The Galla

[Keinushi]

Kiara Hung the last of the decorations in the cafeteria before running off to her bedroom to change. Tonight was the night of the temple gala, put on by herself in order to show off some projects she had been working on. Throughout the room, the 5 different pieces of art were displayed. All modern and all intriguing to the force touched mind. She had to hurry because the hall would fill up fast.

 

[Green Ranger]

"No excuses captain, this is a showcase, and we've got a lot of important people coming in from across the galaxy," Kara snapped, her icy blue eyes staring daggers into the security guard captain assigned. "I expect nothing less then your very best. Patrols are to de doubled, I want frequent sensors sweeps. The moment you don't recognize someone, contact me immediately. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes, Master Jedi, understood," the man said, his lower lip quivering slightly. Kara smiled inwardly. At least she could still intimidate when need be.

"Also, the exhibits: we've scanned them for sabotage or tampering? Need I remind you of recent Imperial infiltration tactics...?"

"N-no, Ma'am. Everything checks out."

"Excellent. You are dismissed," she said sharply, before turning and walking away. Rarely were such events held by the Order, or even allowed for small groups, but it seemed the Order needed the morale boost...or the PR boost to the Galactic Alliance. Either way, tensions were high, and Kara Vaalki, an experienced Jedi Knight, knew such a gathering was a perfect opportunity for another underhanded strike at both the Order and the Alliance.

Though most attending would be in formal attire, a variance of local and cultural formalwear and official uniform, Kara instead opted for a fitted tunic and tights, functional boots and gloves. Her tunic flared out into a short sharp skirt somewhat reminiscent of standard Imperial uniform. A security badge and earpiece were noticeable, marking her as on security duty for the night. A holstered blaster pistol rode on her left hip, and a pair of cylindrical lightsaber hilts on her right. Her eyes narrowed as she waited for the guests to arrive. I hope this goes well.

 

[Andrewza]

Jake paxson could not find any thing good to wear so settled for his Padwan robes. He did not know whether he should lightsaber but decide it best to bring it along. You never know what could happen.

There where lots of decorations up but being early allowed jake to see the heavy security in place. But it was for the best. Jake started to walk to the entrance.

 

[Nirvana]

John sighed as he looked in the mirror and touched the scar that was shown on his face, as he did he recalled the events that had caused the scar. How did he become so careless during one of his training sessions with his lightsabers, he removed the hand and walked away from the mirror. And out in the room where he stayed, taking on the normal apparel that jedi wore when in the temple. Except for the armored boots and gauntlets that he always wore, he almost never left his quarters without them. John used the force to pull his lightsabers into his hands, and then went on with clipping them to his belt, after that he used the force to pull his blaster to him and then holstered the blaster.
He shook his head a bit, deciding that it would be best if bolt stayed in his quarters when he went to the cafeteria. John looked the door to his room after he had exited, and started to make his way to the place where the gala would be held. As John had no rush to the place he took his time while walking there, but after a while he arrived at the place and noticed that he was one of few that had arrived.

 

[Tzeentch]

For as long as he could remember, Nier had always kept his distance from almost everyone during his time with the Jedi Order, preferring to remain alone or with those he believed he could trust. Thus, when he received an invitation to a gala inside one of the Order's temples, he was certainly curious to say the least.

Although he would be unfamiliar with most, if not all, other individuals that may be participating in this event, the Knight took himself from much needed rest, due to recent events, to attempt to familiarize himself with other figures of interest.

He was garbed in his battle-worn robe, of which the lower edges displayed obvious signs of wear, the hood lowered and mask clipped to his belt, allowing others to see his somewhat dulled, silver hair and his bandaged face, mostly covering his right eye. His garb was also somewhat loosened as to allow the sling holding his heavily bandaged right arm with some comfort and ease.

Nier had, for the first time since he first created it, left Vergessenheit back on his ship, as it would be of no use in its current condition, as well as his dual lightsabers. Instead he kept a dagger within his robe as a measure of security; one could never be too safe, even when among those who one might call allies..

The young man was currently located just outside of the cafeteria in which the gala would take place, a slight limp in his step as he approached. Upon reaching the entrance, he stopped and gazed at the architecture for several moments with his gold speckled eyes, then entered, unsure what to expect.

For the first time in a long time, Nier felt slightly calm.

 

[SoloWing]

A gala, huh? As much as Nuala might have wanted to rewrite her her recent life story into some sort of over-dramatic mess and use that as justification for her attendance... She just couldn't. Things hadn't been that bad in recent days. So Nuala opted to stuff the excuse and just attend for the sake of food, fun and, hopefully, some friendship.

Besides, it'd been a good long while since she'd been able to hang with a crew, so this seemed like as good a time as any. She gave her hair one last check in the mirror, found herself satisfied with the amount of curl it possessed, and then turned aside to exit the room. It didn't matter if none of the stuffy Jedi were going to dress up for this. She, herself, sure was. There were times when she wanted to leave the Jedi business at the door, and this seemed like it.

After a bit of snooping, she'd finally managed to procure a party dress of crimson red-- a nice little one-shoulder affair that she quite liked. (The fact that they actually had something in her size was amazing enough to be miraculous, most people didn't carry clothing designed for midgets.) It was a close enough shade to her hair that Nuala had deemed it a gift from the force and decided to wear it. A little work on her make-up and appearance and she decided that she was golden.

At the last second, Nuala stopped to glance back at her bed. Her lightsaber lay next to her folded robes. She frowned, hesitated, and then decided against it. If, by some odd chance, a battle did break out, Nuala decided that she could fight well enough without it for one evening. Heck, she might even fight better without it.

The door hissed open and then closed behind her as Nuala stepped through. She relaxed her shoulders and felt herself smile. Tonight, there was no padawan Nuala. There was just plain ol' Nuala. She set off towards the cafeteria, expecting great things to come of it.

 

[Fusion]

Lumin had read something about a Gala going on in the cafeteria. A Gala? This meant a party. And Zeltrons loved parties. After choosing what to wear, Lumin entered the cafeteria.

Wow... Somebody did a nice job setting things up for the Gala.

 

[Black Noise]

Mira Albion stood in her quarters examining her back. She had multiple brown scars from improperly healed lightsaber would decorating her back and running up around the back of her shoulders. Sighing, she covered up her back with her white dress and began placing on her belts. Her eyes were beginning to grow dark again, something was corrupting her sight, and she had no idea what it was.

Shrugging when she saw her blurred self in the mirror, she used the Force to pull two things to herself. Her large Sith saber-staff and an old, brown strip of cloth. She placed the cloth over her eyes tying it as a blindfold. Blind she was before, and blind she was becoming once again. But that didn't matter, becoming physically blind was only a pathway to achieving perfect sight through the Force.

Heading for the Gala, she relied solely on her Force Sight to go down to the cafeteria. Although her Force Sight was immensely strong, she would not be able to admire the painting and art down there as the others would. But that would not stop her, Mira was stubborn, she would attend anyway.

Entering the cafeteria, Mira ran a hand through her white hair as she approached a nearby piece of art. There were many Force Users in the gala that she had never seen before. But then again, most Force Users she knew were dead, thus 'seeing' someone she didn't know wasn't uncommon.

 

[Kian Te'el]

Kian stood in his small quarters and looked at his face in the dimly light mirror. He hadn't had an oppurtunity to remove his mask in days and it felt nice to have it removed. He rubbed the soreness from his jaw and then reconnected his anti-oxygen mask and goggles on.

He turned toward the wooden chest on the bed and opened it. They were the only "nice" clothing he had and was hoping he would not look out of place in them. They were the formal robes of the Baran Do order. Compared to his normal dark grey robes, these were vibrant. His inner tunic was a amber color with ivy green swirls decorating any seams, while the outer robes were a light brown. Finally he lifted from a chest a small, plane circlet that when worn on his head, would help to hide the scar that crossed his left eye. He liked his scar, but custom of the Baran Do was that when one was in their dress robes, you hid all blemishes. Kian dabbed a small, skin toned ointment on his fingers and dabbed away the small line of scar that was visible on his cheek. Looking in the mirror he could barely make out the scar unless he was truly looking for it.

Concealing his lightsaber at his side, Kian walked out and headed toward the Galla. He had never before been to an art galla and was unsure of how to behave, so he had decided he would try and observe and see what others did. When he entered, the first thing that struck him was how many force sensitives were present. But more than that, the art itself seemed to be giving off some force presence as well. Kian smiled and scanned the room, looking for anyone who he would recognize.

 

[ajd11690]

Aj had only recently returned to the Order. He was out of touch with just about anyone he knew when he was apart of it. This announcement of a Gala would be a good opportunity to reconnect with his fellow Jedi. Leaving his hat in his quarters, he left and made his way to where the exhibition was to take place.

Entering the gallery, he saw that many were already there. He first caught a glimpse of a fellow padawan from two previous missions. Nuala was her name. He had fought alongside her on Sarka, and another encounter on Naboo. They hadn't become close, but he enjoyed knowing she was by his side. He wasn't romantically attracted to her in any way, because of the huge age difference. He did enjoy her company though. She had a level head and wasn't terribly brash. She did back him up when standing up to that Lt. Lyco.

Making his way in her general direction, he greeted her with a smile. Good to see you again, Nuala. I'm glad we're finally meeting on more sociable terms. I hope you remember me, my name is Ajtony better known as Aj. It's good to see you.

 

[Scultr]

As Torgrir slid his arms through the sleeves of his robe, he couldn't help but notice a slight tremble in his hands. He wished he had something, anything nicer than what he now wore, but he had little else besides a few sets of robe. Since arriving to the planet, the Firrerro had been completely antisocial, confining himself to his quarters, spending of his time in meditation. In fact, that he was invited to the gala at all was somewhat of a mystery to him. Still, though, he thought it best to try and at least make himself known.

As he was absrobed in his thoughts, he had scarcely noticed his feet carrying him into the cafeteria, which was decorated nicely. He glanced about, and walked slowly to one of the heavy stone walls, taking a spot against it and leaning casually, with a nice view of the procedings. Hefigured it would be best to merely observe, at least at first, rather than make a fool of himself.

 

[Green Ranger]

Kara began tapping her foot impatiently. They were overdue to start, and everyone seemed to be getting antsy at the delay. Kara herself could feel her frustration grow. Planted on guard duty by the Council for an event that was running behind schedule. And so many dignitaries present, too....she huffed in frustration. She had better things to do then sit around watching other people socialize in the name of politics, of all things. This wasn't what the Jedi were about...or at least, not how they used to be.

((Hintedy hint hint.))

 

[SoloWing]

Nuala checked her immediate response to Aj's introduction. She remembered him very well. After all, it was hard to forget the guy who ordered a Jawa to strip. Somehow, though, bringing that incident back to mind didn't seem like the best thing to say. Besides, she was trying to get her mouth under control, so she couldn't very well go around making people uncomfortable, could she?

The back of her mind noted that people seemed to be upset over the formal start of the gala or something like that. Meh. She wasn't here for the art. Whether or not the paintings ever got unveiled didn't concern her in the least. All that concerned her was that it was a party.

"I make it a point to remember those I fight with, er, alongside. It makes it easier to stab the right people." Nuala continued, keeping her voice light and friendly. That had been a joke after all. "It's good to see you again, Aj. So, how've you been lately?"

She liked Aj. She really did. Sure, he might have had his moments, but his heart was in the right place. And besides, they were battle buddies now. She could forgive him for being a bit rough around the edges.

 

[Keinushi]

((The gala has started. Socialize people, c'mon and socialize. This is to unify us together as a site.))

 

[Kian Te'el]

Kian walked forward and stood before a relatively obscure looking piece of artwork. Kian hadn't much of an eye for art, but he didn't want to seem rude and not notice it. He folded his arms behind his back and began to look around the room. Many people had arrived, but he recognized few of them.

He continued to walk around, perusing the art work when he found himself looking at a dark painting on the wall. Turning, he found a Firrereo standing against the wall. Kian had never meet one of his kind in person and decided now was as good a time as any.

"Greetings Jedi." Kian said bowing slightly as a sign of respect. "We've not been introduced, I am Kian Te'el."

 

[Tzeentch]

Upon entering the cafeteria, Nier scanned the room for a few moments, immediately taking note of the fairly large number of possibly influential figures participating in the event; something not unusual for something such as the gala. The silver-haired man also gazed at the few pieces of art that he could see from his position.

While this may have been a social gathering to most, he felt the need to calm his nerves slightly first by observing art piece or two before doing anything else.

Spotting one such piece on the other side of the room, Nier began to weave his way through the crowd, even with the slight limp that plagued him, while glancing at each person he passed without so much as disturbing their conversations. He continued until he reached his destination, in front of which he ceased his movements and inspected it with a tired eye.

The piece in front of where he stood was a sculpture of some sort. He was unable to make out what it was and its make, having just journeyed from his homeworld only about one year ago. So, in an attempt to figure out if he had heard of anything that could be reminiscent to whatever the piece was, Nier delved back into his memories where a friend of his spoke of the vast expanse beyond the skies of Dantooine many years ago.

The fingers of his only functioning hand slowly rubbed his chin as he lost himself in those same memories, his eye unseeing as he faced the somewhat secluded sculpture.

Unintentionally, he seemed to bear the appearance as if he were an old man remembering the days of his youth certain individuals' eyes.

 

[ajd11690]

Standing among the crowd, Aj did feel uncomfortable. He flocked towards Nuala because he was comfortable with people he knew. I've been well. I am working with Jedi Knight Akacen on practicing some of my skills. He is an excellent teacher. He was the one who returned me to the Order. Aj smiled politely at the younger Padawan. Though he was significantly older, he did enjoy the company of the younger girl. How have you been Nuala? I haven't seen you since Sarka.

 

[Scultr]

Torgrir scanned the room, his eyes never staying in one place for very long. The various works of art scattered about the area held little interest to him; the Firerro was more interested in the politicing and socialization that the gala represented. The Padawan was awoken from his reverie as a member of the Order approached him.

"It is a pleasure, Kian," Torgrir responded warmly, returning the bow with one of his own.

 

[SoloWing]

"I've been pretty well." Nuala replied.

Sarka hadn't been that long ago. Come to think of it, it had been her last big adventure, which was alright as far as she was concerned. The grace period of peace following that skirmish had allowed the wounds received in that excursion to heal nicely. Most people couldn't even tell she'd been burned at all-- which was a good thing or else she wouldn't be caught dead wearing this dress.

Aj's words caught her interest, though. It sounded like there was a story behind his introduction; if he was being that open about it, then he probably didn't mind being asked about it. Right? She mulled that over for a second before saying anything.

"I don't think that I've met Knight Akacen, yet. But that's not surprising given how strict Master Cathbodua can be." Okay, now there was no choice in the matter. Nuala was not going to let this entire evening get poisoned over that old topic. "But you 'returned' to the Order? If you'll pardon the question, does that mean that you left it, once?"

As an afterthought, she added: "Don't worry, I'm not judgin' you. I've got plenty of skeletons in my own closet that I'll be happy to share if you want."

 

[Green Ranger]

"Master Jedi? Come in, Mast-"
"Speak quickly," Kara interrupted, clearly not interested in commlink formalities.
"Oh, Um, well...there's a potential security violation entering the perimeter. He has clearance codes, but they're severely outdated, and you told us to-"
"Siiras. I'll handle this. Send a detail to the entrance. I'll meet you there."
"Yes, Ma'am. Over and Out."

Kara turned on her heel and quickly left the gallery, still leaving a significant security presence in the room. Not that she suspected anything would happen, but you could never be sure, and she didn't want to be too far away from the guests at all times. Still, this was a much, much more pressing matter. She picked up her pace, almost running towards the entrance. This was bad.

***

Outside, several members and other guests of the Order stood around, talking amongst themselves quietly and politely. Security was still present here, but the atmosphere was slightly more relaxed, as the members made their idle banter before heading inside. A heavy security detail was stationed at the entrance, ensuring only those with the correct invitations would be welcomed within.

The latest of the arrivals, a somewhat short young man with raven black hair, slowly made his way up the entrance ramp towards the temple. Wearing a rather simple flightsuit, he seemed somewhat ill dressed for the occasion, though he didn't seem really bothered at all by that fact. A beaten up old astromech droid trundled along behind him slowly, the old R12 unit giving off a number of cautionary noises.

"Don't worry. The Jedi have no reason or ground to harm or arrest me. There's no need for weapons. It's a party, after all."

He suddenly stopped in surprise as half a dozen blaster rifles and a lightsaber blade were pointed in his face. He raised his hands in surrender, looking around at the guards, then at the Jedi apparently in charge.

"New security measures, Kara? And you're on guard duty? Just my luck."

Kara chuckled, though her smile quickly turned cold again as she stared down the former Jedi. "Not luck. The Force. You aren't invited, Aro. Why would you even come here?"

Aro grinned, tilting his head towards his astromech droid. "Oh, I wasn't invited, but R12 was. He's still recieving all the Jedi transmissions and security codes. Bit of a hole in your defences, I'd say. I guess you could say I'm coming as his plus one?"

Kara grimaced. As stupid an excuse as it was, her hands were tied. "Your lightsabers. Hand them over."

"You think I'd be that stupid? I didn't bring them," Aro retorted, pointing to two empty clips on his belt. "Besides, knowing you, I'd ever get them back. Can the paranoia, Kara. I'm just here to have a good time."

Kara sighed, then lowered her lightsaber. "Let him pass. But the moment you slip up, you're getting locked up. Understood?"

"Fine, fine. I thought you would have lightened up over the past few years.," Aro said as he walked past the security detail, quietly noting his old associate was following only a few meters behind. He smiled to himself - it was so easy to get under her skin sometimes. "Guess I was wrong."

Kara returned to her security post, visibly seething from being outmneuvred, as Aro and R12 began to circulate the room slowly, admiring the artwork as they went around.