All Roads Lead To Kamino (Sky's Return)

[Darron Wraith]

Darron, I hope this message finds you when the time is right. I know you don't have all of the answers yet, and there are probably many questions. Just please know I had my reasons, and that I always firmly believed you were the right Jedi for the wrong time. I hope this has corrected that issue, but I have also made sure another can make the jump to your time and assist you. She is what's most precious to me, and I have seen to it that she has been fully restored and cleaned of the darkness. Please go to her on Kamino, and retrieve my heart, my Sky.​

Je'gan​

​

Kamino

After the events on Kuat, the GrandMaster had had a few moments to check over his messages in his personal account. Most were throw away well wishes, and a few were requests for aid due to the Omni crisis. Yet that one particular message stuck out due to the sender, Je'gan Olraen hadn't been seen in the galaxy in a decade. Yet somehow he was responsible for the Jedi having their new leader, and anything with his name as a sender was automatically bumped up to the top of the priority list. Eagerly he had sifted through the message, and had made haste back to the watery world where he had been locked in carbonite for two decades. It was where he had made his return to the galaxy, and it was what had set him on the path that had led to his ascension. It seemed that after losing everything, a plan had been enacted to lock him away, let him deal with it and be unleashed on the galaxy at the right time. While Darron didn't agree with it, he could see it's logic.


Combat boots echoed off the sterile walls of the cloning facility as he was fully locked in reverie, paying attention to no one as he made his way to the coordinates listed on the letter. Can this be true? Did he really manage to keep his way safe and sound through the decades as well? I thought she was dead Je'gan, what other secrets did you keep from me brother? Darron has little clue as to where the line of thinking was taking him, and he couldn't fathom just how he felt towards his former best friend. There seemed to be the side of him, that had manifested after taking over the Order that could see the need for plans and secrets. Yet deep down in his heart, he couldn't help but feel betrayed by one of the few men he considered to be honest in the whole galaxy.

"GrandMaster Wraith, it is good to see you back on world. Though this time please try to not cause as much damage to our structures, while we do appreciate the continued business of the Jedi. Your conflicts with these Sith are rather costly."

At six feet, five inches tall Darron was a very large man especially with his warrior's build. Yet the Kaminoans dwarfed him, and as he bowed he realized he was lower than the Prime Minister's waist. Standing back up to his full height, he couldn't help but notice how much he contrasted with the sterile confines. He was still dressed in his usual mission attire of black combat boots with gold buckles, black trousers that allowed a lot of range of motion. His utility belt was adorned with his mission gear and his new pair of electrum lightsabers he had constructed after his ascension to GrandMaster. His prosthetic right hand and forearm of durasteel was covered in the leather glove he always wore to hide the metal construct. On each forearm was a massive cortosis made, golden greave. On his sternum he wore his tight fitted undershirt, with the golden breast plate that covered his chest and stomach, and exposed his heavily muscled arms from the shoulder to his elbow. His shoulder length blonde hair was sloppily pushed back, and the calm expression on his face was accentuated by the intensity of his blue eyes.

After a moment of looking over the room, his eyes fell on one chamber. A pod, no more than six feet long, and just big enough to hold a body. Yet it's cloudy liquid seemed to obscure his view into it, except for the slender silhouette. "Is that her?" The Kaminoan's black eyes beaded into him before answering. "Yes GrandMaster, Jedi Master Olraen commissioned her himself, and he transferred her memories that he chose via flash memories. He also did some ritual he described as an essence transfer, he said you would understand."

Powerful arms met across his broad chest as he considered what had been said, without another moment of hesitation he answered as Je'gan probably had intended. "Well tell me how to let her out, and then you need to leave the room just in case Prime Minister. Whatever this cost, send the bill to the Republic, it will be handled." Without a word, the Prime Minister handed him a switch and left the room. Seeing that he was alone with the woman he assumed to be Sky Kerberos, Darron pressed the button and awaited to see what happened....

 

[Sky Kerberos]

On the throne of Hell she sat, watching over her realm. She no longer held interest in the earthly realm, nor in the mortal follies of those who are all already damned. Yet, something stirred within her, as a piece of her soul became unhinged. Copied. Torn from her… and released to the realms of the living.

She looked out at everything--at nothing--her eyes white in corruption to see what had happened, and what would come. So the Jedi assume to defy death. Je'gan yet again assumes to defy who she is. Bring her back from the dead…in 'pure' form.

So be it. She would watch.

The doors of the incubator opened, and she fell forward on legs unused to the solid ground. Had she awakened from a dream? But she couldn't remember before the dream, she had no grip on the reality of what was before she fell asleep. All she could do was try to grip the fast evaporating images, believing all was truth but losing the reality within it.

She knew who she was. Sky. She knew so much…the Force, different people, planets…but with this knowledge came no emotions. It was as if everything learned was from a story, with no solid backing behind it.

Looking up she saw someone who did not belong in this sterile environment. Darron Wraith. Jedi master. Strong, dangerous. It was as if she knew a list of facts surrounding who this was before her--but that was it. Facts. There was no sentiment behind them.

"What happened?" she whispered to the cardboard angel in front of her.

What was the last thing of her memory? How could she know who she was--yet not know anything about herself?

 

[Darron Wraith]

As the pod opened, it leaned up and forward allowing a slender nude frame to fall to the floor.

Darron quickly threw the command pad to the ground and grabbed a nearby robe, while averting his eyes from "Sky's" body. A few awkward moments passed by as he grabbed the robe and closed the distance quickly while trying to wrap it around her dripping wet frame. As he helped her stand up he noted that she had a large tattoo on her back that was still present, how did that get there on a clone? He decided to not ask the question as he moved some of the wet, wavy, auburn hair out of her face. His gloved hand gently moved a few stray locks as he wrapped his other arm around her waist to secure the robe to keep her clothed. Each pair of blue eyes met momentarily, and he could see familiarity ring true within them. Yet they were so different now, the last time he had run into this woman she was a Sith, that hate she had bore was no longer there. What did Je'gan do to rid you of it, and how are you here? Another unasked question stayed in his mind as he walked her slowly over to a bench and sat her down.

Taking a few steps back, he regarded her small form while reaching out with the Force and trying to get a sense of this whole situation. His mind was telling him that this was a clone, a clone with a tattoo. Yet the Force was fully registering her as Sky Kerberos, a Master of the Force, yet an empty cup at the same time.

"What happened?" Her voice came out rather uncomfortably and quiet. It seemed that speaking itself was unnatural at this point, and the GrandMaster couldn't help but remember how he had felt when he had first come out of the carbonite himself. The sickness had been unbearable, and everything had felt so disjointed for the longest time. A pang of sadness hit him, and he let the question hang in the air as he walked over to a nearby counter and poured a glass of water for her before going to sit in the adjacent bench. He extended his hand to hers and offered her the drink right as he began to answer her question.

"I have no idea, I was given a message from Je'gan Olraen to come find you. Do you know who he was? I am Jedi GrandMaster Darron Wraith, and I used to know you. I myself was brought to this time by violent means of carbonite freezing. From what I have pieced together it seems there was some master plan involving both of us."

 

[Sky Kerberos]

"Yes."

She answered in a hollow voice, wondering if all she knew was just as hollow.

"Jedi Master. Darth Shule, founded of the Jedi Brotherhood." That was it that came to her from hearing his name. Not lover, not husband. Not betrayer. "As am I. Jedi Master, founded of the Brotherhood."

Though it rang true, she repeated it as one would a stranger's biography.

She hugged the towel tight around her at first, the feel of cotton was an unusual contrast to the water that had held her. It's fiber wiped away the last remnants of the fluid on her skin, though her hair still dripped as she peered at Darron. Used to know me. Did those words hold more than the rest of them?

"I know you. I understand we were both Jedi, and understand your duty now, Grandmaster, is to make sure I am fit for duty," said as a soldier, one who would rather deny her emptiness than to open herself to it. "I...am fit. What happened though?"

She tore her gaze from him to around them. She recognized the white wash floors, the abnormally high walls; it was Kamino. Her eyes laid to rest on the container that had held her. Hatred entered her for moments, and so she quickly adjusted her vision away from it to him. To Darron. His presence was calming, but at the same time made her to want to rip out his throat. No. Calming and familiar...she forced away all else that threatened to come forth. "I suffered injury in battle? Is that why I was in there?"

 

[Darron Wraith]

"Yes, you and Shule both founded the brotherhood." What he didn't say was that she had also founded the four horseman, had been their leader and had been one of the deadliest opponents he had ever faced in his life. He failed to mention the venom with which she had so often spat at him in combat, or just how much of an amazing warrior she was. Her skill in the Force and in battle only that much more magnified by her hatred and ferocity. She had pushed him to his limits near the end of his Knighthood, and right after he had been mastered. She had fought him when he was new to Vaapad, when his emotions ruled him, and she had played his heart like an instrument in those battles. Yes, Sky Kerberos was a Jedi, had been one, but she had also been a Sith. Did Je'gan really rip your dark thoughts from your head, how? Is that even right to do that?

The implications of it all were quite astonishing to comprehend.

"Yes, we are both Jedi, and no my duty is to ensure you okay and alive despite the strange way that I have found you. I am glad you are fit to serve thought."

Darron once more left out the part of what she also used to be. The words that he wanted to say about how he was amazed she was alive, and that he had figured her long dead never left his lips either. Instead he viewed her with his eyes, amazed at her youth. In this current state she appeared a little younger than him, yet her mind was just as sharp as it had been before he had been frozen in carbonite. The absence of rage actually made her slightly endearing, though he could feel ripples of emotions coming off of her. It seemed as if she was warring with her own self, as if her own existence confused her and she was searching for answers just like him. "I have no clue if you were injured in battle Sky, I wasn't around to see what happened to you myself."

He got up from his seat and moved to sit next to her, and his blue eyes bore into the floor as he decided to just be honest with her. She deserves this, he thought.

"I myself was frozen in carbonite for twenty years, I should be nearly fifty years old, but I have the body of a twenty eight year old because there was a prophecy saying I was needed for this time. You on the other hand were brought back somehow, your body was old and damaged and your essence was transferred into a clone it seems. Your memories were put in via a flasm-memory drive the Kaminoans use to program their soldiers. It seems that's why you remember things, and honestly I don't know what this is about Sky. Je'gan sent me a letter to come get you, and the galaxy is in chaos." Darron paused for a moment as he turned to look her in the eye before continuing.

"Je'gan hasn't been seen in over a decade."

 

[Sky Kerberos]

Clone.

She drew back at the word, physically. Emotionally.

Flasm-memory drive. So her life amounted to a computer hard drive. Her essence could be merely shifted to a body that though genetically was hers--was not. It seemed a joke. She seemed a joke. She tried to search back on her life, to the times he had spoke of--of her being old. Nothing came. Did the transfer fail? Or rather…something which he dared not say.

Looking toward Darron, she saw a man who looked as she remembered him. If he had been frozen in carbonate, she did not remember his absence. Though Sky saw the age he spoke of within the depths of his eyes, combined with the weight of his next words.

Je'gan lost for over a decade.

Those words meant something to him, for it was clear that Darron and Je'gan had been more than just Jedi together. Friends perhaps. But what surprised her was that it was as if Darron expected her to be effected by those words as much as he was.

"Then clone him as well," she said harshly, as if that was the new Jedi doctrine: to clone missing, or damaged and 'old' Jedi like an assembly line. But immediately as she said it, she felt regret.

"Forgive my words, Darron. But…a clone. Do you realize how…"

Oppressive. Hollowing. Damning this was.

But she would not weep like a frail child. Coldness wept within her eyes as she looked upon the Grandmaster as she finished her sentence, though without the laminations of before. "…why is the Galaxy in Chaos?"

 

[Darron Wraith]

The emotional strings he had tested simply weren't there. When he mentioned Je'gan's name there was nothing there in her heart registering feeling for the man, and her complete coldness towards Je'gan. It was all rather shocking, this woman had worn her emotions on her sleeve for the longest time. It was what had made her such a devastating opponent, because unlike most if you tried to rile her up. You only ended up making things worse because she could fuel her emotions while still channeling the Force and keeping her head clear. She was probably the deadliest Sith of her time, and here she is Je'gan. How did you keep her soul alive while changing her body, and cleanse her of her darkness old friend?

There he was again, back at square one and thoroughly confused.

"No, I could never begin to fathom how you feel at this moment Sky. I do know what it's like to wake up and have everyone you love gone, or old. That I can sympathize with, but to have lived a life such as yours and wake up with a fresh new body....and a new start. Well it makes my head spin to be honest."

Darron got up and went to a locker, and sure enough there were some simple clothes in a bag. He walked towards her and handed her the bag gently before walking behind a shelf to give her her privacy while at the same time being close enough to still talk.

"Well lets see, a super powerful Artificial Intelligence named Omni has declared war AGAIN. He was defeated four hundred years ago, and now he has taken over most major systems and the whole galaxy is reeling while at the same time trying to come together. Guess you picked a hell of a time to come back Master Kerberos...will you assist if able?"

 

[Sky Kerberos]

To wake up and have everyone you love gone…

But did he know what it was to wake up, and have everyone you loved become nothing to you. She heard the names, knew she should feel--but could not.

Taking the clothes, she dressed while he spoke of Omni. The cold draft of the Kamino halls ceased as the stiff cloth covered her skin, the feeling was completely unnatural as if trying to force an animal into a fabric-made cage. This body had never felt the confines of such wool before, and it was…strange, foreign. She hated it's touch upon her, but continued until she was fully clothed.

Instead of the harness that now confined her body, she tried to focus on the threat. Of course she would assist. Fighting was one thing that was not unfamiliar to her, for she remembered the way a saber felt in her hands. She remembered the Force, and how it now coursed through her veins, pulsing with life.

"I will fight for you, Darron." It was the one way she could hid herself.

"I will be the sword in your hands," she said, trying to figure out her next words, what he would promise her in return…if he would make her whole, tell her what was missing. Yet, her whole body screamed for the opposite, wanting to simply cut the chains of the past and be free of this one he called Sky. She walked to him, and put her hand on his shoulder to signal he could turn, that she wore the clothes he gave her, no matter the hatred of them.

And she left the ultimatum unsaid. She would be his to command; she wanted nothing in return.

At least for now.

 

[Omni]

Something loomed beyond Kamino, something within the reaches of space. As the two Jedi found themselves on the world below the sector above them began to seek its own threat. The Cloning world found itself under the same assault that that rest of the galaxy did, though because of its nature something else entirely appeared.

Twenty massive Tycho droids dropped out of hyperspace above the great blue world. Their massive forms loomed above the planet, and almost immediately black swarms of death rushed from within their arms. Thousands upon thousands of droids swarmed from the hull's of the Tycho droids, the Seraphim rushing to the planet below, obscuring the sun and rushing through the ever present clouds within the sky. Behind them followed thousands of Spider droids, each one wrapped and cloaked in a massive shield, each one headed for one of Kamino's city.

The cloning world would be done away with, the Kaminoans would be Ascended, their produces discontinued, and their world made a slave to Omni.

The Droids had come calling to Kamino, and soon it would be under the same cloud as the rest of the galaxy.

 

[Darron Wraith]

A smile crossed his face at Sky's words, though it was tinged with sadness. A million thoughts crossed his mind as he regarded the woman before him, all their past interactions racing across his mind. He could remember all of their interactions, from when she was a Jedi to when she was a Sith. All their duels flashed before his mind, and he could vividly remember how she had tried to kill him quite a few times. Yet no matter which side she was on, there had always been one common thread between the two. A deep and immense respect for the other, and it was still shared. Well at least by him, what was on Sky's mind was a mystery to be honest. Every attempt to reach into the Force and probe her feelings, was met with mixed emotions. He could feel what she thought she should feel, and then a deep sense of confusion underlying everything.

Was this honestly what was best for her Je'gan?

Putting a hand on Sky's shoulder, although very slowly as to not illicit an altercation. He rested it high on her shoulder so as to not imply anything else other than him trying to be supportive. He even gave her slender shoulder a squeeze before speaking to her. "Listen Sky, I would love for you to join the Order and help in any way you feel comfortable doing so. You aren't a weapon, or a tool. You are a human being with a soul, and I promise to do anything I can to help you find the answers I know you are reaching for at this moment."

Releasing his grip, the GrandMaster reached for the small bag he had dropped just by the door. He quickly tossed it to her, seeing as how she had quickly shown that she wasn't hostile. Exactly like Je'gan's message had said. I don't know when you turned into a prophet, or how you managed to plan all of this. But the day I see you again, in this life or the next. You will answer for everything from my freezing to this....friend. Was Je'gan even still classified as a friend, while he had done great things. Darron couldn't quite morally agree with freezing a man for two decades regardless of the circumstances. Or clone a Sith Master, wipe her memories and transfer her essence and make a Jedi Master. It just didn't make sense in his mind, and so he cleared his thoughts

"Here, take this. You might find it's contents useful. I also expect what's inside back once you construct a replacement...please?"

He handed her the bag with a utility belt, and Rolf Sergeo's lightsaber hilt. It's blue blade had protected him for years after he had lost his own lightsaber. Darron was about to offer some words of council, but then klaxon's started ringing everywhere as the lights changed to red. It was then that the annoying feeling of precognition hit him, they where no longer safe. Making his way to a window, he saw the stormy sky's blackening with droids. The screams of Kaminoans outside were barely audible, but the buildings began to rock with explosions. They were compromised, and this planet like many other's would be lost soon, regardless of Jedi action.

Omni had come.

"Guess you get to see how combat ready you are, if you can't fight. Stay behind me."

Without another word, he centered himself in the Force. Extended his sphere of responsibility as he summoned both electrum plated lightsaber hilts to his hands, and thumbed the activation switches. Two azure blades sprung to life with a snap-hiss, and the air was flooded with the smell of ozone. The steady hum of the blades echoed in the sterile room, and Darron quickly opened the door in front with a wave of his encumbered hand. The explosions sounded much closer, as did the screams. Blaster shots could be heard in the background, and he knew the enemy was close. "Well, may the Force be with you. We are getting off this planet...together."

Words he never thought he would utter, yet here I say them because of you Je'gan.

 

[Sky Kerberos]

A human with a soul, or a clone with none? What stood to define each, and what her purpose was would have to be brushed to the background as she felt what he must have. Is this the Omni he spoke of? Devouring planets, and now Kamino stood in it's wake. She took the bag, going through it's contents knowing from Darron's words that the contents were important to him. She slipped on the utility belt, and readied the saber...though she appreciated that he would entrust her with one of his sabers, if she were the Jedi Master as he claimed, why wouldn't he just give her her old one? She could not remember her death, perhaps all of her was lost, including the possessions that she carried.

"I will return it, and thank you Darron."

As she followed him, she knew that she overstated her current ability to fight. Her body was alien to her, and so did all the feelings that followed. Walking. The air against her new skin. The clothes harshly moving in synch with each of her steps. The noise to her ears, which before had only heard the echoes silently through water as she slept. All words from her memory had been fed to her through technology and now to hear actual sound was over encumbering. The sounds of war, of the explosions starting. Of ships coming, and droids filling the air. She wanted to put her hands to her ears, to close her eyes again, to be in the water within the black calm again.

But she knew she could not. She had to live up to what Darron thought of her. He freed her after all, and whether she was thankful to be free or not, she owed him. She walked behind him, trying to not let all the stimulus overcome her. Closing her eyes, she tried to drown out everything except the sound of Darron's footsteps to guide her.

 

[Jorga the Hutt]

@[member="Sky Kerberos"]
@[member="Darron Wraith"]

"Kamino. Not my favorite world."

A low, buzzing hum emanated from the cylinder in Connory's hand, and a door unlocked. A door that shouldn't have been opened -- but then, the Bard had little taste for rules not imposed on himself, by himself.

And beyond that door, secrets awaited. A tall blonde man, and a brunette woman whose skin had that just-out-of-a-Spaarti-cylinder pallor. One was a household name; the other had been, not so very long ago. Rel Connory, Bard of the Hyperlanes, had been a teenager when Sky Kerberos last walked beneath a living sky.

Sonic servodriver in hand, the Bard held up a piece of flimsiplast, a letter.

Connory,

Consider your debt paid.

Shule

"I was told to come here," he said. "That I'd find someone I could sing about -- someone who might need a helping hand from time to time. Someone who might need a friend. M'name's Rel Connory, Bard of the Hyperlanes. You, I know. Think I even lampooned you once." He turned from Darron to Sky. "But you...you are a fresh new face, and I'm here to make your life that much easier."

 

[Darron Wraith]

Time flew by as the pair made their way through the eerily quiet hallways that only moments before had been filled with life. Distant explosions could be felt more than heard, their vibrations traveling through the sterile confines they occupied. Seconds had turned to minutes, and not a word was exchanged between the pair as they made their way back towards the landing pad that Darron had parked his small vessel at. With each passing tick of the chronometer on his wrist, the Jedi Master couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. It was very rare for two high-level Force users such as themselves to be ignored like this, and he felt like a fool for making his way through Kamino with his blades ignited. His heart bled for those he knew were being attacked and assimilated into Omni's forces, yet for some reason they were managing to avoid the ongoing assault. What is going on? None of this feels right....

The hairs at the nape of his neck began to stand up.

His precognition was begging to flare up, yet there where no visible threats. Blue eyes scanned the immediate area as he slowed, and his ears began to listen for any clues. Could Omni have some new droid that could hide from detection, and even avoid a Force-user? In one fluid motion, the Jedi Master deactivated one of his blades and clipped it to his belt. Quickly placing his hand of flesh against the wall, he felt for vibrations while extending his field of responsibility. There where no immediate threats, but there was life nearby. Who in the Force would be so close? In the middle of a warzone no doubt?

The massive man turned as the door opened, and he slightly shook his head at who it was.

"Hello there bard. Why are you here?"

At the mention of his former slamming, the Grandmaster put the palm of his hand into his face, a sigh escaping his lips. Can I not catch a break every now and then?

"Sky, prepare to be insulted just ever so slightly. This man means well, but he is not the politest of people. It's his mission to lampoon us all." With those words, the GrandMaster braced himself for the coming insults. As well as keeping an eye on Sky, just in case she attacked him.

@[member="Sky Kerberos"] @[member="Bard of the Hyperlanes"]