Norill Rayl'shyk's Story

A booming sound reverberated throughout the area as a lone ship appeared on the horizon, the sky lit up by the trail of fire that streamed from one of its engines. The craft swayed to and fro in the evening sky as its pilot attempted to steady its course, though the turbulence threatened to rip them apart.

"We're coming in hard, brace yourselves!" shouted Norill to his crew members as he struggled to keep the wheel steady. The troopers scrambled to find an empty seat or anything sturdy enough to tie themselves down to. The captain managed to guide the vessel onto a relatively flat portion of the mountain, though the impact was no less as harsh. The cruiser slammed into the side of the mountain, the rocky terrain shedding much of its metallic underbelly as it lost momentum. It continued to slide until it finally slammed until it collided with a large wall of rock and ice, ripping of its left set of wings in the process.

Silence crept over the crash site and lingered for minutes until the top hatch of the wrecked aircraft was blown from its hinges. The first to climb out was Norill, then his apprentice, and the small unit of clone troopers after him. The crew took a moment to recover, still slightly disorientated from the crash landing.

"Colt, scan the area and see where we've landed." commanded Norill, to which the head ARC Trooper behind him nodded. He scanned the area, trying to see if any of the landmarks were recognizable. Nothing.. The temple in the distance did catch his attention however.

Colt grumbled while trying to pull up the scanner built into his gauntlet, but to no avail. "Scanner's fried sir, must've happened in the crash."

Norill furrowed his brow in frustration and pointed toward the temple he'd spotted earlier. "There, maybe whoever is staying there will have some answers for us. Let's move!" Aeka followed closely behind her master while the troopers moved to either side of them and advanced forward.

What in the name of all of Terra could this little sight be? Iason simply watched from the steps of the temple with his own electric binoculars just to smile and lower them from his gaze only to turn his attention to his already landed ship. The assassin was supposed to meet up with Byron and the Jedi who was constantly described as "The beginning of all things" only to aid in the repairs of their ship and make their way to Master Mor so that the next phase of the plans could be set into motion. It was however a damn shame that there was a empty time slot for the assassin to have a bit of fun while he was here.

Slowly standing from his position Iason would step on over to his ship just to open a small storage unit on the side and produce a flare gun from which he quickly loaded and aimed up into the sky only to allow the orange streak to escape from the barrel and explode high up in the air to signify that he had seen the crashed ship and its crew.

"Master Mor..." The assassin chimed in over his wrist communicator with a rather wicked grin upon his face. "The party guests have just arrived. Should I entertain them for awhile for you or is there something else you wanted me to do with them?" In response to the assassins query a document was sent to the assassin along with his own quizzical brow being raised.

The mountain trail would have been harsh to many a traveller, but to those versed in crossing between planes, such worldly hazards were of little concern. The swift shape of a fox sped at unlikely velocity up the mountain, its paws barely seeming to grace the ground as it moved. That was not the only thing odd about it, however. The shape of the fox appeared to be entirely translucent, a pale blue glow emanating from its similarly coloured body. Its eyes glowed brightly with white, as did the patterns upon its hide, standing out from the less intense blue of the rest.

Such was the visible form of one walking in the plane of spirits, of souls. Like a ghost, the fox was not hindered by that which would cause any regular being pause. Sheer surfaces were scaled in leaps and bounds, blockages of rock were passed straight through without trouble. Any walking the trail would scarcely see more than a blur of light as the fox bounded past, or perhaps straight across in front of them as it cut a corner up the side of the mountain.

Within the spirit realm, Achaeos did not see the world the same as those without. Some aspects were the same: the scenery, static structures, and anything inanimate that had remained stationary for sufficient time were all present, albeit with a blueish coloured filter. But humans, animals or otherwise living beings, appeared only as hovering wisps. Souls, spirits, whatever you wished to call them. To the untrained eye there was little way of distinguishing them, one from another, but to Achaeos each soul spoke volumes about the being it was attached to.

There were also the other spirits: those not attached to the mortal plane. Either like him, they had crossed bodily into this realm, or they resided here permanently. They took upon a shape, just as he maintained his fox form. In the distance a dragon flew; an air spirit perhaps, or a demon. The denizens of this world were dangerous, but most thought better of interfering with the kitsune. He was powerful (and such things were obvious here) and they respected that power.

As he swiftly ascended the mountain, something caught his eye. The violent descent of the ship was not visible to him clearly in this realm, but the emotional state of its passengers was. Their spirits were flaring with panic and fear, falling from the sky. It was clear something was amiss. And so fluidly, mid-leap, Achaeos crossed from the spirit realm and back to the mortal plane. Padded feet met the ground solidly for the first time upon the mountain, as his body took upon its natural red-brown colour and opacity. He paused upon a pile of rocks to observe the situation that he had only caught a whisper of in the spirit realm.

A short distance below him, at the bottom of the outcrop he was perched upon, a craft of some nature had crashed. It seemed as though all had survived. Achaeos could not detect any souls leaving their mortal forms, but that did not mean there were no injuries. A few short leaps and bounds later, and he was descending towards the pathway that the ship's passengers were taking towards the temple that had been his own destination too.

The fox leaped from over the path, and the man's feet touched the ground as Achaeos, having shifted to his human form, dropped into a crouch to land, lantern flickering warmly in the cold air. His long hair draped over his shoulders and down to his waist and his kimono shifted in a river of cloth as he rose to stand, turning to face the troopers and their leaders. "Greetings," he said, bowing politely towards them, "I mean you no harm, strangers. I saw your crash, and came to see if I could offer any aid. Are you all unhurt?"

When the flare gun went off near the temple, Achaeos turned towards it briefly, frowning at the malice that he sensed emanating from beneath it. It did not bode well that such an individual was at the very temple he had felt compelled to seek out. Was this not the home of the Patronus order that he had heard tell of? A trick, maybe: a lure by some malicious entity? Either way, it demanded investigation, but not until he had ascertained the status of these others.

The ARC Troopers stopped suddenly in surprise, aiming their plasma rifles at the feline that appeared before them. It was only until the command to cease was given did they lower their weapons. Odd.. I didn't even sense its presence until just now. Norill stepped forward to greet the boy, still cautious of him. "Luckily no one was injured in the landing. Could you tell us where we are?"

The sound of a flare caught the group's attention, causing them to turn their heads in that direction. "Do you feel that?.." asked Aeka while stepping to her master's side, keeping her eyes in that direction. "Yeah, I do.." There was another force-sensitive in that area, a dark side user, and it was likely that they were the ones who had fired the flare. But why give away their position? Surely is was better to mask one's presence from other Force users.

The clones spoke among themselves, unaware of what they two Jedi spoke of. "Probably just some Force mumbo-jumbo.."

"Yeah, looks like I'll get to put some wear-and-tear on this new armor!"

"Shut it Rookie." chimed another Trooper.

"Excuse me, sir?" a voice spoke up as a woman descended down the steps of the Patronus' temple towards Iason. "I don't know how you got that thing down into here with the interference these mountains put off, but flying vehicles anywhere near the temple is strictly prohibited. This isn't a public parking lot, and you need to get that thing out of here."

Her words had an impatient bite to them, but in her experience people who show up uninvited to remote temples, and land ships in their front lawn without so much as consulting the residents of the temple while they go about their business weren't the sort of people that you wanted hanging around.

The mountains in the area put off a great deal of interference for navigation systems and electronics which made it somewhat suicidal to try and fly through them, making it all the more dangerous to land airborne vehicles anywhere near the temple, and no roads were available for ground vehicles to traverse the treacherous terrain that surrounded the Patronus stronghold. It was a remote, but highly defensible location within the heart of the icy peaks.

As no accommodations had been built for landing ships, the only clear area to set down was the temple courtyard itself which had a throng of people gathering to see what was going on, and why a ship was sitting on their front steps.

The woman that spoke to Iason appeared to be in her late thirties and adorned in a silver and white cloak to ward against the icy mountain air. The sigil on the front of her somewhat archaic armor marked her as a member of the Knights of Le'thoria, a branch of the Patronus order.

While she awaited a word of explanation from the stranger she caught sight of the steam and smoke rising from one of the distant peaks with a frown.

"Tahlia," she called out to a young woman crossing the courtyard. "Take Cinaed out to investigate that would you? It looks like a ship went down out there."

Achaeos was unflinching in the face of the rifles pointed at him. It was clear the men were merely surprised by his sudden entrance and had little desire to pull the trigger. That judgement was ascertained when they lowered their weapons. "This is the mountain range known as the Icy Peaks, at the north of the continent Aslund," the kitsune replied, "And if I am correct in thinking your craft is spacefaring by its alien design, then perhaps I should also note that this is the planet Terra."

The young-looking man looked back over his shoulder, "This temple specifically, I believe to be the home of the order known as the Patronus. My knowledge of them in this day and age is not extensive, unfortunately, but what I do know is that they consider themselves 'protectors' of a kind. The temple is my destination also. I am a traveller from elsewhere on the continent." Achaeos frowned. "Be on your guard. Someone with a dark heart lurks upon its steps. I know not their purpose, but I do not think they are one of the temple's regular denizens."

He nodded towards the temple, "Our destinations align, so there is no sense in travelling separately. I will walk with you, if I may." he said, then simply started to walk. His sandals crunched in the snow, though he showed little sign of discomfort or cold from his relatively exposed (through tabi) feet.

Cináed perked up from amidst the small crowd of observers when he heard his name mentioned, smiling. A stroll down the mountainside to save people from a crashed ship? That certainly sounded more exciting than wandering around Wing City or reading through dusty old tomes in the temple library. Not that people potentially being dead was exciting, but, well... they were probably fine, the optimist in him reassured him.

The young blonde's eyes sought out Tahlia, who was standing nearby, and he made his way over with a smile. "Guess we're off down the mountain for a bit!" he said, "You need to grab anything before we set out, or shall we go straight off?"

"It's not far from the look of things," Tahlia replied, turning and starting to walk to make her answer obvious.

Cináed nodded his head and set off after her, and the pair set off from the courtyard of the temple and headed down the trail in the direction of the ship's crash site.

"I am sorry I had no choice than to land here due to the unstable flying conditions this area has provided." Iason quickly spoke as he put the flare gun up knowing that the other group had seen it. "In truth I was following them for awhile up until my master said they would crash here. I take it you all can help them?" With that said the assassin simply hopped back into his ship and took off as fast as he could.

Terra.. and the Patronus temple. He wondered why he had never heard of this planet before. Was it even under the watch of the Jedi Order? It seemed they weren't the only ones who assumed the role of protectors and peacekeepers.

"That dark heart you speak of is a Sith, we sensed them not too long ago." replied Norill, to which his padawan began to speak:

"What would the Sith be doing here, and how did they find out about this planet before the Jedi did?"

Now that was a question he couldn't answer, and wanted to find out for himself. It wasn't long until one of the troopers spotted a cruiser taking flight and bolting away from the temple. "Looks like something spooked him." Aeka shivered slightly, wishing she had brought warmer clothing.

"A sith? I have not heard that term before, nor 'Jedi'." Achaeos remarked as he watched the other ship take to the skies and depart the area. "You must be from another world, I assume, by your reference to 'this planet' and usage of such unknown terms. What lies beyond this world is an area my knowledge is sorely lacking, I am afraid. What little I know of the stars is on a far more spiritual basis than I imagine is relevant."

He noticed Aeka shivering as they walked, and in response raised his lantern. The fire within it pulsed, before a swarm of wisp-like flames burst from it and circled outwards to around the group. The moderately sized candle-flame shaped fires bobbed in the air with a strange uniformity, none of the jumping and flickering of a normal fire, merely a regular controlled rippling. They emanated a pleasant heat through the area, fending off the cold of the mountain air. "For your comfort, miss." Achaeos said to Aeka, inclining his head towards her politely.

"The Jedi are operate on the planet Coruscant, though they can be born on any one that holds sentient life." replied Norill as they drew closer to the temple.

"The Jedi are enforcers of peace, protecting those unable to protect themselves who are unable to do it themselves." chimed Aeka, nodding in thanks to the fox-eared man. She stared at the little flames that danced around her, appreciating the warm they provided.

"The Sith are a sect of Darksiders, or Dark Side users of the force. The sworn enemy of the Jedi." Due to his upbringing, Norill had a different view than most. Being a user of both, he believed that the Darksiders and Lightsiders both kept the Force in balance. It made much more sense to him than the common belief. Most believed that the eradication of the Sith would bring balance, but how could the Force be balanced if there was no darkness to oppose the light?

Such beliefs limited all force-sensitives..

Cináed and Tahlia hurried down the mountain side on their way to find the crash site of the ship, passing by Bigsby in the process. "Sorry!" Cináed called to him as they passed, "Can't stop to talk! Got some people to save!" The wizard might notice the air becoming oddly warmer as the young blonde boy and his white-haired companion zipped by, but it was gone in a flash.

It wasn't long before the pair drew close enough to see the group of troopers and the kimono-clad figure with them. Cináed stuck his hand up in a wave "Hey!" he called out as they descended towards the group, "Is everyone alright down there? We saw the ship crash, and thought you might need some help!"

When they drew close enough, Cináed came to a halt, taking a few moments to catch his breath before addressing the group with a smile. "My name is Cináed, and this is Tahlia. We're from the temple just up there - by the looks of things, you're all okay?" No life-saving today, then, but it was better that there wasn't anyone hurt in any case.

The wizard simply shrugged a bit when he saw the young group going to save the crashed people but it was not the wizards concerns to get involved in such things. "The young have no sense of time or what they waste their youth on it seems." Bigsby muttered only to then simply turn around and look upon the smoking vessel off into the distance just to shake his head a bit. "Gnomish craftsmen could create a sturdier and more vibrantly colored ship than that. Also I doubt they would fly in such horrid weather."

It was with that said that the elderly man simply continued on to admire the courtyard for a bit and all who walked within its graces.

Achaeos turned towards Cinaed and Tahlia and bowed his head towards the pair respectfully. He raised an eyebrow at the odd spiritual signature he detected around the young blonde boy, but held his tongue. It would be rude of him to comment on such a thing, for it was almost akin to being able to observe someone without clothes; seeing through the physical form and into the internal core that made up one's private innermost being.

"All is fine here, I believe." he replied, "I was merely passing by myself, and came to help just as you did. I was on my way to your temple, as it happens. You are members of the Patronus?" he questioned.

"We're fine." replied Norill while looking on to the duo that approached, "Though I can't say the same thing about my cruiser, I built the damn thing from ground up." He furrowed his brow while glancing into the sky. Just what was it that had caused them to crash? Some sort of disruption field perhaps..

"You two owe me a new ship." the sable-haired male pointed his finger at Cinaed and Tahlia, evoking a sigh from Aeka. "Master I--" the young apprentice opened her mouth to speak, but quickly silenced herself when met with the glare of her teacher.

"Wait, we owe you a new ship that you crashed?" Tahlia asked with a look of mild incredulity before laughing lightly.

"Sorry to break it to you, but we aren't exactly responsible for damages caused by the weather and naturally occurring levels of magnetism in these mountains. Don't even get me started on the interference the auranite causes with electro-magnetic waves and radar."

She cracked an amused grin. "Fortunately for our funds these mountains were here long before we moved in, but if you want to sue the mountain for damages I'm not stopping you."

"Honestly though, you're all lucky to be alive. We have some mechanics back at the temple that could come take a look at your ship if you want. They can help see if any of it's salvageable. In the meanwhile we have room enough to put you people up if you need some food and shelter for now."

So us crashing was caused by a natural phenomena, or so they claimed.. He hadn't spotted any technology scattered throughout the landscape during their descent, so the explanation was plausible. "We've already gathered everything that wasn't destroyed in the crash." retorted Norill, unable to find anything in the matter that warranted laughter. Blasters, a couple of medical kits, and the armor worn by the two force users when in combat. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"Food and shelter would be great." chimed Aeka, "You'll have to excuse my master, that was his favorite ship." A smile spread across her face, her best effort to bring some lightness to the area. Though they were fully capable of fending for themselves, it would make no sense to deny such an offer.

Cináed shared in Tahlia's bemusement at Norill's demand, but like her, he remained in good humour - as ever. With Tahlia having answered that, Cináed looked across to Achaeos, "That we are! Well, fledgling members at least. I've only been here a couple of months or so myself."

He glanced back over his shoulder at the temple, "Well, if you were already on your way up, we might as well walk you back! What should we call you all, anyway?"

"My name is Achaeos." replied the kitsune, "But you can call me Aki if you wish." He returned a smile to both of the temple denizens, nodding his head. "Your company would be most welcome. I must admit, I am intrigued by your order. I found myself inexplicably drawn here, and in my experience, there is almost always an explanation for that which seems inexplicable. Would you be aware of anything of that nature, or are the fates simply playing their cards more openly than usual?"

When Achaeos started walking, the little ring of candle flames bobbed alongside him, though they gave any other members of the group plenty of space so as not to burn them. His lantern swayed as he walked, its own flame unperturbed by the high winds of the mountaintop.

The old wizard had much on his mind and with a slight turn of his head and a flick of his wrist, which turned out to be nothing more than reaching into one of his sleeves, he produced a rather dull pipe made from stone and wood just to lit it up and take a few puffs in order to get his mind straight. It was not that Bigsby had no idea as to the reason why he came to the mountains but more or less that he had forgotten and needed a reason to move once again.

The orb atop of his staff would come to life once more as movement beneath the crystal sent a chill down the wizards spin followed by a frown that turned into a look of disgust. "No, no I said, and I do not think that the people here would look better with a tan!" Bigsby shouted at the orb atop of his staff as if it had said something to him previously. It was not that the wizard was insane but rather strange to most as he took a long puff on his pipe and began to ponder destroying his staff.