Atris…of all the reclusive Jedi Masters to steal my ship, why did it have to be Atris?
Jaelyn swallowed hard, trying desperately not to show how intimidating she found Atris's presence. Of all the Jedi Masters to be holed up in Telos's polar region…it was positively undignified, especially for Atris. The idea of Atris living in a glorified irrigation ditch…the idea! This thought, however irreverent, gave Jaelyn the confidence she needed, and she deflected most of Atris's barbed comments easily. Then the conversation turned to her trial, and the lightsaber she had been forced to surrender. She strove for calm, trying to banish the thought of her luminescent silver double-blade which had been her most dependable ally, her constant friend and companion, and her only certainty in the chaos of war. She had indeed been, in Atton's words, married to her lightsaber, and even after ten years without it a vibroblade was an almost offensive substitute. Still smarting from the reminder, Jaelyn almost didn't register Atris's next words.
"I have kept it, so I would never forget."
As she watched Atris draw her lightsaber, Jaelyn was almost unable to stop the flow of aggression at the presumptuous thief before her. How dare she? After stealing the Ebon Hawk, accusing her of mass murder, and imprisoning her friends, the woman had the temerity to flaunt her loss? She controlled herself, barely, and forced herself to hear Atris out in peace. She was skeptical of Atris's motives, but resigned herself to the inevitable. She would have to face each of her former Masters, and hope they had become less rigid with time. Cutting the conversation as short as possible, she turned her back on Atris for what she fervently hoped would be the last time and strode from the room.
Bao-Dur woke slowly on the cold snow of the plateau. At first he could think of nothing but the cold, but soon he had a niggling thought…someone he was supposed to protect…the General! Catapulting to his feet, he quickly searched the wreckage, muttering to himself that if she was dead in the crash he would personally ensure that their pilot suffered the same fate. He found no bodies or signs of remains, but he found no live people, either, so he extended his search, combing the surrounding area. A good distance from the crash site he found three destroyed HK-50s, which had only been 'killed' recently. Upon closer examination, the tech could distinguish scoremarks that could only have come from a Zabrak vibroblade, Jaelyn's weapon of choice. The bodies had also been stripped of any useful components, so he determined that the General must be fine. Rocking back on his heels, he was in the process of deciding his next course of action when he fell unconscious to the snow. The Handmaidens rolled their eyes at the absence of resistance and shouldered their burden after injecting enough sedative to ensure that he wouldn't wake up for quite awhile.
Jaelyn finally found the prison room, after a thorough exploration of Atris's 'Academy', an informative chat with 'the least of the Handmaidens', and some much-needed sparring with the other handmaidens. She had truly enjoyed the sparring; it had given her the opportunity to work off her frustration at recent events without really harming anyone… or at least anyone who didn't ask for it. Above all she didn't want her friends to have to pay the price for her bad mood. With this in mind, she was especially considerate when she found them. Kreia was cryptic and annoying as always, but Atton and Bao-Dur more than made up for it. Atton actually blushed when she asked if he was okay, which was amusing. She definitely wasn't interested in him, but hey, why worry about it? Bao-Dur, in sharp contrast to the overly-charming Atton, looked remorseful and apologized before she could even get a full sentence out. He actually apologized for being knocked out in a crash! When she did ask if he was alright, he snapped into soldier mode, assured her he was fine, and all but stood at attention. This was relatively normal, for him, but seeing the contrast alerted Jaelyn that there was a different facet of Bao-Dur, and it intrigued her. She resolved to spend more time with him when they finally got off this Force-forsaken rock of a planet.
A/N--Man, these chapters are shorter than I thought. They are all just about two faces of notebook paper long, as that is where I initially write them, so that probably explains it. How do you like it so far? Tell me!