Faction Life Day With The Light Hand (RTL, Prax, Scar)

[Tiland Kortun]

ELSHANDRUU PICA

There was a day in every Jedi’a life when the Force, or duty, or some other compulsion, pushed them to do something they didn’t want to do, perhaps even went against their nature.

Tiland knew that day had finally come for him. Before him, on the table, sat a fizzing, artificial-cherry-red glass of cranberry Fizzyglug. As music played around the small conference room, he forced a smile and picked up the glass.

He couldn’t feel it in the Force, no remnant, no trace of anything natural in the beverage. And to his Anzati senses, it was sickeningly sweet and empty. But he broadened his smile, raised the glass in a toast, and said, “Welcome, friends, hello! I am delighted you could make it!” Once he finished…. he went to drink it.

One of the health resorts has donated their facility to the Light Hand for an early Life Day celebration, and whomever they wished to invite. Tiland had rounded up what members of the Light Hand he could find, as well as the Jedi Pilgrims, invited the Praxeum and the League, and waited to see who would show. In the spirit of the season, and because he invited Jerek Zenduu , he’d even stocked up on this cranberry fizzyglug, as well as a wide variety of other non-tea beverages. Even some of the Tree-Dreamers had left Qi-Ko, and unless he was mistaken, so had a few of the Terminus Metamacro-whatever they were called society. Number wizards, some called them. Numermancers was perhaps a better term. He found them very odd. Certainly several centuries out of date, but their math trivia was appearing to be quite a hit.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Jend-Ro Quill reserved his hatred for exactly three things: genocide, treating indigenous species with contempt, and social functions. When the latter was absolutely unavoidable — such as, say, when the Circle of the Light Hand staged a vanishingly rare holiday event — he resorted to pharmaceuticals.

They hadn't kicked in yet, and as he nursed his cranberry fizzyglug in the corner, he feared they never would. That Squib had sold him placebos.

Surreptitiously, he pulled out his datapad and began answering work-related HoloNet messages.

 

[Jorus Q. Merrill]

"Hey, Tiland."

The voice was different, just a low rumble. Not the kind of voice that used to rant or jeer at authoritarians over the subspace comms, wrangle Jedi, command expeditions, and all the rest of what he'd left behind. Pushing seventy, Jorus Quentin Merrill tended to look on his younger days with embarassment, even sadness — when he looked on them at all. The past had serious weight. Only letting go of it all — the fame, the Force, the hubris — had given him a shot at what mattered.

And sure, he'd largely missed that shot, but the life he'd found suited him.

He stuffed his gnarled hands in his pockets and looked around the room, then took a seat at the table beside the old Anzati.

"Grown any good plants lately? Heh."


Tiland Kortun

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Life Day.

It was a great time of the … what calendar were they using? Time of year. Sure. Lets go with that. As one of the leading Jedi in the galaxy, Coren Starchaser made sure he was around for those to see. Hearing that his friend Tiland was hosting a little get together for those in the Praxeum, and Rimward Trade League, he made it a point to attend.

He was making the rounds this year, to various temples and enclaves, and what have you. Stepping into the facility, he had a loose tunic on, in dark green of a Corellian Jedi, the white cloak over the top was for his station, but the red belt? That was more for festivals. Grabbing himself a glass… was it a glass? Whatever… of fizzyglug, he stared at it for a moment before looked around, there was Tiland, who was that with him?

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Parties had always been something he had enjoyed. And over the years that had not changed, except of course in size. These days found him liking smaller gatherings with his closest friends. Those who still survived anyway. Around him were such people, new and old. Julius sat seated at a table along the edge, quietly sipping fizzyglug which he had doctored from the flask at his hip. There were a few younger Guardian types around him, and he was gesturing animatedly as he talked about the time he had chased Jorus Merrill across Zonju to arrest him, and the acrobatics both had pulled off in the daring chase.

Inwardly, he caught himself smiling and meaning to for the first time since his wife had died, and there was a pang of guilt that quickly vanished as someone asked about the use of the Force Power that was called Inertia. Slipping to more tactics than fun, he began explaining from a combat perspective as to how to apply the ability to essentially run up walls and along the ceiling.

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Jorus Q. Merrill Coren Starchaser Julius Sedaire Jend-Ro Quill

Tiland paused, the glass just shy of being tilted far enough for him to drink from, although the carbonation bubbles popping against his face. There were more here than he anticipated, and as his eyes roamed across the small crowd, he smiled.

This was an accomplishment too. There was Jend-Ro, apparently working at a party, which seemed very un-hermitish to Tiland. And over there was Coren, resplendent and magnificent in his Jedi robes. Julius was over there, regaling some younger Praxers with stories.

It was quite a gathering they had managed to pull together. Starchaser. Sedaire. Quill. Just like the old days. All they needed was…

A voice rumbled in his ear and he turned in surprise. It was a puzzle at first, before it clicked, and he grinned.

“Well, Jorus!” he said, offering another glass of Fizzyglug. “It’s funny you should ask. Have you had a chance to visit Qi-Ko yet? I’ve been cultivating some rare herbs there to infuse them with Force light and healing as a potential counter to various Dark Side ailments and poisons. Where have you been?”

He purses his lips for a moment, waving to Coren and Julius. “And I do not mean to be rude, as I have heard humans are sensitive about such things, but last time I saw you… were you not much younger? Than you were when I first met you?”

 

[Jorus Q. Merrill]

Tiland Kortun

Jorus grimaced. "Yeah. That didn't, uh, go the way it shoulda. Alna was involved — you ever meet my wife? — and it turned into a whole thing ages back. Bottom line, I was born, uh, around seventy years ago and..." He gestured vaguely at himself. "Life's life."

He perked up a little as he recognized both Coren Starchaser and Julius Sedaire : some of his best friends before he retired. Or vanished mysteriously, or however you want to put it. Since then he'd put on a lot of years and a lot of beard, and it dawned on him that neither Coren nor Julius had recognized him yet.

"'Scuse me a sec." He got up from his chair and pitched his voice a little lower, a little gruffer, as he pointed at Coren across the room.

"Coren Fething Starchaser — you slept with my sister, you sonofabitch!"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He was learning how to be a bit more peaceful and more of a decent Jedi rather than a blunt instrument of war the past few years. He would blame the legacy of Jorus Merrill for one. The influence of others, like Tiland, who were not a Jedi to strictly combat the Sith, but to learn, to teach, and to protect, were weighing on his mind, making him reconsider. Then finding Celeste Rigel put a lot more thought into his mind of where he should be putting his energies.

Being among the Jedi here, Julius, Quill, Tiland, was feeling like the old days. He nodded to the Anzati Master, one who had been here for the Jedi. Offering his old friend a nod, as he still took a second to see who was with him. He heard the name Jorus and was curious and that was when the voice came and the man moved.

Turning, the Jedi Master immediately started wracking his brain, it took him only a moment to recall Jorus's voice. "Me?" He pointed to his chest, much similar to the motion another famous Corellian had done on a city in the clouds. "I think I'd remember her." Making his way over to Jorus with a laugh as he pulled the man into a hug.

"You look like shit. Where have you been?"

Tiland Kortun Jorus Q. Merrill Julius Sedaire

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Yeah, yeah, Kiss, I know, gone for months, nobody will be happy to see me, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. You worry too much." The astromech shot some random flurry of binary curses and admonitions back at him, the string of words coming out its vocoder like a buzzsaw as the pair brought Cotan's ship in for a landing. "What? Listen, if Coren gets to withdraw from the front lines without everybody deciding they're done with him, then I should be allowed to go and keep maintaining some ties in the satellites with Asha without them wanting to crucify me. Besides, I blew off Tiland's last three invitations for Life Day, I can't do that again."

The ship came down—a little harder than he would have preferred, but the landing gear had enough suspension for it—as K1-S5 spat out some more dubious and entirely-unimpressed doubts about the situation. "Listen, it's not like after Taeli showed herself. There's a lot more who are active in the galaxy now, going out and getting stuff done, than there were just after that. Besides, you know how you have trouble keeping up with the younger droids? Think about me with all those kids on Coruscant."

Before he could get a shock-prod to the side in retaliation, Cotan shot up from the pilot's seat, jumping out of the cockpit and closing the door behind him. "But I'm still quicker than you, droid!"

​

After gathering up a small box full of items—and avoiding his droid the whole time—Cotan eventually made his way off his ship and into the small party. Evidently he'd shown up late—fashionably late, hopefully—because things already seemed well underway. Coren, Tiland, Julius, and somebody else were off near the front of things, but first things first:

Aha.

He'd hoped he might find Jend-Ro around. He reached into his box, pulling out a small package, and made his way over to the older man. "Quill!" He called out, giving Jend-Ro a short bit of warning that he was about to be accosted with social interaction. "Fresh tea blend from Asha." He took the package he pulled out and set it down on Quill's table. "Mostly a medicinal blend from a colonly planet deep in Firefist, one of the ones we went to on that expedition a while ago, but Asha did some of her own work with it. I still don't know how she does half of what she does, but I think that's just that our focuses go in different directions. Better than anything I've had yet at dealing with headaches, though."

He turned from Jend-Ro, peering back towards where Tiland and the others were. Some sort of reunion seemed to be happening. "Any idea who the old guy is up there? I can't get a good view on him, but I don't recognize him."

i couldn't resist joining

Jend-Ro Quill Tiland Kortun Coren Starchaser Jorus Q. Merrill Julius Sedaire

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Quill brightened as Cotan Sar'andor explained the tea delivery.

"My thanks to Asha, of course — a great pot of tea is what makes life on Hoth workable. Ahh, Firefist. I hated being stuck on that ship, but oh, the things we saw, eh?"

He squinted at the other old guy, the loud one. Quiet, but loud out of nowhere, calling out Coren for something, maybe as a joke. Quill grimaced at the noise.

"I think I heard someone call him Marble. Jethro Marble."

 

[Shaye Ares]

Shaye stuck to the corner of the room – the one with the potted plant, whose fronds seemed keen on becoming entangled with her hair. She swatted leaves away and watched the events unfold, eyes narrow.

There were a bunch of old dudes.

Was this some kind of weird reunion? Were there going to be any people here under the age of 75? But, as some guy made a remark about the one and only Coren Starchaser sleeping with his sister... Shaye cracked a smile. Maybe Coren wasn't a square, after all. But maybe he was. She recalled that old guys liked to tell stories. Still, even if Coren was lame, no one here knew that she was related to him.

She craned her neck to see the refreshment table. Where was all the good stuff?

 

[Jorus Q. Merrill]

Making his way over to Jorus with a laugh as he pulled the man into a hug.

"You look like shit. Where have you been?"

Jorus' face broke into a grin as he returned the hug, clapping Coren on the back.

"Family time," he said. "Finally put them first." Too little too late, in some ways, but still. "Q-27 and some extragalactic shavvit for a few years. Lately I'm just a mechanic, sometimes do a bit of maintenance nav work in the Kathol Outback or the hind end of the Scar Worlds. I yell at power couplings instead of grandmasters and admirals. Not a perfect life but I like myself a metric fethton better than I used to. And you? What you been up to? Still with the ExplorCorps?"

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Jethro Marble? Weird name. Must be some sort of alias."

Never let it be said that Cotan couldn't take the things that Jend-Ro or any other person in the galaxy threw at him with a straight face. "Definitely did see some interesting things in Firefist, though. I'll have to show you some of what we've picked up in the Rishi Maze too, and we're heading out to Companion Cresh next." He glanced down at the bag full of tea leaves, pursing his lips slightly.

"Y'know, if I'd known for a fact you'd be here, I'd have brought a pot along. I barely have enough energy to get through a day with Coren and Julius without a headache, let alone combining that with what you've got going on and everybody else added into it. Hopefully you at least got something else beforehand, right?"

He paused again.

"Actually, with Julius, I suppose the headache normally comes the next day."

 

[Julius Sedaire]

As Coren pulled the older man into a hug Julius put two and two together. A smile split his face at the sight of Jorus that hadn't been seen such in a long while. He stood up, and for a moment he was silent before a bellow barked out at the two.

"You keep hugging him that way Coren, I'll have to call your missus on you..."

Sly grin faded in, coming down from broad amazement and joy to see the mechanic, and to have heard he found some happiness. Family was often an estrangement in their profession, and Jorus most of all had given beyond reckoning to pay to help keep the Galaxy in the black, or try to. Hell, his whole family had often enough joined in the efforts the old man put in. Steeping forward, he shook his head at the sight of everyone, and turned to Tiland, surprisingly. Often the Viridian Jedi was too boisterous and energetic for the Elder, but in this moment, with all these gathered, a calmer head prevailed as quiet words came out.

"My thanks, Master Tiland. You are a gem amongst the dark in terms of example. I owe you for bringing us all back together this day."

With a bow, he turned back again to his two friends, possibly the best he had in the Galaxy besides Romi Jade and raised his voice, as well as his glass, in a toast specially to the engineer of this celebration.

"Drink what you have! To our host and to friends new and old!"

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Cotan Sar'andor

Quill hefted the bag of tea leaves and took a cautious sniff. Alas, the scent of social gatherings obscured the aroma.

"Companion Cresh, you say. How big of a ship do you take on jaunts like that? How many people? If it's quiet enough at close quarters, and if you've got the room..."

Quill's gaze wandered. He didn't join Julius' toast, as he only held a datapad and a bag of tea leaves.

"Oh, it was Jorus Merrill? I thought he was dead. Jethro Marble — can't hear for feth these days."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Sentinel of Sullust was still the one who would put himself between the powers of the dark side, if Sith stepped up, he would as well, but his days of leading the military to war against other states over anything besides the sanctity of life were behind him. Approaching his old friend, the Jedi Master was smiles. Family time, Coren knew all about that, nowadays, the twins, his daughters, Jared, even the one over to the side peering at them.

"Family… can be rough." He had heard rumors, murmurs as he always had his ear to the ground. "I took a page out of your book when we felt we lost you." Forming his thoughts and letting his friend finish, he nodded. "I am, Exploration, Warden work… and a little Order you may know." A side grin on his face at that one. "Kaia's taken up most of the day to day of company life, and Jared is out there fighting, so it leaves me and Celeste time to study the Force and connect a distant galaxy."

"But Q-27 and the family, if you need it, I always have a bottle with your name on it. No pressure, just good to see you're still vertical." Turning to Julius, he shook his head. "You…" He grinned wide, unable to keep angry at the other Corellian as he pointed at the man. "Just make sure its only her you tell, not some tabloids." Unlike his friends, the Sentinel aged a bit more slow… What was that due to? He had no idea, but put it in his faith and excessive use of the Light Side.

And that thought brought him to the gathered, as he heard Team Same Name in the room. The galaxy was really going to be all right.


Cotan Sar'andor Jorus Q. Merrill Julius Sedaire Shaye Ares

 

[Jorus Q. Merrill]

Even after a good five years sober, Jorus' hand still itched for a can of cheap lum. Instead he raised a massive duranium thermos mug that vented bitter steam. "To Tiland Kortun !" he said, lifting that thermos like a blacksmith's hammer. "And to Light Hand hospitality."

He nodded along as Coren and Julius' words washed over him with comforting familiarity.

"I tell ya," he said quietly, "losing contact with you, all of you, that's the one bit I regret. Felt like it had to happen or I never could've retired like I needed to, always some cause or worthy crisis yanking me back — but I took it too far."

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Just the two of us and my droid on my ship," Cotan answered. "It holds more than enough supplies, and yeah, if you've got a wish to get away, we've got a spare room. Only reason Asha isn't here right now is she decided to hang back, get some cuttings and seeds and learn how to take care of them all..."

He trailed off at Jend-Ro's next words, after Julius's toast. He couldn't take part in the toast either, just carrying a box as he was.

But...

Jorus?

He hadn't seen the man since just before getting half the bones in his body broken by Carnifex on Coruscant. But, now that he thought about it, the presence did seem familiar, even if the face was a bit too weathered from when he'd last seen him...

"Wait. Jorus? Dad's back?"

In the face of that revelation, Coren Starchaser might well be chopped liver for the time being. "That old bastard. I'm gonna kill him. Dax too, if I ever find him again. Leaving some random saber-jockey like me to take over after they disappeared, those dirty azkancs..."

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"That old bastard. I'm gonna kill him. Dax too, if I ever find him again. Leaving some random saber-jockey like me to take over after they disappeared, those dirty azkancs..."

"Heh. I'm sure he missed you too. I'd forgotten the pair of you were close — back when the Kathol Outback had sheriffs and such."

Quill got up and made the datapad disappear. He kept hold of the tea, though, not trusting the cleanliness of his pockets.

"I'm going to bail. Those Squibs sold me placebos and I've had my fill of close quarters. My number should still work — call me when you're getting ready for your next little galaxy, yes?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

"To the Light Hand!" He called out, raising his glass first to Julius then over towards Tiland Kortun . It was great that he got this group together.

"We all have to handle it in our own way, Jorus." Coren was not onewho could lecture Jorus Q. Merrill on the finer ways of staying in contact. Since the fall of the Sullust Alliance he had fallen in and out of the galaxy. He was there for a time with the Silver Concord, but he always found himself between worlds, and currently helping the Silvers where he could, but focusing on the Praxeum project and Ossus Initiative with his fellow Master Romi Jade .

"Sometimes you need to step away to step back how you need to be." He heard Cotan calling but did pay attention to Jend-Ro Quill , nodding to the Elder. "Don't be a stranger, Quill."

Laughing as Cotan stepped passed him. "Yeah, leaving you in charge of anything is a mistake. Probably both their faults."