TRIPLE RELEASE TODAY GO BACK TO CH 33
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Exiting lightspeed, the Falcon rocketed forth towards the icy world of Ilum.
Viewing the planet from his 3rd Person POV, Corvus was stunned and in awe by the beauty on display.
Ilum was an icy world, and was a giant white-blue marble within the vast blackness of space. From a distance, it sort of reminded him of Earth. A small smile spread across his face, and excitement brimmed in his veins.
As a child who had grown up on sci-fi, he had always dreamed of visiting other worlds. Corvus's father had worked in the aerospace industry constructing satellites, and an interest in both tech, and space travel had been ingrained in him from a young age.
'Here's to you, dad.' Corvus inclined his head, and wiped away a single tear.
Taking a deep breath to center himself, nothing prepared him for the absolute oomph of metaphysical energy that he experienced as he started to take the Falcon into the atmosphere.
Ilum's song in the Force was so much different from Coruscant's.
This frigid icy tundra was practically devoid of life compared to the billions of sentients that called that megalopolis home.
But that did not diminish the power that emanated from this place.
Ilum had been the holy pilgrimage sight for Jedi for eons, as such, it carried with it the hopes and jubilations of every Jedi that had constructed their lightsaber here.
In short, it was a place brimming with Lightside energies. That despite the cold and frigid atmosphere, the planet sang its welcome to him.
Opening himself up to this feeling, Corvus felt as if he could hear the Force welcoming the kyber crystals home.
It was a peaceful and soothing balm to his weary spirit. Serenity filled his body, and he deliberately exuded this towards everyone in the ship, especially Jax, Yon and Paratus.
In fact, Ilum would make for a suitable location for Jedi to hide. During the Imperial Era, it was only discovered thanks to the Jedi Archives. As Corvus had downloaded, and then deleted the information, this icy world was suitable for habitation. One of the benefits of Ilum's hidden nature meant that should the Death Star ever come online, its kyber crystal requirements would be difficult to meet. Without Ilum, it would be incredibly difficult for Palpatine to power his dreaded super weapon.
Ilum was a great place, and Corvus figured he would finally get some teaching in now that he could no longer grind for exp.
Turning over his shoulder, Corvus regarded his apprentice, Jax. The white haired teen had practically become glued to his side, and watched him even when he disabled mines. It was quite embarrassing, but Corvus was determined to take responsibility for this observant student of his.
"Have you ever opened yourself to Ilum's signature within the Force?" Corvus questioned.
"Only when I searched for my kyber crystal, Master Corvus, but I have never done so before or after I had constructed my lightsaber. We were taught as initiates that opening oneself to a planet may overstimulate oneself, driving one to madness." Jax replied with a textbook response.
"Wise words, and in some cases, necessary advice when dealing with worlds tainted by the darkside. For Ilum, however, it is a wonderful world, one cared for by our Order over many millennia. Meditate on this feeling, embrace it like a friend, and when we land, tell me your results. Have no fear, I am watching over you."
"Thank you, Master." Jax lightly bowed, and then began to meditate.
Corvus caught Keira mean mugging him with a tight lipped expression, but she held her tongue.
Smirking at her, Corvus then went back to the controls, and consulted his map feature.
Flying towards the Jedi Temple on Ilum, Corvus put on some classical sounding music, and spent the next two hours of travel time doing his best to harmonize with the Force.
Before long, they had arrived at a large mountain, upon which sat a massive edifice dedicated to the Jedi.
Surprisingly, it wasn't completely frosted over, and seemed to be in decent condition.
Slowing the Falcon down, Corvus found a suitable landing spot near the temple gates, and took her in for a landing.
As soon as they touched down, Corvus turned to his disciple, and saw both a smile, and a trail of tears on his face. When he reached out with the Force to sense if everything was alright with Jax, he was pulled into a brief memory.
The sound of a girl's laughter, and Jax tripping in the snow came to mind, then it was gone, like the feeling of deja vu.
"Go get everyone else and prepare to disembark, I would like a minute with my Padawan." Corvus intoned in a low voice.
Keira glanced between the two of them, and then silently left.
Reaching out to Jax with the Force, Corvus gave Jax a little nudge.
Opening his eyes, the white haired teen was quick to dry his face off with his sleeve. His expression was almost guilty, as if Corvus would rebuke him for so openly breaking the Code.
Corvus patted him on the shoulder, and smiled reassuringly.
"Emotion is not weakness, my apprentice. Love leads to harmony, harmony leads to inner strength, strength leads to peace."
"All my life, I've been taught these feelings are wrong, that they will lead to choosing my friends over the good of the galaxy, that it is a slippery slope wrought with selfishness and murder." Jax said so softly, it was barely above a whisper.
"The good of the galaxy? Who are we to decide that?" Corvus patiently asked.
"Because we are Jedi?" Jax hesitantly asked.
"Isn't that a selfish desire? Who decided that we must hold such a responsibility?"
"The Will of the Force?"
"For the last thousand years, the Jedi have focused their efforts on guarding senators, and protecting the interests of the Republic. Do you think that was the will of the Force?" Corvus continued to ask in a tranquil tone.
"...no, I don't think so." Jax eventually shook his head.
"So you see, if the Order can be selfish, why can't you? Isn't it selfish of you to fight on the frontlines? Your death would break your friends' hearts. Isn't it selfish of you to focus your efforts on war instead of healing? Selfish to live on the surface of Coruscant, condemning billions to a life without sunlight?" Corvus's words came faster, and more intense the more he spoke.
Jax began to sweat, his gaze unfocused. A sense of intense internal conflict roiled in the teen, and the Force warned Corvus that Jax was at a crossroads of sorts.
Corvus cast Valor on his apprentice, and then handed him a towel.
"Breath. Center yourself. Find balance. Only through questioning what we know can we discover more. Only through understanding our emotions can we overcome the temptations of the darkside. The Force is a vast ocean full of both wonder and terror. We are but tiny boats adrift upon its currents. Some fishermen partake in the seas bounty, drawing heavily on the deep, dark depths, they over encumber their boats, and fall to darkness. Others refrain from all that the ocean has to offer, and are so selective in their fishing, they go hungry. As my student, I expect you to eat well, but should you ever fear, doubt, or worry, I shall be here to reel you in." Corvus then activated his darkside siphoning ability, and took whatever darkside energies he could skim off the boy until Jax was more neutral in the Force.
Jax took deep ragged breaths, and held onto Corvus's arm for support as if he were a sturdy tree, and Jax was lost, drunkenly stumbling through the woods. In fact, his mechanical hands were so strong, Corvus would likely have a fracture by now if he hadn't chosen the [Improved Toughness] feat.
"I am sorry you had to see my weakness." Jax looked down in shame.
"Raise your head, boy. Raise it high. Know that our escape that day on Coruscant was in part thanks to you. You have the potential to be a great Jedi, Jax. Never let self doubt or a strict adherence to the Code dictate your life. Now come, Knight Keira doesn't outwardly show it, but I think she's quite impatient to throw me on my backside." Corvus chuckled, and then held out his hand to the troubled teen.
"Yeah, she probably is." Jax smiled, and helped himself up.
Corvus nodded, and then left the cockpit towards the ramp leading out of the Falcon.
Linyin and Zork gave Jax concerned looks, and Yon bumped into him.
"Let's go." Keira brusquely stated, then palmed the button that deployed the ramp.
Frigid cold weather buffeted them, but Corvus cast Valor on everyone, significantly cutting the chill to manageable levels.
"Woah, I wish I knew this technique!" Linyin cheered sarcastically at her teacher, and then ran out to jump into the snow before she could be rebuked.
Zork-a cold blooded creature-repeatedly nodded his head, and looked to Corvus as if he were the second coming of Revan.
Corvus ignored the Padawans, and matched eyes with Keira.
"A duel on the snow in front of the Temple Gates. I know you said you wanted me, but I had no idea you were this romantic, Keira." Corvus smirked.
Jax stumbled behind him, and Yon wolfishly whistled.
"Do not set a bad example for the Padawans, Corvus, please." Keira tutted, and walked down the ramp.
Corvus turned to the three boys, and winked, then followed after her.
"I'm starting to like Master Corvus more and more." Yon exclaimed with a smile that was all teeth. The dark haired boy placed his arms behind his head, and casually followed behind.
"Oh my s-scales!" Zork raised his history book to cover his face, but let his eyes peak, and was quick to trail behind.
Jax, meanwhile, wore a contemplative look upon his face, and remained silent, curious as to his Master's motive.
Disembarking the ramp, Corvus took a breath of fresh air, and looked at the grand gates to the Ilum Temple as if there were untold mysteries lying in wait. He felt the kind of excitement like Indiana Jones going on an archeological dig, or the guys from Jurassic Park seeing a dinosaur for the first time.
He was on another planet.
Evil space overlords could only occupy so much of his bandwidth, otherwise he'd go crazy. What was the point of being in a galaxy far far away if he didn't get to take a minute to step back and enjoy it?
Of course, as he was coming to realize, all good things came to an end when lightsabers were ignited.
"Uphold your end of the bargain, Corvus. Face me." Keira sternly demanded.
"Skipping foreplay and jumping right into the action? I can't say I'm surprised, you battleheads can't seem to keep your lightsabers in your pants." Corvus chided, and then slowly activated both of his lightsabers.
Adjusting the power on them as they burst to life, Corvus made sure that they were non-lethal. At the same time, he cast [Valor, Speed, Force Barrier, & Energy Resistance]
Keira frowned when she saw this, yet remained silent.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Linyin called out in a tone reminiscent of a soccer mom.
"Victory is all that matters." Yon maliciously chuckled.
"Knight Keira is very talented, I'm sure Master Corvus is simply paying her his respect by going all out." Jax placated, playing damage control.
"Master Paratus, if you would officiate?" Corvus turned to the tiny alien walking around on mechanical legs.
Ordinarily, Corvus would have left him on the ship to reflect, but with the kind of flight risk attitude Paratus had, leaving him alone on the Falcon seemed like a recipe for disaster. Besides, getting him to tag along would be good for his mental health.
"Begin!" Paratus swiped down his lightsaber pike.
As soon as that happened, Keira dashed at him, and Corvus waved his hand unleashing a [Force Push] just in front of her.
Keira dodged to the side, however, Corvus wasn't aiming at her!
A second later, a flurry of snow shot up into the sky, obscuring their lines of sight.
At that moment, Corvus became invisible, and then he tossed out dozens of miscellaneous objects-mostly pieces of wood-onto the snow all around him.
Knowing that footsteps could be tracked in the snow, this was his solution to remaining undetected. It wasn't perfect of course, she wanted to get a measure for his character. Well, instead of meeting Keira head on like some saber monkey, he would rather be open and honest with who he was. Which was ironic considering he was a 'secretive' Jedi Shadow.
By the time he had finished initiating his plan, and had jumped to one of the pieces of wood, Keira was swiping down right where he had been.
Unfortunately for Corvus, his landing was a little rushed, and his weight had pressed into the wood, making a subtle, yet distinct crunching sound.
Keira wasted no time, and blitzed towards Corvus's position.
As she was running in a straight line, he actually decided against jumping to another piece of wood, and instead prepared another ability.
When she drew near, Corvus did a flip over her head, and unleashed [Slow] right into her back.
Keira, of course had powers over precognition, and turned to block, but her backwards swipe was late by half a second, and the red bolt had impacted upon her beautiful green skin.
However, her swing was not in vain, as the tip of her lightsaber brushed up against the edge of Corvus's [Energy Resistance] shield, and broke him from his invisibility.
Landing on his feet, Corvus then moved to meet Keira head on.
Her movements had become sluggish, yet her skill with the lightsaber vastly outpaced his, and she just barely managed to scrape by.
Corvus was incredibly impressed with her technical know-how. In fact, if he wasn't Pause-buffering between attacks, he wouldn't have noticed her cheeky leg sweep!
Parrying aside her lightsaber, Corvus sidestepped her attempt to trip him up, stepped into her guard, and mimicked one of the moves he had learnt whilst under Master Draay's tutelage.
Swiping at a chaotic angle, Keira was forced to reposition herself from her awkward overcommitment of her leg sweep, and moved to block high.
However, it was a feint, and Corvus was really going to swipe low.
Corvus saw the realization in her eyes as it happened in real time, and if she wasn't nerfed under [Slow], she 100% would have blocked it. If he didn't cheese this fight, and took her on head on, he would have lost 9 out of 10 times. But that just wasn't the kind of man he was. Let the young and foolish go head on, Corvus would much rather take someone like Keira from the rear.
"Bang." Corvus said as his twin sabers struck her with powerful paralyzing properties.
Then she hit the ground.
Corvus held his saber to Keira's chin, gave her a cheeky little wave, then turned to the Padawans.
"And that, class, is why a Jedi is more than a lightsaber wielding precog. In a fight, the environment, and every aspect of the Force are our weapons.
Any questions?"