Ellicas had just finished his mission. He had been to Glee Anselm to assist in a minor dispute between the Nautolans and the Anselmi. It was rather a complicatd relationship, both of them had evolved naturally on the planet and so both species had an equal share in the resources available on the planet. El suspected that was why he had been chosen to deal with this mission, to learn that there is not always one owner of one resource and that a planet can exist with two natural species relatively peacefully. That, and some missions could be dealt with without the use of ones lightsaber. As a trainee of Satele Shan, El was well versed in lightsaber combat and was often used for either his agile and knowledgeable fighting style or his extraordinary pilot skills. But as the Jedi Grand Master, and his former master, Satele was always looking to educate her Jedi. And Ellicas was always ready to accept her teachings. He also could have been given this mission because he struggled to talk with Nautolans since the incident all those years ago. He struggled to look into the those large practically lidless black eyes that were so common of the species. He was reminded of his old friend and the mental scars that he'd carried away that day would never leave him, despite the mediating he had done (and still does).
He boarded a Republic Transport vehicle with his trusty starfighter Ice Lance stowed safely in the cargo hold of the massive space-faring vessel. The transport made it's way along the Namadii Corridor hyperlane. El took this opportunity and used the journey to Coruscant to have a proper meal. He hadn't had a substantial meal in three days. This was not uncommon, but when he walked passed the cantina in the transport vessel, he decided now was a good time to take on some sustenance. And that's all it was. Nothing fancy, just the basic nourishment. After all, that was what he was accustomed to. He spend the rest of his journey meditating in a quiet area on board the ship.
It wasn't long before the vessel reached it's destination, the thriving planet of Coruscant. Ellicas didn't mind being here, but he often found that it was far too busy and they were more people here than he was used to dealing with. He spared no time in collecting Ice Lance from the transport ship and flew her to the next transport ship so he could get to Tython, report to Grand Master Shan and thank her for the eye opening mission he had been on.
The next transport ship was smaller, but still had room for Ellicas to store his ship. Transport vessels to Coruscant tended to be on the massive side of the scale. Republic ships to Tython were few and far between at the moment. He waited for about two hours while the ship slowly began to fill with a few Republic soldiers being reassigned to the Orbital Station above Tython and a few other Jedi he had not seen before. As he was often one to keep to himself, he nodded politely to his fellow Jedi, exchanging quick pleasantries and then returning to his thoughts. After a couple of minutes, the doors closed and the transport vessel was ready for take-off. Through most of the journey, the Republic soldiers talked amongst them selves and the few Jedi on board discussed previous missions or meditate quietly, the latter being what Ellicas chose to do. It had been a difficult few days for him with the Nautolans and the Anselmi. Nothing to do with the mission, just dealing with Nautolans brought up his old friend Rihm-Nah Toluuk, a Nautolan, and how he died right next to him about nine years ago. He found peace in the fact that Rihm-Nah was now one with the Force and through his death, El was able to become a Jedi Knight. The death of his oldest friend had resulted in him passing the Trial of Flesh. As he meditated, he thought back to that time and remembered thinking that he would rather pass the Trial of Flesh another way rather than lose his oldest friend. Alas, with Rihm-Nah dead, he could do nothing but be reminded of his charming smile and his big black eyes every time a Nautolan talked to him. Those memories were mostly happy, but there was always the final memory that seemed to appear. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, remembering all the good times he had shared with Rihm-Nah and how they had grown up together. Without knowing, he began to smile as he meditated, continuing to meditate for the duration of the journey.
He sensed that they were nearing Tython, the planet giving off it's unique presence through the Force. He opened his eyes and could see that a one or two of the other Jedi had felt it too. But then he reached out through the Force and felt something odd... something about the planet was different. He stood up, eyes closed and tried to reach closer to the planet through the Force. To his surprise, he couldn't reach the surface and he wasn't sure why. They dropped out of hyperspace and the transport ship made it's way to Orbital Station. He approached a few of the Jedi and summoned them into a small group out of earshot from the Republic soldiers.
"Tython feels different. Can anyone get a read on the planet?" he asked somewhat nervously of his peers and elders. Fortunately, there were no Padawans, otherwise he suspected there would be some degree if secrecy at their discretion. The first to answer was a light skinned Zabrak and she said,
"I think it's a Force Storm, I've felt something similar before when approaching Tython. Not at this magnitude and it's not quiet the same." A few of the other Jedi agreed and El nodded with them, satisfied, for now. Careful not to disrupt the other passenger on the ship, he made his way to the cockpit and approached the pilot of the transport.
"Excuse me, pilot," he said with the customary bow as a greeting. The pilot nodded in turn so he continued,
"My ship is in the hold. I'd like to take her out and dock separately, with the permission of the Orbital Station. I have business on the station and then I intend to take my ship to the surface. Please could you make this request for me." El was not overly confident talking to people he didn't know. He also didn't like making requests to Republic soldiers like this. He felt as though they may think he wants special treatment, just because he was a Jedi. Thankfully, the pilot again nodded.
"Of course, Jedi. I'll ask straight away. Wait a moment," he said with a rugged voice. He radioed the Orbital Station and it wasn't long before he got a response. The gruff voiced pilot turned to El and said,
"When we dock, you will be free to unload your ship from the hold. I'll wait here until you radio me from your ship. I'll then open the doors and you'll be free to dock next to us."
"Thank you very much. And thank you for getting us here safely," Ellicas said as he bowed and turned to depart for the hold.
By the time he had got to the hold jumped into Ice Lance and fired her up, he could here the familiar sounds of a ship docking. Due to him hearing this, he assumed the pilot would appreciate not here a radio call from an impatient Jedi looking to get off his ship! He waited, patiently of course, for the docking process to be complete and after a few more moments of waiting, he initiated contact with the pilot.
"Jedi Knight Ellicas here, do you copy? Ready to depart from the hold," was El's message to the pilot. A few moments later, he could hear a voice through his headset.
"I hear you, Jedi. Opening doors and... you're free to leave. Over." The familiar voice of the aging pilot of the transport vessel boomed in his headset.
Ellicas activated the thrusters on Ice Lance just as the doors opened, hovering inside the hold for a few seconds. He turned his ship to that he could easily flight out and did so. He then eased the power lever forward, activating the main engines and the back of the ship, propelling him out of the transport ship and into the vacuum of space. When he was clear of the transport ship, he banked hard to the left and pulled up on the steering mechanism, allowing him to turn at a greater speed and a sharp angle than the smaller thrusters would allow. He made his approach towards one of the docking ports on the Orbital Station above Tython. He pressed a few buttons in his rather crammed cockpit and opened a radio channel to the station.
"This is Jedi Knight Ellicas Phycon, requesting to dock on the Orbital Station. Over," was what he said over the radio. He eased the power lever so that the ship slowed down slightly as it neared the docking station. A rather high pitch woman's voice came through and said,
"Jedi Knight Phycon, we've been expecting you. Please proceed to docking area 2-B." The voice was unfamiliar to El, but it had been a while since he'd been to Tython and the crew on the Orbital Station was rotated fairly regularly. He thought nothing of it and proceeded as instructed.
Once docked, he could tell immediately that something was awry. He could feel something in the Force and then there was something familiar. He could feel a presence, the presence he was looking for. It was faint, like maybe she was here not long ago but wasn't here now. Ellicas purposefully strolled through the corridors of the station, hood down, messing with his hair to make sure it was just right. He headed for the ops centre, if she was here, that's where she'd be. As he got closer to the ops centre as feint as it was, her presence seemed to grow a miniscule amount with each step. As he stood outside the closed door of the ops centre, he could already tell. He waited for a few moments and nothing. His suspicion was confirmed. She had been here, but she wasn't here now.
El opened the door and entered in to what could only be described as a 'busy' room. There were men and women frantically working all over the room. He forced himself to focus, but he couldn't sense the commander either. He moved to the nearest person to him, a young man sat at his desk. He had no hair, but dark brown goatee surrounded his mouth.
"Excuse my, officer. I'm looking for Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan. I believe she was here earlier. Could you tell me where she is now?" he asked, saying the words slightly more hastily than he had intended. The perplexed young man turned to him and said,
"How could you possibly know... oh, a Jedi. You must be Ellicas. We heard you'd be here." He stopped mid-sentence. He was probably wondering how someone would know about Satele being here when she had in fact left not long ago. He must have realised from El's robes that he was a Jedi. And so he continued,
"Yeah, she was here. But she left with the Supreme Commander not long ago. They were going to the surface. There was an incident. It's probably best you make haste to the surface and seek the Grand Master." Despite the officer's outward appearance and tone of his voice, Ellicas could sense fear in the young man in front of him. El's mind was made up instantly. He put a calming hand on the officer's shoulder and did his best to reassure him.
"I will go to the surface. Everything will be fine, the Grand Master is very knowledgable. I'm sure with the help of the Council, she'll get to the bottom of this. I must go, thank you for the inormation you've supplied," he said confidently. He removed his hand and spun on his heels, walking briskly back to his ship.
He jumped into Ice Lance and left the Orbital Station immediately, heading for the surface of Tython. With the information he had received from the officer, there were quite a lot of thoughts running through his head. He closed his eyes, pushing the thoughts away and finding peace. A few moments later, he opened his eyes and could see the planet. The clouds and storms around it were unlike anything Ellicas had ever seen before. I hope they're all ok down there he thought to himself as the swirling clouds and flashes of lightning could be seen from his position.
It wasn't easy and there was an extreme amount of turbulence. As El entered the atmosphere, he flicked a switch on the left hand side of his control panel, activating his shield. Strong winds were contesting against him and his aiming of the ship. Bolts of lightning were precariously close to striking Ice Lance. Upon breaking through the clouds of the Force storm, he could see the surface of Tython. He was over a forest with amazing deep pink leaves and what looked as though it was blue bark! Ellicas brought his ship to a halt, hovering high above the surface. He reached out with the Force and could feel the Temple was near, but something else was on the planet, something that shouldn't be. Something he felt wasnot wholly good, as the Jedi were.
Without hesitation, El flew with great haste to the Temple, flying upside down over a vast herd of Uxibeast as he flew over one of the larger expanses of flat ground. He pushed the steering mechanism down, and performed a few spins, levelling out after his moment of fun and extravagance. He could see in the distance the Jedi Temple and the nearby mountain range. He rapidly flew over the forest before the entrance of the Temple, grazing ovre the tops of the trees. He swung his ship into one of the hangars, landing very abruptly, strining the landing gear as he came in 'too hot'.
He had barely landed when he turned off Ice Lance, opening the cockpit roof and jumped out, performing a somersault as he soared through the air. As he landed, he waved a hand towards his ship, using the Force to lower the roof of the cockpit back down. He sprinted as fast as he could through the hangar to the Jedi Temple. As he entered the Temple, out of respect, he walked swiftly through the many corridors, heading for the Jedi Grand Master's personal quarters.
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