For Old Times' Sake

[Arage Bao]

The Fringe Confederation was in shambles, the fleet headless with the Grand Admiral away to fight monsters beyond the veil of the unknown, the armies leaderless with most of the High Council dead, disappeared or otherwise occupied. Adair, MIA. Dissero, desperately trying his best to keep order. Jacobs, much the same. Ovmar… well, that’s where things start to become more interesting, no?

The Lord of the Fringe had disappeared at the start of the Rapture, but those in the know would know that he had been gone much sooner already. It was the colossal political apparatus of the Homeland Security Department he had constructed during his years as a High Councilor, which had kept the peace in his absence.

But things change, political institutions crumble without their leader to support them and there were whispers. Whispers of ghost ships harassing the lanes of the Fringe, it’s still small now, a few patrols missing here and there, but it was adding to the common chaos.

In this madness, this complete wreckage of a once glorious nation… the Lord of the Fringe finally returned home, and what he saw would have made him weep. If he had any tears left to spare.

A random planet, in a random system, on a random bench in a random park.

It was there that the Lord of the Fringe suddenly sat- much akin to his meeting with the former Lord Protector. Plans were in motion, and they would happen with or without the consent of the High Council.

But he owed everything to his old Master Jacobs and so he would send her a message, one only she would understand… to meet him here.

So they could talk.

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Days felt like she was constantly playing catch up. Her health still wasn’t fully recovered and she had moments where she needed to take a rest. Today though she was at her desk running through some data charts and reading old holonews feeds. She had been in a hibernation meditating state for the past 5 years, locked away in a meditation chamber away from the Rapture the best the Fringe could do for her. The inconsistency of the Force nearly killed her, now that she’s had some time out she’s been trying to catch up. Five years was a long time, sadly her wife was called away to duty, but they were able to make up for most of those five years.

As much as Spencer missed Ashin during this time, she welcomed the moment between their catching up. She was able to regain more of her strength and really catch up on the world events. So much had changed yet so little had changed it was an odd concept. As she worked a cryptic message appeared. Like Jared assumed, Spencer was quick to decode it and she left her desk and headed towards the meeting point. While she traveled something in the back of her mind resurfaced old memories. The feeling she had in the pit of her stomach was something she had felt when she had gone to a meeting, in an undisclosed place to discuss important things.

History does repeat itself, but would she be an important tool to Jared as she was important to Ashin’s plans? Spencer closed her eyes and remembered the fonder memories of that time with Ashin.

Okay, I do miss her. Feth she better not be tired when she comes home. Spencer sighed and headed towards the park bench. Of course the man hadn’t been around to see her since she had left the meditation chamber and from what she gathered he hadn’t been around ANYWHERE during the Rapture. Frowning, she looked at him. “How dare you summon me like this. This better be good, you’re not on m good list right now Ovmar.”


[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

He would seem different to her from that one rare moment he had been around during Anders’ disgrace party. More… real, it was almost as if he was occupying more than one space at the same time, his hair seemed more hairy, his skin skinnier, even his clothing was more alike to the general idea of what it meant to be fabric.

And then Ovmar spoke, even his voice was strange. Deep vibrations rumbling up from the inner workings of his chest, spilling out of his mouth and onto the wider world. It seemed that much had changed since the first time they talked, the last time they talked and the time that it was now.

‘The Fringe is dying, little sister.’ the Lord answered and for once the dignified presence seemed loaded with tiredness and sadness. ‘And I am here to pull it up and drag it into a new era, with… or without its consent.’

A raised eyebrow.

‘Sit, we have much to discuss.’

If apologies were forthcoming, they wouldn’t be coming right here and now. People were dying, governments were falling and all around them their enemies were engrossing on their hard-won territories.

The dynamics had changed.

 

[Allyson Locke]

His words different, but they caused a ripple of memories to surface from a deep space in Spencer’s mind. She remembered laying in bed with Ashin, peering over the galaxy map. Hiding they were after the fall of the Sith Empire in a flotilla on a small ship that was far more equipped than anyone could imagine. To Spencer at the time, she was full of dreams and most of them included her being forever at Ashin’s side - but they had a bigger dream and the Vagrants were just the start.

“To tame the Unknown Regions.”

She spoke the words that resided in the memory. “A place where there was freedom to be what and who you wanted to be.” Another wish from the memory. Spencer knew, she had felt it when everything had become so democratic. They weren’t designed to be this way, they were meant to be free - not sustained by a strict government. Spencer took the seat next to Ovmar as she focused her mind on this vision. Looking towards the man, she reached out and placed her hand against his face and reverse drain knowledged her emotions and the memory into his mind. Playing what she felt at the time.

Ashin wasn’t visible, but her presence was easily seen. Spencer held a blanket around her frame as she watched the Galaxy map shift and move in real time. The way the moons danced around each planet. Softly she pressed the planets and added names to them and read their descriptions. Spencer looked the same as she always had and when she glanced up it showed the different face of Varanin.

The warmth of her love for the woman flourished and Ovmar would feel it as well.

“What do we do now? I want a place for us to call home. I’m tired of going from starport to starport hoping to find the supplies we need. The people that travel with us need protection and there’s only so much we can do.” Ashin nodded and responded softly.

“The Unknown Region, its a perfect place I spent most of my knighthood there.

Spencer smirked, she had heard the stories several times before, but they never grew old. “There we’d be able to tame the unknown regions, no one has ventured out that way. We’d be completely free. Free from the Sith, from the Republic and the Protectorate. Provide safety while fighting the front to protect the Galaxy.”

Spencer dropped her hand relinquishing the memory from Ovmar’s mind. “I understand what you’re saying. I’ve felt it for some time, we’ve had several leaders try to change what the Fringe’s initial reason for existing. I want my dream back Jared.” She didn’t look at him, she focused her eyes on the ground remembering the first battles and how close they were. In the beginning they only had each other.


[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

He leaned back against his seat, his eyes closed as his mind expanded and saw what Varanin and Jacobs had tried to form here at the edge of the Galaxy. A safe haven for the both of them, to be happy and free from the clutches of oppressive society, to be able to be what they wanted to be without being afraid of judgement.

But it had failed, hadn’t it? When had the decay settled in? Was it when Varanin had decided to install a democracy, eschewing the little council she had formed to rule the fledgling nation? Or had the foundation of corruption been settled in even earlier, when she had started to induct more people into the council, spread out the webs of power across many a Lord and Lady?

Did it really matter? Ovmar supposed it didn’t.

What mattered was that the original idea still held merit, to a degree. Times had changed and they couldn’t go back to what it had been before, too much changes, the Galaxy itself was fundamentally different from what it was before.

But the basic fundamentals were building blocks one could not ignore.

Freedom. Security. Stability.

Ovmar did not speak any words, instead he leaned into her touch. Beard brushing against her skin and then his own hand touched her cheek, and he did the same to her.

She would be flooded with experiences, first the mental wreckage he had been after Merrill’s will had become publicly. What he had done then, sealing himself in an ancient construct and spending centuries studying the Force and himself.

Then his travels from here to there- not everything, not even a fragment of everything.

But enough of an impression, that she would realize what Ovmar had experienced.

Finally… his return to Realspace One, this original home of his and how he felt the pain of his nation slowly crumbling. It was followed by his own idea, an Empire, much akin to the Empire of the Hand that Varanin, Jacobs and him had supported years back, but with the core concepts of the Lords of the Fringe.

More images flooded in and out, until finally Ovmar sighed and retreated his hand.

‘I will need you.’

 

[Allyson Locke]

He returned the gesture. She saw everything, of course the only other person to have ever done this to her was Velok. The feeling was different, to lose control of her mind and be forced to see things by someone else’s will was something she never wished to get used too. Though not fighting it, she watched feeling every ounce of pain and suffering that Jared had endured. She understood why he was the way he was now and when he pulled away she looked at him with different eyes.

The man had transcended his Master. It was in that moment Spencer knew that it was her turn to learn from him. Her gaze fell as he spoke. His words were something she had heard before, words she had heard several times before. They always needed her, to fulfil their plans and dreams. She pondered his words and then looked at him, they were close they had remained close since the exchange of memories. Her hand reached out once more to caress his wrinkled worn skin. “They always need me Jared. I was Ashin’s tool first when she decided to overthrow Moridin as Sith Emperor.”

As she spoke her mind quickly buckled up tighter than before, he wouldn’t be able exchange memories with her unless she relaxed the walls. There was a quick cold sensation that crossed between her hand and his face. A brief reminder of her capabilities and her lack of fear to use them. Her fingers curled under his chin as a very familiar impish grin spread across her lips. “Though you can’t pay me like she did, but I’m sure you could win my favor in time. I’ll help you because you’ve survived, my First Apprentice” The title was something she held when Ashin was Empress and being the First direct student to a Master was of some importance especially to Spencer. She had lost Qae and Jared had survived.


[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

The Sun’zha of the Collective were constructs of energy, they didn’t have a language, written or verbal, they didn’t have arms or legs to express themselves. The only thing they had… was energy, and their way of communication was the miniscule shifts in their energy levels.

He had learned from them, to a degree and as Jacobs showed him just how intimidating she could be, so did Jared show her just how far he had come himself.

As her tendril of might caressed his walls she would see an ocean of unaltered power, barely being kept at bay by an ancient dam. It was this dam that she was touching right now and it was this dam that Ovmar opened, Force streaming out of him into Jacobs.

It was not a permanent exchange, such a thing would have ruined both of them.

But in that single moment he would show that he was no longer the boy he had been in the past. He no longer craved for the short con, the little games, he saw the bigger picture and in that bigger picture Jacobs would always be cherished.

‘I see you, old Master.’ the whisper came and went. ‘You will never be discarded.’

A binding word, as their energies mixed and a simple oath turned into something much more important.

The Lord of the Fringe had renewed, reforged their old bond by sharing power and insight.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer had seen it and as he spoke her hand closed cutting off the quick exchange. It was possible the man knew her better than she knew herself, he knew that she couldn’t hurt him and in return he assured her that she wasn’t going to be lost in the conflict. Despite his reassurance, she knew she wouldn’t be lost - Ashin was the type to make sure of that. Though, Spencer wondered if one day there would be a conflict that they would stand alone without the company of the Fringe. It was a fear that she held constant in her mind, they weren’t the best at keeping peace with the allies they had forged. Ashin was notorious and Spencer guilty by association.

“And I see you for what you’ve become my old protege.” Her fingers extended once more and the familiar warmth of her hand caressed his skin. Youthful hazel eyes took in the old man’s features with awe and wonderment. She memorized every wrinkle, every fold of his face and the beginning and the end of his beard.

For what felt like eons, the few seconds passed and she leaned forward. Biting the corner of her lip, she broke the tender skin. The copper taste filled her mouth as she brushed her lips gently against his skin. For whatever reason, his return to the living and this higher development of the mind had erased her original trailing of him. She needed to know his state of being, just like the others that were close to her. A small golden brown dot no bigger than a freckle burned against his cheek as her lips pulled away. The nightsister blood trail once more on his flesh.

Spencer’s voice no louder than a whisper tickled against his ear as she pulled herself closer to him. “You are the carriage to carry the Fringe to its revolution, stay strong for she is a heavy stone to carry.” Sensuality is what drew people to the young woman, she spoke well for her age - she always had. Possibly the reason Ashin Varanin and a certain Garhoon, never let the woman from their sights.


[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

Soft tension formed from close proximity, he had always been a skirt-chaser, a man whose conquests of women was only eclipsed by his love and lust for the risks of the world. Much had changed from then to now though, this thing… this had only changed a little bit.

‘Mmhm.’ Ovmar grunted in acknowledgment, the touch of her lips on his skin was… different than it had been all those years ago. At least for him, he had been young, so young and he hadn’t been all that knowledgeable on a lot of things that seemed so obvious right now.

He turned his head slightly, old eyes searching for something in Jacob’s eyes, he could feel the ancient wicca magics bond forming and allowing her to always see him in the ghost-eye. What few knew, realized, was that this trail worked both ways.

A man who knew a lot he could use that trial to find the person on the other side, a younger Jared would have used this advantage. But the old Jared used a sliver of sharpened air to cut his thumb and brushed the skin of her neck, softly, as to not make it anymore than it was.

‘I will keep an eye on you, miss.’ he whispered, giving her a soft peck on the cheek. The whisper of air would continue next to her ear.

‘We will move soon, be ready.’

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer didn’t’ flinch as she felt the burning against her neck. He had learn the technique as well and she knew what it entailed. Once the sensation had subsided, she waited and listened to him speak. He was going to lead them to victory, he was the one to put them on his back and carry them through the fires. There were only a few she would trust with this honor – if one could call it that. Spencer pulled away and stood from the park bench. Her back remained turned towards him as she waited to speak.

There wasn’t much more to say. She was going to be part of his plan and he would make sure she didn’t get lost in it. Pausing, she glanced over her shoulder. “Ashin and Ibaris remain safe. Either of them are harmed you’ll be answering personally to me Jared. Despite the transcendence you have achieved – you’ve never seen or felt the true nature of my power.” Letting the warning sink in, she began to walk away.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

Old eyes looked on as his old Master retraced her steps back from where she came from, a warning, it showed just how young Jacobs still was and yet… so powerful. Perhaps it was that peculiar brand of humor the universe had, to shower one with such gifts without giving them the taste of ambition to follow through.

And just like that the bench was empty again, not even a trace was left of the Lord of the Fringe just sitting there a few moments ago. Jacobs would feel Ovmar’s presence shift away from one specific position to suddenly a multitude of unspecific locations, all around her and further away.

An electron can be at two places at the same time, until its measured.

Uncertainty, here and not-here, that was how the Lord operated these days.

It begged the question if he had even really been here in the first place.