Private Keeper of Starcrest

[NPC’s NPCs]

Somewhere in the shipyards if Damascus Station…

Damascus Station was known for its many industries, but most notably, its shipyards. Damascus was the greatest shipbuilding facility in the entire Elysium Imperium and the Nomadic Peoples Coalition. This was not only due to the physical capabilities of the station, but also the dedication of her inhabitants. The Navis Sacra were known for their reverence for ships, calling them Angels and caring for them as no other being ever could.

Inside one small shop of many sat a lone fighter. The Starcrest, the personal vessel of Kalic Daws rescued from the brink of death. Like all angels in the care of the Navis Sacra people, she had recieved the utmost care and attention during her repairs. She had not only been brought back to functionality, but had been “ascended” with superior technology, and each detail had been meticulously tended by the keepers that were assigned to her revival.

Now, tools were put away, hoist cranes were sequestered, scrapped parts were recycled, lathes were cooling, and the lights were lowered. Starcrest’s hull was now freshly painted, polished, and all the lines were clean and straightened as if she had just come off the assembly line. For all intents and purposes, she was practically a brand new ship.

In contrast to the new ship, an elderly woman sat on top of the nose of Starcrest’s forward hull. She was a portly, squat old Dornean woman, sitting cross legged in her greasy coveralls, with her large bulgy eyes half-closed. She was focused on her breathing, smelling the air around the little fighter, basking in the glory of all her hard work. She and her team of keepers had just labored for weeks to bring this ship to the full standards of the Navis Sacra Keeper caste, and she could already feel something of a connection with what she had accomplished. She, being almost three centuries old, was ready for her ascension. She just needed to meet with Kalic Daws and get to know the man that she would be partnered with for the rest of her long life.

She continued to meditate, waiting…

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic walking in with Jee on his heel, finally getting to see the finished product of all this repair time. After taking with Willow & Ivy about everything, he’d decided to go through with this. Joining the Navis Sacra, which meant making the Starcrest into an Angel. With his downtime he was really only able to help with a few design details, but now he got to see her.

The Miraluka stopped at the sight. The Y-Wing looked newer than she ever had before. He was somewhat surprised before seeing the woman who he guessed was one of the mecha… Keepers who worked in the ship.

“I’m guessing you’re one of the Keepers that helped bring Starcrest back to working order. Kalic Daws.” The eyeless man would extend his hand, smiling a bit.

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[NPC’s NPCs]

The aged Dornean woman suddenly came to life and slid down the nose of the small fighter, and landed with surprising agility for an older woman. She walked over to Kalic Daws and set her eyes on him, trying to absorb as much about the man as she could with her bulgy Dornean eyes. There was a softness in her expression; a nurturing aura that suggested she might be the kind of woman that always seemed to have freshly baked cookies to offer younglings on a moment’s notice. When she was done apraising him, she chose to reply to him, “I was the leading Keeper on this project, yes.” She extended her had formally, “I was sticking around in the hopes of finally meeting you. My name is Keeper L’netta. I heard that you were thinking of bonding with The Lady Starcrest as our religion grants us, yes? I’m curious as to what made you want to embrace The Bond?”

Keeper L’netta patiently left a lot unsaid for now. She wanted to see what questions he would ask her, how he would answer her own questions, and how he felt about the whole process. Would he guess that L’netta was slated as the potential soul for Starcrest? Would he avoid the topic entirely? Was that something he was excited about, or wary of? Would they become close like Daro Roz’yrn and Tin-Can, or would they simply be a minimalistic, professional relationship? Every Angel-Master relationship was different, and L’netta was curious about the master that she could be potentially bonded to for the rest of her life…

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic looked at the Dornean with a bit of a smile. So she was the lead on rebuilding the Starcrest. He’d shake L’netta’s hand, and was a bit surprised when she asked what had made him want to go through with the Bonding. He thought for a moment. Should he explain part of it? Yeah. He figured people would know eventually if he walked into a wall or something.

“Well, before they found me I… saw something. It looked almost familiar. Then while I was still healing up I went to Grand Shepherd Burtch ’s bonding, saw what was happening. Talked to Willow & Ivy about it too, and how I’m… similar to them. I… see visions. I don’t have a grounding though. They… suggested it would help, and that potentially an Angel could be a guide so some extent. Seeing all the bonds though, what others seem to think, and understanding it somewhat…. It just… felt right I guess.”

NPC’s NPCs

 

[NPC’s NPCs]

L’netta’s large, brown eyes bulged as Kalic Daws suggested that he might have similar prophetic powers to those of the holy prophets, Willow & Ivy . She had wondered earlier why she had been assigned to the role of ascending Starcrest, and now it was revealed that she might’ve been lined up to become the soul Angel to be bonded with a man that could be a holy prophet in his own right! There was suddenly an incredible fear in her gut, and her own resolve to become Starcrest shook for but a moment. How could she, of all beings, ever be worthy of bonding with a prophet??? A sudden sense of feeling unworthy threatened to overwhelm her.

“Are you,” she began to ask, but paused in thought. Then she pressed on, mustering her resolve as best as she could, “are you saying that you might be the same as the Holy Prophets? Or are you simply… aspiring to become like them? If you are, are you saying that you need an Angel to help you become more like Willow & Ivy ? Like, do you need the help of an Angel to perfect your prophetic ability?”

She suddenly had the urge to rattle off a lot more questions, but she forced herself to stop. They had time to sort this out. She needed to be patient and Center herself…

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic shook his head a little.

"Not exactly L'netta. At least I don't think so. What I see.... How do I.... It's almost like I walk through a door and get lost. I don't always realize what I'm seeing isn't the present, like my mind will make it make sense that I walk through a door and into the middle of a forest or the like. And it's not always clear. I guess almost like I'm a ghost watching what's going on." He rubbed the back of his head, thinking he was explaining the idea well enough.

The way I got like this isn't exactly a fond memory either.... Before it hurt, a lot, but it anchored me to reality. And I'm definitely not good at reading them. Still... they suggested that an Angel might help. Because I've had a few too many times where I wasn't sure if I was here, or somewhere else." Kalic wasn't exactly sure why he was so willing to talk right now, especially to someone he'd only just met, but it was kind of nice to be more open about it again.

NPC’s NPCs

 

[NPC’s NPCs]

While she didn’t exactly have all the answers that she was looking for yet, a bit of spiritual understanding began to set inside her massive brown eyes. Over the past two centuries, she had at one point served as a field medic for the Dornean Marines. She had limited psychological training, experience in dealing with post traumatic stress, and most importantly, valued the importance of healing old wounds. Now, at least, it made sense as to why she would be chosen to supervise the ascension of Starcrest. Kalic was a man that was defined by his wounds on the inside, and he suffered from a condition from those wounds. She, by her very nature, was a healer. She healed solders, the mind, and now she healed Angels. Now, this man, who held an incredible gift, needed someone to help him heal his mind, and there was no better keeper in the entire Navis Sacra Religion that was better suited to this.

Autonomously, she stepped even closer to Kalic Daws and her shorter height became much more apparent at this distance. Being a whole head shorter than him, she attempted to take his hand in hers, and then looked up at him with her massive brown eyes. Although bulgy, there was a mixture of sadness and hardened resolve inside them. Her old life as a field medic, fighting through the gulag virus, and surviving the horrific aftermath, flashed through her memories, and her old will to fight welled up inside her. She bored her eyes into Kalic’s and channeled her bitter resolve to help and heal into her next words, suspecting that he would feel the emotions in what she said next, “please, Kalic. If you are willing, tell me what happened to you that causes you so much pain.”

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic was surprised when the Keeper took his hand, and Jee would nudge him a bit, whistling that it would help before he finally spoke up.

"The Empress of the Eternal Empire, she... captured and tortured me while I flew with the Rebels. She wanted to take my sight, apparently thinking it'd be something to try on a Miraluka, but instead of taking my sight, she.... Well I'm pretty sure she botched it so badly it gave me the ability to catch some of the future instead." Kalic just looked down, not sure how else to explain what happened. So much had happened with this that it was hard to explain usually.

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[NPC’s NPCs]

L’netta smiled with sad understanding as Kalic Daws described his condition and the circumstances that brought him there. It seemed that he wanted to have the power to shut — or open — this door on his future, just as much as L’netta wanted to be able to forget her horrific past. He was coming back from the future and she was leaving her past, which brought them to meet in the middle; the present. And, as a nearly three century old woman, she knew a fateful crossroads when she saw one. In this moment, here and now, they both had a monumental threshold to cross.

Softly she spoke to him, “I, too, have my own battle with the plague of time. I survived the gulag virus. I fought as a marine medic in the aftermath to try and reclaim the Dominus Sector from the gangs and warlords. I lost many sons and daughters in endless fighting, and I became a refugee when the Bryn’adul conquered Dornea. I am nearing the end of my long life and I have more that I want to forget than remember, and I want to begin anew as an Angel. Now, I want to become your Angel, because I think I can help you. I know how to mend wounds, live with the scars, and guide others to do so. I want this for you too, and I want to be your partner so that we can help others too. So, if you are willing, will you allow me to become Starcrest and help you heal the wounds of time?”

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic looked surprised as he heard L’netta speak up. She told him about her own life. The pain, the scars, the memories she’s rather forget. From the gulag virus to the Bryn’adul. And then a bigger reveal. She hoped to become Starcrest. To begin anew as an Angel. Kalic looked surprised at first. Trying to figure out what to say. He did still feel somewhat like an outsider compared to many others here, and it wasn’t their fault either. It was just natural with getting use to new stage in life. Now though, he was talking to someone willing to take a next step, and with him at that. He nodded a little, finally speaking up.

“Of… of course.”

NPC’s NPCs