Outskirts of the Temple

[Kel Var-Maren]

The terrain outside the Jedi Temple of Bakura is a lush and verdant terrain. Mountains and forests surround the ancient building with only a small area kept free so anyone approaching the temple would be clearly visible. Due to everpresent rain lakes and rivers could be found on the mountainsites. Clearings in the forests were scarce.

[Kel Var-Maren]

The shuttle touched down gently on the deep green gras of a clearing. As the hatch opened a silent sigh filled the air. For but the glimpse of an eye the rain itself seemed to shiver. A frail looking old man appeared on the ramp and walked down seemingly youthful. A stark contrast to the fact that skin partially was peeling away revealing a blue hue typical for Force Ghosts. His eyes seemed restless taking everything in as he moved down the ramp in a rather quick stride. Days had passed since last he had slept but that hadn't kept him from dreaming to the dismay of people around him. Every dream, every vision from the past had been accompanied by ripples in the Force causing the whole ship to shake. More than once the captain had to drop out of hyperspace and recalibrate their course.

The captain… the old man shortly thought about it. The name had been stated but it slipped away ever so often. Everytime he saw the face of the Nautolan other names intermingled. He realised that it not only happened with the captain but everyone else as well. As he stood there in the rain of Bakura, the silhouette of the temple close by, staring down at his hand, his mind cleared once more. Kel's shoulder sank down and his age weighed heavily all of a sudden. The days of his brain working as it should became scarce. The old Jedi lived in memories and only the driving force of his duty kept him upright, kept him going as his conscious mind faded away. He had to hand over the data as soon as possible but it had to be the right person. It had to be Ashlin Li, little Ash, young but with strong principles. He knew that she was coming here but he hoped it would be soon as he didn't have much time. Kel in a scarce state of a clear mind accepted one truth: he was about to die.

The old man looked over his shoulder, not far enough to see them but he knew they were there. The woman from his clan and the Nautolan at her side. He had never been an empath but he knew they were worried. Both strangely resembled his past even though he struggled for their names. She was a fierce person, dutiful but with a family she deeply cared for. He was a Jedi turned drifter, more of a scoundrel than anything else. Two paths once open to him neither one he fully had adapted to as his life had turned him into a leaf in the wind. As if the Bakuran rain washed away the veil over his existence he realised that this had been part of why he had never become a Jedi master. Not only mistrust and fate tugging at his every step but also his undecided way had hindered him.

He looked up into a pouring sky and breathed in deeply. A tear being washed away by the falling rain ran down his cheek. It wouldn't be long until his mind would fade again he only hoped that he would be able to fulfill his mission before dementia or death overtook him.

[Rave Satsai]

The ride from Contruum to Bakura had been spectacular. After so many years in space ignoring established hyperlanes and plotting his own courses, the nautolan had forgotten the true thrill of navigating a harrowing flight path. But this trip had been everything he'd not even realized he was hoping for. 13 separate times the strange phenomenon surrounding the old man had forced them to drop from hyperspace and correct. 13 separate times Rave had been forced to re-plot his course through the stars, using his uncanny sense of spatial direction to find that needle-thin sliver of safe passage. 11 times they had stopped, corrected, and resumed. Once only, they had found themselves dropping out of hyperspace and immediately ducking and dodging for their lives through a planet-sized cloud of debris that forced them into the outer gravity well of a small star. And once only, Rave had forced his beautiful freighter to hyper-skip straight through the sun's corona on an impulse that he'd come to trust implicitly. Ironically it was the least planned of all the jumps that finally got them safely to Bakura.

A good day's travel, if ever he'd enjoyed one.

Now, standing on the ramp in the shadow of the Jedi's old temple, Rave smiled curiously and watched the old man. Kel Var-Maren. He'd been told a bit about the old Jedi by one of his people, but the bothan whom he'd known and trusted for years was strangely tight-fisted with the information, even knowing they were both Jedi. This guy was something important, but Rave couldn't quite sort that out. And he was in no hurry to. The mystery was half the fun, but he knew answers would come if he let them. All he knew was, the rain felt good on his amphibious skin.

Reddish-black with no pupils, his eyes glanced over at the Mandalorian commander standing on the ramp with him - the only one in Kel's company he'd gotten some decently straight answers out of. "So now da we here we jus' wait. Like... someone else know we gon' be waitin'?"

Having Kel as a mysterious wildcard was one thing. Not having a game plan at all was another. Rave didn't sit still well.

[Lidaya Maren]

Bakura's rainfall swept over them. Lidaya Maren: Ver'alor, but she had command now, stood with her arms folded across the Kar'ta Beskar at the center of her chest on her armor while she kept analyzing the situation. She watched the ancient Jedi from her clan with pursed lips and concerned expression beneath the shield of her helmet. Kel was… obviously… deeply unwell. It clearly had to do with the Force. She wasn’t equipped for that. Even the surviving Var-Maren cousins who were touched with a bit of it — none of them had the vaguest idea what to do about reversing the mystical black holes that seemed to be sucking Kel into the afterlife a few inches of him at a time, and wreaking havoc on their navicoms. Rave and his group didn’t seem to have any better answers, best as she’d worked out from the likable Nautolan.

Until she found Kel sufficient assistance or he was dead, her duty was to keep the Jedi alive. That was proving a challenge. The Tuur Tracyn was gone; burned up and crashed in Contruum’s orbit. Nearly their whole small clan of survivors was dead, save for herself and twenty-two of their crew. Their Alor'ad was badly wounded, along with a few others. But that was what it was. Lidaya had kept nine of the uninjured with herself and Kel. She’d left Zeke responsible for the others at the Nautolan’s den until they arrange other transport. They’d carry on.

The rainfall and damp breeze didn’t actually touch Lida: armored as she was, but she made a few quick adjustments to the filters in her suit and took in a deep breath of the rich planetside air.

The Nautolan’s eyes were on her again. Lidaya chuckled wryly at his question.

"I don't know. There used to be Jedi in the stone village up there. But that's empty now."

She felt confident about that much. More than half of her husband’s family was invested. They’d made it their business to track that sort of thing.

"He isn’t well. I’ll see if he has a plan. If he doesn’t—" Or, if Kel had a plan, but it didn’t prove lucid enough. "—I’ll start getting creative... I can comm in some favors. What about you. You have any suggestions?"

She didn't hold Rave under any obligation to stay with him in her mind; but she'd already gotten the sense that he planned on it. That currently suited her fine. Unfortunately he was no Mando'ad, but whatever kind of Jedi he was or not, the Nautolan had more Force expertise than she did — Plus, he unshakably reminded Lidaya of some of her in-laws. She couldn't ask for much better at the moment.

[Kel Var-Maren]

Kel looked at the temple and flipped out a commlink tapping several times on a single button before his eyes searched the temple. There it was. A single blink of light. Nigh impossible to see if one wasn't awaiting it knowing what to look for. He nodded as the datapad in his other pocket vibrated shortly to inform him that the download had started. A download of a summary of the state of the universe. He turned around. Both his companions in a short exchange of words.

He didn't want to intrude so he moved quietly towards them. His training kicking in, moving quickly without making a sound. He wasn't sure if he had used his powers or not to bend light around him. Ever since his mind had started to fade his powers had become quite unstable activating on a whim even if not needed. Still the phase of keeping a clear mind still wasn't over and he was about to use it to the best degree he was still able to. He stood still as he was only two steps away from them.

"The signal has been received. You should watch the temple as within the hour there will be a message displayed there. Somewhere at the walls or towers there will be two lights blinking. Both lights will be in the exact distance of 50 metres from each another. Red lights mean that the temple can be entered without any concern. One red light the other one green means caution. Two green lights mean that the temple is compromised and we should leave. In case you can enter the temple: get to a comm station and put this cylinder into the console," he held a silver cylinder up high for whoever was to take it, "It will aknowledge the signal and send a subspace transmission telling everyone who knows the frequency to return here."

He rubbed his right eye, the one that had been replaced with a cybernetic one. "I might not live to see the day but the Order needs rebuilding. Far from the politics of Coruscant we need to return to our own ways and stop messing around. Rave, you are a Jedi. You might have turned away from that path when the Jedi dissappeared but deep down inside you still feel the call don't you? Lidaya, the universe is falling apart right now. The Jedi were called away, Darkness has risen in the corners of the galaxy. The mando'ade need to figure out where they want to stand."

The old man sighed and stopped rubbing the irritated eye. Turning his back on them he looked at the temple. "I might not live to see the day. But hope hasn't left yet. We... you can still turn it all around. Help is on it's way and you will welcome them back. Maybe I even get to see Ash one last time. Handing it over to her. She's a good girl you know. Bit young maybe but she will one day become a great Jedi and afterwards a great master." His mind started to fade again and Ashlin once more was but a pre-teen. He started walking towards the mountains forgetting his both companions.

Suddenly he wasn't walking alone anymore even though only he could see his new companion. Norrik Var-Maren he walked beside him and looked at him with concern: {Kel it is time to let go. Give in and allow yourself to be free. There ain't much left for you to do.} Norrik watched his brother who gave him a look and walked on. {If you keep going... I know you hear her calling but don't... She is incredibly powerful you should know that. Know that before you meet her.} After those words Norrik was gone once more.

[Rave Satsai]

The blueish nautolan grinned as the old Jedi spoke. The practical bit he could get on board with - he and his freedom fighters used similar signals frequently - but he realized that the old man had misjudged him. Admittedly, Rave hadn't spoken about his Jedi identity other than to introduce himself as such and obviously to wield the Force in a number of rather daring navigational corrections on the way to Bakura, but he had not turned away from the path of the Jedi. He was a knight of the order; the Force had declared it to be so on that day so long ago. He still had no idea what it had all been about, but he knew he had been called out to carry the banner - and carry it he had.

As Rave regarded the high embankment of the Bakuran Temple, his thoughts wandered back to his youngling days. Master Blake had told him and his classmates of this place. The ever-raining world where the Force spoke in the silence, and the voices of the Jedi echoed around the corners in the halls... Sirra Blake had vanished before his eyes in a brief flash of silver-blue light, and all the stories with her. Even now Rave remembered that moment as clear as day. He felt as though he had glimpsed through a shutting door - had seen fury and fear and light on the other side calling out - but that had not been his path. His path was the one that had led him here.

He wondered what path had led the old Jedi here, and the woman by his side. She seemed less than fazed by the strange goings-on. If she was anything like his other mandalorian companions - those few unfortunate dar'manda who still believed in what they'd lost - she took most things in stride.

"Well den... I guess he'll go ova dere, and we'll stand here.

He stared at the wall for a record time of nearly 30 seconds before his obsidian eyes glanced back at Lidaya. "You hungry?"

[Lidaya Maren]

Lidaya took the thin silver cylinder from Kel and put into a pouch on her left hip. She had snorted barely-audibly, her unseen mouth curling into the silent shape of an exasperated half-laugh when the aging Jedi told her that the universe was coming apart now, and that the Clans were faced with decisions. The Mando’ad woman opened her mouth to say some retort, but closed it again and turned back to her nine clansmen beside the loading ramp. Blazes, she was thankful for helmets.

“Esher - Did you catch the instructions?” Lidaya asked a second Mando’ad, Esher, a blond human woman with smart red beskar’gam, who carried her helm under one arm and had been breathing in the cool wet air. She was in her later thirties; a little taller than Lida was.

Esher glanced at her still-helmed brother who signaled his focus was still on the citadel, and then turned to Lidaya. “Yeah, Ver’alor. The object goes in an internal comm station; you have it now. Wait for the signal. Two blinkers 50 meters apart, anywhere on the walls or towers. Red: Go-forward. Red and green: Caution. Green: Ba'slan shev'la. One hour passes but no light: something's wrong. We got it. ”

“Vor’e, ner vod. Marenkarla.” Lida nodded and gripped Esher’s forearm in thanks, understanding full well that the blond woman had lost her husband less than 40 hours ago. Eight tenths of their clan was suddenly gone. It was what it was.

Esher nodded and abruptly put her helmet back on.

Lida resumed her previous place beside Rave, keeping an eye on Kel while he walked off down a path ahead of them. The old Jedi was talking to himself again. Lidaya weighed whether or not she should walk down and catch his attention…

For now she continued talking to the Nautolan, gradually building up her rapport with the younger Jedi and her impressions of him.

“Yeah. A bite wouldn’t be bad for anyone before things get interesting again. You have something onboard? Also, he’s mentioned that… young? Jedi named Ash twice now. Does she mean anything to you?”

[Rave Satsai]

The nautolan crossed one arm over the other and smiled a little, pressing his palm against his cheek as he remembered his childhood friend. Where she was now, he couldn’t say, but she had always been a den mother to the younger cohort of padawans, and a kind person in general, with a beautiful mind. He’d tried to follow her lead in certain respects, which had led him to being mindful of setting a good example in his younger days, especially after the great disappearance. Of course that was all past now – no voice, no matter how persuasive, can persuade fearful people. Rave enjoyed Mandalorians, they were the epitome of pragmatic.

“Aye, I know da girl. Him probly talkin’ ‘bout Ashlin. She’s a Jedi like me but, she was wit’ da ones who disappeared dem 18 years past. If he tink we’ll be findin’ her or all o’ dem here, das good enough reason to stay in my book.”

Rave turned on his heel as he spoke and wandered back into the ship, continuing to speak as he rummaged around in a coldie. He produced a couple yogurt smoothie bottles a pack of what should have been sandwich meat but clearly wasn’t about to go on anyone’s sandwich, and a small bag of nuts. He invited the other armored figures to help themselves to coldie as well, because it was in fact stocked with all manner of edible goods that had nothing to do with the more long-lasting food stores in the main hold. Returning to the ramp, Rave tossed one of the yogurt bottles to Lidaya and stuffed his in a jacket pocket, along with the bag of nuts. He dug into the pack of meat and scanned the mountaintop citadel again as he snacked.

“It kinda funny actually, Ashlin always really loved dis place. She talked about da rain and da forest a lot, she could do dese fantastic illusions an’ make ya feel like you’d been right dere in da middle of it all. I suppose I technically lived here myself for a little while, but we’d made da move to Coruscant when I was just a little ting. I do recall dere was dis great big cave dat we used as our hanger – it was a big part o’ da reason the last generation of Jedi settled here to begin wit’ I tink… Come on I’ll show you.”

Having spent much of the last ten years racing around space trying to keep track of multiple ventures, Rave had developed nearly telescopic senses within the Force. Detailed? Perhaps not the most, but his third eye was farseeing, and he saw very little life within the temple… though there was some. He was more curious about it than he was concerned, and while he respected the old Jedi, he wasn’t entirely convinced that a countersignal was forthcoming either. Traipsing down the ramp, the roguish nautolan smiled hugely at Lidaya and motioned for her to follow as he marched off into the woods in the direction of the temple. Besides, it was raining, and he would be remiss if he stood under the canopy of his lovely ship while his amphibious skin continued to dry out.

[Kel Var-Maren]

Kel walked the path in front of him. He had said something before but the words had started to fade away as well as the memory of leaving people behind him. The fog of his ever-growing dementia clouded his mind once more and was replaced by the remnants of mental stability as another memory flourished and became reality for the inner eye as his feet found their own steps leading him away quickly. Leading him out of sight if left alone.

His boots made no sound as he walked the floors of the ship. Kel disliked the metal frame around him. He was no empath or telepath but he felt the resonance of the darkside, he had seen the cruelties his host had to offer for his victims and if he hadn't seen it all by now he'd not be stomaching it well. Several rooms carried the stench of blood and feces but all of the cells were filled with despair. Yet he didn't hesitate followed the call he had heard followed it to a single cell. A voice so familiar leading him here. And there she was. This little bundle lifeless with two women around, both knocked out, one without a hand...

Kel stood in front of the former padawan in his imperial cell. The girl had been strapped to a torture chair to pull her over to the Darkside causing to fall from the light and embrace hatred and pain as her new master. She was bound to become an inquisitor or suffer until death. Her eyes had lost hope and there was a silent plead as he approached her. He himself was disguised as a member of the empire, the only way he had to still fulfill his duties. He raised the syringe and looked at the poor girl. As he shoved the needle into one of her veins a little bit of himself died as he injected the lethal dose. Her eyes widened shortly as she realized that her agony would be over soon. Their eyes locked. Her's thankful and relieved, his hidden behind a visor filled with pain and regret as he wondered how many more he would have to sacrifice.

A blaster wound had pierced the kids lung and as another senseless war had claimed another innocent the old Jedi shed a tear for a child he did not know.

The Sith in front of him lunged at him ready to pin his opponents blade with his offhand saber and strike him down with his main. Kel seemingly went into the trap, but before the blades connected he disengaged his own blade just to fire it up shortly thereafter beheading the Sith. It was then that he saw the terrified child that was the Sith's kid watching the whole fight.

He touched the bundle that once had been Ashlin Li...
A young teenager sitting in front of him not knowing what to say as she heard another tidbit of a ragged past.

He took away the cloth covering the little face...
A young woman, gauntish on a wild planet suffering.

He checked for a breath that wasn't there...
A hardened woman still compensionate trying to mend a broken mind on a ship.

He touched her nose with the index finger and her chest with a thumb. Not this child, he wouldn't allow the death of one more...
A seasoned woman smiling warmly at the children running around.

While the rain hadn't stopped falling a telekinetic barrier had formed around him, making sure he remained as dry as he had been in his memories. As the water gathered more and more the static in the air rised and finally detonated violently as a lightning bolt. Following his last memories his subconscious reacted instinctively and remembered the correct forms a tutaminis master followed. As the lightning hit him he absorbed the energy bottled it up for a heartbeat and unleashed it with the memory of reviving the Ashlin Li. Fuelled by the pure and raw energy of nature he lashed out with Force Light. As purest Ashla energies filled the air with deafening silence in a magnitude that few masters could ever hope for, potentiated by the powers of tutaminis he sent ripples through the Force.

His blurred vision cleared slowly as he looked up and saw the athletic features of a woman clad in the garments of a Jedi Lord. Her harsh face was not pretty but attractive. A scar marked her cheek. Her greyish blue eyes pierced his own. The presence he felt was that of a Force ghost but it was different. Powered by an ancient time she stood there in the righteousness of a time when the Force had vibrated with every single step. He had never seen her not even a holopic of hers but he knew who she was. His instincts shouted her name, his cells sang her praise and his mind cleared and bowed before his very own ancestor first Jedi of his name, creator of the legacy: Maren Var, Jedi Lord in the Army of Light, Leader of the paladins of Duifean, commander of the Jedi Shadows and founder of clan Maren.

[Lidaya Maren]

Lidaya Maren listened to Rave’s memories of the Jedi girl… Though she’d have to be older than Lida was, based on Rave’s story. The Mando’ad woman kept her attention watchfully on Kel while Rave answered her questions, and even after. When he returned, she neatly caught the yogurt bottle and then watched him take off running. He wouldn’t have see it under her helmet of course, but whether he was having a horrible week or not— that grin of his was heartening.

Lida sighed to herself. She signed for Esher and the others to go ahead: Be mindful of the light signals as agreed, grab a bite for the trek if it suited them, those assigned follow Rave and move ahead with the plan. She’d catch up.

As for herself, Lidaya turned away from the stone Jedi buildings the path towards Kel. She stopped several paces in front of her aged Jedi clansman, noting the way the rain slid off in a bubble around him. She'd learned better than to move too close when he was like this.

“Kel!” Lid called to the Jedi quietly.

But, he was off somewhere into his own mind again… She could see it in his whole demeanor. Frowning in concern, Lidaya reached up to remove her helmet. Rain dampened her hair and her face: the first pure planetside breeze she’d felt since the Tuur Tracyn had picked Kel up... How many days was that now? She pulled a breath of it deeply into her lungs.

The human Mando’ad woman took a step closer to her generations-senior kinsman, facing him directly and doing her best to catch his stare without moving any closer him or to the shield... She couldn't see the energy gathering around him, but she saw the rain. It was unnatural again... Like in space... She swallowed and took a step backwards. But, Kel needed attention.

“Kel?”

Lightning struck him. Lidaya would have ducked, or dove, or done more, but it was all too fast anyway. She blinked and jerked her head and torso reflexively away from him, for all the good that would do her, her grasp tightening around the helmet at her side. When she turned back in the next second... He was still whole. Still Kel. Lida let a sharp, shaking breath out. The woman brushed a hand across her hair. She kept her eyes on Kel.

“Kel.” she repeated. “Rave is moving closer to your temple... toward the hangar cave. We should join him, yeah?”

[Caleb Lucas]

OOC EDIT: moved to orbit

[Rik Idannian]

It was raining. Just like it was that night.

The Nexus throbbed with light in the cavern behind him. It was happening quickly. The Nexus, this well of light side energy, was about to go critical. It was a glorious day! All that they had been working toward for the past ten years was about to come to fruition! But the darkness knew it too…

Rain streamed from the sky, thunder boomed and lightning flashed and unnatural red as the creatures of darkness attacked. Rik was soaked to the bone in an instant. Most of the others were already at the Nexus helping to stabilize it in their last big push when he felt it. The creeping cold, the slick, sickening power of the dark side lashing forward. So Rik rushed to meet them. He knew the others were not coming to help. But if they were interrupted even for a moment… No, don’t think about that. Be here, now. Focus on what is. He reached the mouth of the cave and saw them through the lightning. They had all come. A planet’s worth of vile, disgusting, twisted creatures of darkness and shadow. The crested the hill before him like a wave. But Rik was no mere man. With the Force as his ally, he was a mountain. They howled as Rik breathed in, remembered his training, and let loose the Living Force as fire and lightning.

Rik had never been subtle at telekinesis. Every time he tried to move something, even delicately, there was an explosion of fire and propelled the object in whichever direction he intended. And tonight, the last night, he didn’t hold back. What would have normally been a colossal push with the force from someone else came as a gout of flame to him. He showed no mercy to these nightmarish beings twisted by the evils of the Dark Side. Next he sent out arching bolts of golden electricity, electric judgment that danced from creature to creature back up the hill.

But even as he piled high the scorched bodies of the dead, there were still too many. The press of the beasts was beginning to come closer and closer. A seed of doubt was planted as the snarls grew louder, the glowing eyes brighter. But then, a familiar presence at his left flank. Rik smiled. He didn’t even have to turn to look to know that Nomi Jonan, his friend, and her flickering blue saber were there to help. He still didn’t turn but kept blasting away as he shouted above the din, “What took you so long?”

“Oh you know,” she replied, dancing in front of him to switch to the other flank. “This and that. Get the Force Light ready, then had to find my shoes.”

Rik laughed. They fought on. There was no end in sight and Rik was forced to draw his own saber to supplement his aggressive force blasts. So the two sabers flashed in the night, holding back the darkness, at least until the others could finish what they had started so long ago.

But then, there was a change in their rhythm. Nomi had slowed. Others wouldn’t have noticed but Rik did. He had fought and bled beside this woman on countless occasions for the past ten years. “Nomi?”
He turned to see what was wrong. Nomi still fought in her graceful, staccato pace but she wore a confused and troubled expression.

“Rik, it's happening! Like before but…”

She disappeared like mist.

“NO!” He shouted.

Pain and fear gripped at his heart. They had no place but still they came. His friend was gone. Dead? Where is she? Where did she go? Why did she leave me alone? All these and more coursed through him. All the things left unsaid, goodbyes never expressed. Loss. Darkness. Claws mauled his arm. Horns gouged his side. Pain...

RAGE.

It shot through him like the lightning he wielded. He vented it on the beasts. The electricity that was once golden and pure turned a sickly green. Rik cried out and let loose his fear, loss, anger. For a moment he was lost to the Dark Side. Through the rain, through his tears, Rik could hear a burst of hideous laughter. It was pure evil. And it came from his mouth.

“Unlimited POWER!”

They were dead. All of them. In the silence following his scream not one beast was left standing. Only charred corpses remained. Rik felt like he had lost something far more than just Nomi. He felt numb, as he had suddenly lost something far more precious. Then a very familiar voice said,

“You have fallen. But because there is yet hope for you I will take away your memory of this night, and what has gone on here. For a time at least. Until you can come again to a true understanding of the Universe, the Force, and your place within both.”

Then everything went black, and he was falling, falling, falling…

Rik awoke from his memory on his back, staring up at the rain. He remembered what he had gained. He remembered what he had lost. His amnesia was not pointless but had run its course according to a bigger plan that is. He shed one last tear for his loved ones. Those lost from Nexus. He didn’t know what had become of them. But he would not let that uncertainty, that fear define him again. Control him again.

He arose and started up toward the citadel, toward the waning presence of the light. And hopefully toward his friend.

[Kel Var-Maren]

Kel looked at the woman in front of him. His very own ancestor and he didn't know how he knew her nor why she had come here and appeared for him. It was even stranger than that as she seemed to switch from being a Jedi Lord and Mandalorian being both at the same time and then again nothing as well as everything. Her sight vibrated in his being while he didn't realize that he had been struck by a lightning, that he had... he had... he fought the nigh irresistble urge to look at his ancestor and looked down at his own body. Carefully he opened the tunic at looked at his chest a blue hue where skin should be and in the midst of this there was a bright, warm glow resonanting with what a heartbeat would have been if it would still have been there. He shivered as his mind realized that his final days were close. Had he realized that before? Had he been aware of his predicament or had he been living in oblivion?

"Not now... I still... I still have to do so much more. I still have to hand it over. I have to make sure there is a future! The Jedi have to return, the Mandoade need to stand together once more. The galaxy is at a brink, allow me to do just ONE MORE THING! My life has been nothing but duty, nothing but doing the right thing and extinguishing fires before they could turn to big, before they went out of control. Between being a Jedi and a Mando I was nothing else, there was no me, just work, so a few more days to make things right. Who is it going to kill to give me just a few more days, except of me of course? But I will die anyway, so let me finish my duties. One last time"

The frailty of his age, the bitterness of a life torn between two factions mostly at war with each another seeped from his words. He was to die and all that was was the figure of his ancestor coming to look at him in silent judgment. He shook as the cold of the rain soaked his old bones. He felt the darkness of his end drawing near as he sensed the ripples in the Force. Ships approaching. Whirls in the Force spitting out other people and they were heading a call they probably didn't even quite understand. Kel's hand closed around the grip of his lightsaber, he needed to feel the weight of his weapon. His other hand was clutched as his breast. The light of the Solari crystal that had been placed there so long ago pulsed slowly and started to wane. The horizon of his sight grew darker. Kel. He heard his name being called. His lightsaber slipped out of his hand and hit the ground as fingers to weak to grasp for life couldn't hold on to the metal.

[::Let go, Kel. You have done so much already, the other side isn't that bad.::] His dead brother stood beside him concern wrinkling his face.

Kel closed his eyes and opened them once more. A feat that was taxing. Was he still breathing? His vision had closed in to a small tunnel yet he sensed so much. He could feel the Jedi moving towards him. He felt the stir in the Force that were the Sith and he felt the ache of the galaxy wearing on him. The old man had protected the galaxy for about 300 years by now and still it seemed like his work was never done and now... now he wasn't even able to finish the last task? He closed his eyes once more.

[::Stubborn old fool... so be it, I have never let you down and I won't start today, no matter how bad the odds. Twins forever, aren't we?::] Norrik stepped forward, a hand he placed on the Solari crystal, the other one on Kel's forehead. He then nodded towards his twin brother and merged with him allowing his essence to be forever intertwined with his sibling to buy as much time as possible.

His ancestor looked at her descendants merged to one being but she didn't intervene she waited with a neutral gaze and allowed it all to pass by before she started to speak: [::The two of you defy the inevitable as it would be yours to tamper with. Yet after so long you don't even know your place, do you? Your path will destroy the very essence of the two of you, Kel, decide who and what you want to be if you don't want this to happen. You have two months top::]

The waning light of the solari gained strength beating as a substitute heartbeat once more. The remaining power of the Force light tangled with the powerful stone and clad Kel into it's warm embrace vibrating gently with the Jedi being partly here and partly one with the Force. His eyes were closed as he heard the words about a Rave moving toward a cave...

He opened his eyes and saw Maren in front of him asking him to join Rave. He tilted his head, rain dropping down on him and slowly his vision cleared and he saw Lidaya of clan Maren in front of him. He flashed a smile and reached out with his hand, gently touching her cheek. He had walked the distance quite quickly.

"Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad, Lidaya. Yes, let us move towards the temple, the lights are red so the temple will welcome us with open arms. Also we should prepare a few rooms. Guests will arrive quite soon it seems. We should hurry. Especially before any of us catches a cold." He let go of her cheek and turned to the temple where indeed two red lights blinked about 50 metres apart from each another. He started strolling towards the temple only waiting for Lidaya to follow. The lightsaber forgotten in the rain soaked mud of the Bakuran soil.

[Jaden Kath]

*Jaden parked his speeder bike in a small clearing that managed to overlook some of the area around the Temple. Ariitsi smoothly brought her own speeder bike to a halt next to his. The young Kurtzen was a native to Bakura, and part of a group of people that had maintained a watch on the Temple. They had also been watchful for any Jedi who had returned to the area. Fortunately for Jaden, they had found him first when he was teleported back into the galaxy. He had managed to hitch a ride with a Mandalorian, return to his home planet of Brentaal, and try to uncover clues to the rest of the Jedi who had gone missing. Now he was back on Bakura, heading back to the Jedi Temple to investigate some sort of Force Light beacon.

He pulled out a pair of macrobinoculars, and scanned as much of the area as he could.*

"Do you see something out there?" *Ariisti inquired politely. She kept herself composed and professional, even as a sense of awe poked through her demeanor. Jaden was the first Jedi Knight that she had met. She had even given him a hooded cloak to borrow. That cloak now lay folded up in her bag.*

"Nothing yet." *Jaden put the macrobinoculars back on his belt, then swung the speeder bike around. Like his ship, it looked battered, functional, and well-kept. He was glad that his father had insisted on taking the bike with him to Bakura.*

"We'll have to get closer and keep an eye out." *At Ariitsi's nod, they both headed closer to the Temple.*