Home is where the heart is.

[Drystan Marakos]

The Planet Kashyyyk​

​

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ​

​

Winds buffeted the sleak, dull grey ship as it fell, slowly, into the atmosphere. The color of the sky gradually changed from the dark expanse of space to a soft yellow, then finally, to blue as the small Interceptor entered lower elevation. The dull roar of the ship's engines, powerful as they were, were dialed back by a practiced hand as the craft powered over the terrain below... ​

​

Rocky crags, rising high into the sky and covered in trees, stretched for miles... She was at a significant elevation, and the terrain beneath her small ship streaked by at supersonic speed. In the distance, nestled in a small valley between two mountain ranges, a number of silver buildings glistened in the morning sunlight. The ship swept up and around, only once, passing the home of the Silver Jedi and rising high into the mountains before pulling into a steep descent. The engines flared, and their intensity faded as power waned, bringing the ship down upon a large circular landing pad.. The few staff, going about their duties, paid the craft little mind. ​

​

The soft chirping of the ship's Navicomputer died, and the control console faded into darkness as the pilot's experienced touch powered down. ​

​

Rising from the single seat, the pilot stood in the small space and stretched. Dressed in a simple dull-red jumpsuit with knee-high boots, her face was framed in cascading waves of straw-blonde hair which fell down her shoulders like a waterfall. The edges of her mouth curled into a small smile as she took one final glance through Lolth's forward viewport, then turned to the small space which served as simple living quarters & storage bay. The space was cramped, but she could easily stand to her full height with space to maneuver. Opening a drawer beside the single rack which served as a sleeping bay, Drystan's hazel eyes regarded the items within... ​

​

A Blastech Industries hold-out blaster, compact & easily concealable but powerful enough to be used as a primary weapon.​

​

A handheld commlink, dull white in color​

​

A compact case which contained a pair of electrobinoculars​

​

A Companion2000 Datapad, issued by the Alliance & highly secure​

​

And finally, ​

​

3 metallic tubes, each unique in color and size. ​

​

Selecting the largest of the three, an elegant, three-toned tube with a number of buttons and dials along it's length, Drystan attached it to her belt and closed the drawer. Before exiting, she selected a grey robe and donned it, clipping it at her throat with a small clasp. ​

​

The mid-morning air filled her lungs with fresh oxygen, and a soft breeze tugged at the edges of her cloak. Her hair tickled her cheeks as it moved, as-if instilled with it's own sentient awareness. The sun was warm and the air was cool; just cool enough to warrant the cloak. Drystan's feet touched home soil for the first time in a long time... and she was happy to return. ​

​

"But never for long..." She muttered to herself. But she didn't mind. Every moment, a new moment, and all that.​

​

She could not help the spring in her step as she started the short walk to the Temple; home of the Order of the Silver Jedi, the only true family she'd ever known. ​

​

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

​

Drystan stretched her senses outward as she walked. The Force was strong in this place, and she drew it into herself.. It fueled her as much as the oxygen she breathed.​

​

There were a number of Jedi housed within the temple, and many more would come and go as their lives & missions allowed them.​

​

The scope of the compound, with it's humble grounds and extensive facilities, awed her today as much as it had the first time she'd seen it, and she soon found herself feeling safe on this forest planet. The enclave, a sight to behold indeed, remained cleverly concealed within the shadow of this particular mountain range which only added to its' feelings of safety & security. The powerful orbital shield, maintained by the nearby Ranger base, made her think of an umbrella preventing a downpour.​

​

Drystan entered the temple, passing a number of Jedi & visitors. The Temple Guards (A role she was familiar with) stood silent. After a brief walk, she located an empty lift which would bring her to the higher levels of the temple, and she entered alone. She said nothing, content to be present with only the Force as her companion.​

​

Master Nooran would be expecting her.
​

 

[Eugen Aker]

Jyoti didn't usually like being cooped up in her office if she could help it, preferring to teach classes here and there or make herself busy in the workshops when she had downtime between field assignments. However, today was different, as she was meeting with a special operative of the Silver Order.

The agent's service predated the reformation of the Silver Shadows, the current clandestine arm of the Silver Jedi, so Jyoti had finally brought her into formally integrate into the group and give her a set of new assignments. Drysten's specialty appeared to be infiltration, and there were many organizations that the Echani wanted to be investigated from within.

Right ahead of the meeting, the tall Echani stood over the stove of her kitchenette, fixing a pot of sapir tea. As per usual, she swathed in her robes, silvery white.

Her door was open, so Drysten could enter when she arrived. What she would find through the doors was a green office, a large room where every wall was covered by panels of lush foliage, with more potted plants on the floor. A few of the plants were flowering now, leaving the office with a sweet and citrusy scent.

If one closed their eyes, it would almost feel like they never left outside, except there wasn't any man-eating fauna or flora to worry about within the safety of the Master's office.

[member="Drystan_Marakos"]

 

[Drystan Marakos]

Drystan entered the Grand Master's office, having followed her nose to the scent of budding flowers and brewing tea. As the door was open, she took it as a sign of welcome and didn't knock.

As she approached the small kitchenette, she spoke with a smile, "Good Morning, Grand Master.. That smells lovely."

The jedi woman stood, bowing her head in respect to the Master of her Order. She could already feel the stress & tension of her double-life ebb away, and gladly allowed herself to fall back into the ways of the Jedi, falling easily into the role of Student.

 

[Sakumo1Uchiha]

[member="Drystan_Marakos"] [member="Jyoti Nooran"]
(May I?)

 

[Eugen Aker]

[member="Dorrian Korr"] [member="Drystan_Marakos"]

(I'd prefer to keep this particular thread closed between myself and Drystan, thank you.)

 

[Sakumo1Uchiha]

[member="Jyoti Nooran"] (oksorry)

 

[Eugen Aker]

Drystan didn't knock before she entered, but the Jedi Master felt her presence before she came through the open door. Jyoti turned to face the Sentinel as she approached her at the kitchenette, returning the bow with one of her own.

"Knight Marakos, good morning and welcome! I'm glad you like it, I thought I'd make us a little something for our chat."

She motioned for Drystan to take a seat in front her desk while she prepared a platter of tea, condiments, and utensils. Along with the tea, she added a small plate of snickerdoodles that she had baked personally yesterday.

"I made tea," she started as she set down the platter on desk. "But if you fancy something else, then please ask."

She took a seat, but refrained from making a move for the platter, giving Drystan first dibs on whatever she wanted.

"So I've been told that you've been on deep cover assignments for a long time now. I suppose this would make this your first time at our new temple on Kashyyyk. How are you liking things so far?"


[member="Drystan_Marakos"]

 

[Drystan Marakos]

Drystan took the preoffered seat graciously, and helped herself to the offered refreshments.

"Thank you, Master. This is... wonderful. More than I could have hoped for."

She reached out, gingerly pouring herself some of the steaming beverage. An herbal fragrance touched her nose and she breathed... Drawing in the scent and marking it in her mind; cataloguing it, to be remembered in the furthest reaches of her memory.

"This is the first time, yes. It's..." Drystan turned her gaze to look beyond, through the windows and into the distant mountains outside. "Jungle planets, with an ocean of green and the smell of wet earth, were nothing like my home planet. My work, especially of late, has kept me in the Outer Rim. Out there, it's hard to find a world with much life on it at all."

The way she said that word, "Life", was marked with a dark sort of humor. Drystan's eyes flashed back from their momentary distance and caught Jyotti's again. There was a smile hiding there as the Jedi sipped her tea.

Her tongue tingled and the brew warmed her insides, chasing away the chill of space.

After the sip, Drystan nodded and continued, "My last two assignments took me far from Alliance-held Space; The first lasted nearly a year, and the second, a year and a half. Quite a few things have changed in that short amount of time..."

She shrugged her shoulders, "But I'm getting along well. It's good to be home, my lady."

 

[Eugen Aker]

Finally, Jyoti took her turn fixing her cup, using liberal amounts of both honey and milk. As she made her drink, she nodded along in acknowledgment to Drystan summarizing her experience in the field.

"It's been an...adjustment moving to Kashyyyk from the Core. I heard Voss was more temperate, a little tamer."

The Echani was one the newer members of the Silver Order, only having joined about the same time the SJO had moved from the Outer Rim to what had then been western Silver Space in the Mid-Rim.

"Things certainly have changed," she agreed before taking a sip of her tea. "I'm sure you'll notice there no longer any Alliance space to be seen."

Remnants of the Galactic Alliance remained within the Outer Rim Coalition as the Alliance in Exile, but for but it was a far cry from the superpower that had only existed a few months before.

"And I'm glad to have you home," she said with a smile. "I have some possible assignments lined up for you already, but I'd like you to take some recharge and place you on some normal investigations for now. How does that sound to you?"

It was probably the first time someone had called her lady, but she didn't say anything. She rather liked the sound of it.

[member="Drystan_Marakos"]

 

[Drystan Marakos]

"Honestly, I'd prefer not to be down too long..."

Drystan shifted in her seat before taking another sip of the tea. She couldn't help but smile, though her tone was serious: "In many ways, I believe the Galaxy has..." She paused, then decided on her choice of words, "Fractured." Drystan gestured, encompassing the room, the temple, all of Kashyyyk… and the rest of the Galaxy beyond.

"Master Nooran, though I was unable to communicate with the outside world, I was witness to the fall of the Alliance and the downfall of the Jedi. The Coalition and the Confederacy both rose in response to Dark Forces... Forces which, I believe, are growing stronger at this very moment."

Drystan's eyes remained steadily fixed on Jyoti's watchful gaze.

"I believe you'd agree that our allies, past and present, are on shaky ground... The odds are not in their favor, my lady. With all due respect..."

Drystan took a breath... and a moment stretched out to hours within her mind. She felt a warm, soft blanket cover her, and knew that her connection with the Force was true. She continued, opening her eyes after a heartbeat.

"My Mission has always been to seek out and shine light upon the Darkness. I will take some brief downtime, but I prefer the Galaxy to the Temple. I always have." [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

As they maintained eye contact, Jyoti felt nearly mesmerized by those ocean blue eyes, holding a quiet intensity. Some might even say alluring. She now had a clue on how Drystan had managed to function so well for so long under deep cover.

"The Galactic Alliance may be gone, but the Jedi are still alive and well." She finally broke eye contact to look around the room, waving an arm at the same time. "The Silver Order has continued to grow in strength and influence, well outside the control of any government."

She took some small offense at the mention of the ORC and CIS rising to face the Sith and Imperials. Especially the latter, who while allies, frustrated her sometimes on a personal level welcoming in former enemies of the Silver Order.

"The Coalition and Confederacy don't have much choice these days. They no longer enjoy the buffer provided by the Galactic Alliance. They're beginning understand that we all have to rise up together, or we will all fall eventually."

Drystan was certainly keen on getting back into the field, ASAP. Jyoti nodded. She liked that. Even now as Master of the Order, she still was still very active in the field, more active than even some Knights. She wasn't much of a temple rat.

"Don't get me wrong, I will definitely be putting you to work. The Shadows have a wide range of responsibilities, and I believe I can put you to good use performing other tasks aside from simple HUMINT. What do you know of the current landscape of the galaxy?"

[member="Drystan_Marakos"]

 

[Drystan Marakos]

Drystan acklowedged [member="Jyoti Nooran"]'s mention of the Order continuing to grow, and noticed a shift in the Jedi Master's eyes - Unintentially, it seemed, Drystan had said something not entirely backed by wisdom. Drystan smiled sheepishly and finished the cup of tea before reaching to pour herself some more of the hot, herbal beverage.

She shifted her weight in the chair and took a moment to collect herself, considering Jyotti's question carefully.

"I..." She began, biting her lip. "I've seen reports that The Commenor Systems Alliance is a likely target of the Sith, but information from the unfortunately few sources we might have cannot accurately predict what such a threat might entail." She paused, taking a sip before continuing, "I've also heard that the Mandalorian Empire seeks to spread its' influence, possibly seeking to engage us indirectly.. Contruum and Vena are just outside our control, and I predict it is possible they intend to move closer to the borders of the Order's controlled space. There were whispers, shortly before my last mission ended, that the First Order and the Confederacy had been trading blows in the Elrood Sector and there had been some casualties, but what contacts I possessed, pirates and scoundrels mostly, made it difficult to verify propaganda from actual fact."

"I did not intend to insult you, Master... I understand that I have much to learn, and I am at yours and the Order's Service."

In truth, the life of an Operative was fraught with misinformation and opinion often masqueraded as fact. She had seen this often during her career, and she was well-aware the beautiful, silver-haired Jedi Master understood far greater than she the risk to the Galaxy. Perhaps it would be wiser, she mentally remarked, to simply wait and watch.

 

[Eugen Aker]

After some gentle correction, Drystan was quick to follow up with an explanation to expand on her original statement while answering Jyoti's question at the same time, then ended with an apology.

Jyoti shook her head once and offered a handwave.

"Nonsense, no insult taken. We all come at these issues with different perspective, which is why I wanted to talk to you in the first place. I value your experience and opinion, which is why I called you back in."

She took another sip of her tea. "On the CIS and FO, it's not the first time they've clashed, and it definitely won't be the last. Like the SJO, the CIS was allied with the GA, but also the ORC. I expect their involvement in the South to grow deeper as border disputes between the ORC and FO heat up. Because of the fact they both seem to be holding against the FO, along with the remnants of the Galactic Alliance (AIE), the SJO probably won't do much on that front outside of providing covert support and humanitarians assistance if requested."

This wasn't the whole story, but Drystan was still new to her, so she held back on divulging the full rationale of Silver Assembly on this matter. While she played this off as being a relaxed chat, the senior Shadow was still running an assessment on the returning agent. She had ties to the Alliance, which had been corrupted by the Sith at the highest levels. One could never be too sure these days.

"After attempts of peaceful overtures, the Mandalorian Empire has consigned itself to become a thorn on our side. While they're probably not strong enough to engage us in a one on one scenario, if we overcommit to extended campaigns far from SIlver Space, there is little doubt they would take advantage and attempt to initiate a two-front war. So while we want to take greater action, and are working toward it, we have to tread carefully."

Really, it was a waiting game with the ME, hoping more and more people would be driven off by unpopular policies of a growing police state, and burning alliances like the CIS through reckless behavior.

"We strike when the opportunities arise, and we assist our allies when they ask, but for now our overt policy is one of soft power and containment. That said, the Shadows still experience more action than we can handle. Like I said, I'm going to put you to work."

She smiled again, but there was now a devious quality to it.

[member="Drystan_Marakos"]

 

[Drystan Marakos]

Drystan was better at ease with Jyotti's gentle correction, and she had accepted her place.. Never had she been one for questioning her superiors, and this Jedi was obviously no beaurocrat. Gone were the days, it seemed, of the Highest in the Order seeing much but doing little.

The Sentinel listened to Jyotti's explanation of the realities. Drystan understood the need for holding one's cards; an overextension of even the smallest caliber could be a tipping point even further into calamity. Conveniently, one's enemies could often be trusted to overextend... and it seemed Jyotti understood this as well as the agent.

Drystan couldn't help but return [member="Jyoti Nooran"]'s grin. She could not help but feel drawn to this woman... who wielded power, and the confidence which arose purely from experience, yet seems so restrained.

If she was anything like the rest of the Order, Drystan had a good feeling about this.

"I'm all yours..." She said, her gaze unflinching. And she meant it.