Ask "If one receives evil from another, let one not do evil in return"

[Fiach Dubh]

“Look at this. All the database says is: “Abafar: information on Planet Void.”
― Meebur Gascon

Abafar was a remote desert planet located within the Outer Rim Territories, and was host to massive amounts of rhydonium, a scarce and volatile fuel source. The large desert was known as the Void, and light was twisted in a way by the strange regolith that made it impossible to see tracks because there were no shadows.

Fiach had been sent to understand if the mines were still operational. She could hear the whine of her ship’s engines as it sliced through the upper layers of the planet’s atmosphere, protesting as a result of the damage she’d picked up when she dropped out of hyperspace and straight into an ion storm.

She was now pushing her ship far beyond the recommended safety parameters. She was desperate to land before the ship proved inoperable, as every minute provided a new winking danger light that extinguished to show the circuit was now dead.

Fiach gritted her teeth as her ship hit the turbulence of the lower levels of the atmosphere. The ship was now going too fast, forcing her to clutch the steering yoke so hard to keep her craft on course that her knuckles turned white. She now heard the creaks and groans as the over-stressed hull sliced through the atmosphere.

More emergency lights began flashing inside the ship, accompanied by the shrill whooping of a critical failure alarm.

The ship’s console was suddenly fried by a burst of power and she began a desperate struggle to somehow bring the vessel in for a safe landing.

The ship was now in free fall, plummeting straight down toward the desert. She yanked back on the yoke with all the strength she could muster, managing to redirect the ship into a shallower angle of approach. But if she didn’t find some way to decelerate, it wasn’t going to matter.

She punched at the controls, trying to restart the engine thrusters with one hand while the other still struggled to keep the yoke steady. Getting no response, she closed her eyes and reached out with the Force, digging deep into the burned-out circuits and melted wires of the ship.

Her mind raced through the labyrinth of electronics that controlled all the systems, reassembling and rerouting them to find a configuration that would restore power to the dead ignition switch. Her first attempt resulted in a shower of sparks shooting up from the control panel, but her second effort was rewarded with the roar of the thrusters coming to life.

She managed to get the engines into full reverse only a few hundred metres above the surface. The ship’s descent slowed, but didn’t even come close to stopping. A split second before the ship made contact, she wrapped herself in the Force, creating a protective cocoon she could only hope would be strong enough to survive the unavoidable collision.

The landing gear sheared off on impact, tearing loose with a thunderous crack. Inside the cockpit Fiach was flung against walls and ceiling. She was spun, tossed, and slammed against the sides of the cockpit as the vessel careened along the desert floor. Even the Force couldn’t fully shield her from the devastating crash as the ship carved a kilometre-long swath of burned sand before finally coming to rest.

@Six

 

[Malleus]

It had been hours since the Sith crash landed into the desert on Abafar, getting caught within an Ion storm near the planet that wasn't even his destination but merely a passing by point. He had spent the time since the crash trying to fix his freighter, though after a quick initial examination his attention was more geared towards fixing the communication systems since the ship had suffered heavy damage.

Both the ship's systems and his own comm link did not seem to work and Malleus's sparse technological knowledge didn't help the repair process one bit. Stepping out of the ship to catch a break and perhaps to start giving up on the repairs and start thinking of a new plan the Sith had noticed something. A ship blazed through the sky, thumbled around and crashed but not before softening the fall with his thruster engines. It seemed someone else had suffered the same fate as he did due to that wretched storm.

Thinking that the Force itself had presented him a way out of the unfavorable situation Malleus proceeded to make his way through the desert towards the crash site, the smoke of the wreckage acting as his guidance point. The large Sith was fully convinced that this was the showing of the Force favoring him and that the crashed ship either had enough in it for another flight to an area that's not the damned desert or it's communication systems are in better shape than his own freighter's.

Cloaked beneath his hood and with a pitch black cape dragging behind him the dark figure made his way across the desert, still branding his armor which was not making this situation any better. Halfway to the crash site it seemed as though he could feel something... life. There was a survivor in that crash, only one though. But no... that wasn't it, he wasn't sensing just life it was something more... was this survivor someone atuned to the Force ? As he got closer and closer it became perfectly clear that the individual at hand had a strong connection to the Force.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

For several seconds Fiach didn’t move. Her ship had been reduced to a smoking pile of scrap, but miraculously she had survived, saved by the light-sided energies enveloping her form. She hadn’t escaped unscathed, however. Her body was covered with painful bruises and contusions, her face and hands cut from fragments of shattered glass that had pierced her protective cocoon; her right bicep was bleeding heavily from a deep five-centimetre gash. She was sure a rib or two was broken, but nothing had punctured a lung. Her right knee was already swelling up, but there didn’t seem to be any cartilage or ligament damage. And she tasted blood in her mouth, oozing from the gap where two of her teeth had been knocked out. Fortunately, none of her wounds was life threatening.

Fiach rose to her feet slowly, favouring her injured knee. What was left of the ship had come to rest on its side, turning everything in the cockpit at a disorienting ninety-degree angle. Moving gingerly, Fiach made her way to the emergency exit hatch which was now above her, facing the sky.

The ship was equipped with an emergency medpac under the pilot’s seat. Inside it were healing stims she could use to treat the worst of her injuries. But when she made her way over to look under the seat, the kit was gone.

Realising it must have jarred loose during the crash, she rummaged around the cockpit until she found it. The outside of the kit was dented and slightly bent, but otherwise it appeared undamaged. She was relieved to see that several of the health stims had survived intact.

She removed one and injected it directly into her thigh. Within seconds she could feel her body’s own natural healing properties beginning to kick into overdrive in response to the healing shot. The blood flowing from her cuts began to clot. More important, the shot helped dull the pain from her swollen knee and broken ribs, allowing her to walk and breathe more freely.

Which was the point she sensed a ripple in the Force…a Dark-sided presence.

@Six

 

[Malleus]

Getting closer to the ship Malleus soon realized that it was indeed in a far worse state than his even own was. Flipped over to the side, smoking and with visible dents and fractures there was little to no chance that it's communication systems are still functional, especially considering Malleus's systems were all fried and his ship was in a far better state than this one.

However for this brief moment that wasn't the Zabrak's concern. No he was far more intrigued and focused on the presence of the likely survivor within the ship. The previously felt strong connection to The Force became even more apparent as the Sith was nearing the vessel. It wasn't an abrasive or malignant presence but more like a radiating light, calm yet still strong.

His eyes narrowed as he eyed the ships's hatches, all the possible exit points where the survivor might pop up. It was almost certain that the person in question was a Jedi, such strong presence isn't observed within the untrained Force Sensitives and no hint of the Dark Side around other than his own radiating might all pointed to that conclusion. He stopped a few feet before the ship and planted his feet firmly on the ground deciding to take no action and instead wait for the emergence of the Jedi from within the ship's wreckage.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Sighing audibly, she gingerly stood and closed her eyes. Opening them again, she looked around and saw the hatch to exit was now above her head. Standing on the pilot’s seat, she reached up and manually opened it, the door creaking at the effort of opening.

It made it half-way before deciding to stop – but the gap was large enough for Fiach to slip through, which she did.

Her cloak was discarded and she carefully stood atop the cockpit, albeit at a 90-degree angle to the usual position, and surveyed the scene.

And her visitor.

Scanning the horizon, she spotted another ship. Had he too fallen foul of the storm, or had he seen her crash and followed her down?

Her hand never travelled to the saber hilt on her hip. She was learning to trust the Force and right now it did not tell her to act. So she gave a short bow, but decided not to give up the higher ground just yet – and remained on top of her ship.

“Hello there,” she called and she gestured to the other ship. “Yours?”

@Six

 

[Malleus]

The Sith glared at the emerging Jedi woman, his eyes narrowed in contempt, contempt not solely directed at Fiach but at his entire current predicament. There was no doubt that the Jedi had sensed him as he did her and even further his appearance clearly screamed ''Sith'' even to those who've only heard of them. Yet Fiach casually decided to ignore this and even greeted the hulking Zabrak in almost a fun, friendly manner.

Malleus knew very well what position he was in, he had no idea about the planet and the desert surrounding them, there was no sign of any refuge or civilization around and the truth of the matter was that objectively Fiach was his best chance of survival and getting out of here as well as he is to her. That was probably the reason for the Jedi's relaxed demeanor, only speaking volumes about her quick assessment skills even after the thumbling crash she'd endured. On the other hand Malleus's hate swelled within him. He had enjoyed cutting down the Jedi on a deep visceral level, not only did it fill his need for battle but he was also effectively demolishing his ideological enemies and those truly standing in the way of the Sith ways that he so fully embraced and embodied.

''Ion storm.. I can only assume the same happened to you Jedi.'' he said as he strolled from one side to another, feigning amusement and doing his best to hide the rage that he was feeling. He had emphasized the word 'Jedi' with a snarling disgust as he would usually do when speaking it.

''Your ship's communication systems... judging from the state of that vessel they are probably done for.''

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach listened. She’d met Darksiders before and found them…well…varied. Not all wanted to kill you on sight. Many did, to be fair, but not all. Others looked to convert you to their way of thinking. Others simply opposed you if you stood in their way. Which variant was her present companion? Time, she quickly mused, would tell.

“Yes,” she replied, her ubiquitous smile still playing on her lips. “It fried most systems. I managed to generate enough power to land,” she stared down at the remains of the ship. “After a fashion I accept.” She chose not to react to his tone. In part because she didn’t really understand inference and in part because this could be him in a good mood? After all, his ship had crashed like hers, and he was well within his rights to be annoyed.

“And so yes, their useless. But I can scavenge parts. I’m guessing yours are down too. Maybe if we cobbled together what we have, it could do the trick. I have some experience with such things.” She also had experience of crash landings, but decided this was not the time to share this information.

@Six

 

[Malleus]

Pondering on the Jedi's words Malleus finally stopped strolling around as the reality of the fact that the he'd have to join forces with the Jedi woman crept up on him more and more. ''Well what are you waiting for, finish it so that we can do the same with my ship.'' he grumbled reluctantly.

He eyed Fiach from head to toe trying to assess as much as possible of the woman he'd came to face. Her demeanor and overall movements and gestures seemed to imply a certain degree of confidence and relaxation to be able to stay so relatively calm and positive in a situation like this.

''What do you know of this junk of a planet we're on, are there any possible settlements or a hint of civilization nearby ?'' he asked the seemingly more knowledgeable and prepared Fiach hoping that the desolate desert spreading around them isn't as huge as it seems.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach’s smile never faltered. Even some Jedi Masters appeared grumpy. Some simply were that way inclined whereas others used it as an exterior for a whole variety of reasons. Of course, unlike a Jedi, this was clearly a Dark-sider and should be treated with a whole different set of parameters. Yet, and Fiach could neither explain nor understand it, the Force was not setting off any imminent alarm bells.

A late starter when it came to Jedi training, Fiach had immersed herself in every facet of the learning available. But her first priority had been to learn to trust the Force. Not to use it, or to see it as something that helped her…but to truly trust it. To be prepared to stake her life on what it told her to do. It was central to her saber training – and why she favoured Soresu.

So, nodding her accord at his words, she gently jumped down from her ship, landing a good few metres away from her companion – not wishing to alarm him.

“I’m Fiach by the way, Fiach Dubh.” Even mentally referring to him as a Dark-sider only didn’t sit well with her. He had a name and she’d prefer to call him by it.

“I’d recommend seeing what shape your ship is in, if it’s less of a mess than mine. Then we can take stock of what you need and see if I can provide the parts. Or if not, what we can use to improvise.”

“As for the planet, given I lost all systems as I entered the atmosphere, I can’t be sure where on the planet we are. And given much is like this,” she waved an arm expansively, “walking in any direction in the hope of finding someone is not a good plan. In my opinion.” She added the last part quickly. “It is primarily a mining planet, so no large settlements, just temporary structures, abandoned when the mine runs dry. But if we can rig up a short-range transmitter, we would send for help, or even ping a communication to see where a settlement may be located nearby.”

@Six

 

[Malleus]

''Malleus.''

The Sith muttered behind his re breather mask as the machine gave his voice a mechanical rasp every time he spoke. As Fiach spoke about scavenging parts of his ship and rigging up a transmitter of some sort Malleus almost stopped listening to the girl halfway. Technology was not the Sith's stronger side and this kind of ''tech speech'' (if something as rudimentary as this could even be called that) went over his head.

''If you know how to do such a thing than you'll have to do it yourself.'' he said trying to let Fiach know of his incompetence regarding the task without admitting it openly to the Jedi. From what he could understand the transmitter she's planning on assembling is supposed to work as some sort of a beacon or a direct signal for help. Seemed like a plausible enough solution given the current situation, but if the task failed in any way the pair would most certainly have to rely on finding one of the mining facilities or settlements in order to call for any sort of help or transport.

Suddenly the silence of the desert was interrupted by a few distant howls. Turning towards the direction of the noise the Sith noticed four Nekkar Cat's standing on one of the dunes surrounding Fiach's crashed ship. The beasts howled towards the sky, possibly a battle cry of some sort for the primitive animal before starting to rapidly descend towards the pair.

Malleus started approaching the incoming wild animals without a word to his companion but he did so in a calm almost unbothered manner as he simply strolled across the desert fields. One of the cats seemed to be a few feet ahead of the others and was the first to come near the Sith. Pouncing in the air as it shortened the distance between the two the animal was met with a swift strike of the hooded Zabrak as it collapsed into the sand, it's limp body sliding away a couple of feet.

The second jumping animal was met with almost the same move as it too was cut down before Malleus met the last two incoming creatures. Unlike their fellow felines they stayed grounded instead of jumping but that would make no difference as he met them with two strikes of his blade over the creatures jaw's and head, only letting out a shrieking whine as their lives were cut short.

Standing back up Malleus slowly turned towards Fiach expecting to be met with some sort of scorn and a potential lesson on how all life matters from the Jedi. ''Spare me the philozoic and pacifist speech.'' he said with a sort of an eye rolling tone attempting to 'beat the Jedi to it'' ''They're wild animals that wouldn't think twice about feasting on our flesh.''

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach nodded as her companion spoke. She presumed Malleus was his name – but regardless, would refer to him as such until he suggested otherwise.

And she nodded again as he indicated she take the lead in fixing the communications capability of his ship. Personally, she didn’t like others tampering with her vessel, but she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to not only fix the problem, but get to see the inside of a different vessel. Not that she was expecting to see anything breathtakingly state-of-the-art, but new was always good for Fiach.

But before she could go into greater detail about what she planned to do, she sensed the arrival of four creatures a moment before she heard them.

And she had no chance to react before Malleus strode out to meet them and cut them down dispassionately.

“I’ll not pretend I agree with the decision to immediately kill and not consider a more peaceful solution. But my counsel is somewhat different. It was likely our scent carried and that is what attracted them. Four recently killed warm-blooded creatures will have a greater – and even more alluring – smell. It is likely to attract more of them, or worse still, something that might feast on them. I recommend we get to your ship swiftly. I don’t know how quickly night falls around here.”

@Six

 

[Malleus]

As Malleus walked by Fiach and towards the site of his ship's crash he didn't bother to give the Jedi a look. Her words however still echoed in his mind. Dammit, the girl was right... Force knows what lies around these deserts or beneath the sand and the stench of blood and raw meat could actually lead bigger predators to them.

He wouldn't admit the Jedi was right though, there was no chance in hell. Instead he silently walked away towards his ship, not addressing Fiach's words about the slaughter of the Nekkar Cats. Hoping the Jedi would follow he stomped over towards his downed freighter which though in a better state than Fiach's ship was still pretty beat up but at least Malleus was able to land vessel's belly on the desert so traversing and scavenging through it should be a bit easier than doing so through Fiach's flipped over ship.

As his acceptance of the situation settled it and his frustration slightly subdued his mind was now open for more mundane thoughts. Such as getting to know what he could about this Jedi, trying to realize how she could remain so calm and smiling while facing him when many of her kind's faces would twist in anger at the site of the Sith creature.

She couldn't be better than that, no. She was simply playing a bit to hard into some fruitless Jedi philosophy about open mindedness and acceptance and peace, he thought. He was determined to probe Fiach's personality and way of thought although he didn't expect it to differ much from that of the other Jedi.

With a few clicks on the device mounted on his wrist the ships's door opened. It was a standard YT type light freighter, Malleus didn't bother to customize or change anything on the ship and took it as it was, as was apparent from just looking at the vessel. The inside of the ship was just the same, all rooms and halls were the standardized look not touched in any way shape or form and some even vacant and empty as the dark creature's heart. The crash short circuited many systems on the vessel so the insides of the freighter were very dimly lit.

He climbed onto the ramp, back facing Fiach and his hood still covering him as he spoke ''Time to start your scavenging.'' as if to give Fiach some sort of 'approval' to enter the ship and tamper with it in his own way, before making his way into the darkness of the vessel.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach never worried or wondered about what people thought of what she said. In her eyes, she lacked opinion and focused on facts wherever possible. You can debate the former easily – and discredit it – but the latter was harder to debate. So, if Malleus agreed with what she had shared or not, it didn’t matter to the young Jedi. But hopefully, he was listening and would be extra vigilant now. Some creatures flew and others travelled underground. The former would be hard to spot in the darkness and the latter impossible to see until it was too late. So she closed her eyes momentarily and connected as deeply as she could with the Force.

Connecting like this allowed her to build a kind of 3-D map in her mind. If anything was going to come at them, she’d sense it – even if it were under the sand.

Thankfully she sensed nothing now and followed the Dark-sider to his ship. Fiach didn’t really do small-talk, which was just as well, as she suspected there would be precious little between them – at least initially. This promised to be an entirely mutually beneficial arrangement to get off the planet. She knew they would not become pen-friends as result of the experience. And this was not because she had no expectation that the Dark-sider might redeem his ways but rather that her focus had to be on getting off the rock, as opposed to changing Malleus’ mind over how he viewed the Force.

As they reached his ship, the door opened and Fiach could see that what should have been a well-lit interior was dim. She surmised this was due to the crash and not a décor choice.

She followed him onto the ramp and nodded at his words, pleased they’d made it here unscathed. “I’ll head to the bridge first and see what state your comms are in. OK?”

@Six

 

[Malleus]

''I can tell you that much.. they're fried.'' The Sith dully stated ''But you are free to check it for yourself.'' He said as he made his way towards the bridge through the dimly lit ship. As the pair were going through the vessel Fiach would be able to notice the almost intrusive vacancy of most of it's rooms. The cargo space barely had a couple of barrels and crates, most of the rooms were completely empty and unused, the one that was being somewhat occupied being the medical bay as it held a large tank of bacta and canisters of the fluid beside it connected to the container by a pipe system. Reaching the bridge he stood aside as if to give more space for the smaller human Jedi woman to tamper with his ship's controls.

He would proceed to observe Fiach as she tampered with the ship's systems, there was something in the back of his head that seemed to want to crawl back to the surface as he watched the girl. For a moment he wasn't sure what it was but would quickly realize it was a memory. A feint memory of his own childhood and some children he'd spent time with playing. Most of the people his parents were associated with even their family friends were loyalist to the Sith cults and all other families served the same purpose as his did, he did not spend much of his childhood playing nor did he know these children from his memories that well. Yet for some strange reason there was a certain sense of nostalgia about it and the now fully fledged Sith and avid Dark Sider Malleus hated every bit. One of these children was a human girl with piercing lilac eyes and hair that resembled that of the Jedi in front of him.

It wouldn't be the first time Malleus had seen a human female so he was unsure as to why this particular one would make these memories resurface. Although it was the first time in a long time he was looking at one of her species in such a 'calm' environment, calm in this case meaning - not on a battlefield or a fight to the death. He was sure Fiach could not be the girl from his youth as he remembered the girl's grim fate and early death as the memories resurfaced. Perhaps tilted by such strange and nostalgic thoughts Malleus's rage and frustration over the situation subsided a bit. But this fury did not simply vanish, it was rather twisted and directed with more focus and clarity like a sharp needle. ''I've killed many of your kind you know.'' he finally spoke as Fiach tampered with the computers, his words seemingly coming from nowhere.

Fully aware of the scope of the situation and the fact that he'd have to rely on the Jedi as much as she did on him to survive Malleus realized that since ending the woman's life would be out of question there were still other things to be done. He wanted to plant the seeds of doubt in Fiach, perhaps provoke her or have this event haunt her for days to come if the two were to get out of here alive - that she was instrumental in this monster's survival and every step Malleus would take in the future, every life he'd cut short would be on her hands. ''Some of them you once knew possibly... friends, brothers, sisters... how could you go on to work with me so eagerly knowing this ?'' He asked, his voice interestingly not sounding hateful or provocative but rather monotonous and almost weary as the words rolled of his tongue casually through the mechanized mask covering the lower part of his face.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach was meticulous when it came to the ship she used – or rather, used to use. She would have to begin to refer to it in the past tense. Under the hood, it was state-of-the-art, but its outward appearance was old and well-worn. Internally, it was most politely described as utilitarian. But, compared to this ship, it was relatively homely. OK, it lacked any really personal details, but each room had a purpose and its contents reflected that purpose. This vessel, by comparison, could have just come from the shipyard – such was the lack of personalisation.

Pushing these thoughts aside, she reached the bridge and the aroma of burnt electrics filled her nostrils. But she was part pragmatist and part optimist and believed that something could be salvaged.

Using the skills of her upbringing, she set to work removing panels to see what was salvageable and what was beyond redemption. The comms array was definitely beyond repair, and any hope of sending or receiving much of a signal was quickly put aside.

Aware she was being spoken to, Fiach frowned and then looked at Malleus. “Your past is your past. I am not judge, jury or executioner. Being a Dark-sider is not, necessarily, a crime in and of itself. Actual crimes you should atone for, but without facts, it would be wrong for me to judge you, let alone find you wanting. Plus, like you, I am marooned here. And given two heads are better than one, my best chance of leaving this planet is not through trying to arrest you, but to work together.”

She waved a hand nonchalantly at the circuitry. “This is technically known as useless.” If it was an attempt at humour, it was delivered dead-pan. “But I can do two things. Firstly, I can rig the transponder to send out a rudimentary distress signal. No words, just a code of beeps that will alert any ships in the system of our presence. But that relies on there being a vessel nearby – which is a long-shot.”

“Secondly, I will rig up the radar to see if I can pick up any local activity. Instead of transmitting radio waves to see if these signals contact an object – it will work in reverse. It should detect anyone else’s radio waves and so we can identify the direction they come from. We won’t be able to tell distance, but it will show direction. And the stronger the signal, it’s more likely there is more radio chatter it’s picking up. Give me an hour and I’ll have both set-up. OK?” She was acutely aware it was his ship and she felt his approval was still required under the circumstances.”

Spoiler

BTW, you have seen identical lilac eyes elsewhere – Manuk Gagak. They have the same build and look about the same age but have different faces – although the eyes are exactly the same…

@Six

 

[Malleus]

Malleus's lips twisted into a smirk after Fiach's attempts to disregard his previous words though with the re-breather mask covering half his face the only indication of this expression would perhaps be the Zabrak's eyebrows if one was to closely observe his face. She tried to stand firmly with her convictions and justify her reasons in pairing up with the Sith. In truth she probably did a better job than himself as he still wasn't quite on terms with this necessary alliance while the Jedi seemed to have come to terms with the situation right away. However he was still doubtful of her words, sure she might have spoke them with confidence and backed up by rational thinking but he felt that what he had said still sawed some seeds of thought within her mind. ''When I take a life next time I will only have done so because I was able to survive thanks to your efforts.'' He added casually, the seriousness of his words apparent yet he delivered them in such a manner that he didn't seem to put any weight or intensity behind them as if he was discussing weather, perhaps intentionally as no longer than a second past when he spoke again. ''I can be of no help with your technological tampering.'' the Sith took a seat in one of the rotating seats that was just behind him near the corner that he stood. ''You can find some basic equipment there.'' he said, pointing a finger of his large gloved hand towards a crate on the floor near Fiach, under the ship's navigational map.

What he didn't say however was that same crate held something more than just the basic tools, it held two Jedi lightsaber that the Sith salvaged. One being from the first Jedi he ever engaged and killed, an older man that fought Malleus alongside his padawan. It was the same battle where he had gotten the injuries thanks to which he now dons the mechanical respirator on his face. The other one was a saber from a different battle belonging to a Jedi Master. In his initial missions and endeavors he had thought to collect the sabers of his notable Jedi kills but quickly dropped that idea as he saw no value in flaunting trophies which is the reason why the sabers from the dead pair of Jedi on Batuu were left back with their bodies, presumably looted by the bandits.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach listened as she worked. Malleus’ initial question was one posed often in Jedi training. What if? The teaching was clear – to deal with the here and now and act according to the prevailing circumstances. In time, perhaps when you become a Master, greater wisdom could be added to the equation. “One of the greatest Jedi in history once said, ‘Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.’ Who can tell what might happen tomorrow. What if you save a life in a week’s time. You will have only done so because of my efforts. So, to try to predict the future is a flawed approach. Right here and right now, we need each other. My deliberations end there.”

As she fished into the tool-box – which held some items larger than she carried in her small kit she always had attached to her belt – she noted the sabers. Was it an intended act, to see her reaction? She doubted it. He had no way of telling she would be coming here, and the box did contain relevant items to aid her repairs.

“So, tell me something of you. If we’re to see this escape through, it would be better if we knew a little of each other. Do you have any strengths that are relevant? Weaknesses – other than repairing electronics of course.” The line was delivered dead-pan, and who knew if she meant it as a joke.

@Six