Star Wars: Quinlan Vos --M for Mars
Title: Not For Nothing
Author: helgaleena
helgaleenas@yahoo.com
Main characters: Quinlan Vos, Jeisel, Aayla Secura, K'kruhk, A'sharad Hett, Xiann, Oppo Rancisis, Tholme, Sora Bulq, Dooku
prompt: mars--god of war
030: death
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In war, one does the needful, which includes trusting Quinlan Vos to retrieve battle plans from a dead commander.
Warnings: not this time
Notes: Based on Dark Horse Clone Wars: the Siege of Saleucami. Not similar enough to constitute spoilers IMO; I have mixed up a lot of the details....it's a very convoluted episode.
"Tholme is dead-- now Rancisis?" Quinlan Vos did not want to hear this.
How tiny the knot of them seemed, in the ragged remains of Saleucami's afternoon. Along with the much greater losses of clone troops, the number of the Jedi leading the besieging force had been reduced to only six. Those six were now gathered around the corpse of their commander, in the shelter of the ruined command center. K'kruhk, the massive Whipid, gently cradled the deceased Master Rancisis. He was the largest of the Jedi who had returned to find him slain, and the only one capable of lifting a dead Thisspassian easily.
K'kruhk was a being of peace, who had been so devastated by the loss of life under his command, on the planet Teyr, that for a time he had left the Jedi completely. But as the perfidy of the Separatist leadership had made itself increasingly evident, he and other dissident Jedi, such as the Devaronian Jeisel, who had followed the Vaapad master Sora Bulq to that camp, returned, to fight among their brethren. Now he held the most senior member of the Council, after Yoda, lifeless in his arms, and struggled to find acceptance in the Force for the loss.
Their objective, here on Saleucami, was to stop Dooku and his minions from producing the cloned Morugkai warriors, that Sora Bulq, together with a squad of Anzati assassins, was training into an inexhaustible fighting force. Sora Bulq had also trained many of those here assembled in the arts of combat, if not in the Dark-side tainted art of Vaapad. Master Tholme had discovered the stronghold, deep under the planetary surface, and had been sabotaging it from hiding for as long as he could before their arrival, but now was also dead.
A'sharad Hett, the human Jedi raised by the Tuskens of Tatooine, bent his elaborately tattooed face over the deceased Thisspian, examining his wounds. "Light-sabre burns-- that means it was either Tol Skorr or Sora Bulq who killed him. And since we saw Skorr during the skirmish, it must have been Sora Bulq."
"Maybe not," said Jeisel, with her icy eyes full of suspicion. She raised one orange furred arm, in its long black glove, to point accross the room. "We don't exactly know where you were, Quinlan Vos."
The assembled knights and masters looked from one scowling being to the other. K'kruhk, from his position on the floor, burst out with a deep rumble."You're going too far, Jeisel! Vos is the senior here right now, and in command of the operation!"
The young Devaronian stood her ground, however. "Perhaps we should not be trusting him with that, either. He's been undercover with Dooku and Sora Bulq for quite a while, you know, and plenty of doubt has been shed on the information he managed to pass along from that. How far has he really come back from his Dark Side fling? Hmmm?"
"How can you say this, Jeisel? You yourself have left the Order and returned, as have I," said Knight Aayla Secura. Aayla's lekku were twisting with outrage at the slur against her former master, but she managed to keep her tone light and her cerulean face calm. Indeed, years ago, Aayla had run with the very same Anzati they were now fighting against, before she regained her memory of the Light.
From where he stood at her side, Master Vos raised his black-stubbled chin and met Jeisel's accusing eyes with his own dark gaze. "These are good questions Master Jeisel raises. If I were in her position I'd think the very same." He strode to the center of the room, looking at them all over the yellow stripe tattooed accross his reddish face, beneath the soot-black mass of his dreadlocks. "But give me credit for enough intelligence not to cast suspicion on myself, if I were intent on murdering my immediate superior. I've had plenty of chances to harm Master Rancisis in more undetectable ways, during the course of this mission.
"If you want to know where I was-- I took the opportunity to slip unnoticed into the separatist stronghold. I'm good at sneaking, as you know. And there I found Master Tholme, where he was sowing discord in their operations from hiding, and saw him fall to his death in an active lava flow. Search the Force, Jeisel; reach out with your feelings." His eyes held hers again. "Am I speaking the truth?"
She held his gaze for long moments, doing exactly that, as did others. "Master Tholme's Force signature is missing-- and you are not lying." She dropped her eyes. Aayla crossed to her, laying a soft blue hand upon her shoulder.
"I know; I was searching the Force for my Master and his, and felt him go." Her purple eyes held sorrow and sympathy.
"So what is our plan, Master Vos?" asked Xiaan Amersu, the youngest knight present. A'sharad Hett chimed in, from his place by her side.
"This is true; Master Rancisis did not confide in any of us his plan of attack; it has died with him."
Quinlan Vos looked down at the deceased master in K'kruhk's arms. He was profoundly grateful that the mighty Whiphid bore him no grudge for nearly killing him in their struggle during Senator Viento's asassination. His show of trust in Quin's leadership now was a great tribute, of which he hoped to prove worthy. He hoped that trust would not be too strained by what he was about to suggest.
"You all know about my gift of psychometry-- my ability to read objects. What is less well known is that it also works on beings. I can retrieve the essentials of the battle plans from Master Rancisis." As he expected, there was shock and disgust at his statement, and it was voiced loudest by K'kruhk, still cradling the master's body.
"Now it is you who go too far, Vos-- that is disrespecting the dead!"
"Yet," mused Xiaan, with great regret keeping her green lekku curled behind her back, "he has become merely an object, now that his spirit has departed."
"It must be done," said A'sharad Hett. "Master Rancisis was the greatest practitioner of battle meditation of our era. His plan is something that we cannot do without, if it can be salvaged." The others turned to him and to one another, nodding or murmuring their agreement. At last K'kruhk also agreed.
"You are right. Lives hang in the balance." He arranged Master Rancisis carefully on the floor and stepped back, while Vos gently insinuated his ultrasensitive fingetips into the abundant white hair on the Thisspassian's temples. Some, like K'kruhk, turned away. Others stared in fascination, trying to sense Quinlan's gift at work, or read signs of it in his manner. Aside from the reverence with which he touched the corpse, there was no outward sign. Inwardly, his entire being was receding from them, as if he actually journeyed to another time.
Finally, his dark eyes gleamed out again from underneath his heavy brow, and he stood up, took a deep breath, and stated, "I have the plans." Then, as if he were about to fall over, he sat carefully down again, before continuing.
"Two of us will infiltrate and plant explosive ordnance within their stronghold, pinpointing it and disabling the orbital defenses, while the rest of us lead the clone forces in a multiple-sided assault to draw their attention--K'kruhk and Jeisel on the ground, Hett and Amersu in the air, paving the way for fleet bombardment. Aayla and I can do the sneaking and the laying of charges. I already know the way, and have a working knowledge of the layout. And as Master Rancisis cannot hold us together with his battle meditation, we will have to keep in constant contact."
Those assembled considered the plan, and could find no fault with it. Once again, the Force revealed that Vos told the truth about what he had found in the remains of the mind of the great military genius. As he looked around their small circle, the masters and knights each nodded their assent in turn. He did not bother to mention that he himself might not be in contact with them when under the eye of the Separatists, who still thought he was one of them. Like the others, he was prepared to die in the course of this. But his death might take place in the midst of the very stronghold they were trying to destroy, as he struck at the brains of the menace.
"Then you are dismissed to prepare yourselves and your troops." A'sharad and K'kruhk knelt and gathered up the body of Master Rancisis, the human looping the Thisspassian's massive serpentine tail around his shoulders. Vos stayed where he was, shutting his eyes and assuming a posture of meditation. Aayla remained behind, then approached him quietly. As she suspected, the black clad Kiffar was shivering with exhaustion.
She knelt next to him, placing one hand upon his wrapped forearm so as not to startle him. "Did you see the manner of his death?" she asked gently. His eyes slid open to look at her, though he did not turn his head.
"Yes." His voice was hoarse with unshed tears. "It was a squad of Anzati, distracting him from a light-sabre in the back, wielded by Sora Bulq." He almost spat out the name. "In a while I'll find a datapad and make a report. We lost two great masters today."
She left her hand where it was, as he shut his eyes again. She was searching for the right words, and at last they came to her, for she knew that he had been waiting patiently for her to say them. He probably was still feeling the mind of the great Thisspassian master, even now.
"They did not die for nothing. Now they will aid us in spirit."
A smile grew on his lips in their setting of stubble, as he turned to answer her. "Yes. Do you know how proud of you I am, Aayla?"
"I believe so." She smiled back. He had barely got his own memories reassembled when he had set out to bring her back from the sway of Volfe Karkko. He had not killed her when Dooku had wanted her dead, on Honoghr. He had sent her a holo when he had left the Order to join Dooku's camp, telling her to forget him, but she had not. And she had promised herself, that if ever her former master felt the pull of the Dark too strongly, she would aid him, as he had aided her.
"Then we're ready. Their deaths will not be for nothing." And with that same small smile his eyes sought the far distance, in the direction of the lair of Dooku's machinations, under the command of Sora Bulq. They were ones who had not come back, and now would reap the harvest of that choice. The warmth in his eyes became a dangerous heat, and she knew that the Force would be with them in what they were about to do.
end
Author: helgaleena
helgaleenas@yahoo.com
Main characters: Quinlan Vos, Jeisel, Aayla Secura, K'kruhk, A'sharad Hett, Xiann, Oppo Rancisis, Tholme, Sora Bulq, Dooku
prompt: mars--god of war
030: death
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In war, one does the needful, which includes trusting Quinlan Vos to retrieve battle plans from a dead commander.
Warnings: not this time
Notes: Based on Dark Horse Clone Wars: the Siege of Saleucami. Not similar enough to constitute spoilers IMO; I have mixed up a lot of the details....it's a very convoluted episode.
"Tholme is dead-- now Rancisis?" Quinlan Vos did not want to hear this.
How tiny the knot of them seemed, in the ragged remains of Saleucami's afternoon. Along with the much greater losses of clone troops, the number of the Jedi leading the besieging force had been reduced to only six. Those six were now gathered around the corpse of their commander, in the shelter of the ruined command center. K'kruhk, the massive Whipid, gently cradled the deceased Master Rancisis. He was the largest of the Jedi who had returned to find him slain, and the only one capable of lifting a dead Thisspassian easily.
K'kruhk was a being of peace, who had been so devastated by the loss of life under his command, on the planet Teyr, that for a time he had left the Jedi completely. But as the perfidy of the Separatist leadership had made itself increasingly evident, he and other dissident Jedi, such as the Devaronian Jeisel, who had followed the Vaapad master Sora Bulq to that camp, returned, to fight among their brethren. Now he held the most senior member of the Council, after Yoda, lifeless in his arms, and struggled to find acceptance in the Force for the loss.
Their objective, here on Saleucami, was to stop Dooku and his minions from producing the cloned Morugkai warriors, that Sora Bulq, together with a squad of Anzati assassins, was training into an inexhaustible fighting force. Sora Bulq had also trained many of those here assembled in the arts of combat, if not in the Dark-side tainted art of Vaapad. Master Tholme had discovered the stronghold, deep under the planetary surface, and had been sabotaging it from hiding for as long as he could before their arrival, but now was also dead.
A'sharad Hett, the human Jedi raised by the Tuskens of Tatooine, bent his elaborately tattooed face over the deceased Thisspian, examining his wounds. "Light-sabre burns-- that means it was either Tol Skorr or Sora Bulq who killed him. And since we saw Skorr during the skirmish, it must have been Sora Bulq."
"Maybe not," said Jeisel, with her icy eyes full of suspicion. She raised one orange furred arm, in its long black glove, to point accross the room. "We don't exactly know where you were, Quinlan Vos."
The assembled knights and masters looked from one scowling being to the other. K'kruhk, from his position on the floor, burst out with a deep rumble."You're going too far, Jeisel! Vos is the senior here right now, and in command of the operation!"
The young Devaronian stood her ground, however. "Perhaps we should not be trusting him with that, either. He's been undercover with Dooku and Sora Bulq for quite a while, you know, and plenty of doubt has been shed on the information he managed to pass along from that. How far has he really come back from his Dark Side fling? Hmmm?"
"How can you say this, Jeisel? You yourself have left the Order and returned, as have I," said Knight Aayla Secura. Aayla's lekku were twisting with outrage at the slur against her former master, but she managed to keep her tone light and her cerulean face calm. Indeed, years ago, Aayla had run with the very same Anzati they were now fighting against, before she regained her memory of the Light.
From where he stood at her side, Master Vos raised his black-stubbled chin and met Jeisel's accusing eyes with his own dark gaze. "These are good questions Master Jeisel raises. If I were in her position I'd think the very same." He strode to the center of the room, looking at them all over the yellow stripe tattooed accross his reddish face, beneath the soot-black mass of his dreadlocks. "But give me credit for enough intelligence not to cast suspicion on myself, if I were intent on murdering my immediate superior. I've had plenty of chances to harm Master Rancisis in more undetectable ways, during the course of this mission.
"If you want to know where I was-- I took the opportunity to slip unnoticed into the separatist stronghold. I'm good at sneaking, as you know. And there I found Master Tholme, where he was sowing discord in their operations from hiding, and saw him fall to his death in an active lava flow. Search the Force, Jeisel; reach out with your feelings." His eyes held hers again. "Am I speaking the truth?"
She held his gaze for long moments, doing exactly that, as did others. "Master Tholme's Force signature is missing-- and you are not lying." She dropped her eyes. Aayla crossed to her, laying a soft blue hand upon her shoulder.
"I know; I was searching the Force for my Master and his, and felt him go." Her purple eyes held sorrow and sympathy.
"So what is our plan, Master Vos?" asked Xiaan Amersu, the youngest knight present. A'sharad Hett chimed in, from his place by her side.
"This is true; Master Rancisis did not confide in any of us his plan of attack; it has died with him."
Quinlan Vos looked down at the deceased master in K'kruhk's arms. He was profoundly grateful that the mighty Whiphid bore him no grudge for nearly killing him in their struggle during Senator Viento's asassination. His show of trust in Quin's leadership now was a great tribute, of which he hoped to prove worthy. He hoped that trust would not be too strained by what he was about to suggest.
"You all know about my gift of psychometry-- my ability to read objects. What is less well known is that it also works on beings. I can retrieve the essentials of the battle plans from Master Rancisis." As he expected, there was shock and disgust at his statement, and it was voiced loudest by K'kruhk, still cradling the master's body.
"Now it is you who go too far, Vos-- that is disrespecting the dead!"
"Yet," mused Xiaan, with great regret keeping her green lekku curled behind her back, "he has become merely an object, now that his spirit has departed."
"It must be done," said A'sharad Hett. "Master Rancisis was the greatest practitioner of battle meditation of our era. His plan is something that we cannot do without, if it can be salvaged." The others turned to him and to one another, nodding or murmuring their agreement. At last K'kruhk also agreed.
"You are right. Lives hang in the balance." He arranged Master Rancisis carefully on the floor and stepped back, while Vos gently insinuated his ultrasensitive fingetips into the abundant white hair on the Thisspassian's temples. Some, like K'kruhk, turned away. Others stared in fascination, trying to sense Quinlan's gift at work, or read signs of it in his manner. Aside from the reverence with which he touched the corpse, there was no outward sign. Inwardly, his entire being was receding from them, as if he actually journeyed to another time.
Finally, his dark eyes gleamed out again from underneath his heavy brow, and he stood up, took a deep breath, and stated, "I have the plans." Then, as if he were about to fall over, he sat carefully down again, before continuing.
"Two of us will infiltrate and plant explosive ordnance within their stronghold, pinpointing it and disabling the orbital defenses, while the rest of us lead the clone forces in a multiple-sided assault to draw their attention--K'kruhk and Jeisel on the ground, Hett and Amersu in the air, paving the way for fleet bombardment. Aayla and I can do the sneaking and the laying of charges. I already know the way, and have a working knowledge of the layout. And as Master Rancisis cannot hold us together with his battle meditation, we will have to keep in constant contact."
Those assembled considered the plan, and could find no fault with it. Once again, the Force revealed that Vos told the truth about what he had found in the remains of the mind of the great military genius. As he looked around their small circle, the masters and knights each nodded their assent in turn. He did not bother to mention that he himself might not be in contact with them when under the eye of the Separatists, who still thought he was one of them. Like the others, he was prepared to die in the course of this. But his death might take place in the midst of the very stronghold they were trying to destroy, as he struck at the brains of the menace.
"Then you are dismissed to prepare yourselves and your troops." A'sharad and K'kruhk knelt and gathered up the body of Master Rancisis, the human looping the Thisspassian's massive serpentine tail around his shoulders. Vos stayed where he was, shutting his eyes and assuming a posture of meditation. Aayla remained behind, then approached him quietly. As she suspected, the black clad Kiffar was shivering with exhaustion.
She knelt next to him, placing one hand upon his wrapped forearm so as not to startle him. "Did you see the manner of his death?" she asked gently. His eyes slid open to look at her, though he did not turn his head.
"Yes." His voice was hoarse with unshed tears. "It was a squad of Anzati, distracting him from a light-sabre in the back, wielded by Sora Bulq." He almost spat out the name. "In a while I'll find a datapad and make a report. We lost two great masters today."
She left her hand where it was, as he shut his eyes again. She was searching for the right words, and at last they came to her, for she knew that he had been waiting patiently for her to say them. He probably was still feeling the mind of the great Thisspassian master, even now.
"They did not die for nothing. Now they will aid us in spirit."
A smile grew on his lips in their setting of stubble, as he turned to answer her. "Yes. Do you know how proud of you I am, Aayla?"
"I believe so." She smiled back. He had barely got his own memories reassembled when he had set out to bring her back from the sway of Volfe Karkko. He had not killed her when Dooku had wanted her dead, on Honoghr. He had sent her a holo when he had left the Order to join Dooku's camp, telling her to forget him, but she had not. And she had promised herself, that if ever her former master felt the pull of the Dark too strongly, she would aid him, as he had aided her.
"Then we're ready. Their deaths will not be for nothing." And with that same small smile his eyes sought the far distance, in the direction of the lair of Dooku's machinations, under the command of Sora Bulq. They were ones who had not come back, and now would reap the harvest of that choice. The warmth in his eyes became a dangerous heat, and she knew that the Force would be with them in what they were about to do.
end