Seeds to Sow [TJA]

[Quietus]

Though plenty would rise to protest my next statement, there was a time that the Galactic Republic was a symbol of peace and prosperity. A place where the citizens of the galaxy could find freedom from oppression and the chance to start anew. A place where their words held the same weight as those that stood above them. Where the likes of tyranny and evil shriveled under the watchful eye of the Jedi Order.

For a time, things were good. Yet, as history has proven time and again without fail, war is a disease that corrupts even the most pure of intentions.

The threat of the Darkside is an ever persistent one. Its roots are deeper in the ether than one can even imagine. They spread, unseen, silently rotting the foundations of everything it touches until they begin to crumble. By the time the damage is visible it's already too late.

Fourteen years ago the Republic approached Kuat not for ships, but for trees. Thus the sowing of the seeds began...

 

[Quietus]

Bafforr trees.

Rare entities thanks to the rather explosive history of their native planet, Ithor. Terribly difficult to find and even harder to cultivate - but essential in the war against the latest Vong uprising. Though there were many planets that could have hosted them, few were up to the financial task. Kuat, however, was prime for the challenge.

In secret, three planets within the Kuat system became the new home of seven Bafforr nurseries. Transplanting the ailing saplings from Borleias where they suffered from neglect and disease, we cultivated soil deep within existing tree groves. After six long years of meticulous care their roots finally took hold and they began to bloom. A year after that we presented to the Republic the first harvest of Bafforr pollen to test on an unsuspecting Vong prisoner of war.

The results were grotesque but satisfying.

 

[Quietus]

"They know."

I'll not deny the risk of this project, but risk has always gone hand-in-hand with reward. If Kuat was not already one of the One Sith's prime targets of war for the wellspring of technology and ships it offered, growing the source of a weapon against the Vong had doubled the value. We'd been careful on our part but there was little to be done for the part of the Republic.

Somehow the Sith learned about the nurseries.
"They'll burn the whole planet to eradicate them, you know they will."

"Not if we burn them first."

I've made no great secret of where my strongest loyalties lie. Where my people are concerned, their lives take priority over the wants of the Republic. If I cannot protect my people, if I am not willing to do whatever it takes to see their safety assured, then I do not deserve this throne. This wasn't something I learned from the Sith, though it was a lesson earned while standing at the helm of another Sith Empire hundreds of years ago.

"Order one final harvest. They will burn within the week."

But before a single flame could be lit Kuat suffered a devastating blow: the disappearance of millions within a single night.

Netherworld had struck.

 

[Quietus]

"Your Majesty, a Sith fleet has just appeared in sector 12."

A fate I knew would come to pass. Secretly I had hoped it would. I wasn't nostalgic for sitting amongst an old brethren, Force knew I despised the Sith equally as much as I did the Republic and their Jedi. The collective mind of religious zealots hellbent on a singular path has never been something I would elect to follow or agree to ... but I digress - this is about trees, not about idiots.

"Shall I send the order to rally the fleets?"

"No."

Despite all my years and transgressions against the Darkside, I couldn't help but feel an inkling of amusement, of annoyance, at the look of terror on my Commander's face. Surely he doubted me even if it wasn't his place to do so. What could a Queen who had displayed no knack for tactical warfare, no penchant for combat, do against the entire fleet of the Empire? They'd clearly come expecting out-and-out war.

They clearly had no idea who they were dealing with.

"Issue a message to the Command ship: that I will meet with a group of Sith delegates to discuss peaceful negotiations."

"Your Majesty?"

"Now."

 

[Quietus]

It was called the Treaty of the Burning Tree.

In exchange for Kuat's unfailing loyalty to the new Empire and the Sith's agreement not to intervene with my rule over the system, among other things, I openly admitted to harboring the Bafforr tree nurseries and then committed to destroying them. I even offered to make an event of it, welcoming our new Overlord in a blaze of fire. We now celebrate this day once a year.

Perhaps one day someone will look back and recall the day that Kuat made history. A planet driven by the economy of war peacefully acquiescing to the dominion of the Sith? Some would call it brilliant, others were likely burning my image. I expected protests, I expected deserters, I even expected traitors. I was prepared for it - at half the population it once was and with the help of the Empire, these things were quelled easily enough.

There was minimal death, only a fraction of what might've been expected and nothing even close to resembling what happened at Rendili. Something I will pride myself on for many years to come.

A month later we held the first Burning Tree Ceremony and set fire to the seven Bafforr nurseries of Kuat while quietly pushing our last harvest under the figurative rug. At the time I had no plans for the pollen but I knew for certain that one day it would be needed.

Three trees secretly escaped this fate, quietly nestled within a small grove of trees at my private manor estate. They still grow there today.

 

[Quietus]

At the end of the Netherworld event Kuat saw the resurgence of 87% of the missing population. Much like every other planet of the galaxy, we had our challenges to face and overcome. Many of these people returned so disturbed that they filled our hospitals. Admittedly having Jedi Healers to call upon would have been useful, but I'm not a creature of woulds.

Seven years have passed and I now have seven adult Bafforrs growing in my courtyard. They began to speak to me a few months ago.

They cannot remain here any longer and neither can the pollen.

 

[Quietus]

My connections to the Jedi Order have been compromised. Kiskla Grayson is no longer the standing Grandmaster and the names I see on the lists are no longer ones I recognize. I go digging in a more ...esoteric venue.

My great-grandson was once a reigning symbol of an empire of religious zealots. Seems no matter where I turn these nuts are proliferating on the fringes. His dynasty has since fallen, the remnants absorbed into an equally failing faction of renegade people, but his own connections remain. He gives me a list of trustworthy allies and within it I find just one that might prove useful.

Her name is Loxa Visl. Though she had given herself fully to the cause of Moross, her origins are what intrigue me the most. Found on Airis III within the colony witch clans, she'd proven to be the key to acquiring the planet without killing all of its people. She spoke broken english - her native tongue being Pacean - and she had since moved on from Annaj to reforge her ties with the same witches she'd been raised by. Her travels brought her first to the Primeval where she set up shop with her apprentice and recently made a visit to Yavin where a small clan of witches remained guarded by an old Mandalorian...and a few Jedi.

"How much do you trust her?"
"I am still her Aesir. She will do what I command."
"Send her to me."

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Quietus]

"I have seen only little of this galaxy-"

I meet the Priestess at an undisclosed location, on a planet nestled nicely out of the way from the Empire's reach. Phe is back at home assuming my face while I've come dressed in robes of black, assuming my other face - The Matron. Before the conversation gets too deep, too difficult for her to carry on without challenge, I reveal to Loxa that I am fluent in her native tongue. She asks how I know it and I don't give her an answer.

We talk briefly about her travels, about her desire to see the galaxy. She'd lead a dark, sheltered life on Aaris III and I can see why she fell in so willingly with the Crusade. They'd offered her something no one else ever had before, to this day it still did. As a Stewardess for the Aesirs Loxa had accrued a small fortune that would see her living comfortably for some time. I offer her a chance to extend that vacation by doing a job. A difficult job.

"Do you know what a Bafforr tree is?"
"I do not."
"That's fine, you don't need to. The people you are delivering this letter to do."
"Must I know this letter?"
"If they accept, you will need to help them further."
"I cannot read."
"Then you will learn."

 

[Blackthorne]

Yavin - TJA - Port Shardrock

It was 3am when Loxa's ship finally docked at the Port and the Priestess was quite tired. Space travel was not one of her favorite means of transport, but a necessary one this day in age. She descended the ramp with her Phrik Staff in hand, leaning on it with weak knees and a weaker stomach. Some food was likely a good place to start, but it wouldn't be her first destination.

Loxa needed to find the Jedi of Yavin - a people she'd not come into contact with just yet. Her short time here had been spent meeting the local witch clan and learning more about her own people, making the connections to other Elders who might've known Aaris III in their time. Who might've known her mentor, for good or for bad. Today wasn't about her, though.

Today was about a letter from a woman who needed the help of the Jedi. That in mind, she set off into the port, stopping only to question just where she might find them.


_____
This thread is now OPEN to the members of TJA
[member="Shule Windspeaker"] [member="Kira Talith"] [member="Alec Rekali"]

 

[Micah Talith]

A body can tell you many things. Every motion and gesture a small clue to the inner turmoils and true intentions of various sapiants. It took a keen eye and the skills to pick up beyond the normal range the average individual could read, and Micah had years of practice with his mother on kinetic communication, picking up on it faster and with a higher skill than his siblings.

So it was no surprise that when [member="Loxa Visl"] would curiously inquire in this accent that would roll off the tongue. It was easy to pick up with his ears, but more so once Micah would pay a bit more attention to her.

He'd spent more and more time down at the Port and Witchtown to learn what he can about the Warlock of Yavin and what other interesting tidbits he could pick up. Most of the time they would ignore him; okay well more like tolerate him. Likely because he was still a kid and they didn't see him as too much of a threat -- or at least worthy of acknowledgement from a few of the women. The Mandos in the area were a bit different, but then this was mainly Clan Rekali. Family and kids were treated as equals; only he was an outsider and clearly he didn't quite fit in with the witches or the Mandalorians.

For now he could only hope that he could learn something from osmosis. It was a slow methodology, but if he kept at it and making himself a nuisance, they would either begrudgingly accept him or toss him back into the jungle.

That aside, she clearly wasn't talking Mando'a. Even the little bit of phrases and such he'd picked up from repeating and mimicking weren't the tongue she was speaking. Hands in his pockets, the Talith would draw closer, observing her from under the hood of leather jacket.

Bright orange eyes would peer at her curiously, frowning as he'd try to pick up what bits and pieces of her question to the old timer beside her.

 

[Blackthorne]

Loxa was not one to miss a trailing shadow.

She gave it time, making slow progress through the people, stopping here and there at small vendor stands to ask her questions. Most understood her, few did not; Pacean was a common enough tongue here. But from one shake of the head to the next she began to understand the privacy of the Jedi here on Yavin.

Or was it perhaps secrecy instead?

Either way, someone had to know.

She paused at the bottom of a set of stairs, tired yellow eyes rising to what would be the next level. It wasn't a large port, but large enough for a weary traveler to think twice about finding a lift. It was here that her shadow caught up, lingering at a distance, peering at her from beneath a hood. Loxa turned to peer back from beneath her own and she beckoned for [member="Micah Talith"] to step forward.

Her first greeting was gentle, in her native tongue, followed by her own lilting basic, "Greetings young one," some luck perhaps. The youth were always sneeking, always snooping, they often knew the secrets of the lands better than those that ruled them.

"Do you know this place? I am lost."

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Loxa Visl"]

That spark of curiosity grew once she waved him over. He had been practicing at being stealthy! Wait, where did he make a mistake? Oh it was bound to happen, he was still learning, but along with that came the knowledge that this woman was able to pick him out. How?

Was it his mistake or did she have a skillset that helped her know if she'd been followed? ...Well beyond great observation skills. He definitely needed to practice some more!

None the less, once spotted it was no point at staying hidden. He took a step forward, then another, tucking his hands into his pockets as he would slowly walk over. Her accent was a bit off, would roll off the tongue. He gave a small frown, trying to discern it but coming up empty.

"Here and there," he would answer her, peering at the woman through the shadows of his cloak. "Just what are you looking for?" he asked, all in standard basic.

 

[Blackthorne]

"I seek the Jedi of this planet," Loxa replied, "I must give them message. Important message. Do you know where to find them?"

Far be it from her to pass up a tour guide, no matter the age. There was certainly reward enough in it, should the child seek such a thing. Be it money or perhaps something more useful like training. The boy exuded a Force Presence. Stronger than that of most children she'd met. Either he was a gifted youngster or the result of powerful blood.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Loxa Visl"]

Well, she wasn't the first one to come asking for the Jedi. Likely wouldn't be the last. However, Micah knew better than to simply take a question for face value and go merrily leading just anyone to the Jedi Temple.

He might be a wiseass but he wasn't stupid.

"I might," he began cautiously, peering up at the woman. "Who is the message from?" he asked, followed by, "And just where are you from?"

He was inquisitive, getting closer to get a feel of the woman. His mother's Lorrdian upbringing that she had passed down to him and his siblings would allow him to discern truth from falsehood; well okay, at least be able to get a read from her body language the general gist of her intentions. He was still pretty young, and certainly wasn't as skilled as his mother. But it could perhaps give him a small inkling.

If anything, he could always get his mother to come over.

 

[Blackthorne]

That easy smile persisted, warm despite sitting within the shadow of her hood.

"From a person who is in need of their help. A person who hides from the Sith a great secret."

Loxa, of course, was not aware of her contact's identity. She knew only the name of Matron and that she represented a ruler who now sat within the tyranny of the One Sith. A person who her Aesir Neth held great respect for. If only Loxa knew that her Aesir was the father of this child...

"I come from many planets far away. Aaris III, Exocron, Annaj, where my people no longer live after the great disappearance."

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

At that Micah's ears perked. Exocron. Aaris III. The third was familiar but didn't quite follow the former's nearby systems. No, not quite but familiar.

Moross Territories; the lands of the Old Gods.

Intrigue would flicker in Micah's orange eyes, his head canting to the right in study of [member="Loxa Visl"]. He took a step closer, hands still in his pockets, but his face turning up to peer at the woman, revealing more of his own.

"You're a long way off from Moross." He finally said, a note of curious inflection in his tone. "Especially to look for the Jedi."

He would blink.

"But if someone needs help...I might be able to bring a Jedi to you. "

 

[Blackthorne]

Loxa's smile fell at the reminder of just how far she had gone in search of home - a thing that had drifted beyond her reach time and time again. She nodded to the boy in agreement. Yes, she was very far from Moross, or what was Moross, but more importantly she was in the presence of someone who knew the name.

"You know Moross?" the Priestess queried, quieting as he offered to bring the Jedi to her, "That would be most kind, yes, would you do this?"

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Where the hell had he gone?

Soliael let out a loud sigh. He swore that his son was the most slippery of the bunch. Maleah thought she was sneaky, but really she was quite easy to find when you knew what she was after. Kaili was easy, too direct to be sneaky, and Aela...well Aelea never really tried to be sneaky in the first place. Icah however, Micah pulled these little disappearing acts far too often.

For a second he thought about implanting a tracking device in his son.

Not a bad idea really, perhaps he should get one for the other children as well. It couldn't really hurt after all...well...probably, he didn't really know the technology all too well.

“Micah!” His voice rang out in a loud boom, a surge of the force amplifying it.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"] [member="Loxa Visl"]

"I do --" Micah began to say, only to hear off in the distance the rather frustrated sound of his father calling his name. He gave a grimace. Okay, this was not good. He would glance over at the woman, thinking again.

Okay maybe it was.

The thought came to mind that if he brought her over to his dad, then maybe his dad won't get too aggravated with him. Plus, he was really interested to find out if she was a follower of the Old Ways, and if so... just how much.

Ohhh.. was she a believer? There was a small note of mischief in Micah's eyes then. If he did this, he would get to see how his dad had acted in the past right?

Plus.. he dad would know if it would be safe to bring her over to mum. Kill two birds with one stone there!

What could go wrong?

"Yeah... I'll do it." He told her. A hand rose to beckon her to follow him. His dad may not be able to find him when Micah put his mind into it, but on the other side of the coin, Micah had a knack at finding his family and friends. This would be easy.

"Come on, follow me." he'd tell her, turning on the heel of his boot. He gave a slight frown, focusing. His dad's voice had been amplified by the Force, so they had the general direction.

He could easily fine tune it.

 

[Blackthorne]

"Namaste, young one," Loxa offered with a short bow of her head. How good to meet another who knew of her chosen heritage.

The Priestess looked up, then, at the sound of a distant echo, eyes panning in a wondering state. How unusual these planets could be, she thought, were voices on the wind a common thing here? She'd seen some mystifying things in her days, but there was always something new.

She followed, her fatigue now forgotten at the prospect of making progress to her end goal. The child was sure-footed and quick, Loxa followed a few paces behind with the tamping of her phrik staff interjected between soft footfalls. They traversed narrow walkways and wended between port-goers, following the bend of stairs until they came to a crowded crossing where Micah stopped before a tall man.

It took a few seconds for the Priestess to catch up but immediately upon spying the man did her breath catch in her chest. His face might not have been immediately recognizable, but his presence was unmistakable. It would simply be unheard of for a former Steward of the Crusade not to know her liege when she stood before him.

"Aesir!" she dropped to a kneel, eyes firmly cast to the ground, "I am not worthy."

[member="Micah Talith"]
[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]