A Different Perspective

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"Flowers suit you," Cedric replied with the rigidity of a rock. The doctor's handiwork would keep his body from falling apart before he reached Republic space - she'd saved his life and now it was time for him to go. There were efforts of expansion within the New Republic that required him, and the search for his people's homeworld had not yet even begun.

Even still, he found himself considering new ideas. If there was a possibility the First Order could be host to people like the doctor, then it was possible that the empire could change. Perhaps defeating the First Order by force was not the only way to peace, though Cedric had trouble justifying such thoughts given what he had seen. In truth, something else was stirring such thoughts in the back of his mind; a need for justification.

The simple fact of the matter was that if Cedric returned now, he would be returning to the realm of war and politics. It wasn't something he feared, but it was a world in which the doctor he'd come to know did not exist. Something in the back of the Jedi's skull told him that when he left, it would likely be a very long time before he saw Miss Aes'ona again, and he found that to be rather unfortunate.

Silence followed Aes'ona's question. Cedric's gaze fell to the ground for a moment, his brow furrowing with thought. When he finally spoke, his words were slow and measured. "If you can prove to me that the First Order has the potential to truly be benevolent in its governance, then I won't have to come back here in a few years at the head of a war fleet." He'd always been one for dramatacism - it got the point across. "If you don't mind me tagging along for a short while. I'm rather stealthy when I want to be."

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

It did indeed get the point across, but the tactic not only worked for him. Back when he had been a Fleet Admiral, the Grand Admiral had told Doctor Terrani point-blank that the First Order refused to negotiate with terrorists. The label was anything but a fit for [member="Cedric Grayson"] but the threat--rather, fact--was not lost on Aes'ona. And it was more than a little terrifying.

"Are you crazy?!" she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down. "I'm not going to commit treason."

What, then, had she done so far exactly? In her eyes, a humanitarian act. If the Order ever found out, they'd hopefully only see it as a questionable choice, a conflict of interest she had made only because of the nature of her work.

 

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Probably a stupid thing to ask, but then Cedric was forming a trend of making bad decisions lately. There was no turning back now, lest he lose this avenue all together. The Jedi drew in a deep breath, decided against utilizing mental manipulation as he couldn't bring himself to influence the mind of someone he'd chosen to trust, and spoke.

"Slightly," he replied coolly, "But it isn't treason." Cedric met the doctor's eyes and let all manner of playfulness drop from his visage. His gaze was intense, some had called it judging, but he only meant to try and help her understand. "The Galactic War resulted in several billion lives being lost. My homeworld and the majority of its population number among them."

Cedric shook his head. "Another war is brewing. The galaxy is a powder keg and it's going to light sooner than most people think. The Sith Empire's plans of expansion are going to drag all of us into the conflict, and I'd rather see us fighting alongside the First Order than against them." A hint of discomfort found its way into his voice. "I...suppose it sounds a lot more ridiculous out loud than it did in my head. I'd just rather not be on the opposite side of the trenches from you. I can't kill friends."

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona rolled her eyes slowly and then closed them, apprehensive rather than annoyed. Her stomach flipped when Cedric reminded her of the War's casualties and a knot began to form with the mention of his homeworld's fate, what Aes'ona could only assume had been genocide. She wasn't privy to much of the Order's military tactics or political plans, but the little she knew of the Sith worried her to her core.

Of course Cedric was right. Another Galactic War was in the making.

But we're allied with the Sith, thought the doctor before she could remind herself that an alliance might just save the Order from Sith bloodlust but it wouldn't save the billions upon billions of lives that existed outside of her faction.

She hesitated to respond at first, unable to think that accepting the proposal would be anything less than treason for adhering to an enemy and giving him even more aid than she already had. But then she rationalized that, if [member="Cedric Grayson"] was not a member of the Silver Jedi, he wouldn't be an enemy just yet. Not until his New Republic had time to grow and garner power at least, but if the duo succeeded in this endeavor, maybe he and his would never become one.

She took a deep breath, equally taken aback that he considered her a friend and overwhelmed with her own thoughts. Her voice came slightly unsteady but laced with commitment: "I-I wouldn't want you killed either. I'll help, but first I need to take care of a personal affair. Myself." They stopped at a crosswalk, taking out her datapad to browse flights as she waited. "It'll take two days at most. Would you wait here?"

 

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"I would." Cedric replied immediately. Truthfully he was surprised the doctor would even consider Cedric's rather outlandish plan, but then he had seen something in her that most beings lacked. It was that natural drive to make the world around oneself better that defined what it meant to be a Jedi Knight, and while Aes'ona did not feel the force as he did, she embodied that definition as much as he did.

"Sorry," the Jedi reached up to scratch at the back of his head, "I'm a man of faith. Usually when something like this happens, it's for a reason. The force brought me here to end the threat my father left behind, and in doing so guided me to you. I try to take those signs and work with them as best I can; it's how the force guides me." He tried to explain. He understood that such probably sounded like lunacy to one that did not put as much stock in the force as he did, but Cedric felt it important to explain his sometimes seemingly eccentric actions.

A pause.

"I'm glad you don't think it's completely crazy," Cedric said honestly, and he found himself smiling. "When you get back - do you think you could take a day or so of absence? The New Republic is having a ball soon and it's open to all the galaxy's major players, First Order included. It might be a good idea to have some of the senators meet someone from the Order with a heart."

And, truthfully, he found that he might want the doctor's company at the gathering. If nothing else her conversation would keep his brain from rotting while he stood guard over the Supreme Chancellor. There was also a mischievous little part of Cedric that was curious to see what the doctor might have looked like in a dress - only idle curiosity, of course.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona couldn't hold back a laugh at Cedric's comment of faith--aimed at herself and the State rather than at him or the Force. "You're lucky that I'm not a devout follower of the Balance," she admitted, slightly teasing when she added, "or I'd like you much less... Perhaps questioning faith was an unspoken cost of my MD." She found herself the smallest bit jealous of him. Still, she could understand the concept of faith without feeling it.

She grew serious again as she led them towards Xam'Chi spaceport. "Oh no, on the contrary. I may think it a little foolish--" she was well aware of her comrades' xenophobic predispositions, "--but it's good in theory.

"I don't see why not," she continued. It would be easy to extend her leave of absence, particularly because no one had risen any questions about her intentions initially. "Though it is probably for the best not to alert the First Order."

A ball. Even the thought was a little nerve-wracking. The doctor had been told on multiple occasions that she was not fit for the world of politics, but maybe she had just been in the wrong arena. Maybe she had been trying, mostly in vain, to justify humanitarianism to an automized, cold military regime. Maybe she just needed a more sympathetic audience and then she could be successful.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3tFkcW7ySk​

"It's good to question it. If you can't defend your faith, then it isn't one worth following," Cedric reflexively replied. It was in his nature to lecture, though he found himself cursing that nature now. It didn't matter - she'd mentioned something along the lines of liking him less or some such. It all more or less flowed together in his head, but the general sensations were something he had not experienced in quite a long time.

"We'll tell them you're going on a safari," Cedric offered, "You wear the suit, I'll wear the dress. We'll be the talk of all the nobles," he found himself grinning once again, but it was not at himself this time. He almost felt childish in a way: as if his words and the way he was currently conducting himself was unbecoming of a Jedi Master. It probably was, and he found he did not wholly care - a truly terrifying thought.

The spaceport seemed a lot less depressing now. The future was often a bleak thing for Cedric to comprehend, but for once there was a small bright spot of possibility within it. He decided that it was one worth keeping as they came to a halt outside the port's front doors.

"I suppose this is where we part ways," he mused quietly, "You'll be in touch?" He asked with more enthusiasm than he wished to let on.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Maybe [member="Cedric Grayson"] was right about faith. She had been more or less forced into the Cosmic Balance in her childhood via peer pressure, as it became something of a fad started by the Grand Moff. The only 'faith' that the doctor could truly defend was that of medicine.

Either way, Aes'ona didn't mind the reply.

"Perhaps," she replied to Cedric's offer. "I'll think of something."

And then the doctor couldn't help but smile at the joke. She didn't get to do it much, finding it was somewhat inappropriate for most of the situations she found herself in on the Malice--from treating grizzly war wounds to meeting with the Grand Admiral. But here she felt more at ease. Herself.

"Promptly," she affirmed, raising her datapad once more to input Cedric's comm frequency. "I'll call you as soon as I return. Stay safe, Cedric." She allowed herself the name slip, as no one was in their immediate vicinity and, well, it felt more honest to wish him well that way.

With that, she adjusted the strap of her duffle on her shoulder and disappeared into the spaceport where her transport into the Core awaited her.

 

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As Aes'ona drew away, so too did the mask drift back on. It was as if all the excitement had left Atrisia, and now the threat of the First Order all around Cedric was a far more tangible thing. It was likely because the doctor's presence had provided him with a certain level of protection, but then human emotions were complicated things to truly understand. He decided it was not a thought worth chasing and made his way into the spaceport some time after the doctor had gone on her way.

Thoughts of the future infected Cedric's mind. It seemed he would never find a break from the endless excitement that came from service to the Jedi Order and the New Republic as a whole, but for once the possibility for a life other than one that met a grim end at the hands of a Sith army seemed almost tangible. Real. Perhaps they could achieve peace between the two rival nations.

Or, Cedric thought to himself as he stepped aboard the shuttle, he could show her what the New Republic had to offer her. Even if he failed in warding off the First Order, perhaps he wouldn't have to watch as the Republic unleashed its warriors upon the doctor after all. He doubted he could sit back and watch that happen under any circumstances anyway.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]