All That Remains: Ashes and Temples

[Q. Samus Dage]

The nagging pull grew sharp, and Dage blinked in discomfort, his eyes narrowing to slits. A hand moved up to rub fingers against his temple as he looked to Knight Hicchoru once more. There was slight confusion building in the Commander's gaze, and a worry that accompanied it.

He turned back to Dan, and the finger at his temple moved away to hold up to the General.

"A moment?"

A quick knife motion with his opposite hand, and the holo froze. Dage turned to the Jedi. The concern in his eyes was evident, and he gave a slight wince as the pull grew in strength.

"What... is going on."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"Commander, nothing is right about this." Anbira's words were terse and grave as he stared ahead at the frozen holo before them.

"I only sense one single purpose at work on that ship. There's no discord or dissonance. It's unnatural."

It could only draw Anbira to one conclusion.

"We are in danger."

[Q. Samus Dage]

He fought through the rising discomfort. The pull had transformed into a spike that was now driving further into his thoughts.

"Danger?"

He gave a scowl.

"Seems a bit much, don't you think?"

He ground his teeth in the beginning stages of frustration.

"You say there's a single purpose on that ship. What purpose are you sensing."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

The hermit Jedi frowned beneath his beard as his eyes traveled back to Dage.

"They're preparing for battle, as if every mind on the ship is in lock-step."

[Q. Samus Dage]

"Battle?!"

The notion seemed idiotic, and the rangy blonde was not shy of making it known.

"Now that can't be right. Maybe you're reading it wrong? Or maybe you've got a vac-tube going out in your head or whatever it is that could make Jedi powers go haywire?"

He frowned in confused frustration, his eyes locked with Anbira's in the vain attempt to suss out what exactly was happening.

"Battle?"

Swiftly he returned to the still-frozen holo, and a hand-motion later the connection was reestablished. Dage gave a sniff, staring at the General with a suddenly very critical eye.

"You expecting trouble to magic itself into existence, Dan?"

[General Dan]

The General had no patience for desultory conversations. His question had gone unanswered, even with a long pause.

"Are there Jedi aboard your ship, Samus?"

[Q. Samus Dage]

Impatience won out, as in the face of his now splitting headache, Dage was in no mood for cryptic dealings.

"Of course there is," he snapped, "We're finalizing the last shipments of cargo and supplies so it only stands to reason I'd have a Jedi on board."

[General Dan]

There was a subtle change in Dan's features. A hardening.

"Arrest them at once. If they resist, put them down."

[Q. Samus Dage]

An incredulous look descended over his features, and Samus Dage openly scoffed.

"Arrest them? Have you gone mad?"

The hard expression that met him gave no quarter.

A quick look to Hicchoru, and Dage shook his head as he addressed the General once more.

"Where's Lok? What does she have to say about your new-found insanity?"

[General Dan]

"She's dead. The Jedi killed her."

The General's demeanor was becoming more and more severe.

"I know the situation is extreme, and I'll allow you to question my order for that one time. Don't do it again, Commander. Time is of the essence."

[Q. Samus Dage]

It was as the word 'dead' met his ears that the spike in his mind jammed into his thoughts with so much force that Dage hunched forward, eyes screwing shut.

He very nearly snarled at the pain assailing him.

He turned wide, confused eyes to Anbira in a partial plea to sift through whatever mental fog was obscuring his magical inner Force vision and find some solution to the immediate problem of this gods-damned headache!

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira felt the intrusion a moment before the Commander went down, a presence through the force with power he'd never felt the likes of. Whatever it was, it was definitely coming from Dauntless and it was definitely putting the Commander down. The Jedi Knight knelt to where Dage stumbled, only to catch the sight of a half dozen blaster pistols trained on him.

"Wait!"

Wide-eyed, Anbira held up a hand to stay their intent.

"This isn't right! Give me the chance to make it so."

With both hands open to show he was unarmed, Anbira was reluctantly allowed to proceed. He placed each hand carefully at Dage's head.

"Commander Dage, hear me. Find my words."

Something terrible had a hold of him. They would have to work together to turn it loose.

[Q. Samus Dage]

"I hear you," came the growled answer, as Dage kept his eye on the Knight.

There was no real fear in his voice, only a discomfort and a fairly large amount of confusion. This driving dagger that thrust itself into his thoughts... it couldn't be natural.

"What... what's going on... "

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"I don't know."

Anbira's focus on Dage was total. He kept his head close to the Commander's, intense brown eyes meeting Dage's through a few errant strands of the hermit knight's long hair.

"But I will find out."

He could feel the smothering presence weighing down on Dage's mind with incredible power. It wasn't just a presence, it was a will. With a message.

Obey.

Through the overwhelming crush, Anbira could begin to feel more than this. There was anger and hatred both fueling this assault. With all of his power, Anbira pressed himself between, hoping to throw back the confusion and give Dage some breathing room. This was not his strength, however. He would need help.

"I need you...to stay on my voice. Talk to me. Tell me about a memory. A good one. Go there in your mind."

A sheen of perspiration began to form on Anbira's face. His defense of Commander Dage was taking a toll.

[Q. Samus Dage]

Dage focused on the Jedi with a new-found desperation. His breathing came in short bursts. Everything in his immediate world was magnified in that moment. He could feel the machined metal that formed the edge of the armrests being clenched by his white-knuckled hands. The recycled air seemed more biting to his lungs. His heart felt as though it was determined to pound its' way out of his chest.

Tell me about a memory...

A good one...

A good memory... a memory of happiness...

So far out of his element now, Dage couldn't keep the feeling of helplessness from flaring to life. It was something that scared him, and the rangy blonde felt as though he'd been jettisoned out into space and then told to dance.

The spike in his mind had changed into a pressure, pushing against his own will with such intensity.

A thin rivulet of blood snaked its' way down from one nostril then.

"I... "

His brow creased in the effort of remembrance.

"Samus! Samus where are you?!"

The voice cut past the pressure like a shining beacon. It was a pure voice, reaching out from his past.

"I'm not going to keep looking for you forever!"

And in the here and now, so far away from that voice, Samus Dage blinked in shock.

"Coraline... ?"

The voice in his thoughts had sounded so real, as if striking his ears. In that moment a weak smile found purchase on his lips.

"Samus Dage, Mother is going to tan your hide if you don't come in for dinner!"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

In the process of defending Commander Dage's mind, Anbira fell into the vivid recollection.

The colors were wrong, attributable to the fallacies of memory. Greyscale in parts, other colors impossibly vivid. It felt strange, Anbira realized, being here at all. These were the memories of a person. Even a glimpse felt like a violation, but it was a violation that Anbira hoped the besieged Dage would permit, given the circumstances.

Thunder peeled against a cloudless sky, and Anbira knew it was the dark presence trying to foist itself upon the bastion. The Jedi pushed against the incursion, diminishing the sound overhead. For now, there was hope. Anbira turned to see Dage reliving his moments. He needed to keep both eyes open, and to know who he was. If Dage had any doubt, the dark side would provide it's own narrative.

[Q. Samus Dage]

The boy was no more than fourteen years old. His blonde hair was disheveled and wild, and his smile was wide as he ran through tall blades of wiregrass. He'd heard his name being called, the voice of his younger sister, Coraline, carrying easily over one of the rolling pastures of their family's farmland. There was no real need to answer back, since it was enjoyable enough to listen to the sound of Coraline's voice becoming more and more angry.

A flash as the world around ebbed away like the sands of an hourglass.

And in the next instant a door was flung open. The boy - again - stood in the threshold. His chest heaved, and his smile remained...

Both of his eyes were wide as he stared at Knight Hicchoru. It was a strange reliving that was playing out in his mind; not unwelcome, but still surprising.

Again the name found life on his tongue.

"Coraline... "

Her face filled his vision, delicate features looking at him in that old smirk.

"There you are!"

The old excitement was growing. He could feel it blossoming once more. One hand reached out to grasp the side of the Jedi's neck in a firm grip.

"Coraline," his whispered voice was trembling with fresh anticipation brought back into being from so many years past, "I found the smuggler's treasure!"

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira moved in willing steps in his mind's eye. Here, he was a part of the memory. An artifact moved on the wind. The stronger Dage found what he was looking for inside, the better he would resist the maelstrom beyond.

Here, he was seeing the world through Dage's imaginings, through a memory with a woman in his past. The feelings Anbira could sense were as true as he could have asked. Something happened here that left an indelible mark upon the Commander.

[Q. Samus Dage]

"I found it!"

Coraline's face blinked out of existence. Colors filtered into view then, swirling about in a wild, twisting manner before melting away like heated color-sticks. There was a strange moment of peace before the whispering of a phantom wind could be heard. The whispering grew, and ahead shone a small light. It flickered, throwing dancing white light against the darkness of a cave.

Dage gripped the Knight tightly as another thread of blood dripped down from the other nostril.

"I found it," he gasped.

He watched in giddiness, eyes focused on nothing of the world in which he now existed.

"Samus it's the treasure!"

Coraline was on her knees, kneeling beside her older brother as the both of them dug with their bare hands. The soft earth gave way easily. Their fingers scraped against old wood, and each dug knifed hands into the side, grasping metal handles before heaving upward. The chest was pulled out of the hole they'd made, and dragged free. Both gave a quick look to the other, before the boy pulled out the hammer he'd brought with him. A few hits to the lock, and it broke into two pieces. Coraline reached forward then, pulling them free.

Together, they pried open the lid, and with a creaking of old hinges, it lifted...

Samus Dage gave a choked laugh, his eyes still wide.

"We found it, Coraline," he grinned to Knight Hicchoru.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

That was it. That sense of confidence, triumph, and self-worth. The ember that could become a flame. Anbira drew upon that vivid moment, filling Dage with the resolute determination to know himself, and not allow another to define him.

Anbira felt the presence beyond stir, retreating. He could feel himself screaming, his last amount of focus poured into keeping the intrusion away until it was at last cast aside...

...he fell to the deck of the ship, unconscious.

But at least Samus Dage could see for himself.