Help Me, Help You

[Caid Centurion]

Caluula

Caid stood silently overlooking the vast expanse before him. Arrayed in front of him were several soldiers clad in armor painted black. The remote training facility on Caluula was...convenient for Caid. The Grand Admiral had grown accustom to using this particular location over the last several months for some of the more covert affairs undertaken by the Republic Military. He was, of course, careful how he managed off-the-book affairs. Per procedure, a number of intermediaries were used to interact with said units.

The unit before him at present, however, was not destined to be the same. They were funded through the normal military budget albeit under a different designation than the purpose they truthfully fulfilled. For record-keeping sake, they were billeted simply as a stand-alone combat unit assigned to Alpha Line. Responsible for protective security of all vessels and senior personnel assigned to the Command Line, they did receive a wide berth of general and specialized training. The not-so-routine training undertaken on Caluula, however, was funded through personal funds maintained from less-than-honest days of Caid's past. The instruction provided by those that had...some level of knowledge in a variety of technically unsavory disciplines.

Stepping away from the personnel, Caid nodded to the unit's commander. "Proceed, Commander. I have business to tend to." In a matter of minutes, the Grand Admiral stepped back aboard his personal shuttle. Only those assigned to the unit were permitted witness to the specialized training on the soil of Caluula. However, he did bring his typical staff contingent, leaving them on his flagship. It helped to create the illusion that they were part of simple, routine operations of a special-purpose unit. In truth, Caid was training the battalion-sized organization for a very...specific purpose and with plans to expand.

[member="Lira Dajenn"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

[member="Caid Centurion"]

On the bridge of that flagship stood one Lira Dajenn. The young Jedi Knight who had recently returned from a sojourn into the Abrion Corporate Alliance and had discovered that the faction was working with the Sith. That net gain of information had landed her a promotion of sorts, though it was much more fitting to call it a thrust of responsibility.

She stood rather awkwardly on the bridge, her arms crossed just beneath her breasts, her stark white hair tied into a neat ponytail. She wore snug fitting plates of plasteel over a bodysuit, tight fitting armor that was bedecked by a white robe that very nearly matched her hair color.

Her eyes darted all over the bridge.

She had been on board large vessels like this before, that much was obvious, but she had never been in this situation. She was here for lack of a better term to learn, to learn more about the functions of how the Republic was operating, specifically its military and political branches. She bit her lip nervously, shaking her head slightly.

“When is he due back?” Lira asked one of the nearby ensigns. The young man froze in place, eying her for a few seconds before looking towards a commanding officer whom simply nodded.

“His shuttle is enroute Ma'am.”

Lira nodded.

 

[Caid Centurion]

It was roughly thirty minutes before Caid stepped on to the bridge of the Adjudicator. He'd been notified enroute that an envoy from the Jedi Order had arrived to speak with him, but he had no earthly cue who in the hell [member="Lira Dajenn"] even was. After a brief conversation with the vessel's Captain, Captain Velez indicated to Caid who Lira was. From a distance, the Grand Admiral gave the woman a brief once over before glancing at Captain Velez with a subtle nod.

Without saying a word to Lira, Caid swept off the bridge, escorted by just one of his security detail. It wasn't long before he was back in the office area of his expansive stateroom.

The moment Caid had departed, Captain Velez stepped over to Lira and offered her a gentle nod of his head. "Jedi Knight Lira Dajenn? The Admiral will see you now. We're afraid that your arrival was not...very well communicated by the Jedi Order." The Captain paused as he walked in the direction of the Admiral's stateroom. "Just keep that in mind." By the time the Captain fell silent, they had arrived. Per instructions, the Captain knocked twice before palming open the door.

When the door opened, Caid was seated at his desk, reviewing information on his terminal. He offered his guest but a quick glance. "Please. Come in, have a seat, and tell me what I might do for our illustrious Jedi Order this day."

 

[Lira Dajenn]

To say Lira was nervous was an understatement. She was still young, inexperienced and had only been promoted to Jedi Knight a few weeks ago. She had done good so far, but this assignment was of a different nature, she couldn't sneak her way through it, fight her way out of it, or run away because of it. Knowing that, she tried to present a false air of confidence.

Her face was stern, her eyes were fixed forward on [member="Caid Centurion"], and her lips remained thin and pressed together.

“It's not what you can do for the Jedi Order, Admiral Centurion. It's what you can do for me.” Her words were propped up by self confidence that was little more than an illusion, but once she got rolling it was hard to stop herself from speaking further. “The Order has become...dull. Though I am only recently promoted to Knight, I'm finding the politics of Master Grayson as well as many of the other Masters to be...tiresome.”

That was actually the truth. Lire found many of the rules and regulations of the Jedi Order to be extremely outdated and archaic. “I would like to request to be allowed a formal military presence within a unit under your command.”

She wasn't sure if she phrased that correctly, she had never been in the military after all and all the experience she had with the military was protesting against it back on Prakith.