Days Long Passed

[Tar`quin]

The darkness was dense, no moons, no stars. Only the lights of near by stores, or clubs lit Tar`quin's way to the ruins of the old Jedi Temple. As he turned the last corner he looked over his shoulder to make sure no was saw him. The closer he got to the Temple the more his mind warned him that he should not be here. He clung to the shadows of the street as he approached the western side of the Temple. Looking in every direction to make sure no one was around he darted from his shadow up to the western wall. Just above him was a ventilation duct. This was the same duct that saved his live that terrible night so long ago. A small force jump had him hanging from the lip of the vent. As he pulled himself up into the shaft he made one last sweep of the area. No one could be seen.

[Tar`quin]

ignor this post

[Tar`quin]

<OOC post last that ignor Please>
He made his way through the ventilation shafts to one of the many sparring rooms. Gently he lowered himself into one of the rooms. Grief flooded his heart as he looked around. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself. Instead of peace his mind was filled with the images of younglings being slain by a once trusted Jedi Knight, and the endless sea of storm troopers.
<O:p</O:p
Calm your mind young one . . . be at peace with the past. Tar`quin took a deep breath as he regained control of his feelings. He made his way across the room to the sparring room’s storage unit. All the weapons were gone. This came as no surprise; he knew the Emperor had all the light sabers they could find destroyed, as well as the crystal mines that were so important to the building of a Jedi’s saber. This is what Tar`quin had come for. He was tired of hiding. He wanted to complete his training and be knighted, to be a sign of hope, peace, and wisdom to a galaxy of doubt, chaos, and fools.<O:p</O:p

He made his way to the other sparring rooms, but with the same results. As he made his way to the barracks he looked around at what once was his home. He had been brought here by a Jedi master when he was just a baby. Many of the once graceful columns now lay strewn across the battered, and broken, floor. The whole temple which once was the light of the galaxy was now shrouded in darkness.<O:p></O:p>

[Tar`quin]

“It’s time for me to leave” he said softly as he finished his search of the last room in the barrack quarter. He went to the door paused as he looked over his shoulder, feeling as if he over looked something. It was a strange feeling, like something was drawing him to look once more at the corner of the bed. He didn’t understand, but he knew that if he was to survive he would have to trust his feelings; this was the way of the Jedi. He knelt down beside the bed as he searched meticulously the edges. Just as his hand reached the top left corner he felt it, a secret compartment. But he couldn’t open it. No matter how hard he pulled the draw would not budge. Just then he remembered that the force could be used to seal things shut. He closed his eyes as he focused on the sealed compartment. In his mind he saw the force holding it closed. As he waved his hand over the spot the force was moved and the draw opened. In this little compartment was the most prized possession of all Jedi, a light saber. Or rather a half constructed light saber. Tar`quin smiled as he pulled out this rare item. He rolled it around in his hand. It was obvious that this saber was made for a person of a smaller species.

You’ve stayed to long! Something told him. Quickly he put the saber in a holster on his belt so that it would look like a blaster, at least from a distance. Swiftly he made his way back to the ventilation shaft he came in through. As he made his way through the shaft his feelings of danger increased. When he made his way to the end of the shaft he understood. He had spent the whole night in the Temple; his much needed shadows were quickly fading, as the sun rose. Taking a breath he jumped down and quickly ran into the alley. <O:p></O:p>

[Jakys Sei'trem]

Imperial Center holds many secrets, some forgotten for countless millennia…some lost for a few decades…..and other vanished in less than a quarter score if enough turned a blind eye. The galaxy is filled with information brokers and detectives, but scant few lived that could recover a secret that sincerely wished to remain lost to time.

The Devaronian was one of those few.

A beacon of hope some called this place. But that had twenty years past and the Jedi Temple now converted to governmental offices, business fronts, and a handful of public plazas. But fickle things still hid in the lower levels below security gates, armed patrols, and sealed passageways. Things that the Inquisitoriate hadn’t picked completely clean.

What he sought, however, frankly had a thrice-damned way of slipping away at every turn. There was nothing left here for Jakys to find…and a presence had been eating at the corners of his mind this entire journey. Distractions he could do without, the Devaronian had other ghosts to track down and exorcise.

No one would notice him leave this far below the upper spires. Eyes that didn’t need to see. Of course tell that to the bloody oaf sprinting through this decrepit hell-hole of a road.

“Oooof” Just as Jakys made his way out of complex, said oaf barreled straight into him and sent them both sprawling.

[Tar`quin]

Tar`quin never saw the man, he was to busy looking over his shoulder making sure no one saw him leaving the Temple area. As he landed backwards on the ground the partially constructed saber slipped out of his holster. Rolling over he quickly grabed it and returned it to the holster hoping the man didn't see it.

""Please, forgive my clumsiness." He said as he reached out a hand to the man. Helping him up he looked back to the Temple, then back to the man. A small, worried, smile played on Tar`quin's face. "Excuse me. I must be going." He gave the man a pat on the shoulder then started walking briskly up the alley.

If you just make it to the main street, you can get lost in the crowd. . . .be at peace.

[Jakys Sei'trem]

Jakys was more than familiar on how to fall without breaking something or cracking his head open, but breath escaped him for a few seconds. He heard, more than saw, something metallic clatter to the ground; only catching a scant glimpse of a mess of wires and plasteel casing before the Twi’lek scooped it up and hauled Jakys to his feet.

The Devoronian wheezed trying to speak, but the shifty eyed bugger quickly turned on his way. Jakys picked up on the nervous glances and pitch changes in voice. Not uncommon in the underbellies of Imperial Center, but the Devaronian had gift for sifting through lies, facades, and maskes. Unnatural intuition some called it.

He brushed himself off, noticing his fine silken shirt had been torn in the tumble and his exquisite hand-tailored pants soiled in grease and grime. Definitely not attire to be worn in these deeps.

…

…

…Wait a tic, had that casing been a cylinder? What the frack was this kid doing here?

“Oi y’glit biter! Y’ruind mah good clothes. Yea gon’ pay f’that?”

Jakys started following the other alien at slow stroll.

[Tar`quin]

Reaching the corner he saw that the morning crowds were right on time, and as to the fact that many Twi'lek were sold as slaves they made up the most of the crowd. This provided a good cover for him. He made his way casually through the crowd toward the docking bays. He had what he had come for, now he had to get way from the core planets to some place in the outer rim. Ryl would be an ideal place, but something. . . unexplainable was calling him in the opposite direction. He couldn't focus on this right now.

[Tar`quin]

Tar`quin felt the tention leaving his body the farther he got from the Temple area. He stoped at a street vendor seemingly to view the product, but in reallity he was checking to see if the man he ran into was following. He scanned the long street for a moment then turned back to the vendor. The woman was selling clothes. He rummaged briefly through a few stacks of the clothes then turned and continued on his way to the space port.

[Tar`quin]

After spending twenty minutes weaving from street to street, back tracking, and scanning the crowds for anyone who may be following him Tar`quin decided that he was in the clear. Regaining his bearings he made his way north to the space port. His plan was working almost perfectly, with the exception of that Devoronian he "bumped into." The next this was to get rid of the saber itself, he only wanted the crystals that were housed in the hilt.

Once he made his way through the space port lobby to a set of lockers. He had rented one that was discretely located in the corner of the building right infront of the refresher. He quickly opened the locker and dug out his bag, sliding the saber in as he turned from the crowd towards the refresher closing the door to the locker with is elbow.

[Tar`quin]

Tar`quin slipped into the refresher and found an open stall. Once in side he sat down and took the saber out of his bag. Holding it in his hands he recalled the earlier days of his training with Master Yoda. He remembered sparing against the other children, and the sting of the saber, if you were hit by it. Coming back to the present he opened the head of the saber and poured out the contence of the saber in his bag. Whoever had been constructing this saber was very good, much better than Tar`quin had been. Meticulously he diconected the wires and removed the crystals he placed them in a bag of faux gems. Just as he was about to discard the rest of the saber he changed his mind. He knew that sw Jedi had died because he made it, and he could not just throw it away. Leaving it disassembled he put the parts in separate compartments of his bag and left the refresher.