He who Fights Monsters (Neo)

[Dire Wolf]

“Something’s wrong,” a deep voice resonated in the dimly lit stateroom. A bed that was just too small for the room’s occupant hung from one wall while a desk and chair lay bolted to the deck at the opposite side. The stateroom’s occupant sat with his legs crossed in the center of the room, his head bowed and arms propped against his knees. Heavy armor colored a stark white had been strapped to his muscle bound frame during the self-inflicted exercise in meditation; armor was not a comfortable thing to wear. It was awkward, hot, and at times painful to wear. If the man could find his center within the durasteel shell then he could easily find it in battle.

Each nearby life flickered faintly against the armor bound figure’s awareness like a candle against the black vacuum of space. Men and women alike milled about the ship with little more than boredom driving their actions. Boredom. Anticipation. Fear. Anger. Each of these emotions sent ripples through the still pond that was the Force. Each ripple affected the people within, whether they knew it or not. Everyone except Ryn.

Distractions.

“Something’s wrong,” he repeated to himself. There was more than the emotions of those around him within the pool of the Force. Another thing entirely lurked beneath the surface. Something that threatened to devour them all. Air rushed into the man’s body with a sudden rise of his shoulders only to leave through his mouth a few moments later. Eyelids slid open to reveal the blind eyes beneath them; the gesture was little more than a vestige of his years of physical sight. His torso leaned down to retrieve an unassuming brown cloth that he folded into a sash, and before too long the cool fabric caressed the bridge of his nose to shield his hideous eyes from view.

A carefully folded brown robe had been placed upon the desk’s table at the beginning of the meditative exercise; it carefully rose from it’s resting place as if carried by a ghost. Ryn rose to his feet as if to mirror the robe, and moved his arms so that the robe would gently slide over his frame. Once he was sure that the robe had fit well over his heavy (and uncomfortable) armor, he stalked out of the room with the same severe stoicism that one might expect from a Jedi.

“Captain Kormier,” his gravelly voice seemed to resonate from the wall, “there’s a disturbance in the Force. Are we being followed?”

“By who? We’re still in Republic Space. Go back to your room, Jedi.”

No sooner than the Captain finished speaking than the rumble of the ship’s engine beneath Ryn’s feet spluttered to a stop. Lights and life support alike winked off in that same instant, and the scintillating purples and blues gave way to the harsh beauty of an unknown planet. Gravity pulled the ship down towards the surface gently at first, but each passing second brought the planet closer and closer.

Boredom had been replaced by fear and action. The threat of certain death tended to have that effect on people.

[Neology]

The jungle at night was so vibrantly, so deliciously alive. Novus basked in it as she waited, laying on her back on top of the powered down shuttle. Her senses cast wide, touching the Force as it flowed around her, in the slow breathing of the trees and the frantic lives of predator and prey. There was a certain amount of peace in knowing that here, for now, she was alone. No mind more complex than that of a vanx or acklay for miles and miles, save her own.

That was set to change. Captain Kormier's ship, the RNC Valetta, would be overhead soon, due for a fatal bit of sabotage. Novus was rather proud of the scheme, all told. A Republic engineer approached and bribed on leave. A touch of forgery, introduced by a neutral third party, to get the right man on the right ship at the right time. It'd taken months to get right, but both the risk and cost to the Empire were low.

To borrow a term from Imperial Intelligence, Captain Kormier needed to be marginalized. Now she was here to see it through.

A small section of the sky flashed, briefly, less than lightning. She would have missed it had she not been looking for it. The Valetta, falling out of hyperspace as it traveled too near Vendaxa's gravity well. A slow smile curved up the corners of Novus's mouth. Moments later, her comlink crackled to life.

”I – H-Hello? It's done.” The wail of an alarm in the background, distorted shouting. The voice continued, uncertain. ”Will my family be okay?”

“Of course. We thank you for your service.” Novus purred her reply. Long fingers calmly slipped the back off the device, then popped out the power source. The pieces slipped easily into her pocket. As she watched, the eastern sky streaked orange. The Valetta breaking atmo. Smaller streaks, wreckage or escape pods, raced it down. She felt a strange tremor in the Force, briefly, before she drew in her senses to hide her own presence. Did Captain Kormier warrant a Jedi protector? That was unexpected. It made confirming the kill much more difficult.

Novus hopped down, landing deftly and then straightening. She picked up her bag – basic equipment and rations for a week in the wilderness. It would be nearly half a day's hike to the wreck, she estimated. That gave the survivors time to gather, time to try and call for help. Of course, part of the deal had been for the engineer to sabotage their communications equipment as well. Hopefully the treasonous fool had made it that far.

[Dire Wolf]

Consciousness came to him slowly at first, but sped when his brain registered the pain that every new breath had brought. Had Ryn’s method of sight been physical rather than spiritual he would have noticed flecks of silver dance about his blurred view of the world. Instead the man found that he could barely see at all, thanks to the sharp pain in his skull. It slowed his thoughts and kept his mind from finding that natural point of focus that he needed to see with the Force. It wasn’t until he felt the arresting tug of a safety harness that he realized he had managed to sit down before whatever happened.

What had happened? Despite his best attempts he simply couldn’t conjure the memories of what had happened since he warned Captain Kormier of imminent danger. Serves that moron right. He thought with a grimace carved across his otherwise stoic face. Rather than continually attempt to focus his attention outwards the man inverted it so that he could become aware of his internal ailments. Severe traumatic brain injury. A broken rib. A few bruises. Not bad. Just a little bit longer passed before his eyes closed out of habit and the sharp pain within his skull ebbed away into a memory. He deflated with a heavy sigh of relief only hiss and grit his teeth at the broken rib.

A few more moments passed before he could feel his bone shift within his body, click into it’s proper place, and mend together faster than any mortal’s bone had a right to do so. Though Ryn was far from adept at the Healing arts he was more than skilled enough to mend his own ailments, provided the fact that they weren’t too numerous. A concussion and a broken bone were nothing. That belated sigh of relief returned when the bone was mended, and soon after his vision returned.

Once Ryn was free from the seat restraints and on his feet he stalked out of his quarters with his cloak swirling behind him. The common room looked as if someone had turned it on its head only to flip it back around. Shattered plates and other fragile things lay scattered about the room with only food and playing cards to punctuate them. Had Ryn not been wearing heavy boots he would have had to pick his way through the chaotic mess of the room, but instead he strode to the nearest exit with little heed paid to the squish and crack of ruin beneath him.

He barely reached the door when the muffled report of a blaster being fired at the sky reached his ears. Battle mode. The muscles of his jaw tightened when he rammed through the heavy metal door with the hilt of his double bladed lightsaber held behind him but not activated only to find that there was no combat. Ten eyes had turned to view the man, but only one set had been devoid of fear.

Captain Kormier.

“Ahh, the Jedi finally awakes,” he used the word Jedi as if it were a swear, “after half a day. Just in time to save the traitor, too.”

“I don’t know about save, Captain, but there will be no executions today. Especially not until I hear the whole story,” he said. Jedi didn’t kill their prisoners, and no man in the Republic was guilty until he was proven to be so. Even a serviceman. He strode over to the gaggle, which parted to allow him to see the scared engineer huddled into himself in a protective manner. Blood poured from the man’s nose, bruises darkened his face, and his teeth had been shattered. The wounds he bore were hours old, and he had been sedated until the Captain had thought of what to do with him.

White hot rage boiled up within the man’s heart at the sight of the broken man, and it took all of his discipline to rein it in. “I will question this man. Alone,”

[color=blue“That’ll be difficult, Jedi,”[/color] yet again the man spat out the word, [color=blue“he’s out cold.”[/color]

“For the best. Don’t you worry about him,” he scooped the man up and threw him over his shoulder as one would heave a sack of potatoes. This was after Ryn had made sure moving him was of no danger to the ‘traitor.’ Once the man was back to the ground; laid against a tree well out of earshot and line of sight of the group, Ryn slumped down against a tree opposite the man. He had to be away from Kormier, and couldn’t leave him alone with the engineer.

At least until he heard both sides. If it was the engineer, well, Ryn had his share of bad luck when it came to flying. He left that train of thought at that.

[Neology]

Novus topped the ridge of a scrubby escarpment, squinting against the bright Vendaxan sun. Weary from the hike, she rested, sitting herself down on a clear patch of ground. From this vantage, she could easily pick out where the Valetta and its associated wreckage pockmarked the jungle. It looked to have held up fairly well, for a ship not meant for suborbital flight. Very likely that most of the crew had survived the crash, then – a bit of a mixed blessing.

Kormier's death had to be confirmed; she would not have another dressing down from Iniquitous, mild as the last had been. It followed that such confirmation would be easier to obtain if his body wasn't crushed beneath several tons of wrecked starship or burned up in plasma fire. Still, she felt some degree of regret, lingering dissatisfaction with the plan. Had she to do it again … Well, there would be fewer Republic soldiers down there, waiting for rescue, waiting to fight the Empire or the Mandalorians.

And just how many were there? The trees were too thick for the use of her eyes, and she was reluctant rely on the Force just now. Using it to sense the Jedi left her too open to being sensed in turn, if he was paying attention. She'd have to get closer.

–

She crept thought the brush, as quiet on her feet as any predator born to it. As she drew close to the wreck, she began to pick out snatches of conversation, voices raised, and the distinctive crackle of a single blaster shot fired into the open air. The traitor had been found, it seemed. No great surprise, but a pity the man hadn't found some easier way to die. Kormier was not known for his mercy. Hidden among the greenery, Novus watched the scene play out before her.

There was some minor bluster on the Captain's part, before the Jedi revealed himself – a huge man in armor, eyes covered by a scrap of cloth in the style of the miraluka. Was he one of them, or had he been blinded through some other means? The pair engaged in a short argument, before the Jedi bodily carried the unconscious engineer away from the group. Interesting. A moment later she determined there was little else to see at the wreck and followed, careful to stay hidden.

Whatever the state of his eyes, or lack there of, the Jedi was not blind. He picked through the jungle as easily as one might expect, clumsy and loud by her standards. No doubt the Force compensated for his disability. At length, the Jedi dropped the other man at the foot of a tree, than sat down himself.

What would the Jedi see if he looked at her? Truthfully, she did not know, having never practiced Force Sight herself. Something very strange, were she to guess. Well, she had time to test his reaction, for certainly Kormier was not going anywhere.

“The Captain will lead you down a dark path, Jedi.”

Novus stepped into the clear, kneeling beside the engineer to get a better look. A young man beneath the neat black hair, and all that blood and spittle. One eye rapidly swelling shut, a broken nose, ruined teeth … He was rather lucky to be unconscious, in her opinion. Fat, green bellied flies circled in, drawn by the scent of blood. Most interestingly, this man looked nothing like her bought and paid far traitor. She turned back to the Jedi, a sardonic smile on her lips.

“I give it three, maybe four hours before he marches over here with that rabble to take what he wants. If you get in the way … Well.” She traced the unconscious engineer's jaw with her fingertip. Carefully, she used telekinesis to mimic the feel of a knife, pressed against the Jedi's back for half a breath.

[Dire Wolf]

Ryn's body twisted a little too quickly for a man of his bulk at the first disembodied syllable to reach his ears. His double bladed lightsaber was in hand and ready yet the scintillating blue blade lay dormant within the hilt. A cold chill ran down the man's spine when he realized that the voice had no source as best he could see, but he wasn't ready to drop his guard just yet. He may have been living amongst Force Users for two and a half decades, but his knowledge hadn't even touched the surface of what the Force could do.

"Reveal yourself," he said with steel in his voice, "there's no need to play games."

Apparently he was wrong. The feminine danced in his years yet again, this time much closer, but the source still eluded him. Had he known better he'd say that the engineer spoke with a different voice, and without moving his mouth. His brows furrowed beneath the simple cloth sash but had no time to work the problem through; the tip of a knife pressed against his back through a slim gap in the durasteel plates.

A sharp inhale of the humid jungle air filled his lungs, his body went rigid, and his mind worked at a hundred miles an hour. How had she snuck behind him? Ryn's senses were keen. The sharp pressure against the small of his back had barely faded before he spun with an armored elbow only striking air. Nothing was there. Had he imagined it? The knife? The muscles of his jaw tightened and the otherwise dispassionate serenity that was usually found on his face was slowly being replaced by frustration. Maybe it was all in his head? He did just endure a shipwreck, and his head did get knocked around a bit. All the same, the muscles of his jaw clenched tighter.

"I doubt that," why was he talking back? Ryn snapped his head to the opposite direction. Still nothing. After a long moment his body deflated, and his muscles began to loosen, "and why would he defy everything the Republic stood for?"

[Neology]

Novus watched the blind Jedi from where she crouched, tight smile drawing her lips pale and bloodless against her teeth. It seemed he could not see her, hidden as she was through the Force. Silently, she got to her feet.

A game. That was a fair account, she supposed, thoughts wandering. Kormier would die, there was no question in her mind about that, but there was time to spare – rescue efforts would be days or weeks away. Could she get the Jedi to do it for her? The Captain was not a good man, not by any definition …

As she watched, the Jedi twisted around, muscles working in his jaw as he swatted at thin air. A demonstration that she filed away, smile fading, brows drawing down. Speed would do for strength nine times out of ten, but that tenth loomed brief and deadly. She was glad he hadn't caught her.

He spoke again, and she swallowed her words unsaid. Kormier would make her point for her – all she had to do was give him time and a little encouragement. Novus slipped away, leaving the Jedi to his thoughts.

–

The crew of the Valetta continued to have terrible luck. Fires and electrical problems ran amok. Supplies were continually misplaced or ruined. The native wildlife proved vicious, attacking even armed soldiers beyond all natural reason. Groups of twos or three, sent out to find water, found themselves lost in the jungle for hours, arriving back at camp hours later, empty handed.

One day, and then two slipped by. When she wasn't meddling directly, Novus watched from her vantage atop the escarpment, peering through a pair of electrobinoculars.