Sometimes the Light is Cold

[Veino Garn]

Rhen Var. An ancient world of snow and ice, once a refuge of the Jedi Order in days long past, but now mostly forgotten except for the Silver Watch and those who sought its crystals, including the legendary Solari crystals. Veino had heard of them of course, but never expected to see one. Yet here he was on the same planet, and a crystal was calling him.

Veino could sense it now as he sat meditating. A dozen ball bearings floated around his head. A cave in the ice lay out there somewhere with a crystal that was bound to him. But other things were in the Force as well, visions of danger and lurking shadows. He thought he saw Jedi on Ilum, including [member="Taeli Raaf"]. So the Alliance too sought these ancient worlds, but all things were murky. Through the Force, Veino saw another old comrade, @Jorus Merril, somewhere far away beyond the known Western reaches. The galaxy was in flux, with the Republic and One Sith poised on the brink of collapse before these Mandalorian Crusades, while darkness rose elsewhere. Were the Crusades dark? Violent and full of death, yes, but he did not sense the Dark Side behind them.

Regardless, he had been gone from the galaxy too long. He smiled, just a small one. You die and take some time for yourself and the whole place falls to pieces. The time had come for Veino Garn to return to the galaxy, lightsaber in hand.

He didn't know how far away this cave was, so he had supplies for a long journey in the speeder. Food, shelter, layers of warmth. No weapons, however, except what skills he had regained in the Force. This was a pilgrimage, one of challenge and growth. He stared out of the gateway towards the barren snowfields and grimaced. Ice planets were his least favorite. A quick message to the rest of the Watch informed them he would be gone for some time on this trek.

Then he was off, stepping into the cockpit and and speeding out into the snow-burnt day. There was no sound but the howling wind and repulsors. As to where to go?

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, letting the Force flow into him. The tug of the crystal call was stronger now, and he felt his hands go right on the controls, turning the speeder to his own internal compass.

And so the hours began to pass, with Veino deep in meditation as the speeder raced onwards.

 

[Veino Garn]

He knew his destiny lay far and away to the West part of the galaxy, he could sense it burning like a bonfire in the cold ice of the planet around him. Ice particles spattered against the cockpit of the speeder as wind howled outside. The storm was growing too much even for this speeder, designed for the rough conditions of this ice planet. He pulled back on the accelerator and the speeder coasted to a stop. Veino stretched out with the Force, searching through the storm. No evidences of life anywhere but he could sense what used to be life. Rocks and carbon deposits scattered about below the snow. He pushed forward on the throttle, nudging the speeder behind them. The wind's howl dropped as it hit against the rock.

He shut the engines down and huddled against the back of the speeder, pulling his coat tighter, along with the extra layers and a small heater. It cranked out the heat and Veino leaned back against the wall. He could still feel the crystal calling to him, bright and hot, but small compared to what lay elsewhere in the universe. The secret to a lightsaber was it was a physical extension of the Force. Not necessarily in a literal manner, but it was. Without the Force, no lightsaber could ever work as well as it was meant to be.

He pulled out a handful of components from a pocket, revealing a stringed bag which he poured out on the floor of the speeder. The parts of a lightsaber hilt slid open around him, and he sorted through them, adjusting the casing. Veino pulled out a tool-kit and opened up the controls, making an adjustment. The speeder shuddered, suddenly. A blizzard was blowing in. This could be a long night.

Dimetris circuits. That was the key. If he had those removed, he would counter at least some of the cortosis effects.

 

[Darth Eversor]

The cold felt like nothing compared to the numbness of purgatory. The in-between feeling of being lost, being nothing. ​

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Confusion wracked the mind of the lost wanderer, the howling winds and blindness of the storm all around was far too fitting for the circumstance he was in. Who was he? Where did he come from? Pain ate away at his every nerve, his body was raw and battered by causes unknown. The armor he adorned was tarnished and scarred with battle, but from where? And when? The one thing he could actually tell about himself was that he possibly belonged to something prestigious and grandiose, but even questioning that notion was lost to the abyss of amnesia. ​

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What was his name? The man tried to ask himself, but upon trying to think deeply, a sharp pain scorned him. A darkness flooded his senses and he began to gag as if he were sick, bile flowing from his cracked lips and onto the sheer white of the ice and snow. He collapsed to his knees and began to sob, emotions rushing and attacking him all at once like daggers in his back. But something called to him... a distant voice. It almost sounded irritated, like it was vying for the control of something it once owned.​

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But then came something else... something of the dark. Soon the voice from before and this unidentified presence clashed and bickered, increasing in volume until the point of madness. The man, rather, the vessel and conduit for these personalities screamed in rage and terror. His eyes welled with tears that became cold as the wind swept across his face, he simply wanted answers.​

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But the answers he sought were far more complex and far away than he could hope to reach. He wandered, this lonesome thing. Wandered across the vast bleakness of ice and snow, searching for something other than this state of nothingness and bitter winter's bite.​

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[member="Veino Garn"]

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Darth Eversor"]

Veino picked up another tool, and adjusted the circuitry, removing the dimetris ones as carefully as he could before rerouting the other circuits to bypass the hole in the board. He frowned and bit his lip as the storm slowed to a stop. But something loomed out there, some darkness Veino hadn't sensed before. Not on this planet at least, and it was more than just the Dark Side. This was... emotional conflict and rage. Dropping the pieces back into their pouch, Veino stood and sealed up his environmental gear.

He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. This darkness, pain was perhaps a better word for it, wasn't far, although the weather was too dangerous to walk in. Let alone leave someone out on their own. Veino powered up the speeder and set it forward out into the storm, following his senses. The wind battered against the small craft, knocking it aside and tossing his supplies in and out. There was a directionless to this feeling, and his empathy was picking up emotions. Not a mix of emotions, but strangely enough, multiple distinct emotions. Multiple individuals? Some of dark and some of light.

He sent a message back to the citadel, not sure if it would get through or not, that he was investigating some Dark presence. Nothing specific though. It was close now, so he pulled the speeder to stop, activated the location beacon, and strode out into the storm. Wind howled around his face and snow sliced across his face, but he kept his face down.

"Hello!" He called, stretching out with the Force again. "Where are you? Veino Garn, Silver Watch. We need to get to shelter!" He stopped walking and turned around, trying to stare through the storm. Nothing visible yet.

 

[Darth Eversor]

[member="Veino Garn"]

The figure trudged through the endless sheer wall of battering weather and began to convulse and shake from the extreme cold, it almost felt as if his body were failing and on the verge of collapse. But then something stood out, another life form? Through the Force, he was being hailed; however, a surge of reluctance stemmed from within and the uncertainty of trusting this anomalous presence filled the torn wanderer with a sense of fear. What was fear? It was almost like experiencing something quite new. As if whatever past the man had before this circumstance made him into something else.​

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Hesitant but desperate to get out of the storm, the figure reached out through the Force to contact the presence around him, hoping to be rescued. With blurred vision and a lack of strength, the figure collapsed to his knees. ​

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But questions still ran through his mind.​

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Who was he? ​

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What was he?​

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Darth Eversor"]

Veino pushed himself forward into the storm, raising an arm to ward the worst of the ice particles away from his face, but they built up on the ends of his hair regardless, as wind howled around. He grimaced as a wave of cold struck him. They couldn't stay out in the storm. It would kill them sooner than later. But he felt the figure reach out to him in the Force, desperate and very weak. Veino plunged ahead, trying to stare through the stormy night. A pitiful figure, fallen half to the ground appeared before him, and Veino broke into a run. The he could manage, in the ever growing snow. Hardly fast, but it worked. He bent beside the figure, trying to assess the situation.

He was in bad shape, that was certain. Had to get him to shelter in the speeder. Veino wrapped his arms around him and settled himself in the Force. Its warmth flowed through his limbs, giving him energy and lessening the impact of the cold. He gathered it in his mind, a warm pool of water, and let it flow from him into this other man. That should help with the cold. But they had to get moving again. He rose, helping the other along with him and would begin to stumble back to the speeder, following the location transponder.

It was a quiet signal, but enough that would work.

"Come on!" He yelled over the storm, "Need to get to the speeder! Not far now, so just hold on!"