The Smoke be for the Fires: (Book 1)

[Akirapryde]

Memories and Demons
The Temple Mount
Planet of Oulaven

Falynn walked slowly down the corridors of the temple. She could hear the location of her beloved Urias down the corridor. The sounds of lightsabers moving through the air joined by the sounds of blaster fire filled the air. They had been arguing for the past two hours over Master Losh's death. Urias did not even bother to attend the meeting. He only informed them that he needed time to grieve over the loss. She had no doubts what he would be doing or where he would be. No one in the Order knew Urias like she did. Nor did anyone understand what he has been through and what he goes through on a daily basis. Turning in to the doorway Falynn took in the sight of her beloved.

Bare from the waist up he spun about in the center of the room with Jedi Training pods hovering about him. It was clear he has once more pushing himself much harder then he should based on the amount of sweat dripping from his body. The blind fold over his eyes indicated that he placed himself in to a training trance. Falynn only watched as he spun his double bladed lightsaber about blocking the incoming fire from the fifteen training pods. His speed and dexterity reflected years of training and his powerful control over the force. Falynn calmly watched as Urias leaped through the air while spinning on his axis blocking five shots and dodging two others.

She nodded as she frowned, for only she knew what was really going on. Closing her eyes she called upon her own control over the force. Channeling her own vision and combined it with the power of the force, she slowly opened her eyes to see Urias in a different light. Through her new vision she saw a man torn and embattled on levels no one else could she. She saw the struggle raging deep in his soul. The call of the darkness was still very great on him. He had entrusted her a long time ago with a deep dark secret. How very temping the call was to him. How often he feared that the call would become too great for him to resist.

Once more she closed her eyes and this time she remembered one of her many talks with Master Losh. “Remember young Padawan, lives can be lost in the blink of an eye. You must learn to control your very perception of the flow of time.” she remembered Master Losh teaching her. It was one of the hardest lessons she learned but she did in the end master it. Using the Force to channel her senses and to focus on the here and now. She opened her eyes to see Urias moving in what seemed to be slow motion. She could see each training pod moving about as the weak blaster fire ripped through the air. She could see as Urias react to their movements and the noises they made. She had always been so impressed with his control and power. She loved watching him fight in training. Though watching him fight for real can be terrifying at times.

She knew he was aware of her presence here in the doorway. She also knew that he trusted her to know what she does without fearing him. More then he had hated what he had become, he hated that others feared him. She watched through her force powered vision as he continued to battle the training pods and the forces drawing on his soul. She frowned knowing that at times like this, she would have turned to Master Losh for advice on how to help Urias. But now she was alone and for the first time she feared that she might not be able to keep him on this side of the line.

His scream snapped her attention back to his real time battle. She watched as he spun in the air screaming out his frustration and lashing out at the pods. His lightsaber smashed against the last three pods and blew them from the air. He landed in a three point stance with his double bladed lightsaber crossing his back. While his eyes were blind folded, he still looked right to where she was standing. He slowly reached up and pulled off his blind fold, “wel.....well...What have they decided on?” he asked nearly out of breath.

Falynn allowed her vision to return to normal, “So far, not much.” she said in sadness, “They are going to arrest the Capitan, this I am sure of. As for the team that Losh worked so hard to put together, I think that Master Tra Via is going to disband them.” She softly explained.

Urias slowly rose up to a standing position and walked through the waste land of destroyed training pods. “I don't really know what to do about the team or the Capitan. I just know that it has been long enough that those two have been aloud to darken the galaxy. This proves its time to take them down!” he said firmly as he picked up a towel soaking in a pale of water. Cleaning off the sweat he turned to Falynn, “If they can not decide on this, then I will do it alone.” he added.

She walked forward and reached out to him, “You can't be serious about that. Listen, we both know how much Losh meant to you, but he meant even more to me. Still hasty actions now will only led to wasted lives.” she stated stealing one of her former teachers sayings. “Look, even Vrei knows that taking them out is important but he brings up a very good point. Rose was always very ambitious but this new behavior from her is not her. She never had this much order in her actions. And what about the Stalker? They were praying on Jedi long before Rose was ever a Sith follower.” she explained bring up the past.

Urias knew the truth of what was being said. Still there was something to be said about blind stubbornness. “I really don't think there was ever a time when Rose was not a Sith follower. She always craved power. But I know what you are saying. I know she has become one more pawn in this stupid game.” he said in cold callous in his voice. “If we could only find the person behind it on. Behind Rose, behind the stalkers and behind the bombings.” he added as he tossed the towel back in to the pale. “Damnit! I just feel so helpless in this. Like I am the one having my strings pulled and being played with!” he yelled more then said out of frustration.

Falynn knew the object of the frustration within Urias and it was just. So many times they had come so close to finding out the true identity of the Puppet Master. It was the nickname they had given the person responsible for all that they had gone through over the years. Since they were just Padawans they had the misfortune of being dragged in to this vile game with the Puppet Master. When the accident happened they had thought that they had broken free of the game only to learn that it had been stepped up. The Puppet Master sent them a calling card in the terms of the Stalkers. Highly trained soldiers that knew as much about Jedi Combat as the Jedi themselves. These soldiers served only one reason to exist and that was to kill Jedi.

Falynn shook her head, “They all do agree on one thing, It is time that the team knows about the Puppet Master and this damn game” she said softly.

Urias looked back at her, “Losh made it clear that they were not to know anything till the time was right.” he said then paused to rethink something, “What was it he would say, 'when order is broken and fire consumes' were his words. I think....” he said looking right at her. “Would you all now break with his wishes?” he added and continued before she could speak, “Sinya had no right to tell them what she did. She knew Losh's wishes. Don't get me wrong, I understand her reasonings but still. Losh had never been wrong before.” he finally finished.

“I know what he said about letting them know. But Losh is gone now. They have a right to know.” she pleaded to Urias.

Urias only looked at her, he know Losh had his reasons and he was not about to betray those reasons. He only shook his head.

She looked down, “I know, I know. But where do we go from here? Vrei is unsure. Urias, we need your leadership. Help us...” She said softly.

Urias felt the weight of the universe on his shoulders once more. He was by no measure of the meaning a leader and everyone knew it. He didn't understand why she never got this. He walked over to the pale and looked in to the water soaked rag. A frown crossed his face as he stared in to the pale. He closed his eyes and focused on how he felt at the moment. Losh had aways taught him to trust his feelings and listen to them. He knew that going after Rose was a mistake and would cost lives. Losh had always said that only one consumed by darkness would finally rid the Republic of Rose and her evil. Urias shook his head as he knew that there was no other choice. He had to take over the leadership of the group.

Losh had told him that this day would come. Urias just never seemed to really want it or wanted to believe it. He sighed as he knew that day had come, “Fine...” He said in defeat, “Here is what we will do. Send the team off on the Council's new mission. Lets keep them at arms reach so that the council will not suspect them. Keeping them together is more important then us as a whole. Master Losh believed in the roles that they had to play and so do I.” he said softly still not wanted to believe that this moment had come.

“Listen, I had been doing some thinking. Remember Lysire's report from their last mission? She mentioned that members of Fiolla's unit had talked with her about their worship of Odin.” he had continued. He looked over at Falynn and watched her nod then he continued, “Do you remember our raid on the Night Stalker's headquarters on Balisn VI?” he paused to see her nod once more, “We found that temple there that was linked to Azgard. Well I had done some research after that mission. But I had nearly forgot about it till I read her report this morning. Odin is a Azgardian God!” He said then stopped before going further.

He looked to Falynn as she soaked it all in then looked up at him, “They have to know this piece of the puzzle.” she said.

He nodded, “But they have to find this out on their own. Losh had one thing right. He never gave us the answers. He made each of us find them on our own. So we have to do the same. We have to find a way to make sure they find this clue on their own. I think I know how. Have Master Vrei hide a copy of our AAR within their current mission briefing.” he said softly.

Nodding to his order, Falynn for the first time since she heard the sad news of Master Losh's death felt hopeful. Urias was a good man and she knew it, this despite what others thought. “I will.” she said soft then turned to leave. She stopped and looked back to Urias, “Are you coming love?” she said softly with that look in her eyes. It was the look that could only come from pure love. She smiled as she captured his gaze in her eyes.

He smiled softly as his eyes beheld her beauty. He felt guilty though. He knew he didn't deserve her love. Not after the monster he had become. And in many respects, he still was. He looked at her and saw hope for everyone but himself. He nodded as he grabbed his things and followed her out the door. She would never know his secret. One day he would hurt her like no one ever could. He hated himself for it but knew one day it would come.

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Mission Report:
Jedi Knight Falynn Drease
Planet: Nevanis IV

After receiving word that a Shadow Stalker Unit had set up shop and hunting down Force Adapts, Urias, Rose, Nuro, Armogose and myself took a team of Republic Marines under the command of Lt. Yagami to the world of Nevanis IV. Upon landing on the outskirts of a near by village we were greeted by clam elders. They appeared to be humanoid in nature but we suspected that there was something not human about them.

The greeting was nothing like we had expected. They just amassed their numbers and encircled our landing site. They did not move in to attack though, they just waited. Urias and Rose wanted to go out and meet them while Nuro and I felt it best to wait and let them make the first move. Luckily for us, Lt. Yagami sided with Nuro and I. We waited for two days and two nights before the locals made their first move. By this time there had to have been nearly a thousand of them encircling our landing site. To say that the Marines were nervous would be an understatement. Lt. Yagami really did a fine job keeping his men in line.

We noticed a middle aged man walking towards the ship. He stopped about halfway and used his sword to draw a circle in the dirt. In the center of the circle he built a fire and set facing the ship. He performed some kind of rituals while he waited for us to make our move. Dispite Urias objections I was elected to go out to speak with him. Lt. Yagami posted two snippers on the top of the ship and Armogose our resident Droid Assassin agreed to accompany me. Personally I hated the idea of the snippers and Armogose having anything to do with this meeting. However it was the only way to get Urias to go along with me going out there unarmed. Sometimes he really is too over protective of me.

The meeting went crazy from the beginning. Armogose's presence really upset them. They spoke in a very rough dialect of Basic. They called Armogose soulless. The man waiting for us demanded that the soulless one be sent away. I could tell that tensions were raising fast. After a short bit of pleading, Armogose finally agreed and retreated back to the ship. I knew that Urias had his issues with this but he would have to just deal with it for now. Once Armogose had disappeared in to the ship, tensions settled down fast. I was able to work out a working communication with the man who I came to find out was called, Laci.

He was a nice man who's father had committed a crime against the Clan. The crime had blackened the name of Laci's family and so Laci had the honor to redeem the family honor by serving the Clan. I found out that the clan was part of a nation of humanoids that came from a place called hazai'kőmag. He told me that they had to leave this place a very long time ago when the rain of fires came. I was able to pass on the information about the Shadow Stalkers and he informed me that his clam had given them the name, 'Comers in the darkness'. According to Laci, the Stalkers had came to this region of the world only six nights ago and would come during the darkness and steal those who spoke with the spirits. Their bodies would be discovered later the next day drained of all their blood.

He told me that messengers returned from other clams informing them that the stalkers had hit their clans as well. It was the same thing, they would be taken during the night and then found the next day drained of their blood. They only stopped coming during the night when our ship arrived. They saw this a massage from the spirits. Normally they do not trust outsiders but because we had been sent by the spirits that we would be allowed to help them. There was only one demand that Laci informed me of. The soulless one had to remain in our steel House from the sky. That his presence had upset the spirits in and around the area. I thanked Laci for his time and informed him that we would put a stop to the Comers in the darkness. The clan elders were happy that we had agreed to help them and give Laci to us as a gift from the clan. Not sure what to do, I had accepted the gift for the time being.

I returned to the ship and informed my companions of the situation. As expected Armogose was not happy with the condition at all. Rose and Yagami wanted to hunt down the Stalkers at once. Nero and I wanted to go to the village and gather more information. We agreed that Armogose will remain at the ship to protect it. We did not want to find our ride blown up again by these guys. Rose and Yagami would lead the team of Marines in to the surrounding area and hunt down the Stalkers. Nero, Urias and myself would follow Laci back to his village and see what more we can learn.

Night one, the first encounter with the Stalkers was much more then expected. Once more they had been upgraded since our last encounter. This time they bolstered new improved armor and no longer using energy weapons. Yagami lost four men to the Stalkers. But the encounter did give us some vital information. We learned that their were only two teams of three. We really lucked out this time. Sadly though, Rose's team was not able to kill any of the Stalkers. It is getting more and more clear that with each loss to the Stalkers, Rose is growing more desperate to win an encounter. I keep telling her that our victories are not measured in battles on the field but in each time we put a stop to the Puppet Master's plans. I don't think that she believes in this.

In the village we got a chance to meet, Mukus, he is the last speaker of the spirits left in the clam. He said that he had a dream of meeting me. Strange enough, he said that I would bring with me a thing of darkness and death. I couldn't help but think he was talking about Urias. Nero and I had dinner with Mukus and Laci. Urias wanted to walk about the village and get a 'feel' for it. Meaning, he hated the people we were sent to protect and needed to find a reason to care about them.

We talked with Mukus and said that he knows the reason behind the stalkers. I was shocked by this news. He said that they came with the winds looking for the song. I was puzzled by his comments but he told me that the spirits had told him what they were doing. But they would not find the song on the high plans, the low valley or even in the deep forests. They can seek all they want that they will not find the song here. I know there are times when I have to trust in the force but there are times when I just can not help but say, 'WTF?' We later learned that Mukus was pretty much insane. Insane or not, we proved two things. The Stalkers were after Force Adepts here and Mukus was next on their list.

Later that night the Stalkers did come for Mukus. Urias was, well Urias. What can I say. He pretty much dispatched them almost single handed. Two of them managed to flee Urias. Leaving Nero behind to protect Mukus, Urias and I gave chase. I called Rose and informed her of what was going on. Rose had her team move in to intercept the fleeing Stalkers. We gave chase almost the rest of the night. What surprised us we that even before Rose's team arrived, the two turned and faced Urias. I have seen Stalkers fight before. They are highly trained and extremely motivated to win. These two turned and attacked Urias half heartedly. It was almost like they committed suicide.

Then we found out why, Armogose reported that a ship just left the planet from our general location. He was able to guide us to the location. It was a small base deep in the forest. When we got there we found a hastily evacuated lap. What was not taken had been burned beyond usefulness. From what Yagami could tell the lap had a hand full of non-military working there and six to nine soldiers. We searched the best we could but found little of what the Puppet Master was up to here. Though we did find something interesting within a dairy that belonged to one of the soldiers. It was a passage he was working on.

"Then, when the messengers went home, having well wrought their errand, they found, in a certain cave, where a giantess sat: she called herself Thökk. They prayed her to weep Baldr out of Hel; she answered:

Thökk will weep
waterless tears
For Baldr's bale-fare;
Living or dead,
I loved not the churl's son;
Let Hel hold to that she hath!
And men deem that she who was there was Loki Laufeyarson, who hath wrought most ill among the Æsir."

It made no sense to us but we decided to keep it just in case something came up later. We waited around for five more weeks and found that the Stalkers were done with this world. We left them with promises that we would return should the Stalkers returned. While Laci wanted to go with us, I felt it best that he remain behind with his people. I later found out that we should have brought Laci with us as he was given to us by the clan as a gift. By leaving him behind we had insulted that gift and therefore had taken away his chance to cleanse his family's name. Next time I will not be so short sighted.