The Prodigal Son

[Asaraa Vaashe]

It had been an unusual request to say the least, a list of name that had been thrust at her, a list of Jedi, former members of the Order who had chosen another path. It was the last thing anyone wanted to do, to call to them while they were seeking out their own paths. But as the flames of war washed over the galaxy, the Silver Jedi found they had no choice. Not everyone might want to fight, to stand against the dark, but everyone had to warned of the coming conflict, if only so they could be prepared for if the war touched them.

And so Asaraa had settled in a corner of the communications room, slowly working her way down the list of names. Some railed at her for disturbing them, wanting nothing to do with them while others...others had pledged to return if needed, to support the Order. It had been a long day, and it wasn't even half over, the girl rubbed her hand over her face, rubbing at her eyes before she bowed her head to her list, looking up the next name on the list her next port of call.

"Hi, is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?"

[member='Ar'ekk'] | [member='Jyoti Nooran']

 

[Arekk]

A decade had passed since he contacted anyone from the Silver Jedi Order, more specifically his former Jedi Master Rasu Gan. She had simply disappeared from the brink of the galaxy briefly after the war on Malachor V, fond memories from their little adventure within the caves of Voss flourished in his mind from time to time. He pondered so many times what occured to his old friends such as [member="Celiana"], a bright Jedi Padawan back then who accompanied him and Rasu during their adventures and learned from each other as they trained.

The only memory left from that age as he took his first steps on the Force were a comlink that kept Rasu and Ar'ekk communicated during Malachor. Little did he know that whoever was on the other would never answer for the years to come until one day... A faint voice came from within to communicate with him. He sat by the cockpit of the Ebon Hawk contemplating the sights of Nar Shaddaa for the last time before leaving for Aurum with [member="Jyn Sol"]. The encrypted network could only connect the Jedi Knight with the Silver Jedi Order but never thought that they would try to reach him again after all these years.

His eyes widened in surprise, his heartbeat becoming rushed and loud as the seconds passed. A lack of breath and overwhelming sensations caused him to have weak knees, falling down and touching the cold floor with his bare hands. And then... a flashback. It was Malachor V, his head laying on the coarse sand as he saw his men being mowed down by the Sith. After that came a bang and a flash.

Boom.

Ar'ekk was taken back to reality as he developed the "thousand yard" stare upon his face. It brought him many memories, most of them awful ones he tried to forget but couldn't. Countless nights without being able to conceive his sleep. He snatched the commlink and hesitated in responding but little did he knew he wanted to answer. Time had passed so much that he had practiced what he would say in case that transmission came one day.

"H--.. hello?"

The young Jedi's voice was regulated through his mask, same as his breathing. Its signature hissing became louder by the minute.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

For a long moment, Asaraa thought that her radio call was going unanswered, ignored. She could hear some breathing in the background, an almost panicky sound. But that couldn’t be right, she didn’t have one of those voices that inspired fear…did she? The girl sat there staring at the microphone in front of her for a long moment, waiting for any other sound or sign of recognition. A moment, a second the time seeming to stretch out for her as her read-skinned finger crept towards the disconnect button.

And then, over the radio came a quiet broken up voice barely audible, a voice that stopped that inching digit short, freezing her in place as if she’d been trapped in carbonite. She couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, human or twilek on the other end of the radio, but someone had answered. “Ar’ekk?” The young togruta leaned forward, her hands reaching up to press her headphones against her ears, “Are you there? Can you hear me? My name is Asaraa, I’m calling form the Silver Jedi Order…but then you already knew that, this is an encrypted commlink isn’t it.”

She was rambling, he knew she was rambling, “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’ve been asked to check in with all former members of the order, to make sure they’re all safe and haven’t run into any trouble recently. We were recently attacked as part of the war and wanted to make sure it wasn’t part of a wider initiative against the order. Are you ok? Have you run into any issues recently?”

@Ar'ekk | [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Jyoti paced back and forth through the comms room, quietly observing fellow Jedi and technicians running through old directories as part of an effort to recall former members to service. As the dark forces of the Sith and Imperials began to swell at all edges of the galaxy, the Silver Jedi would need to rise to meet the challenge.

This particular form of outreach had resulted mixed success at best. Whatever their reasons, not many of the departed had much interest of returning and being dragged into a great war that now engulfed the whole galaxy. Most hails were met with silence.

She paused her pacing near Padawan Vaashea's station as she made a succesful connection. For the moment, she said nothing, just eavesdropping on the conversation in progress, hoping something good would come out of it.

By the Force, they needed it.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] [member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Impossible. They were extinct in his mind, a thought from the past that slipped away within the years had returned to haunt him once again. Everything he swore to protect, the people he had met throughout the years and the war he participated had taken a final toll on the young man. Hearing about the Silver Jedi Order made his body feel weak entirely and speaking became difficult by the minute, eyes widened and fixated at the commlink. Whoever was on that other end was the connection to ancient memories and occurances, hurtful ones at that.

"What do you want?"

A cold tone overtook the young Jedi Knight as millions of thoughts crossed his mind. His sorroundings had shaped into a battlefield that resembled Malachor V, sounds of blaster shots whizzling past his ears and the screams of his fellow fallen comrades in agony. Ar'ekk had failed them and that would affect him for the milennia to come. One thing you can count on: You push a man too far, and sooner or later he'll start pushing back.

The past is a gaping hole. You try to run from it, but the more you run, the deeper, more terrible it grows behind you, its edges yawning at your heels. Your only chance is to turn around and face it. But it's like looking down into the grave of your love, or kissing the mouth of a blaster, a bullet trembling in its dark nest, ready to blow your head off. These moments, blinding as snow, they kill you, change you. You die and live again, remade.

Like always, the dead had all the answers he was missing. It wasn't that they weren't eager to talk; quite the contrary, the dead had plenty to say and once they started, they would never shut up. Their words would keep you awake at night.

"I thought you were dead."

A faint whisper could be heard through the commlink in utter disbelief, a shiver sent down your spine.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"] | [member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

Asaraa looked up from the microphone, her blue eyes meeting [member="Jyoti Nooran"]’s as she stared at her in surprise, her brow furrowing for a moment before she leaned forward, pressing closer to the microphone as she depressed the switch, toggling it back on. “Umm, no, not yet at least. Although not for a lack of trying,” the girl was trying to keep her voice light and relaxed as her fingers flew across the keyboard in front of her as she pulled up his files on her computer.

“Like I said, we were recently attacked and I wanted to make sure that…you know what, are you alright @Ar’ekk? You sound like you’ve seen a ghost.” She wasn’t exactly sure what that sounded like but it sounded like he was doing a pretty good interpretation right now. She’d never felt someone sound so…sad from just being contacted. “If anything’s wrong I can get someone to stop by, to come talk to you?” They might not have any Jedi in the area, but for an ex-member someone was always going to swing by, if not then she'd borrow a ship and head out to check herself.

 

[Arekk]

Only static could be heard from the other end of the comlink, the half masked man refusing to keep answering further for the time being. Too much information to take in such a little time's notice as memories flourished in his head and became crystal clear as the minutes passed by, nightmares etched into his skull. The Silver Jedi were nothing but a mere thought from the past and of ancient stories, when Rasu Gan trained him at Voss for months until his departure to Yutan.

Pacing back and forth in the Ebon Hawk's main hold, Ar'ekk thought of picking up the comlink and screaming out of his lungs to leave him alone but he refused. The time for mourning and dueling for the losses suffered had already ticked and it was finally the moment to let go of the past. Once he worked the courage to answer back, they'd hear his tone of voice change drastically.

"No. Don't come. I'll go wherever you are, transmit your coordinates."

The threat of the Sith hadn't crossed his mind yet but he knew they were an always dangerous foe that would never cease to hunt the Jedi, people like him. It was a latent feeling that would never fade away as it was their life's work to wipe them out from the face of the galaxy.

Perhaps the prodigal son would return home.

Only if...

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

That, well if she was honest that hadn’t been the reaction she’d been hoping for or expecting. It almost sounded like the man on the other end of the commlink had no idea that the Silver Jedi were still an entity. But then, at least some reaction, and that was better than what she’d gotten from a lot of people. The young woman leaned back in her chair, shooting her overseer a quick smile and a thumbs up before she unmuted her mike.

“We’re relocated out to Kashykk now, if you let me know what ship you’ll be coming in on then I can let our defenders know and we can set things up to expedite your arrival. We wouldn’t want to cause any more issues than you need to, and I can arrange for accommodation at Silver Rest when you arrive too. You probably know what to expect here, it’s not a cruise liner but we’ve got some nice rooms and great views.”

The man on the other end of the line sounded nervous, so the least she could do was to try to make his trip a little easier, set his mind a little at ease.

[member='Ar'ekk'] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Arekk]

His eyes lingered aimlessly around the cargo hold, trying to come to his senses regarding this matter. After all this time, the Silver Jedi had prevailed over the rest despite all the hardships they had gone through for the last decade. It was an exciting yet painful feeling that the order that he once called home was still alive.

"The Ebon Hawk. I will be there soon."

The commlink stopped transmitting over his end shortly after delivering the last line over to whoever was the receiver. Rushing towards the cockpit of the legendary freighter, Ar'ekk used the navicomputer to input Kashyyk's coordinates to finally depart from the Smuggler's Moon. If everything went alright, the young Jedi would reunite with [member="Jyn Sol"] at Aurum soon. But for now, unfinished business remained and he was gonna deal with it one way or the other.

After a smooth lift off and wandering into Nal Hutta space, the ship used one of the hyperlanes to finally make the jump to lightspeed. He would arrive to SJO space soon enough and expected to not get shot down by defenders, even if they did the ship would still hold on for a final escape.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

The commlink had cut off abruptly, but then that was something that Asaraa was getting used to now. No-one ever seemed to take the time to ask about her, how her day was going, they either hung up or shared a few terse words before hanging up. If she wasn’t such an easy going and friendly person then you know what? She might just have to take offense at that.

The Togruta made a small note in the screen, a message to the system defence fleet to expect a ship to stop in, the ‘Ebon Hawk’. She also sent a quick message to the staff to prepare one more dorm before crossing the name off her list. One name down, several hundred more to go. The young woman stretched her hands forward, intertwining them as she cracked her knuckles, Well this was going to be a long day.

---x---

She’d actually put [member='Ar’ekk'] and their conversation out of her mind entirely, at least until her commlink buzzed, a warning that something had happened that needed her attention. For a long moment she just stared at the screen, her brow furrowed as she tried to place the name, why was she being buzzed when a ship arrived in the system? It took her a few seconds to place the ship before she realised what was happening, forwarding the alarm to [member="Jyoti Nooran"] as she grabbed her datapad and hurried towards the landing pad.

 

[Arekk]

The Ebon Hawk had already entered Silver Jedi space minutes after the commlink cut off abruptly, the sight of Kashyyk's surface noticeable from the cockpit of the freighter. The young Jedi Knight had a funny feeling in his gut which told him that he should stop acting the way he was acting, cocky and distrustful. By pressing a button near the navicomputer, Ar'ekk communicated with the nearest spaceport to identify the vessel he was piloting.

"This is the Ebon Hawk speaking, requesting permission to land."

It seemed like the space traffic was less saturated than he thought it would be, the occasional cargo carriers and other small ships went back and forth from Kashyyk's spaceports scattered in specific locations.

Ar'ekk waited to be allowed into one of the docking bays and finally touch the ground to meet with the Silver Jedi. It had been too long, years of mourning and feeling sorry for himself. He'd change that today.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

“Ebon Hawk, this is Kashyyk control. We have you on our sensors, we’re sending you directions to the planet. We’ve been expecting you, you’ve been pre-cleared to landing pad 3-B. Please come on in, we’ll have a welcoming party waiting for you.”

Welcoming party might have been a little bit of an over exaggeration on the part of mission control, what was left was one atanding on the edge of the landing pad, blue eyes lifted to the sky watching the freighter as it came down through the atmosphere. There was something about flying, a kind of freedom for the pilots that she envied. They could just strap on and lift off, head to who knows where, drift as their heart called.

The Padawan reached out, straightening her robes as she let a small smile tug up the corner of her lips as she turned back to the ship that was settling itself down. Time for daydreaming later, she had a Jedi to greet.

[member="Arekk"] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Arekk]

"The Ebon Hawk copies, proceeding to land on pad 3-B."

Smoothly cruising the milennia old towards Kashyyk and making it finally to its destination, the ship touched down on the landing pad that was told to stay at. Air pressure released from the doors as the metallic ramp lowered down, allowing Ar'ekk to come down from inside as an intense cloud of smoke covered his first steps until he was revealed at last. A rather large, masked and menacing looking man that you wouldn't believe at first sight he was a Jedi.

The meeting party wasn't anything extraordinary although he wasn't expecting anything different. Most of the resources wouldn't be wasted on a former Silver Jedi who had spent the last decade wandering throughout the Galaxy. He met eyes with the Twi'lek that probably had to be on the other end of the commlink, Asaraa.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

The landing ship kicked up a blast of air that washed over her, tugging at her clothes, buffeting them against her body. The young woman reached up, straightening her Lekku, adjusting her clothes as she lifted a hand, waving it at the man in the cockpit. The young Togruta padded forward, her bare feet slapping softly down on the landing pad as her blue eyes twinkled up at him. She didn’t think that she’d ever seen a ship like this one before…it looked, well ancient, older than any ship she;d ever seen before. Her hand twitched up, reaching out for the metal of the hull of the ship before she caught herself and pulled back. It would be rude to go for someone elses hull like that, it wasn’t her ship but looked…like it had a story.

[member="Arekk"]

 

[Arekk]

The metallic ramp came down with practiced bravado, like it had owned the place before. And that was true since Darth Revan visited the Shadowlands in search of the next clue of the Star Forge almost four thousand years ago. Impressive to think that these stories would continue to be told or remembered milenniums later.

A bare footed Togruta was there to meet Ar'ekk at the landing pad, she seemed way too young to be someone of experience. He could tell by the way she walked and gestured but didn't want to comment on such trivial thing when meeting face-to-face. As the young Jedi walked down the ramp to meet with the girl, he sniffed some of the fresh air of the Wookiee's homeworld. Refreshening.

His eyes lingered on Asaraa and didn't utter a single word. This was the first time in a decade that he had contact with a Silver Jedi or the order itself. Too many years, so much to ask and tell.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

Well this was awkward, and the strangest thing was, she didn’t even know why. If Ar’ekk had turned out to be someone she knew, that might explain this odd silence that stretched out between them as he stared at her. The Togruta tilted her head to the side, blue eyes rising up to meed the man’s gaze as she nodded her head at him. “Hi….Ar’ekk right? Welcome to Kashyyk.”

The young woman took half a step forward, the bare feet stepping silently on the cool metal of the landing pad as she inclined her head towards him, “Thanks for coming, if you’d like to come this way, I can give you the grand tour or if there’s someone you’d like to meet…” Wow being the official welcomer was waay harder than it looked, next time she was trading places with Raven or Jerit.

[member="Arekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Turning his stern gaze towards Asaraaa and then back at her bare feet touching the metallic ramp, Ar'ekk seemed like in another place. Day-dreaming, you'd call it. Was this just a dream or an awful joke? The Silver Jedi. Never swore in his life that he'd meet with them again.

So many memories and hurtful thoughts, reminders and nightmares. But besides that, good moments that were shared. From day one.

"Yes, I'm Ar'ekk."

His tone felt cold and distant like he wasn't present but at the same time very much alive. Ar'ekk cut her off by simply moving forward and appreciating the horizon, Kashyyyk was a naturally beautiful place.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

The normally bubbly togruta was slightly taken aback, a crack in her normally happy facade appearing as the man brushed right past her to stand on the edge of the platform. The young woman's brow furrowed, blue eyes glaring at his back in annoyance for a moment, if it was actually possible to shoot daggers from your eyes she would be doing that now. It wasn't that she minded him enjoying the view, she did it all the time but to be ignored, dismissed like that made her blood boil.

The young woman clenched her hands behind back, fingers intertwined with one another as she padded softly to stand at his shoulder. "Quite a view isn't it? Get to me every time I see it."

[member="Arekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Turning around, his eyes darted on Asaara like icicles falling on a cave where his iris turned red and switched to blue. Ar'ekk was having flashbacks to past times, of suffering and pain. The Silvers left him for dead and thought he could never forgive them. He was wrong.

"It is indeed beautiful. What was your name again?"

Luckily the man brought himself to his senses and realized what was going on, snapping back to reality. The warm and good personality of the half masked Jedi returned, it was his old him. He felt ashamed of the display shown to the barefooted Togruta but she had to understand it's been a decade since he last heard of the Silver Jedi, since Malachor V, since his old Master disappeared. Too many things to handle at once.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

This really was not going anything like she’d expected it to, but then no-one could blame the man for being overawed by the sight of the forests that covered the planet. The Togruta slipped her hands out from behind her back, resting on the edge of the fence that surrounded the platform as she turned a bright smile onto Ar’ekk.

“I’m Asaraa Vaashe, it’s nice to finally meet you.” As the young woman spoke she twisted, holding out a hand to the Knight, “Welcome to Silver’s Rest.”

[member="Arekk"]