A Storm of Blades

[Arage Bao]

Ossus​

The Planet of Ossus, home to one of the many Jedi Temples scattered around Republic space. A lot of memories were linked to this place, here Michael had had one of his first missions, searching for an ancient bastion of the Je’daii. It had been his first lesson in humility, that sometimes.. you needed the help of friends and allies to accomplish your goals. That sometimes you can’t rush into the fray of a fight all alone, not being backed by your associates.

It had been a tough lesson to learn, but eventually.. he had mastered it. His time with the Army of Light had taught him even more, that the Galaxy wasn’t always black and white. That more often than not it was a disturbing shade of gray, and that there wasn’t a right side. There was just the side you were on… and the rest.

And now he was here, were figurally speaking it had all begun. It was said that Diana Moridena had been sighted here, few knew that Diana had been his inspiration. His muse to start the Crusade, that kickstarted the Army of Light into gear.

Rumors had it she was troubled, Michael didn’t know the truth of it. But he could imagine, it took something from you to fight against the Sith. To see your friends betray you, get killed or worse. All the while you had to carry on, and keep your chin up while getting plastered by the envious.

Why was he here though?

Training? Maybe, but there was something more. Something more important. Though he wasn’t sure what exactly, it was almost as if the Force itself was guiding him here. For what purpose? Only the Force knew.

Finally he stepped foot inside of the temple, and spoke to one of the Jedi Padawans bustling about the place.

“Padawan, I am looking for Master Moridena. Can you tell me where she is?”​

​

[member="Diana Moridena"]​

 

[Cedric Dorn]

The padawan would tell Michael exactly what every person in the temple of Ossus would tell him. That Diana could be found in the meditation chambers in the still ruined part of the temple, the part that had been untouched by Daella Apparines repair efforts. There he wound find her sitting, her armor laid out before her, Tyrfing in front of her and her lightsabers besides the blade.

She wore tight fitting bandages that covered her upper chest down to her shins, long red hair flowing down her back and barely concealing the multitude of scars and burns that covered her.

The tattooes on her face glistened slightly with sweat, the heat of Ossus ensuring that even during meditation Diana did not remain moisture free. There was a certain state of calm about her as she sat still, but the air around her seemed to be balancing on a knifes edge, as though she were ready to jump at any moment. A deep breath escaped her lungs, her chest rising and falling steadily as she concentrated.

She sat still, unmoving as the force flowed through her in torrents, a soft glow to her skin.
[member="Michael Sardun"]

 

[Arage Bao]

A nod and a smile appeared as Michael realised that he had been on the right path. Ever since the fallout with the High Council, Diana had been… illusive to say the least. As far as Michael knew, she hadn’t been there to fight against the Sith on Coruscant. Those things bothered him, if only a bit. It was not his place to judge her, that was reserved for his betters.

The Jedi Temple had been recently renovated it seemed, though the farther he went in, the less prominent the reparations seemed to be. Finally, the meditation chamber itself was free of any fixes whatsoever, still rough and old. His eyes found the back of the Jedi Master, and maybe widened themselves a bit.

Scars.. a lot of them. Though that only underlined her reputation as a fierce warrior, Michael could understand why she wouldn’t hide them. She wasn’t ashamed, and she would show the world.

Respectable.

Finally, he simply spoke.

“Master Moridina.”​

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Eyes immediately snapped open, the slight glow of her skin fading away instantly, the sheen of her red hair fading slightly as the torrent of the force that had been held within her simply faded away. Pupils shrunk, and iris' grew larger. Quickly her eyes adapted to the light in the room. She sat there, her her swaying slightly to the side.

She could sense him in the force.

Diana had never met this boy before. She had never run across him or even seen him before. That didn't mean much of course, it was after all a pretty big Order, and she wasn't exactly the social type, nor was she the one that really listened to rumors. She might have had some idea of who Michael Sardun was, but his force signature told her nothing of his name.

For a moment, she pondered in silence until finally she answered him, a single word.

“Hello.”

 

[Arage Bao]

It came to him that she probably didn’t even know who he was. Probably because he had not sent any word of his journey, or arrival to her, as was said earlier the woman was illusive. Last thing Michael wanted to do was give her a reason to quickly skip town.

But she probably -had- heard of him, if only by name. Seeing as he had been the one who had taken Selena Halcyon in, before her.. interesting ascension to the Grandmaster seat. After that, it had been him, who had founded the Army of Light, to combat the threat of the Sith. While the Republic sat on its ass.

It had been him, who had directed the Armies of the Republic, as the Grand General. Like his father before him. The name Sardun was a famous surname, if only because of his father Atticus. Friend to Aleidis’s father, and Grand General himself who had died during the invasion of Metalorn.

Though without knowing his name, she wouldn’t know any of that.

“My name is Michael Sardun, Master.”​

Brilliant reply. Surely he would win the prize of best orator of the Republic.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

She raised an eyebrow. Yes she had heard of him, though Diana had never been one for galactic events. She mused for a second on the name, then remembered what little information she recalled about the boy. Diana formed several memories in her mind, and found most of them too be pleasant. Michael had lead the army of light, a force that had combated the Sith and something she herself had considered joining at one point.

Might have joined in fact if not for Jaxton.

“I see.” Diana said finally, her hands lowering themselves onto crossed knee's in a more relaxed position. “Why are you here? I don't often get visitors...especially now.”

There was a hint of sadness in that tone. Her friends were all gone now, well all but two anyway. Avalore and Mara were the only friends she had left, the only people that she could rely on, and both had been sent far away from here, far away from her. It was not safe.

She smiled a sad smile at the memory of her two apprentices, giving a mourning thought for the third.

 

[Arage Bao]

As he pondered her question, Michael stepped into the room, and sat on the ground leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes, and felt the Light circling the room. Rumors had been spread, about Diana. Awful ones, but Michael only needed to close his eyes once and -feel-, it was enough to see how unfound those rumors were.

There was no straight answer to her question, because he didn’t know why he was here. He supposed he wanted to meet his inspiration, talk to her and find out what for person the woman was who had helped to kill Velok.

Maybe learn something new, because there was always something to learn.

“I suppose.. I wanted to talk to you, Master.”​

His eyes were still closed, as he felt the pain and sadness mixing with the Glory of the Light itself. The woman’s pain was destroying her, from within. Betrayal and weariness did what the Sith itself had not been able to do for years.

“Suppose I wished to get to know you better. You were my inspiration, you know that? For the Army of Light.”​

 

[Cedric Dorn]

She scoffed. Inspiration? She should be nobodies inspiration.
In her youth she had been foolish. In her middle years she had been rash, and lately she had been impulsive beyond all belief. She should have been nobodies role model. Still, the thought flattered her for but a moment. Her eyes shifted around the room, then found themselves closing once again. She tried to concentrate, there was no reason she couldn't talk and meditate at the same time.

“You are very kind.” Her words almost drifted off as she began to focus. “But there is not much to know. I'm sure you already know most things about me, and the rest is not worth hearing.”

Diana had never held many secrets, she had never seen the point.

If she was to keep secrets, they would never be her own. Mostly Diana was an open book, and many in the Jedi Order could find out everything about her, if they simply asked. Not many did however, which was part of the reason she was here, alone.

 

[Arage Bao]

A vague and wary smile appeared on his lips, as he listened to her. It seemed she didn’t think she was worthy of serving as inspiration. And exactly that was what made her a beacon of Light for the younglings, and padawans. They grew up hearing the stories of a woman, a duelist unmatched, who kept the darkness at bay.
Who fought hard, and hard, but never quit and what’s more important never forgot who she was and where she had came from. A true example of the values of the Jedi.

But how does one articulate such thoughts to a person, without it sounding as meaningless chatter? One does not, was the answer.

Instead he just contented himself with answering in his own way.

“I know of a woman, unparalleled in her mastery of the Sabre. One who fought her whole life against the threat of the darkness. A Jedi Master who fought against Velok, the Destroyer of Planets, and lived to tell the tale.”​

His voice carried a sad tone, as he continued.​

“One who carried on, even in the face of betrayal.”​

Michael could not help but sigh a bit.​

“Regardless of what certain members of the Order say, the Padawans look up to you, Master. They might not know the hardships you had to endure, but you are still an example of what a Jedi should strive for.”​

 

[Cedric Dorn]

She smiled, a warm joyful smile that seemed to fit her face well.

“Again...” She trailed off for a second as images of the past swept through her mind. Memories were always a powerful thing for the Kiffar, to her especially. Everything he brought up evoked an image in her mind. Her slaying of Velok, her battles against the Sith, her fight against the council. Everything conjured up something within her memories, and those memories all had one thing in common.

Daella.

“You are kind.” Diana said with a smile, tears forming behind the lids of her eyes. “Thank you.”

Her face scrunched slightly and she bit back the tears forming in her eyes. She would not shed a tear, not for her, not for a traitor. Slowly her face became more relaxed, and she blinked a few times to wash away the tears from her eyes, ensuring that none fell down her tears.

“What do you wish to know Michael? Surely you didn't come here to pay me compliments.” Her voice was softer than before, more open, more accepting.

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=11.818181991577148px][Disregard][/SIZE]

 

[Arage Bao]

Ah.. the memories of the betrayal was still hot and painful, even from here he could feel the pain and sadness radiating from her. As far as he knew, Daella had been one of the few real friends Diana had, it must have been painful. To find out she had been friends with someone who she had been fighting her entire life.

“I am here to serve, Master. In any way the Force seems fit.”​

He didn’t touch the matter though, not really a first conversation subject matter.

There was one thing that had always plagued his mind, ever since he had started the fight. Ever since he took over the torch from his father, and founded the Army of Light. Ever since the thrill rose up in him, while in a fight.

“How do you not lose yourself?”​

 

[Cedric Dorn]

“To the darkside?” Her own question was of course rhetorical, she knew the answer that he sought. It had been difficult for her at first. When she was a youth she had been stuck in apathy. Darron had been the one that had pulled her from it, though it had been Velok that had pushed her into caring, strange how that worked out in the end.

For a moment, she pondered.

“When I was sixteen, I was stabbed with an artifact known as the DarkStaff.” He likely knew what it was, but it was easier to explain. “The thing only pierced me for a few seconds at most, but the pain, the suffering that I felt in those mere moments. It still haunts me, calls to me.”

She stopped for a moment, feeling a slight pulse in her shoulder where the first of her scars was. “In the moment the staff touched me, I could see everything. Everything it had ever done, everything its users had ever done. I saw it all. All of its memories, its entire past.”

That had been quite the shock for a girl so young as her. It was bad enough that such an object touched you, the darkside power it radiated was immense, but to be a Kiffar? To see its past, that was another matter entirely.

“It is the disgust of what I saw. Thats what drives me into the light.” She stopped for a moment, her eyes opening. “I suppose I should have told you it was willpower. My own strength, my hope that salvation will eventually come, but I am not prone to lying.”

She stopped again, smiling sadly.

 

[Arage Bao]

Willpower. It was a word that was frequently used by the Jedi Order, to describe how one should protect itself from the allures of the Darkside. “If your will is strong, there is nothing to fear.” Some say. But most Jedi forget something, they forget to instill a valuable lesson into their Padawans and the Younglings.

They practice detachment, because without it there wouldn’t be serenity and peace. Or that’s what they preach. But a man or woman has to have a cause, a reason to fight. Now he knew her cause, the reason for her drive.

And made him answer her smile, his eyes opened themselves; finding her and he nodded to her, in acknowledgement.

Then his smile turned a bit rueful, as he himself started to speak again.

“When I found the Army of Light, I was a mere twenty-year old kid. Idealistic, and full of hope. I saw the Republic, its inability to do defend those it swore to protect… and I tried to fix it.”

A ring of sorrow radiated from him, as he spoke.

“I have led my friends and allies into battle, and we made a difference. I have killed Sith, and redeemed them. Some of my friends.. they lost themselves in the blood. They fell. I tried to save them, and I failed. In the end it was up to me, to end their agony. For it was through me that they found themselves in a situation they had not been ready to face yet. I have killed and buried friends, Diana.”

Only one tear was allowed to swim free from his eye.

“Can a man still be considered good, with so much blood on his hands?”

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Diana shrugged.

Not the best of answers, but it was really the only one she had if the truth was told. Being good, was a subjective term at best. Diana considered herself good, but many in the Order saw her as a villain, while others apparently saw her as some sort of inspiration, funny that.

“I have killed but one man in my entire life.” She didn't need to say who. “With all the others I held back. On Nar Shaddaa, I held back. On Ossus, I held back. Even when I fought the Last Emperor, when I had him beneath my heel primed for death, I held back.”

Her words filled with sorrow at what she was about to say. “Yet the council still called me a murderer. Still called me a killer, a warmongerer. After everything I did....or rather everything I didn't do. I was still perceived as a woman who shed blood wantonly and with glee.”

She shrugged, acting as if it didn't bother her.

“So the question is not if you can be considered good...but rather, do you consider yourself good?” Introspective, yes, but truth. What did the words of others matter after all, except when they were right.

[member="Michael Sardun"]