Star Wars Galaxies: Chapter 1 - The Awakening

Chapter 1 - The Awakening

I awoke in a cold sweat, a strange, powerful feeling coursing through my veins, a feeling I recognised from my distant past.. only stronger, more intense somehow. My mind was still unclear, my vision was still blured, above me I could see a reed ceiling, around me walls, the crude walls of a hut.

My memory of the night before coming back, patches.. scenes... vivid colour... flashes.. the change...

As it came back to me, the great battle, the spirited defence, the sith onslaught. Who had won?

"Well, I'm alive. Thats a pretty good start.", I thought to myself. "..Or at least I think I am". I could'nt explain the strange feeling, the unexplainable surge of power, building within me. A feeling of chaos and rage combined with a immense feeling of inner and outer understanding creating a strange chaotic calmness within me. I know, it made no sense, I still find it hard to understand. In time I must learn to harness and focus this feeling....

My path to that moment began many years before, the memory distant, but still within me. A visit from an old man. An ambush by strange powerful beings, with powers regarded as a legend from before the clone wars. A map discovered in a camp, a long and dangerous journey, to a village. A village in dire need, under siege. The discovery that something deep within me was growing, a power, an understanding.

It suddenly came back to me. The night before, all of its horrors in vivid colour. Was it a dream? Surely parts of it could only of been a dream. The last onslaught, being completely overwhelmed, all my companions lying dead and dying around me. The village, alight, burning. The fires lighting the night sky so that night became day. Then suddenly, a blinding flash of light, an amazing sense of freedom combined with an intense sense of responsibility. Then nothing.. nothing till now, till waking up in this hut. I suddenly realised where I was, this is peamos' hut. How did I get here? were there other survivors?

I sat up, surveyed my surroundings. My battle armour neatly laid on a chair with my carbine on top, my Rifle leaning against the side of the chair. I reached over to get my armour, after all, if I'm where I seem to be, armour is'nt just a luxury here, its a fact of life, or death..

As my fingers touched it, a feeling of unfamiliarity came over me. I knew what I was touching, I thought I knew how to wear it.. but, strangely I could'nt put it on, repeatedly I tried, each time either the clips would'nt work, or the buckles would magicaly come undone, until finally as though some strange force was controlling it the breast plate flew from my hands and landed gently back on the chair. Accepting a small defeat I searched through my bandolier for my 'spec ops duster' and some trousers... well, I guess one out two wasn't bad..

Dressed in just my boots, briefs and a duster I picked up my blasters.. Again that strange feeling, they are my left and right arms, the tools of my trade for the last 10 years. Yet they felt like strange alien artifacts, I could still use them, but they were crude, inaccurate, cumbersome.

I peered out of the hut entrance, the village seemed quiet, eerily quiet. The village is usually busy, there is a constant sound of preparation, beings coming, beings going. Beings like me, those who show 'promise', as the old man said. But there was nothing.. wait.. I could sense something, not threatening but a presence. I'd felt similar sesnsations before this, but never so strong, it was as though my senses had suddenly become honed to seemingly magical levels. Then, at last, a face, Peamos, the owner of the Hut I had awoken in, the being that had been guiding me on my path to understanding my powers and trying (sometimes in vein, I had thought) to help me learn to control and maximise them.
"Opywan, I see you have awoken. I sense you have many things puzzeling you at this moment."

"Yes, what has happened here?" I enquired. "why do I feel this way? My equiptment.. It is alien to me."

Peamos let out a long and tired sighed, an expression crossed his face, he seemed older, more bowed than yesterday, as though a huge weight had passed over him. "walk with me, Opywan. There is much you must know."
As we walked he told me how we had been overrun the night before, the last assault had decimated the defences. As one Sith fell, it was as though another two appeared in their place. The bulk of the Village had been destroyed, what was left was ablaze. The young defenders dead bodies littered the defensive positions. At the final moment Rohak, the village elder the man who along with Peamos and Noldan had founded Aurillia all those years ago suddenly rushed into the thickest mass of Sith, screaming "EN GEE EE-eee!" as he ran. As he neared them, he seemed to pass from solid into an ethereal form, he seemed to become little more than a glow. Then as he reached the sith leaders, suddenly he became a glowing spot of intense light, some said they heard his voice inside them at that point "No life, No Death, Only the the Force" The intense light grew, it engulfed everything. Time seemed to stop, nothing but the blinding light of Rohak becoming one with the Force could be seen, heard and experienced. Then, suddenly, nothing. Peace. No sith, no dead bodies. Just calm and tranquility reined over the village and its surrounding area.

Peomos went on, explaining how he and the few survivors had searched through the rubble, looking for any more survivors. Eventualy they had found me, I was battered and unconsious but otherwise unharmed. He went on to explain how Rohak had in fact summoned through his understanding of the force, a powerful 'lightstorm', effecting the entire galaxy... the power he had unleashed had effected the very fabric of the galaxy. Many things had changed, somethings had become simpler, others infinately more complex. He explained how this awsome power unleashed had thrust many beings accross the galaxy into a completely different life, it had imbued Force Sensitive beings, like myself, accross the galaxy with new powers, intensifiying their abilities. Suddenly beings who had only just began there journey on the path to enlightenment where imbued with powers almost as strong as a fully trained Jedi Knight, but without the knowledge of how to properly control this new power all he could sense was a deep feeling of uncertainty within the fabric of the galaxy...

Suddenly, we found our selves outside what had been Rohak's hut, the paternal centre of the village, he turned to me and in fatherly way said "Opywan, now you must eat, you have a long journey ahead of you. Both to your ship and beyond.", he gripped my arm, looked me in the eye with a steely gaze "There is much you must learn about your new power and how to control it, alas, this is a journey you must make on your own, your path to enlightenment lies beyond this village".

"Great, so I have 6k to travel accross one of the most unforgiving planets in the galaxy to get to my ship, I'm half naked, and can just about get my weapons to fire in a straight line. Life just got a whole lot harder!" I thought as I stepped into Rohak's hut, for what seem's like my last supper...

To be continued....