The Desert's Test

[Rev]

Aÿisha would sit silently and take in everything Jhon had to say, letting the atmosphere and ambiance finally take hold of her. As the man finally broke some of the walls he so desperately set up she could at last take him for what he really was. If it weren't for Jhon's passion, some would call it love for the girl, Aÿisha would have no doubt taken her there. He may have been one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, but now he was a shell of that; or at least he did a good job of hiding it. His final statement would bring her hands together and squeeze with some excitement.

"Then Andraste made the right decision."

Looking away from her conversation she would see two freshly poured drinks before picking her own up. Giving it a slight spin in the glass her eyes would fixate on the centered cubes while the liquid swirled around. It was obvious her mind was searching for words at the gesture alone.

"..Andraste nearly took her life due to that girl and because of that man."

Aÿisha's thoughts would go back to the many meetings the two had in regards to Exodeus. The woman was in constant fear, even before the bump of a child was formed. Lana may be the weakness to the evil in the galaxy, but she was no sure-fire end to it all.

"You're not a man I need to tell of prophecies. I too can sense her strength, she is her mother's child.."

Her own words allowed a soft smile to grow onto her face only to fade and the taste of liquor. Aÿisha's memory recalling the feats through the Force that many, herself included, could never predict. It was that monster inside of her that fueled that power, but the only way she knew to feed the beast was from the darkness that was tricked into her.

"From one who has fallen.. Fallen all too far know that Andraste isn't safe for that girl. That may be the very thing that breaks her, and if that happens you will no doubt lose any trace of Andraste."

 

[Brandon Rhea]

It felt strange, uncomfortable, talking to someone about all of this. Though he’d told Skhai and the Wardens about Andraste plenty of times before, none of them truly knew her. None of them could relate to his experiences, and could never really understand the full story of the Empress. No one ever could, until now. For the first time, Jhon was afforded the company of someone who actually understood Andraste the way he did. There were clearly things Remy did not know, but she knew enough. Still, the idea that he was talking to the woman who killed hundreds of Jedi was nothing short of absurd. The state of the galaxy had truly become ridiculous.

“I was on Coruscant after the fall,” he said, “and I saw Andraste there. We were in the same room. She had a strangely calm sense about her, a mask that covered so much hatred. She told me she cared nothing for the girl but would one day kill her. She said it with nothing behind it, just this blank, pale, emotionless face. Trust me, whatever trace of Andraste may still be left, it's no doubt unreachable, buried beneath years of pain.”

Jhon leaned in closer, keeping his voice even softer than before, and said, “But if you want me to trust you, then I want you to be honest with me. How did you do it?” Jhon didn’t need to explain that he was talking about the Jedi Temple. His tone of voice was clear enough.

 

[Rector_Ras]

"My name is Lana. Is this place always so uncomfortable?"

Jason almost laughed but he didnt as he knew it would more then likely make her feel very unconformable. Instead he gave her a straight answer " Not from what I know. All the cantinas i have been to in the paste have been fun. Well at least most. They only get like this when commotion like a lightsaber being taken out and ignited that always puts people on edge."

With that statement he knew for sure she had seen even less of the universe then he had. Thinking about being locked up in a house instead of a planet was terrible for him. He had the freedom to go where he pleased on the planet he was on but she had never even been to a cantina before no wonder she had no idea how to react to other people she probably has met so few of them. He started to get curious about this girl so he decided to keep talking.

"You seem to not know what to say around people. Is that because you haven't met many or because you just really don't like a lot of people? Though I guess it wouldn't be surprising if you hadn't met many people with the jedi being in hiding and all."

 

[Rev]

A pit began to form in the woman's stomach at his mentioning of Andraste in those final hours. As he spoke she'd close her eyes and take in each whisper he spoke, letting them paint a picture of her old friend. It was a face despite Jhon's description she had seen tens of times; she'd even seen it the first time she met the woman. It was that very first time on Tanaab over a decade ago that she saw the emotionless soul tear down three Jedi before turning Remy into the very thing that sat before Jhon now. It was one lone word she wished not to hear from that Jedi's mouth: unreachable. It would cause that final drink, ice and all, to go down with an audible gulp. The question that followed only made her pause; that cold face returning to her as her eyes opened to meet his.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?"

Her faced remained cold, but despite her emotionless state the otherwise lively air remained still, tense. Aÿisha's mind would pull at one answer while her heart faced another. Without a moment's hesitation she would answer the elder Jedi, unsure what the result would bring but knowing now was as good a time as ever.

"The Lightsaber."

With the two word answer it was like a blanket was lifted from her shoulders. A burden released at long last, but that was not the beginning. She could tell this man so much more, confide in him as she could sense he wanted to in her. But even she knew that given the answer to who attacked the Will of the Force would be the end to her there. Perhaps that day would come.

"The Sith never expected me to make it out of there alive.."

Turning her gaze from his eyes she'd look anywhere but to him to finish what she had to say.

"...and I never really did."

 

[RollingThunder]

Hannibal accept Amelleous' drink and sat back down in his stool, his modified WESTAR-M5 blaster rifle again draped across his lap. He responded to Amelleous with a shrug.

"You won't find much respect here. Even now, look how the Jedi are treated."

They were everywhere. Like rats the Zabrak had said. He agreed. Too many here. He thought they were supposed to stay hidden. He wondered if any of them had a bounty. He then wondered if he would bother collecting if they did. Probably not. Not inside. He liked his arms.

Hannibal continued to drink.

 

[Wit]

You're going to get yourself killed al'Thor, he said to himself as he was thrown out of the store, and all over a wild goose chase. Getting to his feet, he patted the dust off of his clothes. Feeling the cold breeze on his face as he stepped out into the open, he pulled up the collar of his jacket against it and began trudging on in search of another shop. A slight rumbling in his stomach reminded him that he was yet to have his dinner, he wanted nothing more than to call it a day and find some place to spend the night, but a part of him didn't want to give up on the search just yet. Pulling out his datapad he brought up the map of the surrounding area and examined it. He had done fairly well for himself today, despite having been delayed in reaching the town, he had been thorough enough in making his inquiries. Maybe he could take a break and grab a bite before he resumed his search.

His search, a search that he should not even have been on, but when the Masters ordered you couldn't really refuse, could you? He had told them that he was too young to take on a student, that he wasn't ready for the responsibility, but short handed as the scattered Order was, there really hadn't been much choice. But obviously when the idiot of a girl had run off to have an "adventure" before he had even been able to meet her, the blame had fallen on him. And if that wasn't enough the responsibility of tracking her down had come hand in hand with that blame. He had managed to track her down to Tatooine, but had lost the trail after that, now it was slight nudges from that Force here and there that were guiding him. Suddenly frustrated with himself, he increased his pace and heading off in the direction of the nearest cantina.

He had been there for a less than half an hour, seated at the bar and enjoying a drink after his meal, when he started feeling a lot of activity outside the cantina. So that when a few minutes later a young girl entered the cantina with a weird entourage behind her Kain's eyes were fixed on the door. Immediately he identified her what she was, for who she was. For days he had been roaming the deserts in search of his would be student and here she was, walking right into his path when he least expected it. But then he noticed those around her, an old man who seemed oddly familiar, a few loud mouthed idiots and two....and two Sith! He was suddenly even more alert, What kind of mess had this girl entangled herself in?

Realizing that he had to act, and act quickly to get her out of here, he quickly scanned the cantina and came up with a plan that just might work. Gesturing to the bartender and whispered something into his ears, discreetly slipping a few credchips and a small pouch into his hands. While he poured out the drink, slipping in the plain powder from the pouch into it, Kain quickly pulled out a few items from his pockets. By the time the bartender handed the drink to the girl he was ready.

He waited for the girl to take a few sips, so that the drug would start taking effect, and once he saw that she started drinking he gently lowered two blaster power cells to the floor behind the bar and and floated them slowly to come to rest near where the girl and her group were standing. While a flash grenade would have been ideal, he didn't have one on himself so this would have to do. One of the cells had its power almost drained and with the few couplings that he had quickly pulled out, the cell would now act like a flash grenade, though be much louder than one, which was actually even better. The other cell carried more charge, though not by much, just enough to fulfill his requirements. He was still waiting for the drug to start taking effect when a woman suddenly approached the old man and said something to make him jump out of his seat and pin her to the wall. As he pulled out a lightsaber, all eyes in the cantina were suddenly drawn to him. He watched on as the girl ran to the man, calling him her Master, something that made him wonder if there was more to her story. But he could find out about that later on, he first needed to take get her out of here, way from the Sith, the rest could be taken care of. Once everything had finally settled down, he decided to spring into action, he had waited long enough for the drug to start kicking in. He reached out to the first cell and nudged its couplings with the Force, making it explode with a loud bang and enough force to shatter all the bottles of drink behind the counter. As all eyes in the cantina were suddenly drawn to the explosion he nudged the second cell, making it explode as well, but with less force but with a much brighter flash, almost blindingly so. The sudden flash would effectively blind everyone who had been staring in that direction, which because of the the first explosion had been more or less everyone in the cantina.

He used that moment to spring into action, quickly getting to his feet and moving towards the girl. If he was correct the drug ought to have had enough of an effect on her that she should not be in any condition to resist as he grabbed her. Just to be safe he would at the same time place a hand on her mouth to keep her from making a sound and run out of the cantina. Once outside he tossed her over his shoulder and ran off into the night, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the crowd inside the cantina before they even realized what had happened.

 

[Sreeya]

Lana thought about Jason's words. In truth, even she was surprised with Jhon's actions. She glanced at him from a distance, and he was still deep in conversation with the Remy woman. Lana glanced back at Jason, giving him a sheepish smile as he pointed out her lack of social skill.

"Yeah, I've had a bit of a sheltered upbringing. I don't think I can dislike anyone unless they do something wrong to me."

As she continued to drink, her mind began to get hazy. She had been told about alcohol, but this one was particularly strong. She couldn't keep her eyes open, hit with a sudden headache.

"I think.. I'm getting...sick.."

Before she knew it, there was a whole bunch of commotion all around her. There was also a flash of blinding light. Lana felt someone grasp at her, but her eyes rolled to the back of her head and all she saw was black. She was knocked out cold.

 

[RollingThunder]

Hannibal hit the floor, gripping his blaster rifle. He saw light sabers drawn, and he knew that being in close quarters with those things was a deathtrap. He pushed himself through the crowd of confused patrons, his rifle aimed and ready to fire. His ears were ringing and there was a pressure building in his head. He looked to his left in time to see a man running with that girl the Jedi was with in his arms. He aimed his blaster rifle, but it was too late.

"Damn."

Ignoring the pain he was in, Hannibal silently gave chase. He shouted at the man.

"Hey! HEY!"

All that could be heard in the silence of the dark Tatooine night was his heavy breathing and footfalls on the desert sand.

 

[Ben]

Orlaan Ghess stepped into the cantina, hurting for a drink after spending so long marching back through the dune wastes to Mos Eisley. He had parted ways with Reland after their eventful resolution of the task set for them by the Jedi Order; Knight Gil had offered to take the quick route back to the spaceport back with Ghess, but Orlaan had declined. He had stayed among the dune sea's for a time with his limited rations, a taster - if you will - for the lengthier excursion he wanted to take to the planet. Orlaan prided himself on his stamina in all things, but this damned and blessed desert had whooped his ass.

He must have looked an image walking towards the bustling watering hole, a absurdly large wookie-like figure covered in sand head to toe, lips chapped and hair matted, robes tattered and the resent battle wounds smattering his body and face. As he neared the place, he heard a series of eruptions on the inside, before a shaded figure darted out of the front exit, a strange parcel slumped of it's shoulder. Orlaan was never one to stand by in the face of absurdity, and this man leaving a bar following explosions with a little thing thrown over his shoulder, that was certainly suspicious.

"Whoa there pal!" He skidded up short next to the robed figure, a Forceful male. Now that he payed attention, the bar was brimming with the Force, including some familiar presences. The figure over the shoulder of the man was Forceful, even more still than many of the ones he felt inside; although what it was the thing was still was not apparent. "Slow down there, why don't you tell me what is going on." Orlaan dashed along besides the man, trying to keep pace with his speed.

And then, then Orlaan noticed something more again. The man, his presence, his Forcefulness, it was Light; his robes, the slight flash of chrome at his waist. This man was a Jedi. "Wait, are you part of the Order?" Receiving nothing but a brief moment of eye contact, a nod and a cry for help in the Force from the fellow Knight of the Order, who now looked vaguely familiar, Orlaan glanced back at the cantina whilst running, and he sensed the Darkness inside, and he sensed the Light and power of the little girl. Orlaan understood, this man was not kidnapping the child, he was saving her from the Sith or Dark Jedi inside, whoever it was.

Ghess gave a nod of determination and understanding and whirled on his heal just as a speeder approached, the Jedi vaulting inside with the girl over his shoulder in tow. In case Orlaan managed to make it away from the volume of Dark power inside, he threw a tracking device onto the speeder, guiding it with the Force until it adhered. Then, he stopped completely, let out a breath and centered himself, drawing his saber and igniting it in a fluid motion. Orlaan settled into a Soresu stance, allowing the Light side to wash over him in preparation for fending of all and any assailants as best he could.

 

[D.C.]

Tatooine was kind of a sucky planet. Hot during the day, cold at night, bad food, bad everything. Dastin Mak was just really glad that he had some good music in his landspeeder, because without the music this place would've been hell.

Things weren't going as planned. He had come to Tatooine together with Kain, a fellow Jedi and a friend, to search for Kain's lost padawan. The day before Dastin had been in another city, looking for a young girl, but he had not been able to find anyone that fit the description that Kain had given him and so he had decided to go to Mos Eisley to find Kain and figure out what to do. Dastin reckoned they would have to come up with a new plan, because this one really wasn't working.

So he arrived in his landspeeder in the city and drove down the street toward the cantina where he could find Kain. Kain had let him know that if Dastin would end up in Mos Eisley for whatever reason and he'd need Kain, he'd find him there. Just when he drove down the street he saw flashes and then heard a lot of noise, coming from the cantina, and Dastin's eyes widened with shock. His buddy was probably still in there!

Dastin hit the gas pedal and raced toward the cantina, trying to use the Force to his best ability so he wouldn't cause too much damage, but he did knock over a few objects (he went too fast to see what kind of objects), and when he neared the cantina he actually saw Kain himself running outside, carrying a girl over his shoulder.

The Kiffar stopped the speeder, swung open the door and shouted: "Brother! Here! Hop in!"

Dastin didn't need a reason, didn't need a back story, didn't need anything. He was loyal to his friends, and he considered Kain one of his best.

He reached inside his cloak for the weapons he carried on his belt, and went for the ones right next to his saber. The first one he grabbed was a flash grenade, which he threw out of the speeder at whoever would be chasing after Kain. The second grenade he threw was a smoke bomb, to cause confusing. This would blind the hostiles, and allow for Kain, Dastin and the girl to escape that place fast and easily.

 

[Wit]

Kain had rushed out of the cantina with the voices of would be pursuers behind him and the sudden emergence of a figure running besides him. He sensed at once the familiarity of the other figure's presence, this was a Jedi. He reacted almost instinctively, opening himself in the Force, letting the taller man know who they were. He also sent a single word through to him, hoping he was able to understand, Help. But throughout this he never broke step, not even for a second. His mind was working in overdrive, trying to figure out how to get rid of anyone who followed and get this girl to safety. He did not know if this Jedi would help them, or even trust them. He was still trying to think of an escape plan when the solution suddenly popped up in front of him. A speeder, a very familiar speeder, came to a stop right in front of him, a door was suddenly thrown open and a voice shouted out from within. For the speeder was in fact the same one that he had bought the day they had landed on Tatooine, and the voice belonged to a friend, probably the only other friend he had on the planet right now.

A wide grin appeared on his face as he quickly tossed the girl into the car, accidentally throwing her in too fast so that her head banged against the door on the other side, and quickly following her in. As Dastin threw out the grenades, Kain decided to add to the confusion. Reaching out with the Force, he caught a line of speeder bikes parked against the side of the cantina entrance and sent them flying, tossing them all over the place right outside the cantina doors. Let anyone running out into the chaos trip over that and enjoy the taste of cold sand. "Go, go, go!"

 

[D.C.]

THUD!

The vehicle rocked back and forth a little bit as the girl crashed into the car, but at the moment Dastin's mind was so occupied with the chaos right here in Mos Eisley that he didn't worry about the girl getting hurt. This was something he would start to worry about very soon, but not now.

Right now he worried about getting his best friend out of this shit town. That was important.

So he hit the gas pedal once more and started driving, no, racing down the street, really trying to concentrate because he didn't want to crash into a building and die. But that never happened, because Dastin was a more than capable driver.

"Why is it that everywhere we go, we end up in trouble, brother?" Dastin said with a grin on his mug.

They left the cantina far behind them and would soon leave the entire town behind them.

It was a great escape.

——————

Next: Dude, Where Is My Dad?​

 

[Darth Tak]

Acegik looked suprised, but he didn't order any of this. As he thought in his stupid little brain, the 2 droideka droids went into their ball shape and started chasing the speeder. Acegik just looked confused. In a cute way.

 

[Nor'baal]

An explosion, whirring blades.

That is all he heard. Amelleous rolled over the bar, and slid his helmet back into place. He delivered a punch directly into the face of the barman driving the weapon from the aliens hand as it jerked in shock at the sudden and savage attack. The barman fell, and in his HUD display Amelleous saw a man grab the young woman who appeared to be the center of attention, and bolt for the door. The sudden eruption of lightsabers, and the pace at which the force users bolted towards the door caused panic in the room.

Hands flew to blasters, but one hand was quicker. Amelleous bought his rifle up and fired, obliterating the face of a poor unfortunate Twilek that turned to face him. Blatant Alien Agression....he though furiously. He poked his head up over the bar, laying down heavy fire as shouted to Hannibal through his earpiece ''Private Foth, take cover behind me, and get us a way out of here, Transport, something, now!''

He saw a gaggle of Rodians, a mother appearing to lead her three children to safety. Or attempting to hide behind infants in an attempt to escape and gather reinforcements! thought Amelleous. He opened fire, the Rodians vanishing beneath the searing heat of the weaponry.

Priming a grenade, he called to Foth ''Screw it, go for the back door, and liberate a Transport!'' he threw the grenade, and bolted for the rear exit.

 

[Rector_Ras]

Things happened so fast. He was answer the girls question and then a man just grabbed her and started taking her out of the cantina. Dazed Jason sat there for about thirty seconds figuring out what had happened and if he was right she had just gotten kid napped. Coming to his senses again he got up and started walking quickly towards the door. When he got out he saw a car driving away and a man with a lightsaber. Another jedi really how many of them are here?" He asked himself. Though this one confused him he was here and the car the girl was likely in was gone why didn't he stop them?Walking up towards this man he was ready to spring into action if the guy wanted to fight but he would try not fighting first. Approaching he said " Hey why didn't you stop those people that girl just got taken!"

 

[Green Ranger]

Things sure did get interesting fast.

As tensions began escalating even further, the two masked figures excused themselves from their table, instead moving to the back of the bar and the public refresher facilities located there. As the cantina itself was rocked by the explosions and the following flashbang, the cantina erupted into chaos, civilians fleeing left right and center - especially considering one of the patrons had decided to open fire on any non-human in there. Noone would notice the discarded tan robes left behind in the refresher stations. By then, noone would even remember the quiet pair sitting at the table. And as everyone ran screaming to escape the carnage, noone would notice one the tattood woman and the young man accompanying her, slinking out the back.

As the two walked out into the streets, it became clear the pair were offworlders - and heavily armed offworlders, at that. The woman donned two repeating pistols, a hold-out blaster several spare powercell clips and at least three grenades on her belt. A black jacket was worn over a white singlet top, form-fitting black pants worn under long leather boots. A lightsaber hung from her belt. Her dark haired companion was similarly armed - the young man was similarly armed, his clothing a dark tunic with similar gloves and boots. Were it not for the excessive amounts of weaponry, he would have almost emulated a young Luke Skywalker in a way.

"Is...is Tatooine always like this?" The boy stammered, his lip quivering. It was fairly obvious he was barely holding it together, but his fear of his companion seemed to override his fear of everything else. The woman snorted disdainfuly.

"Kid, this is bad even for Mos Eisley," she replied, her eyes scouting around the street. "Place has gone to shit since the Alliance dissolved. Now every upstart crimelord thinks they have a claim here, and they're too busy killing each other to even pretend there's law enforcement here anymore. Mark my worlds, the whole damn spaceport will jsut be a smoking crater within three years at this rate."

At a hurried pace, the two quickly jogged across the alley that backed onto the cantina, moving over to a tarp sitting there, uncovered two speeder bikes waiting for them. There weren't any other speeders around - at least not by the back entrance. The young man quickly switched on the repulsorcraft while the woman unholstered her repeaters as the craft warmed up.

Something told her to wait. And her intuition had never been wrong so far.

 

[Silver Cutlass]

"This is the last karking time I'm coming to this place!" Nev exclaimed to himself as he flipped the table at the booth as all hell broke loose. Shots ringing out, explosions going off, flashes of light; He sure was glad he wasn't a historian, because seeing such a historic place as this be shot to pieces in a barfight would cause any Skywalker buff to have a heart attack. The Nautolan kept his head down behind the table, and thank the Force it was made out of a strong type of metal and cut thick enough to protect from a few shots that hit his cover.

He wasn't involved in this mess, and he wasn't about to risk getting shot for a drink. Peaking out from behind his cover, Nev saw one hell of a barfight. Sure, a bunch of people had already left the Cantina, but this was Mos Eisley. The scum and scoundrels of the place, the brave and/or stupid ones, stayed behind and drew their own pieces, taking shots at anyone and everyone who'd stick their head out to far, which Nev learned as he ducked his head back behind the table, barely avoiding a red blaster bolt. He looked around frantically, and saw that he had a straight shot to the main exit.

Nev didn't become a pirate to not take risks, so the second he felt like it, he bolted off towards the exit, simultaneously drawing his own blaster and fired off a bunch of cover shots everywhere, hoping to force any potential shooters to duck behind cover. He barely managed to escape the No Man's Land in the Mos Eisley Cantina, but he had made it through the exit. The Nautolan stumbled into the sandy streets of the city, and the first thing he heard was yelling nearby.

He turned his head, and what did he see but a tall being carrying the young, popular girl from the Cantina, throwing her into a speeder. He had left a Barfight-turned-Gunfight, and had stumbled onto a Kidnapping-in-progress. While Nev was a criminal himself, kidnapping was something he was adamantly against, one could even use the word despised for his feelings. As the speeder began to peel off, Nev knew he had to do something. Acting quickly, he found a couple of Jawas floating about in a old passenger speeder. Nev ran out in front of the speeder and drew his pistol on the two scavengers, a sight which sent them scurrying out of the vehicle and into an alley way.

The pirate leaped over the hood of the vehicle and hopped into the driver's seat. engaging the accelerator, starting the old machine forward in pursuit of the girl's kidnappers.

 

[Rasputin]

Everything happened so quickly. One minute he was talking with the padawan. The next, the cantina became a battleground. Ducking his head, the Sith stayed in cover. He knew he couldn't stay here for long. Otherwise, the trigger-happy brutes would blast him. He quickly made a run for the exit, narrowly avoiding getting his head blown off. Cassus looked around. Even out here it was insanity. Dozens of people had retreated from the cantina. There were a couple bodies in the dirt from those who made it out, but died from blaster wounds. There were other people on the ground, poor souls who tripped over the body and were being trampled. It was madness.

Looking to his left, he saw the Jedi's padawan being thrown into a speeder. Cassus frowned. He couldn't allow the padawan to die. She was his only way to the Jedi. Walking over to one of the parked speeders, he ignited his saber and slashed the patron trying to get on the bike. His body fell limp onto the ground right beside the speeder. The Sith clipped his saber onto his belt and took the speeder for himself. Starting up the engine, he zoomed off, running over a few pedestrians in the process. As he flew down, he caught sight of the speeder, as well as a Nautolan who had daringly chased the kidnappers. He kept his lightsaber ready, just in case the Nautolan or kidnappers gave him trouble.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The lightsaber, Remy finally revealed. Of course, it only made perfect sense to Jhon that the lightsaber was the murder weapon. Before Remy had left the Council chamber twelve years ago, she left behind her lightsaber on one of the Council seats, she claimed she wanted to go into exile, to atone for her actions. She promised that she would one day return for it, just as Luke Skywalker had once promised Yoda he would return to Dagobah, but it was not to be. The Jedi always knew that the explosion that destroyed the temple originated from the Council chambers. The moment was recorded, and it was clear that the flash point was in that room. They just never knew where it came from.

It felt strange to finally be seated next to her, thinking back to the conversation they had before she destroyed the temple. Jhon told her that redemption was possible, using his own backstory as a guide, but only later did Jhon see that his words were hollow, for both of them. Remy, at the time, wasn’t interested in hearing his words, just playing him and the rest of the Council. And Jhon, he never really found redemption for what happened after Ardos and Oro Prime. He never learned to overcome guilt like he told her he had. He simply buried it, and let it lay dormant for decades before it finally returned during the war, when he rushed off into Imperial Space to find Andraste.

“Do you remember what we talked about?” Jhon asked her, his tone regretful. “Perhaps the redemption we spoke of that day is still possible, for both of us.”

Before Jhon could even so much as think another thought, a bright flash went off, and his ear drums were shot. All he could hear was buzzing and static noise, along with the muffled sounds of a few people screaming. The smoke the small explosives caused made it difficult to see what had happened, as it entered his eyes and caused them to water, and a sudden jolt on his leg caused him to fall over, landing on top of Remy before he rolled off of her and onto the ground below him.

Critical moments went by before Jhon regained his composure, and the ringing in his ears gave way to the normal sounds of the busy cantina, now rocked by whatever had happened. He struggled to get to his feet, holding onto the side of the bar to help push himself up, and quickly took a look around for Lana. To his horror, she was nowhere to be found.

Limping as he went, Jhon grabbed his cane and stumbled out of the cantina, looking around only to find nothing other than a group of speeders racing away, leaving a trail of dust and dirt in their wake. He heard a few bystanders whispering, talking about a Jedi that kidnapped a girl, and his worst fears came true. The moment he had always feared, the reason why he kept Lana in isolation for so long, had finally come true - and it was on her first trip to another planet.

Jhon eyes two people, a man and a woman, uncovering a group of speeders, and he limped his way towards them, waving his free hand as he did so they could see him. “You there! I need one of those bikes. Step aside.” Normally he would have just jumped onto one of them and sped off, but things were not normal for him anyway. The idea of jumping was foreign in his old age.

 

[Green Ranger]

"Oh for...I waited around for a Jedi? Son of a..." the woman grumbled before turning to the older man, keeping her blasters raised. The old man seemed an easy enough target to kill off, judging by the way he favoured his leg, and the cane...not to mention just how damned slow he was, but appearances were usually decieving, and the woman knew better then to dismiss a threat simply by the way it looked.

ACE didn't rule a small empire of Dark Jedi by sheer luck, after all. Still, there was something about this Jedi - a familiarity she couldn't place, like she was supposed to know who he was. Even since Coruscant fell, however, Jedi were rarely seen in public, and the names and faces had somewhat faded from the galaxy. Credit where credit was due, hwoever- this old man still wore the robes. In these times, that labelled him as either brave or a moron. Judging by his haughty attitude, ACE was inclined to assume the latter of the two options.

"Listen, pops, either we go with you or noone leaves here at all - and I'm figuring you'd rather get there before all those Jedi and Sith come to exchanging blows, so you don't really have a choice."

"Besides," she said with a smirk before jerking a thumb towards her young companion, who was hopping anto one of the two speeder bikes. "My boy Elliot here's probably the only thing that can stop them. Might even show you a thing or two, Jedi."