Gwynbleidd

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Aria Blair
Cathar

What was it like, what would it be like, how was it like... to kill a person? The multiple variations of that particular question revolved through Aria's mind on more than one occasion. Over, and over, again and again. It was a question she grappled with on moral grounds yet never found a foothold. She studied the Sith and Exar Kun, the fall of Ulic Qel-Droma and then his redemption. Every single time, Aria struggled. The baby kath hounds screaming resurfaced in her nightmares. If killing those animals on Dantooine caused so much pain to her inner self, how could anyone possibly murder another person? It didn't seem possible, it didn't seem human. There had to be a lack of conscience that she did not have.

But, like all strange things Aria found herself at war. At the center of a conflict that defied her beliefs about violence. Could she kill a person?

The answer was yes. But, could she deal with it?

One problem with war and battle was that Aria had not even a second to deal with the fact that it was her blade that carved a hissing cut across the dead Mandalorian's throat. The smell of smoking blood brushed against her. Blaster fire rained down. Her saber glided from one hand to the other, spinning and deflecting the bolts back at the clansmen firing. She saw Ken and Xeviiy had handled their opponents -- keeping them at a distance away where they would not be a threat. A flash of concern for Anna crossed her mind, but Aria suppressed it.

"Move, move, move, move!" Aria waved her arm, directing her group and the Republican soldiers that followed them. She wasn't an expert with it, but the power would come in handy. A burst of speed from the force allowed her to accelerate on the sand, rounding in a curve towards the right-side battlement. Adrenaline, nerves, worries, they spun with her in a battle mixture. Her violet saber weaved through Mandalorian enemies, and Aria within the heat of battle looked far different from the Aria in the dueling ring. She dodged blaster fire, deflected another bolt, twirled to cut down two of them before jumping to a cover point which would be used as the attacking point on the battlement.

She scanned ahead to see one side of the battlement was loaded with low rank Neo-Crusaders. The other had a few of them, but also a rally master.

On the other side of the battle, Alek led the way towards the left-side battlement. Most of the Mandalorian guns trained upon them and fired with seemingly endless volleys. With a shield troop at the front, heavy casualties were avoided but Republican troops still fell at an alarming pace. Alek cleaved a Mandalorian in two, leaving yet another corpse on the bloody path behind him. He looked back and found Leon.

"We can't slow down, Major! Give the command and we'll all charge. It won't be pretty, but I don't think this Mandalorian scum has enough men to take down you and me!"

Back with Aria she looked at Ken and Xeviiy along with Anna. "We need to split up. There's a rally master up ahead. If you three can take a few soldiers and hit the main defense, I can try and take him down. Ken, you can provide support. Break up their defenses and cause confusion. Xeviiy, I need a Jedi leading the charge. Can you do this?"

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

At last, I am at work. It's literally been one thing after another lately.

Anyway, enough talking. I HAVE MANDOS TO KILL!

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

You guys are wonderful. Just had to say. Lol.

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Aria Blair
Cathar

The battle had been raging for hours before Aria and her team had even arrived. This was the second wave as the first was sent to establish an element of a hold for the beachfront. In the skies, the Mandalorian fleet defending the planet had been broken through yet still proved to be a capable opponent; taking down a few Republic ships in the battle above. How entrenched the Mandalorians were entrenched within the jungles of Cathar, no one knew for sure; but they knew the main outpost was within the primary city of Cathar itself. But, hundreds of anti-air defense systems prevented a surge strike at the heart.

They had to go the long way, through the hailstorm of fire on the beach, and then the deathtrap of the jungle.

Aria darted her head back and forth, surveying the destruction all around her. The sounds came back to her slowly, and then she heard a familiar voice barking over the explosions and screaming. Ken. She listened to him close, her heart beating frantically in her chest, yet his words soothed her. Immediately, Aria nodded to him in acknowledgement and found cover in a large crater where heavy blaster fire indented the earth. There were quickly made defensive palisades, scrapped up from ship debris shielding the troops. Heavy soldiers with durasteel shields also came out to form a protection barrier around Aria, but mostly because she was close to Major Athos.

Leon took priority to the Republic soldiers, seeing him as the man who could lead them amidst the frantic battle. And they needed it.

The Republic was getting butchered. Troops were falling from heavy chain gunfire from heavily defended turret placements at the high end of the beach at the tree-line of a vast jungle.

Luck was on their side early on when one of the three placements was shattered into dust by a well-placed shot from a gunship – until that gunship was brought down in a flaming heap.

Her eyes adjusted to the sight, the hardest thing to absorb were familiar faces. She noticed one, two people she’d grown up with on Dantooine face down in the sand. Blood around them, burn marks where they’d been shot. Lightsaber hilts like stone, lifeless on the ground. Aria pushed them out of her mind, glancing to the two turret posts. She ignited her violet saber, entering into a fighter’s sense, but before she rushed foolishly; Aria caught glimpse of Alek leading a team of Jedi and Republic soldiers behind him.

In a fierce battle with a Mandalorian soldier, she saw Alek’s true power at work. He impaled him in the chest and let the crusader drop into a heap. Alek kept moving forward, unflinching. She’d heard the stories about him bringing down a criminal group on Tatooine. Killed them, but she didn’t know what it meant to kill. Alek did it with ease, and kept moving forward.

Perhaps that was the key, not to stand still, find the next problem and solve it. If she wasn’t so focused on everything else, she would have taken time to appreciate one of the most impressive feats performed with a lightsaber she’d ever seen. Alek talked about the power core of his personal weapon, and now she knew why. Alek cut clean through a vibrosword, the kind designed to prevent it from happening. But, the bright azure pulsing out of his saber burned with a flickering power not found in most Jedi’s sabers.

Aria blocked a blaster bolt coming her way, deflecting it off. She went over to Leon. “Major! Can you go with Alek and the heavy troopers and loop around the left towards that turret post?” She pointed out the plan, sweeping her hand over in the direction she intended. With heavy shields, Alek’s saber as a battering ram, and the Major, Aria believed they could take it out. “You’ll take heavy fire, but with them we can do a quick run and take the right side before they have time to re-focus!” She pointed at Ken, Anna, and Xeviiy. She intended to separate them into teams of speed and power.

It happened before Aria thought it would. Three Neo-Crusaders with their azure armor leaping over the palisade where a brief opening had come. Arren was too far from her position to provide support, but she began running to her student’s aid as quickly as possible. The warriors faced Ken, Xeviiy, and Aria alike. Their war cries pierced their defensive circle, and quickly after their vibroblades sung down upon them.

Aria had never killed someone in her life until that moment. A whirl of violet, deflecting the Mandalorian’s arcing strike away, and then a pirouette. Smooth, almost beautiful. But, the beauty was marred by a guttural choke of the clansman who took Aria’s sweeping blade across his neck. Throat slit, burned, he collapsed in front of her.

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Aria Blair
Cathar

The adoration and praise was addictive, and Aria felt a bubbling sensation of pride rising up when she heard the sense of awe that seemed to come from Xeviiy as she spoke about the famous moment in front of the council. Despite the feeling, Aria tried to suppress it. Arren Kae’s teachings of avoiding pride and ego remained with her, and the truth was as Aria saw it; she was no hero. Here she stood amongst Republic soldiers who have trained for battle most of their lives, even many of them who were veterans in the previous conflict. Major Athos was one of those heroes, and idol she meant to talk to more about his experiences. For now, for now it could wait.

Jedi and soldiers boarded their transports, and the transports proceeded onward to capital ships. Assault cruisers shot into hyperspace warp towards Cathar, lead by the capital ship The Harbinger.

Aria learned while she sat on the transport, that the long wait before plunging into battle was the worst. She had never felt more unease in her entire life, an unspeakable force tingling at the back of her mind. She took a deep breath and watched her fellow Jedi around her.

She looked at Xeviiy, studying her face, wondering if the padawan was feeling the same stir of emotions. With a glance, she looked over at Ken and then Leon. Of all of them, it seemed to her Arren Kae was the most calm. Even now, there was no way to read her master. How could the old woman seem so at peace when Aria wanted to throw up?

And she did.

Embarrassed, Aria looked around at the other Jedi. “Sorry.” Was all she could muster. Arren laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s good to be nervous.” The Master could see concern etched on the faces of the Jedi around them, if the girl who gave the rousing speech was rattled they too would be rattled. “You’d be stupid if you weren’t.”

With the words of wisdom, signs of relief appeared on many Jedi’s faces. A soldier came down from the cockpit. “Five minutes to landing, get yourselves ready boys, we’re about kick some Mandalorian ass! For the Republic!” There were cheers amongst the soldiers, and Aria found herself voicing out her thrill along with them.

In the last moments before they touched down, Aria wanted to talk to Major Athos. Ask him a question. Learn something. But, the words didn’t come. She felt troubled by the lack of them, as if she always needed to be speaking or learning something. But, it was then she understood that there were times where quiet was the best.

Peace. These final minutes were a time to reflect, and prepare.

Boom! The ship shook.

“Hold in tight, we’re taking heavy anti-air fire!” Came from the intercom. Aria braced herself, holding tight to the bars that hung against the walls.

“Xeviiy, Ken. Let’s stick together out there.” That was all she could say. The ship landed and the docking bay opened to a hailstorm of blaster fire.

Republican soldiers were getting butchered running up a beachside hill trying to overtake a heavy gun placement. A few were already crossing blades as artillery blasts sent sand flying into the air. One came extremely close to their group and the blast sent Arren and Aria flying into the dirt.

She came up, and the sounds of battle were drowned out around her. Her ears rang as the chaos unfolded.

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Aria Blair
Coruscant

She simply shook her head in the face of Leon’s compliment. “I don’t think I did anything great. Not yet, Major.” A rush flowed through the air. Aria felt the sensation of excitement tingle over her entire body. War had come, and she was about to go. She did not know what it meant, or what it would be like. No amount of studying Exar Kun and other conflicts within the Archives could tell her what it was like to be in the middle of combat. Dueling practice was one thing, but there was no threat of death. Only once did Aria remember the feeling of fighting to kill, and it was a memory she would like to forget.

Would war be like that time as well? Aria hoped not.

Arren boarded the troop transport and awaited her student, patiently meditating in her own thoughts. Aria appreciated the silence, Master Kae always seemed to know when Aria needed to share her thoughts or if she needed things to be quiet. Now was a time of quiet.

It thrilled her to see so many Jedi signing up with the Republic. There seemed to be masters who were enlisting as well, an outward display of defiance in the face of the high council’s decision. Aria wondered if it was her words that did it, or if certain masters were only coming for the purpose of protecting their padawans. Even so, it was better to have numbers than not.

Soon, Aria met Xeviiy, adding onto the list of Jedi who wanted to talk to her about the speech on Dantooine.

“Aria,” she said, “I like to think that if I didn’t do it, someone else would have. If you were there, who knows, you might have too.” Aria scanned over Xeviiy and the crowd and also noticed that Ken Grant was there amongst them. “Ken!” She was surprised. “I didn’t expect you to be here. Thought you would have wanted to live by the council’s decision, but maybe there’s more to you than I thought.” Aria glanced back and forth to Xeviiy and Ken. “Xeviiy, this is Ken Grant. Ken, this is Xeviiy. I guess we’re all going to have our backs out there. This is good, Ken is incredible. I don’t know many other Jedi other than my master who I’m comfortable fighting with me out there.”

Arren spoke from inside of the troop transport. “I do believe it’s time we set off to Cathar, Major. No sense in delaying.”

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Alright, apologies for the delay. Haven't been able to get in the right mood but I'm writing right now.

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Hopefully a post up tomorrow. Death in the family this weekend.

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Worrrrdddd

#TeamMandoKillas

Star Wars: Forged By Fire (KOTOR)

Surprise, finished it tonight!

@Sohtem

Placed Anna and Leon in that spot, I can edit it if you want them somewhere else! Just thought it'd be an easy way for us all to be grouped together.