Armor

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Another curse fell from Cedric's lips as the clasp on his pauldron snapped. The armored plate had grown weathered with age, and the straps that had once held its pieces together were beginning to wear. It was just Cedric's luck to have them all fall apart just a week before this operation on Jaminere.

He still had his doubts about the plan. It certainly was not full proof, and he wasn't expecting many of his people to walk out unhurt. Even still, it was the only path available to him. He had a choice whether to act or wait for another opportunity that could never come, and he'd chosen to make the hard call.

The alliance was gearing up for war, or at least a semblance of it. A handful of small teams had been chosen to deploy across the planet, but no significant force would be leaving Ruusan. The situation on the planet was unknown, and if the population was as riled up as reports led Cedric to believe, there would already be an army waiting for them. Even still, sending such a small team to a near certain death was still enough to make him very uncomfortable.

The only shining light he had in all of this was that he would be with the team. If they failed, he would fail with them. There would be no survivor's guilt this time.

With a sigh, Cedric leaned back in his chair, and stared out into the courtyard from his position atop one of the battlements. Another ship had landed bringing in volunteers - he paid them no mind. This armor needed to be in top shape before he could ever think about wearing it into battle.

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

The timeline that led her here was sporadic, she'd rather not go into detail much. When she joined this operation, she wasn't aware that Cedric was leading it. It'd been a bit weird with them not talking all that much; nothing bad happened between them, perhaps they were just too busy to catch up like the way in which she may have expected.

Jaminere was on the horizon...and she could only imagine what thoughts filled

She knocked on the durasteel outlining the doorway, another step or two brought her in. A deep gray tank met her slightly baggy cargo pants at the waist which was accentuated by a leather belt. Her combat boots followed, and her hair in its length laid against her chest and back. She was plain for the moment, but that never took away from her looks.

"Hey, you got a minute to talk?" she said faintly, almost unsure herself of what she even wanted to discuss. She took a couple more steps in, arms folded while her eyes darted around the room

"I...I just wanted to see how you were doing. Just with everything..."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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The presence he felt upon his doorstep was one he had not expected to face. Not here. Not yet. Romi's position within the Jedi Order had allowed the two to reconnect for a time, though the call of war had drawn Cedric back to his old hunting grounds. Part of his had regretted not explaining that decision to Romi, but the force's will had been clear. He'd severed almost all the ties to his past so that he could assemble this alliance. There was no room for sentiment on the path that he had chosen to walk; the Jedi Trials had shown him that much.

Even still, surprised as he was, he was not displeased to see her. He was clad in simple sweats, having always been one for functionality over the aesthetic when allowed to himself. His brow furrowed as she greeted him, though his expression quickly relaxed. He was on a hair-trigger as of late, and being interrupted during the handful of time he had to himself was one of his greatest sources of annoyance.

But Romi was welcome, for her worrying if nothing else.

He rose from his place behind the armor, "As good as any man can on the eve of war," good humor laced Cedric's words. "What are you doing here Romi? I thought you in the southern systems with the temple?" The knight gave her a puzzled look - the rebels had received very little support until recently. He was almost growing suspicious. Even still, Romi could likely hear the concern in his voice.

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

She slowly nodded, smirking even at his remark. She'd soon found her center in his space, stopping some feet away from him but no where near the door.

"Good..." She inhaled, and then took the backwind of his words straight on. "I was but..." her eyes fluttered a bit before pacing in what little space she occupied. "I stepped down and left the safety of the temple to the council..." she sighed.

"I haven't been back since." She drew closer, only to find she could put most of her weight against a single table. she leaned back, with the edges gently cutting into her palms. "I've been all over, searching but...not knowing what I've been searching for. Then I came across you."

"I get it. The fight you're fighting...is worth it." She nodded and looked away.

She wanted to help. She failed in that regard earlier in their lives but if she could be here for him now then...

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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So few understood that.

Her words, much as her very presence here, were a surprise. He welcomed them. "I'm glad you see it that way. Too many of our people refuse to - they're caught up in their nepotism, their pride," his brow furrowed. "I was too. I refused to cooperate with other Jedi because I thought their beliefs were wrong. That's why I'm here. I earned this fate," he paused. The relief he felt with her agreement faded for something colder. It was a worry, the slightest kernel of a doubt, and it grew in the dark corners of Cedric's heart.

He could not ignore its urging.

"Romi," he gestured out toward the setting sun. "Most of us aren't going to come back. You go out with us, and I can't guarantee that you will," he frowned. "You understand our problem, maybe you could convince others." It was a kernel he thought he'd smashed during his trials.

Sentiment. I don't want her to die with me.

"But," there is no emotion, "I can't deny the help. I'm a Jedi. It's not my place to convince you to stay out of personal concern." There is peace.

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

She smiled at him, playfully glaring from her end of the room. She pushed forward and took a few steps closer. "Worried about my safety huh?" she giggled to herself, now close enough to where he towered over her.

"By the looks of it...you need me there. I mean this armor isn't going to provide the type of protection I can." She laughed a bit, gently tugging on one of his broken straps.

"Besides...when we were younger I was always the one to save your butt...that doesn't stop now." She smirked before shifting her weight and leaning towards her right. Her right hand clutching her waist.

However, her expression fell just as soon as it came. "I know the cons...just as well as I know the pros." She turned back to face him, "Like I said before...you can convince them yourself. When you return...when we return." she put emphasis on the fact that had faith he'd still be able to be the voice of this movement long after this battle.

He was once her best friend, and she was going to hold on to that sentiment because it was all she had of him before he returned. So much was lost to them both about the other due to time. He could forget if he wanted but she wasn't going to give those memories she had up...

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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Romi had always had a way about her; he found difficulty keeping up his facade around the woman. Even as children, he'd always capitulated her demands given time. He supposed it had been the close proximity of their youth, or perhaps it was simply that she had been one of the only other children he'd ever been allowed to spend any time with. Aside from his sister, Romi had been one of the only souls Cedric had ever chosen to care about in his youth.

And now Caida was dead, but Romi wasn't. Not yet.

"If you're determined, then I can't sway you," the knight held up his hands in mock surrender. "Thought...it will be interesting to fight alongside you. Not many other Jedi I would trust to have my back these days," he paused. Most men would have been terribly aware of the distance with which Romi maintained. They might have acted on it. Cedric, for all his bluster, was oblivious. Romi was his childhood friend, a woman with whom he shared the kinship of youthful memories. Furthermore, she was a Jedi Knight, and one he had often considered far more skilled than himself. Her intentions would never linger on such trivial things, or so he believed. The thought had only seconds to pass through his mind before he banished it completely.

It culminated in Cedric dropping down onto a nearby chair, "I'm happy to have you with me. Happy to have a friend nearby for once," he snickered. "I miss my sister a lot these days. She would have been far better at this than me. Being a Jedi came naturally to her: she was intelligent, compassionate, resilient. I often wonder where we would all be if she'd survived." His brow furrowed. "Do you think I've done well?"

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

She was happy to hear she held some of his trust. "That's right, I'm going..." she smiled at him finally backing off.

Similar to when they were kids, she always forced her way into doing things with him regardless of whether he liked it or not. Cedric was tough...but she had that effect where she could wear him down, she wondered if it had anything to do with the crush he had on her. Wherever he went she followed behind him, and it eventually became vice versa as he warmed up to her. Thinking back on it now... it hurts that at some point all of that stopped and she was taken away. She wondered what they could've become...or where they'd end up if their circumstances were different.

Somewhere in there, there was an awkward pause somewhere in there...she caught on to it too but

She snapped out of it, the glare of the sun blinding her just temporarily. "You're intelligent, compassionate....and definitely resilient as well. You both were destined for this."

She looked at him in disbelief that he'd even ask such a question, she stepped forward "Yes..." she was serious. "I wish you would stop selling yourself short. You've done great...and will continue to do great."

"Look at where you are now..."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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A quiet sigh fell from his lips.

"Thank you, Romi," he sounded sincere as he looked up at her. Looking back on his experiences, he decided that Romi had something of a point. He had often faltered due to his own feelings of inadequacy. Anxieties instilled in him as a child still plagued him as an adult. They kept him from being the Jedi that he should have been.

"Leading a rebellion. It feels arrogant to say that though, leading. I'm not so much leading them as I am pointing in the vague direction of the Sith and yelling loudly." He snorted, "We're alone out here Romi. The Fel Imperium has agreed to assist us, but they have about as much fighting power as we do. I'm not afraid to die; I'm just afraid to die before we accomplish anything."

His eyes met hers, and his brow furrowed. He searched them for something of an answer, and scoured her within the empyrean as well. The mind had always been his plaything, and the simple mental brush he offered her was the least that he could conjure. "May I see into your mind?" He asked as casually as one might ask to shake hands.

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

Her head jerked in question. See into her mind? Of course she was initially taken back but...

She trusted him of course, but she wondered what was there that interested him so much.

Sigh

She stepped forward, still holding his gaze. She released her arm, and as they collapsed to her sides she spoke, "Even though i'm a bit apprehensive..."

She nodded slowly, "Sure." She looked down at his hands and her eyes grew wide, "Just don't like hurt me...or anything." Well she assumed he was going to scour her memories to reminisce on their childhood...correction, she was hoping he only wanted to scour her memories to reminisce on their childhood. Playing with the mind could be dangerous.

She took another step closer, this time stonewalling his gaze.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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The request hadn't come from any particular place save for Cedric's curiosity. Romi was an anomaly to him; there were very few that still lived from Cedric's childhood. His siblings had all been slaughtered in their crusades against the Sith Lords, and his parents had met with a similar fate. When Arenais decided to leave Ession for his woman in the southern systems, he had left the boy alone with self-serving political advisers and cold military minds. There had been little room for recreation after that, let alone the company of any peers.

Now all of them were dead, save for Romi and perhaps Master Arenais; Cedric had lost track of the Jedi Master some time ago.

"Hurting you would be counter productive," Cedric replied logically, "And I'd feel bad." The knight smirked.

He reached out into the empyrean. His perceived himself as an island within a great sea; one eternally cast in the bright sunlight of dawn. Romi shone in a similar sense within the empyrean, though she lacked the storm clouds that hung at the edges of his own horizon. With a mental gesture, the Jedi Knight reached out.

"I am going to show you something from my past, if you'll let me," his words were spoken through the ethereal link he had temporarily forged between them, "It's not a good memory, but it's one I feel you need to see. One I haven't shown anyone else."

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

She playfully slapped his arm, a smirk of her own followed. As uncomfortable as it may have seemed from the beginning, the entire idea was starting to peak her curiosity as well.

She centered herself, taking a deep breath "Alright. I'm ready. "

The light in her eye vanished, only to be locked in by the shields of her eyelids. She released. "Show me." She said at almost a whisper, though their close proximity and mental link would allow them to communicate deeper than that.

Cedric was hard...

He was guarded, and had every right to be. However, Romi craved to bypass that. Though she noted that she couldn't force it with him...

Him expressing he wanted to share a memory with her on this level, made her feel a bit light on her feet. If he was sharing, surely it meant she was making some sort of progress...

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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It would be foolhardy to guess as to why Romi seemed so interested in him. Cedric suspected it revolved around their past; few people could share such things as a childhood with one another. Even still, there had always been a difference with Romi: her compassion was truly genuine, while Cedric's had to be forged from understanding. Romi had always been easy in that she was born a good person, so far as Cedric could see. It was why he'd enjoyed her company as a child, as even then he'd been a brooding and self-reflective creature.

Initially, he had held a private trepidation about meeting his childhood companion once again. He'd never met her as an adult, and as a child he had been jealous of her in more ways than one. Both Romi and Caida had been far more attentive pupils than he, and each of the women had better embodied the idea of a Jedi Knight than he ever could. Cedric was born to be a warrior, and while he did so in the name of the Light, it had hardened his heart. Bearing the mantle of leadership had taught him more lessons about the galaxy in three years than an entire lifetime had done previously, but those lessons had left him scarred.

It was with great trepidation that he'd chosen to approach this topic with Romi. He rarely ever allowed himself to connect with the mind of another individual beyond issuing commands. To do so was to open the gates, so to speak, and allow whomever you chose full access to your entire being. It was a lowering of defenses; one that could easily result in his death were he not careful.

He trusted Romi, but years of paranoia mad him falter. When she slapped his arm, that paranoia faded to nothingness.

The knight's eyes drifted shut as he reached out into the empyrean. He envisioned himself as an island with the cosmic ocean that was the force, and Romi as one of similar form just a few feet away. With an expression of mental will, Cedric envisioned a land bridge rising from the ocean's depths to temporarily conjoin the two.

It was in that moment that his perspective shifted. He felt Romi's presence as keenly as he did his own, as if they were a singular entity rather than two individuals. It was a brief feeling of oneness that Cedric had not expected, but one that he allowed himself to enjoy - at least until the memory began to play.

The two delved within the mindscape their mental union had forged. Cedric appeared to himself as he did in life, looking thoroughly out of place in a t shirt and sweats against the backdrop of a burning city. Denizens of that city ran in abject terror from columns of Sith troopers that mowed down anyone who resisted their approach indiscriminately. Those that did not fear the imperials' coming stood watchfully, a handful happy for their coming, but the majority disgusted by the image presented to them.

At the back of the column rode the Sith Emperor, and above him hung a man that looked similar to Cedric in his teenage years. That man was a ragged thing hung from his hands and feet from a metal pole. A voice over the loudspeaker boomed of the Archlord's triumphant return; the show was clearly done to utterly humiliate the last Grayson.

Cedric's mental avatar stood amidst the dumbfounded crowd. "This was a year ago," his voice was quiet, though Romi would hear above all other sounds. "Do you remember Ession? My home?" The knight gestured toward the burning skyscrapers. "Do you see what the Sith did to it?"

The knight gestured toward the single figure that above the procession. "What he did?" The knight's voice lowered as he pointed out the Sith Emperor. "They took everything from me Romi."

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

It started as a spark, and it filtered throughout her body instantaneously. She'd felt the presence of time stop, and the world behind her enveloped in the mystic energies she'd been taught to wield. When she opened her eyes again, it was as if she was standing in the center of fog; she couldn't touch it in any capacity and it didn't feel threatening.

She turned and saw a silhouette, before she knew the ground that anchored her began to rupture and shake. She wasn't scared...

She felt Cedric, almost as close as she ever did. That's when she knew it was him; she met him halfway. Their second meeting sparked something else and suddenly she laid eyes on a manifestation of Cedrics memories.

Her fingers curled into Cedrics shirt while watching a vivd replay of something he actually experienced. It made her uneasy. In a quick glance she turned to him, and then looked back "Thi...this is Ession?"

She shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm so sorry Cedric..." She turned back to him.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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The knight remained silent as he let Romi see what had become of his home. The capital had been sacked, its defense forces having been deployed at the edge of the galaxy to deal with an extragalactic threat. When the Sith had come, they had found a civilian population with little by way of leadership. The victory that followed had been swift.

"The world's recovered somewhat since this happened, but the scars will take decades to heal," the knight mused quietly. When first seeing this, Cedric's pain had been an all consuming thing. It had not dulled in its severity since, but it was an emotional hurt that he had grown accompanied to now. He could look upon it objectively without reliving the moment.

Still, seeing such an event take place with such realism was moving in all the ways he despised.

"I wanted you to see why I've chosen this path. I wanted you to know why I can't be content returning to the rest of the Jedi and letting the Sith grow." He turned to look her in the eye within the vision, wholly unaware of Romi as he was everything in the physical plane. "It might not be the right thing for me today. Perhaps the others are right and we should just let them destroy one another," his brow furrowed, "But I can't sit by. Not after that."

The image of the burning city began to fade for a moment, but it became apparent that the image was only shifting rather than disappearing all together. With a blur of color and a cacophony of sound, the two would find themselves standing atop a hill that overlooked the burning city.

The amber hues of a world on fire were almost picturesque here. "Maybe it is hatred that's driving me forward," he breathed a quiet sigh, " - but I just feel like it's the right thing to do. The only thing I can do."

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

Before she could feel the vibrations of the heat beating against her skin as if she'd been there; the memories seemed real. In the irises of her eyes, the pain of which Cedric spoke of before played over and over again. The smell of the smoke was amplified by her childhood friend narrating his story in a form to which she couldn't deny him.

"I wanted you to see why I've chosen this path. I wanted you to know why I can't be content returning to the rest of the Jedi and letting the Sith grow."

She turned to look over his form as he mused, she spoke nothing. What could she say?

Then the smell of the smoke and the heat from the flames stopped overloading her sense. She heard nothing for a brief moment as the memory itself began to fade; another took its place.

Her hair began to dance frantically as the wind took it. She now stood on a hill...

"If this is all you can do...because you feel it's right, then don't let it be driven by hatred."

She responded and then turned full form in his direction.

"Hatred makes things blurry...don't let that be the thing that detracts from your noble mission Cedric."

She stepped closer, into his guard. Now, she looked up at him "If this is your mission, see it through. But...don't lose yourself in the process, and don't push those wanting to help away."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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Romi spoke wisdom, as she often did.

"I have walked that path before, though it was not knowingly. It isn't one I intend to tread again," Cedric assured her. His voice had gone quiet, his attentions momentarily stolen away by his childhood companion. He realized then that he saw Romi in much the same light as he had seen Ra, the same light he might have held Lysandra in as well. The two women had come into his life at troubling times, and their chosen paths had led to nothing but scorn from Cedric after time was spent extensively in their company.

It was attachment.

"Romi," the knight's brow furrowed as she stepped into his guard. The signs were rather clear, even in the ethereal state they found themselves in. The fires of his shattered home reflected amber hues in Cedric's eyes. "I know I can't do this alone," he finally relented, "I won't try to send you away. It isn't my place to. I just can't promise you how it's all going to go."

There was regret in Cedric's voice. "What would you do if they were gone?" He looked her dead in the eyes. "The Sith, I mean. If there were no more wars to fight. Nothing else that needed to be protected. What would you want peace to be?" The fires seemed to dim for a moment. The knight's tone softened. "I don't know what it would ever be for me."

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

He assured her, she smiled as she finally settled in at the tone of his voice. She briefly looked away but was drawn back in when he spoke her name.

"I don't want you to make empty promises." She mused, "You know I would never make you do that. I just want you to promise that you'll get to where you're going and won't stop me from tagging along," She smirked which eventually evolved in giggles on her part.

What would you want peace to be?

She was honestly taken back by the question, and it was valid. That was a question she wasn't sure she could give a solid answer on and stick with it years from now but...

"I honestly don't know." She was on the same page as him. She took a deep breath, folding her arms into one another. "It's hard to say...I could be cliche and say contentment but..." she lingered for a bit.

"I don't know if that would be fulfilling enough."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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"Me either," Cedric admitted. He found himself laughing at the thought, though it was not a particularly funny one. He had often fought and put it own neck out for the sake of peace, but he truly did not know what he would do with it. At times, he had thought he might become a poet or an artist, letting his works speak for him rather than his words. Truthfully, he hadn't really thought about what life might become without another war to fight. Given Romi's answer, he suspected she had not given it much thought either.

"Maybe I'll open a bar," he mused, "Do something very un-Jedi. I enjoy my role within our shattered order, believe it or not, but sometimes I wonder if this is what I want to be doing forever. Serving the galaxy is fulfilling, but you have to hang up the lightsaber eventually, don't you?" He raised a brow, and met Romi's gaze. She hadn't changed all that much from the his earliest childhood memories. She'd grown into adulthood, of course, but the remnants of the girl he'd grown up alongside remained.

The knight found himself expelling a heavy sigh. Without a word, he reached out to lace his arms about the woman's waist. He would pull her into a tight hug, his tone quiet, "You've been a good friend to me Romi. Thank you for coming to check on me," there was genuine gratitude in his tone. For a moment, Cedric allowed his guard to simply slip down. "I think I needed the company."

[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

She was taking every day just as it was...learning more and more to relinquish control. To think that far ahead would...it'd be hard for her to imagine now. It was good question nevertheless. Figuring out what was next was probably the scariest thing she'd ever encountered...

"A bar?" she giggled at the thought, more so because she could see it. She nodded, "Of course you do...we're human just as much as we're Jedi. At some point we'll have no other choice but to except that." she looked away, caught up in the after thoughts from their conversation. She heard his sigh and it caused her to turn and inquire why...

"Wha-" she was pulled into his person, and she was surprised.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the gesture. "Of course..." was he letting his guard down?

"I..I just want to be there for you, however I can." And she meant that.

"Yeah. Anytime." She began to chuckle.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]