The corridors of the Obsidian Eagle were similar to those of... well, the last Star Destroyer Radimus had been on. It was not exactly an Imperial Destroyer, but a capital ship used during the Clone Wars. However, much of the design philosophy was retained over the years.
The State rooms- like the one he was pulled into earlier- was one such deviation. The mess hall was also a deviation. More extravagant compared to the simplistic, function-over-style halls he had frequented alongside some Clone Troopers.
I wonder how Ninety is doing. he found himself wondering, And the other three...
Breakfast was a quick ordeal. Many discussions were had about things beyond Radimus' pay grade, updates on personal lives were exchanged, and the cat-woman called Snowbund received Qui-Gon's lightsaber from Cynthiana.
I remember we once called him Qui-Gon Gin. The Jedi Master never drank, but the pun was always a kicker with the other disciples.
Soon enough, Radimus was milling through the rooms of the Visionary. He figured he might as well do some clean-up since he wasn't planning to go anywhere anytime soon.
Out of nowhere came a all at once familar voice. "I couldnt find you after breakfast" Cytnhiana stood in the doorway of the cockpit to the Visonary. Her gaze went to the lightsaber hanging on its chain. "You up for a trial ?"
"A trial?" Radimus asked. He knew his ship, he could feel the shift in weight when Cynthiana boarded. Plus, the whole Force-like pull he felt with her made her approach recognizable. He was currently cleaning up the room across from his bunk, where he stored extra weaponry as well as combat clothing and munitions. His eyes settled on an old-looking blaster rifle for a moment. "Well, I thought cleaning up the bird for once would be a trial." He picked up the blaster rifle and secured it to the weapons locker. He then turned and asked, "What did you have in mind?"
She held out her hand, in it the Ancient Sith Holocron floated a moment before showing a navigation route, one presumably long forgotten but was actually quite stable. "An old Temple,.... in the heart of what used to be the Sith Empire long ago.... Rumor has that it holds a Temple there where you can find a new crystal"
"Are these rumours founded?" Radimus smirked.
"They are, its where Master Jinn got his crystal"
"That would've been a long time ago," Radimus shrugged, "Still, it'd be something to do while keeping a low profile. Although the Empire might have found it." Radimus pondered aloud, "Still... it'd be nice to get my blade working again."
"Trust me its better than Moorja or any other more known planets."
"Guess it's a date then," With a chuckle, the smuggler headed out of the armoury, and followed Cynth into the cockpit. He slipped into his chair and began warming up the engines. In the communications console, he hailed the control tower. "This is VCX-100-02552, callsign "Visionary." Request permission to leave?"
"Copy that Visionary, permission is granted on vector three thirty two. Have a safe flight, see you at the Downs" Came the reply from hangar control. Cynthiana had to smile, trust Kinara to have her clones with her own personality quirks
With a nod, Radimus lifted off, and carefully soared out of the hangar. "Alright, lemme see that route..." Radimus examined the holocron map closely. "Looks like..." He then started tapping calculations into the navigation computer. "Alright, let's roll!" With that, he pushed the double-lever, and the Visionary once more vanished into Hyperspace.
Once they were stable in the flow, Radimus rose from his seat. "I'm gonna keep cleaning. We've got a while before we get there. It's almost half-way across the galaxy." Once more, he entered the Armoury and continued cleaning up the place.
The hold didnt exactly have the combat space desired for lightsaber training so until asked to hold or move something or aiding in the cleaning Cynthiana simply helped Radimus clean the ship. Finally in the bunk she saw him cleaning a few things inside the locker. One of them, the lightwhip hilt. Seeing it she asked simply "What is that ?"
"She was a piece of work," Radimus said after gazing at the whip hilt, "And also what happened to my previous crystal."
"You mentioned that you blew your old crystal up. How is that possible ?"
"It was a matter of cycling the crystals' energies back into itself, amplified with a series of power cells." The explosion, when it did happen, resembled a spiked ball of lightsaber blades shooting out in a myriad of directions, stabbing effortlessly through anything unfortunate enough to be in its path.. Not even the most perceptive Jedi or Sith could've dodged it if they fell for the trap. "When it went off, the one who used that whip was standing right on top of it. Grazed me too," Radimus removed his jacket and indicated an old burn-gash on his left arm that had since healed over. "It was on Kuat, in fact. It's where I got Visionary too."
"I recall my brother upset he lost his fiance in a explosion. he died six weeks later" Cynthiana said briefly staring at the healed over scar. "Well, you havbe your war trophy so to speak. Honerstly I'm glad you did what you had to, had my brother married her.... well.. there's better ways to die... Like a speeder accident or a hyperdrive explosion"
"Nah, she kept me locked up as her... well..." Radimus didn't much like to talk about it. He preferred to drown those memories in... less-crazy women.
"I understand, you got your war trophies.... and I got the Inquesito... hey was this her weapon ?" Cynthiana picked up the strange hilt The inquistor used had a track, no actual hilt persei. It felt strange in her hands for that matter
Radimus gazed at the lightsaber with actual focus for the first time. "You think those Inquisitors put trackers in their hilts?"
"Lets find out" Cynthiana said, the strange hilt then flaoted in the air between them, a motion of her hands and the thing pretty much exploded into pieces, like an exploded diagram of how something worked. the crystal pused a strange way, however the tracker was easily spotted "yup, there it is.... hmmm. Drop us out at Seeles System, I'll jettison this onece we get there" Cynthiana said as the hilt rebuilt itself as it if was never damaged.
"You got it," Radimus headed back into the cockpit, checked the star map, and completed some calculations. "Should be a safe stop right... now." He decelerated, and they found themselves a safe distance between two suns.
As the ship deaclerated Cynthiana let go of the saberhilt, it flew towards the airlock, which she sealed once the hilt was in the thing. Opening the ramp the hilt was sucked into space. But just to be sure it wssnt in their path, Cynthiana nudged it further with the Force. "We're clear, Lets go With any luck the Inquisitor will think us dead in one of those suns"
Once the ramp was closed again, Radimus re-entered some new coordinates, and fired up the hyperdrive. Without a tracker causing any problems, they were back on course. "I hope Kinara wasn't planning on sticking around our meeting point for too long!"
"If the Inqui tracked the saber that far, wouldnt dare go against the 'Eagle. That thing drawfs a normal impStar or a VicStar at least three times" Cynthiana said climibf the ladder to the cockpit from the lower levels, taking a seat in the copilots chair
"Yeah, well I've seen a single Bomber cripple a capital ship," Radimus once more recalled his beint stationed on the large Clone ship a long time ago. The Separtists had a particularly skilled pilot on that bomber. "Anyway, the Temple's a Sith place?" He didn't much care for the so-called "duties" of the Jedi, but the "selfish" focus of the Sith struck him as equally repulsive. From where he stood, Radimus believed in living as part of the universe, a conduit of the Force. Nothing like a responsible Jedi Knight, dedicated to some cause, or causing extinction of the Sith for a millenia.
"Not entirely. Its a Force nexus point, but thanks to the ancient Sith Empire its.... kinda corrupted by the Dark Side. But otherwise its harmless" Cynthiana said ".... I have been there a few times. its not the best view, but its alright"
They still had a while before they arrived, so Radimus once more returned to the Armory. "When I was with Mace- Master Windu- we were stationed aboard a Clone capital ship. A Venator-class called Othello. I got along with some Clone Commandos, November Squad. I thought while lightsabers were the Jedi's weapon, it couldn't hurt to be more flexible. They taught me to shoot." He jerked a thumb at the armoury, where the blaster rifle still hung. "They requested an extra rifle for me."
"They don't make the energy cells anymore, so I modified it to take the new ones. November-Nine-Zero - we called him Old-Timer since his number was ninety- he was the tech whiz. Got me interested in tinkering- though I never got to practicing until I ran away."
"November Squad ?... I only remember Beta Squad, Then some major units. Like the 501st...." Cynthiana shivered at the memory as she all but fell into ther copilots chair. She'd never forget how she fled the Temple, lying outright to that sith lord she once called a friend
Of course he believed her that was what shocked her the most, Skywalker killing younglings, then aiming to kill her, but he stopped, because she had the holocron. And she lied to his face, and he believed her words.
Of course she never took the Holocron to Sidious, she kept it. Learned from it, became the sole Heir of KDY, a public figure so powerful that only the Empoeror himself would have to kill her to make a point or even hope to keep starship supplies moving with her gone. Which was odd, with all the activity in the Outer Rim territories had her construction yards working overtime just to keep with demand.
"Not a lot of folks knew much about the Commando squads. It was either battalions like Vader's Fist or the ARCs." Radimus headed to the armoury to retrieve the old Commando rifle. "You ever fire one of these?" He asked with a smirk.
Cynthiana took the weapon in her hands, it felt weird compared to a lightsaber, a blaster pistol yeah she'd handle one of those when on missions for the Council those few weeks leading up to Order 66. But even then she hated using a blaster, it felt wrong. in her hands "Not since the start of the Clone Wars" She said simply
The way she held it made it clear she wasnt used to it. "Feels.... different, I mean, I've used a blaster pistol, but only once do I remember using a blaster rifle... it was on Moorja, I tried to shoot a Sith... It didnt work" It was the same result that Radimus had when he tried to shoot the Inqusitor the first time, the bolt just stopped in its path
She handed the weapon back to Radimus. "If you could see November Squad again... Would you take that chance ?"
"I think we both went our separate ways, and if we ever meet again, it'd be because the Force allowed it," Radimus replied. Trusting in the natural balance of the Force was the one big thing he agreed with the old Jedi council about.
The smuggler headed down to the lower decks to continue cleaning up the place. He had much to do, and all the time in Hyperspace to do it.
From where she sat in the copilots chair she could keep an eye on their flight path as well as any incoming transmissions. One transmission however caught her eye. So she spoke aloud, her voice carried by the internal comm "But would you take it ? It is a risk, after all, they're Clones, programmed to kill Jedi now most surely. But... if there was a chance..." Cynthiana was trying to put together the coded transmission, decoding it took time but still
"If it was a cycle ago, probably. Now, with me being made. I don't think so."
"Well I am, because Im picking up a transmission.... an old Jedi code too"
"What?" Radimus closed up a storage cell in the Lounge and headed back to the cockpit. "Any idea who it's from?"
"I only knew one Padawan before going to Moorja who used that word constantly in the code.... We called her Bantha... Crazy blue skinned girl, bright red eyes too. had an obseession with Banthas. So when she went with her Master on missions, and they were in destress or needed help, the code would be sent out with that word repeating." And it was repated, over and over, along with a string of numbers. But the word Bantha was clearly heard
"Its coming from Dromund Kaas"
"Bantha...?" Radimus scratched his head. "There aren't any Banthas in this neck of the woods-" He then recognized two numbers. RC-0122 and RC-0905. "It couldn't be..." Where were the odds? "Those are Commando numbers. That's Lance and Dex."
"I know, Banthas are native I think to Tatooine, that's in the Outer Rim sure, but nowhere near where we're going. So, if Bantha is sending out the code with this word over and over, simply repeating, with those numbers... And they're coming from Dromund Kaas.... strange, the only things on that planet is some hold out Mandolorians, Some Sith... though greatly reduced and mostly just crazies. then Gundarks, Vinecats, Sleens and Stonebacks" They were headed for Dromund Kaas anyhow...
"Want to make sure ? I mean, its a risk worth taking" For all they knew they might take potshots at Radimus, but leave her alone even if she showed her saberstaff to them. Cynthiana was too high profile to be a target of anyone
"Lemme try talking to them first," Radimus replied, "Maybe word hasn't spread this far yet." Radimus prepared to decelerate as they approached. After appearing in normal space in high orbit around the planet, Radimus opened communications on the same channel as the distress call. "This is the Tyson," He made up a fake name just to be absolutely safe, "We've picked up your distress signal."
There was no response yet. Radimus repeated, "Tyson to distress call, do you read?"
After another long pause, Radimus was about to repeat again when a voice emitted from the other side. "This is RC-1211. We're glad to hear from you, Tyson."
"Who else is with you?" Radimus asked.
"RC-2356, RC-0905, and RC-0122."
"Could you put Lance on?" Radimus asked.
"Uh... Sure...?" The voice disappeared for a moment.
Soon enough, a new voice appeared. "Lance here. Who is this?"
"Just the guy Old-Timer took a liking to."
"Old-Timer... No!" Lance erupted in joyous laughter. "Holy shit it's the kid! Poindexter get over here!"
"The Kid? The Jedi kid... Damn, you do know we're supposed to hunt you down, right?" Dex's voice slowly approached their own communications device.
"Guess I'm not comin' down to help you out then."
"Proven loyalty to the Empire meant we could remove our chips," Dex replied.
"I get the feeling you're crediting the Empire for something they never dreamed of doing," Radimus chuckled. He leaned to Cynthiana, "They won't kill us."
"Of course we won't! We kept you alive on the Othello, remember? I ain't wasting the efforts of that campaign, not from the... well, you know."
"Yeah, I know," Radimus gripped the controls and steered the ship down into the atmosphere. "Gimmie your coordinates, I'm on my way."
"Dex ? Its Cynthiana. Is Bantha with you ?" Cynthiana already liked the sound of Dex, Lance too. "Should be easy to spot, red hair, red eyes, blue skin, loves Banthas"
"Got a bunch'a kids with us," Poindexter replied, "We were originally sent to kill'em, but you'll see how that turned out." He then gave Radimus the coordinates, and the smuggler in turn weaved above the clouds and took a dive when close enough.
Thick, heavy rain slammed against the cockpit window as if a barrier had just been passed. Trees flooded the area below them, flooded in turn by actual floodwaters. From Radimus' perspective, there was no possible lanzing zone on this side of the planet.
"Pretty hard to see here, Dex," Radimus called.
"Don't worry, we gotcha." Dex then shouted some instructions away from the communicator. In a minute, Radimus spotted a series of lights flash into existence amidst the dark and stormy environment. A series of green and blue lights formed a ring on a faraway butte.
Radimus turned the ship several degrees and flew closer. "I see'em. I am on approach."
The ring of lights marked a flat stone platform marginally above the trees. Cracks in the stone overflowed with rainwater, but otherwise did not do much to wear down the butte in a way that was immediately dangerous. Once Radimus landed, he unchained his lightsaber hilt and hitched it to his belt. He then headed into the armoury and grabbed the DC-17m- which he slung over his back. "Figured they might like the memento," he said to Cynthiana, "Got an imbrella?"
There were ponchos in Radimus' bunk locker, which he retrieved. The Ponchos were the kind that you threw over your shoulders, and a small automated strapping system tightened the poncho around their bodies, as well as secure the hoods to be resistant to terrible winds. Radimus also folded his boots into the leggings of the poncho system, to prevent water from running down his legs.
It wasnt the best, but it would do as the rain was constant to never ending, at least for a long time as they exited the ship. First thing that Cynthiana saw was two crashed vessels, one of them a Counsolar class vessel from CEC from what it looked like, no missing that hammerhead bridge design. With a good enough crew that vessel could support a small fleet, or be a small fleets command vessel.
In the lights of the ship Cynthiana could barely make out against the driving rain a few figures standing nearby, one of them clearly female in jedi robes, and all of them were drenched
Two stormtroopers in heavily customized armour approached. The lead one held his arms wide open. "Raddick!" Lance bellowed as he grabbed and lifted Radimus into the air in a bear hug. "Long time no see, kid!"
"Nice... to s... see yoou~!" Radimus wheezed as the wind was knocked out of him. "You got stronger."
Lance dropped the smuggler, "You got more rugged. Did you change your lifestyle? Old-Timer did say your Jedi manners were too stuck-up." Lance grabbed Radimus by the jewels. "Still got it, eh, Rad-Dick?"
Radimus once more wheezed, this time wordlessly. Lance and Dex both burst out laughing, until Dex finally noticed Cynthiana. "Who's your friend?"
"Too young for you," Radimus replied, "We should call you Old-Timer now," This time, all three of them laughed.
"Ain't no one takin' that nickname, Radimus."
"Where's Tyson, anyway?" Radimus asked.
"Tyson?" The other two Clone Commandos approached as well. "That's the name of your ship-"
"Nah it ain't," Lance replied, "Tyson was the previous third. CQC specialist."
"Sorry I lied. My ship's really called the Visionary," Radimus explained, "Still, how's Tyson?"
"Gone,"
"Oh man..."
"Don't sweat it, kid. Some Clones have complications develop later in their lives. Not even those pencil-neck bastards could'a predicted it. I got somethin' too, but they were able to cure me in time. Tyson was behind enemy lines when his hit."
Radimus produced a flask from his jacket- a flask he only ever drank from whenever he needed a buzz. This time, however, he popped open the lid and poured one out on the ground. "I'm gonna miss the big guy," Radimus said as he capped off the flask once more.
Briefly Cynthiana looked up towards the sky as the rain pelted down. the loss of a friend was never easy to take. She took a deep breath as she looked to Lance and also to Dex "November Squad... you guys were assigned to Master Windu right ?"
"Ah, Mr. Forehead," Dex revelled in nostalgia. "Couldn't deny our skills, but he never laughed once, no matter how hard we tried."
"It was mostly 'cause our jokes were directed at the kid."
"You guys were just jealous," Radimus laughed.
"Mandalorians ain't known for the shit that matters," Lance returned as the three of them once more laughed together. "Oh yeah, we gotta introduce you." He gestured to the younger Commandos. "That there's Eleven, we call him "Tyke", that there's Fifty-Six, we call him "Smack-down."
"Charmed," Radimus shook hands with the two Commandos, though they appeared to still hold onto typical Stormtrooper discipline. He then turned back to Lance and produced the rifle he brought along. "Still have this thing too."
"The hell did you do to it?" Dex asked, immediately noticing the modifications.
"No energy cells," Lance realised immediately, "Does it work?"
"Every configuration. At least they still make the grenades for the launcher," Radimus handed Dex the rifle.
"Old-Timer taught you well," Were it not for the helmet, everyone could've seen the proud look on the old Commando's face.
"Well, it's like he said, The Force is flexibility."
"What about her?" Lance asked, planting an elbow into Radegast's ribcage.
"Master Windu rarely smiled," Cynthiana mused, when he did smile it was either for pride, or for something natural happening, like Master Yoda losing a bet and having to eat Dexters cooking for a week. She raised an eyebrow at the question of what about her. So in reply she simply niodded towards the nearby wrecked LAAT/i gunship "I take it the landing wasnt so good now was it ?" She was all business briefly by then for dealing in starships she could cut these guys a deal, instead of killing Jedi children... they protected them. So they got a really nice deal on a brand new starship of their choosing
"The landing was rough indeed. You can see why," Lance pointed to the never-ending storm. "We got a dry shelter in the cliffside. We've spent enough time out here." He barked "Dismissed!" to the kids who had used their lightsabers as landing markers.
"I can see why Master Windu was paired with you guys" Ctynthiana mused thoughtfully, she then counted a good two dozen kids, about half her age at best, of various races, Human, Miralin, What looked like a few Zabrak as well, also a Twi'lik or two. "Is this all of them ?" She asked seeing the kids, ranging in age from twelkve to eighteen she surmised there had to be more.
"Nope" came a rather recognisible voice, "But I dont think we'd all fit in that." Cynthiana turned as one of the taller Padawans stepped into view of the ships floodlights as the rain let up, but still drizzled. There was no missing the red eyes and blue skin. "You got our message! I almost didnt believe someone could hear us way out here since the Imperials left the system weeks ago" Bantha, as her named implied had some tattoos like a Tusken Raider even though she was a Chiss by Race
"How long have you been here ?" Cynthiana asked
"Fifteen or so years... why ?"
"Figures, and this is where you've lived ?"
"Mhm"
"How far is it to the Dark temple ?"
"About three clicks, that way" Bantha, whose real name was Tsilla pointed due south. "Kaas city is over that ridge, they dont bother us, we dont bother them. Most of them are crazy to begin with and scare the kids"
Cynthiana nodded. giving a look towards, who she presumed was Lance {But ended up being Dex because they were identical} "When we get back, we need to talk."
"Me?" Dex asked. "Actually wait, what do you mean 'get back'?"
"I gotta find me a new crystal," Radimus replied, indicating the long dandao-style hilt on his hip, "I made one of Old-Timer's bombs with mine."
"Wow, must've been important if you did it to your own laser sword," Dex shrugged with a chuckle. "Alright, not like we can't take care of ourselves another hour or so. Take your time, Rad-Dick."
"Thanks, I will," Radimus retorted.
"Yeah... we're gonna have to chat when we get back...." Cynthiana mused
As the two of them headed back to the ship, Radimus gazed at Cynthiana, who seemed somewhat annoyed. "Don't worry about it," Radimus smiled, "They're good guys. Long assignments behind enemy lines, you gotta have a way to release the tension."
"You have a point The Clones I was with when I had some assigned to me had a good sense of humor and made me and Master Thanos smile many times, but.... Its not them Im worried about." Cynthiana replied simply. three kilometers to the temple. they could use a speeder nearby.
"Let's take the Sparrow," Radimus pointed out the shuttle craft that was built with the Visionary. "If there's crazy people over there, we could use the firepower."
"Another thing Im not worried about." Cynthiana mused, but he was right, the only people who really lived on Dromund Kaas any more were the so called Prophets of the Dark Side, a few reclouse Sith Purebloods, and then some weirdos who lost their minds prospecting.
"What I am worried anout" Cynthiana said as they got aboard the Sparrow, "Is us"
"Us?" Radimus paused for a moment, but then continued with detaching and launching the shuttle. "Is it..." He spoke those next two words without thinking, but he hadn't really figured out a guess at that point. "What about us?"
"Where we are going. the Dark Temple, it wasnt always like this, it was a Force Nexus and for a time it was peaceul, clean, bright. But the Sith built a shrine in there, corrupted the Force there. And for a good thousand years the Sith Emporer had his throne inside, furling his dark power. People who went there looking for Sith treasures went mad and killed each other"
"Other than that. I wont be able to go far with you into the Temple"
"Ah, right. The trial," Radimus nodded, "I wonder how the visions will manifest this time..."
"I cant tell you that. But, based on experience; well.. its not fun. But at least its dry"
"I had that experience too," Radimus reminded Cynthiana, "It ain't my first rodeo, though you'd know a thing or two about rodeos, eh?" He winked.
Cynthiana smiled at those words, yeah she knew. Radimus was indeed a keeper. her keeper "There" She pointed out the viewport the massive structure made of black rock towered int othe sky. a pad large enough for landing near the main door, which remarkably after thousands of years was still intact. "A landing pad. Once inside be ready for anything. I can only go so far with you."
"I feel you," Radimus replied as he landed the Sparrow. He stepped out of the shuttle side-by-side with Cynthia. Also side-by-side, they entered the temple.
Almost immediately, like squeezing past a Gungan membrane, Radimus could feel ethereal, familiar yet alien energies permeating throughout the temple. "Feels like the inside of my mouth after a Morning Trick." The most disgusting cocktail ever served at Coruscant, but a tourist attraction all the same to the daring types. The smuggler approached the doorway, and glanced back to Cynthiana. "I'll be seeing you," He smirked before stepping through the door- which shut behind him.
As the door closed behind the statue Cynthiana dropped to her knees, her eyes closed, the Dark Side permenated the Temple, what used to be raw Natural Force energies was corrupted and dark. yet she was a beacon of light there, so was Radimus, and if Radimus could pass the test....
Long, narrow, winding tunnels carved into the rock. Radimus took a deep breath and stepped down the tunnel. "Thirty-three... Never thought I'd be in a place like this again," It was nostalgic, in a sense. The gross feeling all around him was all-new compared to last time, but it was something that simply made the test a greater challenge.
"If I remember right, the test was ultimately determined by what you desired at your core," Radimus closed his eyes as he walked. He felt the Force around him, penetrating the walls, forming faint pictures around him. As a result, he could still "see" and not trip on the uneven terrain.
Eventually, he came to a fork in the road. "The fork didn't matter," Radimus recalled, "Trust in the Force."
However, when the smuggler stepped over the threshold to the door immediately ahead, he felt his skin curdle and burn. His jaw unhinged and split at the seams, and he was suddenly thrown back into darkness.
Radimus scrambled back to his feet as soon as he landed. He felt at his face to find his strong jaw was back the way it was. The smuggler stood up, and found he was back in the same room, as if he had never crossed the door.
"That was different," Radimus's brow furrowed in contemplation. "Trust in the Force..." He stepped through again. This time, however, Radimus felt a strange sensation, as if his body suddenly slumped over, but he didn't move. The smuggler turned around to see his body- separate- sitting dead-eyed, not moving, going nowhere.
Radimus blinked, and once more he was back in the room with the three doors. "Come on... think... what's the problem here... Last time it was easy. I trusted in the Force, and I knew in my heart what I..."
What did he want? Radimus stepped through the door once more, only to feel his arms shoot out to either side, as if he were chained by the wrists. What is happening? Radimus groaned as the tugging became more and more painful. When the stretching became unbearable, Radimus clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut.
And back he was, once more in the room with the three doors.
What do I want...? I want... Cynthiana... but that's selfish desire... I want... peace and balance... but that's Jedi code... Radimus figured it out. "I'm really split..." At this rate, he had no hope of completing the trial.
Radimus leaned against the wall on one side and sat down. "I want balance in the Force, so I trust in the nature of the Force..." The Jedi Order were so focused on the Light side, they called extinction of the other "Balance." This was not true balance, for the Dark Side found a way to tip the scales once more.
"This test... is for the Light Side, and only the Light Side."
"Light and Dark... Strength, and wisdom... Balance is what I want..."
"A good thing, Balance is."
"I was wondering when you'd show up," Radimus said.
The goblin-like laugh echoed through the chamber. "A focus on the Light side, do you know why?"
"Maybe I don't," Radimus looked up at the ceiling, "But this isn't balance."
"A good thing, balance is. A bad thing, balance is. A fickle thing, balance is. An impossibility, balance is."
"What do you mean?"
"True balance. Everything is equal, everything lives the same, everything perishes the same. To co-exist with other abstracts, true balance cannot."
"What then is balance when you say that the Jedi seek to restore it?"
"Balance, in the eyes of a Jedi, is balance of life. It is not the number of cycles you live. The experiences within those cycles, balance resides. Opportunity for life, balance is."
Radimus was quiet for a moment. "Opportunity for life..." He could get behind that. "What about attachments?"
"To let go of attachments, part of the Jedi path is."
"So I shouldn't be with Cynthiana."
"Mmmm... Perhaps... Attachments... Part of life, it is. An opportunity, it is. Part of the balance, could it be?"
Radimus stood up. "I think I got it," he said, as he stepped through the door.
---
For long moments it was quiet, random clanks of rock cracking upon another. the age of trhe temple proved it stood for thousands of years and will stand for thousands more. A single being knelt before the massive Sith statue. Unmoving, quiet.
"Worried are you, hmm ?" came a voice, a all too familar and at once alien.
"Yes"
"Close to him, you are." came a rather blunt statement, Cynthiana opened her eyes, swirls of energy danced before her as she stood up. "Wrong this is not. Attachments, normally forbidden they are. The order destroyed, possible to continue through you and Radimus it is in the Force, Strong you are"
"Master ? What are you saying ? I thought..."
"As time continues, Change things do, to achieve balance, important it is to seek opportunity. Part of the balance it is. Neither dark nor light the Force is. Balanced it is when found."
"So... what we did on the ship. Radimus and I"
"Together. Strong are you in the Force. Balanced it is when together you are"
"He is my Pa..."
"No, he is not! Not your Padawan Radimus is. Your husband possibly he will be"
"What ?" Cynthiana was at a loss for words at that. radimus her husband ? Impossible "But thats..."
"Impossible, you say" there came a soft chuckle, Cynthiana knelt to one knee to be eye level with the srilnig Force energy
"Then my visions...."
"A look into the past they are. Dwell on them you must not. Look ahead you must."
"So you're saying I should be with Radimus ?"
"Strong in the Force you are when together. Balanced the Force is when attachments are possible. In the Force you must trust. Guide you it did. Did it not ?"
"I... I was attracted to him yes, when we first met, I stowed away on his ship" She felt ashamed about that, a business woman and former Jedi Knight.
"Yet feelings for him you have. Love him you do. Balanced the Force is. Looked down upon nor shamed you are. Your head up, hold it you must. Calm you must be. the Force, let it guide you will"
Cynthiana smiled, "Thank you, Master Yoda" She slowly stood up. the sheer feeling of darkness burned away, she felt nothing but the natural power of the Force. It was niether dark nor light, it just was, raw, serene, balanced.
The door opened. Radimus stepped out, with his right hand clenched. He looked somewhat haggard, given the cold sweat he formed from the visions. "Told ya," he spoke weakly.
Cynthiana sighed with relief, maybe Yoda was right, she felt his chuckle in the back of her mind, Ok so he was right. "How does it feel ?" She meant the fact that swure they were standing in the Sith Temple, the core of it. And yet, it didnt feel like the Dark Side was there, just... overabundance of Force energy
"Still feels like a Morning Trick, but that's probably 'cause of the lack of ventilation." He opened his hand to show Cynthiana what he had been awarded.
The crystal was a deep amber, which oddly reflected a topaz yellow in the light. "I'm gonna put this together outside," Radimus said, "I've had enough of Morning Tricks."
Outside, Radimus sat on the entrance ramp into the shuttle. With practiced motions, he disassembled his lightsaber hilt, and carefully installed the new crystal. Reassembly came just as easily for him. "My last crystal was blue, if you recall," Radimus tightened the peen that held everything together properly. "Welp, here goes." He pointed the saber away from him, and squeezed the activation button.
An amber blade with a bright yellow core erupted, clean and solid. "Orange... Huh, it suits my jacket," He pointed out the orange sleeves.
Cynthiana's eyes went bright seeing the brand new blade, an explosion of energy as the blade sprang to life. "Its beautiful. Like its owner" Uh... wait, what did she mean exactly by that ? Did she speak with Yoda too ? "Come on, we got three kilometers to go to get back to the others, and the rain is a drizzle, you were in there for a while. I'll fly"
Radimus gazed at Cynthiana, taking note of her flushed cheeks. "You're right, they're probably waiting for us. It felt like I was down there for hours."
"A day. You were in there for a day"
"A day," Radimus repeated, as if he couldn't believe it. He folded out one of the passenger seats and sat down. He suddenly felt hungry.
"Yeah, trials like this arent exactly short. When I went for my first crystal I was gone from my Master for almost a month in the desert on Tatooine follwing the directions from the Force just finding that Kryat Dragon cave" Cynthiana said powering up the Sparrow and lifting off the ground.
Once they were underway, she asked simply "So... what did you see ?"
"Well..." Radimus leaned back in his seat. "Not much happened, just... soul-searching. I felt split on what it meant to be a Jedi, what a Sith was, what the Force was... balance... I didn't know Green Goblin was still around, unless that was just a Force entity manifesting as him... I do know something now: I love a woman who can fly."
"That was Master Yoda most likely. I.... I spoke to him too. What did he tell you ? When you got that crystal, what did you see ?" If it was anything like the guts of a Kryat Dragon, which somehoew felt like home to her after her seventh hunt for one of which she got six new crystals of various sizes...
"When I got the crystal..." Radimus wasn't sure what to say. He'd only known her for close to two cycles now. It seemed too fast, and yet... "I saw you," Radimus replied, "You and... someone else... A child."
'Balanced the Force is, when together you are' rang in her head as she listened to Radimus. "....A child" Well that explained a lot. "Me... and a child,... then its true."
"I dunno what it means so far, but I'm trusting in the Force... But there's something different now. I feel... dedicated."
The Sparrow soon latched onto the Visionary.
"We're here...." Cynthiana said as the automated systems latched the two ships together. But before she turned from the seat she spoke up "I spoke with Yoda while you were in the trial" She turned to Radimus "He said that the force is in balance as long as we're together. I said it was impossible but he said its in balance"
"The Force throughout the galaxy?" Radimus chuckled, "I don't think any one person can be that strong." His chuckling died down somewhat quickly, "Nah, but I think I get what he means."
"When we're together, we're strong, When we're together, the Foce is in blance. But everything else he said eludes me completely" Most of the time it wasnt easy to decern eactly what Yoda meant.
"Let's hear some of it then," Radimus said as he stepped out the shuttle and into the corridors of the Visionary.
As they walked back to the others, she explained what Yoda said to her while he was in the trial chamber "He sdaid that normally attechment is forbidden, but the order is destroyed, and the Force was not in balance. But he said also that the order could be restored... through us... through them" She meant herself and Radimus, as well as the younglings, the Commandos, and Tsilla and her Master
"Gonna be tough work," But Radimus did admit he felt more dedicated to the things he did. "In the meantime, we should figure out how to load everyone aboard."
Cynthiana nodded, getting everyone onboard safely was parmount, then they had to get them all to sdafety once off the planet. Ctynthiana trusted Radimus, and if he could trust the Commandos, so could she, normally she didnt, but then times had changed, she had to follow the Will of the Force.
Stepping down the ramp Cynthiana saw the Clones along with Tsilla and Master Talas were all waiting for them. "No doubt they wonder how it went; We'll worry of that later. For now, lets get them aboard, we have to figure a place for them to be safe"