Reflections

[Marcus Telcontar]

<center><img src=http://www.planwell.com.au/stuff/reflections.jpg>

Part I : The Dark Fury told of a Jedi, who began his life thinking he was one thing and ended it, not knowing the truth.
Part II : Reflections begins with another arising to take his place and a girl who doesn't know her importance to others
Part III is yet to be told.......



<h7>Hero - Chad Kroeger</h7>
<font color=red>
I am so high, I can hear heaven
I am so high, I can hear heaven
Whoa, but heaven...no, heaven don't hear me

And they say
That a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as we all fly away

Someone told me
Love would all save us
But, how can that be
Look what love gave us

A world full of killing
And blood spilling
That world never came

And they say
That a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as we all fly away

Now that the world isn't ending
It's love that I'm sending to you
It isn't the love of a hero
And that's why I fear it won't do

And they say
That a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as we all fly away


And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away

And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away

And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away</font></center>

--

A flash of lightning lit up the landscape of Yavin IV. It was deepest dark, only possible on a world that had virtually no inhabitations. The rain pelted down, forming rivers and streams off the ground and every availible surface. The water coursed across a large cleared area in front of one of the massive Massani temples that dotted the landsape, running over some steps to a lover level, to drain away into a proper stream. The stream itself was becoming more of a rapid, tumbling a spilling over rocks and tree roots, gaining power and voice further away - but here it it was still possible to cross, only being knee deep. Granted it would take a powerful man to do that and not be knocked off his feet - but it was still possible. And even stand if you balanced your self right, which was evident with the sound of water breaking around the boots and legs of a man, who was indeed standing in the rapid flow. His face could not be seen in the darkness, nor could anything else be visible, such was the absence of light.

A goved hand reached to his belt and pulled out a NRSF Rail gun. With practiced hands, a round was chambered, then with equal deliberation, the clip was ejected straight into the water, to disappear in a blink, the water swallwoing it forever. A moment of contemplation for him was next, fingers feeling the contours of gun, touching it's metal surface. Lumps and ripples, machineing flaws all added to the black pint, creating a gun of unique beauty and purposefulness. A gun he had helped design, worked out the parameters and the targets it would be used against. A weapon of chilling efficency and deadliness. A weapon uniquely suited to killing Jedi or Sith.

And tonight, one more would die at it's barrel. This very weapon had been used to kill the greatest known Jedi years before, this weapon had begun a path of his life.. that now lead back ot the spot where he had first used it. Right here he had stood as Darth Turbogeek turned, realising the danger too late... right here he had raised the barrel, taken aim and fired. Right here, he had watch Turbogeeks left shoulder blown to pieces. He watched the Jedi Master fall... watched him bleed. And that day one of his greatest mistakes was ended. No more would the curse of Turbogeek blight him. Since then, his life had taken some radical twists... but it was here that the second most notible event had occured. The death of a Jedi that he had a hand with....

The same blood same flowed through our veins.... I always wondered if the weakness that Turbogeek had could ever affect me.... I know that answer now. I know it can. I know also that I have been avoiding my destiny, I've been avoiding what I should be. I have chosen exile. I have chosen to run. Now.... what am I? Am I anything? What is my worth, where does my path go?

The gun came up, shakily.... up to head level

Do I even deserve life?

A finger began to pull back on the trigger, but not without looking like a great fight was occuring.. the finger trembled.

An unseen tear dropped from his eye, mingled with the driving rain running down his face. The gun suddenly became steady and a great cry burst from his lips

"NOOOOOOO!!"

--

Far away, the whipcrack of a rail gun sounded out, rapidly overtaken by a flash of lightning. A peal of thunder echoed across the lonely forests. The rain continued to pour as if the noise intrusion never happened

--

The Rail Gun began to slip through suddenly limp fingers. It jagged on the trigger finger, before coming free and seeming to free fall in slow motion, twisting and slowly spinning. It hit the water with a spash that seemed to be even louder that the actual gunshot itself - but just like the gun shot, the forces of nature of Yavin IV swallowed it.

The man stayed upright for a moment.... then began to likewise fall in to the turbulent water...

[Xazor Elessar]

Shadows surrounded the lone figure of a kneeling woman. Slowly they crept closer and closer until they enshrouded her body. Darkness eminated from the soul of the one that sat in silence...feeling, listening.....she raised her eyes toward the ceiling and cried out in a language understood by only those that walk the path of Darkness. Her hands slipped over an object on her belt and carefully she removed it. Lightening etched the sky outside and traced her figure as the motions of her body reflected off the windows.

One arm at a time slipped out of the sleeves of the midnight cloak that she wore until it was laying on the ground around her, blending in with the shadows that covered her body. The object in her hands slowly rose in front of her until her eyes traced the very blade of the Sith dagger. Poisoned with a great evil was the silver blade that shot forth from a black hilt. It was a weapon of magnificence and beauty....much like its holder. From the blade, the woman's eyes fled until they came to rest upon a mark on her left bicept. One of the same was engraved on the hilt of the dagger.....a symbol of pure darkness and evil. It marked a number.....a number of lives lost by innocents....a number of lives stolen by her.

For a few very long minutes she sat in silence as the thunder roared outside.....a storm greater raging inside. She looked back for a brief second, eyeing herself in the windows reflection...then turned back to the mark of damnation. With one swift movement the dagger moved in her hands and drove into her flesh.

- - - -

A scream of terror could be heard throughout the whole system of Yavin as a great flash of lightening struck an old dead tree....burning it to the ground to create room for new life to grow. Then there was peace.....all settled and was quiet. The dagger fell to the ground and her arms dropped to her sides....blood lined the blade and rested on the hands of the woman once again. She had killed yet again. The mark on her bicept vanished in a moment's time....as well as the matching one the dagger. Blood ran down her body and pooled on the floor close to her knees. It was a mix of blood and tears.....a purifying liquid.

She instantly fell to her hands, the warm, red substance soaking the white robes she had worn uner the deep black cloak. Tears streaked her face as she cried out in the pain of her past and present. The feeling of suffication was overwhelming and she continued to get lower to the ground until her lifeless body laid in the blood that was her own.....Killed again.....killed again.....killed again..... The words echoed through her mind as she laid there in the silence.

[Helenias Evenstar]

Inside one of the great pyramids of Yavin IV, I stared out the window that was sperating me from the raging storm outside. Rain pelted down and formed rivelets that coursed out of sight below. Occasionally the transparisteel would rattle as a particularly fierce gust caught it and i could see every now and then a lightning strike would light the area up. There was only a small night light in my room, a light that was on beside Jina's bed. Next to that was the cot of Jax, both young children now sleeping.

Thankfully. I felt I was going crazy looking after them both. As I looked at my reflection in the window, I pondered how I had gotten into this situation. Both times, I had deuled with Venom. I remembered the first time, on Coruscant where Force Master Hunter and I had beaten off his minions and then I had gone hand to hand - eventually putting my Pike through the vile monster's heart. I had felt him die in in the Force or so I had thought. I had been proven wrong months later, when Darven Calorom had come into the Bar and Grill bearing Jax Tondry - and on that same day, Venom had come to Arcan IV, hell bent on kidnapping Jina. For some reason, the fools of Venom had mistaken Jax for Jinaand had gotten the wrong child. It had come down to me to find Jax and to get him back - it had proven easy to find him, but the battle to get him back I was still recovering from. My back still hurt from the crushing blow of a Vog'on's tail and I still had the faint scar of a knife that nearly killed me. In the end, I had gone into the last hiding place with rail guns blazing, shooting anything that stood in my way. Darven had come with me and as I picked off humans and monsters, he had grabbed Jax.

And I had been left to once again face the vile demon of Venom. This time it was a sabre duel, and it turned out badly - or would have not had I been training as a Jedi and I had become a Jedi Knight. I had proven unexpectedly adept at predicting Venom's next move, always staying one step ahead of my larger adversary. Eventually, frustration took over and he cornered me, then began the rush that should - would have killed anyone. But I had one final trick up my sleeve and I used it. My Force Pike had come out of it's holster and with one sure flick, the cortoris coated pole arm had shut the Dark Jedi's blade down. For a moment, he was weaponless and surprised and I moved. This time I left it in no doubt Venom was dead, I cut him to pieces. Sparks flew as I did my work and I realised that Venom had become more machine than man. For the final storke, I drove my Pike deep into his skull and ignited the electrical discharge circuits. I heard a snap and a hiss as I presumed his brain fried and I did see one of his eyes pop. Finally knowing there was no way he could have survived the mauling, I had left the room, knowing I had seen the last of that monster.

But lately had uneasy dreams. Late at night, I dreamed that Venom was back and he was after Jina again. This time I faced him in my dreams and I had no way to stop him.... once I had even woken up screaming. I knew dreams would pass... but this felt like no dream I ever had. It felt like..... the future.

I could only pray as I looked out the window over the darkness of Yavin IV, my foresight abilities were for the first time wrong.

[Jeran Conrad]

He entered the great temple. It was beautiful...serene. Two things he hadn't been for the last few years. He was tired...so tired. He could barely stand. It had taken him so long to get back here. Not because he was poor or out of transportation. But he was scared. Scared of his past. He knew that fear was the path to the dark side--how many times had any Jedi heard that. But he came back to seek healing. He felt a presence of healing there. Maybe it was the old temple--maybe it was someone there. Jeran didn't care. He thought only of release.

He had only enterened about two meters or so when he collapsed onto the floor of the temple. His eyes blurred out into darkness. Rest--sleep--he needed it. But lying here, defenseless, was not what a position he wanted to be in. He couldn't control himself...he was slipping into slumber...wearily he cried out with the Force

Protect me temple...cure me...let me seek in you the answers to so many questions left mysterious...

[Marcus Telcontar]

Water.

Move

Water everywhere

Move

Water was in his eyes

Up

Water was in his ears

Move

Water was in his nose

Now

Water was in his hair

Move.....

Water was in his mouth....

NOW!!!!

--

With an explosion of spray, the cloaked being burst out of the water of the stream, gasping and coughing as he grabbed onto an exposed root and hung on for life. He hadn;t expected to have his feet swept from under him as he had thrown the gun away - not expected to nearly drown after he had fired the shot that symbolically killed Tohmahawk forever. A wash of water broke over his head, nearly forcing him to release his handhold... but he managed to hold on. To cling for life and to keep a grip on the lifeline. He dared to release on hand and to grab the root higher up out of the water. And again. And again, straining against muscles chilled and unresponsive, straining agains the power of the turbulance.... but with a last burst of effort, to grab hold of the bank of this powerful temporary stream and hauled himself out of the torrent, gasping and shaking.

It seemed so long he lay breathing hard on the bank as the rain continued to pelt down. More lightning lit the sky up. More thunder....

And a blast of lightning hit him dead square. The explosion of sound and light, the smell of buring grass and tree, the stench of ozone....

He screamed in pain, his eardrums burst. His eyes dazzled.... and within that blast and it's after effects, it was as if it was a revelation from heaven...

I tested Jedi Knights and I declared them Masters. I observed them and twisted their own weaknesses agains tthem, to see if they would break.... but how many have moved on? How many continue to grow? And why is it one who never faced the trials himself is allowed to do this? Why? WHY?

It was truth.... a truly renowned Jedi Master in another name, thought to be dead, was never put through the trials. Never had he faced his own weaknesses and been exposed for what he really was... he had been promoted because of his power and knowledge. A cry burst from his lips as he knew that the time had come - for he had now thrown off the last identity and he had been stripped back to the Dundelian that he truly was - tonight he would do what he in his heart knew he had to do.

The Jedi twitched from the after effects of the lightning strike. His own defences in The Force had taken the brunt of the assualt, but he had not been able to ward off the full strike. He slowly and shakily curled up and managed to come wearily to his feet.

So be it..... tonight is my Night of Trial.

He closed his eyes..... and slowly reopened them, a light of detirmination shining from them

I shall face my past and overcome it

His feet began to move in the direction one of the Temples.... where two years ago a Bounty Hunter shot Darth Turbogeek

[Xazor Elessar]

The woman's body laid on the floor of the room in the Temple. Blood rested on the floor all around her and seemed to be rising in height. It touched her lips and woke her up from the unconscious daydream that seemed to last for eternity. Shooting straight up she grasped at her neck....she felt like she was suffocating under her own air....under a water that did not exist. Finally she could breath....her heart rate slowed a bit and she rose to her feet.....but then suddenly fell. Her knees were to shaky to hold her.....to weak as she felt her soul was. The Jedi Knight continued to fall....in a sort of slow motion in her eyes when suddenly the world around her went black....for she hit her head on the glass of the large window in front of her, cracking it slightly....changing its appearance to something else.

Darkness......Silence........Nothing........

Complete and utter blackness until suddenly it was as if the light was turned on.....a candel was lit. The scene before her eyes returned.....the window did not have a crack in it.....yet the storm raged on outside, lightening etched the sky and thunder rolled across the land. She felt a presence behind her and turned to look but a soft of smog enveloped the room. Through its thickness, though....she saw......him......

"My child.....what have you done? You've removed the Mark, I see. For what? Ashamed of your.....heritage, are you? You've become.......a Jedi........"

He growled the title of what she was and approached her. His eyes glowed red from their usual black. He stepped forward and towered over her....seeming taller than what she remembered him to be. Suddenly he drew out his double bladed, duel-phased saber......so similar to hers, but with beams of red. Holding it over the cowering woman, he laughed a sinister and evil cackle.

"Now.....I shall finish what I began....you little......B*TCH!!!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs and slammed his saber down across the woman's neck. Xazor felt the heat of the beam for but a second.....and then he disappeared. Again.....she saw and felt nothing.

Nothingness.......Silence.......Darkness........

"I AM A JEDI!!!!"

The words echoed through the whole Temple and the glass of the windows shook. She shot up from her place.....wholly in one piece. It had been a nightmare set off by the concussion that she suffered....but she was alive.....she was a Jedi. The window was cracked but she could still see outside.....the storm still raged but she knew her destiny. Rising to her feet, one at a time.....she walked. She walked with gaining speed toward the Meditation Chambers......she left the Council room and slinked down the dark hallways....leaving only the blood, the broken window....and the Sith Dagger where she had once been. Perhaps someone would find them, but they would not know what it was from....they would never see the events that had unfolded in that room.

More......walk faster.......

Suddenly a bolt of lightening slammed through the roof behind her. She quickened her pace, heading for the Meditation Chambers faster than she ever imagined she could run. The Knight fell against the door and breathed heavily, before gently pushing it open and finding a soft cushion to sit upon. Red drops of blood soaked into the satin fabric....but she paid it no mind as she closed her eyes and let soft and gentle healing tears fall from the closed lids. The Force surrounded the New Life.......though she was broken like the window......you could still see what she truly was.......and perhaps, by breaking, the picture became clearer.....

[Jeran Conrad]

Jeran's eyes slowly came into focus...he still lay where he last fell. He reared his head up to look around--no one in his line of sight. He rolled onto his back--searing pain. He was so sore and tired. So, so tired.

He reached into the Force around him--the living, beautiful Force. This planet was amazing--this Temple amazing. So much beauty. But...so much confusion? Pain shot around him. Beings were hurting. Not like him, not in the physical sense, but in their hearts. Indeed there was great pain.

[Venom]

For the longest time, There was pain.

There was burning.

There was a toment in my brain, an endless loop of htred and disgust, of fear and anger. Of fury. A pain feedback that ripped the synapses apart and exploded behind my eyes, making my mind throb with even more pain. Like a tornado it sucked me further and further in, consumong my very soul.... I screamed and screamed again, looking for escape when I knew well there was none. Defeat and rejection, I knoew it now inimatly and it seared me once again.

Flesh peeled.

Ears popped

Blood dripped

A mirror exploded and I felt pain in my hand.....

Blink.

That was no dream!

Slowly I felt the screams in my head abate as I blinked to clear my vision. The tornado spun slower and I felt some of the pain drift away. With some perplexion, I looked at my hand, seeing hte real blood drip off a cout in the knuckles, a shard of glass inbetweeen the first and second finger. Almost like a child, I prodded it and felt fresh pain shoot up my arm. This time, it felt..... good. Dispassionantly, I pulled the shrad out and held it up to look at it. It looked like a dagger. I ran a finger along the edge and felt it cut the fingertip. The pain this time I could definantly feel felt good. I welcomed it even!

I allowed the shard to drop, seeing that I had indeed punched a mirror and pieces of glass hug from the frame. Curious, I looked closer and in that noted my own face - a horror of patched skin and burns, scars and markings. It didnt seem to line up with the memory of my face that I had and even as I drew back and saw my naked body, I curled a eyebrow, bemused. Metal was bound to skin and whole limbs had been changed to metal.

I frowned, for I did not remember this either.

Come to think of it...... waht DID I remember? I could not remember getting here and I could not even remember my name. All I remembered was.......

A dark haired woman, screaming in triuph as she cut my arm off. I felt the searing pain as the poel arm came up and around, as I realised my mistake... I felt the Pike do it work as she methodically cut me to pieces and then in one final stroke, I felt something slam into my head and then....

I was here? No sense this made, none at all.

I looked about the basic room that had nothing more than a bed and this mirror. I knew the names (vaguely) for things, knew their purpose... but it was as if I was seeing them for the first time. I walkd over to the bed and saw it's sheets were caked with blood and worse, so I supposed I must have been there. However on there as well was a piece of flimsy which I picked up.

There were two lines.

Remember who did this to you. Remember Eileen Cross

Was that the woman I saw in my memory?

Go find the Dale at Meras

Even more cryptic. I puzzled over that, wondering what it could mean. Getting nowhere, I decided to look to see a way out of this room. How I kew that wold be a way out, do not ask for I would not know. I just did. A door I found, which I found a release for, pressed it. And opened to a hallway. Dark and deserted. I went out there and looked about.

So what wold I do?

Firstly, I would find this.....Dale and .... Meras? Maybe that would provide clues to the woman...

Who screamed in triumph as she cut me to pieces

Well, lets see how you screamed while I ripped you arms off, I thought as I begun to walk, still maked down the corridor.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She woke up startled. A sense that someone was in her bedroom watching her ... waiting to strike out unexpectedly.

It was not an unfamiliar sensation that Dalethria had woken up to in the past. She was just hoping that such terrible nightmares had been a thing of the past.

Dalethria didn't bother to turn on the lights. Instead she scanned the room, using the Force to heightened her sense of sight. Darken shadows of black and grey became familiar. Meticulously they recognized every item and moved on ... until stopping upon a piece of furniture that caused her to do something she was not well known for.

Smiling.

Inside the crib, her blessed daughter, Aliandra, slumbered peacefully. That scene alone was enough to quell the urge that something was amiss.

What was she thinking? The mansion was secure. Avagdu was at the foot of the bed, guarding them both, and she was safe inside the covers.

Nestling back down, she curled up and hugged the pillow ... slowly drifting back to sleep ....

...... and awoke once again completely startled!

It was indescribable to what was happening. At first, nothing was wrong until Dalethria felt something wrap around her foot. Whatever it was, it was so cold that it burned the skin.

With her good foot, she kicked off the sheet and blanket and recoiled back in horror.

There were not many situations in which she would be afraid but watching this metallic looking liquid slither up her leg, broke down any form of self control. Dalethria couldn't believe that a scream actually came out of her mouth!

And the creature seemed to thrive on it, moving faster, numbing everything of Dalethria that it touched. Now it was so huge that it covered her entire leg and was making its way across her abdomen. It made her feel disgusting seeing her frightened form reflected upon the metallic surface.

Why wasn't she doing anything???

With furious intent, Dalethria clawed and pushed at it. In her uncontrolled state, she was not thinking and all this did was provide another means for the liquid to travel.

Instantly her fingers grew numb. She tried pulling away from it but it was too late. Enough of the metal had attached itself to her skin that it started to grow on its on! And it captivated Dalethria...

It was really an odd feeling watching your own reactions to a situation happening right there before you. Surprise, fear, anger, hopelessness, and even fascination she witness.

She had completely forgotten where she was or the danger she faced, or even felt ... Until it was too late.

Dalethria's mind was warning her of the danger for who knows how long. It finally took her mind striking Dalethria with the feel of a red hot poker incinerating her brain to get the woman's attention. Not that it really mattered.

The pain forced Dalethria to cry out and provide her tormentor a means to enter her wholly...

... The last feeling she remembered before blacking out was hot liquid fire being poured into her mouth ....


"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Avagdu woke, startled. He got up and jumped on the bed and stared into the wild eyes of his Mistress. He whined in concern.

She didn't take notice of the wolf's presence at first. Dalethria was too busy getting her mind under control. That nightmare felt so real and it reminded her too much of past nightmares that had almost ended her life by her own hand.

The feeling of a rough, wet and sloppy tongue broke her back to reality quickly.

"Ugh ... Al lright, allright! I'm fine now."

With her arm, she wiped off the plentiful saliva that her wolf had left and then jolted out of bed. Aliandra was crying. Something she would have noticed right away if her mind was centered.

With a gentleness that only a mother could provide, she picked up her daughter and cradled her little gemstone.

"There, there. It's all right. Mommy just had a bad dream, Ali."

She frowned in sensing her daughter's thoughts. Aliandra experience the nightmare as well and was reacting to it, not Dalethria waking up.

Two things were learned from this. One, mother and daughter were connected more so then was initially thought. This was the first time that the two shared a dream.

The second was this nightmare was a bad omen. What it foretold ... not even Dalethria could guess...

[Marcus Telcontar]

Rain.

Wind.

A peal of thunder.

The flash as lightning blasted the sky apart.

This was becoming a tempest of legendary proportions, with the ferocity of the wind. Rain was being driven so hard that in some places, it was stripping leaves off trees and felling branches. Debris wa spicked up into the air and thrown high and far, sometimes to smash into trees, sometimes into Massani temples, wood shattering and cycling away. Every beast and animal had long since fled to some sort of safety, those still alive that is. An explosion sounded out, to be swallowed by the howling wind as a speeder broke it's tethers near the Jedi Temple that had been names Athona, to smash into the massive foundations and blow up into a fireball, which was snuffed out almost as fast as it was bought to life. No one dared to go outside, ont on this horrific night.

In all memory and no record, there had not been a storm to match this one on Yavin.

A few kilometers away, the flat surface top of another Massani temple stood impervious to the elemetns, silent and imposing. Not even this display of nature's fury could move this immense structure, which had stood for 5000 years. Rain smashed into the surface, bouncing and puring off the sides as the wind raked it away, throwing the water several 10's of meters before it even began to drop further to the ground. This particular temple had last seen sentient beings two years ago, when it was the silent witness to the closing acts of a 10 year old drama, a Jedi Master attacked by two Sith, the Sith beaten and run off, the Jedi crying in triumph... and then being crashed off his feet as if a giant unseen hand had slapped him. Then a figure had come out of the trees and with a great deal of calm, shot the Jedi with a stun gun. Then it had been a beautiful day. This was as opposite as you could possibly get.

And after a few minutes of only the storm, there appeared a desperate and grasping arm, reaching out over the ledge to desperatly grab hold of anything. Strong fingers found and latched onto a crack and arm muscles tightened, to drag the rest of the being over the top and to lay gasping and exhausted. He clng onto the crack for life itself, as without this hand hold, he would be thrown back over the edge and to the ground hudred's of meters below. Blinded by the pelting rain, Marcus reached out and found another hand hold, dragging himself more to the centre of the platform.

How was he going to do this?? It was impossible to stand up!

But he would, for the sword he had, Icefist, made by Darth turbogeek and made witht he powers of the Dark Side, had to be destroyed. It was normally indestructible and he wasn't even sure it could be destroyed. But here, just above the chamber where it was forged, he would unmake the foul blade. Now concentrating himself in the Force, he began to extert himself and stand up, the only way he could do this was by Pushing himself agaisn the hurricane blasting at him. It felt like he was being squeezed and he knew even he could not remain standing, even with his power, for long. Not even Yoda could stand here for too long!

He closed his eyes and then drew out Icefist..... it began to sizzle and smoke, turning the rain that belted it to ice. With grim detirmination, he raised the blade skywards...

"I CAN HEAR YOU HEAVEN! I CAN HEAR YOU!"

He suddeny and with great strength smote the stone with the tip of the sword, driving it 30 cm into solid stone witht he sheer Force amplified power of the strike...

"BUT YOU DON'T HEAR ME!!! HEAR ME AGAIN I PLEAD AND GRANT ME THE POWER TO DESTORY THIS EVIL FOREVER!!"

And with that, he twisted his hands in great surge of effort and snapped the sword in half.

The storm suddenly went silent. Marcus looked down at the broken blade in his hand, seeing it beginning to glow. The top of the temple began to glow..

"Oh crap. This is not good"

He felt it in his senses first, a great roiling of released anger and hate right at his feet. And then an impending feeling that where he stood was now a focus of the Force and with htat, the Jedi master realised the never discovered truth of this sword

It... it had the soul of Turbogeek in it! How in the Force was that possible???? That means that in breaking the sword I had to overcome his will and kill the spirit....

And now he heard the scream of fury, of hatred, of Anger and despair. A voice screamed as the wind resumed it's ferocity and knocked Marcus over, a voice that screamed out in a accent all too familiar

"You are cursed! You are cursed! You are cursed! Suffer you will and die you will this very day! No mome! Turbogeek will have his revenge!"

"No.... F'kking ..... LIKELY!" Yelled back Marcus, his voice unnaturaly powerfoul to beat out the roar of the wind. "You were never meant to be, your curse has no power over me and I now condemn you to death eternal!"

With that, the willpower of Marcus struck out and smashed into where the spirit of Turbogeek now stood. Lightning suddenly ringed the top of the temple, the stones themselves burning wiht the energy now being focused on them. A great groan came from the temple itself as the spirit quivered and wailed.

"Noo! NO! I am eternal ! You can not do this!"

With power blazing in his eyes, Marcus looked at the spirit struggling to stay existant.

"No. I see you for what you really are now. You only a reflection of what I could have become, you are only a reflection of what my life could have been. I am free of you... and... You. Are. FINISHED FOREVER!"

And with that, Marcus smote the stone of the temple with the sword shard once more and also with the hammer blow of his mind

--

Far away, a small girl sat in the Council rooms, alone in the night and looking out over the storm darkened landscape. She saw a place a few kilometers away, suddenly light up.... blazing lights licked the top of the distant temple and then quite suddenly a huge ball of fire lit the night sky. A few seconds later the whole temple rocked as a thundering percussion ripped past.

The far away fireball began to dim.

A presence she could suddenly feel... a glow inthe Force. The young girl turned to see a beautiful wmoan... and a man .... standing near her. They were smiling.

"I'm free at last" the man said. "The curse has been lifted"

The little girl glanced up and started. She had seen the woman before in her dreams... "Mommy? Is that you?"

The man glanced at the little girl, whose eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Is this...?"

The woman nodded. "It is. I'm so sorry I never told you. I should have..."

"Would things have been different?" he asked. Now details could be made out of the two shimmering presences. The woman was a blazing red head with intense green eyes, tall and slender. The man was likewise tall, handsome and clean faced. A young face, free of wrinkles or blemish. He consdiered the question.

"I think so.... I dont know. Maybe what happened was for the best. Maybe.... if you had known the truth, would you have still loved me?"

"Oh Anasta, you know the answer. Would you have stayed committed to Helenias if you had known?"

"No" The voice was flat and deciseive. "It was a memory, that wasn't even mine. Imagine that, his love was so strong that it was inherited by me. So... this is my daughter?"

"Yes.... Jina. Are you pleased with her?"

The man came over closer to the stunned girl. "I am Mara. She looks so much like her mother, its heartbreaking. A reflection of you and a reflection of me, mixed together. She will be a great Jedi one day, a truly great one. Do you think she is in good hands?"

Mara Jade smiled. "I do. I think none better. Jina.... I have to go now. But you listen to me. The Jedi you are with, they can protect you and teach you. You do your mhter proud, always, you hear me?"

"Mommy? Don't go! I miss you!"

"Yes darling..... but I have to go now. You be good girl Jina. Mommy will look after you"

"Mommy...? Who's that with you?" Jina asked with a trembling voice

The man smiled.

"I'm your Father Jina. I'm proud of you. I so wanted wanted to see you once more and by the Grace, I have. Goodbye my dear daughter.... I love you"

The spectres turned to each other and seemed to look into each other eyes. They moved colser to each other to embrace and then as they finally began the kiss that they most desired but were denied when they were alive, the spirits of Lady Mara Jade and the clone that had been named Darth Turbogeek mingled and vanished, leaving the girl once again alone.

"Mommy?" she called out "Daddy?" she said starting to panic "Dont leave me!"

I have not left you Jina.... I will never leave you. Marcus is your father now.... goodbye Jina, we will be with you when you dream....

"Moommieee!"

The cry echoed out into the halls of the Jedi, rolling and bouncing off the stone walls of the deserted Jedi Chambers.

"Daddiiieeee!" she cried out with all her heart. "Dont leave me!"

--

In the far distance where the flames of the destroyed temple could be barely seen, a light blinked on and then stayed on.

[Xazor Elessar]

Xazor entered the Meditation Chambers of the Temple and looked all around her. A candle was lit.....and a little girl sat in the center of the room. It was a little girl that she had recognized.....one of her flower girls from the wedding. It was Helenias's daughter......Jina.....her adopted sister. Xazor, covered in blood, clung to the shadows as to not disturb her. She had obviously been crying and continued to do so on the floor of the room. Xazor's heart ached and reached out for the little one.

The Knight slowly made her way toward her.....enveloped by a love that she had not known while bearing the terrible mark that contained her in her past. Now she felt freedom.....a new sense of peace washed over her as she knelt down at the girl's side. Xazor slowly held her finger to her lips and whispered a soothing, shhhhh......

"Jina.....Jina, are you alright sweetheart? Come here....."

The woman took the little girl into her arms and cradled her, rocking her back and forth gently. It seemed so natural for Xazor to do.....for she had done so with her own children. A smile crossed her lips once again as she noted the storm calming outside. In the window, she could once again see her reflection....but she looked different. She felt different. And she was so. The Jedi Knight now glowed from the inside out...the peace that now lived within her very soul, radiated outward to all around her. She seemed to light up the room, besides the small flame of the candle.

"Everything will be alright, little one.....you're safe from the storm....."

She continued rocking the girl, whispering sweet words to her. Xazor felt completely renewed.......her whole being had been transformed. A sweet melody played within her heart now.....and no longer would her past keep her bound by its chains. She was rid of it now.....and she could.......she would move one......

[Dwayne Hicks]

<font color=red><center>“And they say
That a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as we all fly away …”</font></center>

The song was drowned out as another liner blasted off for orbit, the eyes of a youngish man, following it’s ascent until it was out of sight. He turned away, and looked at over the terminal once again, sighing - If there was one thing a soldier hated, it was civilian escort. Especially one like Dwayne Hicks, Corporal of the New Republic. Why was he, a soldier that had been part of the NRSF until it was downsized, what was he doing on the butt end of the Galaxy, holding the hand of some snot nosed official on Arcan IV. It was even worse he had guard duty in the Jedi Bar and Grill. Why the hell did the Jedi need guards anyway? He had seen that woman without a blink break the arms of a guy who foolishly tried to get in there with a blaster. And then when he tried to fight, she had just as casually ripped his arm off and beat him with hit. Man, that had been gross to watch and then to really send chills up the spine, she had simply sat down and resumed her dinner, just as if nothing had happened. Man, Hicks had felt like throwing up and she had acted like nothing had happened! He had made a note not to step out of line cause clearly that woman, whom he remembered as Eileen Cross, was just plain bad a@@. There were a few other Jedi that were friendly and talked to Hicks while he did his duty, but there was one other person whom he was scared of and that said a lot, considering whom he had to fight in the past. Sat in the corner, his muddy and worn boots propped on the table, really ugly cloak and face covered by that hood. Never spoke, just…. Watched. Real spooky like and creepy as hell.

How had Hudson put it? Scary beyond all reason? Yeah, something like that. One of the Padawans had told Hicks that the creepy guy was rumoured to be a Jedi Master of extraordinary power and all things considered, Hicks believed it. So why the frell did they need grunts like him about? Why wasn’t he doing something useful with his time, like say washing his hair? It sucked, it really did.

Almost as much as following this damn Senator around, He had to question why he had been assigned baby sitting, when the ratbag had it’s own guard detain and even a Jedi on top of that to boot. All he was just a guy holding a rail carbine, useless as tits on a Hutt. And bored. He yawned as he stood by the desk of some help droid, in the middle of a large space port, waiting for the Senator to do what ever and Senator did. Not that Hicks cared.

“Hey, you wanna something to eat?” asked Hick’s partner in this, a tall black human they called Frosty. Who also shared Hick’s dislike for this crappy posting.

“Yeah. Something with meat and looks edible”

“Man, your asking a lot for this place. Don’t like your chances…” both men laughed, the humour at least relieving the boredom. Frosty moved away, Hicks giving the area a scan. It all looked normal, relaxed and queit, except that the re was a few spaceport officials grouped together about 20 meters away. Something about their attempts no to draw attention to themselves suddenly rang a quiet alarm bell in the solider’s mind – he might be bored, but he sure as hell wasn’t slacking off. He stayed watching for about a minute until Frosty came back. Absent mindedly, keeping his concentration on the officials, he slung his rifle, before unwrapping the burger the other soldier had gotten and taking a bite, not really noticing the flavour.

“Yo, Hicks. Something up?” asked Frosty, noting the sudden alertness of his partner.

“I don’t know. But do you suppose all those big notes over there are having a pow wow and being real quiet like?” As he spoke, the group broke up, two splitting off and moving hurriedly away – the rest moving in the same direction, just as hurried.

“I don’t know Hicks…. You want to find out?”

“Yeah….. “ drawled Hicks, his gaze fixed on the exit the group of officials went into. “”Yeah, lets go find out”

It didn’t take long for Hicks or Frosty to catch the officials, who were entering a normally sealed off door. A burly security guard trued to stop the soldiers, until they presented their id cards. Inside the room, there were about 10 controllers and managers, all discussing something heatedly.

“Excuse me, Corporal Hicks of the NR Special Forces” Hicks adlibbed. “Is there problem here?” At the sound of the NRSF, faces in the room seemed to relax a touch – the famed elite of the New Republic who were in some places better regarded than the Jedi themselves, were known to be beings who could deal with trouble.

“Yes, there is a problem Corporal. We have a hijack, two humans have taken over a liner and are threatening to shoot hostages unless they get an interstellar pilot. They have already repelled one attempt to board and they have killed five already – if word of this got out, there out be panic in this terminial!”

Hicks looked at Frosty, thinking fast. “Tell me, do you have a spare uniform?”

The officials looked at each other, puzzled, while Hicks gave his cohort a broad wink.

--

The liner was a fairly new one and was sitting by itself on one of the landing pads. It was a fair walk to it from the terminal, but that was not a real problem to the disguised Hicks. It was the fact this uniform he was now wearing fitted wrong. Well, beggars could not be choosers…. He carried in his hand a large case that had all the relevant flimsy’s a real Captain would need. Plus one nasty surprise he hoped was hidden well enough. He stayed walking briskly, until he got to the boarding ramp, at which point a dishevelled character opened the air lock, a large calibre blaster pointing at the fake flight officer.

“Who the frell are you!” yelled the desperate sounding man.

“I’m the Interstellar fly-boy you wanted” replied Hicks calmly

“If this is a trick I’ll kill you!” yelled back the man.

“No… no trick. I’m unarmed.”

“Bag down then!” the hi-jacker yelled back

“It has my flight plans and charts” replied Hicks. The hi-jacker seemed to think, then opened the lock up some more, indicating with his weapon for Hicks to board, which he did. Inside, another hi-jacker grabbed the case, ripped it open and rifled through through the contents, verifying it was clean. The fake flight officer was roughly padded down, before being told to get into the control pit.

“Where to?” asked Hicks, still calm.

“Just get us into orbit! And shut up!”

The case was thrust back into Hick’s arm’s even as he was surveying the passenger area, seeing the frightened faces and hearing the quiet sobs. And the 1…2…3..4 hi-jackers. There was blood smears on the floor and the dismembered body of what could have been a Ho-Din lay in a sickening display. Even for a battle hardened man like Hicks felt like throwing up. He looked up to see one of the hi-jackers grin sadistically. “Made the alien scum squeal before we killed him boy. Be a good little boy and you’ll wont end up like him”

Hicks understood. Alien haters. Bad ones. Crap. He took one more involuntary look at the remains of the alien, before walking to the control pit. Anger was growing in him for the senseless mutilation and he was awfully close to turning around and attacking. But, given he had four guns trained on him, that would be suicide. He begun to think quickly, while he entered the pit with one hijacker following, closing the door behind them. Inside, there was two very, very nervous pilots.

“Are you the Interstellar pilot?” one asked.

“Yep. The Liner ready?”

“Yes sir” replied the other pilot, while Hicks sat himself in the seat next to them. The Hijacker thrust the barrel of his blaster into Hick’s neck

“Move it!”

Hicks began to click buttons at random, to make himself look like he knew what he was doing and turned his head to give the hi-jacker a forceful stare. “If you don’t mind, I would rather fly without that thing poking in my neck”. The hi-jacker waived for a moment, before giving Hicks a filty look, but backing off a bit anyway “Just shut up and fly”

Hicks ignored him, concentrating on seeing if he could see a certain switch. “Co-pilot, lift us please and move to the full take off position”

“Yeah…. Yeah” replied the co-pilot, looking at Hicks with a good deal of curiosity. Hicks ignored him, rifling through the case until he came to a large data reader, which he took out. A very large reader, curiously shaped. He looked at it, before grasping the thing that looked like a handle. The Liner lifted a few feet in the air, Hicks pressing a few more buttons self importantly, noting the hijacker was now looking out the windows, not at him and not paying him attention!

The co-pilot and the other man, who was the navigator continued to look at Hicks with bemusement, until the co-pilot spoke up. “Captain… I know this is goig to be a stupid question… but have you ever flown before?”

“Nope” replied Hicks. And a that point, one of his arms snapped out and grabbed the hi-jackers shoulder, slamming the scum viciously into the control board…. and as it so happened, into the main kill switch. The Liner suddenly dropped with a crash to the ground, Hicks now grabbing the scum by the hair and pulverising the hi-jackers face into the control panel again. Letting the scum go and smack to the ground, the curious datapad came apart revealing a percussion type hand gun.

A second hi-jacker burst into the cabin, gun raised. Hicks fired first, blowing a hole in the top of the scum’s head. Even as he flopped to the ground, Hicks was moving, running out of the cabin and into the passenger compartment, catching the third hi-jacker cold with two bullets to the chest. The dead body was thrown back by the force of the shots, a business type copped a face full of sprayed lung and heart. The last hi-jacker gasped in shock, before firing blindly behind him and running to the back of the liner, where there was a sheltered alcove that he could use for cover. Screaming passengers ducked and scrambled as a few more blindly fired shots rang out.

Hicks walked calmly to the middole of the liner, raised his fist and pointed the gun.

“SIT. DOWN” He snarled.

BANG!

BANG!

Two bullet holes appeared on the wall of the alcove and a few seconds later, the dead body of the last hi-jacker flopped from what he thought was going to be shelter, the bullets blowing out his brains. Hicks stared, his jaw set firmly as he raised the gun skyward.

“As shole amateurs” he muttered.

[Loki Ahmrah]

Into the late hours of night the storm raged; an angry, violent storm that ravaged mercilessly even the tallest trees and from his vantage point high up in his personal quarters within the Jedi Temple, Loki watched the thick, green canopies being tossed about like one of the small fishing vessels on a ravenous ocean back home. He thought of his homeworld, Chandrila, the place he hadn't seen since he was left with the Jedi Order some eighteen months ago. It was something the little boy had pondered on often as of late and tonight the memories of home and the roaring winds and booming voice of thunder prevented him from sleeping.

However this wasn't the first time the ten-year-old padawan had been having trouble sleeping, in fact it was becoming more rare to have an undisturbed slumber these days and it was showing; from occasionally rubbing his eyes and yawning to falling asleep in the Bar and Grill back on Arcan IV. Suffice to say this wasn't down to the weather which left only one culprit; he was feeling homesick. This he was only beginning to realise for the fact of the matter was all these feelings he kept supressed, that way he could stay focused and develop his growing skills and abilities more efficiently.

"I wish you guys could visit more often." He said through a sigh, "It's not that I'm unhappy here, it's just that--" Loki hesitated, floundering around for words, "--I miss you." The boy's head drooped, a small padawan braid flopped down and rested on his shoulder. Then the little padawan looked up and smiled.

"You both work too much--" He broke into a chuckle and added, "--some people think I talk too much. I get that from you, mom!" The boy laughed cheekily then a sudden look of realization came over him, "And you'll be happy to know I helped treat the wounds of two Jedi, just like you showed me, mom. Unfortunately I haven't done any piloting yet, dad, I can't see over the control console!" He smiled but no later did his features dim and his face expressed unhappiness.

"Well, it's well past my bedtime--" His voice now heavy and strained like he carried some unseen burden. "--goodnight you guys."

For a moment, Loki stared straight ahead and amidst the silence his sadness grew and welled up inside of him until it trickled out in tears and with a quiet sniff placed the picture of his parents back on the window ledge. The little padawan looked up and with one last flash of light in the sky, caught a glimpse of himself and in that moment became conscious that with a reflection as his only company he truly was alone.

Returning to a bed he was just beginning to get used to Loki curled up and bringing the blanket up to his chin he held on tight, hoping the morning will come sooner than it will. And the light from one more room in the temple disappeared as the storm having passed over slowly died away.

[Marcus Telcontar]

The rain continued to pound down, the wind continued to blast. Lighting continued to crackle and spit, and within the rubble that had been the top section of a Massani temple, flames continued to burn in places and also the top of trees that had been seared by the blast sizzled. Around the temple itself was about 100 meters all round of destruction, scattered masory having mowed trees down, as well as the hammer fist of the blast.

And at the broken top of the temple, lying arcoss the remains of some large blocks, Marcus Q’Dunn lay. He was wide eyed and gasping, quite frankly stunned he had managed to produce a shield in the Force strong enough to keep him alive. Badly hurt no doubt by the feel of the pain beginning to race through his body, but…. alive. He groaned as he managed to slide behind a lage stone to shelter himself from the wind, if not some of the torrential downpour. Beside him, a stone burned, flames being fanned by the wind and because the stone was still too hot, not being put out by the rain. He looked about, noting he was still somehow also at the remains of the top of the temple. And eh still had the hilt of the now broken Icefist in hand.

No, not Icefist. It never was truly that. Turbogeek never knew what the true name of this ancient weapon was, or why it was broken when he got it and Marcus was certainly not going to tell that clone what a great treasure it was. Now it sat on his lap, back in it’s broken form, it’s light gone out. The other shard had somehow ended up next to him, also cold and dark. He picked it up, glanced at it and put the broken end into the sheath, followed by the hilt shard. One day, it would be reforged properly, at the right time when he would reclaim what was rightfully his.

And thinking about what was his…..

The wedding ring on his hand.

<center><font color=red>Someone told me
Love would all save us
But, how can that be
Look what love gave us </center></font>



No, it was not. He and Helenias told others in the Order they had wed and in the definition of marriage, they had, for they had sworn to each other. But she had not sought her real father’s permission until recently…. And in that her father had been firm. There would be no true wedding until Marcus claimed the crown of Arda, for that was his birthright. It had been a terrible shock when the holo had come back… a shock for Marcus had not known. He had known Helenias was of noble birth, but what was he? Just a wandering child, taken when he was young. How could he be the heir to a kingdom that he had never heard of and didn’t feel part of?

<center><font color=red>A world full of killing
And blood spilling
That world never came</center></font>

Helenias was the Evenstar of her people, the Star of first rising. He was named Elessar, Friend of the First Born. His real mother had died when he was young and his father before his birth, slain by the minion of the Evil One who held Arda in her grip. Nameless she was to the Firs Born, but to him, known. He had been her apprentice for nearly 90 years, unbeknown what it was she had taken. And even Callista, the evil witch who had kept him trapped in the Dark Side for so long, she didn’t know, so engrossed she was on the Prophecy of The Dark Fury, the opening of a portal to great power, power beyond all knowing and all understanding. She was obsessed with power and with the idea of putting one of the Chosen – Marcus, Dez Arken, Shay Kaylon or Gregori Paladin as one of the ones who wielded that power, one whim would use the jewel that Marcus had hidden out of reach.

Shay was now dead, killed by Venom.

Dez Arken was in hiding and was not to be found

Gregori was under protection and out of reach.

And Marcus himself…. Callista had been fooled by his own clone, Turbogeek. Turbogeek for all the Galaxy knew was a pile of ash on some unknown and unnamed planet. Callista thought he was gone for good and Helenias dead 11 years earlier. As the wind blasted a spray of water over him, he came to the knowing that herein was the third par of his personal trial. The first was to be rid of the spectre of Turbogeek, with the breaking of the last link, which had been the sword. The second was to let go of all ties that bound him, which was Helenias. He could not truly call her his wife, he could not settle with her and be at peace at her side until his task was over. He could not truly be wed to his Evenstar until he once again claimed the throne. He had be a Jedi for a while longer, truly be a Jedi like none other that lived. That meant that he could have no distractions, nothing to drag him back and nothing to stand in his way to what he had to do.

So be it, he thought. Not until Callista lay dead would he rest would he stop and not until Callista was dead would he have Helenias in marriage in the tradition of Arda.

It was sealed with him kissing the wedding ring and swearing an oath so it would be so.

The third…. The third he was not sure he was ready for. But he knew in his heart it had to be done. For so long he had lived with the shadow of Callista, for so long he had run from it and hidden. And been afraid what she could do, for she was powerful beyond reason. She had nearly gotten him twice in the time since he had rebelled against her and she had nearly gotten Helenias. Once he had faced her as her prisioner, once across from the army she had lead on Coruscant. Now he knew that he had to face her, not as a learner, but an equal or even the Master.

She thought he was dead and gone.

She was wrong. Marcus was not her slave, he was not her servant and he was not her apprentice. He was Marcus Q’Dunn, Jedi Master, Warlord of the Republic at one time, a learned and powerful Jedi, with the true power of the Force and the God he believed in on his side. A man that bowed to no one and no one could defeat. Marcus closed his eyes, then raised a fist in the air. The fist began to glow, brighter and brighter until his whole body was bathed in white light. He slowly opened his palm, and on it was the tiny silhouette of a female form, old, bent, cursed.

“Callista”

The figure seemed to move, float in the air until it reached a point where it was on one of the larger broken stones

“Callista! I call thee! Answer! Across the distances, let thee know one from the past calls thee!”

He felt across the vast, vast distance the answering call. Who is this? Even at this distance, the mind was putrid and unclean. He was revolted by it’s touch and it’s feel and he could feel it’s hideous surface thoughts.

“You will meet me in the Place of the Mind Gathering. And I shall speak to you”

Who are you?

“That I will tell you when you meet me. Now, or later?”

He could feel the puzzlement. Now

BLINK

The whole scene changed and the wind and rain disappeared. Even the lightning dissolved into a place that did not really exist – a simple room of grey stone, long and fairly bare, with a table and chairs. A fire for the imagination of warmth and comfort. The Place of the Mind Gathering, a place that the ones in the conspiracy of the Dark Fury Prophecy met. Now, there was only Callista left of that, the end line that had tired to make the writings of the inane Jedi of 7000 years ago true. What would she think, to see someone she had never seen before in front of her? For she would not have seen this face and this form, not precisely. He noted that in this place he was dry, but he also had the usual travelling cloak and clothing, stained boots that made him look like a wanderer more than a Jedi. And at his side was the sword, on the other hip his lightsabre, the strangely made and worked sabre called Athona, Lightbringer in the Common tongue.

Marcus did not have long to wait, for in a minute he felt the presence of someone else arrive behind him. He did not turn, but instead spoke aloud.

“Callista. Long I have desired to have this word with you” he said in his soft, musical and strangely accented voice.

A few footfalls sounded out and a cane could be heard tapping on the ground. “Stranger, who are you? Why have I have you called me here in this place? Is it about The Fury?”

“In a way it is” he replied, still not turning around. “And in a way it is not. What it mainly is, it is a discussion we should have had a long time ago”

“Discussion?” she replied, her old voice still silky smooth and calm. “But I do not know you stranger. How can we have a discussion that has waited years if I know not whom you are?”

“Well, that be the thing we discuss…. My Mistress. We shall discuss exactly who I am” Marcus slowly turned around, arms folded and without fear or any type of kowtowing, he stared powerfully at the old woman, bent and seemingly fragile. She could feel the turmoil in her mind as she at first puzzled out his remark and then in a rush recognised the man who stood before her. So different to the supplicant that she would have known, so different to thew coward of a Jedi and the weakling of the clone. Here in front of her was a man whom would refuse to bow knee or to be frightened by her evil.

“Venom? My apprentice?” she said slowly, looking up and down at Marcus. “My you have changed. One might say you have become someone new. I thought you were dead”

“Your right, Venom is dead. The piteous fool died two years ago. I am not he and nor am I that clone you bought to being out of my blood. I am not Turbogeek and I am not your plaything. Lookat me and dare say my real name if you have the courage anymore” he taunted.

“Courage?” she replied “Courage? What would you know about courage. You failed me Lord Venom and for that you should die. That family should be dead and you should be making final preparations for the Fury. But I am willing to give you a second chance. Come back and be at my side again and learn your true place once again!”

Marcus stayed silent for a moment, before replying. “My real place? What a fool’s lie you try to sell me once again and you know it. My place is Arda and my place is on it’s throne which you denied me. For that you deserve death. For trying to kill me, you deserve death. For the death of Evenstar, you deserve death. And death you shall have”

Callista cackled. “OH, are you still touchy about that dead whore? Why don’t you find her grave and ---- her dead bones if your so attached to that fool?”

“I have no need of that. For not only is Evenstar alive….so is Marcus Q’Dunn. So is the person you wished to squash and to deny existed. I stand here and I defy you Callista. You are not my Mistress and I reject you and your teaching utterly. I reject your schemes and I reject the Prophecy and last of all….. I demand back what is mine. You give me back my place and you shall kneel before me and call ME Lord as is my right to demand”

A look of pure fear suddenly crossed Callista’s face as Marcus mentioned Helenias’ name. “No… you lie! She is dead! And Marcus never existed! That is not you and never was – you are Venom and forever that you shall be and your destiny is the Fury, whether you like it or not!”

The Jedi began to smile and shake his head. “Oh Callista, what a Court Jester you would make. What a true fool you are and yet you are pitiable. I give you a final chance. Remove yourself from what is mine and I will spare your life”

The evil old woman spluttered, before answering, her voice becoming a rising scream. “Me a fool? It is you who is a fool Venom and it is you who gets the final chance! Reject this lie that you try to believe and receive the true power of the Dark Side…”

The very rocks seem to thunder and echo as Marcus suddenly interrupted, bellowing with the full power of his voice and with The Force. “THOU ART A FOOL! I SHALL NOT BE YOUR LACKEY, FOR I AM MARCUS Q’DUNN AND I AM A JEDI – YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE…..NOW YOU WILL DIE!”

She cringed, eyes going wide in surprise. “Indeed, you have become powerful my old apprentice” she said quietly.

“I am not your apprentice and I never was” he snarled back

“Oh, but you will be… once I PUNISH YOU!” she screamed and raised a hand. Blue bolts of energy leaped out from the fingertips, seeking to burn Marcus to a crisp. The Jedi helped up a hand and to her shock, simply deflected the waves of energy straight back at her. Reacting in a panic, she moved unexpectantly fast and jumped, the bounced lightning exploding into the wall in a fire ball. She landed, her eyes wide in surprise.

“As I said” explained Marcus in that quiet and strangely accented voice of his “You were my Mistress once, but now you are no more. There is nothing you can teach me that I would ever find useful…... Is that the best you can do or have your powers become weak like your body?”

The last was said n such a tone that the words seemed to take substance and hit the old woman like a physical blow. HSe reeled at the power of his voice, before recollecting herself and standing straight, casting the cane away and all pretence of frailty. “So shall it be Q’Dunn. I have another Venom from where I got the first, so it matters little you die now!”

“Oh, that failed monster freak? If you can reattach the pieces, ask him who yet again killed him. It seems Helenias got you pet first”

The old woman gave Marcus a stare that would quail or even kill lesser beings. “You lie!”

“I have had enough of talk. This place may not exist in reality, but you can still die in it and with it the Dark Fury” Marcus closed his eyes and stretched out a hand, going deep into the Force. Callista screamed and with a wave of her hand, commanded the Dark Side to hurl the Jedi into the wall – but it was met with what seemed like an immovable object, the two opposing forces colliding with a loud and sharp slap. She tried again, to get the same result, the hitting of something solid. She threw all her thought and will into a third attempt, only to see Marcus only needing a step backwards to right himself.

He was imagining himself as a huge rock, with roots that went down far into the ground, impervious to all attempts to move him. Now she raised her hands angain, unleashing wave upon wave of energy, the snap and crack loud, the smell of ozone clear and sharp as it curled and snapped through the air – it hit the outstretched hand and bounced away, hitting walls and floor with thunderous detonations. After seemingly hours of the outpouring of energy, it finally stopped, a look of amazement of the old witch’s face.

“A difference from the last time we met, is it not?” he stated calmly. She stared, breathing heavily.

“I am not finished with you!” she screamed.

“Too late…. My turn”

The chamber shook and a few seconds later, the very stones under Callista’s feet seemed to detonate and send shrapnel flying into the air. She squealed in surprise, making a desperate leap out of the way before she was cut to ribbons. But where she trod, the power seemed to follow her, chasing her steps as she tried to escape. Yet again the chamber resounded to the echoes of explosions and rattles as another burst of stones fired from the floor, right into her face.

“AAAGGHHHHH!!!” she screamed, holding onto her bleeding face. Still the barrage didn’t stop, sh she took the only route she could think of to release her anger and hatred – she ran, going up the wall and running along it with superhuman speed to try to physically attack the Jedi. As she did, the other palm snapped out, hitting her in the solar plexus so that she flew backwards for a few meters to land skidding on her backside. But her intent had succeeded, the stone barrage stopped, Marcus now changing his stance into a fighting one, knowing that the battle had changed.

“It is a pity lightsabres do not work here” he said.

She didn’t reply, except to call one of the chairs to her hand, smashing it with a jick to give herself two long poles as weapons. Almost with out pause, she came at him, striking out at his head and body at the same time. Marcus retreated or occasionally threw up an arm in a block moving backwards. Callista was a good deal faster than what she looked – two blows hit home, sending Marcus reeling backwards and tripping up on some debris. Even as he fell, he was using the Force to summon another of the chairs, this time ripping it apart with his bare hands and becoming similarly armed, one of the pieces of wood having a curl on the end as it had formed part of the armrest. She attacked once more, this time met with stoic defence. The wood clacked and banged as they moved backward and foreward, but fighters looking for a hloe in the other’s defence – until Marcus made a circular motion with his arm and with the hooked weapon, trapped both of Callista’s staffs low, leaving her face open. The other weapon in his hand reached out and belted the old woman, with a sickening snap he knew that her jaw had broken, along with the wood he was holding. Not giving her and respite, he reached and grabbed the front of her dress and with a heave, threw her over his shoulder, screaming until she slammed back first into the meeting table, which broke in half and collapsed.

Bleeding from the nose, Marcus turned around, intent on finishing the job off when he felt….

DANGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He looked around, expecting an attack from anywhere, but instead seeing the old woman stand unsteadily, but still with control of the Force, close her eyes and then begin to speak in a ancient language he didn’t know. But as he looked around, the room, the intent was clear – she was going to destroy this place and because his presence was here, trap him forever within the ruins! Wihtout hesitation, he closed his eyes and willed himself back to where his physical form was, back on Yavin…..

The walls began to collapse then with a detonation that would have broken a planet, the Place of Mind Gathering was rent and destroyed forever......

His body lays quietly asleep, unknowing of the storm that raked Yavin now, until with a gasp, it reanimated. Suddenly feeling rushed back, the Jedi suddenly feeling how cold it was, and just how wet and windy. He also felt the last virges of the mind contact with Callista die off, felt she was still alive and knew he was as well. She shrieked with frustration, anger and fear as with a contempuios mind twist, Marcus made sure the connection broke. But not without final words…

You are fortunate to survive this time witch… next time it will not be so! Contemplate what you found out and how you lost and let it rot your soul until the next time of meeting, when you will die

As the link dissolved and the echoes of Callista’s final scream rang in his head, he shook his head sadly. Revenge was not of the Jedi, but she was too evil to allow to live. Until she repented, he would continue to hunt her- maybe that she would see the error of her ways and repent, but more likely he would have to destroy her and her organisation, piece by piece, until they both stood alone and facing each other for the final time. At a time when there was nothing more to lose and there had to be a final battle that ended with the death of one of them. It was sad that it would have to be that way, but that was not for him to decide. All he would do would be to take the necessary steps to stop her evil forever.

He tried to get up and in that realised he was exhausted and hurt. The mental fight with Callista had taken it out of him, so he had to sit back for a few more minutes, before feeling strong enough to be able to stand up in the leeward side of the stone debris, still sheltering from the howling wind. The light that had surrounded him was glowing less and went out, leaving him groping for handholds once again in the darkness – but not for long, for he sensed there was a passageway under one of the rocks he could get into and hence make his way into the ways of the temple itself. A rivulet of water that disappeared into the debris and did not fill up into a puddle gave him a clue where it was and with a mental pull, he lifted a stone the reveal the dark passage. He quickly went in, placing the stone behind him so that only water could get in, not the screaming wind. After the stone was put back in place, the relative quiet took over, the only sound being the splashing of running water. It was too dark inside to see, so the Jedi took out his light sabre and igniting it, using the weapon much like a glow rod.

As he walked, he realised he felt for the first time in his life free.

Free of the shadow of Dark Turbogeek.

Free of Callista and her looming presence over his life. He was now the Master, not the apprentice

Free of the attachments he had made, even if he still was bound to Helenias and would always be – but until his tasks were over and he could sit by quietly, Helenias would also wait for that for that time, when he reclaimed what was his and she was by his side.

Free of the daily torture and fear that had tried to rule his life for so long.

And in the finally, in the long process that had begun with the ambush 6 months before at Whitetown, he was who he was and nothing more. He had declared his presence and had revealed his name. More and more were beginning to know that Marcus Q’Dunn lived and who he had been, but they also knew what he was, truly was. He was a true Jedi, cleat and calm in the Force, a Jedi powerful and learned, patient and quiet, always prepared to defeat evil in it’s many forms.

And free of the spectre that he had never been tested and faced what others had. Now to him, he genuinely was a Jedi Master, one like had not been told of since Skywalker and Yoda.

As he walked, he felt the Force flow in him, giving him strength and vitality and he took each step forward.

On the floor, a puddle of water reflected the light of the sabre, and oddly for the normally colour strobing weapon, it remained a clear and bright white light.

Possibly a reflection of what the wielder was inside and in The Force




Oh yeah, here be marks my 5000th post as Marcus and my 10,000 post on SWFans / SWForums. Hey, why bother with dancing? I prefer something remarkable to mark this :p

[Jyanis Scorpion]

Adrenaline pumped through his body. The ground opened up and he was falling. He strained to look beneath him but failed to see anything. Darkness surrounded him. An empty, floating feeling consumed him. He tumbled through space, cold air creeping up on him, tingling every hair on his back, running up his spine. Frantically, he ran through nothing, trying in vain to escape. He hadn't even noticed his eyelids were shut. He tried desperately to open them, to only see what was chasing him. Nothing happened. He was helpless. He was afraid.

Jyanis leaped up to his knees, holding back screams. Heavy breathing filled the room. His. He looked around. The dim light of an early sunrise crept across the floor. Only challenged by the flickering wall light in the refresher.

He fell back onto the pillow, quickly running his hands through his messed hair. It was soaked. So were his hands. Cold beads of sweat ran down his forehead. Letting a groan out, he pushed away the tangled bed covers and sat up on the edge of the mattress. He forced himself to his feet, almost tripping over the table.

The main light automatically switched on as soon as he stepped into the refresher. He turned the dial above the sink and watched the crystal clear water pour in. It splashed and sprayed in a continuous rhythm, twinkling like a thousand diamonds. He shook off the brief mesmerization and cupped his hands under the water, leaning forward to wash his face. Droplets fell from his chin as he grabbed a towel. He squeezed it tight over his eyes, and brought it down slowly, exposing himself to the mirror. Exposing himself to the face looking back.




===




Rolling plains of grass stretched as far as the eye could see. Beyond the horizon, the very tip of the highest mountains were visible. Their snow-covered caps lined the orange sky at random. It was a rare and majestic sight to behold, isolated from any wrong.

"Domik! Where's Jyanis?"

A young woman stood in the doorway to a small, dome-shaped homestead. Her simple beige dress made no contrast at all to the bronze tone of her skin, and was augmented by her equally brown eyes. Slowly, a smile appeared across her face, gracefully brushing back a few long strands of hair. Silver hair.

Barely a second later, a man peered out the window of a small shed. There was no doubt to the fact that he was not human. He had dark blue skin, which remained an exact shade at least until his brown shirt sleeves. His hair was a glossy black, and was beginning to grey a little above his ears. Perhaps his most noticable physical trait were his eyes, completely blood red, like swirling liquid gems.

"I think he's out back tending the garden!"

The woman's smile widened, "Go get him! Now, quickly!"

Domik walked around the simple homestead to the rear. He grazed his hand on the fence post and stepped through the gate. There was the garden, lush and fertile. It was almost completely green. Almost. A small boy, not even ten years old, kneeled in a patch of bare dirt. His eyes were transfixed on the ground, a perplexed look on his face.

"Jyanis, what's wrong?"

The boy looked up, "The kebs aren't growing, dad. I don't know why."

Domik smiled through his beard, "I'm sure they'll sprout up sooner or later. Have you been watering them like I told you to?"

Rolling his eyes, the youth stood, "I suppose it's just a bad season. The one thing I wanted to eat too."

He walked over to his father, who placed a hand on his shoulder, "Come on inside. It's getting cold and your mother wants to talk to you."

Columns of steam rose into the cooking vent from a large pot sitting on the stoven. A light breeze whistled through a crack in the windowpane. Jyanis kicked his boots into the closet and dusted off his hands. He turned around and bumped his elbow on the wall. His entire arm tingled and he grimaced, shaking it off as he walked into the kitchen.

His mother walked in from another room with a brown cloth bag, tied with a white piece string. She set it on the table and stepped aside, motioning for him to come over. Just then his father walked in and made a quick search through a few cupboards.

"Naomes, where are the soil salts?"

She laughed and pointed to the tiny metal cylinder at his feet, then turned her attention back to Jyanis, sliding the bag across the table surface towards him, "Open it."

Jyanis hurriedly untied the string and allowed the cloth to fall back, revealing a wooden lizard. He took the toy in his hands with delight and rotated it before his eyes. It was a wooden sculpture, resembling a harmless grass lizard, native only to this region. The head and tail seemed seperate from the body. Carefully he pushed the tail to one side, causing the lizard's mouth to open. The gears hidden inside clicked against eachother, producing a loud crackling noise, mimicking the the animal's call.

He smiled and pushed the tail back and forth. Domik reached over Jyanis' shoulder and dropped a plate of sugar biscuits in the middle of the table, "Happy birthday, Jyanis."




===




Many years had passed. It had been almost three since he was recruited. He was thirteen then.

Now, he was on a distant planet, surrounded by beings he did not know. Most of them learners like him, uncertain and afraid. Finally they were to meet their true master. Until then, each had their own teacher, who would test their abilities years before they could ever even know the identity of their master.

Jyanis had been forbidden to speak with any other students, so he did not know how they had been tested. He himself had undergone a grueling cycle of physical and mental training. His teacher had pushed his stamina and strength to the limit, then beyond. With barely any sleep or food, he learned how to fight, and he learned how to kill. Though Jyanis' body was exhausted, his mind was more awake than ever. His teacher told of a great power that lay within him, that would serve him and propel him to his full potential. Then he told him of the master's power, a power not to be trifled with.

They all were together now. The students sat cross-legged on the floor, one group on each side, their respected teachers standing behind them. Jyanis took the time he had now to examine his fellow learners. Every one of them wore the same grey clothes. He counted twelve of them, including himself. Most were about his age, all from different worlds. Children.

To the rear of the room was the main entrance, a grand doorway engraved in detail with ever complex and elaborate patterns. But the front of the room drew most of Jyanis' attention. Three small steps led up to a platform. On the platform was an empty throne, overlooking the entire room. The room itself appeared to be constructed entirely out of wood and stone, with no windows, and only torches protruding from alcoves in the walls to provide adequate light and heat.

Just then, Jyanis' thoughts were interrupted by a new presence in the room. A door he had not noticed had opened behind the throne, and two unarmed guards entered. The pair walked to the edge of the platform, flanking the empty throne. A revered silence overcame the room. The teachers were no longer standing, but had lowered themselves to one knee and bowed their heads.

All eyes were focused on the platform as a feeble looking old man stepped into the light. A long hood draped loosely over his forehead, shadowing most of his face. His visible skin was pale and looked as if it was about to fall from his bones. The tail of his black robe dragged lightly on the floor with each slow step. Jyanis could not comprehend such a creature standing under his own will. He looked like he would snap in half at any moment.

Yet Jyanis felt an eerie chill washing over him. An unusual fear that continued to grow in the wake of this man's presence. Gradually, he hunched his posture and leaned back into the throne. The silence continued on for what seemed like forever. Then the teachers stood again, waiting for something. Whatever that something was came unseen, and one of the teachers on the other side took a step forward towards their student. Jyanis saw out of the corner of his eye that another teacher on his own side had done the same.

What's going on?

In response to his thoughts, a deep voice reverberated off the walls and penetrated the minds of all who heard, "BEGIN!"

[Simon Desvelles]

<center><font color=red>Now that the world isn't ending
It's love that I'm sending to you
It isn't the love of a hero
And that's why I fear it won't do</font></center>

It was the end of a long and hot day.

The workers were all leaving to go back to their homes – some a good hour’s speeder flight away, others in the accommodation bunkhouses that were close to the main sheds and barns. And in the main homestead, the foremen and the owner of the huge property were gathering to plan for tomorrow. Right now, they were in the middle of harvest, a frenetic and frantic time, when sleep was at a premium. And even worse this year, the transports were proving unreliable, hence they fact most of the workers had not slept in a day and a half. In a struggle to keep to schedule, a huge effort had been made to load and shift thousands of tonnes of food stuffs. 52 transport trips, with ten heavy trailer-tractor speeders had with, now with only a few more days left of the schedule, tension was beginning to unwind as weary men started to relax and catch up on their rest. There was a second shift out there still harvesting, but Simon Desvelles, the owner and operator of the huge freehold, was beginning to see the end of this annual hell. The biggest paydays, but the most trouble, the most bone wearing and exhausting, the days when he didn’t rest or eat properly for over a week. With Ukio’s biggest farm, in one of the most fertile places in the galaxy, harvest was truly a trying time, especially with the workforce that swelled to over 5000 at times. Speeders needed maintenance, transports proved troublesome, harvesters needed to be kept running for days on end without stopping, personnel disputes, payments to be made and received, haggling over prices and contracts….. it just never seemed to end this time of year. Oh, there was also praying they were not hit by an unexpected cloud burst that set back the timetable.

Thankfully he thought as he looked over the charts of where the harvest had yet to get to, that had not happened. If the truth be told, this year was shaping up to be a good one, with no real disruptions and some really, really good crop prices, because the quality was exceptional. Also given the nerfs were in high demand and prices for them were high, this years was looking to nicely swell out the bank accounts to a point not seen in ten seasons, not since his father had died. It was even more notable that the illegal narcotic business he had on the side had been shut down and he had gone 100% legitimate. And he had to admit, he felt better for doing that, now spending time looking after the farm instead of gallivanting about, leaving other to look after his work, drinking and womanising.

Funny thing was, it had taken a woman for him to see his ways of being wrong. That and the wreckage of the speeder that had Aliysah in it and in his dreams he could still see the massive explosion as the wildly drawn craft had smashed into Eye Pass. There also was that witch Xazor and that madman whom called himself….. what had he called himself? Simon couldn’t remember. But the did remember the eyes that seemed to be alive on their own accord with their intensity and the way that man had torn apart the gang that tried to kidnap both he and Arya….

Damn it. Don’t think of her, Simon thought. Not now…..

He shunted his mind back to the proper business of the evening, beginning to map out where he wanted the harvesters in the morning.
--

6 nights later.

All was quiet on the Desvelles freehold, for the harvest was over and for now, life was returning to normal. The casuals had all mainly gone back to Lowhold or Farview, the farm hands that worked the freehold full time were having a well earned night at the tapcafes of Lowhold, leaving only a skeleton staff to oversee security and also the thousands of animals scattered around the farm itself and it’s buildings. It was a cool and clear night, no moons were out so only the billions of stars could be seen in the heavens. There was the occasional moving star of a spaceship, but other than that, not a cloud in the sky. With the nearest town so far away, this was the perfect place to sit and stare at the stars and for the man climbing out onto the roof of the homestead, that was exactly what he was intending to do.

Simon wasn’t much of a stargazer, his life was too busy to normally allow that and to be honest, he could not think of a place he would rather be. For generations, his family had worked this land, gaining more area as they bought other farms and gathering them into the growing Desvelles freehold until the point where the farm was now 172 km at it’s widest point. It was a full time job just even thinking about running the place, which was why there were several foremen who looked after specific areas. Simon himself preferred the nerfs, docile creatures that were eventually sold to butchers on Coruscant to feed the wealthy. Oh, sure he was looked upon as backwards and dumb nerf herder in Farview, but that was usually by drunks and labourers who had no idea just how much money was in the business. Good well reared nerfs were worth thousands of credits. One of his better bucks had been sold at auction for 3500 just the other week, more credits that most saw in a month.

He might be a farmer and for the snobs a backwards bumpkin, but he was no fool. The Desvelles family was wealthy and he had all sorts of cousins and nephews, a few whom worked here. It was a tradition for the Desvelles to have large families and this homestead had been made for that purpose, a well off farmer raising children. It was also tradition that the eldest male inherited the farm, the rest for the children got the credits in the bank – it proved to be a good policy over the years, it meant the eldest would be more interested in working the farm and making sure it was fit for when he took it over, the other siblings worked it so they got as much cash at the proper time. And so it had worked until Simon’s father – who had married late and uniquely had only one child. With no other direct relatives really alive, Simon got just about the lot and it had nearly been ruinous, because the land and the love of it had not been ground into him, to permeate his soul and his skin. He didn’t learn to appreciate the smells and the sounds and to love the soft fall of rain on the roof, the lowing of nerfs and the wonder when a new one was born, to feel the grain through his fingers as he walked a field, to see the sun rise over the mountains as you walked back home after a night time shift, to see the sun set as you drove the harvester, to feel the touch of the wind on his face and the warmth of the sun after a chilly night. None he really understood, all he had wanted was adventure and excitement and he had preferred to race speeders that wash sheds.

Well, he had gotten adventure a few months ago, he reflected as he took the top off the bottle and took a sip of the drink inside. Oh yeah, more than enough excitement to last several lifetimes. Damn near got him killed it had, more than once even. And Aliysah was nothing more than table scraps after the speeder she had stolen had ended up crashing into that cliff. Along with Regt and Toby, whom he had thought were friends. Far from it, it had turned out. They had been using him to run their drug operations and were going to rat him out and let him take responsibility. Aliysah’s betrayal still hurt and her death was still a stab in the heart. Man, what had he been thinking when he got into that? IF there was one thing he was thankful for, it was the fact he had come to his senses and seen the way he should be living his life. What had been that hooded madman’s parting words? Something about going home and rethinking his life? Oh yeah, he had allright.

Especially after that insane fool had leapt off a 10 storey building, dragging Simon howling by the collar to certain death…. Only to land reasonably softly in a garbage compactor. Oh, there was the shoot out and then the …. Errrr….

He flicked the bottle’s lid of the edge of the roof, a frown on his face. To be honest, the details were pretty sketchy in his mind. All he really remembered of that night was that Anasta, coming up out of the filtration plant and beating the poodoo out of Simon. That he remembered all too clearly, the clean shaven and young man, with the bad attitude and the fist to match. Desvelles was a very big human, 208 cm tall and from a lifetime of being on the land, tough and muscular, but he had been no match for the frenzy. Nothing could be….. except for that hooded man, who had appeared just before Anasta was going to deal a killing blow. He remembered Anasta’s face, the anger, the hate… and the fear as he had seen Hooded Boy come after him. Simon had been one of the few witnesses to that brutal fight, which he was sure the hooded madman would have been carved up. No…. Anasta had run off, bleeding and half dead.

He remembered the blonde, Xazor Magus who had given Simon medical aid. He sort of remembered the other things before that Madman had done with Desvelles in tow, he vaguely remembered a beam of light or two, he remembered a group of …. Outworlders lead by a tall and imposingly beautiful woman. He remembered a chase.

And more on that, he had perfectly clear memories of Arya Ravenwing. An Ungodly beautiful woman. Fierce, sexy, clad normally in skin tight leather, proved to be a fighter and the most attractive and seductive woman Simon had ever met. It was a damn pity that he had to be such a fool whenever she had been around, a bumbling halfwit. Not like Anasta, whom was cool and calm and handsome. He had so wanted to show he was more than a nerf herder, show he had been worthwhile of her attention…. But what chance had he had against a criminal like Anasta?

None.

None at all and it had nearly been the death of him. Should have been his death and if it wasn’t for…. Damn it, what was his name?... it would have been. Turned out Arya was Anasta’s woman and Anasta was a fiercely jealous man. That’ll teach Simon for falling for an Outsider, he should have fallen for Aliysah…. And she might still be alive as well.

And least the hooded man was right.

What you might be feeling now Simon, that will soon go, in fact you will feel better when you recover and be at your rightful home. Learn to appreciate the hills and the valleys, for this place is beautiful – what is better, to wander a fith ridden and ugly galaxy, or stay at home and live in safetly and peace? You should rethink your life

And so he had. And found the peace and serene beauty of hard work and toil that suited a man such as him perfectly.

He had made his choice. The farm it would be and he would thankful for it.

But…

In his other hand, he held a strange object, something Arya had dropped as Anasta dragged her away. He remembered the expression on her face as she disappeared, the fear in her eyes, the knowledge the man she was following was insane. He had crawled painfully to that spot, micked the round… thing up. And had hidden it away.

Now, he looked down at it, remembering. His place was here, but there was still something missing – her. He wanted Arya to find the same peace he had, to be here at his side and be his partner. He had seen not the tough exterior, but what was inside and to him it was even more beautiful that the outside. He had fallen completely and hopelessly in love with her, but he was certain she would never love him or even see him again. He wanted to let her know he loved her, but he was no hero, not like that hooded man. His love would never do for her and he knew it. He had nothing to offer such a woman like Arya.

Simon bowed his head in sadness, then after a few minutes leaned back and lay on the roof, staring up at the stars, wondering where Arya was tonight and what she could be doing.

I love you Arya…. I wish I had the courage to tell you that and I wish….. one day I can. But I’ll never see you again, will I?

[Venom]

It was…. Light? Outside the…..?

Oh, why bother thinking about it. I had no idea what a building was, or a corridor or even the sun. I was seeing everything newly, for there was nothing to anchor what I was seeing, to suggest, to name. I did know I had come down things to lower levels, some beings had seen the nightmare I was of steel and skin, some had run. Others had gawked. Still others seemed not to be worried, as if they saw monstrosities like me all the time. Maybe they did, for out where the light was greater and the spaces wider than inside, there was a great number of walking beings, some of cloth, flesh and some metals. Despite my height and the sheer bulk of my frame, I felt I could merge into the flow, walking along, trying to work out what I saw.

And wonder on what the flimsy said.

I had no idea where this Meras was and I did not know what a Dale was. How to find out, I did not know either. So I continued to walk, not knowing what to do. Occasionally I would bump into smaller beings, some whom fell over, others who bounced away and said things – I could hear the words, but I could not understand them. Well, I did understand they were yelling at me, but there was no reason for me to care. I just kept walking. And walking. And walking. Time had no meaning, so I did not know it was three hours before I came to the end of the footway – and at this end there was a point where things flashed by and beings waited. Not understanding at this was a controlled crossing, I stepped out into the middle of the road, ignoring the scream of horror and a cry of “Look out!”

WHAM!

I was hit by something moving fast with enough force to be thrown a good distance. Pain exploded in the fleshed parts of my body, the steel parts not caring. My head hit the road and with a burst of pain, the lights went out.

(…. Hey he’s coming around

…amazing, he should be dead, being hit by a speeder like that…

….all that cyborg stuff. I wonder what happened so he got all that hardware?...

… Dunno. A garbage compactor maybe?...

…. Well…. Hey, we have recognition…..)

I blinked. The lights were back and I was lying down. Parts of me felt numb.

“Welcome back to the living Cyborg Man” said a man in a white uniform. “How do you feel?”

I didn’t understand, but somehow, I felt my jaw move and to my surprise… I could make sounds much like this being could!

“F…ee…l?”

“Yeah like, do you feel good? Bad? In pain? How do you feel?”

“B…a….d?”

The being’s face crinkled. “Damn, he’s got Amnesia. He doesn’t remember a thing. I hope it’s temporary”

“Re…mem…ber?”

“Okay, can you remember anything? Recall something before you got hit? Do you know your name?”

I think I worked out what remember was. It was to do with knowing something that had happened. But, not knowing the words for walking, I simply parroted what I could remember. “Dale….. Meras. Find Me…ras”

“Your name is Dale? Is this … Meras important to you?”

“Fi…nd Dale. On…. Meras”

The being nodded. “Find Dale on a place called Meras? Is that what you mean?”

“I..mport…ant”

“Good. Okay, you rest a few minutes and we’ll start to try to find this Dale on Meras. We’ll be back” I saw the being leave with another being, leaving me in the small space alone. I did not mind, I felt oddly unable to move. It felt good to not move and to reflect what I had learned in simple swapping of sounds. I felt bad, and amnesia was something I had. I had been hit before coming somehow here.

That summed it up nicely. I looked up, thinking these simple things, wondering what it meant.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya covered her face with the bedsheets, and burrowed down deeper into the thin mattress of her bunk. It was three am...and she couldn't sleep.

She was plagued by nightmares every time she closed her eyes. A small red headed girl held her hand in the dreams, and they were surrounded by indescribably horrible monsters. Arya kicked at the covers that were tangled around her feet, and ended up kicking the bulkhead with her heel.

"Frell!" The curse was muffled under the sheets. Arya sat up, and threw off the covers, and walked to the main cabin of the Chevvette. Threepio was sitting there, powered down for the night. She didn't want to disturb him, and so made her own cup of caf, even though he'd of been more than happy to do it for her.

There was another element to the dream...Anasta, or Turb, or whatever he was going by now...he was there, laughing at the two women, behind the monsters. And Simon, the nerf herder from Ukio, was behind Turbogeek, furious about something.

It didn't make any sense, but then these visions hardly ever did. Arya didn't even know any children, let alone a red headed one. She went to the refresher to splash water on her face, and then got her caf and went back to bed. Perhaps some reading would set her mind to ease.

She pulled out a technical manual on disruptors, and hunkered down into her bed.

[Taylor Millard]

For once, he couldn't sleep. He had the ability to avoid sleep for the almost a week, sometimes more if he drew on the Force completely.

He rose from the bed, staring down at the figure laying next to him. Her face was calm and her body still, though occassionally she stirred, as if still suffering from a bad dream.

Grand Admiral Taylor Millard smiled, then stroked Loklorien s'Ilancy's face and kissed her forehead.

He stood up from the black-clothed bed and walked to the long window which opened onto a balcony. He opened the door and stepped out into the cool night air.

It was summer on Balmorra, but a cooler one with plenty of rain. Taylor stared off into the distance towards a gathering storm. He made himself a cup of tea and watched as the storm coalesed from the billowing clouds.

The Dark Jedi smiled a the storm. He'd always been a fan of rain, even as a child. He remembered his mother, her hair red, sitting with him as the rain came down and the lightening flashed.

It was a fond memory, one of several, Millard had.

He'd been 17 the last time he ever saw rain. His father, the Jedi Master Kieron Millard, had died in battle against Darth Vader. The Galactic Civil War had begun...and Taylor was ready to go fight for the Empire.

He'd stood next to his father's grave, with his grandfather behind him and stared at the statue.

"So you're going," Rahl Millard said, his cracked skin and gray hair showing his age.

Millard nodded, "Yes...It is my duty to fight against these terrorist Rebels. My father was a fool to join them."

Rhal Millard nodded. He had supported Chancellor Palpatine when he'd risen to Emperor. A doctor in Balmorra, he'd done his job and saved the lives of many.

"I wish you luck, Taylor. I believe there is more to you than even you think.

"Remember...serve the Empire. Obey your superiors. And above all...respect all. Treat them as equals no matter who they are."

Taylor, his eyes full of youth and vigor, nodded, "Yes Grandfather, I will."

It was the last time he saw rain for almost 15 years. And it was the last time he saw his grandfather in the flesh.

Millard smiled at memory, then slowly turned back into the room...keeping a window open, so he could feel the breese.

He slid into bed with Loklorien s'Ilancy and stared at her. Then he laid his head against the cool pillow and hoped for sleep.

[Force Master Hunter]

<center><font color=red>And they say
That a hero could save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as we all fly away</center></font>




Coruscant.

A lone young man sat in the room he had broken into, sitting on the edge of the squalid bed. Filth and human refuse were on the floor and the smell in the abandoned home was enough to make a womp rat gag. In fact, he wasn't too sure if a rat hadn't died in here, the smell was that bad. What was truly nauseating was that he didn't throw up and that he had smelt worse. Much worse, on that hell hole that was Harravi, when he was stuck there for months, stuck on a planet where the dead rotted and the only living and moving beings were monsters that were straight out of a nightmare, wanting to cut him to pieces, leaving him to die. Somehow he had survived and somehow he had been resuced by Turbogeek, then man he looked up to as a father of sorts as his own was now dead. Like his sister, Shay Kaylon, whose grave he had come from a few days ago, parsecs away on a lonely windswept hill. Like his mother, killed in a freak accident. Dead just like his hero Turbogeek, shot by a bounty hunter on Yavin.

It seemed like everyone close to him had died and in some ways he wished he was as well. In his hands was a datapad that he now re-read, trying to believe the details inside. In part it read -

Gregori,

Now you know the truth of Turbogeek, it is time to decide. Are you going to follow your Jedi training or will you follow a different path? I can no longer protect or train you and it is time for you to know that Callista will never stop hunting you. She believes you are one of the Chosen and you know what that means - and you know that you must never fall under her power. You must be strong Gregori, strong like I know you can be, strong like you showed on Harravi. You have come of age and it is time for you to be a man and choose.

Whatever you choose, the sabre is yours to keep with no attachments. The study guides on the Force are yours too and I encourage you to study and learn, to use your power as you can. But... Helenias has seen the future for you and she believes you could never be a Jedi. I dont know how she could say that as you are at heart noble, calm and strong. Her forseeing abilities are much better than mine however and I can not dispute her words with a vision of my own. So my son, for that is how I think of you, I now leave you free to choose your path.

I have not told many, only five that I was Hunter. Not even Helenias really knew. So as well as your freedom to choose your path, I offer a path that may be suitible and to your liking. It will not be easy. You will have to put aside all and become that path totally and if you do so, there will only be one exit. You will be a target and you will forever run, but you have run faster than anyone I have ever known. I believe you can be this, else I would not offer.

It had been interesting enough for Gregori Paladin, Jedi Padawan to come to Coruscant and to find this craptacular place. To have no money and no food, to be half starved and tired beyond belief from keeping one step ahead of the scum. His sabre had already been used several times to save his life against the scum and the mosters that inhabited the underside of the NR's capital planet. God, he thought, whatever it was that Marcus was offering had better be good. He already hated the Jedi for ruining his memory of Turbogeek, taking away his heros and his illusions. Telling him Turbogeek was nothing more than a failed clone and had died insane. Oh, how he hated Marcus and Turbogeek now! How he wanted to smash the bearded face in, to cut him apart.

But...

Marcus was right. He was good at heart and he knew the Jedi only told him for his own good. Still, the pain and angush had been extreme to bear. He was alone in the Galaxy and all he thought and knew was wrong.

Truth he had learned, was the sharpest of weapons and Marcus weilded it like a Master.

Now Gregori was here in this dump the words and directions of the Jedi Master had lead him to. To see what was the offer he had been made.

Door. Passcode Gutk22211!. In there will be a solitary item. No other explaination will be needed.

Reluctantly, he got up and went to the door. There was a hidden lock that the directions gave instructions to finding, which he did and then opened it with the code supplied. The door hissed open, surprisingly working to reveal a closet sized room.

And a wooden box.

The young man went forward uncertainly, before getting down to his knees and picked the box up. It had no lock on the lid, but it did have the word "Transform" which made no sense, so he opened it up to expose what was in it.

He stared.

And stared, not believeing. Was this some kind of a joke?

I put it on and I transform

He remembered those words, said to his face years ago. On the lid - Transform. He thought it through. Picked the object out of the box and really looked at it, and thought what it stood for, the transformation.

His face began to crack into a slow, slow evil seeming grin. Damn it, the Jeid was right again. There was no way he could refuse this path, no way at all.

--

"Gronk can fix you..."

"Shut up droid. I dont want to be fixed, I want to be transformed"

The illegal medical droid paused, looking at the human with it's scanners. "Transform?"

Gregori Paladin shoved a holoview into the droids receptors. "Make me look like this"

--

A month later, a man came out of a innoculous white door. Dark and short styled hair, face sculptured and changed, black pants and boots, black top and a black trenchcoat that whipped and swirled in the breeze. Twin rail guns, obtained illegally were on his hips. The newly blue eyes looked about, then out of the coat pocket, pulled out the item that had been in the box.

A set of sunshades.

He lookedat them, opened the frames, then closed his eyes. Many steps he had taken, but this was the final one, the last step to the transformation. The part where Gregori would die and he would be someone else. Still with his eyes closed, he breathed out and then palced the sunshades on his face, to open his eyes once again and in a moment he was reborn. No more Gregori Paladin, not a nameless person, not a Padawan. Now he was a big name. A Fear on those whom he would hunt. A Terror to those that would most likely oppose him. A Name. Once a name of MArcus, but but now a name he had been given. He looked up at the sky, then used his Force powers to leapt upwards to a third story balcony, then leap away, celebrating his rebirth.

He was not there yet, but he would become the man once known as Hunter. THE Hunter

Force Master Hunter had returned.

[Helenias Evenstar]

<font color=red><center>And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away

And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away

And they're watching us
They're watching us
As we all fly away</font></center>

I was at the site of the ruined temple, along with Xazor and a few other Jedi, Jina by my side as we surveyed the awe-inspiring destruction. The storm from the previous evening had abated, leaving a day that was partially cloudy as the sun rose over the storm ravaged landscape – and over the temple as we walked around what remained of it’s top peak. And looked out over the flattened trees and other wreckage – it was like some high yield bomb had been detonated here. But, if there was one, there was no remains of it – for it was a little known fact that every explosive left behind traces of itself. There were none here, only immense burn and scorch marks, plus charred and melted stone. The heat must have been fierce, for I had witnessed the burning from my window, a minute after the massive explosion had rocked the temple I had been in, the solid walls trembling with the aftershocks. No one had dared investigate in the night due to the savagery of the storm, but it had not stopped speculation what had happened.

And now that we were here, that speculation was looking wrong, for the Jedi had supposed was proving wrong. Most thought some sort of attack, but here there was no evidence. No one had seen the explosion and for some reason, no recorder had it either, not the ones in orbit, or even the security cams. If it wasn’t for the fact of what I was looking at, there would be nothing to show. It all just compounded the mystery.

“I don’t understand, Helenias. What type of power can just blow this Temple, and only leave burnt stone behind as the only trace?” Jedi Knight Xazor Dawnstrider asked.

“I don’t know. It’s like…. Some battle took place. I have seen things like this caused by detonators, but on a smaller scale. This would take some kind of nuclear device, but there is no readings to agree with that. I did not feel a disturbance in the Force either.”

Xazor gave myself an odd look. “A disturbance…? Well, maybe we didn’t but Jina might”

This was a puzzling statement. “What do you mean?”

“I found Jina last night crying and wandering in the Council Room”

Staring at my adopted elder daughter for a moment, my attention went to Jina, whom I had noted was withdrawn and quiet today. I would not have wanted to bring her here, except she seemed reluctant to be left alone. She was by nature a quiet child, but there was something wrong, I had noticed, but I had not really paid it any mind until now, preoccupied with the alarming destruction of the Temple. Now with my attention focus on the 4 year old girl, I could feel how sad she was. She was right now sitting on a broken stone, hands in her lap, looking down and not paying any attention to anything. A stray puff of breeze moved her long hair over her face, which she ignored, just sitting there. I gave Xazor a look of bemusement. “Did she say why?”

“No. I put her back to bed and she went to sleep after a while. Maybe she was frightened by the blast?”

“Maybe. Then again, she was supposed to be in bed, for that is where I left her before I retired to the library.”

Now Xazor was likewise looking at Jina in thought. “Could she have seen the explosion?”

“If she was wandering around, then it is possible. Jina….. Jina!” I called out, but she did not respond. I approached the little girl, before squatting down and bringing my face level with hers. “Jina darling…. What’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer for a moment and I was thinking she was not going to answer until she spoke softly. “Mommy’s gone”

That was even more confusing. Her mother was long dead. “Yes darling, but we can’t bring her back…”

“Saw Mommy and Daddy last night. They said goodbye”

She said it so matter-the-factly, I was stunned. “She must have had her real mother and father visit her” commented Xazor. “Were they not Jedi?”

“Yes, Lady Mara Jade and we think Darth Turbogeek. Never proven it however… Jina…. Ji….. oh” I stopped for I saw Jina was not going to answer any other questions, as she had shuffled to partially turn her back on us. Saddened by this rebuff, I stood.

“Helenias, I feel that what Jina said and what happened here are connected. Are not the Massani Temples once used by Sith for their own spiritual purposes and magics in ways we don’t understand? Maybe the explosion is the result of something to do with that?”

Logically, I would have said no, for I did not accept the rumours of Exar Kun and the madness of what he was supposed to have been able to do. Still, there was something about these temples that made a Jedi feel that they had a strange relationship with the Force. And in looking around, I had this feeling that this temple…. I looked over the edge, assessing the quadrangle at it’s base. While it was strewn with debris and broken trees, I could recognise a few landmarks. Marcus had pointed this Temple out to me once.. The sword Helenias, it was set with what I believe is Dark Side arts in the top place of that temple…. And when Turbogeek emerged from that, he battled two Sith who were there and it was then I shot him while he was proclaiming his triumph. I believe that…

“…That the sword could be only unmade here. Xazor, do you feel Marcus close-by?” I asked. While I could well find him with my abilities, Xazor and him shared some sort of symbiont link that I only outside of them knew of. She just seemed to know where he was and what he was thinking so well, it was almost like they were the same person. Xazor did as I asked, looking distant before coming back to reality.

“He’s near the base. He’s hurt, but not in danger” Jina looked up, seeming to become interested. I noted, but didn’t comment or interrupt Xazor. “He feels…. Different. His calm is incredible. Something happened here last night and it’s changed him – can you feel how he does not hide his power? I’ve never seen him do that!”

I too closed my eyes, using my farsight abilities to locate Marcus and I too felt what Xazor did. Power, controlled and honed, peace and calm. I had never sensed anything like it, not even with Master Yoghurt. “Take Jina. We will go to him”

--

It wasn’t too hard to locate Marcus, for he was walking slowly, or more precisely limping badly. In the darkness of the Temple, his sabre was a lamp in the Darkness, as was his Force presence. The three of us, Jina, Xazor and myself stopped as he came into view. He too stopped and then in his real voice, hespoke.

“Three tasks I have done and passed. One, I have accepted your Father’s words, my beloved Evenstar and swear to complete what he has set out – for he is right, only when the evil that shadows us is defeated, only then will we have peace” I felt a stab in my heart, but in a way it was of pleasure, for it meant Marcus was to reclaim what was his. “Two…..”

He removed the sword he had from it’s sheath and flung the shards to the floor.

“It was bound by Turbogeek’s spirit. Only by breaking it could be freed and I be rid forever of him. A King carries a sword Helenias, not a Jedi. It will be reforged when the time comes and not before – and one more. I faced Callista”

That surprised me badly and I must have looked like a comic fool, for Marcus smiled, his weather beaten and rough face becoming softer. “Aye, do not look so surprised, it had to happen ere long passed. I declared myself to her and then defeated her in mental combat. She now knows it is no poor fool she faces and let her lie awake knowing she failed to kill us. She knows now you live and she knows she can not any longer match me in strength. She fears us and for good reason for now we are going to bring her low and trample on her. The Vog’on we shall defeat and all her plans will come to nothing” His voice was like steel in it’s strength and intensity, it was making us cringe away at it’s power. “In the Dark Fury prophecy, it is said 4 shall be Chosen and that they will either be the instruments of it, or of the prophecy’s failure. One is dead. The other two are safe. The jewel is hidden. The time of the Prophecy will come and the Darkness Keeper’s plans will be for nothing. Callista will live to see the jewel destroyed and the vault destroyed, then she too will die”

I bowed my head. “As you will it, my Lord” I then looked straight into his eyes, meeting his stare with my own. “And I will be by your side Marcus.”

“And I too” said Xazor coming forward. “I owe you my life many times”

Jina also came hesitantly forward, I did not expect her to say anything like what Xazor and I had, but she still spoke and the words were revelation.

“Hunter….. Mummy visited me again and she bought Daddy. They are not coming back”

“Your mother was waiting for your father to be freed Jina. No, they can never come back. I am sorry, Jina”

The girl seemed to think, then came forward. “Mummy said you’re my father now”

“Aye, that I am Jina. And I’m not leaving you unsafe again, I swear that. You will be a Jedi, that I promise”

“Like Mummy?”

“Yes…. Like how your Mother was…. In the end” Marcus stepped forward, picked the young girl up and turned to Xazor and myself.

“You’re my family, all I have. Helenias my Evenstar, Xazor I see you as a daughter. And Family has ties that can not be broken. Now, let us leave, for even Jedi Masters need rest and healing. It’s been a rough night”

As he turned to go, Jina still in his arms and Xazor at his side, I stooped to pick up the shards of Icefist. In two it had been sheared and the pieces were discoloured and blackened. But on the hilt, there was a part that still glittered and in it I could see my reflection. I looked at the blade pieces in my hands, considering and thinking of Marcus’ words. Reflecting.

He was right – a sword was no weapon for a Jedi. But I knew one day a King would weild this blade. My Husband, my King.

Taking the pieces with me, I followed Marcus, Jina and Xazor out of the temple. Yes, busy he had been, but it was a pale reflection on what needed to be done.

Hope was in my heart once again. His time was truly coming. It was my task to make sure he was strong enough to face it, for only I saw in the future well enough to know how strong he needed to be. That I would do and face the evil with him I would and defeat it we will