Sharing Secrets (The Kathol Outback)

[Judah Dashiell]

Judah rolled his eyes slightly at the mention of the Aing-Tii talk. He always found it amusing that Force Users put their problems first, even though they created their own problems in his humble opinion. Now they were mad because some little special snowflake was running about creating monsters? There was more to worry about life for folks in this sector. Food and clean water, shelter, safety.


If the Underground/Outback was going to succeed in this sector, they would have to sway the people. That began with taking care of them.


Lost in his own world of thought, it took a moment to register [member="Matthew Robinson"] speaking to him. Or offering a mint. Both, he was fairly certain. Smoothly picking up the mint to make up for his misstep, Judah popped it into his mouth, tucked at the back of his cheek.


"Thanks"


As the Mint Man spoke, Judah was surprised to see someone else having the same thoughts. Medical program? I doubt it there Kid.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


And so Elpsis quantum tunnelled into the thread. Apparently she was late. The redhead could be a bit tardy sometimes. She wore a leather jacket, vest and dark pants. A bolt pistol was holstered on one hip, a blaster on the other. In other words, she looked totally Fringey and spacey. Glorious red hair cascaded down her...oh, wait, this is not a Siobhan post. Otherwise we'd be wasting an entire paragraph just to describe her firemane.


Anyhow, the Outback/Underground meeting was already in full swing. Elpsis didn't really know anyone here, but Auntie Siobhan had told her they were decent folks. Besides, they'd apparently liberated Demon's Gate from a cult of lunatics who turned people into vile Sithspawn. Elpsis happened to be the daughter of an evil Sith Lord, so she could sympathise. Besides, those Croa were just...gross.


Folks were talking about abominations, slavers and Ayng-Tea. Elpsis had no clue who the hell these Ayng folks were. Anyhow, she spotted a moderately scruffy looking man whom she recognised as Judah Dashiell. They were totally best pals. Well, actually they'd never talked. But she'd lost a hand while protecting his minions from zombies on Elrood! So she sat down next to him. "Hey, I'm Elpsis. Auntie Siobhan says hi," she said cheerfully.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Stop me if any of this sounds familiar.

A remote area of the Outer Rim, populated by sithspawn monstrosities better suited for bad horror holoflicks, and haunted by pirates with an unknown, ambiguous agenda that nonetheless resulted in their harassment of the colonists and fringers in this part of the map. Which wasn't even a complete map. And then, throw in some hokey religions for good measure.

This was like Tash-Taral all over again. Except, he had done it all over again. Once with the Levantines and the second time with the Silver Sanctum Coalition. He really wasn't looking forward to a round three. The First Order's stormtroopers or some egotistical dictator with delusions of godhood would be a much welcome change from Sithspawn, Force Ghosts, or the half-remembered fairy tales that Master Yoda had used to amuse the youngling clans at the Jedi Temple. Including Sor-Jan's, sixty years ago.

Well, nine hundred and sixty years ago. Or something.

"Aing-Tii?" the youngling echoed, unable to suppress the disbelief in his own voice. Talk about demons of air and darkness, the Aing-Tii were an old, old myth among spacers in the Outer Rim territories. Sor-Jan had spent more twenty-five years studying the Outer Rim, and in that time he hadn't seen anything that would make him believe than the Aing-Tii were anything more than a superstition. A folk tale perpetuated by former slaves, about angels from the heavens that appeared to blow the bad guys to kark all.

Sithspawn were something a little more real. And this virus sounded like a genuine motherfether.

Kark the Aing-Tii. Fringers tended to be wary of outsiders on the best of circumstances. If there were pirates, monsters, and ghosts that went bump in the night gallivanting about the sector, then the locals were more likely to shoot the people coming to help than the actual evils they were afraid of.

"The slaves we've rescued. Do we have a medical program in place to treat any injuries and help these folks get back on their feet?"

At least this guy got it.

Turning his head, the boy looked back to regard the per son who had spoken. Human, by the look of him. With a nod, the youngling knight silently expressed his own support for the sentiment behind that thought. If they were going to do anything aside from get shot at by a lot of good people who were just scared, they'd have to do something to counter that fear. To engender good will. Establish a rapport. Convince them that the hand that they were extending wasn't with some hidden agenda.

Then the boy looked past the man, to another human looking fellow sitting beside him.

Was that... [member="Judah Dashiell"]? What was Makai's father doing all the way out here? The boy would be a whole year older before his father could make it back to the Mid-Rim. Assuming he hadn't brought Makai with him, but Sor-Jan sincerely hoped not.

It was one thing to bring a four year old Clone Trooper who was programmed from birth to kill chit into the Kathol Outback. It was another to bring an actual youngling into this kind of environment.

...of course, Sor-Jan had been a boy -- a much younger Anzat -- when his Master had brought him to places like this one. And Sor-Jan had done the same with his own padawan, who'd hadn't been much older then than Makai was now, so perhaps SJ was being a little hypocritical on this point. In any event, if Makai was going to experience a world in the Outer Rim, Arda would be much more fitting for him than would be Demonsgate.

 

[Kira Vaal]

They were lost.
They were confused.
Worst of all, none of them seemed to have a karking idea of how to get it back on track.
Kira’s head shook, slightly at first but enough to be seen by those near enough the blue hologram of the spacer.
To her this was a kick in the gut, a movement sideways when they had all purposed such a solid step forward after the Demonsgate siege.

In her own reality, aboard the Millennium Falcon she shifted her position, finger’s clenching a data pad so tightly that sweat had started to build up beneath her grasp. She hated reports, it was outside of her zone completely, a zone that was until all of this merely that of someone who just enjoyed space. Now that space had statistics, and pain. So much pain.

“We are currently establishing the location for the Underground’s first ground-set fortification. Arrangements have already been made for medical equipment from the core and Galactic Alliance space to give us a healthy medical suite once it has been established.” She spoke of her own mission, that given to her by the Underground command. “Until that point we will have to rely on the localised medical teams of the crews within the sector. It is not ideal, but we have always adapted to the not ideal.”

She took a look at her datapad, fully aware of the trickle of perspiration that rolled down her forehead as she did.
“We have received word from the Angelican and the Resistance Noir, two cruisers belonging to a Keridaphian backer. We are taking them onboard as part of the Underground, plus an estimated six thousand beings for the ground ranks. This whole resistance army thing…Well, it is blowing up faster than expected eh?”

 

[Bryce Bantam]

BB could feel the agitation in the room. The underground has always been a unique creation, without a centralized "government" its' unique command structure had lent itself to its old purpose. Now responding to the needs of the region it had lead to needed this meeting to help everyone get on the same page. As the people spoke he noticed Nates inpatients and it still troubled him. As a doctor, he could read body language and now beginning to explore his force powers he could feel the currents of "dark" side energy that still swirled around him. BB wanted to go after him but he couldn't while the meeting was still in session. His conversation with Nate would need to wait till they were back on the Starr.

Turning his attention back to the conversation BB added.

"We also have the new Medical Frigate the Uukaabian provided when the outbreak began on Demonsgate. It has served the people well until Angelsgate Medical Station was finished. Now with its' more extensive setup and full-time medical staff, it is at least is a start to make things right. Speaking of Underground assets there is still the question of what to do with the Techno Union Lucrehulk salvaged from the recent action in the Naboo System. Ria, Raawarchoo and I were able to secure it and a team is now flying it here to the outback, as we speak. Thoughts on that?"

 

[Judah Dashiell]

He remembered [member="Elpsis Kallikora"] quite well. One doesn't forget a woman who lost her hand clearing out what was shaping up to be New Dinbar Spaceport on Elrood. Before the construction, it was a hellish place riddled with zombie-like creatures. Elpsis had lead the charge on contracted Firemane troops to clear out area. Judah had felt terrible when Elpsis lost her hand, going so far as to contacting Kerrigan and paying the medical expenses. Judging by her demeanor today though, it seemed she had recovered enough.


"Lady Kerrigan is well I assume." Probably down another limb, but that was a given with Siobhan. "How is your hand? Er...the new one anyways?"


Judah smiled at her briefly before listening to the answer about medical facilities in the system. It was what he expected, small units for now. While the Outback wasn't a government, it was going to need to win over people. No mother was going to send her son into battle for a cause if they couldn't get some bandages and medicine after a rebellious uprising. Granted, there would be a flush of troops at first. Black Rose was met with disdain. Folks were scattered and by joining some organization those without any means could get food and shelter, even if they really didn't want to fight.


Speaking went on about the salvaged Lucrehulk drug out of the Techno Union system. He leaned back, catching the eye of [member="Matthew Robinson"] once more.


"What do you need for your medical thing Kid? Credits? Supplies? Both?"


He had a small ulterior motive. Salacia Consolidated was looking to aggressively expand in the area now that the Black Rose had been eliminated. Facilities would need to be built. He'd have to personally sway the locals with more than just the promise of jobs. He had done the same thing on Tabaqui but that had been a much smaller scale. If this kid was worried about the slaves and medical supplies, it could be the perfect person to help him out.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


Elpsis unconsciously clenched her new hand slightly when Judah mentioned it. She experienced phantom pains here and there. Those she could deal with. Nightmares about flesh-eating monsters in human form were a different matter entirely.


Naturally she would not admit that because she'd 'tough girl' street cred. "Uh, hand's fine, thanks. Good as new," she replied in a friendly tone. Auntie Siobhan had told her that Dashiell was a family friend. "Yeah, Sio's ok. Busy clobberin' dark elves and playing momma hen. How's your kid? Y'know who these Ayng-Tea guys are?"


Folks were talking about medical facilities and how to look after the people they'd liberated from Sithies and the Croa infestation. Elpsis didn't care about politics and thus whether the Outback was a government or not didn't matter to her. Still, plucky rebels needed popular support if they wanted to achieve success. Some dude called Mao had said something about how the people were the water through which the guerillas swam.


Yes, occasionally Elpsis read the book. Best not tell Auntie Siobhan, otherwise she might force the redhead to become her wage slave and do her paperwork for her! The young Elaris preferred shooting things or setting them on fire. That was more fun.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Glavo mostly ignored the derision he could feel as an empath, roiling from the crowd. They were possibly right to doubt, so he stepped forward, gesturing from Judah to Bryce to show they could continue to speaking along. But for now, he turned unerringly the child Jedi in the crowd. The wonder and suspicion, and derision, damn near thundered from this one. And that would be who he addressed. Who he could best do speaking to and telling his own story to. And so, to emphasize his point, he suddenly wasn't there. Pointedly, the softly glowing lightsaber hilt of songsteel was left there on the table, along with a pistol.

He appeared before the anzant, who he took to be a child. Arms and hands were splayed wide in a harmless gesture, and he spoke to him calmly, evenly. Voice was rolling honey, and his emotions were almost playful, with a tinge of regret. Overall there was no trace of deceit, or anything such like that. Legitimately he wanted to present his story to the young man, and he nodded to the youngling, then shifted his shoulders almost uncomfortably before he extended his right hand to be shook. The folded Corellian bloodsteel saber still hung at his hip.

"I understand your question... To most they are myths.... I do not know your talents, but I am willing to prove myself to any here who doubt me... Or this cause..."

A pause, his voice lifting at the last to gaze around to include everyone.

"I can let you see trinkets from them, my ship made by them, that echoes with their presence. Teach you abilities like I just manifested. They may even agree to a meeting, if you doubt they exist... It is important we come together here today... We are freedom fighters, a rag-tag alliance with next to no funding, no establishment, just now trying to not hop from planet to planet rebelling only to come back later to uninstall the next regime... We will never be a goliath like the Republic I used to serve. Nor would those of us in the Fringe ever take to such well. But we can do better. With help, instead of derision. I am not a doctor, or a governor... I am a general at best. A warrior. I scarcely know what to do when the battle is won. Just how to win it. But others here might know... Bryce is already showing we have the abilities, once we take stock... But... We need the resources... Capitol or money, mostly....And... This region needs to be left to its' own devices, or the people will just rebel again when they feel stagnant... We need to be more intermediary then controlling. Can we discuss on these terms?"

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Matthew Robinson]

Matt nodded a silent thanks toward [member="Bryce Bantam"] and the image of [member="Kira Vaal"]. He'd have to find a way to get plugged into those ventures. Ever since he'd joined up, he'd hit the ground running. First Demonsgate. Now this.

Being in a resource-shortened field did that.

Hand came up to rub at the stubble on his chin, dark-brows furrowing in thought. Feth, when was the last time he shaved? Hazel-eyes shifted to [member="Judah Dashiell"] as he chewed the rest of his mint and swallowed.

His voice lowered so as not to disturb the speakers or those listening. "Mate, I just joined up with Kathol Underground a week ago. If you want a humble medic's opinion - well, humble most of the time," a lopsided grin briefly flashed across his face before turning somber again "I'd say our highest needs are supplies and personnel."

The dark circles were only growing under the freshly minted doctor's eyes since he signed up. Long hours. Little sleep.

"You can offer something like that? Name's Matt, by the way. Matt Robinson."

If the man was really offering what Matt thought, it made the young medic more than a little skeptical. Nothing in the verse was free.

 

[Raachwaroo]

Seeing Bryce on stage was exciting! He'd never seen the boy so formal, so... adult. While it made Raachwaroo proud to see him up there he was deeply troubled by it. Little Bantam talked about horrible things, finding more sithspawn? A creeping thought was scratching at the back of his mind which he resisted. It was so theatrical, so busy it was quite the performance out on that stage. Something's wrong...

Raachwaroo went to go talk to him until he was sucked into conversation with an unfamiliar male and the monk from earlier. It was rather chilling, he felt like his 'Red Friend' was slipping away into a different person. No that's not true, it's Bryce! He's always so happy and always saving people! Though his eyes... they'd seen something that Raachwaroo was beginning to piece together. In reality he had no clue, only guesses.

Seeing a man clad in robes that stuck out as familiar he took off after Nate the Bounty Hunter. Maybe he'd catch him before he left, he was one person who was with Bryce when he had not been. Surely he knew something! As he made his way through the crowd he chased the slowly fleeing man who'd had quite the headstart on him as this wookie was stuck in the near center of the room. What had happened?

"However our investigations turned up something more sinister. A league of hired mercenaries were actually in possession of the virus in question and were without doubt creating the additional outbreaks. While we were unable to ascertain who was responsible for hiring them, we do believe their main intent of these acts was to sow fear and confusion upon the planet and to discredit us in the eyes of the Outback at large.”

Sinister, mercenaries, virus, additional outbreaks. This virus changed people into monsters, it made them into things that tried to kill regardless of alignment. Was that all that it was? No it couldn't be, Bryce was so strong. He'd thrown his life into the hands of blaster fire to save the life of a child he didn't know. Raachwaroo had saved Bryce that day, it was the first day they met. That bravery would never be forgotten, not ever. The thought came back full force now, Bryce sitting down and talking with someone. A face he couldn't recognize as Bryce saw a friend transform into a monster.

That would break anyone, but no... that couldn't happen to Bryce that was too evil. He didn't deserve to be so upset he was a good person! Raachwaroo's mind fluttered confusedly as he finally made it out to the ship's bay. Did he make it to Nate on time?


[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] [member="Bryce Bantam"] [member="Glavo Pahro"] [member="Matthew Robinson"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] | [member="Matthew Robinson"]


"Siobhan has a weird habit of losing limbs, being insufferable at times, and bringing in stray children to brood over."


Judah grinned at the red haired girl, trying not to laugh because they both knew it was true. Now, would he ever mention such a thing in the presence of Lady Kerrigan? Not at all. The woman was far too frightening to make fun of in person. Not to mention her hatred of males. Judah preferred to keep his privates in working order instead of strung up on a pike for all the space elves in Lady Kerrigan's town to see.


"Makai is....getting better. We just came back from a long vacation on Mon Cal. Didn't see Kerrigan while we were there though." He kept the personal details out of his vacation, the girl didn't need to know he lost his wife a short while back. Kerrigan probably knew due to mutual associates between their companies. It wasn't news he wanted to shout from the rooftops, nor was it topical unless someone asked.


"Angst-Tee? Or is it Ayng-Tea? I don't know. You missed at the beginning of the meeting. Monks or whatnot. Sound like Jedi who got crabby and stowed themselves away."


Their hushed whispers continued between the pair until the Mint Man spoke back up. Said he needed supplies and people. Supplies were the easy part. Judah didn't have access to people. It was hard enough finding Salacia workers lately, mainly due to massive upheaval in the galaxy. Although.....Salacia employees could be dual trained.....Perhaps a paid volunteer program?


"Supplies aren't the problem. I can drop an entire freighters worth on your doorstep by morning.People is what we can't get."


A slight pause.


"I'm Judah. Maybe we can share ideas after the meeting."

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

All right, he'd admit it.

That was a pretty cool stunt.

Anzat were telepathic by nature. It was how his species hunted. Specifically, how they identified, targeted, tracked, and overwhelmed humanoids. Now, Sor-Jan wasn't old enough to feast on brains, but he was rather afflicted by a certain awareness of the people around him. He put a bit of effort at shielding his mind. Not so that stray thoughts would be picked up, but rather to keep his own mind from wandering into others.

So even without having been paying the scantest bit of attention to the Corellian man, he was suddenly very conscious that a presence in the room had just blinked out of existence. A small nexus in the Force. A pool of conscious thought and emotion. The undercurrents of sentience that rippled outward through the Force. All of it gone. In a moment, in the blink of an eye. Vanished.

And then, it was standing right in front of him. And Sor-Jan could not have said when, how, or where he'd come from.

Which didn't tend to make him believe any more in the Aing-Tii. There were many mysteries about the Force that Sor-Jan would not claim to understand, and several of which dealt with ways in which the Force could be manipulated to hide one's presence. The Sith were damnably good at that, as a matter of fact.

So he had a ship. And trinkets. And had some... epiphany in the wilderness.

Were Sor-Jan several hundred years older, he'd have probably asked the man just what he'd been drinking when these Aing-Tii had come to him with these revelations.

...and did he have any more of it?

But, that would hardly be productive. "Look, I'm sure whatever it was that you saw was quite real," the boy began. See? He could be as tactful as the next Jedi Consular...

"...to you."

Nope. He was still a Corellian brat. Through and through. In all seriousness, he'd been in and out of the Outer Rim Territories for near fifty years all together. He'd seen a LOT of strange things. A lot of which he couldn't explain, some of which he could -- but no one would believe him -- and others that seemed very real at the time, and were nothing more than dust in the wind.

"My point is, I think our focus should be more on how our actions are going to be received by the masses," the boy countered, in a neutral and hopefully conciliatory tone of voice. He really wasn't looking to argue. He was rather interested in the talk about the set up of the medical aid efforts. If he could get some parts together, he could start work on communications satellites that could serve to form a stable network. Perhaps even supply a HoloNet feed to a system. Or even a sector. "And perhaps less concerned with how a quasi-mythological cabal of Force monks might see us."

This was actually quite the reversal. Sor-Jan was normally the archaeologist trying to prove that something existed which academics said was a myth.

But the Aing-Tii were a stretch even for his imagination.

[member="Glavo Pahro"]​

 

[Noah Bright]

Noah turned and stared at [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] . An eleven year old kid with one heck of a big mouth. Eager. Sure. Brisk talker. Yep. Knew his stuff. Maybe. Annoying? Pfft. Getting there. Well... Come on now. He have to give the kid some credit. None of the other adults in the room had told him to shut up yet. I mean. Yeah. Any minute now. For sure. Bright was absolutely certain somebody would say something. Or at least stun bolt the kid. Ha! Good old Navy habit, that. But... To remain in the present. A good spy was a quiet spy. So Bright left the honors to another brave soul. Kinda wishing he'd brought a water gun with him too. *spritz spritz spritz* ...Take that kiddo. Ha. That will shut him up.

Mmm. Besides. Bright was starting to think about food again. Hmm... Grilled cheese? Yeah. Ooo. Grilled cheese. Yum. Wonder if they got any of that golden butter downstairs for the skillet too? Mm. Maybe? Wait. Can Rebels cook? Bah. Who cares!! Ugh.

This meeting was going to kill him.

...

Noah listened to the meeting toil on with one ear to the speakers. One ear to his gut. And I don't mean his feelings either. I mean, food baby. Sidetracked like the deviant mind he was. And in good company that. Ha. This truly was the rowdy bunch. Woo doggie. But... I suppose this was exactly what Ol' Blue had warned him about. The farther you got from Denon? The stranger all the preachers and their goats.

"Damn."

Now all he wanted in the whole wide world was a grilled cheese sandwich on his tongue. F.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


Elpsis suddenly started laughing. Hopefully she wasn't too loud. At least she hadn't started munching on crisps. That would've probably caused too much noise. "Oh, yeah, that's totally her. Can't go anywhere without at least one harem girl tagging along to tell her how great she is and kiss her feet - literally. And she'll rage if you touch her mags without permission. Probably adopted another stray while I wasn't lookin'."


Clearly it was Siobhan trolling hour. Truth be told, Elspsis was a little intimidated by the Countess, who for some reason seemed to want to mother over her. Maybe it had something to do with Siobhan having a crush on Elpsis' birth mother. "But she ain't that bad," she added.


After all, she'd killed Elpsis' evil daddy. He'd still bitched about that when his daughter encountered him in hell and killed him again. Well, presumably he'd respawned somewhere. "Angst-Tee? Heh. You're fun. So they're sanctimonious dicks who think they're the Force's gift to the world and everyone should follow their rules. Got it," Presumably Elpsis' perspective was very biased, but she'd been a Jedi once...a long time ago. She'd decided that she liked Judah.


People around them were talking. A kid ([member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]) said something about how they should be more worried about what the common people thought than what a bunch of quasi-mythical space monks. That was very sensible. Of course, Elpsis would be unaware that the 'kid' was way older than she was, an Anzati and a time traveller, though she'd feel he was a Forcer. "What he said," she added, even though no one had asked her opinion.

 

[Nate Phantoms]

He walked down the corridor, his steps echoing in the silence. That overpowering urge to hurt someone, to burn down a town, or to do something evil came back up, and he winced and stopped walking, placing his arm against the wall to steady himself as he groaned softly.

Do it... no one can stop you, you are powerful​

all will bow down to you​

Just give into the Dark Side​

​

He put his hand to his head, struggling to hold himself up as he tried to take back control over his mind. He felt the temperature of the corridor ratchet up. HI closed his eyes, falling to his knees, and sensing the presence of another being behind him. He turned, putting his back up against the wall, seeing [member="Raachwaroo"], and he instantly remembered that last time this happened and he scampered away from his furry and now worried companion.

"D-don't touch me... please... stay back, once the meeting is over... get Bryce and I will tell you what is wrong with him."

He placed his hands on his temples, slowly losing the internal battle that threatened to consume him.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Raachwaroo]

He did it! Raachwaroo caught up to him, now he'd know the truth. What could've happened, was it something that Nate did? No it couldn't be Bryce wouldn't keep a bad person around him. Bryce was young but he wasn't stupid, he was probably the smartest person he knew in fact! Though here Nate was cowering in a corner from the wookie.

-
"'Waroo, have you seen my sculpting set?" An older more defined Wookie asked the younger who was sitting in a corner looking away. Though he did turn to reply he didn't say anything and looked back away. The father walked over with arms crossed, the child couldn't see him but he knew he was there with a disapproving glare. "Raachwaroo, did you take my sculpting set?" His father asked again, more coarsely this time. Vindication spewed from him as the boy began to tear up and stood to show he had been hiding a broken carving knife under his leg. The boy wasn't hurt but the blade was bent and snapped at the hilt.

"I didn't mean to break it..! I-I just wanted to carve too but I didn't know the wood so I used the-" He broke into tears, fearful of what his father would do. Sculpting was his livelihood and he'd thought that with a broken knife he'd be furious. The older man knelt down and hugged his son tenderly letting him cry, assuring him it was okay.

"It's fine Raachwaroo, I have many sculpting knives. Just know that if something's wrong just be honest. It's always obvious to tell when someone is lying or hiding something. They'll do what you just did, hide away and not say much."
-

Here Nate was, curled up against the wall, hiding from Raachwaroo and the truth. He thought to himself, as Nate began to speak Raachwaroo roared a protest. The revelation that he'd fought with Nate and he was perhaps the culprit all along? Despicable. Towering over the man now the tree-kin swung his fist into the wall above him. How did Bryce not know? How did he not know? What was going to happen now, was he just going to get the truth and let him go? No, rage still filled him preventing him from realizing he'd left his little translator behind. Nate communicating with him would be futile, they couldn't understand one another and maybe even both men were too emotional to realize it.

The force was alien to 'Waroo, he'd never studied it or cared to even investigate lightly. So with the dark energies swelling before him he was left clueless of the danger before him. This was a timebomb, and he was slamming the clock against a wall repeatedly with his actions. Even if he could understand that Nate was battling a swarm of demons inside his own mind, his own anger would just blend in with the darkness around them. Raachwaroo had even forgotten how well armed Nate could be. The Wookie had no weapons of his own to defend himself, even his crushgaunt were in his dufflebag he'd not anticipated any form of violence coming from this place. Though now, the barrel was turned on him.

What an awful mistake indeed and one many force users would begin to pick up on.

[member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] [member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Matthew Robinson]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Judah Dashiell"]

The young man caught snippets of conversation between Judah and the red-head on the other side. It was only natural. They were all so close.

"Missing limbed-aunt?" Whisper carried over Judah. "Maybe she needs a better medic?" Hazel-eyes were amused but he managed to keep the chuckle down. From what little he gleaned, this aunt already scared the feth out of him.

Matt slouched back down, fingers crammed into his pockets. Attention shifted back to Judah as he spoke. Supplies aren't a problem? Was this guy a miracle worker?

"Yeah, let's talk after."

Dark-brows remained furrowed in thought.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

The kid... And despite the weird sense he got of him, he was a kid in his mind, had sense. But the problem he didn't realize, caused in part by the disbelief in the Monks, was without good relations with the Aing-Tii, things would be even more problematic in the sector. Plus, they would lose a possible ally as useful, or dangerous, as an Idiots Array. Apt summation, and he started to formulate a retort... But, then again, was it worth it? Silver or Republic, the traditional style Jedi had their saber hilts squeezed so tight between their buttocks typically, he was surprised they didn't crap Aur Diamonds. Though, a large portion of that populace acted like they did. Errant thought or no, it amused him, and he merely shook his head and chuckled. There was time later.

"Not saying I don't agree, kid. But we go into this with poor relations to the Monks, we won't get far. Their weaponry? Their ships? We can't counter it. And if the Qekoth Confederation is trying to steamroll the locals... Some point, might be nice to call on them...So we need to at least keep them in the middle, and not the back of our minds. I can't offer much thought or help on Medical... I know liquor, beer, fighting, and gambling. Those are my specialities. But if you lot..."

Here he gestured to Matt, and Judah...

"If you lot can set it up to ease suffering, you point me to how my talents can serve, and they will.... Just please stop insisting people I spent the past two years or so with are imaginary and I won't mention ill mannered guest actions in trying to imply their host is insane, even if the speaker is either too young to know better, and needs an adult to keep him in line, or is one of those damned commonly rare time-travelers we have here in Kathol space."

The last was said with a wink to Alec as he bowed his head to Sor.

"I will help you as is needed, for if no other reason than you got some Corelisi style fire to you, kid. As far as what I can do... I'm a fair navigator, and I have some gifts and devices might help calm the turbulence down in the area. Pave a hyperlane, of sorts... Wouldn't be for everyone to be able to use, I'm not Jorus, but it would function well enough for emergency transit and med-evac to the Uuk and the like.... Maybe we can even fit some H-Wings with a variant of my fold drive for quick evac manuevers."

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Noah Bright]

Noah stood up and cleared his throat. Semi-shouting towards [member="Glavo Pahro"] ,

"I would love to assist these Ann-Ting monks on behalf of the Underground, as well as get a good look at their vessels and culture."

He stopped and looked around the room. Just to make sure everybody heard him.

"So. Who would I talk to about getting started?"

Grilled cheese be damned. It was time to grab a mission. He would start, with Glavo.

 

[Bryce Bantam]

BB attention was drawn from the discussion on the existence of the Aing Tii by a wookiee war cry. Excusing himself from the group BB found Raachwaroo towering angerly over Nate as he seemed to be struggling to stand.

"Waroo," BB shouted over the confusion.

Placing his hand on his old friend BB tied to turn him away from Nate.

"He is sick, buddy, let him be..."

BB knew his words might not be understood but his intentions would, the Wookiee and the young Biituian had a bond like that. BB connected to the force as his new master [member="Solan Charr"] has shown him. Feeling the serenity and strength of the force BB began to feel what troubled Raawarchoo.

"I'm fine my friend, different but learning. We all have demons inside us, that pull us to the darkness but I have found someone who has helped me. We have been apart for a while, I have changed but I'm still BB. Please let me handle this my friend."

Walking past Raachwaroo BB kneeled down beside Nate, stretching out his hand he placed it gentle on Nate as he protested. Again the red fire of the dark side entered BB, but this time he was ready. Breathing in deep he drank in pain, loss of family, anger. He felt Nate's torment, his suffering. It was much like BB's own, he lost his mother violently and so understood some of what Nate felt.

BB could feel his force aura changing, calming blues now mingled with red and black flames. His gut burned with the dark side he had absorbed from Nate. While not enough to calm Nate's rage it would lighten his burned hopefully enough for Nate to once again extend control over it.

"Rest Nate, this storm will subside in time. Tomorrow we can speak, deeply about this, no more secrets. We can't hide this from the light and longer, if you do you will only slip further into darkness."

BB stood up visibly struggling with what now burned inside him. Passing Waroo his smiled a labored smile and returned to the meeting. Hoping Raachwaroo would follow his lead and give Nate the space he needed.

[member="Raachwaroo"] [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"]