An Unlikely Alliance

[Black Knight of Keno]

For milleniae the Jedi Archives have been the greatest deposit of information found anywhere in the Galaxy. It is filled with records of defeats and victories in wars, reports of Jedi missions as well as having legends of the different species and cultures spread throughout the Galaxy. The vast vaults of history and knowledge would take several human lifetimes to even browse through, tens if investigated thoroughly.

 

One of the less known missions of the Jedi was made during the Dark Wars, when the Sith Empire re-emerged from beyond the Rim and began to pummel the Republic into submission. The Republic had just faced not only the Mandalorians, but also the New Sith Empire twice; as run by Revan and Malak and then by the Sith Triumvirate. The Republic was weak and the newly re-established Jedi Order had not managed to gather it's numbers enough to be any kind of a force against the invading ancient enemy. The mission was a long range scouting mission near to the ocean world of Manaan. The Jedi task force of three Jedi Knights was discovered, however, and forced to crash land on Manaan. Although they had the information that the Republic required, they had no way of getting it safely to the Republic. That is, before the Order of Shasa intervened and after a long negotiation they agreed to get the Jedi a transport. The transport happened to be an old modified Quartermaster-class supply carrier in the command of a Matukai and his apprentice. Due to the knowledge of the Sith being a force of destruction in the Galaxy, the Matukai agreed to ship the Jedi to their nearest Temple that had a Council present. One of the Selkath of the Order of Shasa also requested to come due to the Sith threatening Manaan's neutrality and stability. Thus started the great escape from the Sith forces that were in hot pursuit and the course was set for the rebuilt Jedi Enclave on Dantooine.

 

As so, the group of six became the crew of the modified Quartermaster, which was named the Wanderer due to the Matukai being nothing but. The ship was modified to be heavily armed and had it's usually large hold modified into compartments not only for recreation, training, study and more comfortable sleeping quarters, but also to hold a single Aurek tactical strikefighter in a makeshift hangar. When launched, the Aurek would drop down from the bottom of the ship, just in front of the engines.

 

 

 

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The Quartermaster called Wanderer sat silent on one of the many docking bays of Ahto City. Around it were stacked large crates of durasteel and plasteel, depending on whatever was inside and how much support was needed. Outside a hauler droid carried the crates inside the large vessel while a Selkath observed and listed everything loaded on the ship. As the droid made it's way up the ramp of the ship, someone observed from within at the progress. sighing quietly before moving, the figure began to walk down the ramp. He wore traditional Matukai garb and approached the Selkath. Although he couldn't pronounce the indigenous language worth a damn, he could understand the slurry of noises the creatures made and as far as he knew they understood Basic.

 

Kouhun stopped next to the Selkath before crossing his arms on his chest and clearing his throat.

"How long do you think this will take? I believe you were told this was an urgent matter" the Matukai asked and the Selkath glanced at him before writing something on the paper he held in his hands. Probably a cargo manifold.

"This is as urgent it gets, sir. We have all other droids somewhere else at work and we don't have enough personnel to send here to help either due to the ongoing research we're conducting near the Hrakert Rift. We need everyone there for now. It will take only a while longer, sir" the Selkath answered and Kouhun slumped his head. It had been taking 'a while' for three hours now and the fourth hour was nearing it's mid-point. He sat down on the ramp and waited as patiently as he could, although he might still be there a while. Too bad he was forced to oversee the process in order to avoid anything he didn't want to be placed onboard by a malfunctioning droid. The rest of the people that were marked as leaving on the ship were somewhere who knows where. Having fun or not, it probably still beat sitting around and watching a bulky droid clank around carrying crates and boxes.

[Fredi]

Manaan was the place where Fered was born, he really didn't know anything about the planet except common knowledge and a few things from past missions. Fered was checking the ship inside, he always likes to check for any damage or problems, just for safety reasons. He finished his checking and decided to meditate on the training compartment while the droids finished the work on the cargo.

[Writer]

For Alena Batel, combat meditation was like diving into a crystal clear mountain spring; it was sharp, refreshing, and it allowed her to focus all her senses together. In addition, it provided her a sense of cleansing, which was something she still needed, though her mother had passed almost seven years earlier. Combat meditation allowed her to remind herself that there was nothing she could have done; her mother had contracted and died from the disease far too quickly for anything to have even been attempted, even if Alena had been nearby.

 

"The past shapes us," Alena said aloud, taking another swipe at an invisible enemy. "It reminds us who we were and why we have become who we are now, but it is not the sole governor of who we will become. Past shapes present; present shapes future."

 

She executed a graceful flip and called her wan-shen from the floor of her room with the Force. It landed lightly in her hands and she spun, using her body as the central pivot for its motion, slicing cleanly through another invisible opponent so rapidly that even a Force user might have had difficulty blocking the blow.

 

Satisfied that her unseen demons had been sufficiently repelled, Alena took a deep breath in and released it slowly. Then, she collapsed her wan-shen and went searching for Kohun. When she found him still overseeing the droids, she sighed and dropped into a crouch beside him.

 

"Didn't they say it would take a 'little while longer' three hours ago?" she inquired, arching a single eyebrow in mild disbelief. "Do they not understand the meaning of haste?"

[Black Knight of Keno]

Kouhun glanced back towards Alena before smirking.

"Yeah, well. Apparently everything else they have are busy with other ships or down by the Hrakert Rift, whatever might be down there. I've been trying to push this guy to work faster, but he doesn't seem to care. Typical docker" Kouhun muttered and glanced at the crates still waiting to be loaded. There would be at least five trips back and forth for the bulky and annoyingly slow droid. The Selkath were doing their best, but it was still cutting it close. If the sith got there before they were off the planet, there was no escape for Republic space.

 

"How did you meditations go?"

[Jedi_Man]

Sam lashed out at his target, a droid armed with a Blade, and a lightsaber repulsing shield. He was in the training bay, testing his skills and making sure they would benefit him still. Ever since he became a jedi he trained to be a Guardian, and his wish was granted about 5 years ago. The droids defenses opened up for a milisecond, and thats all it took, Sam sliced off the head. The droid reached down and picked it up, the smoothness of the outer shell causing it to juggle it for a second.

" Very good master jedi, shall i train with you again?"

Sam Said " No thanks, but I'll be back later!" He went to his bunk room, walking over to the desk were parts were scattered across the top, probably belonging to one of his Work in progresses. Sam sat down and started to work on his own special blaster.

" This ought to do it.." And he trailed off into thought.

[Writer]

Alena's right hand touched lightly on her collapsed wan-shen and she nodded. "I am far more focused now," she replied. Recalling a portion of her meditation, she repeated, "Past shapes present; present shapes future." She smiled faintly and thought of her father. For a brief moment, she felt sorry for him that he could not deal with her mother's death as she could. Then, she let that feeling pass and turned her mind once more to the present.

 

"Have any of the Jedi reported in yet?" she inquired of Kohun.

[Blessèd Sith]

She was pacing. It was a grand, looping pace that led her around more than just back and forth across a room; but it was pacing nevertheless. Though, she wasn't wringing her hands. She avoided that one, and did it in her mind. Balling her hands into fists in frustration and feeling of utter impotence, Zosia halted herself and stormed off her circut.

 

They were Matukai too, she reminded herself. This both eased and increased her aggrivation. They would either be easier with her, or consider her some sort of traitor. Either way, introductions had to be made, and they really needed to get moving. She wanted to know what was happening anyway, so now was as good a time as any.

 

Wandering aimlessly now, she spotted a pair and drew up to them.

 

"Have any of the Jedi reported in yet?"

 

Perfect timing, she thought as she stepped up beside them, studying both their faces.

[Jedi_Man]

Sam came out of his trance. He had been meditating, apparently. He went outside of his room. He should probably head towards the cockpit to talk to the captain now. He went in that direction.