Ask Back to Business

[Aranmir]

Aranmir was leisurely reclining against a pillar in one of the Starlight’s halls, tail moving back and forth, while watching the latest episode of CSI: Coruscant. The time could have passed, but some habits would never disappear, like his fascination with these criminal shows. It became even more stirred up after that mission some time ago.

It had been fun to act as an investigator and he would like to do it again. However, he would prefer to not deal with another cult of cannibals.

He moved a bit, trying to find a better position. The Tiefling missed his room in the old Jedi outpost in Ithor, unfortunately he would never be able to return here. Starlight was nice, but it would take some time until he got used to living at this new place. He got used to moving constantly due to the circus, but at least the place where he slept was always the same.

The Tiefling reclined, while crossing his stretched legs. The episode was reaching the climax, the agents were going to catch the person that killed the student before he could reveal to the news who was selling drugs in a fancy school of the planet. The padawan was so distracted he wouldn't notice someone arriving.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

The glow of an iridescent screen cast Baudelaire’s visage in pale blue. His hands danced across the keypad as he riffled through Starlight’s archives. He hadn’t been cleared for duty yet, but his work recently had elicited another mysterious holo from Daybreak’s former owner, Tolan Karr.

The newest missive came with yet another trial. Because of course it did. Right then, in that very moment, he vowed to never leave a convoluted trail of bread crumbs for people to chase just to get a fucking holocron or something of it’s ilk. The only thing keeping Leon going was the illusion Tolan had used back on Christophsis. The ability to bend and shape reality would be invaluable, given that once again practically every entity in the galaxy wanted to crush the Jedi.

Leon sighed, pressing his palms to his bloodshot eyes. The ambient Lo-fi music in his EzPod’s droned on, but it no longer centered him to his task. The Hindsnake, the Killik, Raze’s abominations, the Empire… All out to destroy and reform the galaxy in their image, by their design and rather than consuming one another they sought to eliminate the weakest foe first.

The Jedi.

Leon’s constant companion Peetwo nuzzled into his shoulder. The Jedi’s hand came up and stroked the little droid’s head, not that Peetwo could feel it, but the little droid's companion programming reacted to the touch nonetheless. Baudelaire’s eyes bore into the screen as he skimmed the contents. Tolan’s most recent riddle involved a particular line about a planet of abundant flora in a realm of dirt and rock, and as the plethora of opened tabs would indicate, there were a lot of those in the galaxy.

The Jedi ran his hands through his hair and cut the music. He needed to think and the oppressively quiet and dimly lit archive wasn’t doing anything for him. Even with everything he’d seen and experienced in his time with the Jedi, Leon found he still lacked faith. He powered down the console and his mirthless expression stared back at him in the black mirror of the monitor.

Leon stepped out of the archive and into one of the main corridors of Starlight. A flash of purple caught his eye and surprise quirked his head to the side.

“Aranmir?” asked Leon, praying to all of the gods he wasn’t being super racist…

@LouJoVi

 

[Aranmir]

In the end, the assassin had been the principal of the school. He preferred to kill a student rather than allowing the perfect image of his establishment to be tarnished. This sick man really deserved to rot in prison, the poor student that died only wanted to save other lives after his boyfriend had died of overdose.

With the best part of the episode coming to an end, Aranmir wasn’t paying much attention anymore. Due to that, the Padawan was able to notice a person walking down the hall before the other could see him. "Leon?" he muttered, frowning in confusion. He didn’t see the other since their mission together.

Immediately, the other Jedi said his name and the Padawan had the confirmation that the man was indeed Leon. "Mano! I haven't seen you since that mission!" the Tiefling said, his voice with the typical accent of G'wenee: the s pronounced with a sizzling and the open vowels when they shouldn't be. there was also the constant use of words that only people that understand the language of his homeworld would understand.

"I heard that you became a Knight." Aranmir said, while getting up from the floor. He looked analytically at Leon, his right hand placed at his chin. "You don't look that much knight-y, though." he joked, before smiling. "Now, what have you been doing these days? Big knight things, I suppose."

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

The tiefling in question said his name in response and Leon smiled.

“Yeah, it’s been a while, it’s great to see you!”

Leon was shook. He’d been so wrapped up in his promotion and… well, and the fact that the galaxy was a burning dumpster fire that he hadn’t had time to stay in contact with everyone. Plus the destruction of Ithor and revival of Starlight had shuffled the Padawans and Knights of the Order pretty thoroughly throughout the galaxy.

Now that he thought about it, he still needed to take a trip to the Takodana Temple.

Aranmir’s question brought him out of his tangent and he laughed, “Yeah, The Order’s pretty desperate I guess. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re still a Padawan,” he teased.

The Tiefling pointed out that Leon didn’t look particularly knight-y and The Adumarian shrugged with a smirk, “Oh, I just left my armor and mighty steed back at my room.”

Leon’s eyes widened as Aranmir’s last question was asked. He considered the immense amount of work he’d been forced into and accomplished since their mission to… but rather than dump all his bullshit on his buddy he just said, “Oh you know, just knight things.”

It was clear that answer wasn’t going to be enough so he gestured around them to Starlight, “Well, I’m one of the Jedi that found and helped restore this place.”

“What about you, been on anything as exciting as Ord Mantell?” he asked.

“Oh, have you been in contact with anyone else from that mission? Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone since then.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Aranmir]

”I feel that I’m not prepared to be a Knight yet.” Aranmir said, while thinking that he should wait some more before pushing for the promotion. “Although, with how things are going, the Council will probably start pushing for any Padawan that is old enough to become a Knight. There are so few these days.” the Order was really under a shortage of members that finished the basic training.

To be honest, they were also under a shortage of leaders. Has anyone heard about the Council since Ithor was lost? No seems the correct answer.

The Tiefling laughed loudly with Leon’s comment about armor and steed. “Remind me to never visit your room. I never liked the smell of stables.” he used to avoid dealing with the animals of the circus because the smell of their enclosure was terrible. Aranmir always preferred the most artistic part of the circus. He was grateful when it was decided that animals weren’t going to be used anymore.

Aranmir wasn’t much impressed with what Leon had said about his recent missions. The Tiefling could feel that there was more behind this short phrase, but he wasn’t going to push for answers. It was obvious that the Knight wasn’t comfortable in talking about these details.

“I heard about it.” the Tiefling said, feeling grateful that Leon had decided to continue with the conversation rather than let an awkward silence start between them. “It’s a surprise that Starlight Beacon could still be repaired. This thing isn’t only old, but has also fallen from the atmosphere. You and the others basically had rebuilt it from scrap.”

“Eh, I have been around there.” Aranmir said nonchalantly, while shrugging. “I ended up focusing more on the theoretical part of being a Jedi.” he was spending his days studying, meditating and training with his lightsaber. And watching holo series too. “I still don’t have a master, so my missions depend on Knights being available for that, which aren’t too many these days."

“Same, I still haven't seen the girls there.” Aranmir wondered if they ended up dying during the fall of Ithor. It would explain why they disappeared, but he doubted that it was the case. The Council would have told them if it happened. This thought gave him some relief. “Anyway, what are you going to do today?”

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon chuckled, “Maybe, I’d love it if they did anything, if I’m being perfectly honest.”

The Order was full of people who wanted to make a difference and the council’s inability to capitalize on that momentum felt like a grave mistake. Not that he had a hard time finding things to do… he reminded himself he was supposed to be resting. But he was restless. The Galaxy was burning. They were it’s keepers and it was burning. Aranmir’s joke about his room brought him back to the present.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Aranmir mentioned hearing about Leon and the Squad bringing Starlight back to life. “Thankfully, we had a lot of help, but yeah everything needed substantial love and care,” he joked.

In response to Leon’s question mentioned focusing on the more theoretical side of the force. Leon blinked in response.

“I see, uh, well how’s that going?”

The theoretical side of the force was great. Leon fully believed that seeking the force out in all of it’s possibilities was essential to the life of a true jedi, but to allow that desire to distract one from their duty was disappointing. Aranmir had seen first hand what the darkside could and would do if the Jedi didn’t do their job, so Leon couldn’t understand the need to focus on something as intangible as theory when there were actual people dying.

Leon took a breath and let his frustrations die with it. Life wasn’t black and white. To believe in absolutes would make him a walking hypocrisy, so instead he decided to try and empower his buddy rather than chastise. Hell, if he’d had the option to remain a padawan he probably would have too. Life was simpler when people just pointed and said, go do this.

Baudelaire was disappointed to know Aranmir hadn’t heard from the girls. He’d spent a summer enslaved on Tatooine with Liana following his botched rescue attempt; they'd been close, or as close as two people can be within that shared experience. He made a mental note to reach out. Now he just needed to find the time to do so.

“Technically, I’m supposed to be recovering, but I’m not great at sitting still. I don’t have any specific plans, wanna hang for a bit?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Aranmir]

”I share this same feeling.” Aranmir said, his face frowning while he crossed his arms. The Council really did nothing to help with the problems that were plaguing the Galaxy, staying silent while everything went down around them. By this point, the Tiefling thought that the members of the Order should start acting by themselves rather than waiting for them. If someone of a high position had the initiative, he would without any doubt follow them.

When Leon asked how his studies were going, the Tiefling changed his serious demeanor to a shy one. “It’s going. I had some improvement in Force Healing and Telepathy.” he said nervously, while using his right hand to scratch his hair. While he succeeded in these two, there were many other things that the Padawan struggled with, and others that he simply abandoned because he preferred to watch his holoseries. Advanced meditation was one of those, he still only knew the basics.

The lack of comments about the girls made Aranmir take it as if Leon also had no idea about what happened with them. It only made the Tiefling be more sure that they perished during the fall of Ithor. It was really sad. They were nice and didn’t deserve to die this way, forgotten during an attack.

“Are you recovering from what?” Aranmir asked, staring at the Knight with a frown. Leon didn’t seem to be hurt. “If you are well, I don’t mind if we go do something together.” the Padawan was a bit tired of spending most of his free time only watching holoseries, even if they are fun. “Do you have anything in mind? Maybe explore a dangerous planet?” he asked playfully, a deviously smile appearing at his lips.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

It didn’t surprise the knight to hear Aramir felt the same way he did. Granted from the sound of the Teifling’s experience they didn’t have any idea what was actually happening in the galaxy, and Leon wasn’t sure what concerned him more.

Complacency had a funny way of trickling down from the top and Baudelaire could feel his irritation at the lackluster response to the Empire’s attack pushing him into the red, but again… that wasn’t Aranmir’s fault. If anything it was as much Leon’s fault as it was the Council’s. He’d felt it the moment he’d given the speech opening Starlight. He wasn’t just some Jedi… not any more.

“Nice,” he managed. “Guess not many have heard, Kashyyyk got hit by the Consortium,” he gave Aranmir a moment to make sure the guy was following and then said, “I was one of the defenders at the Temple. We succeeded, but it wasn’t some glorious win, that’s for sure.”

Leon pulled open the collar of his tunic to reveal a mean looking purpleing that rivaled Aranmir’s natural coloring. “This, and I’m good enough if you wanna tag along.”

Baudelaire chuckled, “Dangerous planets, don’t happen to be on the agenda—” Leon’s com went off. He frowned then picked it up. A message came through in code. His verdant eyes closed in either concentration or supreme annoyance. Either could be correct in this case.

The Knight pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, “Okay, the Force has just called me a liar, tell me Padawan, are you ready to become the change you hope to see?”

Leon turned on his heels heading toward the hangar. He lifted his com and hailed Peetwo, “Alright buddy, we got confirmation. Get the ship ready, I’ll be there soon,” over his shoulder to Aranmir he said, “Well, c’mon if you’re coming.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Aranmir]

”Oh!” Aranmir said, his mouth opening in a perfect circle. He had heard about the dreadful things that the Hapes were doing these days, but he didn’t expect that they would attack another planet. At least the defense of Kashyyk was successful. He really needed to catch up with the news of the Galaxy, rather than only using his datapad to watch holoseries.

The Tiefling grimaced when he saw the wound at Leon’s chest. “Yeah, it really looks bad enough to win some rest.” Aranmir decided to not ask how the Knight had received it. “If you are well, then I would like to go with you.” he smiled, anything would be better than staying at Starlight doing nothing. It was really becoming boring.

He watched in confusion while Leon used his com, wondering what could have made the Knight get annoyed. A smile appeared at the Tiefling’s lips when the other said that indeed they were going to a dangerous planet. Finally he was going to have some adventure after a long time without doing anything.

“Yes!” he said enthusiastically. “Everything that the Order needs at the moment is some change, of course I’m going to help with that.” the Padawan followed Leon toward the hanger. “So, where are we going?” only now Aranmir had remembered asking this important detail.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

“Really hope you realize what you’re getting into,” scoffed Leon at Aranmir’s excitement.

Baudelaire had fallen into a bad habit of not trusting any of the newer Jedi. Unless they were being trained by someone he knew, or he’d read their dossier he tended to keep to himself, keep his head down and handle his missions. Aranmir was lucky. He’d been on a harrowing mission with Leon back when they were both Padawan. They’d both been forced into mortal combat against a dark side user and won. So, the Knight was confident the Tiefling would be able to hold his own.

“I’ll explain more once we’re in hyperspace,” replied Leon.

Baudelaire wouldn’t stick around. They didn’t have a ton of time before they had to be at the Rendezvous point so if Aranmir was coming he’d need to keep up. The Freebird was docked in Starlights west hangar. Peetwo greeted them with a chortle and series of beeps and whistles that carried an unmistakably annoyed edge to them.

“I know, I know, I was a little beat up at the time if you’ll recall,” retorted Leon as he started up the boarding ramp. Peetwo responded with, what can only be described as, the closest thing a droid can get to blowing a raspberry and Leon chuckled sardonically, “Well, you woke up on the wrong side of the charger…” The little droid bristled as if gravely insulted, then stamped it’s little feet twice and huffed off toward the cockpit.

Leon sighed, Peetwo had been all sorts of stressed since he’d paused the investigation into the Hindsnake Cult. He had the coordinates… he just also had the fucking Empire breathing down their necks… which was exactly why they were headed to Myrkr. The Knight didn’t waste any time once they got inside. He slid into his captain’s chair and gestured for Aranmir to take the co-pilot seat.

“As you know the Empire is running us down at the same time monsters are attacking the Core. The Council hides in their tower and we run around like a gaggle of porgs with our heads cut off,” his hands flew across the Lancer Patrol Craft’s instrumentation as he spoke, “So, we need friends, and you and I are going to Myrkr to possibly make some.”

Was that vague? Yes. Was he going to elaborate more? Eh.

“Our contact is a smuggler named Harken. Hope you’ve got your gear, because there’s a pretty good chance we’re about to walk into some bullshit.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Aranmir]

Aranmir ignored Leon’s scoff, preferring to maintain his excitement with the prospect of a new mission. He couldn’t remember how long it was since he left Starlight, by this point he was accepting any offer to leave this place. He was so desperate that he would even accept it if it was only a field class to meditate at the ruins of Tython.

And the Tiefling really thought that meditation was boring. It was his level of despair for some time out of this place.

“So, it’s a secret. You aren’t bringing us to the middle of Imperial space, are you?” Aranmir asked, while raising an eyebrow. It was obvious that he was teasing Leon. The Tiefling believed that the Knight wasn’t the type that would snatch an incautious Padawan and drag him to some suicide mission in the heart of enemy territoy.

He rushed after Leon, who was going fast toward the hangar. The Tiefling thought that the scene was probably strange, the Knight being followed by a Padawan that was nearly his age. It only made him think that he should have become a Knight a long time ago.

When they arrived at the hangar, Aranmir stared at the ship. It wasn’t one of the standard ones that the Order gave for its members to go into missions, at least he never saw one like that. “This is awesome! Is it yours?” he asked, eyes shining with amazement for the shuttle. “Can I pilot a bit? I already finished my piloting classes.”

Once inside the ship, Leon explained to Aranmir what they were going to do. The Tiefling paid close attention, nodding when the Knight finished. “Okay, we are going to Mykr.” it was obvious that the other man wasn’t telling him everything, but he didn’t ask any other questions. “Entering in bullshit is part of being a Jedi.” he smirked, but believing that it was true.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon watched Aranmir’s face as the Padawan realized what ship they were taking. A small smile spread across Baudelaire’s face. “Yup, it’s mine. Snagged it from a Black Sun Ringleader.”

Baudelaire laughed, “Sure, but once we get close to our mission, I’ll take over.” He’d been trying to get better about flying with others. When he was stationed on Ithor his favorite activity, before Ezra became his roommate, was flying scouting exercises over the temple. So, being able to give that opportunity to someone else was something he loved.

The Knight couldn’t help but smirk back at Aranmir, “Truer words have never been spoken.”

Once The Tiefling made the jump to Hyperspace, Leon jutted his chin toward the lounge, “C’mon, I’ll fill you in on everything I know.”

Once in the lounge Leon pressed a series of buttons on his Dejarik table that turned the gaming system into a holoprojector. Very jedi spy-like. Very cool. At least from Baudelaire's perspective.

A hologram of Myrkr appeared. The orb slowly spun mid air, it’s coloring slightly off from the iridescence of the projector. “Ok, if you don’t know we’re at war. The Empire is taking our allies captive, Darth Raze and his horde are attacking the core and no doubt the Sith are binding their time for us get over extended so they can swoop in a take us out.”

The image zoomed in, displaying a small settlement with several mean looking ships. Some were light freighters, some were fighters, but they were all heavily modified. Anyone who knew anything about pirates would pick up on the similarities.

“This is Crow’s nest,” explained Leon, “It’s a hub for smuggler’s a quick comparison would be Mos Eisley but on a smaller scale.” Leon’s expression hardened, “This isn’t a place to play around, one step out of line could cost me months of work, we’ve got a meeting with one of the head honchos of the settlement. His name’s Harken, and he’s old, like I mean old-old. Which means we’re either flying into a trap or we’re about to meet one of the most dangerous pilots in the galaxy.”

Honestly, Leon wasn’t sure which outcome he wanted more.

“The Jedi need ships and supplies. The Empire isn’t exactly going to let us get these things easily, so we need to get ahead of the ball and make some connections with pilots willing to do the work.”

He sighed, “I have a feeling we’re going to be tested. The galaxy has lost faith in the Order, but we’re going to change that, and it’ll start with you and me.”

If Aranmir could prove he still had the fire in him Leon had seen on Ord Mantell, then maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to let the guy in on more.

@LouJoVi

 

[Aranmir]

”Oh, this is pretty cool.” the Padawan said, while giving another look at the ship. It wasn’t uncommon for members of the Order to take for themselves ships that they confiscated during missions. However, it was going to be the first time that Aranmir flew in one of them. He usually traveled in the standard ships that the Jedi used.

The best part was that Leon allowed him to pilot a little bit. It made the trip even more exciting.

Once he was seated in the pilot chair, the Padawan started to pilot the ship. It was the first time that he did it, but he had done well in the piloting classes. The Tiefling expected that nothing bad would happen there. In the end, he was right and the ship entered the hyperspace without any trouble.

With the ship safely traveling through hyperspace, Aranmir followed Leon to learn more about this mission. Besides the fact that they were going to Myrkr, the Padawan had no idea of what they were going to do there.

He paid close attention to what the Knight said, waiting for him to finish talking. “I know about the war, I heard about it in the corridors of Starlight.” he said, while still looking at the hologram. “Well, I’m down. Let’s start to save the Galaxy and the Order.” Aranmir smiled at Leon, before becoming serious. “Since you seem to know how to deal with these smugglers, I’ll follow your lead when we arrive here. I don't want to piss them off.”

@Zay