Jaina Solo Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solo_sword) wrote2015-03-24 05:53 am
solo_sword) wrote2015-03-24 05:53 am
Entry tags:
Korriban- Tuesday morning
The group that had landed on the Sith homeworld was such: a born and bred Sith, two Jedi who had fallen to the dark side in the past, and a boy who Jacen had tried to make into a Sith apprentice. They had planned this badly.
They'd gone over what they knew about the planet on the way here, including the roughly four thousand creatures that would want them dead, along with the whole place being steeped in dark side energy. It was going to be a challenge, but Jaina didn't know that she was really worried, per se. Vestara was looking forward to this, and that could be trouble, and Ben was young, even if he'd had more experience with this stuff than most apprentices his age. Luke shouldn't be a problem, and Jaina herself… She was the one with the worst temper, the worst recent memories to keep tamped down, but she also wasn't the same person that she was when she fell. All she had to do was keep herself calm and even, and not give in to it.
None of them could sense Abeloth or any individual Sith, but there were smaller dark energies, and they knew they'd been detected. They started at the citadel, which was beyond a crumbling wall, covered in detritus, and looked like it had been untouched for years.
"I usually don’t think of the Sith as being messy," Ben said.
"It certainly doesn’t look like anyone has been here for a while," Luke agreed. "But looks can be deceiving."
The path down the wall led to a giant slab of durasteel the served as the gate. "What are we going to do, ring the doorbell?" Jaina asked.
"Let ourselves in," Luke said, lifting his hands slightly to try and open the gate using the Force.
Vestara, Ben and Jaina joined in when it didn't seem like it was going that well, but after a few minutes the door rose about six centimeters off the ground before slamming back onto the sand. "That shouldn't have been that hard," Ben said.
"No,” Luke said. "It’s been altered somehow. Perhaps in its creation the Sith used some of their alchemies. It can resist Force manipulation."
"What about a good old-fashioned lightsaber?" Jaina suggested. "Durasteel is durasteel, isn't it?"
Luke chuckled a little. "Let's give it a shot."
So then the four of them ignited their lightsabers and began taking one line of the gate each. It took longer than it should have, but after some time they were able to cut through, and then they all pushed on the slab. It eventually fell through, echoing all around when it fell inward.
"And that's definitely run the doorbell," Jaina said.
Inside didn't seem so bad at first. Jaina could sense creatures around, but that was about all. They got to a central courtyard, which looked dark and foreboding, and it was easy to imagine the Sith using it…
"There's no one here," Jaina said.
"It's deserted," Vestara agreed.
"Do… Should we search it?" Ben wondered.
Luke was quiet, focusing. Searching would take hours, and if they were confident they were alone… "No. We walked right into what could have been a perfect trap, and we’d be easy prey if anyone was here.”
"If… they wanted to harm us," Vestara added.
Jaina frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, if the whole plan is to hide, they wouldn't come out even if we were easy prey."
"A good point," Luke said, "but this close? Your people are good, Vestara, but I don’t think so many of them could hide so completely from three Jedi.”
He disengaged his lightsaber, and waited. Nothing happened.
"They may still be here on this world, but not at this site," he said. "Let’s go. Daylight’s burning, and I don’t think we want to be out here at night."
Heading to something called the Valley of the Dark Lords was just about as creepy, go figure. And the longer they walked and found nothing, the more Jaina was kind of ready to leave.
"Why does this feel… wrong?" Ben asked finally. "I mean, I really thought we'd find them here."
"It did seem like our best best," Jaina sighed.
"We've only just started to look," Luke reminded them. "And if Vestara's guess is right, that any Sith here might be in hiding, they could have sensed us approaching with enough time to flee the citadel, if not the planet."
Ben sighed again, clearly not very happy with this, but Jaina figured he might just want to get off the Sith planet altogether. "So, we just… pick a tomb and start poking around?"
"If you have a better idea, I'm open to suggestions," Luke said.
Around the tombs was much worse than the citadel. Everything reeked of the dark side, and almost worse than that, there were stairs. When they got to the first tomb at the top, Luke walked over it, completely calm, and placed his hand on it, concentrating. "The ancient masons did their work well," he said, stepping back and shaking his head. "This tomb is completely sealed. There’s no ventilation, and I sensed nothing living inside. Let’s move on to the next one."
So they searched the tombs, one by one. In a lot of ways Jaina found it easier to ignore the dark side all around, as long as she made herself stamp down the irritation that cropped up whenever they didn't find something, which happened at every one.
"Dad," Ben said finally, "I'm starting to think we're going to come up empty-handed."
"I think Ben's right," Jaina agreed. "So far, zilch. This might be one big waste of time."
"Korriban is but one of many places with Sith history," Luke reminded them. "It was a good idea to start looking here, but I agree that it’s looking more and more like we’re hunting in the wrong place. If we-"
All of a sudden there was a sort of crash of dark side energy, followed by a bloodcurling howling sound that seemed to come from every direction at once. What followed was a pack of canines, maybe the guardians of the tombs, with glowing red eyes and weird wing-like extensions and the full intent to kill them. Jaina moved to ignite her lightsaber, telling herself this couldn't be worse than dealing with voxyn-
Vestara began running towards the creatures, then yelled something in a language Jaina didn't understand, and the creatures stopped in their tracks. She kept speaking, her tone harsh, till the animals were whimpering and prostatrating themselves like they thought they would be hit. Then she softened her tone, and the creatures ran off, placated.
"What did you do?" Ben asked, looking stunned.
"I talked to them," Vestara said, but she was shaking a little. "Jaina said earlier that the tuk’ata understood the Sith language. They exist to serve and protect the Sith, so… I told them to lead them to us if there were any here. There are no Sith on Korriban."
Yeeeah. "And we're supposed to believe that," Jaina said. "And how very convenient that you just happen to speak the ancient Sith language."
"The ship that brought my ancestors to Kesh is more than five thousand years old. The Old Tongue was preserved and passed down. Not everyone on Kesh knows it, but those who are apprentices and higher do. It’s part of our training."
Jaina still wasn't buying it, but she couldn't argue it, either.
"How do you know there aren’t any Sith here?" Ben wondered. "They didn’t… talk back to
you, did they?"
"No, not with words," Vestara said. "But you saw their reactions. I told them to find the Sith that were on this world, and they cowered. They were upset because they couldn’t please me, because there is no one for them to lead me to."
Jaina opened her mouth to argue that, but Luke said, "I agree."
Even Vestara was surprised by that. "You do?" Ben asked. "Why?"
"Their presences in the Force reflected their obsequious body language. Whatever it was you asked them, they couldn’t do it or give it to you," Luke said. "There’s nothing here to indicate that anyone’s been here for years. Too, I believe that I could distinguish human and Keshiri Force essences from the general miasma of dark-side energy. No, they’re not here."
"So it’s another dead end," Ben muttered.
"Oh, cheer up, Ben,” Vestara said. "Think of all the other places we’re going to get to explore."
[Me? Behind? Never. NFB, NFI, OOC oka. Taken from Ascension by Christie Golden.]
They'd gone over what they knew about the planet on the way here, including the roughly four thousand creatures that would want them dead, along with the whole place being steeped in dark side energy. It was going to be a challenge, but Jaina didn't know that she was really worried, per se. Vestara was looking forward to this, and that could be trouble, and Ben was young, even if he'd had more experience with this stuff than most apprentices his age. Luke shouldn't be a problem, and Jaina herself… She was the one with the worst temper, the worst recent memories to keep tamped down, but she also wasn't the same person that she was when she fell. All she had to do was keep herself calm and even, and not give in to it.
None of them could sense Abeloth or any individual Sith, but there were smaller dark energies, and they knew they'd been detected. They started at the citadel, which was beyond a crumbling wall, covered in detritus, and looked like it had been untouched for years.
"I usually don’t think of the Sith as being messy," Ben said.
"It certainly doesn’t look like anyone has been here for a while," Luke agreed. "But looks can be deceiving."
The path down the wall led to a giant slab of durasteel the served as the gate. "What are we going to do, ring the doorbell?" Jaina asked.
"Let ourselves in," Luke said, lifting his hands slightly to try and open the gate using the Force.
Vestara, Ben and Jaina joined in when it didn't seem like it was going that well, but after a few minutes the door rose about six centimeters off the ground before slamming back onto the sand. "That shouldn't have been that hard," Ben said.
"No,” Luke said. "It’s been altered somehow. Perhaps in its creation the Sith used some of their alchemies. It can resist Force manipulation."
"What about a good old-fashioned lightsaber?" Jaina suggested. "Durasteel is durasteel, isn't it?"
Luke chuckled a little. "Let's give it a shot."
So then the four of them ignited their lightsabers and began taking one line of the gate each. It took longer than it should have, but after some time they were able to cut through, and then they all pushed on the slab. It eventually fell through, echoing all around when it fell inward.
"And that's definitely run the doorbell," Jaina said.
Inside didn't seem so bad at first. Jaina could sense creatures around, but that was about all. They got to a central courtyard, which looked dark and foreboding, and it was easy to imagine the Sith using it…
"There's no one here," Jaina said.
"It's deserted," Vestara agreed.
"Do… Should we search it?" Ben wondered.
Luke was quiet, focusing. Searching would take hours, and if they were confident they were alone… "No. We walked right into what could have been a perfect trap, and we’d be easy prey if anyone was here.”
"If… they wanted to harm us," Vestara added.
Jaina frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, if the whole plan is to hide, they wouldn't come out even if we were easy prey."
"A good point," Luke said, "but this close? Your people are good, Vestara, but I don’t think so many of them could hide so completely from three Jedi.”
He disengaged his lightsaber, and waited. Nothing happened.
"They may still be here on this world, but not at this site," he said. "Let’s go. Daylight’s burning, and I don’t think we want to be out here at night."
Heading to something called the Valley of the Dark Lords was just about as creepy, go figure. And the longer they walked and found nothing, the more Jaina was kind of ready to leave.
"Why does this feel… wrong?" Ben asked finally. "I mean, I really thought we'd find them here."
"It did seem like our best best," Jaina sighed.
"We've only just started to look," Luke reminded them. "And if Vestara's guess is right, that any Sith here might be in hiding, they could have sensed us approaching with enough time to flee the citadel, if not the planet."
Ben sighed again, clearly not very happy with this, but Jaina figured he might just want to get off the Sith planet altogether. "So, we just… pick a tomb and start poking around?"
"If you have a better idea, I'm open to suggestions," Luke said.
Around the tombs was much worse than the citadel. Everything reeked of the dark side, and almost worse than that, there were stairs. When they got to the first tomb at the top, Luke walked over it, completely calm, and placed his hand on it, concentrating. "The ancient masons did their work well," he said, stepping back and shaking his head. "This tomb is completely sealed. There’s no ventilation, and I sensed nothing living inside. Let’s move on to the next one."
So they searched the tombs, one by one. In a lot of ways Jaina found it easier to ignore the dark side all around, as long as she made herself stamp down the irritation that cropped up whenever they didn't find something, which happened at every one.
"Dad," Ben said finally, "I'm starting to think we're going to come up empty-handed."
"I think Ben's right," Jaina agreed. "So far, zilch. This might be one big waste of time."
"Korriban is but one of many places with Sith history," Luke reminded them. "It was a good idea to start looking here, but I agree that it’s looking more and more like we’re hunting in the wrong place. If we-"
All of a sudden there was a sort of crash of dark side energy, followed by a bloodcurling howling sound that seemed to come from every direction at once. What followed was a pack of canines, maybe the guardians of the tombs, with glowing red eyes and weird wing-like extensions and the full intent to kill them. Jaina moved to ignite her lightsaber, telling herself this couldn't be worse than dealing with voxyn-
Vestara began running towards the creatures, then yelled something in a language Jaina didn't understand, and the creatures stopped in their tracks. She kept speaking, her tone harsh, till the animals were whimpering and prostatrating themselves like they thought they would be hit. Then she softened her tone, and the creatures ran off, placated.
"What did you do?" Ben asked, looking stunned.
"I talked to them," Vestara said, but she was shaking a little. "Jaina said earlier that the tuk’ata understood the Sith language. They exist to serve and protect the Sith, so… I told them to lead them to us if there were any here. There are no Sith on Korriban."
Yeeeah. "And we're supposed to believe that," Jaina said. "And how very convenient that you just happen to speak the ancient Sith language."
"The ship that brought my ancestors to Kesh is more than five thousand years old. The Old Tongue was preserved and passed down. Not everyone on Kesh knows it, but those who are apprentices and higher do. It’s part of our training."
Jaina still wasn't buying it, but she couldn't argue it, either.
"How do you know there aren’t any Sith here?" Ben wondered. "They didn’t… talk back to
you, did they?"
"No, not with words," Vestara said. "But you saw their reactions. I told them to find the Sith that were on this world, and they cowered. They were upset because they couldn’t please me, because there is no one for them to lead me to."
Jaina opened her mouth to argue that, but Luke said, "I agree."
Even Vestara was surprised by that. "You do?" Ben asked. "Why?"
"Their presences in the Force reflected their obsequious body language. Whatever it was you asked them, they couldn’t do it or give it to you," Luke said. "There’s nothing here to indicate that anyone’s been here for years. Too, I believe that I could distinguish human and Keshiri Force essences from the general miasma of dark-side energy. No, they’re not here."
"So it’s another dead end," Ben muttered.
"Oh, cheer up, Ben,” Vestara said. "Think of all the other places we’re going to get to explore."
[Me? Behind? Never. NFB, NFI, OOC oka. Taken from Ascension by Christie Golden.]