A Crystal Storm

[Freyja Storm]

Freyja had left the gathering on Al’doleem before the others, the gathering of all those beings, to happy and optimistic sickened her to her stomach. They were kidding themselves if they thought this journey would be an easy one, she had heard the stories of Ilum from Aurora and had done research on similar planets such as Hoth. It would be a nightmare trying to survive here, let alone with children and overly hyped up Padawans. No, Freyja was better alone, she could trust in herself to complete the mission, without anyone dragging or letting her down when it mattered the most. Then there was the Drast, she felt sick at the sight of all the aliens around them, it appeared the Jedi had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for recruits here in the outer rim, but taking Alysanne that was a bold and perhaps rash move. Though if she was honest with herself, taking Freyja in was a rash move by the Jedi, if anything she was more of a liability, at least the Jedi knew what they were getting themselves into with Alysanne.

With an audible snap, The Vanir dropped out of Hyperspace above the great white blue orb of Ilum. She had taken the coordinates of the planet before she had even joined the group in the middle of the courtyard always meaning to travel there herself, at a time she thought of taking others with her but after seeing the crop of Padawan's and Hopefuls that gathered around her she quickly changed her mind and that was before the Drast bombshell. Kara sat in the seat next to her, the one companion she would take on this mission, though she would probably stay on the ship once they located the temple and landed. The pair flicked switches, deactivating the hyperdrive and making the ship ready for atmospheric entry.

The deep blue of the planet's dwarf star glowed off to their right as they approached the planet. Ice planets had a tendency to have high and powerful winds in the upper atmosphere, which had both Freyja and Kara's hands clutched tight around the controls. The Vanir quickly rounded on the planet, Kara took the lead as the better pilot, tipping the nose of the ship towards the planet. Freyja raised the power of the shields as the atmosphere of the planet began to beat into the ship.

The Vanir shook in all directions as it began its re-entry, Kara and Freyja had done over a three dozen of them since their time together on the ship, so hardly a word was spoken as they moved with efficiency across their consoles keeping the ship in perfect alignment, the shields fully charged and any damage to the ship to minimum. A loud crack was heard throughout the ship as the ship hit enough atmosphere to register as going above the speed of sound, they slowed quickly as the weight of the air began to grab hold. As soon as it did they were rocked from side to side by the strong winds of the Ice planet. Freyja's hands jumped back onto the controls to help Kara keep the ship from pointing directly into the ground.

The battle continued for another thirty seconds as the battled through the last of the upper atmosphere and into the planet's air proper. Finally breaking through the ship was able to power on and through the heavy winds with a little effort. Levelling out the ship, Kara finally let go of the controls Freyja following suit. The pilot looked over at Freyja a small bead of sweat running down her face. "Now where to Jedi?" She said with a sly smile.

 

[Freyja Storm]

Freyja stuck her tongue at the other woman. Kara knew she hated that moniker, not only due to her past in the Empire, but the seemingly god-like reverence many of the other members of the Alliance or the Outer Rim gave that title. The only difference in her eyes to the Sith is they accepted that praise where the Jedi deflected it away. Freyja didn't know what was the correct answer, both seemed appealing to her and both had their merits. Perhaps something along the middle would work the best, she thought.

The Vanir coasted through the sky of Ilum, the strong winds still battering the hull, but it was not enough to knock it off course. "I need time to concentrate." She said to the pilot as she unbuckled herself from the co-pilots chair and made her way out of the cockpit. Her grasp of the force was flittering at best, she had short sharp stabs of seemingly limitless power but these were random and uncontrollable at best they were only there during an intense need. The rest of the time it took more effort than Freyja was willing to admit to summon the force and channel it in any meaningful way. She hoped that part of this trip, connecting with such a powerful place would allow her to further her connection in the force.

Passing back through the ship, she was greeted by the happy chirping of the astromech droid who helped service the ship. It had been there since the day they stole The Vanir, its memory wiped shortly after they left the planet it had been a happy companion for Kara whilst Freyja was away. She knew she had given the droid a name but Freyja hadn't bothered to learn, it seemed happy enough to answer to 'Droid'. She gave the mechanical creature a small wave in acknowledgement, its robotic arm wiggling back and forth in reply. She didn't head to her private rooms instead, going towards the back of the ship where the old storage room for the giant kitchen the ship possessed used to lie.

It was bare steel on all sides, which suited Freyja nicely, Aurora had told her to find a room such as this to concentrate on the force when she was not with her master. The lack of outside interactions allowed her to clear her mind easier than the chaos of the rest of the ship. There were only a small cushion and a pair of small stones situated in the middle of the room. Closing the door behind her she clicked on the intercom to one way so she could guide Kara but the women could break her concentration whilst jabbering on to the droid. Picking the stones up from the pillow and placing down in front of her Freyja took a deep breath before sitting crossed legged.

She deepened her breathing for a moment, her arms lying on her legs. After about a dozen breaths she closed her eyes and let her mind travel beyond the confines of her body. The first part was easy, the senses flowed out to the ship around her, the cold hard metal of the structure, the hum of the great engine below her, the small wheels of the droid and the heartbeat of Kara near the front. She could sense and feel it all like her eyes were open and looking at every single piece at once.

Then the difficulty came, she pushed further, beyond the confines of the ship. Out into the cold harsh winds of the Illum atmosphere. The lack of life, structures or any movement beyond the wind was hard to compel after the intricacies of the ship. It was like staring into an endless void, her right hand moved from her leg touching the ground beside her to comfort her nagging mind that she was floating in this void. The darkness seemed to last forever, every direction she looked it was endless, only small spots of light like the stars in the sky littered the ground below her. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, the edge of this invisible sky began to glow like the rising sun. She had seen this before when she was with Aurora and knew what it was. Speaking lightly as to not break her concentration she called out to the open comm. "To the south-east Kara, just beyond the horizon."

 

[Freyja Storm]

Freyja still had her mind closed to the outside world, but through the force, she felt Kara's agreement and the turn of the ship towards the South-East and the bright light that was calling to her. She smiled as the light began to grow brighter and brighter as the horizon seemed to come closer towards them. The light seemed to flow towards her like the current of a stream slowly drifted down a hillside, it was like a gentle warmth flowing through her body.

With the extra confidence of the flowing light, Freyja tried something she had failed at a number of times before. Opening her eyes she tried to keep that connection to the force flowing, as she began to take in the surroundings of the empty room. Everytime before when she allowed her sense of sight to take hold, the connection to the force was lost everything tumbling down like a stack of cards. If it was because of this connection or perhaps confidence in its presence, the cards did not come tumbling down. The light was no longer visible in her mind's eye but she could still feel its pull and direction like before. Not only that but she noticed those small stones she had placed before her, were now floating around eye level before her. When connecting to the force to sense the cave, her subconscious mind must have reached out to the stones she had so often concentrated on in the room and lifted them like all the times before.

Freyja reached out and took one of the stones from the air, turning it over in her hand, she smiled at herself feeling both accomplished and proud of her achievement. There was a little sorrow that no one was there to see it, specifically Aurora, Kara would congratulate her but she knew nothing of what she was really doing or going through, her Master though would understand the trouble and difficulty of the task though. She closed her eyes again placing the stone on the floor, not willing to lose everything she had gained today over sentiment.

The ship grew ever closer to the source of light, it passed the horizon and was now a glowing mass of energy as bright as a star just below the surface of the great sheet of ice that was the surface of the planet. "We are here Kara." She said over the open comm, closing off her mind she let her senses fully return before standing up from her seated position. She wobbled for a moment a rush coming to her head, it took a moment to pass before she was ready to go.

Walking back through the ship, she passed the happy go lucky droid who was repairing one of the many missing panels, she wondered for a moment when it would ever be completed, at least it wasn't the death trap it was when they first stole it. Entering the cockpit, she saw finally what the force had guided them to. A massive shelf of ice, its face seems almost impenetrable. Even though her mind was not fully clear she could still see outlines of that bright light, to the south on the main edge, she could see what appeared in her mind as a large door. Though something inside her told her that was not the way. Looking up over the massive shelf, another small light appeared to her. "There." She said pointing to its position. "An entrance." Kara looked at her with a confused look on her face. "If you're sure." She replied as the ship glided over to the location, setting down on the ice.

 

[Freyja Storm]

The whine of the engines quietened as Kara began to power down The Vanir as it settled on the top of the ice shelf. The ground was solid enough to take the weight of the ship and after a few calculations, Kara and the Droid were happy enough with the composition of the ground to power down the ship whilst Freyja went about her trip. "Will give us a little time to fit a few more panels whilst you are down there." The pilot said to Freyja as she wrapped a thick cloak around her shoulders. Freyja hat matching gloves and booths to try and keep the chill-out and she had layered well underneath her normal attire so she should hopefully be fine. The cave itself would be warmer than the outside thanks to the lack of wind, so she just needed to get from the ship to the entrance as quickly as possible.

"I will let you know once I am on my way back." She said to the pilot, touching her in the shoulder before hitting the button to lower the landing ramp. As the seal broke a rush of cold air hit Freyja in the face and forced Kara to shut the door behind her to keep the ship at a decent temperature for them to work in. She put the small commlink in her belt, the other items a small grappling line, torch, water bottle and some energy bars, she didn't know how long she would be down there, Freyja hopped not overnight but there was always the chance so she also brought an emergency blanked just encase. Stepping off the ramp she held her hand up to help her eyes adjust to the bright light that was the planet's blue sun reflecting back from the ice and snow making the whole surface extremely bright.

The entrance to the cave was only a dozen or so meters from their landing point, a fissure within the ice. It slopped gently down from the surface. Reaching the edge she stared down into the darkness, picking out her torch she shone it down into the abyss. It didn't appear too deep from here, after the initial slope there was a drop of a few meters and then it twisted off into the dark. Taking a deep breath which chilled her to the bone she started down into the deep.

It was a tight fit at places, having to crawl, sidestep, climb and jump to make her way through the secondary entrance to great crystal caves the Jedi once used to call home. As she went deeper the composition of the walls and floor began to change, the ice and snow and light stones began to be intermixed with darker tones, some appearing crystal like in nature. She was getting close, the glow of light which had filled her third eye was getting ever brighter with each step. Finally, the path ended, she no longer needed her torch as the cave beyond appeared to emit its own natural light. Stepping to the edge she looked out over the massive open space, almost fifty foot in all directions, she was about ten foot from the floor her secret entrance blending into the walls of the massive space. Pulling out the grappling hook, she made it secure in some rocks further back in the tunnel and then repelled down the face of the wall. She left it in place as a sign of her entrance and hoped she wouldn't need it any further in.

 

[Freyja Storm]

There appeared to be three exits out of the great cave itself, excluding the one she used to get in. Veins of Rainte ran throughout the cave, sharp outcrops of crystals appeared in a dozen different places around her, all seeming to let out there own light glow keeping the place visible for anyone to see without the aid of technology. Something inside her told her that there was also Kyberite here in this room but nothing stood out to her, nothing appeared different to the rest of the crystal formations.

Freyja remembered something Aurora had told her when she explained the origins of her own sabre, about how the crystal would sing and resonate with its owner. Unlike the Sith crystals which were dominated with one's power, the Jedi's worked with their crystals to achieve the best possible connection. Taking another deep breath she closed her eyes, letting her hands dangle at her side she let go again, trying to sense the location of the 'singing' crystal. As she first let herself go, she felt almost sightless as the great power of the light all around her threatened to blind her with its power. Freyja had to concentrate, her ability to see the basic light of the Force had to be controlled channelled and refined, she did not need to see the light-side of the force, she needed to see the power of the Force which resonated with her.

It took a moment or two for the light to subside, she slowly began to be able to make out the cave, the specific crystals that wee Kyberite to those that were basic Rainte. The cave had many crystals but not sung to the young Padawan, after another moment's wait, she heard something. Like a young girls voice, singing coming from one of the tunnels. Opening her eyes, she kept the connection, the power of the Crystals around her making it easier. She walked along the path, the voice in her head singing a light song that reminded her of her childhood, of a happier time.

The tunnel out of the cave was not long, perhaps twenty feet at the most, taking a deep right-hand turn just as she stepped out of the cave, the turn hid what was waiting for her at the end. Another cave opened up for her, but this one was cut in half with a great fissure. There was no natural way across, no bridge left by the Jedi before her. The music appeared to be coming from the exit on the other side. Freyja checked the depth, first with her torch, 'No Luck' then by throwing a small stone off the side. 'That's worse', she thought as it finally hit the bottom. She needed to make it across, it wasn't stupidly far, just not a comfortable distance considering the fall beneath. Shrugging off her cloak to give her a little better flexibility and less weight. Freyja took a few steps back into the tunnel before launching herself into a sprint and leaping over the fissure. She hit the edge with her stomach, winding herself, scrambling to find a hand grip, her feet kicking at the edge of the gap to give her as much time as possible, she quickly found a handholl and pulled herself up onto the otherside. Her breathing was deep and laboured the adrenaline running through her system quiented the song, but Freyja could still sense it 'it was close.'