Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"I can always use servants, Knaake. But coming here was your choice. I simply offered you a path to what you really want. You and I both know that the path of the Jedi is not for you. You're a warrior. A killer. A murderer."

Images flashed through his mind of men, women, and children being gunned down, blackened holes burned through their bodies. The children's bodies were torn apart, limbs and flesh blasted away., their fathers and mothers trying desperately to shield them from the merciless soldiers of Kuat.

"You're no Jedi. Your place is here. With us."

 

[Smagmuck_]

Knaake placed his hands at his temples at the screaming pain in his head. It felt as if like someone had taken a red hot rod and jammed it into his cranium. He convulsed on the floor, as if her were having a seizure. He yelled in unrelenting pain and anguish. The pain didn't let up. He felt claustrophobic in his armor, he began to sweat more as the images of his passed through his mind's eye.

"Please..." He begged. "Stop..."

His eyes met hers, her piercing green eyes seemed to dig into his soul. And yet, at the same time carried a form of twisted beauty.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Does it hurt you? I'm not causing any pain, Knaake. I'm just showing you who you are. What you've done. Is it so repellent? And yet you did it. You followed orders and you killed them. Embrace it. Become it. Own it. Or fall to the side and die. Make your choice, soldier."

 

[Smagmuck_]

"I'll..." He brain struggled to form words. "I'll do as you ask, just... Just stop."

His body was exhausted, he could hardly find the strength to move. He began breathing heavily. The adrenaline left his body without strength. All he wanted now was just to sleep. He knew what kind of situation he was in, and he knew he couldn't fight it. He found himself looking up at the Gothic ceiling. How had he come to be in this situation?

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

She smiled broadly, full of teeth and malice. "Welcome, my newest apprentice. I am Darth Eris. Your master and teacher and Lord of the Sith."

"Who do you serve, boy?"

 

[Smagmuck_]

"I... I serve..." Joseph began to say, thinking carefully about his decision. "You." He finally said looking up at her, anger and vengeance in his eyes. His came to rest on his left knee. Bowing to Darth Eris, he peeled the Kuati shoulder pad from his armor and tossing it carelessly to the side.

"As of now, I renounce my membership of the Kuati Military and pledge my allegiance to the Sith." He felt a slight sting in his chest as he said it, his last bit of humanity and regret draining from him.

 

[blaze96]

"I will retire to my room as well. As for where it is we go I agree it should be a place with as many people as possible. Hopefully that will provide suitable cover." With that said Prenlarr walked over to Marcus and and the others before any of them had left.

"Something strange is happening. I think we should discusss it soon. It may be important or it may not be but still I have something I should at least tell you fully."

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Good...we must begin your training at once. But first." Eris placed her hand on his head. "Where is the Holocron?" She began cruelly sifting through his memories, only to pull her hand away abruptly. "The Holocron is beyond our reach, onboard the Kuati warship...but no matter. We have something far more interesting." She flicked a comlink. "Admiral, prepare Xiytiar Squad for insertion onto the planet. We have located the Vault of the Jedi."

* * * * *

A file transmitted to the four aspiring Jedi's datapads, a written message from Admiral Cath.

'I've located a world that should be suitable for you. Relatively temperate, no serious predators, there's a listening post with defensive ion cannons and turbolaser batteries. Several small settlements and a mid-size spaceport, but mostly quiet and empty. World's called Dantooine. There's an abandoned archaeological dig that has connections to the Jedi. It's only a short hyperspace jump from here, too. If you don't object, I can have you there by the end of the week, with some basic prefabs and enough supplies to last you a while.'

* * * * *

One week later, the transport Jade Angel touched down on Dantooine amid a small cluster of prefabricated structures. About thirty klicks away was the ruins of Khoonda and near it the half-excavated Jedi Enclave.

The prefabs themselves were quite spartan - four rooms. A small bedroom, a kitchen, a refresher, and an all-purpose room for sitting, eating, meditating, and studying. They were stocked with food - mostly self-cooking meals and ration bars - and most other basic essentials.

 

[CounterAttack]

Dantooine... it was a strange planet. At least, that was Rec's initial impression from walking around in the long grass, getting used to the strength of its gravity and allowing his bosy to adapt to it. The place held a very faint Force-aura, even though there were some old ruins presumably belonging to long-dead Jedi a fair distance away.

Dantooine seemed... well, slightly depressing. 'Melancholic' was also a word that could be used to describe the planet's aura. Perhaps many Jedi had lived here throughout the ages. Whether they did or not, Jedi-in-training were here now. With that in mind, the game hunter saw little reason not to start on training immediately. Investigation of the ruins could wait until he had some form of training that was more advanced than that which he already knew how to do with the Force. Master Khodoan, the Jedi in the holocron Rec had taken from Coruscant, might be able to tell him more about this planet in addition to future studies.

The hunter took a moment to find the holocron among his few personal possessions, sorting the rest as he did so. It wasn't difficult: weapons, armour, spare clothing provided by the Kuat military, Katarn's lightsaber and Master Khodoan's holocron. The box of Adegan crystals had been deemed communal property, and as such was not with Rec at the present time. Still, he was in possession of a lightsaber, so the crystals mattered little unless Master Khodoan said otherwise.

He took the tetrahedral object and Master Katarn's revered weapon into the all-purpose building, and placed the two objects on a small stool he found there. Still unsure how to activate the holocron, Rec simply sat down in front of it, looking at it from a couple of different angles to see if that made any difference.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus had first off put himself in his room, looking over the small amounts of stuff and space he had. While his first temptation was to go into the ruins, he wanted to note everything in the room first. The armor he had collected, the beam cutter he had brought along, the spare box filled with additional equipment and odds and ends....

I should do something very particular first. Might as well get to it, and figure out what this stuff is floating around me.

Marcus took out the first Holocron that the group had come in possession of. He had many questions, and quite a few worries that likely were justified. However, he would need to get the answers from this first.

"Alright, Jedi Masters. Before I begin this path, I need to learn how to take care of the trouble that is probably already in front of me." Marcus said, concentrating his strange feelings or energy or....Force that he had into the object.

May they not be smugglers like myself. If they are....I do not know if this path will be mine to take.

 

[blaze96]

Prenlarr found a comm panel on the wall and patched it into the rooms of the others.

"I think it is time we talked about what I had found. Please come to my room, and whoever has the Holocron we first got please bring that too. I think it might have some answers for us." He said before taking a seat in the room.

 

[CounterAttack]

There had been no response from Khodoan's holocron in the time between Rec's contemplation of the device and Prenlarr's message over the comm panel. No surge of inspiration, no sudden understanding... such an epiphany might have been useful, given the fact that the would-be Jedi needed something to help them along the winding path onto which the Force had delivered them.

Regardless, the game hunter heeded Prenlarr's call, collecting his possessions and placing them about his person before moving to join the Nimbanel in his room. Evidently Marcus was in current possession of the original holocron the group had obtained.

Rec knew very little about whatever it was Prenlarr had found in the Vault: he had put his time into obtaining the lightsaber crystals that the Jedi had needed from Coruscant, and collecting a holocron for personal use and training. He hadn't known that that would be its purpose at the time, of course; curiosity had gotten the better of him.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus shook his head as he heard Prenlarr call for him to bring what he was going to start having a chat with shortly. Though he did not like doing such types of doubt raising and discussion in the eyes of others, he guess that this was the will of the Force, or something else that he could toss blame on.

Well, maybe he has the same thing in mind as I do. He did show a tendency to think pretty quickly, so maybe he can take over on things.

Rising from his bed, he quickly made his way to the room, quite apparent that he was taking his time and somewhat at ease after the long rest he had after their little adventure.

"I imagine you have something on your mind? Cause frankly, I got a lot to ask these Jedi myself..." Marcus said, holding the Holocron in front of himself.

 

[blaze96]

"Yes, but I guess I should start with what I found out. From what I say there was a cloning facility under the jedi temple, and not a small one either. Also when Niner had entered the room some latent code activated, called me an intruder, and sent a signal to something. I don't know why the jedi would need such a thing or guard it so heavily, hopefully the masters can enlighten us all a little." Prenlarr said before activating the holocron. Hopefully someone who could answer their questions would appear.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph sat there, legs folded, in a dark chamber aboard the Sith ship. Not much had changed about his appearance other than his hair had grown just beyond Military regulations, and instead of his old and tattered Kuati Armor, her wore simple black robes.

He was thinking, the majority of his thoughts consumed by ideas of taking his revenge on the group that he believed had wronged him. The Jedi had to be destroyed for the good of the Universe. He opened his eyes and brought up a holo-screen. Since he had be brought aboard, his training had been mostly academic, Sith History, various ancient fighting techniques (That he would soon begin to practice), and complex algebras. In his down time he chose to keep himself physically fit, reading up on Sith Trooper field manuals, weapon schematics, and sleep. Even though the very latter visited him rarely.

A simulation of a fire fight sprang up on his screen, it was easy for him. He had three triangles, which represented three squads of troopers. These, were surrounded by several different colored rectangles, representing a Company sized group each. He looked through his options. He hands became a blur across the screen. Sending orders to the simulated troops, setting up a perimeter, calling in various bombardments. By the time he was finished, he had lost only one squad, and had decimated the surrounding "enemies". He found it boring, he had done this exercise countless times. He closed the simulation and began to look for something far more stimulating.