Logs

Logs Home

2002 May 22

2002 May 29

2002 June 06

2002 June 11

2002 June 19

2002 June 25

2002 July 01

2002 July 05

2002 July 10

2002 July 14

2002 July 16

2002 July 17

2002 July 22

2002 July 24

2002 July 27

2002 July 28

2002 July 31

2002 August 03

2002 August 05

2002 August 10

2002 August 11

2002 August 12

2002 August 14

2002 August 19

2002 August 25

2002 August 30

2002 September 05

2002 September 15

2002 September 24

2002 October 03

2002 October 05

2002 October 11

2002 October 15

2002 October 17

2002 October 26

2002 October 24

2002 October 31

2002 November 07

2002 November 15

2002 November 21

2002 November 29

2002 December 05

2002 December 17

2002 December 19

2002 December 26

2002 December 27

2003 January 05

2003 January 07

2003 February 21

2003 January 10

2003 January 11

2003 January 18

2003 February 04

2003 February 10

2003 January 30

2003 February 06

2003 February 13

2003 June 07

2003 April 30

2003 June 07

2003 June 14

2003 June 21

2003 July 05

2003 July 12

2003 July 19

2003 July 26

2003 August 24

2003 September 11

2003 September 13

2003 September 20

2003 September 28

2003 October 04

2003 October 11

2003 October 18

2003 October 25

2003 November 01

2022 June 13

2003 December 13

2004 January 03

2004 January 10

2004 January 17

2004 January 25

2004 February 07

2004 February 10

2004 February 14

2004 February 16

2004 February 21

2004 March 02

2004 March 06

2004 March 13

2004 March 19

2004 March 27

2004 April 03

2004 April 10

2004 April 17

2004 April 24

2004 May 15

2004 May 22

2004 June 05

2004 June 11

2004 June 26

2004 July 10

2004 July 17

2004 July 18

2004 July 31

2004 August 07

2004 August 14

2004 August 21

2017 August 18

2017 August 18

These Shattered Stars

Shattered Home

Game Background

Mechanics

Maps

Dramatis Personae

Game Logs

Realms

Realms Home

Dishonored

Goblin Town

Neverneverwhere

The Whole of the Law

Waking Dreams

When The Bough Breaks


One-Shot

Retired

Birthright

Burning Man

Cosmic Guardians

DNAnimals/Tamashii

Fukusei Crystals

Heartwood

Hunter

Idlewild

Indigo

Inizii

Morning Rain

NachtMusik

Oloth

Paradon

Scarred Lands

Shattered Stars

Starfall

Weston


Style Test

Reality Fault

Home

Player

Character

Referee

Programmer

Administrator

Operations


Search RealityFault:

General Info

Glossary

Realms

Events

Credits

Help Files

Help Files (old)


Reality Fault

Realms: These Shattered Stars Logs

Chapter Six, Part Four

The training progresses. Each of the Silver Path adepts work with their charges in turn. Freyja is introduced to the many and varied dance-like motions of the peculiar Lightsider martial art that Adept Thann teaches. Zero continues to learn not only the use, but also the philosophy, of a staggering number of the galaxy's martial arts weapons. These range from the Sedraki baojian to even the Wookiee ryyk blades. As yet there's nothing further with the shard-blade. However, Merroukah promises Zero it will be "soon." Fhazil learns not only the Darksider equivalent of anger management, but also how to focus other emotions besides fear and rage.

One day not long after Freyja's talk with Caul, the three students are brought together again. Sifu Danka begins without preamble. "Today we will be doing something different. While your training has been proceeding quickly, unfortunately so has the Sith advance. Ambria has fallen; that entire section of the front has collapsed. To say that time is against us is not hyperbole. However, there are some things we can quicken, and other things we cannot. Be assured that we are progressing your training at the quickest possible rate while still making it effective.

"That being said, it is time you start to understand what it means to be in a triat, while at the same time effectively completing your individual martial arts training. Adept Merroukah?"

The Wookiee adept smiles, the tips of her teeth showing. She draws from behind her a shard-blade. "Zero... come forward, please."

Zero steps forward, straightening up a little. The rigorous martial training of the past few weeks has been causing him to slip into his former relaxed, loose-boned posture. While it's excellent for his technique, it does usually prevent him from standing at full height; he stands up as best he can to show deference.

Some idle part of Fhazil's mind ruminates on that information. The fighting has been raging there for several weeks. At this point, the Republic will have mustered its forces in anticipation of that collapse. It's going to be a very bloody campaign for the Sith to take advantage of this break. They may try to collapse another part of the front before making a lance-thrust for Coruscant.

With some solemnity, Merroukah hands the shard-blade hilt-first to Zero. "You already know the controls and what it is capable of. Now you will demonstrate what you know, prior to the first test of the triat. Clear your mind, focus on your personal balance, let yourself be one with the blade -- and with the segments of the blade when you separate them." She steps back to the wall of the room and lifts a vibro-pike from the wall that's at least half again as tall as her; russet ribbons are tied to the shaft just below the vibratory head. "Expect the unexpected in this exercise. Remain aware of the shard-blade's capabilities." With that she swings the pike in an arc over her head, bringing it crashing down with a sharp, hard sound to the ground before her in a classic polearm en garde stance. "Say 'when,'" Merroukah says with a grin.

Zero watches the Wookiee silently, the blade held relaxed at his side, taking a step back and watching her as she moves to pick up the pike and bring the blade down. The blade disengages with a snick-hmmmm sound, the segments tumbling as they fall toward the floor. A fraction of a second later they're suddenly resting level, hovering a few inches above the tiles and linked by staccato bursts of purple force. He raises his off hand and gestures to her, beckoningly.

Freyja watches with curiosity, wondering how this will increase the linkage between the triat. Merroukah smiles and, with only a nod, takes the invitation. The pike flicks up from the ground; with the whisper of air, it is sailing towards Zero.

Zero barely dodges, the pike singing past his ear. He takes it as a learning experience and continues to retreat.... just for a few moments more... Merroukah draws back the pike and thrusts it forward, missing Zero cleanly and impacting with the ground.

Zero waits for the second strike -- a fair miss -- watching for his opening... and seizes on it, stepping in past the blade and snapping the shard-blade closed with a sizzling snap, bringing the point up under the Wookiee's arm...

With Zero's first attack, Merroukah seems to throw her arm upward out of the path of the blade, relinquishing hold on the pike only briefly before gaining hold of it again as she twists her body around to grab hold. She evades Zero's follow-up attack, then steps back quickly, the pike an arc above her head, then held before her defensively, watching Zero expectantly.

Zero steps in again, determined to press the advantage of his more adaptable weapon. He drops down slightly, and commands the shard-blade to 'thrust,' suddenly expanding, then snapping it back to give the end-point a slashing curl as it retracts.

Merroukah sidesteps out of the way of the lancing segments of the shard-blade, catching the second attack with the haft of the pike. "Good! Use the reach of the shard-blade. Think flexible, no matter what weapon you use -- even your own hands, even your own mind." She straightens and raises the pike. "Well done, Zero. It is a good beginning considering I've only taught you the rudiments of it, and how not to kill yourself with the shard-blade. We will go over it more in the coming weeks."

She looks expectantly to Danka, who nods, and Merroukah relinquishes the triskele to Shan-suub Thann. He stands and steps forward, leaning a little on what looks like a gimer stick -- a sort of cane or smooth-hafted, light Corellian shillelagh. He does not seem to be injured in any way which would require its use.

Merroukah smiles to Zero. "That shard-blade is yours, now, Zero. Use it well. I am sure Karlitta Shang would have wanted it to be used with honor."

Zero blinks, "Karl-" He catches himself and bows politely. "Yes, sensei."

Merroukah nods, solemnly and yet smiling, returning the bow. Shan-suub looks to Freyja, smiling quietly. "Come, Freyja. It is your turn." Freyja rises lightly to her feet, bows at the edge of the triskele, then trots quickly over to face Shan-suub, where she politely bows again to him.

Shan-suub smiles quietly. "Remember what you have learned, Freyja. What is important now is not so much that you know the movements, as that the movements know you. This is not a test or exercise of your prowess -- at least of your physical prowess. Respond to my strikes as you normally do, and focus on what the dancing means in the Light. Are you ready?"

Freyja is already in a smooth ready stance. "Hai, Sensei." Shan-suub nods, and while his first few strikes aren't at all difficult to block, he seems to be more watching Freyja in the Force, at least more overtly than Merroukah was so watching Zero.

Freyja isn't really watching visually -- her eyes have paled out as she half-slips into the Force, 'seeing' intention as much as action. Her movements are lithe and swaying, and she just doesn't seem to be precisely where the adept is striking. It almost looks choreographed, as if they'd organized ahead of time where each strike would be... there's no hurry or fluster to their matching, almost dancing movements.

Shan-suub's attacks come a little quicker, a little faster. Unlike the first time he practiced strikes with her, he makes no kiais with each strike. The only sound he makes is a soft exhalation with each thrust or slash. Freyja's hands glide hither and yon, effectively blocking the rapidly-coming series of strikes that Shan-suub makes with the gimer stick. There is only one moment when he makes a movement that isn't quite a strike, but the moment passes and he resumes the strikes on Freyja. The weapon in his hands continues to be effectively blocked by her lithely dancing hands and movements.

What the others see, however, outside of Freyja's battlemind, is somewhat more. In that brief movement Shan-suub neatly and quickly separated the gimer stick in two. One part is longer, tucked neatly behind his back. The other part is now only the hilt of what looks like a length of spring steel. Zero recognizes it as being used in some Sedraki martial arts -- a dimly glimmering, flicking sword that bends and weaves as Shan-suub moves it through the air.

And which Freyja's bare hands block without harm as if the blade were made of soft, blunt wood being wielded lightly by a child. Freyja is humming faintly under her breath, matching the music welling in her mind as she dances gracefully with her sparring partner.

Zero blinks a few times. Well now, he thinks to himself. That's certainly impressive...

Shan-suub stops after a short while longer, stepping back and raising the blade. "Very good, Freyja," he says, smiling quietly. "The Light can be illumination, saber, and shield. In much the same way as you have demonstrated an ability to deflect harmful energy blasts, so too can you do this. I would not suggest doing it for long, for it can be very wearying. But knowing this: you are never defenseless." He pauses. "Neither are you weaponless... but that is something for a different path."

Freyja pauses, her eyes slowly returning to their normal ice blue. She looks faintly disappointed; she'd just started really getting deeply into the dance! Nevertheless she bows courteously, "Thank you, Master."

Shan-suub seems to catch Freyja's disappointment, and smiles. "That was neither the last dance nor the penultimate, Freyja. There will be more, many more, which you have yet to learn."

Freyja grins, her eyes dancing as she realizes just how transparent she was there. She bows politely again, then returns to her previous spot and settles comfortably into seiza. Once there she grins and winks encouragingly at Fhazil, then watches with interest. She's not sure yet how she feels about the Dark. This is helping her decide how to view it.

And now it is time for Fhazil. Yishtakk has Fhazil stand before her. "Your tesst sshall be ssimilar, Fhazhil Taass. Sshow me what you have learned. Begin with the Scorned Maiden's kata."

Fhazil nods a little, then closes his eyes and collects his thoughts. Then... a curious thing happens within the link. Emotions fill Fhazil's mind and heart, but they are different from the usual rage which clouds his Sith battlemind. Freyja and Zero get the odd realization that part of his training was in some kind of method acting, as he begins the kata. Focused into the strikes and blocks there is certainly the sense of one who has been rebuffed rudely; perhaps appropriately, that kata seems to consist of short, sharp strikes.

Every so often, Yishtakk calls out the name of another kata -- names such as "Shy Deer on the Mount," "Fallen Comrade," "Morrow's Dawn," and the rather ominously-named, "Templar of the Rampart" -- and with each the "sense" of Fhazil's emotions changes subtly, as do his movements, significantly less subtly. With the start of the "Templar" one, Korotatinea leaps into his hand and erupts into a blade of crimson. The kata is a very aggressive one, and interestingly the sense of the emotions Fhazil is projecting brings to mind the faintest of images...

He is young, a Klatoonian from the gal-west who was taken in by the Exalted Order at a young age. Yet later, as his studies progressed, he found himself stepping away from the tyranny of the Light, avoiding the strictures that he finds the Order coming under. When the Brotherhood approached him, it was only natural that he research, study, and come to the logical conclusion: the Light needed to be balanced by the Dark.

Darth Sulhan led them in this final, nigh-cataclysmic battle on Coruscant. Through a thousand streets the phalanxes of the Brotherhood of Darkness spilled forth, converging on the ziggurat of the Temple. The destruction of Brentaal's moon, the violence and fear spread by other members of the Brotherhood... the young Klatoonian found such things disagreeable and unnecessary. But the time had passed for recriminations against their own. The Jedi had en masse declared the Brotherhood heretical, to be abolished. Within weeks fighting had broken out, and the order of heresy had been amended to read 'abolished by force.'

And so the blood-red sky frames the towers of Coruscant, the towers in whose shadows Ku Radama said his prayer in what seemed like an eternity ago. A dull orange sun casts baleful light through the valleys of steel and glass, setting upon the Temple.

It was war, and war demanded harsh actions. But he did not have to enjoy it.

Before him his Brother, a Rodian of Corellia, and another of the Brotherhood fell, screaming as harsh white Echal-steel cut through them. Standing before him, in blue and gold armor tattered and scarred but still resplendent, stood one of the Company of Templars. Those eyes, cold and void and seeing only an enemy before them -- an enemy deserving of neither mercy nor quarter -- bored into the Klatoonian's own. The Templar crouched slightly in a ready stance

The Dark Jedi felt the rage growing within him, the rage he had taken to relying upon when the tides of battle threatened to turn against him and the others. Things moved slowly, then -- he felt his lips peel back in a snarl, a snarl which became a roar of defiance and rage against this cold, empty creature standing before him. A rapier and a dagger lashed out as he leaped up the rampart against the Jedi before him, his eyes filled with the tint of rage as the Dark side of the Force filled him in answer to his anger, his frustration, his sorrow, and his fear.

The moment passes. Fhazil, standing there calmly (if a little startledly), emerges from whatever weird sort of battlemind he had been in. Yishtakk is nodding slowly. "Excellent, Fhazil," she hisses sibilantly. "You still need practice with the katass of joy and hope, but you have progresszed well. You know the Memory of the katass."

Freyja gets a startled look as Fhazil starts projecting, but simply watches, internally and externally, with fascination. She's careful not to interrupt or break his concentration. She gets a slightly nauseated look a few fractions of a second later, but curbs her feelings tightly to herself alone. Zero leans back on his palms, watching quietly.

Still looking a bit startled, Fhazil bows to the adept. "Th-thank you, adept." He returns to his seat, and Danka comes forward to stand at the edge of the triskele. She nods appreciatively. "Excellent. Now, as to how this ties in to the triat."

"Each of you are highly skilled in what you do, and the representation of the three aspects of the universe is embodied by each mantle of the triat. With what you have done today, you have reached the point where you exemplify much of what makes up each aspect of the Force for you. Now there comes the true task: the triat.

"Within the triat you are one. More so than the link you currently share, you will act as a single being with many options available to you. In a crisis, you will be able to draw upon the élan vital of the entire triat to accomplish feats that a single person could not accomplish. And with the diversity of the triat, of Light and Dark and Saber's Edge, you have an advantage over the Templars: you are not limited to one type of action at any given time.

"So... come forward in the triskele. Be seated together in a ring. And meditate upon the link while we help you through the Force to forge that first, greater link of the triat."

Freyja brightens with interest, coming forward lightly, to quickly settle back into seiza on her part of the triskele. Zero kneels down on his third of the circle, resting one hand on his thigh, the other curled around the grip of the departed Shang's weapon.

As Fhazil settles in himself as well, Danka steps to the side, kneeling herself, and speaks, quietly. "Close your eyes... rest... relax. Clear your thoughts. Focus on the link you share. Focus on the Awatea sabers. Focus on yourselves. There is no Sith, there is no Jedi, there is no Kono. There is no Silver Path, there is no room. There is no Galaxy. There is only yourselves. There are only the silver, gold, and obsidian cords which bind you three together in the Force..." Danka's voice continues in a soothing monotone, until the three are deep within a trance. Danka's words are now more sensed through the Force than heard.

Freyja initially idly wonders how there can be no Sith, Jedi, or Kono... then decides it must refer to factions, not viewpoints on the Force. In that case, hai, it's easy to forget the sapient-created, warring factions, and see only the 'colors' of viewing the Force. She's been doing that for a while already, in fact, with the design she had emblazoned on the back of one of her armored gloves. She smiles quietly to herself -- she likes the symbolism of the braided snake which swallows its own tail.

Zero doesn't find the idea too very difficult to grasp. After all, the idea of dropping preconceived notions was the point all along. The meditation comes easily. Adding others to it without breaking the fragile film of concentration takes a bit more work, but it comes with time.

Gently, the three feel the teachers gently guiding their thoughts, haltingly and somewhat inexpertly pointing out paths of thought and consciousness within the Force with which to Forge the triat. But after a few moments the three once again get the feeling of the Awatea sabers watching, learning, and considering. Then: this way... over here... and slowly in their perceptions a ring of intertwined cords is woven between the three.

Moments of confusion, of mingling memories: is that Lord Ghang standing before Freyja, instructing her gently and cautiously on the uses of rage in the focus of the Force? Is that whipcord-lean man a ten-years-younger Forsetti Rigg, lecturing Zero on how to be a proper scion of Haus Rigg, while his sister scampers madly throughout the manse? Is that old Captain Tsao Liao, the man standing at the wall, shot in the shoulder by a nomad gun as he lands right in front of Fhazil, staring with wide, surprised, and somehow irritated eyes?

Memories become unloosed momentarily before settling into their accustomed place. In their minds an image: a triangle trisected to form four triangles, within a circle. From each side uncoils a serpent, slithering placidly and unthreateningly outward -- one green, one gold, one red. For a brief moment then they hear the Song, the Song the Ophics spoke of -- but a single note of an unimaginable chorus.

Then they are not Three... but One.

They each have their identity. They each know who they are. But their conscious thoughts are shared. Their senses are shared. It is disconcerting to share three sets of binocular eyes, and the three begin to develop mild headaches.

But that is nothing compared to what they feel.

Now they can understand why, in part, triats with Sith so often failed. It is Fhazil's Sithstain, coiling like a bastion of individuality around his being like a black, mute snake; fearful of the utter loss of self-reliance despite Fhazil being perfectly at ease with the concept. And the emotions... Freyja's calmness is not truly, utterly emotionless serenity, but the peaceful, reasoned thoughts she has are calming enough. Zero himself is fudoshin, Zen Void, at ease and like 'a stone in still water.' Fhazil, however, is panoply of emotions warring with each other, confusing and disturbing. And they are not merely sensed, they are experienced by the others. As muted as they are in the calming trance, they are impossible to ignore.

Freyja is momentarily startled inside, then reaches impulsively to aid Fhazil. Surely peaceful reason can help him sort out his churning emotions?

Fhazil is first to crack: the headache, the unusual perception, the shared emotions -- and in part the realization that the entire range of his emotions, the emotions he's been taught to nurture and draw strength from, are being felt by the others -- draws him sharply out of trance. The sudden departure of Fhazil collapses -- but does not eliminate -- the woven cords between the group.

Freyja winces, disturbed by the sudden, yanking loss... then takes a slow, shaky breath to pull herself back together. Maybe she can still manage the link with Zero. Unfortunately, as Freyja realizes, the cord woven was for three, like a jeweled ring with three settings, one of which is now empty. She can maintain a close link with Zero briefly, but the lack of the third in the triat makes the dissolution of the incredibly tight link inevitable.

Zero holds up one hand before his lips, as if saying a prayer; Still here... it was a good try. Freyja sighs, letting the linkage gently slip apart, like unbraided hair sliding silkily free, and opens her eyes. Is Fhazil all right?

The three -- who are now again three individuals -- recover relatively quickly, albeit feeling very drained. The four teachers are beaming. "Thanks be to the Force!" Danka says, exhaling. "You have accomplished the first, most difficult step. The first link is forged. It will become easier with time, but the important thing is that you can do it."

Zero takes a breath, resignedly. Namu, he thinks to himself, suddenly reminded of something said by practitioners of his native religion, Have mercy on us. He stands up slowly, and stretches. "Fhazil?"

Fhazil looks tired, as they all are, but also a little sullen and down. There is a sense of resolve not to let it happen again... though he's not entirely sure how to go about doing that. The Trandoshan adept gently places her hands on Fhazil's shoulders. "It will be worked on, Fhaszil Taass," she says. "Between your friends and you, it can be done."

Freyja glances first at Fhazil, most concerned that her fellow triat members are all right. A moment later she looks puzzledly at the four senseis, "What link?"

Danka smiles. "The triat. For a moment, however brief, you formed it. You have some idea now of what it feels like. Next time it will not be nearly so startling, and you will learn to achieve that state quicker and easier." The Togruta tilts her head to the side. "The Awatea sabers facilitated it more than a bit, but the true effort was on the part of you three."

Freyja says a little blankly, "...oh..." then covers a sudden yawn. She blinks, looking a little embarrassed, "Er... sorry about that..."

Danka smiles. "That's all right, Freyja. It was wearying on you."

Freyja nods a little sheepishly... then shifts slightly to one side, to put one arm companionably around Fhazil's shoulders. She's too tired to think of anything nice to say... maybe just friendly contact will do.

Fhazil nods a little blankly to the teacher, then doesn't quite saga against Freyja. I'm all right, honest... he "says" though the link. I'm just... flustered. I'll work on that, I promise. I'm sure that's partly what the teacher was trying to get me to do, with those katas and method acting.

Freyja grins tiredly at Fhazil, murmuring to the threesome, I wouldn't worry about it too much... this is just our first time, after all. And for a moment we did have it, too!

Zero tilts his head to one side until his neck pops. "Mmm." Everything with the first step.

Fhazil grins softly. Yes... for a moment we did. And we'll be able to do it again. Yeah... every journey starts with a single step...


Time passes a little oddly in the refuge. There is no day, there is no night, there are no seasons. The only way to tell time passes is by the occasional chronograph on the walls. News filters in reluctantly from the galaxy at large. By the time it reaches gal-southwest, of course, news from the front is watered down into almost nothing. As near as the group can tell, the war is still progressing in slight favor of the Sith.

Most such news arrives by way of Force-awakened refugees: a slow trickle of people who find their way to the refuge. Most only stay for a little while, moving on to the gal-west regions or back to the Republic after assaying the threats to their traditions and beliefs. Some stay on for longer.

By the time Freyja, Zero, Fhazil, and Vakkal are gathered for lunch one day, after witnessing a ceremony raising some of the Silver Path novices to adept status, there are amongst the others who have already been mentioned a rather sullen and shell-shocked former Sith who was escorted in by a Silver Path adept; a trio of Jedi knights who stated disagreement with the Order and were 'requested' to pursue errantry; a Graysider monk formerly from Ambria who was in the Colonial region when his homeworld was taken; a Lightsider alchemist; a trio of an alien tradition that defies common definition, involving the deep study of geometric solids; a pair of Lightsiders who are fleeing possible persecution by either the Empire or the Order; a number of "Force druids" not unlike the 'green' Lightsiders, who have since departed; and two of differing traditions who follow the fivefold view of the Force Caul had mentioned to Freyja some time ago. All in all, a very complex arrangement.

It is at this lunch that one of the three errant Jedi approaches their table, smiling quietly. "Excuse me," the female Human says quietly. "May I join you?" She has dark brown hair and hazel eyes set in a wide, pleasant face.

Freyja looks up, chewing, then swallows hastily and nods, "Please feel free. I hight Padawan Freyja, and my friends are Padawan Zero, Journeyman Fhazil, and Huskarl Vakkal." Zero nods politely in greeting.

She nods pleasantly, smiling as she sits. "Good day to you. Jedi Cassandra Sal of Selonia."

Freyja tilts her head curiously as she smiles and shifts over to make room. "May the Force be with you." She considers whether to blurt out questions, as she'd like, or wait and let the poor woman ask in her own time... then just grins at herself. Something about this place seems to be honing her normal curiosity to a fever pitch -- she'd love to talk to everyone here -- if only she had the time, and they the trust, to do so!

Cassandra says, "And also with you -- with all of you. If... I may ask, how did you come to be here? We're fairly new here ourselves, and I'm not sure if that's a polite question..."

Freyja grins, "I don't think we mind, but I know what you mean about not being sure who you can ask here." She considers a moment, then gives a quick version of how they arrived, "We found we were enemies with honor, and when we heard of the triats, we had to come here and try. We figure the best way to show is to do -- and we want to show that multiple forms of Force use aren't antithetical -- that, in fact, it's healthier to have such available." She smiles, adding, "I've never heard of the Order 'requesting' folks to pursue errantry. May I ask what happened for you all as well?"

Cassandra listens raptly, interest visible on her face. "Fascinating," she murmurs. Then she smiles ruefully at the question. "Not unlike your story, really. We were associated with the Academy's College of Archaeology, and we... discovered a number of scrolls and books dating back to the Heresy Wars, discussing an ancient link between the Sith and the Jedi -- there were only hints, really. We wanted to pursue it more, and raised a huge stink -- I imagine it threatened to become common knowledge, since we were then taken out of the College and asked to consider errantry."

Zero says, "I suspect it'll only become more common as the Order and the Senate become increasingly intertwined. Especially with a war on. Won't do for the Order to look less than perfect."

Freyja looks interested, "Where did you discover the scrolls and books, if we may ask? We were on Marnaas, ourselves... and got hit with a Seal." She smiles ruefully, "From what I've heard from a historian friend, too, the usual specificity of Jedi record-keeping is completely lost to um... poetic metaphor, when it comes to discussing the Heresy Wars. These must've been newly discovered information, I take it?"

Cassandra nods a bit ruefully to Zero. "True. Reporting directly to the office of the Supreme Chancellor and not the Republic military authorities doesn't help matters either." She tilts her head to Freyja. "Marnaas? We've only heard rumors of what happened there, I'm afraid. And the reports on the HoloNet about their spaceport getting shot up or such." She grimaces. "And we noticed that. These were written in just plain Aurabesh. We found them on Alderaan, actually, in one of the Royal Preserves. A tunneler droid was sentient enough to stop drilling when it ran into a void space, and we found some journals and records there. Not terribly well preserved, but well enough to get the College curious."

Freyja glances to Vakkal and Fhazil, curiously adding, "You know, I never asked... how did you guys feel when you first heard about the links between the Order and the Sith?" She snorts in quiet amusement at Cassandra's words, "'Shot up.' Great lady."

Vakkal and Fhazil exchange a glance, while Cassandra listens curiously. "Well, uhm..." Vakkal glances to Cassandra, then continues. "We kind of learned of it at the same time we learned of the Oath of Fire, so it was a lot to take at one time already. We were kind of surprised, to say the least. It didn't sound like something anyone would want to become well-known -- I mean, the Jedi and Sith are pretty much at each others' throats right now."

Freyja says, "Huh... I'd think it'd be precisely what those against the war would most want to publicize, though?"

Cassandra deadpans, "Against the war, yes."

Freyja smiles, "I'd think that'd include most here, neh?"

She nods, "Of that we've little doubt. We're not so sure about some people in the Order, though. Which is why we covered our trail as best as we could and started making our way out of the Republic. We've been traveling for about a year now, and after seven months we stumbled onto someone from the Silver Path -- or rather they found us."

Freyja nods thoughtfully, wondering internally how the Silver Path can tell if folks are trustworthy or not. Isn't there supposed to be an Order equivalent to the Sith Oath of Fire? "How'd they find you?"

Cassandra shakes her head. "We were on Glorgassa, a client state world, when we decided we were tired of running and had to get to the bottom of why we were told to stop investigating. We tried to be discreet, but the librarian of the library we were spending the days at eventually pieced together what we were doing. I know, we were lucky beyond belief that she was of the Silver Path. It could have easily been... I don't know, someone, anyone, working for the Watchers or whomever else it was who didn't want us to pursue that study."

Freyja nods quietly, "You were lucky. It would make sense there's a fanatic element in the Order, just as there is in the Sith. I'd imagine stumbling over them wouldn't be any healthier than it was stumbling over the Oathers."

Cassandra frets a little. "We'd... well, we'd heard rumors of the Oath. Just rumors. But the more we looked, the more it made sense. A friend of ours in the College forwarded something that had been discovered about Ku Radama, one of the Dark Jedi from the Heresy Wars, that corroborated what we're heard about a 'revenge society.' It's really discomfiting to know there's a similar society in the Order. But it's really the only explanation for why we were told to leave it alone."

Freyja rests her chin on her hand and curiously murmurs, "What'd you find about him?"

"It was a transcript from a holocron, I think. A last record and testament, I guess. He talked about an oath he and his brothers swore. Innocuous at first, but when you factor in the ferocity that some Sith fight Jedi with... it makes a horrible kind of sense."

Freyja sighs quietly, "That's so sad."

"In what way, Padawan Freyja?"

Freyja says, "Well, from what I've heard the rational Sith of today find what the Darksiders then did -- like the destruction of Brentaal's moon -- to be as horrible as we find it to be."

Fhazil nods emphatically. Cassandra tilts her head to the side. "Really? That's interesting... and rather hopeful. Maybe... well, if the Council can be made to listen, maybe that'll be a good way to end all this..."

Freyja grins, "Which Council?"

Cassandra says, "The Jedi Council. I think most of them are straight and true Jedi, but some seem to... pursue the war with a little less than seemly enthusiasm."

Freyja smiles slowly, "The Council... I'd love to be able to talk to them about this. Unfortunately... not only am I unsure if my triat friends would be welcome, I'm also unsure if I'd be allowed to leave." She adds quietly, "I find it deeply distressing that I have fears such as these... but I've been warned enough by wiser and more experienced Jedi than I, that I cannot disregard those warnings."

Cassandra nods. "I can understand that." She looks at the chronograph. "I'm afraid I've got to go; the others are meeting me in the library. The presbyter was kind enough to let us look into some of their own records about the Heresy Wars."

Zero says, "Pleasure to meet you. Force be with you, Cassandra."

Freyja grins ruefully, "I'd love to read those too... I just haven't had the time yet, unfortunately. After the war, though..." She sighs a bit wistfully, then nods politely in agreement with Zero's comment.

Cassandra nods and stands, bowing a little and smiling. "The Force be with you both." And with that she departs.

Freyja tilts her head at the others after Cassandra is gone and says thoughtfully, "Hey, guys? How would we recognize the Order zealots? I mean, we don't even know what they call themselves, you know?"

Zero says, "First Jedi to take a swing at you."

Freyja grins at Zero, "That'd be... one of the Masters at the praxaeum."

Zero says, "I'm serious."

Fhazil blinks. "Zealots? Jedi zealots? I'm... not really sure. Sith zealots are pretty easy to tell. Qatto Verg, for hideous example...."

Freyja says, "But seriously... any suggestions? That sort of worries me." She blinks at Zero, then says, "Oh. Um... being swung at was a bit late, though, for the Oathers. I'm afraid it will be for the Order ones too."

Zero says, "I suspect it'll make little difference. Either they already know about us or they don't. In the first case they'll make the first move, because as you said we know nothing about them and the Order is strenuously working to make sure no one else does either. In the second, we continue to keep a low profile and keep our heads down."

Freyja sighs and nods, "I guess so. I just..." her small smile gets rueful, "-worry too much, I guess..." She adds a bit wistfully, a moment later, "Wish we had time to browse in the library too."


A few weeks pass. Freyja has an enjoyable time talking with the new refugees. She even exchanges some more words with Cassandra Sal and the other two knights errant. She is intrigued to learn one day from Adept Thann that a refugee hetaerae may be en route to the refuge, having exhausted herself in attempting to get the Council to listen to her warnings about the Order's involvement in the war.

Freyja is fascinated to hear of the possible arrival of the hetaera, for two reasons. One, she dearly wishes to meet one! Two -- she's thrilled to hear the hetaerae are allowed into the Silver Path without question. That means she and her triat can probably come back too. That's a pleasing prospect to her.

For his part, Zero continues to learn about the varied weapons in the refuge's arsenal, and becomes a popular sparring partner, not only with the more martial-inclined adepts but also, interestingly, Paladin Diana's Grey Company. In particular Diana herself seems to enjoy pitting her saber against Kawatuara. Most such duels end in a draw at first, as Diana slowly gets used to the novelty of dealing with a double-headed lightsaber.

One day after breakfast, as the group is departing the hall, Thann and an older Twi'Lek are seen talking comfortably to each other on their way to the hall. Thann spots them and smiles. "Ah, I was hoping to run into you. Dji, these are Padawan Freyja, Padawan Satau, Journeyman Fhazil, and Huskarl Vakkal. This is Jedi the Lady Djian Konorl of Ryloth, Hetaera of the Order."

Freyja brightens noticeably at the introduction, "Oh! I am- neh, wait, may the Force be with you, Jedi Lady!" She grins a bit sheepishly, realizing how her excitement almost overwhelmed her good manners, and adds, "I'm so excited to meet you, Jedi Lady. I would very much like to talk with you at some point, once you're rested?" She's fascinated to realize the Council let a hetaera come talk to them and leave in peace. That's a very good thing, she thinks!

The pale-gray-skinned Twi'lek smiles -- an expression which seems to simply reach out through her eyes -- and inclines her head. "I am pleased to meet you. Padawan Satau? Satau of Sedrak? I read the report you made of Ku Radama's holocron on Marnaas. It was very informative. I had hoped to go there myself based on it."

Zero nods. "I'm Satau. Sorry to hear about your search being cut short... I'm actually surprised they're being so tight about the Oath cult. I'd have thought with a war on it'd make a convenient propaganda tool. But... I guess those aren't my decisions to make."

Dji smiles. "It's quite all right, Zero. It is only depressing that it reached but a few people in the Academy before it was Sealed. Fortunately, as the former assistant director of the College of Archaeology, I get to peek at things most people would rather be left un-peeked-at!" She turns to Freyja. "And Freyja. Adept Thann has told me of your voracious interest in the hetaerae. I hope I can answer any questions you might have."

Freyja beams, almost bouncing with excitement on her toes, "Oh, hai, I've lots of questions, but I can wait, really, until you're rested?" She hesitates, then settles back, hands clasped behind her back, with a gravely thoughtful look, "Ah... really. Hai." Her cheeks flush a bit as she realizes just how silly that must've looked.

Dji laughs quietly. "It's very warming to see enthusiasm like that, Freyja. I would ask only for a little bit of time to rest. The journey was long, and a little hard for one of my years. But there is nothing I would like better than to talk with you and answer your questions."

Freyja blinks, abruptly fascinated again -- so hetaerae pick members from the Order? Excellent! She smiles, relieved the lady's not, er... dismayed by her enthusiasm. "Thank you, Jedi Lady. Ah, you might also like talking to the three errant Jedi here, if you want to discuss archaeology?" She thinks happily that 'Jedi Lady' has a nice ring to it. Maybe she can learn how to be one too. That'd be very nice, she thinks.

Dji blinks. "Three errant Jedi? Well, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one to be taking time away from the Council. Are they archaeologists?"

Freyja nods, "Hai! They're trying to find out more about the originating links between the Order and the Sith."

Dji's smile falters a little. "Indeed? I hadn't known that was more widely known. Well, I'd certainly not be bothered if more people knew of those links, though such a revelation would have to be handled carefully."

Freyja says, "Er... I can't say it's really widely known, currently. The reason I know is due to tangling with the Oath of Fire, as it was for my companions also. These folks found a new cache of scrolls, apparently." She tilts her head curiously, "So you knew? Howso, if I may ask? Also, how would you handle such a revelation?"

"Well. Master Velgrath, the director of the college, is notorious for acknowledging Seals only in passing. The things his most recent assistant has turned up in the Archives would make most Council members do somersaults if they knew!" She looks curiously at Freyja. "How did I know? Well, as assistant director I received a copy of the report as a matter of course. There were only a handful of us who got it before we were hit with the Seal. A cache of scrolls? Oh, fascinating, I'll certainly have to ask them! They must have been found very recently."

Freyja giggles when the gruff Master director is mentioned -- she's heard of that from Talmon. "Is his most recent assistant still Talmon? How's he doing? Hai, it's apparently a discovery that's less than a year old."

Dji grins. "Aye, it's Padawan Talmon. He's doing very well. The Watchers have been making a lot of research requests through Master Velgrath, knowing that Talmon is doing that research. Velgrath, bless him, is so scattered amongst half a hundred projects that of course he's going to have his assistant do 'routine research requests.' I think the Watchers like Talmon's perspective on certain things." She frowns. "A year? Child, I have been out of Coruscant and my comfortable office not three months, and I have heard nothing about any scrolls. I'd have heard of something such as that."

Freyja blinks slowly at the hetaera... then pauses, reviewing. Finally she says slowly, "Jedi Lady, the Jedi Cassandra said they'd been traveling for about a year now, due to being asked to pursue errantry, due to their asking too many questions about this discovery." She adds firmly, "I'm pretty sure that's what she said." To Thann she adds, "Sensei, how do your people tell if someone is trustworthy?" Then she draws a slow, horrified breath, "Oh, neh... has anyone been watching them in your library?!"

Dji blinks for a moment, then looks slowly at Thann, who closes his eyes and sighs. "I will quietly inform the Presbyter. Normally we accept the word or letter of recommendation from the adept who recommended them, much as in your case."

Freyja says quietly, "Should someone go to the library right now? Do we know where they currently are?"

Thann looks torn -- but only for a moment. "Would you four check the library, please. I must find the presbyter and inform her." Dji nods, "I will go with them. It should be interesting asking them about scrolls I have received no word of."

Freyja nods, already whirled to swiftly head that way. The thought of destruction of such priceless information leaves her utterly aghast! Zero sighs and follows along quietly. He was hoping to leave "work" in the dojo for a while. Ah well...

The group arrives at the library quickly, and Freyja patters hastily through the library door, looking around a bit anxiously. The three errants are spotted quickly at a terminal cluster in the far corner. Cassandra looks up as the group enters, and starts to smile. Even from this distance Freyja can see the Human's eyes go to the Twi'lek behind them, and Cassandra's smile loses any and all warmth.

Freyja sighs, disappointed to realize her suspicions are correct. Zero shakes his head and makes a fist in one hand, cracking his knuckles. It's disappointing, maybe not surprising, but... ah well. Freyja says politely, "Jedi Cassandra, I think the presbyter would like to talk to you and your companions. Would you care to accompany us there?"

The two who are with her glance up at Cassandra. She doesn't look back, and her eyes narrow only a little. "No," she says perfectly neutrally. "You will let us go to the hangar unmolested and you will let us leave. It is not our mandate to get into a battle, but if you press the issue we will not hold back."

Freyja shakes her head, disappointed yet again. "You know we can't do that." She gently touches through the link, 'locating' her friends as she takes Kourakani in hand. She doesn't light up yet, though... she'd rather avoid open conflict if possible, although her hopes of doing so are shrinking.

The three straighten and almost simultaneously draw and ignite lightsabers. "Then you should know we can't let you stop us from leaving." Slowly, cautiously, they begin to make their way to the door step by step, their lightsabers preceding them.

Zero carefully slides Shang's blade out of his sash. "Well. I guess everyone's mind is made up, then."

Freyja whispers thorough the link, We should let them out of the library, so nothing gets damaged. Less maneuvering room for them in the hallway, too, especially if we split and block both sides. She backs up according to her own suggestions. As Freyja backs up, the three Jedi pause, as if gauging what to do next, then continue to move slowly towards the doorway, their blades humming and casting a faint glow. Zero shrugs and walks out into the hallway in the opposite direction.

The three are drawn out into the hall. They form a peculiar pattern: all three with their backs to each other, with one of them looking back and ahead, and Cassandra grimly in the lead as she walks right for Zero, who is apparently in the direction of the hangar. Freyja closes in enough to keep the one closest to her from turning to aid Cassandra.

The tableau holds there, outside the library. Freyja and Vakkal are at one end of the hall with Dji behind Freyja; Zero and Fhazil are on the other side. In between, Cassandra faces Freyja, with one of the other intruders, a lithe Mandragolan, at her back and watching Zero. The third, a Binn, stands such that he shifts his attention between the two groups.

Cassandra nods slowly. "All right. Good. Now. Let us make our way to the hangar. There is a passage that bypasses the public thoroughfares of the station."

Freyja whispers over the link, Loud noise coming, Vakkal... then puts two fingers to her mouth. A piercing whistle comes from her, followed by a shout, "Intruders! Templars! Help!" Quietly she murmurs, "You can't get through everyone, Cassandra. Spare your companions, at least." Her eyes narrow slightly as she 'pushes' gently in the Force, seeking to Inspire her companions and allies.

Zero says, "That isn't going to happen, Cassandra. Not yet." He sighs quietly and gives Cassandra the same warning he always gives... and prays silently that this time, finally, someone listens to him. "Don't waste your life." Freyja nods in silent agreement with Zero, Kourakani still unlit in her hand.

Cassandra's voice does not change in tone or pitch. "It better happen, Padawan Satau, and quickly. This... this heresy, harboring Darksiders... consorting with the enemy, resurrecting dead and proscribed arts-" She winces a little with the whistle, then looks steadily at Freyja. "I'm interested in hearing how you came to that conclusion. And we do not intend to fight our way through you all. You will let us go. Also, Padawan Satau," she says, half over her shoulder, "who is it that has been wasting their life?" She shakes her head. "Come back with us. You're both Jedi; stop this course of action and return to the Order. What would your Master and your peers think of you?"

Freyja looks curious, "Who resurrected the dead?"

Zero says, "Not people." Then, at the Templar woman's continued words, he hisses, "You're not fit to judge me, Cassandra."

Freyja's face looks a little sheepish, "Oh. Sorry, I misunderstood, Zero." Her eyes are growing pale as Battlemind floods through her, though... to Cassandra she says, "Well, it figures it'd be Templars, doesn't it? The Watchers are trying to find up what's up, so they don't know. To my knowledge, only the Templars are breaking their oaths and leaving their post as guards of the Temple to fight on Dantooine." Her voice is perfectly calm and sincere -- she's telling the absolute truth, as far as her train of logic has led her. She looks curious again, "Are you not Templars, then?"

Freyja feels rather odd... the Force feels extremely strongly present in her at this moment. She wonders a bit distantly if her eyes are glowing as much as Kourakani does when she's lit... but doesn't really worry about it. She's very centered, in the here and now. She whispers through the link, I'll bring up as much Force power to aid you all as I can. Vakkal seems to have an unearthly focus on Cassandra, while across the link Fhazil seems to be getting into one of the calmer 'personas' of his method acting -- one that gives him a measure of control.

Cassandra shakes her head. "I'm not judging you, Satau," she says slowly, her eyes not leaving Freyja's. "But you both swore oaths to the Order. Why would you turn your back on them? Padawan Rigg, you have been with the Order for many, many years. Why would you turn around and hurt it this way? Whatever it is that you're both missing in your lives, tell the Order, and it will do what it can for you."

She pauses, then nods a little. "The Senate fears the Templars. They fear we would become the praetorians of the Republic, enforcing a sort of Force theocracy; maintaining a line of Jedi nobility. Nothing is further from the truth. We are servants of the Republic, not its masters. We are not the Sith. We wish only to preserve the Republic against the tides of Darkness." Her eyes flick briefly to Vakkal.

There are rapid footsteps coming up from the corridor on both sides, with a number of excited voices. Zero tchs. "I'm not turning my back on the Order!" He suddenly whips the shard-blade back as if to take a defensive stance, "We're trying to save it!" Punctuating his sentence, the shard-blade snaps to life, striking out at its full extension at one of the Templar's legs.

Freyja nods in agreement with Zero again, adding quietly for Cassandra's benefit, "Good servants do not break their oaths to their masters, Templar Cassandra." She wonders abstractly if the Force is strong enough in her to persuade Cassandra to yield quietly. She hopes so -- she'd like to avoid a fight, and maybe even heal old, inner wounds for the Human woman, if possible. She'll just have to listen well for the Force's directives. To her lightsaber she whispers, Help me in this if you can, please, Kourakani? She keeps her eyes on Cassandra, hoping to keep her out of the battle as much as possible.

Zero lashes the end of the shard-blade around the Templar's leg and jerks hard on it. The Templar slides back and strikes the ground soundly. Zero reverses his grip on the shard-blade and swings his arm back, catching the flat of one of the shards on his elbow and pulling the length of the blade back along his forearm for leverage. With his free hand he reaches back for Kuwatuara. "Move and I promise you'll lose that foot, Templar. Try me."

Fhazil seems to be rigidly controlling himself. He doesn't want to be the one whom the Templars remember as having struck first. However, he has no desire to see this threat continue. He attacks the still-standing Templar with a near-devastating swing, for no other reason than to keep that one occupied. Meanwhile, the Templar on the ground is starting to move, but at Zero's words he narrows his eyes and stops, looking very calculating.

The standing Templar manages to get out of the way of Fhazil's strike, and his saber flicks out -- for the shard-blade holding the supine Templar's foot. However, thanks to Zero's skillful dropping of the shard-blade at the opportune moment, he fails to connect. Vakkal tenses as the battle erupts, holding himself ready to defend Freyja. Dji remains quietly behind Freyja, watching carefully, with a depressed air about her.

For a brief moment Zero can see the supine Templar's lips move as he murmurs something, then the group feels a surge in the Force as the Mandragolan attempts to invoke the Force to aid him in freeing his foot from the grasp of the shard-blade's segments. He grits his teeth when he's unsuccessful; a green splotch appearing faintly around his cloth leggings where the shard-blade holds him, and his eyes dilate markedly.

Freyja feels Kourakani's quiet acknowledgement, the Awatea saber helping to open Freyja's chakra to the Force. She keeps her pale, Force-filled gaze on Cassandra, standing tall and still, Kourakani unlit in her hand. She's eerily self-aware of everyone's placement in the Force around her as she holds out her empty hand towards the Human woman, "Templar Cassandra, this battle is not worth fighting. Save yourself and your companions. If you truly wish to change our minds, show us by your peaceful example the error of our ways -- not through conflict and death." In the Force she can 'see' the battle ending quietly and peacefully, with no more damage to any... and she 'pushes' gently with Battle Meditation to make that outcome reality. She also keeps her senses alive to the desires of the Force. She thinks this is the right thing to do for now... but if necessary, she'll change tactics in a flash.

It's not clear if the Templars are in any sort of nonverbal contact with each other; Cassandra hasn't turned to look at the others. Slowly, she brings her saber to a ready position. "You do not understand," she says, sounding pained. "You would destroy everything the Order has tried to rebuild after the Heresy Wars. You are undermining the Order itself. And yet we are not here to kill you. I will ask you again to let us go to our ship and leave. We cannot surrender."

Freyja says softly, "The Jedi are the servants of the Force, are we not? Tell me -- are you so sure you do the will of the Force?" She whispers a question to Kourakani, Can I share this awareness in the Force with her through some form of link or touch? Kourakani's response is doubtful. She doesn't know if the Templar can grasp the nuances -- can, or wish to -- it's hard to tell.

Zero pulls the shard-blade back tight. "Throw me your lightsaber and get back in the library, and I'll release you. I don't want to hurt you any more than I have to."

Fhazil and the Binn Templar exchange saber swings, but neither connect nor strike each other's saber. Fhazil, however, does not seem to be trying to actually do any serious damage to the Templar, despite the small gnawing fear within him of facing a Templar. At least there isn't a full manus of them! he thinks.

The Mandragolan Templar grimaces faintly, but makes not a sound as he locks eyes with Zero. After a moment his saber moves, but definitely not in the direction of being extinguished and tossed to the side. Zero shakes his head. "I warned you." He pulls the shard-blade tighter. The Mandragolan stifles a shout, his soft hiss of pain drowned out by the thrumming of his lightsaber as it swings.

-and cuts his foot off just above the shard-blade.

Zero recoils, the blade snapping closed, and stumbles backward a step. "No...!" He stares incredulously, "Why?!"

Dji closes her eyes and looks away. At the same time, Cassandra whirls her lightsaber around in a smooth arc -- and in a moment the blue blade is singing down towards Freyja. It smashes downward against Vakkal's suddenly ignited, emerald green saber as, with a growl, he pushes the Templar's blade away from his charge. As Cassandra steps back quickly to dodge a possible riposte, a dismayed look on her face, he brings his saber to a ready position.

The Mandragolan gives a low hiss in his throat as he recovers from the flash of pain, his eyes boring into Zero's. "I... will... not... be bound," he says. It's not clear which is more chilling -- what he says, or his utter lack of emotion.

Zero replies simply, "Then you'll be killed. I gave you your chance."

Freyja can sense the sickening surge of pain through the Force, and has to take a deep breath to remember it's not hers. She silently, disappointedly watches Cassandra and her compatriots decide suicide is better than life, as the lightsabers flash and crash, hiss and slash around her. She flicks Kourakani up, the blade licking forth like a flame. While Cassandra is distracted by Vakkal, Freyja sighs softly, So that's it, then... and drops the Battle Meditation to attack the poor fanatic. Best to get this over with as quickly and cleanly as possible. Cassandra seems like she half-expected Freyja to not attack, as she pulls herself out of the way of the flaring gold arc.

Fhazil and the standing Templar remarkably manage to utterly miss each other again, much to the growing amused frustration of the Corellian Sith. I can't believe I'm this rusty, he jokes.

Zero slides the closed shard-blade back into his belt, and ignites Silver Guardian. "Sorry it had to be this way. You chose this." The blazing blue-white saber sings along the floor toward Zero's target. His blade cuts across the Mandragolan, incapacitating him; he steps into the blow, letting Kuwatuara's rear blade swing up into line, and lunges, stabbing the blade out at the next Templar. The second Templar doesn't expect the strike from Zero, despite the sudden near-death of the Mandragolan. He just barely ducks out of the way of the thrust-thrust from Zero.

Freyja's pale, cool eyes are intensely focused on Cassandra, gleaming behind the flaming flare of her defensively held lightsaber, although she can feel the Mandragolan beginning to die, through the Force. She'll either heal or grieve later -- right now she's concentrating on somehow stopping Cassandra from committing suicide in the same way. Dji is holding herself very still, hand held lightly to her chest as she watches the battle with preternatural concentration and intensity. Those with eyes awakened to the Force can see her aura flickering with golden light.

Freyja whispers through the Force to Vakkal, I'll try to trip her; can you follow up? Fractions of a second later, instead of lashing out with Kourakani she drops and lashes out with one long leg, trying to sweep Cassandra's feet out from under her. Cassandra staggers a little with the strike; though she remains standing, Freyja's foot makes her have to expend some effort to regain her balance.

Vakkal's follow-up blow makes the Templar dodge even harder; the woman is clearly winded. It does not seem to be stopping her, however. She readies the saber for another swing... when she glances to Dji and back to Freyja, then says quickly, "Medical aid for the fallen one... and we will put down our sabers." This makes the others look at her with visible startlement.

Freyja raises an eyebrow, "Pardon my cynicism, Templar, but you've already broken your oath once." She stands down, though her saber stays in ready position. She's willing to give the Human woman a chance to make a better offer... but not to just accept this one.

Zero says, "Sabers first."

Cassandra glances back at Zero, then looks at Freyja. She pauses, then straightens, holding her saber before her. "Broken for the good of the Republic. And kept for the good of one who did not come here to kill you." Her saber extinguishes. After a moment, with an 'I'm waiting' look from Fhazil, the other extinguishes his saber as well.

Kourakani hisses softly out, then Freyja steps forward, medkit in hand. "Fine. Let us be sure, then." To the medkit she murmurs, "Human female, render unconscious for four hours," then reaches to lay it on Cassandra. While Cassandra would apparently rather not, she doesn't seem to have much choice in the matter, despite her best efforts. She crumples to the floor. Freyja looks a little startled as Cassandra doesn't protest, but barely manages to catch her falling body and let her down gently.

A moment later she straightens, heading for the Binn with medkit in hand. Across the link she murmurs, I do not understand fanatics... she'll break her sacred oath to the Republic, but apparently keep it for a friend? That makes no sense to me... She's ready this time, and catches the Binn a bit more gracefully, letting him gently down also. Then she sighs, looking at the Mandragolan, "Let's hope they have good medical facilities here..."

Zero extinguishes Kuwatuara. "Tch. What a mess." Freyja nods glumly, stepping around the cauterized remains to put a tourniquet on the ankle for later, when the cauterization must be removed for healing.

Dji says softly, "They are Templars. Had there been five of them..." She shakes her head. "Do you need any help with that one, child?" At this point a number of adepts armed with a mixture of shard-swords, windsong blades, pikes, and at least one really very large-bore rifle that looks more appropriate for midrange combat droids, finally show up.

Freyja says, "At least we didn't have to kill anyone." She looks up at the Jedi and smiles ruefully, "Well, if there's bacta available here, neh. Otherwise, um... help would be appreciated, hai?" Then she smiles up at the adepts as well, although it's not really a happy smile, "You can stand down now. They chose to stop fighting to save the life of this one."

One of those carrying a pike turns out to be Thann, immediately followed by a very distraught-looking Presbyter. "There is a bacta tank, yes," he says. "We are low on bacta but..." He looks to the Templar, then nods. "Considering his condition, we should probably not be miserly with it." Dji nods, and Thann delegates some adepts to carry and guard the Templars as they drag them to the infirmary.

Zero says, "It's only going to be worse from here..."

Freyja sighs, sitting back to lean against the wall, her wrists resting on her knees, and nods to Zero. "Hai... we should see what they researched, and if they sent anything off from here."

The Presbyter sighs. "There is nothing to be done for that now. Even if they sent nothing -- and they could not have, we have no transmitter accessible from the refuge for just this reason -- they would not have come here without some mechanism in place to let their superiors know where they were going to be."

Freyja says, "Well, is there any way to get information from them as to what they've done so far, and how they found here, and is your adept that vouched for them all right, and what their goals were?"

The Presbyter pauses. "Not... politely. The mental fortitude of Templars is almost legendary." She blinks as one of the adepts rather queasily and apologetically slips by her to retrieve the Mandragolan's foot, rushing off with great haste to the infirmary. She regains some composure a moment later, "That, ah, that is something we must research now. We don't know the answers to any of those."

Freyja frowns thoughtfully, then says slowly, "Well... then we must train that much more assiduously, so you can move as swiftly as possible."

The Presbyter adds, "Our first priority, however, is to protect the persons of this refuge, and yourselves. We knew we would have to move after you arrived and informed us of your intentions. This just means we must depart much sooner and bring you with us for a time."

Freyja nods quietly, "I'm sorry, Presbyter."

Zero smiles a little. "Heh. Vagrant again. Ah, well... the company's much better this time." He grins wanly.

"We are the ones who are sorry. We should not have let this happen. Your training will be completed, I promise." She pauses. "Please excuse me. I must make an... arrangement with the station manager. Contingencies are in place that must be activated."

Freyja smiles quietly up at Zero from her seat -- then blinks, looking at the presbyter and opening her mouth to ask a question -- then just as suddenly, changes her mind and says nothing. Over the link her friends get, Let's not mention Valsha. I don't want her exposed to this if possible.

The Presbyter heads off. Meanwhile, some of the senior elders can be heard already giving orders, and the Silver Path are rushing to comply. Caul chooses this moment to wander by. "I felt the unmistakable scent of a Lightsider invoking his view of the Force," he says carefully, "right after I heard someone," he looks to Freyja, "shout something about Templars. There was an... altercation?"

Freyja nods quietly, still seated, "Hai. We managed not to kill anyone, though." Then she grins, "Scent? You've been talking to Vakkal, haven't you... he claims he's a symphony of scent!" She adds more quietly, and very sincerely, to Vakkal, "Thank you, my Brother. I was off guard at that point."

Zero takes a deep breath. "Altercation. Yeah."

Caul snorts a little. "When you've run from them as long as I have, the invocation of a Lightsider can come in a variety of ways. But, yes, perhaps speaking with Vakkal made me use a scent metaphor. I take it the excitement means we will be moving soon."

Zero says, "Looks that way..." Freyja nods quietly again at Zero's words.

Vakkal also nods quietly. "No worries, Freyja. I am just sorry my own strike did not land home."

Zero asides to Vakkal, "You know, I always enjoyed the nomad life. It might not be as bad as it sounds."

Freyja smiles at Vakkal, "I am not sorry. We managed well, I think, all things considered." She grins at Zero, "You and Vakkal didn't seem to mind being with the Sedraki nomads, hai!"

Zero says, "Well, I meant the vagrant lifestyle I was leading off world before I met you, but... they were okay too."

Vakkal grins softly. "I had figured. Well, it does not bother me much. It should go well, if they have enough ships."

Freyja looks up curiously at Caul, "May I ask why you hired Argent? Who did you fear here?"

Caul says amusedly, "Who says I was afraid? One of Argent's skills is wasted if they aren't put to some sort of use. Besides, when I leave here I had been expecting to travel along the Hutt-Republic border. A professional killer would be more than ample protection in such a case."

Freyja grins cheerfully at Zero -- she rather enjoyed that carefree time also! -then nods to Caul, "I understand. Good luck to you, then, when you go there."

Zero says, "And Argent is the best there is. Damned right Caul wasn't afraid."

Freyja grins quietly again... then rises, turning towards the library. "So... Zero, you're good with computers, hai? Let's see what they were accessing, shall we?"

Zero nods, "Sure, I can have a look."

Caul chuckles. "And that's right, Argent mentioned you and he had worked together in the past, but would not go into details. Well... I should begin to pack, I imagine. I'm sure we'll see each other again before I depart."

Freyja smiles, leaning to quietly give a hug to Vakkal, then Zero, and then Fhazil. She's not happy everyone has to move... but it feels really nice to be alive and unharmed, with the folks she cares most deeply for. Zero hugs Freyja gently, then grins to Caul, "I'd walk into the Great Bogga's drawing room with lit sabers if I had Argent at my side. You'll get your money's worth."

Caul smiles a bit. "I've never had any doubt." He inclines his head, then bows graciously to Dji, "Lady Dji," and slips off into the corridors.

Freyja glances over her shoulder at the hetaera, "Do you know anything about computers, Jedi Lady?"

Dji looks tired and worn and somewhat sad. She shakes her head. "I do not know them nearly as well as I should, I'm afraid. At least, not to the extent of data mining."

Freyja tilts her head, studying the hetaera with a bit of worry, "Ahh... would you like to sit down for a bit, Jedi Lady?"

Zero says quietly, "Freyja, why don't you see to the Lady. I'll go back to the library and look around."

Freyja nods in agreement with Zero, "Call me if you need me," then steps to gently touch the woman's arm, "Would you like a drink?"

Dji nods, stepping into the library. "Yes, please, Freyja. Being one of the tradition of hetaerae has made me... very empathic. It's been a long time since I had to regulate that in the midst of a battle, however."

Freyja nods, making sure she sits all right, then murmurs to Vakkal, "Keep an eye on her? I'll be right back with a drink." She dashes off for the kitchen.

Freyja can feel the incredible, focused awareness of the Force slipping away as she trots quietly to the kitchen. A short conversation and a thank-you later, she's back in the library with a handful of mugs and a container of water. She pours for everyone, although the tired hetaera gets a drink first. "There... better?"

Zero's fingers dance across the keys; he calls up the access logs and scans the latest entries. "Looks like a history lesson. Doesn't look like they got access to anything particularly juicy, but they seem to have a particular interest in Triats." He hmphs. "That's like taking a guided tour of the house you just robbed."

Freyja grins ruefully at Zero after she's updated over the link. "Insult to injury, hai?"

Zero shakes his head. "Some people."

Dji listens to Zero concernedly. She smiles to Freyja, accepting the glass. "Thank you, child, yes... a little better. Emotional shock is something I've not ever been able to deal with well, especially from the Templars."

Freyja pauses in her pouring, considering... then looks up at the others, "Hey... guys? We are doing the right thing, aren't we?"

Zero sits back and folds his arms behind his head, "Little late to be worrying about that now..."

Fhazil nods, "I have to agree with Zero. We were in this for the long haul; now we're in it for the last leg. We knew we'd face the Templars at some point."

Freyja looks down at her glass, then up at Zero, "I'm sorry. I just... worry sometimes. It's easy when you feel like you're filled with the Force... but I can't hold that all the time." She sighs quietly... then changes the subject, looking at the hetaera, "Emotional shock? Do you mean pain as an emotional shock, or something else, like realizing the gig was up?"

She adds quietly to Fhazil, "Facing Templars does not bother me -- I've done it before, albeit in argumentation, and I'm sure we'll have to do it again. It's... damaging the Force through good intentions that makes me worry so. After all, I'm sure the Templars too are very sure they're doing the right thing."

Dji makes a quiet sound. "A bit of both. Emotions become so foreign to them that the sudden onset of any emotion can confuse them, if they're not prepared for it." She sighs. "Plus... feeling the Mandragolan's intent to cut off his own foot..." She shakes her head. "It is... hard to experience that."

Zero says, "Tch. That guy. Why has every Mandragolan I've ever met been a complete maniac?"

Freyja says, "What foreign emotion hit them, if you do not mind my asking? Perhaps we can figure out a bit more about them, from that information." She stifles a giggle at Zero's comment, then firmly gets a grip on herself. An odd tendency to want to giggle at everything is not appropriate just now, despite how common that can be after a huge adrenaline rush!

"It is hard to say. It was buried underneath his confusion. Freyja, the Templars do indeed believe in what they're doing. Most hold true to their oaths, I'm sure. The ones who don't... it's not like they're sick or anything like that. They honestly want to save the Republic from the Sith. They... they're so limited, though. The Templars were born in the fires of the Heresy Wars, when Darksiders nearly devastated Coruscant. They haven't forgotten. To them, their own honor is worth sacrificing if it means preserving the Order and the Republic."

Freyja raises an eyebrow, "If it were only their own honor, I'd say more power to them. But they sacrifice the honor of all Jedi with their actions." She sighs, then asks more calmly, "What was he confused about?"

"I know, child, I know. But the first step to defeating an enemy is to understand them. That is true of Lightsider and Darksider ways of fighting -- and not to just look at them with pity, and regard them as ill. Not that you have, but it is a trap many fall into, including some Templars and Sith." She considers for a moment. "It was a moment's confusion. He was so unused to strong emotion. He had never faced a shard-blade before, and it surprised and dismayed him when he felt its bite. When he tried to free himself from it and could not, for a brief moment he felt fear... before he squashed it ruthlessly and... well, took the one way out he could see which would not only free him but prove to himself, if nobody else, that he was unafraid." She sighs and shakes her head. "Watching, feeling Templars fighting... it's almost painful."

Freyja nods, listening thoughtfully. "Poor thing. It must've been almost terrifying to recognize fear in himself."

Zero says, "Sounds like they've got a serious inferiority complex."

Freyja grins amusedly at Zero, then adds thoughtfully to Dji, "Have you... watched other Templars fight also?" Honesty compels her to add, "Actually, I do think the Oathers are ill, to some degree." She glances at Zero sitting at the computer terminal, "Anything else, or was that it?"

Zero shakes his head. "That's a foolish philosophy for a warrior. Everyone's afraid. Fear makes you cautious; caution keeps you alive. There's a difference between not letting your fear control you, and not letting your mind control you." He tchs and shakes his head, sighing. "Sorry. I wandered off there, didn't I? That was all of it, Freyja; we stopped them before they could find much that could be considered damaging."

"In a sense, yes, Zero, child. Some utterly cannot accept such a weakness in themselves, and they overcompensate to sometimes scary degrees... like what the Mandragolan did tonight." She shakes her head to Freyja. "Only in sparring, at the Temple. Even then it can be disturbing to see. I have seen a number of battles in my time, despite my best intentions, child. Within them there is fear and anguish and adrenaline and even amongst the death there is a certain urge or drive or desire to live. With Templars... there's nothing."

Freyja nods to Zero, both reassured and still worried. "Hm... that's it, after all those weeks? I hope that's right." She blinks at Dji, confused, "Nothing? Is that different from utter inner peace?"

The hetaera shakes her head. "The Templars don't have inner peace. They seek inner void." Freyja nods again, a bit relieved. She's trying for inner peace... but she wants to avoid hollowness.

Zero, ever his own worst critic, unfolds one arm from behind his head and rechecks the security log. "Y'know... let me have a look at something here." Freyja looks up a bit worriedly.

Zero says, "Ahh... here we are. Looks like they knew exactly what they wanted, but they didn't have an experienced slicer in their unit." He smiles grimly, "Like myself. They're researching us like they expect to be fighting us soon. Training methodology, Force philosophies... and something that's been so deeply locked that the security barriers are almost a thousand years old. More importantly... it looks like this isn't the only refuge. And they knew it."

Freyja nods quietly, then sighs. "Well, let's download it so we know it ourselves, too. We should be prepared for what they expect, as well as for them."

Zero says, "No need to download it; it's all here. But unless you want me to slice it, you'll need the presbyter's access."

Freyja says, "Neh, we should ask the presbyter." She rises and steps over to rest a hand on Zero's shoulder as she reads the heads-up display over him.

[Previous Log] [Index] [Next Log]





Last modified: 2002-Jul-16 16:14:54

All material on this site is
Copyright © 2002-2024 Reality Fault
unless specifically indicated on each document.
All Rights Reserved.
Administrated by Reality Fault Webmaster