Chapter Three: The Quiet Before the…

Attempts were had in returning to some form of calm, but for naught, as all that could be felt across the Jedi ranks was pain, fatigue, and a throbbing pulse within their temples, as well as a slight ringing that would not go away for at least twelve more minutes, as Kairo knew from experience with battles of this caliber. Eventually, Rin leapt from atop the Terentatek and spun in the air, landing on his feet just beside Gno, Kairo, Salryyhn, Nala, and one of the two Jedi still standing. All Jedi retracted the humming, glowing blades of their sabers just then, including Rin, who was no longer engulfed in flame, but was wet with both his own blood and that of the slain beast. Gno turned to Rin and gave a muffled sigh through his mouthpiece. 'Oh, Rin, you came in the nick of time, you always did like making a grand entrance,' Gno said, and embraced Rin wearily. Kairo looked back at the fallen Jedi, sprawled across the volcanic ground and struggling to stand. Hak lay burnt beside his saber, which was plunged into the ground, and the Jedi since torn apart was caught in flames beside the running lava, his lower end elsewhere. Five were dead, at least far as Kairo knew, but Hak still grumbled, moaned, tossed and turned. Nala rolled her hand through her lekku, exhaling deeply and shaking her head, her pretty eyes wide. Her chest rose and fell in wide lengths slowly, her full, maroon, black-striped lips moving in accordance. Kairo looked at her, and she looked back at him, too tired to be rude, as was Kairo. 'We all fought well out there,' Gno said, one of his eyes shut with a gash down his face and a scratch on his mouthpiece just beneath, causing sparks of electricity to fly from the damaged area. 'I'm pleased to have had such good men,' Gno turned to Nala, 'and women by my side. It is only worse off that we should have lost some to our foe.' Gno turned back to the fallen soldiers and his brow did something like furrowing, or at least the best he could achieve in his state. Kairo fell over into a sitting position and held his hand to his head, closing his eyes for a moment and sighing. He felt so swelled with energy that in some morbid attempt to rid himself of the adrenaline and teeming vigor, he laughed heartily and fell over on his side. Salryyhn looked down at him, at first confused, but then joined Kairo in laughter, holding his stomach. Gno shook his head, finding the laughter in bad taste, and trotted over to the fallen Jedi, and Rin went shortly after him, as well as the Gungan, who's ears were tied behind his head, and the Whiphid, who's fur was stained with red and green blood, and was burnt in some places. Nala stayed behind and approached the beast, steadying her breaths now slightly. 'Hell of a fight,' she said, ducking down beside the fallen monster, which was in such an awkward position where its face was buried in the ground, as well a bit of its neck and chest, while its arms lay limp by its sides near it folded legs, sprawled and broken by Rin's falling upon him. 'You can say that again,' Kairo said, weary, but managing to make an effort at conversation. He could hardly deny the warmth of triumph; this had not been a pyrrhic endeavor, he would leave Moltok a better Jedi than he had been before, but for a moment, his brow fell over his eyes and he looked to the ground, woebegone. The problem was not at all done with, this Terentatek was no more than harbinger to the true dilemma, and he could feel it, the constant pulsing pang in his mind, like the ubiquity of Darkness, and killing the Terentatek had done very little but draw out the source, bring attention to the Jedi. Kairo wore a simper and rose to his feet, stabilizing slowly and taking deep breaths in the slow healing of his wounds by aid of the Force. Still, he thought, I will need these wounds dressed. Kairo looked back and pressed his lips into his left cheek, shaking his head and pressing his brow. We all need a bit of medical attention, especially those poisoned by the Terentatek's tusks and claws. Kairo moaned and staggered, then looked down at his left leg, gashed open at the thigh. The bleeding had stopped, and he felt no pain previously on some small account to battlemind, and now he only felt a very slight throbbing thanks to his own healing capabilities. Nala looked back over to Kairo, still just beside the monster, balancing with her downwardly extended arm. 'You did well out there,' she said, somewhat squinting at him. Kairo was surprised to hear this, but coughed a chuckle and smiled. 'As did you,' he returned, but more so in being nice than in truth, as he hardly even saw Nala's movements, everything was too fast, and every solid memory left him just as it came. 'I thought you a fool and a coward for what you cast as vote for the matter of the Terentatek, but your vigor evidences where your loyalties lay.' Kairo suddenly became rather serious, as he, done doubting himself, would not have his loyalties be unknown to any other. 'My loyalty belongs to the Balance,' he said, and Nala pursed her lips and gave Kairo a hard look of understanding and listening, 'remember that.' Kairo rarely spoke with such strength and conviction, but he enjoyed the energy that flowed through him on account of it, at least somewhat. 'I can learn to respect you,' Nala said, and walked away, leaving Kairo alone with Salryyhn, and to suppose that she saw worth less in more civil practice than in battle, bravery and the like. 'Hmff,' Salryyhn said as he watched Nala walk away, 'good luck with that.' Kairo coughed a chuckle and grimaced at Salryyhn. Kairo rose and turned his back to the flaming Terentatek, walking with his wookiee companion to meet the others. Rin and Gno were tending to the fallen folk, and Kairo saw Gno ripping his raiment apart in an attempt to dress his men and women's wounds, and though he was rather bad at it, he did the best he could, and he had help from Rin, who drew Hak's saber from the ground and retracted the blue beam of the blade, putting an end to the hum and glow and slinging Hak over his shoulder with care. 'The official first aid kit is back at the ship,' Gno said, having run out of cloth to rip from his clothes, 'which we have to find by the way,' he continued, 'preferably before sundown. We had better hope the communications system isn't broken, and mercy to that poor pilot, may the Force be with him.' Everyone who was conscious verbally chimed with Gno, saying in unison "may the Force be with us all," almost like programmed droids. The trek for the fallen ship began without much delay, and everyone in well enough shape carried those far too wounded, and before leaving the scene of the battle, Kairo took care to shift the lower half of the torn Jedi's body into the lava remotely, thinking it wrong to just leave him there. Kairo was rather tired as it was, and though his wounds were tended to in the best ways possible, he limped, and was weighed down with another soldier on his back. Everybody was encouraged to scout for the ship with the Force, and though Kairo was most sufficient in this trade, it was difficult to reach with his mind across the entire northern end of the planet, and the pilot's presence was minimal. Despite the hardship, eventually, some of the unconscious did awaken, including Hak, and conversation sparked between Kairo and the others, particularly Nala, who was noticeably struggling with courtesy. 'So,' she began, walking beside Kairo, whom she was a good deal taller than, despite his own above-average height, 'what do you think is coming?' she asked, 'what do you think is next?' Kairo and Salryyhn looked at her, wearing an expression of puzzlement, and though they asked what she meant, Kairo inquired still. 'We have slain the Terentatek, yes, but I 'm remembering that that is not all, there is more to come, the monster was a harbinger, and of what, that is the question.' Kairo sighed and shoved his hands into his pocket as he continued walking, careful to avoid the large branches of the tall thick trees as they entered the rainforests. 'Well, when I left for meditation six years back, there was word of some "Imperial Remnant," I recall that Luke had a mind to seek them out and extinguish. Perhaps this is all to do with that; maybe the Empire is finally trying to come back.' Salryyhn held a hand to his furry chin and stared at the ground in walking, thinking hard as it seemed. 'That word of the "Imperial Remnant" persists, Kairo, though not as much as it did six years ago, I believe.' Nala took in a deep breath and nodded, shaking her lekku in the process and looking at Kairo and Salryyhn. 'Where would the Grey stand in a situation like that, an Imperial return?' Nala asked, and Kairo did not know whether he should appreciate her effort at curiosity in the Grey Jedi, or ignore it. 'Grey Jedi are not as organized as the warriors of the New Republic or the Sith, we are scattered across the galaxy, and it is rare that one should meet another, or have a mentor of the same path. I taught myself for a good while, achieved my saber from the New Republic and was apprenticed briefly under Ki Rohn, a Republican Jedi, but to become a Grey Jedi is a whole different matter than to join a side, it's more to get lost in something by choice. If the Empire rose again, the Grey would resist it just as would everybody else, but we wouldn't be organized about it, I would think.' Nala and Salryyhn nodded at that. 'Whatever this is, I'm sure we can all handle it,' Hak suddenly said from nearby, walking with his left hand dressed entirely with bloodied cloth. Everyone turned to Hak as he brought attention to himself in speaking, and Nala smiled. 'Good to have you back, Hak, you were out for a bit,' she said, and Hak laughed and nodded. 'Yeah, that Terentatek gave me a bit of a shock, didn't know it had it in him.' Salryyhn shrugged. 'Neither did any of us, but we forget, the Terentatek was born of Sith alchemy. Speaking of which, how do any of you reckon the thing came about, we never honestly addressed that.' Nala leaned forward to catch gazes with Salryyhn. 'I'd supposed that the monster had avoided the Great Hunt in hibernation, or that it came from the tomb of Naga Sadow, did he not have some guarding his impregnable place of rest.' The others nodded and calmly applauded Nala's idea. 'Well, if this is the Imperial Remnant, perhaps they have concocted a new Terentatek, as the one we fought was abnormally tall, I recall that in reading the records they were nine feet tall an average, the one we fought must have been thirteen,' Hak said, and Kairo was honestly surprised to hear that Hak had even read the "records." 'It could be just as Nala said, but it has simply grown with strength of the Force, although that'd only be a bit more frightening actually. The Terentatek Mauler, as it is called, came from the strength of the Force at end of the Clone Wars, remember?' Salryyhn opened his mouth and drew a breath to say something in response, but just then, they all heard the call of Gno ahead, beyond a curtain of foliage. 'Come,' he yelled, 'come quick, I've found the ship,' he said. Kairo, relieved, sprinted passed the leaves, branches, and roots of the trees. 'At last,' he said, and could not help but smile widely. The others came close behind him, firstly Rin, and approached the wreckage, the flames of which had been settled. Blood was splattered across the sward, and Kairo's joy left him swiftly, his face loosening and his jaw dropping. 'Don't worry,' Gno said, extending an arm and sprawled fingers as he circled the crashed Myxamoto, 'there's too much blood here it could not have belonged to the pilot,' he said, 'at least not him alone,' Rin added, 'although this does not seem to belong to any human as was the pilot, most of it as I can see definitely belonged to the local fauna.' Even with those tidings, Kairo felt a condolence for the animals that had died, and even saw a few burnt carcasses across the ground. Still, there was little time for pointless lamenting, and with that, Kairo joined the rest of the Jedi party in searching around the search, partially for the pilot as well as for the communications system. The ship lay just as it had crashed, leaving a trail of wreckage, blood, and ember, and smoke behind it that was searched just as well as the area closest to the vessels, which being shaped very much like a very large O (or U considering how the ship did not connect at each end), was plummeted into the ground only halfway upon impact, and was stuck sideways, bits of it shot everywhere. It towered over everyone at about fifteen feet from the ground, with more of it still in the ground, and the cockpit was in the ground as well. Of course, Kairo was not hesitant to shift the earth with a wave of his hand and inspect the head of the vessel, which proved worthwhile as he came to know. Just as he leapt down into the tenebrous, spherical cockpit, with shattered glass shot everywhere and bent metal plates in his path, he looked and saw the communications device having slid to the pilot's seat, as the entire ship was tilted. It was slightly covered in dirt and the like which had spilt in upon impact, but Kairo quickly crouched beside it and uncovered it before examining it. 'It's here,' he called out, 'the communications device, I found it,' he added. It was hardly much more than a small, octagonal radio apparatus wired to a slightly larger box-like shape. Kairo heaved it up as he heard the metallic, thumping footfall of the others as they landed in the cockpit along with him and came to see the communications device. 'Here,' Kairo said as Gno approached, and Gno nodded as he reached out and grabbed the box and wired octagon. With that, Gno spoke words into the system that Kairo admittedly didn't understand, and he simply took them as some code to do with the New Republic. Indubitably, Gno was communicating the situation and need for rescue, and Kairo left him to that, but honestly, he still wanted to find the pilot. 'Should we look for the pilot, I don't even know his name?' he first asked Salryyhn, just outside the cockpit. Salryyhn grimaced and shrugged. 'We have a good bit of time before the rescue ship arrives, and I suppose it's the least we can do for Thomas the pilot.' Kairo took in a breath and quickly nodded his head and proceeded to search for the pilot, which, somewhat to Kairo's surprise, drew the attention and aid of all the other Jedi who quested for their previous pilot. In searching, Kairo considered the possibility of finding the pilot dead, and cringed at the thought, he doubted the sight of a mangled body would bode well with him, but that hardly deterred him. He threw about great metal plates and beams and even walked across the askew innards of the ship, finding nothing but animals that already had taken the fallen Myxamoto as home. It was not until he leapt to the treetops that he came to a far more complete quietude and solitariness, and at that he did feel more so than he heard or saw, and with senses owed more to the Force than humanity. He could feel Darkness, like he was bathing in it, and it stuck to him, and slowed him, clung to him even, and it was replete with whispers, but he felt more alone with it drowning him, pressing at his mind and prodding at his memories. He soon grew frightened, but tried to contain himself and shut the whispers out, and did so with ease after trepidation was removed, but still he could feel the Darkness, as though it were a great being spanning in near-ubiquity, and it had a heartbeat that kept pace with Kairo's, and it was thriving, it was strong, and it was dangerous. He felt flushed violently through its veins, and whatever projected this ominous print upon the sheet of the universe, like a boot's mark across a beautiful garden, smiled at Kairo from within and acknowledged him as though he were the most entertaining of a good deal of toys, or so Kairo imagined. Kairo heard a call once, but it seemed distant, and only the sliver of his unoccupied mind heard it, but when it came again, and then again, he was snapped from his senses of the Darkness and fetched a gasp, stumbling backward and nearly falling through the surface of the treetops. His eyes were wide and he was out of breath as it seemed, feeling violated to the core of his being, like something had seen more of him than even he ever had, and he turned his head searching for a source, though unable to believe that there could ever be one person so strong with what he knew was the Dark Side as his rationality returned. 'Kairo,' he heard Salryyhn yell at him, and so spun to his feet swiftly, drawing his saber and nearly going so far as to engage the beam, but soon he came to his senses and tried to slow his breaths. 'J-j-just wait there, one moment!' he replied pleadingly, faltering over his own words. He quickly discarded the idea and turned back to where the ship had landed below him and the other Jedi continued searching, now more halfheartedly then before. 'He's here everybody,' Salryyhn called to the others, and Kairo realized for the first time, at least fully, that the hollering wookiee was standing right next to him. He assumed that whatever bewitchment the Darkness had put him under had messed with his senses; bent his perception like one might bend the thin, wriggling blade of a saw, but now all things in his head were slowly returning to normalcy, and to a straightness that he could understand, and the blurred, false doppelgangers beside everything retired to their sources and Kairo rubbed his eyes, still afraid but attempting to contain himself. 'Are you alright, Kairo?' Salryyhn asked, raising a single tussocky brow and seeming worried as he leaned over and held Kairo's shoulder. 'Erm, yeah, Salryyhn, yeah, I'm fine don't worry about me,' Kairo lied, trying not to draw attention to himself as well as to put any suspicion that anybody had to ease, especially Salryyhn. 'Hmf,' Salryyhn grunted, and Kairo knew that Salryyhn could see through his guise of stability, but Kairo also knew that Salryyhn would not make anything of it at this point, he was the sort to respect Kairo's personal business and not to pry, besides, they had indeed "hit it off" but had only known one another for roughly two days. 'Well, hurry up, I've found the pilot,' Salryyhn said, and Kairo nodded, looking up, as Salryyhn was towering, and standing just before the sun seemed to be a dark figure of fur with little features otherwise. 'Is he badly hurt?' Kairo asked, following behind Salryyhn and trying to force his mind to accept the situation with pilot as primary rather than what was admittedly more major, as though he were holding his own writhing, frightened consciousness and plunging it into irrelevant peace. Before Salryyhn could answer Kairo's question, a reply came instead from the Gungan, who Kairo would later learn to be Kuw. 'See fo' you'self,' she said, her long ears tied behind her head as she struggled to lift the pilot from an entanglement of branches, vines, and the parachute, the ties of which were all cut from his being. When finally he was taken entirely from the mess of greenery and knots, with all the Jedi watching after him, a gasp was given from all and hands were held to mouths, but Kairo looked in silence, his lips pursed and his eyes glaring ponderingly. The pilot was moaning and bloodied, only half conscious, and as everybody could now see, each his legs had been severed just below the knee, just as was his right arm missing and there was a hole in his shoulder through which Kairo was sure the beam of a saber had gone. Kairo leapt forth and held the pilot by his nape and the lowest curve of his spine. His eyes were hardly open, and fluttered constantly, but Kairo attempted to communicate, just as he knew the pilot, Thomas, was trying to say something in weakly moving his lips and falteringly lulling his tongue. 'Alert Gno,' Kairo said to his general company, and though one among them started for the clearing of the shipwreck, another was far faster and somewhat stole the task, saying 'on it.' Kairo shook his head and exhaled through his nostrils, biting upon his lower lip. 'I am sure we all know what has happened here, judging by the state of his wounds, right?' Kairo asked, and most of the others gave nods, though those who didn't still knew, but were in no state to acknowledge Kairo as it seemed. 'These-a wounds-a, they-sa hot, hot. This saber-work, no infection, no-sa 'cause a-burnin'' the female Gungan said, and Kairo nodded indeed. He opened his mouth to speak of the presence he felt earlier, but held his tongue and decided just then that he would keep that matter private, as he already wasn't appreciated fully as a Grey Jedi, at least not by most, what with his acceptance of the Dark Side, and Nala would surely turn back against him if she knew that he had felt the Darkness in such a personal way. Kairo didn't want trouble from his comrades, but he knew that whatever had just happened to him meant something, it was a harbinger of evil just as much as the Terentatek if not worse, so he thought that if anyone would accept his tidings without negative effects, it would be Luke. I will tell Luke, he thought, when the time is right. It was not long before Gno arrived with the Jedi who had alerted him by his side, and with that, Kairo shifted unot another sturdy bough so that Gno could clearly see the pilot. Gno first pressed his lips to his left cheek, but then released his held breath and nodded. 'I've communicated the condition of the pilot, they're coming as fast as they can,' Gno lifted and showed the communications device, 'but I don't think he needs much tending to.' Kairo nodded at Gno. 'These wounds were by work of a lightsaber, no doubt, as you can see, it was cleaned up and sealed by the heat.' Gno acknowledged Kairo and crouched to pick up the pilot, who as Kairo noticed, was beginning to make a little more sense in his pained mumblings, as he believe he caught Thomas saying something to do with "Valo Grimmond." Sounds like a name, he thought, maybe the pilot is meant to give a message about who did this to him, I can't think of any other reason for him being alive. 'We still better keep him well, he'll be up for questioning as soon as we get back to the New Republic, this is bad. Whoever we're up against, or whatever we're up against, the entity that brought about the Terentatek, has a saber and probably knows how to use it. This suggest organization, and the fact that they left the pilot alive means they want us to know they're around…and hostile. Also, it means they're ready to come out and play, so to speak, we should be on our toes about this.' All the Jedi nodded, and sloppily, though somewhat in unison, said "understood," to Gno. Don't I know it, Kairo thought, and looked about cautiously, but he couldn't feel the presence anymore, and if he did get jumpy after that, it was from recollection and paranoia. It was not long before the Republic rescue ship arrived on the planet Moltok under a name of numbers and letters that Kairo could not remember, at which time everyone boarded and taciturn was shared between the passengers and rescue team alike. The Jedi knew that a conversation was not to be had without it being awkward and unnecessary, at least not the stoic rescue team with their New Republic symbols, but still, Salryyhn and Kairo chatted sparsely. No words were bandied between Kairo, Hak, and Nala, and Kairo was still rather annoyed by the relationship he held with were, as it was at such a confusing state; he thought it best to let it be just as was Nala. Throughout the entirety of the journey, the wounded pilot Thomas lay sleeping, though fitfully, and the wounded Jedi were tended to quickly, and the deaths were reported to Luke, at least as far as Kairo could tell. Also, Kairo found it strange that Luke had not come to rescue them with the others of the rescue team, as he had suspected that Luke would be eager for detailed tidings of the mission, but Kairo assumed that in not coming, Luke must have been constraining himself overly, working hard at bringing himself back together after what had happened to Mara. Kairo thought for a while about what the death of the Terentatek would mean to Luke, perhaps the impact of whatever storm was brewing would compromise Luke harshly. Kairo was swelling with fear and anticipation for the future, and he did not want to see what would happen if Luke ever became unhinged. Of course, that was all the risk of humanity, which Luke had chosen over the rather strait path of a more atavistic Jedi as detailed in the records of the Old Republic. At one point, Kairo wished that whatever was going to happen would just happen already, as he was going mad in his thinning patience, and in the silence and length of the trip from Moltok and back to Coruscant, or Mon Calamari as Kairo later came to know. 'Why are we headed for Mon Calamari?' he asked one of the New Republic officers, dressed all in white with his visor down, 'yeah, last we saw Luke he was on Coruscant, we are going to meet Luke, right?' Salryyhn added. The officer turned around and for a long while wore a rather displeased and tired look, and Kairo assumed that there was a glare behind his black visor. Before the officer could answer, Gno did from behind Kairo and Salryyhn, saying "Luke retired to Mon Calamari in our absence, he is meditating in the Jedi Temple." Kairo turned back and nodded. 'The temple, huh?' Salryyhn said, and Gno nodded. 'Yeah, I think's it's to do with what happened to...erm…Mara. I mean Mon Calamari is beautiful, and plenty peaceful, great place to just get yourself together I guess.' Salryyhn grunted in acknowledgement and Kairo turned away to the windows, looking out upon the vacuum of space, littered with smiling stars, and with Mon Calamari in the distance, a great blue planet, cloudless as Kairo could see it, and with a layered ring around it that everyone knew as the Mon Calamari Shipyards. Kairo looked over in further into the distance and saw the single sun of Mon Calamari shinning upon the planet, otherwise known as Dac to the natives. Mon Calamari wasn't so well developed when I left six years ago, what's this Temple Gno's talking about, if I'd known that this place was so beautiful and peaceful I would have come here to meditate, then again, I was looking for something more intense in my practices. But isn't Luke, considering what he's been through? I suppose that as the head of the Republic he can't go straying off soul-searching for six years like I did. 'What's the Jedi Temple?' Kairo finally asked, turning his head to look at the others. 'Oh, that's right, I heard from Luke that you've been gone a while. The Jedi Temple, or just the Temple, was built three years back; it's a monument to the Light, and the Jedi belonging to the New Republic. It's basically everything Force-related to do with the New Republic. While Coruscant is the utmost capital of the Republic, where general business is dealt with, and where from commands are assumed to originate, Mon Calamari is a capital more so in honor of the Force, just as Endor is a place of the people, the commonwealth, and still a capital just as much.' Kairo could not help but smile at this, a whole great temple, and a planet at that, dedicated in utmost honor to his greatest practice and belief. When last he knew the New Republic, there were only three capitals, Coruscant, Endor, and Da Soocha V, a beautiful Da Soocha moon by title the Pinnacle Moon that Kairo personally loved, and upon which he had participated in several speeder races. Kairo soon snapped out of his reminiscing just as the rescue ship came finally to the Shipyard, emblazoned with its own symbols of white and blue, and worked mostly by Mon Calamarians and Qarren, who Kairo enjoyed seeing in peace together considering how he had left them six years back, with the Qarren slaving for the Mon Calamarians. Having landed in the middle ring of the Shipyard, the Jedi, at least those of the High Council, which Kairo now knew included the Gungan and Whiphid, were led onto the surface of the planet, direcly onto the great island, which was busy with movement, but peaceful just as Gno had said, and a relief after the hustle of the tumultuous Shipyard. The skies were just as blue as the seas, and just as calm and clear, though unusual birds flew about belonging to a species that Kairo could recognize. Everything seemed to be in shades of green, blue, red, orange, and white, at least as far as the Jedi Council could see as they were escorted the Jedi Temple, tallest of all the buildings across the island, which seemed rather mechanically advanced to the point where Kairo thought that if he dug into the ground he would find metal workings to match the sheen of the structures above. The windows to the Temple were tinted blue, and across them displays of art and expression of the beauty to the Force were set, whether in effigies of famous Jedi, including the Skywalkers, Solos, Koons, Kenobis, and even Yoda. They were the greatest allies of the Force as recalled by record, and this Temple belonged to them even in death, more so than it belonged to most in face. 'Luke will be waiting for you in the Main Hall,' the Mon Calamarian escort said, hardly moving his lips. Of course, as you might have guessed, this was not a moment that anyone would have guessed for something terrible to happen, even Kairo, who was still on edge from the Dark presence he previously had felt, as his guessing at moments of misfortune had worn him down, and it had stopped long ago until his mind was far too tired for him to be so cautious. Still, the unraveling of events hardly goes by the whim of Kairo's preparation or the expectations of anyone, even Luke and other folk so strong with the Force, so it was by the nature of the world that just then trouble would strike, and without the knowledge of anybody to have prepared for it. Kairo felt it, or at least something of it, but his senses were too slow for his own good, and just as he turned to the skies, from which he felt the Darkness coming again, though in less force, so did thunder crack and a whip of screaming white light stretch from the skies that Kairo had recalled as clear and blue, but were now darkling, not with clouds but seemingly by pure gloom. Faster than anybody could comprehend, the lightning's screech, like the tragedy of a thousand birds under torture, came to an abrupt end as the lightning struck the side of the Temple and an explosion occurred. Flame flew, smoke billowed, and the darkling limbs in the sky rounded and became a simple bubbling black spot, but nobody was paying that much mind in the confusion of screams of panic and fear, what with people bumping into people and things as they ran through the smoke and the Temple creaked, continue to fall over after having been smote. All Jedi within the vicinity engaged their blades, including the hyperventilating Kairo, but then, from the center of the confusion, just where the first floor of the Temple would have been, and where blood was splattered across a tiled floor of carnage, another saber was engaged, and Kairo's eyes widened at the sight of the fierce red blade, not humming but roaring in brilliance and only just bringing light to the figure that held it, he who Kairo supposed had come within that lightning strike, or as it. 'You,' Kairo said, only just able to see the slouching, cloaked figure, and feeling the wavelengths of his Dark core, 'you must be Valo Grimmond,' Kairo continued, and at that, the figure turned, and the red of his loud and long blade, which seemed to be nearly out of control, wildly shooting sparks and becoming noisier still, illuminated his face, which as Kairo saw it belonged to at least a twenty-eight-year-old man. 'No,' he said, almost amused, 'I am not, but you will know my name, as you will know my wrath, AND YOU WILL KNOW MY STORM!'