Star Wars: Valuri's Saga I

[Geco]

"Calling all Jedi. This is Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The war is over. I repeat, the war is over. All Jedi are ordered to return to the Jedi Temple immediately. You will receive further instructions when you arrive." The voice of the ever sure Supreme Chancellor bleared from the radio of a dead clone. Some orders were just not meant to be followed, especially when the cold bitter truth was laid out before you like a play you were being invited to watch unfold.

On the clone-cam the scene they watched did not match the normally blissful illusory effect the foilage and vegetation of Felucia had. Huddled beneath the top of a giant purple mushroom Sephara and the Padawans watched in horror as Aayla Secura was riddled with blaster fire by her once loyal friend Lieutenant Bly. Order 66. Erika, one of the padawans, had intercepted the message being relayed by Palpatine, and with great confusion and distress they had watched as the Jedi Master and General was murdered.

Her jedi senses felt the loss of one so proficient in the force, and one of her close friends. Fear was rising in the hearts and minds of the young Jedi around her, Sephara knew they were not safe, but had to console them, "Come everyone, we must take one of the transports from the forward base camp and rejoin our brothers and sisters elsewhere."

As she put her hand the two closest backs and gave a gentle nudge to get their feet moving, Erika hastily cried out again, "Sephara look!" The veteran Jedi Knight turned back to the clone-cam. It was Barriss Offee this time who was centered on the screen. The Mirilian Jedi Healer was running from the Droid Army towards what appeared to be clone allies. Before the Jedi could even say a word an AT-TE opened fire and vapourized her.

"Master!" Zonder, Barriss' padawan screamed out in desperation and lunged at the camera. All at once, being witness to such tragedy became too much to bear for Sephara. Like a dam bursting a flood of emotions cascaded through her body casuing two parallel tears to trickle slowly from each eye.

"Come," she said again, her voice harder this time, but her emotion evident from the quavering, "To the transports, now." She wiped the tears from her face and calmed herself using a quick meditative technique and then she followed close behind the group of padawans as they bounded through the jungle. As they ran Sephara reached out with the Force and eased tried her best to also calm the apprentices around her. Some had managed to remember their training even in this dire hour, but many were become inflicted by very powerful emotions of grief, despair, terror, rage, and vengeance.

Squad patrols on speeders were careening out of the camp as they arrived, their mission would be to find and eliminate the remaining Jedi on the planet, which meant them. It was a fortuitous enough turn for them, as the camp was left largely underguarded.

"Dex, Leila, Norlo," she called the three who had managed to maintain their balance, "Take the others to that transport on the farthest edge of the camp and prepare for take off. Use stealth, I'll join you shortly."

She left them with a reassuring smile, then headed along the edges of the camp towards the blaster turrets. Escaping the notice of the remaining clones was an easy enough task. Once at her targets she quickly disabled them, then proceeded towards the vessel. Quickly boarding Sephara found that all the padawans had arrived safely and the ship was ready to go.

"Lift off. Take us past orbit and engage the hyperdive on a course back to Coruscant." Without so much as a blaster being fired their way, the Jedi sped out of Felucia's atmosphere and soon were galloping through hyperspace.

---Days Later---

A low, sinking hum announced the arrival of the ship in the Coruscant system as the hyperdrive was disengaged. Sephara was preparing the lay in a course for the planet itself when a space transmission blinked to life on the com screen.

Senator Bail Organa's face appeared and spoke. It was a warning that the Clones had turned on their Jedi masters and that Palpatine had risen as the new Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Sephara's thoughts turned immediately to Master Windu who had been her Master and something like a father to her. He had been on Coruscant and would never have... the Jedi accept the truth, and the only conclusion was one she did not want to believe.

The Jedi Knight altered courses to intercept Bail Organa's ship, a dark gloom hanging over her head.

[Shari Tana]

The ARC's hull shuddered for the dozenth time as Valuri released a flurry of green lasers from the rear gun. "Sorry, master!" came the apologetic retort from his rather inexperienced pilot. on second thought, Valuri probably should have been the one flying. One of the V-wings caught a series of lasers from Valuri's guns and exploded.

"Make for the wreckage of that Seperatist cruiser. The debris can give us some cover to make the jump to hyperspace."

"Coordinates, master?"

"None. Jump to deadspace."

"Master! That's suicide! The nav computer won't be able to make accurate jumps from deadspace."

Valuri dispatched another V-wing, causign the final persuer to break off. Giving the area a visual scan, Valuri saw why, "We will be deadspace if that Venator gets a hold of us. Just do it!"

Biting her tounge, the Twi'lek Padawan banked the ARC behind a large section of destroyed hull to block the Venator's tractor beams. After ignoring several warning from the nav computer, she locked in a jump somewhere between Courescant and oblivion. Before she started the jump, Valuri searched the Force once again, praying for something to guide him. All he felt was the cold darkness of space. Terri finished her task and the ARC jumped. Stars whisked into solid lines as the heavy starfighter blinked through space for a couple seconds. It fell from hyperspace in an eerily empty void. Valuri had never seen pure deadspace. Always there was a planet or asteroid or star nearby, but all he could see were distant twinkles, lightyears from anywhere.

"Well, master, here we are. Without locator beacons anywhere, the navcom is blank. Long range sensors show a pile of metallic asteroids several million kilometers below us, but nothing else. Fuel and life-support are good."

"Thank you, Terri," Valuri responded somewhat dejected. He had never felt so uncertain, "How far away from Courescant are we?"

"Well, the jump lasted about two seconds, so I'd put us somewhere around 600,000 kilometers out... The nav computer wanted a destination, and Alderaan was first on the list, so I punched it in. I interrupted the jump to get us into deadspace," she sighed and rubbed her eyes, "Master, I didn't bring this up back at the temple, but I noticed you were wounded..."

"Yes, my Padawan. Lightsabers tend to rend flesh very well, but overall, leathality is limited with glancing blows. You can't bleed to death if the cut is perfectly cauterized."

"Lightsabers....? You mean... a Jedi was attacking you?" Terri turned in her seat to face Valuri, "Who would-"

"Anakin Skywalker," there was a long moment of silence. Valuri could sense the confusion in his apprentice, "He is not a Jedi anymore. The Dark Side covered him as clearly as the clothes on his back." Another moment of silence passed as Valuri let the reality of his words sink in, not only for himself, but his newly informed student.

"What do we do now?" Terri finally asked, her voice shaking with grief.

"Find Master Yoda. I sensed his presence on Courescant back at the Temple. And your judgement has made things much easier for us."

"Master?"

"Complete the jump to Alderaan. The computer should be able to parse and execute the remaining distance since we haven't turned or altered course. Other than Naboo, it is likely the safest palce for us, but well within our jump range. Good work, Terri. Your instincts are right on."

Smiling, the teenage Twi'lek operated the hyperdrive controls briefly before the computer estimated a jump, "Well, here goes."

---- A Few Hours Later ----

"Not complete the Emperor's plans are. Hunt the survivors, he will." Jedi Grand Master Yoda spoke with Tyr Bendix in the conference room aboard the Tantive IV, Bail Organa's personal ship. The Alderaan senator accompanied the two in the conferance room.

"With the code dismantled and reprogrammed, hopefully any Jedi who venture into the Core will get the idea and go into hiding. Having them with us would certainly be a big help, but searching for them puts all of us at risk," Bail inputed on the conversation.

"Correct, you are. Very dangerous for the Jedi, it is. Learn of the survivors, Darth Vader must not."

"Agreed. I will take you to Polis Massa after a stop at Alderaan for fuel. It is very secluded and not often a target for visits. You will be safe there," Organa offered to the Jedi.

"Safe, we are not. Impossible, it is, to find a place where the Dark Side cannot reach. Split up, we must. Into exile, we must go, if we are to survive. None may see us enter the palace."

A solemn silence fell over the group after accepting the reality of thier danger. During this time, an aide of the Senator's came into the room, and stepped up beside Organa.

"Your Majesty, we've located another Jedi. She made contact just before we left the system. I had her follow us in hyperspace to Alderaan."

"Very good. Instruct them to dock at the palace. We can take them on from there. If we continue this stroke of luck, the Jedi Order may survive, yet."

"Another thing, your Majesty, she said that she has five Padawans in her company."

"Hmm, changes much, this does. Abandon the Padawans, we cannot, but harder to hide them if kept together, they are. Need time to plan, we do. Reconvene at the palace, we will."

The Tantive IV dropped out of hyperspace with the Republic transport ship behind it. Both vessels docked at the Royal Palace in Aldera. Yoda requested that the surviving Jedi meet him in Organa's stateroom to plan thier next move after a lapse for food and/or medical attention. When the Knights entered the stateroom, Yoda and Obi-Wan, back from his mission on Mustafar. Yoda greeted the Knights as they entered.

"Sephara Na... good to see you it is. Eternally grateful, I am, that so many Padawans you saved. If survived, you have, then others too, yes. Find them, we must. Master Kenobi, success you had on Mustafar?"

As attention shifted to Obi-Wan, it was quickly diverted to the stateroom door as it slid open. Bail Organa entered with Valuri Sa'rea and his Padawan close behind, "They just arrived, Master Yoda. I assumed you would want to see them right away."

"If we keep getting little suprises like this, I'll begin to think this Purge was a failure," Kenobi said, his spirits much higher than when he left Yoda to face Anakin.

"Forgive me Master, but far too many Jedi have died to call this day anything but a tragedy," Valuri said as he sat at the table, "But please, don't let me interrupt. Continue, Master Kenobi."

"In short, I defeated Darth Vader on Mustafar, but I could not bring myself to deliver the killing blow. I'm sorry, Master Yoda, but I'm afraid Vader may still be alive, however, very badly injured. It will be many months before he can operate normally again," Obi-Wan sighed then continued, "On another note, I've brought Padmé Amidala with me. Vader almost killed her, but she's alive. She's resting in a guestroom."

"Speak with her later, I will. For now, a safe place for the Padawans, we must find. Hmm... any suggestions, have you?"

OOC: The end is not to my liking, but its getting late and I need to wrap up this really really long post before it becoms a novel in and of itself. Take any liberties you want with the NPCs, but I reserve my GM rights :P Please, I encourage you all to come up with a plan of action and see if we can make a genuine Star Wars story here.

Horned - Since you just left your character "in space" I didn't really have a way to scoop her up. I wasn't ignoring you, it's just simply illogical for Bail to have his ship sweep the system asking everyone if they have any Jedi on board.

[Horned15]

ooc: It's alright, you can even prp my char in any way you like if you feel it'll help move the storyline :)

ic:

The crescent lance of light was the first thing she saw as her vessel broke from hyperspace, the system's bright sun a beautiful halo crowning a blue jewel. The screen before displayed a name she had never seen before.

Alderaan.

A noisome beep intruded the silence of her cockpit, to be followed with a harsh, clipped tone voice.

"You are in Alderaan space. State the nature of your approach."

Serra slowly moved from her curled fetal position, adjusting her two lightsabers she kept with her to give herself a more comfortable seated position, and pressed the symbols to reply. "My... my name is Serra Phin, padawan of the Jedi temple from Coruscant... at least what was left of there. My master sent me here, please let me land, I can't go back."

"Hold your position."

Tense minutes pass, the young girl sweated in anticipation of a call she almost believed would not return. Training bade her to wait, calming her mind to quell her fears. She let out a loud gasp of air she had not realized she was holding when the console finally lit again.

"Your vessel signature has been confirmed. Bring it in, you have clearance to land. Welcome to Alderaan, your Masters are already waiting in the capital city. Head straight for the palace, we'll have the landing pad ready for you."

---

What seemed like hours later, she was led to a chamber full of other Jedi, untouched by the treachery that felled to many others. He had just asked a question to the chamber when he saw her enter. A small smile he kept for her, but one full of sadness, as he nodded to her direction.

"Arrive, yet more has. A small victory, but nonetheless, victory it is."

Serra was cowed by the august majesty of Yoda's presence, but she bowed her head calmly to the grandmaster himself, as well as to the other knights. Her eyes watered as she contemplated just how close death came for her. A small, gentle hand rested on her head, upon looking up, she realized it belonged to Master Yoda.

"Great sadness, I sense in you, but keep it no longer. Brave, you must be, for the greater challenge ahead." Serra nodded quietly, as the great Jedi turned back to face the room, and wiped her tears on her sleeve.

ooc: About as good as I can manage for now :)

[Eternal Black Dragon]

Tyr slept off and on, his sleep forever interupted by flashes of images of his padawan. He awoke for a while to stand watch on while Yoda and Obi Wan went to look at the temple on Coruscant, and find out what happened and why. As soon as Bail arrived with Yoda later, and the ship took off, he went back to his berth, his soul seemingly drained, his will to fight no longer there. He was awakened by a servant to tell him that two more Jedi were docking with the ship.
He went in search of Yoda, seeking guidance and answers as to the course the Jedi must follow now. When he found Yoda in the conference room , The Grand Master was meditating. He silently awaited Yoda to finish.

The small wizened master turned to Tyr," Troubles you have young one? Answers you seek."

Tyr nodded solemnly," Master I have come to seek your wisdom. My padawan was slain on Felucia. I know that i am not allowed to feel these feelings that I feel now, but I can't help but feel pain at her loss."

Yoda closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath," The will of the Force it was that your padawan, young Ganice died. Accept her death, you must and let go of attachments you have. Attachments can lead the way to the dark side."

Tyr felt a little relief, peace sweeping over him at that moment," Thank you Master. I have something more to say," he stopped and looked at Yoda, waiting for a second for the wise Master to nod," What direction is it that the Jedi are going to take now?" As Tyr said this, he noticed the arrival of two more Jedi accompanied by Bail Organa into the room, both looking as worn as any survivor that had to fight their way clear

"Not complete the Emperor's plans are. Hunt the survivors, he will." Yoda said

"With the code dismantled and reprogrammed, hopefully any Jedi who venture into the Core will get the idea and go into hiding. Having them with us would certainly be a big help, but searching for them puts all of us at risk," Bail inputed on the conversation.

"Correct, you are. Very dangerous for the Jedi, it is. Learn of the survivors, Darth Vader must not."

"Agreed. I will take you to Polis Massa after a stop at Alderaan for fuel. It is very secluded and not often a target for visits. You will be safe there," Organa offered to the Jedi.

"Safe, we are not. Impossible, it is, to find a place where the Dark Side cannot reach. Split up, we must. Into exile, we must go, if we are to survive. None may see us enter the palace."

A solemn silence fell over the group after accepting the reality of thier danger. During this time, an aide of the Senator's came into the room, and stepped up beside Organa.

"Your Majesty, we've located another Jedi. She made contact just before we left the system. I had her follow us in hyperspace to Alderaan."

"Very good. Instruct them to dock at the palace. We can take them on from there. If we continue this stroke of luck, the Jedi Order may survive, yet."

"Another thing, your Majesty, she said that she has five Padawans in her company."

"Hmm, changes much, this does. Abandon the Padawans, we cannot, but harder to hide them if kept together, they are. Need time to plan, we do. Reconvene at the palace, we will."

Tyr took his leave of the group then, his mind torn on what to do at the moment. The Jedi Order, the only thing that he had ever known in his whole life, had just ceased to exist. Exile wasn't going to be easy, but it was something that he must do if he wanted to succeed in reviving the legacy of his order someday. Perhaps he would speak with the others and see what their intentions were later, right now, he was going to try to get some more sleep. The peaceful feeling in his heart now had allowed his body to cry out in need of some serious sleep.

OOC: Hope you don't mind that I used some of your dialogue for this.

[Geco]

'What is the world they will grow up in?' Sephara took several moments to explore her own mind thinking of the Padawans and the possibilities of how things would unfold. Democracy replaced by dictatorship. The Jedi, guardians of the Republic, now outcasts in this new shadow world. Cold, spindly fingers had reached out across the universe and swallowed entire systems with a tentacle grip. And the whole time they had marched along, unable to see their own downfall, she glanced in Master Yoda's direction, even the most powerful among them. Such forebodings left only more ill-tidings to come.

Their Grandmaster was right about one thing, most of the current Padawans no longer had Masters. On one end of the scale it would be easier for the trained Knights to survive alone in hiding drawing no attention to themselves, and on the opposite side they risked the future existence of the entire Jedi Order if they did not train them.

Her eyes caught one of her brothers make his way across the room and take his leave of them. The first to jump ship? Sephara's senses told her otherwise, and that the man was merely confused and at a loss, as they mostly all were, and whereas she would seek solace in others, he preferred isolation.

"It would seem to me that we have 3 goals: our survival, the survival of our order, and the restoration of the Republic. But how do we know which is most important? Such triangles are delicate things." Her pause was less for dramatic effect than it was for genuine reflection, "Yet each one is important. We cannot abandon one in favour of another, to do so would go against our Code."

"Mmmm," mused Yoda, "The truth, you speak. Strive to find a balance, we must."

"After today we will have few friends in the galaxy still willing to help us, let alone even talk to a us," remarked Obi-Wan. "Palpatine has painted us into a corner, exposing ourselves by trying to openly fight against his Imperial forces is too dangerous." Losing Anakin to the dark side had left a mark on the friendly Jedi Master. Such loss was hard to overcome, first his Master, then his apprentice, it was no wonder the world at large no longer appealed to him.

"Indeed Obi-Wan, your destiny, elsewhere, belongs. Train these Padawan, will you? I too will take a Padawan with me into hiding. Unclear, the future remains. Attempt to shed light on our path, I must."

Sephara was not surprised by the decisions of their Masters, in fact, she whole heartedly agreed with them. They were more important to be kept safe right now. Other important works remained to be done however. "I will volunteer to help fight the Dark Lord. As discretely as possible of course, but someone must stand in opposition. Time will be our ally and reveal Palpatine for what he truly is. Until then, we must ensure the cause of the Republic is not forgotten."

"Very good Sephara Na, so it will be," came Yoda's submissive consent.

"You should start by going to the other Jedi Enclaves throughout the galaxy. It may be that they have escaped the Emperor's wrath," Obi-Wan suggested.

Lifting a tiny green finger Yoda added, "Start at Telos IV, you should. A secret has it remained. Untocuhed by the Emperor, it more likely is." Sephara nodded as it was there best hope of finding more of their order.

"When you finish doing so, please remember that I shall continue to be a friend and do whatever I can to support you in these matters. Alderan look upon the Jedi as the light in this new darkness," Bail Organa beamed a smile at all of them, growing their shred of hope by a sliver.

"Accompany Sephara Na on her journey, who will?"

OOC: Full disclosure, I have no real plan, it just seemed like the next logical step. I hope that's okay with you Shari - or I can change if needed.

[Eternal Black Dragon]

Try could sense the eyes of one of the Jedi watching him as he left the room, even with his limited sensing capabilities, he could feel the other's curiosity at his sudden departure. But his mind was so blurry with his lack of sleep, that he couldn't focus properly. Master Yoda was aware of his mental state and would see to it that any relevant information that was discussed during his absence from the meeting. He was sure that there were going to be major plans discussed with the future of the order.

[Shari Tana]

OOC: Only one thing Geco, at this point, Padmé is still alive and has not given birth, so if you could omit that little detail, it would help with the flow :)

IC:
Valuri gave his bandages a gentle stroke as Sephara laid out her views. He concerns were valid and her suggestions were not unreasonable. If thier goal was to be to find survivors first, then there was still a bigger issue to address.

"Masters," Valuri spoke, drawing the attention of those present, "If we do find survivors on Telos, or any other system, we still need somewhere for them to go, or some way to keep in contact with them." Standing up, Valuri moved to a nearby console and activated the galaxy map. A few button presses later, a small, habitable moon over Yavin IV appeared on the screen. "This moon is dense and covered in ancient ruins. Wildlife is present but not a threat. We could easily retrofit one of the temples there to act as a new base for the Jedi. The seclusion and general lack of purpose for anyone being in the system should provide us with a good deal of anonnimity. It's the safest place I can think of, free from dark side influences, to raise a new generation of Jedi. It also gives us a place to send those we find.

"Master Obi-Wan and Yoda can go with the Padawans to Yavin IV and begin the modifications to the temple. It's even on the way to Telos. Once you all are landbourne, Terri and I will accompany Sephara to Telos."

Yoda nodded his as he went over Valuri's suggestion in his mind, "Solved is the issue of the Padawan's safty and the survival of the Jedi Order. However, transparant our actions to the Empire, must be."

"I will do my part as well," Bail Organa spoke up, "I can provide you with a fully stocked corvette-class ship. The supplies aboard that should last you over a year if you maintain a skeleton crew. I'll even hand pick the crewmen. They'll serve you well. I also have some contacts in the Senate who we can consider allies. Among them is Senator Amidala and Senator Mothma. Two thousand other systems signed a petition we attempted to present to Palpatine not too long ago. After hearing what I have to say, I'm pretty sure the Emperor is going to have more than the Jedi to worry about."

"Guarded must your knowledge of our survival be, even to your allies. Reemerge, we will, when the time is right. Much better will our chances be once the Padawans are trained and the surviving Jedi are accounted for." Yoda hopped down from his chair as Valuri deactivated the galaxy map. He began his slow, laborious walk towards the door, "Adjourn, I suggest we do. Much preparation we have in the morning. In the very near future, our fate will be determined."

"I'm going to go check on Padmé," Obi-Wan said, "Sephara, Valuri, meet me in the hangar in a hour would you? There's some things we need to discuss."

"Very well, Master Kenobi." With that, the meeting was over. Valuri actually left the conference room feeling hopeful. Thier chances were not as grim as he thought. They actually had a chance to rebuild. He looked over to Terri, who was trailing along behind him on the verge of sleep. All this chaos would certainly help her grow in the Force. Valuri only hoped he could provide the same direction Tholme and Vos gave him. Apparantly thier training was paying off very well. Valuri did manage not to meet the same fate as so many of the others.

OOC: My mistake... Horned

[Horned15]

ooc: Did I not already? O_o

I'll edit this into an IC soon, forgot to check during the weekend.

[Eternal Black Dragon]

Tyr awoke to Master Yoda standing over him several hours later, his mind foggy from sleep, but more content than he had been in days. In the back of his mind he still worried about the future, but those worries were more soothed than they were before. If it was the will of the force that the order survive, then they would.
Yoda cleared his throat, gaining Tyr's attention again," Convened the survivors have in your absense. Decided, several of them have to make a trip to Telos and search for more survivors."
Tyr looked at the aged master," Is there any chance that I can join in the search Master?" I wish to take part, far too many Jedi have perished as it is, and I want to ensure that no more die needlessly."
Yoda looked at him, his eyes almost dreamy," Thought it best I did, that you go along with them. Few Jedi Knights remaining now, strong we are in in greater numbers."
Tyr nodded gently, fully understanding the Grand Master," I will join the others now, and prepare for departure." He arose from the bed and clipped on his lightsabre and grabbed his comlink. Something crossed his mind at that moment, he turned to ask Master Yoda about it, but the aged master was no where to be found.
Wondering where Yoda could have disappeared to in such a hurry, Tyr walked toward the direction of the hangar.


OOC: Feel free to drag Try into the coversation as you see fit, if you would like.

[Eternal Black Dragon]

OOC: Where is everyone?

[Geco]

I climbed under a rock for 2 weeks because I was traveling and just had a full schedule. My other comment is that I'm really not sure where to go with this at that point. Shari, not sure if you had a more concrete plot in mind or not, but I threw out my idea IC of going to enclaves but I'm really not in a position to be leading plot. I wanted to take a backseat for a change ^_^.

[Lordwarallied]

nice read :P

[langatang]

rofl

[facebookguy]

gay