Fandom Star Wars: Balancing Act [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away....

Padme Amidala has been killed by the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems, with former Jedi Count Dooku at the head, revealing himself as the sith, Darth Tyranus. Thankfully, Jedi Sifo Dyas had begun preparations and used Kamino resources to create a clone army which has helped the Jedi to fight against the Confederacy and bring systems back into the fold of the Republic.

But many Jedi have fallen, and many people are questioning the use of Clones, and what it could mean for the future of the Jedi, and the galaxy, if they continue to have military power and an army that they head.

Senator Palpatine's placement at the head seems to be what many people to be keeping it all in line. His guidance and vigiliance through the war has been a shining light to many.

Anakin Skywalker, now a Jedi Knight, is soon to take a padawan. Feyre Ashriver, who's former master, Jevaal Jantso, died at the hands of Count Dooku, has not yet passed her trials. The Council, and Anakin, have agreed that she would do well in his care.

Meanwhile, picking up where Master Jantso left off, Jedi Knight Johren Vash joins Commander Moriah Tarkin to finish reclaiming the world for the Republic....​

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a little bit squirrely
Lucyfer

 

[a little bit squirrely]

​

“Alright, Younglings. Today were practicing lightsaber duelling techniques, offensive on the right and defensive on the left. While Jedi are only supposed to use their lightsabers to defend, when you find yourself on a battlefield or protecting a charge you may have to engage offensively. It is an important skill to master. Grab your practice rod and pair off. Three hits one way and switch roles.”

Though she was addressing the group of children in front of her, Feyre Ashriver’s mind was elsewhere, focused inward even as she circled the room absently correcting posture and grip. These younglings were fresh out of basic training with Master Yoda, they hadn’t even gotten to experience The Gathering yet. While not a knight herself, Feyre was advanced enough in her learning that she had been trusted with this group of learners, though not unsupervised. One of the elder masters stood in a corner and watched her teaching. Unsurprising, they wanted to assess whether she was fit to be going into the field with a new master or not.

Maybe this had been a bad idea…No, no this had definitely been a bad idea. She couldn’t do this. Pacing the academy floor as she waited for her news on her new master to be brought to her. He was supposed to have been out on a mission of some kind. As she walked, Fay pressed her hand against the scars that marred her middle beneath the ivory blouse she wore, even after a year of Bacta treatments the scars lingered though any physical pain had gone it was a constant reminder of what she’d done. Touching the scars had become and anxious tick of hers and she found herself doing it more often than not these days. Her steps became more agitated as she paced through the groups of sparring children, long brunette hair fanning out behind her and her padawan braid whipping her cheek with each aggressive turn she took around the room. Feyre debated with herself as to whether or not she really wanted to go through with this even as she paced in front of the younglings. Whether it was nerves or simply a loyalty to her fallen master, she couldn’t tell. There was no way she was going to have another master, not truly. Nobody could live up to Jevaal’s influence on her life, or that fact that he had saved it on numerous occasions, that he had died doing so. Nobody could replace him and she was a fool for accepting the Council’s request for this.

The guilt over getting Jevaal killed and then abandoning her studies is what had finally pushed her into it. It wasn’t the chats from her friends or the elder Jedi who came and spoke softly, reminding her of her duty to learn and potentially become a Knight herself. It was her own conscience, that little voice that whispered to her at night that she had abandoned everything Jevaal himself had stood for when she’d abandoned the path he had started her down. It was that tiny annoying little voice that finally pushed her out of bed on one of her bad days a month ago and set her running to the Council, ready to accept their request that she resume her training. Instead of giving her an answer immediately they had dumped her in as a teacher until they could find a suitable replacement for her fallen master. Since then, she’d had time to brood over her decision and couldn’t shake the feeling that she had acted too soon.

Taking a breath to calm her growing anxiety and doubt, Feyre stopped pressing her hand to the scars and refocused her attention on the younglings in front of her, clamping a hard wall down on what was threatening to overtake her. She stopped in front of a pair, the smaller of the two, a young Twi’lek boy, having trouble and falling as he was pushed back by his partner. Feyre plucked the stick from his partner’s hand and took his position, the class stopping to watch her as she took up the offensive position.

“Nawara, you have to keep your stance wide, with your body lowered. You need to find your center of balance and use it as you move forward. Right foot then left foot. As you move backwards, keep your eyes up, on me! Now, watch what I do and repeat what I just said as you do it.” she said, falling into the stance and watching as he copied her movements.

“Keep my stance wide, keep my body lowered.”

“Right.” one, two, three taps on his wooden stick, reverse.

“As I’m moving forward—” tap, tap, thud. He’d lost his focus on her movements and she’d thumped him lightly in the side.

“Concentrate! If this were a real fight you’d be dead. Lead with your right foot then follow with your left.”

“Right foot, left foot.”

“Eyes up, on me Youngling! Don’t look at your feet, look at what I’m doing! Put your body into it! It’s chaos on a battlefield, you won’t have time to think about what you’re doing as you do it. It should come easily.” on her urging and encouragement Nawara made his offensive more aggressive, pushing her back several steps, using all of his strength to force her to retreat. That was her goal and as he paused to they could switch a faint smile came to her mouth. She tossed the stick back to the youngling she’d taken it from and winked at the young Twi’lek.

“Do it again, with your partner. You’re getting there. Remember to keep your focus and don't get frustrated.” she said, moving away from the group to watch them from the side as they got back into form. As she watched, proud she’d gotten through to the group of younglings, she saw the supervising knight approach her.

“Padawan Ashriver, your presence is requested in the Council Chamber. I will continue with the Younglings.” He said and she nodded, turning to head out the door. As she made her way to the room, she began fretting again. This only meant that her new master was back from whatever they had been doing and she was about to find out who it was. She hesitated for a moment outside the door, weighing the odds of whether she could escape this conversation by running in the opposite direction. She pushed the impulse down, took a deep breathe and entered, every eye in the room was on her as it slid open and she fought the urge to stop awkwardly a few steps in as she noticed just who was in the middle of the room, standing in front of the council. Anakin Skywalker. She’d seen him, a few times, in passing with Jevaal, and it was hard to ignore the whispers among the younglings and younger Padawans about the reputation he’d garnered on the battlefield. Many younglings would likely count themselves lucky to have a skilled teacher like Skywalker but Feyre only felt dread, if rumours of what happened during his missions were anything to go by, she'd be having a heart attack before the first mission was over. Maybe once, a long time ago, she would have been excited for this opportunity but she'd changed in the last year and she couldn't see this going well for her. She didn’t look at him as she stopped beside him and addressed the council.

“You wanted to see me, Masters?”



[outfit linked in top picture]

 

[a little bit squirrely]

Johren stood behind his former student, watching as she gave orders to the Clone troopers and overall did what she had always done as a Commander. Though she was barely nineteen, the girl had come far since he’d taken her on at the age of twelve. They both had, he had only been a few years older than her when she’d been assigned to him. She’d been a late graduate of the early training, she’d had to spend more time at the temple than most younglings because of her headstrong attitude towards pretty much everything. He knew it had been a struggle for her to accept things as they were and not ask a dozen different questions, then a dozen more before the first ones could be answered. She’d voiced her numerous opinions on varying subjects loudly and frequently, which occasionally got them into trouble both with the council and with the senate when they were voiced around the wrong people. Over the years he’d come to think of her as more than a student, imagining her as what he thought a little sister would be like, as well as a friend. They may have been parting ways but he was confident that she would be able to hold her own against anything that came on her. She’d have to. Tough decisions came with being in charge of an entire battalion of troopers.

“Ayva, it’s time for me to go.” he said, once she had finished speaking to the ship commander. She turned, brushing her short blonde hair from her eyes and smiled. There was sadness in her smile, Ayva had never been as good at hiding her emotions as he or other Jedi were. Their journey together was ending, but it was a new beginning for both of them. He reached his hand out, intending to shake hers before he left but found her rushing into his arms instead. He held her, a second longer than he probably should have as the clone behind him cleared his throat a little uncomfortably. Pushing her back by the shoulders he kept his hands rested there and smiled, he pretended not to notice the wetness in her eyes.

“You know I’m proud of you. You’ve grown up so much and you’re ready for this.” he said, and despite his efforts to keep her at arms length, she was hugging him again in a second. He gave her a squeeze, before again pushing her back. She nodded, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

“May the Force be with you, youngling. If you need anything, you know how to contact me.”

“May the Force be with you, Master.” she said, before he turned from her, he started walking and did not look back as the door slid shut behind him. Leaving had not been his choice, but with Ayva newly knighted he was being sent to replace a fallen knight in the outer rim. Jevaal Jantso had fallen almost a year ago, Johren had been at his funeral though there had been no body to bury. It had apparently been lost in the chaos after his death , when another knight had rescued his Padawan from Dooku. His battalion had been orphaned, left to interim generals and its commanders until a suitable replacement had been found. He was apparently that replacement. It seemed they had been waiting for Ayva to complete her trials until they moved him, as the order for Ayva to take over their battalion and him to take over Jevaal’s had come within minutes of her knighting ceremony’s conclusion. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it ended up that the senate and the chancellor had something to do with the delay in getting a new permanent general out to the battalion.

Finding a seat on the ship, Johren began swiping through the files associated with Jevaal’s battalion. The personnel files for the clones detailed the names they had chosen for themselves, victories, squads, defining features and such. Details of missions past and current were next and notes on systems and ships to look out for, groups that would offer help in the system, resource centers and villages in systems that would need extra protection if skirmishes were to break out…Jantso had been nothing, if not thorough with his paperwork. The file that caught his attention, though was that of Moriah Tarkin. It seemed that she, a non-clone, was fairly high up in the ranks of the battalion and that alone was surprising. The fact that she was a Tarkin was more so. He studied the file intensely, the bluish picture of the freckled redhead floating close to his face as they approached the command ship.

It seemed, despite the interim generals that had come aboard, she had been running the show almost since Jevaal died. It was an interesting read, and he spent more time than he likely should have studying the face in the picture. Finally, he was knocked out of his studying when the ship landed a little rougher than he was used to in the hanger of the star destroyer. Clearly these clones were not as adept at landing small transports as his old battalion had been. Still, it was better than some of the other landings he’d encountered and he had to be thankful for that. Clones rushed about, getting supplies ready and docking procedures done, Johren made his way to the bay doors of the transport craft and exited. He was greeted by a group of clones at a attention, apparently eager to meet their new permanent General.

 

[Lucyfer]

“A great responsibility this is, young Skywalker.” Yoda was saying, reminding the dirty-blonde haired man of his duty as he stood before the council. He wanted to snap back that he wasn’t all that young, but compared to Yoda, everyone in the room was young. “One you are granted, after much consideration.”

Mace Windu gave a nod, his gaze even on Anakin. He knew more about why they had allowed this. Even now, Mace could feel the Force moving anxiously around Anakin, prepared to leap to action at a moment’s notice. It did not flow calmly; he was still terribly upset and torn by much around him.

The fact his mother had passed did not help matters. The loss of her had only impacted him negatively, though he had gone through the Trials and succeeded.

“We have reviewed your case,” Shaak Ti spoke from a hologram. She was on Kamino at the time, helping to train the clones. She saw more in them than most – saw them as people.
It was something Anakin appreciated in her. “Although you are young, we feel that you are prepared, and we appreciate you stepping in to help train Feyre, where many would not,” due to the age, and the amount of time that she had spent under a previous master. There were not many who wanted to take over at that point.

Anakin inclined his head a bit, and held back a comment on Qui-Gon Jinn, and how Obi-Wan had stepped in for him. Perhaps it was not so significant to others, but to him, it was notable. He had already gone through two masters himself, albeit he barely got to know Qui-Gon, he understood him better through Obi-Wan.

And he did not want Feyre Ashriver to be left alone, to flounder, or never move on. He couldn’t imagine a worse fate for her, after her master died, to just…fall out with all she’d known, her entire life.

After all, it had been a year, and she hadn’t taken on the challenges or done…well, anything.

Mace interrupted his chain of thoughts. “This is an opportunity to lead someone to being a Jedi Knight, Skywalker,” Mace said. “Someone who has just faced a loss, as well. We feel that given the circumstances, this will be a good learning experience for you both.”

Anakin wasn’t sure if he ought to be upset, or wary. He had not been able to hide that he knew his mother died. He liked to think he had been able to hide what he had done, and how he came upon this knowledge, but sometimes the way Yoda looked at him, or Mace spoke to him, warned him that it might not be a secret. If it wasn’t, the Jedi still had faith in him, despite his lapse.

But he couldn’t assume that.

“I understand, and I appreciate the opportunity, Masters,” Anakin said, “I knew her former master, and I believe I can see her successfully through her trials.” She likely didn’t have much more that he could teach her, given they were nearly the same age. She should be well on her way even without his help, and he did wonder what paused her from just attempting the trial now.

What did she think she still needed to learn?

That would, of course, be a question for her, not the council.

The doors opened in that space of silence, and the brunette walked into the room, clad not in robes but almost looking like a civilian, touches of make-up, and queer symbol around her neck. He wondered at the symbol, briefly recalling the necklace he had made for Padme.

A necklace she had taken with her, to her grave.

He looked away immediately, not wanting to dwell on his memories of the angel lost, as Feyre spoke to the gathered.

“I believe it is you who have wanted to see us, Feyre,” Yoda said, no contemptuous ‘young Ashriver’, though his tone could have been taking for teasing. Or mocking. “Waiting, you have been, waiting a long time now for us to determine your future, and so we have. Knight Skywalker will take you under his wing now.”

Anakin turned then, a bit awkwardly, as he offered his hand – his good hand, anyways, not the one taken by Dooku when he went to save his own Master from Geonosis, “It is good to meet you, Ashriver,” he opted for the unfamiliar in the moment.

“His own training has been completed recently, and we feel you will both have much to teach each other through this experience. His closeness to the trials, along with your own closeness, seemed like a good match, given the situation,” Master Windu elaborated a bit, allowing for Anakin’s turn and introduction.

~***~

“I have sent files over to you on the new General, Johren Vash.”

It was spoken from a hologram of Wilhuff Tarkin as Commander Moriah Tarkin sat at her desk, a small ping indicating the files had, indeed, been sent. “I doubt he’ll last long,” Wilhuff added in a disparaging tone, “But you know how the Senate can be.”

“I don’t, thankfully,” she cocked a smirk, “I’m fairly certain you do that job for me.”

A wry look was cast to her from the hologram, “You should pay more attention to some matters, Moriah, despite your inclinations. Nonetheless, the Senate does not like an army without a Jedi leader. Rather ironic, given the Jedi are peacekeepers.”

Quite a bit was strange about all of this, but they had discussed that before. It was not a matter they discussed over holograms. Anything could be recorded. “I’ll review the files. Is there anything I should know?”

“He has recently departed from a padawan-master relationship. His padawan is taking up a command position with another battalion.” Wilhuff answered. “He is known for being fairly honorable,” the world was spoken with just a hint of distaste, “though perhaps not so stifling as Jevaal.”

Moriah wouldn’t mention she had liked Jevaal, traditionalist or not. He had been willing to engage her, rather than simply dismiss her, as some of the interim generals were. They had failed here. The soldiers were more hers than any Jedi’s, and it never clicked, it never worked.

“I shall keep you informed,” Moriah promised, “Any further information about what to expect on the planet?”

“Unfortunately, I have little more I can say. Another group was sent ahead to investigate a supposed Separatist base, and they’ve vanished without a trace. I presume you can do a better job than they did at locating it.”

Moriah nodded, “You presume correctly.”

“Good.” A few more brief words, and their connection dropped, allowing Moriah to begin to read the files on the planet, Orto Plutonia, and Vash, who did not have the appearance of a traditionalist. At least, not if previous experience suggested anything.

She flicked through his history of missions, and his history with the Order. As usual, little was known of where he came from, or who his parents were. The Jedi cared not for bloodlines, a flaw, really.

She was aware of his arrival not by an alert on her datapad, but rather by the way Tyth rose from his bed and began to growl. No one was approaching, and so, Moriah took in a deep breath, and reached out.

‘There it is.’ The vornskr always felt it before her, something she needed to work on. She rose from her seat, and Tyth calmed. His sister remained on her bed, hardly phased anymore by the arrival of new Force sensitives. They weren’t allowed to hunt them, after all, there was no point in getting wound up.

“Lusa.” Moriah did not speak in basic when addressing the Vornskr, but one of the dead languages she’d learned when studying philosophy, in order to know what was said in the original language, in context. It also prevented people from knowing what she was saying to the vornskr, even though she knew, to some degree, she didn’t need to say anything.

They felt what she felt.

They moved after her, one on either side, just a little behind.

A ping came on her datapad, placed on her belt and held safely. She took it out, and saw the message of the impending arrival. She sent messages immediately – which hangar to open, and to have the battalion prepared to greet their new general.

It was all in order before he stepped out of his ship. With lockstep precision, they all moved to stand at attention, and she stepped around the ship and into sight.

“General Vash,” she greeted, taking in his presence once more, as Tyth lowered himself a bit, prepared, even if it was unnecessary. Aivela just assessed the stranger without such obvious tension. “Welcome to the Audacity,” the Venerator starship she’d been running now, more or less. She stood in a green uniform, her ranking indicated on the pin she bore, “I’m Commander Moriah Tarkin,” she was certain he’d been briefed, but all the same.

 

[a little bit squirrely]

​

She was uncomfortable in the meeting immediately. There was a lot of energy flowing around the room and she had to try to close herself off to most of it. Finally, she had no choice but to look at Anakin as he addressed her directly, best not to be rude to the man who was supposed to be taking her through to her trials. She turned and took his hand, clasping it briefly before letting it go.

"Master Skywalker. I've heard stories about you and your... encounters in this war. The Younglings like to talk, between lessons." She said, by way of explanation, and she could have sworn she heard Obi-Wan snort from his council chair though he tried to cover it with a cough. Although these stories were entertaining, and many more than not ended in victory, they usually painted him as blowing up something along the way. She could not see how they thought this would be a good fit, despite them being close in age and level within the order, but who was she to argue with the Jedi Council? Instead of voicing the concerns she had about his alleged recklessness and her own mental security, she dipped into a shallow bow first to Anakin and then to the council.

“I am honoured that you have decided to take me on, Master Skywalker. And that you have found a teacher for me at this late stage, Masters.” she said, deciding that if he were keeping it formal, she would as well. She was already distancing herself mentally. This would hopefully be a short-lived apprenticeship and she wouldn't have time to grow attached to him as she had to Jevaal. Feyre straightened again and fell silent as Mace continued to what was apparently the real business of the meeting.

“Now that introductions are complete, the Council has an assignment for you. The mission will be to the Bray system, we have been contacted about a possible force-sensitive child among the population of a small village of Brayans located...”

Mace’s voice faded out of her ears as Feyre processed what he had just said. Bray was where it had happened, where Jevaal had died. Flashes of the incident flew in front of her eyes and she tensed, just slightly, at the thought of returning to the same fields she’s lost him on. She considered protesting going back, there had to be some excuse to avoid it but she held her tongue. She knew she had to overcome it without being told as much and so remained silent as the details on the matter were given. The way Yoda and the other masters looked at her, like they were looking for a reaction, made her uncomfortable raising her voice on the matter of returning to the planet. While it had been her choice to accept the offer to return with a new master, it was ultimately their choice if she returned fully until her trials or if this was a test to see if she was truly ready. If they deemed her unfit, then this would all be for nothing...


“Been there before, you have, Feyre?”

Fay snapped out of the downward spiral her thoughts had started on at the sound of her name and again focused on the meeting happening around her. Yoda posed it as a question, though it didn’t need to be. Save for maybe Anakin, she was unsure just how much he knew about her and her situation, she knew they all knew she’d been to the planet before. They had been the ones to send her and Jevaal there last time after all.

“Yes. It was the...I was there with Jevaal. Count Dooku had a base there and there was separatist activity last year. I had heard that the remainder of our...of Master Jevaal’s battalion had put a stop to it.” she said it carefully, hoping to keep her voice neutral though again that anxious tick came out and she found her hand resting on her stomach. She knew Moriah Tarkin, the only non-clone Officer among those troops on Bray at the time except herself and Jevaal, had likely had a hand in the leading of the clones after Jevaal’s death. They had likely finished off the separatist presence months ago and moved on to a different mission.

Feyre didn’t remember much if any of what the aftermath had been, she remembered seeing her master cut down and that was the last of it. The next Fay had know, she was waking up back in the Temple in medical. She knew of Bray’s freedom from the separatists only because of those who had come to see her during her recovery. A clone, he called himself Miles, had been passing through the sick bay after being transferred back to Corruscant. He had meant well, to tell her that at least the mission was a success even if they had lost a good Jedi Knight in the process, he probably thought it would help. It didn’t. The pain of it still lingered.

[outfit linked in picture]

 

[a little bit squirrely]

As Johren stepped off the landing ramp his eyes stopped on Moriah when she greeted him. He cocked an eyebrow pausing for a second at the sight before him before he flashed a smile at her, the file had not prepared him for the two vornskr at her side. Despite etiquette demanding he reach out and offer to shake her hand, Johren decided it would be best if he kept his distance from the Commander. To put the animal at ease, although it seemed unlikely it would attack if it hadn’t by that point, he knew the species had a pesky habit of trying to eat force-sensitive people. He knew the other Generals that had come aboard had not lasted long, for varying reasons, but he would rather not be the one who got mauled by the commander’s pets thirty seconds after coming on board. He’d never live it down, if he survived it anyway.

“Thank you. I see you’ve kept things smoothly here in the interim, Commander Tarkin.” He said, falling into step beside her as they moved through the lines of troops. He wasn’t generally keen on military matters but he could appreciate that she had obviously taken care to keep the ship running and that the troops respected her enough to fall into line. Although, that might have all been in their genetic coding, accepting leadership and ranking officers easily, it was hard to say. He knew some clones chose to take on their own names, to differentiate themselves from their brothers and some had even been known to go rogue, so coding wasn’t the answer to everything. They were as sentient as he or Moriah were. He heard the clone commanders dismiss the troops as they cleared the last row and turned to see the battalion begin to break form and resume their regular duties once the two of them were through the elevator doors.

“I’ve been briefed on the current mission to Orto Plutonia and I would like you to accompany me to the planets surface.” he said, as they finally reached the briefing room. It may be his first twenty minutes on the ship but he wasn't going to be shy about issuing orders, whether she had been running it for the past year or not. Besides that, she may have more knowledge than he did and he wanted to be able to pick her brain if the situation called for it. “I had heard that a skirmish between Plutonia and the Pantoran Government was navigated through by two Jedi and I would like to keep the relationship going.” he said as he leaned on the edge of the table, perhaps too casual of a gesture for being new on the ship but it did not phase him much. They would get to know him soon enough and being casual by nature he wasn’t one to dwell on formality before becoming familiar with others.

Johren stared out the large window for a moment, thinking as he watched the approach of the frozen planet. He didn’t mind cold weather but was not particularly looking forward to heading into what looked to be a massive blizzard on the planet below. Still, though, it couldn’t be helped. Those troopers needed to be found, dead or alive it was important to know what happened to them, especially if things with the Talz were degenerating.

“Has any contact been made with the Talz, Commander Tarkin?” he asked, swiveling slightly to face her. If contact had been established, then perhaps there was already a search party ready and available down below. If there was a search party down below, maybe there was more information that had not yet made it up to the ship since they had been preparing for his arrival and it seems unlikely the Talz had the means to communicate with the ship if there had been no contact. Obviously they would still have to go down to help out but at the very least they wouldn’t be starting from the first square. If there wasn’t, it may be prudent to go and seek help from the Talz. They knew the terrain better than any of the off-world people would and that would only make their job easier if they were to assist. Besides that, they should probably declare themselves and their intentions, if only to avoid a misunderstanding.

 

[Lucyfer]

“…within Chirand, outside the collapsed citadel.” Mace was saying, and though Feyre tuned out, Anakin had not. He recalled talk of Bray, because that was where Jevaal died. Even he knew that, and he had known that Dooku was working directly from the Citadel, which fell into ruin not long after Jevaal passed, once Moriah Tarkin had taken over and apparently called in the aid of the Outland Security Forces.

He was aware that the Chancellor had an interest in what had been in entombed there, and Wilhuff had started an operation there. He hadn’t paid much attention to it, besides Chancellor Palpatine indicating that the Jedi weren’t taking the threat that remained on Bray seriously. He recalled the word ‘mutations’ coming up.

‘Could this be due to what happened there?’ It hadn’t been a full year since the victory, but Anakin wondered for a moment if the mutations Palpatine was speaking of had anything to do with a child being Force sensitive.

It was only as Yoda addressed Feyre that he shook the thoughts off. The Jedi Council would be aware of that, right?

Feyre answered, and Anakin nodded. He didn’t know if he should say anything, but he did, “Yes – the Outland Security threw their support behind the remaining forces, and they were able to send Dooku running for the hills again.” Anakin folded his arms over his chest, “It’s all he’s good at.” That wasn’t true, and his missing arm was testament to that. Dooku was skilled, and he still found it difficult to understand how a clone army without a Jedi sent him running, even with the aid of the Outland Security Forces.

Mace gave a grave nod, “They did, destroying the Citadel of Light in the process,” he did not sound happy about that in the least, “But we are working on a reconstruction process with the Chancellor, who has promised aid to the planet. Our stationed scouts were able to hear the rumors of the child.”

“So why can’t they get it?” Anakin asked, his arms falling from their crossed position before he gestured out with one, “This is an easy task.”

“Beneath you, is that what you mean?” Yoda hummed at the end of his query, and Anakin’s face flushed as he understood too easily that Yoda did not like his protest, “No job for a Jedi, hm?”

“Master Yoda, that’s not what I mean."

“Then speak!”

Urged, Anakin answered, “We have a war going on, and my own forces need me.”

“Oversee them, Master Kenobi will.”

“We did not feel it was appropriate to send you and Feyre on a mission right back into the battlefield. You two need time to build your rapport before you can begin to take on the challenges of the Separatist armies together.” Shaak Ti offered, “And finding new Jedi is just as important. Convincing their parents to let them come into our care is a skill that you need more training in.”

“You could use some diplomacy work, Anakin,” Obi-wan said, that sly smile never quite leaving his lips.

~***~

The reaction of the Generals had varied in response to the vornskr, with plenty wary of the beasts that Moriah had tamed. As Wilhuff put it, the dogs were good at convincing others she didn’t have the Force to begin with. They’d suspect the dogs, because who in their right mind, with the Force, would have pet vornskr?

So far, she’d never seen anyone try to pet them.

General Vash was not the first to avoid contact with her entirely, either. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t presumed, and hadn’t offered her hand. Tyth certainly would have made his threat more pronounced – though that was all. He was a good boy.

A good boy who moved around to follow more on the side of Vash as they walked, Moriah taking only a slight lead to be able to show the General to a good conference room to go over the matter of Orto Plutonia. “Thank you, General.” She said to the idle compliment of how things were running.

Her hands moved behind her back and clasped at the small. She managed to make no reaction to his comment that she was coming along. ‘Ah, one of these.’ Technically speaking, Vash did outrank her despite being new to the field, but she’d seen a couple Jedi hesitate or ask for more information, before thinking of issuing an order so easily. She wondered what he’d do if she refused.

Thankfully, she had no intention of that. She was very much a field leader.

Into the conference room they went, “Tyth, cydo,” the order slipped, and Tyth immediately stopped outside the door, while Aivela followed in, the door shutting after her.

When Moriah patted her leg, Aivela silently came to her side and sat down besides her, rather than continue wondering about the room or bother Vash further.

The new general leaned against the table, another curious gesture suggesting his ease with things. Moriah didn’t follow suit with a casual stance. The viewport showed the chilled planet below, and she hid her quiet excitement for it, as well. How she loved the snowy planets. No one understood it. She didn’t understand it.

And this wasn’t a vacation, alas.

“Yes, General. Contact was established three standard days ago,” Moriah answered, “Unless you speak Talzzi, we will need to bring my protocol droid, A-LL3. She can speak the language and has assisted in translating things between them. They are aware of the situation and have been keeping an eye open, but most have not ventured far from their villages. We are expected at Ivujuak,” that was the closest approximation. She likely could try and produce the way they spoke, but it’d sound horrible. “That is the last village they were seen near, near to where they were lost. So far, Ivujuak has claimed no responsibility. I’m inclined to believe them.”

 

[a little bit squirrely]

​

“Now that it’s settled, you two are to leave for Bray as soon as you are ready.” Mace said, effectively dismissing both of them. She hadn’t missed the fact that the council had been a little short with Anakin and wondered if he protested in such a manner often. She had never known Jevaal to argue with anyone, let alone the Jedi council. She was still wondering if this would, indeed, be a good fit for her. Feyre again bowed and turned to leave alongside Anakin. As they reached the hall beyond the outer chamber she turned to her new master.

“Master, I need some time to prepare to leave. I will meet you in the hangar in an hour.” she said, and turned from him once he gave his consent to the statement moving off in the direction of her room. She needed to change, take a shower and prepare herself mentally for this mission. She also had to dig her lightsaber out from where she had kept it, unused and probably covered in dust, for the last year.

---

Feyre approached the hangar almost reluctantly, adjusting the robes she had donned for the first time in a year. She'd successfully found and cleaned her lightsaber and it was now attached to her belt. She had been keeping her attire casual while she was inactive, or relatively so, in the Order. There was no need for such formality when the sole purpose of her day was teaching younglings how to beat each other up with wooden sticks and breaking up the occasional tussle that it resulted in. More than occasional in some cases, some of the younglings she'd had to send back to meditation classes so they could learn about impulse control and centering themselves with Yoda again. As she entered the hangar, her fingers were still working swiftly behind her head to braid, tuck, pin and weave the majority of her hair into a bun at the back of her head so it wouldn’t be in her face once they arrived on Bray. She was actually running behind the hour she had asked for, having gotten caught up in a conversation with Nawara and couple of his classmates about where she had gone during her class earlier in the day. They had some complaints about the knight who had replaced her and she had indulged them. Now she was late.

She stopped short, realizing she had absolutely no idea where Anakin’s ship was or what it looked like. Probably should have gotten that information before leaving him earlier. Scanning the hangar, she was about to approach a service droid when she spotted him around the outside of the ship. She approached quickly, tucking the last pin into place as she reached him, all too aware of her lateness.

“Sorry I’m late, Master Skywalker.”

[new outfit linked in picture]

 

[a little bit squirrely]

“Unfortunately, Talzzi is not one of my skills. Your protocol droid would be welcomed.” Johren said, pushing off from the table to stand at the window. He could usually talk his way out of situations, but only if he knew the language of those he was speaking to. At the very least, it didn’t sound like the peaceful relationship that had been established was in danger. If the Talz were willing to venture out, even a short way from their village then it proved they were at least willing to help. They still had some time before they were close enough for an easy and fast landing he would use it to get set up in his quarters, not that he had a lot to set up, and take in as much of the ship as he could. There was not much difference, class or layout-wise between the ship he had left in Ayva’s care and this once, but he wanted to have a look around. There was no harm in observing how his new battalion intereacted, with each other and with Moriah.

“I’ll leave you to your duties, Commander Tarkin, until it is time to head out.” he said with a nod to her and left, giving the creature who was left outside a wide berth.

---

An hour and a half later, they were trudging through the snow on the surface of Orto Plutonia and Johren took back his prior thought that he didn’t mind frozen planets. He didn’t like them, at all. Despite the heavy parka, hood, scarf and tempered goggles he wore, it seemed that the snow was still able to find its way down his collar and onto his neck, chilling him. They had been met by a Talz guide at the landing zone outside the outpost where the clones had been stationed. It was supposed to be relatively close to the village, Ivujuak, that they were heading to but it seemed they had been walking for hours already. Perhaps it was the fact that, through the blizzard, the scenery all looked the same. It would be easy to get lost in this weather unless you were intimately familiar with the terrain. Maybe the troopers had simply become lost, the fact that he had immediately assumed foul play when he read the file spoke to the times they were living in.

“Is the weather always this bad here?” he asked, having to shout at Moriah over the sound of the wind gusting by.

 

[Lucyfer]

The dismissal was curt, but Anakin didn’t protest the mission any further than this. He liked to think the Jedi Council knew what they were doing, but it didn’t stave off the questioning he was often left with. Obi-Wan once chided him that he questioned things more than Qui-Gon Jinn, the Master he almost had.

Would Qui-Gon have had better answers or help for him? It was a question he’d never have an answer to, and he sometimes wondered how Obi-Wan could have been trained by him. Their personalities seemed so different, at least, from what Anakin remembered.

Likely, that was the point of these connections – so both could learn. Obi-Wan had suggested it, and he thought of it as he looked down to Feyre when she indicated she had things to get, “Of course,” neither of them were prepared to be sent off right away, and he needed to grab his own things and make sure his ship was ready.

Make sure R2-D2 was ready, for that matter, although that usually was not a concern.

Anakin himself at least did not need to change. The beige tunic and brown robe signified him as a jedi, and would be more appropriate than the black tunic he liked; Obi-Wan had indicated on a few occasions that it was better to stick to lighter colors when he was not in combat situations, and he tried to take that lesson to heart. People looked friendlier in lighter colors, or something like that.

So he just made his way by his room to grab his lightsaber, and then head out to his ship. “Hey, Artoo!” He called, and the droid whirred its response, turning towards him before indicating what it had been up to, “That so? Well, I think we need to clean the ship up a bit. We’re about to head to the Bray system on a mission for the Council with my new padawan.”

More excited chirps left the droid as Anakin lowered the ramp to take out his cleaning supplies, “Her name’s Feyre Ashriver, she really should be a knight or a counsellor by now, but Dooku killed her master before she could go through the trials, so now it’s up to me—” an annoyed chirp, “—us,” he clarified with a short laugh, “to make sure to get her ready for the trials.”

A low whir escaped the droid as Anakin exited the ramp with the supplies, and hopped up onto the wing of his ship. It was such a small thing, barely even a corvette, but it worked. It was usually just him and Artoo, or him, Artoo, and Obi-Wan.

“Yes, I’m sure we can handle it. And we’re just going to get a child on Bray, nothing that requires too much effort.” Nothing that required the pair of them knowing each other inside and out, or any combat experience together.

Artoo just let out another chirp, but Anakin ignored his bad feeling, and told the droid to start helping.

It wasn’t too long before the ship looked better, and Anakin was hopping off the wing. “Where is she?” He muttered to himself, realizing more than an hour had gone by. He had half a mind to go and look for her, but considered it may be simply running late, or not knowing where he was. He realized, belatedly, he’d offered nothing about his ship or where he was parked.

Thankfully, as he thought that, he heard her call out and he looked towards her, a smile lighting on his face, “You gave me enough time to clean my ship,” he said, and then realized there were some darker stains on the knees of his pants and his hands. Oh well. This was why he didn’t like the lighter clothes.

She looked more like a Jedi now, too. Though, he noticed the necklace remained, “Ready to go?” R2-D2 beeped out its annoyance, “Oh, right – this is Artoo, my astromech,” he introduced. “Artoo, this is Feyre Ashriver.”

R2-D2 chirped its greeting, far more polite. “Let’s get going,” he turned without further introduction to head into his ship and towards the cockpit – not that there was much more to the ship besides a couple of cots, a droid charging station, and some food storage spaces.

~***~

Moriah expected the droid would be required. Talzzi was not a common language, even among protocol droids, but learning she was heading this way, she opted to program it into her droid to make things significantly easier. With news of its acceptance, she gave a nod, “Allie will be prepared, then.”

As if there was ever any doubt.

Her dismissal came on the heels of that, “Thank you, General Vash,” she moved her hand momentarily over her chest as she gave a slight inclination of her head, before leaving him to the room and his view. “Luso.” Tyth followed once she stepped out, leaving the Jedi to his business as she went about her own.

Which, was mostly organizing the clone troopers into groups so they knew what they were doing once they were on the ground. Some had to stay back to guard the ship. Another group would follow only so far as Ivujuak, and the rest would move with them until further orders were given.

She made sure to eat, and store a few nutrition bars for herself, and the vornskr.

Once they were finally ready to head down, she was changed into more weather-appropriate attire and ready – well, weather appropriate, and combat appropriate. Little separated Moriah Tarkin from her armorweave, which she wore under the white suit that she donned on heading down the planet, along with the googles, hat, gloves, and much else, though it was all significantly lighter than what her companion wore.

And her companion was clearly suffering more, trudging through the snow while she all but walked atop it, warm as the Force flowed through her. The vornskr darted ahead often, keeping pace with their Talz guide and the narglatches that their guides rode. Moriah couldn’t help a desire to want to ride one herself, or at least reach out to one.

The call of Johren caused a peal of laughter to escape Moriah as he seemed so frustrated with the weather.

Her droid dared to translate it to the Talz, who growled back their response. “The Talz indicate this is not common weather, but it is not unusual.” A-LL3 answered for her.

“We’re not far from Ivujuak now,” Moriah called back to him, voice lilting. “I can see it,” barely.

The urge to just rush ahead was present, but she would refrain. She had an entire army and a Jedi to look after, after all.

Did that stop Tyth?

No, the damned thing ran ahead as soon as he heard voices, whipping up snow in his wake as he charged ahead to go see even more of the narglatches in the village and likely harass them into playing with him. “You don’t get to many cold planets, do you, General Vash?” As if that could possibly explain her own ease.

‘People see what they want to see.’

A lesson proven true a thousand times over.

 

[a little bit squirrely]

​

“Hello, Artoo.” Fay said smiling at the astromech as she followed Anakin and the droid onto the ship. She was not looking forward to revisiting Bray, it was dark and dreary and held too many bad thoughts for her, but she was determined to at least enter it positively. It should be a relatively quick mission, go in and convince the parents and get out with the child. Or without him if they refused. If Moriah had indeed flattened the citadel and scared off any separatist activity, there should be nothing to worry about on the planet’s surface except potentially irate parents. It would be no problem. The flight was short, smooth and lacking in small talk, mostly because Feyre did not strike up a conversation with Anakin, instead choosing to focus on her breathing and center herself near the back. He was meant to be guiding her through her trials, but they didn’t need to be friends for him to do that. Once, she may have been up front peppering him with questions, go out of her way to start a conversation but no more. These days, she kept to herself on purpose.


She was already building a wall, cutting herself off from him emotionally in her mind. This would be a short lived apprenticeship, she would be knighted once he deemed her fit to take her grand trials and she would be free of it. She’d keep herself at a distance, refuse to get attached to him as she had to Jevaal. Attachment only led to pain and guilt and loss and she was sure she wouldn’t be able to take any more of any of it without losing herself. It had been hard, to be practically raised by someone and still try to stay free of attachment to them, especially when she wasn't able to see or be raised by her birth family. This time, she would remain true to the code and keep herself free of attachment to Skywalker, their time would hopefully be brief and make it easier. As she thought her hand reached for her middle again, pressing lightly against the scars as she regulated her breathing. She may have been determined to go in positive, but that didn’t mean that’s where her head was. She wasn’t about to get someone else killed because she wasn’t ready to face her past.

The landing was smooth, much smoother than most landings she was used to. At the very least she wasn't clinging to the nearest solid object screaming to watch out for that rock. Jevaal, bless his heart, had been everything except a decent pilot. She had sometimes doubted if he could have flown his way out of a paper bag. Then again, she had not been in much of a position to judge him. She knew she couldn’t fly her way out of a paper bag. As the ships door clanged onto the rocky earth, Feyre sighed at the gloom and darkness that greeted them. It looked exactly the same as it had the last time she had been there.

“It hasn’t changed much.” she stated as she stepped off onto the surface, kicking a small rock aside as she did. “It’s just as gloomy as last time…Though Moriah seems to have changed the skyline a little.” Feyre said, indicating the ruins of the Citadel of Light in the distance. Once it had been large, bright and towering and now it was a dark pile of rubble in the distance, Moriah hadn’t taken it half-assed at all, had she?


[outfit linked in picture]

 

[a little bit squirrely]

Well, at least they were close, right? Johren sighed, continuing to trudge through the blizzard around them, the scruff of his beard was accumulating icicles and what skin was exposed on his face was burning from the wind and the snow pellets whipping against them as they walked. How Moriah could be so light on her feet and seemingly carefree in the freezing temperatures was a mystery to the Jedi.

“Well, I’m glad you can because I see nothing but snow.” Johran said, pulling off his goggles and wiping them with a gloves had. It did nothing but smear more snow onto them. Sighing, he replaces the goggles and decided to deal with it. He couldn’t do anything about it until they were out of the storm. The planets he had been to with this climate had been more on the picturesque side, snow drifts, trees covered in snow against mountains...Fluffy snow, he didn’t mind, even thought it was pretty from inside a warm house or ship. Blizzards? Not so much. Hearing Moriah’s question he turned his head to look in her direction.

“I’ve visited a few.” he said, not as enthusiastically as he could have, failing to add that he wasn’t a fan of the weather on this one. His padawan Ayva had come from a frozen over world and when she’d been younger he’d caught her lobbing snowballs with the locals after having snuck off on one such world. She’d apologized, though he had chosen to turn it into a ‘training exercise’ in which he had destroyed her in a snowball fight. He wasn’t above some fun, when there wasn’t life threatening situations to consider there were benefits to having a padawan on your tail. The occasional complete annihilation of a cocky, loud, mouthy twelve year old who questioned everything you told her with snowballs being one of them. Not all Jedi were as serious all the time as the people of the Republic seemed to believe. He didn’t think Ayva had ever really forgiven him for the pile of snow he’d dumped on her.

Finally, they reached the village, and the Talz leading them took them straight into a hut. There, they were seated around a fire and Johren’s face finally began to regain some feeling.

 

[Lucyfer]

Although Feyre greeted R2-D2, she did not stay up near the front of the ship and interact. Anakin found it odd, and couldn’t help but question the droid if he’d done something wrong. Artoo didn’t think so, though to be fair, Artoo wasn’t a protocol droid. Still, Anakin didn’t go out of his way to bother her. He could tell, simply by how the Force flowed around them, that she was meditating.

He shouldn’t disturb meditation.

Stars knew he needed to meditate more. Not that he attempted it as he kept the ship in lightspeed and got them on their way to Bray.

It was an uneventful trip, which was good, but it certainly left Anakin wanting something exciting to happen, which was rarely a good thing. Still, he didn’t do anything exciting to cause it. He called in to the hangar that was just outside Chirand. That was, at least, well lit up on the otherwise dark planet. “How do people even live like this?” He murmured to Artoo, who just let out a low whistle as the ship was settled into place.

He rose, “Stay here with the ship, and keep her hot,” he instructed, to another whistle of agreement from the droid as he rose to his feet and met Feyre halfway to the ramp out of the ship. He let her step out first, closing up behind them and following her onto the hangar floor. He wouldn’t know how it looked, but he could tell where the ruins were all the same.

“Yeah. That probably looked a bit nicer.”

He had no idea how it had looked before, but probably not like that. He started to walk on, knowing the direction of Chirand. He could look at his datapad when they got into the town itself, and then he could figure out where they needed to go from there.

He wondered briefly if it was appropriate to ask about Bray. Or her experience here. He didn’t know how sensitive it would all be for her, but it had been a year, right? He risked it, “Was the Bray campaign your first one?” It seemed unlikely, but some campaigns lasted a while, and he knew this one had been fairly notable since Dooku’s presence was here.

It was a shame they hadn’t killed Dooku.

~***~

Apparently, Johren was not a fan, as confirmed by the way he spoke of visiting other frozen planets. Moriah just laughed a bit more at his expense. Perhaps it was rude, but it always amused her. Then again, she tended to prefer natural environments to cities, in general. She always fared better than anyone she traveled with.

She knew why, of course.

The Carrion Plateau had taught her much, but nothing so much as how to use the Force to aid her in overcoming environments.

Cities, not so much. Cities were still noisy messes of too many people.

The village wasn’t that bad, and they were escorted to a hut soon enough that was insolated, and warm. The vornskr joined them within, as well as one of the Stormtrooper commanders who Moriah knew went by ‘Riley’. Aivela approached Johren, warmth radiating off of her in much the same way it did Moriah. Apparently, Aivela had decided the Jedi wasn’t terrible, and thought to offer some of the warmth by curling up at his foot.

The droid lingered near to Moriah, and when one of the talz entered and spoke to them, it translated, “Commander, the talz want to know if we require any refreshment?”

Moriah nodded, “I believe warm beverages would go a long way,” she answered, glancing to Riley, who nodded his own head, before Johren. “How long until we get a report?”

Allie addressed the talz on both matters, receiving an answer, “They say the others have returned to the camp and will be in shortly.”

Moriah nodded. That was good. They could all gather around the fire with their warm drinks and learn what there was to learn. The drinks would help with the general mood, she suspected. This wasn’t meant to be a hostile interrogation; she didn’t suspect the talz of foul play.

 

[a little bit squirrely]

​

Feyre remained silent momentarily as they walked. “No...But it was meant to be my last as a Padawan. Master Jevaal was supposed to recommend me for the trials once the mission was complete. That...obviously didn’t happen after I— ” She caught herself before she could say she had killed him. While it had been completely her fault, it was not her blade that had cut him down. “After I messed up, and Dooku killed him.” she said, eyes focused in the distance and refusing to look at Anakin. Already she was troubled being here and she had to shut and lock the doors in her mind to keep it all from boiling over. The closer they got to the Citadel, the harder it was to keep those doors locked securely.

“He almost killed me because I was stupid. Jevaal paid the price for that stupidity.” she said, her tone carefully controlled and quiet. She wasn’t going to tell him everything, not right then but she also didn’t know how much information Anakin had been given when he’d signed up to be her new master. What he had been given on what had happened or the seriousness of the injuries she’d sustained. Or why she had taken a year before she came back. It didn’t all come down to just grief and the pain of losing Jevaal but to her own physical recuperation. She’d been comatose for three standard months, with little medical reason. During those months even though she’d been given Bacta treatments it had still left her with large ugly scars. One hand rested on her middle again, as it had so many other times that day. The largest scar ran horizontally almost hip to hip right beneath her belt, another arced up her right side and partially onto her back and one more on her left hip and extended down the side of her thigh.

She’d managed to avoid being cut into pieces by sheer luck. Her other hand fiddled with the necklace she wore constantly. Jevaal had given it to her as a way to focus her mind when she was young, before she had the proper meditation techniques down, when her mind and emotions raced too fast for her to slow or it was too much to handle it had been a tethering point. She never used it anymore, she hadn’t had to in a long time, and kept it only for sentimentality she knew she shouldn’t have. Now, moreso than before. She kept her eyes on the approaching village and she realized now as the details became clear in the dim lights it was the same village she had stayed in before.

“This is the same village that—” Feyre didn't have a chance to finish the sentence as several dark shapes rushed out of the shadows of a nearby alley.

"Fay-ruuuuh!" the cry was drawn out and pleased, and before she could react or even brace herself, she was tackled around the knees and fell to the ground, being mauled by the pack of children she'd befriended on her previous trip, now shouting ten different things at once in her face.

[outfit linked in picture]

 

[a little bit squirrely]

Johren accepted the drink as the rounds were made, and was just taking off his gloves when he felt the warmth and pressure of the female vornskr as she came to lay at his feet. The warmth was welcomed, and though he did have a mind to reach down to try to pet her, he decided against it. He couldn’t get a read on the animal, having been familiar with her for only a couple hours, and wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t warming him up just so he wasn’t frozen if she decided to try to eat him later. Finally, the Talz search party came in, shaking the snow from their bodies and sitting down on the opposite side of them, beside the village chief. Johren kept his posture easy, casual, as he sipped the drink in his hands, he doubted if the locals had anything to do with the disappearance of their troopers, and he suspected Moriah had come to the same conclusion.

Whether they knew the terrain or not, the weather was dangerous and why would they risk some of their people to go out and search if they were the ones to make them that way in the first place? Almost immediately who appeared to be the leader of the search party began to speak in a series of snarls and grunts without prompting. The Talz was very animated as it spoke, using it’s hands and arms expressively to the point where Johren imagined that, even without the protocol droid’s translations, he might be able to get the gist of what it was saying. The leader of the party pulled something out of the bag it was carrying and set it gently in front of them. A clone’s helmet. A-LL3 turned from the Talz as the story finished and spoke to Moriah, Riley and himself.

“The leader of the search party says that they found this helmet, and others, several Kilometers to the East of the village, buried near a cave entrance. It appears there was a struggle although the snow has covered much of the evidence of the attack outside the cave. They did not venture in as the blizzard has made the packed snow and ice above the entrance unstable.”

Johren let out a breathe, setting the cup next to him on the bench and leaned back, running a hand over his face. He had been afraid of this. While he doubted that the Talz had anything to do with it, this begged the question of who did if there had indeed been a struggle. It also made him wonder just why the troopers helmets had been taken off and why they hadn’t been killed, either, if whatever took them was hostile. Why bury the helmets as well? This was getting to be complicated, and he had to wonder if there was some kind of separatist activity at work here, or if there was another form of life on this planet that, like the Talz, had gone undiscovered until their troopers had stumbled upon it.

“We'll go and investigate, there's no need to risk more of your people. Thank you, for looking into this so far already for us.” he said, with a slight bow of his head towards the leader of the search party and the chief. Waiting was the safer option, yes, but if it was a difference between life and death for those troopers, if it meant getting them back safely, then he would deal with the event of the entrance collapsing when and if it came to that point. They had already been out of communication for several days, if they were injured, hypothermic or frostbitten, it would only take a matter of hours before they lost the whole squad leaving to investigate immediately was the better option.

 

[Lucyfer]

The Bray campaign should have been her last – it was what Anakin had expected, given her age. He wondered why she had not gone to the trials herself, why she did not think she could pass them, at this time. He knew it was a question he would need to broach, so he would know what he could do as a Master in this short interim, for he expected they would not have many campaigns together before she was prepared.

It, obviously, wouldn’t be right after this first one. He’d hardly have a sense of who she was to know if she was ready for the Grand Trial.

Bray also, clearly, was still a sore spot.

He saw the way Feyre’s eyes closed, and felt the disturbance in the Force as she tried to gather herself. Her guilt was obvious. It was familiar, as well – Anakin still felt responsible for what happened to his mother. If he hadn’t left her, he could have protected her. Or perhaps if he’d listened to his dreams sooner…but no, he hadn’t, and now she was dead.

Jevaal was dead – and Feyre nearly so, but she had been saved. In truth, Anakin wondered about that. He knew that Dooku hadn’t fallen immediately after Jevaal, but someone had still bested him, or surprised him, to save Feyre.

‘Necklace.’ He opened his mouth, finally wanting to ask about that, as a way to turn the topic, and also because Feyre’s gesture brought his attention to it. However, just as he did, Feyre opened her mouth, recognizing where they were. She hadn’t said anything about it in the Council, but it seemed this was where she had been stationed. Anakin closed his mouth, and considered what to say, but children came rushing up to them, calling Feyre’s name.

Anakin stopped short, and watched, bemused, as children tackled Feyre and started speaking all at once, a cacophony of words. They seemed positive. Worried.

“Easy, easy,” Anakin tried to step forward and scatter them a bit, “Let her breathe,” he laughed some as he looked over their faces, wondering if the children might be of some help right then in finding what they needed. He gave Feyre an impish smile as he asked, “Seems like you left a lot of friends back here.”

Perhaps some positive things in Bray would help with her mood, at least temporarily. He knew they’d have to circle back on things that happened here. And the necklace.

~***~

The tea was good, creamy and sweet and warm. Moriah might have drank it down quickly on a vacation, but as it was, this was no vacation, and so she savored it to keep her hands warm, as well as her body. She needed to keep her strength up. She knew she’d need to dig out a nutrition bar before they set off.

Eventually, the Talz party arrived, and began to speak. Moriah did observe, even if she couldn’t understood. She understood something had been found, and that something was soon brought into sight. ‘Just the helmet?’ Curious. Also dangerous. Dead troopers was easier to work with. Missing troopers? That suggested a trap, or worse.

Moriah let Johren speak. He reacted visibly, and while he remained poised, his stress was obvious. Aivela adjusted herself and lifted off of his foot. Moriah clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, and Aivela came back around to her and Tyth, head cocked to listen to the flow of words that left Johren’s mouth.

They would investigate, and immediately.

A-LL3 translated his words back to the Talz, as Moriah looked to Riley, “See to regiments Alpha and Omega. Inform them they are to await our return. We’ll take Sigma with us, and two days worth of rations.” Beta had been left back with the ship. She did not think that it would be wise to take too many with them to the cave, and she also did not look to Johren to see if he would contradict the order.

Nor did Riley, already in the habit of taking orders directly from Moriah, “Understood, Commander.” Riley would pause if addressed by the General, otherwise he would make his way out to issue the commands and make sure they brought the rations – just in case. One could never know what may happen in a snowstorm and in a cave, but Moriah didn’t think numbers would be a determining factor.

Tunnels could be great choke points.

 

[a little bit squirrely]

​

Feyre couldn’t help but laugh as the kids shoved around her, a couple of them piling on top of her even as Anakin tried to shoo them off. “A few, I spent most of my time here with them while Jevaal looked into the Citadel.” she said, extracting herself from the grip of an overzealous four year old as she stood up. The smile faded from her face for a moment at the thought, though she forced it back if only for the sake of the little ones. The older children were looking at her with concern.

“Where’dju go, Fay?” one of them asked as she stood up and dusted off her robes. She hesitated a second, knowing he was too young to really understand why she had left and what had happened at the Citadel. What had happened to Jevaal.

"I...had to go back to the Jedi Temple. I got hurt really bad and I had to leave to get better."

“Oh...Okay. You’re better now?”

Again, Feyre hesitated before she answered. The technical answer was yes, she was better physically, the real answer was more complicated than that, but she wasn’t about to try to explain that to a six year old so she plastered on that fake smile again.

“Yes, I’m fine.” she said and, satisfied, the child nodded and turned his attention to Anakin.

“He’s not Jevaal.” he said, and the elder children began to murmur amongst themselves, poking at him lightly as they investigated the stranger. The young ones hung back near her, staring.

“This is Anakin. We’re here to find someone.” Feyre said, deciding it was probably too hard to get into details. They were only children and too much information would confuse them, she’d save it for the adults of the village who seemed to be venturing outside now at the commotion. Seemingly satisfied, he nodded and skipped off to who could only be his mother, who whisked him inside quickly, the door sliding shut behind her. This was the same town but their behavious was different than the last time. It was barely what could be considered 'night' on this planet and already they were sequestred in their homes, wheras last time there had been night markets and any number of activities happening well into the evening hours.

Feyre was about to speak to Anakin, maybe suggest they find the chief who could help them when a smaller hand slipped into hers. She looked down to find a Brayan female staring up at her. If she remembered right, this was the chief’s daughter, Chia, the eldest of the group at seven. This one had been too smart for her own good, even the year before and now she stared between Feyre and Anakin with eyes that were too serious for her age.

“Are you here to find the night monster?” she asked, her voice low as more of the children scampered off to parents who were waiting in lit doorways. She didn’t explain anything more, instead she started pulling Feyre towards the largest of the houses with surprising strength. Fay shot a concerned glance over her shoulder to Anakin, that was not why they were there and there had been no mention of a monster, but followed the little girl anyway.

“We need to go in, curfew is here.”

[outfit linked in picture]

 

[a little bit squirrely]

Johren did not contradict Moriah’s orders, they were exactly as he would have given them and he did not see the need to. Despite outranking her, he did not have the same rapport with the crew as she did and though the clones were modified to accept authority without question, she still knew them and their capabilities better. Though to an uncaring eye, the clones were identical and exactly the same, Johren knew from his own former troops whom he’d left in Ayva’s care that they could be as different from each other as night from day. As Riley saluted them both and left to prepare the troops for the journey, Johren’s attention turned to Moriah , studying the commander carefully.

“Are you thinking Separatists, or something else, Commander Tarkin?” he asked, as the Talz moved away, leaving the two of them to prepare for the journey alone. He had to admit that the fact that it was only a helmet that was found, and not a head or body to go with it as odd. He sat, staring into the fire as he awaited her answer. This didn’t bode well, not in the least and he couldn’t shake the bad feeling he had that they would not be recovering the clones alive. As he was about to say something more, Riley returned, informing them that the troopers were prepared for departure. That had not taken very long at all, he made a note to commend the crew on the speed and efficiency once they returned.

The Talz reappeared shortly thereafter, with more snarls and grunts, Allie informed them that the search party leader would guide them to the cave and return in two days to retrieve them. They were led out of the hut, the leader of the search party already outside with three narglatch waiting for them. The Talz mounted one, motioning for Johren and Moriah to mount the other two. He suspected they were being given mounts for the sake of speed. The clone squadron themselves being equipped with speederbikes that had been brought from the shuttle.The faster they got to the caves, the better chance there was that if the troopers were still alive they could save them.

----

It was not too long after that Johren was dismounting the Narglatch and gave a shallow bow to the Talz who had guided them to the cave. It was beginning to get late, and he could swear the blizzard had become worse than what it had been before, the wind seemed stronger and the snow heavier. Without warning, the leader had scooped him off the ground and nearly crushed his ribs with a hug before turning to Moriah, arms open to offer the same. Perhaps a parting tradition, perhaps not, but Johren smiled nonetheless.

 

[Lucyfer]

Anakin’s words seemed to do nothing to disturb the children, who were clearly quite familiar with Feyre. She had spent time among them, in spite of the mission. He considered that good, although he wondered briefly if that meant any of the clones or others had also spent such time. Were they stationed within the village?

He stood back though, as Feyre answered their imploring questions, and introduced him. Apparently, they also didn’t know what happened to her master. ‘Didn’t rumor reach them?’ He suspected then that the troops hadn’t actually been stationed in the town.

“Something’s definitely up,” Anakin noted as the children, satisfied, moved off and were immediately swept inside. No one was outside. Anakin didn’t know if that was normal or not, but it didn’t feel normal. It was confirmed by the child who didn’t leave, but told them they would have to move on.

There was a curfew.

And a Night Monster.

Anakin arched a brow, looking at Feyre, rather than the child, for an answer, “Night Monster? What’s that?” He didn’t know if Feyre would answer, or if the child would, but he was curious about this change.

It wasn’t what they were looking for, but, “I’m sure we can handle this Night Monster problem,” he volunteered, in spite of having absolutely no information about it.

They were Jedi. This was a far better use of their time than just picking up a child!

~***~

Moriah shifted her gaze from Riley, to Johren, as he inquired over what lay ahead. She’d half-expected him to take offense. He didn’t; a promising start, at least. “It’s sentient and has reasoning capabilities, but I am uncertain what use Separatists would have for Clone Troopers.” They weren’t worth a ransom.

They could kill them just as easily to draw attention to themselves for a trap.

It was unusual behavior.

Riley returned before she could offer an answer, and she nodded to Riley. “Thank you,” she moved to leave the warmth of the tent, but not without offering a parting response to Johren’s question, “We cannot exclude the possibility it is something other,” she said, “though we have no reason to believe anything else reasonable would seek to harm or capture Clone Troopers.”



And so they left, Moriah getting to touch one of the narglatches at last. The creature was nice enough, and certainly warm enough, to travel upon. Tyth and Aivela kept pace with it easily enough, as well, and they reached the cave, no worse for wear.

Well, maybe the Jedi.

He looked quite bedraggled from the weather, and then the hug that caught him off guard. She couldn’t quite hide her smirk at that. The droid was no longer present to translate; Moriah hadn’t wanted it traveling in this weather, or into combat.

Such a hug was offered to her as well, but she moved her arms behind her back instead, and leaned forward, a gesture of farewell in the bow, but also a gesture of respect that her protocol droid had told her of before. That the narglatches mimicked it was interesting, but Moriah only made a mental note of that, as she straightened herself once more, and let them move out.

She gestured to the troops, “Helmet lights on, we’ll proceed in lines of three where possible.”


To Aivela, and Tyth, “Cluid.” The pair ran ahead into the cave.

 

[a little bit squirrely]

​

Feyre shrugged in Anakin’s direction when he asked what the night monster was. They could take care of the...Feyre held back the urge to remind him of their actual mission. Find the child, take the child to the temple. Once they did that, then they’d be able to report to the council and get clearance to help with this Night Monster. She had the distinct feeling that it might just be a cautionary tale that parents told their children to keep them in line. Still...Life was never that easy. She recalled that there had been rumours when she was here last, of something living in the citadel with Dooku and missing townsfolk, but she’d never heard it named as a ‘Night Monster’ before. She’d never even seen it, if it had even existed in the first place. If it had been in the Citadel when Moriah collapsed it, then surely it wasn’t the same thing...That wasn’t a discussion to be had in front of children, though. Not if what she’d heard last time was true and they were already scared of this monster.

“Can you tell us more about the night monster, Chia?” Feyre asked, as they were led into the brightly lit home of the chief.

“He started coming around a few months ago. We call him the night monster because he only comes out at night. I’ve never seen him, but Aunty Adri has. She says he’s big and hairy and gross-looking. She said tha—” the little girl said, suddenly interrupted by her brother, whose name she couldn’t for the life of her remember, who hopped up on the couch in the middle of the room and began speaking loudly.

“She says that if you're out after curfew, he’ll follow you home and steal you. Then, he’ll eat your face off... and make you look just like him!”

The last statement was said with so much flare and enthusiasm the boy nearly fell off the couch as he jumped up with his arms spread wide. Feyre arched an eyebrow at Anakin, half amused by the boys antics but more concerned that someone had seen this monster. Maybe this wasn’t just a story the parents had made up to scare their kids out of breaking curfew. She believed there was truth in what the child was saying, though the details were a bit murky and she was sure the face-eating part was an embellishment. She waited until Chia and her brother had run off, probably to inform their parents that they now had two guests in their den, before she turned to him stepping a little closer and speaking in a hushed tone.

“Master Skywalker, there was no Night Monster when I was here last. Not one that was named as such, anyway. There was talk of a creature Dooku was keeping in the Citadel, Ravva, Reva... or Ravna? It was said to be a vampyric beast that would consume energy and could infect people into becoming its slaves but I never saw it. It was little more than a rumor, although that description fits what we were told... Definitely nothing about face eating, though. Jevaal might have seen it but...” we’ll never know, she didn’t finish the sentence as she turned her eyes from him to the small window in the wall that looked into the darkening night, her hand worrying at her necklace.

[outfit linked in picture]

 

[a little bit squirrely]

Johren followed the troopers inside, falling into step beside Moriah as Riley and two other clones led the way in and two more rows of three followed behind them. Already Johren didn’t like the feeling this cave gave off, the residual energy he was picking up was that of pain and terror. Not a good start to this mission. Johren shook his head, taking himself out of the ripples in the force before it overtook him and he lost himself to it. Instead he focused on the vornskr, still racing ahead of the troopers leading the way in.

“You don’t speak to them in Basic.” he said, nodding towards the vornskr, phrasing it as a statement and not a question on purpose. He wasn’t asking what language she did use, it was none of his business, he was simply making conversation. As they continued to walk, his foot hit a patch of ice and he briefly, so very briefly but rather ungracefully, lost his balance before managing to right himself. Without falling on his ass. Had he mentioned how much he disliked frozen planets? Embarrassing, yes, especially in front of new troops, but he recovered quickly, brushing non-existent dirt from his parka and clearing his throat before he spoke again.

“You’ve trained them well.” He commented nonchalantly, pretending that had not just happened, and was about to say something else, ask her where she’d acquired them, when something down an off-shoot tunnel caught his attention and he stopped. It wasn’t a visual cue, but a disturbance in the force, and it wasn’t Moriah’s pets. He couldn’t get a read if it was living, but his senses were telling him it was dangerous. He held up a hand for the troops behind him to stop before tapping on Riley’s helmet lightly to get his attention and motioning down the narrower tunnel to the right. The clone commander took the lead here, using hand signals to communicate with the other clones, himself and Moriah.

Stay here, you three with me, we’re going to investigate. Riley and the three troopers made their way down the tunnel. Johren let them go, though his hand had moved from his side to hovering next to his lightsaber. He wasn’t stupid enough to even think about moving in front of Moriah as there was blaster fire and yelling down the tunnel, he knew from her file that she would be perfectly capable of defending herself. Johren didn’t move at all until Riley and only one of the other clones came jogging out of the side tunnel, waving for them to go, go, go deeper into the main cavern as the tunnel behind him collapsed. Johren hung back until Riley and the other clones were in front leading the way, he would bring up the rear in case the main tunnel began to collapse as well, in case he had to support it to let Moriah and the clones escape.

 

[Lucyfer]

It was after they had gotten to Chia’s home – not greeted by parents, Anakin noted – that clarification was received on the monster. Or, what clarification could be offered. ‘A Wookie?’ He wondered at the description of something big and hairy. While Anakin wouldn’t have called a Wookie gross, he knew enough about sentiments across species lines to know that not everyone had good opinions on wookies. Or other creatures.

Anakin certainly didn’t have any good thoughts about hutts.

Chia’s tale was interrupted, and Anakin put on a slight smirk at the energetic boy who joined them, hopping up onto the couch to add in why. It sounded like a standard boogieman story, but from Feyre’s question, and their own descriptions, the ‘night monster’ was a new rendition of it. Which likely meant it was something new to the world, too.

Feyre confirmed it without him needing to ask, and he nodded as he took in the information.

She let her trail as she mentioned Jevaal. The pain was obvious, but the mission still required further information to be completed. Sure, they were there for a child, but the child could wait. “We should see if we can access the reports about the mission against Dooku,” Anakin said, hushing his own voice, even if both children were staring at them curiously, wondering what was being said.

He doubted they could reach Moriah for direct questioning, but then again, maybe. “Do you still have a way to contact Commander Tarkin? I can follow up with the Council about what may have been reported about the Citadel’s destruction.”

Perhaps it really had been done out of necessity and not to just clear up the skyline.

He then thought better of his idea to contact the Council, though. At least as a whole. Obi-Wan would be better. He was usually able to bend some rules for his former padawan. “If there was something to be seen, someone must have seen it before, and filed it in the report about what happened here.”

~***~

The world refused to be kind to Johren, although it was providing Moriah with ample entertainment as he attempted to make conversation with her, and failed, spectacularly, unable to walk and talk at the same time. He nearly fell after his first statement, and she just observed with a crooked eyebrow, not offering him the distraction of an answer.

His second attempt in complimenting the vornskr, led to an interruption not by the ice, but by a split in paths. Aivela and Tyth both took separate ones, and Riley decided to go explore one on his own, without the Jedi or Moriah. ‘Bad idea.’ She didn’t say as much, just stopped and folded her arms over her chest.

She waited in silence, not returning to Johren’s conversational attempts. There was no room for that here, particularly not as the sounds of blasters went off, and disturbed the fragile tunnel, which closed behind Riley and the others – piles and piles of rock. ‘Tyth is fine.’ Moriah didn’t sense his passing or crushing among the rocks. He must have made it through to another area. What he found, and how much at risk he may yet be in, however, was debateable.

Aivela had at least come back when she realized how far behind they were.

“What happened, Riley?” Moriah kept her voice pitched low, but she needed an answer that the hand signals wouldn’t be able to explain.