Wes Janson is weeping…

[Corvus Raaf]

Of course they’d all heard the reports, seen the holovids, but it was something else again to actually witness the carnage first hand. It may have been their home but for now it resembled what it had become – a Sith planet. It felt and looked dead. It was a cracked and twisted wasteland, covered now in jagged cliffs.

And the monitors said it was prone to lightning storms and persistent rain. Inhospitable didn’t do it justice. It was a charred and wrecked mess of a planet they all used to think of so fondly. Was it better to remember it the way it was or face the terrible truth? Only time would tell.

Another warning flashed up on the screen.

Alert: The gravity of the body you are attempting to land on has been detected as unstable. It is not recommended you remain on the surface for more than three hours.

As the coordinates were no longer valid, landing was done by sight alone. Finding what appeared to be a coastline on what passed for the southernmost continent, Corvus navigated along it. Heading north she found it. Mostly rubble and ruins, this was no ancient civilisation but what was left of Coronet City.

The Jewel was certainly tarnished.

She sat in the cockpit in silence, rain beating against the windscreen. Like a best friend that you neglected, it wasn’t until they were gone that you realised how much you missed them. How you needed them. How much you’d taken them for granted. But she was here now. It was like attending a funeral. At least she’d be spared the pointing and the whispering, people wondering why she wasn’t here sooner. She’d left just before the One Sith landed and in truth could have returned quicker. There were no excuses. Only the salty tang of tears.

[member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Hawk Solo"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Hawk Solo"]

Corellia or, as many spacers and beings had taken to calling it now, Brokellia still put a pang of sorrow through her chest every time she came to the system. As a Sith Lady, she was perfectly allowed to travel here so she had volunteered her access codes to landing on the shattered remains of Corellia to Corvus and her friends under the cover of a survey unit to see if the planet was indeed salvageable. She knew Titan Industries had plans for the system, but nothing had begun yet.

The population, or what had survived anyways, had been moved to other worlds within the Five Brothers, mainly Tralus and Talus, but still the pain remained for many Corellians. Looking over at her sister from where she was sitting in silence, Taeli placed a comforting hand on Corvus's shoulder and shared in her sadness at what their homeworld had become. The rain on the windscreen just added to the sad feeling that the world gave off now.

"Looks more like Malachor V now than Corellia," Taeli sighed, breaking the silence. "I think that every time I come to the system. The world . . . it shouldn't be in this state, Corellia didn't deserve what happened to it, either the Sith occupation or Akala destroying it."

 

[Hawk Solo]

[member="Darth Arcanix"][member="Corvus Raaf"][member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

When Coci asked approached him with the idea of going to Corellia..he almost refused her. He didn't want to see his homeworld like this. Hawk would rather lived in denial for the rest of his life. It was his mother that convinced him to go. She gave him a mission. Mom wanted him to find her jewelry box.

So here he was aboard a ship going to Corellia with friends and a Sith. Only his mother could make him do this. Hawk sat in the forward compartment away from the cockpit windows. He wasn't ready yet to see it. He wanted a little more time to live in denial. That his homeworld was still the same that it wasn't just a pile of rubble.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Hawk Solo"]​

​

She can always see more than most, a natural gifted talent of heritage allowed her sight beyond the average and her black eyes although watering with growing tears, could still see more of the destruction. This was the first time in her life Coci wished she could not.

Fissing crackling sickening sight met her eyes which made her blood run cold. For a moment she closed her eyes, still not able to believe the sight before her, this her .. their beautiful home land reduced to a smolding heap of rubble, only small pockets one could say, survived. Coronet City, once the place for many throughout the galaxy to come and marvel at it's beauty, to take in the culture and indulge in the luxury that it offered and her home for some time. She knew it well, although her ancestral home was in the country, Coci had been sent to Military College here and meet her friends of the Resistance.

As Corvus moved the ship through the atmosphere in a hope to land, Coci looked west to where her Estate home once would have stood proud in the fields, nothing. She took in a gulp to help her throat and stop it from drying out. The grand house had stood from the ages of the Corellian Empire, an old piece of the past now gone, but that was not on her mind, but the people that ran the estate for her in her absence. Dead. People she had grown up with, dead.

It had only been a few weeks since she had given birth to Théo, who remained in the safe keeping of his grandfather while Thurion and Coci traveled with the small group. An interesting grouping, but delibration of philosophies will have to wait as they are all united in one thing, all have a strong connection to Corellian on different levels. Corellians that hold the pride of their home deep within there hearts and written on their souls, it informs them as beings, curious in nature, unsettling with wanderlust but loyal to core, unless trust is broken.

She opened her eyes once more, this time the tears ran free down her cheek as she turned to find support and peace of heart in the face of her beloved Thurion.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

A single ship was the call – easier to get in and out as unobtrusively as possible. The choice of co-pilot for the mission was less easy to explain – at least not quickly.

At face value, Taeli provided the access codes to get them here. Without them, any number of Sith patrols might have picked them off – this was a Jedi Corvette, not a warship. But the truth was both more obvious and yet way more complex at the same time. Taeli was born on Corellia – as most of them had. That was the public and valid second reason for her to be here.

And Corvus knew there would be tension on board. For Taeli wasn’t just Taeli. She wasn’t even just her sister. She was a high-ranking Sith. Had the roles been reversed, Corvus was sure she would have been on edge. It was no doubt the fact she vouched for Darth Arcanix that allowed them to get this far without divulging the full facts. But then, sister or not, it was not Corvus’ story. If and when Taeli was ready to share anything, she would be there for her. And if she chose not to…well that was a n approach she’d equally support.

“The bigger the galaxy, the sweeter the homecoming.” Corvus sat in the cockpit as they finally came to rest on the planet’s surface. The old Corellian proverb never more poignant yet today full of melancholy. She turned to face her sister. “We don’t have long, we need to get going.”

[member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Hawk Solo"] | [member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Hawk Solo"]

"We've got about three hours before another shift occurs and this part of the planet becomes unstable and the atmosphere is charged with the raging energy that was unleashed," Taeli said, checking her chrono as a way to disguise her unease. "And there shouldn't be a major Sith patrol through here until after that shift, just a science team and a small escort here to observe the shift."

Getting up, she whispered, "So when do we drop the bombshell on your friends?"

She was prepared to do so, maybe after they went out onto the planet's surface, as right now she was playing the part of the Sith Lady. Her Mask technique, while giving her a headache, was keeping the false dark shell in place and she was dressed in a deep purple dress that fit her snugly. She kinda couldn't wait to discard the trappings of the Sith, although she would never give up the dresses, but the time wasn't just right yet.

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

The total destruction of an entire planet was unfathomable to even think of, much less see with your own eyes. A sprawling planet like Corellia with trillions of people living on it - gone in the blink of an eye. It terrified him knowing such devastation was possible. He'd read about the era of the Rebel Alliance versus the Galactic Empire in his youth, amazed at the prospect of overcoming an evil with the power to blow up planets. Now he simply wished such a thing would forever remain unheard of.

Keeping close to his wife, Thurion held her as she wept. Whether or not she had lived there for a long time didn't matter; this planet had always been her home, her place of origin. To suddenly realise you can never set foot on it again... It must be terrifying. "Coci, I'm... so sorry. I don't know what to say..." He would have to remain strong for her sake. To him, the immense loss of life outweighed the destruction of the planet itself. No tears were shed, but seeing his wife in such distress caused him no small amount of shared grief.

He'd never encountered this Sith Lady before, but with the likes of [member="Corvus Raaf"] vouching for her, he was willing to trust her. They were all here for the same reason, after all. Ancient religious dogma and moral differences would have to be put aside for shared personal goals. Hopefully the others would feel the same, or this trip could turn real ugly in a hurry.

[member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Hawk Solo"]​

 

[Hawk Solo]

[member="Coci Heavenshield"][member="Corvus Raaf"][member="Darth Arcanix"][member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

The landing gear hits the surface with a thud. Hawk sighs. It was time to deal with reality now. This was going to be the last time, he would ever set foot on his homeworld.

The emotions coming from the cockpit were overwhelming him. The profound sadness and grief. He glanced at the cockpit door. Wishing it would begin already,

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled at her sister. Being here with her allowed some of the pain to be tolerable – but not all, for they shared the hurt of the homecoming. “We can keep a low profile and avoid the science team if we can.”

“And as for the bombshell, that’s your decision to make. Me? I’d tell them straight away – but it has to be when it’s right for you. It’s a very brave thing you’re doing you know. It’s easy to say it’s the right thing and an outsider might see the choice as an easy one to make. But it’s not – and I really am so proud of you.”

She hugged her sister and nodded with her head towards the exit. “Whatever happens, we have to go this way.”

Corvus gazed at the assembled Jedi waiting for the exit onto the planet’s surface. “We only have three hours. It’s…it’s not how we remembered it. If you haven’t looked already, I suggest you brace yourself. I…have no more words…sorry.”

Holding her sister’s hand, Corvus led them towards the exit. Pressing a button, the ramp lowered revealing the devastation that was once a bustling capital city.

[member="Hawk Solo"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Coci pulled back from Thurion only to fuss with his jacket unnecessarily but it always distracted her from the situation momentarily. "There is nothing anyone can say", she finally looked up into his face and tried a weak smile. She took in a deep breath to steady herself, "I have lost what little family I had on Corellia, but so have many more. That is the tragedy as well as the destruction of the planet".

She looked over to [member="Hawk Solo"], stand alone and the saddness issuing from him palpable the same with @Corvus and her friend [member="Darth Arcanix"], whom later she could discover otherwise.

They had touched down on the surface, unsteady and unpredictible .. the flashing of a volitile atmosphere flicker across the landscape set before them, so foreign to her now, nothing remained that looked familiar and the air prickled with uncertaintity. The ship would soon be on ground and only then will they are get a better understanding of the entire distruction of Corellia.

"Hawk, remain strong, we need to do this and face whatever might be out there, there maybe people that need our help", she added trying to give some kind of purpose to all this. Her hand reached for Thurion's and found it, she held him as to not let go and for support and strength to face it all. "Thank you for being with me, I need you more than you will ever know". The fact was without [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] in her life, she would be lost.

"Corvus, lets do this, take us down".

[member="Corvus Raaf"] (we posted in unison) yay!

 

[Hawk Solo]

[member="Corvus Raaf"][member="Coci Heavenshield"][member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

Hawk takes a deep breath to steady himself. "Three hours? That not a lot of time." He sets his timer on his watch. "Guys, I ..my mom wants me to go her place and tried to find her jewelry box." He shugs his shoulder. "I have to see if I can salvage something for her."

He wipes a tear away from his eye. He hoped he doesn't make a fool of himself today. He wasn't sure how he was going to react. First, he had lost his master in recent weeks. Now his homeworld.

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Coci's faint smile was met with one of his own. "You still have a family," he spoke softly as his palm found her cheek. Pressing his lips against her forehead, the time had come for the party to disembark and gaze upon the destruction of an entire world. Never letting go of her hand as the ramp lowered, they were met with the sight of complete and utter desolation; few if any buildings remained standing, creating a hostile environment filled with rubbled and debris. The ground was scorched and void of life and everything was deathly silent.

"Odiir's beard..." he finally spoke, not even noticing referencing the gods of his ancestors rather than the Force. His grip of Coci tightened.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Hawk Solo"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Darth Arcanix"]​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Hawk Solo"]

'I'll tell them after we're done paying our respects to the world,' she thought to her sister over their bond as they stepped onto the surface of the world. It was cracked and gray, a world that had suffered much and continued to suffer. Not much had survived the incident with Akala, although some interesting ruins had appeared in the area where the strange world had fused with Corellia.

"I have to warn you all," she said, turning a bit to face the group. "Not only is the world unstable, but the Force itself is extremely chaotic and sick here. We had two Sith Knights come down here and they went insane because they encountered a massive wound in the Force. This place really is like Malachor V, so be very careful. The dark side lurks everywhere here now, avoid any swirling clouds of dark energy and avoid the center of major population centers. That's where we've been encountering the wounds in the Force."

'Coronet City in particular is filled with small wounds, but a huge one exists near the center where people were trying to take refuge,' she thought again to her sister.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus stepped out first, her sister half a step behind her - their hands still clasped. It no doubt looked an odd sight to the others. A Sith and a Jedi holding hands! They may even be making up their own theories as to why Corvus vouched for her. But the truth would out soon enough. Both truths.

One was eminently guessable. Standing next to each other, they both had their mother's eyes. The other? Not even in their wildest flights of fancy would they be expecting what Taeli was going to tell them. And Corvus would wait, as she promised.

Corvus tried to get her bearings - but wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad idea. It resembled some alien landscape and she wondered if she was best suited to let it stay like that. To recognise the shells of familiar building was heart-breaking. To glimpse the blackened remains of places she once visited?

But one building drew her - or rather what was left of it. The old Academy. Her home for ten years. Now all she could see were charred remains. It had no doubt been defiled by the Sith before the cataclysmic event happened - but that hardly softened the blow. And aware she'd only taken a few steps, she moved slowly forward. She didn't trust herself to look anyone in the eye. Brave she could do. This? This was beyond courageous. So she squeezed her sister's hand and walked ahead, her eyes misty, her lids blinking rapidly to afford her the ability to see.

'Is there anywhere you need to go?' Her sister hadn't grown up here but she was born in this city and she knew her elder sibling held it close to her heart.

[member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Hawk Solo"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Darth Arcanix"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Hawk Solo"]​

​

She had turned away from the sight of the window, and already she could feel the rupture in the force. It was like it wept for Corellia, disjointed and angry and Coci remember the event, the violent ripping and disunity all force users had experienced that period of time. She would not let go of Thurion's hand now, not until they walked the surface of her home planet, it is still her home planet regardless and always will be.

Their companion, the friend of Corvus spoke, with words of experience already of this change but Coci's brow knitted, the warning well received however there was more given away in her words than the state of Corellia.

We had two Sith Knights come down here? she mused at this comment, and looked to Thurion. Now clear there is more to all this, however she had understood well enough Corvus would have had to gain some access, a contact to get them through to ground, but she was disappointed they were not informed considering the cargo on board the ship, meaning two grand masters, a master of the silver order and a valued knight of the Silver Jedi.

However, for now she let it rest and followed out of the ship. Each had their own agendas to come here, Corvus and her friend would move off, Hawk need to do something for his mother but Coci just wanted understand .. what happened and give help if she could.

"Hawk do you want us to come with you?", she asked him before he would depart., after all the situation is dangerous. They had three hours in which to make some sense of all this destruction.

 

[Hawk Solo]

[member="Coci Heavenshield"][member="Corvus Raaf"][member="Darth Arcanix"][member="Thurion Heavenshield"]


The door slides open to reveal Corellia new landscape. It was grey and bleak. Buildings were mostly ruins. The once beautiful city of Coronet was gone forever. Th sweet smell of flowers was now the smell of decaying bodies. He walks down the ramp.

Hawk wanted to fall down to his kneels and howl in grief. It was his training as a Jedi that he was able to control his emotions. He clears his throat. He turns to Cocci. "Yes, I could use the company. Our home wasn't too far from here." If he has his bearing right. They were only 4 miles away..maybe a little more.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Hawk Solo"]

'I'll stay with you, sis,' Taeli thought back quietly to her sister, still holding her hand as they headed towards what remained of the old Corellian Jedi Academy. It had seen a heavy amount of damage in the cataclysm, little more than charred and broken ruins now. Still, the place must hold so many memories for her sister, even if the place had been evacuated before the Sith had arrived in system.

"Fair warning, have your oxygen masks ready," Taeli said into the comlink while the others went on their own journey of reflection. "The atmosphere is still unstable and can break apart and expose certain sections to vacuum. Speaking directly to Corvus, she said, "I'm here for you Corvus, no matter what happens."

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled inwardly but the emotion couldn’t break through onto her face - so horrified was she by the devastation. As she walked forward, what was left of some key buildings were enough for her to gather her bearings. She’d landed at a high point, that had afforded them a good position to evaluate the landscape. The Academy would take a good thirty minutes to reach but as it was set in an open space, it was easily identifiable and also could be viewed from some way away.

She reminisced about her ten years there…how she’d met her first Master. How he’d died during that violent electrical storm, and how that had resurfaced her fear of them. She looked around, towards the underwater caves where the unique orange saber crystals could be found. That’s where she was when the storm had hit. Only the Force warned her that something awful had happened.

“Ten very full years and ones that shaped me. My Master knew I was the adventurous type, always the one to complete the dare. He made me spend so much time in the Archives to curb that natural desire. He made me the scholar I am today. I still miss him, even though I know he’s joined the Force and is therefore always with me.”

She turned to face her sister. “I wish you’d learned here. I wish we could have grown up together. The…the three of us. If I’d stayed, Melori would have been different. The terrible trio we would have been, but imagine what we could have accomplished. And mum and dad…well, you know.”

[member="Taeli Rae"] | [member="Hawk Solo"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Hawk Solo"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Heavenshield"]

"I wish all of that too, Corvy," Taeli whispered, bringing her sister into a hug. "I wish . . . every day that I could have known our parents, known all of you before all of this . . . to be a family . . . You know, we might not be able to be the terrible trio until Melori is redeemed . . . but we could be the dynamic duo."

Looking out at the distant ruins, she continued whispering, "I don't think your Master ever got rid of that adventurous spirit though, sis, not completely. You still love going on adventures, being an active Jedi Master, even if you enjoy the teaching aspect of things too. But imagine . . . I'd be going off all hair-triggered to explore some ruin or such, you'd be following me in, Melori helping us . . . we can still get that. Once I join you in the Jedi, we can work on how to save Melori from herself and the darkness."

"Can you tell me more about your old Master while we walk?" she asked, curious about the person who had shaped her sister's life for ten years.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

In one sense Corvus felt awkward, leaving the others whilst she kept with her sister, but then they would no doubt feel more comfortable until they were aware of the truth.

“The dynamic duo? It has a familiar ring to it.” She looked into the distance. “Ah, Master Jareck. He cured me of my fear of electric storms you know. He taught me that fear of something was greater than the thing itself. It always is and has been in my experience. Nothing is ever as terrifying as what you can imagine. And he encouraged me to study some of histories greatest Jedi. He believed that I could learn from each of them – and discouraged me from focusing on any one, less I overlooked their weaknesses or another’s strengths.” She smiled. “He might have been fighting a losing battle with that one.”

“But he made me the scholar I am today. For a while all I wanted to be was a Librarian. Funny how things work out. But he instilled a work ethic in me that I’m pleased to have. I know people say I work too hard, but I simply love being a Jedi. I know I should socialise and have more down time but…I don’t know, it never works out as fun. And I know what you’re going to say. Pretend to have fun. And, who knows, if I start pretending to have fun, I might even have a little by accident.”

She smiled again. “I’d like to save Melori…if we can. I mean that’s obvious and not a day goes past when I don’t think about it. But I have to be patient. Master Jareck taught me that.”

"Oh, and we need to keep an eye on the time, I hope you are."

[member="Taeli Rae"] | [member="Hawk Solo"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]