Star Wars: Hope and Courage

[Nymf...]

Hoban sensed as two Weequays approached him. He quickly pressed himself against the wall, and when the Weequays entered the room, he choped their heads off. Weequays... He put the box in a pocket and headed back. He sensed the creature again, it was just outside the room where Dalenn and the children were. He didn't see it, but he sensed it. And in all the sudden there was like a glitch. He saw a monster, it reminded him of a tarentek, but somehow it could stealth itself. Hoban wondered what it was, but he knew Dalenn was still in the room...trapped.

 

He tried to see the monster with Force Sight, but failed, he could only sense it. He knew he had lure it away, if Dalenn would be able to escape. Hoban threw his green lightsaber at the direction where he sensed the beast, while he held the blue saber in his left hand. The saber returned to him, but it was like it just had flown through the air, but he had gained the beast's attention. It was moving towards him with quite a speed.

 

Hoban stood his ground and tried to hit it with the saber, where he guess the beast where at, but he hit nothing. He tried again, he was sure the beast was there but missed a second time. And after the second stroke he felt a great punch on him and he flew into the wall. As Hoban tried to rise, while coughing, the beast gave a loud roar. Darn... I better run!

[SkywalkerRules]

Naja watched in amazement, as Torn used Force Valor on the Weequay. "Woah. I've got to learn that move someday..." Suddenly, she heard Null call to her.

 

"I hope you know how to play catch Naja!" Null said as he threw the Weequay, "and by catch I mean catch it with your saber!"

 

She grinned, and nodded at Null's suggestion. Raising her yellow bladed lightsaber like a spear, Naja threw her lightsaber at the Weequay's chest, impaling it. She then Force pulled her lightsaber back, watching the Weequay fall.

 

"And that's how we do it," Naja said, nodding with a grin.

[DrPhil2501]

((welp, nobody has posted for a while, so I figure I better be the one who breaks the silence.))

 

Torn glanced around the chamber filled with dead Weequay. "Looks like we took care of them in this room."

 

He switched off his Lightsaber and clipped it onto his belt. "We better move, there could be more than these three."

[SkywalkerRules]

Naja looked around herself as well. "I totally agree. We better move on." All this adventure almost made her tired. But she was having a blast. Then she wondered if it was the afternoon now.

 

The young woman looked over at Beq. "You sure you're gonna be okay, sir?"

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

Finally, the Dark Lord of the Sith walked on the alter, standing there in the middle. He was covered in pitch black hooded cloak, a resemblance to Palpatine.

 

He smiled coldly. "Wecome home, my Sith warriors." After all the Sith minions bowed, Zula was eager to hear what their Master would say.

[Nymf...]

Hoban ran away, knowing the beast was following him. He ran deeper into the academy, as he saw a group of Weequays patrolling down the corridor. Although he wouldn't mind fighting the Weequays, he knew better than to stop with the monster behind him and on top of it, he was hurt. But he had nowhere to go, and he hated to admit it, but he was getting tired of all the running.

 

The Weequays still hadn't spoted him, as he came up closer to them. He obeserved every inch of the corridor, and found a hole in the roof, it wasn't big but he managed to get into and sit beside it. He was hoping that the monster wouldn't be able to reach him there, while he was recovering.

 

Hoban felt his ribs hurt real bad after the hit. For the first time he wished he had learned the ways of healing. The monster was moving away, but he could hear the Weequays just below him. Somehow the monster did not attack them.

 

He leaned backwards and tried to get his commlink, but it was gone, he had dropped it. Not that it made any diffrence, if he talked in it, he would give away the location to the thugs. He was trapped in the roof.

[DrPhil2501]

"You sure you're gonna be okay, sir?"

 

"I'm fine. I've been through worse conditions..." Beq replied.

 

Torn walked out of the room and reentered the pathway. He looked back at the group. "Wheres Hoban?" he asked. He felt Hoban's current stress levels.

[Cyborg Ninja]

"I'm fine. I've been through worse conditions..."

 

"You're pretty damn lucky I pulled that shot off in time Beq."

 

Null reloaded his Deece once more before looking over at Torn.

 

"Wheres Hoban?"

 

"The last time I saw him he and that twi'lek guy were freeing some children from the same situation you two were in. They should still be there unless they went looking for more people."

[SkywalkerRules]

"The last time I saw him he and that twi'lek guy were freeing some children from the same situation you two were in. They should still be there unless they went looking for more people."

 

"Well, what are we waitin' for? Let's go find Hoban and the others, and then get the blazes out of here!" She placed her lightsaber inside her bag, and picked up her berries from the stone floor. She took the white cloth off of the top of the berries.

 

Naja sighed. "Aww, great! Now I've gotta get new berries later! These are getting spoiled! No matter."

 

She turned to the others. "You guys coming?"

[Hethra]

The small cruiser exited hyperspace in a very unspectacular fashion.

 

On board, in the pilot's seat, it was a different story. Kalden Rossek sat mesmerized by the streaks of light fading to bright lines before fading again into the specs that they were. Every time it happened, he couldn't help but watch. He didn't know why he liked it the way he did.

 

It had been nearly three months since he had set out from Kato Neimoidia with his master's ship, the Vagrant, on his quest to find a Jedi Master by the name of Skywalker. He thought the name sounded familiar, somehow, but couldn't be sure why. He shrugged it off.

 

He leaned back from the controls, feeling the itch behind his eyes from having been awake for nearly a full 30 hours. He had felt... something, while he had been meditating in the pilots quarters, and ever since he had been driven to find the source of the... disturbance. It was the only word he could think of that described it the way it needed to be.

 

So he had entered the cockpit and dialed in a vague coordinate for the hyperdrive engine to locate, and sat back as the astronavigator set his charts before entering hyperspace. 30 some long hours later he had emerged. As he looked about the viewport from his seat, he began to wonder if he had misjudged his coordination skills. He couldn't see a single planet, moon, cruiser or station anywhere. He eased the controls forward a bit, bringing the nose of the ship down.

 

"Ah, there it is." he smiled. In front of him, now nearly filling the viewport almost entirely. He checked his computers navigational data system for the name of the planet.

 

"Taivas, huh?" he mumbled, running a hand through his unkempt hair. "Isn't this the planet El Diir was telling me about? He said something about a Jedi Temple.. yeah, that's right, a Jedi Temple." He smiled broadly, and leaned back further in his chair.

 

"Well," he put his hands behind his head and kicked his feet up onto the control board, "Of all the planets in all the systems in this Galaxy, I end up pretty much right on top of the one that could probably be the most useful to me." He set his feet down and leaned forward, dialing some knobs in front of him.

 

"Let's just see if anyone's home..." He set the comm receiver to the frequency that his master had given him before he left the planet, the one that was dialed almost exclusively to the Hidden Jedi Temple on Taivas. He listened as he fine tuned the setting, searching through the static until...

 

"This is Admiral Thorn, contacting the Hidden Temple. Please respond."

 

Kalden sat back, surprised. An Admiral? That meant he was with the Galactic Alliance, right? But what was he trying to do, contacting the Hidden Temple? His master had said the temple had been deserted for years, but that there had once been a great library hidden within it. The library had been what caught Kalden's attention. So why was the Admiral trying to raise someone down there...?

 

Kalden let the transmission sit for a few minutes, waiting for the reply from the planet. When there was none, Kalden decided to take the matter into his own hands. He was right outside the planet. He was close enough.

 

"Copy that Admiral," he spoke into the receiver, "This is the Vagrant. I've received your comm, but there's nobody home right now, from the sounds of it. Anything I might be able to pick up for you, as it seems I'm making a house call within the next cycle or two?"

[DrPhil2501]

"You guys coming?"

 

"We're waiting for you..." Torn grunted and exited the room, clipping his Lightsabers back onto his belt. He followed the direction of Hoban's presence through the pathway of crumbling walls and musky air.

 

He heard the cry of something monstrous from a distance. "What the-?"

[Astor]

As the shuttle dropped out of hyperspace, Fynn felt something was wrong. Or, his sensors told him something was wrong. They were picking up the signatures of ships. Ships that were right where he needed to be.

 

There shouldn’t be any ships here, he’d been told. He’d been assured by Admiral Bovark that the system’s coordinates were known only to a few – he’d certainly never heard of the Zhar system before he’d been assigned to send a message there.

 

But now, he was faced with a dilemma. Should he continue on his mission, with the chance of being detected? He pushed shuttle further towards the planet, hoping for a positive identification. It was a big ship, the size of a Star Destroyer, which meant it had to have picked up his entry, so leaving quietly wasn’t an option.

 

The ID came through – GA transponders. But what were they doing here? Then the ship ID came through – the Vigilance. Fynn knew that ship, and more importantly, he knew who was in command.

 

They must be here for the same reasons he was – to find whoever was on that planet. But the second ship was more curious – a cruiser, one that didn’t conform to any class he knew to be in service. But that ship was too far away to cause any concern.

 

The Vigilance was sending a message on an encrypted channel, so they must have been trying to reach whoever was on the surface. There was only one thing for it. Increasing his transponder signal, to such an extent it would be obvious he mean no hostile intent, he drew his shuttle closer to the planet, and the great flagship hovering in orbit.

 

Fynn just hoped the GA gunners wouldn’t mistake his ship for an attacking vessel.

[Nymf...]

"Hoban!" a voice said, and Hoban looked up. He saw some shadows, shaping the form of his old master.

 

"Master Kavar?"

 

"I'm glad to see that you're still alive. Yet, we always knew that the force would lead to something... different."

 

"Diffrent? You mean let me live for thousands of years?"

 

"The Sith are returning to the galaxy, you must stop them. Some of the teachings from our time, is lost. It will give you advantage over your opponments."

 

"But they will most likely have other teachings I don't know of!"

 

"The girl you travelled with to this academy, will play an important role in all this. Stick with her, protect her, it will be the best way to destroy the Sith."

 

Hoban didn't like the Kavar that approached him, he was to diffrent, and it appeared as if he couldn't hear him.

 

"I must leave you know! Remember the Jedi Code, you will need it."

 

"Master! Wait! I have questions!"

 

"May the force be with you!" Kavar said and disappeared.

 

"Master?" Hoban said and stretched out his hand. At the same time his chest started to hurt real bad. He still felt the Weequays nearby. He tried to see them, but as he reached out for a view, he fainted and fell down from the roof.

[SkywalkerRules]

As Naja followed Torn to find Hoban, she wondered if the the Twi'lek guy and the kids were also all right as well. The cult also had to be stopped, or they would terrorize the other locals as well.

 

Suddenly, Naja heard the roar as well. The young woman gasped. "Hoban!" She ran in front of the others, trying to sense Hoban's presence.

 

"We've gotta help him if he's in trouble! C'mon!" Naja yelled.

[DrPhil2501]

The group ventured deeper within the academy... until Torn spotted it: a body lay on the ground.

 

"I wonder what mess he has been through?" Torn muttered and pulled his body to face upwards. He checked Hoban's pulse.

 

"He's still alive. Either knocked out or fainted..." he whispered. More Weequays were near-by, so Torn held onto the hilt of his Lightsabers.

[SkywalkerRules]

Naja grew worried for Hoban when she saw that he was lying on the ground. "Oh no! Is he... is he dead...?" She placed her hand on her mouth sadly.

 

"He's still alive. Either knocked out or fainted..."

 

The young woman nodded. "We better get him someplace safe. Maybe my house will do! If that's okay." Naja sensed more Weequays. She knew they had to be rid of, but what if Hoban needed help? Badly? She sighed, thinking.

[DrPhil2501]

The weequays were a step closer, then looked to Naja. "You guard him, while we take care of them."

 

Beq aimed his blaster pistols at the archway, waiting for any signs of movement. Torn squinted. There was nobody there...

 

Suddenly, a blaster bolt came out of nowhere and hit Beq in the face. "BEQ!!!" Torn watched in horror as the 1st Mate fell to the floor with a burn-hole through his head. Torn looked at the archway. "Damn... Cloaking devices."

 

Torn reached for his Lightsabers and trusted his instincts. The force outlined him four of the invisible figures, both holding blaster rifles. The moved around the chamber.

 

Torn used force speed and gained upon one of the killer's. He slashed his Lightsabers across, and took him down. The camo deactivated itself to reveal the wrinkle-skinned cultist.

[SkywalkerRules]

Naja screamed when she witnessed someone killed. It's been a long time since she saw someone ever killed. The young woman held up her yellow bladed lightsaber, defending herself and the unconscious Hoban.

 

"By the Force, I just hope that Null and that Twi'lek man are all right. Along with the children..." Naja thought to herself.

 

She blocked off a couple of blaster bolts, concentrating on the Force for the first time in years.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Null followed the group that was until his HUD cracked to life again. He picked up several red dots and made a sharp right forgetting he was leaving the group. Null walked down the hall with his Deece raised. He made two lefts and the red dots were right in front of him. Null saw Naja, Torn, Beq, and Hoban's body but he couldn't see the attackers.

 

"BEQ!!!" Torn screamed as Beg fell to the ground dead.

 

Null was both shocked but now very alert.

 

These cowards must be invisible Null thought to himself as he switched the vision on his HUD. The heat vision made the attackers glow like Bantha Fodder. Null placed on his sniper attachment as he watched Torn take down an attacker. Null took aim and fired with a loud crack. He moved to the next attakcer. "Crack". Null turned to the final attacker. "Crack." He watched as three other attackers dropped to the ground. Null looked over at Hoban's body and ran over to him checking for his pulse. He looked up at Naja who looked like she was scared out of her mind.

 

"Don't worry Naja, I'm going to get you home in time for dinner with your mother" Null said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I promise."

[DrPhil2501]

Torn spread his senses throughout the entire enclave. There were no more Weequay cultists. Nothing hostile, save for the beast.

 

He looked down at Naja, Null and the unconcious Hoban. "We've cleansed the enclave. We better head back up to the surface..."

 

He looked down at Beq's body and picked it up. "I have to pay my respects for my friend here and arrange his burial. You don't need to come, if you wish..."

 

He was about to walk away. "Thanks for your help. I'll cash in at the nearest bounty office and have your reward. When you're ready to claim, head for my ship. You'll know where it is."

[Cyborg Ninja]

Null watched as Torn picked up Beq's body and began to walk away.

"Thanks for your help. I'll cash in at the nearest bounty office and have your reward. When you're ready to claim, head for my ship. You'll know where it is."

 

"I'll tell you what Torn, you can give my cut to Beq. As for that funeral of yours, I'll be there but first I have to get Hoban here to a med station and take Naja home that is if she wants to go home."

 

Null looked down the hall looking for a noise but heard nothing.

 

"It's funny back in his time we'd all be fighting each other but here we are working together. You got some nice moves, for a jedi that is Torn."

[DrPhil2501]

"I'll tell you what Torn, you can give my cut to Beq. As for that funeral of yours, I'll be there but first I have to get Hoban here to a med station and take Naja home that is if she wants to go home."

 

"You have my thanks." Torn replied in his silent-grunt voice. "And I'm not a jedi. Former Imperial Knight, actually. But I've retired..."

[Cyborg Ninja]

"And I'm not a jedi. Former Imperial Knight, actually. But I've retired..."

 

"Well either way you're alright in my book, I'll call you on the comlink when I've dropped everyone off."

 

Null looked over at Hoban and picked his body up. He wasn't that heavy which meant this would be easy.

 

"So Naja, are you all set to go?"

[DrPhil2501]

"Beq said he wanted to be cremated incase this happens. I'm heading to Khoonda to arrange it and report the deaths of the other crew members to both the authorities and my captain."

 

Torn carried Beq's body over his shoulder and walked out of the room. "I'll see you there..." he greeted goodbye and left the enclave and onto the grove where he headed for Khoonda.

[SkywalkerRules]

Naja queitly said her farewells to Torn. She then turned to Null.

 

"So Naja, are you all set to go?"

 

The young woman smiled silently. "Yeah. But... I'm gonna go to the funeral too. As a Jedi... well, ex-Jedi, it's always my duty to honor those who fought the good fight." She sighed.

 

"Let's go." She headed out of the enclave, never forgetting the adventure and danger she had today.

[Cyborg Ninja]

"Let's go."

 

"Easier said than done," Null said as he followed behind with Hoban's body.

 

Null eventually got to where his speeder was and placed Hoban's body on the front of it. He than turned to where Naja was.

 

"Here," he said as he handed Naja some berries he had in his pocket, "For the record I never picked those berries, you did."