Weekend Treasure Hunt 18: Dark Mirror

[Velok the Younger]

On the planet Cularin -- in a system known for temporal anomalies and even the occasional echo of an alternate timeline -- a portal has opened, a shimmering outline the size of a small starship. On a rock face nearby, in letters carved without tools, a message has been written.

Come in and see what might have been
What choice and chance have made of you
Behold the seeds of glory and
The failures waiting in your heart
Step through the mirror if you dare
But do not tarry or delay
For simple warnings hold hard truths
Reality is not your toy
This is an opportunity

***​

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OOC Information:​

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The portal will close in 72 IC hours, and if you're not back through by then, you'll be yanked back -- nobody stays there. The portal opens onto a mirror universe, an alternate timeline that diverged from this one roughly twenty-five years ago. The alternate galaxy on the other side is even more war-torn than this one, and interplanetary communication is so terrible that nobody knows why for sure -- there are many conflicting stories about how the last couple of decades have gone, and the Dark Age never really managed to end. In this alternate timeline, you could have been...anything. Temporary emperor, inventor, villain, hero, convict, general, loner, family man, accountant. If you go through the portal, your goals are your own.​

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You may feel drawn to your duplicate or the duplicates of others you may have had Force bonds with, so you may know where to go to find them. In the presence of your duplicate, should you find them, you will experience the same sort of mental static/pressure that Force-sensitive people feel in the presence of their own clones. That pressure will increase if you happen to bring them back to this side.​

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Attempts to bring back duplicates of unique canon items will not succeed because of reasons. Anything else -- bizarre ships, duplicates of lost loved ones, a duplicate of yourself, a treasure found within the last twenty-five years or so -- is fair game as you see fit. As with all previous Weekend Treasure Hunts, I have no intention of participating in this thread or DM'ing it -- unless people try to get cute and exploit the premise unreasonably. In which case Bad Things Will Happen IC. Also, as with all previous Weekend Treasure Hunts, please don't use this to be a dick. Wheaton's Law applies.​

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Deal? Deal.​

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Dark Mirror​

Mood Music: @https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npv_82xdkiM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npv_82xdkiM​

Mark Sage stood in front of the swirling mass. He'd made it all the way here, but he was beginning to doubt himself. Here he was, about to do what he'd dreamed of doing for most of his life, and he was doubting himself.
It had begun on Yavin IV when rumors began circulationg in the Jedi Academy that a space-time rift had openied on the planet, Cularin. Mark was immediately hooked. His master, Jedi Avi Merron, had been away on a mission, so he'd left her a note and left on his own.
And now, here he was, faced with the chance of a lifetime. Finally, he had the chance to witness firsthand the history he'd been studying for so long. And yet, he doubted himself. Turning away for a moment, a voice inside his head called out to him after reading the words inscribed on a nearby rock, "What if it's a trap? You're only a padawan! You're mad!"
Mark pulled the pack that held all the gear he'd brought with him higher up on his shoulder. He gave his small, green R2 unit a pat on the head.
"Enough with that kind of thought." he said aloud.
He took one step forward.
"It's undoubtedly a trap."
And with that, he once again faced the time rip. Gathering up as much courage as he could muster, Mark strode forward into the chaotic mass of light that was a boundary dividing this universe from another.

​

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris had only come out of curiosity, a vague interest in verifying the rumours of this so called portal. Never in all of the universe had he expected it to actually be sitting there, so open and inviting. The hooded young man remained in hiding close by to observe it at first, waiting for anybody else to step through,mand felt the presence of another who was strong in the Force...a Jedi, a young one, perhaps a Padawan based on his youth. Venris had risen to his feet when he realized that this boy intended to cross the threshold, but was too late to call out, to try and stop the boy from stepping over the edge of existence.

Cursing, Venris slid to a stop near the portal. He had sprinted as fast as he could and it had been no use.

"...foolish boy, going in alone." Venris muttered aloud.

Venris himself intended to wait for several of his associates to respond to the call he had sent out and arrive with some equipment to analyze this anomaly...but now he himself felt tempted to enter it, like something was pulling him towards it from the other side even if no physical force acted upon his body. He pushed his hood back and examined the tear in reality to momentarily marvel at the sheer impossibility of such an event...

And then he made a decision.

Venris exhaled and pulled his hood back up. "Over the edge and into oblivion," He stated to himself before reiterating his earlier statement. "Foolish man, going in alone...seems to me that foolhardy risks are contagious among the force sensitive these days." He stepped forward and shut his eyes as he crossed the borders between universes, diving into the unknown...

And crashing face first against a solid surface after a moment of falling.

...

"Ow."

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

At first, the vortex seemed to go on forever. Mark was seeing it with his own eyes, yet he couldn't describe it. To describe how he was feeling now, one would need new words to be invented. All he knew was that he was at the mercy of the winds of time itself.
And suddenly, it all stopped. There was nothing but blackness and nothingness. There was no feeling in any of him. No warmth. No cold. No noise to be heard, but yet it didn't seem like silence had fallen over him either.
"Am I dead?" Mark thought.
After a moment, his vision faded back to normal and he emerged from the vortex on the other side and couldn't quite remember what he'd just experienced. It had just gone so fast. And now, he was here, wherever here was.
[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris raised his face up off of the floor, which certainly was not the same terrain that he had left behind. The floor was smooth, clean, almost like the marble floors of the temple where he had been trained as a child, and the temperature was much cooler, like the interior of an air conditioned structure. Rubbing his face a bit and making sure his nose was not broken, Venris opened one eye and scanned his surroundings to make sense of where he had landed.

From what he could tell he most certainly was not on Cularin, nor was that cold breeze from any air conditioning unit; he was however on the floor of what had perhaps a short time ago been a jedi temple, based off of the design of what was left of the structure around him. The building was exposed to the cold night air, and overhead the stars glimmered-

Wait...those were not stars.

Venris slowly forced himself up onto his feet, gazing up at the distant, silent explosions of artillery fire between what must have been a number of ships. He couldn't tell where he was, who was fighting or how many there were from down here...nothing looked like the planet he had just left behind.

"Definitely not on Cularin anymore." Venris murmured before feeling a disturbance, a wave that travelled through the Force and struck him so hard that he almost toppled back over. "Nnn...what was...-"

THUD!

Distracted by the disturbance and blinded by pain, Venris collapsed to his knees and threw himself to the side before the next blow could hit. Whoever was attacking him was using a blunt object, a club of some kind, and Venris could feel his shoulder throbbing as he raised both arms and caught the assailant's wrist as they brought it down for a third swing. His good hand tore the club from their hand before he released their wrist and then pushed them back against what was left of a wall, pinning them in place as they struggled viciously, hissing and snarling beneath the tattered hood they wore.

"Who the kark are you?" Venris demanded. "Why did you just try to kill me?"

"Jeeeediiiiii...." The being hissed out in a twisted pronounciations of Basic. "Scuuuum!"

Venris was used to that sort of reaction from a good number of people, but given the circumstances he was more curious. Dropping the attacker, he tore their hood back and saw a Rodian who looked to be malnourished and sickly, yet still alive enough to swipe at Venris' throat with a knife. The hooded rogue darted back out of range of the first swipe, and held his empty hands up in a stance as he and the Rodian circled one another. The Rodian swore and growled in his own language between jabbing at Venris, and he heard the word 'Jedi' come up many times.

"Just put the knife down and-" Venris barely dodged another stab that almost took his eye out. "Okay then!" When the Rodian tried to swing at him next Venris grabbed his knife wrist with one hand and twisted, drew the alien's arm up straight, forced it parallel to the ground and leaped up, ramming his knee into the elbow and breaking the limb. The Rodian howled and dropped his weapon, clutching his damaged arm.

"I tried to be reasonable," Venris growled. "Now you're going to be a little more civil and stop trying to kill me, or I'm going to have to do a lot worse than just break your arm. Are we clear?" It was harsh, but in most situations the Rodian would already be dead.

The Rodian scurred into a corner of the ruins, whimpering like a wounded animal and staring at Venris with frightened eyes. For a moment he felt pity for the alien, wondering what could have happened to make him hate and fear the Jedi to the point that he would Attack with such blind rage and disregard for his own safety. That could be answered later, for now Venris needed to ask some different questions.

"To start," Venris knelt. "...what planet are we on?"

 

[Arage Bao]

A man blinked into existence, eyes closed as he felt the subtle and mesmerizing pull of the portal a few meters away from him. His hand brushed the stone work, every letter curving into his skin and giving him understanding of what was to come, blue eyes opened themselves and finally stared at the portal proper. One wonder settled into his mind, was this her work? Or was it just a phenomena of the Force? Perhaps some distant otherverse had been through a catastrophe and this was the Force’s way of balancing out the scales.

It would have been an interesting research.

Almost without noticing it his feet carried him towards that portal, it whispered to him, beckoned for new stories to unfold, possibilities that were endless on the other side. His skin blackened and then returned to his familiar tint again, wrinkles smoothed out and came back, hair color going back and forth from a spectrum of possibilities.

Blue turned into amber, then red and finally resettled itself into an icy figment. His hand reached out and paused at the doorway, before his outstretched fingers closed themselves in a fist and the man shook his head.

‘My days of adventuring are over, lass.’ a soft hum settled into the nearbies and from one moment to the other, the man had disappeared again.

Perhaps another time.

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris had managed to squeeze several answers out of the Rodian before releasing him back into the forests surrounding the temple ruins. It hadn't required any physical torture, fortunately, but some answers had needed to be 'persuaded' out of the alien before he would cooperate.

He was on Yavin, and the fleets fighting overhead weren't the Republic and the One Sith but two random splinter factions that were fighting over control of this sector...one of which was lead by a Jedi. Further investigation had gad details such as how at least one sect of the Jedi Order basically ruled it's own faction here: a fleet, grand army, multiple planets that directly obeyed their Jedi overlords instead of the Republic or any government. The 'Knights of the Republic' as they called themselves were more focused on restoring the republic than anything, and it's generals had become apathetic to the cries or the victims of their war overtime as they obsessively pursued their goal.

As much as he disliked the Order back home, Venris found that even Corvus Raaf would not be so cold hearted to the people affected by this war. This whole world seemed to be utterly chaotic, a new set of circumstances that could have happened in hisnown world by mere chance being played out before him as he reached out into the Force and felt the universe around him, the taint of the darkness being spread much further than it was in his own world. He could feel it flowing in the trees, the rivers, the droplets of water now pouring down on him, through the ground and in the air...

"This world..." He whispered. "How could this have happened? What is all of this supposed to mean?"

Again Venris felt the disturbance coming from the treeline and beyond, originating from somewhere close by. He felt similar effects coming from different directions, and every one of them felt....familiar in some way, but the closest anomaly was the strangest of all. Venris began tomfollow it through the jungle, passing corpses of soldiers being fed on by wild beasts, crashed vessels and crumbling structures that looked like they had been established only recently. Soon a trail revealed itself, marked with the tracks of a tank that used wheels or treads instead of just hovering. The trees near the road had been cut down and cleared away, leaving the path open for an army to march along.

Venris remained in the trees, wary of being caught in the crossfire of some skirmish if the ground battle was still ongoing. The area appeared calm, but the battle had been only recent and could start again once both sides were prepared. He remained in the shadows, following the improvised highway towards the source of the anomaly that called out to him.

The closer he got, the more Venris began to realize just what...or who he was walking towards.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Mark looked around him. Something about this coniferous jungle seemed very familiar to him. He wondered where or, more importantly, when he was.
Deciding that the best way to find out was to trek on. And so, he started through the forest. As he walked, he felt more and more like he'd been here before. On the horizon, or what he could make of it the through the trees, a thunderstorm sat waiting. He wondered whether or not to continue. He wasn't even sure where he was going to really. He just let the force guide him forward. He felt a pull, almost like that that pulled him to the time rip in the first place.
"Well," he said aloud. "It's gotten me this far. Why not follow the pull further?"
He soon came to a hill which looked to clear near the top.
"Might as well get a better vantage point. " he began climbing the hill, and over time, made it to the top. It ended in a sheer drop, nearly a cliff, giving him a view of everything for miles. The forest seemed to go on forever, touching the horizon, on which Mark now had a clear view of the oncoming storm. Thunder made itself heard and lightning cracked in the distance. A storm was brewing.
As he continued his 'expedition', the pull slowly grew stronger and stronger, like a magnet pulling harder and harder as the two magnets came closer to each other.
"I'm close." He thought. "I can feel it."

​

 

[Lypheen Grath]

Lypheen was bored. He had been riding by Cularin to look for someone to kill. He wanted to spark some conversation. He flew around several times trying to spot someone. Anyone. Right as he was on his 17th lap around Cularin, he spotted something.

"My god..." He spoke.

He swerved to the left and parked his ship. It was a portal. He couldn't tell how big it was, but it was huge. He took a couple steps around to make sure there was no one, and stepped in.

His arms flung in every direction. His skin was wobbling. His whole body throbbed with pain. All he could see was darkness. He screamed in pain but he could not hear himself over the rough,scratching sound. He tried to speak once more, but nothing came out. He took out his blaster and fired a shot. The laser fired and did not hit anything. It just kept going until out of sight. About 30 seconds later, he could finally see light. He flung out of the portal, his whole body still sore.

"Why am I so stupid?" He asked himself.

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris soon caught sight of activity further up the road, and saw intact defensive fortifications. Artillery, turrets, armoured vehicles, armed sentries on patrol, and a great deal of activity going on behind the ramparts of what seemed to be an encampment. He approached cautiously, examining the defences and seeking any marks to identify the allegiance of the army occupying this area, yet he saw multiple symbols that were unfamiliar to him.

Electing to seek an alternative, Venris began to reach out through the Force to feel the minds of those in the camp. He saw suffering, disease...but a bit of hope. There was some hatred and anger to taint these emotions, but the people of this camp did not seem to be hostile or aggressive for the most part...and this was the source of the disturbance which had been drawing him in ever since he had set foot in this universe.

The only solution was to sneak in somehow...and he doubted that even he could infiltrate such thorough defences easily.

 

[Lief]

Please note, this is the entirety of Kära's experience with the Portal. The final mention of the Portal being closed off does not pertain to anyone else's story. This is just for my own sake.​

"Lady Kairos" came the words, accompanied by three booming knocks at the door which proved loud enough to tremble the foundations of the room... Or so it seemed. No reply fell from the lips of the woman who remained with her eyes closed at the center of the barren chambers she resided within. It was a rare occasion that someone disturbed the Sith Lord during her meditations, leading her to wonder whether the being behind the door was foolish or brave. Perhaps it was a mixture of both. Then again, the desperation behind the next three knocks suggested otherwise.

"M-My Lady" the now-fractured and frantic tone of her subservient pleaded, "There is a matter of great urgency that you must attend to..."

Her eyes snapped open almost immediately, and behind the door came suppressed whimper. Do not presume to inform me of what I must or mustn't do. Her voice pierced into the lesser mind of the daring individual, and without so much as an ounce of consideration she dragged the information from the very cusp of his mind. Heavy breathing resonated through the thick blastdoor, before silence fell. Closing her eyes for just a moment, the Lady breathed in through her nose and exhaled a long and thoughtful sigh. Then she picked herself up off the floor, turned on her heels and walked towards the exit.

One hand reached out to her right, and without so much as a glance in its direction she summoned into her palm a simple curved hilt. The blastdoor opened as she neared it, and the slump of the subservient's body echoed dully as it struck the metal ground. Kairos didn't even cast her gaze to the fallen Th'iruckai as she passed him by, her gaze remaining dead ahead throughout. At least the sorry wretch had provided her with something useful, but it was not necessarily something she had to deal with. All the same, as she walked through the sterile Academy she found her curiosity piqued.

"Prepare a vessel" she commanded, knowing that one of the many individuals seeking her favour would jump to the opportunity. As she turned to walk towards the hangar bay a shadow befell her figure. "You presume too much, Phoenix" the Lady informed the fiery giant, "You have duties to fulfill here." Sensing his discomfort, Kairos shook her head and sighed. "You're as stubborn as a bantha." With a wave of her hand she dismissed him formally. "Tend to the troops. I will be back in a fortnight." After all, interstellar travel was not as quick as many liked to presume it was... And the Galaxy was a dangerous place!

She felt his continued presence for several more feet before a heavy sigh befell the man. Then he turned and left, leaving Kairos with just the sound of his departure. Pressing on, she turned one final corner before being met with the giant blastdoor that separated the hangar from the rest of the facility. "Inform the Dark Lord of my imminent departure." Without responding, save for a sharp nod of his head, the Guard hurried off and left the Sith Lord standing alone.

There had been news of an anomaly in the Thaere sector. This would not usually have enticed Kairos from her work, had reports not flocked in of people appearing from nowhere, claiming that they were from another Universe and part of Factions that did not exist. What the kriff was a 'Red Raven'? The brief amount of information she had extracted was enough to confuse her... And curiosity was inbound. She couldn't help herself... So it was that she boarded a two man ship, and set off to the Expansive Regions.

Opening up a common communications channel, Kairos allowed herself to listen to the influx of information brought about concerning some of these strangers. Was this just some hoax for Lifeday? The Sith Lord couldn't help but ponder the repercussions should this all be proven false. Nobody liked to have their time wasted, least of all someone who was usually as efficient as Kairos was.

The journey took several days through hyperspace. During this time Kairos did as she did best; she meditated, trained her mind and body both, and delved into further reaches of knowledge through studying the various relics and tomes she had at her disposal. As she touched down on Cularin, the now rumoured center of the anomalies activity, Kairos began to feel the throb and pull of a power unlike anything she had ever felt or sensed before.

Allowing herself to be led onwards, she soon became aware of a hum in the distance. Pressing on and breaking through into a clearing surrounded by ch'hala trees the Sith Lord stopped in place and marveled at the shimmering structure before her. To call it a structure was somewhat strange, as it was translucent and didn't seem to hold much in the way of any sort of arrangement.

The ever present hum continued to drag her closer, mesmerizing even she who had worked for decades on strengthening her mind. It couldn't hurt to just... See what was on the other side, right? It had only taken her two days to reach this point from Umbara; she wasn't due back for at least a week more... What was the worst that could happen?

Stepping into the hum she felt a tug at the core of her being and a sensation washed over her as if she had been engulfed by the Force. Conflict rose within her as peace and chaos coursed through her veins, it filled her with sickness and had her feeling disorientated. Then she fell, toppling down through nothing until the ground appeared out of nowhere. She landed without feeling the impact, and blinked.

The ch'hala trees were spread out around her; odd, it seemed as though all of that was for nothing! Turning around the strange, translucent portal remained there, only the hue had changed a little... Perhaps that was just because she was on the other side of the structure now?

She walked around the entirety of the clearing and stared at it from all angles. No, something definitely looked different about it. Strange. However, before she could discern precisely what the shimmering disappeared and the hum vanished from her hearing. Instead she was left staring at the space where it had previously been. "What the..."

Shaking her head she turned and wandered off in the same direction that she had entered from. There had to be a legitimate answer for what had just happened. Maybe it really had been a hoax after all. But as she continued to walk on, she soon came to realise that she was lost. The ship was not where it should have been - maybe she had gone too far east? Or west?

For hours she walked, perspiration settling upon every exposed bit of skin, until she came upon a settlement in the distance. Thankfully the place had a spaceport, so she sought out a Captain and asked for transportation back to Umbara. "That's too close to the Republic for my liking" the first one told her, which confused the Sith Lord to no end. The Republic? But Umbara was held by the Sith Empire!

Another pilot offered to take her as far as Shador, though he had no respirator that she could borrow. Attempting another method, Kairos was eventually able to gain passage to Korriban; it was further than she wanted, but at least there she could see what was going on concerning the anomalies and speak to the Dark Lord about her findings.

Little did she expect to find Korriban the way it was...

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Nearing an hour later and the sun had lowered beyond the horizon. Mark had now walked several miles. The pull of the force was now very strong, and Mark could tell that he couldn't be much farther from where the force was directing him to go. The storm had moved in now, and it was raining womp rats as far as Mark was concerned. Lightning cracked and thunder boomed like there was a war going on between gods in the skies above.
As the pull grew the strongest he'd felt it since he'd arrived, Mark saw a light across a large creek. It looked to be some sort of building. Mark hoped that whoever was there would be hospitable to him and decided to approach it. He began a rickety, handmade bridge which crossed the creek which was now filled to the brim. Using the force to keep the bridge stable underfoot, he was able to make it across. Soaking wet and tired, he moved to approach the building, which seemed to be where the will of the force wanted him to be, as it was almost yelling his name out to him.
On closer inspection, he suddenly realized why everything had looked so familiar. This was Yavin IV, where he'd lived for most of his life, and this small cabin in the jungle was the same one he'd found and inherited. Mark was very surprised to see this. Of all places, why take him here?
He set his pack down on the porch and hesitated, before deciding to knock on the door.
"Who could possibly answer? The person who had this house before I found it? How far back did I go?" Mark thought.
He slowly and timidly knocked four times.
Rap.
Rap.
Rap.
Rap.
Lightning struck nearby, lighting up the area, and was quickly followed by the sound of thunder.

 

[Lypheen Grath]

Lypheen struggled to stand up. He wobbled for a couple seconds and then fell right back down.

"Owwww..." He screamed in pain.

His ribs throbbed. He stared down at them. His whole side was covered in blood. He had hit a rock during the impact. He figured he had broke something. Trying once more to stand up, Lypheen fell again. There was no point of trying to stand up, so he fell limp and went to sleep.

Several hours later, Lypheen woke up. The creature looked down at his ribs again and saw they were still bleeding. He was going to DIE soon. Crawling to a nearby tree, he found some leaves to patch up his injury.

"This will have to do." He said.

He tried to stand up. He stood up for a minute or two, walking around, but then everything went blurry. He fell to the ground, unconcious.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

All was static for a moment as footsteps could be heard on the wood floor of the house. Then, clarity came when Mark was faced by the person he least expected to answer the door.
Himself.
The two boys were faced with spitting images of each other. They were the same. They stood in silence for a moment.
"It seems I've gone one step farther than time travel." Mark thought to himself. "Interdimensional travel."
They were silent for nearly a minute when the other Mark asked, "Dare I ask who you are?"
Mark replied. "I think we're pretty well aquainted with each other already."
"How are you possible?" The other Mark asked.
"I don't know. How are you possible?... There was a portal. I thought it would allow me to travel through time, though it appears that it allowed me to transcend dimensions into an alternate one."
"How did you find me?" The alternate Mark asked.
"I don't know. I had a pull in the force towards this area and I followed it. It led me here. To you. So... Is there anything different about this universe from mine?"
"Well... For the past I don't know how many years, everything has been war and... Well, Chaos I guess. But, that probably happened where you're from too, if you're telling the truth."
"No.. Don't recall that. It's not exactly a peaceful galaxy, but not everything is chaotic. Only certain regions and factions."
"Wow... It must be great. Not having to train
as a war jedi."
"Not always. Not everything is peaceful. But, there are those moments... Yes."

 

[The Hound]

He had been sent here not by his mistress, no, this time She had spoken to him.

Stop this heretic from destroying all that I have worked for.

How could he, a dedicated Hound of Vahl hope to deny the will of his true maker? With four Hounds he traversed through the portal with no qualms of what was to happen, or not happen. If he still held is powers of precognition...Then maybe he could see just what she meant when she sent him that message.

A deep, guttural growl emanated from the beast's maw as he was transported into a new dimension. For a moment there was black, darkness, screaming and pain. He could feel it all in the Force. What was this place? So torn by war and fear? It made him nearly mad. Upon being dropped into a field of battle, a stray blaster bolt struck him in the shoulder. His Hounds were no where to be seen.

Rage filled him and a terrible cry erupted from his monstrous jaw, stopping the battle around him. He recognized Sith uniforms and Republic, but of course the Sith did not recognize him. Fire began to converge on him, angering the beast. The Force gathered around him and exploded in a brilliant display of the Dark Side, blowing Republic and Sith soldier away at once. His prey was near, and these peons were not his concern.

But they were begging to be slaughtered.

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris had carefully plotted out the patrols, sought out holes in the surveillance grid and even influenced the minds of several sentries to his will, enticing them to 'accidentally' cause more gaps for him to exploit as he infiltrated the encampment and began to move around the less inhabited areas away from where food and medical supplies were being dispersed. He spotted human, Trandoshans, wookies, zabraks, Twi'leks and a dozen other species with differing uniforms sitting and working together as though they were not enemies. There were many who were on guard, suspicious, careful for signs of treachery but otherwise not interested in causing any themselves.

There were even both Jedi and Sith here, and not at one another's throats. Venris was careful to avoid these individuals, worried that his Force Stealth technique would fail him here if he got too close. As he surveyed this strange collection of factions and races he continued to follow the disturbance to its source, feeling the pull become stronger the closer he got.

Soon he was at a landed freighter that had been converted into a command post, and within he sensed only one individual, a force sensitive. Venris managed to sneak past the two guards at the entrance and made his way through the ship, which he realized was a Nova-One Freighter model like his own vessel, the Renegade Knight, although it seemed to be much older and in poorer condition.

Upon entering the lounge area he found it to be pitch black...but the single occupant was definitely located here.

Venris shut his eyes as he stepped into the darkness, feeling the connection to this individual through the Force like a lifeline through the dark depths of an ocean. This person reacted to him, reaching out with their own mind to meet his...

And appearing before Venris with a familiar green lightsaber held at his throat.

Staring at him with a combination of shock and suspicion was a brown haired man with blue eyes and a nearly trimmed beard. He wore a combination of armour and jedi robes, and had twin blasters holstered at his hips.

"Who are you?" The Venris Helion of this universe whispered, staring into the eyes of his counterpart.

"...you won't believe me when I say it." Venris answered after several moments of tense silence. "But I think that I'm you."

 

[Turin Val Kur]

There was a disturbance in the Force.The battle all around him seemed to freeze all at once and all at once, his senses became distorted, like static in the Force. He stumbled back a few steps but regained his composure in time to parry and strike down a Sith Knight whom thought he had caught the Battlemaster off guard.

"What in the Force...?" Even behind the static, he could feel a pit of the Dark Side, like a terrible wound in the Force, or maybe a scab would be more accurate. He looked around, none of the other Jedi or Sith seemed affected. Were the Sith targeting him specifically? It was quite possible. He shook the notion from his mind and continued forward with the Republic, using the Force to keep his momentum going forward as he cut through the enemy with his dual lightsabers.

Jumping with a flip and twirl in the air over a tank he sent three sticky thermal detonators onto the tank, one bouncing down the barrel of the Sith war machine. He landed with a weak Force Repulse, blowing away the unsuspecting Sith soldiers and moved on from the exploding tank. He needed to find the source of that Dark Side power and eradicate it before his dulled senses got him killed.

 

[Lypheen Grath]

Lypheen got up after resting and felt better. Not good, but better. He walked down a path which led to a swamp. He dipped his legs in to cool off.

"Owwwww!" He exclaimed as the dirty water got into his scrapes.

He quickly pulled his legs out and walked to a cleaner end where there was a dock. He sat down on the dock and laid down on his back, looking up at the sky. Thunder and lightning quickly started up. Lightning struck a tree next to him. He heard screams from nearby camps. The water started swirling up. He spotted a nearby house and started to run. He came upon a wobbly bridge he had to cross. He didn't think he could do it. As it was too unstable and waves were rocking it back and forth. He ran as fast as he could, but the bridge swung to the right. He fell to the left, holding on to part of the railing. His legs were in the swampy water again, so he was in pain. He couldn't let go though.

"I'm a bounty hunter and a criminal. I'm supposed to be brave." He thought to himself.

The water thrashed him left and right, but he didn't let go. The leaf bandages were still holding up, although he was sure they would fall off soon. Suddenly, water surrounded his body, pulling him underwater into some sort of cave.

 

[The Hound]

Kinetite erupted from his great horns and lightning danced across the Republic and Sith troopers as they attempted to take down the monster that was the Hound. A green blade was brought down on the beast and caught in the clawed hand of the monster. He growled in annoyance before running him through with the heavy Sith sword in his other hand. While he enjoyed the chaos of this place he knew he held a job.

Intimidated, the soldiers and Jedi he fought parted as he tore through the competition. And then...

Something hit him like a freight train. As a Sithspawn reliant on their connection to the Force, any sort of meddling with his senses brought him into a panic. A sound like static rumbled around in his skull and got stronger and stronger as he cleared through the meat.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

"So..." The alternate Mark said, "Do you want to come in? I've got some food and stuff."
"Umm.. Sure. Why not?"
The two had just entered the house when what at first sounded like a bolt of lightning rocked the skies overhead. The alternate Mark looked up with a look of worry plastered on his face.
"What is it?" Mark asked.
Other Mark didn't answer for a second.
"There's been a battle going on for a week or so now a few miles from here. I'd hoped they wouldn't come this close to the temple, but it seems that they've found me. I'm sorry, but I have to go. I have to go protect the temple: my friends, my masters, the younglings, everyone. If you want to live, you might want to get out of here too. I'm sorry that of all the force-forsaken dimensions you could have stumbled across, you had to come to this one, but this is my fight, and I'm sure you have your own battles back home."
"Don't be. I'm coming with you. I've got to help you. I may have my own battles, but you are me, so your battles are mine. And I know you'd do the same in my place."
"Are you sure that you interfering won't mess with time and space or something?"
"It's a risk I'm willing to take."
"Ok. " Other Mark said with sigh. "Follow me."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mood Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqK_69OJczc

The two found the Massassi Temples being bombarded by soldiers and ships everywhere. Mark was shocked to see it in this state, but other Mark looked as if he'd seen this too many times already. He had a face of determination on, almost anger, but not quite. He wouldn't allow this to happen again. He wouldn't let his friends die now.
But, there was also fear hiding deep down in his eyes. Mark could see that much through the static that he'd begun to get used to now. Fear of dying and losing the ones he was fighting for. Possibly losing them again. Yes. He'd lost someone. Someone important.
"Well this time," Mark murmered, "there's two of us."
Together, they activated nearly identical, dark green bladed lightsabers and charged into the fray. Lightsabers were being swung left and right. Laser blasts were heard everywhere. People fell left and right. The two Marks slashed their way through the hordes of Sith soldiers. It was clear that other Mark was looking for someone, or maybe a few people. Who, Mark couldn't tell.
Mark clashed sabers with one soldier with a bright red blade. The guy was immensely strong and shoved Mark backwards into a corner. Mark's lightsaber flew into the sith's hand with no problem. Here was it. He'd die in another dimension with no one to know.
Just as Mark had accepted his fate, a deep blue blade emerged from the soldier's chest. The soldier dropped Mark's lightsaber which landed into his hands and reactivated.
"Come on kiddo! We've got to get you home!" exclaimed a figure from behind the fallen soldier.
"Master Avi!"
"The one and only!... Or maybe not, considering you're here. Mark already told me everything. Go now. We can handle this."
The alternate version of Mark's Master helped him up and they began making their way to the other Mark, who was fighting on the outer portions of the battle. They were nearly there now. Mark was able to see himself a few yards away. Suddenly, Mark heard his alternate Master yell behind him. A burn mark showed on her shoulder and a Sith was quickly apprehending her. She'd die if he didn't do something, but then his only route home might be closed off forever. Mark had to think fast.