Fade to Grey

Posted on Sat Jun 27th, 2020 @ 12:17am by Sage Hud Ubar
Edited on on Sat Jun 27th, 2020 @ 12:23am

Mission: Episode 1 - All Roads Lead to Nowhere
Location: Baran Do Temple | Dor'shan, Dorin
Timeline: 19 BBY - Right before Order 66

Force eddies swirled throughout Dorin like its native storm systems. Hud felt his mind float among them like a jellyfish in an ocean. The Living Force roared with the lifeforms in the capitol city and the spaceport beyond. But they weren't what Hud was after. Whispers of the Cosmic Force pulled at Hud with the faintest of grasping. It took a deft touch to coax them through the metaphysical storm of planetary consciousness the Baran Do trained to understand. Storm-warning was the traditional purpose of the Baran Do, but storms were the least of the hazards on the horizon. Hud saw utter Darkness. He peered into it, searching for hidden secrets that could be teased out.

It was like staring into a blackhole sun. The gravity well of hate and suffering threatened to engulf him.

Two words rang out through the Cosmic Force.

UN-LIM-IT-ED POWWWWWER!!!

Hud shook out of his meditation with a tremor. His eyes fluttered open as he returned to the physical location of a meditation room in the Temple. For months, he had foreseen coming trouble, but now the trouble was here. He was out of time. What plans he'd made would have to suffice, and for the rest... there was the Force.

Rising from his mat, Hud dismissed the apprentice at the door from his vigil. "Gather the Sages."

---

Assembled within their meeting hall, Hud stood while he addressed his fellow Sages. The oldest of them were seated on cushions, though a few near his own age sat on thin mats with their feet folded over their opposing knees.

"I apologize for summoning this body at such a late hour, but I fear the hour is far later than we believed. In my meditation, I saw--"

"Nothing that has not been foreseen by your fellow Sages," said one Sage of Hud's own age.

Hud snorted at the interruption. "Perhaps. Nonetheless I bring a call to action. Destruction nears the galaxy, and we must prepare our response to it."

The Elder Sage's mandibles clacked together before he spoke. "We have begun to implement our response." His words bore the weight of his many years.

"Yes... the Caves..." Hud shook his head. "That is passive. If we know the shroud of the Dark Side has fallen over the Jedi, then we know they are not able to stop what is coming."

Anyone unfamiliar with Baran Do proceedings might be tempted to interpret the silence which followed as a good sign. It was not. Nobody belittled a fellow Sage in a gathered assembly, and the silence in place of approval meant disapproval so great that it threatened propriety.

"Do we tell our people to fight the storm?" the Elder Sage asked at length.

"No," Hud said in deference.

"Do we not direct them to shelter wherein they can weather the storm until it passes?"

"Yes," Hud said with a nod. "But--"

"Then that is what we shall continue to do." The Elder Sage cut Hud off. From an equal, it would be tantamount to a slap in the face, but from the Elder Sage it was harsh discipline.

It was, therefore, disrespectful for Hud to continue. "But what of our people spread outside Dorin? There are Kel Dor all over the galaxy, many of whom bring advancement and renewal to forsaken, devastated worlds."

"Those who leave the sanctuary of Dorin know the risks," the Elder Sage began to say.

"And those who depend on Kel Dor honor for their well-being and very future--" Hud began to raise his voice to be heard.

A bolt of yellow lightning shot forth from the Elder Sage's leathery hand. "Your tongue brings shame to Kel Dor honor. You will hold it."

None of the other Sages flinched. The Electric Judgment was not summoned by anger or any such Dark passions, but from the stoicism of determined justice. Only a clear conscience filled with righteous conviction could summon it. It brought no harm to Hud, as he cloaked himself with the Force and let the yellowish-green lightning flow around him to the ground.

"So be it." Hud bowed before the assembly of Sages. There were no words which could overturn such a demonstration of the Sages' collective will.

"You are unmoved in your convictions." It was a statement of fact. Every Sage in the assembly could sense it within Hud. His admonitions and planning had been no secret in the past months.

"I am not."

The Elder Sage gave a weary nod of understanding. "If you depart Dorin in pursuit of your stratagems, it will be alone in defiance of the Baran Do. If you bring exposure to your brother Sages or any under our ward as a result of your actions, then your return will be denied."

"I understand," Hud said, "just as I understand the fate of the Baran Do along the current course. Dor'shan will be sacrificed to spare its Sages."

"You go too far!" exclaimed the younger Sage from before.

Hud turned directly to face him. "And you go not far enough." He snorted at his brothers. It expressed not only frustration with their obstinacy and cowardice, but also grief at leaving them. Despite their differences of opinion, they were Baran Do. He swept his gaze across all of them, likely for the last time, and gave them a deeper bow than before.

The Elder Sage spoke once more. "So you truly mean to leave us."

"I do," Hud said. "Farewell."

With nothing more to be said between them, Hud left the assembly room.

The walk through the entrance to the Temple was painful. Hud's footsteps echoed from the paved permacrete floor clear to the sky-blue vaulted ceiling. He passed by the raised dais for public addresses, as well as the lounge area that served as a refugee for guests who would otherwise be caught in the furious gales that frequently ravaged the planet.

Plans within plans and not enough time to see them through. Hud had not expected the blessing of his fellow Sages, but he had hoped for a better parting. Perhaps this was as good as could be expected. They had not exiled him from the order or from Dorin. At least, not yet. If Hud failed, then not returning to his homeworld would be the least of his shame. The worst failure meant no homeworld to return to. But what choice did he have? The Force required it of him.

At the final threshold to the Temple, Hud paused a moment and stared up at the imposing white columns that stood out in stark relief from the pitch black walls. Once he left, there would be no turning back. His walking staff also carried his lone travel bag. Reaching into it, Hud removed the rebreather and goggles he had acquired after his first Force vision earlier that year. What before seemed a novelty now became a calling. This would be his face, from now until final victory.

Or death.

"I am the Force," Hud intoned. "The Force is with me."

The Force itself came alive within him, guiding his footsteps over the threshold of the Temple and to the spaceport where his pilot contact waited.