By The Pricking Of My Thumbs [Aela]

[Coci Heavenshield]

“Naturally, this plant had to be red”, she told the surrounding plants and gritted her teeth pulling on the plant with all her might. It was stubborn, a parasitic plant living off the fern with its ‘teeth’ firmly embedded. It is the Dreamul’er plant with properties to heal lightsabre injuries and naturally would be very beneficial. An exclamation of pain came from her mouth, and she rang her hands which now had small barbs prickling her skin, so fine you could hardly see them but could feel them well enough. How ironic that this planet gives injury as well as remove it.

Coci is no botanist, but determined that if she was to acquire this sample, it would have do come fern and all. She stood back and instructed the droids to get to work removing it before they would pot it and transport the fern back to her ship. The droids had also acquired soil and water samples to be analysed so the transfer of this planet would meet with success. This planet, in unknown territory, oceanic and tropical, and the heat most enjoyable to her after Midvinter, it was nice to be warm again, but even still she looked forward to going home to be with her family once more. The greenhouse at Eirin’s Reach would be climate controlled and ready for the new arrival under its roof.

She moved out of the way so the droids would work, stood under one of the larger fern fröns trying to pick out the hair like barbs from her fingers when her attention drew to the skies. The sound of ship engines rumbled in the distance and grew louder as they headed her way. A small squadron of fighters flew over them, low to the ground to the point Coci could feel the wind in their wake and disturbed the canopy of the treetops.

Once the droid were done, it was time to get back to the ship, they had not gone far before the next fighter squadron passed. “Get the ship ready for departure please”, she ordered the droid, the sooner the better. Her brow furrowing and she watched the fighters disappear from sight over the horizon.

[member="Aela Talith"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Coci Heavenshield"]

"What do you mean the starport is shut down?!" More than a little bit of annoyance grated her voice as she stood in front of the guard. Her two lightsabers were stashed away within her pack, the blade on her back carefully hidden inside of a cloth bundle so it did not give anything away.

The Guard stared at her, almost confused as to why she was so affronted.

"There has been a declaration of war, Ma'am."

Aela frowned almost immediately, somewhat confused. This world was located far out of the Galacitc Alliance territory, and in truth she herself knew very little about it. She had been studying an ancient Jedi Cult here, a group of men and women who had fled the Old Order and come here to seek peace. They had been an interesting bunch, though died out thousands of years ago around the time of the Old Republic itself. Now when she tried to leave...well they told her she couldn't. "Who declared war?"

"Araf, the other nation on this world. All flight to and off world is canceled, enforced by the air services."

The Jedi Master gave him a perplexed look, then suddenly remembered.

This world was not like most in the galaxy, it did not have a singular Planetary government. Instead it had two, one for each of the worlds massive continents. Now it seemed like they were going to war. She frowned for a moment, shifting uncomfortably.

"Take me to your governor." He Guard looked even more confused. "Now."

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

The scanner indicated that the squadrons that had passed over head had gone a far distance and headed west toward the capital. Coci lifted off and as her ship rose about the canopy she followed their path. Not out of any curiosity, but for necessity. She needed to refuel at the starport before turning her tail for home. What the squadrons purpose were she had no idea, could simply be patrol or military drills but something told her to stick to the tree line, stay out of sight. It worked for the most part until she reached the outskirts of the capital and communications from the starport told her to land.

There was considerably more presence of soldiers from when she first arrived, and she could see other ships had been grounded. Considering the arguments she watched with pilots wishing to leave but could not, the starport was in lock down. This was irritating to say the least, whatever the problem surely could nullified by the local authorities, but the more she listened the more it appeared that civil war had been declared. Was there any place in the galaxy that did not want for war?

The force brimming within the woman made Coci turn, a presence within it unknown to her but strong, detected. A young woman one of many wishing to find out why the lock down had been enforce one of many arguing .. well not exactly arguing. It seemed that one half of the planet was in conflict with the other, and whys are wherefores unknown. But standing around doing nothing would not help her get home and so she walked over to the woman.

"Good afternoon", she greeted not only the young woman but the authorities equally, "It is my understanding that war has been declared. I am not from this place and therefore unaware of your politics. I am most interested to know why? I am sure most people wishing to leave and return to their homes would be".

​

[member="Aela Talith"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Coci Heavenshield"]

"Aurodium, Ma'am."

The Guard spoke up before Aela even could, not that she knew the answer. This planet was about as foreign to her as Coci. She knew precious little about this place, a bit more about its people but that was really it. Of course when the guard spoke up in instantly clicked within her mind.,

Aurodium was one of the, if not the rarest substance in the entire galaxy. A single pebble of Aurodium was worth as much as an entire Coruscant Office building, that was to say, a whole hell of a lot. Aela had seen vaults of it before, but that had been in the Alliance's central storage bank. She had protected those Vaults from incursions by pirates. The fact that this planet was fighting over such a valuable resource? Well that didn't really come as much of a surprise. "Mines?"

She asked, her lips thin.

The Guard glanced at her and then nodded.

"Aye, the north pole is flooded with the stuff...both nations want it and war has been threatened for decades."

The young woman slowly shook her head in disappointments. Greed. It was an all too common cause for war. She frowned for a moment then glanced towards the woman who had walked up to them. She seemed familiar, though Aela couldn't place her. "They won't let anyone leave, too dangerous. I was trying to get this man to take me to the government house."

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Not only would this Aurodium provide wealth to one side of this planet, but power. And no doubt each of the respective governments knew this and wanted it not just for its value on the market. One half of the planet would become subordinate to the other, in Coci's mind the answer to the problem was clear but telling politicians this would be met with opposition. Especially if they are, and most likely, corrupt. Individual agendas, short term gain without a thought for the future or how it would effect the people of the planet. As long as their coffers were healthy whether it came from deals made under the table, or through contracts .. it was the same thing.

Mines. And no doubt these deposits would run deep and across the entire polar region, a boon that should be shared with both sides. Life isn't that simple though. But it would be worth a chance to try. Momentarily in thought, Coci agreed with the young lady beside her, they needed to speak to someone. She was not going to sit around waiting for a conclusion to this, that could and would take weeks if not months and it was not in her nature to do so. The name of Heavenshield held no weight here, this is not Silver Jedi space and besides she had given up the authority of leadership a good year ago now.

"Tell me, which side which government holds the rights to the mines now?", who was attacking who. For all she knew they were in the presence of the aggressor, or maybe this was what this war was about, to decided. "Forgive me my lack of manners, my name is Coci Heavenshield", no rank or file. "And if you would be so kind, I too would like to speak with your governing leaders".

​

[member="Aela Talith"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Coci Heavenshield"]

Surprise flickered across Aela's features.

She knew the Heavenshield name of course, a lot of people did in fact. A decade or so ago however Aela had personally met Thurion Heavenshield at the Temple on Voss. She had been traveling by herself and had sneaked onto the Temple grounds. The man had confronted her, and although the conversation had been friendly enough it had left an impression on the young woman. She mused on the thought, recalling that Coci was married to Thurion himself.

"We do, Ma'am. There was an attack."

Aela's lips thinned. It made sense in a weird way. There was an attack on the mines so now the Government was worried about more, and likely thinking about retaliation. The Jedi Master shook her head for a moment, then motioned towards the Guard. "Just take us to the Governor."

Exasperation floated through her tone, something the guard obviously noted. He frowned for a moment, and then finally nodded.

"Very well."

Without another moment of hesitation the man spun on his heel, motioning for the two women to follow.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

A slight release of her shoulders let out the tension in Coci's body. The idea of getting involved in politics between two parties on the brink of civil war was not ideal nor wanted. But Jedi will be Jedi and she hoped to be able to talk some sense into both parties, first things first however before she could find her way home again. Coci had never been one for diplomacy, in fact for the most part of any talks with any group she had let her husband do the talking and kept her mouth shut. To hot headed for the minds that indulge in that of foolish behaviour. Politicians have never been her favoured people.

As the official turned to lead them off to the governing house, she took the moment to speak with the young lady beside her. "Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?", she asked her. It was obvious the woman was lightside if not Jedi. But had a face unfamiliar to her.

"We shall need to be mindful of these .. people, politicians. More than likely we are about to walk into a very tricky situation .. for us I mean". She said softly so the official could not overhear. For the greater part this planet had enjoyed a peaceful existence until lately, their borders has not been closed to any visitors nor any sign of outward hostility toward foreigners but that can change in the blink of an eye when it comes to government interests, or rather interests of individuals. Especially if they have hidden adgendas associated with the 'bottom line'.

​

[member="Aela Talith"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Coci Heavenshield"]

"My name is Aela Talith." She wasn't famous or anything, at least not outside of the Galactic Alliance, but a slight part of her was hoping Coci would at the very least recognize her name. Her father had been a Senator once and she herself had done enough for the Galaxy at large that she was at least a bit recognizable.

"I Met your husband once." Aela said with a small smile. "On Ossus when he was grandmaster."

It was a fond memory.

When Coci kept speaking however Aela nodded. She knew exactly what the woman was talking about. Civil War wasn't something that could be laughed at, especially when it was over something as critical as a planets supply of Aurodium. The resource was worth a lot in the galaxy at large and whenever something was worth that much money it tended to cause trouble for pretty much everyone involved. Aela knew this because she had seen it all before.

She frowned as they walked, commenting quietly so the guard wouldn't over hear. "I'm worried there won't be a peaceful resolution."