Star Wars The Road to STAR WARS: Episode XI: The Hidden Temple

OOC: Combo with Jerjerrod-Lennox and Sinre

IC: Pascale, Feyna, and Julee Rouser, Tiberius Covax, Rene Rouser, and Marcus
Naboo, and Commenor

Naboo



This is General Leia Organa of the Resistance...
The time has come to forge a path to freedom.
The forces of oppression have ruled our galaxy for too long.
We must join together and fight. Send your fastest ships...
All your warriors.
Our voices will not be silenced.
We can no longer live in the shadow of the First Order.
We must step into the light.

These words, uttered by Leia Organa Solo in spite of her death just before the Battle of Exegol, had been carried by what most understood to be an ancient Jedi beacon system from the ancient Sith Wars, back when the HoloNet was destroyed by the Dark Ages.

They signaled that something was going to happen.

On Naboo, it saw a rebellion, but not one seeking to join the rebels, or a Republic, no, but to simply assert independence, as worlds such as Eriadu and Lothal and Adumar had in the past -

But then it happened, and the Galactic Jamming which had silenced the galaxy for most of a decade ended with a crash - the HoloNet was alive, a hundred trillion sentients reaching out for long-lost family, asking for help, calling for rebellion, demanding submission -

The family would be gathered - what would they all say to this?

Who would they first think of?

Madelyn? It had been almost a decade since they'd last seen her...

The other members of their old squadron, such as Mara, they had died many years ago, and even Drayson had fell defending Chandrila from the depredations of the First Order in the days after the Battle of Crait...

Pascale was sitting in the living room looking at his family gathered around him. Well his family here.

His beautiful wife Feyna, his beautiful daughter Julee. And Tiberius, Julee's best friend who he had invited over as he was practically family.

He looked to the others in the room, he felt his seventy nine years of age, his hair was practically silver now.

"Well as you all know the galactic jamming has gone, and with Leia's message, the rebels won. Now and with no surprise whatsoever chaos reigns once again".

"Do we try to reconnect with Madelyn, Rene and Marcus? Or I suppose do other people need help?"

Tiberius meanwhile looked to Julee. They had been friends since childhood and of course wanted to do something with ghier lives since Naboo was pretty boring.

And Tiberius had no clue about what he wanted to do in life. Except spend it with Julee maybe on adventures.

"Well Julee" he said with a broad grin "Here's the chance! I mean to do something rebellious" he winked at her.

"We always said we wanted off this place, so here's a start. To have some adventures!"

Feyna had set aside the sketch she was working on to listen to the message.

Nine years of HoloNet silence, unable to call their friends or family, not really knowing where or how they were, only the vaguest idea of what was going on in the galaxy...finally over.

Pascale was already suggesting calling their remaining friends off-world, or his brother--but also musing that there might be other people needing help.

Personally, Feyna felt that she and Pascale had done their part for the galaxy; unless there was a family emergency, they were getting too old for running all over the Galaxy. Pascale was almost eighty, and Feyna herself was approaching seventy; her hair was more grey than brown now, and her hands and knees ached some days.

But she did definitely want to check in with their friends. "It would certainly be nice to talk to the others again..." If they're still...

She didn't let herself finish that thought. "Rene and Marcus first, I think," she suggested.

Julee's eyes sparked with excitement, at the prospect of being able to actually go somewhere, somewhere off-world...she barely remembered the last time they'd left Naboo, she'd only been ten when the jamming had started.

Like Tiberius, Julee didn't really know what she wanted to make of herself--she admired her mother as a former freedom-fighter, but she knew Feyna had regrets, committing so much to a cause that it had impacted her personal life. And Pascale's archaeology work was interesting, Julee liked listening to his stories, but she wasn't sure that was her path, either; hearing about it wasn't the same as doing it. But there was a whole galaxy of possibilities open to them now.

"Where would we go first?"

Pascale smiled as he put an arm around his wife's shoulders. Tiberius was definatly excited, Julee about the same.

He caight Feyna not finishing her sentance and squeezed her shoulder "Don't worry cheri, Madelyn is as tough as they come, so is her family. Renee and Marcus, they would have might have found somewhere finally to settle down".

He knew Drayson's death had hit her hard, there was not many people left now that they trusted.

He looked at his daughter and Tiberius "Me and Feyna have done our part, seen too many wars, put our lives on the line for causes. Time to put our feet up and relax".

"It's time to pass the baton on to you Julee, and if you want to bring Tiberius along for the ride you are most wrlcome to" Tiberius nodded yes that he would like to come, of course only if Julee let him.

"Well as your mother said we could try finding your Uncles. Or we could choose what we want to do" he grinned "We can finally do something, y'know help some people out".

"Your mother and father were rebels, we could do the same maybe? Or just travelling the galaxy for our own adventures".

He leaned closer whispering so her parent's could'nt hear "Nobody telling us what to do…."

Julee looked surprised that her father didn't object to the idea of her leaving--Feyna had a bit of a look, as well, like she wasn't keen on the thought herself, and for a minute Julee wondered if her mother would try to stop her.

Feyna held her tongue, though. Sometimes she had to remind herself, Julee wasn't a little girl anymore. And Feyna had already joined the Rebellion by the time she'd been Julee's age, so she didn't even really have a good argument to stand on.

Julee had turned her focus back to Tiberius. "You think your parents will be okay with it?

"It would be cool to see my uncles again..." She still couldn't quite decide where she wanted to go, but visiting Uncle Rene and Uncle Marcus seemed like a good start. She could remember Uncle Rene teaching her to play sabaac and dejaarik as a child.

She looked back to her parents, her father specifically. "Can I take the Fortuna?"

Tiberius huffed "Probably not, I think my father especially would'nt want me going anywhere. Neither would my mother" he shrugged "You know what they are like".

"But if they knew I was helping you out, or helping the galaxy...maybe they might be" he smiled "They like you and your parents".

"Besides I am an adult now like you. We take responsibility now for what we do. And if you are visiting your Uncle's i'd like to come along" he grinned "if you will let me of course."

Pascale had seen Feyna's look. But both him and her had been doing dangerous things when they were younger, Pascale of course was doing bad things at the time whilst in university, starting down his dark path.

Julee wanted to go out there and explore, of course he was worried she might get hurt. But hopefully with Tiberius along they could watch out for each other.

"She'll be alright Feyna" he said leaning close to his wife "If she is kept here she will forever resent us. And you know her temperament, she's just as fiery as me" he chuckled at that.

"With the jamming gone she and Tiberius are our only hope of finding out if our friends and family are still out there" he squeezed her shoulder.

He looked back to Julee with a smile "You can take Fortuna, she is as good a ship as you will need. And I was going to pass her down to you when you were ready to fly her. Now seems as good a time as any".

"Take care of her, she is my pride and joy and have had her since my early twenties. She is yours to have"

Julee's face split into a big grin--she knew how protective her father was of his ship, like it, too, was his child. "Thanks, Dad."

"Just, be careful," Feyna said, somewhere between a warning and a plea. Pascale was right, of course. It wasn't fair to keep Julee cooped up here anymore, and if she tried, she'd only drive her further away.

"I will, Mom," Julee said, trying not to sound exasperated. "Tib and I can watch out for ourselves."

"So are you going to try comming Uncle Rene?"

If they were headed there first, it'd help to know where they were, first. Plus it'd be weird for Julee and Tiberius to just show up--Tiberius had probably met her uncles before, but it would have only been a few times, and again, back before the jamming.

Pascale raised a finger but smiled "Just no scratches alright? And bring her back in one piece".

Tiberius grinned, it looked like they were going! And he elbowed Julee playfully "We definitely can, hey does that make you Captain?" He winked at her with mischief on his face.

Julee of course had used his nickname Tib which he like. He called her Jules but only when they were alone. And he had met her uncles, Rene and him were cut from the same cloth, loved getting into mischief and scrapes.

Pascale squeezed his wife's shoulder again"They will be fine cheri. Reminds me of our slightly younger days, no?"

He pulled out his comlink, and tried to contact Rene. Hopefully they had not changed thier comlink codes.

He replied, and quickly. "Pascale!"

It was a holocall, and Rene was suddenly crowded with Marcus' face, and that of a cute little Loth-cat.

"I can't believe you still had our codes!" He was basically ecstatic. The codes location said they were on Commenor, their old homeworld. "You're still on Naboo?"

Both men looked older, but of course they would - it had been nearly a decade. An incredibly long time for most sentient species, apart from, of the mainstream inhabitants of this galaxy, Yuuzhan Vong, Wookiees, Whiphids, Anzati and Hutts, who had much longer lifespans.

"Hello mon frere" (my brother) he said with a smile "Good to see you again. And on Commenor no lees. I am glad that she has had time to rebuild".

"Yes we are indeed on Naboo and wanted to check in" he turned the comlink so Marcus and Rene could see everyone "We might have a couple of people who may pay you a visit".

Tiberius smiled and waved "Cute cat."

Feyna smiled and gave a hello nod to her brother-in-law and his partner, Julee grinned and waved. "Hi, Uncle Rene, Uncle Marcus," she greeted excitedly. "You guys remember my friend Tiberius, from next door?"

"With the Jam lifted, the kids have ants in their pants to go somewhere finally," Feyna put in lightly. "They're thinking about stopping by for a visit with you."

The thought of Commenor was a little worrying, though--Feyna tried to recall, had Rene and Marcus been there before the jamming?

"Commenor was about as neutral as can be this time around. They handed the First Order the moon, Folor, so they could keep an eye, but otherwise it's been rebuilt up since Caedus bombed the planet with asteroids." Commenor had sided with the Confederation a few years before the Hosnian Cataclysm, but with Fyor Rodan finally dead, had managed to become a lot more balanced in the aftermath.

"They're welcome to visit - the Commenori government has already reclaimed Folor so there aren't any First Order forces left here, anyway." Marcus supplied.

Pascale had to chuckle at his wife. "Always a way with words cheri".

He nodded at the kids "I am happy for them to come and visit you, and they will bring a rather familiar ship with them. I'm letting Julee fly Fortuna.".

"If Commenor is safe again then I beleive a little family reunion is in order. Tiberius and Julee are very good friends and Tiberius I believe is pretty much part of this family".

Tiberius's smile grew wider "I would like to see you again. And visiting Commenor? I'd call that a definite yes."

He turned to Julee "What do you say Captain?"

Julee was still smiling, and she was starting to fidget restlessly. They had a plan now, they could go!

"I say, let's get going," she replied.

"You'll comm us when you get there," Feyna told her daughter; telling her in front of Rene and Marcus, hopefully they'd make sure she didn't forget.

"Yes, Mom, I know."

"Great!" Rene said, and forwarded coordinates to their home. "Since Fyor died, it's a much better place. He's not making us build fleets and sending us to fight in wars of principle. There's not a chance anyone is calling that idea up again after the last fifteen years. Between Caedus and Daala and the First Order. Nope."

Marcus glowered. "They're not going to visit if all you do is talk politics."

"Of course they will," Rene chided. "We have a Loth-cat. Everyone loves Loth-cats."

At that, they signed off, leaving the four of them to finalise their goodbyes.

Pascale rose from his seat and made his way over to Julee, much slower than he used to.

He enveloped his daughter in a hug "You take care, alright? Your mother is already worried, this is your first trip out. Just be careful, and come back home safe".

"And above all, enjoy yourself".

He looked at Tiberius "And you young man, you keep her out of mischief, alright?"

Tiberius sloppily saluted "Yes sir, we'll be fine."

"We'll be careful, Dad," Julee promised as she hugged him back. "And I'll take care of the ship, don't worry."

Reality was starting to sink in a little; Julee had never traveled off-world without her parents before, and eager though she was, there was an underlying feeling of uncertainty--was this what it felt like, growing up and leaving home?

Feyna got up as well, pulling her daughter in and hugging her tight. Julee was pretty sure she'd seen a tear or two, so she let the hug linger. "I'll be okay, Mom, promise," Julee whispered.

Feyna squeezed her, then drew back. "I know. But I'm your mother, it's my job to worry." She kissed Julee's cheek, then released her. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Mom. Dad."

Feyna reached over to squeeze Tiberius's shoulder. "You two have fun, but look after each other, and stay safe."

"Of course we will" Tiberius replied to Feyna "We are only heading to Commenor, what could possibly go wrong?"

And he would make sure he looked after Julee, she was his best friend after all.

Julee nodded and looked to Tiberius. "You want to go grab some things from your house and meet me at the ship? Or do you want me to come with you, to talk to your parents?"

"I'll meet you at the ship" he said simply "If I can grab my parents i'll talk to them, if not i'll leave them a note".

He smiled at Feyna and Pascale "Always a pleasure to see you again. We'll be back safe and sound soon. Promise" he gave them both a quick wave and headed off.

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

The yacht was what it always was; kept in good order, ready for whatever, old enough to be considered a family member, especially as Pascale had, in one shape or another, had a yacht. The Fortunahad been rebuilt from the bottom up after the Yuuzhan Vong War, getting rid of the plasma burns and magma missile damage from various close calls.

The Yuuzhan Vong War had not touched Naboo, nor had the subsequent Galactic Civil War. Indeed, the First Order had initially treated the affluent world relatively well, on account of it being the homeworld of Palpatine. Notwithstanding this, under Kylo Ren that rule had became more autocratic and erratic, and Naboo had rebelled against the First Order after Exegol - for the planet to return to First Order control when the Galactic Jamming commenced. But that had really only occurred in Theed, and if you lived on-world and weren’t there - or Otoh Gunga - you could get by just fine.

Much of the galaxy could, which is likely why most of the galaxy had, isolated, unable to speak to their neighbours, simply heaved a collective shrug and allowed the First Order to rule them for the better part of a decade. It wasn’t the inner systems, where Hux and Ren had direct rule, after all.

So the yacht was there.

Ready, waiting; probably on some computer level, eager to be started up anew and head off into the stars.

Tiberius arrived with a couple of bags, shoving in what he might need and some stuff for just in case.

He looked in awe at the yacht, he'd never traveled off Naboo before and this looked as grand ship as any to take them on their way.

"She's a beaut Jules" he said amazed "Your father let's you pilot this? Imean she looks like an impressive ship".

He sighed "Mum and Dad had gone out when I got home, had to leave them a note. So expect a angry comm call soon".

He grinned "Excited? I am. This is what we talked about for years, and now we get to finally travel together."

There'd been another round of goodbyes at the Rouser home, once Julee had finished packing and was actually headed out the door. Once she'd gotten to the ship, she'd spent the time waiting for Tib by going over the ship and doing all the pre-flight prep, just like her father had taught her. They were pretty much ready to go just as Tiberius was showing up.

"Mom and Dad can talk to them, too," she said, when he mentioned that his parents hadn't been home and that he expected an angry reaction to his leaving. "They'll get them to come around to the idea.

"But yeah this is it." She patted the hull of the Fortuna affectionately. "Dad's had it for something like fifty years, but he keeps her like new. He and Mom lived on it when they first got together, up until after the Vong war. They only settled on Naboo after I was born."

She jerked her head toward the cockpit. "Ready to go?"

"Ready" Tiberius responded "Start her up, i'll meet you in there once i've dropped my bags off, got a good choice of passenger cabins after all".

He gave her a wink and quickly disappeared dropping his bags off at his chosen room. He assumed Julee would take the main cabin.

He reappeared in the cockpit, strapping himself in to the copilot position.

Julee headed to the cockpit, and after making sure the fuel and power lines were disconnected, fired up ship. "Here we go," she grinned, as they lifted off.

Next stop: Commenor.

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

Next stop, Commenor, was actually a bit slower than they may have hoped. The Tarkinate controlled the Rimma-Hydian Way junction, and the Andoan's had control of the Corellian Run up to the Mid Rim. They had to take a slower path to it, and avoid the major hyperlanes, which were now, apparently, blockaded by the so-called 'New Order' of Chancellor Aryan Graul.

They encountered transmissions by a self-proclaimed Grand Admiral to regroup at Belgaroth -

A call to worlds to send diplomats to the new Senate on Chandrila -

A declaration of war upon the Corporate Sector by Warlord Gherlid of the Northern Dependencies -

It wasn't as clear-cut as they had perhaps thought.

By the time they found a unblocked way to the Inner Rim - not even the Colonies where Commenor was! - it had been more than a day!

They weren't far from occupied Yag'Dhul, or perhaps Thyferra. They could push on, of course, but there was a reported engagement between where they were and Commenor... or take another day to go around it, closer to free Corellia -

Tiberius huffed as he sat back in the copilot's position "Well this has been fun so far...not".

"I was looking forward to seeing Commenor and your cool Uncles and the cute cat. But no, it seems the galaxy has decided after the jamming has been lifted to spiral into chaos. "

"I really do not want to turn back but where the hell do we go from here? And if we do try for Commenor what else can we do in a day?"

Julee huffed at the comm and its persistent updates--these have nothing to do with me, I don't care, shut up already.

But of course, without the updates, they probably would have plowed right into trouble; she'd had to revise their route several times, and they still weren't even to the Colonies yet. And now they were getting reports of some kind of scuffle between here and Commenor, which meant another detour.

"Dad'll kill me if I get his ship shot up." She scowled at the nav-computer. "We'll have to go around toward Corellia..."

The nav-comp had a safe route, and no negative updates. Corellia had rebelled against the First Order a decade ago, and were ready to do so again. They’d be there in under a day it seemed, but there were already warnings to avoid the Kuat Sector.

Tiberius shrugged "I guess Corellia it is then." He snorted derisively "Damn galaxy is spoiling our fun".

He patted her on the shoulder "We'll get there in one piece. At least we are doing this together. Would've been boring on your own".

"That is true," Julee concurred, her mood lifting a bit. "And at least it looks like we shouldn't see any issues for this leg of the trip. We might have to skirt around Kuat, but we can figure that out when it's a little closer and we get more info." She put in the next set of coordinates, and jumped them back into hyperspace.

She turned the chair and leaned back. "So as long as we've got all this extra hyperspace time, I guess we could figure out what we're going to do after Commenor?

"I know our parents would like us to just come back home, but... I don't want to just stop with Commenor, do you? I mean, we'd still go back at some point of course, and with the HoloNet working now, we can still keep in touch, make sure they know where we are, that sort of thing."

"Course not" Tiberius grinned. "Our adventure has just begun and I don't want it to stop. Only when we've had enough".

"Just keep in contact with them so they don't go bonkers. They do worry".

"And it's a chance for us yo get used to travelling and being together. And to get to know each other even more."

Julee smirked back. "Like we don't already know everything about each other?" She quipped. They had known each other practically as long as either of them could remember, after all.

"True, but maybe there is….more?" Tiberius's tone was playful and he winked at her.

Was there more? Well Julee had grown into a gorgeous looking woman but Tiberius did not want to scupper their friendship. Especially if signals were misinterpreted.

He unstrapped and got out of his seat stretching. "Maybe i'll go and have a nap or something. Not a lot to do til we reach our destination".

Julee nodded, thinking she might do the same. "Okay."

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

They made it shortly thereafter, and Commenor was much as it was before the Yuuzhan Vong War. Ships travelled in and about, and a few nearly ancient Imperial designs acted as patrol craft - mainly old customs frigates and corvettes. Otherwise, they were pinged as they arrived - they'd been expected, and a beacon to guide them in had been set up - and deal with messy entry permits.

It included an offer of autopilot - space was not too busy, but it wasn't a simple walk through the sky, either.

They could pilot on manual, or let the beacon do the work.

Tiberius was back in the copilot's position. They had finally reached Commenor and it looked very impressive.

After all he had never traveled away from Naboo.

"Nice" he said with a grin "So do you want to show me your pilot skills? Show off a little and impress me?"

Julee was leaning forward in the pilot's seat, the better to take in the view; if she'd been to Commenor before, she didn't remember it.

A traffic control beacon pinged them as they came in, but Julee kept the Fortuna on manual control, smirking and doing a quick roll at Tib's prodding.

"We should call my uncles, let them know we're almost there. And comm our folks when we land."

With all the detours they'd had to take, the trip had taken a little longer than it probably should have, and the parents might be getting a bit worried.

They replied with an automated response that they were out at the market, but if it was Julee and Tiberius, they'd left face-recognition at the door so they could let themselves in. They had a roof apartment where they could land the Fortuna. It was very civilised, very pedestrian, after the drama of getting to Commenor.

Tiberius was very impressed. A rooftop apartment? They must be loaded with credit's. Tiberius could only dream of having as much.

He sent a comm to Pascale and Feyna and to his parents telling them they had arrived at Commenor safety and would soon be seeing Rene and Marcus.

"Liked the roll Jules, that's impressive. I'll bet you taugt that yourself. Can't see your dad teaching you that trick".

His grin turned mischievous "Hey, since your Uncles are out why don't we explore their place? Might get some ideas for when we get our place. Or places".

Of course Tiberius recognised they might not get a place together. But hoped they would.

Julee continued to follow the beacon's signal toward the apartment. Rene and Marcus were out, but they'd had no way of knowing exactly when Julee and Tiberius would arrive, so it didn't seem anything to be worried about, and the teens could still get inside and get settled.

"I don't see why they'd mind us looking around, it's not like we're going to trash the place," she grinned back.

The door did indeed automatically recede, revealing a decent sized apartment and a pair of spare rooms. Otherwise there was a noise and a Loth cat bowled around the corner and yipped at them, eager to greet them.

Tiberius whistled, impressed "I would love one of these. Good sized rooms, enough to maybe have family round and maybe a party or two? Well a private one anyway".

He knelt down to greet the cat "Hey there, aren't you cute? Well not as cute as Jules over there" he winked at her.

Julee let out an embarrassed little laugh as she got down to scritch the cat's chin.

"It is nice, isn't it?" She looked around at the apartment. "Dad used to say that Uncle Rene didn't like to flaunt the family fortune." Though to be fair, Pascale didn't go overboard with it either, and Feyna, who'd once been a runaway with little more than the clothes on her back, was generally frugal. Not cheap by any means; people could usually tell the Rousers were well-off, but they definitely weren't showing off about it.

"I wonder how long til they get back..."

The door knocked and her uncles returned, with a gaggle of droids carrying their things in. They smiled broadly, and went for hugs while the silver-robots moved things into cupboards and shelves. They'd done very well for themselves, it seemed. Prices on Commenor compared to Naboo were high, what with the Colonies to Mid Rim translation.

"You've grown so much, Julee!" Rene said.

Marcus eyed Tiberius. "And who is this? A boyfriend?"

Tiberius chuckled at that "Best friend. I'm surprised you didn't recognise me. I'm Tiberius Covax and i've known Julee since we could basically walk".

He nodded to Rene "Good to see you again".

"Tiberius lives next door to us on Naboo," Julee reminded as she hugged her uncles in turn. "How have you been?"

“Pretty good actually,” Rene admitted. “Commenor joined the First Order voluntarily, offering its moon and all. It’s been able to carry on as normal otherwise.”

“Well, we managed to avoid being drafted,” Marcus pointed out.

“And we managed to secure decent jobs in middle management in warship computer systems’ manufacturing,” Rene said, settling on the couch in the lounge and accepting a Lothcat on his lap. The droids stepped into another room, and powered down. Another emerged and began preparing drinks and food.

Tiberius looked to Jules, did he hear that right? Were they designing computers for warships?

For the First Order?

He couldn't imagine these two working for the First Order. And what would Pascale and Feyna think if they did?

Maybe he had got it all wrong, maybe Jules might be able to figure it out.

Julee saw Tib's look of concern. "What kinds of warships?" She asked, taking a chair and a drink.

"Local defence force ships. The Commenori wanted to build back up their strength, keep anyone for picking on them - but this time the government isn't joining any Alliances or Confederations," Rene shrugged, accepting a caf from the droid.

Marcus frowned. "Wait, did you think we were working for the First Order?"

Tiberius was still standing and looked at them both "With the way you were speaking, possibly yes. But then again after meeting you guys for a while I didn't see you as the types who would".

"We didn't mean to sound judgey," Julee added, before switching topics. "What did you think of General Organa's message?"

"It was astral," said Rene, "to hear her voice again after so long, to remind us that we had a chance."

Marcus sipped again. "But there wasn't much to do here on Commenor, as the First Order base was on Folor -"

The door wrapped strongly and the butler-droid turned to the door. "Whosoever could that be."

"This is ComSec," came a shout, referencing Commenori Security. "We have a search warrant for the owners of this property!"

"Oh my," the butler-droid said, picking up pace to open the way in. Rene looked at Marcus, alarmed, the implication that Tiberius had just made fresh in their minds -

Marcus put down his drink and went to stand -

The door opened, and a stream of heavily armoured and armed ComSec officers in blue armour stepped in. "Stay where you are, please. Any act to tamper with evidence will be seen as proof of evidence contamination," this from the officer whose pauldron was red, identifying him as the commanding officer, though his firm jaw and authoritative tone did much the same.

Two rather burly guards had their rifles out, obliquely pointing them to the side but with their eyes on the four of them.

"Identify yourselves, I have it that only two individuals live here."

Well this just got ugly rather fast…

Tiberius folded his arms across his chest "My name is Tiberius Covax, from Naboo, and what the frakking hell is going on? Me and my friend here" he indicated Julee "were just visiting and now you storm in?".

"And what have these two guys done? As far as i'm concerned they are innocent until proven guilty".

Julee's expression was confused, but also held a tinge of annoyance, and concern.

"Julee Rouser, from Naboo; the residents are my uncles." She stated simply as she got to her feet, eyes narrowed at the guards. "And you guys are spoiling our reunion here, so yeah, we'd like a little more of an explanation."

"Your uncles may have contributed to the previous Commenori government's collaboration with the First Order," the man said simply, presenting a datapad. "The military has stepped in to remove the politicians who considered it expedient to cooperate rather than resist."

"We built computer systems to defend Commenor," Marcus said, firmly. "If we hadn't, do you think the First Order would have simply been driven out? A handful of days after Leia's speech?"

Rene was on his comlink already and the guard pointed his rifle. "Unless I don't have any rights to a lawyer," snapped Rene, "then you don't have a reason to stop me."

The ComSec commander raised a hand to order the man to step down, and he turned the blaster aside. "You can call a lawyer, but you can't leave this room."

He looked like he was going to say something rude, so Marcus replied for Rene. "Thank you." Marcus indicated to Julee and Tiberius to sit with them, the Lothcat having already buried its head into the couch.

Tiberius gave the commander a look that could melt steel "I think you're arresting the wrong people mate" he said walking over and picking up the Loth Cat to give it a cuddle and a comforting stroke.

Technically, her uncles weren't under arrest, unless the guards found anything in their search. But how did they--Rene, Marcus, Julee, Tiberius--how could they know if these guards were really ComSec? What stopped them from planting something?

Julee scowled at the guards, nodding in agreement with Tib as she sat back down next to him, but she didn't know what else to do.

The search was brief, disruptive, and thorough.

They left without taking anything.

Rene bit his lip throughout. Marcus shot Tiberius a look not to make things worse, but at least Julee didn't say thing.

The commander was the last to leave. As he did, he provided them with the warrant, which he'd had in his hand the whole time. It was fishing, yes, but legal fishing. As soon as they left, Marcus wanted to know about the former in former government. HoloNet news confirmed that the old government had been arrested for treason, and the new government would be selected in elections later next year on the basis the security situation improved. A new, temporary Chief of State was sworn in.

Tormak Rodan.

"Oh boy," Rene said.

Tiberius continued to cuddle and stroke the Loth cat. A government overthrown?

"I guess this is bad, right?" he said looking to Jules.

"Who is he?" Julee asked, referring to the new, albeit temporary, Chief of State.

“Fyor’s brother,” Rene said drily. “His historically crooked one. Fyor Rodan was the better sibling.” And Fyor had before his death led Commenor into a devastating war against the Galactic Alliance.

“I bet he’s cashed in his relation to Fyor to launch his own platform… note how he’s temporary Chief before more elections… so the politicians picked him themselves…” Marcus sounded disappointed.

Julee remembered the name 'Rodan,' now--her mother hadn't been any big fan of Fyor, from what she'd heard--and he was supposed to be the better sibling?

"So they want to get rid of the people who voted for First Order, but they're putting him in charge?" It didn't seem to make a lot of sense, given Fyor's old war with the GA.

Tiberius just watched the conversation trying to get the gist of what was going on.

“People forgive their heroes,” Rene said, “or families of heroes.”

“Everyone forgave the Skywalker’s and Solo’s for Vader, and for Caedus…” Marcus noted. “Then Kylo Ren too.” He shook his head. “Let’s go out for dinner. I don’t want to stay in while though droids clean up.” ComSec has made a real mess of the apartment.

As they got ready to go, Rene looked to them. “So what’s the plan for you two? Galaxy of opportunity, now the First Order’s on the way out. Explore the galaxy? Archaeology, like your father?”

“An NRI spy, like your mother?” Marcus added, putting his arm through his coat.

They asked Julee, not Tiberius; they had a pretty fair idea what he wanted already.

"Not NRI, not anything like that," Julee said, firmly shaking her head as she got ready. Her father hadn't cared for it when he'd been drafted in after that Korriban mission, and Feyna had more than once expressed regrets that she'd stayed in it as long as she had, wondering what their lives would have been if she'd left earlier. "Archaeology might not be as bad.

"Maybe just explore for a bit first, while we figure ourselves out."

Tiberius simply nodded at the last bit, they had asked Julee not him.

They were heading off to to dinner and it seemed this was more of a family affair. He was not sure he would be welcomed along after today.

But he would go with the flow.

Rene nodded. “You’ve plenty of time to work it out, luckily. There will be lots of folks wanting to discover the galaxy again. The First Order, the Warlords, they won’t be able to stop progress anymore.”

Marcus watched Tiberius. “Together you two will be a good team. At the end of the day, having someone to travel with will be safer and better for you each.” He smiled at them.

“But let’s go get that dinner,” Rene said. “You’re welcome to freshen up and we’ll meet downstairs in say half an hour? Not sure if you had chance to look, but we have few spare rooms, one with a -.”

Marcus interrupted before Rene could say ‘double’. The two youngsters would work out who they were to each other, so.

Tiberius caught Rene's meaning and chuckled again. These two were certainly hinting that they were a couple.

If Jules wanted more he would be happy to pursue it but for now they were finding their feet in a galaxy in chaos.

"Oh I have no doubts about the team bit" Tiberius responded with a grin "Now i'm going to see which room I want to grab and will see you in a bit."

"Luckily I packed everything just in case eh?" Tiberius winked at Jules and then headed off.

Julee rolled her eyes at her uncle's near-miss, and the implication behind it. They had been testing the waters with the teens, trying to gauge whether there was more between them than just friendship.

Julee wasn't sure what she wanted out of that, either, if she was honest. Tiberius was her best and closest friend; he probably knew some things about her that her own parents didn't know.

Maybe they'd figure that out on their explorations as well.

"I'll be ready in just a bit," she said, heading off with her things to claim the guest room next to Tib's.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @Jerjerrod-Lennox

 

~OOC~ Special thanks to @Sinrebirth for this joint post between us. Also special thanks to @pashatemur for providing Anakin for a brief moment.

~IC~ Ahsoka Tano + Morai
Location: Nouane - Nouane City

“...they say we’re in for another cold snap.” The elderly merchant stated as he wrapped the goods in a parcel.

Ahsoka lifted her gaze away from the produce to regard the man. “I hope that will not affect your livelihood.”

The man shrugged. “We will manage. We’ve lasted this long. It is probably just another excuse to have ‘em boats grounded longer since they still haven’t finished caulking the hulls. ‘Em fishies don’t wait for nobody.”

“Some supplies are getting harder to come by. I suppose they feel it is best to be safe than sorry.” Ahsoka responded gently and placed a handful of coinage on the counter.

She tilted her as she heard a flutter of wings and a coo. She glanced up and smiled at a familiar sight. A Convor! She looked back to the merchant and he handed her the parcel.

“Thank you. I bid you a good and productive day.” She said.

He smiled. “Any time. Are you sure you are alright up at the old monastery? You are welcome to stay in the village. Hagen has some rooms available. Tell him I sent you.”

“I’m doing well, thank you.” Ahsoka smiled and politely declined. “Thank you again, I’ll keep that in mind. Take care.”

She stepped away and looked up again. Where was the convor? A gentle coo sounded from her left and she turned. It wasn’t the usual brown or pure white ones. This one was uniquely two green with a creamy tones. Morai!

Ahsoka proffered her arm to be used as a perched. “Oh, I have missed you old friend.”

Morai landed with a happy chirp, and nuzzled into her old friend. Comparatively, one was much older than the other, but that contact allowed Morai to convey impressions to the Togruta. It was of an aged woman, surrounded by Coruscanti towers as Resistance and First Order ships danced and troops fought. The source of the Galactic Jamming was gone; the chiming of innumerable comlinks in the market of Nouane City was evidence of that, but clearly Morai had travelled along the Between ways quite recently... or simply hitched a ride - convors could hide in all manner of places aboard a ship!

The woman looked like Ahsoka's old friend Barriss, who Ahsoka would have thought died during Order 66 nearly seventy years ago!

Barriss had fought, battled with younger darksiders, the infamous Knights of Ren, even killed one.

Ahsoka closed her eyes as she experienced the impressions conveyed to her. Some was familiar in the broad stroke though not so much in the finer details. The people, the battle... it was a lot to take in. The focus on the female Mirialan... the chances were slim that it could be Barriss... but yet, the focus, the form... a display which hinted at Master Luminara’s style... was this in part why Morai had left for a period of time? Why Morai had came back to Ahsoka now?

Ahsoka opened her eyes and glanced about her surroundings. If not for Morai’s presence, the cacophony of noise and surprise from those in the market would have been an indication of a major shift to the balance of power in the galaxy. Coruscant was taken back by the Resistance? Barriss was instrumental in assisting them?

Ahsoka opened the parcel a fraction and pulled off a chunk of smoked quekka fish and held it up for the Convor to nibble on.

“Thank you, my friend” She whispered gently. “So, ‘she’ has finally made herself useful? She looks healthy... I hope that time has healed her old wounds.”

Morai tweetled uncertainly. There were many scars to Barriss Offee, after all.

But the convor chirped again. It was worried, hooting at Ahsoka that a time would come when they needed to step back into the light.

Long gone were their adventures with Thrawn, Ezra Bridger, Grogu and the Mandalorian named Din Djarin.

Whatever the result of those moments, the First Order had still rose, Ben Solo had still fell, and the New Jedi Order had still been destroyed. Indeed, Rey Skywalker had still rose, the latest resurrection of Emperor Palpatine had been foiled, and the Galactic Jamming had now been undone. None of which had involved Ahsoka in the slightest.

For Morai to hint that Ahsoka would be needed again, well, that was a sign of what was to come.

Ahsoka picked up on Morai’s confusion, her concern. Ahsoka glanced about the bustling market place and the buzz of activity as everyone’s was either communicating on their comms or trying to get a hold of their loved ones. This was no place to stand idle.

“There is much to reflect upon.” She said. “Come with me.”

---

The gatekeeper gave Ahsoka a curious look as she returned with a convor on her shoulder. She was waved through and she followed along the paved path through the gardens to a giant stave building, an ancient monastery.

It was quiet for that time of day. Ahsoka had dropped off her parcel at the kitchens and made her way up to her temporary quarters. Once out of her winter coat, she started a fire and placed the kettle on the go for tea. Ahsoka then sat cross legged by the warmth of the fire.

“This place is steeped in history and bloodshed... a nexus point of light and darkness...” Ahsoka explained. “There is much to unravel in the archives though it has been quite a task sorting through various sources, handwritten accounts and exploring the crypts....” she gave a faint smile as she reached over to catch the kettle just before it started whistling and carefully poured the water into the teapot. “...but that is not why you have sought me out.”

The gatekeeper was a man in a black-robe of unfamiliar material. "No, you're not," there was a drawl. "But it's pretty interesting history. Fantastical, even. Palpatine was heavy into it - he collected all four Sith Statues of Dwartii and put them in his office, y'know."

A shrug. "But you're not into Sith mumbo jumbo, save to probably take them out." His cowl still up, he reached for a cup and thanked her. "You're one of those, y'know, pure lights. Kinda ronin-like, wouldn't ya say?"

Ahsoka cradled her cup and enjoyed the warmth of its contents in her cool hands. She inclined her head in response to his gratitude for the tea.

“A Ronin?” The corner of her lips lifted into a smile. “Yes, I suppose that is a noun to describe me... amongst a few others.” She gave a light chuckle and tilted her head.

“There is a lot to learn from history... and it depends on what is labelled as Sith; the species, or the order of force welders that took their name?” Her azure gaze showed her curiosity as they focused on the form under the cowl. “They were made from Bronzium... weren’t they? The statues of the Four Sages you spoke of? It had been taught the Sages had been influential in the... developing era... of the Galactic Republic. That they have some connection to this world. Unless, the historians were mistaken, they were not known to be of the Sith... however, given how controversial some of their decrees were viewed, I suppose one could make such an assessment given how... self serving and inconsiderate of certain others... their decrees could be.”

She raised the cup to her lips and took a small sip.

“I know, right," he said, chuckling as he finished his tea.

He brushed down his robes. "Bronzium coating; neuranium construction, basically making them impossible to scan. We recently came into possession of four of them, including one which was rather neatly decapitated." He sighed. "The Braata Danlos statue, which was revealed to be empty, or, perhaps, something had been taken out. It's taking all my persuasive powers to keep the head guys from cracking open the other three, trust me."

Face still hidden, he stood. "I can show you 'em if you wanted."

Ahsoka glanced to Morai then back again.

A hidden chamber within one of the Sage statues in Palpatine’s office? What purpose did it originally serve? What had been resting in there?

“I don’t approve of destroying historical relics to test an hypothesis... though there are other non invasive techniques to check other than scanning.” Ahsoka finished her tea and placed the cup on the tray. She stood up and stretched her arms. “Please. That would be wonderful to see. Do you think the others also hold hidden secrets? What do you suppose would be within?”

“Well there is a little ole hole in the head of Sistros, roughly the shape of a pole or pike, perhaps even a lightsaber," he chatted. "Some of us theorised that Palpatine hid his lightsaber hilt in the statue, as he was a Sith Lord. But there is no proof of that, of course,"

The man left them, with Morai flying above them, into the museum proper. "The old clock tower atop this museum fell down a few years ago, so we removed it and preserved what was left of the lower building. It's probably thirty-five thousand years old."

The statues were evident at the center of the museum, three of them.



Sistros



Yanjon



Faya

"Yes, yes," he waved a hand. "It's a bit much, but we thought replicating the decor of then-Chancellor Palpatine's office would be appropriate as this was the last public exposure to so-called Sages of Dwartii." There was a glass cabinet off to the side of the room, containing some smaller items.

The room would assail Ahsoka with memories. How long had it been since she attended this Office on Coruscant, in the company of Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Ahsoka stopped in her tracks. Slowly she turned her head to take in the room. It was pretty accurate from what she had remembered... The hue of red with light touches of grey... the wide pane of transparisteel for the window showing the cityscape. She felt like she had been transported back. Maybe some things are smaller than how she had thought they were but then again, she was smaller then and so of course certain things had appeared larger then. How many times has she been taken to the offices of the Supreme Chancellor? Probably about as many times she had the Supreme Chancellor say to her to “wait outside, little one” all while he lead Anakin into the office and close the door on her.

She knew Anakin and the Chancellor were close, that he was considered a friend. Though whenever they visited, there was a flutter... a sense of trepidation that she couldn’t put her finger on. She had suspected that the Chancellor, at the time, did not like her and wondered if Anakin knew that or why bring her if his friend didn’t approve of her?

Once she had braved broaching that subject with Anakin and he had sat next to her and assured her... “He's a strange bird, ‘Soka. He'll warm to ya. Give it time! To tell the truth, I found him kind of ...eh...creepy at first, too. But...I remembered what Obi-Wan always says about keeping an open mind...”

Ahsoka had smiled then and took that to heart. She trusted Anakin’s judgement and believed that in due time, relations would improve.

With a wistful smile, Ahsoka suppressed the lingering memory and stepped deeper into the office. “Many would have observed these statues while meeting with the Chancellor...”

"Gotcha," the curator said. "I see what you did there, dodged me pretty smoothly."

He indicated the glass cabinet. "Smaller statue in there, not Nouanese, the guy I got these from threw it in as a package deal."

With a spritely step he pointed. "It's of Wapoe, the Atrisian demi-god of disguise. Pretty telling, all these statues and figures of history, philosophy, all tied up neatly in Sith red." He chortled. "I even hear old Palpy had his crimson armoured bodyguards before the Clone Wars started. All these little pieces of Empire sitting under the surface of your Galactic Republic."

His voice was almost crowing with victory. "But you left, didn't ya, poppet? You saw just what was coming."

Ahsoka arched her brow. “If they aren’t of Nouanese in origin, wouldn’t that throw off the collection? Like mixing Twi’Lek impressions of a certain period with renditions by a Togruta.” She asked as she stepped closer to inspect. “Though, I suppose it depends on what it is displayed with to bring it all together. Not just the red of the decor.”

She paused and considered what was said about the foundations of the Empire being built atop of the infrastructure of the Republic... which in turn had been built upon what came before that and what came before that. Like the structures underneath the former Jedi Temple...

“Coruscant has many layers... a living timeline... the deeper you go, you come across architecture and elements from the different epochs of history. There are many surprises yet to be revealed that have been lost to time. This Wapoe... I am not familiar with them... though I do recognise ‘poe’ which makes up part of the name. Cloaked spirits...they can be pranksters. Though I doubt it be of any relation. Was Wapoe connected to the Sages...?”

There was a dry chuckle. “Poppet, I could hardly bill this as a Palpatine exhibit could I? I’d have every wannabe Jedi, Neo-Imp and Sith cultist here from across the galaxy.”

“But Wapoe, yeah, it’s a demigod from Atrisia. Pretty old world itself - stayed out of the war, always has been kinda independent y’know, even when it joined the Old Republic, Empire, whatever,” he fluttered a gloved hand. “Core World though - has ties to pre-Republic civilisation.”

He leaned forward, face close to the transparisteel. “There’s no connection between Nouane and Atrisia apart from Darth Sidious and his private collection.” The black-coated hood turned back to Ahsoka. “Which is why I thought you’d want to look into it and all.”

Ahsoka chuckled at the remark about the dangers of labelling the display as a Palpatine exhibition. “I’d advise against that. The last thing anyone needs is people with delusions of grandeur seeking some mystical totem of immortality... and trashing a historical site in the process.”

Ahsoka looked to Morai. The Convor, her friend, had came back to her. To nudge her away from her search and to go where her presence may be needed.

Her gaze returned to the cabinet and she stepped to the side to see the statue from a different angle. From her vantage point she could see the reflection of the Black robed and hooded figure. There is something more at work with this one.

Here he was, presenting a clue with the statue of Wapoe. The demigod of disguise of the Atrisian Commonwealth. A statue that doesn’t fit in with the others except by ownership of Palpatine. Nothing Palpatine collects is by accident. A collection of statues with hypothetical hidden chambers within.

What other connection did they have?

What did it mean?

What should she do?

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

One Year After The Destruction of the Galactic Jammer

Skirrin waved goodbye to the Junkers as they left. Her long white hair now stretched down her back and her body was more toned. The past year had been an enlightening one. Primarily, the information network that Dol Khan had compiled over the past decades was now completely at her disposal and she was still sifting through it, going back and check facts, generally getting a lay of not only the criminal network of half the galaxy but the in depth workings of the important governments of the galaxy. Isolated on the empty world of Lothos made things simply easier to arrange. She and Seeks had moved from their small starfighter to the big carcass of a destroyed freighter. Drawings, maps, boards of different organizations with lines drawn connecting one figurehead to another lined the inside of the freighter as her understanding grew.

She walked back inside the freighter and was greeted by Seeks with a ringing rebuff. He seemed agitated that she was not progressing fast enough in her abilities in the Force, according to their timeline. Skirrin and Seeks agreed that they would be leaving Lothos soon. Using the funds provided by Dol Khan, Skirrin had purchased the delivery of a ship and small automated crew in the coming weeks. Apparently, you could buy anything on the holonet. Once they departed Lothos, Skirrin planned on visiting a few Outer Rim Worlds and the Unknown Regions. She needed to put together a crew to accomplish her next goal.

"I'm trying, Seeks. You know I'm learning all of this stuff without a teacher." Through combining readings of the Force from Jedi, Sith, and independent sources, Skirrin was making great progress. Seeks was comparing her to the dangers of the galaxy that Dol Khan warned about. "Seeks, I do not know if I'll ever be a Master of the Force, I just need to be able to defend myself. The Jedi and the Sith are both problems; Apparently the Jedi teach that maintaining peace and attaining knowledge brings harmony. The Sith teach that order through domination is the only way to balance the galaxy. I think their both convincing, but they both seek the destruction of the other which keeps bringing war to the galaxy. 90% of the galaxy's conflicts originate from them."

Seeks chirped in the affirmative. Skirrin bit into a piece of fruit and leaned against the counter.

What's next?

Skirrin's plan was well thought out, though it was primarily driven by her desire to leave Lothos. She could simply live out her existence away from all the galaxy's conflicts on her junk planet with the junkers. Let the galaxy destroy itself, build itself, and destroy itself again in its endless cycle of violence. Dol Khan himself, in his last message to her, told her that she was not ready for the galaxy. But she could not sit on the sidelines nor did she want to spend her life on a lonely trash world. Her parents and Dol Khan fought for a better galaxy and a free Coruscant. She didn't know how to accomplish either; she just knew she couldn't accomplish anything on Lothos.

Seeks chirped with an alert. There was movement in the Inner Rim and Free Worlds. Some type of confrontation was brewing.

Skirrin nodded but made no other movement in response.

"Let's keep track of the major movements, Seeks. We have to put most of our attention on preparing for our new ship...Which we haven't named. Any ideas?"

Seeks chirped a few responses. All of them variations of Seeker.

She chuckled. "How about the S&S? Or the Seeks Strider?"

That name was pretty neat as she mouthed it again. She finished her piece of fruit and stood from her relaxed position.

"I've got to get back to training. Keep plotting our most efficient nav plans to each of those sites. We must make it to the Unknown Regions within the next few months."

------
Seeks' integration into the ship made navigation simple. Seeks, in his droid form, moved through the crew. In only a few months, their freighter for two had become a freighter for many, flanked by four more freighters. The crew, across the five ships, numbered close to 100 total. Some were scavengers, others mercenaries, hired guns that Skirrin had more than enough to pay for their obedience. They'd moved from Outer Rim planet to Outer Rim planet collecting resources and people. Skirrin, learning from her stumbling blocks early, was honest with the crew as they picked them up: She was putting together an expedition into the Unknown Regions. She was looking for warriors, technicians, anyone looking for a fresh start, but made no promises on their survival.

The last part only changed a few minds about boarding.

Seeks arrived to Skirrin's room and spun the combo lock until the door phased open. Her training had changed her already. Her body more toned, her eyes sharper, and her demeanor becoming less and less soft. She realized with her limited interactions with the galaxy's inhabitants that Dol Khan had been right: She was not ready. Even still. It was cold out here, in the dark of space. The Alliance's reach, on these planets, was absent and wild law reigned supreme. She'd been attacked and misled, seen people slaughtered and robbed. Yet, she felt nothing but sympathy for the perpetrators of such crimes and likewise for the victims. It was not their fault what the powers that be had done to them. Forces beyond their understanding shifted the balance to and fro, on whims, with claims of harmony and justice both as legitimate and illegitimate as the last and the next. What were they to do? How were they to act?

Seeks chirped that Skirrin come down from her raised desk above her bed. She waved him away at first until minutes later she acquiesced.

"Seeks, there are....four more planets until we reach the border of the Unknown Region. Should we stop at any of them or would you advise against it?" She folded her arms and stared at her untouched meal from the night before.

Seeks chirped that Skirrin was looking for a Jedi.

"I...I don't think I am. As far as I can tell, we haven't picked up any powerful Force sensitives. I wanted to see what they thought. Maybe have them explain why they believe the way they believe. The Force, or as the Mustafarians called it "The Life Current", the Way, or the Ashla...Whatever it is, I can feel motions or ripples every so often. Sometimes when I see the darkness firsthand in the galaxy, it ... nudges me to lash out. Then other times when I am alone, it calms me and soothes me. It is hard for me to tell the difference at times. Its confusing and exhilarating. I feel this pull by it to go to the Unknown Regions. I am not sure yet what to expect."

Seeks remained silent. The droid not very certain if it had anything to add to the musings of his friend.

Seeks chirped to inquire what she'd uncovered on the holonet about construction of a lightsaber; something that she'd expressed excitement about months ago, but since had waned interest.

"Nothing more. I suppose that is one of the few reasons Force users desire masters so much: To construct the weapon that symbolizes their superiority. That's how Dol Khan described it during his years under the Empire. I do not know if I want to wield a weapon like that. To what end? For what purpose?"

------
It took a few months. More than a few months. There was infighting and a small mutiny that arose. People were tired of living on ships and wandering aimlessly. Skirrin was worried and much of her negotiating and promising did not work. Then one night, as she sat on the floor of her cabin, her Force presence expanded; it enveloped the small company of ships and focused them with a single word: Liberation. That was what they were in this for; why they had left their homes. It was not merely about money, it was about living life on their own terms. She believed that she could do that if they helped one another and as sure as she was that it was true, after this night they were sure in their belief in her.

Tag: No one.

 

OOC: Combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Talon

Her source had been spot on. Earlier Talon had been tipped off that the leadership of the Eriaduan Authority would be on board this flagship, so she had made plans to smuggle herself onto the ship and give her a shot at two high profile targets that she could not pass up on.

She used a scramble key to get out of the munitions room, going over all of her contingency plans in her head. Talon had a feeling that this wouldn't be as easy as her hit from a year ago, which meant that she couldn't just go in recklessly. She would probably not get another chance like this, so she had to approach this very carefully...

… it wasn’t. The ship was on high alert, fighting a Super Star Destroyer and pushing hard in-system. The Tarkinate was going in heavy, and taking damage as it rushed to cross the battlefield.

A human crew member running from one beleaguered station to the other looked at her essentially a few moments after she left the room. “Who the hell are you?” A Twi’lek stood out on the human only crew -

He began to reach for his blaster -

Talon beat him to the draw, pulling out a knife and throwing it in an arc toward him so that it embedded itself in the crew member's heart. Once the man dropped, she dragged him into the munitions room.

The crew member was dead, his attire bloodied but not irrevocably. The Quintad shook, hit by turbolaser fire, but it was a Resurgent-class; it took take a hit and dish out another.

But for now, there were no further alarms, no mad rush of others to discover her. She was free, still able to act.

For now.

Talon searched the body and took the man's blaster before continuing on. Stealth was her priority as she did her best to move throughout the ship unnoticed. Her first objective was to find a computer. When she did so, she plugged a data spike into the socket. She hoped that whatever she got from the computer would help her locate her targets and plan how to get to them.

There was a secure location within the ship, near the ‘flag hangar’, the secondary one reserved for the VIPs. But the string of heavy encryption - that could not be hacked - it ran from the room to the hangar itself.

Clearly the Quintad were there, a dozen decks down. There were tubolifts to be taken, but most of them were moving rapidly with crewers. But a Resurgent was a shell around the central portion, which included the escalator that carried the TIEs out into the hangar. So as much as there were crew areas, there were inner parts of the ship that would be easier to traverse.

Another shake as the hulk was impacted.

And safer, for those parts were basically vacuum tight if the outer hull was blown off. But on a ship that was three times larger than the warship she’d infiltrated a year ago…

Now that Talon knew where she had to go, she moved fast so that she wouldn't lose her chance. Her new destination was the TIE escalator, since she would prefer to waste as little time as possible getting into fights with crew members. Once she got to the escalator, she would take it down to the level where the Quintad were.

Indeed she could, and she did.

Talon was unnoticed by the bustle of techs and pilots rushing to their posts - but there wasn't a full TIE complement anyway. In-fact, there was a whole squadron in part-repair. The Tarkinate had deployed to the frontline, but rushed...?

The first area that was not covered by security cams was shortly before her.



A single black-armored Stormtrooper was evident.

There were no known black armor wearing factions; the First Order used white-armor still, and the Final Order had, briefly, crimson armor. Black armor Talon would never have seen before.

Talon hid around a corner so that the stormtrooper wouldn't see her. Then, when she was ready, she drew her blaster and stepped out to fire it at the stormtrooper. She had it set to stun so that it wouldn't be as loud and potentially noticeable. She fired into the stormtrooper several times, her aim true as always. Once the stormtrooper was down, Talon would search him for anything of value.

The stun shots reflected across the armor, diffused for a moment, and the trooper simply turned and pointed his blaster at her and took a kill shot that caught her in the clavicle. A painful shot, but not a deadly one. He watched to see how she responded, spreading his legs slightly in anticipation.

Not only was it a new color; it was not a normal armor.

Talon reacted to the pain like she always did, she turned it into hatred. And over the last year, she had started to realize just what she could do with that hatred. She still didn't completely understand it, but she did know that she could direct it...

Talon stumbled, but she had experienced worse. Instead of falling, she lashed out. Not with any hand held weapon. But with the hatred that had been churning inside her. It was like a flame and when a flame made contact with an object... it burned.

The trooper was slammed into the wall, and there was an audible crack as the man's neck was twisted out of place.

There was a noise of amusement behind her.

"Well that's quite the trick."

It was a woman, skin dark in color, her voice musical. There were pale geometric tattoos on her cheeks that stood out against her face, and the woman's gaze was lidded, her attire lithe and making her appear petite.

Talon pointed her blaster at the woman, not wanting to give her a chance to attack. She didn't even want to waste any time asking the woman who she was or trying to figure out what she was doing here, since it wasn't worth the risk. Talon fired at the woman's head, her blaster switched from its stun setting to kill.

Her hand moved, and the blaster was nudged to the side, the bolt cracking against the bulkhead behind her.

"Perfect," she said, smirking, and in a blur of movement the woman was up against Talon, pushing her to the doors the trooper had been just guarding, hand cupped under her neck, knee on her stomach, other hand holding her wrist and bending the arm painfully.

"So who are you, beautiful one?"

Talon glared at the woman hatefully. "I could ask you the same thing," she growled, struggling to get out of the woman's grip.

"I am perfect, is all that you need to know," she turned her hand and leaned with her elbow upon Talon's throat. Her tone was absent-minded. "Are you here to kill the Quintad?"

"Yes," Talon admitted. "I am here to kill those bastards and anyone who gets in my way."

"And what if I asked you to kill all but one," she said drily. "Would you comply, or do I need to kill you?"

Her tone was mild, but the threat was potent.

She was clearly full trained in the powers that Talon had just used.

And very, very dangerous.

Talon was hateful, but she wasn't stupid. So she was willing to hear this woman out, at least while she clearly had the upper hand. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"The Quintad left Eriadu to supervise a territory grab which leads them straight into the retreating First Order line. The rebellions back home aren't critical, they're just on-going," the woman said, humoring the question, and releasing some of the pressure on Talon's throat. "Does that sound smart to you, Dancer?"

"I wouldn't know," Talon told the woman. "War isn't my profession, assassination is. I'm just here to kill some bastards who deserve it, I don't care about why they left Eriadu."

"Well my paymasters want to know why the Quintad is trying to commit suicide. Or, perhaps, get somewhere." The woman wasn't overly impressed by the response. "But I won't know where if you kill them all. If you kill most of them, the Tarkinate will probably collapse anyway, and you'll get revenge for whatever petty slight you're harboring."

A sniff of derision.

"Surely who the Quintad have a deal with would be your next target, no?"

"Fine," Talon told the woman. "I'll leave one alive. Would that make you happy?"

"If you betray me, I'll kill you," she reaffirmed the elbow upon her throat. "It will not be pleasant. It will come, after many, many months, if not years."

The woman released her, stepping back, allowing Talon the opportunity to strike, or to move on.

"Perhaps I take a risk on your... imperfections."

The woman's tone was a quirk, and she gestured, opening the doors behind Talon.

"Go, then."

"You're like me," Talon realized. "What I have... you have it too."

But she couldn't dwell on that. Not right now. Instead, she walked through the doors that had just been opened for her. She still had work to do and she intended to finish what she had started...

There was a ready room beyond, the door open from there leading to a hangar.

As she walked in, the five humans that had to be the Quintad looked back at her, fearful.

Was Talon to glance back, the woman had vanished.

But the two black armored Stormtroopers besides them simply stepped between her and him, and rapid fire peppered the table-top as it reached for her -

Talon ducked beneath the laser fire and threw down a smoke grenade to provide cover. She then drew out one of her blades and swung it at the stormtroopers, aiming for their necks.

Their necks were severed and the five humans began to run for a black command shuttle - First Order style. There were two techs with sidearms and they drew their blasters in a panic -

One shot the hangar floor and the bolt caromed up at her -

The bolt glanced off her head, sending Talon to the ground. She was down and hurt, like many times before. But just like those times, she was far from done with. Before the techs could think to double tap, Talon shot her blaster at them from where she had fallen. Once they had been dealt with, she pulled out a dagger and threw it into the back of one of the fleeing humans while managing to get back on her feet.

The two techs were down, and the blade embedded in the back of the head of one Quintad member -

The others shrieked, starting to mount the ramp, one shouting orders to an unseen person in the shuttle -

"The Chancellor said you would protect us-"

Talon silenced the Quintad member who was shouting with a shot to the heart. She then went up the ramp, slicing through two other members with her blade. She did indeed spare the final member, only knocking him out and tossing him off the ramp. As for the shuttle, she intended to hijack it as her means of getting out of here.

As she rushed up the ramp, the butt of a rifle slammed into her clavicle, aimed precisely for the blaster shot he had, breaking the bone and leaving her arm limp. A booted foot caught her in the gut, and the fourth Shadow Trooper stepped around the corner of the inner shuttle as she would find herself tumbling down the ramp.

A squad was four, after all.

The last member of the Quintad, a man, he was unconscious but slamming into the floor woke him, clattering into one of the tech's blasters, which he frantically reached for.

The Shadow Trooper held the rifle more like a bat, clearly understanding that this was no blaster-fight; on his shoulder was a blue pauldron - the commanding officer.

Talon rolled away, trying to put some distance between herself and the Shadow Trooper. She managed to get to her feet because of her pain rather than despite it. Oh, the pain did sting. But it also kept her going. One of her arms was limp, but the other was food and in that hand she held her vibroblade. She snarled at the Shadow Trooper, glaring at him with her hatred. She then raised her vibroblade at him, as if issuing a challenge.

Though out of the corner of her eye she kept a watch on the last member of the Quintad, waiting to see if he would do anything stupid.

He did, he lifted the pistol and took a poorly aimed shot that was close enough to be relevant but wide enough to miss. The Shadow Trooper used the distraction to rush down the ramp to swing the rifle like a bat for her head -

The Quintad survivor took another shot -

Talon quickly avoided the rifle being swung at her. Then, as the Quintad survivor took another shot, she took note of where it would land and pushed her blade against the Shadow Trooper's rifle. She summoned more strength than a normal woman her size should, shoving the Shadow Trooper just enough so that he would in the path of the blaster bolt as it flew at them. Perhaps it wouldn't be enough to kill the Shadow Trooper, but it would at the very least be a bother.

The bolt impacted on his shoulder armor and was diffused like before, and the man swung a fist into her jaw.

A third bolt skipped across the back of her leg -

Talon collapsed once again and her vision went red. Just like before, she lashed out with her anger and hate. She didn't think, she just did.

The two men crumpled.

“Well, well,” said the woman with the tattoos.

She stood above Talon as the red passed.

“Aren’t you a problem. I see you tried, but trying does not count in my master’s mind. Perhaps I should bring you back with me: a recruit might be more useful than intel.”

Her hand was electrified.

Talon glared up at the woman. "What are you?" she demanded to know.

“I am perfect.”

The bolt of lightning leapt from her hand to Talon’s temple.

“As you will be one day.”

Talon winced in pain, cursing at the woman in anger and hatred.

The woman pushed her into the black with the Force lightning.

“You will come with me to Korriban.”

Talon could do nothing, say nothing. It wasn't long before she saw nothing.

Nothing but darkness.

When Talon next came to, she was on a ship.

Alone, in a room, her weapons evident on the table.

Her shoulder stank; a bacta cast was evident and the wound was healing. Her arm was working fine, if pained. There was a patch on her leg wound, but not an immense impediment.

The woman was not nearby, indeed she seemed to be free to do as she wished.

Talon didn't trust it. Even though she couldn't see the woman, Talon could feel her presence.

She sat up on the table, cautiously looking around. Talon picked up one of her weapons, a knife, and held it tightly to her chest in case she had to use it.

Nobody stopped her.

She was simply aboard a ship, left with her weapons.

No alarms sounded, no intervention occurred.

Even her senses, usually impeccable about such things, detected no threat, no danger.

Just a low gloom, a miasma upon her skin, a weight drawing her soul.

Talon, suspicious and cautious, decided to leave this room and find out where she was. She picked up a few more of her weapons first, then started carefully making her way around the ship.

It was an assault ship of some kind, spacious, but not nearly a warship. It funneled her into a wider room, a lounge, or troop area, perhaps, the cockpit before her.

Talon decided to move toward the cockpit, holding her knife close to her in case she had to use it for any reason. She did not lower her guard.

The cockpit door opened; there was nobody there, in-fact, they were within a stony hangar, not even in orbit.

Snap-hiss.

A blade ignited behind Talon and with a hum swung at her waist -

On the console there was a lightsaber hilt for the taking.



Talon leapt back, avoiding the blade being swung at her waist. She acted by instinct, quickly realizing that a simple knife was not going to be enough.

But something told her that the lightsaber hilt on the console would.

Keeping an eye on her attacker, Talon darted to the console and picked the lightsaber hilt up. Without needing to think, she activated its blade.

The woman smiled at Talon.

"Well, well, the assassin has bite."

A hand flicked and the cockpit shorted out.

The ship darkened, illuminating them only by their crimson blades.

"You have no idea where you are, no way of escape, no hope of success."

She smiled, the shadows cast by the blade accentuating the expression.

"Yet you still fight?"

"As if I haven't been in worse situations before," Talon told the woman, holding up her lightsaber. Even though this was her first time wielding such a weapon, it felt... right in her hand and Talon didn't know why.

The Twi'lek growled slightly and then, testing an opening, she lunged with her weapon at the woman.

The woman blocked across her body.

"Good, very good."

She flipped around her blade and slashed down, aiming for Talon's weakened shoulder -

Talon avoided the slash, focusing her anger and her hatred. She swung at the woman from different angles, testing her defenses.

The woman stepped back into the open space, deflecting the swings with blocks to the base of the blade.

"Very good, you've already made our hate and suffering into a weapon."

She readily engaged Talon in a saber-lock and stepped close, their blades close to each other's face.

"Did you want to learn how to sharpen that weapon? To become it's master," a foot tucked and kicked at the wound the back of her leg, dropping Talon to one knee and allowing her attacker to tug the blade free of Talon's hand, and then she kneed Talon in the face. "Rather than controlled by your rage?"

In her hand was that lightning again.

"Or do I kill you now?"

Talon glared up at the woman. "Something tells me that you wouldn't want to lose a potential resource," she told her. "And the only reason that all of the Quintad died is because I can't control what is in me. Not like you can. But you saw what I can do already, saw that I can be useful. Even more so if I am able to master the power inside me. So I think you already know my answer and I think I already know yours. Because killing me would be wasteful, wouldn't it?"

"Wasteful is a matter of hindsight," she shrugged. "You cause more problems than you are worth, I'll kill you myself."

She deactivated her blade, and gestured Talon's borrowed weapon to her hand, releasing the lightning.

Eying the hilt for a moment, she regarded the Twi'lek. "We serve the One here; the order of Sith. The goal, our ultimate vengeance, is above all personal concerns. We must be perfect to serve our Dark Lord." She leaned down, held out the hilt to her, emitter pointed at Talon, her thumb on the button.

"Vengeance is what you want, yes?"

"Vengeance is all I have left," Talon admitted. "I have nothing but my hate, but my anger. Killing bastards like the Quintad is not enough, it will never be enough. But it is my purpose... unless you can give me a new one. What I want is more."

“More is what I offer you, to align your vengeance with a greater revenge, to upturn the galaxy and all its evils, all its suffering, and make it serve us.”

She met Talon’s eyes.

“My apprentice, I am Dician, and I shall induct you into the One Sith myself.”

She handed the lightsaber to the Twi'lek.

“And you shall have all that you want, and nobody will stand in your way again.”

Talon took the lightsaber from the woman and nodded. "Alright then," she said. "My name is Talon and I accept your offer."

For the moment, at least.

Dician smiled, all teeth. "Perfect."

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Tirran Huxley
Dockyards

Foreman Chrys had put his feelers out for an Expansion Region source of food for his workers, which was a delightful side hustle. The man was arrogant and self important, but his valuables were valuable no matter where one went. This is not exactly what his co-op wanted to be doing with their lives, but like he had promised them the world, their world, was never mentioned and his transports nav was always scrubbed.

The swarthy human liked to think of his world as the unofficial capital of the entire New Order. With a pair of Golan III platforms in orbit, and now the Gorgon, he was feeling very safe. Whilst Tirran was feeling, rather impressed. The First Order had never been ones to have a capital planet, only capital ships, but this was a valuable place to be there was no denying that.

It was hard to imagine that a standard solar cycle had already passed since he had become the owner of a planet and entered into a business venture where he not only connected those with goods and needs, but became one of them himself. Of course he had been invited to Wavett before the arrival of the Gorgon and whatever ship that Daala had brought - which made this trip very interesting. He could easily sell tidbits like this to interested parties anonymously if he wanted. Though that path would only truly be needed if he secured a grain supply deal here. The water-borne platform that he waited on, which came complete with a corporate stooge - the breadbasket of the Core, Ruan, wanted to maintain its neutrality in-spite of it being far behind Alliance-Resistance lines.

His name was Count Harbright himself was attending, the head of the Sallicha Ag Corporation. Competition was always an interesting thing, you could do what ever you wanted with prices depending on the market and the competitor. Either drive prices up, or down. There was also of course the tidbit of information that the Count was hoping to haggle for New Order patrol craft to dissuade the Alliance or Resistance from interfering in the deal. Whereas Tirran would only want them for when and where his deliveries decanted hyperspace and escort out of system until they left in hyperspace again. Already he knew he could charge the same price and likely end up being the cheaper option, so long as the Foreman didn't want to actually know where his grain came from.

"A lovely day for a competitive trade negotiation, the water looks delightful at least." Tirran stated in passing as they waited.

The Count sniffed at Tirran. “Well there’s no point us even discussing this.”

Chrys looked intrigued as to that. “Why?”

“I traveled at considerable personal risk to Wavett, Foreman, to compete with a nonhuman?” A snort. “The New Order is predicated on humanity, so if you intended this as a ploy to encourage me to negotiate you are sorely mistaken.”

He pointed at Tirran. “This is a pathetic bluff.”

Tirran convulsed in pleasure inside his watery tank as he looked knowingly at the Foreman, "He forgets humanity has a penchant to be shrewd as well as careful with credits. Why pay for extra's when you can get what you want for without as much fuss? Species has little to do in such things. It is business and plants, not politics we are here to barter." Huxley stated before giving a pull up undulation in his tank which his droid carrier suit translated to a weak shrug. "But if you wish to back out of negotiations, well, I'm sure we can still negotiate a fair price without you here." Ah, now this, this is what a pleasant day is made of!

The Count spun back. “You sincerely believe it means nothing? This is a successor state of the Galactic Empire.”

Chrys snorted. “The Imperial remnants became agreeable to nonhumans serving. Under Carnor Jax, under Pellaeon, under Fel. Not sure what way the New Order will go, but we’re hardly winning this war; can’t afford to be principled when that’s happening.”

“You intend to take him up on his offer simply because it’s expedient?” The Count snarled. “After everything I risked just to attend the meeting?”

The Foreman shrugged. “I’m only interested in a reliable source of food for my workers, for the entire New Order.” His gaze took in Tirran. “I hear you invested in Thyferra. A shame the First Order burned it down as they retreated.”

Tirran bobbed a shrug to the words of the Foreman. "A reliable, if not necessarily legal, source of food is all I offer. So long as you don't care where I get it from, only that it is top quality that I will deliver to you." With a sly smile he winked at the Foreman, "Check the dates. I invested after they retreated."

Chrys guffawed. “The New Order is not recognised by the Alliance or the First Order. We’ll decide what’s legal.”

The Count was infuriated. “There are quality standards inherit to legality, Foreman. If you want this… Third party source to poison your troops so be it, I’ll offer to the Alliance.”

“You do that and you won’t leave this room,” Chrys said mildly. “Now, Mr Huxley, the Count raises a good point. What personal guarantees can you offer me? Continuity? Quality? Salliche Ag is a known quantity, after all.”

Already this 'competitor' was mis-stepping in the negotiations. It was delightful to watch a competitor tie their own noose. "Scan the deliveries. All imports normally are scanned and checked, especially foodstuffs. If it is substandard deduct the value from the payment. And if you know my business ventures, as your mentioning of an investment tells you, you know I don't like to loose money. I'm not an unknown quantity, just a new one and you know that includes honoring my deals and their deadlines."

Chrys liked that. “I think we have a deal.”

The Count was aghast.

“But don’t think you’ve escaped my attention. If you join the Alliance, you’ll have to adjust your production processes…” Chrys grinned at him. “So if you don’t accept a secondary position here, you’ll take financial loss anyway. So suck up your pride, accept that Tirran here just best you, and I’ll recommend the New Order send ships to escort your shipments… but you’ll absorb the fuel and wages of our troops.”

The Count looked at Tirran, glaring.

“The moment you misstep, I’ll become the primary contract!” He went to turn and go.

“You sabotage the New Order, and I’ll recommend the Chancellor that we invade Salliche Ag,” Chrys said mildly. “You got my attention, after all.”

The Count hesitated, and squeezed his fists.

“Fine.”

"This has been positively delightful!" Tirran practically beamed in his watery tank. "Shall we see to drinks and details then? Finalize the contracts?" One negotiation was over, the small one that was dessert was just beginning.

The Count pursed his lips. “I’ll have my aide send a document. Revelry is going to have to be put aside for the moment.”

Chrys snorted. “Fine, fine; but the orbital security situation means you can’t leave the planet quite yet.” The Baron knew that he was referencing the Star Destroyer in orbit, which had its own mission and seemingly had not joined the defences.

This the Foreman eyed Tirran. “I’d quite like to have more of a meeting, and a beverage shared seems perfect.” He indicated behind Tirran. “Is your bodyguard coming?”

There was a woman in the corner suddenly. Three scars on her forehead; Tahiri Veila. A Jedi Master. She had not announced herself.

Turning to see where the man indicated he had to stare for a moment. By the bubbles what was she. . ."Yes, might as well. Though if anything is anything to go by I doubt I will need her services." Some people had trouble letting go of control of aspects of things. Hopefully she would not be causing trouble here.

Tahiri followed them, and Chrys led, giving them a moment where the two of them were alone in a corridor walking. “Having fun?”

She made idle chit-chat that was not too leading either way. At least she’s not come with a lightsaber and Jedi robes…

"Yes. Business that one enjoys keeps you young. I hope you are enjoying yourself. Bodyguard." He stated back in kind. He appreciated she was not obvious about what she was, but why she had come was disconcerting. Jedi always were during anything one did in life.

"I'm pretty sure it's on the line to be offering our food to the New Order, as a relatively unknown quality" Tahiri said carefully. "Would you have given it to Kylo Ren and Hux? Just omitted to mention it to the Council?"

Tirran hummed few bars to himself, letting time give space. “Lines are there for reasons, if you don’t like where it is you should not have put it there. They knew I would use the full space given and my own…discretion.” Besides Kylo never dealt with him and Hux was probably still in his cooling off period. Mentioning non options was an odd tactic, “Feed the needy and profit. I say this checks both boxes, or are you anti laborers?”

Tahiri paused. "If you feed the soldiers who come to your suppliers, and burn down everything, then you'll lose out." She shrugged. "That's all I wanted to say, Tirran. You've been vouched for, but I have my own opinions." She paused at the shadow of the corridor. "I'll be going now. Chrys will forget I was even here, if that's agreeable."

"Hmm." He hummed, of course the opposite was true. Be the source of food and when the enemy came to burn you down let them know it. It was an ace up a sleeve for dire need situations. Plus, troops were like chaf on the wind of war. All that really mattered was who owned whom's home at the moment. "Mind the camera's and bugs dear." he simply stated in parting as he continued to follow the Foreman.

Tahiri vanished, and Chrys looked to him as they approached a room with a banquet table. It had every variable of food upon it. "Imperial protocol demanded it," he said wryly, "even as I negotiated a food shortage." He laughed slightly. "But I also had to have you meet an interior minister to solidify the deal."

Sitting at the head of the table was that very man.

Arek Graul.

"Tirran Huxley, was it?" The man's tone was tight, his body wound up.

Nonetheless he stood in greeting, and Chrys stepped off to the side to take a chair.

There was a chair directly opposite Arek on the long table, and two pairs of chairs to either side. Chrys took the right-hand one closest to Tirran and plopped down, ignoring the other two and whatever protocol demanded.

"Yes Interior Minister Graul, that is correct." Always know who you are making a deal with, one of the top five rules and one of the most often skimped upon in actual research. That was what largely separated the small time from the big time dealers.

Moving forward he took the empty chair on the far side of the table askance to Chrys so there would be a nice spread. It also meant if they wanted to share looks or information with glance he would be better suited to observe such happenings. "I am led to believe you are the details and authorizations broker in these situations. Shall we get to it or to the feast you have prepared?" Tirran asked with an appraising eye.

Arek nodded. "I am who will ultimately authorise the payment to you, Tirran Huxley. You and your food sources."

He sat, indicating that Tirran could too. "Drink, eat, we can discuss while we go."

"Wasn't sure what you eat, mind you," Chrys joked, digging into something meat.

Letting his droid suit scan the proffered feast he let it choose and piece meal up the bits upon a plate that were safe for him. "Very good. But it will be all payments to me, and I will then subdivide as needed. Keeps things simple that way." Tirran stated with bob in his tank as the suit fed a small ball of prepared food into a extended port. The food then bobbed up in front of his face for him to swing forward and snatch.

Chewing he had to admit, it wasn't bad. Not bad at all. "Very good." he commented as he swallowed the mass. His tank filters were going to work overtime today, he just knew it.

Arek absently pawed at his food with a fork. “Very efficient.”

“So,” his tone was conversational. “When did you decide to go into supply-and-demand?”

A sip of a beverage. “And out of the Sith artefact business?”

Chrys’s eyes widened.

"If war teaches anything, it is to diversify." Tirran calmly replied as another little food ball was shuttled through for him to eat.

Arek drank again, carefully. "My father had a need for your services just before the New Order was founded."

"I am rather aware of it all, I am afraid." He placed the cup down, and hesitated slightly. "Do you still partake in the business of artefact procurement?"

"Not on purpose at the moment. Although I never really did. I just listened." He bobbed with another shrug. "If you know what to listen for you often can hear rumors, with ears in the right places, and with the right idiots you often can collect if they are true. Since my last job didn't go as smoothly in that side of business I have been focusing on diversifying my portfolio again. That had become a rather large bucket to have all of ones eggs in." Or whatever that saying was.

Tirran took another food pellet and then had a straw extend to let him have a refreshing drink from his own decanter bladder of formaldehyde. Waiting to see where this very, weighted topic, was headed.

"I see," Arek managed neutrally. Chrys had opted to stay exceedingly silent.

"Dealing in Sith artefacts is illegal in almost every civilised corner of the galaxy, Mr Huxley. Not just for legal reasons, but for ethical and moral reasons." He tapped his utensil absently. "My father's historic interest in such matters has passed, and was mainly in opposition to the late Chancellor Hux, who was seeking a way to become Force sensitive."

He quirked a smirk. "You may not realise it but the Chancellor in-fact killed himself with a lightsaber from his collection." Arek concentrated anew. "I would consider nondisclosure of my father's past failings to be part of this arrangement with your food supplier. In exchange for my not retroactively applying New Order law, and even pardoning you for such matters." Arek was quite genial as he spoke, pleasant even, considering most First/New Order punishments involved impressment into the Stormtrooper Corps or death.

Tirran had a face in mute study as he waited out the others words. It was an interesting thing to note, as another made connections for you in a negotiation. It took a lot of the fun out of such things, was true, but it was nice in some laid back manner. So he listened and didn't interrupt as the other laid out their own dirty little family secret.

"Hmm. There is a reason such things are outlawed. Not because of inherent danger - you know better than most the galaxy has excess life to spare on such things. No, but because most such products are not safe to use except by the intended end user. My condolences, belated of course, that the Chancellor learned this lesson the hard way." shaking his head in mock sorrow as the smile just would not leave his lips he let a silence fall over the table.

He let the moment drag on just enough to start the edge of discomfort before he sighed, theatrically. "The addendum to the deal is completely satisfactory. Let us both go forward and profit in business together, and leave bygone indiscretions of all in the tides of the past." Raising a glass as he cleared his throat. "To mutual profit and growth." he toasted.

"The passing of the Chancellor is immaterial to me, save for the fact that it enabled my father to step forward from Vice Chancellor to leadership of the New Order, which avers to bring order to the galaxy, and not the chaos of Kylo Ren and other Sith miscreants," Arek sniffed.

And then he smiled, picking up a glass. "I do so agree, such indiscretions can be left in the past."

He hefted it.

"To mutual profit and growth!"

Chrys joined them, and the deal was done.

TAG: @Sinrebirth , @HanSolo29

 

IC: William Aima
Fate

Why exactly Will had chosen to come to this planet even he did not know. It just seemed right. As if it was calling to him. How was it even possible that he could sense his son? He was dead. He had felt him die, there was no doubt in his mind. And while as much as he wanted to just go and join the resistance that presence drew him to this planet. He could not simply ignore it.

And so he would find it and find the man, his eyes looking over him cautiously.

"Who are you? Did you draw me here?"

Ah yes.

That Vicrul directness.

“I used to know your son,” he said simply. “Many years ago, originally. He was a cut above the rest, a true master of his fate. I wanted to speak to you. The Resistance - the Alliance - I already know that they could not help you after all.”

He smiled drily.

Will's eyes grew in disbelief.

"You did? You knew my son?" he spoke softly, his eyes taking in the man.

"A master of his fate?" Will had to suppress a scoff. "He's... he's dead...some fate..." his heart panged in pain, his eyes welling up as he beat them down. Eventually, he spoke again.

"And you can help me? How... how can you possibly help me? I don't even know who you are" he said, the emotion still in his voice ash he looked in patin to the man.

“Come now,” a guttural laugh. “You are flailing, hopeless. But death is not the end for most who possess the Force. Surely you know that?”

He held his hands to the sky. “Would you not want to speak to him? It would not be beyond you, if you wished to.”

A glint to his eyes. “Or do you fear the truth of his existence? Not his death, but how he lived?”

Will gritted his teeth, his eyes growing in anger as he held back tears.

"My boy was taken from me... corrupted and broken as I fear in my heart. Yes of course I want to speak with him, what father wouldn't want to see their long-lost son?"

He looked to the man, thinking softly. What was this? He could not help but feel a certain unease, a certain darkness within this man. And then he realized something... if this man knew his son and his son was taken by the First Order...

Will breathed outwardly for a moment calming himself as much as he could.

"What did they do to him? What did you all do to break him?"

The man snorted. "I did nothing."

"He became Vicrul, as a Sith who takes his name."

A hand flicked and he trailed up the winding path to sit in the stone throne.

"If you want to speak to him," a gesture, and the wood began to shudder and rear. "His spirit is here; it has been held here for many, many years."

Indeed, Vicrul would become conscious here, not a spirit, but a shape upon the nearest tree...

William's eyes narrowed, his mistrust deepening as he looked to the tree. So it was true. His son had become Vicrul, as he felt in his heart but did not want to be true.

"Years?" he stated in puzzlement. But his son had 'died' recently so what was this now... and so William would wander slowly to the tree, looking at it softly.

"Jacob?" his voice still in disbelief as his hand came ever so slowly up to the wood.

Jacob's or perhaps more accurately Vicrul's eyes wandered to meet his father's taking them in slowly.

"Another disappointment, another 'mentor' that betrayed me," spoke Vicrul the venom and hatred in his voice ever so clear as he looked to Will Aima with such contempt.

"My little Jacob... what did they do to you?" Will's hand placed against the wood-given form, tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke softly, streaming down as he awaited his son's response.

"Tears? Really? You disgust me." he spat, his eyes drifting to the hooded man, recognizing him and then back to William.

"Jacob is dead, he died a long time ago," He responded looking squarely at William's face.

"No, no you're lying to yourself. I know my little boy's still in there, you used to be full of so much joy. And now all this hatred within you, all this loneliness. Don't you remember Jacob? Don't you remember the stories I used to tell you of my youth, the adventures I used to go on, you used to love those stories-"

"Shut up!" yelled Vicrul, his eyes growing further in hatred, in disgust.

"You abandoned me! Everyone abandons me! Kylo! Hattaska! Xundel! Snoke!" His eyes then glinted at the hooded man as he said 'Snoke'. But William would not catch on.

"Son, I never stopped looking for you. I've spent every waking day since you were taken trying to find you. I never gave up on you," the tears continued to stream down William's face. The pain in his heart so great as he remained the grief his wife, and of her death. And his own grief now twice over.

"If you truly care me for you'll kill the man that killed me... him, the one you were just talking to. He was another liar, another fraud that just wanted to use me. Snoke."

William's eyes then hovered to Snoke, the pain in his heart was too much to bear. All these years, all this pain. Having to live with the first death of his son, and the death of his wife. And then after years of searching only to feel him die yet again. But now he was alive, and the son he found... was an utter monster.

"Is this true... was it you that killed my son?"

Snoke watched, and did not interject. The bile that flowed from Vicrul towards his father was truly beautiful. Even in death, he was all spite and murder and demands. Looking beatific, Snoke lifted his chin.

"I did not kill Jacob, no," his tone was neutral. "But did I kill Vicrul, in self-defence no less? Yes," he nodded, his tone becoming forlorn. "I confess that I did do that, but when he swings a lightsaber at my throat? What am I to do?" A shrug. "Die?"

William's pained eyes hovered to the man and then floated to the floor.

"I see"

The venomous Vicrul then spat.

"You see? You see! He is a true monster, the one responsible for the madness in this galaxy. You should kill him, Father! Prove that love me. You fool!"

William ignored the berating and the scornful, hate-filled comments. His eyes looking to Snoke.

"Is this what you wanted to prove? What kind of sick man are you?"

“I wanted to prove that Vicrul killed your son many, many, years ago.” His tone was solemn. “I wanted to tell you that he served Darth Sidious and his baser instincts for many years as a Knight of Ren.”

Snoke kept his expression as it was. “I wanted to show you that your son cannot be your purpose for living any longer, that you must find a new purpose. A new order of being and self.”

His voice grew gentle. “You should go forth, join the Resistance, their New Jedi Order, and create, and birth a future.”

He indicated Vicrul. “There is none here.”

William eyes narrowed and then he sighed. He was trembling with anger, frustration, and regret. It took every ounce of his strength not to succumb to his emotions, not to let them rule him.

Meanwhile, Vicrul continued to berate his father, a seemingly continuous engine of hatred of all things.

"The grand deceiver at work once again, he killed me, he was the one behind Kylo, behind the First Order. This age of pain and suffering is his cause father. If he never existed I would never have been taken, and your precious Jacob would be by your side right now. I never served any Sidious! I am my own master and know what true peace looks like. Death! Death is peace,"

William eyes flashed to Vicrul his eyes filled with a thousand emotions.

"Vicrul be silent," Will was quiet for a moment, the maddening look in Vicrul's eyes as he did become quiet. Will's pained eyes looked to Snoke.

"Snoke... so that is who you are. Why would you want me to do this, to do what you suggest? It stands in direct opposition to your poisonous First Order. How can you act like you are some guardian of balance when millions of deaths are a result of your hands?"

Snoke looked pained. "I claim no responsibility for the actions of my predecessors save to fix it, my friend. My prior iterations, my clones, they were monsters, shackled to the Emperor, controlled by a piece of ancient trinket-ry." He held out his palm, revealing a ring, something the Snoke that had been killed by Kylo Ren wore.



"It's ancient, and enables one to be puppeted from afar," he glared at it, snarling.

He levitated it over to William.

"I would prove my word by giving it to you," he was saddened. "If your sons madness is not proof enough of the truth I bring, I would ask that you believe me in-fact. You can bind it to your will, and return it to me, and I shall obey your every command."

He poured his sincerity into the Force.

William's eyes furrowed in confusion, taking the ring cautiously. This made no sense, why... why was he acting like this? Despite the sincerity of Snoke's words the whole affair just felt off, very off.

"But I still don't understand why? Why are you doing this?"

Vicrul for his part was silent once more, equally confused as his brow furrowed in anger and frustration as stared daggers at Snoke.

"Because I want you to remember, my friend, remember your time as Vicrul."

He smiled slightly as the ring glowed, and darkness flooded the man.

And memories.

All his memories.

As Vicrul... before.

Snoke laughed.

I knew it. Thought Will irritated as he viewed the memories.

My time? Will was confused, what was the thing going on about?

He saw the helm of Hattaska, he saw Rey slay him. He viewed the battle with 'Xundel', the small creature of the legendary Yoda's species fight and battle him with ease. He viewed as gleaned and yearned for the Darksaber held by the creature and given away to who?

And then he was elsewhere, Mortis... Ren... slaughter thousands, millions.

Coruscant... death, so much death. Killing children, soldiers, and fighters of the Resistance. Obtaining the Dark Saber, fighting Barriss, then Eleanor, failing to slay both. And this desire. It was not hunger... but it was a need... a murderous, all-consuming need.

To kill everything.

With every ounce of his being Will thrust the ring back away from him, his eyes glowering against the man, the one named Snoke. The old man staggered, almost falling to his knees as he looked to the ground.

"My son did these things?" he softly stated, every hair on his back arched in fear.

"Your son did those things," Snoke said, firmly.

"But turn back the clock, and it may very well be that you find, in your youth, you did similar things?"

A jagged stream of memories was inserted into the man's mind.

Himself as Vicrul, serving the man known only as Ren.

Decades ago.

That charming voice of the brutish leader.

Repressed memories... or false?

Will's eyes shuddered in disgust as he saw the byplay of events of an earlier Vicrul. One who had served under the infamous Ren as opposed to Kylo. He clutched his head as they played through his mind...

"H-how?" he sputtered looking pained to the ground as he grunted and then looked up to Snoke. But then as these memories played out... burning his very soul as he began to question his very existence, a soft light touched his back. As if comforting him as this darkness began to consume him.

Memories of Luke Skywalker teaching him how to wield a lightsaber, memories years later of his wife, of the birth of his son. Those first little cries of life as he was brought into this world Those moments as he watched young Jacob babble to himself, taking those first great steps, look at him defiantly with that cute self-righteous attitude... such simple, pure times could not have been lies. William knew this in his heart, no matter what toxic lies Snoke would pour into his mind.

William Aima opened his eyes, standing tall, soft tears having streamed down his face as he looked to Snoke.

"You may have broken others to bend and serve to your will. You may claim to be nothing like those other versions of yourself, but before me, all I see is a desperate creature that will continue to pit Fathers against Sons. Families will be and have been torn apart under your tyranny. I cannot, will not allow this to happen, to continue. The cycle of hatred, of pain, must come to an end,"

He looked back to the hate-filled face of his son. So much anger... so much suffering.

"I failed you, son, I'm sorry,"

His soft sad eyes looked back to Snoke. His lightsaber blade ignited, looking to it for a moment. His knuckles turning white with anger as he glanced to Snoke. At the infectious, cancerous being before him. And then the hatred subsided. He no longer blamed the First Order, this Snoke, Palpatine, or anyone else for what his son had become. To William he only had himself to blame.

But this Snoke needed to be stopped, not for William's own self-satisfaction, no he would not indulge himself in such a lowly act.

"I cannot convince myself that killing you is the right thing to do. I will stop you, even if I cannot be the one to slay you, but now is not the time,"

He sheathed his lightsaber.

"If I could even kill you at this moment," he looked off to the side, his tone soft. He breathed outward a low sigh.

"You're going to bring my son back, or he is going to return somehow, as your hate-filled weapon. And I'll be there to stop him because I am the only one that should. He is my burden to take on, to let his hate beat me down as I absorb and dissipate it... as his father, and if my son is truly dead in there, if there is no part of him left... then we will both die,"

Snoke sat back.

He was pleased.

"Good, good. I do so require a few genuine opponents, after all."

A branch unfurled and scraped at William suddenly, drawing blood.

"But now I have no need to stop this place from consuming you."

The trees began to unwind and become animate, snarling, carnivorous.



William felt the blood smacked across him as tree creatures became alive. He breathed quietly to himself as he withdrew his lightsaber, holding it tightly. He needed to get off this planet as soon as possible.

A final glance to Snoke and then to Vicrul.

"Till we meet again,"

And with that he bounded off, his lightsaber acting as a guiding blade to cut and weave through anything that got in his way. He needed to get back to the ship he had come herein. To get off this world and begin anew.

The creatures chased, chased, and chased.

The entire world seemed to animate around him, and draw upon him.

Draw him close.

A vine caught his ankle -

Another reached for his shoulder, curling around -

A massive plant-life reared before him, mouth open -

Snoke laughed and laughed and laughed...

And drew from William his memory of meeting Snoke.

But not of learning the truth about his son.

That yearning.

That needling.

It would not return, but he would wonder precisely how he was here.

His arm hurt - had he fell unconscious?

His ship visible, just behind the monster -

Will's brow furrowed in confusion... it was as if his memory had grown hazy, remembering only pieces and parts that had happened, and the rest of it... just out of reach. He could sense it there and yet... not. It was an odd sensation.

He eyed his ship and the monster in front of it. He felt the sweeping motion of his blade to slash away at the vines tightening and twisting around his body, another bounding leap as he came down onto the monster before him, a deep twirling motion like a spinning disk with him as its center to carve through the monster and reach the other side.

And while he could only remember some of what had transpired, he had learned much.

The creature imploded, shredded entirely, and William would find himself his ship.

A smattering of vines began to drape and ensnare the landing struts -

William would take a swing and attempt to hack away the vines at the landing struts, but only for a brief amount of time. He sensed they would regrow or more would come. Slashing away endlessly would do him no good.

He would swing himself into his ship, getting ready to launch off-planet, losing the landing struts if that was what was needed to escape.

The ship would be able to rip them clean off as it took off, so there was no issue there.

Snoke watched it go, bidding the creatures of this planet return to their slumber, save for one.

It approached, bringing him the blood that it had taken. Snoke accepted the offering, and smiled.

"We have what we need," he crowed, dry, amused. "And the man won't seek you out anymore, Vicrul."

"Satisfactory, no?"

"I will not serve you, Snoke I have no master, remember that" spoke the enraged Vicrul, not exactly the best at negotiating

His eyes then hovered to the blood taken.

"But if you wish to tear me away from my peace so I may show others their pathway to peace... I will not be opposed,"

Snoke watched the ship of William flee.

“We’ll see.”

He looked amused.

“I have other servants who could be Knights of Ren again after all…”

Vicrul scoffed, his eyes still having the same hatred within them.

"There are no Knights of Ren you can provide me, I will have none of your spies watch over me,"

Snoke smiled. “You’ll see.”

TAG: @Sinrebirth mentions for @darthbernael @CosmoHender @TheSilentInfluence

 

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Bernhardt Johnson, Rose Tico
Location: Chandrila, The Trial

At last after a year of finally waiting it was trial day.

Rose of course had pulled out all the stops to try and get Johnson the best defence possible. He considered Rose sort of a friend now and he waved at her back giving her a slight smile.

The problem was the death penalty was been sought against him. If he lost that was it. Game over.

A Faleen was judging and he heard Rose exclaim loudly as he stood up. Not good then.

“All rise!” The clerk repeated, snapping.

Nawara Ven looked at Johnson -

Rose stood, looking apologetic, as Nawara turned to check the crowd too.

The Falleen judge swept in and took the chair and everyone sat. “Case 1: The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances vs Johnson,” intoned the clerk. “Judge Zudan presiding.”

“Where is the defendant,” Judge Zudan said, peering over ancient looking spectacles.

Johnson raised his hand "I am here Your Honour. Bernhardt Johnson, standing trial for war crimes".

“Yes you are.” The Falleen leaned forward slightly. “Do you intend to stick to your plea if ‘not guilty’ notwithstanding the lack of additional evidence since your arrest?”

“Your Honour, this is most irregular -“ began to say Nawara.

“Notwithstanding that,” Sul Dekkon interrupted. “This trial should have happened months ago -“

“We didn’t have a functioning constitution months ago -“ bit back Nawara.

“I can speak for myself,” the judge said firmly and silenced the two of them. “Defendant, do you understand that if you contest, and lose, you will be setting the precedent for all former First Order combatants henceforth.”

This judge was a hard rock, Johnson could tell.

"My plea still stands at not guilty. And yes, I do understand the consequences. Everyone deserves a fair trial".

A stir among the jury and others as he uttered those last words. “Everyone, indeed,” the judge said. “You may sit.” Her eyes took in the prosecutor. “Proceed.”

“Sentients of the jury,” started Sul Dekkon. “You are here today to pass judgement upon the human present in the stand. A former First Order Agent, he is charged with perpetuating the reign of terror on Coruscant that saw individuals summarily shot, tortured, experimented upon, and subject to the barbarity of Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux.”

The jury was a mix of humans and non-humans - an Ishi Tib, a Mon Calamari, a Rodian, a Sullistan. The Mon Cal was already staring murderously at Johnson.

“As far as I understand, Mr Johnson does not deny any of those accusations…”

“Objection, putting words into my clients mouth.”

“Sustained.”

“My apologies,” the Chagrian said. “But being as he will be my first witness, he can explain for himself.”

The bailiff, a burly Aqualish, stepped over to escort Johnson, manacled, to the stand. A clerk was already evident, ready to swear him in.

Johnson rose. Showtime.

He expected to be called rather quickly, and as he moved he didn't look at the jury. He couldn't. To see their accusing stares. He instead focused on Rose. He was essentially about to spill his guts out to the galaxy.

And her. As a representative of High Command she needed to know the truth.

He sat down, took a deep breath and released it. "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me".

So help you," muttered the Judge.

Sul Dekkon tucked his arms behind him.

"Clerk, could you reread what I just said?"

The droid responsible for such things did so before Nawara could interject, repeating the last acceptable sentence to the record. "A former First Order Agent, perpetuating the reign of terror on Coruscant that saw individuals summarily shot, tortured, experimented upon, and subject to the barbarity of Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux.”

"So, do you deny responsibility for that?"

"No I do not" he said simply "I was given one purpose, and that was to protect the First Order at all costs."

"But what you might have not known was that before I became an Agent I was one of the ones who was tortured, interrogated and experimented upon as well".

The jury gasped. Sul Dekkon paused. Nawara Ven visibly placed his palm on his face.

"Your Honour, permission to treat the witness as hostile?"

"On the basis of him supplying more information than you asked for?" Zudan snorted. "Denied. Word your questions better next time. He is the defendant, remember."

"Apologies," Sul said, "I appear to be rusty." He chuckled slightly, and a few others present did too, until Zudan glared at them.

Nawara narrowed his eyes and mouthed. Be careful, to Johnson. Sul turned back with a flourish.

"Alright then, as you brought it up; what was your role within the Resistance before you became an Agent of terror?"

"Objection," Nawara said, softly.

"Sustained," said the Judge.

"My apologies, again," Sul said. "When you became an Agent of the First Order."

These little trip-ups, they were all insinuations, all nudges, all little shapes.

Johnson closed his eyes, he had to retreat back into the fog of his memories.

"I remember I was part of Resistance Intelligence. Sent mostly on undercover missions deep in First Order territory. To find out about any clandestine programs the First Order were running or any intelligence I could gather".

"I receive intelligence from a supposed defector, Ilsa Ferguson. She was high up in the First Order ranks. But the intelligence it turned out was only minor bits and pieces".

"I was on a deep cover mission when my cover was blown. I don't know who did it. But all I know was that I was found out and taken to be turned into an Agent".

Sul Dekkon produced a datapad. "Exhibit one, your Honour, as pre approved by Defendant's Counsel," the Chagrian said, nodding to Nawara who nodded. "This includes extracts of various reports from Resistance High Command that confirms that the Defendant assisted on missions to Borosk, Arkanis, Otomok."

Rose twitched at the mention of her homeworld.

"Continue," the Judge said, neutrally.

"So yes, you had an impressive record a decade ago... it was about the time that you were 'found out', you say, correct? Just before the Galactic Jamming?"

Nawara narrowed his eyes, unsure as to whether he should be agreeing or objecting.

Johnson caught Rose's twitch. Had those planets meant something?

"Yes," he replied simply.

"And then?" Sul Dekkon was pedantic, clearly building to something.

But what?

"My record I believe beforehand was exemplary, it turns out the defector never sent anything herself, it all came through myself. Someone ratted me out to the First Order, I am sure of it".

“Yes,” Sul Dekkon said, producing a second datapad. He also produced several flimsi’s with affidavits attached. “These are original documents dug out of the debris of the Armand Isard Institute, which hosted the AGENT problem at the direction of Dr Gast.”

“I have a chain of affidavits as to their authenticity,” Sul swung them to the clerk, who took them gingerly. “Apparently Ilsa Ferguson herself made the report to the First Order.”

Nawara snatched the affidavits and began to examine them. “Your Honour, might I have a moment to confirm the validity of these documents?”

The datapad with the transcript of Isla’s report was evident. Sul waved it at Johnson. “Might I ask the defendant to read the same to the Court?”

The Judge looked to Nawara, who was looking glum. “Does Counsel intend to defend the entry of this evidence to the Court?”

“The affidavits testify as to the chain of ownership from Chewbacca to the prosecution.” Apparently the Wookiee had helped with data reconstruction at the site. His name alone provided great weight. The jury tittered at Nawara’s words.

Sul Dekkon held it to Johnson. “If you would read this, please.”

I have received contact from a Resistance handler by the name of Johnson. From his genetic history I believe he will be perfect for the program. His genes are, really, quite beautiful, from a scientific perspective. I believe he would benefit from the AGENT injection but also the brainwashing experimentation. I would recommend him to Dr Lucrecia, for her expertise in this area.

“Might I also ask what the nature of your relationship with Ilsa Ferguson was?”

Johnson's heart broke again, if it could do such a thing. She was the one who did it.

But what confused him was her behavior after he had found her. Why bring him back? Why say that she loved him right at the end? Did she want to atone for what she did?

He read the whole statement out. Then said:

"She said to me she wanted to defect, but could not do it as there were always First Order eyes watching but we managed to meet up sometimes. We had an...intimate relationship".

"We broke apart soon before I was captured. During my tortue and imprisonment all I could focus on was her. To get back to her. I resolved when my memories started coming back to find her ''.

"Which I did. She helped purge the Agent personality inside of me, but we broke up fully afterwards. She tried to capture me, I gave her fair warning but she carried on. I shot her and she died".

Sul Dekkon nodded slowly. "Quite a tumultuous relationship, then. So your loyalty shifted to her, would you say?"

Nawara frowned hard at that, but did not object.

"I loved her, yes, but I never lost sight of the job at hand. The Resistance was still my focus".

"For the entirety of your service as an Agent?"

"You must understand. When I was an Agent, any memories of the past were locked away thanks to the brainwashing. I thought about her during my torture and interrogation but after that...nothing".

"I only started remembering her again after my memories started returning last year".

"At what point would you say that was, Mr Johnson?"

He thought for a few moments.

"After the execution of DJ, but before the attack on the Galaxies Opera House".

Sul Dekkon wondered aloud. "At that exact point, you would say?"

"How did this... awakening manifest itself?"

Great, he's going to wonder if I'm bonkers now.

"Her voice. I could hear her voice. I started to have flashbacks of my life before I was turned. But even now my memories are still hazy. I still don't remember my homeworld, or whether I have any family".

The jury tittered amongst itself.

"Order," the Judge said. "I would remind the Defendant that he has entered a not guilty plea, with no aspects of diminished responsibilities on the grounds of mental impairment."

She looked to Nawara Ven. "Has Counsel made this clear?"

"Counsel would point out that we have as recently as a decade ago been required to contend with Palpatine, who returned from the dead, at least twice, at that." the Twi'lek shrugged.

"Are you averring that your client is Force sensitive?"

"I am averring that if my client is of sound-mind and believed he was speaking to Ilsa, and that was the catalyst to escape his brainwashing, then so be it," Nawara said, patiently.

Sul Dekkon spoke up. "I am content to accept that there was some catalyst for Mr Johnson to claim he was changing his allegiances back to the Resistance, Your Honour."

The Judge wheeled on the Chagrian. "You accept his words?"

"I accept that they are immaterial to proving the Defendant's guilt."

There was a sharp intake of air, and even Rose did it too.

The Judge looked to Johnson at last. "Continue."

"So before the attack on the Galaxies Opera House, would you say you were fully cognizant that you were now serving the First Order, albeit under some claimed duress?"

Nawara wasn't sure he could object to the use of the word claimed, but did anyway.

"Sustained."

"Perceived duress, then."

"The Agent personality in me was still dominant. But there was a mental war if you will between that personality and my own. That remembering Ilsa again triggered my personality beginning to return".

"I knew I was still killing, yes, but there was a fight going on NOT to do it. When I was back I killed in self defence".

"So what percentage would you say you were in control at the Opera House massacre? And after? And before you arrived at the Armand Isard tower, if there was any change during the transition from there to there?"

Sul Dekkon looked intrigued.

Johnson shook his head "You can't put percentages on things like this. All I knew was there was a mental war going on in my head. The,Agent personality was in control until Ilsa successfully flushed him out".

"All I knew was I had to fight to survive. To hopefully get myself back. To find Ilsa and rejoin the Resistance. Or maybe help from the shadows".

"Could you tell the Court what happened to Ilsa?" Sul Dekkon asked, innocently .

"I have explained what happened already. We broke up, she came back to get me, I warned her off. She tried to shoot me, I shot back and killed her ''.

"Yes, yes," Sul Dekkon said, somewhat dismissively.

"So to emphasize, you claim there was a mental war going on in your psyche between the Agent and yourself, and Ilsa, who is now dead, performed a technique that flushed him out?"

He held up a hand to indicate the rhetorical nature of the query.

"A woman you subsequently killed, I understand aboard the Capitol," Sul Dekkon said. "Could you tell me who else was present at the time of her death?"

"Yes Ilsa did, she used the same machine that I was tortured and brainwashed in to bring me back. It was rather unpleasant…."

"And the person who was with me at the time? Rose Tico. I helped her escape and was on our way to take the galactic jammer down when we were ambushed".

"We split up after that".

There was a kerfuffle and everyone looked to Rose.

She shrugged, not used to the limelight.

Of course she was going to be called as a witness today, but not yet.

"As your testimony says," Sul Dekkon says. "I assume of course Rose Tico saw the machine and your conversion back into yourself."

"Sadly not, only Ilsa saw that".

"But if I was still an Agent, I would not have rescued her".

"Objection," Sul said mildly. "Please respond to what I asked you only."

The Judge agreed. "Mr Johnson, please do not embellish."

"Apologies, your Honour," said Nawara, shooting him a glance.

"But to confirm, when Ilsa cleaned you up, as you claim, you were fine, no lapses?"

"Correct"

So if I may ask you to confirm the timeline, Mr Johnson. From just before the Galaxy Opera House massacre, you were waging a 'mental war' that was won by Ilsa completing some medical process." He produced a datapad, reviewing it. "With Ilsa dead, by your own hand you attest, we have no way to corroborate that claim, though I have been told by the techs that your blood is basically untestable, because of whatever process has been placed upon it. So I acknowledge that you have been experimented upon, but the Court cannot take it as given that your entire tale is true." He absently stroked his chin horn with his free hand.

"Objection."

"Sustained."

"I withdraw my words from the words but, though the Defence will appreciate that the ability of the Defendant to tell the truth is what this trial is truly about."

"Not quite," Nawara said. "You need to prove he was culpable when he committed war crimes. Beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt."

"That I do," Sul said, flashing the Twi'lek lawyer a smile before wheeling on Mr Johnson. "So at what stage in the process were you when you reported on the whereabouts of Rose Tico and Finn on Coruscant? The report made after the Opera House massacre, which saw Rose Tico captured and brutally tortured by Chancellor Hux?"

He held out the datapad. It was another set of sworn affidavits, from Coruscant Traffic Control. The most heavily encrypted data was not available - such as the records of the Capitol flagship, because Nawara had tried to locate a remote backup of the cam footage to confirm Johnson's story - but tip-offs to the general First Order establishment could be obtained.

And Sul Dekkon had obtained them.

There was an audible gasp, and even Rose's expression was impossible to read.

"I was heading to the Capitol in order to have my brainwashing reversed. The First Order at the time had not known I had gone rogue as it were".

"I got information regarding the Phantom Hawk but I changed the coordinates slightly in order for them to try and keep looking for her. Keep their gaze off me and distracted. Unfortunately they were too clever and got to Rose first".

"Slightly?" Sul Dekkon. "You could have just not reported the Phantom Hawk."

Rose was staring at Johnson for the moment, her face impossible to read.

"So this wasn't the 'Agent' causing you to part-betray the Resistance, it was you?"

"Objection."

"Sustained."

Sul rearranged his words. "Did you compile the report on the Phantom Hawk?"

Johnson did not look at Rose, he just focused on the prosecutor.

"No, I only sent the coordinates my ship picked up to Sellik and the name of the ship. She did the rest. As I say the coordinates were altered".

"Yes, you said," Sul Dekkon stroked his horns. "Did you perform the Galaxy Opera House massacre?"

"No. I was outside at the time. I fought a Kubaz named Dol Khan. He was responsible for eliminating Agent Brown, and I wonder if he had something to do with it as he was exiting the Opera House when I caught him".

"So you did not command the Stormtroopers who gunned down a Resistance cell?"

"No, I killed Resistance members there but I did not command them. I was in pursuit of a girl named Lin. I then received orders to go back to the Opera House. I was told to neutralise the fighters there and then I fought Dol Khan".

"I see," Sul Dekkon. "So you did kill Resistance members after your mental war began... you did fight the terrorist Dol Khan... and you did lead the First Order to Rose Tico, albeit, you claim inadvertently." He was counting off fingers. "And you did kill Ilsa, so it's impossible to corroborate that you were cured... or that your experimentation involved anything more than body augmentation with zero brainwashing."

Nawara started, but wasn't precisely sure what he could object to, and the jury rustled, the crowd tittered, and the Judge had to order for quiet. The noise would drown out whatever Johnson said in response, if anything.

The Chagrian turned to the Twi'lek. "Your witness."

Nawara stepped forward, hesitant. Damage had been done to Johnson's credibility, and they'd been relying upon Rose to provide a strong character witness. But Rose had just found out that Johnson had, at very least, contributed to her torture session in the last days of the war.

"Mr Johnson, can you describe what being unable to control your body felt like?"

He had to go emotional, to provide that uncertainty to the jury... to build up belief in the man... and to give Rose time to get herself in the right place to speak up as to Johnson's character.

Johnson still couldn't look at Rose, not right now.

"It felt...weird. Like someone else was giving your body commands. Like your personality had been banished into some deep, dark cave."

"And watching as you killed people, becoming a First Order killing machine. Doing their dirty work. Killing the people you were fighting with. And knowing it would haunt you for the rest of your life".

"That sounds very difficult," said Nawara, and Sul snorted. So did one or two of the jurors.

"How often did you try to stop yourself from doing the work of an Agent?"

"It was very difficult to do so, the brainwashing made it so your personality never came out. You could never stop yourself".

"It was comply or die".

Nawara nodded. "So after your brainwashing was removed, can you tell the Court what you did?"

" I tried to help Rose destroy the galactic jammer but was blocked by Agent Smith. I fought him, nearly died. He wanted to make me into a copy of himself. But apparently I was 'chosen' to become an Agent and defeat him".

"I did and then managed to escape the Capitol before it disappeared. I did not know Rose had been successful in removing the galactic jamming until later on".

"On escaping the Capitol I had hoped to help the Resistance from the shadows as I knew I would not be able to rejoin. But I was captured at Christophsis before I could plan my next moves".

"Chosen by who, Mr Johnson?" Nawara knew the answer but the way that these processes work, timelines might confuse the Court. But a confused jury was an unsure one, and they had to be sure.

"Lucretia" he said simply.

"Chosen to defeat Agent Smith, who this Court will recall as the most vicious and monstrous of the Agents." There was a stir among the jury. "Who could have quite easily caused all manner of problems for the Resistance and the Alliance now. What we can say is that he was fixated on Mr Johnson."

"Objection."

"On what grounds?"

"Heresy," Sul said, calmly.

"There are no records of Agent Smith in any of testimony other than that of Mr Johnson and of course Ms Tico," Nawara interjected, acknowledging Rose, and though he spoke to the Judge, he spoke for her benefit. "It was their bravery that saw the Capitol sabotaged and destroyed, after all, saving the population of Coruscant, and the war going on."

"The war is not over," pointed out Sul Dekkon.

"But it will be - the end is sight," retorted Nawara, "because of this man right here," he pointed at Johnson. With that air of finality, Nawara spoke on. "I have no further questions."

Technically he'd squeaked around an objection.

The Judge glared at the Twi'lek, clearly deciding whether to make an issue of it. "Return to your seat, Defendant." He looked to Sul. "Your next witness?"

"Rose Tico, of course," Sul said drily. The two of them, Rose and Johnson, would briefly cross paths on their way to and from the stand. Rose looked at him, trying to read something from his expression - did you really get me captured by accident?

Johnson rose, his testimony done and as he returned back to his seat he finally gave her an apologetic look.

One that said he hadn't meant for her to be captured and he was still sorry for it.

Rose nodded, and accepted that. Sul Dekkon watched the interplay with narrow eyes, as did Nawara Ven.

Apparently Sul's main strategy had been to drive a wedge between the two of them.

Because there was evidence that Johnson had been messed with, at a cellular level.

And he had helped them sabotage the Capitol.

Rose went far enough to say that Agent Smith would have killed her, simply as.

Sul Dekkon went on to cross-examine, and pushed Rose to express doubts about the man. She didn't, and emphasised that she would not have spent a year looking for more evidence to back-up her view of the man.

Eventually, Sul turned one more time to her. "What do you say to the conspiracy theory that the First Order was brought down from within, to eliminate Kylo Ren, Hux and others, by now-Chancellor Aryan Graul?"

"Pardon?" Rose said.

"What do you say to those who believe the New Order arranged it all, as a precursor to launching its own campaign to take the galaxy?"

"Well, I suppose it's possible," she allowed.

Nawara twitched. "Objection."

"Grounds?"

"Relevance?"

"I'll come to that, I promise," Sul said to the Judge.

"I'll allow it, but make it quick," the Judge said, severely.

"When I was going through the reports, I found an anomaly, you see," Sul Dekkon produced a datapad, with a trail of affidavit's, which was accepted by the Court, but clearly the Judge's patience was about to be broken. "The communique along First Order channels to the Eclipse, to inform them of the rebellion launched by Finn had begun... Do you know who sent it?"

Rose looked stony-faced.

"I would remind you that you're under oath."

"But I can't reveal military secrets."

"Is there a secret?"

Rose huffed, releasing a sigh. "Nobody knows who sent it."

"So, nobody knows who told the Resistance to come to Coruscant and overthrow the First Order. Who connected the two-dots."

"No," Rose said, carefully.

"Seems like something you should know, no?" Sul Dekkon pressed the point.

"But I don't," Rose replied curtly. "But I don't see how it connects to Johnson's trial."

"Because you see," Sul Dekkon grinned, carnivorous. "If those theories happen to be true, then Johnson is a plant, Rose Tico, and you've been tricked by him. He killed Ilsa not out of love, but to hide the nature of his return to the Resistance. He revealed your location on Coruscant, and did so in such a manner that neither the First Order or Resistance could blame him. He killed innocents at the Galaxy Opera House, by his own testament, when the war for his soul began -"

"Objection, this is all speculation -"

"Is it," Sul Dekkon bit back at Nawara. "Or is it the truth? That releasing this murderer may be laying the seeds of our future destruction?"

"He's a good man," Rose muttered.

"Or he's a man who considers the death of a million expendable First Order troops as sufficient bait to allow his true masters to win the long game," Sul Dekkon said, shrugging.

"My client does not deserve to be maligned with this level of -"

"Nawara Ven, did you not preside over the Lusankya cases, where the Empire implanted brainwashing that triggered after the fact? We all remember Warlord Zsinj and his genetic markers in nonhumans, that saw a simple turn of phrase turn civilians into killers? The self-same warlord that Dr Gast used to serve? And who can forget the prisoners that were saved from Kashyyyk that wounded Chancellor Mon Mothma and others?" He pointed at Johnson. "You have a man here who cannot prove he is not a ticking time bomb, and it would be safer for everyone that he be kept in prison."

"That is not what the Court is here to debate," Judge Zudan said firmly. "We're here today to state Mr Johnson's guilt as a war criminal. Whether he was complicit in those actions," he reminded the Court. "Your muddying of issues, Prosecutor, is unacceptable."

"I apologise to the Court," said the Chagrian, but the jury was still rustling.

"Do you need the witness any further?" The Judge wanted control back.

"No."

"Defence?"

"One moment," Nawara leaned over to Johnson. "Did you want me to ask Rose anything?"

"Only one thing" Johnson said "If I did my time and showed that I am fully rehabilitated would I be able to return to the Resistance?"

"She's High Command, if she endorses me it might sway the jury a little".

Nawara looked at the man. "If you're exonerated, sure, you'd be able to return to service, of course, if you go to prison, then you're guilty... who knows."

"But I'll ask." He stood up, and spoke to Rose. "Ms Tico, would you be confident in allowing Mr Johnson to return to service?"

"Completely, and utterly. Even if the Court considers him to be guilty, and after he's done his time."

The jury rumbled, the Court too, until the Judge glared at them all.

Sul Dekkon spoke up. "But I'll be recommending that the Court apply the full punishment if so."

Nawara twitched a lekku at that.

"You want the death penalty, Prosecutor?"

"The law does allow for that," Sul Dekkon said.

The Judge hesitated at that, and Rose started.

Johnson remained silent. He wanted to smile but resisted. Rose at least endorsed him.

But there was still the issue of the death penalty. He just had to hope the jury would be lenient and maybe give him minimal jail time.

He still had business to finish off.

"I would remind the jury that they will be deciding the judgment, not the sentence. That will be for later," the Judge pointed out. "The Court will interpret the law as appropriate. So please ensure that you do not concern yourself with the consequences."

She gave Sul Dekkon a glare, and Nawara Ven frowned. He whispered to Johnson. "I'm not sure why Sul is reminding them that they could be killing you. Usually juries are quite averse to that."

"If there is nothing further else, I will direct the jury to deliberate as to whether Mr Johnson is guilty of these war crimes." The Judge was looking directly at Nawara as she spoke.

"Nothing further, Your Honour," Nawara said, standing back up.

"Very good."

The jury was led out, and the deliberations began.

A day later, it came in, the Court reset as it was before. Johnson was bid to stand, and the judgment was read out.

Not guilty.

The jury did not consider Johnson guilty of war crimes; they confirmed that he was a victim of events.

He was a free man.

That was a turn up for the books.

Not guilty. No jail time, no death penalty.

What did you say to that?

He simply nodded, speechless. There would be a time to let his emotions out, but not here. Maybe in private.

The man was discharged, and Rose smiled at him as they went to head out. "So, signing up to the good fight?"

It was good to finally be unchained as it were and he smiled back at his new friend.

"Of course" he replied "Me and the First Order have some unfinished business".

"Thank you for all you have done for me. How can I ever repay you?"

"Well, I wanted to send you into First Order space, pretend to be an Agent and get closer to the enemy's plans. I'm sure they have some," she said with a shrug as they walked the concourse. "We kept your trial out of the media, and had intended to broadcast it only if the result was that you were guilty." Rose winced. "Connix's idea, that one. We do need a First Order prisoner to go down to set a precedent, but I had argued against it being you."

She shrugged off the aside. "So, Intel work? We don't have an Alliance Intelligence service yet. I'm freelancing it for the moment, I'm going to see if I can track down the Wraiths or Drayson's daughter."

It looked like Rose was here for business not small talk.

"Well Intelligence was where I was before so I might as well do that sort of work again. And the First Order did not know I went rogue so I suppose I could play the role of Agent and return to the fold. Cause chaos from within".

Rose nodded. "Well, if you're up for it... I'll get you in."

Her expression darkened.

"The First Order was working on a fleet of Eclipse-class warships. Kuat handed them the Capitol, and that Galactic Jammer. We can't let them keep hold of the shipyards or finish that fleet. The Resistance has buttoned up the Kuat Sector, so they shouldn't be able to get anything in or out. It might take some time, but that's where I want to send you, Johnson."

Johnson shrugged "Well if it's the place to give me a field test as it were then so be it. I'd rather do something than sitting on my hands and doing nothing".

Rose smiled. "Well then, let's get started, Alliance Agent Johnson."

That sounded a lot better than First Order Agent Johnson.

But he was Bernhardt Johnson, Resistance Agent once more.

Of course he would have to play the part of First Order Agent once again, which included everything that came with it.

But at least he could look to the future….and he had a mission in mind.

To see the First Order crushed once and for all.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Finn

Modesta

The New Jedi commune - he was hesitant to call it a temple, or even a praxeum - slowly took shape.

Finn was no Jedi, he was merely Force sensitive, and though Rey had left him the Jedi texts, and he had a modicum of Force training from her and assorted other items that Rose had tug up during her back and forth between preparing for the trial of former - Agent Johnson - a man who had been key to the destruction of the Capitol a year ago - he was left to his own devices.

But thankfully they had help, and Jedi were slowly but surely emerging from the galactic woodwork.

A couple weeks before, a former Jedi named Zekk had joined them, travelling from the Hapes Consortium where he had been hiding out. A stranger man, by the name of Raynar Thul had heard of Modesta from the Unknowns where he had relocated, and had came to see them. He'd stayed but wasn't a traditional Jedi - nor even a traditional New Jedi. Finn wondered how he could manage to create well-balanced Force users, but he'd realized he wasn't creating Jedi, not anymore.

Rey had said they needed to be more balanced than that, to not be so emotionally stunted that they couldn't empathize with the galaxy any longer. She insinuated that Obi-Wan, Yoda and Luke had became just that, but had held off saying as much. But being as Rey had been able to finally stop Kylo Ren, he was inclined to agree with her.

So he was looking for good people, basically.

But today? A ship was coming with a Force user who was hunting someone else, and on the comms they'd briefly discussed it; Barriss Sunrider.

Finn waited for the ship ramp to come down, hands in his pockets, Poe's jacket still on his back.

The ship landed and Eeth Sazen stepped out, admiring the rolling green fields of tall grass and the bright sunlit sky that welcomed him. He had spent the last year traveling the galaxy and had been to many planets different from Lothal. But compared to the other worlds he had seen, Modesta felt familiar to Eeth. It reminded him of home.

As he left his ship, Eeth checked to make sure the lightsaber his mother had given him was still there. It was a reflex whenever he went to somewhere new, since he was always afraid of losing the weapon that had once belonged to his grandfather.

After confirming that he still had it, Eeth saw the man who had been waiting in front of the ship. Eeth smiled and waved slightly. "Uh, hi. You must be Finn."

"And you must be Eeth Sazen," Finn said, smiling. "Nice to meet you."

He went straight for the handshake, as straightforward as he ever was, his own lightsaber on his belt.

Eeth shook Finn's hand, looking over the former stormtrooper's shoulder at the building behind him. "So... this is the New Jedi commune."

"Welcome," Finn said, turning, taking the walk back to the distant community. "How did you hear of us? We're letting people join by referral, but also demonstrating their Force talent." From a pocket of Poe's jacket he produced a simple toy, one that the Force was needed to move. Eeth would have played with them as a child.

In the distance, Temiri was fencing with a training lightsaber with one of the other students, the child from Canto Bight all those years ago, now a teenager in his own right - older than Dade had been when he died.

"I have been seeking out other Force sensitives," Eeth explained. "Following rumors. It's easier now than it would have been before." He glanced at the students training nearby. "And the Force helped, of course. Plus you seem to have friends or allies all over the galaxy these days. But we spoke about why I'm here. I've been looking for someone in particular. A woman named Barriss Sunrider."

Finn looked at Eeth, and passed the toy over. "I met Barriss during the Battle of Coruscant. She helped us defeat the Knights of Ren. Without her... we would have lost quite badly." Finn looked into the distance as they walked. "How did you know her?"

Eeth took the toy and looked down at it. The object reminded him of the ones that his mother gave him when he was a child. Focusing on the toy, Eeth used the Force to levitate it into the air while they walked.

"I never met her," he admitted. "But my mother did. She was in a bad place once. The Empire had taken her from her parents and was raising her to be an agent of the dark side. Barriss saved her and others like her, giving them a chance to live their lives the way they wanted instead of the way that the Empire had intended. I wouldn't have been born without Barriss. So when I learned about her involvement on Coruscant, I felt... compelled to seek her out. Maybe learn from her as well, but I at least want to thank her for saving my mother. I owe her."

Finn noted what Eeth was doing. "Well, you're welcome to stay here until I can get word out to Barriss that you're looking for her. I imagine she'll pass through here at some point, after all. Especially if you become one of our Knights, you'll have a platform to seek her out."

He looked at Eeth. "Is that something that interests you? We have Jedi teachings, Holocrons, more." Finn hesitated. "We're rebuilding the Jedi Order, so it'd be good to have your input, even if for a little while."

Eeth nodded. "I don't know if I want to become a Jedi," he admitted. "My mother was never one and she doesn't always speak kindly of the Order. But... I do want to help people and put my powers to better use. I think this could be the right step toward that."



Eeth drew his own lightsaber as well and showed Finn its green blade. "My mother gave me this before I left," he explained. "It belonged to my grandfather, who was a Jedi. He died trying to protect his family from the Empire. His efforts to stop my mother from being taken from him and his wife failed, but his legacy still lives on in me."

"Then show me what you know, Eeth Sazen, grandfather of Jedi."

Finn had no such story to say, he was simply an ex-Stormtrooper who was Force sensitive.

He was nobody's legacy, he would create something himself.

Eeth nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on the environment around him and the Force that ran through it all. As Eeth slowed down his breathing, rocks around him began to float off the ground and levitate. He lifted the rocks with the Force just like he used to do on Lothal with his mother's guidance. He hadn't forgotten her lessons, even if they were years ago.

Finn watched, impressed, perhaps even a bit jealous at his progress already.

"Shall we?" He indicated Eeth's lightsaber, and his own.

A spar usually revealed the true nature of someone, as they exposed their soul in a fight.

Eeth nodded, his eyes still closed. He held his lightsaber in a defensive position, ready.

Finn watched the man with some curiosity. He stepped forward and feinted at Eeth's side -

And Eeth stepped aside, one of the rocks that he had lifted flying into Finn's path.

Finn lifted his blade up to defend, slicing the rock apart, and then slashed down at Eeth's head -

Muscle memory, historic training with Rey after the Battle of Exegol, it all came back to him.

He had used a lightsaber a dozen times, the first time at Takodona, over a decade ago.

Eeth lifted up his lightsaber, blocking Finn's attack as he brought down the lightsaber on him. During his childhood, he had played with a wooden training blade. Over the last year, he found that using an actual lightsaber was nothing like the training blade from his youth. The lightsaber was more than just a weapon... since the kyber crystal inside was alive. While he had complete control of a wooden blade, Eeth had quickly learned that he couldn't control the lightsaber as easily. Instead, he had to work with it. Which is what he did so now, putting his faith in both the kyber crystal and the Force.

The block was perfect, and Finn felt Eeth almost go away, falling into the Force.

Approving, Finn did the same, letting himself become another part of the circuit that was Eeth and Finn, and they would exchange various ripostes and strikes and attacks, none of them dangerous, all of them perfectly intended.

Finn probed at Eeth, at his reasons for tracking down Barriss in the Force, looking to see if the truth was the truth.

Eeth was honestly enjoying their exchange, having never sparred like this before. He allowed Finn to probe him as well, having nothing to hide about his intentions.

Finn smiled at Eeth, and enjoyed the exchange. After a time, when both men were sweating from their efforts, Finn deactivated his blade and stood more upright, out of a combat crouch. "Well done, Eeth. You're a good man, I can tell." He held out his hand again.

"Welcome to the New Jedi Order."

Eeth deactivated his blade, opening his eyes and smiling at Finn. He shook Finn's hand. "Thank you."

Perhaps it would still be some time before he found Barriss. But that didn't bother Eeth. Because all of this?

It felt like a step in the right direction for him.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

A wonderful and emotional combo thanks to our GM @Sinrebirth

IC: Eleanor Magnus, Barriss Offee, Pre Shysa-Vizsla, Luminara Shysa-Vizsla, Pascale, Feyna, Julee, Tiberius
Madelyn's Funeral, Mandalore

Eleanor took a deep and steady breath, trying to focus on the here and now. But that was proving to be harder then thought possible. Her mother, Madelyn; had passed away in her sleep a year ago. And until now, Eleanor hadn't had much room to grieve.

This funeral was a chance to do that.

She glanced up, trying to keep herself steady despite the tremendous pressure that weighed on her shoulders. Eleanor had taken steps to ensure that things would hopefully go smoothly, at least for the funeral. She was the eldest daughter, and was expected to speak about her mother. But Eleanor hadn't prepared a speech.

It was also the first time the family had been together in a while. Luminaracaas focusing on her Jedi training, and Pre was head of the Clan. Mirta had all but been adopted into their family as far as Eleanor ass concerned, and in a funny way she considered her a sister.

And even more so, Eleanor had Kaz and Amaria. And their daughter Asteria. She wasn't sure she would have made it through this year without them.

And still-

Eleanor stood there, her armour a dark blue with red markings, a very deep green; almost black Cape slung over her shoulders, and a new blade at her side. She felt the hum of a dark crystal inside, and reached out to the force-

It was time.

When Barriss had gotten the news, she had been devastated. She was, of course, no stranger to loss. But that didn't make it hurt any less. Madelyn had been one of the last connections she had to her old life, the closest thing that she had to a sister since they had both shared a mother figure.

Barriss wished that she had known Madelyn was alive earlier. She wished that they could have had more time together, that it hadn't taken them so long to find each other. But Barriss also knew better than to dwell on that for long. Because at least they had still found each other, at least Barriss knew that Madelyn hadn't been alone and found happiness. Perhaps Barriss hadn't been in Madelyn's life as much as she would have liked, but Madelyn had still had a life. A life that had long and filled with love, which was obvious enough from seeing how many had come to her funeral.

She had come as soon as she could, putting everything on hold so that she could there for Madelyn's family. So she walked over to where Eleanor was and put her hand on the shoulder of Madelyn's shoulder. She didn't say anything, just offered whatever comfort she could. As much as she was hurting from this, she knew that it would hurt even more for the others that were closer to Madelyn than she could ever hope to have been.''

Pascale could'nt beleive it when he had heard the message. Madelyn dead? It could'nt be.

He had wept for her, telling his wife Feyna that she did not deserve to die and of course it brought into shap focus his age. He was eighty now. And since he had hit that age he had slowed down a lot.

He ate less, he slept more, he felt weaker than he had had in years and he hated it. But he promised he would come especially for Elanor and the rest of the kids. His and Feyna's nieces and nephews.

Tiberius though felt really out of place. He sadly had not known Madelyn or the family but had come because of Julee.

They had been on Commenor but because of the security situation were not able to travel. Which had fustrated him. Only now they could.

He did'nt know for the first time what to do. Hold Julee's hand, erap his arm around her…

He settled for putting his arm around Julee's shoulders.

Eleanor sensed Barriss before she approached, and looked at her as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for coming. I know mother thought the world of you." She glanced at the others as they arrived, and swallowed hard.

"I appreciate everyone coming together for Mama like this. But I'm sorry it is such sad circumstances." She spoke. "I need to get ready for my speech." Eleanor apologised. "You'll be sitting with the rest of the family-"

Barriss nodded and went to sit with everyone else. She did appreciate that she had been asked to sit with "the rest of the family" which meant that she was considered a part of Madelyn's family. It was a small comfort at the very least.

Julee leaned into Tib a little, not sure what what to do, or say. She hadn't known Aunt Madelyn very well, there might have been a few visits before the jamming, but she did kind of remember her. She was here to support her parents, and Madelyn's children.

Feyna was next to Julee, with Pascale at her other side, her arm gently looped through his. They hadn't seen Madelyn since before the jamming, but it didn't soften the blow of the loss.

Feyna reached with her other hand for her daughter's, giving it a squeeze. Julee turned to give her mother a sad half-smile, and squeezed back.

Tiberius kept his arm around Jules just there to support her in any way he could, any way she wanted him to. It was what best friends did after all.

He did spot a woman sitting nearby, he had seen her talking to Eleanor was it?

Pascale meanwhile kept his arm linked with Feyna's but moved slighty so he could clasp his other hand over hers. He smiled at Julee he was glad his daughter was here with them.

Tiberius being here was good too. It would help Julee after all.

Eleanor took her place in the front of the crowd. She looked out at everyone who had gathered for her mother. Who knew her, admired her. And that helped her feel a little more confident then she had been feeling. She took a deep breath, and steadied herself; before she started to speak towards everyone.

"I wanted to start by thanking everyone who could come today to pay respect to my mother, Madelyn Linnett. It's been a hard year since she passed, but she is in a better place now with my father Fenn, and my father Paz. Many of you here have been part of her life at one point or another." Eleanor paused, and looked out at the crowd.

"My mother was born on Mandalore. She was Mandalorian when she was taken to the Jedi Temple in the Old Republic. She was trained until she was eight years old, and then taken as the Padawan by Master Luminara, who became like a mother to her. Her former Padawan Barriss Offee, became like a sister to my mother. She survived order 66, and went on to becoming an Emperors Hand."

"It was after the Empire fell and my mother was turned over to the Republic. It was shortly after that then she met my her husbands Fenn and her husband Paz. Then they had me, and the rest of my siblings. She finished her Jedi training, fought against the Vong. Made a wonderful life for herself. She was the Matriarch of our Clan. My mother never turned away those in need. And welcomed even people we thought were our enemies with open arms-" Eleanor glanced at Mirta. "-because she understood what it meant to be different then what society expects you to be."

Eleanor felt very warm, and let out an unsteady breath. "I know that she would want to be buried here with my father's. She loved them, she loved all of us. I know she will be with us every step of the way. I just you to remember that too."

Barriss felt tears falling down her face as she listened to Eleanor's speech. She took a deep breath and sniffed, trying not to make a scene. She remembered the last time that she was there to bury someone she loved, after she recovered the remains of her mother from the Empire and gave them a proper Jedi funeral. She was alone then, just like how she had been alone for a long time. But she was not alone now, not anymore. Everyone around her shared her grief and that made it easier for Barriss.

Feyna let go of Julee's hand to hold to her husband's, glancing briefly around at the other mourners--other than Madelyn's children, Feyna didn't recognize most of the rest here. Most of their other friends from the war-times were gone, too: Drayson, Mara, Luke, Paz.

She turned her attention back to the front, listening quietly to the eulogy, an approving nod here and there, not bothering to hide a few tears that escaped from her eyes.

Julee also observed the proceedings in respectful silence, her hand coming up to find Tib's for comfort.

Tiberius saw Jule's hand come up to find his. He gently liked his hand with hers, giving it a squeeze. He spotted Feyna was crying though.

Pascale also noticed and leaned over to kiss her cheek, offering his comfort to her. She was usually the stronger of the two of them, she rarely cried.

But over the last few years they had lost people. Drayson was the hardest as he was essentially Feyna's father figure. And one day and Pascale hated to even think it she would lose her husband.

He squeezed her hand too. The euology was sweet, no doubts there. Hopefully Eleanor and Madelyn's kids would stop by and say hello. It had been years after all.

"Thank you all for coming." Eleanor finished, and then stepped away from the podium. She moved off to the side, a little out of it. Thinking of her mother. She wasn't ready to go down and thank the guests personally yet-

But Pre was already standing and making his way over to Pascale, Feyna and the others. He had clearly been crying, and wiped his eyes as he approached. "Uncle Pascale, Auntie Feyna. Thank you for being here-" He paused, and wasn't sure whether to hug them. "You remember me right? It's Pre."

Feyna dried her eyes as Eleanor was wrapping up, and managed to offer Pre a half-smile of greeting as she moved to hug him. "Of course," she nodded when he asked if they remembered him. "How are you holding up?" She asked.

Julee stepped a little closer; she kind of remembered Madelyn's kids, but they were mostly all quite a bit older than her. Pre was...Luminara's twin? They were the next oldest after Eleanor, Julee was pretty sure. "Hi, Pre," she said politely.

Feyna facilitated the re-introductions. "Pre, you remember Julee? And I don't know if you ever met Tiberius, he's a friend of hers."

Pre hugged Feyna back, and then stepped away politely as she asked her question. "I'm doing okay. I'm sad, but mother is in a better place now. I'm more concerned about Eleanor." He paused, and then looked at Julee as she greeted him.

He smiled kindly, and then reached out to take her hand in his, before bowing over it and rising, as he was taught to do. "I think so." He let go of her hand. "It's very nice to see you again my lady."

Pre looked over at Tiberius and offered him a bow, clicking his heels together before rising. "It's a pleasure to meet you Tiberius." He gave him a kind smile. "I apologise that we have met under such circumstances."

Pascale watched as first Feyna greeted Pre then she introduced Julee and Tiberius. He remained silent, watching it all unfold.

Tiberius meanwhile felt awkward. As Feyna and Julee stepped forward, he remained where he was, letting go of Julee's hand as she moved.

Pre then greeted him and it seemed very formal…

"You don't have to be so formal" he replied with a slight smile then turned serious "Sorry for your loss. Can't imagine what it's like yo lose a parent. But it's nice to see the family back together".

Pre smiled nervously. "I apologise, I just became leader of my house." He clarified, and then noted to not be so formal with Tiberius in the future. He teared up a little again and nodded st him. "Thank you. Mama was a wonderful person."

He turned to look at Pascale. "Are you too old to give me a hug Uncle?" Pre asked, trying to joke a little despite how upset he was, despite the situation.

Pascale chuckled and shook his head smiling "Still as cheeky as ever young man".

He slowly stepped forward giving Pre a hug "I may be eighty but i'm still fit enough to give out hugs".

Pre laughed and hugged his Uncle Pascale back. "Just don't break you're back."

Feyna smiled as Pre and Pascale joked with each other a little--they were here to mourn a friend, but a little lightheartedness didn't hurt anybody.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Pre," Julee said, not sure what else to say.

"Be sure to give our sympathies to Eleanor, and the rest of your siblings," Feyna added; it didn't seem like Eleanor was up for much socializing, but Feyna didn't blame her.

Pascale stepped back from Pre and nodded at Feyna's comments.

Meanwhile Tiberius was still stood slightly back from the Rouser family unsure of what to say or do. Jules didn't need him at the moment and he was beginning to feel like a spare part in this whole thing.

It was a selfish thought but him and Jules should have been off on their adventures now. But he was going to keep that thought to himself.

Pre turned and nodded towards Feyna and Julee. "Thank you. I will let her know." He gave a little bow, and then turned towards Tiberius curiously, as if he could sense what he was thinking. He stared at him for a few moments, and then added, "You don't need to worry about feeling so out of place. It's normal." Pre added with a slight nod.

What the?

Tiberius was sure he had not made anything visable on his face and was only thinking it. Had Pre...no he couldn't have could he?

Get out of my brain.

"Thank you, but I would rather you not have said that out loud" he said. Tiberous felt even more awkward now and was beginning to wish that maybe he should have just stayed on the ship.

But he was here for Jules, nothing more.

Pre laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, sometimes it just happens. I shouldn't have spoken it out loud though." He looked embarrassed.

"I'm a little force sensitive you see..."

Julee reached over for Tiberius's hand, also starting to feel a little out of place. She'd forgotten to mention to Tiberius that Madelyn's biological children were all Force-sensitive--Julee had actually forgotten that tidbit entirely, after so many years not seeing them--but it was a non-issue really; Pre hadn't meant any harm.

Feyna glanced over to Pascale, wondering whether they ought to head out soon. She was noticing that the kids were feeling awkward, which was understandable (no Force-sensitivity here, just a mother who knew how to read her child, and she knew Tiberius well enough to tell when he was uncomfortable).

Tiberius took Julee's hand, squeezed it and nodded in thanks then smiled slightly at Pre.

"No harm done".

Pascale meanwhile caught Feyna's glance and nodded, time to head out "It was good seeing you again Pre. Please pass on our best wishes to Eleanor and the others. Perhaps one day we can have a more cheerful family reunion".

Taking Feyna's hand in his he smiled.

Barriss sat there in silence, giving Eleanor and her family some space since she could tell that they may not be ready for her to go up to them yet. Instead she closed her eyes, slowed her breathing, and briefly meditated on her grief and loss. She still remembered the little youngling that she first met in the Jedi Temple so long ago...

It had been a hard day. And Luminara had mostly kept to herself and her little family before the funeral. Thinking about her wife andtheur daughter. Thinking about how everyone was coping. The emotions that surrounded the funeral was like a wave, and Luminara tried to hold her tears in as she listened to her sister speak.

Once she was finished, Luminara looked over and watched as Barriss continued to sit there, and turned to her wife Asami quickly. "I think she feels out of place. I'll be back in a minute." She squeezed her hand as Asami smiled and nodded, and then walked over to talk to Barriss.

"Excuse me? Master Offee? Would you mind if I joined you?" Luminara asked.

Barriss opened her eyes and turned toward Luminara. She smiled and nodded. "No, I don't mind at all." She patted on the empty seat next to her. "Go ahead. Sit."

Luminara nodded and sat down next to Barriss. "You know, mother would be happy you're here with us." She said, and looked at Barriss. "Mama loved her family a lot."

"I know she did," Barriss acknowledged. "Your mother was very fortunate and I'm happy for her. I'm happy that she was able to live a long life surrounded by people who loved her."

Luminara smiled sadly. "I know she wished you had been reunited earlier." And then, "Could you tell me about her? What was mother really like as a child?"

Barriss nodded. "I met her when she was eight years old," she recalled. "She was a youngling at the time and was struggling with her heritage. When she heard that she might become your namesake's new Padawan, she sought me out because she was worried that mom - I mean Master Unduli - wouldn't like her because she was Mandalorian. That was something she struggled a lot with back then, being both Jedi and Mandalorian. But ultimately she was a better Padawan and a better Jedi than I ever was." She sighed.

Luminara nodded, and looked a little conflicted. Being both? That was something Luminara understood all too well. "It must have been scary for her." She paused, and then added; "She was with Master Unduli for a couple years after Order 66. It bothered her for years, not knowing what happened."

"Vader must have erased her memory, when she was captured by him that is." Luminara paused. "Do you think, if Order 66 had never happened, she would have stayed with the Jedi?"

Barriss shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I can't begin to tell you how many nights I have been kept up wondering how my life would have been different if I had made a different choice or if the Clone Wars hadn't happened or if Order 66 happened. Back when I first met your mother, I was actually thinking of leaving the Jedi Order... and asking someone to come with me." She looked away for a moment and sighed. She didn't mention speaking to an alternate version of herself once, because she didn't even know how to begin explaining that. "The reality is... we can never know how things might have played out. We can only know how things have played out. We can't control our pasts, but we can control our futures. And despite all the tragedy she faced, I think Madelyn did really well for herself. I just wish I could have known the woman she became more."

Luminara put a hand on Barriss's shoulder as she listened. She had a point. The future did matter more then the past. "I think mother wishes for that as well, after she saw you again."

She paused, "I know it's too late to get to know mother and the woman she became more, but her children and grandchildren are here. I'm sure they would all love to get to know you."

Luminara quickly added, "And if you ever need anything, you always have a home with us."

I appreciate that," Barriss said genuinely. "I really do. And I do want to find time to get to know her family more. Maybe I will stick around for a bit, though I will have to talk about it with my partner first."

She sighed. "You know, before Bonadon the last time that I saw your mother was on Arkansis. It was after Endor, after the supposed death of Palpatine. I was working to prevent the continuation of the Inquisitorius, an organization of Jedi hunters that I had once been forced to join. That included helping the New Republic rescue Force-sensitive children who were turned into agents of the dark side as part of an operation called 'Project: Harvester.' And your mother... was there to stop me. The Empire had made her into an Emperor's Hand. And when I saw her, I realized who she was. And I didn't want to fight her. So I tried talking her into leaving the Empire, tried telling her that it was okay to walk away. She let me leave with the kids, but she didn't come with me. She didn't trust me. And after that, I wasn't sure if I had gotten through to her or not. Ultimately she did make the right choice and without that choice I don't think we would here. Not just to mourn her death, but to celebrate her life."

Luminara listened with a frown. Her mother had told her and her siblings about some of her time as an Emperor's Hand. She knew her mother had enjoyed many aspects of it. But she had never heard this story before.

"Why do you think she let you go? Mother was incredibly loyal to the dark side. It...sort of ran in her blood. She had an ancestor who was a Sith Lord." Luminara paused. "I wonder if she thought there wasn't much to fight for."

"Well, it was not too long after the Emperor's death," Barriss pointed out. "I think she was probably at a loss. And maybe she was loyal, but she could still see that the orders she was following were wrong. That what the Empire was doing to those children was wrong. They were taken from their families with the intent of never letting them see their loved ones again. Brainwashed and sometimes even tortured into serving and dying for the Empire." She shook her head. "And I also reminded her of our former master... our mother. How she had cared for us. How this wasn't what she wanted for us."

"Mother was...torn. I can understand why she wouldn't trust anyone with how she was trained. How she loved under the Empire. She might have known deep down the Empire was wrong, but she needed a reason to start to doubt." Luminara paused. "You gave her the first reason she should change. You probably reminded her of who she once was."

Tag: @Sinrebirth @Jerjerrod-Lennox @JediMasterAnne @CosmoHender

 

~IC~ Ahsoka Tano
Location: Atrisia

There is something to be said for the lingering effects of Palpatine’s rule. Whether it truely was him that had returned all after a few decades... it was hard to fathom how that could be so given the finality of his end at Endor... but then again, Kenobi had bisected Maul in two and he became half the Sith he could have been. His pride, his rage had Maul linger in a shattered body long after his fall only to return towards the fall of the Republic... and again decades later at temple at Malachor.

Malachor... that was a convergence of destinies.

With Palpatine, there had been sentinels that executed his final orders... Operation Cinder and others. There could have been clones or some variation of. Possibly an apparition conjured up by the dark followers of Exogul akin to the powers of the Nightsister of Dathomir.

Yet, on her search, was it the will of the Force that brought her to Nouane... towards this curious curator, a foremost expert on the history of Nouane, the chronicles of Palpatine, his influences and of the occult.

The shudder of the cabin signalled their vessel’s arrival at Atrisia. Ahsoka opened her eyelids a fraction as she regarded the curator’s expression as they looked out the viewport. She had been meditating.

“Alright, you’ve been patient with me so I kinda need to come through. A year together, bit much.” The hooded museum curator broke the silence.

Morai trilled in her way of agreement.

Ahsoka completely opened her eyes and sat up. Her azure gaze watched the curator with curiousity as he lifted his hood to reveal a dark skinned variant of Sephi. His striking features were marred by scars and an eye missing.

“Yeah, I know. You were hardly gonna trust me if I’d shone up all scarred and one-eyed. Good thing the curator of Nouane museum is expected to hide his face, ain’t it?” He then shrugged. “The name’s Arb.”

Ahsoka smiled warmly to him.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Arb. I know you know mine as Ahsoka.” She softly spoke as she outstretched her hand for him to take. “I can empathise with your reticence, some strangers can be judgemental and close minded about certain things. After time, that can make you feel self conscious that you hide yourself away from the world. I appreciate that you feel comfortable enough in my presence to allow me to see you as you are.”

Her gaze shifted to the viewport which the curator, Arbs, was looking out from.

“Since we are finally here... what shall be our first port of call? Well... second.” She corrected herself and crinkled her nose. “I believe the first shall be a decent meal. I think we at least deserve that.”

---

The vessel descended through the atmosphere. As the craft pierced through the clouds, they were greeted by a magnificent view of the colossal monuments that were constructed eons ago. The flight path arced them around those historical grounds before angling towards the spaceport. It was not long before it gently settled upon on the landing pad.

Welcome to Atrisia.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Tirran Huxley
Markets of Coruscant

Inevitably, the former capital planet opened its doors again, and his old, old droid got in-touch.

His old store, it was intact, and the droid had been trying to find its master for some time - years, in-fact. No matter what some might claim, loyalty and capability such as that was not something you could buy programmed. Not with any reliability. It was a treasure one found and respected.

Tirran had wares that remained his, and the Lost Boys had only touched the surface of his stock when they had raided it to fight the Battle of Coruscant. The ledgers as well which he was gaining access to in the most abstract and coded of means indicated a very healthy profit margin.

Master, I would quite like instructions on what to do with the more esoteric items. I have managed to broker a self-sufficient shop and accrued some profit - merely skimmed to maintain myself, of course, and to pay me my legal minimal wage as a droid - but please kindly attend the store and I can hand over the more delicate wares.

Tirran did not need a deep explanation on this no matter how long he had been gone. The droid was referencing a handful of remaining Sith artifacts that had ended up in the store's hands, delivered late, and the owners were now dead, meaning, with the elapse of five years, they were legally Tirran's. Minor affairs, save for a single golden eye that had apparently rested in the head of Sith Lord Horak-Mul, normally not an issue. But now with other overlapping deals and potentially interested partners there was the question of how either of these other parties would view the situation. Was it something they would expect him to turn over? Was it something they would realize was a commitment, however open ended at the moment, that now left him with something he could sell? Or would knowledge of it, irrespective of circumstance of how it was acquired prove a provoking and relationship damaging to the detriment of those deals?

On other fronts business was booming; the Arkinnea supplies were making the New Order very happy customers, and Ruan was looking more and more likely to go bust. A sign he had made the correct business choice to not invest in them. With the Thyferran investment, he was running a similarly lucrative bacta side-venture, especially as the war continued. It was won, everyone kept saying, but the First Order hadn't given up, and the New Order was playing neutrality. No matter over or not fighting would continue and people would need their bacta.

The Jedi were agreeable to the arrangement still, although the veneer of trust was as thin as a lakes first frost. Full ship sweeps and scanning checks in-between destinations as well as in hyperspace for tracers became the norm. Not to mention he had taken to finishing a sweep and sleeping with his cabin and larger tank locked. Getting to Coruscant was not a problem.

Change ship registry to one associated with his shop and then provide the legal papers that he was delivering supplies to said shop. Which he actually was, stocked with droid parts, oil bath and maintenance supplies of high grade, as well as karaoke machine repair kits and new database extensions. 10,000 new songs all properly prepared. Granted security had been a bit tighter, raids will do that to a world, but with proper documents it was nothing he could not handle.

He was currently planning two methods of appeasement. Either bury the Sith treasures for a future day when he might entertain that market again, or give it as a gift to the Jedi. Those seemed like the best options. Yes, he would tag the items crates internally as for the Jedi to safeguard or determine what to do with, but have them buried in storage. That way if discovered by the Jedi it could be a delivery error, and if by others the internal message would be gibberish unless they knew who 'For care of Straw Hat and Tri-scars. Port Known.' meant.

Lastly and least importantly as he was going to be checking primarily on his shop, his droids, and his information network; was the notice about a sell of the Fury class ship. One that after a few minutes of brooding in his tank had finally been recalled as the one he had had to wreck due to interference from some Jedi in his act of 'salvage'. Now the thing, based off his scuttling it to escape, was most likely truly a piece of salvage.

Thank you for remembering my inquiry. Unfortunately at this time I am not in the market for said ship unless you can vouch for the intact nature of the ships internals and whether said ship is still space worthy.

Sending the return reply he also, through a multitude of scramblers and redirects, sent a copy of the entire message as well as a note about it being a Sith vessel back to his Jedi partners. Let them deal with it, Tirran was not about to seek trouble when he already had his shop and the state of his network and the underworld to contend with.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Bernhardt Johnson, Juno Eclipse
Location: Rogue Shadow, Kuat

Four years of sneaking aeoundcand it looked like the Resistance had decided to hell with it, they were going to battle it out.

At least he supposed it was better than sitting around on Chandrila. And he had been paired with a woman named Juno. He still had not gotten the measure of her yet.

This was where Johnson itched to have the Silencer back, his old Firespray. If they were about to enter a battle then at least they needed some firepower.

"I guess the Manticore will be handled by the fleets and fighters, we risk getting ourselves blown up if we try the Manticore. I guess the Eclipse is the big prize for us".

"Because if that gets going? Well that could spell big trouble".

"And if it does get going, we'll need to know where it's gone," Juno agreed.

She keyed the pilot, indicated the weapons controls. They had laser cannons, if the cloak wasn't sufficient. Juno had told Johnson that the Rogue Shadow had originally been designed by Darth Vader, but it hadn't been state-of-the-art since before the First Order appeared on the scene.

"Eclipse it is," she sent them forward, gently, in-case a sudden thrust exposed them.

The Rogue Shadow avoided the arriving Scythe and Errant Venture, as well as the advancing Manticore, TIEs and X-wings between them. The battle would appear one-sided, with how the Manticore was twice as long as the Venture, and three times as large as the Scythe.

But it was the Resistance, and that was their standard operation procedure; the small fighter taking chunks out of the bigger.

The ships advanced, and the Rogue Shadow darted through the shipyards. The defense weapons hadn't fired yet, but perhaps the Resistance weren't in range yet. There was a beep, and Juno blinked at the console. "Take over," she said, abruptly, releasing the controls and heading to the rear of the ship -

What the…

"Juno this is no time to be doing this" he growled as he took over as instructed "The battle is about to get fiesty and you are retreating to the back?"

"What's got you spooked?"

"I've an incoming call from an asset I've been ordered not to compromise," Juno said, sealing the room off, activating noise-impairment features; he couldn't overhear, not even with whatever Agent-sensor perception improvements he had.

But as it was, weaving through the shipyard was a big enough task, especially the massive turbolasers concealed within -

One fired, a massive bolt that was targeting the Resistance forces but clipped them, and suddenly the sensors told him that the cloak was down!

Clearly the ground team had yet to knock out the defences!

All of a sudden there was a plethora of alarms - a flight of four TIE Whispers had just been launched by the Manticore!

"Oh fantastic" he growled "You decide to take a call right in the middle of a battle. Maybe it would have been better to wait until after we got through this?"

Johnson had to keep on going towards the Eclipse, but he armed the laser cannon and prepared to open fire.

"And guess what, they can see us now but keep on with your important call".

Juno didn’t answer, but Johnson found himself in command of a ship more powerful than even his old Firespray. The souped up blasters could cut apart even shielded TIEs and in the first exchange the enemy knew to back off.

Instead missiles were fired - two - and the console asked if Johnson wanted to deploy chaff, even as another sensor warned him that an anti-starfighter quad laser was targeting him from the shipyard defences -

Johnson confirmed to deploy chaff before continuing to fire at the fighters. The more they backed off the more chances they would get to enter the Eclipse.

There was now a quad laser targeting him "Oh no you don't" he growled as he switched fire from the fighters to the quad laser.

The quad laser exploded, as did one missile in the chaff, before the next detonated closer to the ship than not, rocking it and sending it careening towards the shipyard.

Johnson tried to regain control whilst trying not to smash them to bits.

Come on, work with me here…

The ship was responsive, very responsive, and suddenly he was through the shipyard, rocketing towards the docked Eclipse.

There was one TIE left pursuing them, and Juno came back to the cockpit looking concerned and then outright panicked.

"What did you do?" She rushed to the co-pilot seat and began starting self-repair programs and diagnostics -

"Some fancy flying" he growled "A shot hit us so the cloak went. Then we had TIE's after us so I took them out and a quad laser".

"A thank you might be nice".

Juno sounded gruff. "I took less damage sneaking into the first Death Star."

The woman had subroutines active, and the ship was swiftly calming down. Juno dropped a mine and the TIE Whisper exploded abruptly. "Done," she said. Juno looked at Johnson.

"Thank you," her tone was firm. "Can we head to the Super Star Destroyer now?" She eyed the hulks of other Eclipse-class ships in low orbit. "It looks as if the First Order cannibalised the ships they had part-constructed to finish that one..."

"... but there is a gap where the kyber crystal is needed..." she indicated the opening in the upper hull. "Black Squadron flew into one of them once, lost a pilot, nearly two, ten years ago. So, let's resist the urge to do that, please? There will be a hangar somewhere..." Juno looked as if she had an idea. "Or an engine maintenance hatch?"

Juno looked over to Johnson. "Thoughts?"

Johnson resumed course "I'd say hangar or engine maintenance hatch, if they lost a starfighter where that kyber crystal goes then we definitely won't fit."

"If we go into the hangar we will definitely need to look the part.If they see us looking like Resistance fighters we will be captured. I was an Agent, I can get us on anywhere".

Juno snorted. "I was an Imperial pilot, I can be the part."

She headed to a locker and pulled out a black-tight fitting attire, complete with cap, all updated to have First Order symbols rather than Imperial. "Hangar works for me," Juno said, as she zipped up her navel. "Agent Johnson. Still feeling warm and fuzzy about your former bosses?"

Johnson raised an eyebrow as he got changed into his suit, complete with earpiece and sunglasses. He never thought he would be putting this back on again.

"Low blow Miss Eclipse" he said ignoring the fact that they were literally getting changed in front of each other.

"There is nothing warm nor fuzzy about the First Order. I became thier killing machine, they took everything from me. Now? I get to throw a little payback their way".

He settled back down in his seat leaving her to pilot again "Now hopefully, my Agent clearence code still works…."

It did; they were in and down and ignored in the huddle of techs and workers wanting to finalise the ship’s departure in the face of the Resistance attack. There was a simple message for Johnson across the agreed frequency.

Welcome Agent Johnson. I would invite you to the bridge so we may discuss your return. Your timing and insight would be appreciated. I don’t have an appropriate honour escort handy, I am afraid, but I will authorise your route to the bridge. The captain signed off, but didn’t include their name.

Juno regarded the message. “Curious,” she settled on. “What do you want to do?”

"Might as well go and say hello, see what I can glean fr om them as to plans and such".

He smiled "Meanwhile are you up for a little sabotaging?" He touched his earpiece "Contact me via this if you get into trouble, it's encrypted so you can contact me without them peeking".

Juno nodded, smiling as she placed an ear-piece in her own ear too. “Always up for sabotage.” She produced a satchel from a locker. It had a black, glossy finish to the material. “Sensor refraction - the munitions inside won’t be detected unless a direct scan is done.” She handed it over. “Think you can get some planted as you go?”

He took it, hefting it up for good measure and smiled "Oh I can always stop off for a quick scan of things, Agents always have to scan for potential threats".

"Hopefully should not be too long. Meet back here when we are done and then get out".

"Good luck" he said and went to exit.

The Agent was unnoticed save for those who stopped to salute, pinning themselves to the bulkheads as they gave him space. Careful, came the voice of Lucrecia, heard for the first time in years…

The voice of Lucretia was wierd to hear again. Maybe she was watching him from her crystal prison.

Occasionally he would stop to scan or inspect something and that was when he placed the charges, hopefully hidden but maybe enough to do some damage when they blew.

Arriving on the bridge he gave the Captain, whomever it was his best stare.

"Captain" he said, his tone as stoic as an Agent was supposed to be "My timing of course is impeccable it seems. What is it I gather that you need from me?"

The captain's chair turned to reveal a quite colourful character.



"Big brother, we are blessed to be joined by you, after that acquittal, one had to wonder if you would ever be brazen enough to identify yourself by code so openly."

Big brother? Johnson was confused here.

"It seems we have not been properly introduced, I do not know who you are. And I do not recall ever having a brother".

"It's a distant relation, by way of our mother..."

He chuckled. "Dr Gast, that is, who mothered the AGENT program. You're the prototype of the second generation of AGENTs, after all."

The big man leaned forward. "I am third generation; perfected."

The more he got whomever it was talking, the more Juno had time to do her thing.

"She is not my mother" Johnson stated "I am an Agent and answer to higher authority".

"So why were you created, and what are you known as?"

“Oh dear, if you aren’t here to rejoin the family, then, well, we won’t be on a first name basis…” He stood; the man was tall, and well defined. He exuded threat.

“… I’ll just have to kill you.” He drew from his back a pair of blasters, but they had long barrels - and those barrels had blades on their underside and top. He barked orders. “Disengage from the dock, and vent the hangar into vacuum. Kill Agent Johnson’s partner, and get us underway.”

"Then you will need to be terminated" he growled pulling his blaster out and starting to fire.

Juno would be on her own until he dealt with this brute.

The man took the bolts on his bare chest, and looked down at it for damage. There was none; the bolts reflected off. “Vonduun crab DNA woven into my skin.” He grinned, pointed one of his gun-blades, began firing -

Johnson tucked his blaster away in his jacket, looked like it was goinvg to be no use unless he found a weakness.

Charging forward he dropped himself at the last moment into a slide to try and take his legs out.

The man sidestepped aside and pivoted, the slide passing him by. "Good, fight! I like a challenge!" He holstered his gun-blades and set into a defensive pose, as the warship shifted and began heading into open space.

He let Johnson return to his feet before he feinted, a massive swing at the man's jaw that would still hurt if it connected, but his real intent was to step forward and boot the former Agent in the gut -

Johnson moved to the side to try and avoid the blow and this time aimed a high kick to try and at least put this man's aim off.

Maybe at some point Juno could come in and maybe save his backside….

But Juno was struggling to save herself from being shot out the hangar, and the big man planted his thrown foot and simply lifted his hand and caught the Agent’s foot, holding it.

“You’re so feisty, big brother.” A sneer. “Even if you are the runt of the litter.” He pushed the foot back.

Johnson would need a much bigger distraction.

“Reaching jump point, sir.”

A grin crossed his face.

The little report was not it.

Johnson then had an idea.

You are fighting like an Agent. You need to fight more like a human…..

He still had the case with him so he decided this time to throw it, it was empty of charges now. Would they get out of here if he detonated his charges?

A Resistance agent had to be prepared to die for freedom. And maybe just maybe, the Eclipse could be stopped before it jumped. Or slowed down so the fleet could get it.

As he threw it he pulled the detonator from out of his jacket pocket…

And pressed it.

The Eclipse rocked, and for once, the man's face expressed displeasure. Alarms sounded around then.

With a growl, he drew his gunblade and slashed at his foe -

Another detonation, a chained one, and his blow went askance, swinging over Johnson's head and exposing his back - and the second gun-blade holstered there to Johnson, in grab range if he wanted to risk it -

Johnson didn't know if he had just blown up Juno but he had to hope she was still alive.

Meanwhile Johnson did risk it, if you had the chance you had to take it.

He dived, reached out and tried to grab it and then tried to yank it out and up to hopefully cause some damage.

The gun blade slid free and the big man spun around, solidly planting the hilt of his weapon in the back of Johnson’s ear as punishment.

There was a loud crack, and his vision began to blacken. It was a heavy blow, even as the ship became to keen and cry out at its damage.

Johnson collapsed, his body falling limp.

He couldn't move, even if he wanted to.

The big man had gotten him right where he wanted. And Juno and he were about to blow up and fail…..

Consciousness hung on, just about, and the big man turned, ignoring Johnson on the floor. "Damage report! I want stability now!"

"We've detonations between here and the hangar my Lord!" The big man put his blade through the man's mouth.

"Can we jump to New Byss?"

Another officer, panicked. "Not without risking hull integrity. The engines may sheer off the ship -"

He growled. The man hid beneath his desk. "Abandon ship. I would have liked to sneak another Eclipse-class out under the fools' noses..." He regarded the crew. "Escape pods to the planet. Any officers with a Dark-level clearance, to the hyperdrive equipped ones aft. We'll take the secret route via the sun."

Johnson knew at least where the big man was going. Now to grab Juno and get off. He was in no condition to fight now it would end up in the same situation as he was in his fight against Smith.

And possibly dying.

Hopefully the fleet would take out this Eclipse and the others that were there.

He took a deep breath before quickly standing up, wobbled for a few steps and then bolted forwards.

He touched his earpiece "Juno if you can hear me get back to the Rogue Shadow. There's a man aboard and he wants to head to New Byss. I'll explain more when I get aboard".

There was no reply, not yet, not for now.

Johnson was on his way as the ship fell apart around him, crew members panicking, all First Order uniforms, but among them were differing Stormtrooper designs - black armoured ones. Not First Order white, or even Sith red, but jet-black.

When he reached the hangar he saw why - there was an immense hole where the hangar had been, and the Rogue Shadow was missing. But Johnson knew where they were going -

A moment before a shot took him in the lower back.

As he tumbled, the big man would be there, his gun-blade smoking.

"Oh big brother, I could not let you go. Mother wants to see you, after all..."

He quirked a sadistic grin as he holstered his weapon anew, taking a very slow pace down the corridor, giving Johnson plenty of time to - to what? That was the question.

"My name is Sutta, for I am the Spear of our master, and Mother."

Johnson was down again. And this time he was not going to get up at all. Not unless he was dragged.

The Rogue Shadow was gone, Juno had decided to probably get the hell out of there. Or it had been blown up.

"Gast is dead" he hissed "Lucretia is in a crystal prison, not alive, not dead. And you will soon be joining them. Your existence terminated".

"And I would rather be dead than join you"

"I am sure." A click, and a stun shot worked over the man.

"Bring him to my ship."

The last words that Johnson heard that day.

TAG: @Sinrebirth