Private Further Pursuit of Knowledge (Veino)

[Noah Corek Jr.]

Susevfi

Junior's fingers deftly tapped away at the display screen in front of him, documents being sent to the planetside Rimward Trade League landing authorities. Junior had come to Susevfi to learn from another one of his fathers contacts/friends/acquaintances, Veino Garn . Junior quickly went through the notes on the datapad on the man, a master level force user, former ORION Spymaster, former Underground cell leader and current Saaraai-Kaar of the Jensaarai.

Junior had to admit that the man was probably one of the better teachers for him. Growing up with his mothers and father he had very much walked the line between the Dark and Light Side of the Force, or as his father described it: 'being a pragmatist'. His mother having been a Jedi and a Sith at one point had helped expand his horizons to other disciplines beyond the light and his time of force training under her had consisted of studying various force disciplines throughout the galaxy, the Jensaarai having stood out immensely to him.

Putting the datapad away Junior brought his ship in for landing, having already sent a message to Veino requesting a meeting with him, being less than subtle when dropping the hint of who his father was, though his name probably gave that away pretty quickly.

 

[Veino Garn]

Noah Corek Jr.

Noah Corek, junior. That was something Veino had never expected to see, let alone receive a message from the kid, asking about a meeting. That, at least, he could do. He wasn't sure what he could do, but he would at least do Noah the Elder the favor of meeting. He'd sent a reply back, indicating a meeting at a small caff house in the Docksides district.

Veino sat against the back wall, in a tall booth where he could see the front door and the kitchen entrance, one hand wrapped around a steaming cup of caf and the other resting idly in a pocket.

It wasn't often he went out in public these days, at least not in Yumfla. Much of the ORION work had been slowly phased away from him so he could have a chance to catch his breath again and refocus.

Rebuilding the Jensaarai. Not that they had been destroyed, but the last few decades had been grim for everyone. And the Jensaarai didn't have the resources to pull from an entire galaxy like the Jedi, nor did they want to. He took a slow sip of the caf and glanced towards the waiter.

"I'm meeting someone, should be a youngish fellow. Old family friend of his dad," Veino said casually. All the truth, but without the specifics that could be confirmed or denied. "If someone comes in looking real lost, let me know."

"Certainly," the maitre'd replied, curling his elegant mustache. "And we shall make sure you are not disturbed."

Not code, per se, but familiar enough that the man knew what the implication was.

 

[Noah Corek Jr.]

Junior brought his ship in for a textbook landing, putting it down on the landing pad with relative ease, since the autopilot did most of the work anyway. As he was shutting down the ship and locking it up he heard his datapad chime, telling him that he had received a message. Finishing the shut down procedure he took a look at his datapad and smiled. Sending back a quick reply Junior looked at the direction that Veino Garn had given him from the spaceport to the caf house.

Stepping out of the ship with a smile Junior slung a satchel over his back, clipped his sabers to his belt and began making his way to the caf house. It didn't take too long for him to reach the caf house, about five minutes or so but it was good exercise anyways and he got to take in some of the sights of the city anyway.

When he stepped into the caf house his nose was assaulted with a smell, well assault probably wasn't the right word as they were all rather pleasant to the nose. Looking around the entrance he noticed the maitre'd, with what he would describe as a rather comical mustache and quickly made his way over to the man.

"Hi, my name is Noah Corek and I'm here to see-" Junior was stopped before he could finish his words as the maitre'd raised a hand and nodded. "Yes sir I know who you are here to meet, follow me." Shrugging Junior followed the man as he showed him to the table. Once they reached the table Junior saw the man sitting there and raised an eyebrow, remembering his father saying that Veino was a little rough around the edges but a good man nonetheless.

"Veino Garn I presume?"

 

[Veino Garn]

Noah Corek Jr.

Veino heard the door chime and glanced up from his caf as a young man entered, speaking to the maitre'd. He could just see the familiar features and presences that called Noah the Elder to mind.

As the youth spoke, Veino inclined his head and gestured to the seat at the table across from him. "You would be correct. And you must be Noah Junior."

He took a drink from the caf and gestured to the waiter. "Whatever my young friend here would like if you please, assuming he's old enough for adult beverages."

Veino leaned back in the chair, thinking and assessing the youth. He couldn't guess how old he was, but probably not much different than Veino had been when he had set out on his errantry and wanderings.

After the waiter disappeared, Veino leaned forward again. "So, Noah, how was your trip? Did you find the journey alright?"

 

[Noah Corek Jr.]

Veino Garn​

Following the mans indication Junior took a seat across from him, sliding the chair out before sitting down and laying a satchel down next to his chair. "That I am. My father left notes and a list on various people who he thought could train me and according to him you were one of the few people who respected AND liked."

When the waiter came to take his order Junior looked at his with a smile. "A cup of spice caf and a bowl of pog soup if you have it...if not any type of soup will do." Junior relaxed in the seat, trying to get as comfortable as possible, the long jaunts of space travel having not agreed with him so far.

Junior smiled and nodded at Veino, happy that he called him by his name and not his suffix like most people in his family did. "It was fine, I'm not use to space travel yet, I've spent most of my life planetside my moms and dad didn't really like us leaving home much if not supervised...they were kind of overprotective like that."

 

[Veino Garn]

Noah Corek Jr.

"Well, that's quite a compliment from him," Veino replied, suppressing a surprised choke by disguising it as a short cough. "I had no idea he ever rated me that highly. I will have to live up to that, then. We'll see how that goes."

He took another sip of the drink, eyes roving across the room, taking in each newcomer and the pre-established patrons, reassessing them before returning to Noah. "And space travel can be a struggle. It's not the easiest thing to get adjusted to." Some people never did, but that wasn't something to tell someone just taking their first steps into the galaxy.

"And I'm not surprised they were that way," Veino admitted, recalling the man he remembered from the past. "Although in a way, that is unfortunate. Traveling the galaxy and getting out and about as a youth has great value in the long run. But what are you hoping to learn?"

 

[Noah Corek Jr.]

Veino Garn​

Junior nodded and caught Veino's surprised reaction when he told him the summation of his fathers view of him. "It's weird, I've found a lot of the people who's information he gave me say the exact same thing. Never knew my dad as one to hide his feelings about other people...though most of the people I'm meeting are people he knew before I was born so maybe he changed?" Junior phrased the question as more rhetorical than anything else.

When the topic of space travel was brought up Junior nodded his head. "I always got mixed messages from my parents about space travel. One of my mothers loved it and said it was one of the best feeling in the galaxy, my other mother was apathetic to it and my dad? My dad hated space travel, always said he'd prefer to be buried alive then travel in space."

He shrugged and Veino's comments about him not leaving Alderaan much. "It's not like I was locked in my room or something, me and my siblings had a pretty big free range and I'm sure if we asked to go off world we would have been obliged but we never really felt the need or want to." When he brought up what he wanted to learn. "From what I've read the Jensaarai are adept at mixing both the dark and light...I wanna learn about that."

 

[Veino Garn]

Noah Corek Jr.

"It is certainly possible, yes," Veino agreed, considering thoughtfully. "It was a long time ago and we were much younger and very different. War was our state of existence and we didn't expect to be able to live through it all."

He took a deep drink of the caf, feeling the comforting warmth spread through his insides. "That is good to know then, that you never felt the need or urge to leave."

It was not at all what Veino had been like as a youth. His restlessness had driven him off-world as a youth.

"And... in a way, that is correct," Veino replied slowly. "Light and Dark are... perhaps oversimplistic conceptions of the Force." He was picking his words very carefully. "The Force is an infinite, eternal energy field, and it flows through the galaxy and living things in ways which we do not fully understand."

 

[Noah Corek Jr.]

Veino Garn​

Junior scratched his chin at Veino's mentioning of the past him and his father had shared. "Dad doesn't really like to talk about his time before he met my mothers. I know he served in the Republic Army, then the Omega Pyre and then he bounced around the galaxy but I've never pushed him on the subject, mostly on my mothers urgings."

As the two conversed the waiter returned at last with Junior's food, the young man uttering a thanks and giving a nod to them. Smiling at the food in front of him he took a sip of the caf and a spoonful of the soup before nodding. "Not as good as dad's cooking but not bad at all."

The young man nodded to Veino's words as the older man spoke, taking them in, processing them and thinking on them before he responded. "That's very much how I was raised by my mother. She's a force user too. She said that at one time she served both ends of the spectrum and believes that both have a...one-side approach to the question. She always encouraged me to keep an open mind to all aspects of the force...sans the Sith way of thinking of course."

 

[Veino Garn]

Noah Corek Jr.

"That is a fairly wise perspective of your mother's," Veino replied, "But the challenging part is that the Sith way of thinking is not unique to the Sith. Entitlement, desire for power over others, and the diminishing of the values of other living beings are rampant throughout the galaxy."

He paused to contemplate his words. "Aggression is not inherently evil... in the same way that Acklays and Rancors are not inherently evil. There's a reason the Jensaarai have traditionally used the motifs of animals in our armor. There are no good people or bad people. Good and evil are things that we do, not states of being. Does that make sense so far?"

 

[Noah Corek Jr.]

Veino Garn​

The young man smiled and then nodded at his assessment of his mother perspective. "Dad always said that he married outta his league in both the physical and mental department. Of course it probably didn't help that mom was never one to dissuade him of that notion. She said it was 'a way to make sure your father doesn't get too big of a head' but my opinion is she just like to egg him on."

He listened to Veino's and the Jensaarai theory on aggression and nodded along. "I think I understand...it's a lot like a weapon, blade or firearm. The weapon itself isn't inherently evil just a object but once it is used it takes on the qualities of its user, be it good or bad. A bit of a Mandalorian way of thinking about it but being raised as one kinda colors my view."

 

[Veino Garn]

Noah Corek Jr.

There was always some irony in the statement out of their league these days. He didn't doubt more than a few of the youths in the Outer Rim were using it ironically. And honestly, he couldn't blame them, and frankly, he appreciated it. "And probably helped Noah quite a bit to have her say that."

He sat back as the youth worked through the process of understanding and comprehending the very brief encapsulation of the Jensaarai philosophy of violence. "In a way, yes, there are some similarities between our perspective and that of the Mandalorians, especially regarding personal honor and the use of controlled violence."

Veino considered momentarily and then leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table. "I think we might even say violence is not inherently evil, when done in against those who choose to exploit and abuse beings who cannot help themselves."