The Annual Republic Military Banquet

[The Hound]

Outwardly, he was keeping his cool, his aura of self confidence hadn't wavered. However, inside his mind was alive with ideas and sensations. Over active imagination. Taking a sip of his drink he smiled at the woman's question. Finally, things were getting somewhere! He wasn't looking for anything serious, he never was. For the night? Sure, she was for sure his type. Setting down his drink he leaned onto the table. This was a night to celebrate their defeat of the Omni menace, and maybe tonight was just the night to let off some steam from the months of frustration and pain. Tonight, like every other soldier out there, was his night and he wasn't going to let some second hand thoughts about his Captain distract him from the night of fun and memories he would hold for a lifetime. With his trademark charming smile and a quick wink he said in a low, quiet voice "You, my beautiful friend, are definitely my type."

But the seed had sprouted, and Sophia was, without a doubt, on his mind.
@[member="Anemone Nivalis"]

 

[Anemone Nivalis]

A decently toned laughter escaped Anemone as she leaned back into her chair. Turin was interested in her, but not the in the way one would hope. Add to it that he wasn't too good at hiding what he felt, or beginning to feel, for the attractive. She eyed him before biting her own bottom lip lightly and leaning over the table once more. She spoke, her tone low, but enticing. "Well, since your so interested, we could leave this event early. But I wouldn't really be the one on your mind. So, sadly for you, you won't be getting lucky with me." A miniscule chuckle escaped her being as leaned back in her chair once more, taking the final short sip from her glass. "I can read people. It's what I do, kind of like fixing people. Don't worry. I won't say anything to anyone, but..." Her gaze shifted to the Captain's direction, a coy smile about her face. "Quit being so scared. After all, I imagine you've been doing this whole flirting thing for years. Maybe it's time to finally put that to rest?'

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Jaxton Ravos"]

Delila knew her personal life was sad when the Jedi seemed to do more in his free time than her. Or maybe it was her preconceived notions that all Jedi were monks, holed up in their stone temple...chanting or mediating, whatever they did. Delila was slowly getting the hang of dancing, finding it much like hand-to-hand combat. One just had to roll with their opponent.

The Major followed his spin, returning back to the Zeltron, dancing closer now than they had been before.

"Sounds nice, I'm not really one for pomp and circumstance." Delila smiled as the song wound down. "I would like to get to know you more Jaxton, especially in a less formal setting"

 

[The Hound]

Turin blinked in surprise and sat back in his seat, taking another sip of his drink. Well, that was unexpected. At first it seemed as if the night was about to get more exciting, but now...He didn't understand, she was throwing all these signs at him as if he was flying down the Hydian Way and then she stonewalled him like this? A light chuckle escaped him as he folded his arms. "Well, you my friend, are a strange one." Had she seen right through him? Seen through to what? The only reason she wasn't on his mind was because she filled it with all of these strange foreign ideas of Sophia. He didn't think he needed fixing, well, not in the way she was thinking, but maybe that was the problem. "Well, what can I do to change your mind?" he asked, but not desperately, pouring himself another glass and offering her more.

Maybe he should just stop and have a pleasant conversation with @[member="Anemone Nivalis"].

 

[Darron Wraith]

Not a drinker? I can respect that.

Darron forced himself to stand to his full height of 6'5, and he managed a small bow as the Navy Officer came over to him. A small smile crept up his face as he took the credits he had set down and placed them in the tip jar as the bartender took care of her glass of water. The look of shock on the bartender's face at realizing he had been talking to the GrandMaster of the Jedi Order was priceless, but Darron paid it no mind. Instead, he sized up the woman before her. Judging by her uniform she was a pilot, and she had that aura about her. It was of one who wasn't afraid to take risks, and the Jedi had to respect it. It was one thing to go about your life fighting battles all the time when you had the Force as your ally. It was another different endeavor entirely to fly a star-fighter with only five senses and a ton of hope. Blue eyes met another pair, and he noted that she looked a lot like her mother, Kalia Vondiranach. I know was frozen for too long when i'm almost the same age as some of the other Council members children, he thought to himself. Twenty years in carbonite was a long time, and it's why he still hadn't physically hit thirty years old.

The dark thought was quickly cast aside as he listened to her, and responded in kind.

"Yes, I do get a bunch of people coming to see me now after my promotion." A weak laugh escaped, and he relfexively reached for his ribs as the pain from his wounds got to him. "You can just call me Darron Wraith, are you Master Vondiranach's daughter? She was one of the best additions to the Council, and you two look amazingly alike."

He tried to avoid her question about his wounds, but the general public had known that he had barely survived the Omni crisis.

"Well to be honest, i'm a little hurt. It's just a flesh wound, nothing more I promise. How about you? I heard you were in the final battle as well?"

@[member="Sophia Walsh"]

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]

As Jaxton pulled Delila's hand to get her out of her spin and back into a normal dance frame, he noticed her come in a bit closer than before. She didn't close an exceptional or unprofessional distance, but it was one Jaxton noticed and welcomed.
"Sounds nice, I'm not really one for pomp and circumstance. I would like to get to know you more Jaxton, especially in a less formal setting" She said smiling as the song began approaching it's conclusion. As song slowed to it's ultimatum Jaxton pulled Delila's right hand and put it on his left tricep, on account of her being unable to reach his shoulder, then then extended his left knee forward as he turned her body to his left side and lowered it to the ground, coinciding the fade of the music with a dip. He looked into her eyes for a second and then pulled her back to a stand at the music's end.

"I'd love to. I could take you to grav-ball game." Jaxton said, then realized he was thinking of stuff he knew he liked, then quickly spoke again. "What do you like to do? I know you said you don't have a lot of free-time now, but what would do if you did?" Jaxton said as he escorted Delila off of the dance floor.

 

[Anemone Nivalis]

"Well, if your actually interested in changing my mind, you could ask me to dance." In all honestly, Anemone didn't expect him to ask her. More or less, she expected him to say he doesn't dance. While she did find him intriguing, at the end of the day, he wasn't her type. He simply couldn't sit still, and she didn't have to look hard to find that. But even if this didn't blossom into something new and exciting, having a friend on the naval side of things could certainly come in handy. Or he could have just given her someone to poke fun at. Either way, she was interested to see where this road lead.

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

 

[The Hound]

A dance? He could do that. Maybe he should just be honest with himself because if Omni taught him anything, its that droids are troublemakers and should be watched with caution, and that you only live once and you should make the most of it while you are here. "I'll take you up on that offer, but not for the reasons you think." he said, standing and offering his hand. "It's a party, we should enjoy each other's company while there isn't some omnipresent robotic force trying to destroy all organic life." he joked with a smile. Maybe it was time he started being a little truer to himself. Maybe he would ask her to coffee...Or he could live the single life a little longer. Regardless, he was one step closer to moving forward. Now if only he could stop these headaches.

@[member="Anemone Nivalis"]

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Jaxton Ravos"]

Delila had a bit of surprise at the dip, Jaxton had failed to mentioned he danced on such a level. As her grip lessened from his arm, her brain realizing she wasn't going to smash into the gleaming wood floor, the woman hoped she hadn't made too much of an idiot of herself. Dancing? So not her thing. It was a great relief she hadn't tripped and knocked both herself and the Jedi over. A sense of relief washed over her as the song ended and the pair slowly made their way off the dance floor,Jaxton speaking of ideas for their less formal setting.

"Grav-ball is fine,you will merely have to put up with my questioning of the rules."

"What would I do with my free time? Probably visit more museums. I visit the Library of the Republic regularly, but mainly for work purposes. I nearly laughed in bootcamp, all those years ago when my CO said history was important to military operations." Delila shrugged a little. "Hate to admit it but the guy was right. Whenever I get the chance though I always sneak off to exhibits of planets I'll never have the pleasure of visiting..."

Delila found herself about to go on and on and decided it wasn't the best idea in the world. "My apologies for the rambling." Time to change the subject. "Quite the turnout here, although I may say its a bit frivolous considering the cost of rebuilding that continues."

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]

Jaxton listened as he noted the woman's passion for museums of all things, and her visiting some historical sites for her work. She seemed awfully passionate about it. Jaxton guessed you had to be to be an Officer. Military life wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Before she continued however, she caught herself and apologized for ramblimg, and spoke of the turnout. Jaxton was slightly disappointed as he had hoped for the woman to reveal more of herself, but then again Jaxton hadn't said all that much about himself either.

"It is a bit frivolous yes, but in it's way it's needed. I'd be fine with us just focusing on rebuilding myself but having an social event like this helps put citizens at ease. It's a lot easier to stop thinking about the wreckage of Omni when you can gossip about what Senator did which things with which Jedi and so on." Jaxton replied diplomatically. He understood the need for such an event. Average people didn't have the resolve he or the Major did.

"As for museums, how would like to see one in progress?" Jaxton said as he made his way to a table and picked up a couple of glasses of wine from a nearby waiter.
"I don't know if you have much interest in jedi history, but I could take you Tython and show you the restoration of the Temple there." He said they found a table and Jaxton pulled a seat out for Delila.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Jaxton Ravos"]

"Spoken like a true diplomat."

There was truth to his words.While the average citizen could view this as a type of morale booster ; military,Jedi and politicians all celebrating the 'victory' of sorts, it still felt to her an event no one could truly afford. This was more of a mental victory rather.

Taking the offered seat somewhat gracefully, Delila waited until the Zeltron was seated before started her questioning about the mentioned Jedi Temple. Were the Jedi moving off of Coruscant? She could hardly blame them, the planet seemed too central to find any real peace. Not to mention a constant threat of attacks due to its symbolism within the Republic.

"I would love to. Are the Jedi merely turning it into a museum? Or perhaps a stronghold, much like the Republic has on strategic planets within our territory hold?"

Taking a sip of wine, she realized he probably couldn't tell her. Especially in such a public place. Sometimes strongholds were meant to be secrets for good reasons.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]

Delila took Jaxton's offered seat, then was silent for a moment as Jaxton took his seat across from hers. He took a sip of the wine he grabbed, not nearly the flavor he was used to on Corellia, but it would do. Delila began to speak, and asked what the Temple restoration work was, and what the Jedi were doing on Tython. Jaxton then remembered Tython wasn't common knowledge, as it was out of the way and difficult to access for non-Jedi. Jaxton paused for a moment and thought about what he was and wasn't allowed to say, then decided there was no harm in it, but still hushed his tone a bit as he talked to the woman.

"I guess you could call it a stronghold. We're rebuilding the temples to have a place to train people, conduct meetings, and have a general home for Jedi. A less public place than the Coruscant Temple for Council Meetings and a less distracting place for padawans to learn. The Jedi supposedly have had temples there on and off for the last thirty thousand years, but I'm not sure how accurate our dating system is. We've definitely had them there at least four thousand years ago. It's mostly overgrowth and construction now, but there's a lot of history there." Jaxton rambled a bit about his understanding of Tython while Delila sipped on her wine.

"It's not a place you could find on a map due to complicated space stuff I don't understand, but I could take you there next time you're off duty. What do you think Delila?"

 

[Anemone Nivalis]

Anemone smiled coyly as she placed her hand within Turin's. "I'll take you up on the offer. Lets enjoy the night while we have it." She rose to her feet, stumbling slightly as she stood. For but a moment, Anemone's eyes widened, a mild look of shock upon her face. It had only been one glass, but she was a lightweight, to say the least. A young child could probably out drink her, if they were allowed to, and that was putting it mildly. Quickly she inhaled and exhaled as her smile returned to her face once more. "Lets go."

In truth, she was dying on the inside. She just hoped she could maintain her footing for one dance. She had to, for if she didn't, the trouble that would ensue would be catastrophic for her. After all, it's not nice to be a drunk mess. At a military banquet. In uniform, In front of your superiors. This night, just became a bit longer.

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

 

[Sophia Walsh]

"Yes, that would be my mother," she smiled taking a sip of her water. It was common for people to ask about her father but never her mother. She supposed that was partly due to the fact that she was in the Navy with her father. Sophia couldn't touch the Force like her mother but she knew that mom was still proud of her and loved her. Leave it to the leader of the Jedi to be the first one to bring up her mother. Though he almost sounded as he he didn't know she had children. "I also have a younger brother and sister whom I think are Force-Sensitive. My brother of course is in the Navy as it's kind of a family thing." A family male thing so it was kind of expected out of him.

Sophia had been in the big battle but not on the ground. The ship was being shot at but it wasn't the same and obviously so when she saw how beat up Darron was. It looked like much more than a flesh wound but she figured he knew what he was doing and how to care for himself. If there was something seriously wrong with him he would come out and say it. She would hope he wouldn't try to play big shot and not get healing if he needed it. He may be the leader but he was human as well and needed to take care of himself as well. She bet he was bad at that but only because she was bad at it herself. The safety of her crew was top priority. Once that was achieved she would worry about herself.

"I was and I'm doing just fine though I'll admit I was worried a few times. We had a few system malfunctions and I thought the whole ship was going now. I was running around the ship like a crazy person," she laughed thinking of how she might have looked. "Our communications were down though and I could reach the rest of the ship or really anybody. We got it figured out though thankfully. I was not letting us go down my first battle as Captain no way."

The young captain was no stranger to war. She had been though plenty of them but this one had been different and not just because of her new rank. It was more personal and real Omni trying to destroy all living beings plus the battle being on her home planet. Much more had been on the line in this battle than ever before. They won but at what cost? She had lost good men and woman in the battle whom had been under her orders to be out there. The physical wounds would eventually heal and turn into scars. The emotional ones would always be there try as one might to hide them. "It never ends does it? One war after another and sometimes they all blend together. Do you ever get sick of war? I wish things could be more peaceful."

@[member="Darron Wraith"]

 

[The Hound]

"Woah there!" he whispered, noticing her stumble and pulling her a little closer. She was definitely a super-light weight, to be stumbling already? "Are you sure you are up to a dance?" he asked with a light chuckle and a sigh. He wouldn't force her if she wasn't, that wasn't his thing. And besides it would save her a lifetime of embarrassment as many commanding officers had now shown up. He could understand the feeling, showing up to public events drunk, or becoming very intoxicated at said events were his first and second mistakes when he initially started flying under the Republic. "You know, I think we should put a hold on this dance, let me sit you down here..." he said as he placed her back in her seat. "I'll be back with water and some...food?" he sounded confused, mainly because, once again, the food here was much fancier than he was used to and he wasn't quite sure what was a decoration and what was not in the serving bowls. "I will be right back." and with a wink he was off to fetch some water and fancy food.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Jaxton Ravos"] | @[member="Anemone Nivalis"]

Delila set down her wine, raising an eyebrow at the young Lieutenant in her field of vision, just past Jaxton. Now she doubted the young woman could actually see her, she would have to resort to other measures to let Nivalis know she was watching closely.Half an ear was turned to Jaxton as he talked, finally turning her entire attention back to the man for a brief second. Not on a map? Quite convenient.

"Of course I want to go. Before the night ends let me get your contact information, I'll let you know when we're having a bit of leave."

Spotting a waiter, Delila gave a subtle nod in his direction, needing the man to come to their table. She waited until the man closed the distance before speaking lowly. "Excuse me, could you do me a favor? Send your strongest, hottest caf to the young woman diagonal from this one. With the brownish-hair, her name should be Lt. Nivalis. Tell her its from Major Castillon. Thank you..."

Delila turned her attention back to the Jedi in front of her. "Sorry for the interruption. As you were saying...Tython. Sure you will not get in trouble bringing in an outsider?Seems like this place is a closely guarded secret"

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]

Jaxton listened to Delila's instructions of the waiter and slightly turned his head to follow her directions, spotting a rather drunk-looking woman on the dance-floor. He grinned slightly and returned his eyes to the woman across from him, beating Delila's turn of head by maybe a second.
"Sorry for the interruption. As you were saying...Tython. Sure you will not get in trouble bringing in an outsider?Seems like this place is a closely guarded secret" Jaxton listened to Delila and thought about what she said. He took a second to think, but didn't really think. He used his Zeltron telepathy and feelings in the Force to get a general sense of Delila's emotions. He didn't enjoy doing it, but he had to take precautions. As he sensed Delila he found nothing he didn't expect, and didn't sense any emotions that he would have linked with hidden motives or agendas.

"It's not really a guarded secret as much as it's a secret that guards itself." Jaxton began, trying to put words together to make her understand something he didn't. "You see, the hyperspace routes to Tython are very unstable. Always shifting. You can't plot a course to it using any navicomputer, you've got to feel it in the Force and direct yourself from there. It's near impossible for someone to get there without the Force." He said trying to sound factual and not pompous or arrogant. He knew some of the military had view Jedi as pretentious.

"So do you keep such attention to all of your troops? Or is it only this one that get's herself into trouble?" Jaxton asked jokingly, trying to make the conversation a bit lighter.

 

[Anemone Nivalis]

With a quick nod Anemone pushed herself to her feet, giving Turin a faint smile. "I'm fine, really." The question is who was she trying to convince? The answer was everyone, including herself. She simply hoped that no one had seen her lose her footing.

As she went to step out towards the middle of the floor, Turin pushed her back lightly, her feet once again losing place as she seemingly fell into her seat. She was enjoying herself, and dancing was fun to her. The last thing she wanted to do was have to sit out a dance. But, alas, it seemed if the male had made her decision for her.

I'll be back with water and some...food?" She said not a word as he stepped away from the table. Anemone sighed heavily as titled her head back, looking toward the ceiling. "Nice one, Anemone. Great job." Beating herself up was one more thing she was excellent at. As the moments past, she sat there simply wondering how things could get much worse. Then they did. A young waiter stepped to her table, placing a small cup before her before he spoke. "For you ma'am." Anemone brought her gaze back to the table, blinking at the cup before turning towards the young waiter. "Uh..from who?" The young stepped to the side, point toward woman sitting not too terribly far from her seat. It was Major Castillon, her boss, her direct superior. Anemone gently moved the cup towards he center of the table as she softly lowered her head onto table, mubling to herself. "It's over. My career is done. All gone."

@[member="Delila Castillon"]
@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Jaxton Ravos"] | @[member="Anemone Nivalis"]

Delila briefly wondered if the Jedi was correct. Just because Force users couldnt travel to the place so easily didn't mean others couldn't figure it out in her opinion. Send a fleet of engineers, mathematicians, scientists and a few cartographers for good measure. The hyperlanes had to be moving in some type of pattern. Delila did not believe the Force merely was controlling who went in and who didn't.

Lets not start an argument today, after all there is a potentially drunk Lieutenant to watch....

She watched Anemone lay her head down on the table and Delila sighed. Hopefully the girl wouldn't do anything drastic. The Major would keep watching and intervene if necessary.

"No, I watch all of them.I take their actions extremely seriously, even in such environments. Perhaps I should say particularly in this environment. I imagine its the same for you, if you have a student. I just have six hundred to keep watch over."

 

[The Hound]

Returning with food, water, and caf, Turin was a little upset that someone had beaten him to the punch. @[member="Anemone Nivalis"] also looked a little depressed. Maybe after she sobered up a little or she was feeling better he would ask her. For now though he just placed the plates on the table and started nibbling on something that looked like nerf jerky but tasted like some sort of squid. Rich people, go figure. Sitting down he reached over and tapped her on the head. "Your food and salvation has arrived." he said, attempting to imitate some regal butler.

(Sorry for the short post X.x )