The Desolation Of Connor Harrison

[Connor Harrison]

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfxiF5LCgaA

Rhen Var Citadel
Rhen Var, Tobali System​

Connor Harrison, shamed Padawan of the Silver Jedi Order, former Knight and carrier of the Taung warrior spirit that nearly killed him and others in his order, banked down into the atmosphere of Rhen Var in his E-wing. Across Silver Jedi space and edging into Republic territory on the Perlimian Trade Route, Rhen Var wasn’t far from his current home world, Voss, and easy enough to reach.

The desolate ice planet beneath him came into view, the cockpit of his fighter shaking gently as he bore down towards the place he knew all too well; the Citadel.

His gloved fingers flicked up the powerful beam lights from the front of his spit, illuminating the thin blanket of snow falling from the hazy purple and gray sky above. Pushing down on the yoke, forcing the craft down more, Connor looked out over the cockpit to see the mighty structure sitting beneath the dangerous mountains that had formed from eons of natural geographic development. The mountains reached to the sky, pocketed with various caves, paths and trails created by numerous explorers and pirates out to explore the planet, and Citadel, surrounded in rich lore of the Force.

Circling the Citadel twice to get his bearings and seeing nothing below, Connor brought the E-wing down to land in the outer courtyard, underneath the imposing statue of Jedi Master Ross Mysliwiec, famed Clone War fighter.

The engines died but the beams stayed on, piercing the thin snow and mist and helping illuminate the Citadel, a magnificent stone structure that housed the tomb of Master Mysliwiec but also the Monument of exiled Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma, one whom Connor related to more than ever.

Sitting quietly in the cockpit and looking out into the hypnotic flurry of wintery weather that was more than normal for the ice planet, Connor was facing his demons and was totally alone; well, nearly alone. Only one other knew where he would be – Master [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]. As Connor was refrained from leaving the Temple grounds on Voss due to his recent volatile behaviour towards Padawan [member="Nima Tann"] and his uncontrollable Taung possession that nearly killed Master [member="Coci Sinopi"], the demoted Knight had been granted permission to leave for Rhen Var by Thurion.

Not making it clear when he would leave so he could not be stopped, Connor had a few set-backs to deal with before leaving, but once he was able to he took off in the middle of the night without telling anyone. After two weeks of personal meditation and training in the Isolated Gardens and discussions with Master [member="Maya Whitelight"] about his connection to the Force and what it really means to understand the Force, Connor was now ready to face his next obstacle in becoming a better man and Jedi.

It was a long time ago when Connor was a Jedi Padawan of the Republic and visiting Rhen Var with a group of four fellow students and his Master, a human by the name of Chila Lace. The mountain was part of a training exercise to test perception of danger, agility and awareness of the world around them. However, Connor thought he could do more. He thought he could BE more and he disregarded Lace’s request to turn back from ascending the mountainside. Connor climbed higher and higher, with no problem.

But then he fell. A sudden pulse sent him into darkness, losing conscious and falling off the mountain. Thanks to the uneven terrain he followed, the various out-croppings broke his fall and he ended up crashing down into the icy water below, opposite the Citadel. Waking up on Coruscant with his connection to the Force severed and in great pain and suffering numerous injuries, Connor spent the next few months questioning his place in the Order and left the Jedi to hide away from the Force in fear that he was not worth to control it after losing it.

But that was a long time ago, before the Silver Jedi and before the power Connor had controlled nearly killed him.

Now it was time to find out just what happened on the mountain and return to the point that changed his life forever and find what took his control of the Force away from him. It may kill him, it may empower him, but now, more focused than ever and determined to answer the question that haunted him, Connor activated the sliding cockpit hatch. He pulled up the hood on his greatcoat, exhaled sharply and pulled himself out of the ship, swinging over the side and landing with a crunch on the snow beneath his boots.

If there was a chance to rebuild the bridges between himself and others in the Order, to prove he was able to be a Knight and future Master, this was it. He wanted to be stronger, to be powerful and be trusted to protect and defend others as a sword against darkness, to pierce it with light and be nothing but the best. However, to do so, he had to face two tests.

This was the first.

Greatcoat keeping him warm, thermal combat charcoal grey suit hugging his body with gloved hands and only his current ability with the Force and his lightsaber on his side, Connor Harrison was either to leave the planet with his answer, or die trying to find it.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor dropped the small bag onto the snow, reaching up and slamming shut the side hatch on his E-wing, just under the cockpit. Crouching down, he took hold of the black bag and pulled it open to check the basics were there;

- a homing beacon which he would have to activate if he was ready to accept death if wounded or trapped, in enough time to give the Silver Jedi at least a chance to recover his body


- a tightly wound length of rope to ensure he had a chance at getting in, or out, of any tricky situations


- a vial of bacta


- Caf, in a metal cylinder. The basics of keeping warm was crucial after all


- 3 pouches of basic food rations to sustain him


While he wasn’t hoping to be here for more than a day, he wasn’t stupid to arrive on Rhen Var without the important things. His lightsaber was affixed to his side, but he hoped it wouldn’t need it.

Standing, he blew out a long breath to watch the condensation swirl in the air and threw the bag over his back. He hunched his head forward and began to walk. His black greatcoat gently waved behind him as the chilly breeze blew across the surface. While the sun was rising slowly in the sky, it was still cold but not freezing. As the temperature would steadily increase towards the peak of the 18 hour cycle of a day, Connor had to work fast to get where he needed to go and back again before night set in and the temperature plummeted.

The beams of his ship helped cut through the low lying mist and flurry of light snow, guiding him forward to the mighty Citadel before him and the statue of the Jedi guardian watching all who travelled before him. Hopping up a long flight of stone steps, a good 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep, Connor arrived at the courtyard and looked around at the building as the wind howled around him and between the various pillars, passageways and broken structures.

Raising his head, black hair becoming wet with the snow, the Padawan saluted the looming stature before him.

”Keep an eye on me, for the Force’s sake.”

His Force amplification was strong. There was no distraction, and any mistakes made would be his own and prove his sever inability to mind his surroundings, which should be second nature to a Jedi of his level. With the planet rich in history, and the Citadel housing many secrets of the Jedi and Sith spanning many years, he felt a mild pulse of the Force in the air, but nothing dangerous.

It simply reminded him of where he was and what he was doing here.

Boots stepped slowly across the stone courtyard, snow dusting over each step where he had been. Looking up at the structure, Connor took in the architecture and various stone stairwells that led up, down and around the Citadel to other areas; areas used for burials, for staging attacks, for invasions and for reflection.

Turning left, Connor’s hand brushed across a large pillar as he ascended a stairwell to the edge of the building. Facing down and left, he could see his ship on the surface below, beams still strong. To his right resided his target, a mountain range. Not a huge range, not at all, but one that was a good 500mt high, covered in ice, snow and unpredictable caverns, cracks and caves forged from years of galactic expeditions. It formed a barrier around half of the Citadel and stretched for miles, reaching a pinnacle of 3,000mt, piercing the low clouds with ease.

Connor rested a boot on the lip of the stairwell and rested his hands on his hips, remembering the last time he had stood here with a group of four other Jedi Padawans belonging to the Republic Order he once did. Eyes scanned the base, taking in the mighty blue, white and black mountain that was imposing even at this height and looked far more dangerous than it should have been with the erratic, man-made paths and ledges carved out of rock and ice.

It was here, on this mountain, that his life had changed forever. Whatever severed an eager Padawan’s connection to the Force and made him black out for no reason was here – he could feel it.

His eyes took in the mountain and saw the way he could start to ascend, by jumping down from where he was onto a small section of ice and rock and follow the path up. It would save him a little time from starting at the bottom, but it was by no means quicker or safer. Connor just remembered this was where he started last time, under the concern of his Master.

Kneeling down to the lip of the stairwell, Connor slowly slid down and fell a good 6 feet to the hard rock below, absorbing the blow with bended knee as fragments of ice and snow fell over him from the stairs.

Connor Harrison hadn’t existed until weeks later on Coruscant during his recovery and during his battle for life after falling from the mountain into the icy water below. He had another name, his birth name, but that had died along with his Force control here on Rhen Var, and Connor Harrison was a name he had stolen, a name that gave him a new identity; a new chance at redemption.

Now, more than ever, he needed that chance, because it was his last.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The sun was now breaking through the misty sky, helping to pierce the hazy purple with slivers of warm sunlight and tease the blue sky above. It was still naturally dark however, and it would probably stay that way due to the natural axis of the planet at this time of year.

Connor pulled himself up onto a lip of rock, digging his hands into the earth as he swung himself up – boot first, pushing down helping his arms pull himself over the edge. A grunt of breath escaped him, the moisture vapour coming from his mouth.

Casting his eyes over the ledge, hugging the ground he was on, he could just make out the beams of his ship down on the surface, about 100mts below. The weather was calm, but the mist and flurry of snow wasn’t helping at all. But he had to press on.

Standing, with the rope tied around his waist and tucked into his belt to wait for a secure holding to tie it around to break, or at least help reduce, the impact of a fall if he slipped, Connor pulled his greatcoat tight as he pushed on over the rocky surface, speckled with snow and dangerous pockets of ice. His fingers traced the cold mountain side, walking in a simple zig-zag style up the face, with the Citadel behind him.

1 hour later… ​

The caf was gone, already, and one food portion had been eaten. Connor had his black neckerchief, buttoned to his combat overall, pulled up over his nose and mouth to prevent the inhalation of the icy air. His mouth was closed, his eyes squinting against the light snowfall.

He wasn’t suffering, far from it, but the ascension wasn’t easy. He remembered how it felt as a Padawan with four others around you; shouting encouragement, holding out a hand to grip. Now he was alone, but the thought of Jedi Knight [member="Corvus Raaf"], whom he had met hours before, popped into his head now and then. A Jedi who excited him, but also who tapped into the mystery of the planet herself, encouraging Connor to think that maybe what lay around the area wasn’t as much of a mystery as he thought.

There was something around the mountain, he felt it, and it was drawing him near. It was pushing him, an unknown tremor in the Force that he felt as a Padawan with the Republic. The inner voice that told him to ignore the advice of his Master and to push himself higher and faster to reach the pinnacle of the mountain.

His boot slipped from underneath him, causing him to convulse and fall back on the mountain side as fragments of ice spat out over the edge of the path, lost in the swirling weather. Connor closed his eyes and shook his head, regaining his balance and continuing up.

Ahead of him, the path seemed to blend vertically upwards in the rock face. Tilting his head, the Padawan saw he would have to climb a section of the face to reach the new outcrop above. He pulled the gloves down over his hand tight and fingered the rock to secure a grip and reached out with the Force to help guide him up, to control his body and allow his reflexes to be fed from the natural energy around him.

It wasn’t far above here that he had fallen. After the climb, he would come to another dangerous path that was a good 400mt up above the surface, where the air was thin and the light was faint, and where he would have another climb to take to reach the top – it was there he fell, and it would be there he would find his answer.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The snow had all but stopped falling above Rhen Var, and it was the perfect time for Master Lace and his four Padawan learners to continue the ascension of the Citadel mountain. It would continue to push their control of the Force; their understanding of how it would guide them through dangerous terrain and alert them to the hidden dangers.

Their ability was impressive, their future so close, and this would help Master Lace of the Republic Jedi Order to make at least two of them fully fledged Knights. All they had to do was use their initiative, their training and their understanding of the Force to prove they were ready.

The only human Padawan amongst the group, a young man with black hair and deep blue eyes stood on the lip of the path that would lead upwards. Two young Twi'lek Padawans stood beneath him, a Chiss to the right and a Zeltron alongside their Master. He was scaling well, but wasn't exactly making it easy for himself.

"Watch your footing, Padawan - use the Force to guide you."

Master Lace pulled his cloak around him, squinting against the chilly breeze as his scarred face watched his eager student. The Chiss shook his head slowly.

"Master, he's reckless. You should call him down!"

Lace motioned with his fingers for the Chiss to stay silent.

"He will learn the hard way if he pushes too far, but have faith. A strong will to succeed is not always a bad thing, unless attuned in the wrong mind. Here, it is in a safe one."

The wind howled around Xavier Arlington; it bit into his ears, his lips and his eyelids. However Xavier was close, he could get to the peak and stand before his Master and fellow Padawan's and show how strong he was, and how strong he was. He would stand over the Citadel and the tomb of Jedi Master Qel-Droma and shout for all to hear that he was ready.

His brown robe spat behind him as he crested the final few stages of the mountain, grunting and exhaling icy air as his muscles screamed and his mouth cracked with the cold. Carefully standing, Xavier found his balance and was hugging the icy rock wall - a few paces sideways that would lead up the mountain took him to the edge, and a final climb of the face would lead him to the top. Xavier craned his head sideways and counted the steps.

Brown boots crunched over the slippery ground, gloved hands clung onto the rock above his head as slow steps moved him higher and closer to the edge. Down below, the shouts of his Master fell on deaf ears.

"Xavier! Stop this!"

The Twi'lek tried to follow, but was stopped by his sister. The Chiss Padawan watched and smiled to himself. It was all going wrong, and there was nothing Master Lace could do.

Closer and closer Xavier got, ignoring the calls through the Force to stop.

"I've got this...come on Xavier. Do it."

Dried blood became evident in his mouth, but his hands gripped on and the blue sky welcomed him as he stepped sideways again. One step...two steps...the sun above glared down....five steps...

He swung up his right hand, scrambling around the rock and clamped down on what was under his palm to pull himself across.

And all of a sudden Xavier wanted to sleep. His body just...gave up. Why continue to climb? The wind carried him and a bright light blurred his vision of the blue sky, a nice kaleidoscope of colour that felt dreamlike and, dare he say, relaxing. He didn't need training to prove he was strong in the Force, because he suddenly felt there was no requirement for the Force to be part of him anymore. He was weak, he was reckless, but he was wonderfully relaxed.

In reality, his body convulsed and went limp, and he fell from the mountain. Backwards, off the side and down the rock face. Master Lace only saw the body fall through the mist as it was too late to do anything; the screams of his friends bounced around the canyons and the Citadel...


Connor Harrison sighed and knew that the medical bay on Coruscant, nursing a broken body and broken mind was probably far more comfortable than hugging the same rock face he had years ago, steps away from the point he just...gave up.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Another hour or so had passed, Connor couldn’t tell. The sun was now to his right, meaning he had a few hours left until it was dark, and then he would be stuck with only the Force to guide him down. Even the wisps of snowfall and the sheer height had made the beams of light from the ship below impossible to see.

Back to the ice face, Connor fed the thick rope though his hands as it was now tied around his waist – he just had to find somewhere to tie it to, but the crevices and rocks sticking out from the ice wouldn’t hold his weight to save a fall. Edging further up the incline that led to the final ascension, and the point where he fell, Connor peered up from above the neckerchief to look ahead and trust his footing to avoid looking down.

His greatcoat flapped in the cold air as each successful step took him higher.

As a chunk of ice gave way beneath the lip of the path he was on, the Padawan saw a wonderful segment of rock jutting outwards, like a series of wild teeth snarling from the ice. Slowly lowering himself to the edge, he kept his back straight and leant forward with his arms to loop the rope around 3 of the rocks that were sticking out and tied a double knot in a series of loops and turns that should, hopefully, hold for a few moments if he fell to give him chance to survive rather than a straight drop.

Rising to his feet, he looked over to the edge and closed his eyes.

Feeling the Force around him in the very air he breathed, he let it soak into his skin and through his clothes to dictate his thoughts and very feelings. Connor found calm, but also heard the calling he had all those years ago.

You are in control. Believe in yourself. Trust the Force. Trust yourself.

Three more steps, and the Force tingled inside his body, and he felt sick all of a sudden. The worry was setting in and the adrenalin was starting to bubble. He wasn’t sure if the howl of the icy wind around him was natural, or a distorted cry from the Force.

Connor kept his eyes closed, using the Force to move forward and sense the edge of the cliff-face above the Citadel he was standing on. And then he reached up with his right hand, up to a series of ridges formed from rock and snow to get a grip for the climb. Tracing his hand blindly over the lip as his body faced the wall, Connor’s eyes snapped open and he let out a surge of breath.

His hand clamped down on a warm mound of ice, feeling a charge running through his fingers, arm and shoulder, eating into his torso and flooding his body with an overwhelming sense of power and energy.

A cry of resilience bounced into the rock before him, his forehead pushing into the cliff to counter the swell of Force power he was feeling from whatever lay under his hand above.

Trembling, Connor closed his eyes quickly as his knees began to buckle. He thought about all he could to face the moment that severed his connection to the Force, which changed his destiny as a Jedi forever and plagued him for years. He thought of all he could.

Coci. Thurion. Love. Nima. She needs you. Xander…

Tilting his head back, his eyes opened and faced the flurry of snow and wild rain now falling on him, as his irises turned a sickly shade of amber – the Dark Side was eating away at him.

Corvus believes in you. Iella. Aika – prove them wrong. Hope. The sword of light. Maya -

Fingers curled into the ice, breaking it with ease and fingering the warm metallic mass under his palm. Connor arched his back and gritted his teeth with a groan, seeing the world in a darker shade, feeling a power unlike no-other as he pulled back his right arm with an object in his hand.

Be strong. Hope shines brightest…in the dark. You are hope.

Lowering his head, Connor slowly turned to look at his hand, amber eyes burning with dark power peering over the black neckerchief, all until he looked upon the purple amulet he held.

The Sith amulet of Ulic Qel-Droma. It had to be, or one of the Lords of Rhen Var? You have felt the Force awakening inside you, the awakening of the light. You are worthy to follow.

The simmering Force tremor inside him drained, making Connor feel cold once more instead of hot. He looked at the amulet as the amber receded and his blue eyes blinked softly. A strange purple prism encased in silver seemed to glow in the black of his glove, black straps hanging down. One of many Sith amulets he had heard of, they harnessed dark side energy that fed of the Force user it rested on and amply the power that could be used for evil. However one had belonged to exiled Jedi Master Ulic Qel-Droma, and as he and other Jedi had found solace on Rhen Var, maybe they discarded their final attachments to the Sith above the Citadel in order to be lost forever…or found by those who needed their resolve tested.

And so Connor broke into a proud smile, a slight laugh of disbelief, to look up on the object he had found years ago that literally sucked the Force from him in an attempt to fuel the Sith power inside him, but there was none. A Padawan would literally be rendered lifeless against such a surge of Force energy, and that was what happened to him.

He had touched upon the amulet and immediately failed to counter the power, causing his body to reject the Force conflict and simply give up.

Fingers wrapped around the amulet in his palm and Connor brought it to his chest, looking across the misty planet before him, not seeing where it ended or began, but knowing he had survived. He was strong enough to resist a burst of dark energy, and his experience with the Taung, as far as he knew, may well have built up a barrier inside him to make such conflicts of the Force much harder than before.

Edging back down the snowy rock incline with no intention to carry on further, Connor stooped to gauge the strength of the rock that the rope was tied to for a quicker route down.

It was a dangerous abseil just to kill some time, but right now, he felt invincible. Thankfully Thurion wouldn’t need to come to his rescue this time.

 

[Connor Harrison]

His knees crumpled under the impact of the landing, boots crunching into the snow and the Force barrier below him spitting up a plume of rock and ice. Taking deep breaths, Connor fell forward and rolled onto his back, letting his muscles finally relax as the snow and rain gently fell on his body.

After a moment of letting the thrill of the Force applied jumps he had made down the rock face, using the rope over a number of loopholes and cracks to measure each fall, it only took him 40 minutes roughly to scale down to the surface.

The beams of the ship still shone into the Citadel courtyard and there was no sign of life.

Connor lay still for a few minutes before steadily rolling onto his knees and standing up with a slight wobble, making the walk forward against the cold wind to his ship, a nice frosting now covering the blue and white markings.

Untying the rope trailing behind him, he rolled it up and shrugged off his backpack, all supplies now gone, but that didn’t bother him one bit. He had his answer – his prize. Opening the hatch under the cockpit, Connor tucked away his bag and closed it with a slam. The Sith amulet was tucked inside his greatcoat, now ripped along with a portion of his combat trousers from the rocks as he came down. The blood had already frozen up with the cold wind and numbed the pain.

Stretching his body left and right, Connor pulled himself up onto the left of the E-wing before pulling back the hatch and sliding down into the comfy seat with a satisfying grunt. The hatch closed over his head as he pulled down the neckerchief and sighed contently. The small droplets of rain and snow tapped gently on the ship around him, with Conner dangerously close to drifting to sleep, but the throb of the powerful amulet by his side was keeping him focused. His journey wasn’t over, and now there was one more challenge he needed to face.

He sat forward and activated the on-board computer to pull up a galaxy map and a number of coordinates – Rhen Var, Voss, Coruscant, Shri-tal. Blue eyes scanned the screen as he contemplated his next move.

Lok Jorunn, fellow Shadow and Knight of the Silver Jedi, had told of a Sith Lord with immense dark power - [member="Matsu Xiangu"]. Connor had noted the name out of sheer curiosity, but not more than ever knew she was the one who would help him find his worth as a Jedi. A woman – or a ‘beast’ as had been said – with a powerful cybernetic arm, a face devoid of emotion, eyes fused with poison and a heart blacker than death itself with power that seeped from her very soul.

Connor could return to the Silver Jedi and Master E’ron with his amulet and explanation of what he had done, or he could break protocol and seek the Sith Lord to stare darkness square in the face and survive. If he did, he was worthy – if he succumbed, then the Order would be better without him and he could do no more harm to those whom he cared for, and who cared for him.

The Neuro-Saav Corporation was a name he was familiar with and it didn’t take long for Connor to link Matsu Xiangu with the company itself. She certainly had a reputation, far greater than he originally thought. Their base of operations was one Etti IV in the Outer Rim. Searching for the planet didn’t take long, and Connor didn’t stop to question the danger he was putting himself in.

"I'm sure you'll find the right path - I have faith in you."

Once more, the words of Republic Jedi [member="Corvus Raaf"] echoed in his mind. She had shown a belief in him - a faith. He readied the ship with a roar of the engines, a satisfying burst of life that lifted the snow like a curtain around it’s perimeter. Etti IV would be his destination, and to make contact with Neuro-Saav to request an audience with one Matsu Xiangu to discuss the discovery of a Sith Relic. Connor hoped, like all Sith, she would bite at the chance to discover secrets of the past, but he would keep his intention and identity secret as long as possible.

His former identity, Xavier Arlington, was the perfect cover name to venture into the unknown; until Connor Harrison could emerge and prove once and for all he was worthy to be a Silver Jedi; a protector and guardian of hope.

The yoke was pulled back as the ship rose from the surface of Rhen Var, before turning over the Citadel and banking up into the atmosphere and into the darkness ahead…



To be concluded…