Khar Shian
Arkan had shuffled through the numerous Massassi formations that traversed the area surrounding the facility. He noticed a few close-calls in meeting with Jedi, other times noticing a gravitational flux that his friend communicated to him. A few of the Massassi growled, showing the discomfort from the Force nulling Ysalimiri, hidden under his black robe on his shoulder. Arkan smiled, as long as it worked, he would not conform to these creatures' wishes. As two Massassi patrols crossed one another, Arkan decided to split from any group and head off on his own. Malice would be operating from within, Arkan decided to scout outside and neutralize whatever existed as a threat or a counter-measure against the Sith.
"Jedi. You tread the cold as though you knew where to find solace, the goal in which you are here for," the hollow crude voice said,
"But in reality, you follow as though you knew what the greater good was. And I know that you may be following the path which I believe is right, but you do it in ways I thought you would be beyond."
He knew the Jedi would be listening, he could derive from the sensation his friend was giving that there was someone in region, a distinct gravity signature. Through his connection with his friend, Arkan levitated up to the Jedi's view, obscuring any view to the facility.
"Mister D'Nubra. Surprised to see me?," Arkan smiled, floating towards him, invading his region with the draining, nulling sense of the Ysalimiri sphere of influence,
"I see that the Praxeum has come to visit me. How thoughtful of them. But this is not the job of a standard group of Jedi, this is one for the Shadow Jedi... one to which I have aimed to accomplish. Oho, unless you have gotten the audacity to recieve the aide of fellow Jedi, ones trained to counter the darkness, your own raw, inexperienced Shadow Jedi. In that case, I am compelled to say that you will fail. Why?"
As thought death and life were no longer barriers to him, Jedi and Sith were no longer sides to choose, this galaxy's knowledge and the Yuuzhan Vong's knowledge were one and the same, Arkan amalgamated his entire being into a centrifical vessel of power without power, sight without sight, sense without sense,.... reality without reality. Interlocking each piece into the power of his mind, making them one, a moment's peace, a moment's clarity, releasing his worries, unlearning his life as though it never happened. Arkan pushed himself into the dimension of understanding and made himself one with the creatures that were on his person.
His first action was to compel the Ysalimiri to release itself and bury itself in the snow, deep with its large beak to burrow, somewhere warm for it to go silenced, Arkan gave it the understanding to control its rate of metabolism so that it slowed to a pace where its Force-nulling bubble was no bigger than a foot in radius. Then drew on the amalgam of his being, his death, his life. And compelled it to multiply.
"I feel that I have a connection with you Jedi," Arkan began,
"I don't exactly understand how it happened, perhaps my interlacing of the Force during my rebirth, my knowledge in the Light or Dark, but whatever happened is irrelevant at this point. Whatever happened, I believe, happened for a reason. And that reason once escaped me, but now I understand it fully. I am of a balance like none have understood, none that would be mortal in any case or was mortal.
"I was destroyed, Mister D'Nubra, I died, to the satisfaction of sadistic mercenaries who despised Force-user. And in death, I knew the rules, I knew what I was suppose to do... but I didn't... I.. couldn't. I was compelled to stay, compelled to disobey. And now, here I stand, because of the Force, Mister Luis D'Nubra, because of the Force I am no longer a deranged lost bounty-hunter, because of the Force I am where I wanted to be, a Jedi, like you, apparently.
"But as always, appearances can be decieving, which brings me back to the reason why I am here. I am not here because I am free, I am here because I am not free --there is no escaping reason, no denying purpose. Because a life without purpose gives us no reason to really exist."
Someone hovered out from behind Arkan's floating form, glowing with a grey light and stepping down onto the ground. It was an exact duplicate of the fallen Jedi. And this one took of his hood, revealing the face and horns of Arkan, the Zabrak.
"It is purpose that created us..."
Another walked out from behind Arkan, the opposite side of the first duplicate and it walked mirroring its duplicate form parallel to Luis.
"Purpose that connects us..."
From the obscuring mists of the icy tundra, another form walked into Luis's area. Another Arkan.
"Purpose that holds us..."
And another.
"That guides us..."
And another.
"That drives us..."
Hence, another walked into Luis's region,
"Purpose that defines us..."
And directly from behind Luis,
"Purpose that binds us."
From the host form, Arkan spoke,
"We are here, because the Force willed the Yuuzhan Vong to succeed in bringing me back. We are here to take from the galaxy, what the galaxy tried to take from us... purpose."
From the eight Arkans that surrounded Luis D'Nubra, they all brought out lightsaber handles from under their black robes, igniting the black blade of the fallen Darth Raven.