Ten Years after the War….

[Tuskers]

Ten Years after the War….

*A scene of destruction along this beach front. Several buildings have long since been destroyed. The growth of trees and shrubs has taken over the landscape. The sand has reclaimed what once was a beautiful beach club. Down what used to be a path, there are still three cabins standing. There are no signs of the fire and devastation that took the rest of the buildings.
* Zoom in to the last cabin, number 20, there are signs of life here. A pot of steaming coffee with a half full cup sits on the table of the porch. Water can be heard running, a shower… And the sound of a whistling man…
The figure, cloaked in grey, walks up to cabin 20, and drops her hood. Her brown curls come into view. She cannot decide to smile at the memories, or frown at what faces her now.
The sound of the water stops, and the whistling gets closer as the person walks out to the porch. He stops and stares at her, as if not sure if she is real.
She speaks first, “Hello Scoundrel.”
“Aeron? How?”
“Faath slipped up. The Wookiee has his heart in the right place, protecting your secret.” She looks at him for a second, “You could have come back.”
“Back? No, I’ve been gone for too long. I..” His sentence just stops. “I was gone. Searching for something lost. I needed to look.”
“And Faath kept you supplied, but you couldn’t come back to the Grey? Why Tuskers? Why not come back and ask your friends for help?”
“Because I wasn’t there. I was needed for the war, but I was gone. Insane! I lost my mind after Zonoma healed me.” He stops, and drops into a chair. “Have you touched her? She will steal a part of you, and fill it with the whole of the galaxy. Too much to comprehend.”
“We could have helped you. We wanted to help, but you were gone.”
“And you had the Yuuzhan Vong to fight. You saved the galaxy.” Tuskers looks up slightly, then glances off to the side. “Who is that? You brought someone with you. Volk?” A visible wave passes through him, a shudder, “No, it’s Corey. And he’s coming this way. How did I not feel him before now?” Again, he looks away. “You flew here in a Sekot ship. You were cloaked in the living Force.”
Aeron looks on in curiosity, “What happened to you? Is this a result of your healing with Zonoma Sekot? What did the planet do to you?”
“It took me into itself.” He shudders and almost tips over the chair. Aeron almost steps forward to help him, but he waves her off. “My only savior is living inside of Meli. Her connection, her living presence isolates me from the waves. I used to study the living Force. I am now living the Force. I can feel the ocean, the sun, the life…” He trails off, lost in his own thoughts.
Aeron turns as she hears someone approaching. A large man, with slightly greenish skin, wearing a simple Jedi tunic is walking up the path. The sun glitters off of his right arm, a metallic contraption, which replaces the hand that he must have lost some time ago. Corey looks at the man that he used to call friend, and sees him shuddering in his chair. “Well, Aeron, what is his story? He’s not dead, so why didn’t we know that he lived?”
Aeron looks at Corey, then back at Tuskers. “He can hear you. He’s hurt, lost and seems to be slightly confused.”
Tuskers stands, “No, I’m fine now. I just need to stay here long enough to get supplies, and then I’m off to find the brother.”
Corey looks saddened, “Tuskers, your brother has been dead many years.”
“No, no, no. Her brother, the planet. Hiding, amongst the stars. Maybe a sister, hard to tell. A binary system, I think. Something to do with the gravitational flux of the two stars. Or maybe they eat the cosmic particles?”
Corey turns to Aeron and asks, “What is he talking about? He sounds insane.”
“I think he means our home. Zonoma Sekot saved him, but there was a price. I think he’s on a quest for her, to find another living planet.”
“Two, actually! One has been found. The other is the more important. It maybe dying. Cannot have that. Must find it soon.”
“Yeah, he’s lost it.” Corey shakes his head.
She shoots Corey a look, “Stop it. I think the planet programmed him. Compelled him to do her will. He must complete the task, and it sounds like it is important. A dying planet.”
The sound of a ship landing stops all conversation. The freighter, a YT-1930, lands very close by. Shortly, a Wookiee comes down the ramp, followed by a red protocol droid.
Tuskers walks over to the pair. “Faath, old friend, thank you for keeping my location a secret.”
The Wookiee growls a reply, and the droid translates, “Hello, Master Tuskers. I’m afraid that it was the droid that slipped up.” The droid hesitates, “Oh, that would be me. I am sorry that your secret got out, Master Tuskers.”
Tuskers looks at the droid, “Well, that’s why I gave you up. You always were poorly programmed. No worries, my friends. I have more important duties.” He glances off into the trees. “Can you just hurry my supplies over to the ship, so I can get back to work?”
Corey steps forward, “Tuskers. I have a message for you. Someone that wants to see you. She is most insistent. I thought you dead, but ….”
Tuskers looks at Corey, as if seeing him for the first time. “Corey, I told you to stay away. Much danger in that woman. Too much temptation for you. Control is part of being…” He hesitates, as if he lost something. “Being something.”
Aeron grabs Corey by the shoulders and turns him around. “How could you? Darth Athena?” She gives him a push back in the direction that he came from, “Go back to the ship. You need meditation. We will speak of this later.”
Aeron grabs his arm, and looks into his eyes. “Tuskers, listen to me. She isn’t your problem. Let’s get you back to Zonoma Sekot, and get you better. You need to heal. We can help.”
He listens, and nods his head. “Okay. Sure. I’ll go there.”
She smiles slightly, “I will fly with you in Meli. Corey can go with Faath. My ship will follow.”
Tuskers walks back onto the porch, and starts cleaning up the remains of his coffee, and locking the place up. After a moment, he reaches over and picks up his grey cloak and his lightsaber, and turns to go.

Tuskers enters the living ship Meli. Her yellow hull shimmers, the bluish grey stripes pulsing with life. Aeron stops at her own vessel, and talks briefly to Corey. Faath and Red also confer with Aeron before heading back to their own ship. Aeron boards Meli, and all three ships take off and head for orbit.
Tuskers is sitting in the living area inside his ship, he’s looking at a projection of star systems, in the background, there is a highlighted section of the galaxy.
Aeron sits down, “Are all the highlighted ones where you have searched?”
He looks away. “I have searched hundreds of systems, but there are thousands more to check. Time is short, for me. I must find a faster way to find the planet, or it might be too late.”
“Tuskers, why have you not asked for help? The Grey would mount a search. If we had known that you were alive, and needed help.” She walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “We missed you.” Then, in a whisper, “I missed you.”
“I’m sorry, Aeron. I hurt you. I hurt Leena. I got hurt in return.” He stares out the viewport for a moment. “How’s Evangeline?”
Aeron is startled by the question. “How did you know? How much do you know?”
“That you had a daughter? That is easy. That you married Volk? Where is he now, I’ve lost track.”
Aeron closes her eyes, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You’ve changed.” Tuskers smirks. “But nothings ever the same anymore.”
“We’ve all changed. The war, the people that we lost. It’s been a hard time. We needed good leaders, and could have used your help.”
“I’d have been little help to you, my Kage. You needed someone with control of himself.”
“Don’t call me that. I’m not in charge.” She smiles slightly, “You will be surprised at how well our leader is doing.”
“How about a hint on whom we’re talking about?” A beep comes from the nearby panel, “Oh, we’ve arrived. So soon?” They both feel the ship come out of hyperspace, and they look out the viewport.
“This isn’t the Gardaji Rift.” Aeron looks at Tuskers. “Where did you take us?”
Tuskers looks confused, “I didn’t take us anywhere. Meli, where are we?”
They watch as the ship approaches a standard looking blue planet. “I know that planet. It’s Naboo.” Aeron touches the hull, and asks, “Meli, my dear, what are you doing?”
A voice can be heard over the radio, “This is Naboo patrol, to unidentified ship. You are being tracked, please identify yourself, and state your intensions.”
“Tuskers here, Naboo control. Starship Meli, registered as authorized with your system. Just here to visit an old friend.” He turns to Aeron, “I hope they buy the explanation. I’d hate to be shot down.”
“Nevermind that! Take us out of here. We need to get back to home, not visit the gardens of Naboo.”
“Aeron, I don’t have much of a choice, the ship is in control.”
“This is Naboo patrol to starship Meli. Your ship is cleared for approach. Enjoy your visit.”

The organic ship approaches the planet Naboo. As they descend through the atmosphere, Aeron notices that they are lining up to land near a small lake surrounded by a number of trees, and peaceful looking meadows. Meli lands in one of these fields that has obviously seen a few ships land here, from the look of the destroyed landscape.
A ramp lowers from the skin of the ship, and the two figures cloaked in Grey come down. As they start to walk towards the water front, Aeron asks, “Why here?”
Tuskers looks at Aeron, then pulls his lightsaber, “Because Athena is here. Meli knows that there is a score to settle, and wants this baggage to be done.”
“We need to sit down with the Ferronans, and get some control of your ship. I’ve never heard of a Sekotan Skiff being so independent.”
“It has been necessary. We needed to be able to quickly search the different systems, and get out quickly. There are too many places to look for our missing planet. And it takes a long time to get to everywhere.”
Tuskers suddenly stops and drops to his knees, his eyes are closed as if in pain.
"What is it?" Aeron kneels in front of him, and shakes him slightly.
"She..." Tuskers skin is taking on a redish hue, as if he's not breathing. "Left..."
Aeron closes her eyes, and searches the Force for anything she can do to assist.
Tuskers looks like he's about to collapse, "A" Aeron and Tuskers say the next word together, "Trap!"
Aeron opens her eyes, “She was good. This is some kind of Thought Bomb, but specifically setup for you. I just need to find the vessel that it’s contained within.” She jumps up and starts searching.
Tuskers drops forward onto his hands. He calls out, “Hurry!”
Aeron stops and looks like she is listening to the Force. She then starts to run towards the remains of a droid that is a distance away, lying in a ditch. She activates her lightsaber, and reaches out with her free hand Force pulling the scrapped droid towards her to get to it more quickly.
Aeron slices the droid in half, then starts looking inside for the Thought Bomb. “I’m not sure what this will do when I destroy it.”
Tuskers falls over, his eyes rolling back into his head.
Aeron brings forth a small globe from the scrap, and chops it in half with her lightsaber. She turns and rushes to Tuskers side.
Tuskers lies there, just barely breathing. His face regains some of its color. His lips start to move but no sound comes out. Aeron struggles to hear, then sits up.
Aeron smiles at him, then starts to chant, “There is no Dark Side, nor a light side, there is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance as the balance is what keeps me together. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace; Serenity, yet emotion; Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the Grey Jedi.”

Tuskers reaches up and pats her knee, then glances over towards Meli, “Shall we go?”
Aeron helps him up, and he leans heavily on her as they make their way over to the ship.
“There was a strength there that I’ve never seen. How could one individual create a Thought Bomb?”
Aeron shakes her head slightly. “Her anger was so focused that she was able to perform the impossible.”
They board the ship, and it leaves Naboo.

Next time… Zonoma Sekot

[Tuskers]

(The first part of my story here started out very different.There was a "Force ghost" but it seemed like a very weak storyline. I did two rewrites to get the feeling to where I wanted it to be. I hope it is okay, as it has been a long time since I've done this.)

[Tuskers]

The starship Meli exits hyperspace near a trinary system. Three suns dominate the area, but a small green world can be seen floating somewhere near the yellow one. “Zonoma Sekot.” Tuskers observes. “I’ve been afraid to return, for what if the planet notices, and does not appreciate my lack of progress?”
“Speaking of progress, I cannot wait to show you how we’ve rebuilt after the war. Your, um, the Kage has done a wonderful job.”
The ship starts its descent through the atmosphere. They look out at the cloudy region to the south, and can see the snowy white of the north. The ship chooses a path that will cut between the two and towards the warmth where the Grey Jedi has traditionally called ‘home’.
Meli lands directly in front of the steps leading up into the Grand Hall of the Grey Jedi. This isn’t a landing area, and none would have dared the disrespect to the Grey. Tuskers and Aeron descend the ramp, and Tuskers turns and looks at the ship, “Bad girl. Go park yourself somewhere else. Behave.” Meli makes a humming sound, and quickly takes off.
“It will be okay.” Aeron smiles at the departing ship. “She’s quite independent, but that can be useful. I rather like her. Not that I’d give up my ship.”
Several figures emerge from the doors at the top of the steps. Almost all of them are wearing the hooded cloaks of the Grey Jedi, but a few of them are recognizable for their features.
Faath, a Wookiee, although not technically a Grey Jedi, is standing with the Grey.
Corey, his large bulk is very distinguishable.
Ikrit, from a species of large rabbits, cannot hide who he is under a cloak.
There are three males and female standing to one side, probably Feonix, Kite, Kevin and Colton.
A very short figure stands off to the left side, one of the founding Grey, Leor Danal, his green skin peeking out of his robe.
Standing in the middle of the group, a slightly smaller figure lowers her hood. The blonde hair shimmers in the sunshine, the smile on her lips contrasts the tears that form in her blue eyes. “Welcome home, Uncle.”
Tuskers rushes up the steps, and pulls her into a deep hug.
After a few moments, Ikrit can be heard saying, “Not an appropriate way to greet one’s Kage. But, since he is family, I guess we can forgive the breech of protocol.”
Tuskers steps back a half step, and looks his niece in the face, “You are Kage? You lead this mob?”
“Just like my uncle before me.” She gestures at the building, “And we rebuilt from after the Yuuzhan Vong war. A much better temple for the Grey to study, learn, and create balance.”
Tuskers looks at the new Temple, then back at Kira. “You have done well, my Genin. And I sense now that you… Hey, those are Illum crystals in your hair? Since when are lightsaber crystals a decoration?”
Kira sheds a tear at his comment. “Oh, my silly uncle. It has been a very long time since I’ve been a youngling, needing your training. And, yes, these are lightsaber crystals. They were a gift from Jade some time ago.” She has a small smile, in memory of their friend, “Come with me, Jonin Tuskers, and I’ll give you the tour of our new home.”
She gestures up at the building behind her. “The new home of the Grey Jedi. Built with just three Spires. One to represent the peace and knowledge of the Jedi Order, one to represent the Chaos and combat of the Dark Side, and the final to represent the harmony of the Grey.”
Tuskers notices that Aeron slips away, and heads over to where a young girl is standing in the courtyard.
They ascend the steps, and enter the great hall. Several large statues dominate the outer edges of the room. Above the back of the room, a council chamber can be seen through a large window.
Tuskers looks around the room, then looks again, “Where is the throne?” Several Grey gasp at his question. “I hated having a throne in this room before. I thought it was pompous and arrogant for the elected leader of the Grey to sit on a throne.”
Corey walks away, shaking his head and laughing. Feonix walks over and grabs his shoulder, “It’s certainly great to see you in one piece, you scoundrel.”
Kira starts to talk about the building philosophy again, but her words are lost on Tuskers, as he watches the people that he’d know so long ago. The group walks towards the council chamber, and Tuskers comments, “It’s all lovely. The planet helped with the construction, I assume? I can see where some of the walls and even chairs are all grown.”
“Yes, we took lessons from the past, and used the Force to simply grow the building from what was already here. Plenty of rock, trees, vines, and life around here. The chairs here in the Council Chamber are just trees that shaped themselves to our desired shape. If they continue to grow, then they may need to be trimmed in a hundred years.”
Tuskers hangs back in the doorway as the others all enter the Council Chamber. He watches as they all walk to their chosen seats and stand in front of them.
Aeron walks back over to him, “What is it Jonin?”
“I am…” He clears his throat, “I am home.” A tear shimmers on his cheek. “This place and all of you, this is where I’ve always belonged.”
“Scoundrel.” Kira pulls him into a hug.

(OOC : And so it was with me finding out where I had belonged. One would wish that one could go back, and find it all again. But it is lost… As I have been.)
Next… a Debt

[Tuskers]

A Debt

That night… the scene is the now empty council chamber, silent. Zoom out through the window that overlooks the new Great Hall, and still no one to be seen. Out the doors, and across the courtyard, we come to see the Sekotan ship Meli. Inside of the ship, is the sleeping figure of Tuskers.
Suddenly, Tuskers sits up and his hands grab the sides of his head.

*I NEED YOUR SERVICES. YOU MUST FIND MY BROTHER. HE IS HURT, AND YOU MUST HELP. HURRY!*
The image of a planet is left planted in his mind.
Tuskers jumps up, and runs out of his ship and across the courtyard to the Temple. As he arrives in the Great Hall, he sees several figures, most of them dressed for bed, and most of them holding their dormant lightsabers.
Aeron enters the area, and comes running over to him. “Come on, we should go talk to the Kage before we leave. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“We?” Aeron grabs his hand, and pulls him in the direction of the library.

Kage Kira is studying a journal at a large table in the middle of the library. Tuskers notices that it is his own handwriting that she is staring at in the worn book.
Aeron tries to lighten the mood, “Surely you should be asleep, not wasting your time reading the ramblings of a mad-man.”
“This mad-man has just awoken the entire population of the Grey, plus the planet itself. I was actually down here reading these journals already.” She pauses and looks at her empty coffee cup. “Everyone heard the planets private message to you, and they all want to know how they can help. I figured I’d check and see what I could find out about your last encounter with Zonoma Sekot.”
Tuskers shakes his head as he takes a seat. “It’s not in there. Although I am understandably curious as to how you got my journals. But, more importantly, we should talk about my debt.” Aeron takes a seat next to Kira, and she glances at the journal, but quickly focuses on Tuskers as he begins his tale.

“I owe my life to Zonoma Sekot. Not the Grey, not anyone else, but the planet. When Empress Athena and her forces attacked, they used an interesting new weapon. It took my connection to the Force from me. It also robbed me of my vision.
“I don’t remember a number of things from that time, but my memory is quite clear of owing a large debt for the attention that I was given. Zonoma Sekot felt that the Grey being here was good, and that healing me would be in its best interest.”
Aeron interrupts, “Because it knows that we can help it. Our obligation is to help. A wounded brother of our home, it said. We must do what we can.”
Kira places a hand on top of Aeron’s, “We are going.” She turns and looks at Ikrit as he enters the room.
Ikrit bows, “Every Grey with a Sekotan ship is mobilizing. Those that fly standard ships are hoping that there is some way they can detect the planet?”
Tuskers shrugs, “I do not know. I’ll have Meli transmit over the information that I have.” He looks slightly up and half closes his eyes. “Okay, big data packet is being sent now.”
Ikrit shakes his head, his rabbit ears flopping back and forth. “The planet gave an image during its plea for help. But figuring out that image versus our star charts is proving impossible.”
Then continue to discuss the past events and any additional clues for some time.
Eventually, Leor Danal slowly enters the library. “We used to hold council in the council chamber.” His frown is not too intense. “Difficult this search is, if we sit here talking. Information from our earlier discussion narrows things down. Ships are ready to depart.”
Kira stands up, and starts moving swiftly towards the doorway. “I will send everyone my best wishes as Kage. Then I will prepare for departure. Master Danal, will you stay behind to coordinate our efforts?”
“Honored, I am, to help in this capacity. Someday, a ship of my own I will grow for the freedom that it provides.” The small Master moves off.
Kage Kira walks into a communications room, and picks up a microphone. She can see on the displays a number of ships either taking off or preparing to depart. “They all have assigned places to visit?”
“Yes, Kage. We picked out binary and trinary systems based upon Tuskers information. We’ve also blocked out systems that he already visited.”
“Good work. And send a few planets to Meli, she’s already experienced at this search.” Kira activates the microphone, “Grey Jedi. We head out today on a great search. The fate of a living planet hangs in the balance.” She looks over at Tuskers, “The importance of this was communicated to us all, so go out, and keep yourselves safe. Report all findings back quickly, as we do not know how much time we have. May the Force be with you.”
Aeron walked in, “My ship is prepared. Will you be joining me, my Kage?”
Kira looks back at Tuskers, then at Aeron, “Not this time, Aeron. Someone has to keep an eye on this one.”
Tuskers looked back and forth between the two women, and then shakes his head. “I feel like I should be asking permission to depart. My niece Kira… My Kage, would you accompany me on this grand quest?” Tuskers bows with respect.
Aeron muttered something under her breath, and Kira took Tuskers arm and led him out of the room. “I did so miss spending time together.”
Tuskers nods his head once. “You needed time to grow and learn without me cramping your style. Of course, that isn’t why I was away, but it turned out very well. YOU turned out very well. My brother would have…”
“Tuskers!” Kira’s voice was sharp in her reprimand. “Do not blame yourself for my father’s death. He was a victim if the war. That isn’t your fault, or mine. We all do what we can.”
“And I could have been here helping to fight the Yuuzhan Vong.”
They are approaching his ship at this point. She stops and points down. “She sounded most insistent that you get back on task. If she did not command you to seek before, then we’d be in much worse shape to search now. As it is, we might actually visit most known binary systems in the next six months with all of our resources poured into this one project.”
“Six months? How did you come up with that figure?” He gestures her to go ahead into the ship. As he does so, he notices Aeron hugging her daughter before boarding her own ship.
“The Grey have grown in the last couple of years. Most have chosen the ships from our own planet rather than using other technology. Our ships are faster, and have such appeal to a Grey Jedi.”
Tuskers runs his hand over the surface of his ship. “I know…” The hatch closes behind him, and motion is felt as the ship leaves the surface quickly. “So why have you not grown your own ship yet?”
Kira shook her head. “Time… The demands upon a Kage are many. Actually, it’ll be good to get away on this search for a short time. Hyperspace jumps take forever, a good time to relax, meditate, and reconnect with one’s family.”
“It certainly helps to have the first Kage of the Grey able to jump in and take over, unlike when I was forced to take the position. Everyone suddenly disappeared. I found something to believe in, and then it was gone. Rebuilding is all I could do.”
“And you did pretty well. Some of the old ones came back, and we gained a lot of members. Very few left the order over philosophical issues. They understood what it meant to be Grey, and embraced the ideals.”
They continue to talk for some time, enjoying the quiet time. Eventually, they head off to bed, but Kira cannot sleep. She goes forward into the cockpit of the ship. They had not come in here earlier, so she takes a few minutes to study the controls, and then she starts concentrating on the ship itself. She can feel the living vessel, and its feelings. They speak for a while, and Kira gets a better impression of not only her uncle, but the mission that they have been on for the past ten years.
“Meli, can you display the image of the Brother planet?” A hologram appears, and Kira recognized the image as the one from last night. She looks at it for quite some time.
Tuskers walks into the room. “What is going on?”
Kira points at the image, “It’s not there. The image doesn’t show what we’re looking for. There are no stars in the background. The planet is not near a binary system, or it would have appeared in the image.”
Tuskers stares at the image for a bit, “But maybe she did not know what reference points to put in there?”
“We need to change course, right away.”
“What? Why?” Tuskers starts touching controls, and panels start to light.
“Take us to the other planet that you discovered. Meli has the information from the image, and if we can get a image from the other planet, we can narrow down the area that we need to search. Of course, a third point of view would take us right there.”
“The Yuuzhan Vong?”
“Possibly, but I was thinking a whole lot of Sekotan ships all in one location, scanning with some of the most powerful Grey Jedi helping.”
Tuskers smiles, and grabs her. “Brilliant! Cleaver girl! You may have just solved it.” He reaches out, and places a hand on top of a control panel. The ship drops out of hyperspace. “Now, Meli, we need to go back to the other planet.” He looks over his shoulder at Kira, “Did I tell you about the other? It would not speak to us, almost like it was asleep. A great big planet sized nap.”
Kira yawns suddenly, “That’s what I’m going to do. I’m off to take a planet sized nap. Be sure to wake me BEFORE we arrive, so I can be presentable. As Kage, I have appearances to consider.”
Tuskers chuckles as she walks down the corridor. He then focuses on getting the ship underway. He reaches for the communications panel. “This is Starship Meli to the Grey Temple. Have any available ships rendezvous at the following coordinates.”

[Tuskers]

Later, the ship Meli appears from hyperspace in a binary system. The two stars off in the distance are doing a delicate dance in the gravity of each other, and sitting off to the side of one star is a lovely planet of reds and greens. Meli starts to approach the planet and the two Grey enter the cockpit.
Kira looks out the window, “Hello beautiful. Care to talk?” She does not take her eyes away from the planet, “Is there life down there? Anyone home besides the planet?”
“There are some animal species, and a very few if any settlements. I think the radiation levels in this area are too high for a long stay.” Tuskers asks, “So, do we try to find some Dragon Caves, or should we just try to reach out from here?”
She reaches over and takes his hand into his. He reaches over and puts his other hand on a control panel. They both close their eyes and try to speak to the planet though Meli. After a couple of minutes, then both open their eyes and sit down.
“Well, so much for the easy approach.” Tuskers frowns at the controls. “I know I wasn’t able to get in touch last time, but it was very obvious that this wasn’t the place I was looking for.”
Kira starts punching buttons, then looks at the results. “Meli, dear, please take us into a low orbit for mapping. We need to look for a way inside.”
“I was afraid you’d say something like that. You do remember what happened when I was touched by Zonoma Sekot?”
“If you come up with a better plan, then let me know. Otherwise, I’m pulling rank.”
“Yes, my Kage.” Tuskers tries to hide his smile.

A few hours later, they are studying the images that are being brought in, and suddenly both of them jump up. “There! Meli, take us down.”
The ship begins its descent through the atmosphere and they guide it towards the area that caught their attention. The ship lands, and they walk the remaining distance into the caves that they have found. Both of them are very on guard, Tuskers openly carries his lightsaber.
They reach the entrance of the cavern, and slowly make their way inside. Kira whispers, “A Genin entering the Dragon Caves usually has no equipment with them. I hope it’s okay that I brought a flashlight.” Suddenly, the cavern fills with light, as she turns it on.
Multiple colors from crystals and jewels can be seen in every direction. It’s very obvious in looking around that there has never been anyone in this cave. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. If the planet gets angry, we could be buried alive.”
“Relax Uncle. No one has ever died in the Dragon Caves before.”
“May I remind you that this isn’t home, and this isn’t the Dragon Caves. This planet may not take kindly to being woken up.”
She looks at him for a moment, “No, don’t remind me of that.” She takes a long breath, and then she starts walking.
Several hours later, they are still walking and exploring, until suddenly, the cavern stops at a cliff. Looking over the edge, they shine the light downward, and cannot see anything below.
“So, all of this, and we’ve either reached our destination, or it’s time to turn back.” Tuskers sits down upon the edge of the cliff, dangling his feet. Kira grabs him, and tries to pull him away from the edge. “Hey, don’t… I’m going to have a conversation here, and figure out some information.” He looks down the hole in the ground, “Time to WAKE UP!”
“Tuskers, this is insane! Come over here, and we’ll try to…”
“Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.” He stops suddenly, and crawls away from the edge. “Oh, I think we did something.”
Suddenly the ground starts to shake, and the room does not seem to be quite so dark. A image of something fills their heads, but they cannot figure out what they are seeing.
“Concentrate first on Zonoma Sekot. In a minute we’ll switch to thinking about the wounded planet. Hopefully, we can get it to give us a clue. If not, then think about a galactic map as the third image. Stay one with the Force, and good luck.”
The rumbling gets worse, and the two are forced to move further away from the edge. They concentrate on sending the images to the planet, to see if they can get a response. The first minute passes, with them thinking about Zonoma Sekot. That does not seem to change anything. About halfway through the second minute, the rumbling slows. They are not getting a response, but things seem a bit better. During the third minute, they try to imagine star charts, and the locations of where they are now, and where they just came from.
“Keep that image in your mind.” Tuskers instructs. She can sense that he’s now thinking about the injured planet again, and then thinking about the star chart. Back and forth, he keeps swinging between the two images. For another two minutes, there is no response, and finally the rumbling completely stops, as they do also.
They stand up. “Well, that didn’t get us anywhere.” She glances down the very deep hole again, “But maybe we didn’t want to get somewhere.”
They take one last look around, then start working their way back, being mindful of any other passages that they may have missed along the way.
About twelve hours after they initially arrived on the planet, they arrive back outside the cavern, and find that the sun is just coming up. Kira points off to the side, “There is another ship. One of ours from the markings.”
A figure is quickly coming their way, his large frame bearing down on them.
Tuskers assumes a fighting stance, one foot in front of the other, his saber held in the rear hand, but not ignited. Kira has not noticed this yet, and greets the newcomer, “Volk, it has been forever, how are…” She realizes that his attention is focused on Tuskers, and he seems to be attacking. “What are you doing?” Kira tries to step into the way of the two combatants, but she’s too late.
The two ignite their lightsabers just a second before Volk crashes into Tuskers. Their sabers hit, and bounce off of each other, and they swing them around for another try.
Tuskers shuffles his feet back a half foot, and tries to use the extra distance to set his saber into a weak spot, but Volk just advances and uses his larger size to his advantage. Tuskers smiles slightly. “I certainly am glad to see you, old friend.”
“Your words are wasted. Just die.”
A large pair of boulders suddenly comes flying from the cavern, and straight at the two, as they are swinging their blades around for another pass. Both men jump back, and away from each other. When they look up, they see Kira standing between them.
“Do not get up. Do not move!” She looks at one and then the other. “You are both in so much trouble. I want an explanation, now.” She is clearly looking at Volk, as he continues to sit on the ground.
“He tried to steal my wife. I cannot tolerate such an insult. My families honor is at stake.” Volk begins to get up, and two dozen good sized rocks all launch themselves in his direction. “I will tear him apart. I will cause him unspeakable pain.”
“That would be moving. Your Kage commands you to stay put.” Kira turns in Tuskers direction. “What about you?”
Tuskers turns off his lightsaber, and brushes off his hands, “I find it amazing that you think that threats still mean anything to me. Death! Been there, done that.” He directs his attention back to Kira, “Volk and I have a long history of not agreeing to things. Even back when I was Kage, and he’d try to influence how things were being run.” Tuskers takes his eyes off of Kira for a second, and looks at Volk. “But I’ve not tried to take his wife anywhere. She rescued me.”
Volk didn’t look like he was listening, but then he saw the Kage starring at him again. “What? The guy…. Wait, you didn’t try to pick up your relationship with Aeron?”
“No, she would not talk to me about it. She didn’t even introduce your daughter.”
Kira took a step towards Volk, “Okay, if you two can behave like adults again, then you may stand up. If you start anything, remember that I’m Kage and you two will be hunted down by the entire order.”
“Yes, Kage.” Both men agreed.
Another Sekotan Skiff came ripping through the atmosphere, approaching at much too fast of a pace. All three on the ground looked up, as the ship looked like it was about to land on them.
It stopped just about four meters above their heads, and the hatch opens. Both Aeron and Evangeline stick their heads out. “Everything okay down here?”
Kira waved, “Okay. No problem now that the testosterone levels have dropped a notch. I just had to remind them who was in charge here.” Kira gestured towards a blank area nearby. “Aeron, set down over there, I want see if there is strength in numbers.”
Tuskers wasn’t taking his eyes off of Volk, as he hung his lightsaber from its perch on his belt, and started walking towards Meli. “Tuskers, we’re going to need your help too. We cannot do this without you.” Kira chased after her Uncle.
Tuskers looked over his shoulder at her, but kept walking towards his ship. “My Kage, with all respects, I need a visit to the refresher, and a cup of coffee before I do anything else today.” And he disappeared into his ship as Kira stood there watching him go.
Aeron steps back into her ship, the Grey Avril, and it lands in the area that Kira had indicated. She emerges shortly, and Kira goes over and hugs her, then starts talking about what just happened.
Meanwhile, the nine year old Evangeline leaves the ship and hugs her father. They speak for a couple of minutes, then he heads over to the Grey Avril to find out what the Kage has in mind.
Tuskers emerges from his ship, and seeing Volk walking over there, he decides not to approach. He begins running his hands over the hull of his ship, and Meli makes a low humming sound as they share a bond.
Evangeline notices this, and wanders over to investigate. “What is that noise that your ship is making?”
Tuskers looks down at the precocious child, “Greetings, Genin. My ship and I share a bond through the Force, and sometimes my ship sings for me. Doesn’t your mothers ship do this?”
“I don’t know. I’ve only been allowed to leave home a couple of times. So I have never heard it do that.”
“Are you studying the Force?”
“Yes.”
“Try to talk to your mothers ship, the next time you have some quiet time inside. Speak with your mouth and with your connection through the Force. Sooner or later, as you grow stronger, you’ll not need to speak aloud.” Tuskers is watching the child. “Go ahead and touch her, she likes to be pet.” He glances over and sees that Aeron has noticed her daughter has over to his ship. “What is it like growing up at the Grey Temple? There were no children amongst the Grey…” His sentence trails off as he sees Volk looking angrily in his direction.
“There are only a few kids, but we have a lot of fun between studying the Force. We recently tried a trick that is credited to you, throwing balls of water. Is it true that you started that?”
Tuskers chuckles, “Oh, yes, back when we used to hang out at the beach quite a bit. I had forgotten about that.”
“It’s not as easy as it looks to hold the water together.” Evangeline gets a slightly distant look, “Meli. Your ship says she is called Meli.”
Aeron has arrived behind Tuskers. “Come on Angel, it’s time for you to wait in Avril while the adults try the impossible.”
Tuskers shakes his head. “No, she can help, and we have a few minutes while Ikrit and Feonix arrive. Meli says they are entering the atmosphere now.”
“Tuskers, my daughter will not be getting involved in this. She will be safely inside the ship while we try…”
“Aeron, does it matter if she is two feet outside or inside the ship? Unless you plan on sending her away, we are sitting ducks here if the planet decides to strike. And if you send her away, then you die, your ship dies…”
“Mom, I’d like to help, if I can.” Evangeline takes her mothers hand. “I’ve been learning a lot recently.”
Aeron looks at her daughter with pride and love, and then she glances at Tuskers, and turns away. “Come on, I’ll explain to you what we are going to do, and how.”
Tuskers watched the pair walk away, and noticed that Volk was still starring at him with anger as Kira started walking over to him. “We have reinforcements arriving.”
He smiles at her, “I know, my Kage. I was about to tell you. What is our plan if this does not work?”
“We try to continue to search other methods. I’m not calling the entire order down here. What we’re doing could be too dangerous anyhow.”
“Agreed. One more try, then we’re on our way.” The two of them sit down in the area between the ships. Aeron and Evangeline walk over and join them just after the two other Sekotan ships land.
Ikrit and Feonix walk over to where the loose circle of people is starting to form. Volk walks over, and sits next to Aeron.
Kage Kira nods welcome to the two new arrivals, “Thank you for coming so quickly. If this works, we will be well on our way to finding the lost planet.”
Tuskers mutters under his breath, “If it does not, we all may die.”
Feonix looks around the seated figures, “Do you think the planet would do that?”
Kira nods, “We got beat up pretty bad while trying this inside the cavern, and there were only the two of us. We are hoping that more of us, and the ships, will be able to get through to this planet.”
They all begin to focus their energy on the Force, feeling the currents and directing their attention at the planet. Again, the ground begins to shake. Kira looks in the direction of Meli, then the other ships, and she asks them all to speak to the planet also.
After a while, something changes. The planet has awoken and realized they are there. It seems as if the planet is annoyed at first, but cannot decide what to do about the annoying insects that are upon it’s back. Then, it hears their message, and sees the image of the wounded planet that Zonama Sekot had shown to the Grey. Tuskers looks surprised, and turns to look at Evangeline. Aeron notices, and asks her child how she is doing.
The planet turns its attention away from the annoying humanoids on its surface, and begins to scan the heavens for the wounded planet.
The Grey Jedi stop transmitting the images, and simply listen to what they can overhear. Occasionally, one or another of the Grey will stop, and take a break. Hours pass and Evangeline brings snacks from the ship.
Two more ships arrive, and the additional Grey help with the listening. Days pass, but there is nothing to do but listen. Any other conversation seems irrelevant and risks not catching that vital piece of information.
Eventually, the eavesdropping pays off, as a few of the members recognize a system or two against the systems that they have visited.
Suddenly, they hear nothing from the planet for a moment. They all strain to feel anything, and then they get a clear image, as if it is being communicated directly to them. A few waypoints are noted on a galactic scale, and at the end of the journey is the same image that Zonama Sekot had shown them.
Everyone quickly jumps up, and heads into their own ships, and starts the liftoff process. “Always on the move.”

[Tuskers]

Tuskers is sitting inside of Meli as Kira enters. “Come on, we have to go.” He does not move. But the hatch closes and the ship takes off. “Uncle, are you alright?”
“I was afraid,” he whispers. “Afraid the planet would reject us, and lash out. And then I got angry that it wasn’t helping the search.”
“But it did! It told us exactly where to look.”
“No, it didn’t. It told her. The child. She grew up on Sekotan soil, and has never known a non-living planet. Her efforts got through. The rest of us just directed the message. We were the conduit, and she was the messenger. Her heart and childish nature caught the attention of the planet.” He pauses, and closes his eyes. “I wonder if the wounded planet is the seed of Zonama Sekot, or of this planet?”
Kira touches her uncle on the shoulder, “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry Kira. I’m sorry that your father and mother both died. I’m very sorry that I was not there for you when you needed me. And I’m sorry that you could not have saved me from this ten years of hell that I’ve lived through.”
“Uncle, you don’t need to be sorry. We are all following the path laid to us by the Force. Free will helps us along that path, and you took care of a number of things correctly. You gave me a large family of Grey Jedi, and the wisdom to eventually lead them into a time of prosperity. Are you not proud of your Kage?”
Tuskers laughs out loud. “Yes. You took over after the war, and built the Grey from where Aeron left off. She might not have been able to cover the ground that you have, as she has darkness inside of her. I know, since I was part of that.”
“You are speaking in riddles again, but I think I understand.” She looks towards the control room. “Should we make sure this ship of yours is taking us where we belong? Aeron told me about your pit stop on Naboo.”
“If the child woke the sleeping planet, then I wonder what kind of power she will have when we arrive at the wounded one?”
Kira looks horrified, “Tuskers! You will leave Evangeline alone. I’ll call Aeron and have them go back home.”
“If you do, then this mission will probably fail.” He closes his eyes, “Search your feelings, you know it to be true.”
“And there are only four younglings at the Grey Temple. So if she comes to harm, you will have a lot of people very, very mad with you. That is, if you survive the wrath of Volk and Aeron long enough to worry about it.”
Tuskers opens his eyes and shakes his head slightly. “I loved her. I would not see her daughter come to any harm.” He pauses for a moment. “I did not know, or suspect that the planet would react to her. I just thought that it would be a good lesson for her to feel so many channeling the Force together. The learning was mine. I was over-confident, just like the Jedi of the old days.”
Kira starts to walk towards her cabin, “Uncle, you are from the old days. The question is if you can make a place for yourself in the current day galaxy.”
“Just a crazy, lost old man.” Tuskers leans back in his chair and starts to fall asleep. “And it would be your decision…”


Meli signals that they are about to exit hyperspace. Tuskers starts working on making a pot of coffee. Kira glares at him, “You know, you used to be a pilot. You might want to actually go to the control room once in a while.”
“Harumph. Meli takes care of the small details, and I sit in that chair when I…” He starts running to the cockpit, and she quickly follows.
When they enter, and look out into space, there is nothing but distant stars visible. “Meli, roll over! We can’t see.”
The ship rotates, and a frightening piece of a planet comes into view.
With no local star to light the planet, it is hard to make out any details. But it only takes a glance to tell that the planet was devastated by heavy weapons fire, and that the lack of warmth has caused the remains of the atmosphere and water to freeze solid.
“I’ve had ten years to wonder what I’d find. This is worse than I imagined.”
Kira activates the communications system, “All Grey, assemble in a close formation 10 clicks above the surface. Grey Avril, you cover the rear. Volk, you have the point, take us in.”
She starts punching buttons on the navigation console. Tuskers sits in the pilot seat, and takes manual control to fly the formation.

Volk signals the fleet to slow to a stop, and they make a close formation looking down at the planet.
Kira picks up the microphone again, and punches a few buttons. “Starship Meli calling the Grey Temple. Do you read? We have arrived. We will report in after our first attempt at contact. All ships will transmit our telemetry, stand by to receive.”
Tuskers is starring out the window, and over to the port side. Kira walks over and takes a look. “Is that a…” She flips a switch, then speaks into the microphone. “Ikrit. Turn port side and do a fly by of that Worldship. Carefully.”
Aeron is the first to respond, “That ship is dead. Although I would not like to guess if the Yuuzhan Vong were here before, or after this planet was destroyed.” She pauses, “How did you spot it Kira? There is no Force signature, and no light out here, it’s practically invisible.”
Ikrit called in, “No signs of life here. Sensors read very cold temperatures. This ship has been sitting here a very long time. I can see several very large hull breeches.”
Kira calls him back to formation. “Okay, everyone, as soon as Ikrit is back, we’ll all start up. Probe lightly at first, we just want to see if we can feel any signs of life. More of us will be here soon, and perhaps we can come up with a rescue plan.”

A few hours later, they are all tired from their efforts, but not any closer to confirming life inside the remains of the planet. A few more of the Grey Jedi have arrived, both in standard ships and the living ships of Zonama Sekot.
Tuskers walks out of the cockpit, and leaves Kira alone with her thoughts. He enters his cabin, and closes the door. “Meli, I need to talk to Zonama Sekot. Can you make that happen without Kira knowing?” Tuskers places his hands along the wall where some of the living tissue of the ship is exposed. “Meli?”
The distance between home and where the dead planet are located is vast, but this ship was born from the life of Zonama Sekot. She reaches out, across the spiral arm of the galaxy, and into the unknown regions that hide the home of the Grey Jedi.
Tuskers staggers slightly at the strength of the connection, as once again the planet he calls home turns its attention upon him. He does not hesitate, he simply reports, “We are here.” Then he closes the connection that he is feeling. He slams the door in his mind shut, so that he can’t and won’t feel any response.
Kira barges into the cabin, “Of all the stupid and foolish things you could have done.” She grabs him as he is slumping onto the bed. “Why?”
“I did not have a choice. It was that, or risk having Evangeline try.” Shaking his head, “I could not do it. And I had to do something to fulfill this debt.”
“And if Zonama Sekot leaves orbit to come here? We could lose everything. It was too great of a risk!”
“It would take time for her to prepare the hyperspace engines, and leave. We have time to do something productive for now.” He looks down at the floor. “I’m sorry Kira. I had no choice. I betrayed you, but I had no choice. Frack!”
Kira turned to walk out the door, “Aeron and Evangeline are trying to contact the planet. The rest of us are listening. Come help once you pull yourself together.”
“Fierfek!” He jumps up and follows her back into the cockpit.
The scene outside the window hasn’t changed in the few minutes that he’s been away. Instead, it’s the feeling of the Force. Before there was a large combined effort to nudge the planet, and see if it would respond. Now, there is one small effort, and a dozen people listening for any type of response.
Aeron’s voice fills the cockpit. “Okay, we’re done. She’s not getting through.”
Kira looks worried. “Aeron, we have to know, and she reached the last planet. I’m not sure we can do this without her.”
Aeron can be heard sighing, after a moment, “Five minutes. Not a second more.”
They all concentrate again, trying to wake the sleeping giant. However, the five minutes pass, and nothing happens.
Ikrit is the first to speak. “Unfortunate, to lose such a large lifeform.”
Kira sits in the pilots seat. “Okay, we’re going home. All ships calculate your jumps.”
“No.” Tuskers whispers.
“Tuskers, it’s over. If Zonama Sekot wants to investigate further, then she can come out here and look for herself.”
“THAT’S IT! You are a genius!” He starts punching buttons on consoles all over the cockpit. “All ships, stand by.”
“Aeron here, what’s going on now?”
“Not sure yet, give me a minute to figure out what Tuskers is up to.”
“The ships… they are the conduit. That is why she needed us.” He stops suddenly, and looks Kira in the eyes, “Trust me.”
“Your loyalty is already in question. Are you in control, or is Zonama Sekot?”
“Does not matter. We have all ships call back to Zonama Sekot, just like I did a few minutes ago. She will use them as a conduit to talk, as the ships are a part of her.”
Tuskers suddenly walks out of the room. Kira yells after him, “Where are you going?”
He calls back, “It’s bad luck to die on an empty stomach.”
“Die? Who said anything about dying? I thought we were just setting up a satellite radio here?” Kira looks very annoyed, then flips a switch on the console. “Okay, everyone start making preparations to allow Zonama Sekot to channel her communications through our ships. Take any and all possible precautions. And if anyone comes up with precautions, please let the rest of us know what they are. Kage out.”

About fifteen minutes later, they all are convinced that the plan is crazy, but that it might just work. At the very least, it would let Zonama Sekot know if the planet before them is dead or alive, without it having to travel here itself.
They all check over their ships, and they speak to their ships, just as Tuskers had a little while ago. The ships use the communications systems, the Force, or whatever other connection they have to the planet of their birth, and establish a connection.
“Trust in the Force” Someone says…
The power of a dozen Sekotan skiffs, driven by a determined living planet, is terrifying. The Grey are on the edge of their seats, feeling the wave of power, and hoping.
Hope gives way to joy, as they realize that they are feeling two way communications. The dead hulk of a planet before them isn’t as dead as it appears to be. They are excited, and cautiously optimistic. They try to listen in, but the talk between two planets is beyond the scope of their understanding.
They watch the planet outside their windows, but there is no visible movement.
After some time, the communications have stopped. Everyone waits, holding their breath, and nothing more happens.
Tuskers puts his hand onto the wall, “Meli, dear, what now?”
Pressing a couple of buttons on the Communications console, “This is Kage Kira to the Grey Temple. Status report please.”
“Corey Dooku here, my Kage. Until a few minutes ago, all was well here. I think you already know that you’ve set off our planet. I am not sure what you’ve done.” He pauses a moment. “Leor Danal is talking to the Yuuzhan Vong right now. They have need of help getting off planet. They claim to not have enough ships prepared to go where they need to go. Any idea what that might mean, my Kage?”
“Corey, get on the line with all of our ships that are out on search, tell them that we’ve found our target. All ships to return home at best possible speed. Kage out.”
“She had this planned all along. Smart girl.” Tuskers leans back in his chair. “And I thought she was just a beautiful planet.”
“What are you rambling about now?” Kira does not seem amused.
“Zonama Sekot. She knew that the shapers could repair the devastated ‘brother’ of hers. I do wonder if she knew about the Yuuzhan Vong Worldship sitting here. I’m sure they will use it for spare parts.” He’s practically beaming. “Very clever girl.”
“That girl is our home planet. And we should be getting back there.” Kira points at the control panel, where a light is flashing. “Or should I ask Meli to engage the hyperdrive?”
Tuskers reaches for the control, and the ship jumps into hyperspace.

The End (?)