Ahch-To: Ruination

[Jorus Merrill]

A RebelX light gunship, a bulky Underground version of the X-Wing, handled well enough in space. Terrifyingly well, even, if you found yourself in the sights of its rotary ion cannon. Its S-foils remained wide open, fixed, not conducive to performance in atmosphere. Harsh wind tugged at the RebelX, then grew insistent. Jorus knew his business, but it was all he could do to dance the little gunship around an outcropping of ancient stone and into the lees. Engines disabled, working by repulsors alone, he slid the RebelX onto the landing pad.

There hadn't been a landing pad here last time. There hadn't been a restored temple, or a modernized area, and they made him sad. Disappointed. Disappointment is anger for cowards, some Sith Lord had said, and that particular Sith had been right. Jorus grimaced and hopped out of the RebelX. Instead of the grass and green moss of Ahch-To's mountainous islands, his boots thudded on permacrete.

He'd rediscovered this place a few years back, brought some Jedi along. He'd learned a good deal here, and he'd felt like they'd benefited too. Maybe they'd shared Ahch-To's location; maybe someone else had found the obscure world independently. Whatever the cause, other Jedi had come here in force, and he didn't much like what they'd done with the place. Oh, a good deal of the ancient ruins had been cleaned and put back together, and though that was an archaeological travesty it at least smacked of respectful intent. But the prefab units -- residences, a library, even warehouses -- and the reclaimed One Sith war-vehicles and the synthdroids walking around-

His jaw knotted. Ignoring the friendly synthdroids, he stepped off the landing pad, away from the prefabs and the restored ruins. His stomach turned, rebelling, but he made his way up a bluff, up to a place where he could see for miles. It was up here that he'd first used the Force to move a stone, a feat he'd never duplicated before or since. It was here that he'd built his lightsabre, and here that [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] had started his instruction in the Forms. He'd come here to center himself, to take a hard look at his relationship with the Force and the Jedi path. That was the point of a temple or a shrine, the real kind: to stimulate introspection. To show you your place in the universe, in the living Force and the cosmic Force as well. He supposed there was a lesson to be learned from the ugly prefabs, the frustrating insistence that new was better and mass-production was progress. That lesson came down to you must learn to be in the world, but not of the world. The lesson didn't do much for his frustrations. Up on the bluff, he knelt in the tall grass and sought for peace regardless.

At a guess, the Silvers or whoever ran this enclave might have a question or two for him -- for the apparent boy who'd plopped a snubfighter on their landing pad unannounced, then gone up the hill to be alone. Or maybe they'd respect his privacy. He felt like mourning.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Once his heart rate slowed again, a matter of some time, Jorus stood and faced the temple.

Temple.

The word implied sacredness and reverence. It derived from an ancient, pre-hyperspace custom whereby diviners sat in the centre of a circle, symbolically the centre of the world. And there they watched the signs, the omens: the directions of birds' flight and so forth. They stilled themselves and listened. They situated themselves relative to true north, to the eternal truths. Elements of the original meaning had influenced the first temples in the way that the Jedi defined the word. This had clearly been a place of contemplation, of connection with the cosmic, of stillness, of introspection. Here, the first Jedi had examined where they stood in relation to the eternal truths, and reoriented their hearts to match. A simple, ascetic lifestyle, or at least experience, could cleanse perspective. He saw none of that now. Instead he saw local rocks set in permacrete in a semblance of what had been here before. And that was the good part.

His jaw knotted. He went back down the slope to the landing pad, ignored a synthdroid's query, and climbed into the RebelX. The gunship came stock with encrypted, untraceable long-range communications. A brief query to his own records got him a comm code for SJO leadership, specifically the Heavenshields.

"This message is for Thurion and Coci Heavenshield. This is Jorus Merrill. I'm standing at the first Jedi Temple on Ahch-To. It's been defiled. I'm looking at a landing pad, a landing bay. Prefab warehouses and habitation units and corridors. Agriculture. A medcentre. What looks like one of your astrometrics labs, a link to your Order's comprehensive surveillance projects. A small army of synthdroids. One Sith military vehicles, including gunboats. And what appears to be a gorram hibridium cloak. This is not a large island. Message me back at your earliest convenience."

He keyed the RebelX's comms to his personal comlink and hopped out of the cockpit again, then headed for the 'restored' sections -- the ancient rough-stone temples, rebuilt with a mix of local stone and stronger materials.

[member="Thurion Heavenshield"]
[member="Coci Heavenshield"]

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

Jorus wasn't the only one from that time a few years back that had shown up on the small island, but for his part, Ilias felt much the same. This defilement did not only have an affect on the visual aesthetic - that was hardly a great concern - but it had somehow altered the feel of the place, and he'd spent so very much time alone with his senses over the centuries - the time after the plague had run its course of culling the galactic populace was a silent one, so alien in his perception of vast, living entity of the Force that always was pulsing the deepest thrum of that which exists.

Ilias was, of course, meditating, examining and thinking on the nuance of the island's feel. Building on a land always changed it, populating it - living on it - did so further, fundamentally altering the spiritual. To wit, Ahch-To no longer felt like Ahch-To, and the stillness was no longer still. He'd been sitting on the shore for hours, and nothing had pulled his attention away from his deliberations, not until Jorus had arrived. At first he'd paid not so much mind, but then Jorus began to feel, too, and the old Jedi opened his eyes, slowly. He breathed in, and breathed out of his nose in a heavy sigh.

"You too, understand."

He looked out at the sea a moment, then gathered himself up and began to make his way to the other side of the island, and [member="Jorus Merrill"].

 

[Rianna Organa]

The dawn was breaking slowly over the horizon on Voss Rianna sat in quiet meditation deep breaths to fill her lungs with air, and the force to help clear her mind. Troubling times where ahead, she had seen this much even now as she walked slowly in time looking towards the future trying to gently prod information and images from that which had given her so much over the years.

Flashes of light, the face of a woman, face of a man, nothing that she recognized, nothing that gave her answers. As she slowly began to pull back to bring herself to awareness in the present she felt the gentle tug to look away a small turn of her head and there along the force images began to cycle through a temple.

Through her minds eyes she could see the winding path through the stars it faded the farther away it traveled. Rianna nodded and then returned her eyes slowly opened and she turned to look upon the sky, "something is wrong, something calls, I know not why, but I must go" Rianna would meet up with the Dancing Thranta the ship that Ordo had created for their adventures and she would follow the force's gentle prodding to wherever it would lead.

Following the force on a journey in space was similar to navigating waters and avoiding the reefs, one must look beneath and beyond in order to move forward. It would take some time but she would arrive where she was needed. She left a message for [member="Coci Heavenshield"] explaining her vision and that she would return but she needed to follow where the force was leading.

A week later Rianna was staring at a planet she had not ever seen in a part of the galaxy that she was unsure of. The black of space unnerved the healer as if it waited to engulf her in its own darkness and smother her. She arched a brow as she guided the ship.

She was prepared almost for anything, almost. Dark eyes scanned below watching, she opened a frequency and waited to hear someone speak. What was here..what was drawing her to this place...now. What was important about how.

[member="Ilias Nytrau"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Jorus looked up as [member="Ilias Nytrau"] approached. His eyebrows rose. "Ilias. Feth, I haven't seen you since...seems like Levantine days. Wish this was better circumstances." His comm buzzed: a relay from the RebelX. Instead of a reply from the Heavenshields, though, the transmission was a ping from...

He whistled. "Holy feth. Rianna gorram Organa is in orbit."

Back in the day, back when he'd been Master of First Knowledge and all the Jedi Masters wanted to be the next big thing, there'd been any number of debates over strength and seniority. In any competently designed list, Organa featured heavily. A career healer, to be sure, hardly a combat specialist. But if the Jedi as a whole had a Yoda, Organa was about as close as anyone had come since Teferi Efreet or Tahira Solo, right up there with Ilias and Eyal M'ti. She kept to herself, Organa, and he couldn't blame her.

Jorus clicked his comm on. "Master Organa, this is Jorus Merrill. I'm on the surface with Master Nytrau. Seems like a few Jedi have gone off the rails, wrecked the old temple, crammed the island full of prefabs and gear. Still trying to figure out how to clean things up. Come on down." He snorted. "They've made enough landing pads and bays for all of us."

[member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"]

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

He looked younger, much younger than the ginger recalled. That alone got raised eyebrows out of him, as well, but it was a thing he could leave alone. After all, it wasn't the first time he'd seen the clock turned back or death altogether cheated. Nine centuries granted a man many sights, some of which he had called, and did call 'friend'.

"As do I," he cast a glance around, but his attention was drawn back to the youthful Jorus when he whistled and spoke a name that had gone unheard for a good, long while, "well, what a surprise!"

He hadn't, to his recollection (and it was unlikely to be anything other than perfect) seen [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] in years. Years. Not since his days as an ally of the Republic, which was simply unthinkable in its final days. So long ago, now. He crossed his arms, and observed [member="Jorus Merrill"] as he relayed the situation. His daughter had to be older than he looked, by now.

"Whoever did this has no respect for that which is sacred," he frowned, a touch of pity passing through his eyes, "and possibly has lost touch with their deeper relationship with the Force."

He considered that, further.

"Furthermore, this," he gestured in general, "shows a troubling lack of understanding of what a temple is, and its purpose."

Even so - he didn't expect that the average person, Jedi or not, truly grasped the concept.

 

[Rianna Organa]

The force always seemed to provide exactly what as needed and when it was needed, a voice from below the gentle timbre of a male. She could not help but smile that it was Jorus Merrill, one would have to live under the proverbial rock to not know this name.

Rianna nodded to no one there, "I am on my way down Jorus, let's not stand on formality" she had never been one for it, "Rianna will do fine." There was another presence though one she was not familiar with with Jorus. Well in a few moment that person would no longer be considered stranger.

She guided the Thranta down to a landing pad close to where [member="Jorus Merrill"] and [member="Ilias Nytrau"] waited. Not one to waste time, she secured the ship and exited it heading towards the two men.

The aura of the stranger was unique to her trained eyes it meant he possessed either something rare, or something she only encountered occasionally. Whichever it was perhaps it would reveal itself until then. She smiled. She did look around to see what Jorus referred to, why would someone defile the force its home with this? What were they looking for?

"Greeting my friends, this is quite the set up here..I don't think it has been here long. Have you seen anyone?" She tended to bounce on subjects sometimes. She then nodded to each, she looked at Ilias, "You were with the Republic, long ago under..Harkness...yes? It has been quite some time" She then looked at Jorus, "I don't think we've met, you both must forgive me my memory (and that of my writer) sometimes does not recall very well."

If she had met them in the past she would ask forgiveness, it was a small matter of age, and the higher purpose of gathering them together was more important than her memory. Least for the moment, they could delve into that a bit more later.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"][member="Ilias Nytrau"]

"I'm Jorus Merrill. New face, Wild Space, long story. Let's focus on the big picture: someone dropped a trailer park on the second most sacred place in the galaxy. Now, I've placed a call to the Heavenshields, but they're not biting. We need a plan."

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

[member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] | [member="Jorus Merrill"]

"I am Ilias Nytrau, a healer, much like yourself... and yes," he tipped his head, "in a manner of speaking, though longer ago than that."

A long time ago now, as far back as before the long war with the One Sith. Well, now, to the matter at hand.

"In my experience, the most longstanding sacred centres have been as such due to their being little known, hearsay at best, or altogether secret." His mouth formed a firm line."I could say we should have known this would happen..." he took a deep breath, and precluded himself from the tangent that wanted to follow those words, "Hm, hindsight."

He looked first to one, then the other of his present companions.

"The word 'temple', to most of our ilk, has come to mean a centre of learning, a home - but here, this place, is for our souls, our spiritual connection to that which is greater than ourselves," his eyebrows raised, "in particular when meditations alone in any other place in the galaxy are not enough to sift through what ails our souls and thoughts."

He knew that struggle all too well.

"And for peaceful introspection, and non-confrontational existence. Now, my thoughts are this: all that has been done here, all of this that brings the noise of civilisation, needs to be removed, and the land once again purified; our peers need to be provided with knowledge and education that ensures our most sacred of places, our heritage, remain as such. And the location of this place, it should go without saying, does not need to fall into the hands of those that would do worse than turn it into a typical Jedi temple."

His brow knit.

"After that... well, it need not be abandoned. An aesthetic like early Dai Bendu monks come to mind, among others, as caretakers."

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Tython and Ach-To. Tiland had found himself beckoned to many of the ancient places, although this would be his second visit to Ach-To, although the details of his earlier visit were fuzzy. It had been some time ago and many things had happened between now and then. But as he stepped off the boarding ramp of his own vessel, he frowned beneath the beard. It was very different than he remembered- even with the fuzziness. Old age was troublesome, to say the least. He couldn't even quite remember how old he was. Nine hundred years now? Somewhere around there? That sounded right.

There were far more buildings and droids than he could remember, for one thing, and far more heavily populated by droids, of all things. Yet it was also disturbed. He strode around through the beach, picking his away across the rocky landscape. His staff echoed against the stones as he considered. When had last been here, it was a planet seemingly deep within its own meditation- still and everlasting in its antiquity. Yet now... he paused to try and consider a metaphor.

What he wanted was a cup of tea, however. He stopped at the thought. That was what had happened to the world. Someone had taken a mug of tea that was sitting still and steaming and stirred it like some barbaric caf. Everything was pushed out of its proper place and still moving. That was the opposite of what it meant to be in harmony with the Force.

He nodded as he approached the other group. They all seemed disconcerted and he sensed a touch of unease about. He bowed as he introduced himself, "Well met, travelers. I feel you are as uncomfortable with these changes, as I am."

It was strange to see where and for what reasons the Force would call him from place to place. First to Tython in order to begin healing its connection with the Force and then once more to here, apparently for the same reason.

 

[Rianna Organa]

[member="Tiland Kortun"] [member="Ilias Nytrau"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]​

​

She was about to speak when another joined them Rianna nodded to the elder, his age hung about him like a worn comfortable blanket as it reflect in the warm colors of the aura that surrounded him.

Rianna took a step towards all the equipment long ago she had made a mistake thinking that mechnical devices could be the equal to the force, she had learned the hard way it was not so. This was an unnatural flow, all living things were connected by the force. When someone introduces an element that is unnatural it throws all things out of balance. She coiuld feel that out of balance ever so slightly as it shifted and swayed beneath her feet.

Jorus was quick to the point, excellent, no waiting to discuss in committee.

She turned back to Ilias, "You're right all of this" she motioned to it all "must be removed it is upsetting the natural order of Ahch-To. This Temple which serves to nourish our souls as you say Ilias seems out of balance to me. Surely you can all feel it the force the way it flows how usually smooth, elegant, as familiar as an old friend shivers, how now it seems to tremble as it moves."

Rianna now turned to the new Jedi to have joined them, "Welcome." She felt the shift again, odd that time very odd. A healer must know balance and the force. Healing a body using the force meant knowing how a body functioned, how the force assisted the body, here this was the same Ahch-To felt injured and they must heal her.

"I say bring in a ship, let's load all of this on it and put it up for sale, see who tries to claim it. The credits could be used to support this temple." The second most sacred sight in the galaxy no wander her feet felt as if they were vibrating.

 

[Bethany Kismet]

"Why here?"

Bethany didn't answer for a long moment, verdant eyes distant.

"For the same reason as Atrisia," she said finally, her voice a touch heavy. Atrisia had been... weighing. So much she had been unable to stop. So much death, fire and pain. She still didn't completely understand why she had been brought there. A single eyed peered at her from the background of her thoughts, and she settled it gently. It closed for now, restless but benign. The reasons she had been called to Atrisia were not yet fulfilled, though her feet no longer moved across the surface of that planet. But the seed was only now beginning to send out tiny rootlets, and she didn't know exactly what the curling presence of [member="Reverance"] would grow into. Not yet.

"I see."

Clearly, from his tone however, he did not. In truth, it had been a poor answer.

"Because the Force told me to," she said simply, her gaze focusing suddenly on [member="Michael Sardun"].

Ever since being gifted this new body by Zonama Sekot, that had been the way she had chosen her path. She had no clear goal, no specific end game- she wasn't even entirely sure why she was needed. She had clues, inklings. But nothing concrete.

In fairness, it was more than most people got.

"There," she murmured, peering out through the port window. "That's where we need to land, Michael, see? The landing pad just to the east. It seems," she said with the ghost of a smile, "that someone else heard the planet's call as well."



[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Ilias Nytrau"] [member="Tiland Kortun"] [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

"I see." Sardun repeated, humor glancing on the edge of his voice. But this time around he did see, if only marginally so, and how could it be any different? His own experience with the Force was a muddied one. Years ago, when he was a younger man, he had heard the voice of the Force clearly.

He followed it.

Accomplished deeds.

But now, as Michael grew older and more wary, he understood how little those deeds really meant.

"It is my hope that my boulder-carrying skills will be of use to you, Bethany." He added, while nodding in agreement. It was clear that they weren't the first here-- a frown started to mar his expression, though, once he noticed the addition of several... new buildings and attachments to the ancient temple ruins.

"I think I am starting to see why the Force has called you here."

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Ilias Nytrau"] | [member="Tiland Kortun"] | [member="Rianna Ar'klim-Organa"] | [member="Bethany Kismet"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ilias Nytrau"] [member="Tiland Kortun"] @Rianna Ar’klim-Organa [member="Bethany Kismet"] [member="Michael Sardun"]

Ilias and Rianna had reputations as senior Jedi in the best sense: sober, deliberative, champions of action by inaction. Peaceful. What did it mean, then, that both of them were in favour of removing these structures so aggressively? Despite his own initial outrage, Jorus felt he would rather have done more to attempt to contact those responsible, to find an explanation. Those he'd contacted had ignored his message, it seemed. He inferred that Ahch-To was the latest in a long-established trend of Jedi factions failing to keep their house in order. Admittedly, he didn't envy the Heavenshields their task: wrangling Jedi often proved impossible. But there yet remained a responsibility to clean up the messes that occurred on one's watch. One example was that business with Charzon Loulan’s death while in Silver custody after her trial. Another was the situation on Klatooine. And now, so far as he could determine, the Silvers had been responsible for the developments on Ahch-To.

The Republic's Order had been no better, of course, and the Alliance’s New Jedi Order had its own insoluble issues. Even so, this situation remained reprehensible enough that Ilias’ and Rianna’s impolite solution seemed fitting.

He shielded his eyes against the flat harsh sunlight and watched a ship come down. “I think I agree,” he said. “Call a freighter, toss in the prefabs and the cloaking device and the surveillance suite and the One Sith combat vehicles and all the rest of the trash. Put it up for sale. Use the funds to pay for environmental reclamation and junk disposal. Anyone get a read on these people coming down now? Our side or the proprietors?”

 

[Rianna Organa]

[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Michael Sardun"] [member="Bethany Kismet"] [member="Tiland Kortun"] [member="Ilias Nytrau"]​

Rianna looked over to Jorus who seemed hesitant, it was the way he said I think I agree he was still hard to read all that surrounded him flicked of a light and dark she gave him a small smile as she tried to figure it out. "It bothers how the planet feels to me, it is perhaps a knee jerk reaction think of nails on a chalkboard slowly screeching. You feel the tingle run up your spine all while grinding your teeth and praying for it to end. The force feels like that to me right now, I think removing it will ease the sensations"

She looked at everything, what was it he wanted, names? "We can investigate the pieces as they moved. Perhaps they left information behind or they may even come back, or still be here." She had been a jedi investigator a long time ago she had enjoyed that work quite a bit. Evidence gathering, trying to figure out the who what and where. Those were the days of her youth it seemed.

Rianna's psychometry would perhaps help, images, emotions..maybe..she turned her gaze from Jorus to the skies who were the approaching, he wanted to know she sensed no danger, "I sense no danger from them, they may be here to help"

The force wrapped itself around Rianna as she drew upon it to try and discover more, and yet nothing came other than..they were not a threat. Her own curiosity was piqued with all that was going on with this focal point of the force she would not be surprised to find that the ship carried more who were trained in the ways of the force.

No, not at all. Rianna waited to see who was on board the new arrival.