Emberlene's Daughter, The Jedi Generalist
Matsu brought the coat up to cover her face as she and observed the prison. Even in ther weather she needed the mask over her face because her eyes would freeze without them. The current temperature was about fifty degrees below freezing, with winds about thirty klicks an hour. At least it wasn't snowing right now though. Still, Matsu didn't like the freezing cold conditions one bit.
She was wearing temperature regulating robes from head to toe. It was white and light-gray to blend in with the snow and ice on the ground. her hood even had thick masking for her face. The gear was supposed to be rated to over seventy degrees below freezing, and wind over fifty klicks an hour. In spite of the rating, Matsu's hands were freezing even with the gloves on, and the rest of her wasn't much better.
The reason she was observing the prison was that the Peace Brigade slime were holding about two thousand prisoners there. The scarheads slavers weren't expected to pick them up for several more days. With a small window to act, Matsu, along with twenty-four special-ops troopers on loan from the Republic, had been sent to free them and she clenched her fist.
I had to notice that Peace Brigader on Abiimir, Matsu thought as she shivered in the cold but a smile was on her face. Under all the cold she was free, somewhat. The council had reformed, the jedi enclave reformed under
Romi Jade
and it had allowed her to slip into obscurity. She had been healing still but had authority needed from Tython and as a jedi. With the attack on several worlds and the destruction she had chosen to remain quiet on the issue. Remaining on Ahch-To with the Jadeite she trained."I hear that about a thousand klicks north of here the temperature is all the way up to freezing," Lieutenant Koflan said cheerfully from the snow next to him. She practically had to shout to be heard over the wind but it was a fun sentiment and for a moment the jedi master pinged with envy.... Freezing sounded enjoyable compared to here. The Paladins were with her and they moved as a unit.
Matsu lowered the mask just a bit and felt the wind biting into her face. "More like three thousand," She responded gloomily. "And the wind would still be blowing forty klicks an hour," She added as she shivered slightly from the cold again. "Now we have to get in there and out hopefully without to much trouble." She was chuckling a little more, inside she might be able to shed a layer or two and let her body heat warm him more to fight.
The Peace Brigader had been easy enough to notice. The rest of the cantina's patrons were a depressed lot of sentients, no doubt from HoloNews showing the destruction the hordes of the Bryn still among other sith orders and groups tearing their way across the galaxy had sown. The skinny, forty something year old male human however, seemed quite content with the state of affairs. The contrast was easy to pick up with the Force.
At first Matsu had just wanted to wipe the carefully guarded but smug grin right off her face. She voiced her plans to her companions, three humans and a Noghri, just in case they wanted to help out. Then Lieutenant Koflan had to suggest that the slime might be Peace Brigade, and therefore might have some intelligence. Military, at least.
Or better yet things that could be given and used for aiding the Enclave, helping the Jadeite jedi or useful enough to the Protectorate that they could get an upper hand to protect the galaxy from Fringe, Horde and Crusade forces closing in. So instead of breaking a few of her bones in a cantina fight, she had lured him outside by whispering under the white current.
It had been easy to sneak up on him and plant the idea there was a better party outside.. Then she and her friends hauled him off to a more secure area, and found out if she knew anything. Between a growling Noghri flashing her claws at him on one side, and Matsu pretending to be friendly from the other, she was spilling her guts in no time.
It turned out that the frakkin' scum regularly delivered supplies to a Peace Brigade prison. She has just made a run, and they had about two thousand Republic citizens from the outer rim worlds. Naturally, since she reported the details of the operation to the Republic command stationed on the Watts, they tasked him with the mission as small as it was.
Luckily the fellow had told them that the prison had very little defenses, and less than fifty guards as well as a sub basement just above a large cavern that no one used because of the dangerous creatures. The prison was just a few buildings above ground slightly scattered with two basement levels. One was a command center, with an observation post above it, and a HoloNet communications antenna on top of that.
The observation post was perhaps five meters above the command center, and the comm antenna ten meters above that. She mused it might be like the pit but no where near as effective. At least in some terms a prison in a frozen wasteland was still effective wherever you had it.
The second, and largest, building was barracks for off-duty guards, and storage. The third building was access to the prisoners, who were kept below ground, in twenty hundred-person units and there there was the small landing pad she would call in reinforcements when they were needed. The jedi master looked at her small team and focused on the force and the rippling of the current to hide them.
There were supposed to be eight-to-ten guards in the command center, plus four more in the observation post. The guards rarely went into the prisoner areas, and never patrolled outside. They delivered food to the prison, and the prisoners took care of themselves. The main security feature was the deadly cold, along with the fact that none of the prisoners had any sort of footwear, and only minimal clothing.
If they escaped, they would die from the cold in a matter of minutes. Anytime the the doors to the prison area were opened, the command center and barracks blast doors were closed. If the prisoners caused problems, then their unit could be opened to the elements as well. Or they could be sent down into the cavern underneath and left to die from whatever lurked in there.
After observing the prison a bit, Matsu and her men decided on sending a small team in to take out the four guards in the observation post, and the HoloNet antenna. Then the other team would storm the command center. Between the two teams they would also keep the rest of the guards pinned inside the barracks if necessary. The jedi master had a face though while she looked at the others there.
Then Matsu took a deep, frosty breath and reached out with the Force. None of the guards in the observation post seemed to be looking their way. In fact, they didn't seem to be too alert at all. She continued to reach out and with the white current focused on herself and the people with him, trying, straining to make it cover all of them as they went.
She nodded towards Lieutenant Koflan, then climbed to her feet, and began slowly moving forward in a crouch through the deep snow with her six men. They were moving into position to attack the observation post. Lieutenant Koflan's team of a dozen would be following them, to hit the command center, and hold the barracks. She made careful movements like a hunter stalking with barely a crunch underfoot.
A two person sniper and observation team was a little over three hundred meters away. Further out were two more pairs of troopers, with each pair manning a rocket launcher, and also acting as observers. The forms of each of them in the force came to him while she expanded her senses to cover all of them.
It was a lot for him to handle, but fortunately Lieutenant Koflan was happy to help him out. The Noghri mostly needed everyone to stay out of their way. Matsu had almost sent them ahead on their own, but the Force had told him to go with them instead of Lieutenant Koflan's team. There was something else here buried below the surface and while the prisoners were a priority she suspected they might end up going into those caverns later.
Nearly ten minutes later Matsu and her team were in position. She gave her comlink a quick double tap to alert Lieutenant Koflan. She received a single beep of acknowledgment, which she responded to with another tap of her comlink. Since Lieutenant Koflan's team consisted of nine Humans, a Wookiee, a Devaronian, and another Twi'lek, they couldn't move quite as fast as six Noghri and a Jedi master. Even with the gear on she moved with speed.
When Lieutenant Koflan finally alerted Matsu that her team was ready, she immediately signaled the Noghri attack, and dashed forward the last dozen meters. Pulling a stun blade out that would be able to knock out or kill with enough force. her touch on the white current was more then enough to cover the fast moving Noghri as they got into position.
With the knee-deep snow pressing in on her lower legs and feet, Matsu wasn't quite able to leap onto the roof of the command center. She was able to get high enough to pull herself up though. Three of the Noghri stopped at the base of the wall, and propelled their comrades up. Then the second three quickly reached down and helped pull the first three up. It was a practiced movement they had all done a million times and she remained still almost not breathing until she stood like a statue.
While the Noghri were climbing up, Matsu reached out with the Force, and made sure the guards in the observation post above him hadn't noticed them. They still didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything and were playing cards. That was a good thing compared to some and she was more then happy to take advantage. She could feel the other men moving about the place while the muted scents in the air came to him. Machine oils and fuel for keeping the heat going along with the scent of sweat and musk.
The most important thing was to make sure they didn't get a distress call off. The problem was, Matsu didn't know if the observation post could send one, or just the command center. That meant they had to take out the four Peace Brigaders in the observation post before they had a chance, just to be sure. She mentally prepared for the two possibilities, one of them calling in reinforcements and possibly killing the prisoners and two for them to succeed and keeping ther under wraps until a check in failed.
Matsu and her twenty-four special-operation soldiers had arrived in system in an old converted passenger liner. It could easily hold twenty-five-hundred passengers. It couldn't land on ther iceball though. They had two smaller transports that would ferry the prisoners to the passenger liner. One could carry close to two hundred people. Matsu and her team had landed in a second transport that could carry up to forty people. The passenger liner and larger transport were hiding behind a moon three planets out.
A few moments later, one of the Noghri was on the ladder, her hands on the hatch leading into the observation post. Matsu was hanging off the side next to him. The hatch was locked, but it only had basic security. The Noghri had it unlocked in seconds. She glanced over to him, and Matsu nodded her head in approval. Then the jedi master focused on the current and force to obscure them and focus on it.
As she opened the hatch Matsu squatted on the ladder in preparation. She had her blaster carbine in one hand and across her chest for the noghri, attached to her combat vest with a pair of straps. The carbine was specially modified so a plasma cutter could be attached to the underside of the barrel, as a bayonet. There was a switch just above the trigger that would ignite the torch. The moment the hatch was open, she leapt up and through it, igniting her lightsaber as she did and tossing the carbine to the noghri.
The four guards must have thought they were receiving visitors or something. They stared at him dumbly as she slashed the nearest one across her midsection with her lightsaber. The other three Peace Brigaders' eyes went wide with shock as the shots rang out from the noghri into the second one, then Matsu stabbed a third one in the heart. Before she could take out the fourth one, she dropped out of her chair with a hole in her chest from a blaster fired by a second Noghri coming up through the hatch.
"Antenna!" Matsu shouted as she hauled the Noghri the rest of the way up through the hatch and shoved him aside. She quickly jumped back down onto the roof of the command center. Another Noghri had already found the communications cable. Matsu cut through it, and anything else that looked important. Then Matsu let out a sigh of relief. At least now the frakkin' Peace Brigaders can't call for help. Now they had to get into the command center.
Matsu dropped back down onto the snowy ground, and was joined by the two demolitions troopers. They quickly began setting up their explosives on the command center's blast doors. The jedi master while they set up was sensing and searching inside to feel where they might be while she moved about with a gron on her face and the silvery blue saber was activated. The blade blending in with the snowy ground.
A handful of seconds later, the bomb was ready. The two demolitions troopers announced it over the comlink as they stepped around to the side of the command center. Matsu glanced around to make sure everyone else was out of the way, then joined them. She could sense nine or ten people inside, but none of them were near the doors. They were definitely alert, but none of them seemed to be panicked. Maybe they didn't know they were being attacked.
The bomb exploded five seconds later. Matsu and the two demolitions troopers went back to inspect the damage. There was a crater about thirty centimeters deep, and perhaps a meter across. The demolitions troopers quickly began setting up a bigger one. A smirk on her face while she went to try and obscure them but now there was no real use hiding. The prison was on alert but the communications were cut off as they moved about.
Matsu stepped over to check out the barracks' in the force and the people were stirring. The Peace Brigaders had to notice a bomb going off on their command center. The ones in the barracks should be coming out to see what was going on—probably with blasters firing away. The other troopers moved into positions to best breach and defend while keeping an area of fire.
The barracks doors remained closed though. Matsu was about to see how her demolitions troopers were doing when she saw the doors leading to the prisoners opening. Then she felt the prisoners inside start to get very worried. The small hers of the air rushing in to the sealed rooms and the senses of the prisoners changed. She didn't fully know what to do while she moved to check but stopped briefly to think.
It took Matsu a moment to comprehend what was happening. The frakkin' Peace Brigaders are going to freeze the prisoners to death! Matsu muttered a curse and rushed back to the command center blast doors. The two demolitions troopers had the second—bigger—bomb set. Before they could ignite it though, Matsu's communications trooper commed him. She told him that someone inside the command center identifying herself as Captain Jakkobs was trying to talk to him. She also said that she was broadcasting over an open comlink, so they could all hear him. Matsu thanked her, took a quick breathed to calm herself and then switched comm channels.
"Ther is . . . Commander Matsu of the Jedi order," she said over the comlink. She bit back a few more choice words. She didn't identify herself as a rank among the jedi either. They didn't need to know that right now. As she spoke, she reached out with the Force to get a feel for the people in the command center. They were mostly worried, and a little scared. None of them seemed to be on the verge of panicking though. That would have to change.
"I'm Captain Jakkobs of the Peace Brigade," a human sounding voice replied. "I assume you're here to free the prisoners. They'll start freezing to death in about ten minutes. You can try and save them, or continue attacking us. If you do choose to continue ther attack, then I'll make sure as many of them die as possible."
Matsu could use the Force to block the cold from the entrance to the prison, but she knew she couldn't keep it in place long enough to ferry all the prisoners to the passenger liner—especially if the rest of the Peace Brigaders in the barracks chose to start fighting. She felt like she could get into command center in ten minutes. The problem was, Captain Jakkobs was very confident she could kill the majority of the prisoners. Matsu had come here to rescue them, not win a pointless battle against some Peace Brigade thugs. She had to listen to the Force for guidance.
"Then what will you tell your masters say when you don't have their prisoners? They will not be happy that you killed them and let yourself live." Matsu asked with a small smirk on her face. That definitely caused a reaction. They were very concerned about what the scarheads would do to them if they didn't have two thousand prisoners for them. "We've got a supply ship due in the morning. We'll just hitch a ride, and disappear somewhere," Captain Jakkobs said confidently. THat got the jedi master a little annoyed since she was wanting to complete the mission.
Matsu thought a moment. Admiral Palios had made it clear she had to either rescue the prisoners or scratch the mission as expeditiously as possible. There was no way she could still be here in the morning. She certainly didn't want to spend the night freezing her fur off. Then a small smirk tugged at her lips. "Piloted by a skinny human," she replied. "About forty, blond hair? Goes by the name Koddy?"
There was a noticeable pause over the comlink and the jedi master knew she had struck something. "Yeah," Captain Jakkobs replied fearfully. Even though they were speaking over a comlink, and she was wearing a cold weather mask, Matsu flashed a predatory smile, she had something now to push at and while time was ticking on the prisoners her hands motioned, her stance going very still.
"Koddy ain't coming in the morning, Captain. We've got him locked up," She told him and had a smirk on her face that tugged, pulled to be showing as humor. They needed to act fast for the prisoners but savoring ther from the man would be what would help."Ronko shavit," Captain Jakkobs responded in denial. Matsu chuckled. "How do you think we found out about ther place?" She asked.
There was another noticeable silence over the comlink. Matsu could sense the Peace Brigaders' dread as the realization sunk in. "Frakk," Captain Jakkobs finally replied in dismay. Matsu waited several seconds before replying. "There's only one ship leaving ther rock before the rogue sith show up." She wasn't sure exactly when that would be, but since the prison was at capacity, she didn't think it would be very long. "If you surrender, I'll allow you to be on it."
Once again there was several seconds of silence over the comlink. "We surrender," Captain Jakkobs finally responded. "Good," Matsu replied quickly. "Open the blast doors of the command center only," She instructed him. Then everyone will walk out single file." "Yes jedi," she answered dejectedly.
Matsu quickly switched comm channels and instructed Lieutenant Koflan's team to stay in position, covering the barracks. Then she told four of her Noghri to get ready to go into the command center with him. She wasn't about to give the Peace Brigaders a chance to surprise him. She told the other two, and the two demolitions troopers, to handle the people coming out of the command center.
As the blast doors began to open, Matsu's senses—including the Force—were alert for danger. The moment there was enough space, she rushed in, the noghri with their carbine and him with her deactivated lightsaber leading the way. She immediately began sweating from the increased temperature. Four of her Noghri were right behind him.
"Hands up!" Matsu spoke loudly projected as she swept her head across the line of people walking towards them. The seven men and two women instantly stopped and obeyed. Matsu reached out with the Force to sense if anyone else was inside. When she reached the last Peace Brigader, she stopped. "Is anyone else in here!?" she demanded, pointing her lightsaber at the woman's chest from less than a meter away and keeping it deactivated.
Two of the Noghri moved past them, searching the building. "N—No," the woman answered, trembling as her eyes followed the Noghri a moment, then went back to Matsu's saber hilt. Panicky people weren't the easiest to read with the Force. Considering Matsu didn't sense anyone else though, she believed her. Two more Noghri kept hustling the rest of the Peace Brigaders through the blast doors.
"Do you have any weapons on you?" Matsu asked her in a slightly calmer voice. Willing her to asnwer with the force truthfully. her senses searching to hear and smell the changes in her body in case she lied. "N—No," she answered, still trembling. Matsu reached down and opened her overcoat to cool off. "Do you know how to operate the controls for the prison and barracks doors?" she asked her.
"Ye—Yes master," the Peace Brigader replied, slightly more confidently. Matsu set her saber underneath her left arm, out of the way. Then she stepped forward and began searching the woman for weapons while one of her Noghri covered him. When she finished, she pulled out a pair of binders, and slapped them around her wrists in front of her. "Let's go," Matsu said, pushing her back towards the interior of the command center.
The woman was in her mid-twenties, several centimeters smaller than Matsu, with black hair. She was also a few kilos heavier than Matsu. Matsu took the woman into the control room while the Noghri swept the building for Peace Brigade holdouts. There was a stack of blaster pistols on one of the desks. The woman stayed away from them without being told. She was practically trembling with fear. The problem was, Matsu needed her thinking rationally for the next little bit.
"Hey, what's your name?" Matsu asked her as she sat her down in a chair at the control panel. The woman stared up at him for a few seconds. "What?" she asked, holding her cuffed hands defensively in front of her. "What's your name?" Matsu repeated, trying to calm her with the Force. "Sansa," she finally answered. "Sansa Stavver."
"Well Sansa," Matsu said as she sat down a chair next to her, between her and the blasters on the desk. "I need you to take a deep breath and relax okay. No one is going to hurt you." Matsu opened her overcoat all the way as she watched Sansa take a couple of deep breaths. She also sensed her calm down somewhat, although she was still highly agitated. Matsu assumed it was from being captured. It made the jedi master hold on her for a moment while she reached out to sense around him and to the prisoners. The thought of them almost freezing was becoming a real possibility.
Before Matsu could say anything else, the two Noghri that were searching the building entered the room, and announced it was clear. They also told him they had found a small weapons closet that had about ten blaster rifles, ten pistols, and two E-Web heavy repeating blasters in it. They said there were some grenades and extra power packs as well. Matsu instructed them to take the E-Webs and anything else they needed, and have Lieutenant Koflan deploy them as she saw fit. Then she had to calm Sansa down a second time.
"Now Sansa, I need you to close all the prison doors, but leave them open about half-a-meter, okay. Can you do that?" "Yes," she replied, leaning forward and reaching out towards the controls with her cuffed hands. Matsu kept alert for deception from her through the Force. The control panel was laid out in a simple graphical design. The main doors for the prison were easy to spot. There were additional doors several meters inside the main ones. Each of the twenty housing units also had a pair of doors. There were also controls for the barracks and command center doors, as well as communications.
Sansa slid the doors closed, leaving them slightly open. "I'm not sure exactly how far open they are," she explained as she leaned back. "But that should be about half-a-meter." She had a small air of confidence that the jedi master figured she could trust somewhat at least. "Thanks," Matsu told her. "How many people are in the barracks?" The woman shifted uneasily in her seat and the jedi master remained still searching with the force. "Um, I'm not exactly sure," Sansa answered. "I think about thirty-five or so."
Matsu had no interest in fighting nearly three dozen Peace Brigaders, even if she had superior troops, and position. "Can you keep the barracks doors closed from here?" She hoped while feeling them in the force. "No," Sansa replied. "They can be opened or closed from here or there." She looked down at her binders, and fidgeted in them a bit. Her body tensed and heartbeat changed a little. If she was a betting jedi she would win for sure.
Matsu thought she seemed to be about to say something else, but she remained silent. The Force was prompting him to find out. "You have something else to add?" she asked firmly, influencing her with the Force at the same time. "Um, there's about thirty guard droids in the barracks too," Sansa said softly. "We keep them hidden from the rogue sith."
Matsu's eyes went wide in shock even under the sash and mask. Frakk! In a split-second she had activated her comlink. "There are guard droids in the barracks. If the doors open, treat the forces inside as hostile. Repeat, there are about thirty guard droids and thirty-five Peace Brigaders in the barracks, if the blast doors open, treat them as hostile."
There was a chorus of acknowledgments from her troops. Matsu ran through a Jedi calming exercise. She had two dozen special-ops troopers, with two rocket launchers and two E-Webs. There was no way she could evacuate two thousand prisoners with the droids and Peace Brigaders nearby. They wouldd have to thin the numbers and make sure everything was taken care of.
Next Matsu contacted the transport that they had arrived on. She ordered them to power up, and get to their position as soon as possible. Then she contacted their bigger transport and passenger liner, and ordered them to head ther way as well. The liner would go into a low geosynchronous orbit so the two transports wouldn't have to travel far to ferry the prisoners back and forth. Then Matsu turned her attention back to her prisoner.
"Let's go," Matsu told Sansa, taking her by her upper arm. After a few steps towards the door, Matsu let go of her so she could zip up her coat again. A dozen meters or so later, they arrived outside, back in the freezing cold. The sense of foreboding that came to her gut through the force. There was something stirring from the explosions and she could feel it down below. Hell she thought for a moment she had the barest flash of one of the priestesses coming to warn him.
Lieutenant Koflan had moved the captured Peace Brigaders into the prisoner area, and had the two demolitions troopers and several prisoners keeping an eye on them. She had three troopers in the observation post, and two more on the roof of the command center. One of the E-Webs was just to the side of the command center, as close as they could get it and still cover the barracks blast doors. The other one was just inside the prison doors. The rest of the troopers were spread out in the snow. The sniper and rocket launcher teams were still in place as well.
Matsu activated the comlink that was built into her hood. Then she began issuing orders. "I want Lieutenant Koflan and five people inside the outer prison doors. I want four people in the observation post. The sniper and rocket teams stay where you are. The two people on the E-Web next to the command center stay there. Everyone else I want inside the command center."
There was another chorus of acknowledgments as they moved to obey Matsu's orders. Instead of heading for the prison though, Lieutenant Koflan came to him. "We've got quite a few prisoners inside that claim to be military. They want to help. I told them I'd pass the message along," she told him over the howling wind. Then she felt it down below in her gut and for a moment was worried about things attacking or going wrong.
There were ten blaster rifles and ten pistols in the command center's weapons closet, plus the blaster pistols in the control room. Matsu knew that military could mean anything from highly trained crack-commandos to remote reserve militia that only cleaned up after natural disasters. She didn't have time to find out what sort of experience they had, and she wasn't about to give someone a weapon for the first time in ten years if she didn't have to.
"Tell them thanks, but we have everything under control right now," Matsu replied. "And make sure the Peace Brigaders that we captured don't cause any problems." Lieutenant Koflan acknowledged, and headed towards the prisoner area. Matsu took Sansa back towards the command center. "I want to talk to the people in the barracks," Matsu told her once they got back in the control room. "And tell me who's in charge over there." As she spoke, she opened her coat again, and began pulling off her gloves.
"Um, it should be Lieutenant Grienn," Sansa replied as she reached towards the controls. "Go ahead," she said, nodding towards Matsu a couple of moments later. "Ther is Matsu of the jedi order and Republic," she said over the control panel comlink. "I would like to speak to whoever is in charge of the Peace Brigaders in the barracks." At the same time, Matsu reached out with the Force to get a sense of the people in the barracks.
She also pulled her overcoat and hood completely off, and put her regular comlink headset back on. That left him in her cold-weather-combat jumpsuit, thick outer pants, and boots. There was silence. Matsu looked questioningly at Sansa, who glanced at the controls, and nodded her head in consent. After several seconds, Matsu repeated the message. The third time, she added, "I know you are receiving ther."
"Ther is Lieutenant Grienn," someone finally replied. "Talk." The jedi master scoffed for a moment and spoke. "Lieutenant, in case you haven't noticed, my forces have taken over your command center. If you surrender, then you and your people can leave ther rock aboard my ship. If not, then you can stay and explain to the rogue sith why you don't have their prisoners."
Matsu didn't mention that she knew about the droids. After several seconds of silence she replied. "Okay," Lieutenant Grienn answered. "We surrender. We're coming out." Matsu listened to her words over the comlink, and did her best to sense her intentions with the Force. She was sure she was lying. She didn't feel like she had given up.
"Actually I need to alert my forces so they don't open fire," Matsu quickly lied. "I'll contact you in a couple of minutes." There was a brief pause. "Okay," she responded. "We'll await your signal." Matsu sensed she was still deceiving him, but not lying that time. Maybe that meant she had believed her lie. She quickly switched comlinks to talk to her troops again.
"The Peace Brigaders in the barracks are still hostile. If the blast doors open, treat it as an attack," she announced over the comlink. There was another chorus of acknowledgments. Then Matsu contacted her transport to get its ETA. The pilot told him they would be there in about three minutes. Matsu told him to pull up the map of the prison complex on her HUD, and ensure she knew which building was the barracks.
Once that was done, Matsu had about three minutes to kill. One of her Noghri was by the door of the control room, and the rest were near the command center blast doors. Sansa was sitting silently in the chair, looking down at the binders on her wrists again. "So, why did you join up with the Peace Brigade?" Matsu asked her.
Sansa paused a moment before replying. "My husband joined, and I went with him," she answered with a shrug. Matsu noticed she said went, and not came, implying that she wasn't with the Peace Brigade anymore. "So where's your husband now?" she asked casually, hoping she wasn't in the barracks. Sansa probably wouldn't be as cooperative after she had troopers blast her husband into little bits.
"She died a couple of months ago," she replied softly. "On Ylesia." Matsu idly wondered if she had killed him when they had captured the Peace Brigade leadership and that traitor Pwoe. "So why are you still with them?" Matsu asked her. "Do you believe the rogue sith are going to win?" "I don't know," Sansa responded, seemingly to both questions.
Matsu could sense she really wasn't sure. She however, was very sure, at least about the outcome of the war. "The rogue sith are going lose," she told Sansa firmly. "And you'd better believe it. It is something I have seen many times and they do not stand a chance in the long run" Sansa didn't respond for several seconds. When she did, it was only to change the subject. "I don't think Lieutenant Grienn is really planning on surrendering," she said. "She's really a believer in the cause."
"Me neither," Matsu agreed with a nod. "That's why I talked them into waiting before they came out." "Are you a Jedi?" Sansa asked him, changing the subject again. Matsu had only used her lightsaber in the observation post. She had used the title Commander when dealing with the Peace Brigaders. She didn't think she was famous enough to be known my sight, especially with all the cold-weather gear she was wearing. More so because all reports said she was eight hundred and to human standards she looked seventeen.
"What makes you say that?" she replied out of curiosity. "Isn't that a lightsaber?" Sansa asked, gesturing towards the cylinder attached to her hip and the other ones on the belt. Matsu gave a tight smirk, slightly impressed she had recognized it in such a location. "Yes, it is," she responded. "And yes, I am." Sansa remained silent for a few seconds. "Can't you just kill everyone in the barracks with a wave of your hand?"
Matsu couldn't help but burst out with laughter. "If only but no not quite," she answered. "If a Jedi could kill with a wave of their hand, we would have already won." Before Sansa could say anything else, Matsu received a comm. It was the pilot of her transport, telling him that she had arrived at the prison complex, and was hovering in place. She told him to stand by.
While she had been chatting with Sansa, Matsu had been going over her plan in her mind. She was sure that Lieutenant Grienn wasn't planning on surrendering. However, she wasn't quite ready to slaughter them all based solely on what she felt through the Force, and Sansa's opinion. She flipped her comlink over to broadcast to all of her troops, and the transport. The terrible feeling from down below was in her stomach. The tightening of her gut had him worried.
"Ther is Matsu. The barracks blast doors will be opening in a few moments. If anyone sees droids, or is fired upon, then everyone, including the transport, is cleared to return fire, is that understood?" There was a chorus of acknowledgments. Matsu made sure the transport crew understood, as they had the most firepower. It had a pair of starfighter-grade laser cannons, and a concussion missile launcher. Far more than enough to deal with thirty guard droids and as many Peace Brigaders. Once she was sure everyone knew what to do, she told Sansa to contact the other Peace Brigaders again.
"Alright Lieutenant Grienn, my troops know that you are surrendering, you can come out," Matsu said over the comlink. "That took quite a while," she replied. "I hope you weren't setting up an ambush?" "Not at all," Matsu lied smoothly. "My communications equipment simply isn't working properly in the cold." "I see," Lieutenant Grienn answered. "Well, if you're ready then, we are coming out, unarmed, please don't shoot us."
"We're standing by," Matsu replied cheerfully. The instant she finished talking, she let go of the transmit button, and turned back to Sansa. "Can you make the blast doors open faster?" she asked her. "I—I don't know," she replied, looking at the controls. "We've never tried to find out." "Well, if they try to close the doors again, make sure they open all the way," Matsu instructed her. "Yes master jedi," Sansa responded obediently.
Matsu really wanted to be outside in the fight with her troops, but she knew she could do more here. She did start putting her overcoat and hood back on though. A moment later, she heard the transport's laser canons shooting, and a few seconds later, its concussion missile launcher. At the same time, she felt the Peace Brigaders in the barracks dying. Even though they were the enemy, it was hard to feel so much death through the Force.
The shooting was over in about twenty seconds, although it seemed like much longer. Finally there was silence. "We're going in to check for survivors," Sergeant Vikkors announced over the comlink. "We're with you," someone else added. "Let's go," Matsu told Sansa, gesturing towards the door with her hand and reeling a little while the equipment went on.
By the time they made it outside, several more troopers had moved into the barracks. Matsu had no trouble smelling parts of at least a dozen guard droids scattered about the oil an burning metal pungent, along with quite a few bodies. She activated her comlink, and began issuing more orders. The soldiers were going about fully trained and in practiced movements that were a good thing to have.
"I want the transport on the ground as close to the prison as you can get. Leave two people in the observation post and the E-Web by the command center covering the barracks. Sergeant Vikkors, once your team is finished clearing the barracks building for threats, let me know. Lieutenant Koflan, let's start loading up prisoners. Leave the Peace Brigaders for last," Matsu instructed them.
There was another chorus of acknowledgments as they began obeying him. Then Matsu turned to her prisoner. "Barracks," she told him, gesturing towards the open blast doors with her saber. As they walked, Matsu reached out with the Force to see if she could sense any Peace Brigaders still alive in the barracks. By the time they reached the barracks, Matsu was pretty sure there weren't any left alive.
The transport set down with its ramp just a few meters from the prison doors. In minutes Lieutenant Koflan had it filled to capacity with rescued prisoners. It took them nearly three hours to get all of the prisoners, plus the Peace Brigaders, onto the passenger liner. Matsu had her troops salvage as much of the weapons and equipment as they could from the barracks and command center. She had also had her two demolitions troopers blow the control room up so it couldn't be used again.
Matsu waited until the very last transport to leave. It was the smaller one she had arrived on. Besides him, with Sansa, the other eight Peace Brigaders they had captured, and her special-ops troopers were aboard. There were also some containers of equipment they were taking from the prison, including one with several hundred sets of binders, stun cuffs, shock shackles, and even slave collars.
As they took off, Matsu had the pilot blast the observation post into twisted wreckage. Then she had him shoot through the open blast doors of the command center, just to make sure the Peace Brigade couldn't use the place again. The large gaping hole in the ground collapsed as a sound came from below. The jedi master had a look on her face and turned to stare as hovering over it brought thick shadows to the scanners but in the force.
In the force she felt it and spoke to one of the Peace Brigaders in the ship. "What is down there?" her voice was more of a growl as she could feel something down there and throughout the operation it had been twisting in her gut but now the man spoke a little scared. "We don't know we never went down there, no one does it eats everything and we keep it sealed." That got the jedi masters attention as she opened the door and looked down with a crouch.
"What are you going to do?" It was Sansa and Matsu looked over to her while speaking to the pilot. "I'm going down there get them to the ship and get out of here. Inform The Silver Jedi where I am and to send a ship. Whatever is down there we can't have getting loose." The pilot gave a nod of her head as Matsu jumped wrapping the force around him while she came down. The force cushioning and slowing the fall until she felt the temperature change entering the depths of the cave.
The ship headed up and decloaking from the white current a slender woman in white robes stood in the transport as they headed for the passenger liner. Matsu and two dozen commandos had rescued just over two thousand prisoners from a Peace Brigade prison, and hadn't had a single injury, much less lost anyone. Arya moved and sat silently contemplating that. For the first time since the beginning of the war, she had been on a mission, and no one had gotten killed. After a few seconds, she began smiling and leaned back.
"Hey who are you??" Sergeant Vikkors asked from the seat next to her. "I am syn's master," she said with a half truth, quickly covering her eyes with her shawl so she wouldn't see her face. "I'm fine," she said in a clipped tone that stopped him from commenting further. The Fallanassi master would oversee the ship taking care of everything and make sure the jedi's master of the order got the information. A ship would return as needed.
Slowly the jedi master felt herself touch the ground and a small impact crater formed that sent a thundering crack through the cave. her saber coming to her hand and the smells had changed. There was dead stuff down here, the smell of rotting meat decomposing slowly in the damp air filled the cavern and she could sense something was up ahead. The flesh on her arms and hairs standing warning of pradators, of things out there searching.
The temperature was warmer down here and the jedi master was actually sweating as she moved and took off the overcoat, gloves and was left standing in plain attire. The small chill from the air meeting her sweat was sending a shiver down her spine but it was still a welcome change from the restricting clothing. Here she could really move and holding her sabers. The skittering of something brought her attention deeper into the caverns while she went down.
Quickly her pace went from a slow careful walk to a small jog until she reached a drop off and looked down. There was something large and a grouping of people there. With another in between them that was being attacked, that got the jedi master to back up and run full pace jumping with force speed into the air as she launched herself at the large creature and as it snarled, screeched and looked up towards him she felt the power between it and the man off to the side from the others. She was using a link with it before the jedi master landed and rolled.
She moved to the ground and looked at the group around him, going back to back with a beast of a man who reeked of stale urine and blood. Then the tension went away and she heard someone shout. "Enough." The leader if she could be called that was standing at the top of an incline and Matsu felt the one behind him stiffen ready for more of a fight. "And who are you? Another interloper who has come to steal my treasure the god beast will devour you and I will have all of your secrets."
The jedi master reached out and felt the one in the room as the large man a marauder of the sith she could feel now charged them. The creature wasn't making a move yet but the power emanating from the man's chest... She had something on him as the jedi master focused for a moment and disappeared into the white current to disappear. She had face zealots like ther before and now as she went into that place to fight she looked to go after the leader. Cut off her head and the others would fall.
Matsu then watched and moved with careful movements around the man as her three fought and then Andelka joined in. The beast of a man spoke spinning around in place as she searched for the jedi master and Matsu's mind played out scenarios. She could leave the one sith by herself or she could help for the moment and handle it later or she could fight them all. Slowly she listened to the marauder begin to fail and she remembered what her old master told him as she watched speaking the words through the white current cloak.. Choosing to go after all of them.
"I saw a creature, she sat and she held her own heart in her hands, and she ate of it. I asked him, "Is it good friend?" She said, "It is bitter. Bitter. But I like it because it is bitter." Slowly Matsu moved as she looked at the others who couldn't hear him and she laughed her head tilted to the side. Slowly she grabbed one of the attackers by her tight ponytail. "And because it is my heart." Quickly Matsu gave a laugh a small one and threw her against the cave wall with a sickening crack.
There was no real time to worry once that creature was ordered to attack she would be in trouble and attacked another slashing her saber across another mans chest following through to reach the leg of the marauder. The jedi master had two down and three threats left plus a large beast she would have to deal with. her saber left her hand to impale into the back leg of the marauder before she was attacked by the third man and Matsu ran.
She ran after the leader perking up with the hairs on her arm before she lept through the current and as the man looked back and around she used what flexibility she had her hand and rushed towards her back hooking her hand under the mans chin. The momentum to dig a strike of her deactivated hilt into her spine deeper at the forth lumbar in the sweet spot. Slowly Matsu breathed in the scent of the mans skin as she smelled the sweat and underneath the scent of fear. She was afraid now that she wasn't in control of the gang. Quickly Matsu moved as she hooked her arm under Andelka's chin as she stood back to back with him and dropped to her knees twisting 270 degree's as she snapped Andelka into a backbreaker.
She crashed her knee's into the ground as the snap brought the man onto her stomach. Matsu quickly rolled him over and twisted sitting on her chest as she drove her fist down to her chest and found the source of the energy she was sensing now. The cool metal in her grasp the jedi master pulled and heard what she had been hoping to avoid. "My beast attack." She didn't pause, pulling the metal to him and rolling onto her back. The jedi master kicked as the massive creature roared and launched the man upinto its waiting maw before she pocketed the piece.
The marauder was dead and she had killed the lone attacker as the large beast ate the man. The snapping of bones loud in the cavern, the jedi master stood up and held out her hand as the saber returned to it and the silvery blue was out with a purple blade. She reached out with the force and was glad the others had made it out, she was hoping they got the message to Kiskla and she would be on the way. Or ther could become something dangerous while a smirk came.
Ther wasn't going to be won by a saber, she could make out what the creature was now and it wasn't a good thing. One of these were dangerous and if it was down here killing things then it had been trapped. She had to think of something to do now though since it might escape and with its food source gone.... Ther could prove difficult. "Well I did want to have a fight." The smirk that came on her face was more then enough while the jedi master clenched her fists and breathed to focus. The blister pods on its back opening and releasing a scent of old death.
The jedi had faced many things and in truth she had never expected to face a behemoth such as ther but it felt good. Win or lose she had to admit she was enjoying the moment as she charged to the side and thought about several duels she had been in. The music Iella had introduced him to was playing in her head and she had to admit she enjoyed it. Then she was off and focused pushing the force into her muscles, into the very fiber of her being before the words came out to allow him to grip the wall. A spell Elayne had taught him and she climbed scrambling up the side of the wall before the beast crashed into it.
her frantic motioned had the two sabers releasing from her hands at the creatures eyes with a sneer and Matsu jumped going up high to the cavern roof as the beast jumped. Then came down with a thunderous crash almost making him lose her grip but she remained grabbing one of the stalagmites and punching it. The cracks forming before it dropped and the jedi master went with it jumping all off towards the wall. The metal in her pocket was still cool but pulsed radiating energy almost until she landed and rolled.
The jedi master took the piece and held it with her bare hand as she felt it then, a surge of energy into her being and it was like a jolt of energy to her system before she went off running again. The rock had crashed into one of the blisters and impaled itself but it wasn't enough damage before it roared. Now it was a matter of finding something large enough to hurt it or enough things to smack into it so they could do as needed. "Maybe ther wasn't the best idea." The doubt entered her mind but she thought about what had happened with Iella on the world and what had happened.
She hadn't been ready for that either but she had trusted in the priestesses and went through their trials for one reason. She wasn't afraid and there was no reason to start now as she felt it then. That lingering tendril from the creature trying to mess with him. Paranoia and fear wasn't something a hunter felt and she thought about what could happen next from all of ther. She didn't want to die but it was a real possibility when facing dangerous creatures. She would have to move and move faster before the day was over.
Then there was a pulse and coolness washing over the jedi master from the object she had grabbed and took it out. The coolness of the metal in her hands felt strange but it was invigorating compared to other things she had touched. Whatever it was she needed to protect it from misuse while charging at the beast. Whatever it was it helped and Matsu dropped down sliding along the floor as the saber went at the beasts foot.
The blade biting into it and the sizzling sound as the creature shrieked. The tendon slashed until Matsu rolled around to her feet before dashing backwards and avoiding the creatures tail. She could notice the beast turning slower and it was getting angered chasing after him again and Matsu jumped at the wall letting its head crash into the cavern wall. She used the spell again to climb and jumped holding the blade with two hands as it drove down at the beasts head.
Then it was screaming and slashing while she dodged with the blade digging in. her foot finding one of the beasts eyes as Matsu started to kick and felt the thing give away covering her boot and leg in ocular jelly. her face shown a look of disgust but the shrieking was evidence that some damage was done. She kept moving with it keeping the blade as it dug into the beast before getting bucked off into the air.
With a turn in mid air and some force energy Matsu came down again slamming the blade into its tail and she jumped leaving the blade just a bit jumping towards the ground. Then she was rolling and sending a force shockwave. For the first time she was glad the biting cold and chill in her bones was keeping him moving, keeping him motivated and able to move faster.
Then she heard a sound and looked over as the large sith was moving and stirring on the ground. She was also bleeding the scent of blood strong in the air as Matsu ran and heard him scream. The shockwave came for a moment as Matsu jumped up and turned over the shockwave as it came hitting her ears with a deafening ring. Ther was going to be problematic while the creature turned back to look towards the sith and Matsu used the moment it grabbed him with the face worms.
Slowly the man was set in the blister pod and Matsu could feel her pain in the force but couldn't do anything yet. The jedi master reach up towards the top of the cavern and focused finding some loose rocks as she tossed kinetite blasts into it to drop on the beast. Hopefully it would help ease the siths pain more then she deserved with a small amount of reservation but it would be cruel to not help.
The rocks fell and one crushed the blister pod as the screams ended, the metal in her hand pulsing and she didn't feel tired from all of ther as Matsu moved about to let the wounded beast chase him. "Come on, come at me." She shouted more and more going up onto an incline and as the creature growled Matsu aimed a blast of electric judgement at her other eyes sending a heavy burst that gave way to popping and sizzling.
The beast roared againa nd was blindly slashing as it hit Matsu and she was glad for the sasori bodysuit as the armor protected him and she was thrown into a wall. The feeling in her chest was like a weight had slammed into it and relearning how to breathe wasn't a fun thing. Nor was the taste of copper in her mouth as the jedi master was lifted and held in front of the beast. It was scenting him and Matsu growled at it... then it growled at him before she kicked its tooth jamming it down her throat.
Then she was going at the mouth and Matsu could feel the heat of its breath. Taste the decay from flesh left in its teeth and growled before curling up and landing on the beasts tongue as it chomped down missing her body. In the mouth was a tight fit while the beasts saliva got everywhere and she felt the beastmatting her hair. Then it reeled its head back and she slipped going down.
Ther was not a good thing and as she slid down the throat of the creature the jedi master reached out grabbing a ridge of flesh and dug her hands in. The small strain was there in her muscles while she felt the slippery saliva and other fluids but kicking to dig her boots into the esophagus was enough to hold him in place. Then Matsu reached out grabbing the other side while she pushed to wedge herself into position against the wall. She was just above the stomach as the rhythmic thumping thumping of the heart before she started to formulate a plan.
Alright I am in the stomach of a Leviathan and alone She hoped that her message and report had been given as needed and that the jedi were on the way. Knowing Arya she would also contact Iella E'ron and her silver jedi if they came. It mattered less who came and more that someone did so she wasn't stranded on an ice world deep in a cave. She really didn't want to have to deal with that while she calmed her mind. Listening to her breathing steady before she reached out with the force. Digging her heels and hands in more and growing stiff.
The jedi master looked inward and deep down while sending out the force to reach any of the jedi she knew before the objective became clear. her hands digging in while she held the piece of metal in her hand and pushed off bringing one of the points out below to dig into and create a gash that stank of just awful things. Then she had blood and gt over her face as the jedi master climbed through into the chest cavity and she could feel the lungs of the beast inflating as it inhaled.
Then she was slashing and tearing digging her hands into the lungs as air and blood washed over him with a putrid stench, then she was carving her way through it down deeper amidst the shrieks and roars, then the choking on blood until the jedi master found the heart. Beating rapidly and irregular. her arms wrapped around it as Matsu squeezed and constricted it to kill the creature. She ground her teeth in slight frustration and then it gave way and there was a roar that turned into a gurgle.
Then there was an impact and things fell silent, Matsu was laying there between the heart and pieces of lung while she took a deep breath and let go withdrawing her lightsaber to slice and area she could climb around in. Maneuvering she made sure to dice the heart just in case and kicked until her feet met rib cage. Using that as a guide Matsu put the blade between the ribs and slowly started to slice through the thick underbelly of the beast. Then she could scent it under all the guts, goop and blood. That wonderful scent of chilled air and the jedi master pushed herself forward to climb out of the beast.
Matsu was looking around as she laid there and could feel something, that same feeling from Kashyyyk when she had been flow walking in the tree, that same sensation of power and she looked up seeing it.. the feeling of something on her face. Thick, wet and fleshy before it trailed the gore away. Leaving a pale stgreak and she rolled over falling back against the creature to try and protect herself.... but that tongue wasn't what she was feeling as she looked up and saw a massive wolf.
"Well well well... little jedi has come here now." The voice wasn't coming from the wolve but she could see it rasiing back on its haunches, eyes glazed over for a moment as the mist and whatever it realy was appeared. "Seeking me out, drawing my attention by killing my pets. When will your kind ever learn. I am not one with whom you can mess and now... now you will pay the price for your.. curiosity." She coudl feel its voice not from lips but from everything around her. Matsu was looking at parts of the mist around the cave.
Then she was being taken in the jaws of the wolf and moving, somewhere she couldn't feel as her stomach lurched beneath her, her eyes shutting through the bright tunnel before she clung to the wolf and felt the soft fur of the beast. She had been to the spirits, the priestesses but had never seen anything like this before. She had seen some of the more dangerous things that they were all going to be doing.... Then she was awake, looking over at it when she was deposited on the floor.
She couldn't tell where she was, looking around the room was filled and opulent... garish in most cases but she was ale to see areas of the room in the light. Shelves of artifacts and things that were left around. The wolf was there looking at her and it growled silently but was watching her more then anything. Its eyes still glazed over while in the shadows she could sense it, something was moving against the thicker shadows showing her what they were going to be doing. "Welcome to your new life."
She didn't have much in the way to resist, the being was older then her, stronger in ways that few others could understand so she did what was smarter. She didn't resist, she bided her time, focused on keeping herself stronger and safer so that she could learn about what they were doing.. what he was as the room she was in was something that she would want to be in. It was an artifact collection unlike anything else she had ever seen. Millions of artifacts from species across the galaxy... from eras she had never known existed.
Whatever this thing was.. it was ancient or it was something else and she could see parts that had been formed later from other species. Things far older and more dangerous then what she had faced before. Legends that the spirits and the priestesses had spoken about when they touched the cosmic force. 'Ohhh' She felt one of the spirits in her head giggling.. amused at her thought of the Omnipotent beings that controlled space and time even matter being able ot make things from nothing.
She had worked out with a few other things, worked with the force while the jedi might be searching for her. The days seemed to become months and longer without some way to fully see time and the passage of it. She worked to curate this beings collection. Seeing artifacts it had collected for no other reason then he could take them from the beings in the galaxy. Hoarding the knowledge here until one day. She resolved she had learned enough but couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Matsu had heard of the legends, anyone who studied the ancient jedi did just that. Here the world was one giant library.. this being wasn't a gree... it had killed them here as they were going extinct. What she feared was that it was far stronger then she was suspecting before the jedi master breathed in the scent of the metal and machinery on the planet. As far as she could see there was the library, with defensive towers and cannons across the surface of it here.
This world was like coruscant or denon or nar shadda massive, built from the surface layer by layer of library flooring and he was expecting her to take care of all of it. A lifetimes of work as the jedi master realized what else there was here. Vaults deeper down, she returned to the level and started working on the computers themselves. So that she would be able to see more of it, she wanted to try and get lower into the library here. The Great Library of Manuals.
She laid there relearning how to focus the force within her mind and she was trying to allow the sense of where she was... how farrr she had traveled but her mind was still foggy as she rose up. The library itself was something she had been searching for a long time to find. The gree were well.. the gree were good at hiding things and their skillss with things like dimensional engineering was a ways to make massive spaces out of smaller areas.
She walked and found a railing that let her look down into the lowerr levels as far as her eyes could see... the sounds of machinery still working and droids were walking around. She could make out what they were doing in the distance when her vision and thoughts fully returned to her. THe force whispering and letting her focus her mind to find herself before exploding her consciousness outwards and towards the stars.
"I see." She said it and was moving now as slowly her body adjusted. THe force returnign to her muscles and she started to take in more of the area, more of her surroundings and most importantly... The way out. A massive lift that would go to the surface was her goal and then she would find a means to get either communication to the Jadeite or another means. The Gree did have hypergates after all and a few of them were around the galaxy still active and able to be used.
The lift went up as she could feel it, the whispering against the back of her neck the charge of the thing... cause as she turned it didn't give itself much shape... remaining more like a glow that reflected her image. She had seen the mirrorverse and Valeyard which was a dangerous prospect...
Maple Harte
haad aided with that and she tried to reach out and get the former jedi to be able to feel her. SHe might need a little violence if there was something like pirates in the way.The surface of the library was in sight as she moved towards it but stopped looking back at the thing.. Wutzek was something she had encountered before... his.. its children more so. Learning manipulation of matter like art of the small to a degree few others could touch or dream of. She listened to the being speaking into her head as it screamed when she held a hand up. She knew how to fight him... had done it and allowed the force to protect her.
THe being spoke for a moment but its wordss were lost... the sensation of something else was there as the jedi master observed something new... or old... wordplay she had it as it spoke and stood there watching her. Morphous and shapeless in many things but its words came to her. "A jedi hasn't been here for awhile and to anger that thing... not an easy feat. You must be troublesome." It seemed much more curious while watching her but didn't seem to see her as much as what she was.
"And yet, in each human coupling, a thousand million chances for a child. Multiply those odds by countless generations, against the odds of your ancestors being alive; meeting; siring this precise son; that exact daughter… Until your mother was captured by one she came to to hate, and of that union, of the thousand million children competing within the force, it was you, only you, that emerged. To distill so specific a form from that chaos of improbability, like turning air to gold… that is the crowning unlikelihood. The thermo-dynamic miracle."
He seemed more interested in boiling her down to just a statistic compared to anything else and the jedi master stood there as the surface of the great library became visible. The lift coming up and she could see the sun. There wasn't any ships and everything looked like it hadn't been touched in centuries or longer. THe jedi maaster huffed as she felt something behind her and then there was a tightness in her chest.
The stars expanded outwards... the energy tearing at her as she felt fire and pain in every atom of her body... SHe had learned to check it with art of the small and alter it in ways few others could... fast... faster then most could preceive but her mind raced and she thought of
Hanna Ike
for the moment until she was gasping.. her body on something solid for a moment.THen she was falling, the sensation dropping away as wind sliced at her face, the coldness of thin atmosphere was there and she opened herr eyes squinting from the wind rushing itno her face. She looked around and could see the massive trees of Kashyyyk, the glittering blue waters as she had thought about it and it was there for a brief moment. Hanna was her main thought and her children who had enjoyed being here on the world when she was among the silver jedi.
She took a moment and couldn't focus the force for the moment... she needed to calm herself and refocus as her body went straight... a knife edge and the jedi master focused herself to be like a knife going through the air and reaching terminal velocity. She could see the trees approaching faster aand faster as she focused finding her breath again and the force. EXpanding it within her chest for the moment as she pushed it outwards from her body and wrapped herself in the force itself.
She was allowing herself to better focus the force and she felt the impact... it was still even with the massive cushion of force energy. She was like jello as the shockwave around the impact site shook the trees and she didn't doubt it was going to be on the sensors as the jedi master stood there. Her body relearning for several seconds how to move and brreathe... she rose up slowly and started to walk towards a part of the silver rest.
