Echoes of the Dead

[Nora Grazioso]

Tepasi

The sprawling urban scape of the Tepasi capital looked nothing as it did a century prior. It was almost war had done good for the economy of the Tepasi people. Though it wasn't without their share of death and destruction from the Exile armies who made it their temporary home before their onslaught on Alderaan. Overall, the world of Tepasi was covered in rich green forests, there was frequent rain, and a comfortable cool climate allowed for the world to thrive with stunning flora. It had almost had all been destroyed, but the perseverance and resolve of the people seemed to be stronger. Once crumbling ruins, now the the capital showed off, new buildings surrounded the young Knight, towering far into the mid-day sky. They would not compare of course to the larger city worlds such as Coruscant or Corulag, but impressive to anyone who would visit.

It was quite beautiful nonetheless to Nora as she carried an armful of parts; she took her time occasionally gawking at the architecture that surrounded her. The designed allowed for much green space all around the populace, however, there was something underneath it all that left the Jedi uncomfortable, like a residual essence that seemed to haunt the shadows of what transpired here years ago. It was a quiet whisper that would catch the girl's ear, like when one would hear their name being called and once you look, there would be no one there.

Nora had thought perhaps it were people catching sight of her face, even with her hood up; it never completely covered and there were stares, but the feeling between the people who were staring and the whispers that were drawing her ear were indeed different. Nora had begun to ponder in her trip to buy parts if there was a different reason as to why she was being drawn to Tepasi other than helping out some locals.

The capital, however, seemed like it was the only place on Tepasi that was thriving. The credits and assistance weren't meeting to some of the outer villages, and it was those places that looked like war had the most impact. The roads had not been repaired and many of the people present were still rebuilding their homes and livelihoods into the next of kin. Nora followed the road to other side of the village where A-7 and another man stood with just a skeleton of a droid. She gave him the parts and he smiled, thanking her.

A-7 beeped something snarky to the girl and she gave it a disapproving glare, the droid then pretend to look busy. Nora knelt down, handing the man a couple tools as he worked. He glanced to the girl and nodded, "How many stares did you get? People can't mind their business you know." he said.

"Just a few, but I'm used to it." Nora replied with a small smile.

"Don't worry, at least we will always know you are never our enemy." he gave a wide toothy grin and the Knight's smile grew and she shook her head in agreement. She begun tightening a couple bolts and paused, the whispers returned. Nora slowly stood up listening, feeling, letting the chill come and it would pass. The Knight narrowed her green eyes, thinking, feeling, but as quickly as it had come, it was gone, like a terrible tease. The man looked up at her with concern and Nora knelt back down, giving him a shrug, showing no concern and went back to work, though her thoughts would be floating elsewhere.

OoC: Feel free to join, it'll be more laid back as long as everyone stays chill.

 

[Vincent Cross]

Vincent wandered the streets of Tepasi, no goal in mind, He came here every few months to get a break from the scum of the outer rim worlds. Despite the somewhat tragic history of the planet he always felt very relaxed here, carrying his helmet clipped to his belt rather than wearing it. He passed various people doinf various things, whatever work their daily lives required, occasionally stopping to hold something in place or reach a high up object.

He continied along like this for most of the day, helping random people here had become a sort of second job for the bounty hunter, though he always refused payment for his help whenever it was offered. " Nice sunny day ." he said to no one in particular as he raised his face to take in the sun. It was just pleasantly warm, a nice change of pace from the twin suns of Tatooine that had tanned his face. As he thought of that sandball he realized his foot was incredibly uncomfortable, sitting down on a curb he pulled off his boot and shook it, unsurprisingly a bunch of sand came out of it. " Kriffing stuff will end up chaffing me in my grave ." He complained out loud as he repeated the process with the other boot. Looking down at the sizeable pile of sand at his feet he felt a pang of guilt and crossed the street to where a man and a woman with scars that looked like writing on her face were tinkering with what looked like a droid. " Sorry to bother you, I just floated in from Tatooine this morning and made a bit of a mess over yonder ." He paused to point at the sand, " Any chance i can borrow a broom? "

 

[Nora Grazioso]

"Here, use this to connect those together." the man said giving Nora a tool for the wires. Nora took it, and A-7 said something snarky, which caused the Jedi to pause and look at the astromech.

"I should have left you in an orphanage for some younglings to play with your wires." Nora's eyes narrowed and the droid beeped in what could be translated into the equivalent of chuckle. She turned around to continue working on the droid, the teamwork was paying off as the man she was assisting was able to get some of the joints moving with an outside power source. There was something about the accomplishment that brought the girl a self-satisfaction that she knew didn't always please many in the galaxy.

The streets had a few people in them, one in particular seemed to stand out against the rest and even took attention to Nora and her companion as they worked. He apologized for bothering them and explained his business. Nora thought it was odd, her life as a shadow had taught her to question the little details. She opened herself to the Force, feeling the waves that ebbed and flowed. The Knight shrugged and glanced at the man she was helping.

"Yeah, there is one behind the door." he said pointing in the direction where the broom would be. Nora nodded, taking one more look at Vincent before stepping inside, grabbing the broom. A-7's domed head spun, chirping some off-handed, pointed remark about their guest's presentation.

"That's enough, A-7!" Nora called out, hearing the chirps from the droid before returning with the broom for their guest, "Don't mind him, I think he's purposely programmed only to insult." The Jedi explained with a small smile, and scowled at the droid who now was trying to tap her with a live wire, but quickly retracted its arm seeing he was caught in the act.

 

[Vincent Cross]

Vincent chuckled warmly as he took the broom, he had been about to warn the girl about the droids plot just before she noticed it. Up close he could see that the scars across her face said 'Jedi'. He fought the urge to ask how she got them, not wanting to be rude. " aahh well. If I were born with a face like that I reckon I'd be a little snarky too ." He quickly ran over and swept away the pile of sand before returning to hand the broom back. " Thankee kindly, thought it was a shame to just leave that pile a sand layin' there ." He extended his hand with a grin. " Name's Vincent Cross, I'm a fair hand with tech if you need an extra set of hands on that ." He grinned, nodding towards the droid the man was working on.​

 

[Tal Ipo]

Tepasi,

A world which had earned Tal's respect. The habitants of this planet had faced and endured the Exiles, resulting in becoming stronger because of it . He gazed upon the architecture of the buildings that decorated the Capitol of the planet, finding it rather appealing than the usual skyscrapers which covered most of the populated planets within the Core. Tepasi was one of Tal's last stops before returning to the Jedi Guardians to resume his duties. The Kel Dor had decided that he needed some space from the other jedi to think, to ponder on what the Force had in store for his person. Strolling through empty streets helped him to clear his head of any distracting thoughts. While this was his first time upon Tepasi, he had no problems in becoming familiar with the Capitol's many streets. As the day went on, so did the amount of occupants within the streets. Tal had some few, meager moments where he envied their ignorance of the many threats of the Galaxy. Though his mind quickly drew forth the sense of duty that the Jedi had. It was their job to ensure that people like these had the blessing of ignorance upon them. No matter their inferiority, no matter what connection they had to the Force. But then the fleeting sense of tragedy would hit the Kel Dor, memories of horrid actions laid beneath the visual sight of the planet. The feeling fell upon Tal's mind more than not during his stay here. Perhaps the actions of the Exiles during their stay upon this innocent planet had derived the populace of their ignorance. Tal contemplated upon this as he strolled through the streets in his raven black robe.

Eventually, after hours of either meditation or simple strolling, the Jedi encountered a familiar feeling. It was like a wave of a gentle, warm breeze that swept over him. He drew his attention from the road ahead of him to the source of the breeze. The Kel dor knew at once what the origin of the breeze was. The presence of another jedi. But alas, the breeze was followed by the whispers of tragedy. His training allowed the Kel dor to ignore the whispers and focus on the more appealing breeze. It was not difficult to sort out whom the jedi was upon those gathered in the streets. A woman, with strange marks upon her face? Tal knew that the marks attracted stares upon the woman, he was all too familiar with the stares. With her was a droid and two other men. Even from afar, he could hear the rather rude remarks of the droid, but he paid it no mind. While it was tempting to continue his stroll and let the jedi continue her work with the droid, he decided to approach. Despite the presence of the two non-force sensitives. It had been a month since he last had a proper conversation with anyone. Tal had decreed that some small-talk would be good for him.

If Nora's wits were about her, she could probably feel the forthcoming presence of the jedi Kel dor. Tal announced his rather abrupt arrival with a simple greetings following a brief and curteous nod. "Greetings."

 

[A'Sag Laqut]

Such a lush and green world was something no Tusken Raider would have ever thought to see in their life times. Though A'Sag was quiet the oddity when it came to his very being, a Jedi. A Tusken Jedi? He could have sworn if you told him about the jedi and let alone him becoming one he would have laughed in your face. Yet here he was now. On the Planet of Tepasi.

A'Sag lifted his hood over his Tusken Mask to hide the poorly given name of the Raiders known mostly to locals of Tatooine, clad in jedi robes which offered a tan color much like sand was covered by the dark brown cloak he wore. Something in the force had pulled him to this planet. The land itself was riddled with green but he could feel the war, the poison with in the land before him. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the world, knowing the connection between the land and its people was not an uncommon virtue. As A'Sag stepped into the streets he kept his head low, ducked under the shadow of the hood, this didn't stop the talking and mumbling of the odd presents of a jedi. He had over heard some of the chatter to say he was not the only one within the area. Behind the goggles he wore his eyes widened as he paused to feel with the force. Reaching out the best he could to find those other people spoken about his hand lifted up from his cloak to show his wrapped hand feeling, longing to find them.

A twinge ran through his very spine. His hand lowered back to his side he kept moving to the North where he was met to see a small little gathering of nothing more than...a droid..and four other beings. A'Sag didn't say a word as he looked towards them all, the shadow of his cloak hiding the tusken mask. He simply listened, and awaited for them to notice the new comer.

 

[Nora Grazioso]

The man held out his hand and introduced himself as Vincent Cross and Nora took after she set the broom against the wall. She raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Nora, and that is Giere." she said gesturing to the man she was working with on the droid. She glanced from Giere and then to Vincent, "Well if you know much about tech, then maybe you can be a better help than me." she laughed, "He's just been telling me what to do mostly." Nora explained and took a step back to let Vincent look at the droid.

"We've been working on rewiring, had a nasty run in with the wrong socket." Giere further explained the problem, "We're just trying to get him up and going again so I can have some help around the shop."

The Knight took a step back letting Vincent get in to examine what they had been working on, and as they did so, she felt the waves of the waves of the Force quiet as another had approached, a Kel dor in fact. Nora had not seen very many of their species. He greeted them and Nora quickly swept her eyes to the Kel Dor, spotting his lightsaber, surprised to see he carried it so freely in the open with the bounties still on the lightsabers by the Hutt Cartel.

Nora gave him a small nod, "Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked him, uncertain of why he chose their gathering.

 

[Vincent Cross]

Vincent nodded as he stepped over to the droid, looking over the parts and tools on hand. " Ahh yeah. My pilot droid had a similar incident a while back. I ended up replacing over half the wiring, looks like your power supply is okay though. Vincent cut a few lengths of wire and began running them between points. "[color] I figured out partway through though, [/color]" he connected a few more wires together, " that it's easier just to bypass the damaged circuitry all together, then you can just cut out the old wires as you get to them ." He attatched the last couple wires to the droids power source and powered the droid on " and have a perfectly functioning droid in the meanwhile." Vincent grinned as the droid sat up. He grabbed a rag and wiped the grease off his hands before turning back to the man, noting the newcommer Jedi, he hoped Jedi at least and not one of the bad ones. Though he figured Nora was one too guessing by the scars on her face and assumed if he was a danger she would have reacted differently. " so, think ya can give me any insights to her story?" He asked, nodding towards Nora.​

 

[Tal Ipo]

The Kel Dor folded his arms together as he both answered Nora and observed the technical work of Vincent. There seemed to be endless of wires within the droid, much like there was seemingly endless of amount of nerves within a living body. He was somewhat relieved that he had never the need to know such technical knowledge, yet. Tal turned his attention towards Nora at first; "Just mingling with the locals, ma'am. Thought I could observe the reparation of this droid - I have rarely paid much attention to the technical parts of the world, something that requires mending I reckon. Thought I could start it simple, by observing." As he ended the sentence, the droid became active. "And it seems like I had the pleasure of seeing its awakening." Tal then turned his focus over at Vincent as he asked the question; "So, think ya can give me any insights to her story?"

The Kel dor went silent as he listened to the question, glancing over his left shoulder as he felt a presence. Similar to the warm breeze from before, yet this was more strange and new. There was no hostility within this presence, just curiosity. He noticed the robed figure, the hood covering the face of the individual. The stranger were clad in a jedi attire, Tal recognised its patterns. A friend, most likely. Tal offered a simple nod towards the figure before turning his attention back at Nora and Vincent.

 

[Nora Grazioso]

Giere welcomed Vincent to help him, handing him the tools he needed as he watched the newcomer by pass the fried circuitry. As he explained how to do it and then connected the droid to the power source, Giere clapped his hands with excitement. "Ah! Yes!" he said with excitement as the droid sat up. "Excellent, hold on..." he said, but paused as Vincent took interest in the Jedi woman again. The man gave a shrug, "A battle, I heard." he quietly spoke while the girl spoke with the Kel'dor. He then stepped inside his shop and would later return with a couple credits. It wasn't much, but it was all the man could offer for the generosity of the stranger.

Nora's focus was with the Kel'dor as he explained his purpose. Mingling as he put it, Nora knew sometimes that was all they were there for, believing they were called to a certain place for something important, but it sometimes turned into something menial. Though from what her Master explained, it was never as it seemed. A Jedi's task no matter how small, seemed to have a greater impact than what is seen before they leave.

"I'm glad you're here though, I could use some more Jedi hands," she turned to see they were now cleaning up the wires on the droid, "He has it, but there are so many others who could use some help. Even if it doesn't fix their town, just getting them in good spirits is just as rewarding and promising for them to be successful." Nora explained slowly turning her head; her ears burned from the question the bounty hunter had inquired about her appearance. Though she didn't hear the entire question, she knew what quiet whispers and quick glances meant.

She excused herself from the Kel'dor Jedi and took the broom, heading back inside the shop as Giere asked her to take a look at another task he had for her. Nora gave a warning glare at Vincent, telling him not to ask too many questions while she stood so close, as she went inside. Giere pointed to some wood splinters in the cieling's large beams. They were essential for keeping the place from collapsing within itself. Her eyes watched him point out a few others, but her mind drifted, the softness of the Force was replaced by a ripple of cold, like she had felt earlier.

Her attention snapped back when Giere noticed her eyes glazing over and Nora shook her head, "Yes!" she said pointing to all the cracks, "I've fixed similar before." The man smiled and patted her back as he went back outside to help clean some more of his droid's wiring. She internally frowned, wondering what her master would say to her after years of complaining how she'd never do this type of work as a Jedi, now here she was, doing this type of work.

 

[Vincent Cross]

Vincent waved away the credits Giere offered him. "Thank you kindly friend, but I'd rather you keep your creds. You likely need 'em more than me and I honestly enjoy the work." He noted the look from Nora and decided his curiosity was best left unindulged for now, perhaps he would hear the story from her sometime. He watched the Kel'dor as he looked around, not a species he saw often so he tried not to stare, already worried that he'd been too rude by asking about Nora. As he helped clean up the droid he watched Giere and Nora head into the shop wondering what they were talking about. When the man returned Vincent stopped and turned to him. "I hope I haven't offended Nora by my question. Oftentimes my mouth moves faster than my common sense."​

Ooc: sorry for the shifts in formatting. Just learning the ropes of bbcode

 

[A'Sag Laqut]

A'Sag was taken back as the other force user noticed him. He saw the Jedi garments over the one in front of him with a gentle nod in return he slowly stepped his way over. The soft shifting of the land under his feet made his presence fully known to all that were around him. A'Sags face was hidden under the shadow of the hood as he turned to look at the group with out a word, closer to the Kel Dor his hands lifted to the edges of his hood to pull down. Dawning the Tusken Raider mask to all to see he simply nodded at them all in a passive manner.

A'Sags arms folded over each other as he watched the droid with a curious tilt of his head he turned away, his eyes unseen shifting to the scarred face of the woman before him, through a few moments of hard thinking he read the words. Confusion rushed through his mind as to why and how that would have happened to such a person, a jedi none the less.

 

[Nora Grazioso]

Giere had pocketed the credits when Vincent had refused the offering, he didn't press it, as he knew he couldn't entirely afford to give up the credits. He followed Nora inside and when he was finished he stepped back out to continue to work on the droid. Vincent asked if he was out of line and Giere shook his head. "You're fine, she's busy, she doesn't have time to chit-chat." he said.

Nora then gathered her belongings and headed back into the city for supplies to help finish repairing Giere's home and business.

/END THREAD