While awaiting inspection and verifying their identification on the orbital platform, R-90 headed on over to Eshka's cell and freed her. She thanked R-90 for staying loyal to his maker and would contact him in the future. She just asked to continue gathering information. She asked for a quick download of his recent memories so she could analyze and see if there was any useful information. The rest of the group proceeded through inspection and customs; trading in their blaster for sonic weapons and going through standard checks before being cleared for planetside. As they got there clearance R-90 approached them as Eshka's ship took off. Immediately the group seemed angry that Eshka got away, Master Ichael was disappointed as there was a 10,000 bounty worth of credits on her. R-90 explained that she was his maker and that he had to remain loyal to her. R-90 has been a great companion up until this point, Tizzit and Khorragh'a seemed disappointed in him. They informed R-90 that they had passed their clearance and would take a transport down to Bothuwi, heading for the city of Fael Neddih.
As soon as they got there they were swarmed by a group of young Bothans who wanted to take a picture of a real Wookie and whatever Tizzit was. Other young Bothans were amazed at seeing Padawans and likewise posed for pictures. Wrabbler was the center of attention as he resembled a much beloved character of a popular animated show, E'vay from the Team Rocket series. The Bothans here were very polite, but R-90 warned them to be careful as Bothans are a sneaky bunch. Master Ichael let them know he was going to arrange for transportation to the compound were they would be safe. The rest of the party gathered supplies and took a meal in one of the local restaurants. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the sonic weapons, they asked R-90 if he knew where to get some real weapons. Being on Bothuwi, he knew just who to ask to find a local seller. A few block away there was a noodle carts that sold special "spicy soup". The Bothan who ran the noodle cart was an old man with a straw hat, and simple blue robes. His fur was already greying, but there was a very lively spark in his eyes when he was approached with an order for his "spicy soup". He let the group know he could provide them with a standard issues that was sure to let their taste buds have a blast! To Khorragha's surprise he even had a blaster bolt. The old Bothan was very accommodating, after all those pistols would most likely be back in his possession by the end of the month anyway. As soon as they were done with him, they all met Master Ichael in the town square, and as he promised he had arranged some land-based vehicular transport. The vehicle would fit all of them as they took a road up into the mountains leading to a secluded valley. R-90 was familiar now with the area as he recalled that the Melan Estate was nearby.
As they approached a fork in the road Master Ichael stopped the vehicle as there was a squad of several droids. These droids where of unknown make an model. Several were small droids that hovered around them, the others were armed bipedal types lead by a tall white droid. Before they could do anything the droids moved in for attack. The flying sentries positioned themselves around the vehicle while the other bipedal droids took to higher ground using their turbo-jets. L and Talia managed to open the door and began to fire on the sentries. Before the other could act, the lead Droid suddenly powered up and rushed the vehicle easily flipping it over. It then pulled out a huge energy sword and tossed it at Talia which missed.
Wrabbler and Tizzit exited the vehicle, Wrabbler taking cover in a nearby tree while Tizzit joined Talia and L.
R-90 was taking cover with Khorragh'a in the vehicle and firing upon the droids. It was a heavy fight, the droids putting up a hard battle but ultimately were defeated by the group. They managed to pacify L in a gooey cocoon for a while intended to capture him. The lead droid did something amazing, it dispersed into hundreds of nanites and began to attempt to consume R-90 and absorb it into its own system. Fortunately for R-90 he was installed with security protocols for just such a situation. His internal defenses were able to
discorporate the nanite swarm and leave it inert. Two of the droids managed to escape, one sentinel and one bi-pedal droid. When the battle was over, they noted that Master Ichael was badly injured and needed urgent medical attention. R-90 knew that the Melan Estates were close by and he could get them help within an hour.
R-90 arrived at the estate with Talia. They noted that three large manors were the centerpiece of the estate. The estate itself was surrounded by vineyards of all types. Many Faleen workers were in the fields, supervised by Bothans and droids. When they arrived at the main gate R-90 identified himself and let them know they needed assistance. Master Ichael would be tended to, and everyone else would be checked as well and their injuries treated. Wrabbler though was viewed by the staff as one of the most adorable creatures, and was treated as a favored pet. Some of the Faleen were rude to the Wookie, as he was seen a a big lumber pet. Jaque seemed amused as he was monitoring this and let his Faleen servants have there fun. Jaque Melan, the head of the clan welcomed them to his estate as guests. He was curious to R-90 and the whereabouts of his daughter. They would soon learn at dinner that Jaque was the one who put out the bounty on his daughter. Years ago Jaque and Eshka had a fight were she walked off as usual, he had vowed never to speak to her again and she pretty much felt the same way. However over the past few years his health had been failing.....and he wanted his eldest daughter to inherit the estate. However she had gone off and done her own thing and seemed to have ended up on the wrong side of the Galactic Civil War. His other daughter Soska would inherit the estate and all of clan Melan holdings if Eshka would not return. Jaque let them know they were more than welcome to stay until Master Ichael recovered.
R-90 being a droid was mostly ignored and he went about the estate, finding Eshka's old workshop. He vaguely remembered this as his place of origin. He was surprised to find alpha models of himself that Eshka worked on before she perfected him. There were at least a dozen incomplete droids, but at least two of there were operational. To R-90's astonishment the other two droids seemed to refered to themselves as R-90 as well. These two were beta models of his A.I., and soon they collaborated together. One of the Beta-R-90's was sent out to search for Eshka, while the other followed R-90 around finding him to be a hot piece of tech. It seems R-90 unique way of interfaces with systems was coming full circle.
After a few days Master Ichael was okay and Jaque provided them with transport to Lake Bystel were they were headed. The transport flew over the vineyards and up into valley. As they approached the lake the noted there was a small landing glad on the southside of the lake, while a good distance away there seemed to be a rather large lake house with some other building around it hidden by the trees. As they were dropped off, Master Snark and a bunch of padawan came out. Many of them recognized Master Ichael, other recognized and were happy to know that Wrabbler and Talia escaped Coruscant. Master Snark would see to the other while Master Ichael spoke with Master Jocasta Nu. It seems that the Jedi who was was the caretaker of the archives at the Jedi Temple made it out alive after all. The group was given a place to sleep and soon everyone started exchanging information and stories on how they all escaped Coruscant. The biggest thing was that it was confirmed that Master Anakin Skywalker was indeed the one who came into the temple and attacked. Many of them were able to flee, but most of them were shot down by Clone Troopers. Those that encountered or tried to stop Anakin were cut down by him.
Talia and L each met with Master Nu separately. Talia who was taking her test on that day had no idea that Master Nu could just make her a Jedi Knight. Master Nu explained that in her ordeals of surviving the purge on the Temple and escaping Coruscant was enough to prove herself a true Jedi. As far as Master Nu was aware, all members of the Jedi council was killed. She had every authority to bestow such a title on Talia.
Master Nu would need allies and other to keep the Jedi Tratdition alive. L was next to meet with Master Nu in a private audience. She remembered the former padawan, and L remembered her too. The council had expelled L for wanting to return back to his family. Since then L had wandered from system to system, trying to flee the guilt he had for not being able to save his family. As Master Nu told Talia, she needed all the allies she could get....and would be willing to welcome L back to the order. L was more than happy to take her offer and Master Snark, the Ithorian jedi her would train him.
However there was thee issue of Aryn and Oshua to deal with. Fortunately Master Ichael trained Aryn well, and with a few tricks Oshua too. Aryn had made his way to Bothuwi after he managed to pit the his Bothan captors against eachother. He managed to convince them that there were other buyers who would pay more for him and soon they fought with one another. The last Bothan standing was then heavily suggested to turn around and head back to Loxley station. When Aryn had arrived he just missed Master Ichael. Fortunately his connection with his Master allowed him to follow him back to Bothuwi. While traveling back it seems that the Bothans has discovered that Master Nu had a settlement here and were going to sell the information to the Republic. When he arrived at the Lake with the Bothan in tow, Master Nu dealt with the matter personally. Aryn had never seen a Jedi torture another person before and was unnerved by this.
When Master Ichael arrived he was overjoyed that his Master and older brother had found him. Master Ichael knew of Oshua, as many were contacted by the "ghost" in the library. Oshua had conversed with a few while hiding among the khyber crystals and holocrons. The few who conversed with Oshua learned of his true nature, and most were rather accepting him. It was Oshua who had found out that Aryn was his younger brother. Aryn and Ichael were taken from the same household, and for some reason ended up together. It was an oversight in the records, but since both Ichael and Aryn had no idea it didn't matter.
It was only weeks before the temple was attacked that Ichael found out. He struggled with informing the council, as it was going against tradition and they would place Aryn with another. All that changed though when the temple was attacked, and all he could think about when news of the attack on the order was his little brother. They both shared a close bond as mentor and student, but that was most likely because of their blood relation. Oshua had told Aryn the truth during their weeks surviving in the depths of Corscant. He told Aryn that Ichael was still alive, as he could sense him. That kept Aryn hoping to see his brother once again, and was a source of inspiration.
When they were finally re-united they said nothing right away, but they could tell in eachother's eye that they knew. Aryn had informed Ichael what Master Nu had done to the Bothan. Master Ichael was not surprised, but Aryn was to young to know such ancient truths of the Jedi. He also did not want to lose his brother.... staying with the Jedi would put them in danger......but Oshua had promised them complete sanctuary. As events passed Oshua was deep in concentration, attempting to locate the Iron Knights, other beings like himself. He was sent to the temple to gather information and now needed to get back. Since his order was already shrouded in secrecy, it would be the perfect place for Ichael and Aryn to go into hiding. A few days later they would leave a holo-message for Master Nu explaining that they had a mission to undertake and a promise to keep.
The group would stay on Bothuwi for the next couple of months. Tizzit mad a new convert to the kind in one of the Padawans. L, Wrabbler and Talia trained with the others under Master Snark. Khorragh'a was provided some work as they expanded their base of operations to accommodate more and more survivors.
Soon the small sanctuary grew into a small community of 159 individuals associated with the Jedi order. Even General Rahm Kota managed his way here with a small platoon of clone troopers which scared the community at first. The meeting between Master Nu and General Khota did not go well. General Khota urged that they should strike back. It was already more than obvious that the Sith had corrupted the Senate and probably had the Emperor in their grasp. While Master Nu had been busy hiding, he was making his way finding allies and trusted individuals who they could rely on. That was one of the reason he headed to Bothuwi and discovered Master Nu.
Master Nu would not risk the safety she established and felt that it was paramount that the Jedi Tradition take hold somewhere, as they gathered in number and in strength. However General Khota had already assemble a strike team of skilled Jedi he had found and rescued from Republic forces. It seems that the Emperor had issued orders to capture all known Jedi and Padawans, and he was assembly his own elite warriors trained in the force. In the end General Khota left Master Nu to her own manipulations, and he would personally see to it that the Republic would be free from the influence of the Sith.
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