Ask Iron

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

The small transport shuttle shuddered and groaned as it entered the atmosphere. All around Dash and Hera, warmly dressed miners shared quiet stories of their work on the surface of the world below them. It seemed as though Eshan was a strangely barely known world for the galaxy, some maps didn't even carry it marked. But Hera knew of its location, she had known ever since she was little. Quietly clutching a large, ancient datapad, Hera looked over to Dash and smiled. "This world has no official stance on the Order, but let's try to keep a low profile nonetheless."

Although the words 'low profile' did come from Hera's mouth, her clothing, the same green armor she wore damn well everywhere, betrayed her words a little. Though no Jedi cloak masked the green-marked plates this time, rather, she wore a bantha wool shawl around her shoulders that covered her Jedi insignias. Dash had been told by Hera to accompany her to the homeworld of the Echani to learn more about combat, but that had not been the whole truth. All her life, Hera wanted to know who her parents were, and why she was abandoned with the Jedi.

Having deciphered the datapad she had been left as a child, the only clue to her origins, Hera finally had a lead. Coordinates on the planet's surface. Determination overtook her as the shuttle set down in the small, local spaceport. Their point of origin being a small village that barely classified as big enough for shuttle landings, a mining town that primarily pulled minerals from the earth to use in precise communications equipment construction. Standing, Hera remarked, "Shall we go?"

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

The ride down to Eshan didn't really sell it to Dash. The transport was packed full of miners, most of them filthy, quite a few of them smelly, grunting and jostling about how it was no fun down below. He hunched away from them, trying to keep his close-fitting light armorweave clean, at least for now. The dark material clashed with his bright blonde hair, but was otherwise nondescript and very non-Jedi, just like Hera had asked. He'd even hidden his saber hilt in a second blaster holster at his hip.

"Low profile" he nodded "got it. Sounds like most folks out here are too busy to notice us anyway". In truth, Dash was an extrovert and had never been very good at low profile, but he nonetheless tried to prepare himself as the shuttle banked low.

He had read a little about the Echani and knew they were masters of combat in their own way, living here on their austere world. He had a thick poncho in his pack if it proved really austere, but he doubted he'd need it. Dash Pavan was never cold.

He supposed it made sense for Hera to take him through combat training in a place that lived and breathed it. But he hoped that didn't mean fighting Echani; everything he'd read told him that wouldn't go well for him.

They filed out of the transport after landing and Dash found the tiny mining town as uninspiring as the journey. Part of him still longed for the icy beauty of his home now and then, or the bright lights of Coruscant or Corellia. Dull planets and dull people still occasionally irked him, even though he knew a Jedi should find value in all places and people. Another thing he had to work on.

"Sure" he replied, glad his master was keen to move on "how do we get around in a place like this? Please tell me we don't have to ride on some big smelly creature?"

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera would be lying if she said she wasn't glad Dash was here. This mission, being so personal, was not something she felt she could share with her brothers and sisters in the Order. She thought this mission would have been something to take on alone, but Hera also knew that traveling alone would invite trouble. Dash was her 'official' Padawan within the order, where she went, he went, where he went, she went. This was the way.

Still, outside of convention, his presence was a lightening of her load. Smiling as he spoke, she replied with a laugh. "No, no smelly creatures. We will rent swoop bikes." Walking out of the 'spaceport,' the pair headed towards the outskirts of the groupings of huts. Men and women with white hair, pale eyes, and pale skin watched the two Jedi as they moved. Despite Hera speaking of keeping a low profile, it seemed the locals registered that the two were, on some level, warriors.

This was a world of warriors, after all.

Before the pair could exit the village, a handful of young Echani men and women approached them. As Hera and Dash moved between a few village huts, walking through an 'alley' of a sort, two men moved behind them, raising a hand to attract their attention. Another pair, a man and a woman, stepped in front of them. The pair in front had emerged as if from nothing, knowing the ins and outs of their village well enough to cut the Jedi off.

"Ohey, Human, Arkanian, wait for a minute. We would have a word with you."

As the man behind them spoke, he pulled off his shirt. Wearing only a pair of loose-fitting pants now, he stepped towards Dash and attacked. With his right foot stepping forward, he swung his arm at Dash with his hand clenched into a fist. The Echani was not aiming to punch Dash, rather, he was trying to hit the young man in the face with the outside of his forearm, using his fist to gain momentum in the swing.

Hera saw the attack coming, sensed it through the Force even, but did nothing. She wanted to see how Dash would react.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

So there were not any smelly creatures, but that was about the only good new so far. The mining town was bleak and unwelcoming and suspicious eyes seemed to follow them as they made their way towards the outskirts. The clumps of huts seemed have little infrastructure, not unlike the remote tribes on Dash's homeworld of Rhinnal. He was still surprised some people lived like this in a galaxy of space travel and diverse technologies.

But the grim surroundings were nothing compared to being accosted in the streets by Echani locals. When one pulled off his shirt and came at Dash, he was not sure what on earth was happening.

The man swung an arm at Dash and he instinctively put up his own two forearms to defend, aiming for the man's attack to be stopped dead by his block.

It seemed a strange way to greet strangers, yet the man could have tried far worse if he meant to seriously hurt Dash. Distantly, he thought he remembered something about the Echani communicating through combat. Could this be a hello? If it was, Dash was not a big fan.

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera stepped back as the fight began, and the other three Echani stepped towards her as if to prevent her from intervening. However, they did not engage her. Hera knew why. She crossed her arms quietly and watched the young Echani male engage her padawan. Their culture was built on the fighting style of their namesake, it was rare to see any Echani that didn't prescribe to it in even these remote towns.

The man wanted to know everything there was about Dash, and he didn't feel like wasting time in conversation. While most Echani would entertain the words of off-worlders and had enough social graces not to fight every stranger, these youths were clearly bored with the norm. They would have the knowledge they desired by whatever means they thought necessary.

The Echani youth didn't seem surprised at Dash's ability to block, but he cocked an eyebrow at the block itself. It was almost as if he was saying, in that split moment, 'really? both arms for the block?' Snapping his arm back, the youth rapid-fired punches at Dash's midsection. Left, right, then left again before he twisted his hips and swung his back left leg for Dash's ankles, seeking to knock the other man off his feet.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

The block worked, but the Echani attacker didn't look sad about it, instead looking weirdly intrigued.

He went for Dash again, this time punching at the young Jedi's body. It was a long time since Dash had been in a physical fist fight and it took him too long to find his rhythm. The man's first few jabs struck home and Dash grunted in pain. His armour weave provided some protection though, and again the punches didn't seem intended to do serious damage.

Hera didn't intervene, which Dash took as confirmation of his hunch. This was not an attack, but some kind of upside down conversation. Dash had no idea what he wanted to 'say', too focused on not getting beaten up. Finding his mojo, he lifted onto his tip toes and dodged this way and that, out of reach of the next few jabs. Dash had been a dancer long before had been a Jedi and he tried to use his agility and balance to his advantage.

He was getting cocky with success when the Echani changed tack completely and swept his legs out from under him with a sweeping kick. Dash fell to the ground on his back, half the wind knocked out of him, hands up pleadingly showing he was down.

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

The fight was over as quickly as it had begun, with Dash on the ground and the young Echani male standing over him. The moment Dash hit the floor, the Echani raised a leg to stomp on him, but found his body frozen in place unexpectedly. Looking over to Hera while grunting, the Jedi Knight could be seen with a hand, gently raised, holding the kid's leg back with the Force. "That's enough." She stated firmly, releasing him.

Stepping back, the young man shook himself off and began to walk off without a word. His companions, however, were not so hasty. The young woman moved over towards Dash, offering to help him up with a smile. One of the other two men offered a hand to Hera to shake, introducing himself, "Sorry about him, hot-headed asshole you know. I'm Kerd, she's Marri, and this quiet guy is Barridag. The guy you just saw leave was Juso'bak, not a friendly one. Can tell by your fight though that you're Jedi, well that and your magic kinda gives it away."

The woman, still smiling and blushing a little at Dash, spoke to him as well. "You fight well, though very defensively. I can't tell if it's because you didn't want to hurt Juso or because you don't have enough confidence in your ability to fight back. Maybe we should, uh, fight sometime? Oh, I'm Marri, it's nice to meet you~"

Hera produced her datapad, temporarily turning away from Dash and the young woman in order to get directions from one of the local kids.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

The guy actually went to stomp on Dash, before Hera stopped him. That decided it for the young Padawan, the Echani were not his favourite people.

A young woman helped him up, but he only managed a nod of the head in thanks. Communicating through combat sounded cool, but it didn't exactly feel great and Dash was worse than sceptical. The other Echani tried to blame it on this 'Juso'bak' guy, but it was not like they had all rushed to stop him. Dash listened in silence, his blue eyes narrowing as he tried to ignore the aches beginning to set in.

Marri's approach caught him a little off guard. "Confidence?!" he found himself surprisingly riled at her suggestion he was scared. "Where I come from, we don't exactly greet strangers with fist fight" he said hotly. The woman seemed nice, but clearly saw the world a totally different way. "It's nice to meet you too, but couldn't we have done the talking part first?" he glanced over her shoulder, just able to make out Juso or whatever his name was disappearing between the huts. "Trust me, if I thought it was right to floor someone I hadn't even met, I would have given back as good as I got".

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

The young woman, Marri, was taken a little aback by Dash's words. As a local who had never left the planet before, she 'knew' this wasn't how the rest of the galaxy was, but it wasn't something that had ever been really demonstrated to her before. In their culture, such displays, while usually more sanctioned and measured, were neither uncommon nor strange. Opening her mouth to speak in argument, but finding no words, she simply sighed and said "I guess talking would've, been better. Sorry."

At that moment, Hera waved to Dash to get his attention and remarked, "Alright, we're good to go now." Looking to the young man she was speaking with, she added, "Thank you."

Walking away from the group, and waiting until she was out of their earshot, she began to speak with Dash again. "Echani, as a culture, are more violent than others. But they don't see the violence as something to be ashamed of, rather, they think that the only way to really get to know someone is by fighting them. Personally, I don't see how you can get an accurate picture of someone else by whether or not they try to kill you or just knock you out, but I'm not Echani." And at that, Hera laughed heartily as if she had just told a good joke.

Approaching a local speeder rental, Hera motioned for Dash to go pick the one he liked from what they had available. As she did so, she asked, "Dash, why do you want to be a Jedi?"

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

"Well exactly" Dash agreed, still unenamoured with the Echani "there's a reason every other world just uses words isn't there?".

He did not know much about speeders and was a little lost when Hera gave him the task of picking one. The rental place only had a dozen or so but as first he did not know where to start. Eventually deciding to ignore the specifications, he opted to focus entirely on colour and shape.

Hera's sudden question was surprisingly hard to answer. "Well I'm not totally sure. When the Force came to me, it seemed the right thing to do, you know, come and join the Jedi. I really enjoy the learning part, so there's that. The helping people too - I like helping folks" he eyed an Echani staff member warily "well most of them". He walked between the speeders, wondering if any of that was really reason enough to be in the Jedi. There were certainly bits of it he didn't like so much.

"Do you think they're good reasons?" he asked self-consciously, stopping by an angular blue model.

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera settled fairly quickly on a speeder she liked. Not even a speeder, really, but just two giant engines welded onto two large hunks of metal. It was an old swoop bike, still covered in a small layer of dust as its obvious danger had clearly left it unrented for a long time. Hera pointed it out as Dash spoke and the closest Echani staff member looked terrified, however, he gave her the rental keys as she signed the paperwork anyway.

Dash's answer was unsurprisingly common. So many people joined the Jedi just because they liked helping people, or just because that's the life they were given as children. Glancing over at Dash as he chose, Hera smiled and nodded, "Of course! Wanting to help people and learn more about the Force is an excellent set of reasons. So long as you can stick by your convictions, that is. There's no shame in doing something simply because you feel it is right."

Mounting the swoop, Hera continued speaking but her gaze began to drift far off, "I'm a Jedi because this is the life that was chosen for me. I don't remember a time not being around a bunch of stuck-up old guys in robes, if you know what I mean! Ha ha- Seriously though, the Jedi are my family. I don't know about whether or not I care about helping people, but I want to protect my family. And that includes you and Ezra now, you know!" At that, she slipped Dash a cheeky wink along with her grin.

Once Dash was ready, Hera would gun her swoop and start off. The swoops and speeders were loud, but they had comlinks in case Dash wished to continue talking to Hera. She would listen, that was for sure.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Hera seemed to think his reasons were good enough, but Dash still was not sure. Sometimes he worried he had joined the Jedi as an easy way off Rhinnal and his troubles there with the Force. Still, he had fit in pretty well so far. Maybe it was for him after all.

Dash jumped up onto the swoop behind his master, listening to her rather different account. She had been in the middle of the Jedi from the beginning, which probably explained why she was so good at it all. He could see what she meant by family though, he had already started to think about some of his fellow Jedi in that way, Ezra, Leon, Hera herself. They spent so much time together, it was impossible not to start caring.

Her mention of Ezra made his ears prick up even as they sped over Eshan's terrain. "We can all protect each other can't we" he replied over the comm, though he was less sure of his ability to protect a Master like Hera from anything she couldn't handle herself.

"I noticed you talking to the Grandmaster on the day Ezra moved into the temple" he said. He had wondered about this ever since and had to take the chance to ask. "It's not a problem is it, me and Ezra?". He would not accept that it was, but he had noticed how the group of senior Jedi had kept looking at them. He was sure something had been said.

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera didn't respond immediately, which wasn't her norm. It would be overtly obvious that if Hera heard Dash over the comlink then she was deeply contemplating what she wanted to say next. Finally, as the pair crested a large, snow-covered hill, Hera responded over the comlink. Her voice sounded kind and happy, typical of Hera, as she spoke.

"The Grandmaster is worried, rightly so, about attachments. Attachments are not forbidden among the Jedi, but some Knights still discourage them as a path to the Dark Side. I don't discourage attachments, and I don't think there is any problem with you and Ezra. Truly, I see your relationship with the boy as something beautiful. Something to be treasured. I am filled with joy every time I hear about you and Ezra."

Then Hera's tone dropped, a seriousness she rarely displayed coming over the coms as they continued on their way. The cold air whipped about their faces as they passed through a sparse grouping of trees and the redhead Jedi continued, "But we can't always protect one another. Even if we were not at war, even if the galaxy were a place of peace, there will always be things out of our control. No matter how powerful we become, we may still lose our loved ones. This is the danger of attachments, that an accident may occur to someone we love and the grief would consume us.

"I've seen it too, a Padawan turning away from the light after losing a friend. Her grief so great, her anger so strong, that she could not bring herself to put aside her pain to even help me bury her friend..." Hera paused for a moment, then, like a breath of fresh air, the kind and joyous voice returned as she finished speaking, "But fear of loss is no reason to turn away from love! Because without love, I don't think life is worth living! And by the Force, I love being alive! So I cherish every moment I have with you and everyone else in the Jedi Order, my family. We do not live forever, so we must make each moment count."

If Dash looked over, he would be able to see Hera's face beneath her blackened goggles. She was smiling ear to ear. As Hera meant every word she said with a conviction dredged up from the bottom of her heart.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

The Rhinnalian knew from his Master's silence that there was indeed something. When she finally spoke, he was actually surprised to learn he was right. The Grandmaster of the Jedi was worried about them, or at least what they represented. It was a lot. Dash sort of understood the thing around attachments but he couldn't quite imagine a life where they were not allowed. It did not seem fair.

Dash did not know a lot about the Dark Side, if he was honest. He had done the training like everyone else, read the Code and heard the stories. But he had never met a Sith or spent much time thinking about the difference between Light and Dark. He was a good person, he thought, trying to do good things. Hopefully that was enough.

Not for the first time, Hera seemed to genuinely care. "I'm glad we cheer you up" he replied, a little moved "but you should know he's pretty hard work at times, Zathria will have her work cut out".

Again he thanked the stars for he and Hera's meeting on Coruscant and the good fortune that had made her his Master. He guessed she was only about ten years older than him, but she had a warmth and a wisdom than made her seem older. Dash could never quite decide if she seemed like a big sister, or his Jedi mom, but either way he was glad to have her in his corner, as he was in hers.

The L word was a big one and touched a nerve at the moment. It had nearly risen to his lips once or twice, but he didn't know how Ezra felt yet. He took the chance to deflect and ask something he was intrigued to know, even as he felt the speeder begin to slow. "Have you ever been in love?"

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

'Had she ever been in love?' How could Hera answer that? It was a question that ripped to her core and begged her to bare her soul. Though, if she was going to tell anyone about her mysterious younger days at the Jedi Temple, then Dash would be the only one to learn. Smiling gently as her speeder too, slowed down, Hera responded quietly through the comlink, "Yes, only once."

"We were young, around your age now that I think about it. She was wonderful, still is-! But it didn't work out. As a Jedi, I liked to think that there was some evil, outside force that tears apart relationships. As though the Dark Side itself rips us apart, emotionally or physically; like when a loved one is taken by the Sith. But sometimes, there isn't anything terribly evil or inhuman that reaches into our lives and shatters them. Sometimes, two people grow apart. I seemed like one minute, I was exchanging love poems, the next, I didn't know who they were anymore."

At that, they reached their destination. Parking the swoop bike, Hera dismounted the vehicle and turned it off. With the quiet noises of birds and wildlife returning to her nearly-deafened ears from the swoop, Hera added lastly. "But that's just another reason to keep searching for love. I've tasted it. It's frightfully fantastic. It's beautifully bittersweet. Don't dwell on the pain, but accept it with all the good times." At that, she started off towards the only building in sight.

It was not a tomb, even though a tomb was what Hera had expected. Looking at the datapad, she confirmed the coordinates before setting it away. It was a small, domed structure constructed of stones. Perhaps at one point, it had a grassy roof, but that had long since rotted away. As she approached it, she decided to tell Dash exactly what they were looking at. "This is the Albion family crypt, my mother is buried here."

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash had wondered if it was too personal a question to ask his Master, but he was pleased when she answered and glad when it was in the affirmative. A soul as kind as Hera deserved to have been in love.

"Oh dear, well I am sure something better will come along" Dash said, aware of how pathetic that sounded. He was troubled by the idea of two people just growing apart though and did not quite know what to say. Ezra would not just grow in a different direction would he? He was already changing quite fast.

They pulled up near a small domed building that sat in the middle of nowhere. Dash hopped off the speeder and followed Hera closer, trying to flatten his hair with a hand after the whipping wind. As they drew nearer, the Rhinnalian noticed it was not so much a building as a perfect arrangement of large stones, with a look that said it had been there for an age.

He was imagining it might contain more grumpy Echani and was taken aback when Hera revealed it was a family crypt. "Your mother?" Dash repeated quizzically, his voice automatically lowering out of respect. "I guess I assumed your family were Arkanian?" He looked her up and down like he might have missed something, some reason that Arkanians didn't have their crypts on Arkania. Then of course there was the bigger question; the crypt was clearly here, but why had they come to it?

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera waited a moment before responding to Dash, and when she did she couldn't help the confused smile that came across her face, "I did too, but-" Hera paused, looking at her five-fingered hands, "I guess I'm just an off-shoot." At that, she continued towards the little domed building. It was a pitiful thing, and upon reaching it Hera had to remove a few stones from the entrance just to step inside.

Inside the crypt was a staircase that lead down deeper into the crypt. It was unguarded, but the moment the pair stepped down the first step the sheer strength of the Force would hit them like a train. A wave of Dark Side energies akin to that of an immensely powerful being or artifact resonated from beneath their feet. Instantly, Hera reached for her hilts, her entire body tensing for the danger she felt would suddenly emerge from the spiral staircase.

But nothing came.

Fighting through the energies, Hera stilled herself through the Force and quietly repeated her mantra aloud, "Breathe Hera, Breathe." Wordlessly, she continued down the steps, assuming Dash came in tow. The stairs would feel as though they descended for hours, the energies of the Dark Side whispering and crawling across the pair's skin. It begged them to run. Tempted them to flee. Demanded they retreat.

But Hera continued on, and once they reached the bottom of the steps, the energies of the Dark Side would disappear. As if they had never been there in the first place. At the base of the stairs, the pair came to a largely empty room. Entirely pitch-black dark, Hera ignited one of her two blades in order to illuminate their surroundings. In the middle of the room, barely visible against the saber's light, sat a strange steel machine. It vaguely resembled an HK droid, though with heavy modifications.

Once Dash had come into view of it, it would activate.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

If Hera knew the truth of her ancestry, she did not share it, instead making a nonchalant remark and heading into the dome. His Master had a near continuous positive attitude and an excellent sense of humour, traits Dash had always been grateful for. But for the first time he wondered if they could also be an excellent defence, masking how she was really feeling. Maybe time would tell.

Dash followed her inside the structure, immediately finding himself on a narrow winding stair. The place had a terrible aura about it, dark and heavy like every description of Dark Side energies he had ever read. It was supposed to be a resting place for heaven's sake, but it felt alive in a sordid way. The Rhinnalian would have been up for running straight out but Hera pressed on and he made himself do the same, hunching his shoulders against the atmosphere.

Strangely, the feeling dissipated at the foot of the stairs. Dash expected to find they were in a small chamber, perhaps a narrow tomb where Hera hoped to pay her respects or similar. But instead the stairs opened to a large chamber, impossible to scope out in the darkness. Dash's Master ignited ignited a blade, but the light was still limited. When it illuminated a droid-like figure, Dash jumped with surprise.

When the thing fired to life, lights and mechanical joints flaring, his heart skipped a beat.

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

The machine rose, coming into view against the illumination of the orange blade with its own, internal lights. Instead of hands, it possessed two enormous weapons that appeared almost like cannons. Holding them aloft, it ignited the 'cannons' into two large, yellow lightsaber blades. The beams of energy were huge compared to the thin blade Hera held herself. Then, with a voice unlike a droid and more akin to an old recording of a woman, it spoke, "YOu ARe TREssPASSing ON tHE TOMB of Mirrrra ALBION. LeaVE, OR BE DESTROYED."

Stepping to the side, Hera spoke without looking at Dash, "We take it together, move with me now." As she slowly began circling toward the machine's left, she ignited another blade of blue in her opposite hand. The blade of Crix Aran, now just another blade of Hera Albion. The machine did not move to look at them, it did not have to. Illuminated lights across its frame, made massive by additional armor plating, displayed extra-photoreceptors. It could see in all directions.

Waiting until Dash was in position opposite the machine, Hera would shout, "NOW!" And leap at the machine. She aimed one blade at its main weapon facing her, another at the joint of its arm. She aimed to take it out at the elbow if she could while Dash distracted the other side.

@Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

The machine rattled to life, drawing two massive yellow lightsaber blades that were just were just extensions of its arms. It wailed at them threateningly and Dash realised it was some kind of mechanical protector. A sentinel left to guard the tomb, but why? Who needed their tomb guarding, and from what?

Dash did not have time to puzzle it out, following his Master's lead and drawing his saber. Between the Jedis' blades and the machine's own, the chamber was now dimly lit. "You got it, Master". Taking the thing together made sense to Dash and he followed Hera's instructions, stepping around to the machine's right, his saber held up in the guard position.

When Hera shouted, Dash moved as fast as he could, drawing on the Force and sliding in from the opposite side to his Master and slashing hard at the base of the machine, aiming to cripple it. He kept one eye of those big yellow blades above, ready to respond if it chose to lunge for him rather than the storm of blue and orange Hera was bringing towards it.

@Black Noise