AN: Double release, yall
After Hunter had divvied up the tasks, everyone became silent as the LAAT quietly hummed towards their destination. The side door hatches were open, letting in the hazy, hot industrial air of Eriadu City.
Jax breathed in the putrid air-and following his Master's advice-meditated on the aura of this new planet.
Senses reaching outward, he got a feeling for the general sentiment of the people, and Eriadu as a whole. Exhaustion, depression, and oddly enough, pride seemed to stand out to him the most amongst the living. Meanwhile, the planet somewhat reflected this odd combination of sensations. Eriadu was constantly being polluted, and its air was almost toxic. If not for great air filters resting atop almost every building, Jax figured the surface would no longer be habitable.
By attuning himself to this sea of emotions, he almost felt himself become overwhelmed. On Ilum, Kamino, and Malastare, there were few life forms, and the level of suffering had been relatively minimal. However, with 22 billion humans, and copious amounts of unsupervised waste, the feeling Eriadu gave him, almost made him queasy. Dark, greasy emotions threatened to poison his mind.
Those occasional dark thoughts he would never voice in a thousand years pressed to the fore of his mind. His robotic index finger twitched, phantom pain coursed through his body, and one icy eye glared at Hunter's back. The memory of Order 66 roared in his mind, and the feeling of losing so many Jedi at once echoed in the Force. His lightsaber jiggled in place, his kyber crystal pinged him in the Force, and Yon turned to him with a raised eyebrow. The clone special forces leader seemed to feel something through intuition, and turned to meet Jax's baleful blue eye.
Jax slowly exhaled a cold-almost frigid breath-then closed his eyes, as he pulled himself back into a deep meditation.
Withdrawing his senses a slight fraction, Jax repeated the Jedi Shadows mantra that Master Corvus had taught him, calming himself down. Then, ever so slightly, he expanded them once more, in an effort to acclimate himself to the world. Whilst leaving himself open through the Force could lead to negative side effects-such as darkside corruption, as Master had warned-the benefits were astronomical.
By connecting to a planet, or certain region of space, Jax discovered that his effectiveness when wielding the Force doubled, and sometimes quadrupled. It was thanks to this enlightenment that he was able to contend with the Dark Adepts on Ilum, as well as successfully infiltrate the enemy command posts on Kamino & Malastare.
This was the first time Jax had undertaken this type of meditation unsupervised, yet he relished at the opportunity for growth. Ever since he had lost his friends & family, he had wanted to learn as much as he could. If he was to protect those he loved, he had to be strong enough. Even if it meant skirting and dancing with the darkside. This type of 'flirtation' was a training method Master Corvus had slowly imparted to both him and Yon during their Shadow training. In Master's words 'to recognize, and eliminate the dark, one must feel, and experience it first hand.'
As a result, Jax had slowly learnt to call upon his emotions during combat, as well as other applications of the Force. Yet at the same time, he constantly reflected on his actions, and made himself serene. Master had equated the Force to a still body of water. That when a practitioner of the light used it, one would hardly notice the barest ripple. Yet when one pulled, and manipulated the Force for their own ends, that calm pool would suddenly twist, turn, and slosh about, as the Darkside was all about forcing the Force to bend to one's will. Meanwhile, the act of balance was to ebb and flow, to push and pull.
It was this philosophy that Jax was following whilst opening himself up to Eriadu. By advancing, and withdrawing his senses repeatedly, he eventually reached a state of equilibrium. Perfectly balanced, as Master was wont to say.
Cracking open his eyes, Jax noticed Yon struggling to imitate his meditation, and give up halfway to trade good natured barbs with the bald sniper, Crosshair. Meanwhile, Hunter's hand was hidden out of sight, yet Jax knew it was tightly gripping a knife, ready to be flung at him at a moment's notice. Ever since their shared OP on Malastare, there had been some bubbling tension between the two of them.
Responding to Hunter's reflexive action, Jax similarly, had prepared himself for their potential betrayal. It wasn't that he thought it was likely, or that he disliked these clones, it was just…he wouldn't allow a mistake like that to happen ever again. If the clones could slaughter 70-80% of all Jedi-the figure was still unclear-than they could do it again. Having survived one betrayal, Jax would keep his eyes open at all times for a second one. Where Yon enjoyed loud, brash frontal assaults, Jax much preferred hidden, lethal, one shots.
Adding an additional layer of tension was the issue of command. The unit belonged to Hunter, yet the entire operation was ultimately in Jax's hands. During their assault on Malastare, Jax had been happy to follow Hunter's lead-for the most part-yet at one point, they had differed in opinion, and Echo almost got his head blown off. Jax's means of warfare-frequent use of the Force instead of conventional weapons-also seemed to rub the dagger-master the wrong way. He could sense it. One wrong move, and a dagger would be poised at his neck.
Glancing at Yon happily trading insults with Crosshair, Jax wished he could be so naive. Yet his fellow Jedi relied upon him. His Master was counting on him. He could not afford to antagonize this special forces unit, or jeopardize the Order's goals.
As a silent air of malaise was slowly creeping into the cabin, CF-99's second in command spoke up in an effort to cut the tension.
"How is Omega's training going?" Echo said in the tone of a concerned sibling, breaking Jax out of his thoughts.
Jax tilted his head, acknowledging the comment, and then thought back to every interaction he had had with the excitable girl. He then mulled over his words for a second, and said precisely what he meant to say.
"She is like a sponge. Her grasp of ideas is…remarkable." Jax said in a level monotone.
"Aye, that kid's a real hellion! When you're done with her, you're all she can talk about. The kid picked up Hunter's knife throwing like she was a natural, ain't that right, Sarge?" Echo said with an infectious tone.
Jax narrowed his eyes, as he recognized Echo's efforts to diffuse the silent tension that had been building between him and Hunter. Yet a brief pit of sunshine enveloped his frigid soul, as the memory of Omega tripping after a failed Force Jump brought a small smile to his otherwise glacier-like visage.
The shaggy haired clone glanced at him, then shifted his eyes to Echo, clearly understanding his brother's purpose.
Jax shallowly nodded. It was best to get along. Master Corvus valued CF-99, and they weren't a bad sort. He wished he didn't have to remain vigilant around them, yet she had trusted them unconditionally, and look where that got her?
Mentally reciting the code to calm himself, Jax's wintery eyes stared Hunter down.
"Heh." Hunter twirled his knife in hand, and met Jax's gaze with a cocky grin.
"Oi, are we gonna keep acting like a pair of Padme posterboys lost staring at her holo-art, or are we gonna gear up to krump some bad guys? Sarge, Commander, if you keep making moon eyes at one another, I'm afraid I'll have to report this to the General." Echo said in an official-sounding tone, as if he truly regretted that he was going to write them up.
Jax blinked, confused by the sudden development.
"Stay out of this, Echo, the Commander and me have got things well under hand. I understand his position, and he understands mine." Hunter growled.
Jax slowly nodded along. Indeed, Hunter was looking out for his brothers. He could respect that, and Hunter was well aware of Order 66. To a degree, they respected one another greatly. It's just that trust was hard to come by.
"Oh really?" Echo replied with a hint of mischievousness as he clicked away at a datapad.
Echo then held the device up, and a doctored/edited/fake blue holographic image came up where Jax & Hunter were staring at one another. Romantic music started playing, and a gif of them drawing closer to one another began to play.
"You wouldn't dare." Hunter snapped, and reached a hand out to steal the datapad, yet Echo tossed it to Wrecker.
"Haha, why does it look like you're going in fo a kiss, Hunter?" Wrecker laughed his guts out.
"You know, Master has been saying that emotional attachments aren't forbidden for the Je'daii…I just didn't know you wanted to physically attach yourself too!" Yon gripped his belly, and laughed at Jax's expense. He was well and truly pleased with Echo's prank.
"Nice one kid. The General would be pleased that clone-Jedi relations are improving so quickly." Crosshair added on.
Jax imagined Master Corvus's suppressed laughter, and 'what the kriff' face he was wont to make when presented with startling information. While he had nothing against people with those inclinations, he found the edited imagery that Echo had conjured up to go against his bottomline.
Glancing at Hunter, Jax shifted his eyes to Echo. The knife wielding clone grinned savagely.
A truce then.
Jax Force Pulled Echo into Wrecker, jostling him, and Hunter lunged forward, recovering the datapad.
"Aand deleted." Hunter said, relief coloring his voice.
"Oh no, you got me." Echo raised his hands up in mock defeat.
Jax slightly smiled, and he felt Hunter pat him on the shoulder. Slightly inclining his head, Jax slowly let go of some of his vigilance, then-with Hunter's help-pulled Echo up to his feet.
Echo grinned like a loon, his plan had been a success. The tension between Hunter and Jax had temporarily been put on hold.
"ETA 5 minutes." Tech spoke up from the side.
"Alright boys, you know your assignments. We go in quick, quiet, and then we're out in 15 or less." Hunter said in a practiced tone that spoke of experience, and confidence. He then turned to Jax with a nod. "Commander Ghost, do you have a word for the men?"
Jax barely withheld a grimace. He hated speaking in general. When it came to a group? He'd rather not bother. If only Master Corvus were here to bring everyone into a rousing frenzy, now he had a way with words!
Noticing the attention of everyone in the cabin was on him, Jax knew he had to say something.
"Win."
"~~~~~~" A stiff breeze passed through the LAAT's cabin, the clones had wooden expressions on their faces, and Hunter's in particular looked like it was a frozen block of molded clay.
"Bahahaha ya ere that boys, win e says! Good show! Hell yeah we'll fookin win!" Wrecker pounded his armored chest, and cheered, bringing morale back to a steady medium.
Jax-in a moment learned from observing Master Corvus for hours on end-accidentally mimicked his teacher, and could only scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, and sigh.
He wanted to say something more, something cool or rousing, but the LAAT had landed, and before he knew it, he was the last one to depart.
'Forget it. I'll let my actions speak for myself. Just do what Master would do' Jax thought to himself.
Advancing with Tech, they came across their first patrol.
"Hey, you're not authorized to be here!" One guard raised his blaster at them.
Focusing on the Force, Jax pulled upon that serious feeling of pollution permeating Eriadu, and used his body as a conduit, his kyber crystal as a focus, and the guards' bodies as the container. Then, he shaped that pollution into a mental suggestion.
'You are part of the night's performance. The heartless members of the Quintad demand it. Dance with one another until exhaustion.' Jax suggested to them, making sure to convince them of something that they might find believable, per Master's teachings.
"Incredible." Tech muttered as the armed troopers set aside their weapons, and began to twirl one another around as if they were members of a dance troop.
Jax felt a cold sweat form on his forehead, as he had never enveloped such a large group under Mind Trick before.
"Let's go. The security room is just ahead. The team is counting on us." Jax said, and ran ahead.
After traveling through a few air ducts to avoid attention, they eventually came across a sturdy door, along with a complicated locking mechanism.
"Now it is my turn. Watch my back, this should take less than a minute." Tech said, and kneeled down to hack the door panel.
"Allow me." Jax waved Tech off, then closed his eyes as he began to explore the other side of the door with the Force.
Eventually, he found what he wanted.
'Just like Master said.'
A second later, a button from within the security office was depressed, and the heavy door slid open without any trouble.
Jax then knocked out a pair of security staff, and ushered Tech inside.
"Hmm, Echo did a good job obfuscating the cameras. Since we're a minute early, I'll restore them for a moment, and we can see where everyone is at." Tech muttered.
A second later, the screens-which moments ago had been depicting looped, empty corridors-now depicted the true scene.
Jax, as always, was incredibly observant, and he noticed something was off right away.
"The patriarch of the Tarkin family is missing." Jax said within a few seconds of looking at the screens. "No, wait, pause and rewind camera 14."
Tech silently complied.
One of the screens rewound 15 seconds, and for a brief frame, a group of armored men different from the local garrison appeared on screen. They were armed to the teeth, and they were tossing one of their targets out of a window!
Jax's intuition was telling him a plot was afoot!
Activating his squadwide comms, Jax spoke his mind: "Another hitsquad has begun to eliminate our targets, the Tarkin patriarch is absent."
Seconds later, the sound of laser saws began to cut the security door, and chaos reigned in the ballroom as those foreign soldiers started to indiscriminately blast into the crowd.
"Acknowledged. Prepare to go hot, boys." Hunter replied, and then all Hell broke loose.
Jax ignited his lightsaber, preparing to meet the enemy on the other side of the door. Whilst he was readying himself, he felt an extreme disturbance in the Force.
'Master?!'