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Author Topic: Fate of the Aether  (Read 72801 times)
Lord_S_Gray
Knight Commander
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Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« on: June 15, 2018, 04:10:29 AM »

FATE OF THE AETHER
Authors Note -
This is the Third Part of the ‘Aethan Saga’ and follows directly on from Legacy of the Aether.
The Order of Reading is
 - Children of the Aether
 - Orphan of the Aether
- Interlude Posts 42, 46, 48, (The Scientist, Sorcerer and Goddess Brother)
 - Path To Legacy Interludes (posts 60, 74, 82, 86, 91, 105)
(The Jedi, The Warrior, the Thief, the Orthodox, the Master, the Lover, The Apprentice)
- Legacy of the Aether
- Fate of the Aether

This is a work of fiction but Fair Warning This Series Will Contain, Frequent Violence, Sexual References, Coarse Language, and themes/concepts/characters/events that you might find disturbing - not your thing you've been warned.

What it will have is some fast and loose plays with Canon, some hopefully interesting scenarios, characters and concepts, and hopefully cool action.
 
Logged

Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Lord_S_Gray
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2018, 04:14:43 AM »

Opening

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away

STAR WARS

FATE OF THE AETHER

As the fires of the Night of Madness slowly die across Coruscant Jedi Master Yoda returns to find the Order in despair and disarray.  As the Chancellor calls for blood the full extent of Kimars ambitions are revealed forcing the Jedi to walk a dangerous path between justice and vengeance, truth and discretion.

Deep beyond the reach of Republic, Milaea seeks the Aethans acceptance as the first step in turning them from a course that would see the galaxy drown in death.  As the plans to rebuild their civilization take strides forward the Guardians finally begin to reflect on the traumas they have experienced and inflicted.

However the cataclysm unleashed in the heart of the Temple has not gone unnoticed….Dark forces eye the vergence with covetous eyes.

<<<<>>>>

In a flurry of pseudomotion, the light transport reverted to real space on the edge of the system.  The pilot beginning the innumerable checks needed to ensure no damage had been done from dropping out so suddenly. 

His Passenger and Employer sat serenely in the passenger compartment taking in every wave of energy that reached the edge of the system.  It was building, the waves growing strong with each crash…

“Are we going back?” the pilot asked intruding on his thoughts.

“No…obtain an orbit nearby and wait for my instruction…we remain here.” He said before firmly gesturing the door closed, locking it with a flick of his mind.

Something was being unleashed on the planet he had just left…something powerful…confident…cunning…something turned against their mutual enemies - the Jedi…something….

Something a Sith had to control lest it destroy him.

<<<>>>
Logged

Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Lord_S_Gray
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2018, 04:17:13 AM »

Prologue


His breath moved with the rhythm of the rain upon the roof.  The pot bubbled away, roots and grey meats within taking in the flavour of the leaves – everything in one simple pot, full of flavour and nutrition, a yellow flickering fire beneath…he had never quite been able to make it as good as his apprentice had made it…

The blue smokeless flames beneath the old pot as they would sit on a dozen worlds discussing questions to this day he had no better answers for, conversations more enlivening and challenging because of the difference in opinion.

Thunder cracked above brining him out of a half mediation.  There was much time on Dagobah…especially in the rain season…much time to think…to reflect on his failures.

They were as many as the drops that fell upon his hut.

He breathed out, breath wispy in the cold as he tried to wash out that brief remembrance…it had been…decades since he thought of that time – so many other things on his mind…a war…a battle for the soul of the Jedi – another battle for the Soul of the Jedi…another that they had lost. 

Yet now as he thought more…this war had not begun on Geonosis…nor even Naboo..the Clone Wars…no…the Clone Battles in a war that had begun centuries earlier…millennia even.  A war in the heart of every Jedi, a war he had fought on a dozen different sides over the years.  A war he still fought…900 years old and making the same silly mistakes. 

“Our lives are circular, we face the same battles and make the same choices, over the span of thousands of lives lived at once the pattern repeats as history.   The challenge to break that cycle, to face the same battle but make a different choice, one that does not keep us locked in to the cycle…that knowledge cannot come from within, for if we only rely on what we already know…our repetition is inevitable. “

Those words had been spoken nearly 600 years before by that same apprentice who had cooked the ancient food of his people in a single pot upon a force generated flame. 

He recalled the day it was spoken exactly…it was on Coruscant, Yoda had slept ill the night before worried about his apprentice undertaking the final trials.  In the morning he had visited Soryu who was, as always in those days around the nursery with his apprentice Sofa who was recovering from a coma never fully explained.  In one little cot was a small girl with the first strands of what would later be golden red hair.

She…that young girl…was the first…the first Jedi Yoda could safely and honestly say he had failed – allowed to be confused and twisted by so many competing ideologies – Kimars dogmatism, Valens pragmatism, Soryu’s idealism, Sofa Neirai’s materialism and yes Yoda’s own stoicism – such a heady mix that when faced with a challenging situation she buckled and broke…destroying a great man – the master singer Odjina – and many others in the process. 

It was not her fault…not her responsibility…she was a child forced to make decisions that even today Yoda would not trust himself or even Obi-Wan to make…perhaps.

Perhaps Qui-Gon.

She was the first he failed…but she was certainly not the last.

Kimar, Odjina, Soryu, Valens…names he had forgotten for years - from an Age of Gods…

And Monsters.

Few would remember those times…a few Gen’Dai and Anzat perhaps…there were rumours of an old Vhal’Dan still alive during the Clone Wars…he forgot the name, likely he had fallen to Vaders blade by now – another monster that was once Jedi.

That was a monster because of the Jedi.

No…he thought back on himself – he had not forgotten those names and times – he had shut them out - for to remember was too painful…too indicting of his continued mistakes…

“Our lives are circular, we face the same battles and make the same choices”

“Right you were Valens…heard your words…but listen I did not…” Yoda said out loud as though it might ward off his apprentices ghost.

He settled beside the fire stoking it gently as he took the pot off the boil and waited for it to cool.

What would he make of Yoda now…in exile…defeated by Sidious…Skywalker the great hope of the Order turned into the murderous Vader. Would Valens laugh, admonish – “I told you…I showed you,”…No that was not his way. 

He would simply ask “Why didn’t you listen to your greatest teacher? Why didn’t you learn from your failures?”

How could he answer that?
<<<<>>>>
Logged

Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Lord_S_Gray
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2018, 04:24:08 AM »

Chapter 1 — The Light
[/size]
Part 1


Yoda


Small groups sought gloomy corners, whispering fear in the bright of the Temple.

Black and blue coloured the force that held the tension between living beings – beaten and hurt.  Despair walked hand in hand with defeat to fill the empty halls.

The Room of a Thousand Fountains wept tears those who feared emotions could not. The battle was over, the Jedi had lost…

Everyone knew this, everyone felt it. The Council Chamber that they would turn to for leadership in such a times of need remained a a closed off Force-contaminated ruin.

As he made his way to the temporary council chambers the huddled group’s shyly glanced his way, whispers and worries cut the hollow air. A thousand questions that had no answers formed in a single word – Why? 

Everybody knew that Kimar was dead, Gurrlum, Yoren and dozens more. Everyone knew he was the heir apparent…

The Grand Master is dead, long live the Grand Master - Yoda ruefully thought to himself.

Heading up the stairs his gait firm and strong despite the difficulty his small stature presented in tackling them…he showed strength even as each new stolen gaze weighed down his steps with expectation and responsibility.  For direction, guidance, healing, answers – everybody looked to him.  Of these he had little to offer.

And everybody knew that too.

<<<>>>

They met in one of the mid-level conference rooms while the council chamber was being repaired.

Only eight present…Kimar, Yoren, Gurrlum all slain.  They shuffled around the table with twenty chairs taking odd seats…a moment late Yshrrk, High Sentinel entered having to duck to get in the room, Yoda nodded to the hulking wookie Jedi, who in absence of a seat large enough to accommodate him stood.

No one seemed to be willing to start the session. Finally the holo –projection of Master Nagasa on Dantooine spoke up.

“As a first order of business…we need to appoint an interim Grand Master until a full conclave can be held…”  He glanced around “Nominations?”

It was pointless everyone knew who would be picked and voted on unanimously…still they needed to go thought he motions.

“I nominate Master Yoda to the position of interim Grand Master…” Master Nagasa declared, his voice slightly distorted by the transmission

“Seconded…” Soryu said somewhat less enthusiastically

All eyes around the table searched for something less uncomfortable to look at.

“If there are no other nominations, or veto’s?” Nagasa had the advantage of not feeling the emotions that saturated the Temple…for this reason alone he seemed to be able to keep some composure.

“Passed…This council Affirms Yoda as acting Grand Master, with all titles, powers and responsibilities until under the guidance of the Force a conclave can determine the next Grand Master….I propose the conclave be scheduled to commence in not more than three standard months, Core Standard time.”

“Seconded,” Torfun added impassively, “Passed”

Usura in the corner dutifully recorded the motions.

“Grand Master…” Nagasa turned over leadership to Yoda.  He paused considering how he would start his Grand Master-ship…yes it was temporary but he didn’t doubt he would be formally approved by the conclave – this was not arrogance, simply reality, other masters were either too close to Kimar or lacked ability. 

Taking up the mantle he spoke.

“A great loss we have suffered,” all eyes turning to him for the direction they craved, “a response formulate we must,”

He paused to see if anyone else would take up the chance to speak…none did.

“Repair and rebuild we must, but also justice seek…” his eyes hardened “Allowed to roam the galaxy freely, too dangerous Valens and his apprentice are…substantial their powers, absent their mercy…” 

He lifted his head to survey each of the other Masters,

“Propose I do, all non-essential missions suspend, our best recalled and into teams formed to find and,” he checked himself before he said ‘kill’,

“Apprehend these and their collaborators”

There was a murmur of agreement

“We also…” Soryu spoke up, “Need to decide how to communicate this…to the Order and outside…we are getting a lot of questions…I have the security footage, I think we should release it…”

“Master Kimar thought otherwise…” Master Yoruuba, suggested

A brief twitch of annoyance crossed Soryu’s face – Soryu had hoped in vain possibly Kimars politicizing and scheming would die with him.

“No nothing is achieved concealing the truth…only truth can help us heal…” he looked to Yoda, “We need to be honest about this…not just about Valens…but Kimar as well,”

That was a hard truth to bear… the review of Kimars documents and classified mission briefings had been a sobering experience. Mostly undertaken by Valens, but also on occasion the brutal deputy-High Sentinel Oma – a woman Yoda knew was one of Valens few friends in the Order – the missions seemed better suited to a Vigo of the Black Suns charge sheet.

Cartel and gang leaders eliminated on the request of Senators and senior Republic Bureaucrats, ‘dirt’ files compiled, entrapment of the Chancellors political opponents using prostitutes, phony business deals, union disputes for major corporations ‘settled’ using force persuasion techniques on dozens of individuals, plans to destroy the Gray orders and worst of all instructions to eliminate Jedi who refused to adhere to Kimar strict rule.

Yoda’s brow furrowed as he considered what to do…trying to discern the greater good…the force remained disturbed and erratic denying him calm and guidance.

“Release we shall not,” Yoda said firmly, “all records deleted must be,”

“Surely we must be open about…”  Soryu began

“Too dangerous these are…if widespread this becomes…if known the Grand Master in the heart of the Temple assassinated…our other enemies emboldened would become…if known the level of deaths ordered, confidence in the Jedi Order lost will be.  United, Strong, Untainted to all we must seem from the outside, or else Valens destruction continued through other hands will be,”

There were only half the nods

“That was Kimar’s reasoning…” Soryu added, “I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now…”

“It was but the logic still holds…our vulnerability will become a self-fulfilling prophecy with this in the public sphere…” Yoruuba added, the Ongree’s eyes stalks talking in both Soryu and Yoda at once as the tide quietly turned in Yoda’s favour.

“The Former Grand Masters files not to the archives, but sequestered and redacted must be…the reputation of the Jedi and Senate…damaged would be if released.”

GONNG
Soryu slammed his fist on the table
“NO, this isn’t right…we can’t deny people the truth…just to…just to protect our reputation. We…” he looked around the room implicating all of them

“We are all responsible for these crimes…we ignored the signs…to now cover it up would be a sin to top them all and deny us any chance to learn as an Order from our mistakes,”

Yoda’s eyes narrowed as he considered Soryu’s odd use of the archaic word sin…indeed Soryu’s whole demeanour seemed much more combative.

“You lead the charge with Gurrlum in ensuring the Commission on Child Abuse within the Order was realised publically,” Soryu’s eyes were convicting and painful for Yoda to meet

“You argued then that only by facing the actions of our fellow Jedi, and accepting the consequences could we be true to the Code – True to ourselves,”

Yoda couldn’t deny the purity of Soryu’s motivations…nor the force of his argument - but the practical realities…they were barely recovered from the Child Abuse scandals, this was not the time to add promethium to the conflagration.

“A closed commission of inquiry I propose…into abuse of power by the former grand master,” Yoda offered to placate Soryu more than anyone else in the room,

He nodded in return,

“In that case may I recommend Kage Li Mack of the Mak’Tor or Kage Arkady Cyne of the Vhal Dan as independent commissioners,” Soryu replied,

“Out of the question!” Torfun boomed the Ootoolans eyes wide and watery, “We can’t have Gray Jedi poking around in our affairs…they’re dangerous enough as is!”

Yoda was just as shocked - that was almost a deliberately provocative suggestion in the current climate…The Mak’tor could hardly be called independent after Vyth…the Vhal Dan…if they read Kimars five year expansionary plan to ‘degrade and destroy’ the leadership on Galtea and recruit the left overs into the Order…

“An internal inquiry at first…Master Nagasa appoint I do to oversee it,” Yoda conceded to no one’s satisfaction.

Soryu
Two weapons sat quietly in his hands, cool to the touch, small and innocuous…yet with these he could destroy the Order, a rain of fire from without whilst fracturing them from within.

In one hand was Truth, in the other the Means to Communicate it.  The moral objects physical aspects were a simple data disc and a data-commlink.

The data disc contained a copy of Kimar’s confidential files and plans, the one the paper Tusk cat of a commission of inquiry would review, ‘tut tut’ over then never release.

Was this what it was to be a Jedi now – to conceal and pay lip service to their own crimes, to prize reputation above reality, expediency over examination. This what not the kind of Jedi he wanted to be. This was not a kind of Jedi at all.

Truth, real truth, the concrete reality of a situation was painful to face.  To have the illusions, excuses and comforting compromises stripped away, the bare naked soul revealed was painful, for it offered no consolation, no great moment of clarity or wisdom, only the horror and disgust of what you had allowed yourself to become.

In the murky rust stained struts beneath he Temple Soryu saw himself like this, soiled, beaten, unable to live up to his own ideals.

He had failed to see the abuse Sofa had suffered, had let her increasingly sexualised behaviour slide as a result of his guilt, and allowed her to form a deep relationship with Valens.

He had sat silent as the Exile was pronounced over the Mak’tor, he should’ve protested, split the Order if he had to. He’d sat in silence as he did now.

And further still he had seen in Milaea all his hopes and dreams come to life, the embodiment of the Living force, and placed so much expectation upon her, been so blind to the reality of what she was going through….

This was his truth.
He placed the two weapons down and drew a more obvious one, his reflection in the sabre distorted by the curve of the hilt…as if a different mirror might change the man looking back at him. 

What Order had this blade fought for, what Republic…Certainly not the one he believed it could or should be.

The snap-hiss of the sabre echoed in the cavernous depths where foundations and support beams mingled like webs of an arachnid to support the monstrous idol of pomposity and power that was the Temple.  Cool Sunrider Green coloured his robes and no longer wrinkled hands, the familiar gyroscopic churning of the blade resisting his movements.

It was a clean, pure light…a light you couldn’t hide from yet didn’t wish to look into – this was like the Truth that sat before him in ones and zeroes etched into silicon and nano-crystals.

He faced the Truth of himself…he hated what he saw…but he looked upon it still. 

All he had failed, Sofa, Odjina, Valens, Milaea, the Order itself.

He was a tarnished knight – but to be a Jedi was to acknowledge this Truth, and act on it. That the others were unwilling to truly acknowledge that he, Kimar, Sofa, Valens were not an aberrations, but the product of the Order itself spoke of a tragic itnory – the Order had forgotten what it meant to be Jedi.

He could not act for the others, but from this day, he would act as a Jedi, not a member of an Order hypocritical in its purposes and ideals.

No more silence,
No more compromising,
Truth to Power.
He raised the Commlink.

<<<>>>
Logged

Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Lord_S_Gray
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2018, 04:26:49 AM »

Chapter 1 — The Light
[/size]
Part 2

Yoda

Chancellor Ovrith paced behind his desk, gaggle of aides off to the side tapping on touch screens, a swirl of different emotions, from the ambitious go getters watching like hawks to the jaded civil servants bored to death at another meeting they had nothing to contribute to but their physical presence. 

“Any lead is better than the nothing you’ve currently offered me Master Jedi,” the final two words sneered rather than spoked to Yoda,

He paused in his stride, his long blue finger pointing menacingly toward him

“Make sure justice is done…and seen to be done…swiftly and with finality…this is an election year…I don’t want this left outstanding when polling begins…”

Yoda could only nod…Ovrith was at best a slimy politician, at worst utterly corrupt…but he represented the people as the civilian oversight of the Jedi…how truthfully he represented them was not Yoda’s place to judge.

“This is the largest loss of life on Coruscant since the Sith War…” the Duro breathed before pointing an accusing finger straight at him,
“And you are meant to be the Guardians of Peace and Justice….the Senate wants that Justice Now!”

“Every effort to apprehend these criminals shall be made…all their victims Justice deserve,”

“Yes justice…justice…the courts…” he paused to return to his seat his previous anger clearly a piece of political theatre, likely for a front page pict, Yoda could see the headline now ‘Chancellor Demands action from negligent Jedi over Atrocity,’

The media storm was only slowly dying, still at least 6 pages of every major news holo-post were filled with increasingly wild theories about who was responsible and why, the most favoured were Corellian Sepratists, a group of University Anarchists and Yevetha suicide bombers.

“The courts are often slow…so much evidence and procedure…it would be difficult for them to render a verdict before polling at the end of the year,” Ovrith said in measured tones

Yoda understood his meaning…if the court were too slow a more direct approach from the Jedi would suit him just fine. 

Keeping his face neutral as possible Yoda swiftly realised how easy it would be to follow Kimar’s path…to confuse serving politician with serving the Republic they represented such a thin line that seasoned Politicians like Ovrith knew how to blur.

Yoda could feel the weight of expectation upon him.  He didn’t want to acquiesce to their desire without question…yet in this particular case the Chancellors end goal was the same as Yoda’s, even if the motivations were not as pure.

Yoda wanted justice, to see the Aethans held responsible, yet he knew they would never surrender peacefully, and no jail could ever hold them…to bring them back to Coruscant was too risky, they would have contingencies, mercenaries, possibly even friends within the Order. Even now rumours that Soryu had been ‘programmed’ were circulating – the only explanation for why Jarys – Sith of Cygrat, Bane of Jedi had spared him.

“These criminals, ruthless they are, unlikely to surrender…understand Chancellor, a violent outcome likely is when dealing with such terrorists,” he conceded, if Orvith wanted blood for the plebs, he could have it – this time.

The Duros face remained serious but his aura lit up like a Tree Day lights display.

“Of course…of course…unfortunately some people cannot be reasoned with…”

No Yoda thought…no they cannot.
<<<>>>

Soryu

He felt surprising calm for a man about to betray the Order. Beneath the Temple had had made his choice – he chose to be a Jedi, and this was what Truth and Justice demanded.

What was the worse they could do to him…exile, imprisonment…by then the Truth would be free - he could accept the consequences other imposed for betraying the Order, he could not accept the betrayal of himself if he didn’t perform his duties as a Jedi.

Two figures turned the corner, robes utilitarian brown. A smooth scan in the force from a familiar but long absent touch.  Purple lips beneath the hood showed a woman not the girl he recalled before the Exile had parted them.

Li’I Mack kept her hood on but tilted it back a little to regard Soryu…he looked…younger than she remembered strangely, it had been over twenty years – he should be an old man, a few years older than Odjina had been before…

“Thank you for coming Li…Kage,” he said tentatively, this was not the man she remembered physically or emotionally, whatever had happened on the Night of Madness and the preceding years had changed him, and not for the better. …a battle between moral purity and worldly pragmatism raging just below the surface.

“Li is fine Soryu…it’s been a long time,” she smiled a thin hum of calming on her lips.

“I needed to tell you this in person…the attack on Vyth…it was…” he paused again demonstrating just how hard this was for him

“It was devised and ordered by Grand Master Kimar,” now that was out the words flowed easily, the mountain summit reached it was all downhill,

“He sent a Knight named Valens, who was acting as his enforcer and assassin to infiltrate and destroy them, with him went a padawan, later knight Milaea,” he produced a small data disc from his robe causing Li’s guard to tense at the movement,

“This contains Kimar’s orders, pre-mission briefings, E-signatures and debriefing notes – proof that the Jedi ordered the destruction of the colony.”

Her fingers hovered over the disc as though it contained some kind of repulsive magnetic energy…she took it all the same.  The information from Ha’Ona’Mack, her droid and Odjina’s notes were consistent with the names…but she had never imagined Valens and Milaea were authorised by the Jedi…posing as Jedi yes but an officially sanctioned mission!

Breathing deeply turning her calming tune upon herself she kept her question as clear as possible,
“How could two Jedi unleash that…”

Soryu nodded, expecting the question,

“They are not human…Valens was…trained in unique forms of combat, abilities I can’t even begin to understand…Odjina…” this pained him to say, “Odjina never stood a chance…and after…” he had to say this now
“After Valens returned he unleashed the Night of Madness, killed Kimar in the Council Chambers, as well as over a dozen Jedi.”

Li was confused, Kimar ordered the attack on Vyth, sent an invincible psychopath to carry it out…

“So he turned on Kimar…he was a Sith?”

Soryu shook his head,

“It’s not that simple I…I wish I knew more…but what happened between them…I don’t know…my apprentice Sofa believed Valens was driven mad by the trauma of his own violence…but I think it had to do with Milaea and he being from a meta human species…more than that I honestly don’t know - No matter the tool used, Kimar was the one who ordered Vyth destroyed…I know the wounds of the Exile are still fresh…and now with this…”

Li understood his meaning, the bitterness over the Exile was still palpable, the slaughter on Vyth had re-opened many old wounds, and now… she wished Odjina were here…he would know what to do about all of…this…in her hands the cold data that proved the former Grand Master had sought their deaths and unleashed a monster upon them.  If she informed all the Maenowans…how many might turn rogue for revenge, would the chasm between Jedi and Mak’tor grow beyond all hope of crossing – but if she kept the truth hidden she betrayed position and herself.

“Thank you…for your honesty…” Li broke the strained silence

“I…will keep this in confidence…but if someone asks me specifically about all the details on this disc…I will have to tell the truth,” 

Disappointment ran through the force between them – he understood Li’s intent, to conceal the truth.  It was not his place to compel her to act truthfully, he had done his part. HE understood she wanted to prevent a permanent rift at the price of the truth – if Li believed that was a price she could bear, then let her bear it. He only hoped Jorl-Taf of the Vhal’Dan and his superior the Arbiter Anson D’Aklay would be more understanding

“Take care Li…and…the people on that disc…if you ever see them…” the tension was still high and he hated to add to it but could not stay silent. 

“Just give them whatever they want…resistance is not just futile…it’s suicidal…”

<<<>>>

Yoda

The blazing light of the pyre cast deep shadows across the assembled Jedi, their lit sabres did nothing to help offset the gloom.

Thirty Jedi lay upon that pyre, burnt in hiding in the northern hangar to avoid media attention.  He knew upon that pyre lay two bodies of Knights slain by their own…the imbalance in the force had churned their emotions beyond all control…in the heat of battle there had been no choice…

But also on this Pyre were the tattered remains of another…they had only found odd pieces of his body such was the conflagration he had been subject to.

Yoda hung his head in remembrance of the former Grand Master…he had disagreed with Kimar, vociferously and constantly…but he would not deny that Kimar had acted truly according to what he believed was best for the Jedi…

And Kimar had been right about Valens…

Yoda had been wrong…and seventy three Jedi all told had paid the price for his foolishness.  He pursed his lips in anger at himself, 300 years old and still making silly mistakes…he should’ve seen it, should’ve followed up on his suspicions, his doubts…

Failure was the greatest teacher he often said, and he had just been well and truly schooled.

He had been too eager to innovate, to learn from the young man…too accepting…too trusting…the legacy of that decision choked in his nostrils as the bodies whittled to ash.

<<<>>>
Logged

Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Karmack
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Light side points please.


« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2018, 02:00:17 PM »

OK,  wait a second...   Did you just start a story with a screen scroll?Huh?    That was awesome.  :-)

And so we dive into the aftermath.  Yoda, Soryu, Li...   This is a mess, plain and simple, and there is pain and confusion and blood to go around.  I am struck by Soryu's advice to Li: "If you meet one of these people, give them what they want..."

Maybe Li should have put that in her file....     Karm certainly didn't get that memo!  LOL
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« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2018, 01:05:52 AM »

Yep.

ALL that was promised AND more!

This is already shaping up to be another FANTASTIC installment from LSG!  And I LOVE the continuity tie-ins with both the other "Aethan" stories and the various "Gray Jedi" groups  Grin

And Soryu is SO right...yes, that's a shameless plug for a...future scene  Wink

Chapter 2: SOON PLEASE!  Smiley
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Cataphract Triarch of the Vhal'Dan

My sabers:Zearic's Aldrnari, Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, AS; Zearic's shoto, Apprentice v4 w/Obsidian, AS; Graflex SE w/Obsidian, GB; Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, CG; Dark Sentinel v4 w/Obsidian, BR; Sentinel LE v4 w/Obsidian, GB; Initiate v5 w/Obsidian, AS; Sentinel LE v4 stunt, EG; Aeon LE v4 stunt, FO; Dominix v4 stunt, BR; Aeon v3 stunt, SY

Lord_S_Gray
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Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2018, 01:58:26 AM »

Chapter 2 — The Dark

Xithar

In the midst of whipping a particular annoying former rival…a Herglic strapped face down, blow hole plugged with wet rags to choke it while he lashed its back with the electro-whip….he sensed the blazing spark in the force…

Ord Mirit, a depot world for the near core, was hardly that far from Coruscant…nonetheless…it was staggering in its intensity…

Two titanic powers clashed without restraint, caution or fear…he held back the next flog allowing the dark side to carry the tidings…

Yes…a lifting of the darkness…a shift in the balance…

“hmmm…interesting…” he mused out loud cracking the next stroke across the bloodied back…

His toy for the early evening had attempted to oust him from the Artraxes spice run in an ill-fated Turf war…defeated the Herglic had fled to Vigo Aur Hondo on Ando who duly turned him over to Xithar as a show of ‘fraternity’ – in spite of the fact it was Hondo who had silently supported him…still Xithar would not be denied the satisfaction of punishment…the nectar of the sublime contrast …the Herglics pride not to wanting give Xithar any satisfaction… yet the primal need to express his pain….

“HRRNNNGGGHHH”  it blew out,

Delicious…the rich ambrosial satisfaction of knowing it was Xithars dominance producing the pain only sweetened the taste…

By dominance were pleasures realized.

“Ah feeling talkative now are we?”  he jibed contemplating how to humiliate the creature further.

<<<<>>>>

Reclining whilst flicking through the latest reports, a twi’lek slave unenthusiastically pleasured him - Xithar wasn’t up to exuding his Falleen pheromones to motivate the girl making her efforts mechanical.

The door hissed with his gentle sighs.
 “Master…” his apprentice began,
“I know, I know…I’m already considering a response,”

Darth Vectivus bowed…he had come to Xithar, or rather Darth Lucovis, a family and businessman in his mid-thirties.  The administrator of an asteroid mine near Bimmiel Vectivus had discovered a repository of the dark side in the asteroid from a long extinct mynock like species.  It had driven the miners mad, Vectivus quietly shut it down as his vistas opened up with the call of the dark - eventually seeking out a true master…

At the time Lucovis apprentice had failed once too often, not keen on training another young one Vectivus was perfect…a thoughtful man, not obsessed with power or anger - a Sith for a more civilized age.

“May I assist in any way Master,” he asked, they were both reasonable businessmen seeking to profit the Sith Line of Bane and so remained cordial amongst the occasional assassination attempt.

“I believe my connections will be more useful in this matter,” he replied shooing the slave away, as Vigo of the Black Sun in the Core information from every bar and cantina from here to Corellia dripped through his analysts.  Vectivus more conventional industry and political source ensured a perfect blend of the rogue and the respectable.

“Nonetheless,” he arced up, body firm and strong, only one hundred and twenty five, just past middle age for a Falleen, the ministrations of the Darkness made Xithar feel seventy-five. 

“Keep your channels open…I’ll no doubt find some leads for you to follow…rarely does any event - even amongst the Jedi - not involve credits somewhere,”

“Indeed Master,” Vectivus replied, he was early fifties now, an average looking human corporate type, greying brown hair, life worn skin, strong but subtle in the dark side. 

Though a key player in the long game to restore their place it worried Lucovis, his apprentice with a human life span was getting too old to take the mantle of master – let alone find time to raise a new apprentice – what then for the Baneite line?

Xithar paused a few beats waiting for Vectivus to make a move…a dagger, hold-out blaster…poison dart perhaps…Anything at all?  No…not any hint of an attempt to kill his master…disappointing.

“I will call on you when required…continue your self-scourging, the pain will purify your thoughts and may yield insights into this new…curiosity,” he did not call it enemy…yet.

“It shall be done Master,” he bowed and exited,

The Falleen rose and stretched out noticing the stains on the sheets, he needed to get a slave who was a bit neater about it all.

<<<<>>>>

He hadn’t laughed so hard in years.

The ‘official’ report on Coruscant’s Night of Madness, three thousand people exposed to a neural inhibitor months before all exhibiting violent symptoms on the same night in random places!  Let’s ignore they were different species…

An Electrical fault causing lighting surges at the Jedi Temple!  Let’s ignore the explosions at the Works and the dozen of home-vids of two figures fighting it out with lightsabres….

Truly too precious…Kimar had outdone himself in ridiculous cover-ups!  Or he would’ve…whilst most details anyone could get from tavern gossip, the Black Sun info-analysts and informers had confirmed Kimar and up to 30 Jedi were dead…Xithar considered a posthumous honour….Darth Incompitus perhaps.

The imbecile had not only exiled the Mak’Tor, sidelined his best Masters, trained a generation of unimaginative regimented Knight, but now started what could well be a civil war.

Too rich not to celebrate, he threw another Hapan kuu-bettle, lightly fried in Chandrillan butters into his mouth as his new slave, a Sephi female, worked her mouth…His own master had been such a prude…never enjoyed life…this was how a Sith should live…what use was power and dominance if it didn’t yield pleasure 

Hedonistic the other Vigo’s called him, a badge he wore with pride, he didn’t need such opulence but it served as a pleasurable façade.  The yellow incoming call light beeped on the dresser, he flicked it with the force not wanting to move as the Sephi continued….

“So what do you have for me?” he asked the holograph of his Chief Analyst, Dursil Phoris, unusually gaunt even for a Givin,

“The Jedi have purged their own security footage…but we managed to reconstruct enough from home-vid’s to pick out the two protagonists,” his face vanished replaced by two Coruscant citizen identity photos with standard details …

“Knight Valens and Knight Milaea…very young…human…,” he flicked through attachments that listed their missions taken from the archives…so banal, so…

“Fake, it’s all fake…” he noted

“Correct Vigo,” Phoris voice came through, “Someone appears to have altered the records pertaining to both them and a number of other Jedi they were involved with,”

“The mystery deepens, what else?”

Another image, this time a fragmentary half face of a man with dark hair in grey armour,

“We believe they have links to this man…one Jarys of the Sons of Kessel”

Xithar frowned, he knew some Jedi supported the Sons secretly…but enough to kill Kimar and dozens of others? Something did not add up here.

“Maintain your investigations…forward me all the details – all of them no matter how small, I want this to be your priority, take resources from the other divisions as neeheeeeded…oh my little Sephi you are talented…”
 
<<<<>>>>

“What do you think Turkan?” He asked the groaning Herglic

“how do I find this pair?” he stuck another needle in the creatures thigh…six in a row…forty four more to go…

“urrrghhh,”

“Yes a bounty is one option…let the hunters do their hunting but how much?”

He stabbed in number seven,

“UHHH”

“Oh 10 million is much too much…how could I justify that to the other Vigo’s?”

Number eight

“hrrmmm…”

“Yes you’re right it needs to be high to attract the right quality hunters…”

Number nine

“….”

“oh didn’t that one feel good,”

Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.

“rrnnggghhh”

“Ah now I’m…oh sorry! YOU’RE enjoying yourself,”

<<<<>>>>

It was a dangerous process…the tight rope of disaster…yet without risk there could be no reward…

Freshly hatched wyrms sloshed in the thin pool deep below his azure and gold decorated private chambers…he sat amongst them to assert his dominance physically and with the force. 

They were ravenous for pain and fear – from him they must sense only strength…even the slightest hint of fear as they crawled up his naked legs and arms and they would attack

Here he tested his dominance over himself.  Fear…anger…all this he felt at times, to deny it was foolish…yet he must show we was master of his emotions or he would die from the poisons of the wyrms he had created for this very purpose.

It was an art of Sith Alchemy that through meticulous experimentation on innumerable subjects he had finally perfected, to create creatures that fed upon and sought specific emotions.  The concept extended he could create wyrms for a dozen different purposes now…but always they began this way, fear feeders.

The micro-podia scratched into his skin, a pain he allowed to exist only as neurological reality, the boldest of the wyrms crossed his face, pausing before his open eyes, giving him a direct view into its tubular depths dripping with noxious digestive acids.

He would dominate this one - the strongest - first, then the others would fall more easily…to show dominance in the right time and place was the key to effective power, something his fellow Vigos had yet to learn, Hondo in particular.

The stunted Aqualish who funded then betrayed Turkan thought himself a rival, thought to lead the Black Sun by force of will and personality……no it was weakness, true dominance was not shown, not obvious or active – is passively contorted the galaxy to its will.

“Hondo will fall to my dominance,” he began his rhythmic breathing
“Valens will fall to my dominance,” to dominate did not mean to kill but to control
“Milaea will fall to my dominance,” the wyrm’s pincers dug into his skin
“You will fall to my dominance ” he pushed out verbally and mentally against the wyrms primordial consciousness…the simplicity of its drive to eat and reproduce made it more difficult to manipulate than a sentient for Xithar furtherer neither of these goals -  he had only his will to impose dominance.

It’s mouth puckered then squealed out, drops of acids flicked on his skin searing welts as it pressed to break his pain into fear.

No you will not dominate me…I will dominate you…gathering his strength he pressed forward….

And then the Galaxy.

<<<<>>>>
Logged

Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Karmack
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Light side points please.


« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2018, 04:10:41 PM »

Enter the villian.   Darth Lucovis aka Xithar...   What a nasty piece of work!  And a Vigo.  I see the seeds here of the breaking of the Sons at this time.  Not sure if resolving that point is part of your intent...

I loved this line:  "A sith for a more civilized age."  That one just tickled me a bit.  :-) 

And the end: His intent to dominate Valens and Milaea...  Yea.  Not happening.  But this story may give us some more insight into how the Aethans we know now became the Watchers of 5ABY...

Awesome entry and well begun!  :-)
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Master Singer of the Mak'Tor

TheDutchman
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« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2018, 09:04:20 PM »

I like the introduction of the Sith in regards to Aethan involvement.  This should offer an excellent counter-point from their instigating the Night of Madness.  Ironically, it's BECAUSE of that that Xithar is now aware...

I really, REALLY like this iteration of the Sith, especially as Baneite acolytes.  Once again, it never ceases to amaze me of your vast knowledge of SW canon, LSG.  You've seamlessly included SO much within this installment... I am EAGERLY anticipating the next chapter!

And from hedonism to dominance, this Darth Lucovis is going to be one to watch...
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Sig courtesy of DarthScrub

Cataphract Triarch of the Vhal'Dan

My sabers:Zearic's Aldrnari, Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, AS; Zearic's shoto, Apprentice v4 w/Obsidian, AS; Graflex SE w/Obsidian, GB; Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, CG; Dark Sentinel v4 w/Obsidian, BR; Sentinel LE v4 w/Obsidian, GB; Initiate v5 w/Obsidian, AS; Sentinel LE v4 stunt, EG; Aeon LE v4 stunt, FO; Dominix v4 stunt, BR; Aeon v3 stunt, SY

Karmack
Forumverse Loremaster
Master of Ceremonies
SaberForum.Com Moderator
Knight Commander
************

Force Alignment: 1152
Posts: 5602


Light side points please.


« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2018, 09:34:19 PM »

I like the introduction of the Sith in regards to Aethan involvement.  This should offer an excellent counter-point from their instigating the Night of Madness.  Ironically, it's BECAUSE of that that Xithar is now aware...

I really, REALLY like this iteration of the Sith, especially as Baneite acolytes.  Once again, it never ceases to amaze me of your vast knowledge of SW canon, LSG.  You've seamlessly included SO much within this installment... I am EAGERLY anticipating the next chapter!

And from hedonism to dominance, this Darth Lucovis is going to be one to watch...
Yeah.  A Darth AND a Vigo...  Or a Darth COVERED as a Vigo?  Or a Vigo who happens to be a Darth???

However it falls, you have to appreciate the irony of the Kimar obsession over the Mak'Tor while the Sith flourished right under his nose...
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Lord_S_Gray
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Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2018, 10:16:23 PM »

Yeah.  A Darth AND a Vigo...  Or a Darth COVERED as a Vigo?  Or a Vigo who happens to be a Darth???

I know right almost overkill!  But then how could anyone less than that hope to stand up to an Aethan?

I really, REALLY like this iteration of the Sith, especially as Baneite acolytes.  Once again, it never ceases to amaze me of your vast knowledge of SW canon, LSG.  You've seamlessly included SO much within this installment... I am EAGERLY anticipating the next chapter!

Fun fact Vectivus is actually canon - so check him out on wookipedia - I've adapted him more or less intact just added Xithar/Lucovis as his master and in time you'll see more of him.

Enter the villian.   Darth Lucovis aka Xithar...   What a nasty piece of work!  And a Vigo.  I see the seeds here of the breaking of the Sons at this time.  Not sure if resolving that point is part of your intent...

Compared to Faradi this guy is nothing - I should've gotten Dutchman to write the torture scene!

As for the Sons [SPOILER ALERT]
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Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Lord_S_Gray
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 428
Posts: 1903



« Reply #12 on: June 23, 2018, 04:27:23 AM »

Chapter 3 — The Gray

Jo'Set'Mack

He had spent the entire trip preparing for it….

First he felt it in the force, woken in a startling scream and tears.

It was partially relieved when Ha’Ona had made it back to M’Tzigon alive…

Second he felt it when he heard from his niece between streams of tears what had happened…

Now finally…

Despite all that warning…all that time

The grief was too much for him,

He broke against the echoes of the song in the caverns of Vyth…sliding down a charred column…it was everywhere…the very walls sung it…

Members of the Forensic team and the Kage’s Honour Guard sat huddled in a small circle being ministered to with excerpts from the Psalter and the Book of the Way.  In the centre of the chamber a pile of bodies bagged by that same team, the corridors and training room replete with cold dried bloody drag trails.

Odjina’s body was gone, but the lingering trace of his death remained, he had become one with the force…his friend, his mentor, his master…the best of them all….

For that alone Jo’Set would’ve have spent a thousand lives to punish whoever did this…but there was worse….

His sister, Ho’Li’Mack was among the dead, a violent cut in her throat and hideous sabre burn through her back….

For THAT he could not - would not rest…could never forget and could never forgive.  Fists clenched he slowly stood up.

“Jo,” Li startled him from behind probing in the force…“We are hurting…but that is a path…you do not want to tread,” she could read his intent like a datapad

Her words did nothing to stem the pain he felt,

The Kage approached him and placed her hands on both his shoulders, her purple lips tinged blue in the ice light, she could feel the intensity boiling off him…he was only the first of many who would feel this way…

“There was nothing you could’ve done had you been here…you would’ve been killed too…” he kept his eyes fixed on white bag with the indifferent tag that read ‘Mack – Ho’Li’.

“Take your time here…talk to Father Bernar…” Li too looked downcast now burdened with the weight of leadership…”but you need to go home soon…Ha’Ona needs you, she just lost her mother, don’t let her lose her uncle as well,”

He kept silent, this was just the same tired wisdom offered in the wake of every tragedy…revenge doesn’t help anyone, focus on the living, grieve but don’t let it consume you…he had said it to others himself before…

But faced with the visceral reality of his sisters charred corpse and his nieces trauma….it meant nothing to him, he didn’t want or need to hear this useless rambling.

The Kage released her gentle grip sensing his disinterest. It was too late for platitudes…too late for anything other than anger, fury and revenge…the last of his tolerance, his resilience…

…the best of him lay a blackened corpse betrayed and murdered. 

He pushed past the Kage and headed toward the hangar,

“Don’t leave like this Jo!” Li called after him over the cries of the others, rushing up to grab his arm.

“There is nothing we can do…we...we need to live…to go on”

He still kept his grief heavy silence. 

She understood, his desire for justice, retribution…yes even revenge…but none of that was possible…not after what Soryu had told her of the…things…who did this.

And yet she couldn’t stop him either, in all honesty his absence would be better for Ha’Ona than his rage.

Breaking her thoughts he pushed past her
“Jo…if you leave…it will only hurt Ha’Ona more…”

In that moment he didn’t really care.

<<<<>>>>

Alone and brooding in the living quarters of the Rain Song, he felt the memories gaze with accusing stares.

It had been his families main ship for generations, undergone so many modifications he doubted much of the original was left.  His grandmother Ha’Ona had taken it to Ryloth finding the impoverished but immensely talented Odjina.  He and Holly had learnt to fly in it…He had piloted it to Vyth after being expelled from the Temple, Hol’li’s husband Jay had proposed to her in this ship…and they had taken it on their honey moon to Hapes…

It hurt to leave his niece behind…the Kage was right she had lost so much…but the way he felt now…he knew he would only hurt Hannah more…he had to get this out of his system…and there was only one way to do that.

He stared at the fragmented records Four-Ten had of the final moments on Vyth…the sneering Sith…

Are you going to fight me Ha’Ona

He had taunted a seven year old girl

Jo had spent the better part of six hours trawling through Four-ten and the security footage that had survived from Vyth…there were two of them, a male 30 or so, and a female, about 19 or 20…the girl had killed Hol’li, the male Odjina…

Four-eight beeped and booped next to him in concern…the Four series Astromechs were something of a family tradition, he had Four-Eight, Holly had Four-Ten, her husband had Four-nine…he vanished in the deep core just after Ha’Ona was born…so much loss suffered by one child….Li would take care of her better than he could.

“Not till I find their names,” he replied

Four-eight twirtled and brought up a cross reference to a request Odjina had made a few days before he was slaughtered, for details on his ‘guests’.

“Valens and Milaea” he said aloud looking at the scant details the Mak’tor had on them,

Two names caught his eye in addition,

“Yoda and Sofa Neirai…” he knew Sofa from his time at the Temple when he was young, she had been Soryu’s apprentice…

Soryu was the greatest friend they had, found Vyth, fought tooth and nail to prevent their exile…and Yoda was legendary…how could these monsters be an apprenticed to such great Jedi?

Four-eight made another series of exclamations,

“Fine I’ll eat something,” a burst of static nagging in response,

“And I’ll try and sleep…but wake me as soon as we reach Coruscant…I need to speak with Soryu,”

<<<<>>>>

First the Song of Vyth had assailed his senses in the caverns…and now just landing on Coruscant…this was a planet soaked in darkness and pain.  Feeling this he knew how pathetic the ‘official’ explanations of what had happened really were, spurring his rage even more.

The Night of Madness had ended with some kind of cataclysmic battle at the top of the temple -from the transparisteel walled corridors of the space port he could see work crews rapidly repairing the structural damage…but the wounds in the force might never truly heal. 

He could taste the similarity to Vyth…the same people had been responsible for the madness…even if they hadn’t killed his sister he might have been driven to hunt them by the pain they had left on Coruscant alone.

He hired a small hover car and headed for the temple…he had not been there in nearly fifteen years…since the exile….if he had any nostalgia, regret or pain at what had happened it was drowned by the tides of burning grief that set him on his course.

Landing nearby in a public parking bay and walking up the steps his memory of that day was vivid, the Council looking down at them as the Sentinels pushed them from the steps, Odjina stern as his heart broke…his sister…Hol’li…he started to tear up…he couldn’t think of her now….

<<<<>>>>

The temple was a mess…like the rest of Coruscant not so much physically, as in the force…off balance…something had shifted…if he had the time he would visit the Spire - but he doubted it.

The tone was subdued no one challenged him as he entered, small groups huddled and gossiped fearfully, it was a reflection of M’Tzigon after they had sensed what had occurred…what was occurring, on Vyth…incomprehension in the face of utter merciless destruction.  The force was a swamp of fear, astonishment and confusion…he searched for any pillar of stability…

There were only two…one high above in the meeting rooms…the other far below in the under levels…he knew where Soryu would be.

<<<<>>>>

Odjina had taken him and Hol’li to the Mak’Tor Shrines in the under levels often…shrines they had to all but loot for whatever they could carry once the exile was pronounced…he knew the exact room Soryu would be in, a maintenance area near the true under levels where the force auras from the citizens above mingled with that of the shrines below…the crossroads.

He sat legs crossed meditating, feeling a hundred years older yet looking decades younger than when he had last seen him.  Jo approached…barely a Koawan last time he had spoken to Soryu…now a Maenowan…still he felt overshadowed by the Masters presence. 

Soryu slowly opened his eyes,
“Jo…Jo’Set’Mack?”
He bowed slightly,
“Master Soryu…”
The old man leapt up with startling speed and embraced him,

“My boy…a man now…ah truly you don’t know how much it means to see you here after….well…” they could both sense it, he returned the embrace,
As they parted his face fell,

“I know about Odjina…Vyth…was Holly…” he didn’t even need to finish the question to see the answer, “I’m sorry Jo, so sorry…”

Jo straightened up supressing his tears.

“Who are they?” he asked directly,

Soryu nodded and gestured for him to sit, but he remained standing.  The old Jedi deduced Li hadn’t spoken to him, or hadn’t told him the details…in either case he would not withhold the truth from Jo - from anyone who asked.

“The two at Vyth…Valens and Milaea…they’re…Aethans Yoda called them…meta-humans, powerful force users, they came back here and caused all this,” he indicated the air about them as surrogate for the disrupted force.

“But there are others too…one I fought on Santooine and here…he killed Gurrlum and Yoren, there are likely more, how many I don’t know” 

Two Jedi Masters…this was worse than he thought

“Why?” he kept his words few

Soryu sighed deeply,

“Kimar…” he began but stopped himself, the whole Order had to own this, they had destroyed not just the Mak’Tor, but Milaea and themselves that day – no – not destroyed shown the truth of what the Order had become, a conformist intolerant machine that crushed the poor girls heart into hurting others.
 
“Failures…pride…confusion…indifference…” Soryu paused his indictment of the Order to suddenly look at Jo, sensing his intent,

“Jo…don’t…” it was bad enough Yoda was considering going after them, if the Mak’Tor hunted them as well, if Valens or Milaea felt threatened…

“Are you going to help me Soryu or not” he asked clinically

“I…I can’t….Jo listen to me…Odjina…Hol’li wouldn’t want this…” he replied

Jo nodded in agreement,

“You’re right, they were better than me…better than us both.”

To that Soryu had no response.

<<<<>>>>
Logged

Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

TheDutchman
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Force Alignment: 1106
Posts: 4131


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« Reply #13 on: June 24, 2018, 05:45:48 PM »

I remember reading/hearing that for every situation where there is a consequence you expect, there is at least one that is unintended and/or unplanned for.  Now: just what is Jo'set going to do about this?

Delving further into the Aethans actions and their ramifications on a galactic scale is already turning into one hell of a mess.  Which makes for the absolute best pathos  Wink

This can only get worse (and, for us, better  Grin).
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Cataphract Triarch of the Vhal'Dan

My sabers:Zearic's Aldrnari, Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, AS; Zearic's shoto, Apprentice v4 w/Obsidian, AS; Graflex SE w/Obsidian, GB; Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, CG; Dark Sentinel v4 w/Obsidian, BR; Sentinel LE v4 w/Obsidian, GB; Initiate v5 w/Obsidian, AS; Sentinel LE v4 stunt, EG; Aeon LE v4 stunt, FO; Dominix v4 stunt, BR; Aeon v3 stunt, SY

Karmack
Forumverse Loremaster
Master of Ceremonies
SaberForum.Com Moderator
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************

Force Alignment: 1152
Posts: 5602


Light side points please.


« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2018, 04:07:59 PM »

Running off half-cocked seeking justice, revenge, or some form of recompense seems to be a 'Mack family trait.  I might need to speak with Karmack and Arnor about this...   Or maybe Ken and Ry would be a better target....

;-)

Nice.  As Dutchman said, there are always consequences to an action.  Some are anticipated, others will surprise you.  But the piper always needs to be paid.

Ironically, it seems to be a concept that the Aethans don't always grasp, either.... 
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