Before - Legends The Sith Hunters - 7/22/16 - September 15, 2016....

Some way to engage a partner, Lur.

Re Casper: Last we saw him he was playing daddy and now he is semi-retired? Whoah, talk about parenting taking the most out of you. Sorry, it was the Council, was it not? Good to see Lur interrupt the silver years. Time to get a stagnant career off the plateau, Casper.

(Sounds like DRL in a way! Whee!)

 

LOL! Parenting....

If you're not ready for it......

The deal that Plo Koon brokered so Angelleia could become a Jedi was a hard deal for Casper to accept, and the Council is keeping his Saberhide feet to the flames on it. But like a good Jedi, so far, Casper's being a man of his word.

As for Lur: he's still enough of a Neimoidian to let audacity get to him. He was right: he saw Casper fearlessly call Ta'Chume twice on her stupidity; what's so frightening about a bunch of pop stars that don't have a clue what they are even talking about.

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GESSAHOLIC DATABASE

FACTOID --> There may appear to be radical differences between Angelleia's upbringing and Enothchild's upbringing, but only in the time that passed. Unlike many other species that live a long time, a normal Vhinphyc's biological childhood, as opposed to the standards of chronological childhood, is VERY long. By Republic measure, Enothchild was far older than twenty-something year old Nadja Moranna when she took him as a Padawan Learner. Anka-Dee Sura (hit her name for some surprises) had spent the remains of her Jedi service dedicated to raising Enothchild for the nearly the next seventy (70, 7-0, seven-zero!) years, ending her career over the 'attachment is forbidden' issues in the Jedi Code. By the time he was old enough to be trained, Anka-Dee left Enothchild and the Jedi Order to go find his parents, which was driven more by the genetic changes she underwent to become like Enothchild's biological mother than by the fact her time with Enothchild was over, which we see the results in 'The Sith Maiden', that indeed Anka-Dee did find her lovers.

Casper's situation is different only in the short amount of time it took Angelleia to grow up physically, mentally, and emotionally by comparison; much of that caused by Juna's infusion of genetics. Angelleia's training time would come much more quickly, but for the Jedi Council that was more than enough time for Casper to develope attachment. And as you can see, it did affect him.

But many of the issues Enothchild had to face growing up were never truly and completely touched on beyond the difficulties of being constantly afraid and facing Jedi peers that honestly did not like him because he was a Vhinphyc. However.....

....Anka-Dee and Enothchild did not always live a sheltered life. A peek of that in this story: in much greater detail in the next Gessa Saga novel, if and when it gets written.....

but for now...

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CHAPTER 7.1

Branch Lur was hogging the public water dispenser just outside the entrance of the Philosopher?s Guild, sucking down the water to cool his body and his badly parched throat. Neimoidians never spoke in long sentences, so what he had said was a great challenge to his vocal cords. He also wanted to get the bad taste of sticking up for the Trade Federation out of his mouth.

Casper found him by sight first, and then walked towards him. They were alone for the moment, but after Branch had done the whole presentation inside was surely ruined. He said, ?Nice speech. You?re a good orator.?

?I hate public speaking!? Branch leaned down again to drink. Coming back up he wiped his mouth. ?I do not like it when I talk so much in the class I teach.?

?How is the U of Coruscant job?? asked Casper. He was genuinely curious; it had been years since he had last talked to Branch, but he had heard about a disavowed Neimoidian teaching about investigative techniques there.

?Until yesterday afternoon it was fair employment. After that, I could care less for it.? Branch shook his head and clarified, ?My expertise, I learned, had not given me the job.?

?I see,? said Casper, knowing how Coruscant worked. There was a story there, perhaps involving someone from Branch?s home world with clout. He had learned years ago when he first met Branch he was a stubborn, yet proud male; the pride was typical of a Neimoidian though. Wh

 

Good. nice idea about buying a new ship. Onward with the investigation!

 

Thanks.

One of the huge elements birthed out of the appearance of Darth Maul was the return of what I like to call sensitive paranoia, where those who do give a damn about the return of the Sith, and those who do possess the knowledge of what occurred during the 5,000 year old Sith War that 'ended' 1,000 years ago, are going to treat unique situations like this, whether they think (not know) the Sith are involved or not with the sharp edge of caution. With the Sith's partnership with the Trade Federation, Branch is not taking any chances.

But as this story goes on, it will demonstrate the point I just expressed in the paragraph above: the Jedi are taking the matter far more seriously than the rest of the galaxy because they remember the context of the Sith far better than anyone else. I want to show how serious, and how too serious, the Jedi become because of it.

It began on Tatooine, and it continues through......

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CHAPTER 8.0

Desderanda X, the home world of the Desderanda System and the home planet for seven different sentient species ? Anomid, Desderandians, Everons, Plyotines, Sulfrites, Sulnites, and Terrabithians ?, was the unheralded model of what a peaceful and unified system democracy was supposed to be like after the inhabitants had ended their intrasystem war only a little over a hundred years ago. A miracle many say for it was regularly Humans that made such a system of government successful; regularly different races could not tolerate one another with an entire system between them let alone having seven completely different species inhabiting the same planet. Usually politicians and scholars cited Desderanda X as the model the Republic should be based off of. They leave out the finer details such as the reason seven races were on one planet was because the Desderandians? home world was the last one standing alive, forcing the other six to surrender and to live as prisoners at first.

Over time, though, Desderanda X was in need of a much larger population, and deals were struck with the other races to form the democracy they had today. In order to achieve such a state of freedom and pacifism ? another detail the politicians and scholars routinely kept out ? was they killed all the criminals; at that time, every last one of them regardless of their crime. The one caveat to the perfect society was the immediate death penalty for violating the law. There were trials, hearings, lawyers, and burdens on the state to prove their case in which the prosecutors had to be absolutely certain about their case because if they were wrong, and an innocent was put to death, then the prosecutors were going to follow them. There were no different degrees, or as they put it ?versions?, of murder: it was just murder, or it was just rape, or it was just robbery, or it was fraud. It was agreed by the seven races that the major crimes were a symptom of a society seeking a release for anger, which to them lead them to a war that lasted forty too long years and cost the system sixteen habitable worlds. It was serious punishment for any major law breaker, but the collective Desderandians had finally had their fill of violence and in democratic unison said enough.

For over a century it had been as tranquil as anyone would wish any place could be. Suddenly, without warning and without any understanding about any of it, the Aabracan family in the city of New Anomidia were found dead. The neighbor found their front hatch open to their tiny hamlet and discovered the bodies scattered about the place. Nothing appeared to have been taken, and there were no apparent signs of struggle. The victims showed no signs of being attacked, of being wounded, or of any visible damage of any kind. It then put the entire populace unprepared for such a strange death into an unwelcome panic. With no sign of foul play, they concluded it had to be a poison or a gas or a plague that had killed them. Cries for help went out immediately; help was actually all ready th

 

Hmm. Good introduction to the latest major characters, Zesha and Angelleia.

 

CHAPTER 8.1

In the meantime, Angelleia took a look outside one more time from the door, and then she closed it. Alone, she took a few seconds to contemplate the significance of this moment. Master Zesha, as good as a Jedi Master Healer one could ever ask for, was finally taking the training thrusters off the speeder bike.

?Oh, I can?t blow this,? mumbled Angelleia, looking skyward at no one important. ?If I do she won?t let me do something like this again. We?ll go back to the Temple and sulk over text docs.? She hated that, even if it was against her learned Jedi sensibilities and responsibilities instilled in her by her Father. And without being able to see the man she missed the most, she never wanted to return to Coruscant knowing Casper was there but she could not see him. Father had warned her that a Jedi?s life was a difficult one; how she wished she had taken his word for it.

Angelleia sighed and worked the house controls near the entrance, shutting the windows. The autumn outside air still lingered in the house after the overnight exposure so the smell of death was lessened. She cringed, though, for she was used to clinically cleaned corpses at the various medical centers Master Zesha had taken her to. This was what was known as the ?raw dead?; for the sake of limiting argument, it was best described as dead bodies found in their natural condition. How she wished her Father was there now to hold her hand.

?Focus,? she repeated to herself a few more times. She inhaled and her brain was slowly assaulted by every scent particle in the single floor structure, and she used the Force to sort through the information and identifying it quickly what it was; the where, the when, and the how were filtered out from the gathering process.

It was a tricky process that took Angelleia nearly all of her first year of training to get such control; prior to the beginning of her Padawan training, for a year with help from her Father, she had learn to use the Force to train her mind to shut down the powerful sense when needed. They had learned that beings with natural multiple heightened senses as opposed to a singular superior sense like Angelleia had always learned quickly to control the sense because they could divert how the brain received the information, much like a computer switching from its connection from one task to another but without shutting down the original task. A single heightened sense naturally and easily becomes the leading stimulus; as much as, for example, a Human can use all five of their senses at the same time they will not accept the processed information unless they see it, be it first or last in the data gathering process. Beings had to learn the other ways, but for unique creatures like Angelleia, whose nose and brain were in nature one since her birth, it was very difficult to just keep the two separate.

Pass the smell of dead bodies, Angelleia made out the scent of flowers, natural fruit, processed materials that were carbon-oil based, soft paint, shoe leather, ozone from electrostatic discharges, cleaning solution in stale water, dander from when the family was alive, an artificial fruit smell, burnt wood, crayolas, light patch mold and rotted earth.

Angelleia opened her eyes and looked downward at her feet. The rotted earth was the only wrong smell in the entire home; the house was otherwise free of poisonous gas or anything else that did leave an odor behind; everything, she discovered even the so-called odorless, left an odor. She stepped away from the front door, turned around and looked at the exposed floor, which was five feet by seven feet and surrounded by a lime green carpet that covered the rest of the house. The source of the stranger odor was coming from there.

Out of curiosity and against the perimeters of her purpose, Angelleia got on her hands and knees to investigate the smell further. With great focus, she got low and inhaled deeply. She held her breath and let her mind be assaulted by the infinite number of particles found there until the Force eliminated all except the tar

 

Well well. Looks like the good knight Casper is going to get his wish to see his daughter through the course of the investigation.

Is it to the dumpster planet for this pair of master and padawan?

 

Unfortunately.......

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CHAPTER 8.2

Several hours later, and after some very long study of the corpse?s culture slides, Zesha found Angelleia right where she had left her; on their red-colored Jedi transport. She met Captain Polangio at the ramp and ordered them to take off immediately for Alderaan while she attended to her apprentice in the back. She had instructed Angelleia to really think about what had happened today, and she expected a lot of questions as well as explanations.

When she entered she found Angelleia sitting on her cot, waiting for her. Zesha asked, ?Did you meditate?? She nodded. ?I hope you gave a lot of thought to what had happened today?? She nodded again. Zesha snickered and said, ?What?s the matter, Jawa got your tongue and sold it cheap??

?A Jawa?? asked Angelleia.

?Never mind,? said Zesha with a small wave of her hand. She took off her Jedi robe and set it on her cot, which was across from Angelleia?s. ?Do you want to talk about today??

?I think I?ve said too much about today,? said Angelleia quietly. The transport rumbled to life and the momentary uneasiness that came with lift off passed through all except the Vhinphyc; her stomach just did not feel right because of what happened.

Zesha, unfortunately, had to kick Angelleia while she was down; just not too hard. ?You sure did. It is one thing to make certain we do not cause fear in the innocent, but it is another thing entirely when we instill an unwarranted fear in them where they have to direct it towards someone else. Different species have a tendency, regardless of their morally superior history, to become racists when it suits a purpose.? Angelleia looked up with some worry. ?No, the nearest Human is a female well over a thousand kilometers away and she has a solid alibi. Their docking bay logs are terribly vague and their port authority is really bad.?

Angelleia drew her attention back to Zesha. ?I did not mean to distract their focus, or put others in an unnecessary position. I just?thought to point out the inconsistencies. I see no real reason to not tell them. It would be the truth.?

?Which truth exactly, my young Padawan: that a Human was there, or that a Human had killed the family?? Zesha knew what she was talking about; she had done something similar long ago when she was an apprentice; it was another reason why she went into healing.

Sighing, Angelleia said, ?I know, I know. I just?believe the truth shouldn?t be hidden.?

?I agree, Angelleia, truly I do,? said Zesha, ?but forthright honesty in a panic situation can make it worse. I do not say lie to them. All I say is some foresight and restraint sometimes is needed. In this particular situation the least they know the better. People in history have been wrongly accused of crimes because of such conclusion jumping. Besides, as much as I would like to think it is our responsibility to investigate this matter it is not our place to do so. I ruled out our need to be here.?

Angelleia nodded in understanding and she said, ?I will try?? She stopped when Zesha snapped a gaze at her. She remembered just in time to avoid another Jedi point. ?I will remember next time, Master.?

Zesha strode over and sat next to Angelleia and put an arm around her shoulders. She said, ?I do hope so because you are smart, Angelleia. You do know better, and you do care a lot. Caring is not a bad Jedi trait to have, but it can never exceed your wisdom. We love, to a logical extent, those we have sworn to protect. It does pain us all when it appears we do not do enough. We can only do so much, Angelleia, and it is all that we can do.?

She squeezed Angelleia?s far shoulder with her hand. ?I know that little girl bothered you a lot. May I ask how exactly it did so when her presence in the Force had long passed on??

After a moment, Angelleia said, ?Just that it did. It didn?t seem right.? A surge of disappointment swept through her and she pulled away from Zesha. She stood up and moved towards the far wall. ?It wasn?t right, none of it was.?

?I know, but-,?

 

Oh oh, they are trying to train the maverick Enothschild compassion out of her?

Btw, caught the 'it's raining' reference in the earlier post. Nice one.

 

It's a wonder if they are intentionally do that, but what Zesha is doing is caused by two things: Darth Maul and her inability to connect with Angelleia.

I got the idea of that from the Harry Potter books: with the return of the Sith, the Jedi Masters in response -- and I believe it would be a natural response -- are practically strangling/smothering their Padawans with the Jedi Code. If Qualeggoes was alive, it would bring tears to his eyes and he would proclaim 'The Age of Moranna is over!' from the roof tops of Coruscant. What you get in return in the characterization is a relative lack of individual character in the Jedi of this generation. I dare say -- I will write it -- it aides in the downfall of the Jedi Order as well.

As with Zesha, the relationship just doesn't work, and so the response by Zesha is to try harder, and thus she is harder on Angelleia. It's ironic because, in its own little way, it's CLONING.

That's also the irony of the Clone Wars and the Jedi involvement. The Republic has two types of soldier at hand to fight the war, but in reality they are not all the different.


As for the rain..............she is her Mother's Daughter.......

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CHAPTER 8.3

The galley was occupied with Captain Polangio and a bowl of sweet soup; Angelleia had to shut her sense of smell off an hour ago when the other three members of the ship?s crew were heating the soup up because it smelled so good. But soup was for other beings: Vhinphycs ate solids, lots of solids.

?There she is,? said Polangio. The male Human was elderly, but was light in spirit as if twenty; had been this way since that age when he volunteered to transport Jedi Knights throughout the galaxy. ?You know, I didn?t enact that force field I keep threatening to unleash around the kitchen to keep you out.?

Angelleia smiled a little, grateful for the little comic reminder. On her first, very brief trip away from Coruscant ever with Zesha, Captain Polangio had only stocked up on typical food stuffs in short supply; for a normal being, enough to feed the crew of six the ship could house for only three days. Angelleia ate a day?s worth of food during breakfast; no one had paid attention to her consumption. Embarrassed she had ate everything, she did not have the bravery to ask when they were going to eat again as the hunger pains just returned a few hours after she finished the stock. Since, they overstocked the fridge and the cargo hold; Vhinphyckian hunger was something else to behold, especially during adolescence.

?I had to think about some things,? she said politely. Angelleia opened the refrigeration cabinet and pulled out a packaged eighth of bantha meat labeled ?Angelleia?s Stock?. She began to prepare it for quick broiling. In the meantime she could speak to Polangio; in her opinion he was unlike Zesha, he didn?t waste time trying to correct her point of view. It made her sad how she could talk to everyone else, including her Father long before, about anything but she just couldn?t with Zesha.

?Experienced a lot today with this mess, eh?? said Polangio. She nodded as she put the pan of eighth meat, roughly eight pounds, into the oven. ?Believe me, you?ll have worse days. Some Knights think Healers have it too easy sometimes. Hell, they have the option of skipping over someone?s hanging out guts; Healers have to pick it all up while the patient is screaming at them.?

Such poor choice of words would kill other people?s appetites. Angelleia just found a loaf of bread and began to consume the entire loaf. Stopping to swallow, she said, ?It just doesn?t seem right, you know? I mean the girl was only three years old. Three, and she was so cute. Why would anyone kill such a beautiful creature??

?Folks have been asking that since they could,? said Polangio. He didn?t ask to clarify Angelleia?s position because it was not his business to do so. He ran a ship, he ran the crew, he got the Jedi where they needed to be. The last thing he wanted to do was affect a Jedi Apprentice?s training. ?I hate reasons as

 

FORWARD! More coming soon: I just have to make some decisions about Chapter 9.....

Therefore, since it's the end of the month, it's time to have a Catch Up Weekend!

I will start posting again early Monday morning, March 2.

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To show how isolated and yet informed I am.....

>>>> With Alan Moore, AGAIN, disowning his work because its being made into a movie, I'm torn on whether or not to go see 'Watchmen'. Moore's previous grievances -- 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', 'V for Vendetta' -- proved to be right; can't stand 'League', stop watching 'V' after V minutes.

With the ending changed, which alters the whole conceptual feel of the story flow, Moore may have a point....AGAIN.

Anyways, it further mutilates the body of that one time fantasy I had back in 'The Fading Light' to see any of the Gessa Saga filmed. All the more reason to make each and every story so massive it would be impossible to condense it down to a three hour movie.

Although.....Project Darklight is still a possibility......


>>>> Being late in the game and catch up on 'LOST', I probably don't get the feeling that anything about it is close to convoluted. However, like with J.J. Abrams' 'Alias' before it, it's starting to walk a fine line. Maybe because the other Abrams show, 'Fringe', is picking up some steam and its generating a clever 'X-Files' mojo. It does help, however, for 'Fringe' to have Denethor in their mist to keep it grounded.

Sadly, 'Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles' lost me. 'Dollhouse' has some potential but not as a Friday night show.

'Damages' has come back, continues to impress, but it may have too much depth to it. There's going down the rabbit hole, and then there are rabbit holes that go through hell....ON THE MOON! Thankfully, they keep story arcs in season.


>>>> No, didn't watch, or cared, about the Oscars. If I would have watched, it would have been to see Heath Ledger get his post-death Oscar that was a legitimate lock. But there just wasn't anything I cared for in nomination; not since 'Lord of the Rings' have I cared.

Irony note - noted and notorious and ruthless and legendary and still gay bashing Sean Penn winning an Oscar for playing a gay-rights advocate AND THEN the noted and notorious and ruthless and legendary and still gay bashing Sean Penn telling everyone how wrong they are to bash gays. Either its sarcasm at its worse, or a sick joke with a punch line only Hollywood gets. Or maybe he is only bashing the 'right gays'. (Shakes head)

Bad behavior of any kind, ignorance of any kind, should not be rewarded, or in this case Awarded.


>>>> On a lighter note, I might have mentioned it before but I did get a WiiFit. You may stop laughing now.

It's actually pretty cool; here in the cold wintry weather, distant from civilization, its tough to do any formal exercising that will be effective, like running. Given my age and need to be active, I was lucky to find brand new and at regular price one day and got it. Am I tired of it? (looks at the high winds, senses the bitter cold) NO!



>>>> Anyways, feel free to ask me something here or in PM, or in email and I'll get back with you on it. Until then, see you Monday.

 

Sorry. DRL.

I've got a bad feeling about this. Don't make oaths you can't keep, young Angelleia.

The pilot is a wise man. I hope it ends well for him.

Good post!

 

CHAPTER 9.0

While on the way to Septaria from Mesuera in her private office quarters on board the Flora Noir, Juna was supposed to be busing herself with research on various subjects, primarily with the reason why she was going to Septaria. The subjects were laid out on a number of data pads that were all tied into the encrypted stream of the ultra-secret JBR Dependent Secured Network and its hidden database; created shortly after the Invasion of Naboo, the database held all the secrets related to the business and political dealings of the Rapier Clan Dynasty. All of them, or one at a time, could have been projected holographically from high end holographic emitters found throughout the room. She was supposed to be multitasking with the Septaria trip the top priority, but before her on holographic form above her desk was all the data related to the Breslin mission, including some new developments on items uncovered since the rescue of the hostages. The new developments did not calm her worries.

Sporting a conservative business dress that mirrored the color, cut, and pattern of one of her late Father?s favorites suits, Juna had loosed the rope tie around her neck and unbuttoned the top of her dress down to reveal her necklace and fondled the wedding rings on it hours ago as she considered the latest details from Breslin. It started strangely when, on just a whim, a deep records check in the Rapier Protected Archives showed that Noss Phetter, the name the hostage-taking Garn had given Juna, had once been an employee of Rapier Technologies for ten years.

A native Nubian from Theed, Phetter had been hired by Human Resources head Dana Faewil and placed in the low security section of Rapier Technologies Urgent Logistics Department. The details of Phetter?s work showed he was stable, safe, reliable, but unremarkable: someone not looking to get ahead in Rapier Technologies, which went against the norm of anyone seeking long term employment and the higher paydays. In the game of business, this was usually the sign that someone like Phetter was a corporate spy. Then again, there was no guarantee for anyone that there would be a job at the company from one day to the next, so most employees during Phetter?s tenure just held on tight to what they had and had the promotions come to them.

Noss Phetter held one lone distinction from the rest: his name was on the Stone of the Unforgotten, a monument in Theed Square that had etched in it the names of the two hundred and three Nubians that were missing since the Invasion of Naboo. Juna had seen the Trade Federation invasion coming days in advance and so had warned everyone she could. Her employees were all alerted and they had sent notice they were leaving the planet, including Phetter, but Phetter was never heard or seen from again. Juna had other people handling the human resources after the Battle of Naboo so she could concentrate on the rebuilding effort, in order to organize and prepare it all and personally call in all the favors that she could to get it done. Noss Phetter, like the other Nubians that were missing after action, vanished from the known universe. It was the Royal Crown?s opinion that some if not all of the missing Nubians were taken by the Trade Federation for their own political and profitable purposes. A Rapier Technologies? employee, even a low level worker like Phetter, would be a valuable asset to the Trade Federation and would undoubtedly be subjected to severe interrogation.

However Juna was certain Phetter was alive, well, and not in the hands of the Trade Federation. It was not just the fact that the Garn gave a particular Nubian name up as his boss. Juna had seen the events of when the Geintaude hostages were being taken and where they had been taken four hours before it had occurred; line of sight problems prevented communication, and by the time Juna would have reached Geintaude the events would had unfolded, and thus she used the time given to her by destiny to prepare a rescue mission. Has she had become more ingrained with running a busines

 

It's sounds like there's some complicated things afoot. Great updates, Casper. It took me a bit to get caught up again. DRL has been keeping me away from my reading too much.

 

Intriguing.
So the, ah, what's his name, the bloke who commissioned the private investigation involving one disgraced investigator and one 'attached' Jedi, the 3rd highest ranking Trade Federation guy is in league with / marionette-stringed by the Sith Lord? Joy!

Good post!

 

Sara: No problems, Sara.

DRL threw a curve at me yesterday, but in a good way. It's something that jumps out and stops you. But I can count on you to catch up.

The nucleolus of what is happening has just about all been told so it can leave the rest of the story to be filled with some other things, like weight to the characterization. You will see different journeys to the same destination.


Delight: Of course, the nucleolus, as mentioned before, has pretty much been told, but the rest of the protons, neutrons, and electrons have yet been exposed.

Hidu Bog's journey through this time is a interesting one. He loses clout when Bendian Rapier leaves the Senate, but with that lost clout he doesn't become that identifiable, go to Neimoidian that Nute Gunray becomes for Darth Sidious to exploit and the galaxy to absolutely hate. Unlike Gunray, Bog has given up being the Sith's pal, but in typical Trade Federation cowardice (or is it smarts?!?!) he doesn't say it in Sidious' face. But the story is showing that in order for Sidious to get to where he needs to go in the Republic, he has to have his hand, if not complete control, over everything that goes wrong. Bog's move with the Wettlespear was something the Sith did not approve (but that's another chapter for another time).

But as you can see, the sins of Juna's 'father' could be coming back to haunt her.....


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And now, more reasons for Juna to return to the fight. And of course this is for fans of past characters who they hoped had happy lives or endings.....


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CHAPTER 9.1

Like many of the lovely worlds in the Royal Nubian States Septaria was a world identifiable by a unique feature. Whereas Naboo was mostly water and Mesuera was mostly mountains this world was a conjoined binary planet. Approximately ten percent of the secondary mass protruded from the southern and eastern cartographic hemispheres, giving the primary orb a very noticeable misshapen appearance. During Septaria?s genesis, after it had ejected another matter to form the counterbalancing moon of Septembia, its next attempt to eject matter had apparently failed because both masses with their own molten cores could not separate from the shared flow of the magma. How such a thing occurred still baffled science, but without Septembia to stabilize Septaria?s shared axis no life could properly exist there. The Nubians had settled on Septaria because life did flourish there, and geogalactically it was the true center location of the Royal Nubian States. For major get-togethers that featured Nubians from all over the Nubian Sphere of Influence without having to go to Naboo, Septaria was very convenient.

The magnetic fields of the conjoined planet of the same polarity, but since the secondary world had a tendency to tug at navigational gyroscopes it made flying freely around the planet an adventure. Long ago Naboo had tractor beams stationed around the world, built into Golan Alpha platforms that were normally used for planetary defense, to guide pilots in. Only the most daring, or most foolish, flew without the assistance.

The Flora Noir flew fast by all the other ships that were waiting for the guidance beams to take them in. The ship was quite large but had the controls of an N-One Defender, and with that type of flight configuration Juna the pilot made her one-of-a-kind yacht fly like a snub fighter. No matter what terrible problems Juna had in her life, flying always made it go away. In no time she had landed the Noir and had to prepare herself for the very reason why she and some of her Thorn Party sisters had come to the political party?s home world. She had time; the others had not arrived at their private landing pad that sat on top of the squat building that was in designed and shaped like the head of an open rose blooming towards the sunlight. The Thorn Building was just one of the many trademarks of the very unique political entity?s success.

The Thorn Party came to be as an idea by the late Lady T

 

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CHAPTER 10.0

After two hours of catching up and handling their families and their own issues of importance, Cessa, Jarah, and Juna all stood together and waited for the arrival of the Bi-Garasso delegation. Normally such meetings were amusing and fun; it was the only reason to have them. In spite of the numerous other meetings that had occurred in the past eight years no one else but the Thorns themselves had ever seemed to get the joke.

The three women all stood together in the visitor?s atrium that had a glass partition for them to look out and see the large Coruscantian luxury barge land. The ship did dwarf the other three vessels on the landing pad. It?s swept forward configuration a modern work of art. It functioned like a work of art as well, which meant compared to the Nubian?s vessels it was an overpriced piece of poodoo.

?Impressive ship,? mused Cessa, trying to sound at least polite. ?I wonder if they stole it.?

?If they did, they did it from the gaudiest place on Coruscant,? mused Jarah. ?Next time I?m there I?ll look for the gray-pink house on top of a tall building acting as a smoke stack.?

Juna smirked and said, ?On Coruscant, Sterno Bi-Garasso is a force to be reckoned with. He can afford the ship and whatever alms he?s going to offer us with terms. It's just another reason why I am having the meeting here.? She then looked at the other two. ?Perhaps this will be the last time we tease??

?Oh yeah,? exaggerated Cessa.

?Certainly,? lied Jarah.

Juna shook her head. It would not be the last time. It was damn too much fun, and frankly it had to be done. After eight years the message was not sinking in. Political entities, especially those from Coruscant, really did not like consciousnesses that thought for themselves and entities they did not create and control; the Thorns were just that, and it meant they had to, at great expense, convince them that there was only so few political realities. The problem for them was the Thorns never subscribed to Coruscant?s realities; that in itself, with them and others trying to lure the Thorns to their side, was a joke. But the best punch lines were yet to come.

From the ship emerged Sterno Bi-Garasso and eleven of his agents, all Human, all men. Jarah mused softly, ?Trying for the gender-multiplier advantage.?

Clearly, Bi-Garasso was here on friendly terms, but in any meeting be it business or politics the negotiations always properly began with who was going to be there, and then how many each side could bring with them. Although there were agreements, and the Thorns made none with him, one side would always up the other by bringing one or more people with them to create the illusion of advantage. Sometimes the other side got too upset about one extra person at the table, making them lose their focus and go right to accusation; sometimes it was just to have the extra body, of having the psychological effect of proclaiming one person more agrees with their position; sometimes it was pure intimidation, to have men against the women, or to bring an alien into a party full of Humans like a Wookiee; sometimes it was meant as a form of flattery, as if to say twelve men were a even match for three female Thorns, and anything less would put Bi-Garasso in a disadvantage.

?Just another aspect of the Game,? Juna said casually before putting on her best smile. ?Remember, poopy shorts.?

?Damn it, Juna!? hissed Cessa through clenched teeth, trying not to think of the statement and laughing. Resident Coruscantians really liked their baggy clothing, and given their haughty nature it often drove one to think that they carried unnecessary, stinky cargo in their undercarriage.

As Jarah left quickly so to not laugh either, poor Cessa kept snickering every few seconds and mumbling, ?Poopy shorts. Poopy shorts. Juna, I?m going to kill you.?

?High Councilor Bi-Garasso,? said Jarah in greeting, leading the other two towards the arriving party. ?I?m glad you?ve come.?

?Princess Jarah,? began Bi-Garasso, ignoring the sudden backing and f

 

Nice musical chairs.

Good posts!

 

?Once again I thank you for this opportunity,? began Bi-Garrasso. He stood up and threw on a smile. ?I come to you today because of two reasons. The first reason is that a political rival of mine has become very vocal about his intentions of becoming a Thorn. The second reason has to deal with certain financial interests that could have an affect on all of us.

?First, Galeon Kalbut would like to knock me out of my seat as Coruscant District Councilor. He is a rather ambitious, innovated, young man that has not even cut his teeth in the pros. I have high hopes for him, but he doesn?t seem to understand that I am not ready to retire. Apparently he is a rather impatient fellow and he said to me the other day that he was going to join your party in order to defeat me. That?s rather confusing, given that your party is solely affiliated with Naboo and its allies.?

?Our party has members from all over the Republic, and not just where Naboo does business, High Councilor,? assured Jarah. ?There are none from Coruscant yet.?

Bi-Garrasso smiled at that bit of news. ?Well, I do welcome a challenge from Kalbut, mind you. He just seems?.too poor for the job. He?ll need all the help he can get when he faces me. So, you see, I do hope you do not help him. An outside influence upon local elections is often misunderstood.?

?I agree: I hate when Coruscant reporters interfere with my business when I try to conduct it and Coruscant-based news organizations during elections,? stressed Juna with her inherited Solo smirk. ?The way they report, trivializing Nubian law and the candidate the strongly supports it, whether they are Thorns or not. Yes, I really do hate such outside influences like the HoloNet News Network trying to tell the people of Naboo to rethink the history of my Queen. I sympathize, I really, really do.? She knew, they all knew, the media was a well paid arm for those who needed leverage against an opponent. Often, Coruscant wanted to look like geniuses; they tried to even after the Senate had failed Naboo; it was not just the Senate or the Republic as a whole that looked bad.

?T-Then you see what I mean!? Bi-Garrasso cleared his throat. ?Anyways, it would be for your best interest, just as much as mine that you do not accept him, or endorse him, in any way.

?Now for the second reason why I am here: I have heard rumors that the Thorns were not particularly happy with the results of the last Royal Election. In fact, Princess Jarah, did you alleged voter fraud??

?It was Muriel Arnes that had suggested there were irregularities,? said Juna, a slight bitterness in her tone.

?Oh,? said Bi-Garrasso. ?My apologies, I understand she and her family had perished.?

?Murdered, sir,? said Juna sternly. The other two women looked at her with growing worry; they had expected her to be a bit upset whenever anyone mentioned their late friends, but this time the tenor was a bit more bitter than allowed. She stared hard at him. ?The Arnes? were butchered by the Trade Federation, and when I hear differently??

?I have this one,? said Cessa, recognizing Bi-Garrasso?s end around, short circuiting Juna?s premature end to the meeting; they had to stick to the plan; for the fun of it, certainly, but to also get the message across that they would eventually convey. ?You were just as mistaken as we were, as Muriel was before she died. As everyone knows the Princess lost by a considerable margin to Queen Amidala. There were errors in the processing of the votes, and upon a joint investigation done by myself and the Queen, mind you, we found no irregularities once he compared the votes to the registrations.?

?I make no bones, High Councilor, I wished I had won, or finish a close second at least, but Queen Amidala won,? said Jarah with a shoulder shrug. ?There is always another run. I?m young. There will always be a Naboo, and she shall always have a Queen.?

?Yes, well, the right of challenge is always yours to make, and as I understand it if no one challenges Amidala next year she gets one more term?? Bi-Garrasso held up his hands. ?Some say she

 

Good that the ladies are picking up on Juna's mood swings... do something before she gets really, erm... worse.

Good post.

 

Thanks Delight; the radiation coming off of Juna is further detailed here...


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CHAPTER 10.1

After a few hours Juna left the conference room a bit less dispirited, but still on her guard. Once the other two women had left she had unbuttoned her top shirt and yanked the chain off her neck, clenching the wedding rings hard in her hands. Her necklace, those rings the sole aide of her focus, did not keep her from reacting the way she did. She feared the worse of what that meant.

She then remembered something from long ago. It was after Juna and Muriel had met Dizzy and Enothchild for the first time and they had fled to Alderaan from Vhanba. She was recovering from Jurivicious Pern?s mind rape, and Enothchild had decided to test her on the Dark Side Forest of Sabbath, once a town that was cursed by the actions of the fallen Jedi Dux Gheruit. She had asked them what was in there; Enothchild had said, and now she said it aloud, ?Only what you take with you.?

What had happened was no different. Juna had real issues to deal with and none of it left her mind as she walked off the Flora Noir to greet her friends. The realities of the Sith were clear to her; the Dark Side had never felt so alive and everywhere in the Universal Force. She had brought her worse fears in with her, and she snapped at the first hint of disobedience on Bi-Garrasso?s behalf. That?s how she characterized her reason for flexing her inner strength: correcting a slave for mouthing off at his mistress. Juna hated to have such thoughts for she had them before, and they were the wrong thoughts to have. She did not own Bi-Garrasso, or anyone else. She was not their mistress. Composed, she left the room and proceeded downstairs where the others were.

Everyone was in the large living chamber, and more Thorns had shown up in the meantime. Most of them were newer members, people Juna had never met before, and in a breath nearly all of them swooped around her like she was the one that had destroyed that Trade Federation droid ship to end the Battle of Naboo. The adulation was lacking creditable merit to Juna, though, and therefore did nothing to lift her mood. Nearly two weeks ago a much smaller, less vocal group of people projected twice the admiration, relief, and hope than all the strangers that could not wait to meet her and to tell her that, in their own way that was not necessarily exclusive to them individually, she had saved their lives. It took twenty minutes to clear the log jam around Juna, but she did not need that time to figure out the difference between those grateful for really saving their lives and those who were grateful for just being there. Nonetheless, the strangers had no less than a right to live than the people Juna knew and loved so dearly.

Juna, however, found herself unable to be a Jedi. When many of the youngest of Cessa?s children, and Jarah?s little Teresa fumbled and stumbled their way to her, Juna found happiness when she held them and spoke to them, which turned to more motivation for her to fight for them and everyone else. A Jedi would say that life itself was motivation to be a servant of the Force and of the Republic, thus even a devalued individual of society was worth saving. Juna needed more motivation than that having grown up in a setting where love was expressed and shared, and in such a reality there were people that hated her and she in turn hated equally; Senator Bly Coaxial was one she would be hard pressed to save and protect. She could not avoid the fact she was governed by her heartstrings more than by the Force; the secret for the Jedi, according to Enothchild, was controlling what songs those heartstrings played, which in turn depicted the dance ? the mood ? of the one who listens to the songs within them.

Still, Juna did not believe ? not negatively mind it ? Enothchild when it came to that in regards to himself; if it were true, the Vhinphyc would have been like every other Jedi she had ever met. Although Ros Ofcheck, Nue Cadabel

 

Oh... poor Juna, a major headache that refuses to go away .... is it ghosts from the past, and/or the graveyard?
Nice post.
Hunt Sith!

 

Thanks Delight: Juna's greatest character attribute is her greatest bane.


We return to our Investigative Duo, which Casper misses Angelleia by just a few days. BTW - Casper does not know Zesha is Angelleia's master.

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CHAPTER 11.0

The stop on Corellia to purchase a new vessel had taken longer than anticipated for Branch and Casper; largely because the first starship dealer in Serdia they went to hated Neimoidians. Turned out the dealer was Nubian. Needless to say even a one hundred thousand credit offer by Branch to buy a forty thousand credit Corellian swift boat only pissed the Nubian to the point the two left before the Nubian could find his blaster. Their luck improved at the next dealer: seventy-two thousand credits from Hidu Bog?s assigned account to Branch to pay for a Corellian Sidewinder XL. It went bad for a while because the dealer suddenly remembered the ship was on a buyer?s hold; to get the hold off, they would have to pay extra. Branch agreed: the dealer did not close the deal. Branch did not want to haggle, the dealer did, and it kept going back and forth until Casper revealed to the dealer that he was a Jedi Knight.

They got the Sidewinder XL for the manufacture?s cost of fifty thousand credits. Branch, however, was displeased. ?It is Bog?s money? was his noted explanation. Albeit true enough, Casper made the point that time was against them. Little did the Jedi realize how right he was; by the time they reached Desderanda X Zesha and Angelleia were safely on Alderaan and McBain had just arrived on Menaddera. Throughout the whole trip the two males remained relatively quiet and kept to themselves. Casper had a lot of reading to catch up on, and Branch did not feel it was up to him to ask where his friend had been for the past fourteen years.

Their ship, nameless for the time being, arrived on Desderanda X and landed in the major-capital city of Desren, which was four hundred kilometers north of New Anomidia. Since deemed safe by Zesha, the Aabracan family were moved and their bodies held in a special suspended animation chamber upon getting new word from Coruscant that Branch was being sent to investigate the matter further. The Desderandians took over the case from the Anomid.

The Desderandians, Branch and Casper would learn along the way and with their escorts to the hospital that held the dead bodies, were the edgier race out of the seven that lived harmoniously on the only home world left in the massive planetary system. By and large it was why the Desderandians won the war and established the peace the seven races all shared now. In body they were Humanoid in shape and in mass, but they possessed hard snouts with vertical mouths at the end. Also they were very brown in skin color and had various hair formations that designated their own nationalities from their past.

The Desderandian Captain Schelpuls lead the two special investigators into the suspended animation lab where the three bodies were on display. He said in Basic, ?Well, I am sure glad they had sent us a Jedi to investigate this further. The last Jedi did not stay long. She was a Healer; she disproved that the deaths were not caused by gas or toxin or any other such.?

Branch cleared his throat while Casper only eyed the bodies. Captain Schelpuls had not really acknowledged the Neimoidians? presence all that much. In fact he was intentionally avoiding Branch very openly. It was why Branch agreed to let Casper take the lead on this one. Casper asked, ?Another Jedi??

?Yes,? mumbled Captain Schelpuls. He moved his line of vision towards Casper. ?Yes, Zesha was her name, a native daughter to our world, an Anomid. She was the one that had done the autopsies. She found virtually nothing.?

?Nothing, or something, Captain?? quizzed Branch. He made himself a little more obvious by stepping in between Casper and Schelpuls. ?Virtually nothing means what to us, that it requires a virtual zero to be floating around in front of us to tell us there was nothing??

?I mean there was nothing out of the

 

Hmm. The poor Wettlespear has so many teams going after it. At some point of this amazing race, their paths must cross!

Good post; good build up.

 

The roads will cross, but its all those detours that will make this ride longer that you will enjoy!


---------------------------

NOTES TO THE UNINITIATED: Whenever the Gessa Saga's action/adventure/horror elements pull back, its drama/real life elements take their place. Without getting too technical and detailed in the process, and really smacking GL's mystery writing in the face seen in Episode Two, I'm trying to get the concepts as realistic, not stylistic, as possible. Every route and road in an investigation has an angle, or a rut, that determines how quick a mystery can be solved. Cop shows, and the worst offender "CSI" which I actually love, are the biggest offenders, but only because they have only an hour at best to tell the 'investigation'.

So in the written medium such as this there's no reason to 'one chapter' the mystery. You can flex the muscles of your intellect, or train them up as it were; I trained up, starting with the minor mystery of Naressa Rapier in 'The Dark Hope', and building on it and other, brand new matters throughout the series. Stick with it, and it can give your story depth, and if you are both smart and lucky, and can last more than one story.

-------------------------------------

CHAPTER 11.1

The Aabracan family house still looked alien and out of place to the surrounding neighborhood with the crime scene barricades and the various support vehicles parked all around it. The duo of Branch and Casper added their vehicle to the mist; a long cart, which flew in the low ceiling of the sky and was much faster than a land speeder. Along the way Branch had read aloud the updates coming into the case file tied into the planet?s mainframe.

?The Aabracans had no enemies,? shouted Branch over the rushing wind. ?The planet has no real crime to speak of, and therefore no organized crime. I doubt if Black Sun would be interested in laundering credit numbers through the banking establishment here. Of course that is not counting any possible political ties. This world is being shared by seven entities that hated one another once.?

?There is some truth to that,? admitted Casper. ?However, why target a family of Anomid? The Desderandians won the war, and this is their planet.?

?Sometimes the ones perceived the lower race with go after the race above them,? offered Branch. But even he began to shake his green head in denial. ?If it were political, someone would be taking responsibility.?

?All depends how far the cowards want to get away before they boast. No, I don?t think our prime suspect has changed, and I don?t think he sold that weapon. I?m sure it will be confirmed when we reach the crime scene.?

After landing, Branch showed his credentials while the guards ignored Casper completely, trusting him fully to be a Jedi. The two entered the building and took opposite ends of the house. Just about everything had been searched and left for them in a mess. Casper did more searching than Branch; the Neimoidian only focused on the known details of the report.

?Parents were killed here in the living room; the child in her bedroom,? said Branch aloud. The two were alone with the door closed so they could talk freely. ?Medical personal found the child under the bed. They had to break her door down; it was locked from the inside.?

Near the stated bedroom, Casper inspected the door and used as much of the Force as possible on the door. All it did was confirm what he knew already. ?He fired the Wettlespear through the door.? He pushed the broken door open. ?And through the bed.? After a few moments, he asked, ?Branch, do you know the effective range of this weapon? Did Bog ever mention that??

?No,? said Branch without thinking. He knew Bog had slipped out quite a bit, but he was not that stupid. ?And I do not recall that research indicating there was a limit. I would think it could not be beyond the output range of its energy source.?

?That doesn?t mean much.?

Branch shrugged his shoulders and mumbled to himself, ?I did not build the thing.? He stood up more upright from his natural slouch and