When Gray Turns Silver (Silver Watch)

[Veino Garn]

When normal folks needed a break, they went traveling. But for Veino Garn, travel was his normal, and for that, he needed a place to stay. Not a vacation, by any means, but somewhere away from galactic affairs and that didn't involve his permanently living out of a travel bag and living on space ships. And he knew people and places around the galaxy to stay, so instead of deciding to visit Zeltros (A very bad decision for empaths not wishing to make poor decisions) or some tropical world to get some much needed relaxation and rest in a tropical resort, Veino instead chose to go to Rhen Var.

An ice planet.

To stay in an ancient citadel with a small group of Jedi guarding the planet, its peace, and the borders of the Silver Sanctum Coalition. Those thoughts were playing around in his mind as the ship touched down near the Citadel. Wind howled outside the hull and he could see a storm brewing. Feel it too, as it seemed the weather was dropping rapidly. He frowned and buttoned up his gear. He tried to avoid ice planets if he could help it, but he needed a Solari crystal, and he needed a place to stay for rest and to learn more about the Force once more. Regain his core essence that tied him to the Force and whatever it was that had brought him back from... wherever he had disappeared to.

The light on the boarding ramp turned green and the hatch slid open, letting a cold, snow-laden gust of air sweep in. Veino shivered and pulled the coat tighter around his body as he hurried down the ramp. The hatch hissed shut and the ship departed for its next destination as quickly as possible. It appeared not even droids were fond of ice planets. The ship blasted away in a roar of thrusters and displaced air as Veino turned to face the citadel. It stood tall and imposing, half-blurred by the oncoming storm.

Ice crystallized on his eyelashes, and Veino picked up the pace, boots stirring up spirals of gathering snow. The doors loomed ahead and he hurried inside, glad to be out of the storm, even in its beginnings. Now, to see who was around.

 

[Orihime Ike]

The citadel had been worked on by the engineers and construction droids, her mother and everything they had from sasori was there. The thicker crystal infused walls were providing many things while she was in the large dome mapping chamber. They were able to use the relays and beacons to display the planet itself and the system all over. It allowed them to see ships arriving in real time before she looked up. Her new robes well the jet robes were awesome and sinece she was allowed to do a little more as a jedi knight she was also able to let herself prefer the careful ideas while she was going to get and use the stunner stick. Orihime had been working on it with some fo the engineers and artisan's so they could craft it. Orihime held one of the red rods while she secured it on her belt going to look over from the citadel the ship that had been coming down.

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

On days like these, most people have the fire roaring and the windows closed to keep out the raging storm of snow, but not Théo. Although not fully open, the window was set to half to let in the cold air and wind. A small pile of snow littered the floor directly on the floor by the window which he gazed at thinking of his homeworld and all the beauty of the place. Midvinter meant more to him then anything or anyone in the galaxy, it shouldn't .. for a Jedi, no attachments and all that, but the soil of the land was too ingrained in the lad, it would never be denied. He wondered if others had this connection to their homeworlds, maybe ..

It was another day on the Watch, and coming out of his thoughts, Théo had to get ready for another day of training and vigilance. Reluctantly, he dressed into Silver Sanctum robes, and pulled on his boots before leaving his personal quarters for the main rooms of the Citadel. As he walked the icy coloured corridors, hard and solid as the rock it is carved from, he entered the main entrance. So many Jedi here now, some of which he had yet to meet. Mostly they are here to learn, their master having sent them to spend some time on the Watch to do a 'tour of duty', if you will .. and so they come and go.

The main doors opened letting in the howling winds along with a stranger, a man, a Jedi, the force informed him of such. Théo approached the new comer, "Greeting Jedi, Welcome to Rhen Var", the words followed a bow.

​

[member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Orihime Ike"]​

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Now, maybe Boo was a little paranoid, but with the Silver Watch here he was starting to worry that the secret was out.

And the secret was: Rhen Var was a paradise. There was ice. There was snow. And it was cold. Like, really cold. The kind of cold where the slightest breeze just seemed to cut straight to the marrow.

If you were to ask a Pantoran to describe heaven, Rhen Var was likely going to match the description. Which might have explained why everyone else was wearing layer upon layer and the young blue-skinned boy was sporting a hideously tacky shirt from Arda.

It helped that the Sith-trained youth seemed preternaturally attuned to cryokinesis. Perhaps ice merely ran in his veins. The slightest invocation of the Force, and the Dark Side aura radiating from his small form could sap the heat from a room.

That wasn't the case as the 'tweenage' youngling appeared, his feet sliding across the floor. He had snow falling from his shoulders and ice crystals forming in his purple hair. He'd obviously been playing outside before he'd seen the ship approaching the citadel. "Did my new snowboard get here?" the boy asked, his volume and tone louder than one would normally associate with an 'inside voice' as he barrelled toward where he'd seen the ship land.

He was hoping it was the postman. He'd mail ordered a new snowboard, Théo having broken his old one.

Note, Théo may have actually been the person run over by a Pantoran on a snowboard.

In any case, who had run over who wasn't really important now. Assigning blame wouldn't get him a new snow board. And, apparently, neither would the ship -- as the only cargo seemed to be some random dude. "Oh, it's a... Jedi... guy," the youth opined aloud, finding himself in a room with a stranger, a Théo, and Orihime.

He was pretty sure one of those things was tolerable, another was a train wreck, and the last was just a complete mystery.

But he'd leave it to them to sort out who was who.

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Orihime Ike"] | [member="Veino Garn"]​

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Boo Chiyo"] [member="Théodred Heavenshield"]

His arrival had certainly been noticed. Veino gave a small smile at that, pushing some ice-coated strands of hair away from his face, and nodded in return to the first man's greeting. The woman and kid didn't really say much. Instead, they seemed to hang back. Perhaps because this man was the leader. Veino couldn't place him, but he certainly seemed familiar enough, but not quite. Veino gave that a mental shrug to think about later. And to be called a Jedi. That hadn't happened in years, not since he first started his journeys. How things had changed in returning to their old ways. He returned the younger man's bow.

"Thank you for such a welcome. I'm Veino Garn, mostly stopping for a while to study and regrow my connection with the Force." He wasn't sure what they had heard about him after his "death." Or what all had happened on Lujo during the invasion, but enough went down they had probably heard at least some.

He glanced back out the door and grimaced. "Can we move further inside? I spend most of my time on temperate worlds or on Sullust."

Sullust was the complete opposite of this world. It was rock and fire, not ice and wind, and it was beginning to tell. Even with the gear he had acquired, it wasn't up to Rhen Var standards. "And how might I assist you all out here? I have... or had," He paused again, trying to puzzle that out, "Lots of experience in different operational fields."

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

"Of course please come inside", Théo gestured with his arm to enter. There was a subtle strangeness to the man, nothing with ill intent, but a dislocation of sorts, the force was there but distant to this man in a sense. It was hard for Théo to grasp at this point, but the man's words suggested a severance of from it and this was something unique and had to be clarified.

"You .. you mentioned that you have come to regrow your connection to the force, may I ask how it came to be that you no longer are attuned?", he asked while shooting a look toward Boo and Orihime. There could be many reasons for this of course, but to hear it from the mouth of the one that has the disconnection more the valuable. "We have a fire lit if you are cold, not all of us here enjoy the bit of the wind".

"I am also interested to hear of your experience in the field, in many situation that will arise from Jedi and the like, and I am sure we can all learn from you, as you will from us". Leading the small group to one of the smaller rooms, dull lit save for the fire in the grill, it would be comfortable enough for them to talk candidly. And provide a space in which to learn more of the new comer.

​

[member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Boo Chiyo"] | [member="Orihime Ike"]​

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] [member="Veino Garn"] [member="Boo Chiyo"]

Orihime was looking at them and came in while Theo was talking about the lit fire and she pointed out the fireglass which was safer just in case and spread out the warmth as she was wearing the circlet which let her be warm in the coldest environment here... plus this was home where she grew up. Though hearing him speak about wanting to reconnect to the force she was interested in what he meant when she was standing there and took a seat sitting there to look at him and offer some food they had. She had experience seeing people reconnect to the force and knew how dangerous and how trying it could be but you just needed the right support when you were going through it.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Jediman's name was Veino.

...wasn't that Atrisian or some other nerfchit language for 'wine'?

The drop of the name 'Sullust' caused the boy's eyes to go off to the side. The only Jedi he knew of on Sullust were the New Jedi Order. And an eleven year old Knight of Ren had recently had a dust up with some random Galactic Alliance Jedi on Damotite. If any of that had been talked about around the Jedi Temple on Sullust, hopefully Jedi-Wine-Man here would chock that up to some other Pantoran kid with Primeval inspired facial tattoos.

And speaking of nerfchit, why was this guy here again?

"Regrow your... wait, what?" the boy blurted aloud. Connection to the Force? How would you lose that in the first place?

Clearly, this conversation required a touch of subtlety and no small application of tact in order to arrive at a point where they could talk plainly and avoid further generalizations. Those just led to Boo being confused. And even more so than was usual.

"That's dumb. How do you lose your connection to the Force?"

Tact, thy name is Boo.

[member="Orihime Ike"] | [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Veino Garn"]​

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] [member="Boo Chiyo"] [member="Orihime Ike"]

Veino nodded gratefully and made his way past the three into the corridor, rubbing his gloved hands together, until he could sit down in front of the fire as it crackled slowly in the cold room. Maybe this was a bad decision to come here. Even Tatooine was seeming like a better decision at this point. He looked up sharply as the kid blurted out the question. The other two had been wondering the same thing. Veino could feel the questions growing in their minds. His empath abilities were slowly beginning to grow back.

He raised an eyebrow as he settled down in the chair. "That, kid, comes at the end of the story." Veino moved the chair closer to the fire, and pushed back strands of hair- frozen but now quickly thawing- and leaned back, trying to think of where to begin. At the beginning seemed the best part, as far as he could tell.

"If you go to the other end of the galaxy, Alliance and the Kathol Outback space, and talk to those in the know. They could undoubtedly give you quite the recommendation." He yanked the gloves off to hold them above the fire. "A while back, they promoted me from knight to master. Still hold that authority, actually. Just not the ability to back it up." He shifted again. That wasn't the beginning. Not even close, actually.

"I'm raised Jensaarai, not Jedi. Set out on my own in the galaxy when I was..." He paused to try and remember how old he had been, "Seventeen or eighteen. Joined up with the Army of Light. Fought against the Sith Empire during the Togorian Genocide as my first combat engagement. Joined the Fel Imperium as an Imperial Knight for a time until Roan was murdered by traitors." His face hardened at the thought, but it passed back into his usual calm. "Sat on the council of the Order of the Grey after I was knighted." His eyes drifted off at that memory. "Protected our enclave against a Sith knight to get that promotion.Fought along the Republic during the beginning of the war against the One Sith. Alderaan both times. Kashyyyk. A couple others I don't remember, but left when they took a hostile stance to non-Republic Jedi. Did some work for you folks." No elaboration there, but he had served as an asset to the Shadows and some of their leaders. "Ran with the Underground for a time. Did infiltration and guerilla operations. Sabotage and the like. Joined up early on with the Galactic Alliance. Fought in most of their battles. Coruscant raid, Sullust counter-attack, a few invasions and operations against the First Order and the Final Order."

He paused there to catch his breath. "In between, I spent most of my time as a knight errant, serving the Light in whatever ways I could manage. But it was the invasion of Lujo that all of your curiosity is burning about. I was at the temple with the other Masters and, as it turned out, a coalition of anti-Sith Dark Side Masters. Ashin Varanin, included."

His voice trailed off as that night, wreathed in foggy memories and blurred sounds. "She was killed during that battle. I'm not sure who, but someone on her team essentially released an uncontrollable surge of Dark Side energy that was driving people mad. I...contained it." He still wasn't sure how, if he was entirely honest. "I'm an empath and can read emotions like a book. I used it in reverse. Took my own compassion and harmony with the Light Side and sent it out across the Temple before it spread further. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the Netherworld. Then I woke up on Susefvi after having officially been declared dead."

He looked them all in the eyes at that point, letting his gaze rest on each of theirs. "And my memories were all jumbled and wrong, though they've returned mostly. My connection and strength with the Force has not." He shrugged. "So that's how. My combat abilities are not near what they had been, but I have the memories of everything else."

Should he share the last part? Veino bit his lip and then shrugged. "And during my time in the early days of the Alliance, a friend of mine went missing. I tried to find her, but there was no trace, and with the war, the trail went dead. I even went deep-cover in the underworld. No luck, but I caught a glimpse of her while I was in the Netherworld. She's still alive somewhere, but held captive."

It had been years by this point. How Thyria fared, Veino had no idea and couldn't begin to guess, but he had to find her.