Forever Connected

[Kay-Larr]

Kay sat down alone in the dark. Back on Commenor she had an isolation chamber. But here on Mandalore she did not. So her quarters were just going to have to do. The hour was late, so most were sleeping. It left her room silent. And she needed that now for what she was about to do.

Closing her eyes, she got herself comfortable and then slowed her breathing and in turn her heart rate. She let her whole body relax while opening herself up to the Force.

She needed to find him, her husband [member="Veiere Arenais"] . She needed to talk to him and hope that he would listen and not continue to shut her away. Everything had been so tense, there was violence everywhere and even she hadn't been able to escape it.

With her mind's eye she saw herself standing in the dark, illuminated by her own internal light. "Veiere?....Veiere can you hear me?..." Kay's voice seemed to echo as it rode along their connection created not only by their Force Bond, but through their marriage as well.

Would he answer? Would he dare to respond? She wasn't sure. There was much for her to talk about, including but not limited to their children, as well as [member="Adara Raxis"] and [member="Yasha Cadera"] . Her previous message wasn't answered, and so she figured that this was another avenue to try.

But if it failed than she knew that there was no hope for them and she would be on her own with everything from this day forward....

Kay's internal self stood in the dark and waited. She'd give it the night before she'd give up. But hopefully she wouldn't have to wait long.

 

[WolfMortum]

"The Judiciary" Heavy Cruiser was en-route back to Kashyyyk from the former Republican World of Carida when something seemed to pull Veiere's attention away from his present train of thoughts. He'd been seated at his desk within the Captain's private quarters when the Force seemed to reach out to him, seemingly of it's own volition.

"....Veiere can you hear me?".

The words reached him this time, a whisper across the veil of the Force that held the familiar voice of his wife, [member="Kay Arenais"]. Thus far, Veiere had still avoided contact with her. A difficult decision with an even more difficult explanation. It wasn't by his preference to put distance between them but rather by duty and a need to prepare himself should he run into her when the time came for the Silver Jedi Order to call for the arrest of the United Clans leadership, demanding them to face up to the consequences of the crimes they'd allowed to be committed in complete disregard of galactic law and order.

'Blast it all' he thought to himself in resignation, he couldn't help but feel resentful of her decision to stand against him, choosing to ignore what was right out of loyalty to her familial connections to the Mandalorians. Leaning back into his chair, he forced himself to take a deep breath in order to calm his mind. His hands coming together in his lap, his right toying with the wedding ring still upon his left hand. Closing his eyes, it took him but a moment for the feel of his environment to take a powerful shift, the force around him drawing upon the shadows that soon clouded all but his own form, standing now and surrounding by darkness. Not an evil of intimidating presence, but rather distancing himself from all else but the attempt to communicate with his wife through their Force Bond, across such a vast distance between them.

"Kay. I'm here".

 

[Kay-Larr]

The voice of [member="Veiere Arenais"] echoed through the void, Kay's heart leaping to her throat as his form materialized out of the dark. Oh he was a sight for sore eyes. She silently thanked the Force that he had finally answered her. But for how long this communication would last, she wasn't sure.

"Veiere, I...." Where to begin? Which matter should she address first? There were far too many. The more pressing at hand would have to be the Mandalorians and their war with the Jedi. "...I'm sorry that it seems as though I am on the wrong side. But as I told you in my message...my reasons for coming here are personal. Carnifex wants me dead, all due to some vision or dream that he had. No doubt Prazutis would be glad to help make that come true. Yasha found out about it and she cane to me straight away." Even though she shouldn't of. Kay felt badly about her niece doing so in her condition, but Ambrose, Kaine and the others told her that there was no talking her out of it. "Only in Mandalorian space am I safe from their prophesy and their wrath." Kay held up her hand. "Now before you say anything; no, I did not feel as though going to you would have been the right choice. I wouldn't want to give more reason for the Sith to attack you all. The same reason that I am not at Zakuul right now. We are not ready to face such an attack. Zakuul wouldn't survive." Yasha and Kaine had told her to give back the crown, perhaps in a bid to sever her ties with Zakuul so that it would make the move all the easier. But she refused.

"There is something wrong with our grand-niece Adara. She hides her Force Sensitivity and when she let's it go, it's nearly as Dark as any other Sith Lord. She wasn't always like this and I am determined to find out why the change, not to mention who is influencing her." That was another thing that Kay couldn't do outside of Mandalorian space. At least being close to them, she'd be able to investigate properly and perhaps influence Adara away from Darkness.

"I have my niece's ear. While I am here, I hope to get her to change her path, to change the path that the Mandalorians currently follow. They shouldn't be anyone's puppet. No one should. It's just going to take a bit of time..." But time more than likely wasn't on her side. Not when war raged on.

 

[WolfMortum]

Even within the void, the surrounding darkness of their forged environment, Veiere's disapproval and frustration towards her would be clearly apparent. [member="Kay Arenais"]' answer to escaping the wrath of the Sith Emperor sounded entirely foolish and contradictory of her desire to keep clear of the Sith.

"So, rather than join me with the Silver Jedi who have countered the Sith on every front for years now, you choose to go to the side of their single largest ally..." Veiere shook his head in resignation; How many times now had they had this discussion already.

"Instead of surrounding and strengthening your presence in the Light, the one true counter to the Darkside, you side with the Mandalorians, even after I told you about what happened on Eshan, and then two of the worlds under the Silver Jedi followed, raids taken out on the people..." Veiere of course knew her counter-argument regarding the Allies of the Order of the Silver Jedi, but the fact remained that the Order had established peace with a formerly rival government and the least likely expected to restrain themselves for the sake of appeasing the Alliance. If not for the influence of the Silver Jedi, the Confederacy would not likely hold back like it had been.

"Do not be on Mandalore or any of their World's when the fighting starts" Veiere instructed, "Do not put yourself in the midst of this war, our Children are already struggling, and if you are seen to be supporting the Mandalorian Clans, you will have to face the same consequences" he neglected to mention the state of their marriage, though Veiere didn't recognize the Woman he had married any longer. No longer the advocate for peace like she had fought for on Commenor. Veiere felt that she had somehow lost a part of herself during her time spent in Purgatory.

The news of Adara was foreign to Veiere, he hadn't met her and between he and Kay, they had rarely discussed her connection to Clan Raxis, let alone the names and faces that went with them. "I am sorry for the Girl, but these are the risks when associating with such strong sources of darkness like Carnifex. Had Yasha asked the Silver Jedi for help rather than standing idle while her people attacked us, perhaps the girl would not be suffering now".

"Take Adara with you if you must, but leave Mandalorian space immediately. Come to Kashyyyk and let me help you, there's not going to be another chance for you to turn away from this path you're walking" he urged her, one last attempt at trying to bring her back to the just side in all this political strife.

 

[Kay-Larr]

"Veiere, I don't want them to come after you! They nearly killed you to punish me and--" Kay cut herself short as she recalled that horrible day when the Sith came to Commenor. [member="Veiere Arenais"] was set to be executed, but by some miracle he had escaped Carnifex's platform.

She wiped at her tears, not at all liking where this conversation was going. But it needed to be spoken through. "I don't support what the Mandalorians are doing. I don't support their alliance and I'm trying to break it! I'm trying to make things better so that they aren't all killed."

She clenched her jaw a little. What consequences would she face if she didn't fight? What consequences would she face if she just tried to get innocents out of harm's way? Would they kill her for it and just do Canifex's work for him?

Something else Veiere had said gave her pause. He seemed to imply that attacks were coming and that there'd be nowhere safe. Her stomach seemed to sink. Kay lowered her head slightly. "What if it's already too late and I can't get out? Will they kill me, Veiere? Even if I don't fight? What consequences would I face?" She didn't want to be caged again. And no doubt that with her rescue from Purgatory, others didn't want her caged either.

 

[WolfMortum]

"Kay, what exactly do you think I do as a Jedi?" Veiere asked, rolling his eyes at [member="Kay Arenais"] suggestion that she might further endanger his life; "Part of my job is to actively seek out the Sith responsible for crimes committed against the Galaxy, and if they don't surrender then they leave me no other choice but to have to engage them." he explained, leading up to his point, "The Jedi are the safest option to keep you out of reach of the Sith Emperor, because we are the only ones willing to challenge Carnifex' reign of tyranny across the Galaxy".

Veiere didn't know what the consequences for Kay would amount to, though he did know that they'd be far more severe if she didn't choose to submit herself to the Silver Jedi for their consideration. On the other hand, if she chose to fight against the Jedi on the side of the Mandalorian's, she would likely be tried and convicted under similar crimes of war the likes that they would be facing. "Stand before the Silver Assembly and explain yourself to them, otherwise you risk losing everything. You have a chance to to walk away from all this before it's too late. I strongly suggest you take it".

"Our Children still need you, and you will do more for Zakuul as a free woman, than you will do from inside of a prison cell or worse, if you don't turn away from this conflict".

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. It felt as though [member="Veiere Arenais"] was chastizing her, even though she knew that he was just trying to get her to see his point of view. Yes, it was his job to protect others and to go into harm's way, but she didn't want to be at fault for the death of another husband. She had gone through that before and had done what she could to try to avoid that again.

But she had failed. Once again she had caught the attention of powerful Sith Lords, and once again she was being backed into a corner.

Her brows furrowed as he suggested that she stand before the Silver Assembly and explain herself. It was bad enough doing so to her husband for even he didn't understand what she was doing or why. All that he could see was that she was taking part in a war that in truth, she was trying to stay away from.

Kay remained silent for a time, the inner turmoil of her thoughts and feelings visible on her face. She was heavily conflicted. The Silvers had no jurisdiction over her. Neither did the Mandalorians, or the Sith, or the First Order that she knew were trying to take back Zakuul. But still...she made a promise to some of the Mandalorians that felt the same way that she did. She made the promise that she would try...

"Alright, Veiere....Alright...I will go to Kashyyyk or wherever they are."

 

[WolfMortum]

Much to his surprise, and his relief, [member="Kay Arenais"] agreed to come before the Silver Assembly and explain herself, her position and why for all circumstance, she appeared to be taking a stand against the Jedi whom were the defenders and advocating force that stood for all the very same ideals that Veiere had known her to believe in. "Good" Veiere replied, soon to reassure her "It's the right choice, Kay. Our Family doesn't need to be caught in the midst of all this strife" and nor should she have to pay for the crimes that others had committed.

"From Mandalore, Roche is due south. I'll position the Judiciary there in wait for you, and then we can head to Kashyyyk together", it would be easier this way. Veiere knew the risks, and wished to establish her state of mind well before placing her before the rest of the assembly. As an acting senior member himself, it was his responsibility to ensure the Assembly's continued safety as much so as Kay's own. While he believed his Wife to be no threat to anyone, the actions of people whom so strongly believed in a cause could at times be unpredictable and time itself was quickly passing, something that Veiere felt they were in short supply of.

 

[Kay-Larr]

The right choice...

She certainly hoped so...

But of course she had her doubts. Any normal person would if they were in her situation. She didn't even have [member="Veiere Arenais"] in her corner. No matter what she had said in explaining herself, he just couldn't understand.

At the mention of Roche however, she quickly shook her head. "Not there. I don't want to go to Roche. There's nothing but bad memories there. Pick somewhere else, Veiere, please." Roche was indeed a bad plave. Back when Kay was a Senator for the Galactic Republic, Roche was attacked. When it seemed as though civilians were out of harm's way, some were hiding and mistakingly sucked out of an airlock to their deaths. The battle for Roche was lost, with the Mandalorians as the victors. To try to quell tensions between the two governments, Kay had donated every credit that she had for the funerals and medical costs of the Mandalorians involved. For a while her generosity had worked. But then Ra came....All that she had done, the promises that were made to her were all broken.

Roche was a bad place. And she hadn't been there since.

 

[WolfMortum]

Veiere nodded, [member="Kay Arenais"] certainly had experienced a lot back in the time of the Galactic Republic, long before he had met her back on Alzoc Three; "Noverskaa then" he suggested as a compromise. "I'll be in orbit, you'll see my ship from quite a ways off, but don't be discouraged" Veiere thought to warn her well before the time, "The Judiciaries an Assault Cruiser modeled after the Resolute, I spend much of my time patrolling Silver Borders, so Norverskaa works for me too".

Especially lately with tensions in the Galaxy being at an all-time high, Veiere's duties had consisted more of being away from Kashyyyk than they had spending time with the students inside of the temple walls. Veiere did so enjoy teaching, and working alongside others within the Artisan Quarters, yet out there in space there were so many things that could go south and the borders of the Order of the Silver Jedi required a constant eye. "Our hangar's can accommodate smaller sized corvettes at best, you should have plenty of room to land with us" he sought to encourage her, "I'll be the first to greet you when you land, you'll be among friends aboard my Ship".

 

[Kay-Larr]

Well at least [member="Veiere Arenais"] chose a different place. Kay had never been to Noverskaa before. But it wasn't as though she'd be setting foot on the planet. She'd be in orbit.

"I'll be in the Free Lady with a few of my guards. I'm sure that you'll understand that I can't go alone." Her guards were a few of the Eternal Knights, and not Mandalorians. For such a long journey it wasn't impossible to be intercepted along the way.

To his further instructions she nodded her head. Although she wasn't so sure that she'd be among friends. No doubt all would look upon her with harsh judgements in their eyes. Kay planned on doing her best to ignore them.

"I will leave in a couple of days, once the Free Lady is supplied and ready to go.....Thank you Veiere, for allowing me an opportunity to try to explain myself." Though how well that would go was anyone's guess. All that she knew was that she'd not be staying in that sector for long. She had far too much work to do.

 

[WolfMortum]

"I'm just glad you're working with me on all of this, for once" Veiere admitted, not having felt as though they were on the same page since long before her time in Purgatory; rather than having been put in this position in their marriage due to [member="Kay Arenais"]' refusal to listen to his former warnings and advice.

"Your Guards may accompany you, but they will need to give their weapons over upon boarding with the Judiciary. You'll understand that I can't be seen allowing foreigners into the heart of the Silver Jedi Temple, armed when there are younglings around and such" he doubted Kay would like the idea, but that was the compromise for her personal Guard. The Silver Order weren't the type of people to attack unprovoked, and in this case Veiere hardly believed there'd be a need for Kay's Guard, yet that was her request and so he had to inform her of the policy regarding admittance to the primary location of the Order's influence over the Eastern regions of the Galaxy.

"See you when you get here" Veiere concluded, lowering his head in a brief gesture of farewell before his form faded out from the nether and his eyes opened to find himself once more within his private cabin aboard the Judiciary, a heavy sigh escaping him. It appeared as though their voyage wasn't over quite yet.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Working with...? As far as she was aware, she was just agreeing to a meeting to speak for herself and set the record straight. Kay wasn't planning on working against her family, those that were on BOTH sides in all of this.

As for her guards being unarmed, she had expected as much. "Their weapons will remain on the Free Lady. So you can be rest assured in that regard." It was far better for the weapons to be in their own control than in the hands of another. Especially if they had to leave in a pinch. But her Eternal Knights were Force users, making them weapons themselves. And they liked to stay close.

Kay bowed her head as [member="Veiere Arenais"] disappeared, watching him go. It was another moment before she pulled herself out of the meditation. At least it had worked. Finally she had contacted her husband and finally he had responded. Now they were set to meet before he was to escort her to the leaders of his new Government where she was to relay her case for herself. She wasn't so sure if they would understand, given that Veiere didn't do seem to do so already.

But of course there was only one way to find out.