Jorn asked curiously as he walked up alongside Tasrii and watched the curious proceeding before them.  All of the droids were either arguing amongst themselves or slacking off.
     “A gift from Rakham Crescentfall, the founder of our order and hobbyist droid tinkerer.  He thought it would be hilarious to program our worker droids to be lazy and mouth off all time.”
     “Huh.  That is kind of hilarious, actually.”  Jorn replied with a smirk.
     “Yeah, that's the worst part.”  Edda grinned back.
     “Alright, your eminence, we moved your junk.  Anything else or can we go find some real work to do?”  The droid leader interjected sourly, the mechanical buzz of his voice doing nothing to hide it's disdain.
     “Yeah, you could go turn yourself in at a scrapyard.”  Edda shot back.  The droid made another rude gesture and rounded up it's crew with a string of profanities.  Jorn watched them with march away with barely concealed mirth as the leader shouted things about his crew like “herding womp rats” and how he should “scrap all you disobedient toasters.” 
     “I promise, it gets old after a while.”  Tasrii's voice came from behind them, causing both of the Knights to jump. 
     “Master, what have I told you about sneaking up on people?”  Edda jokingly reprimanded her with a smile.
     “That it's good fun for all involved and I should do it as often as possible?”  Tasrii laughed. 
     “No, the opposite of that.”  Edda said, before quickly standing on her tiptoes to kiss Tasrii on the cheek.  “Make sure the Archive is still here when I get back, alright?  I put a lot of work into this place.”
     “Don't you worry, we aren't going anywhere.  Be careful out there, Edda.”
     “I always am.  Load up Jorn, it's time to go.  Let's find find out where this map takes us.”

CHAPTER END
 
     

First off: welcome back TDC!  Sorry to hear about the hard times but I'm very glad that you're doing better (and hope that you continue to do so).  And I can empathize in relation to your characters: Zearic definitely mirrors much of my personality and D'Aylanna IS my wife  ;)  But I feel that such helps in the characterization; I can certainly attest that I enjoy reading about Rakham and Edda (as well as Karm&Co., the Aethans, Darth Rowan, and [LR's] Revan)  :D  Speaking of...

Poor Edda.  Her sorrow and self-rebuke is palpable (and I wonder if it isn't somewhat misplaced...)  But my favorite scene is the one between Tasrii and Edda.  It was beautifully done and definitely shows that the relationship between the two women is a bastion that empowers them.  Wonderfully done my friend.

And great hook: I am looking forward to find out just what it is that Jorn needs Edda for  ;)

I appreciate it, man!  I still have bad days, but not so bad as they were.  I really regret the way I vanished from here, abandoning our collaboration and leaving everyone hanging.

I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!  I tried to put a bit more emotion in it than usual, but I wasn't sure if it was believable or not. 

Next chapter won't be too far out, so keep an eye open for it!

I hear you man, don't worry about it you gotta do what you gotta do to take care of yourself. Hopefully writing more helps you out a bit and we're all here eager to read it.

Totally believable too especially this bit - "Feelings of powerlessness, pain and frustration washed over her, and as the tears welled in her eyes she felt a sob rising in her chest.  Every wrong decision she'd made, and the faces of everyone who'd been hurt because of them, began to run through her mind, and the weight in her chest pulled her into blackness.  There was no way out, no way forward, no way to change the past and no way to make the present better."
All alone nothing to think on but your own failings - whether those failing are her responsibility or not (As Tasrii tries to soothe) it doesn't matter,  the feelings are real either way and that is what matters - truth depends on your own point of view in that sense. 

Chapter 6: Bread Crumb

     "You know, my money was on Sith."  Jorn's comment broke Edda's reverie as she stared silently at the control panel.  Truth be told, she was still trying to figure out what had happened between her and Tasrii, and she was glad for the distraction.
     "You think that's where the map is taking us?"  She asked, shooting him a glance as she realized that the instruments she'd been staring at indicated a course drift.  She adjusted the controls deftly, correcting their path.
     "No." Jorn shook his head.  "Back in the day, that's what I thought the Scourge of Dantooine was.  We didn't know who you were, or what.  We only knew that a Force Lord wearing a mask and swinging a red blade who had no qualms about using the Force as a weapon saved us from destruction.  A lot of ideas went around.  A rogue or dark Jedi was the going theory among those who hadn't seen you in action.  Those of us who'd been there could feel it though.  Anger, sorrow, hatred.  Sheer, unbridled power.  We thought you must have been an ancient Sith warlord, who was wise enough to see that the Vong were a mutual enemy."  A sense of respect, perhaps even awe, filled Jorn's voice as he continued.
     "But then came the stories from Ithor.  You showed up again, but this time, you were different.  You cut paths for our medics, you dragged the wounded out of the fray.  You healed those you could.  Half the ones you brought back were already gone, but you didn't stop.  You drug a hundred and fifty men to safety.  We who'd seen you at Dantooine called you a Scourge, a punisher to the Yuuzhan Vong, but on Dantooine, they saw a guardian angel, who always showed up at the last possible moment.  They called you the Valkyrie."
     "I did what was needed, Jorn."  She replied after a moment, with a sad smile.
     "You know, the mission to your old Archive wasn't the first time we met."  Jorn added.
     "Oh?"
     "The Fall of Coruscant.  When you were wounded."
     "Oh."
     "We'd been hearing reports of your activity for two days without any break.  It was like you didn't sleep, didn't eat, didn't do anything but slaughter Vong.  Every objective my team was given had already been cleared, evidently by you, according to the string of civilians who you'd kept safe at each point.  Our orders were changed eventually; we were to catch up to you, and provide any assistance we could.  So we started following the reports.  It took us six hours to find you.  We eventually caught up to you in a lower level slum.  You were lying against a wall, your armor shredded, your mask lost, bleeding from a dozen wounds.  The street was filled with dead Vong.  We thought it had been your final stand.  One of the younger ones on my team tried to count the bodies, but lost track around seventy.  Most of them were in too many pieces to tell how many there had been.  We were gonna take your body out so you could be laid to rest respectfully when our healer sensed life in you.  He was trying to stabilize you when your friends showed up.  Teks, Rhia and Kip Crescentfall, and Nadia Kepressa.  In so many words, they told us to make ourselves scarce, and that was first contact between the Jedi and Templar Orders.  After the battle, your masters contacted ours, but the relationship was shaky at best."  He said with a laugh.
     "Our standing orders were to make sure that your people won their battles, but to limit contact as much as possible.  Our order had lost a lot of people, and trying to fight a war with your new order at the same time as the Vong would have destroyed us.  We had no way of knowing how you would react to us or our ways."  Edda explained.  "After the war, we were more interested in forming a friendship, but the Jedi weren't sure yet."
     "We did our research.  The Crescentfall brothers were black sheep of the Old Order, and the order they founded had dark siders on it's council, several members using unknown techniques to extend their lives unnaturally and a very bloody past.  Even now, your existence is a closely guarded secret in the order.  The only reason a lowly Knight such as myself is in the know is because of my firsthand experience with you."
     "To tell you the truth, Jorn, things have been done in the name of our Order that would turn your stomach.  It turns mine, sometimes.  In the early years, we were on the very edge.  Our job was to protect the knowledge and the treasures Rakham inherited, and to keep them out of the wrong hands.  Maybe we weren't the right hands, but there were worse out there.  Much worse.  Looks like we've got a more pressing issue, though."  Edda's hands once again glided over the familiar controls.  "We're almost there."
     "Is it showing on sensors yet?"  Jorn asked, peering at the various instrument displays in an attempt to answer his own question.
     "Yeah.  There."  Edda pointed to a blip on one of the larger screens.  "It looks like a rogue planet.  It's not on any of our star charts."  As the ship sped closer, more and more information was displayed.  "Breathable atmosphere, surface is cold but survivable with proper equipment."
     "Any signs of civilization?"
     "Not yet, looks like an empty rock."
     "That might make this easier."
     "We'll reach orbit in ten minutes.  Go start pulling the gear out and I'll see if I can set us down."

     Entry into the atmosphere was uneventful, as was the process of landing on an ice sheet.  The surface of the planet was covered in snow and ice but for a few patches of salt water.  Sensor scans revealed that most of the planet was covered in oceans under a thick layer of ice, but the map brought them to a stark ridge of mountains, jutting up from the lonely landscape like a row of dagger-sharp teeth against a sky that was perpetually dark and filled with stars.
     The cold weather equipment consisted of black, skin tight thermal suits worn under hooded fur-lined oversuits.  Thick balaclavas and heavy night vision goggles covered their faces, and a set of long range heavy blasters complemented their lightsabers, along with backpacks filled with survival and mountaineering equipment.  Two compact military speeder bikes had found their way into the ships cargo bay as well, and Edda kicked the engine of hers into life before making a communications check.
     "Jorn, can you hear me?"
     "Loud and clear."  He replied, firing his engine as well.  "Do you have the coordinates?"
     "Already in my nav system.  Race you there?"
     "Last one there's a rotten-" Before Jorn could finish, Edda's engine screamed, and the speeder shot off like a blaster bolt.  Jorn chuckled softly and cranked his throttle to the stop, letting the bike scream forward.  They were approximately ten kilometers from the edge of the mountains, and it didn't take them long to cross that distance, though Edda maintained a hundred meter lead the whole way.  She parked her speeder at the bottom of a tall, vertical rock face.
     "You owe me a drink when we get back to civilization."  She spoke into her comm with a laugh.
     "You cheated."  Jorn replied jokingly as he pulled along side her.  "Have you noticed how damn cold it is?"
     "Yeah.  Wind on the bike cut right through me."  Edda said, rubbing her gloved hands together.
     "What does the map say?"
     "This is where the last set of coordinates brought us.  The next set is a hundred meters that way." Edda pointed at the rock face.  The face was eight or ten meters high, and seemed to lead to a ledge.  "Hang on, I'll lower a rope."  She abruptly leaped, using the Force to launch herself up high enough to grab onto the ledge and pull herself up the rest of the way.  After a moment of silence, the sound of steel striking steel rang out, and a rope uncoiled itself over the edge, followed by a small, hooded and masked face peeking over the edge.  "Climb up.  It looks like we're on the right track."
     "You know, I said I wasn't good at and didn't like Force acrobatics, not that I'm incapable of it."  He replied ruefully, but nonetheless grabbed the knotted climbing rope and began pulling himself up.  Edda reached out a hand and helped him climb up onto the ledge, then unhooked the rope and started coiling it up.  Jorn took in the scene, adjusting his goggles for the darkness.
     Laid out before him was a long passageway cut into the side of the mountain.  It was obviously not a natural formation.  At the end, the passage disappeared underground, into the mountainside.
     "You were right."  He said.  "Looks like we could be on to something."
     "Still think there's a grumpy old Sith down there freezing his butt off and waiting to cut out our hearts?"  Edda joked, stashing the rope back in her bag and setting off down the passage.
     "Oh, I'm sure there's a whole remnant of the old Sith Empire here, just waiting to rise again."  He shot back sarcastically, catching up to his comrade.  An air of unease washed over him as they made their way towards the dark entrance.  Stories of impossibly ancient and powerful Dark Lords sprang unbidden to his mind, even as he tried to tell himself that those stories were mere fantasy.  It's probably just an empty cave. he chided himself internally.
     "Whatcha wanna bet that we're about to be eaten by some terrible ice monster?"  Edda joked.
    Thanks. he thought silently.  He wasn't sure he could imagine anything managing to phase the little Hapan.
     "I'm thinking it's probably an ancient treasure vault full of untold valuables and powerful relics."  He said, trying to shake the fear poking at the edges of his mind.
     "Eh, I already got a couple of those.  I could go for a good lightsaber duel, though.  It's been ages."  She laughed.
     "You know Edda, it occurs to me that you're more relaxed here than you are safe at home or on the ship."
     "This is where I belong."  She said, coming to a stop as they reached the entrance.  "Doing work."
     From here, the night vision optics in their goggles could penetrate the darkness.  The ice faded away to complex stonework leading to a set of massive wooden doors set inside the tunnel.
     "Looks like we're in the right place."  Jorn said.  Edda silently strode forward confidently, and before Jorn could stop her, used the hilt of her lightsaber to rap three times on the ancient wooden door, loudly.  "What are you doing?!"
     "Checking to see if anybody's home."  She said with a straight face.  "Looks like the locks and hinges are rusted together.  Step back." 
     She shifted the lightsaber hilt to her left hand and held it at the ready, then placed her right palm against the seam where the two doors met.  For a moment nothing happened, then Jorn began to hear a hum, followed by a buzz, until, almost anticlimactically, the doors collapsed to dust.
     "Okay, I'm impressed."  Jorn said, eliciting a quiet smirk from Edda, who stepped back and gestured for him to step through first.  He was tempted to argue, but resisted the urge and stepped forward.
     
[cont.]

The entrance opened up on an enormous hall, with a vaulted ceiling and walls lined with ancient, crumbling statues depicted robed figures.  Without night vision, the darkness inside would have seemed impenetrable, however, the place was warm in the Force, and subtly set the two intruders' minds at ease as the moved forward.  The spaces on the walls between the statues bore complex murals that told endless tales, and the stone tiles under their feet were intricately carved.
     "I wonder how old this place is?"  Edda pondered out loud. 
    "Very, judging by the degradation of this stonework.  It looks like the work of the Old Order.  Could be a thousand, two thousand years old."
     "So far I'm not seeing any doors.  I think this might just be one giant room."  Edda replied.
     "Maybe… did you hear that?"  Jorn said, looking over his shoulder.
     "Hear what?" 
     "Something scraping."  His tone took on a worried pitch. 
     "Keep your eyes open, but I think it was just your imagination.  Scanners didn't show any life signs. The end of the hall is coming into view.  I think I see something."  Edda said.
     "Yeah.  Looks like a pedestal."
     "Might be what we came for."
   
     The end of the hall began to fade into vision almost surreally in their goggles.  There was indeed a pedestal, on a raised dais that led into a tall alcove with yet another statue of some ancient master.  The pedestal was round, and climbing up the steps revealed it's contents.  A grey cloak, folded neatly, and atop it and ancient lightsaber.  As they stepped closer to the pedestal, the brightness of the room's energy grew, until it seemed to warm their shivering bodies along with their minds.  However, there was something even more interesting on the pedestal, beside the ancient artifacts; a data chip, one that couldn't possibly be more than a few decades old.
     "What the hell…" Edda whispered, and reached out for it.
     "Stop!" A mighty voice echoed inside her skull, and she spun around, but froze in place immediately. Jorn didn't hear the voice, but he turned too, following his comrade's gaze.
     Towering over the two were half a dozen animated statues, and even before their eyes more of the statues left their alcoves, moving with impossible silence.
     "You must be tested." The voice returned, but this time both of them heard it.  The pure shall not be harmed.  You must be tested. 
     One of the statues, if they were indeed statues, stepped forward and raised his hand, palm facing forward, towards Jorn.
     This one is pure.
     It turned it's attention to Edda next, who nervously moved a thumb towards the activation switch on her lightsaber.
     This one is not pure. This one has darkness.  It must be destroyed.
     Edda hit the switch, and an unstable red blade screamed into life, but Jorn yelled before anyone could move.
     "Wait!"
     The statues seemed willing to defer to him, at least for the moment, and the leading one shifted it's attention from Edda.
     "Wait.  I don't understand.  How am I pure, and she not?"
     "The one called Jorn Bollin is light.  He is Jedi.  The one called Edda Veek is dark.  She is something else.  Is Jorn Bollin Edda Veek's prisoner?"
    "No!  This woman is my friend.  She is helping me."
    "How could one who is light be assisted by one who is dark?  Is Jorn Bollin confused?"
   "No!  Her heart is just and good, she is not dark."
   Edda Veek uses the Force as a tool of destruction.  Edda Veek must not be allowed to obtain these artifacts.  Do not obstruct us, Jorn Bollin."
     Even as the voice echoed through their minds, something hit Edda in the back, hard, and sent her tumbling down the dais steps.  Jorn drew his lightsaber and activated it, bringing the blue blade around in a wide arc to face the statue who'd crawled out behind them.  He caught it at the waist, bisecting it, and then spun to face the others, who were moving for Edda.  He leaped forward, and Force pushed the advancing stone monsters away from his friend as she picked herself up and reactivated her saber.  The statues stumbled backwards, but did not fall, and began to advance again, moving with frightening dexterity.
     "This isn't good!" Jorn shouted.  In response, Edda clenched her teeth and shifted into a Juyo stance.
     "If they want darkness, they can have it!"  She snarled, and launched into a flurry of vicious acrobatic attacks, propelling herself to the center of the crowd of living statues, lopping off chunks of stone as she went.  Jorn shifted into the Soresu stance he'd been trained with and waded in behind her, dodging the swings of great stone fists, and cutting through what he couldn't dodge.  The rate at which Edda reduced the stone warriors to rubble was almost terrifying, but it took Jorn a moment to figure out why their numbers didn't seem to be  diminishing.  Swinging his saber wide to clear the area, he spun around and looked for the statue he'd cut down at the beginning of the battle.
     It was gone. 
     He looked next to the path of destruction Edda was carving, and at the ground around her.  Slowly, but surely, the pieces of stone were dragging, crawling or rolling themselves back together and standing again.
     "Jorn!  They won't die!"  Edda shouted.
     "I know!  What do we do?"
     "Grab the loot and leave!  I'll clear a path!"

     Jorn turned again, and made to sprint for the pedestal, but as his foot left the ground, stone fingers wrapped around his ankles and he crashed to the ground with a thud.  The air flew from his lungs and his lightsaber rolled away.  As he struggled for air he began to kick his legs wildly, but only caused the grip to tighten.  He looked down and saw a stone torso, missing both legs, holding on to him, it's blank stone eyes boring into his.  Suddenly, a gloved hand clapped down on it's head, and the stone rapidly began to superheat, until it turned red, then orange, and finally melted into magma.  The grip released, and he scrambled away.
     "I got your back!"  Edda yelled, already spinning her lightsaber into a crimson cage around her body.  He struggled to his feet and called his saber back to him, catching it in an outstretched hand before taking off at a sprint.  He quickly gathered the items from the pedestal and shouted back at Edda, who had the statues' full attention.
      "Got it!  Let's go!"
      In one fluid motion, Edda's lightsaber blade retracted and the hilt went onto her belt.  With feline grace, she scaled the statue nearest to her, too fast for attacks that seemed cumbersome in comparison, and leapt into the air over it's head.  She came down to the floor on her hands, and at the moment she hit, there was a deafening clap and blinding flash of light.  The shockwave nearly knocked Jorn off his feet, and the heat wave singed his heavy winter clothes.  The goggles compensated quickly for the bright light, revealing the destruction in front of him. 
     Edda was crouched, but already beginning to stand, in a crater in the floor.  The statues had been flung against the walls and reduced to rubble, and the path out was, for the moment, clear.
     "Time to go!"  She shouted, as the piles of stone began to churn and reform.  Jorn didn't need to hear it twice, and took off at a dead sprint, catching up to his friend in a second.  Both of them dashed headlong for the doorway, each of them afraid to look back over their shoulders.  Both of them were breathing raggedly by the time they had the sky above them, but still they ran, leaping down the ledge to their speeders and kicking the engines to life.  It wasn't until the engines were screaming and they were rocketing away that either dared look back, and when they did, they saw…

     Nothing.  The way off of this icy planet was clear, and with any luck they had the next piece of their puzzle.

CHAPTER END

Edda is definitely a personal favorite of mine so I'm stoked that we get another chapter TDC  :)

I love the in-story history of Edda's (and the Templar's) deeds during the Yuuzhan Vong War; gives provenance to Edda's own trials that still haunt her (excellent character development here; I really enjoy the mentor-role that she's assumed with Jorn).  Speaking of: even now she's confused with where her and Tasrii stand; such interpersonal relationships have always made for excellent pathos.  And, admittedly, I really like Tasrii as well  ;)

Wonderful imagery: the ice-cave spelunking giving way to the ancient temple is an incredible setting (wish that I'd've thought of that...  ;)).  And those stone Force golems: perfect foes, especially since they are the proverbial "implacable man" where they just...won't...stop.  Reminds me of when I first saw the movie "Terminator."

Looking forward to the next chapter TDC!

echoing Dutchman.   Interesting take on "Light" and "Dark" by the guardians of the relics.  I doubt many Jedi could pass it, especially after the Clone Wars and what happened after. 

Unfortunately, the tenseness of the scene was interrupted for me by the image of the song "Rock Monster" from Veggie Tales - The Pirates who Don't Do Anything...  LOL

Agreed even Yoda wouldn't I think, only 1 Jedi I can think of in the Forumverse who would pass...
Curious though - that purity is what whoever set those guardians wanted of he finder and not necessarily what they were themselves...one wonders why they set that up in that way.
Also agree with Dutch, as was mentioned the war with the Vong marked them all, its almost as real as their current task still.
Let's see where this path leads!