Log:From Eshan Without Love

Anakin turns back from the dark side

OOC Date: May 5, 2022
Location: Eshan
Participants: Ax, Zandra naMuriel, Jax Greystorm, Yuun, Ewan Eroh, Vega, Saga Kae

Given most of the Jedi Order had just gotten back from Ossus and they were pretty shaken up still. Vega had immediately retreated to the repair building and patched up her own wounds that she'd sustained from the breaking mirrors. It had been a rough couple of days for the Jedi...and somehow it had not gotten better.

Vega had scurried out of her hiding place about thirty minutes ago and left without a word with Saber 2.

Then came the distress message from House Kae on Eshan. The message was that they had been attacked and that assistance was requested. Why they were calling the Jedi was obvious since one of their Scions was in the Order. Any attempts to message back have been blocked so those that wanted to could fly to the planet.

There are landing pads close to the Kae estate, which might make life easier. And Saber 2 is there as well.

Zandra was worried about the younger members of the Order to begin with, and so she was on alert perhaps when the call for help came out. Since their return calls went unanswered, that was enough for her to get in a ship and head for the source. She offers a ride in the Sabacc to anyone who wants to travel with her. The violet haired young knight stays calm as she sets course and makes for the landing pads close to the estate they're aiming for. "Stick with the ship, Bubbles. I'll bring VeeTen with me in case of need, but I want you ready to launch our ship at a moment's notice, okay?" The roly poly droid whistles back at her, and she laughs. "Well, sure, if you want to be that way about it." She shakes her head, the brief moment of amusement fading fast.

~

Eshan was the home of Ax's parents, not Ax himself. His mother was a disinherited warrior who fell in love with an outcast who had foregone the culture and had ventured out to make his living amongst the stars. Ax's childhood was spent aboard a ship or on Socorro where his father was based out of. He'd listened to his mother speak of Eshan fondly, likely a bit homesick, though she died when he was still a boy. It wasn't until he was near adulthood that Ax had ventured here.

Having grown up amongst the Black Bha'lir of Socorro, Ax shared only his appearance, and maybe his eagerness for a fight, with those on Eshan, and while he did venture here from time to time, it was usually business related more than to delve into his roots. He had desired searching out his mother's family though, but had no idea how to go about that, or if they'd even want to meet him and his half-breed twins.

Flying his heavily modified VCX-100, the Black Sands, Ax had gotten wind of the distress call and flown here from Smuggler's Run as fast as his bird could take him. Not quite as fast as the Sabacc, but pretty close.

Landing shortly behind Zan, Ax walks off the ship, his BB-series droid staying behind to 'guard' it from whoever might be idly curious and to call for help should someone with more motivation decides to abscond with the vessel. Of course, they'd likely find the Droideka aboard to be a bit more than they bargained for.

~

Jax had rode with Zandra cause flying with Frost, the overly large furry snake, was always a good time for the Corellian jedi. It allowed him to practice his meditation and not be disturbed by the creature. Though he comes walking down the ramp with the purple hair jedi, "I'm sure things will turn out fine. We have to trust the force. Even if that makes me sound like Bizz."

With the arrival of the Sands, Jax waits for his old friend to arrive. "Ax. It is you right. This isn't where I learn that you've got a cousin. What's the best starfighter the Empire produced?" There's a slight grin on his face.

The trip to Ossus was very mind bending, during the trip back to Tempes, he meditated and began focusing inward. Another challenge, one he felt the Jedi needed. Though also he sees that they too are changing for the good. Upon getting back to their new home, he landed his ship and relaxed a little bit.

He was concerned about the others so his relaxation was just wandering the grounds and checking in when he could though he didn't see Vega as she was one he did help.

He didn't see her land here, but when the message for help came, he too left and came to the coordinates that were offered. As he maneuvers his ship, he sees a few famliare vessels. Walking down the landing ramp, he quickly moves to reach the others.

It was a rented speeder that carried Ewan to the Kae estate, hardly expecting anyone else to show. Ewan didn't know the Kae outside of what meager information he learned from Vega, but, trouble on Eshan rarely meant trouble for a single family alone. He came out of a measure of personal drive. It wasn't until after landing and Ewan began to remove his face wraps that it became clear who he was.

The Kae Estate seems to have been the site of something that has already happened. There are blaster scorches that break up the pristine look of the white stone walls as they enter the gates that lead into the gardens and then into the home proper. There are guards that lie dead in the foyer that leads deeper into the house, bloody footprints stand out against the shined floors like markers on a map.

The sound of something crashing and breaking against a wall also greets those that ventured here. It's easy to find out what room it is, they just need to head through the doors to see what exactly is going on.

Zandra pauses as others join the small group. "Ax," she greets, with a smile. "Yuun." That's the easy two. But it takes a few moments while face wraps are removed for her to identify the third new arrival. "Ewan! I expect it makes sense for you to be here as well," she says, with a nod. "Looks like there's been trouble here, shall we go investigate and see if we can find out what happened?" She takes a deep breath, as she finds open gates, leading into the gardens. It's not break and enter- the gates are open. Broken maybe, but open. She makes her way towards the house, looking around as she goes.

~

Ax looks at his attire, then back to his ship, the very Socorran ink that is visible beyond his clothing, then back to Jax. "Depends. TIE Defender is probably the best superiority fighter out there, but if you're including the First Order, the TIE Silencer is a very sexy beast, and it supposedly has a stealth system. Then there's the TIE Phantom, which I kick myself for not buying when I had the chance, a true cloaking system...." Then, they're arriving at the estate, and Ax's joking nature goes away. "What the hell?" he asks with a shake of his head. Pulling his lightsaber from his belt, and extending the hinged hilt out to its full length, the smuggler carefully makes his way in. Blades aren't ignited, but it's ready just in case whatever made that noise decided to attack them.

"Ewan, you probably know better than I do who is friend or foe here," Ax says. "Mind leading the way?" A nod is given to Yuun as well. "Be careful old friend."

~

"As I thought, though with us here, I felt like I should be certain." Jax says as he greets both Ewan and Yuun with nods. The Corellian jedi moves with the others though as he walks toward the gate noticing the blaster bolts. Jax comes to a stop for a moment in the middle of the path, his breath slows as his steps does do the same. He reaches out to the force and then moments later he begins to speak. His voice a bit distant as he's here but not here. "Four figures in Merc armor. Not anyone I know. Not Sith not FIrst Order. They slaughtered anyone that tried to attack them. A fifth figure, in black robes, about Vega's height join them after they cleared the garden. The figure is wearing a ceremonial mask." Jax glances at the others. "I got a very bad feeling about this." His hand dropping to his own saber.

Yuun smiles as he sees everyone, though the situation made his smile fade, he sees the pocked marks and blaster burns on the building. Even as he tries to sense the force aroudn them, all he can feel is just them. Taking in the information that Jax provides, Yuun moves forward, "Prepare yourselves now." he says to the gathered Jedi. He didn't like what was told to them, teh dark skinned Coruscanti closes his eyes for a moment. His hand moves to his lightsaber and he unclips it from the belt. He doesn't have to look back at the others. Yuun would do what he must to protect them, Yuun opens the door.

Even as Ax began to express that Ewan should maybe go first, Ewan's hand is rising to one of the blackened scorch marks. It's studied for a moment before he rubs his fingers together, as if to determine something about the residue. "Tatooine can miss me for the moment," he says, in response to Zandra. He regarded the others for a moment as lightsabers were drawn. His remained at his belt, for now. "Whatever it is," he says, before begining towards the crash with the others, "We'll probably know real quick if its a friend or not."

The door that is open leads into the audience chamber of the estate. Fancy, right? On the other side is chaos. There are two more dead guards and there is blood that pools near the bodies of them. There is broken furniture that litters the hall as well. There is a chair that is flying through the air, heading towards one ebony robed figures.

There is two of them. Same height. Same hair color. Same anger. One wears a mask (which can be found in a link at the end of this log!) and the other is most assuredly Vega with a blood streaked face as she tries to keep herself between the figure and the two alive people that are behind her.

Her grey gaze is wild as it goes to the door opening. And the chair that she's taken her eyes off of bashes into her. Oof!

The mask wearing figure gives a little wave to the newcomers before they take off at a break neck pace towards the doors, time to go!

Zandra comes in, and stares for a long moment at the mask she sees there. She also sees Vega, but as there's a wave and the mask guy takes off, she reaches out a hand, concentrating. Nothing happens. It's very anticlimatic. "Who was that?" she says sharply. "That mask - the colours are wrong but it's not a good one - Sith - " she says, looking to the others to see if they also recognize it.

Zan then turns to Vega, and whoever is behind her. "Are you okay, what's going on?"

~

Ax and Zan seemed to be on the same wave-length, and while telekinesis hasn't always been Ax's best ability, in fact usually when he truly needed to pull it off, he failed. He could levitate rocks for days at home, but when he needed to lift a door.... Same held true tonight. "Great, what are Sith doing here?" he asks, debating on giving chase, but there were wounded here and one of them was a friend.

~At the sight of the dark figure that is not Vega and the information that the mask is a sith mask. Jax reaches down tp press the button of his saber and there's a woosh sound as the blue blade extends out. Jax doesn't hold it ready yet though in a position to block a blaster bolt at a moments notice. "I am Jax Greystorm, jedi knight. I stand here with a team of jedi and no less than two more knights with me. I do not know what this man has paid you but I offer you the chance to stand down and resolve this peacefully. There has been enough blood shed here today. We all just want to go home. Is there something I can say or do to make that happen?"

Seeing the dark figures and the blood on Vega's face, Yuun allows the force to flow through and around him. Then things take off and as the Sith rushes away after launching a chair at Vega, and seeing his allies try to stop the Sith, Yuun launches himself after the Sith, enhanced with the Force, allowing it to permeate through his being. He could feel the welcoming warmth of it. He was where was needed, allowing a breath to escape him, Yuun attention comes to the Sith that he's chaseing, his lightsaber alight as he dashes after the fleeing figure.

As the Jedi arrive, what appear to be aggresors begin to take their leaves of the room. "Doska," he begins, pointing towards the window. "I'll flank them as you chase. Pincer in the Garden," he calls out, recalling the last time Ewan acted without advising the others. As he makes this call, he begins to run, slipping over debris and furniture before his ice-colored lightsaber blade comes to life. In an instant, the hilt is hurled towards one of the large windows in the audience chamber, which shatters a moment later in a shower of glass. Sorry Kae estate! Ewan's feet carry him off the back of a downed chair, onto a bannister, onto a ledge, and through the broken window a moment after the lightsaber. And he was gone.

Vega got hit with a heavy chair, so it takes the woman a moment to figure out that she's not seeing things. "Don't hurt him!" she shouts out. "He's sick...or something is wrong with him!" she calls after the others that give chase. "It's my brother." she looks to the others, mainly Zandra. Then she looks behind her and clambers to her feet, "Mom...dad!" she cries out as she rushes to the two Echani that aren't moving. "If you aren't chasing can I get some help?" she looks to the others. She's dripping blood everywhere, but this is something she'd deal with later.

Lord and Lady Kae are breathing...not having been hit by any force powers, but shot by blasters upon folks checking on them. Vega looks very very angry. And given she was very very angry and scared last night this is not a good thing.

The mercs give a look to all the lightsabers that suddenly spark to life and the Jedi that wield them, Jax in particular. They settle their blasters down and raise their hands, "It was just a job really." the lead states.

Glass goes raining down as Ewan and Yuun are on the masked figures tail and he keeps running, no time to stop and banter. He had Jedi to outrun!

Zandra's relief that Vega is somewhat okay and able to talk fades swiftly. With Yuun and Ewan after the escaping Sith, Jax talking down the mercenaries, Zan moves to see who is badly hurt and how much. She stops at who she thinks is worst off, and settles beside them, reaching a hand to touch a hand. She concentrates, and then says, "I can help. Aryn taught me." Because it made sense, dang it, to not have just one person who could heal. Of course, this takes all Zan's concentration and effort, so she's busy now.

~

Ax moves to aid, he's not a good healer, but he's had a little bit of experience. Taking a deep breath, he leans down over one of the injured and closes his eyes. Maybe it was his desire to go after the Sith, or maybe it was just his lack of heavy training in the skill, but he can't seem to get his focus. The healing process was far from instant, and required a near trance-like state, and Ax was not having luck with that today. Breathing a sigh of frustration, he looks to the others. "Sorry, I can't seem to get the flow right. There is another trick but, I'm even less skilled with it, and well, it's a bit risky for me. Of course, that's only if it works." Of course, it doesn't and Ax just leans back, mentally exhausted for the moment. "The force is not with me today it seems."

~

Jax keeps his saber pointed at the mercs, "Then that is good. Go ahead and lay down your weapons then for me. Stay where I can see you." Then he makes his way over to Vega's Dad. Then he tries something through the force. "I I can't either. Zandra can you try? Vega are you fine?"

"Got it." he says back to his Padawan, glad to have Ewan here. He wanted to talk to him but right now they had work to do. The Sith is further ahead of them and they needed to catch up to him. Controlling his breathing, Yuun kicks up his speed, jumping over debris as he dashes towards the Sith, the force still is flowing through Yuun as he feels himself moving in faster towards him, his arms pumping as he tries to gain on the Sith but the figure does the same and breaks away. "Kriff..We better go back, Vega and the others may need us." Yuun says as he skids to a stop but seeing as the figure is familiar and twin to Vega, he knows he will recognize this persons aura, "Next time." he says as he begins running back the way they've come. "Come on Padawan, let's go help the others!" he calls to him.

Punching through the window, Ewan paused long enough for the lightsaber hilt to be recollected with a flick of the wrist, before his feet were once again carrying him towards the garden. He'd only been here twice, and to the gardens once. No big deal, right? Rather than decide, Ewan simply reacts, following the little voice in the back of his head. He burst through a rise of grasses to find he was a few steps behind the Sith, but entirely facing the wrong way. Yuun caught up a moment later, and Ewan regarded him thoughtfully. "He wont run far," Ewan says, drawing his lips into a thin line for a moment, "We have a history."

Vega feels woozy, but she's trying to get her parents tended to. "Thank you." she tells Zandra and the others. Her gaze flicking to Ax and Jax as she surveys the room. There is a local branch of the authorities that show up after the fighting has ceased. Naturally! "Saga's a few minutes older than me...always the brat." she mutters as she leans her head against the wall. After a moment she finds a ledge to ease herself onto, "We'll need to get them to a hospital or up to their room to heal them. We'll have to figure out what exactly is going on. I've never seen him with that mask...I haven't seen him since I was 15." she admits. She then starts to limp off towards the authorities to get them up to speed..and to get them to take the mercs away before she gutted them like fish.

OOC: Saga's Mask