Gilded Futures

[Cassus Stoma]

EIRAPECHAL​

JEDI PRAXEUM​

​

Jace had merely laid within slumber as those Lords of Light had arrived to the Praxeum. He had spent many nights pondering their very cause, their intention, and if they could rightfully exist in isolated peace as the Galaxy burned around them. It troubled the newly anointed Knight. He had always believed there was more that could be done; that a fight could be taken to the Sith, and that these peacekeeping ways could not be upheld in a time where there was no peace. The Jedi, as far as Jace was concerned, needed to strike.

He could never admit it, but as he heard Kade exclaim those dreaded words there had been a hint of excitement within him. It had been some time since he had slain an enemy. He was looking forwards to the next. Yet, such a privilege had been torn from beneath him. It wasn an opportunity that arrived instead.

It had taken some consideration; more than a few moments of thought.

The Jedi had taken his steps towards those that had been identified as the Lords of Light, but his eyes had been fixated upon their so-called leader- Master Sardun.

"Master Sardun." He passively called, "I'm Knight Khel." Jace offered with a bow of his head, "Forgive me, but why are you here?" His gaze shifted left then right, "We've nothing to offer." He had placed it rather bluntly with a quirk of his brow and some hesitance to his voice. Khel was rather curious as to who they were, for Sardun was the only real name he had known. An influence, to some degree.

[member="Michael Sardun"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Jace Khel"]

Sardun and those with him were isolated in this Praxeum.

This place of... peace.

They kept their armor on, their helmets fixed, but every now and then Sardun took his off. Letting those around him see. That behind the names and cold steel? There were living names. Those that had chosen to take the fight up. Not to sit around and do nothing. The repairs on the workshop were almost complete. Maybe a day or two. Then that would be that. He hoped that some of these people would understand. That they would follow... but he didn't quite expect one of their Knights to walk up to him immediately.

Grey eyes looked down at Jace.

Young one, young spirit, eager.

It wasn't immediately clear what Sardun thought of that. "Knight Khel." He gestured towards his companions to continue on without him. In the place of the light he would be safe. He did not foresee any of the Jedi here to attack him, after all.

"I arrived here under the impression I was meant to save someone." Bethany. But his conflict with [member="Harper Kade"] had underliend it for him. She was gone. And that was that. "It was a mistake."

Those grey eyes scrutinized.

"Are you in need of assistance?"

 

[Cassus Stoma]

"No." Jace replied rather quickly, his head shifting from left to right as his eyelids momentarily fell over the orbs that lay within their respective sockets. "I'm sorry to hear that. Or thankful." His brow momentarily quirked at the revelation it may have been a fortunate thing- that one didn't require saving, but darker undertones may lie within such a statement. Jace had only heard of Master Sardun of the Army of Light. An inspiration to the Atzerrian those years ago, and now, as a Jedi, he dared to act in such similar strides.

His silver orbs were unyielding in their gaze. "I heard of you in the Great Sith War, of the Army of Light. I was curious, are you at large once again?" Clearly eager and inquisitive through the tone of his voice and the expression that rest so naturally across his face. The Praxeum may have been the one's that created him, allowed him to form into the Jedi he was today, but there had come a time where every bird must leave their next; to venture to greater horizons, and perhaps this had been the very thing Knight Khel sought.

He had no place as a keeper of the peace.

[member="Michael Sardun"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Jace Khel"]

An inclination of the head.

Sardun wasn't interested in exploring that particular subject. It was not a thankful thing... or maybe it was. Was it better than Bethany wasn't here anymore? Wasn't able to see what he was slowly turning into? He knew this was the right course. The only course left to him. But he also knew that she would have hated it. Every moment of it. The disappointment in her eyes would grow larger each and every day. Would that have turned into her trying to stop him?

He didn't know.

But he knew that the way of peace was not his. That it had no purpose any longer.

"I have returned." Sardun confirmed, while eyeing the young man back. "I can sense resolve in you, Knight Khel. Purpose. Have you come to me with a request?"

There Sardun waited.

He hadn't come here, in truth, to recruit these people of the Praxeum. But if some of them were smarter than [member="Harper Kade"]? He would not turn them away.

 

[Cassus Stoma]

There had truthfully been nothing here for Jace. Not anymore. He had been able to gather the knowledge and skills necessary to be a Jedi, or so he believed. They had too, to some degree. He was a Knight, after all. There had been such dormancy in a time of constant conflict. These Sith had rapidly expanded across the Tingel Arm, oozing their way into the mid-rim and it was only a matter of time before they reached the Praxeum. How could they defend themselves? Jace knew how they resided within such basic complexes, housing such inexperienced Jedi in an attempt to bolster ranks and spread the way of a peacekeeper.

They would not last; they would perish.

Knight Khel could only sit on his hands for so long. Now, with an opportunity bestowed upon him, could he seize it. "I have learned all I can here, Master. The Praxeum is too dormant, idle in a time of conflict. I wish to join the Army of Light, that is if you intend on taking the fight to the Sith."

[member="Michael Sardun"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Jace Khel"]

That was good.

At the very least the sloth and inaction hadn't seeped into every single soul here. That gave him hope that this could be salvaged. That this generation wasn't completely infected by inaction and a lack of resolve. "The Jedi are stagnant." Sardun agreed calmly. His attention shifted from Jace towards the rest of the settlement. He could feel them all. It only took the closing of his eyes, his presence unfolding (the ring on his hand started to glow blue as his presence increased. Before? He had been a flame. But as Sardun released his hold, that flame increased into the presence of the sun. Perhaps Jace would even feel the heat, burning against his skin.) There was so much worry here.

So many scurried into the corners.

Hoping that whatever was there in the shadows of the Galaxy would pass them by. Gladly sitting here, building... but not helping where it mattered.

"In times of peace this Praxeum would be exactly what the Galaxy needed. But this is their problem. They do not change with the times. Do not see that the Galaxy changes around them, necessitating them to change in turn."

Eyes opened.

The blues had shifted, turning to ice and almost white.

"We are the change, Knight Khel. I aim to correct the mistake I made so many years ago when I took the fight to the Sith. My men and me will root them out. I aim to destroy them, do you understand?" It went above what the Order had preached back in the early years, when Sardun was still a young man. He didn't just want to defeat them now. No. That had been done so many times already. What Michael wanted to do more than anything else was finish the fight.

For now.

Forever.

"Are you prepared to take the vows? Swear loyalty?"

 

[Cassus Stoma]

The Jedi had cast his attention to the ring that suddenly shifted in it's colouration. It hadn't elicited a physical reaction, but his internal curiosity had run rampant with fickle conclusions. There were so many things that this Knight failed to understand, for the Praxeum had sheltered themselves in isolation. He could not learn to his fullest extent, reach his maximum potential or more in the confines of a planet so far removed from intergalactic society. Khel shifted with discomfort, there had been something that was hot, searing, but no pain had reached him yet. Disappearing before it could. He attempted to return a steel gaze at the Master who spoke.

Destroy.

​It had been such a powerful word. It wasn't something he used quite often, nor had any Jedi he had known. Destruction was an element of the Sith, but these Jedi, these Lords, had never been like any other. It seemed they walked a line, or tread it so carefully not to slip into the darkness. Yet, he knew, despite his doubts, that there could be no stone left unturned in his path to ascension. "I am." He replied stoically with bow of his head.

A rapid decision maker, or so it seemed.

[member="Michael Sardun"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Jace Khel"]

"Kneel then, Knight Khel, and receive your boon."

His footsteps took him towards the kneeling Knight. It was a slow path as the Jedi Master gathered his strength, letting that sun flare again. This time it was measured, controlled, focused... and the intensity of that flare became much more fierce as a result. It illuminated within the Force. Sweeping away the shadows around them, leaving only the light. It didn't take long for Michael Sardun to stand before Jace. Looking down upon him, until his ringed hand rested softly on Jace's head.

"We are the Followers of the Light. We do not fear it, we embrace it. The fire, the flame, the scalding heat, it is our home. Here we are safe from the Dark. We are incorruptible, for we are Light." It might have felt like proselytizing.

Useless words.

If not for the Force slowly drawing near to them.

Surrounding them with the Lightside. Burning them with its embrace as Sardun called upon it through the ring. It flared blue and fierce, it blinded. Slowly a bond was formed between Jace, the ring and Sardun. The young Knight would feel it. How the darkness in his heart (everyone had it... everyone.) was burned away. Leaving only the light. Leaving him weightless, a creation of sun and fire. "You are bond to me now. You won't tire easy, you will fight harder, the Light protects."

His hand left his head.

"Rise, Knight Khel, join your brothers."

Taking a step back to witness his new rise into a new existence.

 

[Cassus Stoma]

It had been with his eyes closed, his head slightly bowed with a hand atop it, and his knee planted firmly into the flooring beneath him that Jace underwent such a transition. It might not be acceptable to call it as such, but this Jedi hadn't any other clue as to what the alternative may be. It was a sensation he couldn't quite comprehend, and it coursed through his veins in a way he had never expected nor experienced in the past. It was different, but empowering. That darkness within had been tangible as it departed his heart, leaving a void that was to immediately replaced with that of the light. Jace struggled to understand what that meant, but he would understand with time.

Just as he hoped those within the Praxeum would understand they could not stay as the Sith burn their way through the star systems.

​Jace had risen to his feet at the mere command, his silver eyes casting a glance out among those he could call his brethren but it was Sardun that ensnared his attention. "Thank you, Master." His head had bowed in a nod once more in the appreciative manner it had done before. He could only hope this wasn't a mistake.

[member="Michael Sardun"]