Ask A Different Perspective - Kesh

[Ruzaan Kai]

Kesh was the furthest Ruzaan had ever been from his homeworld of Shili. The planet was often overlooked due to its location on the outskirts of the galaxy, but it did have significance as a notable colony of an ancient Dark Side sect known as the Lost Tribe of Sith; Ruzaan was on Kesh for a research trip to study some of the cult's history for a class. The Kesh Center of History, the foremost museum on the planet, promised meaningful exhibits and troves of information. However, the word "meaningful" clearly had a different definition out here in Wild Space, and Ruzaan had long since resorted to people-watching as a means of entertainment. From his vantage point on a bench along the outskirts of the exhibit, the Togruta quietly observed the room.

There was a young human couple who were engaged in an intense game of "Bed, Wed, Behead" along with a cute assortment of younglings from a local school running around, much to the dismay of their teacher. There was also the usual collection of individuals that one might find at a museum, along with a sleepy-looking security guard that could've retired several years ago. However, Ruzaan's attention kept getting drawn back to a girl who looked to be about the same age as him, or perhaps a little older. Ruzaan wasn't one to stare at girls- or anyone, for that matter- but she carried herself with a poise and grace that complimented her royal features and had a way of drawing one's attention. Most compelling, however, was the manner in which she moved around the room; as if she had perfect awareness of her surroundings, the girl dodged squirrely children with ease while gliding between exhibits.

Ruzaan endeavored to strike up a conversation with her before she left, recognizing that she was likely the most interesting person here. In a room full of NPCs, the girl had big Main Character Energy.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

'There really is nothing super interesting here.'

Malou had come to Kesh to research an old Sith cult which existed here around 5000 BBY, though as she visited the different exhibits, she was becoming more and more disappointed by them. The cult was interesting, but the exhibits only had vague information on the displayed artifacts. Hoping that the next one would change her mind, Malou dodged yet another purple-skinned, Keshiri child and made her way towards what appeared to be a small statue of sorts. As she did so, the Sith noticed that the Togruta which had once been minding his own business on a bench, was now headed straight for her.

The teenager did not turn to face him, but rather kept going about her business. She assumed he was going to ask her why she was wearing a blindfold. She'd answered that question once already tonight.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan was momentarily distracted by a commotion involving a spilled beverage by one of the schoolchildren, and when he looked up he noticed the girl was moving in the direction of the exit. Hurriedly, he decided that if he wanted to strike up a conversation, he had to act quickly.

Standing up from the bench, Ruzaan strode purposely towards her, only to wince internally as he realized that she was not headed towards the exit, but instead was stopping by a small statue. He didn't want to interrupt her study, but he was committed now. He came to a stop next to the statue, standing a respectful distance away from the girl. To his left, the game of "Bed, Wed, Behead" reached a crescendo, but Ruzaan ignored it and chose to examine the statue. Desperately, his eyes ran over the exhibit as he searched for anything to open a conversation with.

"It's.... it's not very interesting, is it?" he said, looking up from the statue and into her ey- blindfold?!? How had he not noticed that before? Now he had more questions, but not ones appropriate to open a random conversation with. She probably was asked about her blindfold all the time, anyways...

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou let out a subtle sigh as Ruzaan stopped just to her left and began to look blankly at the statue in front of the. It didn't have much detail to it other than a scene on the square base of it. The sculpture was of a man wearing some sort of boxy dress which Malou felt safe to assume were robes of some sort. The base of the sculpture depicted a similar looking man standing with his palm out towards a group of vaguely human figures, while his other hand was held behind him and gripped a staff. "It certainly lacks detail," Malou would reply soon after Ruzaan casually started conversing with her. This was partially a lie; the Miralukan, through her detail-orientated vision, could clearly see miniscule details which would require anyone else to peer close to the gray stone. To her surprise, there even seemed to be the remnants of text, though the raised letters had unfortunately been lost to the weathering of time.

Ignoring his blatant gawking at her covered face, Malou turned her body towards the Togrutan boy. "So what are you doing here, then?" She would ask this with some amount of curiosity in her voice. There were multiple reasons he might have come here, but seeing as he'd spent a good amount of time looking bored on a bench, it didn't seem that it was his idea. Though she had originally hoped he would not have approached her, now they he had, Malou figured she might as well roll with it. He gave her no indication that he was nobility in any way, shape, or form. Though it was an assumption, she couldn't imagine he could be all that insufferable then.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan quickly composed himself- blindfolded or not, the girl clearly had incredible perceptive powers. His face settled into one of polite interest as she turned towards him and asked a question. She stood a little taller than him, although his montrals extended higher than the top of her head. A blindfold covered most of her face, and while her body language was guarded- no surprise there, given that Ruzaan had approached her without welcome- it didn't signal outright annoyance so he decided to take his chances with the conversation.

In response to her question Ruzaan spread his hands, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he gestured around him. "About the same as you, I suppose" he said. "Trying to learn more about the Lost Tribe of the Sith. I'm working on a class project. What about you?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

"A class project?" Whereas Malou had only been mildly interested before, this made her genuinely curious. She was born under the name of D'Amaris, one of the six ruling houses of Serenno, which meant she was afforded the best education available to her. For many of her cousins, that came in the form of expensive private schools or fancy holo-classrooms they shared with the children of the galaxy's richest. Malou, however, had been taught exclusively by private tutors. As a result of this, she didn't have peers in which she could do a class project with. The concept itself was strange to her, too. 'Does that mean the whole class works on one project?' Surely, if that were the case, someone would end up doing most of the work.

'What sort of school does projects on the Sith though?' Even in her private tutoring the Sith had come up only in regards to galactic wars; never once had they delved into niche areas (regarding the Sith) like this Kesh-based cult. All of her current knowledge on Sith history has come entirely from her own research, little bits and pieces she'd acquired from all the artifacts on Exegol, or what Artorgias had decided to teach her here and there. So she found it strange, but not strange enough that she would press the matter. 'Maybe he got to choose?' That probably wasn't the case. He didn't seem to be super interested in it.

She couldn't say her reason for being here was any less strange though. The cult had first established a presence here around five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, which was roughly after the Consiliul de Sapte fizzled away. Malou certainly wasn't going to tell him that she was here to see if there was a connection between an ancient Sith empire her great ancestor had helped to rule and this semi-insignificant cult. If her eyebrows had been raised at his reason for being here, his would surely be raised at her reason as well.

"I'm also here for a project," Malou responded. It was a lie, but also not entirely false. "A research project though, not a class project," she added after a moment. No one assigned her this, she was just curious. If he asked, she would say she was a history major or something.

"What kind of school researches Sith cults?" She wasn't going to ask, but she couldn't resist. He just looked so bored; if she were in a school which went on school trips, she would've loved it.

// mobile

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan relaxed slightly as the girl responded with interest; but not enough to fully let his guard down as she asked about his school. He'd been warned by some of the older Padawans that Jedi weren't always welcome everywhere in the galaxy, and a place like Kesh- far outside the New Republic or even the Free Worlds Alliance- might not welcome him with open arms.

"I don't think you've heard of it" he replied, deflecting her query. "But we were given a wide rein to research topics that interested us." Subconsciously, his left hand clasped at his right forearm. The sleeve of his cloak covered much of the scar running along his right forearm, but the back of his right hand also bore the marks of a Sith's lightsaber from the Battle of Felucia, appearing as a long burn that had since healed. "There's Sith popping up all over the place, it seems, and I'd like to know more about them... but I'm rambling. My name is Ruzaan; what is your name? And what kind of research are you hoping to do?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou listened to him as he spoke. She did not miss the obvious deflection of her question, but since he did so, she decided she wouldn't push the matter again quite yet. Perhaps his school had a bad reputation, or perhaps he was lying and he was here of his own accord. It was much more interesting to hear that he was interested in the Sith. She didn't have much experience in the galaxy, but the Sith weren't often topics of interest outside of historians. He looked a bit young to be a historian. But she noticed the clasping on his right forearm, and the tip of what seemed to be a straight burn mark.

"Malou," she responded in turn with her own name. 'Ruzaan...' It certainly sounded like a Togrutan name, so she felt comfortable giving him her own. He would not be getting her last name though; she never knew who might know her family, and if they would wish to harm her for it.

"I'm researching ancient Sith cults," she responded soon after. "I'm trying to find a common denominator between the ones which sprung up around this time period."

"Are you just looking into the Sith?" Malou turned her head towards him again, lacing her voice with more curiosity. "Like, as a whole? I feel like this is a bad place to start."

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Malou was a pretty name, and seemed to fit the girl well. As they spoke, Ruzaan tried to keep a loose focus in order to avoid staring at her blindfold, which felt awkward. He usually used people's eyes as a sort of "home base" to return his gaze to every so often during conversation, but that wasn't an option.

Internally, he wondered what kind of mid-teenager made early Sith cults a focus of their research... besides himself. Even though the Malou had a regal air to her posture, Ruzaan couldn't see many private tutors signing off on research into the Sith. Was she another Jedi, perhaps? There were more temples than just the one on Yavin IV, and Jedi training would explain her incredible powers of perception despite being blind. Still, he didn't have enough information to confirm that hypothesis.

Instead, Ruzaan shrugged in response to her query. "Gotta start somewhere, I guess, although I get the feeling that you know more about the Sith than I do." Ruzaan wasn't ashamed to admit when he was uninformed on a topic- humility led to more learning experiences than bravado did- and as such his tone bore no resentment towards Malou. "Do you have any suggestions for where to look instead?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

"You probably shouldn't start with obscure, unimportant cults located on the edge of the explored galaxy," she advised with the edge of humor in her tone. "The holonet is a pretty good tool. Some of the older Sith empires are pretty well recorded."

The Miralukan girl turned away from the small statue and began to walk towards the next exhibit. She assumed Ruzaan would follow.

"So, where are you from?" If Malou had to guess, she might've said Shili, but there was no way he could be from Shili and be all the way out here on Kesh. That was over a week in hyperspace, and this place was not nearly important enough to warrant that. In her opinion, of course.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

A smile tugged at the corner of Ruzaan's mouth in response to Malou's advice. There was a measure of truth to her statement- the Lost Tribe of the Sith were hardly notable, even amongst Sith factions. Even so, he felt the need to defend his current research topic. "Unimportant doesn't often get you a museum, even a lackluster one like this" he replied. "Plus, the holonet can put a very black-and-white spin on events, places, and people. I'm trying to form my own opinion on things, especially if I have the opportunity to research them myself."

Malou turned away and began walking towards the next exhibit; a mostly-intact suit of armor that looked far too impractical to be functional in combat. If it weren't for the obvious lightsaber burns, Ruzaan would've thought it had been used purely for ceremonial purposes. No wonder this faction died out... Despite a nagging feeling that Malou was controlling a little too much of their conversation, Ruzaan followed her after a moment. He went with the safe answer- and the truth- in response to her question. "Shili. I think this is the furthest I've been from home, from my roots."

Their conversation thus far had been mostly pleasantries, which wasn't surprising- they were, after all, effectively strangers meeting randomly- but pleasantries rarely made for a stimulating conversation, in Ruzaan's eyes. Besides, Malou had been asking most of the questions thus far, and it was time he turned the tables a little bit.

"Speaking of roots, do you see any parallels between these ancient cults and the current Sith empire? Obviously, not every cult died out." he said. Hopefully Malou was in the mood to talk about her research.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

"You may say that, but you seemed to have been incredibly bored by everything here thus far." Malou hadn't forgotten how the Togrutan had acted earlier, slouched over on a bench watching people passed with what she could only assume was boredom. She still disagreed with what he had replied with, however. The cult might've been important to this planet in particular, but in the grand scheme of the Sith in the galaxy? She had not yet found anything to suggest it would ever be any more than a half-page blip in a textbook.

They stopped in front of a suit of armor which was covered in different layers of fabrics and armored padding. Like Ruzaan, she too thought it was perhaps a ceremonial armor, but unlike him, the lightsaber scarring and singed fabric pieces did not change her opinion of the matter. It appeared that some of the bulkier and more impractical bits could be removed, a hypothesis which sprouted from those said pieces being the most intact parts of the armor. There was a plaque associated with the armor, but it didn't give much useful information. Coupled with that and the lack of connection structurally it seemed to have to armors popular during the Consiluil de Sapte, Malou wasn't very interested in it past aesthetics.

"Shili?" So her would-have-been guess was correct. 'Something is off.' Why would a Shili school come all the way out to Kesh?

She wasn't given too much time to dwell on it before he asked her if she saw similarities between some of the old cults she'd researched and the current Sith. Her Sith. Malou did not answer at first and instead gave herself a moment to ponder. Cults certainly had existed within the Sith, but when a change of power occurred it had been wiped clean. She would certainly not call the Order as she knew it now a cult, though she knew some members who would likely blend right into it should it become one.

"Other than them both being Sith?" Malou shook her head. "No. I don't know enough about the current Sith Empire. They haven't been incredibly open about themselves, to my knowledge." There was, however, a Force-faction which was, though secretive still, quite a bit more open than she and her fellow Sith were. The Jedi.

"What are your opinion on the Jedi?" she asked of him in a slight change of topic. "I am unfamiliar with the current Sith Empire, but I know that Sith and Jedi of past, while at odds, have at times been two sides of the same coin."

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"Hey, even important things can be boring" Ruzaan replied with a wry smile- Malou certainly had her wits about her today, and he was grateful that this was a pleasant conversation; he had a feeling that she could easily eviscerate him in a verbal argument. Curiously, though, when given the opportunity to speak about her research, Malou deflected with a question of her own after a pause. Her answer showed great maturity- everyone Ruzaan had met held an opinion on the Sith- but also a guardedness that made Ruzaan want to sigh in frustration. What is she afraid of?

That question would have to wait for later as he listened to her question; a minor change in subject, but one that stood out to him as significant nonetheless. To anyone else it was a harmless question, but Ruzaan was aware that a small misstep here could out him as a Jedi; not a bad thing, per se, but sometimes being a Jedi attracted unwanted attention. And, if he was being honest, it was also a point of stubbornness on his part- he was wary of being too open about himself if Malou also refused to speak openly. He had to choose his next words carefully.

Fortunately, her follow-up comment gave him something to work with. Ruzaan's brow knitted as he considered her words, his gaze absently lingering on the armor. "I think that there may be some truth to that statement" he replied, his eyes coming up to where hers would be. "People fear what they do not know. That's why I am here right now- I was hoping to find some answers about the present amongst the relics of the past." His gaze returned to the armor. "Instead, I just have more questions... what about you?" he asked, turning the question back at Malou.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

"What is my opinion on the Jedi?" If she were being honest, Malou didn't really have much of her own. In fact, if she had found a Jedi teacher rather than one from the Sith, she would have had no qualms training under the Jedi. At the time, all she had wanted was a way for her to openly train in and use the Force. Knowing what she knew know, and having experienced what she had experienced up to this point, she could no longer see herself being able to accept and mesh with the views of the Jedi Order as she knew them.

"I know they seem to want to be an agent of good in the galaxy," she began carefully. "but none of us can be sure what their true motives are." Malou didn't trust the concept of the Jedi; true selflessness--true goodness--was something she believed was not possible. Everyone she had met, though perhaps displaying such characteristics at first, had at some point revealed other intentions. She didn't trust hypocrites.

The Miralukan turned away from the statue, and after quickly reaching farther into the Force to see past just the room she was in, the teen discovered the food court just a short walk's away.

"There's a food court nearby. You wanna grab something to eat?" She, for one, was a bit hungry. Ruzaan was a pretty interesting dude too, so maybe they could keep chatting there.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

The food court sounded- and smelled- good; and like any 15-year old boy, Ruzaan never turned down the opportunity to eat. In addition, the walk gave him some time to think about Malou's latest response. Her words painted a picture of someone wary of the Order, and he was hard pressed not to jump to its defense. In fact, he was tempted to reveal his status as a Jedi and invite her to learn more about the Order, but something stopped him; a nagging feeling that he was missing an important piece of information.

So, instead of asking another question, he listened to his stomach and ordered some food from the food court. It was typical museum food court food- hot and ready, but not particularly tasty. He found a small table for two on one end of the food court, away from the businesses and near the gift shop. Here, their conversation could resume; Ruzaan couldn't think of a question, so the ball was in Malou's court.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou walked with the Togrutan teen to the food court, maintaining the same awareness of her surrounding as she had done so for her time in the museum. The Miralukan, being of such race, was curious as to why Ruzaan had not yet asked about the blindfold on her face. Eventually, everyone seemed to get around to it, outside of the Sith of course. Those who did not possess a connection to the Force were often confused as to how she got around, while those who did understood the ways in which she was able to see the world around her. As they made their way towards the circle of various food stalls, a thought popped into her mind. It was something she decided she would entertain later, though. At the moment, her mind was focused on getting some food in her stomach.

The dark-skinned girl split from Ruzaan temporarily to head towards a stall selling various kinds of noodle dishes. She approached the counter, settled into line, and ordered once she reached the register. Having no need to look up at the menu, Malou leveled her head and faced the cashier who seemed too tired to care how Malou managed to read the menu.

"I'll have a bowl of the Japchae." She paid with a thick, black metal card and found Ruzaan at the table he'd chosen after she received her food in its warm plastic container. Malou reached for a small bottle of a red sauce on the side of the table and added a few drops of it to her noodle dish before mixing it around with a pair of chopsticks.

"What did you get?" she asked of Ruzaan after taking a bite of her own meal. The name of hers was unfamiliar to her but it tasted good. She was curious if his was as well.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"Hmmph?" Ruzaan asked through a mouthful of food, his brain catching up a moment later as he processed her question. Quickly, he chewed the remainder of his bite, making an apologetic gesture as he did so. "Uh, it's just a nerf burger, nothing too special." He'd have preferred some roast thimars, but this was Kesh; thankfully, nerf burgers were as close to a universal food in this galaxy as anything. Curiously, he leaned over and looked at Malou's plate. "What about you?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

"Japchae," she replied. "It's a kind of noodle di-"

"EVERYONE ON THE GROUND!"

Malou was interrupted by the eruption of chaos in the food court as several armed men filed in with their weapons aimed at the small crowd. A few others followed behind them with armed wrapped around various artifacts from the displays. Malou's hand instinctively went to her side to grab her lightsaber, but she stopped short and instead used it to grab the table as she slipped underneath. 'I can't take on-' How many were there? 'One, four, nine, fourteen!?--I can't take on fourteen of them by myself.' Men with something to lose and a blaster to spare were a lot more dangerous than a hoard of mindless cyborgs or near-sentient mutated beasts.

If Ruzaan had not already ducked beneath the table, Malou would reached out and pull him down under with her. While she had thus far been nothing but composed, even with her face covered the Togruta might be able to sense her nervousness. She kept her back turned to the assailants, facing Ruzaan in the process. ' How can I get us out of here?'

"There's an exit about ten meters behind you," she whispered. "If we're careful we might be able to make it out."

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

The Force pulsed, warning of danger, just as Malou’s explanation of her noodle dish was interrupted by the appearance of over a dozen armed men. The table tipped over as Malou pulled Ruzaan down to the ground in accordance with the raiders’ commands. The Togruta stared sadly at his half-eaten nerf burger on the floor, jostled out of his hands in all the excitement, but spilled food was the least of his worries. His mind raced and his pulse quickened; there were far too many for him to take on by himself.

Ruzaan frowned, his eyes glancing quickly over the armed assailants. Something wasn’t adding up here; although a few of them carried small artifacts with them, indicating a heist mission, they didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave. In fact, they were fanning out as if they were searching the food court for something… or someone.

Ruzaan glanced at Malou, seeing the fear he felt inside echoed in her features. “Friends of yours?” he murmured, trying to lighten the mood. Nobody sent fourteen armed men to rob a small museum like this, although Ruzaan had to concede that perhaps the artifacts were more valuable than he gave them credit for. But regardless of their reasons for being here, the armed men weren’t messing around- the unmoving body of the old human security guard in the doorway to the exhibit was testament to that.

Malou offered a suggestion. "There's an exit about ten meters behind you, if we're careful we might be able to make it out." For the briefest moment, Ruzaan was tempted to make a run for it, but just as quickly his sense of duty reminded him of his calling as a Jedi. Like it or not, he had to take a stand so that others might escape.

“Good idea” he whispered back. “I’ll draw their attention; see if you can bring that family out with you.” Ruzaan pointed across the doorway towards a table for four that had previously seated a Rodian family. As he did so, his other hand closed around his double-bladed lightsaber underneath his outer cloak. Malou would probably have questions... if he survived the next couple minutes. Feigning a confidence he didn't feel, Ruzaan stood up and strode out towards the armed assailants.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou didn't respond to his attempt at lightening the mood, mostly because she didn't feel as if she had a reason to. To her, this was pretty obviously a hostage situation, so she assumed he meant to joke around. When he revealed his plan, Malou opened her mouth to stop him, but before she could speak the Togruta had already stood up and began to approach the men.

'Damnit.' Malou had three options here. Run and leave him to play out his fantasy of being a hero, do as he said and try to get the family out, or jump up to save his ass. She would feel bad if she just left him behind, but she didn't want the responsibility of an entire family on her either. That really left her with only one choice.

"I SAID ON THE GROUND!" The armed men then noticed the ballsy Togruta. One of them, a tall human, levied his gun parallel to Ruzaan's eyelevel and narrowed his eyes. Ruzaan continued to walk forward, so after a moment of deliberation, the man decided to make an example of him. Before he could pull the trigger though, he let out a yelp and dropped his gun as the metal began to heat to a dark red. Malo, who had decided that letting a fifteen year old Togruta with nothing more than a gun (or so she assumed) take on twelve armed assailants by himself was a bad idea, had reached out in the Force and heated the metal through pyrokinesis until it became too hot for the man to handle. Reluctantly, the acolyte stood and swiveled around the table, hands at ready.

"Get behind something, damnit," Malou ordered beneath clenched teeth as her hand reached out and swiped to the left. Ruzaan would feel the Force coil around and grab him as he was tossed behind a half-wall in the room which separated the tables from the food stalls. Malou would join him their soon, her back pressed up against the drywall as the whine of blaster bullets began overhead. They stopped quickly, as they were only meant for the two.

Malou wasn't happy that things had come down to this. Whether she'd used the Force of not, it would have been likely that the men would've seen her blindfold, inferred that she was Miralukan, and targeted her anyways. She was less happy that she was associated with someone that planned on attacking them.

"Do you have a gun?" She wanted to make sure, first of all, he had a gun and hadn't just been planning to die for three seconds of distraction.

tag: @SlagathorTheUnknown