Boom Boom Pow

[Jairus Starvald]

The fall of the Fringe Confederation and crumbling of the Omega Protectorate had far-reaching consequences.

Where first law and order had ruled the sectors of the Unknown Regions and Outer Rim there was only fire and blood to be found now. Whole systems infested with pirates, sectors harvested by horrors unspeakable and undeniable in their conquest and the regions that had once housed the Protectorate were now controlled by the Imperial entity called the Final Order.

Vaet had seen just what their forces were capable of a few weeks back. Desecrated corpses thrown together in mass graves, victims of merciless experimentation and brutal slaughter, his mind was still reeling against the injustice of that scene.

As his thoughts went back to that day he could feel himself recoiling just slightly. Parts of his mind still tender as a scar not yet properly healed - it probably would never fully heal, but perhaps that was the entire point of it. Get beaten up long enough, until you are desensitized against the sensation of pain.

For… there is no emotion, there is peace.

But even then Vaet realized it was just a phase, and that eventually he would be able to overcome this feeling that had been plaguing him since that scene. It would take a while, but everything healed in the end.

[member="Kaili Talith"] was someone he could help, wanted to help, even if he was not sure where that wanting had originated from. But something told him that she would need all the friends she could get after that scene, it had been the reason of his approach after the assault on the Order’s fortress.

They were in a patrol craft at the moment. Traveling to the Final Order-controlled world of Eriadu to infiltrate a droid foundry, intel suggested that the Order had finished the designs on a droid that could very well give them the edge they needed to finally break the Galactic Alliance. And so it fell to them to sabotage the foundry, extract the designs if possible and if not… destroy any shreds of the schematics.

“Believe in the Force do you, Knight Kaili, hmm?” the Vaetling asked as he brushed the metal of his lightsaber shoto. Ignited often, but still no kills on his name - he hoped that this would continue for some time. The killing of sentients was an… unpleasant prospect.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Her father had made mention of the Fringe once or twice around the table. It wasn’t a topic Kaili and her family had discussed much, at least not in her presence. She was aware of its former existence but other than that it remained much of a mystery. Through her father she had heard some of the names. The names Jared Ovmar and Ashin Varanin both sounded familiar one way or the other, but ultimately with the collapse of their government they turned into names that Kaili herself had gotten to know only by second hand through Ibaris.

This was Eriadu. From what she could remember it was the site of a battle, but of which kind and when she did not know. It was nonetheless to this planet that the technopath had tracked the information on the XZ-214 droid. She didn’t really expect much from it, but with the memories of the mass grave still on her mind she was not in the mood to second guess her enemy.

This was doing or not doing. The precautions for this mission had been a necessity. Both infiltrators had been given a pack of their own. Granted, Kaili was carrying more of the weight, but considering the ‘slight’ height difference she could manage it. Besides, work kept mind off of things.

The short green alien asked Kaili a question. Did she believe in the force? Her brow ascended to brush against the bangs of her hair. What a silly question, of course she did. All her life.

“I do, of course.” She spoke and nodded. “What about you, sir?”

It felt like an appropriate title.

“Do you believe in the force?”

[member="Vaet"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

“Difficult, sometimes.” the Vaetling simply responded, before returning to his silence.

It was a difficult situation, to see all the suffering in the world, to see the Sith triumph against the Republic, to almost feel the pain of the many victims, and yet consider that this was all the ‘Will of the Force’.

But he would not put his burden on her - his goal had been to befriend the girl and make things easier on her… not depress her with his own pessimistic view. Vaet had to grudgingly admit to himself that the scene they had witnessed had shook him more than he would have liked.

You’re not a seasoned warrior. It’s not your fault.

And yet it felt like an excuse.

His hands clutched the shoto that he wielded like a human would his lightsaber. It had been a tough job to travel through all the various planets and collect the pieces, rare crystals that granted clarity mid-fight, focus lenses which increased the intensity of the blade, a wider beam and other modifications which made it easier for Vaet to handle it during a fight.

He did not wish to kill, and hopefully would not be forced to. But he believed it was important to be prepared for any scenario regardless of your own desire.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Vaet"]

Deep breath.

“Yeah...” Kaili muttered under her breath. “Very.”

The memories from a few weeks ago pained her still. It was obvious in how she handled herself. The lack of any real sense of joy, the way she drained rooms just by entering them. It was as if the recent events had just about drained the very urge to find happiness in anything that the girl did. She was acting on instinct. Pushing ahead and keeping mind on the task. An escape from reality through a detour into the rough and dirty of it all.

“Not sure if I believe in a will of the force though.” She whispered. “Not sure I’d care much for it if it was real.”

“I act because I want to, not because of the force. I remember because the force does not.”

Her attention set on the horizon. The base was nearby. The preliminary report indicated a high chance for armed opposition. Ten-to-one, but unlike the opposition they had the greatest ‘ally’ of them all.

“We need to move. Henry is still charging in my pack, he’ll help with acquiring the plan and slicing into their network.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

“Believe in you it does, even with your faith lost.” The Vaetling observed - it was what needed to be said, not necessarily what he himself believed. Not after what was witnessed a couple of weeks ago… how could that have been the will of the Force? So much needless suffering and slaughter, and the crude thing?

The absolutely horrendous thing? Was the fact that it was only a little drip in an infinitely large pool of agony that was being added onto every single day.

But maybe…

“Influencing events on its own, the Force cannot.” he continued to say. Every word resonated strongly with him and which each word Vaet felt more strongly in his belief that he was speaking the truth - as subjective it could be.

“Agents like us it needs. To intervene directly, when it cannot, hmm.”

He gripped his shoto a little bit harder, digging his talons into the metal and feeling the friction. It kept him centered during his words - he didn’t understand where this was coming from, but he felt it was right.

“Do not lose faith, Knight Kaili. Need it you will, in the times ahead.” after which he nodded to her comment.

“Of course. Lead on. Follow you, I will.”

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Lost faith in the force. Perhaps that was what she had done. Did it matter? Would a loss of faith lead to the dark side or something equally horrific or was it merely a thing someone said to bring another around? Kaili had already caused enough destruction and loss of lives as far as she was concerned. Enough to cause recurring nightmares, not enough to dull her to the act. Difference perhaps being that today was by choice whereas last time was not.

She never offered any sort of response to the short-grown alien’s attempts at consolation. They were empty words of platitude. She appreciated them, but in the end they were still just platitudes. The factory complex grew ever closer as the two Alliance members quietly shuffled through the terrain and before long the two guards at the front door was within clear sight.

Extending her hand and gently waving it up and down Kaili let [member="Vaet"] know that they needed to pause for a second. They were both armed, blasters. Plasma cartridges. There was a way to fix this without risking the noise of neither sabers nor blasters.

Closing herself off from the rest of the world she focused herself on the men and their guns. She was still very much learning how to practice it, and by all means this was her first trial by fire, but she saw no other way unless they tried to sneak around and look for a manhole or similar entry point. The girl began tearing at the mechanisms that connected the cartridge to the weapon itself in the hopes of separating the two of them, effectively neutralizing the entire point of a blaster.

There was no way of knowing yet, but the next few moments would be... Well, interesting to say the least.

“I think that should have done it.” The girl looked to Vaet. “I tried to neutralize their weapons. I don’t know if it worked.”

“Are you a religious man, Vaet?” She asked bluntly. “I can’t buy into it. Jedi and Sith. Both ancient texts that hold to some sort of holier-than-thou aspect. The Alliance identifies as the former, but I just can’t.”

“The force exists, people can use it. Why should religion define how we apply an ability?” Kaili sighed. “Next thing you know we’re going to find ourselves with religious fanatics tossing themselves on their enemy’s sword for the sake of what? Religious fervor?”

[member="Vaet"]