Felucia's Open Terrain

*The repulse was successful, though its result looked painful; pain Morgan herself felt as a sting in the back of her mind. She winced, but kept her ground, slowly, cautiously closing the gap. It continued to speak, not looking up, not standing, but still swearing it was causing no harm. "We," it kept saying. Explaining that it had been told it could help people. Claiming it never killed...

Somehow, Morgan felt pity. She and the copy were enemies... but did they need to be? Rogue... Rogue broke free. She couldn't have been the only one who could! But Morgan had to do it right... or else she would just have to kill her.* "You keep saying 'we'!" *She declared, now almost sounding pleading.* "Not 'me'! You're not acting on your own! You're acting like a part of something! Part of something worse! Snap out of it! You look like me, and if you're like me, you're stronger than that!"

*It was worth a shot, and she would hold out as long as she could.*

*She seemed... defeated. Frustrated. Torn. Was it working?! Morgan stood there, stomach rising and falling with breath she didn't realize was heavy until now. She deactivated her lightsaber but kept it close, lowering her whip as she started to take a couple steps forward. She was breaking... She was using "I" to refer to herself now, but was that just because Morgan pointed it out? Maybe... but the distress was palpable.*

"You're not me..." *Morgan replied calmly, automatically. Suddenly realizing where she was going with this, she pressed on.* "And you're not anyone else! You're you!" *She still continued to tentatively approach, calmer, attempting to open her up. She wasn't sure how Rogue broke free, but if it was possible, this girl could as well. And reverse what she'd done...*

*Morgan was still having a difficult time reading her response; either she was close to breaking, or close to striking once more. Still, Morgan closed the gap, but prepared to defend herself if she needed to, as she professed to be part of something "greater." That was where Morgan shook her head.* "You're wrong! It's not greater! They made you do this!

"I'm part of something greater too!" *she went on, trying a new weapon as she put her hand to her chest, carefully keeping her lightsaber pointed away from her.* "I'm part of a family! Of people who love me and want me to do what's best for me, not for them." *She paused. Would this work? Would this be the final cut, or would she still have more after this?* "... you could be part of that..."

*Morgan nodded eagerly when she observed that she was being offered something greater, but the nod stuck and the small smile that had formed vanished when she was accused of offering the same thing the girl was.

Morgan had no answer to that; if the girl had no desire to abandon any pretense of the Corruption being "good," Morgan wasn't sure how she could convince her otherwise. Somewhat flustered, she could only ask,* "Well what do you want?"

*The truth? That could mean a lot of things... and Morgan thought she'd listed plenty of them already. But then she wanted to know why Morgan called her a "copy." That she could do. Morgan looked around and spotted her backpack laying on the ground. She switched her lightsaber into her left hand along with her whip and reached out with her now-open hand, calling the bag to her. Once it reached her, she reached inside, pulling out her datapad. She then turned it on, activating the holoimage feature then set it down on the ground between them.*

"Watch," *she said, before the datapad recorded a holo of the scene. Morgan then knelt down to activate it, and the recorded holoimage would display itself: Morgan standing and facing the girl sitting against the tree. Pointing to the latter, Morgan explained,* "That's you. Don't you see? You look like me because... you were copied from me... when I fought the Corruption to save a friend." *Morgan wasn't sure if that would answer all of her questions, but it was hopefully at least a start.*

*Morgan had to think it was a little strange that the girl didn't know what she looked like, but it at least explained why she had no reaction to the sight of another who looked exactly like her. She apparently didn't have any memory of past events... which Morgan, for some reason, assumed they did.

Then she claimed that she was their "light," again mentioning that whole "help" thing. Morgan looked around her, at the now-corrupted portion of jungle. Morgan could still save it... but now she had to save this girl too. Morgan picked up the datapad, switching it off and slipping it into her bag, then set it and both her weapons on the ground. Dangerous move? Likely. But Morgan wanted to approach in peace, coming a little closer to her until their toes almost touched. Then she knelt down.*

"Don't be sad," *she pleaded, herself having begun to take on the girl's emotions but forcing a smile regardless.* "We can fix this. Be my friend, come with me. Bring the jungle back to the way it was. We won't use you! You're not the only one who ran away! We can take care of you, treat you nice... love you."

*Apparently Morgan wasn't working hard enough to make her offer sound different than the girl's... There had to be some way to get through. Maybe Morgan should try explaining the truth again, see if she'd believe it this time... Wait, who was the other? That was the perfect start.* "Rogue!" *she declared, recalling her conversation with the woman who'd cut herself away from the Collective. She couldn't recall much, other than she seemed quite happy to exist independently of its will, and even pleased when she learned that Morgan had angered the "Guardian" of Haruun Kal. Rogue herself...*

"You're an Echo..." *Morgan recalled, locking eyes with Light.* "You were made from me! Rogue saw the truth, she cut herself away because she wanted free will! The Corruption just wants to destroy, to steal life and make it do what it wants to do!" *Morgan then reached out to her, through the Force, attempting to established a connection with her mind. She then focused on her memories of the Corruption, the encounters on Haruun Kal, the terror, the pain of loss when it took Mesh...* "Look what it's done to me!" *She pleaded.* "Don't be like that!"

----

*Mina couldn't say she liked this one bit. Not just the fact that something so dangerous lurked in the jungle that Morgan realistically feared something could happen to her, but that Mina was being made to stay back, unable to at least see what was happening. How was Rush supposed to know if something happened to her this far away anyway?! The Force? Mina still didn't understand a lot about it yet, but it was clear it possessed incredible properties...

She slipped down from the akk's back, and his response was to bar her path forward and give her a stern stare. She briefly flinched, but then gave the beast a hard stare in return. She then walked past him, even as she heard Morgan cry out and crack her whip in the distance; now Mina needed to get a field of vision even sooner. Rush seemed to even more adamantly bar her path, but each time she only gave it a hard glare before picking another direction.* "Wanna look!" *she declared to it in frustration. Strangely, it seemed to understand and ceased to bar her path... though he continued to watch her carefully, should she diverge.

Relieved, she stepped further into the strangely-blue part of the jungle. For all she knew, this was natural, but the unsettling atmosphere made her think otherwise. Through the trees, she caught glimpses of the encounter, and what sounded like Morgan saying some odd things. Morgan had the backpack... with Mina's clothes and weapon inside it. That part she hated the most: She was naked and unarmed, incredibly vulnerable and unable to defend herself. If the red beast and the tentacle creature were on her side, she was probably safe, but she still felt useless.

Speaking of the latter, it tumbled along behind them, it too seemingly taking interest in the scene, while Lokay remained perched on the akk's back. Mina was able to get a clear view of the figure Morgan was attacking as it sailed into a tree...

... she looked exactly like Morgan.

Mina gasped softly and watched, shocked and confused; what was she seeing? How was it possible?! Oh, it was easy to tell which one was the real Morgan from a distance, but what was it? Why did it look like Morgan and how did it get here?! All Mina could do now was watch and wait... and keep her distance.*

*She recognized Rogue? Perhaps she was more knowledgeable than Morgan realized. Morgan nodded, waiting for what seemed to be the girl's next words...

... except they were someone else's. Her eyes distorted with blue, seeping even into the skin around them, and the voice... a voice Morgan knew too well. Morgan's eyes widened; had she made a mistake? Was opening herself to the girl the wrong choice? It accused Morgan of trying to "corrupt" its "light" even going for her throat. Morgan had no time to dodge and could only grip the hand with both of hers, trying to pull it off of her. This was it, then; alone with no aid, in the clutches of the Guardian...

But then the strength came. Her fingers curled around those that clawed at her throat, prying them away as her mouth opened, but the words that spilled forth were not hers.* "Foul creature," *it spoke commandingly, from everywhere at once,* "you will not lay a finger upon My daughter!"

*Morgan's own Guardian had come to her rescue.

Allowing her Mother to guide her, Morgan's hands threw that of the Guardian-possessed girl's aside before attempting to grab her shoulders and pin her against the tree. Morgan's eyes burned with the ferocity of an emerald sun, staring back into the azure coldness within the other.* "Release her, or feel the wrath of an entire planet."

*Eons of knowledge and total awareness of all that occurred on this world guided Morgan's arms as they released the possessed-copy's shoulders and grabbed for the wrists in order to twist them and keep her at bay.* "I see My child's mind, her memories. You are not as powerful as you believe yourself to be." *The ferocious stare remained fix on the possessed eyes, unmoving.* "What little power you claim to possess is no match for a mother's fury."