All Our Sorrows, We Lay Bare (Tyris, Josh, Drel)

[Naila Rokh]

The twin planets Talus and Tralus spun in an eternal tug-of-war, two orbs of blue and green of the half dozen habitable planets in the Corellian System. A small Republic corvette exited hyperspace just outside of the giant gravitational balancing act, veering towards the later of the sisters.

Naila Rokh, in the ship's cockpit, could not take her eyes off the planet.

After months of searching and investigation, on top of the recently ended conflicts with the Sith, the Sentinel had finally pinpointed the whereabouts of her former master, Drel Ansek. He was on Tralus, held captive if her first Premonition had any truth to it, by a Sith or some other Dark Jedi if her instinct had any either. Since then, there had been two more. One, a fleeting image of his captor; A figure of dreadful power hidden behind a black steel mask. The second was a mirror of the original.

The Shistavanen stood with silent anticipation, nodding to the Republic pilot as she left brusquely for the ships small common room for the briefing. The corvette was a stealth ship, with room for barely twelve passengers plus cargo. She, Joshua DragonsFlame, Tyris Draav and the ten-marine strike team had needed to make due for the duration of the ride. But now they were approaching their destination and the small advantage of surprise that they invested in would pay off.

The doors slid open as Naila approached. “Sergeant, do we have a landing zone?” She asked the brick-wall of a man in armor at the head of the common room's table.

 

[Tyris Draav]

Sergeant Tyris Draav set his helmet on the edge of the table and tapped his datapad, bringing up a hologram of one of Tralus' mountain ranges which focused on one area in particular. A translucent cube enveloped one of the rocky outcroppings. Within was a fortress, old and overgrown with vegetation. But the human wasn't fooled. He could only guess at the extent of the warren of tunnels that the seemingly diminutive structure hid beneath it.

The soldier looked back at the young Jedi, which his marines had parted to make room for. She had changed in recent months. Nearly gone was the austere yet curious young Padawan that he remembered from his stints of service with Drel Ansek, as well as the more talkative and playful kid that she was beneath; The side of her that only Drel and the few others that had the privilege of calling her a friend saw.

This new woman was... dangerous. He could tell in the slump in her shoulders, the weight that she seemed to carry everywhere that he saw in a lot of Jedi. That weight that made them fierce in their conviction and their determination, because to fail would mean that they let everyone that depended on them down. Jedi had a hard time forgiving themselves for that sort of thing, he'd learned. He saw it in the girl's eyes too. She had eyes like, well... him. A predator's eyes.

“We can put the ship down on the other side of the mountain,” He finally said, spinning the hologram. “Sensors detected a crag in the rock that might lead to the tunnels beneath the fortress. As far as we can tell, though, no life signs have been detected. It's possible the enemy have ways of masking such, so we'll have to prepare for the possibility that we'll meet heavy resistance straight off the bat.” Some of the men and women under Tyr nodded, some kept still as stone. He could read each of them like a book. No fear. This was, to them, the last mission of the war. They were as determined as Naila Rokh was herself.

“We have reason to believe that a splinter group of Sith have hidden here on Tralus, which is why we have Master DragonsFlame and Sentinel Rokh joining us on this op.” He winked discreetly at the girl. This entire mission was her doing, but the only way that he could join in the rescue of his old friend was to make it a Republic sanctioned operation. Luckily, they found some intel on who exactly they might be going up against.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The death of Saoirse and the child had changed him. Death changed people, even Jedi. His eyes were fierce as he listened to the briefing, nodding along.

Josh had been a busy man since he had seen Naila last. Being involved in the end of the Sith Empire, the war with The Black Suns, and the sudden war with the Fringe right after. Just recently, Josh had somehow... Someway... Had singlehandedly secured peace with the Fringe, when even the Grandmaster herself had flown the coop, and the Supreme Chancellor was shooting remarks and insults behind Josh to break the peace talks in half... Yet, somehow, he'd done it. Pile that with the return of a close friend of his... Betraying him and the Jedi, as well as him being regarded by some as the de facto leader of the Jedi, while Selena was gone.... Josh had a lot on his mind.

But he had made a promise to Naila. Busy or not, Josh would keep that promise and find Master Drel no matter what. He looked at Naila, and he felt bad for her. If there was anything he could do... He would do it.

He put a hand on Naila's shoulder and took a breath. He leaned in and whispered calmly into her ear. Yet his suffering was evident even in his voice... While he had had time to recover and return to his duties after Sao's death, Josh would never be the same.

"When they finish the briefing, I'd like to talk, if you have time, Naila" he said, patting her on the back. He looked back at the soldier and pilot now, listening to make sure there wasn't anything else that had to be discussed....

@[member="Tyris Draav"]
@[member="Naila Rokh"]

 

[Naila Rokh]

Naila had heard of Saoirse's death shortly after the event. She couldn't even begin to imagine the sorrow that her human friend felt at the loss. She hadn't been able to speak with him much since then and the more recent engagements with the enemy, as well as internal squabbles that she hadn't bothered being involved in. Politics had always frustrated her.

But @[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] had changed. He seemed sterner, more stressed. The fact that he'd still agreed to help her after all that had happened in the months it took her to track Drel down shocked and amazed her. The man was made of stern stuff, she'd give him that. Still, when he spoke, she could hear the pain beneath that he seemed to be suppressing. It hurt her to hear him like that.

"I always have time," She assured him before nodding to the Sergeant. "We'll go in hard and fast and get Drel out. That's our only objective." She announced.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He nodded calmly. "Alright, we'll talk after this then..." he said, taking a breath. As the briefing finished, Josh escorted Naila to the quarters they shared on the ship.

A sigh escaped him as he sat down on his bed. He looked up at her. He hadn't slept, that was obvious. But instead of looking out for himself, his face instead showed worry for Naila, concern for HER well being.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, tilting his head as he looked into her eyes. "We haven't gotten much of a chance to talk since you found Drel's location, and we've both been really busy lately. I'm worried about you. How have you been holding up with all of this?"

No matter his pain, Naila always came first for him. He would never turn her down or leave her alone if he could help it.

@[member="Naila Rokh"]
@[member="Naila Rokh"]

 

[Tyris Draav]

Tyr grinned at the Jedi's words. "Well said," He nodded back. "Alright people, gear up. Pilot says we're touching down in ten, which means I want us ready in five." He left the common room securing his helmet, followed by the marines under his command. Every man and woman was making their way to the cargo hold, which they had turned into an impromptu armoury.

He noticed, however, that the Jedi did not follow. No matter. They did what they had to do, and it wasn't like they had to kit themselves out. They were already armoured and lightsabers didn't need weapons lockers for storage.

Tyris reached the armoury and began going over his gear. Armour and comms systems were solid, explosives, sidearm, munition, and a good old Z-6 rotary cannon for the sort of up-close and personal work they were about to engage in. He hefted the multi-barrel chaingun, looping a bungie-chord over his shoulder to support its weight. With a small pack full of thermal canisters, he was locked and loaded, tapping the weapon with a gauntleted knuckle. "Don't worry, Fish-Man. We're comin' for ya." he murmured.

 

[Naila Rokh]

Naila couldn't suppress a bitter laugh. "How am I feeling? What about you? After..." She sat opposite the human, tail in her lap. She couldn't bring it up, for fear of what it may do to Josh. "We're both a bit worse for wear, aren't we?" She smiled wanly. "I'm better... and worse. We're close, and that's sort of reassuring. But... the visions." She shivered. somehow, she felt like something terrible would happen when they faced these Sith.

She couldn't sense the enemy. Or Drel. In fact, it was like there was a curtain hiding the presence of any lifeforms in that sector of the planet. Even with her slightly inadequate Force ability, she could feel the void in that mountain range. Hopefully, they would be able to see more clearly once they came closer.

"Josh. No matter what happens down there, I want to thank you for being my friend," She said, trying to suppress the quiver in her voice. What? Do you think you're going to die or something, Vix? She thought. No... You know what you feel. He might die. The 'he' that she referred to was more painful of a thought than she could bear.

@[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He nods. "Sao's death. I know. I've had time to think about it" he said with a sigh. "But this isn't about me right now, Naila. Yeah, we're both worse for wear. We're both down, we're both feeling like crap. I lost the woman I was going to MARRY, damnit" he said, shaking his head. "All I needed was another week. One WEEK and I would have proposed. And then everything crashes down on me. Sao. Our child. Gone, nothing. Gone. I've had time to think about this, I've had time to mow down Sith after Sith after Sith to soothe a heart and fill a void that may never be filled, Naila. Yeah, it still hurts. But I can't do my job if I mope and feel sorry for myself. No matter what, I'm still a Jedi, and I can't let my personal problems get in the way when someone's in trouble"

He put his hands on her shoulder and looked her dead in the eyes. "Right now, this is your issue. It's your master, your friend that's in trouble. That's why I'm asking how you are, because I'm not letting you wallow in pain alone. Kark how I'm feeling, I feel like crap. You know that. But right now, YOU need to be focused. You need to get in the game so we can go rescue Drel"

At her last statement he nodded and squeezed her hands. "And you've been the best friend I've ever had" he said calmly. "Don't ever forget that" he said. "Relax yourself, sweetheart. Today, we're going to rescue Drel. Don't worry your pretty little head about that"

"Maybe after that, we'll go to Naboo or something" he said with a smirk. "It'd be nice to visit my childhood home, if you're game" he said, trying to cheer her up. Little flickers of the Josh that she knew. All just to keep her in the game.

@[member="Naila Rokh"]

 

[Tyris Draav]

Tyris gripped a bar on a nearby bulkhead as the ship entered the upper atmosphere. The hull shivered as turbulence wracked the outside. "Alright people, that's our warning bell." He hefted the Z-6 over one shoulder and pointed to one of his soldiers. "Mittick! Two minutes. Let the Jedi know."

The trooper to which Tyris spoke stood at attention and saluted wordlessly before jogging out of the cargo hold.

"Checking comms channels," Tyr pinged his helmet's communication device, eliciting a small symphony of pings from the other marines' headsets. "Comms... check." The Sergeant walked to the back of the hold, punching the wall console. The rear bulkhead split open at the middle, permitting a maelstrom of wind to fill the hold. Those soldiers who hadn't donned their helmets did so in the face of the winds. Tyris looked out onto the planet's surface. Jagged grey peaks speared towards the sky. The valleys between were rivers of greens and browns, interrupted by the shimmer that indicated high-altitude bodies of water. It's beauty wasn't lost on the soldier, and he took a moment to soak it all in. Even so, he couldn't help but mentally map out ambush locations, bottlenecks, possible sniper nests. He turned his back to the view to take one last look at his team.

 

[Naila Rokh]

Naila couldn't hold back tears at Josh's words. They hammered into her chest painfully, and she could only imagine the pain that Josh felt from saying them. But his confession of vengeful killings scared her. She'd never heard of him wanting that sort of revenge. It wasn't the Jedi way. But he had gone through so much... Maybe it had helped, somehow, to know that justice was done for his would-be family.

She smiled wanly as he tried to pep her spirits up, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of a sleeve. She stood, a new determination in her eyes. "Right. I'll hold you to that, got it?!" The Shistavanen pronounced, happy to see that her friend wasn't completely lost. She smiled wildly, fangs bared. Just then, the door slid open and one of the marines stood at attention in the threshold. "Master Jedi, Sergeant Draav requests your presence in teh cargohold. We're about to touch down." Without waiting for a reply, the soldier jogged back in that direction.

Naila looked at @[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] and nodded. She was ready for what was to come. Straightening her black and green Moro Dashi robes and striding towards the cargo hold, claws clicking across the metal floors.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

@[member="Naila Rokh"]

He smiled faintly. Josh hadn't meant it really as vengeful killings... He simply fell a little better knowing that he'd been able to gain some sort of justice for Sao. It was the only thing he could do for her posthumously. But for now, his feelings had to be passed aside to help Naila.

He wiped the tears from her eyes gently as he got up. "Got it" he said, smirking a bit. As the door slid open, he watched, and listened carefully. "Loud and clear" he responded, nodding. "We'll be right there"

He cracked his neck, straightening his robes, before deciding to try and raise Naila's morale just a bit... In only a way he could.

As she walked ahead of him, he gave her a small smack on the rear end. But thing is, this was Josh. Superhuman strength. Able to punch Krag in the face and send him flying. A small smack still left a red mark on contact. Regardless, he shot her a teasing grin as he walked ahead.

He had his time for recovery... And for now, Naila's spirits needed to be as high as they could get as he walked to the cargo hold.

@[member="Naila Rokh"]