[IC] You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

[freedomliveson]

"Superiority complex..." He shook his head, following his partner's lead by slamming his back into the impersonal metallic structure, hands behind his head.
"I didn't know that trying to do the right thing instantly made me an arrogant moron." He sighed, looking down to find that her hands and legs were trembling with...well, he couldn't tell, but he could assume a number of emotions. Anger, anxiety, frustration. They were feelings he was getting very acquainted with, especially over the past twenty four hours.
"You know that's all we were taught, right? That doing the merciful thing, the right thing, would make everything work out." He joined her on the floor, eyes cast forward.
"I thought that was true. I really did. I might've questioned the Masters...more than once or twice, but I generally believed what they said, that the Force would always play out for the best. That's why I hated the Sith. I thought they were misappropriating the Force, that if they were all swept away, that the Force's true potential could be realized." He chuckled sardonically.
"Now to see the Force as a living organism..." He turned his head to Aria.
"That vision we had before we landed on Manaan, it mentioned the death of the Force. Do you really think that can happen?" His eyes turned forward once more as he continued:
"Maybe that's what Lysa wanted me to find out. Maybe the Force guided her to that spot and she went off track...well, I know that she did." A moment of silence before his voice got quieter:
"I forgave you for that, you know." He made eye contact with his companion, searching her dark irises.
"In the three days we've been together, my perception of you has changed...which is saying a lot. I mean, it took me five years to not see
Master Satele as a hard nosed jerk that refused to see other people's perspectives. In three days, I realize that what you did to my sister was a byproduct of what you were taught. Just like my 'self-righteousness' is the natural response I have towards situations. What we saw on the Sith homeworld, what we accomplished made me really believe that maybe Jedi and Sith could actually co-exist." Another chuckle, not laced with sarcasm this time.
"We'll have to now, won't we? I don't even know if those labels apply to us. Jedi, Sith...who bloody cares? It's us against them. And we'll need a lot more of 'us' to have a chance at fighting back." He nudged her gently.
"I'm sorry. About what I said...I think you're brave. You brought down a monster made up of pure evil. That's worth something. You had my back, saved me too many times than I could count..." He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous smile creeping onto his face.
"I guess I didn't want us to stop doing good together." A sigh escaped his lips.
"Boy that sounded cheesy. Two strikes against me now." A dark blue bird streaked in from a gaping hole in the upper right hand side of the room, perching itself on the rafters, peering at them curiously.
"But Ari, I can't hide forever. I just can't. We have to save SOME of them, if for no other cause than to have survivors to throw at disrupting the Sith's operations."

[The Elvenqueen]

This time Aria remained silent for a while, her eyes shutting as Yerbol continued on, quieter now. A fresh wave of guilt welled up as she realised it wasn't fair of her to bring his sister into this the way she had. His statement that he had forgiven her for the whole thing brought a snort out of Aria.
"You shouldn't. I don't deserve it." she huffed, eyes opening to look at him again. Her thoughts wandered to their shared vision, the idea that the Force itself could be 'killed'. Her dark eyebrows pulled together in a tight frown. "I don't know...I mean, nobody even really knows what the Force IS, do they? How can you 'kill' something that you don't even understand?" she mumbled, glad that their disagreement was at an end. After taking some time to get her emotions under control, she realised that Yerbol's view of things wasn't ENTIRELY wrong either. With the True Sith intent on carrying out this plot of theirs, they would need to keep working together, or, she supposed, die trying.
She realised, he was right. The three of them didn't have a hope of taking down the operatives within the government, or of returning the respective political bodies to their former states. They'd need more allies, or they'd be sitting mynocks until Bracknell's (or some other True Sith's) cronies tracked them down and came to finish them off for good. She chuckled softly at his choice of wording, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she retorted.
"Well, I dunno about throwing people, Bol. Only if they're shorter than me. Cause, you know, I DON'T lift weights as much as you do. I guess you're right though, I mean...we're gonna die eventually either way, right?" it was a pessimistic outlook on the whole series of events, but at least she was willing to try and look at their options from his point of view, too.

She sighed quietly, her gaze moving to watch the bird as it diverted its attention from them for a few moments to peck at something between the half-rotten beams that held up the ceiling. Another possible problem occurred to her. "He won't want to hear it, you know. My dad." Aria smirked again, clearing her throat and deepening her voice to attempt a, slightly off-pitch but close enough, impression of the Sith Lord's voice. "'You are a bad influence on his daughter and he would not condone such Jedi-like behaviour'." she dissolved into a fit of quiet laughter, dropping her head to one side, almost leaning it against his shoulder before she caught herself and sat upright quickly, a faint flush of colour appearing in her cheeks.
"I'm sorry too...for snapping at you, and bringing up your sister." Aria added, grinning back at him, "I didn't mean it...I'm not supposed to admit it because we're 'not supposed to feel fear'"-quotation marks were formed around the statement with her fingers as she enunciated it-"but...I'm terrified."

[freedomliveson]

Mirthful laughter echoed off the walls at the almost spot-on impression of her father, Yerbol feeling a touch of his stress(and hers?) vaporizing with the release of emotion. It was nice to laugh without the constant pressure of one's life potentially being extinguished at a moment's notice. When she spoke again, he turned his head to find her face slightly pinker than normal. Probably from the laughing. When she apologized, he nodded, returning her grin as she confessed her fear.
"Well, that makes two of us." Yerbol leaned his head against the cool metal.
"In the span of three days, every single thing we've known is being torn apart. What was once safe isn't anymore...which I guess isn't too bad of a thing to happen." Another glance cast her way.
"If this had never happened, if we had continued to stay on opposite sides of the spectrum, the cycle of conflict between Jedi and Sith would never stop. In a sense, the True Sith did us a favor. Instead of camping out in our temples condemning the other, we're being forced to work together...not to say that it won't all fall apart when we stop them, but I think some good might come of this." His right hand, which once rested on the floor, was now resting on her knee, which he didn't notice as he continued:
"Notice how I said 'when', right? Cause we're going to stop them. This mass murdering spree that they want go on, the dominance they want to exert over the galaxy...it's like they believe they have the right to control the fate of the galaxy because 'they were here first' and 'they know better than us'." He shook his head, chortling.
"They had no more staying power than any of the other movements or civilizations before them. You've read history books: schools of thought and philosophies come, stay for a bit, then get shoved aside for other ideas." A grimace then formed.
"What does that say about the Jedi and the Sith? What do we do after we..." He shook his head.
"One thing at a time, right? We just have to figure out our next step, which involves us sticking together." Yerbol then caught sight of where his right hand was resting and quickly withdrew it, placing it back on the floor, said placement accompanied by a nervous laugh.
"So uh...have any idea where your father went off to? We should probably talk to him about our ideas...if he'll listen." He rose, extending a hand to help his partner up just as the scream of hyperdrive engines roared over their heads. Looking up, he caught the glimpse of a fleeting craft, but it was moving too quickly to identify. A lump formed in his throat. They couldn't have found them already, right? It must've been Aria's father in some way...right? Yes. Yes, it had to be.

[The Elvenqueen]

She nodded in agreement along with his words, still a little unsure how they were going to manage such a difficult feat, but Yerbol sounded so...sure that it was possible and somehow that made Aria believe that it was possible, too. "You're right. We CAN do this. We just...need more help." a soft smile crept over her features, taking his offered hand and letting him help her back to her feet. Aria was just puzzling over his question when the roaring of a hyperdrive cut through the unnatural stillness of the air around them. "I'm willing to bet that's our ride off this hunk of space dust." sinking her teeth into her lower lip, Aria started towards the exit of the building, her head angled upwards towards the sky as she searched for any sign of where the spacecraft might be coming in to land. "If it's not then I guess we're in big trouble."

Hand travelling to her saber hilt at her belt, Aria took a few hesitant steps outside to survey their immediate surroundings. With the engine sounds no longer blaring, everything was silent again. "I don't see anything..." the foliage to her right swished, the dark-pelted Tuk'ata slinking out into view. Its lips peeled back as it let out a soft growl that was almost chiding in nature. Aria rolled her own eyes, meeting its gaze as she shot back. "Yeah yeah, you said 'stay'! We HEARD you!" she huffed. "We were sitting quietly till we heard the hyperdrive, figured we'd save time." The creature snorted again, making a sharp gesture with its head to beckon the pair after it before it disappeared back the way it had come.
Looking back at Yerbol, Aria added. "It was him, ship's not far off, we should hurry and follow it back." she waited a few moments to give the Knight time to join her, before trudging past the plant life after the Sith hound which remained conveniently within the pair's sight at all times. "He does this weird thing where he can create a temporary bond, to use the beast's eyes to see...means he can check stuff out, or look for someone, without having to go directly himself." she explained as they walked, a shiver creeping down her spine. "If you ask me it's kinda creepy, but at least most things are too scared of tomb beasts to go anywhere near 'em."

It was only a few minutes' walk to the clearing where the new spacecraft could be found; even more impressive on the outside than its predecessor. And it looked like the engines were far better equipped for navigating the more...rugged terrain that would be characteristic of a moon orbiting the Wookiee home world.
Before they got any closer, however, Aria hesitated a moment to cast a glance in Yerbol's direction. "So...I suggest we approach it like this: completely omit anything about going back to Tython, at least for now, because he's not going to like that. We hit Korriban first, look for survivors. There might be old...allies of his that he trusts, if we make it look like we're trying to do things his way there's a slim possibility we could still trick him into trusting us to get things done without him policing our every move."

In fact, once they were aboard the ship it turned out that getting away from her father in order to carry out their own objectives would be easier than the pair had originally thought. Once they boarded, they were introduced to a woman who the Sith Lord claimed was a 'highly skilled pilot more than capable of ensuring their safe transport', and whom he had given strict instructions to transport the duo to the Kashyyyk moon. Aria's father, on the other hand, would not be accompanying them, rather he would meet up with them again later after he had 'tied up some more loose ends'.
No further explanation was given, nor needed, before he and the tomb beasts left them under the charge of this pilot woman. Aria exchanged a relieved smile with the young Knight. Keeping the exchange within the confines of the Force link between them so as to keep it private, she doubted the woman was a Force user herself after all, Aria chuckled as she told Yerbol.
Well, this just got a LOT easier. You wanna bet we can bribe her into seeing things our way instead?

[freedomliveson]

As the ship's loading ramp elevated, Yerbol responded:
Something tells me that we're going to have an easier time with this one. See that flag mounted above those storage units? The symbol of the Republic was emblazoned on the red and blue colored banner, fluttering gently due to the cooling system being on full blast. Speaking of which, it was FREEZING onboard...so cold that even Yerbol, someone who was known for his affinity towards cold temperatures, was beginning to feel his teeth chattering involuntarily. After clenching his jaw for a few moments to get the involuntary response under control, he spoke to Aria through their link:
Hope that the conditions of her ship match what her personality is like. He shot her a smirk just as a buttery smooth voice came over the intercom:
"You two need to get up to the cockpit. I've got marching orders for you." The severity of the command didn't match up with the overall tonal quality of what Yerbol had just heard. The voice was melodic in nature, carrying a subtle tune in every syllable the pilot spoke. It was odd to hear the mismatch, especially coming from someone who was hired out by a Sith Lord.
"Right, on our way." There was a half moon shaped corridor that branched out into other similarly shaped hallways, but following the main hall put them in an open space, a large, circular projector in the center of the room with a galaxy map hovering mid-air in the middle of the projector.
"Keep going." Going forward into a shorter hallway, they emerged into the cockpit, where a shock of vibrant red hair was visible, curls sticking out at various angles. The disembodied mound of hair spoke, the ship lurching off the ground:
"I don't care if you have the Force, know how to use a lightsaber or can destroy planets with your pinkie, you're on my ship now. That means you do what I say until we get to where we need to go. Either that or I can dump you off at the nearest spaceport and explain why two fugitives should be allowed free access to their planet...not to mention having to deal with Roan. I wouldn't want to be on his bad side." The ship groaned into the blackness of space, pulling away from the planet and into hyperspace a couple of minutes later. The hair turned around in the chair to reveal a pleasantly rounded face complimented by a smooth jaw and almost perfectly set light blue eyes that cast a knowing glare into the very essence of the one being looked at. There were lines of worry that showed up very slightly on her forehead, but when a half smile formed on her lips, dimples appeared.

She was, in a phrase, the most adorable looking mercenary Yerbol had ever seen.

Couple her face with the sleeveless green shirt and compressed black pants, adorable would turn into another phrase entirely, one which he didn't feel like sharing in a bond between he and Aria.

"Ok kids, here's what we're doing: we're headed to a moon off of Kashyyyk. It'll take about a day to get there, so in the meantime, just keep the volume down and don't stab anything onboard, including me. That'd be appreciated. There's some food and water for you guys in the guest quarters just to the left of the war room and...well, that's it."
"Don't suppose we get the name of our imposed babysitter?" Yerbol playfully quipped. The woman smirked, rising and patting Yerbol's cheek gently with her right hand.
"All you need to know is that I'm the difference between you dying in a hole somewhere in Wild Space and surviving this mess." She plopped back down and spun around in her chair, placing her feet on the control panel.
"Well, what are you two still doing here? Let me at least get some shuteye."
"Not before we convince you to help us." A laugh floated through the air.
"Aren't I doing that already?"
"You know what's going on, then? The hunt for Jedi, Sith, anyone that can use the Force?"
"Of course. Just mentioned it, didn't I?"
"Then you know that there's going to be survivors who need our help." A groan, the woman turning her head.
"They don't need your help, kiddo. They're all dead or will be dead in the next few days. Better to let this mass panic go over our heads so we can live to fight another day."
"And who's going to fight off the Sith? Me, Ari and you? Two young Force users and a mercenary?" Her face recoiled, brow shooting up.
"Merc? I'll have you know that I was fighting Imperial Spec ops troopers before you were given a toy saber to train with." She spat on the ground, then added:
"People know how to rally when they need to. They'll find you when they're good and ready. Now is the time to duck and run."
"Right, so you ARE a merc." She shot out of her chair, hands in fists.
"Don't you DARE lump me into that group. I've done my share of fighting, my share of sacrificing! I don't need some twenty something year old Jedi with an ego the size of Coruscant to tell me who I am!"
"Running? Taking on smuggling fugitives for a Sith Lord? How could someone who still venerates the Republic to this day fall so far?" Her jaw jutted out, right fist raising for a brief moment, then lowered.
"Ok, fine. You've baited me, got me off kilter and all emotional when I shouldn't have. Not easy to ruffle my feathers, so I'll at least hear you out. What do you both want from me and why on the name of all that's right in the universe should I listen?"

[The Elvenqueen]

Aria nodded slightly, suppressing a shiver of her own by pulling her cloak more tightly around her shoulders, she plodded slowly after Yerbol as the pair searched for the aforementioned cockpit and the source of the honeyed voice. Aria certainly hadn't been expecting the shock of red hair that they discovered sitting in the pilot's seat when they arrived there, the former Sith acolyte clearing her throat abruptly and shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she studied the mercenary woman with a raised brow. Her clothing was...hardly practical, and she had to admit it raised a couple of questions as far as Aria was concerned. Not that she'd be willing to voice them out loud.

While she seemed cheerful enough, their caretaker was just as abrupt as Roan and before either of them could get a word in edgeways, she was dismissing them to the guest's quarters and issuing instructions about how she liked the ground rules to be on her ship. As she avoided providing them with her name and rose to pat the Knight on the cheek, Aria shuffled backwards and narrowed her eyes warningly, hoping to escape a similar treatment. Thankfully, the merc seemed to get the message conveyed by the daggers coming from Aria's eyes and simply dropped herself back into the chair. Once again, she allowed Yerbol to speak before she added anything in herself. He was better at this whole negotiating thing than she was, besides if his current tactic proved ineffective they could always try blackmailing her.

For a moment, the redhead looked like she might have taken a swing for Yerbol, but in a way only an agent used to working undercover could have managed she reigned herself in at the last moment, fist dropping back to her side as she enquired about their intended course of action.
"Well, the True Sith are organised, and they have the advantage right now but they're not completely unstoppable. Yerbol and I gave them the slip once on our own, we can't be the only ones who've managed it." Aria started, surprising herself by how calm she sounded given what was at stake here. Life as they knew it could be depending upon the young Force users' ability to convince this woman to go along with their plans....no pressure. "We've been to their homeworld, read a lot of their archives, we know some of their strategies and could probably counteract some of their attacks and fight back, but to do that we'll need help. Two of us aren't strong enough to do it alone, but if we could band together other Force users and use what we found out on the Sith homeworld, we could still stop this." Aria paused to glance between Yerbol and their pilot, before adding. "There could be others like us, that escaped the fighting on Korriban and Tython and are hiding out looking for a way off-world. We could gather them together, find somewhere out of the Sith's sight to regroup and plan."

She held her breath, waiting for the mercenary to answer. The dimples made a reappearance as she grinned broadly at the two youngsters in front of her.
"So instead of sitting quietly, you'd rather go out with a bang?" the mercenary chortled, the curls atop her head bouncing wildly as it shook from side to side. "You make a fair argument, kiddos." Aria almost grinned, though her relief was short lived as she added. "I sympathise, really. But you've overlooked ONE important detail."
Aria raised a brow. "And what is that detail?"
The merc crossed her arms over her chest, looking Aria and Yerbol over carefully. "Roan doesn't know about this little 'plan' of yours." it wasn't a question. "If you think I'm stupid enough to do something behind a Sith Lord's back, you kids've got another thing coming."

The former acolyte clenched her jaw. This wasn't working and they were wasting valuable time debating withertos and whyfors with her. Apparently they might need a bit of blackmail, after all. She crossed her hands behind her back, taking a confident step forward as she retorted:
"Or, alternatively, we could just program the co-ordinates in ourselves; then I could put out a holocall to Roan and tell him you tried to take off on your own agenda." the threat was well orchestrated, in a perfectly calm tone of voice and accompanied by a smile that was overly-sweet and yet intimidating in the same breath. "He'd believe his daughter's word over a contract mercenary's, so you know...your choice." Aria shrugged nonchalently and beamed again, turning as if she planned to leave the cockpit. Pilot lady scowled, her stoic expression faltering for a flash of a second before she muttered, somewhat sourly.
"...Alright, fine. I'm in. I'll switch the co-ordinates if you two promise to get out of my cockpit and let me nap."

Piece of cake. Hard part's over, right?
"Consider it done." Aria promised out loud, heading back along the hallways they had travelled through to get there, in search of the guest quarters the woman had mentioned previously. Her eyes twinkled slightly as she looked up at her companion and flashed a teasing grin once they were out of earshot of the cockpit.
"You know she's too old for you, right?" she nudged him in the ribs, stifling a chuckle. "I saw that little twinkle in your eye."
The comment was made entirely in jest, of course, she kept telling herself. That little nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach wasn't jealousy, there was nothing to be jealous OF. Yerbol was her friend, that's all, he could ogle anyone he wanted to....

[freedomliveson]

"Twinkle? Ari, I have no idea what you're talking about. It might've just been the reflection of the instrument panel bouncing off my eye." He very SOFTLY nudged her back, fully aware that what he considered a normal "nudge" would probably leave a bruise. He and Lysa had gotten into several spats when they were younger and vividly recall a couple of instances where, in an attempt to defend a solid punch to the jaw, he dodged and shoved her away, said shove leaving two very big bruises on the front of her shoulders. But back to the current teasing at hand...
"And to even assume that I, Yerbol Massani, would dare to even think about engaging in a romantic tryst with a former Republic spec ops soldier turned merc would be such silliness." He returned her smirk as they found the guest quarters, which consisted of two bunkbeds smashed against left and right hand side of the small room. Footlockers stood at the front of each bunk, which gave them at least something to store this gear in, which Yerbol readily accepted.
"You know what's funny? I haven't had a trace of desire to go after someone romantically in almost three years. I guess that's all the Jedi repression that sunk in unconsciously." He chuckled as he placed his saber and boots in his footlocker, grimacing as he placed his bare feet on the ship.
"That's...like walking on ice. Not that I've done it, but this ship is a good simulation for getting stuck on Hoth, I suppose." He took off his dark blue, long-sleeved overshirt to reveal a sleeveless undershirt stained with the grime and sweat of the past few days.
"Don't suppose she would have clothes to change into, would she? I still have the stink of Selkath, hound sweat and...well, other things I shouldn't mention in the presence of a lady." He cautiously walked to the entrance of the guest room to find a narrow doorway that, when opened, led a bathroom the size of a storage closet. There was a miniature washing and drying unit that looked like they came from the First Galactic era, but at least they seemed to be in working order.
"Right, so I'm going to clean up."

It took thirty minutes of canoodling with the settings of both shower and units, but he was finally able to rinse himself of the aromas that clung to him, withdrawing his clean clothes from the drying unit and sighing in delight as he placed the warm shorts and undershirt over his dried and weary body. Creaking out of the bathroom, he strolled back in, throwing his other clothes on the footlocker before sitting on the edge of the bunk.
"It feels great, Ari. A bit cramped, but I've never been so grateful for a shower before in my LIFE." He then looked up at her.
"How did you handle romance in the academy? I mean, could you have a traditional 'boyfriend' or was that frowned upon? I'm sure that your teachers encouraged you to manipulate others using...charm, but was there any chance of having a relationship?" Curiosity would give the two enough to talk about on their journey to Tython(with Roan possibly heading BACK to Korriban, their red-headed merc didn't want to take the chance of bumping into him, hence their first stop on the Jedi homeworld).

[The Elvenqueen]

Aria chuckled, rolling her eyes a little at his insistence that he hadn't been thinking of things in that way, but politely refrained from pressing the topic any further as they made their way into the ship's guest quarters; which were, as it turned out, just as freezing cold as the rest of the ship. She wondered how the woman still had all of her fingers intact with how biting the chill was. As Yerbol disappeared off to freshen up and change into fresh clothing, she busied herself with sorting through her own possessions with the view of doing the same thing. While they had been on the run it had been kind of hard to notice (because they were generally focused on running away from people who were trying to kill them, the weird visions they had experienced, and trying to catch up to Soto and Bracknell), but in the enclosed spaces of the ship's hallways the odour that clung to their clothes and skin from the previous days' exploits had become rather....pungent.
She sat back on her heels at the foot of the bunk for a moment, wondering if the overall cold atmosphere on the craft would be reflected in the temperature of the water, too. But she didn't hear Yerbol screaming or cursing after a while so hopefully that was a good sign. At least there WAS hot water.

She had just shut the footlocker after placing her lightsabers and the holsters she used to keep them out of sight in her sleeves inside, and was in the process of yanking her feet out of her boots when Yerbol returned, sounding more refreshed if a little wearier than he had been a few minutes before. He made mention of the cramped nature of the amenities, to which she responded with a smirk. "As long as the water's hot, I don't particularly care if I can turn around or not." she rose to her feet again, unclipping the charcoal black cloak from around her neck and draping it over one arm. "Besides, I think I'll manage, I am smaller than you after all."
Aria had begun to make her way past him to get changed herself when the young Knight's question stopped her.

"Well, that depends how you look at it, I suppose." an amused chuckle followed by: "After all, they don't exactly preach 'thou shalt not give in to thy emotions', although they do frown upon unnecessary...attachments." without realising it, she pulled a face as she uttered the word, probably another product of repeated conditioning in the Academy to remind their acolytes of how such things could hinder one's path to power. She smirked again, the amusement at the next statement not quite reaching her eyes as well. "Then of course there's the fact that my dad kind of has a 'hands off unless HE says so' policy, which kind of overrides whatever anyone else had to say on the matter. I could have tried, I suppose, if I'd wanted to but most of them are-" she had to pause to correct herself, remembering that most of the others on Korriban had likely met the same fate as the Jedi Padawans by now, "-were...too afraid of him to risk getting too close to me. There's only so much sneaking off you can do to see people you 'shouldn't be associating with' before you get caught, I wouldn't have said it was serious enough to call any of it a 'relationship', it was more like just messing around." Her shoulders lifted and then dropped again in a shrug. "Guess I never thought too seriously about it either." with that, she excused herself for the next few minutes to rid herself of the various offensive smells so neither of them would feel like they were spending the night in a room with one of the tomb beasts, or worse.

When she emerged shortly after, she was dressed in a similarly dark-coloured outfit (did the Sith Academy issue anything but black or off-grey? Apparently not, perhaps because they wouldn't want their rising acolytes to look anything less than fearsome, which any other colour choice would have been dubbed?), the underclothes less close-fitting than the ones she discarded along with the cloak, and as a result no doubt, more comfortable. She plopped herself down beside him, folding her arms behind her head to create a makeshift rest. Aria let out a quiet breath, looking to Yerbol again with a question of her own.
"Alright then, if we're doing questions, I have to ask: did you and Lysa ever actually know your parents? The Jedi don't let you contact them, do they?"

[freedomliveson]

No, they wouldn't have had the time to think about romantic attachments, would they? Too busy training, too busy studying, too busy with everything else other than cultivating close, personal relationships with other people. There had been times where Yerbol had envied the Sith in their ability to freely express their emotions, although when his boots hit the ground on a battlefield, he quickly remembered why a lack of restraint could result in a very, very quick death. Of course it wasn't like the Jedi frowned on displaying emotion, but as Aria had alluded to, "attachments" were frowned upon except in the rarest of occasions and even then Yerbol hadn't seen Jedi Knights or Masters pairing off for moonlit strolls. Padawans did, as he knew from personal experience...he grinned to himself upon recounting the experience in his mind. That had been an interesting year. For some reason he believed it would come up in conversation, but he wouldn't volunteer the information. After all, where was the fun in divulging every secret one had?

Aria made herself comfortable next to him before asking about a subject that he and Lysa had debated about for nights on end. He blew out a sigh before responding:
"We knew them for ten years, which is lucky, considering that most of the Jedi are either signed over by their parents at five yeasrs or younger. From what I understand, it's not a request, it's more of a 'Hey, your child has the potential to be a Jedi and we're taking him or her.' I think some parents might think it's a worthwhile sacrifice, but I know that a lot of them object. I've seen parents of Knights being escorted off of Tython in energy cuffs because they wanted to see their child no matter what the cost. The Council actually sent out a reminder about our relationships with our parents. They told us that we could have relationships with them AFTER we've become Knights." He snorted.
"A little too late in the process, isn't it? To think that we go our entire formative years without knowing our parents and then the shackles are just suddenly thrown off, like we could make up for the lost time because we're 'agents of righteousness'. Again, at least Lysa and I knew them." A smile crept to his lips.
"Mom worked at a bank. She took us there when we were younger because our Dad worked shifts somewhere that he called a "plant zone". Still don't know what that means, but because we lived on Taris, we assumed that meant he was doing some kind of agricultural work. He was into nature, you know? Had us outside planting what we could, digging our hands into dirt, reading about how different species needed different plants to survive, that kind of thing. And yes, before you say anything, we were actually able to plant stuff on Taris. We lived near the Republic base, which meant that we had access to basically the cleanest air, water, food and soil available. It's amazing what towering air purifiers can do to a residential complex." He chuckled, leaning backwards himself to where the two were laying side by side, his feet planted still on the floor of the ship.
"But then we started doing stuff that was out of the ordinary. Lifting boxes into the air, pushing stuff with a flick of our wrist...that's when my parents called in the local Master stationed there. She looked at us for a few seconds before giving our parents the whole 'it's our duty to train the future protectors of the galaxy'. They gave us up, although my father couldn't say goodbye when we left. It was just mom that took us to the ship where the Master(Master Kelix) stood. That was the last time we saw either of them." He turned his head in her direction.
"But I never lived with a Sith Lord...do tell what that was like."

[The Elvenqueen]

She listened attentively as he spoke about the time he had spent with his parents as a youngster, on Taris of all the planets in the galaxy. His mother worked in a bank, which sounded about as boring as having a Senator for a mother, but as he talked about himself and Lysa spending time growing plants and studying ecosystems with their father she couldn't help but smile along with him. It was strange for her to think of Taris as anything other than the nuclear wasteland it had become after Malak's fleet bombed it to rubble all those centuries ago, but then again she had never been anywhere near the Republic settlements, or taken the time to study the restoration efforts that had eventually begun after the native fauna began to creep back into the ruined cityscape.
She felt a pang of sadness to think that the Jedi would tear apart the close kind of bond Yerbol described so easily, in the name of maintaining order in the galaxy, or whatever they called it. It was almost funny, maybe they weren't quite as different in their pasts as she had initially thought when their paths had crossed in that tomb.
Her voice was quiet, hesitant, as she asked. "....Did you ever think about trying to find them again, after your trials? I know you said it wouldn't be the same, but they must miss you."

Aria's lips pursed together at his question, blinking for a moment. "Well, it was....a bit weird, I guess. He'd visit a lot, to spend time with us, and he'd let me wave his saber around sometimes as long as he was there to watch over me, showed me some of the simple form one moves. My mother didn't approve, she said it was 'improper for a lady to be prancing around with laser swords and I should be learning something more constructive'. I liked his lessons though, and she was never brave enough to stop me from listening to him when he encouraged me to try moving objects around or throw stones at targets without touching them, though I wasn't all that good at it I kept practising when she wasn't looking because I wanted him to be proud of me." Aria chuckled as she recalled the memory for a moment, fondness apparent in her tone.
"Whenever he was away, she'd have me balacing books on my head learning to stand up straight like a proper lady, or sometimes we'd have little mock senatorial debates. That was the only part I kind of liked, guess I've got her to blame for my stubborn streak. We lived on Onderon, so it was pretty safe for her to take me with her when she went to work, nothing much in a Senator's office that could be THAT dangerous to a small child, after all." she shook her head a little. "It bored me to death; too much sitting down and having to listen to silly old men ranting and raving about trade routes and other stuff I didn't understand."

Aria sighed again, taking a moment's pause before she carried on:
"Once I got better at it, I started levitating things and trying to drop them out of her window when I got bored in the office, and she got so...angry about it. Of course, I just thought she was being a stick in the mud so I kept doing it anyway." she glanced sideways to meet Yerbol's gaze briefly, "By the time I was six I could pick stuff up without dropping it by accident but when I wanted to show dad, she got all defensive and kept cutting me off trying to change the subject. We got into an argument, I screamed....and the windows all broke. Mom lost it, she kept saying 'Roan, please, she's just a child'...I thought he'd be angry, too, but I'd never seen him look more impressed. He told me she didn't understand because she wasn't like us, and that's why she didn't like me using my powers. He snuck me off in the middle of the night to Korriban, and I didn't see my mother again for nearly ten years."

She didn't go into her mother's death, still not sure if she was comfortable sharing that with Yerbol just yet. Maybe one day, but not now. She had to wait until she was sure he would understand. Her gaze became distant for a moment, as if she were in deep thought, before Aria concluded, her voice a little quieter. "I never understood WHY she got so angry back then...but I think I do, now. She loved me too much to give me up to the Jedi, but she wanted to protect me from my father and the Sith, too. Sometimes I wish I'd listened to her, y'know?"

[freedomliveson]

Yerbol nodded.
"Of course. She seemed like a woman that wanted to see you succeed and be happy." He laughed for a moment before adding:
"Although I couldn't really imagine you being a Senator. I think you would've gone into your first debate, argued your points, then punched the other guy out for not agreeing with you...not to say that isn't a good way of handling politics." He shook his head before leaning up on his elbows, looking down at her as he continued:
"You know, wherever your mother is now, I think she'd be proud of what you're doing. I hope that you'll be able to see her again...and not have to wait ten years for a reunion, although it might take half that time to take down the Sith." He sat up fully now, scooting forward with his hands to make sure that his head didn't hit the top of the bunk, resting his knees on his elbows.
"You know, for being raised by a politician and a Sith Lord, you've turned out pretty ok. At least, from what I've seen. There may be a TOTALLY other side to you that I'm not aware of...like one that snobbily looks over coffee beans to make sure they're roasted properly or one that pours over the latest celebrity gossip?" He laughed at the thought of Aria, glasses on the bridge of her nose, crinkling in disgust as a barista hands her a foaming cup of coffee that wasn't roasted with the "particular aroma of Coreilla's brand" imbibed into it, datapad under her arm bristling with news about how Kyla Jenster placed another video of herself singing horribly on the holonet.
"Of course, I've got my own quirks that you don't really know about...like my love of virtual sims." He glanced at her briefly with a touch of humility as he continued:
"Not the combat sims, mind you, but the virtual reality sims where you can construct massive homes and live out some alternative life." He shook his head, chortling.
"Sounds pathetic, I know, but I always liked building the houses. Lysa tried to join in, but she couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that I was simulating 'real life'...of course, you and I both know we never really had a chance at living a normal life." He rubbed his face with his hands, sighing.
"If I could ever lived a normal life, one that didn't involve uncovering conspiracies, training to defend the Republic and all that, I think I would've hopped around from planet to planet, maybe doing what my Dad did...I don't know, something constructive." Mentioning his father brought back the question Aria had asked, which he had pushed off in favor of listening to her. Now that he was talking again, he decided to answer:
"I want to see them again, sure. In fact...in fact, I was actually going to see them once I got deployed off-world. Without the council looking over my shoulder, I was basically a free agent. After my time with the Republic forces on Belsavis, I was going to visit them, but then I got that call from Lysa. Maybe that was the Force's way of guiding me away from seeing them...maybe they're dead. Wouldn't surprise me. Taris has had problems with rakghouls, mercenaries, bandits and of course, radiation poisoning." He took a sharp breath, shaking his head.
"But I think after this is all over...I'd like to see if I can reunite with them." He wiped a speck of dust from his eye before leaning backwards.
"I think they would like you. You're spunky without being obnoxious, which my Dad would've enjoyed. He teased us a lot...not maliciously, but you know, Dad jokes. I think he would like your 'take no crap' attitude." Unaware, Yerbol had gotten closer to Aria in their relaxed position, their shoulders touching.
"I kinda like it, too." He looked over at her with a small smile, a slight warmth shooting down his spine as his eyes made contact with hers.

[The Elvenqueen]

Aria broke her gaze away from his, blinking and swiping a hand over her eyes, though thankfully they were still dry so at least there'd be no need for going into further detail prematurely. "I don't think I'll see her again, at least....not for a very long time. She died not long after I saw her, but who knows right? The Force works in weird ways, maybe one day I will." she shrugged a little, chuckling as he began teasing her about possibly snobbish or irritating quirks she might have developed as a result of spending so much time around the upper class portion of society.
"Well, you know, I DO like my coffee done properly." Aria chuckled, shaking her head and turning towards him to listen intently as he confessed to his soft spot for virtual reality sims. Her eyebrows rose a little in surprise, it certainly wouldn't have been something she'd have thought Yerbol would be interested in, but then again they hadn't known each other very long at all and had only spent three proper days together, so there was probably an awful lot of other things about the Knight that would have surprised her to find out.

"Well, each to their own I suppose. Guess it must be nice, not having to think about real problems for once and just get a taste of what being 'normal' is like." her nose wrinkled slightly at the use of the word normal. It wasn't exactly a fair term to use, because after all everyone's view of 'normal' was different. But she'd come to think of non-Force users as being entirely different to them. They didn't have a constant connection to this other mysterious presence hanging over their heads, no obligations to remain unattached to people they cared about, or to behave a certain way because of what an Order of older people with even stronger abilities told them to do. It must be nice. She'd never tried any of those sims, but thinking about it she could see the appeal.

Yerbol steered the topic back to her earlier question, she'd pretty much suspected what his answer would be already, but it was nice to hear him give his own perspective on it. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then the possibility of either or both of his parents being dead already came up. Sure, Taris was a dangerous place and all, but there were zones that were considered safer and more well-guarded.
"They have shielded zones now though, right? I know the planet's got a lot of problems but the Republic's got troops stationed there trying to fix it, right?" Aria's gaze averted from his to study the bottom of the bunk above their heads. "Maybe your dad's the head of an ecological research team or something, monitoring the plant growth and helping them to decide whether a zone is safe to try repopulating."
Either scenario could be likely, of course, with Taris as wild and unpredictable as it was. "You think? Well, when this is all over maybe you should hit Taris and find out." Aria chuckled softly, a quiet sigh escaping her. Maybe she should have dreaded the thought of terrible dad jokes, but part of her actually wondered what meeting Yerbol's parents would be like. She envied him, in a way, for at least having the opportunity to do more fun stuff, without parents whose sole focus was on discipline or combat training.

She smiled back at him, even surprised herself by how touched she felt that Yerbol thought it was one of her better qualities. "Really? A lot of people I've met found it made me quite...abrasive." the corners of her mouth turned up in a smirk as she added: "Though I always told them it wouldn't bother them so much if they grew a spine, my mother used to say that to people a lot so I guess it rubbed off on me."
Of course, being an only child there had never been an older sibling in the picture for her to see as a role model so it was natural that some of her mother's mannerisms were bound to influence her own. She was aware that asking might have been treading on thin ice, given their whole history on the subject, but Yerbol had hinted that he'd come to terms with it, so hesitantly she asked. "I always wondered what it would be like to have siblings, actually...I mean, is it more annoying because you have to compete with them all the time or is it more like having someone else to get into trouble with?"

The intercom crackled to life, their pilot's cheerfully sweet voice announcing. "Alright kiddos, Tython's coming up so you'd better be ready to do...whatever it is you're planning to do when we hit planetside."

[freedomliveson]

When Yerbol was about to answer, their all too friendly mercenary chimed in and informed them about their "closing in" on Tython. Odd...she had mentioned that it would take about a day, but then again, she could've just been making it up to shoo them away. Whatever the case, the Knight felt like he could squeeze in a response to Aria's question before he inquired as to how quickly they were ACTUALLY going to get to Tython:
"Lysa was...an interesting sibling. I know that the reputation is for siblings to have fights and not get along for most of their years together, but we really didn't. We were too busy trying to get things to work, I guess. Like..." A smile, one that spoke of genuine happiness, came to his face as he remembered:
"When we tried to start our first book club. We were nerds, but we figured that being on Tython, a planet full of nerds, we would actually get some interest. We made our rounds, trying to recruit people to discreetly read pieces of fiction that may or may not be authorized by the Council and talk about it in a glen not too far from the Temple. We teamed up on several ventures like that when we were younger...and it didn't change very much until I hit eighteen. That's when she started to pull away from me. Got involved with some strange stuff, things she wouldn't let me look at, but had a visible effect on her. She questioned the Order openly, trained with this burning anger...she almost broke my shoulder when I tried to stop her from sneaking off world the night before her induction as a Knight." The smile had disappeared, but then came back, even if it was half hearted.
"We loved each other the best we could and that's a rarity. I just wish things had worked out differently, you know? Lysa put herself in that situation, let herself get dragged down a path she shouldn't have tried walking. I kinda wish I had been there to stop her death, but...maybe it was better that way. Those last couple of years, when she had disappeared...I had basically written her off as dead. Hopefully she can find some peace." He sat up, patting Aria's knee.
"But enough of that. Let's go see our pilot. Something tells me she was lying about our initial flight time..." As he helped Aria up, he said quietly:
"I really enjoyed talking. It was nice." He placed a hand on her forearm, squeezing it gently in affirmation.
"We ought to do that more often...the talking thing. Without, preferably, the world pressing down on us."

As the duo approached the cockpit, the pilot spun around in her chair, telling them:
"We'll be touching down in about an hour...well, at least I think so."
"And I thought you said we'd be in space for a day." She smirked again, dimples making her cherub-like facial features even more accentuated.
"Well, there IS such a thing as slipspace..."
"Slip...slipspace? We were in...slipspace?"
"Maybe." Yerbol's jaw, which was now slightly ajar, closed, then reopened.
"I didn't think that was stuff was possible."
"Not if you don't know who to talk to. Roan had some strings pulled for me and wouldn't you know it, a Sith Lord commanding Imperial intelligence to arm a ship with the latest upgrades happened so quickly your head would fall off?"
"So this ship comes equipped with slipspace generators?"
"That it does, hon. Had it fueled before I came to pick you up. I can get us onto Tython relatively quiet, but getting off planet is going to be...difficult."
"How's that?"
"Because of slipspace's unpredictability, I can't make a jump while being chased or shot at, which is what's going to happen. Word is there's a blockade around the planet. I can use imperial codes to get us in, but they'll know we're not with them on the way out. BUT you let me figure that out. I've got landing coordinates ready to go. You two gear up." Yerbol nodded, half turning before asking:
"Hey so...you've got a name, right?" The mercenary laughed, nodding as she told them:
"Netanya, Neta for short."
"Neta...glad to know you're on our side." She let out a low whistle with a smile.
"You'd better be." A wink before spinning around.
"Now get yourselves ready! Once you're geared up, get to the loading ramp. Once I touch down, you've got about ten seconds to scoot out before I have to find a place to dock this thing."

With their gear firmly in place and twenty minutes left to planetside, Yerbol and Aria now stood near the exit of the ship. Yerbol had been quiet since they left the cockpit, now deciding to speak:
"We can't rescue everyone, I know that, but I know of a few younger Knights who could help us. They were in one of the Twi'lek villages south of the Temple. I say we start there and stay on the outskirts of any of the populated areas. Something tells me troopers on both sides are going to be gunning for us."

[The Elvenqueen]

Understandably, there was still some measure of awkwardness in the air between them when he talked about Lysa, or at least Aria felt that way. With time, it would go away, she was sure, but at least they COULD talk about it now, because ignoring it or trying to pretend it hadn't happened wouldn't be good for either of them. Nonetheless, Aria nodded in agreement as Yerbol suggested they drop the subject and follow their pilot's instructions to prepare for their landing. Before they made their way out towards the cockpit, Aria smiled back at him.
"Yeah, we should." she agreed. Even if it was only for a little while, it was nice to almost forget about the impending disaster and get to know each other a bit more.
Slipspace. Of course. Now it made sense. "Slipspace isn't really gonna get us OFF Tython though, is it?" she asked with a raised brow, only to have the suspicion confirmed shortly afterwards by pilot lady, whose name was apparently Neta. Well, at least they knew what to call her now. Ten seconds, sounded fun. They'd be hitting the ground running, then, literally.

She glanced sideways at Yerbol as the pair waited beside the loading ramp for the ship to hit the ground, muscles already tensed in preparation for the jump. "Got it. You lead, I'll follow you." Aria promised, she wasn't familiar with Tython in the slightest and knew it would be safer to follow the young Knight's lead. The risk of a wrong turn landing them right in the middle of a nest of troopers, all with sniper rifles trained on their vitals, wasn't one worth taking. "We'll see who we run into, I suppose. You think there's a chance we could run into some of the Masters?" it was a long shot, true, but trying to find one or two of them couldn't hurt right?
They couldn't afford to be picky about who they recruited to help them, of course, but that didn't mean they couldn't hope for a BIT of experienced help. The Council had been quick to reject the evidence the duo had presented to them at first, but in the light of recent events, if any of them were still alive, their attitudes might have changed.

The craft shuddered as the landing gear deployed, Neta calling out over the roar of the engines as the ramp dropped, the ship hovering . "Alright you two, ten seconds starts now!"
Aria sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes locking with Yerbol's for a fraction of a second before she nodded at him and took a leap off the end of the loading ramp. Mere seconds later, the wind was knocked out of her lungs as she connected with the ground despite her best attempts to slow her momentum with the Force. Aria grunted as her body was propelled into a head over heels roll, thankfully only making one rotation before she came to a stop laying on her back. She groaned, face contorted into an uncomfortable grimace as she pushed herself into a sitting position, looking around for Yerbol who had hopefully landed close by.
"Ouch...that's gonna leave a bruise...you okay, Bol?"

While she waited for him to answer, Aria took a look around them. Yep, she had NO idea where they were. Looked like some kind of grassland, with a few clusters of trees here and there. The whole place was eerily still, as if even the native fauna had gone silent in reverence to the fallen Jedi Order.
"Hey, where are we...? Anywhere near that village?" she hoped so. The quicker they could join up with some others, the better.

[freedomliveson]

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine...for now.' He grunted as he lifted himself off the ground, cursing silently at his lack of forethought. He could've easily thrown up some kind of barrier to shield their impact, but the angle at which Neta had the ship pointed didn't make the ground look all that far. An experience to learn from, indeed. Speaking of experience, Aria's questions prompted him to take in his surroundings, which looked awfully familiar. The thicket of trees that had branches sticking out at odd angles just up ahead, the sweeping clearing empty except for that thicket and a few other isolated parts where there was growth.
"I think I know where we're at...give me a minute." He walked a few paces forward, then stared up at the early afternoon sun partially obscured by the normal cloud cover and nodded.
"Right, so this is where we played catch and other things that involved looking up. We also..." He shook his head.
"We also had...well, we can talk about it later. Right now, we need to keep moving." Clearing his throat, he led them forward, not wanting Aria to see the flush of red that engulfed his cheeks. He spoke again after they got past the trees with odd angles, pointing at the foot of the now gently sloped terrain, but then his arm came down, brow shooting up in thought. It took him a few moments before he spoke:
"Once we get to the bottom, I believe we can..." He paused in thought, looking to the left to find a winding path that snaked upwards towards the mountain ranges.
"We can take that path there to the Twi'lek village." Yerbol grunted in annoyance at the chest-high grass that stood ever so proudly on the left side of the hill, which made it a chore to get through. They would have to go down to the bottom, then cut across on the path unless they wanted to make themselves EASIER targets by activating their sabers and hacking through grass like a kath hound.
"Right, so let's-" The whine of an engine suddenly hit their ears as two speeders zoomed from the right hand side of the valley, passing the duo at breakneck speed before going up towards their destination.
"Something tells me that we're going to encounter resistance." He fiddled with his saber hilt before saying much quieter:
"I don't want to kill any of them. The Imperials or Republic troopers. But they're going to be gunning for us..." A sideward glance was cast Aria's way.
"We do what we have to, right?" He shuddered, a chill shooting down his spine as the reality of their mission settled in. A deep breath, then his shoulders straightened.
"Let's go."

Thankfully the path that led up towards the village had some natural cover in the form of thickets, clusters of bushes and trees as well as the occasional cave(which still REEKED of Flesh Raider. Yerbol was glad that the Council decided to push them back further onto the other side of the planet where there weren't population centers). They arrived at a vista overlooking the village in about an hour, Yerbol getting down on a knee and observing the scene below with a guarded disgust. The small homes the villagers had constructed were visibly scuffed and damaged, corpses of both Twi'lek Villagers and robed Jedi strewn about. Both Republic and Imperial troopers were patrolling the area, a Commando standing on the elevated platform that led into the makeshift assembly hall, one hand placed on the left side of his helmet. Yerbol focused as hard as he could, eyes slamming shut. The words were slightly garbled, but he could hear most of what was being said by the Commando:
"No...no, the...all taken care of. Survivors are...he...will take care of the rest...minimal resistance..."

"Survivors are probably in the assembly hall." He nodded towards the entrance, which was embedded at the foot of a rather tall cliff.
"There are..." He counted the troopers he could.
"Twelve of them. They see our lightsabers and we're done for. Either we bash our way in and risk them sending reinforcement or we try to go in stealthily, although there isn't very much cover." He motioned to a square enclosure visible in the village, located all the way to the right side, planting lazily lounging.
"Might be a good insertion point. It'll give us cover in case we get found out and a starting point taking them out." He winced at the last part of his statement, but knew all too well he couldn't afford to feel any remorse. For all he knew, the Commando was a Sith himself(or herself? The voice modulators played havoc with determining gender) or, as Yerbol assumed, the Sith were exerting so much power that the military foot soldiers were feeling some of the hatred they were broadcasting towards Force Users...or maybe they were just men and women who were doing their job. After all, the Jedi and the Sith have turned on each other...and by extension the rest of the universe.

What a fun time it was to live.

"Or we could split up, make it harder for them to pin us both down."

[The Elvenqueen]

Yerbol paused for a moment to look around and take stock of his surroundings, much to Aria’s relief declaring shortly afterwards that he knew EXACTLY where they were, though he was reluctant to divulge too many details. She thought she could see a faint flush of colour appear in the young Knight’s cheeks as he trailed off, and smirked knowingly. Now wouldn’t be the time to be teasing him about anything though, they had to get to this village and find any of the remaining Jedi as quickly as possible. They trudged up the pathway he had indicated would lead them to the village, somberly quiet as they prepared for the inevitable confrontation that would occur with the ground troopers when the pair were spotted.
“Whatever we have to do.” she agreed, just as quietly, as they crested the slope and found themselves looking down into the Twi’lek settlement. About a dozen or so troopers scattered throughout the open main clearing.

She fell in beside Yerbol, following his gaze to the Commando leader who appeared to be standing watch of the entrance to some kind of large building. If they split up, they could try to sneak around the sides, perhaps. Bashing their way in, though technically more efficient, would leave them open to further ambush on their way out when reinforcements arrived to calm the chaos.
“Let’s try and split...we want to keep inconspicuous as long as possible. Neta’s gonna have a hard enough time trying to sneak us out of here without us giving ourselves away too quickly.” she looked towards the enclosure nearby as Yerbol pointed it out and nodded. That would be their best chance of cover. “Okay, let’s get over there, and see if we can get a closer look at things. Then we can split off and try to find a way inside without them seeing us.”

She doubted they could get through the front door without the Commando captain spotting them. If only she had been more well-versed in Force camouflage techniques, they sure would have come in handy right about now. Keeping to the shadows cast by the steep mountainsides meant the duo could edge around the perimeter of the village without attracting too much attention to themselves. They made it to the pen in question in next to no time at all. A few bushes and tufts of grass jutted out here and there, about the closest thing they would get to cover. Up ahead, the Commando had stopped chattering into their earpiece and seemed to be surveying the work of the other troopers as they methodically searched each building for any other possible survivors.

“I mean, we could try and lure the troopers away and trap them somewhere, instead of killing them.” she shrugged, glancing up at her companion. “We may still have to kill them to get out of here, but I suppose there’s no harm in trying other things first, right?”
She paused to peer at the assembly hall again, trying to think this through for once rather than make things up as they went along.
“Any of the survivors in there are gonna listen to you over me, so how about this: you try and sneak through behind the commando guy, I’ll stay out front here and try to make enough noise to get their attention, send them on a little wild bantha chase to keep them away from the assembly hall. Then I can loop back and join you, and we SHOULD in theory have a few minutes to make a break for it and find Neta again.”

Aria squared her jaw, eyes darting towards a trio of the troopers as they exited a dwelling off to their left. They didn’t really have time to debate too much, they’d have to start moving if they stood a chance of not getting caught. “Here goes nothing.” a thin smile that didn’t quite fill her face twitched over her lips as she patted the Knight on the shoulder. “Good luck, Bol. I’ll keep them busy as long as I can.”
She slipped past Yerbol to head further into the enclosure, spotting another path across the clearing that appeared to snake further up the mountain. That would do nicely. If she could lure them up there, they’d have difficulty getting back down that narrow track in a hurry, with the heavy suits of armour they wore. Now all she had to do was draw their interest in that direction and give Yerbol a clear run to the building.

She stopped at the foot of the trail, crouching as close to the sparse foliage as she could to avoid being spotted. The slope was steeper than it had first appeared from afar, which could work in their favour. Shutting her eyes, she focused on the silt and debris clinging to the ridge, looking for weak spots that would allow her to shift some of it. Just a little nudge would do the trick....
The pebbles shuddered and slid down the hill, the clattering echoed in the nearly empty valley.
“What was that?” some of the troopers nearby snapped to attention and looked towards the path at hearing the sound. The Commando outside the assembly hall barked out in a sharp tone.
“Well don’t just stand there! You heard command, we can’t let ANY of them escape! They’re dangerous now!” they marched down the steps towards the other men as they spoke, rifle held in one arm and the other gesturing wildly as they relayed further orders to capture and subdue any fleeing Jedi by any means necessary. They really WERE here to make sure nothing was left of the Jedi Order. There would be no second chances here, Aria realised. If they couldn’t get any Jedi in that hall to come with them, they were on their own.
Go, Bol! Hopefully they’ll fall for it and I can keep them up here a while but try and make this as quick as you can!

She could hunker down until they ran past and pull more debris down to block the entrance to the track, then make a break for it to catch up to Yerbol...

[freedomliveson]

He wanted to object to Aria's plan, but it made the most sense. With her distracting the troopers, he would have a clean shot to the assembly hall. If there was resistance inside, they would at least be at a disadvantage. As she patted him on the shoulder, he nodded to her, telling her quietly.
"Come back in one piece, ok?" She clung to the natural cover that the cliffside provided, Yerbol muttering as she stopped at the path on the other end of the village:
"Cause I'm not leaving without you." Suddenly the Troopers were caught up in the small display Aria had provided for them, dashing towards the scene of the disturbance. Poking his head out from cover, he ensured that no other trooper was in his way before setting out in a fierce sprint towards the assembly hall, vaulting the last few feet to get inside the open air entrance before any form of trouble could make it's way back.

Now in the hall itself, Yerbol hooked right, then left down a set of metal stairs that led to a wide, square shaped space littered with chairs, a couple of tables squashed against the left and right sides of the room with random parts and satchels probably scavenged from the caves nearby. On the walls were tapestries and bookshelves that held the oral history of these branch of the Twi'lek people(nomadic), some of which were laying on the ground haphazardly. The off-white lighting was dim, but he could make out a open doorway just ahead to his left with a closed set of steel double doors to the right. Before going forward, the young Knight closed his eyes, reaching out beyond himself, straining past the dead silence of the room to see if he could pinpoint...

Breathing. It was faint, but it was coming from the open doorway. There were different cadences to the breathing, indicating more than one person was present. His saber glided to his right hand, finger hovering above the activation trigger as he prowled ahead, pressing his back up against the cold wall. He counted a few beats before spinning into the room, crouching in a defensive posture as he activated his saber, eyes quickly scanning the room.
"Yerbie?" A cautious voice floated called, Yerbol taken back by the moniker. It took him a few seconds to spot the source in this more darkened portion of the hall, but upon identification, he broke into a smile.
"Janika." A lithe whisper of a young woman barely over 15 emerged from a corner, hands trembling as she made her way to the Knight, who planted a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" She shook her head.
"I'm...I'm one of the only ones who got out...and that's cause Manso and Udike kept the troopers busy and..." Tears began to well in her dark irises.
"They're locked away across the hall. I could hear them screaming, Yerbie...I don't know what they did to them, but it sounded so..." Yerbol deactivated his saber, placing both hands on her shoulders as he told her:
"We're gonna get them out of there, then we're leaving Tython, ok?"
"But what about the others? Shouldn't we look for them?" He shook his head.
"Right now, we need to worry about us. The others...the others can look out for themselves." Janika recoiled, eyes widening.
"No, no...no we can't leave them. The Temple must have survivors, it must!"
"Even if there are survivors, they won't last for much longer. We have a way off planet, Jani, and unless you want to end up like the others, I suggest you get behind me and keep moving." Yerbol turned back to the main hall, asking Janika as he stepped forward:
"Where's your apprentice's blade? You'll need it."

___________________

"Oh bloody head in a handbag!" Neta exclaimed, hands firmly planted on her hips as she watched the galaxy map in the center of the ship begin to flicker with red and black dots.
"They're all converging..." The dots had started out as mere blips on the ship's radar, nothing more than a passing fleet on their way to who knows where,but then they had gotten closer to Tython over the span of a few minutes. The dots were forming a circular pattern around the planet, which resembled an attack pattern...
"They wouldn't do that...no chance they would do that." Neta peered closer at the dots as the ships radar system simulated the movements of the assumed fleet, watching for a few moments before a knot formed in the pit of her stomach.
"They will, won't they?" She stormed into the cockpit, activating a monitor above the pilots chair to find a holonet report detailing the "Gruesome assassination attempt" on Manaan, showing footage of the attack before cutting to Lord Bracknell and Chancellor Saresh on Coreilla, the latter announcing:
"It is in the best interest of the galaxy for both Republic and Empire to consolidate our forces, to end the petty conflicts that have kept us from having true peace and to focus our efforts on ensuring the galaxy will be a peaceful place for generations to come." Applause rang from the assembled audience, which died down quickly as Bracknell added:
"Before our alliance can take firm hold, we must first deal with the ever present threat of both the Jedi and Sith. As you know, both Tython and Korriban have descended into utter anarchy. The Jedi and Sith Masters have lost control of their respective Orders, the latest evidence of that manifesting in the incident on Manaan. We have long revered these Orders, but our reverence blinded us, which in turn caused us to sacrifice our precious populace in a war that was not our own. We will take control of these planets by any means necessary and ensure that any Force User, regardless of affiliation, will be properly handled in the best interest of our new alliance."
"They're going to bomb the planet." She bit her lower lip.
"Get back here as soon as you can, kids."

_____________________________

Manso, a male Twi'lek of 16 and Udike, a human boy of the same age, were both battered and bruised, but they thankfully were able to get up on their own and accompany Yerbol and Jani up the stairs to the entrance of the hall. Before they got out in the open, Yerbol reached out to Aria:

How's it going out there? We free to move back to the ship?

[The Elvenqueen]

Aria remained crouched where she was for a while, listening for any sounds from the troopers on the other side. Muffled, but still audible, she could hear them coughing as the dust kicked up from the rockslide began to clear.
“Oh, you have GOT to be joking!” groaned an angry voice. Quarrelling soon broke out amongst the group regarding how they were going to get back down from the pathway again, punctuated by the commander hollering:
“YOU CAN’T PLANT CHARGES ON AN UNSTABLE MOUNTAINSIDE, YOU COMPLETE BUFFOON! Are you TRYING to get us all killed?!”
Shaking her head to herself as she rose and began to jog back towards the assembly hall, Aria chuckled and muttered.
“Complete morons!” she was within a few feet of the hall when Yerbol’s voice spoke to her again.
They fell for it hook, line and sinker. We’re clear. He had said ‘we’, hopefully that was a good sign that he’d found at least a few of the other Jedi in there.

Yerbol re-appeared with three youngsters in tow, Aria turning to head back the way the pair had come before.
“Come on, we shouldn’t waste any time in case they DO decide to take the risk and start using explosives.” she caught herself in the midst of her next stride, pausing briefly to turn and smile at the Padawans. “I’d devote some time to introductions, but getting off world before we’re all obliterated is taking priority on the to-do list right now. We’ll chit-chat later when we’re not all about to die.” the former acolyte looked to and fro as the small group made their way along the track, searching with her senses as she tried to find the place where Neta had chosen to set down their transport.
The surrounding area was nearly empty of any other life forms, which made the task considerably easier. Once they had jogged up the ramp, they were greeted by a rather agitated pilot who seemed more than relieved to see the two Force users had returned in one piece. “Thank the stars you’re here, we’ve got a BIG problem.”
Aria didn’t like the sound of that. Before she could ask what KIND of problem, Neta was beckoning them towards the galaxy map in the middle of the main hold. Little markers indicating an approaching fleet, blinked at them like angry red and black hornets.
“Well...there go our chances of getting back into slipspace.” huffed Aria, hands on her hips as she turned towards Neta. “Tell me you’ve got a way of getting us out of here. I don’t think they’re here to talk this out.”

At this point she was just hoping Neta was as good at piloting as the HoloNet boasted spec ops trained personnel were. The redhead’s lips were pressed together in a tight smile, nodding as she breezed back towards the cockpit. “There’ll be a gap somewhere, I’ll find it.” she promised. All at once, the craft lurched off the ground and began to climb into the air before the loading ramp had even tucked in completely. The treeline quickly dwarfed underneath them as they shot towards the planet’s atmosphere, Neta hollering over the sound of their ship’s engines, a note of urgency in her tone. “Everyone hold onto something, this is about to get pretty crazy! If either one of you two space monks is any good with evasive maneuvers it’d be nice if I could get a co-pilot!”
She swallowed, looking in Yerbol’s direction. “Think you can manage it? I mean, I’ve flown a TIE fighter before, but that was like...two times. I get the feeling this thing isn’t quite as maneuverable.” she broke off into a peal of nervous laughter, her voice increasing slightly in pitch.

The clouds disappeared, giving way to stars and with them the wall of both Republic and Empire ships forming a blockade around the planet. The ship pitched sharply to one side as the fleet opened fire as soon as they were within sight. From the cockpit, Neta bellowed: “ANYTIME TODAY WOULD BE BLOODY FANTASTIC!” they had shield generators, of course, but they could only withstand so much...
“Sorry, sorry! We’re coming!” Aria shouted back, spinning around on the spot in a distressed manner, not entirely confident in her own piloting abilities (especially not under such great pressure). She stopped again, taking in a deep breath to try and steady herself. Act now, panic later. It helped, a little. “I don’t know if I can do this, Bol…”

[freedomliveson]

"Yes, you can." He placed a reassuring hand on her arm, calling out:
"Neta, tell me your hunk of space metal has a turret!"
"THROUGH THE HATCH IN THE COCKPIT! NOW MOVE!" Yerbol looked towards the cockpit for a moment before returning his gaze to his companion, eyes locking onto hers.
"We're going to make it. We're going to get to Korriban, we'll save who we can and live to fight another day, but we can't do that until we're out of here. Now come on, man the turret and I'll take the controls."
"Yerbie, what do we do?" Janika called out from the map room slash meeting room slash command center.
"Just get in the guest quarters and pray to the Force that we make it out of here!" He dashed towards the cockpit, sliding into the co-pilots chair to find an impassable blockade of Republic and Imperial destroyers, carriers and other massive ships of destruction, their turrets aimed towards the planet. Some of their fire, however, was being directed towards the ship.
"What do I do?"
"Shield generators down to sixty percent, reroute power from non-essential systems!" Yerbol shot out of the chair, looking over the switches with a wary eye before identifying the standard navy blue that indicated they were conduits for such things as the coffee maker, hot water heater and other such devices that weren't necessary for escaping death. He quickly flicked them in the off position when ship rocked violently to the left, nearly throwing the Knight off his feet. Neta let out a vehement curse before shouting:
"Left engine got clipped by...HUTT SLIME, THEY'VE GOT DUSTMAKERS! ARIA, BLAST THOSE SONS OF WHORES OUT OF THE SKY!" On his radar panel, Yerbol could see six blips rapidly closing in on the ship, aggressively swarming around them in a criss cross pattern. One of them fell behind the ship, alarm horns blaring a moment later.
"They've got a lock! Yerbol, let out the exhaust!"
"What?"
"The BLOODY EXHAUST PANEL SWITCH! HIT IT!" Yerbol's wobbly hands pored over the control panel before finding one labeled "EXHAU", flicking it up. The ship whined in protest, then a sudden rush of what sounded like wind raced past them.
"That should mess up their targeting systems for a moment!" She cackled gleefully as she pulled a half barrel roll to her right, avoiding an oncoming fighter before grinning.
"Well, kids, we've got an opening!" She pointed to their right, where two Republic destroyers were separating from one another, turning in opposite directions for reasons unknown. There was a sliver of space between the two ships which Yerbol spotted, but pointed out very quickly:
"Neta, that won't last for but about thirty seconds!" She briefly glanced at power readouts on her panel before grabbing the throttle with her right hand, pushing forward.
"ARIA, YOU NEED TO KEEP THOSE SHIPS OFF OUR BACK! KEEP FIRING UNTIL WE HIT HYPERSPACE!" Yerbol gulped audibly.
"You're going to do a jump to hyperspace? While there are other ships around?" She shrugged nonchalantly as the ship sped forward, engines audibly crackling with energy.
"As long as our girl holds up on the turret, we should be golden!" She shouted once more:
"YOU HEAR THAT?! KEEP EM OFF US! HYPERSPACE JUMP IN THIRTY SECONDS!"
Yerbol did what he could in the cockpit by ensuring all power was diverted to the hyperspace generators and not to-
"Ne...Neta..."
"I know." She held up her left hand, her index and middle fingers crossed.
"We'll make it, sweetheart. I just know it." Yerbol looked down at the instrument readings, heart fluttering as he saw power from the shield generators slowly being diverted to the engines. They would have no cover.

Just twenty seven seconds...twenty seven seconds.

_______

"Sir, the rail guns and torpedoes are ready for deployment." Admiral Sulan grimaced.
"I don't want to do this, Captain." Captain Juno shook her head, walking alongside of the older Admiral.
"If we don't do this now, sir, our entire galaxy migh-"
"I know of the consequences. I don't need a reminder of why we're out here." She nodded, staring ahead at the observatory window down at the planet below. A few moments of quiet passed over them, interrupted by a chirp on the Admiral's comm station just in front of him:
"Admiral, the Imperial fleet Admiral is now on the line." A gravely voice replaced the much chippier one:
"Admiral Sulan?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"Our fleets are in position and ready to deploy all assets to bombard. I'm ready when you are." The Republic Admiral's lips pursed.
"I don't feel right about this, Admiral."
"And I thought I was the only one."
"You? You're hesitant to pull the trigger?"
"I'm a soldier, not a mass murderer. The Jedi were a threat to the Empire, but never once did I find that they deserved this kind of treatment. But we have our orders, don't we?" Sulan grunted in agreement.
"We've been pushed to our limits, Sulan. If this is the cost for total peace...then so be it." The Imperial Admiral's words floated in the air, hanging.
"What's your name, Admiral?"
"Kingsley. Admiral Saul Kingsley."
"Good. At least I know who I'm destroying an entire planet with." A soft chuckle from Kingsley.
"So is that our go-ahead? Or we are going to be moralizing the entire day?" Sulan looked to Juno, who nodded.
"Commence the strike. And get that blasted ship in our custody. We don't need runaways."

[The Elvenqueen]

Turret? Turret, right! That was doable.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, Aria took his reassurances on board and jerked her head in a nod, bolting through the hatch to the turret station. She had just settled into the high-backed seat when Neta screeched at her:
"THEY'VE GOT DUSTMAKERS! ARIA, BLAST THOSE SONS OF WHORES OUT OF THE SKY!" Oh, crap. The blips had just begun to appear on the little radar dial as the pilot spoke, Aria letting out another breath as she grasped hold of the trigger and yanked it back into the ready position. The Dustmaker engines squealed as they gained on the ship rapidly, Aria lined up the crosshairs of the turret's viewfinder, thumb poised on the button. Dustmakers were fast and deadly, but taking them out was easy if you knew how they worked. Their shielding systems were garbage, if you could hit the fuel tank or an engine before their torpedo turrets were properly armed, the things were toast. There were six of them, fanned out in attack formation and gaining rapidly.
"Whatever you're going to do JUST DO IT because these jackasses are RIGHT UP OUR EXHAUST PIPE!" Aria screamed back at them, squeezing the trigger and letting loose a barrage of quadlaser fire on the fighters as they tried to converge on the fleeing spacecraft. The first Dustmaker went screaming back down towards the planet in a thick cloud of black smoke and fire, careening into the next nearest one and knocking it off course in the process.

The two downed fighters ruined the formation for the other four as the pilots were forced into barrel rolls and/or corkscrews to avoid the flying engine parts from their downed squadmates. Hyperspace in twenty seconds. They were nearly clear. Yerbol emptied their exhaust ports under Neta's directions, the resulting smog making it just as hard for Aria to see anything as it was for the Dustmakers. All she needed to do was wait for one to get close enough... The fighters whirled chaotically past the turret as their pilots frantically scrambled to regain control of their haphazard crafts. Aria had to turn the turret so quickly in order to keep it in her sights that she hoped she wouldn't end up with whiplash. Rather whiplash than six feet under, though, of course! Another Dustmaker bailed out thanks to Aria's crackshot turret skills, the remaining three now in a complete state thanks to the exhaust fumes clogging up their targetting computers.
Two of them corkscrewed past one another and, unable to tell their squadron apart from the target craft in the chaos, blindly fired and emptied their entire torpedo cannisters on one another.
"HA! NOT SO NICE WHEN YOU'RE ON THE RECEIVING END OF THOSE TORPEDOS, IS IT? EAT THAT, YOU SLIMEBALLS!" Aria's own laughter joined Neta's as she lined up with the last of their pursuers and bid him a not-so-tearful farewell. "Six for six, Neta, let's get the frack outta here!"

Their elation at their narrow escape, however, was short-lived as a much bigger BOOM rumbled through the quadrant just as the hyperdrive kicked in. It took Aria about ten seconds to realise that the cloud of debris blasting outwards in the distance was EXACTLY where Tython had been moments earlier. The yawning gap that opened up in the Force as the entire planet's life energy winked out all at once was so heavy as it crashed down on her that it knocked Aria clean off her feet, sending her falling out into the hallway as she grabbed frantically for something, ANYTHING to hold onto to keep herself standing. Her fingers couldn't find purchase on the tightly-woven metallic panels and she dropped like a deadweight, shoulder connecting with the panellingas she went down. Aria had never felt anything like it before, the crippling sense of emptiness and for a moment she thought she would never shake it off and instead just curl up there and let the chasm swallow her up, too.
If it hadn't been for her bond to Yerbol and the sudden jolt of concern that it prompted her to feel, she might have. Aria managed to get her feet back underneath her enough to stumble back towards the cockpit, rebounding off more than a few of the turns and nearly tripping all over again before she finally got there. Neta was staring at Yerbol, both hands off the control cluster and planted firmly on the young Knight's shoulders to steady him. He was white as a sheet and looked about as sick as she felt.
Her voice didn't feel like her own as she choked out an explanation in response to the frantically bemused look the pilot shot in her direction.
"What the HELL was that?!"
"They...They just...BLEW UP the WHOLE KARKIN PLANET!"

_____________

Admiral Sulan stood on the bridge and watched grimly as the dust cleared. Tython was gone, all that was left were tiny powder particles and chunks of rock that floated lazily past their observation deck windows. The center of the once venerable Jedi Order, reduced to nothing more than ash. And with it, everything the Jedi, and perhaps too the Republic, had stood for. Stone-faced as ever, he banished any pangs of regret to the recesses of his mind, instead announcing in a firm tone:
"Mission accomplished, ladies and gentlemen! That's the end of that!" out of instinct, he turned towards the speaker even though he wouldn't be able to see the Imperial commander he was speaking to. "Kingsley, any word on that damn ship?"
Silence hung between them for a hair's breadth, before Kingsley's voice, clipped with frustration, answered:
"AWOL, Admiral Sulan. They toasted our fighters and then vanished, must be burning sky now."
Sulan's gaze flicked to Juno as he continued with their assigned directive. "Set our course for Korriban. If they ARE rogue Force sensitives, they're probably heading for that sector next, too. We'll head them off."
"And if we don't, sir?"
Kingsley interrupted with a retort of his own. "They can't get away from us for frack sake! There's probably less than a dozen of them and thousands of us, they have NO chance! We'll find them, if it's the last thing we do."