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(6.16) The Climb
The Climb
Former St. Luke Monastery
Mountain Jaradat
Deep Core World of Khomm
The Second Reich of Humanity
April 26, 1937
The night sky was filled with the light of the full moon, which had taken place the night before. It was a risk to make the climb tonight but Master Visst trusted in the Force. The climb would not be hindered. Master Angel Heartman and Captain Ogon Koo’Lak stood at the base of the fifteen hundred meter mountain. None of them had actually considered this is where they would be. But the Force had led them here by design. Just over four short weeks ago, the group had set to give the Free Worlds Council a fighting chance against the Reich’s all impressive Grinder space fighter. They got much more than what they were looking for.
The group uncovered the Grinder plans, plus found out that the Reich scientist had started to unlock the secrets of the Azgardian Assault Shuttle. The Reich had moved forward with building a prototype of their own assault shuttle. The level of the prototype’s completion was not discovered. But through the smart planning of Captain Koo’Lak, the party up loaded a flaw to the designs within the Reich database. The flaw had the potential to set back, what the Reich calls Project Pegasus, between eight to twelve months. The computer-based sabotage has the potential to cause even longer delays. The party also discovered that the Reich had visited the Hothe system and had some plans of the trans-galactic ship Ka-riss-ah! But that was not the real bombshell that the party had uncovered. It would be this information that led the three to where they stood now.
While they had infiltrated the Reich factory on Vandor III, they discovered that Kayla was still being forced to help the Reich. Kayla was well known to the group from their activities at the Ganthery Military Proving Grounds, Reich world of Acatmen. She had been abducted from the Free Worlds Council a few years ago because of her mind. Kayla had a remarkable mind. Her intellect placed her within the top half percent of scholars within the Galaxy. She took a heavy beating from her Reich captors while attempting to protect a near helpless Captain Koo’Lak. During the Acatmen mission, the bitter command decision as made to let her remain in Reich hands to set the stage for something in the future. Since that mission, it had been a personal goal of Captain Koo’Lak to return to the young woman to her family. Today, Captain Koo’Lak had a chance to fulfill that goal.
The three looked up at the high cliff face wall. They had only ten and a half hours to make a fifteen hundred meter climb before the morning sun breaks the horizon. For most normal soldiers this would be a near impossible task. But Master Visst, Master Heartman and Captain Koo’Lak are no normal soldiers. Each stood before the mountain with their climbing gear at the ready. For Angel, she saw more than just a mountain. She saw her life before her. This was going to be the most dangerous challenge of her life.
‘It was going to be a long night’ Angel thought to herself as she double-checked her gear to make sure everything was in place and secured. Once more she took a deep breath as she took in the scope of this climb. To her right, Visst and Ogon were setting up some kind of harness for Visst. The risks were very real and the chance of failure was higher than the chance of success. She was scared. Man was she scared. She never before had she done anything like this. She knew that emotions were normal. It was the effect that she allowed that fear to hold over her which was what she had to be careful of. She gazed up in to the darkness and saw lights high above her. ‘Its time to get this over with’ she thought with a nod. A chill ran down her back as the night air blew. She took a deep breath and reached out for the side of the cliff face. 'One and after another' she thought as she moved up the near vertical cliff face. She watched as Ogon and Master Visst rocketed upward. 'This is about me. All about me' she assured herself as she reached for the next handhold. She knew that allowing her focus to become centered on others, she would loss sight of what she was doing. It was time for her to face this fear and over come it.
As she continued her nighttime accent, she reflected back on her life. She never once looked back and truly gave it deep consideration. If this was to be her last moments, it was fitting to learn more about who she was. It was time to look backwards as she was climbing upwards. Angelique Heartman was born a genetic fluke of her people. Generally true Azgardian warriors are birthed in laboratories through the most advanced genetic advances available. It was what allowed the Scientist to ensure that the next lines of warriors were genetically superior to the last. These warriors that are created in the laboratories were called True Born warriors. Unlike other warriors, Angel had a mother and father. This made her uncommon within her race. Most warriors did not prefer to have children due to the perception that the act of giving birth degraded the gene pool. Still there were some that felt the calling by nature to become true parents to their own children. Those warriors who were birthed naturally were dubbed Free Birth warriors. What made Angel truly rare within her race was that she was tested genetically identical to a True Born warrior who was born within an hour of Angel's natural birth.
Fiolla Heartman was the trueborn child that tested genetically identical to Angel. Tests were done and not one member of the science caste could explain the fluke. Respecting the act of the Gods, the Priests demanded that Fiolla be dubbed Angel’s twin sister. That both girls would be raised as blood sisters. As the two grew it became clear that not only did they share the same genes, they shared the same looks. It only furthered mystery of Angel and Fiolla’s strange birth. They may have shared the same face, but it also became quick to realize that the two also have much different ways of handling situations. Fiolla tended to handle things directly and with her pure might and skill. Angel had much more softer and developed ways of handing the same situations. It became clear that the force had touched Angel at a very young age. She would not share the same training as her twin sister. Angel’s destiny would be held within the Jedi. Angel was sent to Coruscant to study with the very best the Jedi had to offer. Fiolla would continue training as a trueborn warrior.
This allowed Angel to grow up without having to share the same light as her twin sister. So while Fiolla was training to become an Azgardian Warrior, Angel was training to become a Jedi. The two still spent many summers playing and enjoying childhood on their estate on Alderaan. While they were not on vacation, each trained and studied hard to become the very best they could be. Then came that fateful afternoon when Angel was only fourteen years old. She and Daz had just returned from a month long vacation on Alderaan and had realized they had returned to Coruscant early. The pair were enjoying drinks and pesters at a local cafe' on Coruscant that Angel loved as they wasted time. It was Angel's suggestion to do some last minute shopping and relaxing before returning to the Temple. A suggestion that would set Angel on the climb that she faced during this night.
As they were enjoying a second round of pastries and laughing about their resent vacation, an explosion filled the air. An air speeder crashed and people panicked. Both Angel and Daz leaped in to action. They found that the explosion was an assassination attempt carried out by dark Jedi who was pretending to be another Jedi Padawan. The pair thwarted the assassination attempt and launched their careers as Jedi Hunters. Her career was one that many young Jedi had envied. She had near direct access to the Jedi Council and one of the most legendarily Masters choose to be her personal mentor. Missions meant for much more experienced Jedi, were given to her and her friends. Under Daz's leadership, everyone within their group soared like great birds of pray. She had everything a young eager Padawan could ever want to succeed. Yet still she failed!
She reached up and grabbed a small bush hoping to us it for some support on her accent. The bush ripped out of the cliff face and caused her to loss her grip and balance. She let out a scream as she fought once more for grip. During that moment of chaos in her life, she saw her first step along the dark path. She and Zya were alone in the room posing as sex hungry nobles. Their mission was to murder a Jedi spy who was betraying the Republic. He was unaware of their mission to murder him and Angel played her part perfectly. While Daz and the rest of her team were fighting against the odds to recover the spy, Zya and Angel were working against their goals. He was completely unaware of the plot against his life as Angel tossed the weapon Za’s waiting hand. The weapon rang out and in that moment the spy for the Jedi was gone. His body completely vaporized. The mission issued by the Republic Army was so successful, that the Jedi never suspected that the spy had been murdered.
She dangled by one hand as the last images passed her mind. She looked below her and in to the blackness of the night and death. She could no longer see the ground nor those events so long ago. ‘Funny how distance and time clouds both the mind and vision’ she thought as she looked down in to the darkness. The distance didn’t change the fact that the ground was down there nor did time change what she had done. What she did was wrong, and she knew it then and now. She accepted her mistakes and forgave herself for them. Once more she struggled for a grip on the rocks that made up the cliff face. It wasn't easy for her now nor was it then. She covered for Zya as she tortured a man to death. Angel knew what Zya was doing but never even thought to stop her. The cries of that man still echoed from the dark places of Angel's mind today. Her hand did find its grip once more as her mind cleared some. She found that support tonight as she found a new source of support on Yavin IV.
During what should have been routine search capture mission of a misguided Jedi, turned in to near chaos when their shuttle was hit by an unknown craft. The crash had caused Damaya, who was supposed to lead the mission, to become incapacitated. This allowed Angel to take command. However from the beginning Daz had maneuvered the situation to share leadership. It was supposed to be Damaya’s and her mission. But for Daz it was something deeper. At the time she resented the trick to steal a valuable learning opportunity from her. ‘Tricked her from bettering herself’ was how she had seen it for so long. Angel continued to climb upward as she pushed herself. That was so long ago, and Visst had shown her another way. What Daz had done was his actions, not hers. From everything that had happened to her, she could now look back at all of it and was grateful. Each experience had helped shape her in to the master that she was now. She found a renewed strength as she continued to move upward. Each word that Visst said had made so much sense as she reflected back on it. While his views on attachments were harsher than those of her Master. But even in this, his teachings have helped her find where her path really laid.
As the Brush Fire Wars raged around the group, Angel was able to explore a part of her life that she never considered. She found that she loved to fly and she was very good at it. As she continued to climb upward, she realized that flying was as much part of who she was as was the Force. Visst had shown Angel that loyalty was her most dangerous attachment. ‘If I had only listened sooner’ she thought as she continue to move upward. She had loved Daz like a brother. Trusted him, was his most loyal friend, and followed him right in the darkness. She reached up to take hold of an edge of the cliff face, in that moment some kind of snake attempted to lash out at her. It missed her as the surprise caused her to loss her grip once more. She fell back again and once more the ropes caught her. As she dangled from the ropes she looked up and watched the snake watch her. She couldn’t help but realize how her loyalty to Daz had nearly killed her like this snake had. Not in the sense of the death of the body, but in the terms of who she was. She had traded a man’s life for her beloved fighter. She looked back once more at the darkness of her life and saw how greedy she was back then. Her loyalty, her greed, her attachments had brought her once to the very edge of destruction.
She looked up at where the snake was and saw that it had moved away. The way was clear for her to move upward again. ‘Trust in the Force and allow it to guide and teach us’ Angel recalled the teachings of her former Master. Angel kicked her feet and grabbed the cliff face once more. No longer will she be trapped by her attachments. No longer will her loyalties cloud her view. She pushed hard and could see the lights of the Monastery just a few hundred meters above her. She saw the silhouette of Visst and Ogon looking down at her. She didn’t care how they reached the top, nor did she care what was above her. For her, this was all about the climb. She had traveled so far, done so much, and become so much more than she could have ever imagined. Now, her life was renewed. As the last moments of the climb passed, Angel dug deep for that last bit of strength. Her body screamed as every muscle demanded a break from this climb. Angel refused to quick or to cheat herself of this opportunity to become better.
With bloody hands and torn clothes, Angel pulled her self over the small wall where Visst and Ogon were waiting. She flopped ungracefully on to the ground and looked up to the setting moon. Her heart pounded in her chest as her breath ran away from her. Ogon lent her a hand, which she took. She smiled at both of them. “I did it….I did it” she said softly as she slowly stood. She turned to Master Visst a bowed her head, “I didn’t think I could, but I did it” she said. “Thank you for crashing in to us” she added. Her mind raced as she thought hard of what she had over come to be standing here this night. There were so many missteps. So many wrong turns. But she had finally reached a point where she could accept it to herself. She could look at her own reflection and call herself, ‘Jedi Master’ the words echoed in her mind as she smiled. Ogon nodded and motioned to continue with the mission. Angel nodded back as the sounds of footsteps cut off any other conversations. Those conversations would have to wait; they had a girl to rescue. Ogon led the way as Angel followed.
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