Hey everyone! Now, I'm sure you're all thinking; "What happened to the name? Why's it changed?" There's an explanation for that, I promise. So, I looked up the previous title, "Of Choices and the Chosen", and found that a fic by that name already existed, and since I wasn't really feeling the name all that much anyways, figured I'd come up with something else. "Stars and Dust" both sounds cooler and has much more significance to the story, plus it's easier to say, so here we are.
Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter!
The walls of the city stood like the last bastion of civilization in a world overrun. It was made entirely of what appeared to be durasteel, though Cirinis had no way of telling with just a glance, and despite its uniform structure the odd colouration of its metal structure made it somewhat jarring to look at. Either it had been built from the ground up using scrap metal from starships and the like, or it had been damaged and repaired so many times that it now appeared to be made from patchwork pieces of steel.
Cirinis didn't question its strength, however, as she strode across the open stretch of grassland towards the wall. By her best guess it stood at an easy one hundred or so feet and stretched for some thousands of metres along the expanse of orange grass before curving in on itself, having been built into the side of the mountain that the Vosh had found on the Defender's scanner before they had crashed. The Jedi had gotten a sense of its sheer size from that map, at least on an intellectual level, but actually seeing it was another thing entirely.
With every step she took across the plains, as the distant sun continued to set in the sky bathing the world in deep yellow light, the lone mountain appeared more and more like the cupped hand of some primordial being looking to touch the sky. It could have been a trick of the light, Cirinis supposed, but the ridges that looked almost carved from peak to base looked eerily similar to fingers...
She shook her head and rid her mind of such thoughts, pressing onwards - there would be time for ideas like that once she'd reached the city. She couldn't afford any distractions right now, especially with the state she was in right then. Cirinis glanced down at her body; at her arms and legs, and the rags that had been made of her jedi robes.
The fight with the Rancor and the horde of creatures that followed had ended in her victory, but it had certainly not been easy. In the end, quality won out over quantity, but quantity had a quality of its own as the myriad cuts and scrapes that could be seen through the tears in her clothes proved. Cirinis picked at her sleeves and patted down her chest before sighing.
"At least they still cover me..." She said, because as much as she did not bother indulging in hedonistic pleasures like those among the Order who saw fit to follow the Jedi Code to the letter and not the spirit, she was not blind to the fact that she was an attractive woman. As much as that may be somewhat vain or even arrogant to admit, she'd had more than enough people try and talk their way into her bed while she was undercover to make her glad she wasn't exposed like that in any way. She'd have to see about finding some new clothes in the city, if it was at all possible.
That, and finding a quiet spot to tend to her wounds, since she hadn't come out of that fight unscathed, even if they were relatively tame injuries. Cirinis would've preferred to sort it out after the fight, but she was too tired physically and emotionally to use Force Healing on herself, and taking the time to rest and centre herself on the brink of sundown on this world seemed tantamount to suicide.
On most hostile and untamed planets, where the beasts that roamed the wilds relied on their claws and fangs to hunt their prey, she would have been willing to risk it, climbing up a tall tree or finding a secluded cave to rest in. Here though, where monsters fought with the insidious power of the Dark Side, she didn't dare take her chances. If that Rancor had gotten into her head so easily with its tainted sorcery, and had created enough dark and shadow to blot out the sky and sun around her so that, without her lightsaber, she'd have been blinded, Cirinis shuddered to think at what else would come for her should she fail to reach this city in time.
Even the smaller creatures, blinded by their rage and hunger like the Rancor she felled had proven a distinct challenge. Where the Rancor had fought with wanton abandon after its initial mental and sensory assault proved fruitless, these beasts fought intelligently. They had known they couldn't beat her one on one, and even if they fought all together their chances weren't great - instead, they bathed themselves in shadow and smoke using whatever power gave them life and attacked that way in an attempt to confuse her.
It hadn't worked, obviously. During her early years as a Padawan Cirinis had learned not to trust her eyes, for they could deceive her, and that she should only trust in the Force.
All things considered, Cirinis thought as she plucked her lightsaber from her belt and inspected the casing for damage, That teaching probably saved my life. There were more than a fair amount of Jedi, even among the Knights, that had yet to learn that lesson. She could only hope that, when they did, the lesson did not cost them their life.
Cirinis rolled her lightsaber over in her palm and brushed away the dirt that had been caught on the metal during the brawl and decided that, as soon as she got back to the Jedi Temple, she'd run a full maintenance check on her weapon. After all, a Jedi's lightsaber was their life and to neglect it invited disaster.
She returned her saber to her belt and looked up to the sky, seeing that the sun was about to start reaching behind the horizon, and broke out into a run. She was cutting it close as it was, and she'd trade running the last couple Klicks or so to the city for actually making it there before sundown.
The Jedi managed a good five or six minutes of running but the day had taken its toll and she had never been as intense with her physical exercises like some of her peers, and she let her mind fall back on the Force. Energy and power filled her weary muscles and the physical strain was replaced by a mental one, something Cirinis had years of experience with.
A lot of Jedi frowned upon seemingly unnecessary uses of the Force like this but Cirinis saw it differently. Using the Force as a weapon and a tool went against the spirit of the Jedi Code, she agreed with that much, but by that logic so did carrying and using a lightsaber in any capacity - at least that was how she saw it. It was considered proper to use a lightsaber in defence of the lives of others and your own, but only when all other avenues had been exhausted. Using the Force with that mentality, without resorting to the Rule of Power and dominating the fight and your opponent; that seemed pretty in line with the Jedi Code and their ideals.
Using Force Control to keep herself going at a time like this, with her life at risk and her charges separated from her, felt in line with those same ideals.
Cirinis practically flew across the grassy plains, meters in between each stride, and she knew she had barely a Klick left to run to reach the city. She'd always enjoyed using the Force like this - enjoyed allowing herself to be swept away by the current of the Force as she channeled its power, letting it guide her. The exhilaration of having her body boosted past its normal limits, if only temporarily, came second to that feeling of surety and wholeness in the Force.
Nothing, however, beat the feeling of meditating in the Jedi Temple and connecting to that ancient, worldly current of energy and Force. Many Padawans and even some among the Knights yearned to leave the Temple behind and explore the galaxy, but having done exactly that for decades, Cirinis had come to appreciate how calm and relaxed meditating in the Jedi Temple was. Freedom and variety were vital in life, but so was a stable place to call home that you could return to at the end of the day.
Cirinis had never encountered any presence in the Force like the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She'd seen things: ancient, powerful, dark and bright - none of it ever compared.
None of it had.
None of it could.
Apart from this.
This city, built into and borne of the mountain towering before her, was nothing but light to her, through the lens of the Force. Having given herself over to the Force to keep from keeling over in exhaustion, her mind and soul were bombarded with feelings and history incomprehensible.
Maybe she hadn't noticed earlier because she'd been too busy using the Force to stop the Defender from burning up on re-entry and exploding on impact to defeating a veritable horde of monsters, but even then she was astounded that she'd missed this.
She was attuned to the Force in a way that very few among the Order were, and she could feel the subtle currents of the Force that eluded most. Even being within ten Klicks of the Jedi Temple was enough to keep her aware of its signature in the Force, even if it was only a slight pressure on the back of her mind that, while never becoming more intense in the sense that it was painful, grew with proximity. It was like a rushing river in the forest: anyone could hear it long before they saw it, but it was never truly loud until they jumped in. It was the same as the Temple, where until someone immersed themself in the Force in one of its many halls and rooms, they could never truly grasp its sheer depth.
This city's light in the Force, however, was akin to a spotlight. When she wasn't fully focused on the Living Force, it was like the light was off, but when she focused her mind, it was like a switch had been flipped and now the light was blinding.
Maybe she shouldn't be mixing metaphors, but her point still stood!
Still, there was a certain majesty to it, and Cirinis found she couldn't look away, her proverbial third eye locked onto the invisible light of the City.
There was something bothering her, though: The sense of power flowing through this city was, to Cirinis trained senses, close enough to the Jedi Temple that she had to wonder - if the power and light of this city and world was so bright, why was it that the Jedi Temple felt almost dimmer in comparison when everything else was the same?
Now that she thought about it, now that she thought back to her experiences on Coruscant, why did things seem almost...
Almost dull, like the rusted blade of a once treasured sword?
Milk, but with a drop of blood that sours the drink. Enough so that you never noticed it until you had a drink from another source.
"Ok", Cirinis panted, "I really need to stop with the metaphors." She also really needed to stop talking to herself when she was alone, even if it did help when the silence got a bit too much for her, but that was neither here nor there.
Cirinis was just starting to make out what appeared to be guards posted on the top of the wall with her Force-enhanced senses, all carrying rifles the like of which she'd never seen before, when ground beneath her feet shook violently and she was thrown bodily to the right, dirt and grass shifting and splintering as this happened.
It was only with her honed reflexes that Cirinis was able to turn her fall into a controlled roll, saving her from any major injury like a broken arm or rib. Instead, the worst damage she took was the dirt that had been thrown onto her robes and hair.
Cirinis fell into a crouch and drew her lightsaber, the white glow of her blade reflecting onto her body and onto the damaged ground at her feet even. Nothing had attacked her just yet so she slowly climbed to her feet and carefully moved out of the upturned earth that stretched for a good twenty, no - thirty metres, even as she kept a wary eye on her surroundings.
Nothing. Open plains and the forest she had left barely half an hour ago were all that surrounded her.
Could this have been the guards on the wall?
This world's creatures had proven to be cunning, deadly and possessed of unnatural abilities in the Dark Side of the Force - what about this world's people? Had they attacked her with some exotic weapon to prevent her entry? If so, what did that mean for her companions and charges?
Cirinis glanced over to the wall but found nothing other than the speck-like guards, still pacing up and down its perimeter. There weren't any turrets or battlements she could speak of which seemed odd considering how hostile this planet had proven so far, so maybe they were hidden within the structure itself? It was certainly a possibility, but certainly she'd have noticed the appearance of large-scale weaponry?
The ground shook once again, and fissures appeared in the dirt beneath Cirinis' feet and she leapt back to get back to solid ground, but the cracks and tears kept spreading wider and wider and wider for dozens of meters. Grass and earth began to disappear into what was now looking more and more like a sinkhole and Cirinis drew the Force into her body and leapt as far as she could into the air as the ground she had been standing on vanished.
Except the dirt was falling in uneven chunks, from the left and then to the right - back and forth. It was almost like something was...
Cirinis broke out into a sprint towards the wall and what she could now see was its gate, blending into the steel near seamlessly without any flair. She threw out any ideas pacing and fears of exhaustion in order to get the whole out of dodge because there was no way she was sticking around to find out what this was.
But Cirinis' old Master had always said she was too curious for her own good, and that was something she'd never been able to shake, even as a Master. So, against her better judgement, she turned her senses to the pit and whatever had made it even if she had a hunch as to what she'd find.
Despair.
Sadness, loneliness, and self-loathing assaulted her mind and psyche like a battering ram. The Rancor she had slain attempted to use her own memories and grief against her, and Cirinis had been carefully guarding her mind through the Force since. Even so, she nearly lost herself in the tide of emotions that washed over her which was concerning since this wasn't even an attack.
Whatever was crawling out of that whole radiated such raw pain that she was nearly driven to tears, but Cirinis managed to keep her composure and instead kept running.
She ran and ran, making it within a hundred meters of the wall until a barrier of shadow and crimson light blocked her path, and even her Force-enhanced body was unable to stop in time before slamming bodily into the smoke. Jedi Master Cirinis bounced off the barrier like she'd just run into a durasteel blast-door and fell to the dirt like a sack of fruit.
"I'm taking a holiday after this", she mumbled, annoyed, even as she poked at the smoke with her lightsaber. The red light which had flitted in orbs in and around the wisps of darkness congealed and swatted at her lightsaber, and, to the Jedi's surprise, connecting with the blade of white light before sending it off to the side. Cirinis was sent off with it, stumbling before catching herself with her arms flailing.
Cirinis backed away from the barrier and saw that the smoke only covered five or six meters of land - she could easily just run around it.
Before she could even move her feet, however, the smoke expanded and rose up as if commanded by some force in response to her thoughts, spiralling around her and forming a wide ring around her and the sinkhole that, while she figured she could jump over if she used the Force, there was nothing stopping the smoke from just flowing higher.
So, instead of trying to escape, Cirinis drew her lightsaber and turned to face whatever was coming.
The ground shook like an earthquake, trembling in rhythmic waves and growing louder with each moment. Up and behind her, with her enhanced senses courtesy of the Force coursing through her at that moment, she could hear the whirring of shifting machinery from atop the wall. Turning her head, Cirinis saw a series of turrets rising from within the walls structure and arming themselves atop the wall, though with the angle she was looking from she couldn't make out any details of the defences themselves.
Besides, as it was Cirinis didn't feel mundane laser-turrets and the like would be of much use here.
A world-shaking roar echoed from the pit, and through the Force the Jedi could feel the influence of the Dark Side aimed at her, directed by an intelligent mind in order to make her submit.
Frankly, Cirinis was getting sick of monsters trying to get in her head that day, but she reigned in her emotions and pushed through the mental attack, continuing to wait patiently.
Sounds of laboured breathing akin to the wheeze of a dying starship engine sounded as three enormous, black and spindly limbs with red veins lining its armoured skin, reached and gripped into the dirt as something titanic pulled itself out the bowels of the world and onto the surface.
The first thing she saw was its eyes.
Its eyes, twin seas of black with red-ringed iris', rose straight up from the ground, glaring out from a massive head of black scales with red markings akin to tribal patterns adorning its hide. Those crimson veins kept going even as the creature's long neck emerged and its serpentine head tilted down, baring its sickly yellow teeth at Cirinis in what looked like contempt and disgust. Even a good thirty or so meters from the hole, the beast's heavy breath nearly knocked her off her feet and sent small strands of spittle and slime onto the ground around her - some of it even found purchase on her body and hair.
That wasn't important, however. What was important was that, in the face of this being, Cirinis, Master in the Jedi Order, did something she hadn't done since she was still a Padawan learner under her old Master.
Cirinis froze.
Since she'd become a Knight and a Master she had encountered enemies ranging from droids, gangsters and bounty hunters all the way to monsters and fauna the size of small starships - and when the time came she faced them all without hesitation. But right then, watching this gargantuan creature tear itself from the dirt, her mind was taken back to her early days as a Padawan when the sight of blasters and claws stopped her in her tracks, when she could do nothing but watch.
The sheer power radiating off this creature nearly drove Cirinis off her feet as her mind was assaulted by a presence within the Force that dwarfed her own. Not in power, necessarily, but in sheer magnitude and age, and even then those two things were a power of their own.
But beyond any of that, Cirinis was stunned because she recognised it. She recognized it from records and legends kept in the Jedi Archive, so old they had been forgotten by all but the most diligent of scholars. She herself had only taken an interest after her late friend Qui Gon had pointed the records out to her, after a discussion about the various animals and beasts that had potential Force Sensitivity, and among them she had learned of the once apex predator of the planet Malastare in the Mid Rim.
The records in the Jedi Archives held that the beast had been driven to extinction by the planet's native sentients, by method of what amounted to biological warfare. For millennia, those who knew of the creature believed it to be wiped from the face of the galaxy.
Faced with this, however, Cirinis knew that the Jedi Archives had been incorrect.
The Zillo Beast, maybe the last of its kind, tore its crimson body from the bowels of the world and roared to the sky.
Cirinis' hands flew to her ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound, even as the wall of crimson smoke and shadow rose up in a spiral around her and the Zillo Beast, reaching to touch the sky in a tornado of dark energy that cut her off from the rest of the world.
The Zillo Beast's roar drew out into a terrible silence, and Cirinis looked up at the creature. At her best guess, it stood at an easy two hundred meters - over double the reported size of its long dead kin, and it's dark hide with crimson markings set it further apart from its own species, and putting it more in line with this planet's inhabitants.
Cirinis, for all her experience as a scholar, a negotiator and a warrior, truly had no idea what to do in this situation: she couldn't run, she couldn't talk to the Beast, and she sure as scrap couldn't fight it. So, she fell back on the most basic tenant of her Jedi training - patience in the face of uncertainty. Cirinis fell back as close to the barrier as much as she could and kept a hand close to her lightsaber though she didn't dare draw it lest the Zillo Beast could sense her intentions. The records of this creature in the Jedi Archive held rumours of the Beast's ability to sense emotion, and while she wasn't sure if that was true or not, whatever had been done to this creature had left it tainted with the Dark Side. It's abilities were unknown to her, and she wasn't exactly keen to find out either way.
Even without immersing herself in the Force, Cirinis could feel the pain emanating from the Zillo Beast like a flame in the dark, and she found she couldn't look away. The Beast's head turned to stare down at her, a guttural growl escaping its teeth, and it raised its two front arms as if to squash her like an insect beneath its feet.
Cirinis called her lightsaber to hand through the Force, igniting the blade and settling into a defensive position, even if her blade would most likely be useless, but the Zillo Beast's eyes left her and fell to its own hands. A low, keening sound left its throat and its gaze turned to her once again, a sense of questioning and curiosity becoming clearer among the onslaught of misery and fear from this creature.
The Zillo Beasts were said to be terrifying monsters of invulnerable skin and untameable rage, but all she Cirinis could feel from this Beast was pain and fear.
Is it... Cirinis thought. Is it afraid of me?
For all this entity towered over her and commanded power beyond her own understanding, in this moment, it felt like she was the aggressor - the predator. Size mattered not in the Force, and if this creature was Sensitive enough to sense her presence as she could sense its own, then it wasn't much of a stretch for it to be afraid of her; or at least afraid of what she represented.
So, Cirinis took a risk and deactivated her lightsaber, clipping the weapon back on her belt. Then she raised her hands in the air and reached through the Force, attempting to touch the mind of the Zillo Beast and maybe calm it down.
Using the Force to establish a mental link between a Jedi and another sentient being - known by many in the Jedi Order as Force Empathy, was a potentially very useful application of the Force, but not one that came without risk. Cirinis knew that, when it came to Force Empathy, a sentient's mind was, for all intents and purposes, a door: all you had to do was open it and you were free to communicate ideas and emotions. What many inexperienced Jedi forgot, however, was that to step through another's door was to leave your own open. It was entirely possible for someone with enough training in the ways of the Force to turn a mental connection upon the one who initiated it, gaining information or even total control of that person.
Should her will falter in the face of this creature's power, Cirinis' mind and emotions would be at the mercy of the Zillo Beast.
As she said, she was taking a bit of a risk.
Her mind touched that of this ancient and tormented beast, and Cirinis understood. She understood its pain and history, its power and suffering, all along the path that had led it to this moment - and she took that emotion as it flooded into her and released it into the Force.
Time passed weirdly for a moment, and Cirinis felt as if she had both blacked out and watched the world go by in a single moment. She released a breath she could swore she hadn't taken, and felt all that fear and pain release from her - but it wasn't coming from her. No, right then she was a conduit for this creature's anguish and nothing more, and while this wasn't what Cirinis had in mind when she connected with the Zillo Beast, she wouldn't complain. She was a Jedi, and if she could ease this creature's pain then she would do so without hesitation.
Cirinis opened her eyes, though she couldn't recall closing them, and found that she stood with her arm outstretched and her palm resting flat upon the chin of the Zillo Beast. The creature had lain flat on the ground, its gargantuan frame draped across the ruined dirt a couple hundred meters away from her, and its eyes were wide and fixed down on her. The maelstrom of Dark energy that had formed a barrier between her and the rest of the world had dissapated, and Cirinis saw that night had fallen in the time she'd lost awareness.
Above her, constellations new and familiar hung like a tapestry in the sky and shone brighter than she'd ever seen, and while she was willing to attribute that to her weary eyes, she had a feeling it wasn't quite that simple.
The Jedi and the Beast locked eyes for a moment, an understanding passing between them, and Cirinis lowered her palm and let go of the bridge linking their minds. The Zillo Beast let out a breath that rushed past the Jedi, sending her hair in every direction, before climbing to its feet. Shadow gathered at the broken dirt, spec and chunks alike, and like dark wind was blown inwards and back into place.
The Zillo Beast lowered itself to the dirt and, with one final look at Cirinis and the city behind her, climbed down and into the hole. Shadow gathered at its feet and shifted the dirt back in place, sealing the passageway behind the Beast, and the only evidence that had it had even been there in the first place was the large patch of bare dirt in the middle of a previously untouched field of orange grass.
Cirinis, on the other hand, took a moment to sit down on the grass, holding a hand to her head and rubbing her temples. "Master Windu is going to have an aneurysm when he hears about this. A Force-Sensitive Zillo Beast on a world full of Dark Side creatures. Mother of Moons..." She groaned out, dreading the report she was going to have to give the Council when this was all over.
The sound of a hover-engine from behind her broke Cirinis out of her thoughts, and she turned her head to see a person in what looked like a guard or sentry's uniform along with a full helmet and visor rushing towards her on speeder bike.
A speeder bike that looked suspiciously like the one Naeth and Vosh had kept on their Defender-class Light Corvette, which the delegates Cear and Kilnen had been riding when she last saw them, the faded and scratched red paint and the damaged lights giving it away. Whoever this was had somehow acquired the bike, and Cirinis doubted it had been through honest trade - not with how her luck had been tuning out today.
Cirinis had been hoping the people of this planet were more welcoming than the local fauna, but if that proved not to be the case, then she would do what must. She could do no less when the lives of her companions were on the line.
The rider let go of the bike's throttle and came to a stop just before Cirinis, and they climbed off the bike and while Cirinis spotted a blaster holstered on their hip, they made no move to reach for it. Their outfit or uniform, whatever it may have been, was a loose brown boiler suit with white accents along the shoulders and arms and down the zipper on the chest, along with a pair of sturdy looking steel-toed leather boots. Atop that the rider wore metal pieces of armour: a breastplate, pauldrons and bracers along with a pair of cuisee and greaves, all painted silver and polished to a shine. Cirinis couldn't make out the material, but the outfit painted the picture of an experienced fighter.
The rider held themselves well, too, with their right hand held on their hip in a relaxed pose that would put a less experienced person at ease, but Cirinis could tell they were ready to draw at any moment. They waved a hand at her and spoke, "You caused quite a stir there, you and the Monster." The voice that sounded from the helmet, despite its somewhat grainy quality, was clearly that of a woman - or at least made to sound that way. "That's the first time it's come above ground in two years." Her free hand waved Cirinis up and down. "You must be real special, stranger." She spoke with a slight drawl, but only on certain words, as if it was a habit she was trying to rid herself of.
Cirinis folded her arms over her chest and opened herself up to the Force briefly, reaching over to the rider. The Jedi felt curiosity, along with tension, at the forefront of her mind and she knew that the rider, while open to talking to strangers, was not naive enough to let her guard down around them. That was a respectable mindset to have, especially on a planet in the Mid and Outer Rim, but the rider's presence in the Force seemed so young, and she felt pity for a soul forced to grow up so quickly.
She had a feeling, however, that pity wouldn't go far on this world. Instead, Cirinis stepped forward and offered her hand. With all those stars and all those worlds, there were hundreds of ways to greet a friend or stranger, maybe even thousands, but for the countless humans in the galaxy there was no more appropriate greeting than a handshake.
"And you're something of a sight for sore eyes, my friend." Cirinis said, though she kept up the mask of calm neutrality. This whole thing could go either way after all, and the rider's hand was still by her blaster. "My name is Cirinis. Are you going to tell me yours, or is this going to get blown out of proportion?"
Much like everything else has today, Cirinis thought, though she kept that part to herself.
The rider let out an honest, amused laugh before reaching up and removing her helmet, revealing a pretty young woman with dark hair cut short into a bob cut, along with a scar that ran diagonally across her right cheek that stopped just before her upper lip. She had piercing blue eyes that shone with mirth, and through the Force Cirinis could feel her tension ease, replaced with a sense of genuine relief.
She then tucked her helmet under her left arm and shook Cirinis' hand. The leather of the woman's glove was rough against her palm, and her grip was like iron, but she wasn't trying to crush her hand in some asinine attempt to assert dominance like a lot of aggressive people did.
"We wouldn't want that, now would we? Thalia Horco, at your service." She introduced herself before letting go of her hand. She rested her hand on her waist and away from her blaster, flashing Cirinis a smile. " Your friends came through here little over two hours ago. Gave me your name and asked me to let you through when you showed up along with allowing me to use your speeder, even after I told them you were probably something's dinner by now."
"I know how to handle myself", Cirinis said truthfully, even if it was a rather large understatement. She then gestured to her ruined clothes with something of a sheepish smile. "Even if I don't exactly look it at the moment."
"You look like you've been through a war", Thalia countered in something that sounded, and felt in the Force, like awe. "Your friend, Nate or something, called you a Jedi. That right?" She asked as she put her helmet on, moving back to the speeder.
"Jedi Master, that's me."
"Well, I have no idea what that means, but you're pretty badass. Taking on the big lizard like that, I mean. You must have a pair of solid steel down there." Thalia looked her up and down with what she could only assume was a smirk. "Figuratively."
Cirinis rolled her eyes and even as she fought down a smile. "Jedi aren't 'badass', we're peacekeepers; negotiators."
Thalia climbed onto the speeder before tugging at one of her sleeves, saying: "Must've been some pretty aggressive negotiations, to scrap up your clothes like that."
"I defend myself and others. Anything more is not the Jedi way."
Thalia clapped her hands together and said, "How about you get on the speeder and I pretend I know what you're talking about?" She revved the engine and tapped the seat behind her, and Cirinis jumped on, wrapping her arms around Thalia's stomach.
"You don't know about the Jedi?" Cirinis asked as Thalia hit the throttle and they started across the last stretch to the city.
"Never heard of you before today. You guys a big deal off world?"
"Kind of. We're an order of Force-wielders who protect the galaxy from evil, no matter the form."
"You're a bunch of interplanetary police?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Miss Horco, but it's not the worst way to think of it."
Thalia reached down to her waist and plucked a comlink off her belt, holding it up to her mouth and saying: "Horco here. Open the gate."
Up ahead, where Cirinis hadn't been able to see from the distance she'd been looking from, two rectangular sections of the wall swung open at speeds that didn't fit with a structure of that size. As they passed under the square arch, she figured the gate themselves would have to be at least twenty meters tall, large enough for any ground-based transport she could think of. For such a patchwork structure, it functioned phenomenally.
That doesn't matter, Cirinis thought. There are more important questions to be answered.
She looked over Thalia's shoulder as they sped into a frankly well-lit intersection before coming to a stop. Cobblestone roads the width of a house led straight ahead and to their left and right which curved along with the wall, and when Cirinis turned to look, she could see the branching roads themselves turned into the city, forming ordered streets that went as far as she could see, all the way to the base of the mountain some thousands of meters away, though the Jedi had no way of knowing accurately at that moment. She could see a fair amount of people making their way through the streets, along with those in their homes walking past a window every now and then, and she took note of how there were a substantial amount of non-humans there. Just down the road, walking under a street light, was an elderly Togruta carrying what appeared to be a basket of fruits, beside him a nautolan of similar age. Just to the left, Cirinis caught a glimpse of a Twi'lek family turning into a separate street.
She was broken out of her observations when Thalia tapped her arm, the one currently wrapped around her, and turned to face Cirinis. "Welcome to Remnant, the best and only city on the planet of Revenant Five!" She spoke with a cheer that seemed only half faked, and gave a tiny little fist-pump as she did so. "I sent your friends up to The Falling Star for some food and drink while they waited on you. It's a little ways down this street here." She said, reaching down to her belt and retrieving what appeared to be a portable holomap projector.
She held it up with both hands, angled so Cirinis was able to see it over her shoulder, flipped the on switch. A blue holographic map of the city and its walls, along with the mountain, were projected into the space above the device, much like the one she'd seen aboard the Defender right before it had crashed, though it was much more detailed and she couldn't see anything beyond the walls. Unlike the Defender's holomap, however, there were a series of holographic pins located at certain points on the map. Most were somewhere in the city-proper, but there were two markers separate from the rest. One was right atop the wall at its southernmost point, right above the city gate.
The other was some ways up the mountain, at what appeared to be a facility of some kind.
Thalia pointed at a pin a little ways before the base of the mountain, saying, "That's The Falling Star right there, Remnant's first and largest tavern and inn. Been there as long as anyone still alive in this city can remember, and it's the only surviving building back from when this whole place was still some backwater shanty-town, though it had a different name back then."
Cirinis nodded, making a note of that information. "That's where my companions are waiting, then?"
"Yep", Thalia confirmed, drawing out the word. "Run by our Quartermaster, that place. He runs a tight ship but he's a good man. One of the best, actually. You're friends wont have a worry while they're under his roof, my word's on it."
Cirinis pointed to the marker on the mountain. "What's that one?" She asked.
Whatever the presence in the Force she'd been feeling was, she knew that it would be right where that marker was. The Force had sent her to this planet, Revenant Five, and whatever lived in that facility was why.
Thalia went quiet for a moment and Cirinis worried for a moment that she'd overstepped, but what she could feel through the Force wasn't secretive, per se. It felt more like Thalia was considering something, whatever that was. After a moment's deliberation, she spoke. "Why don't we go back to my place and get you a change of clothes. We can have this chat there. That work for you?"
"I don't mean to intrude", Cirinis began, "I just -"
"You had a feeling?" Thalia interrupted with a quiet, sardonic laugh.
Cirinis leaned back in her seat, studying Thalia carefully both with her sight and the Force, trying to glean as much information as she could. The sense of caution had returned, but there was a feeling of anticipation - excitement, almost, that warred against it. "That wasn't what I was going to say, but I've been sensing something up that mountain since I landed on this planet. I'm not looking for any trouble, friend - just some answers, is all." She said, as diplomatically as possible. Thalia had been a help both to her and her charges as far as she could tell, and manners only ever cost you your breath. Besides, Thalia seemed alright. There were worse people to have on your side in a situation like this, in her experience.
"Answers, huh?" Thalia whispered, considering. "I can do that, but you're gonna have to give me some answers of your own. For my own peace of mind."
"That's fine with me", Cirinis confirmed with a smile, even though Thalia was facing away from her and would be unable to see it. "Thank you, Miss Horco. You've been a great help in a rather trying situation."
"Yeah yeah, keep that up and you'll make me blush." Thalia shook her head. "Let's head to my place, get you some clothes that cover more than they show - not that I'm complaining. The chill won't be doing you any favours, all I'm saying." She switched off her holomap projector and returned it to her belt, turning back to her with what Cirinis could only assume was a questioning look.
She hadn't paid much attention to it before, what with the Zillo Beast and all, but it had been getting progressively colder as the minutes went by, and that little time-skip where she'd lost awareness of her surroundings had only worsened it. With that, Cirinis gave a nod, and Thalia took them to her home.
It didn't take long to reach the place, a simple, two story house built from wood and stone with a sloped roof and a series of draped windows on each floor. Maybe five minutes or a little longer, though Thalia had gunned it through the streets fast enough that Cirinis was forced to wonder if this place had any speeding laws, or if Thalia's position - whatever that may be, made her exempt from such things. Still, when they had turned onto one of the few streets she had seen in this city with a winding road, the Jedi figured they'd reached a pseudo-residential area of Remnant, or as much of one as you could find in a place like this. Unlike the other areas she had seen in the city, these houses were all unique, and Cirinis assumed they had all been built using whatever materials were available and in whatever way was suited to the owner, unlike the now practically uniform structure of the houses farther from the mountain.
The architecture of Thalia's home was basic, leaving little room for flare or any dramatics, with its square, boxlike design that emphasised functionality above all else. The only bit of colour, aside from the browns and greys of the wood and stone were the green curtains Cirinis could see through the windows thanks to the street lights, along with the modest but well kept garden of red, blue and green flowers, set in a bed of dirt and orange grass.
All in all, Cirinis found herself appreciating the homely feeling of this house, and it was clear that Thalia or whoever owned the building in deed, went to great lengths in order to turn a rather simple structure into a home worth living in.
Thalia turned off the engine and climbed off the bike and she followed suit. While her escort and now host went and opened the doors, Cirinis shifted the speeder so that it was out of the middle of the road and by the edge of the sidewalk, out of the way of people walking and those in a vehicle. Then, she turned to Thalia and spoke. "This is a lovely home you have here. I quite like your garden."
"Thanks." She said, opening the front door. The door was made of metal and painted a soft red that looked somewhat out of touch with the rest of the house. Thalia held the door open and gestured with a hand, and Cirinis stepped past her and through the doorway. "My parents built this place when they came here, around maybe thirty or so years ago. I don't know how long exactly, I just remember growing up in this place and being told it'd be mine someday."
There was a sense of muted sadness and regret in her tone, and Cirinis didn't need to be a Jedi to know something bad had happened to her parents. She didn't need the Force, either, to know Thalia wasn't about to have this conversation with a near-complete stranger, so she dropped the subject. "You mentioned a change of clothes earlier?" She asked instead.
Thalia took her helmet off and placed it on a small cabinet just beside the door, and ran her hands through her hair and said, "Up the stairs and through the door second right is my bedroom. There's some cupboards up there with shirts, trousers and socks - whatever you need, feel free to have at it." She finished, but then added, "Don't touch the shelf bottom left of my bed, though. That's where I keep the good stuff."
"The good stuff?" Cirinis asked, though she was almost afraid to.
"Weapons, armour, that kind of stuff."
"Thanks for telling me?" She said, unsure if she was giving an answer or a question before deciding it wasn't really worth it, and made her way through the house. The bottom floor had been divided into three rooms, as far as Cirinis could tell. From the front door, you could turn left and enter a seating area of sorts, with a few single chairs with cushions along with some couches. They were arranged around a fireplace, currently empty, with a small coffee table in the middle of them all. By the window there was a small cabinet with some picture frames, all filled with family portraits and photos that portrayed a happy childhood, though she knew such things could be deceiving. It wasn't her place to pry however.
Cirinis had glimpsed a small kitchen area to the back of the house, along with a dining room that you could enter by turning right from the front door. Both the seating room and the dining room were connected by the kitchen, but she hadn't seen either enough to get a real impression of them, and instead headed up the stairs in the corner of the living room. From there she entered a short hallway with three doors, two being along the right and the other at the end of the hallway facing the stairs. Cirinis walked over to the second door on the right as instructed and found herself in a rather spartan bedroom, all things considered.
Apart from the dull blue rug at the end of the bed, and some family pictures on the left bedside table, there wasn't really much in the way of personal belongings, at least in plain view. Then she went rummaging through the cupboards in the room, barring the one on the bottom right as Thalia had asked her not to, and settled on a plain pair of brown trousers, made of a sturdy enough material and lined with more pockets than her Jedi robes, and a cream coloured v-neck shirt that honestly felt way too tight, but nothing else really caught her eye so she stuck with it. After finding and putting on a pair of simple black socks, she headed back downstairs again.
She found Thalia sitting in the living room in the single chair closest to the fireplace which had now been set alight, her host stoking the flames with a poker and a small pile of log wood at her side. Cirinis moved into the seat opposite her and took in the warmth for a moment, allowing herself a chance to relax for the first time that day. She shut her eyes and allowed her senses to flow through the Force in something akin to meditation, when Thalia spoke up.
"Don't go to sleep on me here. Thought we were having a little chat?" She asked with a slight teasing tone, though Cirinis was immersed enough in the Force to know that Thalia was somewhat desperate for answers by now.
"We're going to", Cirinis said as diplomatically as possible, though if her voice came out a little bit teasing as well it surely wasn't her fault. "I'm just warming up, along with basking in this lovely hospitality." She could practically feel Thalia's begrudging amusement, and when she sensed Thalia grabbing a pillow before tossing it at her chest, Cirinis figured the time for jokes had come to an end.
She raised her palm and stopped the cushion mid-flight.
The Jedi opened her eyes and watched as Thalia leaned back in her chair with a satisfied expression on her face, one saying she'd just had something confirmed for her. "I figured as much", Thalia said, sounding like she was talking more to herself than Cirinis. "Can you do the other stuff?" She asked, meeting Cirinis' eyes.
"Such as?" She asked, twirling the cushion in the space between them before levitating it onto her lap, resting her arms on it.
"You know what I'm talking about." Thalia claimed, but Cirinis only raised an eyebrow in response. "Stuff like..." She slapped her palm against her thigh twice in frustration, the silence dragging on for a moment. "Stuff like seeing things hundreds of meters away, or even knowing the future."
"Clairvoyance and Precognition?" Cirinis asked and she nodded. "I possess such abilities, as do many Jedi, though the extent of such a power depends solely on the individual."
"Ok, right. What about connecting with the minds of animals?"
"How do you think I dealt with the Zillo Beast?" She answered, running a hand through her hair, sorely wishing for a shower.
"You mean the big lizard out front?" Thalia asked, stretching her arms with a slight yawn.
"The Zillo Beast, yes."
"Well, all we were able to see was that weird red and black tornado thing, and that lasted for a good two hours. By the time that thing dissipated, we could only assume you had done something to tame that thing."
"I didn't tame it." She corrected her. "I connected our minds so that we could understand each other."
"Semantics", Thalia waved her off. "You can do that weird magic and you have one of those laser swords, that's all I was trying to figure out."
"That 'weird magic' is the Force, and my sword is called a lightsaber."
"The names don't really matter to me, if I'm honest." She said. "And you and your Jedi aren't some weird group of space pirate wizard people?"
Cirinis laughed despite herself. "Space pirate wizard people? Where'd you get that idea?"
Thalia's expression was deadly serious, despite her words. "This magic or Force or whatever you wanna call it - I know Blurg all about that. But it's my job to make sure this city is safe. Seriously, I'm the highest ranking guard and protector in this town, so it falls to me to make sure every lone wanderer and band of 'refugees' or whatever they choose to call themselves that day aren't gonna try and rob us blind, or stars forbid, start killing my people." Thalia met her eyes, and there was a steel there that you'd be hard pressed to find in some Jedi. Even in the face of an unknown power such as her, the unspoken promise of retribution was something Cirinis could respect.
So, she decided to lay her cards on the table.
"I'm no pirate, nor am I a murderer." She promised. "I am a Jedi, sent by the leaders of my order on a diplomatic mission to try and help broker a peace treaty between two neighbouring worlds. We were attacked, however, and crash-landed on your world. We only came to Remnant so that we might find shelter and, if it's at all possible, some aid getting off world."
Cirinis held her gaze for a moment before Thalia spoke up. "And I'm just supposed to believe you?" She shook her head with a rueful smile. "Sure, you seem pretty cool, and damn you're attractive, but that's how they get you, you know?"
"Then why'd you take me back to your home?" Cirinis asked, more out of curiosity than anything.
"Well, out of your friends in The Falling Star only one seems like he would be any decent in a firefight. That's one point in favour of you not being a murderous scumbag, if the people you run with look like they've never fired a blaster in their life."
Cirinis reached through the Force and, despite the logic behind her words, sensed hesitation. "You're holding out on me here, Thalia."
Thalia leaned forward in her seat, arms on her knees and spoke. "It's the way of our people to look out for those in need." She let out a laugh. "We don't do money here, you know. My parents were pretty confused by that when they first came here, apparently. See, everything here runs on good will and blind trust. Despite everything that's happened to me in my life, I believe in it too. That's why you're here, because I'm not about to leave someone stranded in some unknown place with ratty clothes and no map, nor am I about to leave them outside the walls late at night with scrap knows what kind of monsters roaming around."
"But it's your duty to make sure that trust isn't abused."
"Got it in one."
Cirinis nodded before holding her arms out wide. "So, what do you want from me? I can give you my weapon to hold onto if that will help?"
"You could take it from me with a thought", Thalia declined, shaking her head. "Swear to me."
That threw Cirinis through a bit of a loop. "I'll give you my word and you'll just believe me?"
"I'm good at reading people. Promise me you aren't here to hurt or rob anyone, that your reasons are true and just, and then we can be friends."
Cirinis took a breath and looked her straight in the eyes. "I swear on my honour as a Jedi, on the will of the Force and the lives I've sworn to protect, that I did not come here with ill intentions."
A tense silence filled the room, but she kept her composure as Thalia stared her down. Then, finally, she let out a breath and relaxed in her chair. "Alright, we're good."
"You trust me now?" She asked.
"Wasn't an issue of trust. It was making sure you weren't going to break that trust."
"Right..." Cirinis trailed off. "If your people are half as odd as you, then you are a very weird people indeed."
"We're called Ghosts, but yeah. We're kinda odd by the standards of most people."
She pondered that for a moment. "Ghosts, Remnant, Revenant Five. I'm seeing a pattern here."
"We've got a lot of history, barely any of it happy - we're pretty self-aware about it."
"Speaking of your history, mind if I start asking questions now?" She asked, looking towards the fireplace for a moment as Thalia loaded another chunk of wood, stoking the flames higher.
"Go ahead, but if I were you I'd wait and ask the Quartermaster when you get to The Falling Star. Other than that, fire away." Thalia stated, and Cirinis figured she'd take her advice, considering that she'd be heading there anyways by the sound of it.
So, instead of asking about the world and its people, Cirinis figured she'd get the biggest question out of the way. "Who lives in the facility atop the mountain? The one marked on your holomap?"
Thalia looked away with a slight wince, hesitant - "That's a pretty loaded question right there." She took a breath and considered her words. "Nine years ago, an escape pod crashed in the center of this city. It flattened the tavern that's now known as The Falling Star, but the place was closed for renovations so nobody was hurt."
"That's pretty lucky", Cirinis commented.
"You don't believe in luck."
"I don't, but do continue."
"Right. Okay, so, long story short, we find someone in this pod alongside two corpses, both burnt to a crisp. This person's untouched, though, but they're out cold. I was only eleven at the time so I wasn't allowed anywhere near this whole thing, but I later heard that a data-pad was recovered from the pod. Most of the data was damaged, but we got a name for them."
A name? Cirinis thought. If this person was the one that she'd sensed atop the mountain during her crash and her trek to Remnant, then they must have been strong in the Force in a way that only those among the rank of Master in the Jedi Order could be. She couldn't remember if any Jedi had gone missing from their ranks around a decade ago, but maybe she would recognise the name. "What was their name?" She asked.
"Caelum." Thalia said. "No last name or any personal information to speak of."
Caelum? There's no one in the Jedi Order by that name, though I might be mistaken.
Maybe this person was using a fake name and was attempting to run from something. But if they were a Jedi like she suspected, then why were they hiding their real name? It couldn't have been to sneak away from the Order without anyone noticing - there was no rule forbidding a Jedi from leaving if they wished to, and many had done so in the past. Had they committed a crime and were trying to escape punishment?
"That's odd", Cirinis commented, not voicing her suspicions. "Normally flight logs hold that kind of information, at least enough to establish identities and the purpose of the flight in case of a crash."
"The data was damaged, so we figured it could have been lost in the crash, but the file we pulled the name from was practically untouched. That's not the weirdest part, though." Thalia continued. "Caelum's as human as can be, at least biologically - we had that tested later with his permission. Yet, he has sky blue skin and pale white hair, and I'm not talking colourful like a Pantoran or a Twi'lek. Under the right light, he scrapping glows, and there are patches of white light on his skin that move around his body and neck like clouds! They're pretty hard to notice most of the time, but still!"
"And you say he's human?" If what Thalia said was true, Cirinis had no idea how something like that could come about.
"As human as you and I." Thalia considered that for a moment. "Well, I honestly don't know in your case."
"Could they be lying about their name?" She asked. "What do you know of their history? What about where they come from?"
Thalia held up a hand, stopping the Jedi from continuing. "Trust me. There is absolutely no way Caelum is lying about his name, and I know everything there is to know about him except for why he was on that pod and who the two corpses were."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I helped raise him."
That... That changed things. "You helped raise him? He was a child?"
"Barely a year old when the Quartermaster pulled him out of the wreckage." Thalia said, rubbing her eyes for a moment. "The Quartermaster and his wife, alongside my parents, took it upon themselves to give Caelum everything he needed."
Cirinis looked to her hands and whispered, "He's your brother."
"Yes, and when my parents died, I took their place and helped give him a home." She gestured to the house around them.
"So he'd be... what? Nine?"
"Around that, yeah."
"Okay, so let me ask you this. If you live here, and this Quartermaster lives at the Falling Star since he owns it, who lives with Caelum on the mountain."
"That's a long story..." Thalia sighed, holding her head in her hands for a moment.
Cirinis raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Really? Now you're tired of telling stories?"
Thalia cracked her knuckles absentmindedly as she searched for the right words to say. After a moment she spoke: "Look, by now you've probably worked out what I'm getting at here."
The Jedi nodded and leaned back in her chair. "This boy, Caelum, is Force-Sensitive and you don't know enough about the Force to help him with the burden that kind of power brings." Something occurred to her, and she gave it voice. "That's why you're being so kind, but so cautious. Not just because it's the way of your people, but because you want me to meet him and see if I can... Actually, what do you want me to do with him?" She ended up asking.
"I really don't know", Thalia admitted. "Teach him how to use these abilities, maybe get rid of them, I don't know. I'm outta my depth here. All I know is you have the same powers as him, you even carry around one of those lightsabers like we found him with."
"He has a lightsaber!" Cirinis cried, losing her composure for a moment. She couldn't help it though; someone that young and untrained, the Jedi Order would never consider allowing them their own lightsaber until they had a basic understanding of both the Force and the first lightsaber form, Shii-Cho. "Why didn't you take it from him when you first found him?"
"We had no idea what it was!" Thalia exclaimed. "I mean it was literally broken when we found it. All I know is we gave it to him as a memento when he first started living at the facility, and one night as I head up the path to check in on him and he's waving around this damn laser-, ugh, lightsaber, slashing up scrap durasteel like paper."
"And you didn't take it from him then?"
"I wanted to but it's..." She struggled for words. "I'd never seen him look so composed, so - so in his element! He moved up to that facility on his own, not because we told him to, but because he could feel how afraid he made the people around him, and he needed space from them because of it."
"His abilities must be substantially developed for him to feel the emotions of others." Cirinis said, pondering just how this boy could have learned the ways of the Force without a teacher. It wasn't unheard of, but in general most Force Sensitive children who weren't taken to the Jedi Temple had their abilities fade into the background, giving them slight edges in reflexes and their natural senses, but without any formal training they would never learn to truly harness the Force. "And you've not met anyone else with similar abilities? No one who might've been able to teach him?"
"Never. You're the first person I've met who's even remotely similar to him." Thalia insisted, but Cirinis wasn't convinced.
"Are you sure? The ability to sense emotions is relatively advanced for someone without any real training."
"You don't get it." Thalia shook her head with a groan, the drawl slipping back into her words. "Ever since he got here he'd start having fits where he couldn't be around people, and we didn't know what the issue was until he learned to talk because, well, how could we. All we knew is, every now and again, he'd start screaming and crying and things would literally go flying. It scared the hell out of me on more than one occasion, I tell you what. Eventually though, he explained, as best as a child can, that he can feel the world around him, and that it got too much sometimes."
"Hold on, he can 'feel the world around him'? What does that mean?" Cirinis asked, genuinely confused.
"I don't really get it myself", Thalia admitted. "He just knows. People, objects, animals - you name it, chances are he can tell you everything about them at any given moment. It was creepy at first, but it was easy to see he had no control over it. He got a handle on it eventually, but by then he'd come to like that old lab up the mountain, so we took turns visiting him everyday and, you know, making sure he got out enough and was eating well."
Cirinis rubbed at her temples and sorted through the information she'd received before getting up and heading to the front do. "Okay, I really need to talk to this boy. If anyone other than a Jedi teaches him the ways of the Force then he could hurt himself or others."
"What the hell does that mean?!" Thalia cried, practically jumping out her seat to catch up to her.
Cirinis turned back to Thalia and leaned against the door, arms folded across her chest and said: "The Force, for all the good it can do, is a power as old as time itself and should be treated with the respect it deserves. Despite this, there are those who would seek to manipulate it for their own gain. If this boy is being influenced by such an individual, or is simply learning on his own, he will be led down a path to ruin where his abilities grow beyond his control, and he is consumed."
Thalia stared at her in stunned silence, almost disbelief, for a long moment. "That's ominous", she said finally, uselessly. "You really think that could happen?"
Cirinis sighed, turning and opening the door before stepping outside. "Of course it can happen. It's like giving a baby a blaster and expecting nobody to get shot. If this Caelum has even half the abilities you've described, then it's clear I was sent by the Force to aid him."
Thalia followed after, locking the door behind her and mumbling under her breath. "I'm too sober for this." Cirinis felt her eyes on her back as she said, "I swear, all the good ones are either straight or priests. Just my luck..." She ignored that last comment, having more important things to worry about, and climbed onto the speeder with Thalia settling in behind her. She reached through the Force and felt that same spark atop the mountain, the boy, hundreds of meters away from them, and, in a way, thought it might have sensed her in return.
She hit the throttle and they sped off into the night.
And that's it for the prologues! Next chapter will be from the perspective of this story's main character, Caelum. (Though by no means is he the only main character.) I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, especially the worldbuilding with regards to Revenant Five. This planet isn't the main focus of the story, but it is important in the long run, so get theorising if that's your thing!
That's it from me for now. Have a good one and see you next chapter!