Jedi Insurgency 154

After seeing Hondo & his crew off, Corvus swept past Tatoo’ana Station, and hovered above Tatooine. 

Reaching out his senses, he felt the tickling sensation of two separate, minor Force Nexus’. Darkness & Light intertwined, a steady balance emanated from this sandy world. Looping together like lace on a shoe, the Force here felt flexible, yet also tightly bound together. It was a sensation difficult to describe. Then there was the breath of life that managed to survive the hellish heat of twin suns, and endless desert. This seeming miracle pulsed between barely surviving, and thriving. Greed, and the will to persist were the two strongest emotions flowing from Tatooine. 

Corvus felt pity for those who could only get by. It was an interesting contrast between Coruscant and this hot hell hole. On the megalopolis, most people never saw the sun, and were surrounded by 24/7 noise, smog, pollution, and trillions of people. Conversely, Tatooine was sparsely populated, dry as a bone, hot, and windy. Planets like Naboo or Alderaan, meanwhile, were what many Core Worlds looked like. It irked him to know that with all his power, that even with the advent of droids, and super futuristic technology, people still needlessly suffered. For a moment, he could somewhat understand why the Jedi seemed like do-nothings/ineffective. The galaxy was so big, and there were typically somewhere between 2,000 to 10,000 Jedi at any one time. Across millions of worlds, there was only so much the Order could do. 

Staring at the endless beige-brown contours of the planet, Corvus shook his head. Although he was only one man, limited in what he could do, he had a responsibility-as a man who held power-to do right by the people. It didn’t matter how pointless spitting into the wind appeared, so long as he assumed the mantle of the Je'daii or that of Revan, he would always strive to improve the lives of the galaxy. 

As if reacting to his heartfelt emotions, his kyber crystal shook, and a blue glow coated his form, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. During his reflection-and meditation-a brief series of images flashed across his mindscape. 

A scene of an oasis bubbling forth with fresh water, and patches of green surfaced. Fruit bearing trees swayed gently in the wind invited him to partake in their flesh. Sweetness suffused his mouth, and a sonorous call from the water-like that of the Lady of the Lake from the Arthurian tales-rang in his ears. The Lightside Nexus permeated this water, and invited him to take a dip. 

Moments later, his other kyber crystal shook, and radiated red light, which pulsed at a matching speed with his other kyber crystal.

His mindscape then sank beneath the oasis, following that siren's song. Beneath the depths of sand, and darkness, an underground temple came into being. Ancient statues of an alien species lined the halls. This ‘temple’ was lined with slick, metallic lustre, featuring many high tech devices, and dormant robots. Fear, rage, and impotent sorrow-like the last gasps of an old man-pierced his psyche like a bullet to the head. 

This scene was followed by ships flying above a grassy, watery planet. Lasers scoured the land, transforming this once vibrant world into a desert hellscape. The accumulated fears, hatred, and dreams of an annihilated race came to a boil, and inescapably echoed through time, striking him with the weight of a billion screams. Within the temple, he was led to a large machine, which echoed with the sounds of rushing water, as well as the distant call of Jawas and Tusken Raiders. 

Finally, a devilish looking lobster-headed alien, a Rakatan glared at him as if he were less than property, and then he was forcefully kicked out of the vision. 

Eyes snapping open, and glowing white, Corvus found himself in a precarious situation. 

Red and blue clashed all around him as his twin kyber crystals had been overly stimulated by the Force, making Corvus feel as if his heart would explode due to the pressure. Both red & blue pushed from his left & right, like a ki battle from an anime. This sudden force was intense, and threatened to tear him apart! 

Ambushed by this sudden turn of events, Corvus gasped shallow breaths, and fell to one knee. At first, he tried to retrieve his lightsabers into his inventory, but the Force repelled him, overwriting his ‘system’ ability. 

Eyes going dark, he entered Pause, and meditated on his current situation. After much deliberation, he recalled the sensation he experienced when he first reached out to Tatooine. Recalling how the melody of Light & Dark seemed to intertwine like laces, he figured he'd give it a shot! 

Reaching out to his pair of dueling kyber crystals, Corvus willed them to move. 

First he communicated with the crystal he had bonded with the longest. 

‘I need your help. Bend, but do not break.’

‘Friend.’ The blue kyber crystal pulsed, reluctantly. 

That one word carried great metaphysical weight, and didn't wish to retreat even an inch, lest the corrupting elements of the red kyber crystal should grip his soul. 

‘Trust me.’ Corvus pressed, feeling that he didn't have much time left. That not even [Heal] could get him out of this predicament. 

‘Trust you. Be. Safe.’ A girl's worried voice entered his ear, like a child worried her papa wouldn't come back home. 

Corvus hummed soothingly, and mentally caressed this child in the Force, silently promising her everything would be okay. 

Pulling upon this warmth, he then reached into the maelstrom that was the red kyber crystal. Intense feelings of rage, sorrow, and fear-ampliphied by the Nexus of Darkness-surged forth. Corvus weathered the storm, and met rage with kindness, sorrow with happiness, and fear with love. As he seemed to make progress, the red kyber crystal trembled, disbelieving of Corvus’s intentions. 

The Darkside swirled maliciously, like the heart of a perpetually spurned woman. Jealousy for the treatment that the other kyber crystal received pierced Corvus’s brain like an ice pick. Mentally stumbling, he pressed onward, unwilling to retreat. When kindness, happiness, and love failed, he met the red kyber crystal with the authority of a father disciplining his naughty son. 

Shadows curled around the red kyber crystal, threatening to snuff out all light. Something in Corvus’s aura pulsed, and the red light bowed, giving in to his authority. 

Snorting at this sudden turn of events, Corvus didn’t waste any time, and began to weave the power of his twin kyber crystals into a knot. Taking inspiration from Tatooine's Nexus’, he decided to loop them in a double helix, the shape of DNA. 

Before long, the situation had stabilized, and he found both lightsabers floating in front of him. 

‘Friend // Respect.’ The crystals spoke to him in sync. 

Letting out a turbid breath, Corvus gripped the twin weapons of death, and clipped them to his belt. 

Glancing out the viewport once more at Tatooine, he slightly bowed. The Force was a capricious, dangerous energy source. It was no wonder that the Jedi did not connect themselves to planets very often. What had largely been a casual event up until now had almost cost Corvus his life. Ever since Coruscant, he had been opening himself up to each new world he came across. Who knew Tatooine would be the one that almost claimed his life? 

Shaking his head, Corvus reflected upon the vision he had just witnessed. 

From what he could tell, the oasis appeared almost like a hazy mirage. Considering that there weren't any moisture farmers, cities, or tribes nearby, he reasoned that the location was being hidden by the Force. Otherwise, such a water supply would have been gobbled up by prospectors long ago. Based upon the faint connection to the Lightside Nexus, Corvus figured he could find his way there with little issue. 

The rest of the vision went underground, to a semi-ruined, semi futuristic setting, focusing upon some gigantic machine. Then, there was the sound of rumbling water-like a noise that a bursting dam might make, paired with the dual images of a Tuskan Raider, and Jawa. Finally, the cruel smirk of a Rakatan had ended it all. Those screams of terror, and unwillingness to die had then become a catalyst for his contest of wills with the kyber crystals. 

Frowning to himself, and rubbing his chin, he wondered what it all meant. 

Nominally, he had come to Tatooine with the objective of overthrowing Jabba, and flooding the market with system created drugs, thus upending the Hutt Cartels stranglehold over the galaxy's criminal elements. Speed, strength, and other stimulants made by the system weren't addictive like common Spice, and the sale of said items would add large sums to his warchest. The theft of Galactic Bank had netted him billions, but fueling Eriadu with raw materials was coming straight out of his pocket, and would not be sustainable in the long term. 

This mission to Tatooine-from an economical standpoint-was paramount. Then, there was the moral obligation of freeing the people from the weight of the slugs. Time was tight, as he also had plans for moving on Nar Shaddaa after dealing with Jabba…but that didn’t mean he couldn't accomplish both goals. 

The Force was strongly urging him to act. Real Je'daii listened when the universe spoke. He would be remiss in his duties, and hypocritical to his teachings, if he simply ignored this call. Besides, he had a bad feeling, that if he ignored this premonition, an opportunity would be lost forever. 

‘Believe. Rescue. Save. /// Go. Crush. Destroy.’ 

His kyber crystals seemed to be in agreement with his thoughts. 

‘Interesting.’ Corvus thought to himself, and stroked the hilt of his blade deep in thought. 

“Very well, I shall go.” Corvus affirmed, much to the crystals’ pleasure. 

Initially, he had planned to set up a camera to record the slug's habits/mannerisms, and then create an engram or basic AI that could act like him. What he did with Hondo to fool his men was both crude, and simple, and wouldn't hold up beyond a cursory examination. However, for Jabba, Corvus needed the deception to hold up until he reached Nar Shaddaa. By purging the palace of personnel-either via trickery or violence-then he could have robo-Hutt take care of things via hologram. And he could also have Bobba act as both majordomo, and muscle when he was away.

That was his plan, but now with the Force urging him to act, Corvus decided he would forgo the clean method of control. The mission now, was to go in fast and dirty. Eliminate Jabba, and leave no survivors. All those who perpetuated his cruelty on Tatooine would earn themselves a ticket to hell. 

Clicking a few buttons to start a call with Fett, Corvus began to imagine his infiltration, and how he would end one of the galaxy’s most notorious villains. 

‘Perhaps I should buy some salt.’