Practice Practice Practice

[Duncan_Starchaser]

"You set Abeloth free? All those people she killed or caused to be killed because she was free. How could you do such a thing?" He asked clearly in shock over everything.

[Akirapryde]

Anastasya smiled as she looked up from her coffee, “You know if Mar, Steven and Sinya were here, things would be so much more entertaining. Steven always knew how to make the best of things. I really miss him. Remember how Mar would say something super smart and Sinya would look like she was lost in space!” She looked across the table at Falynn who started to laugh at the memories.
 
“Oh Annie, Falynn said laughing. She tried to pause her laughter long enough to reply, “yeah, remember how Steven and Aral would get in to it. Man would they fight like a pair of rabid hounds. Then spend the rest of the mission making out!”

 
"For longer than many stars burned, this conflict was reborn. It had a cycle, a deadly cycle that cost millions of lives," she said coldly and flatly. "We saw the conflict as never ending. We found a way to change the cycle of conflict. We found a way to kill Abeloth,"
 
She pointed to the group in the room. "They were chosen for this task."
 
It was strange to watch them like this. Duncan could see everything thing, know everything. And yet they didn’t even realize he was here. Regardless of where he moved, they were completely unaware of his presence. His limbs simply passed through objects as if they were mere holograms. Duncan continued to observe the situation as it unfolded.
 
The two women continued to laugh as they each took drinks of their coffee. Duncan could tell that when Anastasya heard that Falynn and Urias were coming aboard, she was excited to see her old friends. It was clear that she had not completely come to terms that they were siblings. He felt that she had longed for their company. There was Aral, and by her true name Renna. Even though she hadn’t made her appearance, Duncan knew of her as well.
 
Duncan could look through the walls and in to the past. He could trace the three sisters and their family. He found that they had strong blood ties to Lord Vitiate. A fact that Aral hung on to dearly. She was the self-proclaimed Queen of the Sith. She had murdered as many Jedi as she had Sith rivals during her slow raise to power in the unknown regions of the Galaxy. Duncan could see all that she had done to forge her new Sith Empire. An Empire that the Republic had no clue existed.
 

Annie's laughter slowed down and then came to a stop. She looked down with sadness, 'so long since that night' she thought with sadness. Thoughts that Duncan could hear. “Aral loved him so much, Fay. When the Puppet Master murdered him, then, well, you know, what happened that night.” Annie explained then added, “She just has never been right since.”
 
Falynn looked down in sadness, “Annie, I tried” she said with tears in her eyes. “You don't know how much I tried to keep my word.” Falynn's eyes never left her own coffee as she remembered the events of that night so long ago. Duncan knew the secret that they kept. To keep the two sisters’ identity from the High Council.
 
“Mommy, I am tired, can I go sleep now?” the little boy said softly as he pulled on Falynn's robs. He looked puzzled at her face, “Mommy are you okay?”
 
            She turned to her son and smiled, “Yes my son, mommy is fine. Just remembering a time, a life time ago.” she said softly touching his face.

 
Duncan knew that Falynn had taken so much effort to make sure that no one knew she was pregnant. She enlisted the help of Master Yoda to make sure that no force user could ever find out she had a child. The cost on her emotions were tremendous that day she left her son behind at the orphanage. There were days during the first year she wanted so bad to go back and get her son. She knew that the Puppet Master and Rose would not stop at nothing to find the son of Urias should they ever find out about him. Master Yoda promised that her son would be safe and he was. That was until Abeloth escape and completely took over Rose.
 
For these adventures, Rose wasn’t the monster that Duncan knew. For them, Duncan knew that they saw Rose as a lost friend. A woman that flew too close to a blackhole and got pulled in. In Falynn’s heart, she dared to hope that Rose could be separated from Abeloth and their friend could be saved. Duncan somehow knew that wasn’t possible.

[Duncan_Starchaser]

He knew that what she was saying was right, but they had taken such a risk in order to put a stop to her. He wondered if he would have been able to do the same in their position. But then when he saw the interaction between Fay and her son, he couldn't help bu smile. In many ways it was reassuring to him that the bloodline would in fact continue as long as the boy was alive. "Alright so what is it that I have to learn in order to stop the son and the enemy he has brought with him?" he said finally turning again to look at Lysire.

[Akirapryde]

Duncan gazed back through time and space and saw how throughout their adventures, this group faced overwhelming odds. It appeared that before the traitors were removed from the High Council, they had plotted to murder this band of adventures. But in that, Duncan realized something. It wasn’t the members themselves. It was Abeloth using them to hurt this group.

He saw the actions of Abeloth and the death and suffering that she caused once she was free. But it was then he realized that this, this scene was in the past. He could see the threads of time around him. More than that, he could see how these threads had been carefully worked. Not over months or even years. But how Lysire carefully constructed this moment millennia’s ago.

“We can only do what we can to protect those we favor,” she said turning to Duncan. “This is our first lesson. You must see the fabric of the universe. The more you pull one strand, it will at one point spring back. The further it travels, the most suffering it will cause.” She turned back to the group of three, “By setting Abeloth free, she did what we expected her to do. She went after those who opposed her.” She turned back to Duncan, “this was why we kept you from this battle.”

She once more turned back to them, “when you replace us, you will have to learn to let go of the moment. Learn to work carefully in both the past and the future.” She motioned to the two sisters, “the son will oppose you as you move your pieces along the timeline. But with careful actions, you will learn how to correct such problems.”

She let out a sigh, “you will have to learn to let go of all that you know and hold dear. That being that you once were will die. For your friends, and even your brother, you will be gone. Should you decide to return, they will not see you for who you were. Just as our friends don’t see us as what we were before our death.”

[Duncan_Starchaser]

Duncan was confused. She had told him that manipulating the Cosmic Force until he was ready to let go of everything he was. And yet now she was telling him that in order to beat the son he had to let everything and everyone go. "So are you saying that either way my destiny is to give up eveything I have been? That in order to defeat this monster I have to do what you said I had to do in order to learn to manipulate the cosmic force?" he asked.

[Akirapryde]

She turned to Annie, “Where can he sleep Annie” she asked softly as she rested her hand on her son's shoulder.
 
Annie smiled, “Here, let my man show you the way,” she said motioned for the droid to step forward. The metal droid was a near prefect version of Ogon. A close friend that had fallen in battle to Rose during the early days of her possession. A man that Anastasya had loved deeply, but had been too shy to tell him. The sight of the droid filled her with both happiness and remorse. Duncan could only shake his head as he felt all that she was feeling.
 
The droid spoke in a strange accent that resembled more of a westerner, or rancher. He had a pair of nasty blaster pistols on his hips and a large light repeater on his back. He wore normal clothing that fit his accent. The black hat was just the icing on the cake. Anastasya motioned to Falynn and the child, “please take our guest to the VIP Quarters, Love.”
 
Anastasya smiled as the metal Ogon stepped forward, “right this way, Ma'am” the droid version of Ogon said in his own voice.
 
Falynn smiled at her old friend and knew what she was thinking, “one day you are going to have to just give up the droids and fall in love like the rest of us.”
 
“Oh sure, Love!” she said playfully, “yeah like it has worked out so well for everyone else, RIGHT!”
 
Falynn only smiled back as she picked up her son and followed the droid Ogon out. Annie smiled as she waved at the little boy who waved back at her. 'I want kids' she thought for a moment then dismissed the thought. It was a rare glimpse in to the mind of a harden criminal. He knew that she was sad to give up on the idea of children because her life and loyalty to her sister, Aral, wouldn’t allow for children.
 
However, for Falynn, Duncan saw a sense of determination. He followed Anastasya’s thoughts as her mind wondered. The pregnancy was a surprise, but she wasn’t about to give the child up. Even when she placed him in an orphanage, she couldn’t keep away. She snuck over to see him. Still Falynn wasn’t complete free. She was still a wanted runaway within the Hutt's Syndicate, which meant she could never have a normal life. She was far too valuable to HIM, her former Hutt Master. And as long as he was alive, she could never truly be free from the Syndicate. Despite Aral's best efforts to kill him, he managed to avoid just dying like a good little Hutt should. Her smile now completely gone as she looked back down in to her coffee, “If Steven was here, he would say something to cheer me up and make me laugh.”

 
She turned to him, “you knew that this was part of who you are. From the very beginning, you know that this laid ahead of you.” She tilted her head slightly, “why did you think you alone were able to banish the daughter. Did you think that just anyone could?”
 
She smiled to him, “we didn’t choose your destiny. We only allowed you to realize it.” She turned back to the scene, “your steps on this path have already been taken.” She turned back to him, “turn back now and the son can still be banished. But not defeated. In a few thousand years, both will return. We have expended too much of ourselves to protect the Galaxy. If not you, then the heroes of the time will have to rise up to stop them. And they will not have someone thumbing the scale for them.”

[Duncan_Starchaser]

Duncan nodded "Then I will do what must be done." He knew she was right. There would always be evil that much was true. And there would always be those to challenge that evil. But this endless cycle had to be brought to an end.

[Akirapryde]

A few moments later Falynn returned to the galley. Her eyes fell on to the man she would cross the galaxy for, she saw Urias meditating in a corner. Loyalty was strong within this group. But Falynn was beyond that. He knew that she would never leave his side, no matter what. It was a strong attachment that gave her strength. Duncan also felt how much she worried about it. This group’s journey was filled with hardships and suffering.

In that moment, Duncan glimpse in to the future of his own group. He saw hardships and suffering also. There was a strong emotional bound to one window of his mind. Duncan dared to gaze through it. He saw a world on fire and large Azgardian warships around. But it was the scene of his brother. He was holding a limp body of Trysta. Her body bloodied and broken, and Jaden was filled with pain and grief.

Lysire caught his attention, “it’s one thing to know the future as it unfolds. It’s another thing to know this knowledge and know that you can’t say anything to change it.” She smiled, “we didn’t follow the ancient rules either.”

Falynn could see the expression on Annie's face, “He has allot on his mind and in his heart.” Her attempt to conceal her emotions and fear for Urias were futile. Annie knew her much better than that. Falynn found her seat once more.

Annie turned to look at Urias still meditating, “Sister, he has always been a big ball of grumpiness, rage and power all bottled up inside of one hell of a good looking man” she said. “Mmmmm, and what a HELL of a man he is, still!” she expressed licking her lips. Falynn just laughed as she watched Annie turn back towards her. Urias had always been an object of their affection. His soft accent that could melt any women's heart and those eyes that could cut right to her soul. He was the super weapon of landing a woman and they both knew it. “You know, I still have those videos that Steven and Rose made of Sinya and him” she said softly with a grin on her face.

Falynn leaned forward over her coffee with surprise, “You still have those? Oh my god!” She remembered when Steven and Rose created those fake pornos of Sinya and Urias. Well more of Sinya than Urias. Urias never did have a sense of humor and never took kindly to things like that. Yet it was those videos that lunched Sinya's career as a Holo Porn Star. The running joke among them had always been which of her videos were real and which were fake. When they did finally surface, Sinya was so upset over them that she hardly talked to them for nearly a month. Not that Falynn could blame her, there were some fifty films made of her and released. Falynn looked around, “You know if Sinya was here now, she would say something like, 'I'm not amused'” she said puffing out her chest and acting upset. The two just laughed at the memory of their fallen friend.

Annie nodded, “Yes and then she would try to get it back. We used to play keep away from her so many times” the two continued to laugh at the flood of pleasant memories. “Sure, I know their fake, but damn they're so well made. It’s was nearly impossible to tell they were fake, if you knew they were fake in the first place” Annie explained as she pulled out a small holochip. “I have a few right here.”

Falynn leaned forward once more, “Okay tell me the truth,” she said lowering her voice. “You were part of that, weren’t you?”

Annie smiled, “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

[Duncan_Starchaser]

"So your saying that Trysta has to die in order for the Son to be defeated?" he asked her. "If so then why even put her and Jaden together?"

[Akirapryde]

The door to the galley hissed open as Aral walked in to the galley. It was clear by the look in her eyes that she was not at all happy with the current situation, “I want you to know, once this is over Urias, we are even. I don't owe you a damn thing anymore!” She said with a raised voice while walking up to him. When he didn't reply she softly kicked him, “did you hear me?”

“When this is over, I guess I will no longer have any reason not to kill you,” he said never opening his eyes, “So don't cross my path once this is over and you can live a long and unhealthy life, Aral” he calmly commented. He never broke his meditation as he only focused on the future and what it held for them all.

Aral looked down at the legendary Jedi Master before her. “legendary hero….more like a ruthless murder”

Duncan knew that Aral placed several death’s personally at Master Chun’s feet. But she also knew all too well that fighting him would be pointless. He could easily make short work of her, like he had already done two times before. There was no beating him in combat. The last time they cross blades, had it not been for Falynn he would have killed her. She was not about to push her luck any further than she already has.

Lysire frowned, “are you not observing? Pay attention to what we are showing you.”

She waited a moment before adding, “small tugs on the fabric. Can create realities that will change the future.”

She turned and walked away from him while she said, “You better just remember that, Urias! Nothing” She walked over to a food dispenser and drew out a sandwich and a drink. She looked at Annie and Falynn who were watching her. “What are you two looking at” she snapped at them. Annie just looked back to her coffee and mouthed to Falynn to leave her be.

She saw the message but was not about to let it go, Falynn got up with a smile, “Aral please join us.” She never liked the edginess of the group, then or now. She wanted to try to help them to get along.

Aral glared at her, “are you kidding me?”

Falynn walked over to Aral as Annie whispered, “that woman can never leave well enough alone.”

Aral didn't hear what was said but knew her sister said something. “WHAT DID YOU SAY” Aral snapped at her sister.

Annie shot up from her chair, “Oh look at the time!” she said looking at her watch, “I have to go do something very technical.” She added as she walked out of the galley.