A soft ding brought Jedi Knight Vitiion back to conscious thought. Her mind had been wandering aimlessly in the thin air of the dim meditation chamber. They would be coming out of hyperspace soon. Finally, she thought. Too much longer and she may not have survived. The broken and battered Sojourn was designed for ferrying it pilot and their partner or padawan swiftly from one mission to the next within the confines of the known Galaxy, and carried consumables for only a week. She had been adrift, limping along on the backup hyperdrive for... a month? Longer? It was impossible to tell. The Knight had powered down all non-essential systems. The ship was bitterly cold, the air barely circulating enough to support life. The inertial dampners and artificial gravity generators had been powered down, making for a rather uncomfortable ride. The lights were dimmed until she was barely able to see about the deck, the weapons had long since been drained of power, and she'd been rationing small bites of nutrient bars to sustain herself- and even those had long since run out. Vitiion had spent many days in preservative meditation, ironically slowing her bodily functions to near death in an attempt to sustain her life just a bit longer...
She made her way to the cockpit, where her astromech silently toiled away. Half of the vessels indicator lights and control panels were unlit. The swirling blue of hyperspace filled the viewscreen. The little droid let out a low whistle, and Vitiion nodded in acknowledgement. The swirls, slowly at first, and then more quickly, appeared to separate into individual steaks of white and blue, before finally settling into a vast array of individual pinpricks of light- stars. Before them, several thousands of kilometers away, was a dusty looking brown orb of a planet, horribly disfigured on one side from a centuries old tragedy that had given the planet a thin ring of reddish rock that now circled its equator. Jeddah. Once home to one of the Jedi Order's greatest temples, and now a ruined shadow of its former self... Hopefully the outpost was still here. Vitiion doubted she could make another jump unassisted.
The droid whirred and beeped inquisitively, and once again Vitiion nodded. She manually reactivated the ships short range communications array, and her companion began transmitting the codes and prerecorded message to any Jedi receivers it could find in range. They were older codes, but they would check out, and the message was a simple one conveyed in two lines of text.
"This is Knight Vitiion.
Request assistance."
....
The following days had been a blur. A small Jedi relief team administering aid to beleaguered locals had responded to her distress call, shocked and bewildered at the state they found the Knight and her ship in. They had arranged swift transport- not to Ajan Kloss, as Vitiion had expected, but to Yavin. She was too weak to question her fellows in detail, or to be questioned herself, during their brief journey, and upon arrival at the temple she had been quickly whisked away to the infirmary for evaluation. Though dehydrated, malnourished, and suffering from a mild case of hyperspace sickness, the medical droids had determined she would suffer no lasting damage- nothing new, at least. From there she had been provided temporary quarters, and had barely the time for a short nap before the Jedi Council had responded to her summons. A young initiate arrived at her chambers to escort her...
....
Vitiion stood before the Council... or at least, what was left of it. She was shocked and dismayed to find Grandmaster Boan missing, along with two other empty Council seats. Of those that appeared before her now, she recognized only the blue skinned Duros, Master Har- their presence, at least, was somewhat comforting. She was beginning to get the feeling that, whatever had happened to her over the last few years, she had obviously missed a great many things here- perhaps much worse things. Her senses, as ever, were keenly attuned to the presence of those around her, not just inside the Council Chambers, but to the temples occupants as a whole. When she was much younger, the temple of Ajan Kloss and other temples and outposts she had visited had always felt simultaneously vibrant and serene, with a calming warmth that helped to focus the mind. What she felt now was very different. The temple was home to a gently swirling mist of various emotions, some with the same warmth she remembered, but not all. There were pockets of fear, doubt, and uncertainty around her, and instead of helping the mind to focus, the Force felt... muddy? Indistinct? She sensed no cold darkness that would indicate something sinister, but it was clear that not all was well here. Even here in this room she sensed faint hints of worry and suspicion. She feared that her sudden return would do nothing to assuage those feelings...
Her long journey home had given her plenty of time to compose a thorough report, which had been delivered to the council immediately upon her arrival. It detailed as much information as she had- or what little she had been able to piece together. Vitiion had departed approximately 16 standard years earlier with Master Kieze and a handful of other Knights, her friends Sindaria and Melicos among them. The expedition was aimed at recovering long lost Jedi Temples and artifacts they may have survived the Jedi purge; either ones that the Emperor had considered "worth study" and maintained in hidden vaults and remote fortresses throughout the Galaxy, and those remote enough to be outside the Empire's reach- lost ancient sites beyond the edges of the known Galaxy, in wild space and the unknown regions.
Their journey had gotten off to a rocky start with their first stop- the mythical planet of Ellora, which turned out to be nothing like how the few surviving Jedi texts had described it. The planet, at some point, had been deeply poisoned and manipulated by the Dark Side, and their brief foray into what had once been the Jedi Temple there had resulted in the tragic loss of one of the groups padawans to a twisted abomination that had stalked the shadows. Master Krieze had made extensive notes on what they had found, vowing to return to the place with the full force of the Order behind her to reclaim the sacred ground. The expedition spent several years moving from system to system, those both mapped and unmapped, including visiting old Jedi sites on Ahch-to and Othano, collecting the myths, legends, and clues the civilizations there had to offer. As they made their way deeper into the Galactic Southwest, they made contact with people who had never seen star ships capable of venturing further than neighboring systems, and encountered wild tribes of sentients entirely uncatalogued- if nothing else, the expedition was proving a valuable research trip.
True disaster had struck when the Jedi unwittingly strayed into the heart of an empire of aggressive reptilians. Though their technology was crude and unfamiliar, that made it no less deadly. Feining hospitality, the monsters lured the team into a trap, and the Jedi suffered their next casualties- Her friend, Knight Sindaria, was torn apart by one of the beasts, swiftly followed by the Twi-leks young padawan as the boy cried out in rage and terror. The remaining Jedi hastily retreated to their ship, managing to fight their way on board and out of the atmosphere, though not without more losses. Knights Beran, a hulking Trandoshan, and his unlikely best friend Terek, a Wookie, both fell, side by side, defending the boarding ramp from a swarm of ravenous attackers, enabling the other Jedi to escape. Vitiion, Master Krieze, and Melicos were the last of the party. Escape from the system did not come easy. With their ship mortally wounded, the trio gambled on a hastily calculated hyperspace jump...
And that was where Vitiions report became less... complete. Whatever happened in the wake of the anamoly they had thrown themselves into, she could remember only bits and pieces. Her report made vague mentions of lost time and unusual interstellar phenomenon. When Vitiion finally emerged from hyperspace, she found herself drifting in uncharted space, alone with the last of the ships droids in the battered shell of one of the teams Sojourn shuttles. She had no explanation for the intervening events. There appeared to be a gap of years between their fighting escape of the reptilians homeworld and her sudden reappearance, but she didn't know why, exactly. The report finished with quickly transcribed details of her months long efforts to return to known space, and eventually to the ruins of Jedha, where the aid team had found her. The report was... incomplete. She knew it, but it was all she had to give them.
Vitiion took slow, deep breaths, air hissing quietly through her helmets filters. It was all she had to show for herself.
@Nefieslab @Mr. Teatime
She made her way to the cockpit, where her astromech silently toiled away. Half of the vessels indicator lights and control panels were unlit. The swirling blue of hyperspace filled the viewscreen. The little droid let out a low whistle, and Vitiion nodded in acknowledgement. The swirls, slowly at first, and then more quickly, appeared to separate into individual steaks of white and blue, before finally settling into a vast array of individual pinpricks of light- stars. Before them, several thousands of kilometers away, was a dusty looking brown orb of a planet, horribly disfigured on one side from a centuries old tragedy that had given the planet a thin ring of reddish rock that now circled its equator. Jeddah. Once home to one of the Jedi Order's greatest temples, and now a ruined shadow of its former self... Hopefully the outpost was still here. Vitiion doubted she could make another jump unassisted.
The droid whirred and beeped inquisitively, and once again Vitiion nodded. She manually reactivated the ships short range communications array, and her companion began transmitting the codes and prerecorded message to any Jedi receivers it could find in range. They were older codes, but they would check out, and the message was a simple one conveyed in two lines of text.
"This is Knight Vitiion.
Request assistance."
....
The following days had been a blur. A small Jedi relief team administering aid to beleaguered locals had responded to her distress call, shocked and bewildered at the state they found the Knight and her ship in. They had arranged swift transport- not to Ajan Kloss, as Vitiion had expected, but to Yavin. She was too weak to question her fellows in detail, or to be questioned herself, during their brief journey, and upon arrival at the temple she had been quickly whisked away to the infirmary for evaluation. Though dehydrated, malnourished, and suffering from a mild case of hyperspace sickness, the medical droids had determined she would suffer no lasting damage- nothing new, at least. From there she had been provided temporary quarters, and had barely the time for a short nap before the Jedi Council had responded to her summons. A young initiate arrived at her chambers to escort her...
....
Vitiion stood before the Council... or at least, what was left of it. She was shocked and dismayed to find Grandmaster Boan missing, along with two other empty Council seats. Of those that appeared before her now, she recognized only the blue skinned Duros, Master Har- their presence, at least, was somewhat comforting. She was beginning to get the feeling that, whatever had happened to her over the last few years, she had obviously missed a great many things here- perhaps much worse things. Her senses, as ever, were keenly attuned to the presence of those around her, not just inside the Council Chambers, but to the temples occupants as a whole. When she was much younger, the temple of Ajan Kloss and other temples and outposts she had visited had always felt simultaneously vibrant and serene, with a calming warmth that helped to focus the mind. What she felt now was very different. The temple was home to a gently swirling mist of various emotions, some with the same warmth she remembered, but not all. There were pockets of fear, doubt, and uncertainty around her, and instead of helping the mind to focus, the Force felt... muddy? Indistinct? She sensed no cold darkness that would indicate something sinister, but it was clear that not all was well here. Even here in this room she sensed faint hints of worry and suspicion. She feared that her sudden return would do nothing to assuage those feelings...
Her long journey home had given her plenty of time to compose a thorough report, which had been delivered to the council immediately upon her arrival. It detailed as much information as she had- or what little she had been able to piece together. Vitiion had departed approximately 16 standard years earlier with Master Kieze and a handful of other Knights, her friends Sindaria and Melicos among them. The expedition was aimed at recovering long lost Jedi Temples and artifacts they may have survived the Jedi purge; either ones that the Emperor had considered "worth study" and maintained in hidden vaults and remote fortresses throughout the Galaxy, and those remote enough to be outside the Empire's reach- lost ancient sites beyond the edges of the known Galaxy, in wild space and the unknown regions.
Their journey had gotten off to a rocky start with their first stop- the mythical planet of Ellora, which turned out to be nothing like how the few surviving Jedi texts had described it. The planet, at some point, had been deeply poisoned and manipulated by the Dark Side, and their brief foray into what had once been the Jedi Temple there had resulted in the tragic loss of one of the groups padawans to a twisted abomination that had stalked the shadows. Master Krieze had made extensive notes on what they had found, vowing to return to the place with the full force of the Order behind her to reclaim the sacred ground. The expedition spent several years moving from system to system, those both mapped and unmapped, including visiting old Jedi sites on Ahch-to and Othano, collecting the myths, legends, and clues the civilizations there had to offer. As they made their way deeper into the Galactic Southwest, they made contact with people who had never seen star ships capable of venturing further than neighboring systems, and encountered wild tribes of sentients entirely uncatalogued- if nothing else, the expedition was proving a valuable research trip.
True disaster had struck when the Jedi unwittingly strayed into the heart of an empire of aggressive reptilians. Though their technology was crude and unfamiliar, that made it no less deadly. Feining hospitality, the monsters lured the team into a trap, and the Jedi suffered their next casualties- Her friend, Knight Sindaria, was torn apart by one of the beasts, swiftly followed by the Twi-leks young padawan as the boy cried out in rage and terror. The remaining Jedi hastily retreated to their ship, managing to fight their way on board and out of the atmosphere, though not without more losses. Knights Beran, a hulking Trandoshan, and his unlikely best friend Terek, a Wookie, both fell, side by side, defending the boarding ramp from a swarm of ravenous attackers, enabling the other Jedi to escape. Vitiion, Master Krieze, and Melicos were the last of the party. Escape from the system did not come easy. With their ship mortally wounded, the trio gambled on a hastily calculated hyperspace jump...
And that was where Vitiions report became less... complete. Whatever happened in the wake of the anamoly they had thrown themselves into, she could remember only bits and pieces. Her report made vague mentions of lost time and unusual interstellar phenomenon. When Vitiion finally emerged from hyperspace, she found herself drifting in uncharted space, alone with the last of the ships droids in the battered shell of one of the teams Sojourn shuttles. She had no explanation for the intervening events. There appeared to be a gap of years between their fighting escape of the reptilians homeworld and her sudden reappearance, but she didn't know why, exactly. The report finished with quickly transcribed details of her months long efforts to return to known space, and eventually to the ruins of Jedha, where the aid team had found her. The report was... incomplete. She knew it, but it was all she had to give them.
Vitiion took slow, deep breaths, air hissing quietly through her helmets filters. It was all she had to show for herself.
@Nefieslab @Mr. Teatime
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