Faction Alpine's End [GA & Allies]

[Faith Organa]

Location: Alderaan Embassy, Coruscant

Faith once again looked upon the caskets of the Alderaani who had walked out to battle the Maw, the Sith..the darkness. So many names for those who walked a path of destruction taking anyone and anything with them along the way.

Beside her her son Theo stood quietly in his uniform of the Alderaan Navy. She had a new task for her son one that she knew he would not like but she and Draco felt was necessary. But that discussion was for later right now was about the fallen. At the Senate there was a service which she and Theo would join later. For now it was a day of mourning starting with her own.

She mourned with everyone who lost someone she could feel that pain deep to her soul. There was little comfort in saying they died in the line of duty doing what they believed to be right. The fathers, mothers, wives, husbands and children who had to look at their new normal and live it the pain would take time, lots of time.

A shuttle stood ready to take the Alderaani home, she knew somewhere around here Ikenna Tahj stood tall proud of those who had performed their duty. She looked at her people.

The red rimmed eyes, tear stained cheeks all spoke to the sadness that filled this tiny courtyard.

"To say to you these soldiers died for what they believed is small comfort. We all feel no...we all miss them whether we knew them or not we feel it that emptiness. I spoke with their family earlier and these were some of the things they told me about our fallen heroes."

"LT Alvarez has a wife and two children on Alderaan. He liked to garden in his off time telling everyone it was relaxing and he liked to make things grow" She smiled she always envisioned all Alderaani as gardeners.

"SGT Quaila was to married her next rotation home. She had recently started taking lessons on moss painting. Her mother said she always had this funny smile that made everyone relax the moment she looked at them. " Every mother looks at their child and remembers everything they did, Faith then looked at Theo and remembered that day he and Laira made mud pies. Seems so long ago.

"PVT Carone" gosh he was so young she thought, "was studying law he wanted to help people and was hoping to one day join the judges on Alderaan."

Faith stopped, "When I spoke to their families earlier these were the things they told me about their loved ones. No one can take their place for they were single unique people with a sense of duty to their home and their families. We honor their sacrifice and we send them back home. " A small honor guard stepped forward to begin the slow march to load the flag drapped caskets to the shuttle that would take them on the final journey home to Alderaan.

Theo watched. He knew Quaila she had this big laugh that made everyone want to join in and man was she strong she could put anyone to shame when it came to wresting. He would miss her.

 

[Creuat]

K N I G H T
GALACTIC ALLIANCE
CORUSCANT
Zaka

He was speechless, though within him grew anger and contempt.

Emotions directed towards those pertaining to the Senate and his fellow peers of the New Jedi Order. The Senate's ignorance and fear lead to Coruscant's plunder, and the Jedi shared the same fault for complying with their irrational skepticism.

Now on the day of mourning for those lost, he held no sympathy towards deceased senators and others involved with their efforts on incriminating the Jedi. Unironically, these deserve this and less for their ignorance and lack of vision.

"Hmm? This is odd, for you?"

Funerals odd for him? Surely, it was a universal practice for many regardless of their culture.

 

[Zaka]

EMERGENCE OF THE FANGED vol. I
Issue #4
Creuat

Zaka did not notice the other person in his proximity after he huffed out his condemnation of the proceedings. Though the shock of surprise that coursed through his veins was suppressed expertly. Slowly twisting his head about to give an appraising look of the Nautolan, quickly determining them to be a Jedi after a brief reach out with the Force.

He, Zaka, made no attempt at concealing his choice of weapons - even if he was not yet officially, a member of the New Jedi Order.

"It is," he affirmed, blinking. "To me." Born a warrior, he was no stranger to death, no stranger to killing, and certainly not confused with the purpose or activities of funerals - though in his culture, they were more akin to celebrations. What did leave him stumped however, was the grim nature that pervaded the air.

"Death is natural. Inevitable. What matters is how you die. and whether it is done in service of someone else's goals, or if it is of your own volition." That's what his people taught. To cry about death, was as foolish as crying about the rain. It was an intrinsic part of nature, of life. That's what made it so important.

Turning to the amphibian, Zaka regarded him thoughtfully before leaning back over the edge.

"I imagine... Dying while living untrue to yourself is quite sad."

Based off the ruined buildings that he had seen overhead when he had landed planetside, he could tell that it was a slaughter. Even without the whisper of the Force telling him of the countless lives lost, even a blind man would be able to see it.

"What of you? You are a... New Jedi, aren't you?" His tone was inquisitive, rather than antagonistic, but there was an underlayer of knowing that led away from the rhetorical, and on to his true question. "What do you think of all this?" Waving his hand not out to the procession, but to the Senate Building above it. "The Senate, I mean." Even if he had not been on Coruscant, news of the New Jedi confinement was widespread.

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Coruscant, Avenue of Core Founders
Equipment: Jedi Robes Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Jax's Second Lightsaber, Promise Ring to Jairdain
Tag: Caltin Vanagor

Just then, Jax felt a familiar presence standing behind him. Master Vanagor and he wasn't his usual stoic self. He showed some compassion though it was no different than the compassion Caltin showed Jax when he taught him Vaapaad and the fact that Jax told Master Caltin about losing his limb to Pom Stych Tivé back at Ziost. The Jedi sighed wiping away the tears that fell freely from his eyes, it was okay to be hurt, it was okay to feel sadness from what happened. Yet what made a Jedi was that they process this grief in a healthy manner and learn to move on and focus on their duties. Although the attack was bloody and the casualties high, Coruscant remained standing the people may be shell shocked but they will live on and survive. The Jedi had been through worse purges in their history and they always a comeback.

"It's their memories," Jax said looking up in the sky. "Their memories is all we have left of the people who died, but even they fade with time despite us vowing to never forget. We need to remember though Master Vanagor, we need to make sure that we can never endure this again. The bastards pushed us down and beat us bloody."

The Jedi clenched his fists. "Yet we stand and face an uncertain path, and now the cry for war will be greater than ever before."

Did the Alliance have the manpower to contend with this new Sith Empire especially after many losses endured by the The Sith Empire? What of the remnants of the old Sith? Jax knew that they were still enough of them in hiding ready to strike. "The best thing we have right now," Jax said turning around to face Caltin. "It's hope it's what carried us to a victory against the Old Sith, we're going to need it more than ever."

He sighed. "I died once in the last war," Jax fully aware of what he said. Jax trusted Caltin with that information, only a few people knew that Jax died and came back. The Galactic Alliance went over Jax's medical records and almost gave him a star that was for people who died in service. After calling a quick call, the Alliance instead gave Jax the Alliance Cross. "I think this war is going to be twice as bloody," he said. "But I will make sure that to be mindful and focus on what needs to be done."

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<Damsy?>

Kai swung down from the rooftops, landing with poised tightrope balance upon a stone patio railing. No vibrations accompanied his soundless arrival, nor did the carved barrier shift beneath his weight as he crept toward the hunched-over figure of Damsy Callat.

Some cultures used black as a symbol of mourning, others gray or white. Kai wore red, one of the loudest colors on the spectrum. A powerful color; the color of blood and all the passions and rages which bring it out. He wore it when he was pursuing justice, or seeking revenge.

Now he crouched before Damsy, a fellow Jedi in training; the leader of their people, the undamned Sithspawn, and besides Aeris, who was more mentor than maternal, the closest thing he had to a mother. His friend Damsy.

Her face was hidden from him, obscured by her folded arms and bent knees. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she probably didn’t want to be bothered right now, but seeing as Kai bore good news, he had resolved to deliver the message anyway, even if he had to be quick about it to avoid getting swatted.

<The Reef is okay. Nobody got hurt besides some scrapes and bruises. Some old machinery got busted up while we were wrestling with a monster that broke in, but it wasn’t anything essential.> Kai held out his hand. At the center of his palm, a Golden Starbird gleamed. <They gave me this for helping to defend the Temple Library.>

Glancing toward the grieving crowds gathered below, Kai turned back to Damsy and quickly put the medal away. <What about you?> he asked, adjusting his stance so that he was sitting on the railing, his legs dangling over the edge. Getting comfortable, in case he wound up staying a while. <How are you doing?>

Damsy Callat Dagon Kaze​

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...​

Location: Avenue of the Founders - Coruscant

Spoiler: Lightsabers

"ELOAH" (Secondary - Long Handle)

"CONSERVATOR" (Primary - Long Handle)

Spoiler: GEAR

Comm-link, Rebreather, Custom Robes, Battle Armor,Toraynor-Henkan(mind crystal added) Advanced Jedi Utility Belt

Spoiler: STARSHIP/COMPANIONS

Starship: Starlight Sentinel, (Jedi Interceptor in the landing bay, Dilorian, and Bike both in the cargo bay, the late Karki Eusith's Armor, Shield, Temple Guard Lightsaber mounted on the wall)
Companion: Astromech R01R - "Roller", Pilot droid Mu51c - "Music", "Aricsias" Wookiee Clan (pops in and out of posts)

Tag: Jax Thio

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." - Theodore Geisel aka "Dr. Seuss"
​

Putting the hand back on his shoulder and gripping slightly, the massive Jedi Master just let the kid talk. He seemed to be lost emotionally, it was natural after all that they had just gone through and all that had been sacrificed to this point. Caltin had been through it more than he could ever wish upon another. However, he learned to use the feeling of loss, to let it motivate him, not control him, motivate him to be "better". Yes, he processed his grief like Jax, and like any other Jedi, but he used it to give him reason to keep carrying the lightsaber.

Jax needed an ear and he gave it, he also needed a kind word, something that he wasn't always very good at.

There will always be times where you remember those who were lost. Reminders. When something reminds you of a lost loved one, my old Master believed it was their spirit stopping by to say "hello".

He sighed as he looked around, at the grief-stricken, at those trying to be strong for those around them. He felt it all. A part of him felt terrible, but a bigger part felt that it was the beginning of something amazing, for everyone.

My grandfather, your great x10 grandfather... one of the traits he passed on to us was the innate ability to never truly give in. He was a Jedi too. You and I, our family... we can get mad, we can feel grief, and we can let it all go when we need to. That is something that has always set us apart. Always made us Jedi that even our fellows can count on.

Putting his hand on another marker, and giving a silent blessing, he looked back.

Our family has had it tough, but it only makes us that much tougher, know what I mean?

​

What else was he saying?

Look, this wasn't the place I wanted to do this, but I had a sample of your blood checked. It matched mine. We're directly related, Jax. You're a "Vanagor". I put one of my holocrons in your ship before I left, it's DNA synced, so you will be able to access it and it will tell you everything you need to know.

... YET THE DAWN ALWAYS COMES.

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Coruscant, Avenue of Core Founders
Equipment: Jedi Robes, Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Jax's Second Lightsaber, Promise Ring to Jairdain
Tag: Caltin Vanagor

Wait, what?

Jax raised an eyebrow when Caltin said their family had it tough, what was he saying? Though Jax felt that Caltin was telling the truth or perhaps he believed in what he was saying. Either way, it was something that Jax wasn't prepared for. Given that Jax never knew his family having been found by Silvers on the shores of Kayshykk, he did research to find his family as a child but came up empty. Eventually Jax gave up and accepted the Jedi as his family. Yet here Caltin was saying that his great grandfather saying that the Vanagor's defining trait is that they never give up. Yet now Caltin is asking for a blood sample during what was practically funeral?

"You're right," Jax said trying to process this. "This is an awkward time to confess this Master Vanagor, I assume that you probably know who my parents are as well?"

It was more of a joke, Jax didn't expect Caltin to know about his parents but was this something that Master Oda had warned Jax about back in the Netherworld? "Okay...." Jax muttered. "I'll need to process this, we'll need to talk again under more favorable circumstances."

Part of him wanted it to believe this was a joke, but the Force was telling Jax different.

 

[Damsy Callat]

If beauty was in the eye of the beholder, good news was in their ear. And Damsy was hearing through the choking emotions of a Sithspawn somehow both damned and undamned at once. You don't wanna kill the messenger, she told herself as calmly as she could. You don't wanna kill anyone. Even at rock bottom she held to enough sense to realize she was projecting—hard.

She took a deep breath 4 by 4 by 4 in through her nose and out through her mouth, air pushing too at the sides of her neck as if her gills had been open. <I can't think 'bout that right now, starfish,> she answered without answering his question, deciding clear telepathy was better than muffled speech especially since she really didn't feel like moving. Still, her mind's voice was soft and malleable in its plead; a loud thought might have drowned it out completely.

That's how she was doing. Kai had spent enough time with Damsy to hopefully have started picking up what she was putting down, even if as much typically left a few mental blanks to be filled in.



**
Dagon Kaze | Kai Bamarri

 

[Dagon Kaze]

There was no time for mourning.

A break would break him completely.

The first drops of rain pitter-patter on the rooftops, an incoming shower on its way to cleanse the streets of Coruscant marred by blood and death. Remnant Mawites stalked the lowest levels, Sithspawn prowling among them and even their creators - the Sith- may have very well remained behind. From hunting those to lifting building blocks and pulling out survivors, Dag had spent the last few nights sleepless. Not too unusual, but this time the length of time going without rest was a new record. A lethal record.

Sweat matted raven locks hang over his forehead as he observes the mourning proceedings down below. Eyes empty, hollow just like his spirit, scan the area until they locked in on a patio a few floors below him to the left housing two familiar figures. There's a fickle gleam of relief rising up in his chest at the sight of Kai and Damsy alive but it is also too soon buried under the rubble of numbness. He wants to leave, to carry on with his mission but something tugs him towards the two. Both he had rescued and both he had, to some extent, felt like he had failed.

Flinging himself into a dive, arms spread wide like wings, and the rush of air no longer brings that sense of freedom. Soaring had never been as suffocating as now. His hands catch a hanging beam and he swings from it onto a stone railing of the floor right above the patio. Their verbal silence was broken by his voice, "Good to see you both alive." he tries to smile, it's barely visible and his voice resonates that hollow numbness.

And not corrupted.

Damsy Callat Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<That’s okay,> Kai reassured Damsy. <You can hang out up here for as long as you want.>

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder in what might have been the beginnings of an embrace, had not a third party arrived on the patio.

<Dag!> Kai stood up on the railing with such speed that it might’ve frightened onlookers, afraid he would topple over the edge. His face split into a grin, though his smile faded when he saw the state the Jedi Knight was in. <Are you okay?>

Dag was still his hero—twice now he had saved the doppelganger from capture, slavery and/or death. But like many who “meet” their heroes, Kai had been confronted with the vast distance between them. Dag was his rescuer, but he was not his friend. Perhaps he couldn’t and never would be, and Kai would just have to accept that.

Now that he was here, though, Kai remembered he actually did have a few things to say to Dag. <I got a Golden Starbird for fighting some Sith Lady who kept talking about wanting revenge on you or something. I think she went to the library thinking you would be there—when she couldn’t find you, she beat up Aeris and busted some computers with her lightsaber before we threw her back out the door—> Enthusiastically miming the events as he recounted them, Kai started to teeter a bit on the railing. Regaining his balance, he projected the memory-image of Anja Doreva into Dag’s mind for clarification.

"Now I am curious - would news of your demise finally draw the cowardly Dagon Kaze out of hiding or not?"

<Do you know who she is?>

Damsy Callat Dagon Kaze​

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN...​

Location: Coruscant - Avenue of the Founders

Spoiler: Lightsabers

"ELOAH" (Secondary - Long Handle)

"CONSERVATOR" (Primary - Long Handle)

Spoiler: GEAR

Comm-link, Rebreather, Custom Robes, Battle Armor,Toraynor-Henkan(mind crystal added) Advanced Jedi Utility Belt

Spoiler: STARSHIP/COMPANIONS

Starship: Starlight Sentinel, (Jedi Interceptor in the landing bay, Dilorian, and Bike both in the cargo bay, the late Karki Eusith's Armor, Shield, Temple Guard Lightsaber mounted on the wall)
Companion: Astromech R01R - "Roller", Pilot droid Mu51c - "Music", "Aricsias" Wookiee Clan (pops in and out of posts)

Tag: Jax Thio

Patting him on the shoulder, Caltin let the subject go. There were more pressing issues at the moment, as all of those gathered are not ready to move forward with anything right now. It wasn't the time. So he stood tall and watched over the proceedings.

... YET THE DAWN ALWAYS COMES.

 

[Ryv]

What a stupid idea.

Corin stood silently in one of many hallways that crisscrossed the facility entrusted with the former Chancellor's recovery. It was empty. Left bare of anyone or anything beyond stark white walls. He had foregone the attire once typical of the Jedi Knight. He abandoned the familiar jacket for a nondescript black poncho. Befitting of the circumstances. His lightsaber sat beneath the flowing garment, holstered adjacent to his ribs. Wyatt's saber had served him well since disappearing.

A dark cloud hung heavy in the room behind him. Hidden away by the very wall he now leaned against, Auteme sat over Adhira, tears rolling down her cheeks. Pain rose to the forefront of the young woman's mind. Speckled with admiration and confusion, this pain drew the Jedi Knight to request time alone with the woman she most respected. The droid drew closer to the door, its mechanical hands tapped at a terminal with an audible click. Corin turned a nearby corner and fell back into silence. He was still a wanted man last he knew. Testing his luck with a brief encounter with a medical droid didn't sound like the best of options.

He waited patiently until it wheeled away. He waited even longer for Auteme's sake. After several more minutes alone out in the hall, Corin waved his hand to the side absentmindedly, calling upon the force to move the door with but a thought. It complied a split-second later, sliding into place to allow the disheveled man access.

Neither of the room's inhabitants looked good, though one definitely looked worse than the other.

Corin stepped up beside Auteme and peered down at the peaceful visage of Adhira Chandra. He scratched at overgrown stubble, his amber gaze masked with a thin blue membrane meant to hide a familiar sight to someone who knew him. Someone like Auteme.

"Wake up, you old hag," Corin prodded the bedridden woman's psyche. "I've never known you to sleep on the job."

He didn't spare Auteme a glance.

Adhira Chandra | Auteme ​

 

[Seto Du Couteau]

Seto Du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Coruscant, Senate Building
Tag: || Dominique Vexx ||
Attire

Seto kept his smile and nodded, whether or not he managed to give Senator Vexx a positive image of himself only time would tell. For the moment the best he could do was just that, lay the seeds for a progressive relationship in the Committee. For now, the larger issue of the Financial Security of the Alliance lays on our laps. . . though I guess it wouldn’t be too much to ask for a short vacation down the line. Seto wearily thought to himself.

“Let us make plans for such trips soon, I must say it has been too long since I enjoyed any night-life.” The young Du Couteau heir chuckled as he returned his hand to hold the data-slate he was carrying.

“Anyways, to the topic at hand,” Seto began as he held up his data-slate for Senator Vexx to read. “-We have severe hemorrhaging of the Markets as the public trust with our Government has dwindled and people are seeking to protect their own capital and profits from being burnt to the ground;"

"-Mass sell offs, larger investment firms betting on several industries to sink even deeper into the red and to top it all off we have a serious case of over-spending in different sectors with the assumption that the Galactic Alliance will subsidize the bill.” Seto spoke concisely but quickly.

“Total War is a dangerous virus for a government to be infected with, and right now we are betting with our future for a great victory in the short term. . . . Too many people of Influence believe leverage is a form of genius. . .” Seto sighed as he clicked his tongue against the top of his mouth. Tch. He quickly shook his head, as if attempting to shake off the darkening clouds.

“-Let’s focus on keeping track of the Markets in the following week as trading resumes in the next few days. We have a tightrope to walk on as we balance a resurgent economy and the control of Federal spending.” Seto finally focused on the tasks at hand.

“-Let’s quickly arrive at the ceremony, afterwards we can split the meetings between us for the remainder of the day.” Seto finished as he gestured towards the other end of the hallway.
​

 

[Faith Organa]

It was so quiet you could hear every shift of clothing. She watched the last casket loaded to the shuttle. Only when the door shut did she take her eyes off and look to those around her.

"It is a day mourning no work today. Go home, Call home....do whatever you see fit for today to remember all those who have fallen. Not just our people but the others here on Coruscant."

Becca shifted slightly, "Faith will they come to Alderaan?"

She didn't have an answer for that, "Anything is possible." She could see it on their faces it was what they were all thinking. "We'll do what we can I'll get with our military leaders, Andien Gale and the High Council members Duke Kyle DeVoe to discuss and prepare. Just in case."

One thing she didn't want another visit from the Sith.

What she said had not provided comfort to them she could still see it in their eyes as they nodded and walked away.

She looked to Theo, "We need to get to the ceremony at the Senate."

 

[Creuat]

K N I G H T
GALACTIC ALLIANCE
CORUSCANT
Zaka

"Death is natural. Inevitable. What matters is how you die. and whether it is done in service of someone else's goals, or if it is of your own volition."

There is no death, there is the Force

The stranger was sensitive to the Force, though they did not reek of the Dark Side. The man spoke as if he had come across death and even took the lives of those he crossed with, something that Rhis was not a stranger to. If that was the case, then he would receive no foul judgement on his character as the Jedi Knight knew what it was to be judged harshly for killing those that deserved it.

"They mourn for what they have lost whether it is a friend, a relative, or a loved one. The dead are at peace, but the living suffer from their memory," he had experienced loss, before this great day of mourning. He had lost his mentor years ago on Mon Cala when the Sith Empire came to genocide the Mon Calamarians, in favor of establishing the Quarren as the sole rulers of it. Ironically, his mentor was Quarren and was disgust of how his people fell low to become pawns of the Sith. In their noble, yet futile efforts of fighting the Sith, there his mentor died in battle. His death was mourned, but at least he died as he lived.

Dying true to himself, just like the stranger said.

"What of you? You are a... New Jedi, aren't you?" His tone was inquisitive, rather than antagonistic, but there was an underlayer of knowing that led away from the rhetorical, and on to his true question. "What do you think of all this?" Waving his hand not out to the procession, but to the Senate Building above it. "The Senate, I mean."

"I am, yes," and continued to be despite the splintering of the Order as some such as Auteme left the Order in pursuit of politics.

"As for the Senate? They got what they deserved," and he meant it unapologetically. "A shame not all of them died from their ignorance and fear. Ironic, isn't it? The very heroes that rose against the crimson saber condemned for their actions when no one else would do that service. Not the Silver Jedi or the pretentious Confederates."

"Regardless, I still resume to my oaths as a Jedi."

"And you? What are you? You speak as a warrior, and enlightened. What brought you the broken jewel of the Core?"

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"Could be worse." he replies, struggling to maintain some sense of optimism but his words come out almost sarcastic instead. Damsy didn't look, at a first glance, any better, but Kai...he was gleaming to see him. He went on and on about his encounter and his well-deserved award. Beyond the similar features, it seemed that Kai had inherited from him that same positive spirit Dag had carried with him, a spirit that seemed all but lost at the moment.

But the resemblance did not end there. When he teetered on the railing and Dag nearly was about to jolt after him, Kai retained his balance like a well-trained acrobat. Pride begins to emerge and he wants to share it but the gloom of numbness represses it down, buried under the ash of his homeworld.

"I do." he says sourly as his eyes narrow into a frown. He'd felt Anja Doreva ' presence when the gates of the temple came crashing down, "She and I have a long-overdue appointment..."

"...I'm glad you've made it alive, Kai, she's a dangerous person to cross..." the sudden, foreign desire to kill her surges from the depths of his sorrow but he pushes it away, swallowing hard and adding, mainly to himself, "... but she's not beyond redemption, too."

Just like Damsy and you.

Kai Bamarri Damsy Callat

 

[Zaka]

EMERGENCE OF THE FANGED vol. I
Issue #4
Creuat

"They mourn for what they have lost whether it is a friend, a relative, or a loved one. The dead are at peace, but the living suffer from their memory,"

There was sense to be found in his words, Zaka saw. Mourning typically happened in private, though oft times celebrations were a public affair. A joyous people rooted in warrior traditions, they chose to strive to be better, and to look favourably on accomplishments. Whether each goal was reached was a different matter, but the successes were nothing less than added remembrance of the dead.

He only nodded.

At first, his brows furrowed beneath the animal cowl on his head, as he appraised the Nautolan in new light.

"The lock up?" He astutely determined. It was publicized after all. He had heard about it while he had been lingering on the cusp of the Unknown Regions. The Jedi's view did draw a sidelong glance. "All?" He thought, just the slightest bit confused. "I imagine not all or even many supported the decision," he said, as if he had some internal insight.

Of the Alliance? Certainly not. But his Master had fought in the Galactic Republic of old. Had recounted him the corruption of not only the Senate and multiple elected Chancellors, but even of ranking military officers. Of their wanton slaughter of innocents in supposed attempts to stop the advancement of One Sith incursions. He was cautioned to be wary of these institutions, there tended to be manipulations that the New Jedi and the Alliance recently came to experience.

"It is often the few that make the many look bad, isn't it?" The question, Zaka felt, made him look more theorist than the practical man he was. As if he were some contemporary observer.

"Me? I am a Jedi," he answered simply, not seeming to subscribe to either of the modern incarnations of the larger Orders. "I came here both to see if the New Jedi were to be my new home, though I still remain unsure. And to see what next steps to take." After capture at the hands of the Maw, he was needing time to recuperate and to regather his strength. He was not prone to sitting idle for long though.

 

[Damsy Callat]

Rain had started to patter down as Dag and Kai conversed. At first, Damsy didn't participate because she wasn't sure what was to come—not of their words but the oncoming water. As drop after drop speckled her robes, small circular patches on the grey cloth darkened momentarily. Then, a soft sizzle added a slight scorched scent to the urbanized petrichor.

It was the same trick Dagon had seen her act out before, when they had met and she had changed under the screaming warehouse sprinkler pipes.

But this time it wasn't a conscious doing, at least not on her part.

"... but she's not beyond redemption, too."

Damsy laughed into the duracrete short and sour. Between that comment and the last, which she had heard though her focus had been elsewhere, it was almost too easy to extrapolate the others he didn't say.

No. Altogether. Dagon Kaze was all too predictable.

She began to sit up, an echo of her bitter trill following her. When she sat up straight, she stretched her arms out behind her back and leaned her head to look up at the sky. Her thin hood fell away, letting her loose hair tumble out. Rain hit her eyelids, clumped in her lashes, and rolled down her cheeks. She reveled in the sensation of coolness seeping into every pore before it rolled away in a swath of evaporated vapor.

Skin not scale. She had never felt this before.

"We are redeemed," Damsy stated, refusing to raise her voice lest it break the spell. "Feth you."



**
Dagon Kaze | Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<Well, one of her allies cut off my arm and impaled me on his sword, but my arm grew back and I healed up right after I… fed on him.> Kai rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. <That put him in a coma, which made her even more upset, so she probably wants to take revenge on me too now...>

The fact that the conversation shifted almost instantly from his admission that he had eaten a man’s mind to an irate Damsy insisting that they were redeemed, feth you, would have been comedic if the circumstances weren't so bleak. There was even a punchline—it started to rain on the three of them.

For Dag, redemption was an act he performed, like a doctor curing a disease or a priest conducting an exorcism. But once the ritual was over, he tended to leave his patients on their own, as if the work were finished as easily as that.

For Damsy, redemption meant keeping Syreni perpetually at bay. She was waging a war without end against the darker side of her nature, locked in an unwinnable battle against a part of herself that could not be banished like a demon—but she could at least identify her inner darkness as a separate entity, an alternate personality that could be given a name and a form and fought like any other opponent.

Kai’s eyes flicked between Dag and Damsy like a child watching his parents argue, unwilling to take sides for love of both. He had never been human to begin with; before he was taken by the Sith, he’d had no idea what good and evil were, having no use for these terms. Even now, he didn’t know where his evil ended and goodness began. He wasn’t possessed by an evil spirit, nor did he suffer from a split personality. He was just… himself. He was Kai.

<I dunno,> he said, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to slide into the role of mediator. <Redemption is more like a mood to me. Sometimes I feel redeemed, sometimes I don’t, sometimes I feel kinda redeemed, but not really...>

Damsy Callat Dagon Kaze​

 

[Dominique Vexx]

Persona: Senator of Denon
Location: Coruscant, Senate Building
Attire: Black Suit, Vexx of All Styles

Dominique smiled as her bright eyes fell to the slate Seto held. Oh, yes, a delightful excursion and time together would be nice, but the two of them did have a terribly important -- and lucrative -- job to do. Galaxy didn't run itself, after all! Not efficiently at any rate.

Everything Seto said was something to be expected, but all of it happening at once could have serious economic damage both in short-term and long-term repercussions. It was only natural for people to panic under the circumstances. While the Chancellor did his best to quell the masses it was up to people like them to help corporate interests understand it was business as usual. Never them mind the disrupted trade routes, collapsed marketplaces of Coruscant, and loss of personnel and materials resulting from the battle... They were inconsequential compared to... Well, compared to the wheeling and dealing the Finance Committee would think up to avert disaster.

"Of course," Dominique agreed readily to the Chairman's plan. "I'm certain between the two of us we can stem the damage. I have a few ideas already in mind."

With Coruscant so heavily damaged and focused on licking its wounds, this would be an opportune time for Denon to pick up the slack. Not everything given it might be a little further out of the way for some, but more than enough. It too was on the intersection of two major hyperlanes. It too was an enormous world with countless resources. A little convincing of the Corporate Authorities to invest credits up front and some solid reassurances, loans, and guaranteed bookings could be exchanged to get other companies on-board in not panicking or giving in to the vulture-like tactics of others. In the long-run it would only strength Denon's galactic standing as an economic powerhouse.

Was it any wonder Dominique sought a position on this grand Committee aware of so much incredibly valuable information? Seto likely suspected it already, but could anyone complain if the idea bore fruit that benefited everyone?

"For now, we'll stand in solidarity with the other Senators, the Chancellor, and the people of Coruscant." Then they'd get to work when the public relations and mass media had been appeased.

Tag: Seto Du Couteau