Three Preludes | Arisa Yune

[Natasi Fortan]

Voss loomed in the viewport as Lara sat on her bunk, securing her belongings. She had a few changes of clothes, a small hold-out blaster -- which she wasn't particularly good with, but better to have than not -- and some random gadgets and gizmos that she had been fiddling with in an unsuccessful bid to restore them to working order. Still, she couldn't quite bear to part with the items in her care, and so they went into her small knapsack.

This was a red letter day; it wasn't every day the Mismatched Sock, the freighter on which she was a cargo inventory specialist and minor mechanic, hauled supplies to Voss. But that wasn't the only reason this was a red letter day. Today was the day that Lara paid off her board to the ship's captain and would be legally free to leave the ship's employ if she so chose. She had planned it this way, because Voss was a Jedi world, and Lara was interested in exploring the Jedi as a profession. She had extensive training in the ways of the Force already, but her potential was not yet fulfilled.

She wasn't sure whether the Silver Jedi were going to be the right fit for her, but she knew the longer she sat in the freezing cold bunk off the cargo hold of the Mismatched Sock, the weaker she would become and the less resolved she would be to complete her training. Perhaps it was time to part ways with the captain and crew, but it would be good to have options. Lara set her bag down by the door and made her way up to the cockpit, where she saw the ship passing through air traffic control and begin the descent to the Silver Jedi Campus. Lara waited for the ship to settle down, then proceeded to help with the cargo disposition. The captain gave the rest of the crew leisure, having some personal business to attend to, so Lara got permission to visit the Welcome Center at the temple.

She entered, unarmed, and looked around curiously, wondering if there was someone she should approach for a pamphlet or a brochure or something.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Shortly after the Mismatched Sock made planetfall, a second freighter landed right beside it. The Wily Coyote - the was the name its transponders were squawking today - a nondescript looking YT model packed with all sorts of advanced and questionable modifications under the hood for blockade running fun.

The loading ramp lowered, and Arisa stepped down, BB8 in tow chirping and whistling up a storm. A chatterbox of an astromech, the refurbished BB unit seemed like it was trying to make up for centuries of lost time buried in a scrap yard.

Down the ramp and through the open hangar, and she was treated with a view of the vast lakefront of the Silver Campus. A glittering azure lake ringed by golden beaches and pearly white buildings. A single spire stood out from the domed constructions, that of the Silver Temple.

In the Force, the whole complex radiated with positive energies, the result of hundreds of Jedi congregating throughout the years. She closed her eyes for a few moments and let aura of the area wash over her, troubles momentarily forgotten.

She took the scenic route around from the hangars to the temple, greeting and chatting with residents along the way. She was no longer Grandmaster of the Silver Order but was still well regarded as a fixture of the Silver Jedi and the Antarian Rangers.

In the front lobby of the temple, she found a young woman standing idle, looking quite lost. She was all too familiar with that expression, that of a newcomer crossing through the doors of the temple for the first time. Not too long ago she had been in her footsteps.

"Excuse me," Arisa said as she came up beside her. "Do you need some help?" BB8 rolled around Arisa to face the stranger, looking up into her eyes with its single crimson orb.

Arisa wasn't dressed like classic Jedi, looking more like some fighter jockey in her green bomber jacket. Having grown up in the cities of the Core before originally training as a Jedi on Coruscant, she had never been all too comfortable with robes, making her feel segregated from regular society whenever she wore them.

[member="Lara Fairfax"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Lara's eyes took in the visitor's center, her lavender eyes taking in the architecture. It seemed to be an odd but serviceably attractive mixture of modern and natural, with plants and neutral tones throughout. It was oddly reminiscent, in its way, of the farm on Barkhesh although, obviously, the welcome center was much more polished and pleasant. She took a deep breath through her nose, inhaling the pleasant scent. That was one way in which it was distinctly unlike the farm -- there wasn't a hint of manure anywhere in the air, which was refreshing.

Clad in simple garb of pants, calf-high boots, and a loose-fitting tunic, she had her hair tied back simply, and she stood feeling very much like a farm girl out of her element. She didn't even know where to begin.

Luckily, someone approached. Lara half-turned, lavender eyes widening a little bit at the peculiar droid wheeling around by her feet. "I'm sorry, am I in your way?" she asked the woman who had approached with the droid. "I'm -- d'you know I think I might," she answered. "I'm looking for information about the Jedi. Is there a pamphlet or something I can look at?"

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Arisa took a moment to answer, admiring the woman's glassy amethyst eyes, never having seen a human (or near-human?) sport such a color, not naturally anyway.

"Well, I would point you toward to the wiki, but you're already here," she quipped. "I'm a member of the Silver Order myself, so I should probably be able to answer most of your questions. I used to handle in-processing and orientation, in fact. Why don't you take a seat with me?"

She took a seat on one of the low cushioned benches scattered throughout the floor, then motioned for the woman to join her. BB8 followed, rolling up near her boots before roosting in a rare moment of silence, wirelessly interfacing with the temple's mainframe for updates.

"Usually there's some sort of interactive VI (Virtual Intelligence) available to answer basic questions as you arrive, but it's clear it's not active." The VI's were modeled after each current Grandmaster; Valae hadn't gotten around to making her own recording as she had more pressing matters to deal with at present.

"Anyway, before taking questions, would you mind sharing a little about yourself? Where are you from, how did you hear about the Silver Jedi?"

About this time, she would have normally introduced herself, but she took advantage of the woman's ignorance for a chance at easy conversation without having to worry about titles or statuses.

[member="Lara Fairfax"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"The wiki?" asked Lara quizzically, her eyebrows contorting together in the middle of her forehead before she looked down at the droid wheeling around at their feet. She took a brief step back, lavender eyes darting back up to [member="Arisa Yune"]. "What? Oh, of course," she said when offered a seat, taking one on the bench opposite the Jedi Master. Her fingers grasped the edges of the bench on either side of her legs, grasping hard enough to turn her knuckles white.

Head on swivel, Lara struggled to take it all in, her eyes never resting on a facet or feature of the room for more than a few seconds at a time. When [member="Arisa Yune"] raised her questions, she stopped and met the woman's eyes, eyebrows furrowing a little. "My name is Lara," she began. "I came from Barkhesh, where my family had a small farm. My brother and I are Force sensitive, and we received training from a small group of Force sensitives on my homeworld. When the First Order took over the planet, they rounded up all of the members of the group and tried to make us join their Knights of Ren. Some did, but the rest of us..."

She paused and shook her head. "We were arrested, but we escaped. A few of us got offworld - I did by joining the crew of a freighter, which is how I got here."

 

[Eugen Aker]

As Lara recounted her story from her home to Voss, Arisa's expression grew sober. She was familiar with the Ren and their methods of conversion and forceful indoctrination, having been witness to a crackdown on an independent enclave of Force Users on Marzoon. She had tried negotiating for their safe evacuation out of FO space when Ren attacked anyway, not even given a choice to join KoR like Lara's group had.

"I'm very sorry to hear that...we've had quite a few refugees in your situation." That whole area, in particular, saw mass evacuations a huge swath of the Galactic Alliance's southern territories fell to the First Order during their war. "No matter your reasoning for coming here today, you're welcome to stay as long as you like. In fact, I can set you up with a room if you like. It's not exactly the Four Seasons here, but you'll be comfortable."

As Lara had been forthright about introducing herself, she decided to make her own. "My name is Arisa, by the way. I've been with the Silver Jedi for about four years now, though I originally hail from the Jedi Order of the Galactic Republic. Whatever questions you have, I'll probably be able to answer them better than any old pamphlet can. What do you have for me?"

[member="Lara Fairfax"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Lara lifted one hand to her lap, then the other. Fingers knitted together, twitching like snakes in a basket, evidence of her anxiety as she spoke with the Jedi Master. "I'm not sure what happened to my brother, or the others," she confessed. "He was taken by the First Order, but beyond that, he could be anywhere." She suppressed a shudder and looked up cautiously, her lavender eyes glassy. "I'm not sure if I'll stay," Lara said quietly. "I've only just worked off my board with the freighter captain who brought me here. I have nothing to my name, and no idea what I want to do with myself. But I have this gift and I feel like I need to use it for something, but first -- " she blew out a sigh and curled a platinum strand of hair around her finger. " -- I need to know how to use it. For survival."

The young woman crossed her legs and cradled her knee with her linked fingers, looking over at [member="Arisa Yune"] again. "Happy to meet you, Arisa. I guess what I need to know is whether the Jedi are accepting new... students, I guess? And if so, what would be expected of me? And what, I guess, what I can expect from the Jedi in terms of training and support." She inclined her head. "I'm looking for a place to belong, not just a place to stay."

 

[Eugen Aker]

"I see..." she said with a slight nod. All she really wanted to say on Lara's brother's situation. If he was in the clutches of the First Order, then he was all but lost, either through imprisonment, indoctrination, or execution.

"As I said, you are free to come and go as you please, and we can help you get back on your feet. At the temple, we can offer you free lodging, meals, counseling, all the basics. If you're looking for more, like long-term employment or education opportunities, then we can get you hooked up with our support network through the Silver Serice Corps. They can help you settle here on Voss, or in just about any friendly system in the Outer Rim and Core."

She paused after providing an overview of the kind of assistance to be expected, thinking about how to best answer Lara's questions pertaining directly to the Force and the Jedi. She sought to be honest while not being offputting about the harsh realities of Jedi life.

"Alright," she started, giving her thighs a drum. "I love what you said about wanting to belong somewhere. I joined the Silver Order with a similar sentiment. Here, we like to think of each everyone like family and treat each other as such; with tolerance, compassion, and respect. The emphasis on community is what drew me to Silver Jedi over the New Jedi Order when the Republic fell. The NJO has...different priorities."

"The Silver Order is always accepting new students, and I would like to make something clear. We do not expect you to become a Jedi, and that's not a path we force upon you at any point of your training. It is enough for us that each Force Sensitive learn how to wield their gifts responsibly, ideally for the betterment of all. So not only would you be learning basic competency in Force usage, but you would also be taking courses in modern ethics and peaceful cohabitation with Non-Force Sensitives. Are you content with that, or are you looking for more? Have you considered becoming a Jedi?"

[member="Lara Fairfax"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Lara's lavender eyes cut to the woman opposite. Courses in modern ethics and peaceful cohabitation? What in blazes? She decided there would be time enough to process this later, and set it aside in her mind. "Yes," she said quietly. "I've considered a great many things -- everything besides allowing myself to be twisted into joining the Ren," she added, her lip curling up a little. "The truth is I'm not prepared to decide in this moment. I want to consider my options and learn all I can before I commit. Although I suppose it isn't your way to confine me to a cell if I want to leave," she said with a smirk.

The young woman wrapped her arms around her midsection, looking pensive as she regarded [member="Arisa Yune"]. "This may seem like a selfish question, but please understand where I've just come from. My entire life was shattered during the war, so I am concerned about whether it's safe to associate with the Jedi. Am I making myself a target just by being here? It's not a dealbreaker, but I'd rather know the dangers up front, and find a way to protect myself, than to assume that some group will protect me."

 

[Eugen Aker]

She shook her head. "No, you're fine. It's good to ask questions, especially on important matters like these. I'm not going to lie to you, it's not an easy life being a Jedi. In becoming a Jedi, there is a certain expectation that you will come to the defense of those in need. Thus armed conflict will likely become a regular part of your life, as we do live in an age of strife. You will become hunted day in and day out by all those who despise the Jedi - Sith, Imperials, criminals, etc. Sometimes you'll find yourself being despised by the very people you're trying to help."

There it was. Hopefully, she hadn't lost Lara by then by just laying out some of the perils Jedi faced on the daily.

"It is dangerous work, but also very rewarding. You often get to see an immediate impact on the individuals you find yourself assisting one day or another in the field. We're not always fighting, and I'm happy to say that most of our operations focus on humanitarian efforts."

"So, what do you think? I can understand if you want to hold off on making any decisions, and in fact, I encourage you to just look around and explore before committing to anything."

[member="Lara Fairfax"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

The farm girl looked sidelong at [member="Arisa Yune"], her lavender eyes thoughtful, widening slightly at the frank and stark warnings she gave. "You paint such a charming picture of life as a Jedi," she said, her voice warming with a touch of humor. She was beginning to feel at ease with the woman; it seemed right that she could be trusted, for if she was willing to be this honest with a recruit it seemed unlikely that she was hiding anything else. "I would like to look around and get a feel for the way things are here," said Lara, reaching up to anxiously wrap a tendril of platinum hair around her index finger.

She cast an appraising look around and tugged at her hair.

"I'm not sure I should just wander around... is there a guided tour, perhaps? Could you show me around -- that is, if you have the time?" Lara did feel bad asking; she got the feeling that this Arisa was perhaps someone of import, with places to be and people to see. "Or is there someone else who could?"