Whispers in the Dark

[Wit]

Temple of the Kyber, Holy City, Jedha

​

Things were always the same in the Holy City. The streets were crowded with beings from around the Galaxy, vendors were trying their best to sell food, memorabilia and talismans to wide eyed pilgrims on their way to the Temple, and even in a sacred place such as the ever present pickpockets were drifting through the crowd.

Annilleen Draay, dressed in once fine clothes now covered in grime and patchwork, trudged along, just one more in the sea of faces making its way towards the Temple. A bag filled with a spare set of clothes, a cantina full of water and some rations, she carried her entire world on her back. Like many others who had made their way to Jedha, attracted to the Holy City from the farthest corners of the Galaxy, she had spent weeks jumping ships and using up every credit to her name to complete the journey.

Everyone had different reasons for being here. Some wanted to see what locals proclaimed to be the first Jedi Temple, some came to get lost within the crowd, some even came to become Jedi. And then there were those who were on a spiritual journey, who came here for what Jedha really offered, hope. None of those reasons were the reason behind Annileen making her way to Jedha from deep within the Unknown Regions. She was here because of the voices within her head, the whispers of the Force that just wouldn't go away.

It had started weeks ago, gentle, almost imperceptible nudges from the Force. With the ongoing struggle between Jedi Army and the Sith, the Force was in turmoil. Echoes of the conflict resonating throughout the Force. The whispers that had drawn her here had been so soft that she had almost missed them, the ripples they had sent out in the Force had almost been drowned out by the chaos of the war. But maybe by chance, or by some purpose, sense them she had. Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised when she had finally realized she was being drawn to Jedha, the Holy City did after all boast an ancient connection to the Force.

As the crowd approached the main entrance to the Temple, she slipped away down a side alley, making her way to a small door that seemed to be locked from the inside. A secret entrance to the Temple that was known and accessible to Jedi alone, Annileen reached out with the Force and pulled on a small lever behind the walls, opening up the door and slipping in and letting the secret door close behind her. Her path from here was clear, the Force was drawing her in, further and deeper into the Temple. As she started walking she couldn't help but wonder if any other Jedi had answered the call, or if any had even heard it.

 

[Landsknechte]

Talon had felt the ripples too. Something off in the Force while he was off at the Kyber crystal mines. He'd thought perhaps it had to do with the events there. But it was more than just simple pirate raids.

With that situation taken care of it was off to the Temple of the Kyber. Through the crowds of the Holy City proved slow going. Even a Jedi got no special treatment. He didn't mind.

It gave him a chance to reflect on the nature of the disturbance. Nothing mundane about the feeling at all. The land-speeder ride back had given time to mull over possibilities. Now he'd narrowed it down to something that made him apprehensive.

Could it have been the Dark Side? Were there Sith here on Jedha? Looking around at the milling crowd filled him with dread. They'd stand little chance against the Sith war machine in a surprise attack.

Even the Jedi currently here wouldn't do more than delay the inevitable. Not that their virtually assured deaths would daunt the Knights. A delay meant some of these beings could run. Run and hide or even escape.

He broke off down a side street not far from the Temple main entrance. The mass of bodies was almost non-existent here. It allowed him to move virtually unhindered off to a particular side door. Like Annilleen Draay not long before him he knew this inconspicuous portal.

He placed a clawed hand on the wood. Reaching through the Force allowed him to feel the simple latch. He lifted it gently and gave a push. The door opened silently on well-oiled hinges and he slipped inside.

@Wit

 

[Valen Pelora]

Valen wandered through the crowded streets of the Holy City. He brushed by men, women, and children, from a hundred different worlds. The streets were filled with more races, and species, than he could name. Hope had brought them to Jedha. The war was spreading across the galaxy, the Darkside consuming worlds. The Empire left hopeless despair in the wake of their conquest. Refugees from countless war torn sectors desperately sought safety.

Coruscant had welcomed many of the galaxies displaced peoples until the Sith had descended. The Republic had no ‘plan’ in place, the Order was unmoving, and the Army too small. The Refugees had been left adrift. Then they had started to come to Jedha. It was rumored the Temple in the Holy City had been the first Jedi Temple. A beacon of the Lightside in the growing darkness. The Archives could not place an exact date on the Temples construction, but it was old. Although, perhaps not the first temple.

It did not matter to Jedha’s new comers. The Temple, and the Holy City were shining symbols of hope. Something for the people to put their faith in. The Republic had failed them, the Jedi were splintered. People needed faith. They needed something to believe in bigger than themselves. The Holy City gave the refugees that chance. At first, the groups had been small. Slowly more and more came to the Holy City until it was filled to the brim. The crowds brought merchants, and less scrupulous creatures, seeking to take advantage of the population burst. It was a terrible thing to take advantage of the vulnerable, but that was not why Valen was here.

The Lightside had been calling him. Softly at first, then louder and louder. Pulling him towards Jedha, the Holy City, and the Temple. He had tried to ignore the call. He had tried to focus on turning the tide of the war. His efforts had failed. The longer he pushed the calling from his mind, the louder it grew. Finally, he had given in and answered. The trip to Jedha had been short. He brought few personal items, most he had left on the Puddle Jumper. Valen walked through the streets in fraying, battle worn, robes and plain clothing. Simple boots, a white tunic, and black pants. With the hood pulled up, he appeared no different than the rest of the crowd.

He shook himself from his thoughts as he approached the Temple. The Temple was old, and infrequently used, but the Jedi still had a way inside. He ducked down a side alley to approach a specific point in the Temple’s wall. Valen reached out in the Force to feel the lever concealed in the wall. He pulled, the door swung, and he stepped into darkness.

@Wit @Talon Xiphos

 

[Oncaro]

If there were ever a place where Dea felt it improper to dress fancily for reasons other than climate, it was Jedha. Unlike Valen, Dea had not attempted to block out the ripples, the whispers in the Force that had reached her; not realizing just what they meant, Dea had strove to discover just what was calling her, but it had been difficult-- the Force was so polluted that it was hard to discern all but the most immediate instances of the Force speaking to her.

But in time she had figured it out: Go to Jedha. Why, she did not know, as this was the first trip she would make to Jedha, but she did not question the Force's will. And so here she was in the Holy City, clad in simple robes, allowing the Force to guide her. And once she found the Cathedral of Kyber, she found her way to the secret alleyway and the hidden door, slipping inside.

@Wit @Talon Xiphos @Valen Pelora

 

[Wit]

Annileen hadn't made it far down the corridors of the temple when she felt it, ripples in the Force. But compared to the breeze that had birthed the ripples that had drawn her to Jedha, these were pebbles radiating ripples by their very presence. These were Jedi. A lopsided smile appeared on her face as she came to a stop and turned around, intending to wait for the new arrivals. It seemed, despite her worst fears, the Jedi weren't as lost as she had thought them to be.

But she wasn't given to great the opportunity to great the Jedi, her eyes were instead drawn away from the corridor by a flickering luminescence in the corner of her sight. Curiosity turned her head, just in time to see a blue figure gliding away down the corridor. Turning once to gaze down the corridor, in the direction of the arriving Jedi, she started jogging down the corridor after the figure. The figure moved quickly, staying just out of sight as it lead Annileen down the labyrinthine network of corridors below the main halls of the Temple.

Finally Annilleen burst into a dark room, the darkness keeping the room's size hidden from her. The figure stood, or rather floated, in front of her. Getting her first good look at her, she found herself facing a woman not much older than her, dressed in clothes closely resembling the robes of a Jedi. She had seen a lot in her travels, things that most Jedi would find hard to swallow, but this surprised even her. The figure, maybe sensing the questions that were about to come pouring out of Annileeen, held up a hand to forestall her. Instead she held out her other hand, the gesture making it very evident to Annileen what she wanted.

Taking slow steps towards the figure, she reached out with her right hand and placed it on the figure's hand, or made it hover slightly above the etherial hand. The woman, whose face had been expressionless so far, smiled and reached out with her other hand and tapped Annileen's forehead. And just like that, she was falling.

She didn't know how long she fell, it could have been a year or less than a moment. But when she came to a stop she was in a field, the tall grass within which she stool dancing to the tunes of a gentle breeze. She was no longer in her own clothes, but in a dress of some sort. A tall man stood in front of her, a lightsaber in his hands, another sticking from his back. As he fell to the ground, she saw the Sith. An actual Sith, one of the pure blooded descendent of the ancient fathers of the Sith Order. He smiled as he looked at her, a sadistic smile that left no doubt in her mind that she was his next target.

The Sith charged, the dress she wore almost preventing Annileen from moving out of the way in time. She stumbled and rolled to safety, drawing the fallen man's blade to her hand and rising to her feet to face the Sith. A look of surprise crossed his face. It was then that she noticed the little girl. She hand't noticed that she had been protecting the child as the man had been protecting her. She realized then that the Sith hadn't been surprised that she had thought to use the blade, but that she had abandoned the child. He swung his blade, as it fell to strike the child time slowed down.

The child spoke, but her voice was that of a much older woman. The figure that had drawn her here. It is always the innocent who suffer. As the words escaped her lips time sped up again. The blade fell, and as the child screamed the Force exploded from Annileen. As the child was pushed away from the Sith, Annileen charged.


Elsewhere, the three Jedi also found themselves facing similar corporeal guides. They too were faced with similar scenarios. The Draethos found himself in the midst of a battle, a young warrior, untested and rushed into battle before his time, dying in his arms. A lightsaber wielding enemy cutting through his squad as they attempted to buy him enough time to save the youth. The Mirialan found himself on a road, protecting the fleeing citizens of a city as their home was burnt behind them by an invading army. As he watch lightsabers ignited around him and cut down the young and old he was supposed to protect. As for the woman, she found herself in a room with high ceilings. A young boy, dressed in clothing befitting a king, covered in fear behind her. She stood facing a barricaded door, two crimson blades poking out from the door and slowly making their way in a hole.

They would all face their tests, and if they survived, come out stronger than they had stepped in.

@Talon Xiphos @Valen Pelora @Oncaro

 

[Landsknechte]

It wasn't long before Talon met his guide too. Past the entrance and down the first length of corridor. Torchlight flickering on walls and boots clicking on the sandstone floor. Eerie silence and Jedha's aura of life far away.

The air was still but didn't smell musty. There was no sense of menace but Talon found it odd here. Time didn't feel like it touched this place. The stone even seemed unworn.

That's not possible, he though as his eyes took it all in This place in as old as the Order.

Inside the main building there was wear. Thousands of years would do that even to a Jedi temple. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice. The Draethos had entered into a chamber.

Blue eyes widened in surprise and his jaw fell open. Talon's mouth worked soundlessly and he stood rooted. At the chamber's end stood his Master. It took him a moment to notice the ethereal quality to the Barabel's form.

"Master?," Talon managed just above a whisper. The Babarel nodded. There was the familiar comforting presence about him. His eyes were full of warmth at seeing his student again.

"Master, I...".

The Barabel held up a clawed hand to forestall him. He gestured for his old apprentice to follow. The old Master turned and Talon realized there was a door behind him. Talon followed full of wonder.

What happened next was unexpected. He wasn't in the Temple anymore. He was...in a desert. A cold wind swirled the seas of sand. It carried the sounds of distant clash and clamor. There was also the fetid smell of death.

He barely even registered it's stink. A weak cough drew his attention from the horizon. In his arms lay a young Chalactan girl of perhaps 14. She wore the robes of an Initiate.

Through the plastoid chestplate she wore was a singed hole. Talon realized he could see cleanly through to the sand below. Her dark eyes were full of pain. Her suffering wrenched at him even through everything.

Everything that he'd been through in eleven years. Endless war where every day was a struggle. A struggle to keep faith even in the Light. So many deaths by his hands.

His blackened existence had weakened his connection. Sometimes he could barely even feel the Light. But Talon secretly gloried in every Sith minion he struck down. Their deaths were recompense for every being they'd also killed.

Including two of his apprentices. The weight of this crashed into him. Despair filled his heart. Their faces were burned always into his memory.

Nightmares full of their dying. Their screams and suffering. His powerlessness to stop the shadowy monsters from taking them from him. Waking each day to the bleak realization it would mean more friends dead.

Priya. The girl's name was Priya. He had chosen her eleven months ago. He had sworn to himself that he would protect her at all costs. She wouldn't end up like the others.

Now she was here in his arms. Suffering and slowly dying. He knew he'd failed her just like he'd failed the others. The Light was a million miles away from this place.

"Talon!," came a cry from the left "Talon!"

The Draethos looked up to see a Barabel running towards him. A Republic soldier followed by a handful of others. Rull-ka was his name. A corporal who'd fought by his side many times.

Four others he knew. A human male and female. A Twi'lek and a Rodian. He knew them well but their names escaped him in that moment.

The two meter reptilian crouched down beside him. The others formed a ring with rifles in all directions. Rull-ka looked down at Priya and his mouth tightened.

"You musst get her help," he said with his face especially grim "There iss a drop-sship a few hundred meterss from here."

"Rull, they're coming!," came the squeaky voice of the Rodian. Talon looked back to the horizon to see the shadowy forms of the Sith. They were pushing back the few Jedi and Republic soldiers in their way. Cutting them down.

Talon had pulled back behind the lines. But now that thin shield was gone. He looked Rull-ka in the eyes. The Jedi knew exactly what his comrade-in-arms was thinking.

This squad of five was going to do their duty. These beings committed themselves to death so that a girl would have the slimmest chance. For though she was Jedi she was but a youth. Talon nodded and stood as gently as he could.

He grimaced when his apprentice moaned. He caught Rull-ka's eye and that of the others. Their faces were grim but resolute. They turned one-by-one to face the wave of black.

"Go, Talon," Rull-ka said "And may the Force be with you."

With that the Barabel turned and began barking orders.

"And you, Rull-ka," Talon whispered before he turned.

The Draethos moved as quickly as he dared. But it was still painfully slow going over the treacherous sands. He knew he couldn't afford to drop Priya now. Her life was fading fast and a jolt would surely end her.

He'd made it perhaps three hundred meters when he heard it. The chatter of weapons and the war-cries of the Legions. Behind the next dune he couldn't see. But he surely could hear.

Talon kept on trudging through the sand. The girl felt so light in his arms. He could carry her forever. Up the next dune he went. A few hundred meters Rull-ka had told him.

Surely the drop-ship was over the next dune. Talon crested the rise and it seemed to take an eternity. His heart was filled with hope and joy at the sight ahead. It was the drop-ship!

He made it a few steps forward when he heard it. The Legion's inevitable advance. Grief filled him as he though of the five who'd sacrificed. They could only hope to buy him time and he knew that.

It didn't make it any less full of sorrow. Talon was surprised at the depth of the emotion. He'd buried them so deep all this time. The damnable noise rose to a fever pitch behind him.

They'd spotted him. Their pace quickened and Talon's heart quailed. The ship was only over the next dune now. Salvation for his badly injured apprentice was so close. But now they'd not make it.

Talon finally risked a glance over his shoulder. They were just two hundred meter away. Closer to him than he was to the ship. They moved far faster than he could manage.

He stopped and looked into Priya's eyes. Life still shone there. A flame so strong that even now it still burned. Talon knew what he had to do and he set her down gently.

A final glance burned her image into his inner being. He turned to face them in their dozens. Righteous anger flooded him and determination that he would do what he had to do. Priya's fire still burned even as an ember.

He would cut them all down. Every one of them. There was still that slimmest of chances. Nothing was going to stop him.

"Master..."

Talon started and he quickly turned. She was looking up at him with glassy eyes. He forgot the oncoming horde and he knelt by her. Taking her head into the crook of his arm he spoke softly.

"Don't be afraid, I won't let them hurt you."

She smiled and the ember faded. Her last breath left her lips. He looked into sightless staring eyes. His free hand brushed her eyes closed and he rested her head on the soft sand. He removed his robes and draped them over her body.

He rose without a word. They were less than thirty meters away. More than close enough to dispatch him with their weapons. But they'd stopped to form a crescent around him.

Their leering expressions made their intent clear. They saw him there along and vulnerable. He stood no chance against so many of them. They wanted to make sport of him.

They didn't know that a Draethos was always the hunter. His hand unhooked his lightsaber and it hissed to life. The crackling azure blade shone brightly even in the desert sun. He didn't feel the cold winds touch his skin now.

His free hand rose and with all the well of emotion in him he struck out. A massive wave shot forward into their front ranks. They scattered as if before a hurricane wind. He shot forward with a primal scream on his lips.

Talon's blade rose and fell as he danced among them. Automatic weapons fire filled the air as did their dying screams. But even his blurring saber couldn't deflect all of their bolts. His own plastoid could only protect from glancing shots.

The direct ones hit home. He could feel his flesh being singed. Pain was nothing compared to the inferno of rage. He herded their ever thinning ranks into a knot. He felt satisfaction at their terror in their eyes.

No matter how many times they shot him he wouldn't go down! Finally he drove his blade through the chest of the last one. Talon at last fell to his knees. He collapsed onto his side and was still but for his ragged breathing.

His field of vision narrowed as he starred into into the endless skies. He was numb to the physical pain. That didn't stop the feeling of loss. Loss of friends, comrades, apprentices. Most of all the loss of the Light.

This filled him most of all. Despite everything he knew this in the end to be the greatest loss. As light faded in his eyes he saw the ethereal form of a Barabel in Jedi robes....

@Wit

 

[Valen Pelora]

Overture

Valen’s eyes slowed adjusted to the dark hallway. A long stone causeway extended before him, he could sense other Jedi. Thank the Force. He was not alone, others had heard the call. He turned to find his brothers and sisters. A shimmering blue figure stood ahead of Valen in the hallway. He was drawn to the young man, pulled towards the figure. He stepped and the world changed. The Temple was gone. Jedha was gone. He was standing on a dirt road, staring at a wide-open field. Where was he?

A scream split the air. Valen spun. A crowd of bedraggled villagers huddled behind him. Fear clung to the villagers. Men, women, children, young, and old, all looked to him. He could see the desperation in their eyes. They were close to breaking, close to giving in. The Darkside clawed at the edges of his mind. Whispering failure into his heart. Death spun through his mind. He saw the faces of the lives he had taken, he felt the pull at his soul. The Lightside fled. Valen’s eyes flicked behind the villagers.

In the distance, fire and smoke climbed towards the sky. He looked over the villagers again. Their clothes were ragged, soot covered their faces. They were fleeing the destruction. No. They were running from something. The people looked to him again. No. He was leading them somewhere. Where could they go surrounded by darkness? These people had no hope. No chance. The Darkside was dragging him down, pushing him towards oblivion. Valen grasped for the Force.

This was not who he was. Not anymore. The Lightside poured into him, he shut out the whispers. He shut out the doubt. He did not know where he was, or when he was. It did not matter. He knew why he was here. These people needed him. They were lost, alone, and afraid. Adrift in the Dark, he would be the Light. He smiled at the villagers and motioned for them to follow him. He turned, and saw red. Red everywhere. Sith.

Ruby red blades poured over the hillside, slamming into the villagers. Children screamed. Men died. The Force wept. Death and Darkness ripped through the Lightside. Valen shuddered and cried out. He felt each villager die. It ripped his heart in two, the sorrow was nearly unbearable. It could not go on. It had to end. His Lightsaber was in his hand, emerald green springing to life. He breathed deeply and threw himself into the Force. The Lightside enveloped him and he charged, sprinting towards the nearest Sith. If this was the end, so be it. He would die as he had lived. The Force calling him home.

@Wit @Talon Xiphos @Oncaro

 

[Oncaro]

Dea, too, had sensed the others-- at least one presence she recognized, that one being Valen Pelora. She looked around to find him and the others, but found only a blue, shimmering figure, resembling a Mandalorian woman she had befriended during her travels.

"Sybilla...?" she asked in confusion, heading toward the figure. But as she reached out to touch it, her environs were replaced with darkness, and she was falling.

She wasn't sure how long she had been falling, but when she landed, she did so on her feet. What was more, she was in new clothes: A slinky, dark blue dress with matching heels, her lightsaber in her hand.

The next thing she noticed was that two lightsabers were cutting through a doorway, and finally she felt something tugging at the back of her dress. She turned, seeing the cowering boy, and quickly put two and two together. Crouching down to face him, she gave a calm smile.

Don't worry, little one. I won't let them hurt you," she said gently, before standing back up and facing the doorway. Her saber remained in her hand, but it was not active. Not yet.

@Wit @Valen Pelora @Talon Xiphos

 

[Landsknechte]

Talon opened his eyes to find himself not in the desert at all. Overhead was a lofty stone ceiling where there'd been endless sky. Beneath him was smooth rock where before there'd been hot sand. It was so much cooler here and quieter with no wind howling.

It took him a moment to realize he was still flat on his back. Clawed hands felt at his body but he felt no scorched flesh. There was none of the searing pain he'd remembered as he was riddled with blaster bolts. But the pain of loss still weighed on him heavily.

None of it seemed to have really happened. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh to release the tension that'd seized him. Slowly his muscles relaxed and blue eyes opened. Talon sat up to find that one thing had really happened.

The spectral figure of his Master still stood on the other side of the chamber. Eyes locked and a long moment passed in silence before Talon finally spoke.

"Why did I see all of that?"

"Becausse you needed to, Talon," came the familiar baritone.

The Draethos frowned as he eyes looked inward. The spectral form remained there in silence with his hands tucked into opposite sleeves. He was very much as Talon remembered in life. Infinitely patient while he waited for his student to grasp the lesson.

"Was any of it real, a premonition of things to come?"

The Barabel tilted his head from side to side slowly as he considered the question.

"Posssibly. The future is alwayss cloudy and ever-changing."

"If this is what's to become of me as a Jedi, then why should I remain one?," the student replied with heat rising in his voice. Grief still held his heart. He could still recall the death of each apprentice like it'd truly happened. Especially that of the young Chalactan girl.

"Thiss one cannot ssay, old apprentice," came the infuriating calm of a Jedi Master.

"I lost my apprentices, my friends and comrades and even the Light itself!," he snapped "And all you can do is tell me maybe?"

He rose and pointed a clawed finger accusingly.

"I lose everything in this future, Master, everything! Do I mean so little to you that you can tell me nothing at all!"

The angry words hung in the air. The old Master showed no outward sign of being flustered. He was ever the tranquil pond even under such an accusation. Talon realized what he'd said wasn't true at all.

"I'm sorry, Master," he said as he cast his eyes down in shame "I know that isn't true. You've always cared."

"Do not worry, young friend. You sspoke in anger becausse the grief still hangs heavy on your heart. Know that it need not happen that way. The future iss not definite."

Talon nodded as things began to fall in place. Slowly his Master's words made more sense. Their eyes met again and the old Master spoke with a touch of sadness.

"Thiss oness time here growss sshort, Talon," he said "It wass good to sspeak to you again, Talon. I have misssed you."

Talon blinked in confusion.

"You have to go?," he asked "So soon?"

The Barbel nodded and smiled softly. Beings who'd never met this elderly one would never believe such a frightening visage could be so warm. The Draethos sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"I've missed you too, Master."

"Goodbye, Talon," and with that the etheral form faded before the young Knight's eyes. Tears began to well up in his eyes....

 

[Wit]

Annileen charged at the Sith, pivoting off a foot at the last moment so that she would go spinning past the Sith with her blade slashing through his chest. But she wasn't herself, this body she was in didn't move like her own, smaller and weaker as it was. Her reach was shorter than she was used to and the her, that should have cut down the Sith, went flying harmlessly through the air. But it did warm the Sith of her capabilities, taking away any element of surprise she might have had going in her favor. The next few minutes were a back and forth exchange of blows as neither her nor the Sith could gain the upper hand.

She would have gone on like that until the voice returned once more, an echo bouncing across the air all around her. It is always the innocent who suffer. The child, who knelt shivering where Annileen's push had dropped her, now lay dead in a pool of her own blood. Her eyes flew to the distant assailant, too late to save the child, or herself as another arrow flew through the air and slammed into her chest.

She woke up again in the room on Jedha, feeling frantically at her chest for the arrow before realizing that whatever that vision was it was over. The ethereal figure still hovered in front of her, a sad expression on her face at Annileen pushed herself to her feet. What was that? Barely a whisper escaped her lips as she her breath slowly steadied itself.

Echoes within the Force, whispers of what has been, what is, and what might be. At the mention of past, present, and future, a different vision presented itself to Annileen. Each last for barely a moment, but just as real and as painful as the one she had just witnessed. Once she was a mother, seeing her daughter killed in front of her eyes, once a son unable to save his sister, and once an aged old grandmother whose entire kin was killed around her. They weren't soldiers, they hadn't even known of the war that ravaged their lives. One and all, they had been Innocents.

Jedi, Sith, no matter who won, innocent bystanders suffered the pain of war. But before she could speak another vision surrounded her, one of the distant future. There was darkness, there was pain, but there was also light, and hope. She started to understand then why she had been brought here. She had realized long ago that by opposing darkness the Jedi had created more, the very nature of the Force had demanded the existence of the Force, and she could sooner change the Galaxy than change the Force. And she realized now that this realization would have ultimately consumed her. Faced with the futility of her actions, she would have succumbed to the darkness she had vowed to oppose. But she knew that there was still light in the future, just as the very presence of the darkness within the Force would give birth to the Sith, there could be no darkness without light. Without the Jedi. Her job was not to destroy the Sith, or prevent them from ever returning.

Her job was much simpler, a task that even one as insignificant as her could accomplish. She raised her head to face the ethereal being, a determined look on her face. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.

A knowing smile appeared on the face of the woman as he form started to fade away, and in that moment Annileen felt the Force itself smile down her. Finding herself once more in the empty chamber, Annileen collapsed to the floor, feeling exhausted but full of a renewed sense of purpose. There would be hope in the future, she would fight to make sure there was hope.

Elsewhere, the three Jedi also found themselves being guided to similar revelations. The Draethos found himself facing a dark future. The Mirialan, facing off against the advancing horde but unable to protect those he was leading would face the futility of his actions. And the woman would find the assailants of her ward to not be enemies, but those they had considered friends. She would face the corrupting power of the dark side, and the pain of betrayal from those closest to you.

These were their tests, facing their own demons, the Force itself tempting them to give up. They would each have an individual choice to make, to find a reason to move on despite overwhelming reasons to give up.

@Landsknechte @Valen Pelora @Oncaro

 

[Valen Pelora]

Valen fought desperately. His Lightsaber alive in his hands, spinning through the air. He slashed at black robbed figures. His emerald green blade clashing with ruby red. His arms and legs burned from excretion. He pulled the Lightside into him. Pouring the Force into his body, anything to keep moving. He had flown past his physical limits. Only the Force sustained him. It was not enough. The screams of the dying split the air. He watched helplessly as a red blades sliced through flesh. He couldn’t stop the death. He fought harder. Faster. He pushed and pushed and pushed. It didn’t matter. For every robbed figure that fell two more appeared. He wanted to save them all.

He could not. The realization struck him like a hammer blow. He was frozen on the hillside, his Lightsaber hanging at his side. He could not save them all. He could fight until his hands bled and his legs shook but it would not matter. There were some he simply would not be able to save. There were some fights he could not win. He was not alone in the war. The world wavered, shook, and melted. Valen was back in the empty halls of the Temple on Jedha. The ethereal figure hovered before him.

“Who? What?” A knowing smile bloomed on the figures face. “A past life much like yours.” Valen tried to make sense of what was going on. Tried to wrap his mind around what he had seen. “But why?” The figure wavered, beginning to fade. “You cannot save them all. You cannot win alone. Know your limits and trust your family.” He finally understood what he had been shown. He had to put his faith in those around him. He had put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself to rescue the galaxy. He felt every single loss as a visceral stab in his chest. He blamed himself for the deaths he could not prevent. It weighed heavily on him. He needed to trust in the Force and his fellow Jedi. He had gotten away from that trust. He had strayed from the path. The Lightside had reminded him which direction to step. He took a deep breath and looked around. He needed to get the hell out of the Temple. There was work to be done.

@Wit