A Friend Like Me (Jedi Praxeum Mission - Open To All)

[Jairus Starvald]

​

NIBELUNGEN​

​

JEDI PRAXEUM MISSION​

​

Nibelungen had gone through rough times from the moment it was founded.

Jedi Lords ruling the planet with an ironfist and then some, followed by a complete reversal when cultists took over and established their own empire. The Ancient Eye had clad their palaces in gold, ruled in opulence and glorified their own leaders.

But where did all of it come from?

The gold? The wealth? The labor?

While the Outer Rim Coalition (good people, but by definition chaotic and more interested in the goal than the road ahead) and some elements of the Silver Jedi Order (scowl) were attempting to dislodge the Ancient Eye from this system a band of Jedi settled themselves elsewhere.

Nelun -- named after some ancient Jedi Lord of the past and never renamed -- was one of the sub-cities a reasonable distance away from Nibelungen’s capital. Here were the factories, the industrial yards, the heavy labor that powered an economy running on blood, corpses and words.

The Praxeum consisting of four Jedi hopefuls had spent the past few days talking to the people and figuring out how best to help them.

That had been parts of the sickness within the old Jedi Orders. No communication, just rolling up uninvited and pretending like they had the solution to people they hadn’t ever met before.

Arrogance.

“That’s the building one of the construction workers talked about.” Alden pointed towards it with a frown. Apparently it was a water sanitation plant, necessary to clean and filter the water, except… a remnant of the Ancient Eye had holed up in it. Turning themselves from conquerors to thugs extracting duties from those that wanted clean water. Part of him was concerned about this.
They had helped with the repairs of a field hospital damaged during the skirmish, brought it medical supplies, shared food with the people of the district.

But they hadn’t fought anyone yet and that was a different type of beast.

“Ideas on how to approach it?”

Right now his mind was running through the scenarios- each one of them had their own problems and dangers. It was possible to maybe just… talk to them? But the sight of an impaled factory worker against the wall widened his eyes just a bit. “Think we can scrap the diplomacy idea…”

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

When the seat of rulers was clad in gold, it had to come from somewhere.

Harper had been uncomfortable since arrival. In a way the intensity of Dellalt and Alderaan had been easier to bear for the empath than the slow but steady weight of the rich and powerful leeching the very life out of the planets under their control. In those moments she had been just as afraid, just as panicked- sure she'd handled those feelings and did what had to be done, but they weren't entirely different than her own experience. Here however.....

Not everyone had welcomed the small group of Jedi (she was a Jedi now, a fact she had to remind herself of every so often), and she could feel the distrust and resentment. But for every person who looked at them and saw those who had abandoned them, there was also someone who put out their hands in welcome and hope.

She tried to keep the feelings, low and insidious, rather than loud and all encompassing, on the back burner, but it wasn't easy. Mostly, she focused on getting the jobs done. That was what Harper was good at. Set her to a task and it would get finished, come hell or high water. Need a stack of crates moved? On it. Need to feed a hundred people with basic supplies and a time limit? No sweat. Clear out the entry way of rubble so people can access the hospital? You got it.

This was.... very different.

"Is this the only water treatment site in the city?" She asked, looking grimly at the building.

"Is there some way to just circumvent them?"

Harper was a pretty straight forward sort. A problem solver. But sometimes the best options involved going the long way around. And sometimes, the fact that you wanted nothing more than to punch someone's face in (in this case, literally everyone in that building from what they had learned) made it possible that it was NOT the best choice.

[member="Alden Belmont"] [member="Ember Farseer"] [member="Anais Auraeli"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

LOCATION: NELUN, NIBELUNGEN
EQUIPMENT: IN BIO
CURRENT MOOD: PONDEROUS

Battles made the Shark anxious.

At one point in his life, Ghorua had lived for nothing else. The feeling of backs breaking beneath his boot. A nose smashing upon his fist. The warmth of a lit blaster in his hands. But those days were far behind him. Nowadays, he stayed in his home, lived off of infochant deals, and looked after his child. He still trained constantly, alongside his daughter, but he could tell the sharp knife he once was had dulled with neglect.

Ghorua had been out of the game too long.

He figured there was no better way to get back into it than to work on the outskirts of a battle.

Above the tense scene playing out before the Jedi hovered a cadre of four probe droids. They systematically surveyed the scene, dark and difficult to see amidst the tops of buildings. They saw the treatment plant, the people hunkered down nearby...

The skewered body.

Ghorua had been hired by the water sanitation plant's foreman after it had been overrun by Ancient Eye criminals. She had given Ghorua a layout of the facility, a few eyewitness accounts, and most interestingly, a rumor. Jedi were apparently sniffing around. On any other planet, the mention of Jedi would have canceled the bounty, as the patron would decide the Jedi would do it free of charge.

But as Ghorua learned quickly, many people didn't really like Jedi on Nibelungen. To their credit, Ghorua liked Jedi. They did what he did, and they didn't fight over payment. He could even count a few as friends.

Ah... chit.

One of the probe droids overstepped it's boundaries. It got a little too close to the people on the ground, trying to get a better look at their faces, and came within dangerous view of them. Ghorua watched from his HUD a safe distance away, and mentally face-palmed.

They could've been Ancient Eye goons, and if they were, they'd know he was here.

A great start to his latest bounty.

- [member="Alden Belmont"] - [member="Harper Kade"] -

 

[Zef Halo]

A light breeze picked up whether natural or the result of an explosive shockwave due to the engagements across the heavily populated planet remained a mystery and Ember was reluctant to open his senses completely and be overwhelmed by death and desperation again.

Dust settled easily on their clothes. From the neat, clean and tidy clothes with which the Jedi had arrived remained only a memory. Not surprising, of course. In the middle of a warzone AND an industrial area. The fact the Jedi did not wear overalls was the only thing that set them apart from the workers. The sun was weak but the heat of machinery, war and the arid area of the industrial zone where no nature was preserved to cleanse the air weighted upon them all, especially them - the foreigners, the four Jedi.

Yet, they would persevere.

With his hand resting on his chin, Ember looked up towards the plant at which Alden pointed. It was tall rather than wide, a large piece of chunk from it had touched the ground possibly due to collateral damage. The pieces of metal scrap hinted it might've been a starfighter that had crashed into it.

Diplomacy seemed a far cry from a solution but Harper did bring up a good suggestion.

"No, m'am. This be the only water cleaner 'round here." An older, toothless worker informed her. His face was painted with wrinkles of slave's work. Perhaps he was younger than he looked. An old, hunched lady watched his back worriedly. The feeling of a significant other's care about their half clearly exhibited in her gaze.

"Not exactly, Thon." Another old man, a dark skinned near-Human, politely interjected in their conversation, coming forward closer to them. An air of confidence and wisdom following him as a shadow. Perhaps he had once been a man on a more noble, reputable position. The skin on his fingers seemed torn but fresher than that of Thon.

"What do you mean, Antar?" Someone asked from the small crowd behind him.

"I mean that this is not the only water sanitation plant of the city. " Antar retorted assertively. One could easily assume that the rest were typical local workers who never had left their surroundings to know more. Antar was different. "The closest one is a mile away from here, or a bit more, straight north." The tall man's slender arm gestured at the destination's direction which lied beyond the sanitation plant ahead of them. A short lived sigh followed before he picked up his words with the same confident and rather elegant diction of before. "The northern water plant lies in the middle of a battlefield, as far as my cousin says." Not hard to confirm it considering the loudest noise of warfare came from that direction. Darkness befell his eyes as he frowned. "That water plant is currently shut off."

"They are out of water."

A loud, unified gasp followed from the rest and Ember's features sharpened. From one problem, now sprung another one.

The Jedi Knight took a deep breath before turning his eyes to Anais which stood beside him. Her shawl lost its color to the beige and rusty colored dust of the area.

"What do you think?" Ember asked her thoughtfully, his voice had almost lost its sound. A sudden flash from light reflecting on a metallic surface caught his attention on a curious probe droid before it lift off frantically away from them. "That was a probe droid wasn't it?" His question seemed targeted at Alden but could very well been open to anyone to answer.

Experience from military zones during his tenure in the New Jedi Order told him of the simple process of scouting before striking.

This was getting worse with every passing minute.


[member="Alden Belmont"] [member="Harper Kade"] [member="Anais Auraeli"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Runi Verin]

Ignore!

 

[Mav Halo]

[member="Alden Belmont"] | [member="Ember Farseer"] | [member="Harper Kade"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"]

Anais stood to the side of the informal gathering of the equally informal order, a weathered travelling shawl keeping the dust and faint chill at bay while she familiarised herself with the city’s layout once more, taking advantage of the misshapen shadow of the burnout building to review a holographic readout projected by her droid companion. A pensive frown, her default expression as of late, creasing her features as nothing from the databanks seemed to line up with what was around them. It seemed that none of the streets lined up with what information she’d been able to glean from the Silver Jedi records.

Perhaps that was to be expected.

Nelun was a city with a lot of history, after all. Some good, some bad and some just plain bizarre. With the planet changing hands and governments repeatedly within the last few decades alone, often being controlled by rulers with widely different ethos and aesthetics than the last, it wasn’t too surprising that would have knock on effect on the city’s architecture and layout.

The bones of the city, the underlying infrastructure, should have remained fairly consistent, however. The first lesson you learn as a child of a diplomat was that governments, regardless of what form they took, were ultimately lazy and inefficient beasts, controlled by bureaucrats that were looking to do as little as possible in order to safeguard their pensions and salary. There was simply no way your average, underappreciated city planner was going to go through the trouble of uprooting an entire city just because the new leadership of the week happened to have a fetish for red and gold cladding.

The padawan twisted her hand, letting the readout explode into a series of electric blue coloured layers, filtering them out one by one while Ember, Alden and Harper conversed. Peeling them back until the most basic components were visible. Power. Sewage. Water. Lay lines of the modern era. The closest she'd get to an accurate map short of cartographing one herself.

She glanced up at Ember as he spoke, chewing the side of her lip thoughtfully.

“Harper’s plan would help us avoid conflict and needless bloodshed, but these people are desperate. Taking ownership of the water supply is the only sense of control they have right now.” She let her hand drop, letting the holo wink out of existence. “Circumventing them would work for the short term, but sooner or later they’ll try to reassert their claim.”

The only question was, would they still be around to intervene when it happened?

Four Jedi wouldn’t stretch very far on a planet this troubled.

“Negative, Human Male Two.” L1-4R piped up, answering Ember’s query while its owner was distracted. The little droid’s head slowly tilting to the side to stare up at Jedi Knight with its mismatched glowing eyes. Living up to the faulty programming that had inspired its name. “I am detecting no additional entities within the immediate area, inorganic or otherwise. I would suggest getting, as is the colloquialism, your eyes checked. I can schedule an appointment with the closest optometrist if that is of assistance. I am reading one in one thousand and thirty seven kilometres from here with a two star rating on spacebook.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ember Farseer"] [member="Anais Auraeli"] [member="Harper Kade"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"]

Alden peered at the impaled body clinging tight to the wall.

Disturbing chit and then some.

He had hoped that they could just talk this thing out, maybe figure out a way of co-existence or at least pacify them, so they wouldn't be a threat for the civilians trying to make a living here. A glance over to Ember when he asked him about the probe drone, then the droid that seemed to follow Anais around like some sort of guardian slash metalshine butler.

"I thought I saw something, yeah." Alden confirmed, before shrugging. "But I was a bit busy with our current problem to make it out." It could have been a playing of the light, maybe the sun shining against glass and causing a reflection?

It was one of those things that they would need to be careful about, but... it wasn't a problem right now.

The water plant was though. "Harp made me think though- walking into this building will almost certainly end in a bloodbath." At most they'd have old schematics and maybe some ill-advised vantage points if they could slice into the security systems (if those were still active). It didn't matter that these were thugs who seemed to enjoy impaling people.

It wasn't their job to slaughter them wholesale.

"-what if we mess with the water supply ourselves? It has to enter the building from somewhere." His mind was moving farther as he tried to imagine it from every angle and perspective. "Lure them out of the building, when they check it out... then we can incapacitate them without killing them?"

After that they could hand them over to the local authorities.

They weren't judge, jury and executioner and Alden wasn't about to step into that role if there was another option there.

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

To be fair, she was wearing overalls. Harper frowned, her attention on the people around them instead of the building now- it also meant she missed the flash from the probe droid.

"Antar, Thon, thank you," she said, "How much water do most people keep stored in their homes around here?"

Antar reached up, scratch his head.

"It's a dry region, ma'am. Most people keep a couple days water stored, just in case. Some don't, but those are the outliers. Things happen, most folks around here know to have a back up just in case. But two days, three tops."

Harper nodded, running her hand back through her hair. She'd had a thought to use their ship's processor as a stop gap measure, but realistically they couldn't recycle water for this many people for any length of time. Part of what was so frustrating about all of this was that they needed funds. It wasn't just enough to go out to do good, they had to have a way of accomplishing it. With credits, this problem could be easily circumvented- either hire a bounty hunter or two to deal with the problem, bribe the thugs, or, ideally, just set up a new treatment plant and reroute the water.

But none of those were viable solutions now, not with the materials and time they had.

"Confirming ya'all probably need your eyes checked," she snarked, finally turned back to the group, but mostly because she was annoyed and felt helpless. The problem was bigger than a four person problem, she realized.

The expression on her face grew incredulous.
"Subdue them with what, Al? Your charming boyish good looks and the butler? No offense L1," she added. "I mean I can probably scrounge up a shovel or something but....."

She trailed off, clearly frustrated.

"I'm sorry, that's not fair," she muttered a moment later.

Harper frowned harder.

"If we can get them to come out, I can get in," she said finally, looking at the others and then nodding to one of the third story windows. "Like Baker's bluff, back home, Al." She was a strong climber and the stones on the outside of the building were rough with plenty of hand holds. She had no interest in climbing up by herself if it was full of people prone to staking locals. It wouldn't help anyone.

"Anais, does that read out show where the water's going in? And if there's a way to do a manual shut off from the outside?"

[member="Ember Farseer"] [member="Alden Belmont"] [member="Anais Auraeli"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

The probe droid silently freaked out, darting away from the peering eyes on the ground, and tucking itself around the corner of a building. It heard the disapproving cluck of Ghorua's tongue through it's link with it's master.

"Number 2," Ghorua said, the resigned exasperation apparent in his voice. "I'm checking your motivator when we get back."

Number 2 tootled sadly.

Ghorua hunkered a block away, pressed up against the wall of an abandoned alley. Covered head to toe in his heavy white armor, the Shark was an imposing ten foot tall behemoth of muscle and duraplast. It was no wonder any onlookers in the alley had vacated when they saw him hunker down.

"I'm sorry for snapping at ya, Number 2. I'm sure you did your best." Ghorua's tone was overly calm as a gloved hand grasped at the visor of his helmet, as if to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Did you at least get a good look at their faces?"

The droid, as he had expected, whistled non-affirmatively.

"I take back my words of encouragement."

Another sad tootle.

"Just keep an eye on them. Get them in range of the audio sensors. I want to know what they do before they do it."

The droids began to converge stealthy on the small patrol of Jedi, feeding Ghorua the conversation they were having, and going out of their way to stay out of sight, hovering in the shadows of buildings and behind hover vehicles, spying in on the small group's conversation.

Ghorua shook his head, and walked out of his alley, preparing to dive in.

They're like toddlers, the Herglic reminisced. Floating, bumbling toddlers.

- [member="Harper Kade"] - [member="Alden Belmont"] - [member="Anais Auraeli"] - [member="Ember Farseer"] -

 

[Zef Halo]

Ember's eyes squinted in bewilderment at the droid's response, shifting his confused glance between it and its owner.

"Junkyard made, I assume?" He laid out the question at the young girl before shaking his head as Harper's moment of frustration was released. Alden the direct victim of it. Ember shuffled approaching her adding calmly. "It's okay, Harper."

Hold on your emotions, the people already have enough tension to deal with. The thought was transmitted through the Force but rather than an audible, literal voice in her mind, the thought would touch her and carry on the meaning rather than a verbal telepathic sentence.

Anais made a good point about the circumvention option and Alden did good to work his mind on devising an idea based on that knowledge. Harper finished his thoughts. The two Dellalt natives' connection was obvious even to those without the Force but to Ember it seemed crystal clear the more he got to know them. They knew each other since they were kids, as far as he knew, and by whatever circumstances seemed to complete each other. The Jedi Knight had never experienced such a connection before par for the temporary symbiotic relationship he had with Mishel during her internal war with the dark side of the Force on Utapau. A brief bond shared with her, Ijaat Mereel and Orn Pharr in the midst of the flux of supernatural energy.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ember nodded in agreement pushing back the questions of what they would do with the interlopers if they succeeded in incapacitating them. Leaving them to a rabble here? Taking them for a trial...in Outer Rim space? He shoved the inquiries back in his mind. There was a more pressing matter. These people's lives, on top of the newly acquired knowledge that another settlement of lives were cut short off water in the middle of a warzone. "There is the matter of Antar's cousin too." He mentioned the fact but his voiced faded away as a massive figure constructed of white steel composedly approached them.

"Find the answer to Harper's question." Ember almost whispered to Anais before moving away from the crowd towards the white armored behemoth aiming to intercept him midway.

He stopped at a slightly safe distance from the crowd before raising his arm gesturing the walking figure to stop. The silence from the Jedi implied an unasked question of what was the armored fellow's purpose.


[member="Harper Kade"] [member="Anais Auraeli"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Alden Belmont"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

The was nothing more satisfying then a grueling day of manual labor; pumping your blood, making you feel alive. The last scoop of dirt out of the pit and he was done. He threw the shovel out, mantling over the edge to admire his work. It was, well, a hole. He felt a twinge of disappointment that hours of work looked so...abysmal, but at least Thon would have 'facilities' now. Indeed, the hole was only made for a makeshift privy, which further soured his mood.

He checked that none of his tools had dropped out of his overalls as he jumped out of the hole. Feeling sweaty from work, he unbuttoned the top of his garment and tied the arms around his waist, leaving his torso covered only by a grey singlet. "Only...twenty...more...to...go..." he puffed. He lamented at the loss of time that could be spent in the workshop.

He owed Thon an update, which would provide some respite at least. The man couldn't be found inside his home, but a family member directed Zai to his whereabouts on the nearby streets. Zai whistled as he walked and stumbled across the man as he rounded the corner.

"Thon, your stupid hole is..." he broke off as he noticed the group near the man. Zai swallowed. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked. One of the other workers let out a hearty chuckle. "Kinda, Avery. These good folk are gonna sort out our plumbing problem for us". Zai frowned. "I thought I was sorting out that" he replied. A man to his left rolled his eyes. "And how is digging holes going, Avery?". Zai turned bright red and shouldered past the rude workman.

"I'd like to help" he addressed the newcomers, the ones who planned to enter the sanitation plant. "I can look after myself, and you'll need an engineer". He looked at their weapons, lightsabers, and swallowed again. He was in over his head. "Just in case, you know, you cut a water pipe open or something..." It was days like these he cursed his treacherous tongue and feeble brain.

[member="Alden Belmont"] | [member="Harper Kade"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"] | [member="Ember Farseer"] |[member="Anais Auraeli"]​

 

[Mav Halo]

[member="Zai Avery"] | [member="Alden Belmont"] | [member="Ember Farseer"] | [member="Harper Kade"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"]​

It would be misleading to say the little droid bristled at the perceived insult. The attempt was there, certainly, but the droid simply lacked the necessary appearance features to appear as anything but a petulant little child as he stared up at the collection of Jedi before him, little golden eyes re-focusing and focusing rapidly. Junkyard made. Butler. The shear indignity of it all. This is why organics were simply inferior to their mechanical counterparts.

“No offence taken, Human Female One. None at all.” L1-4R responded with a monotone, somehow managing to make that absurdly saccharine and more than a little unnerving. “Please let me know if you require assistance locating that shovel. I am told that butlers live to serve.”

Human Male Two, Human Female One. Designations marked.

They would come to rue this day.

For her part, Anais simply glanced down at her droid with only the mildest of disapproval, more concerned with the obvious holes in the current plan that was forming than whatever shenanigans it had in mind by way of revenge. For all of his eccentricities, L1-4R was hardly an evil master mind by any stretch of the imagination. At worst, they'd likely find their underclothes folded in the wrong manner for the next few days. “Liar, resume the holo. Same layer breakdown, but focusing on the sanitation plant. Cross-reference with the scans we took from orbit and try to locate possible sites for any external shut off valves. ”

The electric blue holo sprung back into life before them, appearing as nothing more than a blur of lines as the droid sullenly complied with its owner, flickering and filtering through sections.

“Once we subdue them, then what?” Anais queried, turning to face Alden while they waited for the droid. “We have no means nor authority to detain them, and leaving them with the local populace, with this current unrest...”

It would be a death sentence, in deed if not in name.

It was one thing to have witnessed death, another to have it on your hands, indirectly or not.

“Perhaps we should try diplomacy first. Distract them while Harper and…” She paused as a new voice entered the fray. A scarred man, perhaps a decade if that her senior, clearly not a local, but apparently as eager as they were to see an end to this monopoly. Fortunately for him, it wasn’t like they were in any position to turn anyone away at present. “… And, ah, this man move into position, using that option as a fall back if all ese fails. Lead with the open palm.”

L1-4R tweedled softly and the display stopped shuffling. Two possible locations hung frozen in the air before them.

“Anais, I have located zero possible sites for shut off valves in the vicinity of the Sanitation Plant. While I know you will ignore my advice on such matters, of those reviewed, these were the least likely candidates.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Zai Avery"] | [member="Anais Auraeli"] | [member="Ember Farseer"] | [member="Harper Kade"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"]​

​

The situation was rapidly developing as more people entered the fray.

First the Herglic (he assumed by the sheer size of the sentient) that caused Ember to go check it out. Part of him itched to walk with him, make sure that someone had his back while he was checking it out, but Alden was needed here. To figure out their plan moving forward and make sure it was solid. Harper's snark made him blink and then the apology made him blink harder.

Wasn't a usual thing, but they were all on edge right now.

Ain't nothing that puts you more on edge than the sight of an impaled man on a wall. Life lost, because of greed and madness. "Ember and me have our 'sabers." Alden clarified, patting the hilt a bit.

He could tune it down to just the stun function. "I share your concern, Anais-" Because it were the same thoughts that moved through his mind. Zai got a nod though, "Any help you can give is welcome, friend. What is your name?" Avery could be a first or last name, after all. Then his attention slipped back to the young padawan who always seemed to be thoughtful and insightful.

Quite surprising for her young age, but equally welcome.

The droid piped up and Alden tilted his head a fraction. "...so there aren't any valves in the vicinity?" That seemed very unlikely, because there had to be some sort of maintenance valve for emergency situations.

"As for authority- I agree, we have none, except that these people need our help. They asked us." They didn't invite themselves here like some might have done. That was the difference in Alden's eyes. Antar nodded, spitting to the side before making a gesture with his fingers. They had seen that a couple of times since they had arrived on the planet- some sort of oath, a remembrance to the dead.

"The higher yards got'a law enforcement office- they are spread thin," Which explained why they weren't here. "But if you can subdue them, there will be room there."

Hopefully.

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

[member="Alden Belmont"] [member="Anais Auraeli"] [member="Ember Farseer"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Zai Avery"]​

Harper visibly startled when the message came through from Ember. She glanced sideways at him, then cast her eyes back out at the small gathering they had somehow collected.

It's not all mine, she thought, mostly to herself, but also a little at him. I didn't realize how much their fears and frustrations were affecting me.

There was real chagrin there, the epiphany sitting uncomfortably in her chest. While certainly some of the frustration was hers, too much of it had been what was seeping in from all around her. She grimaced inwardly at herself.

How much of my reasons for never wanting to leave my farm and family was exactly because of things like this?

It hit her like an almost physical blow to the stomach, a completely different realization from just the recognition of the seeping emotions. These thoughts were not directed at Ember, but they were very close to the surface, floating right to the top of her mind.

Do I really love that place, those times, those people? Or is it just hiding from anything more upsetting than a bad crop or an injured animal?

She did, she knew she did. These were doubts talking, insidious little things that make you question your own self and motivations. They were mostly air, bubbling up from the black depths beneath the waters.... but that didn't mean they weren't real. How much of her choice to stay had been excuses because there, it was only full of emotions and fears that she already knew how to cope with?

Now was the very definition of not the time for this Harp, and she shoved it aside to pick apart later. The best way to do that, in her experience, was to do something. Sling some crates around. Aggressively weed a garden.

Climb a wall.

She had missed a lot of the specific goings ons, though refocusing she saw Zai offering his help, and Ember approaching.... holy moly that being was large. Even through the tension of the crowd, however, she got no indication from either of them of bad intentions.

"It's going to take me some time to get up to that window," she said, glancing at the others.

Her hands almost itched with the need to do something, because doing meant not thinking about..... all of that.

"There's a ledge up there, I'll get moving and wait for your signal. However we're getting them out of there, not much I can do to help on that front, but I *can* keep them from being able to go back inside. If ya'all have this handled on the ground, well. I should start heading up if that's the plan."

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua walked forward powerfully, each step launching the ground into a shaking fit. The mess of weapons on his person jingled in the slight breeze, giving the Shark some comfort. He felt strong, stronger than he had in a long while.

Maybe that's why he went straight for the group, instead of waiting in the shadows like he normally would. He was tired of feeling weak and useless. He wasn't sure yet whether he'd be fighting them or joining them, but he wanted to get the confrontation over with.

Ghorua observed the young man approaching him, and the facial recognition in his helmet identified the other as [member="Ember Farseer"]. Records of the Jedi were scattered at best.

Jedi. I guess my gamble paid off.

Ghorua was close enough to the others to get their faces. Under his helmet, his shark-like grin widened.

"Don't mind me," the Herglic said, the nonchalance in his voice deepened by the helmet to ear-damaging levels. "I love to watch Jedi at work, Master Farseer."

Ghorua removed his helmet with a hissing sound, revealing a round, dark face with ivory teeth curled into a good-natured smile. "Ghorua the Shark, at your service. I was hired to clear out the building." The Herglic chuckled smoothly, looking over the smaller being's head to look at the others. Despite the gravity of the situation, he felt like he was finally home.

Oh, he was back, alright.

"But, it looks like you and your Forcie friends got this one." Ghorua crossed his trunk-like arms in front of him, the jesting tone in his voice obvious.

"Unless you'd like a little help from little old me."

- [member="Harper Kade"] - [member="Alden Belmont"] - [member="Anais Auraeli"] - [member="Zai Avery"] -

 

[Cassus Stoma]

Spoiler

Pending name change to Jace Khel, bear with me

Jace's venture across the stars in a desperate attempt to do good by the galaxy that treated him so well, but others so poorly was seemingly futile. Although, there were people in need and he couldn't turn a blind eye. Nibelungun had fallen on hard times again and again, it only seemed fair to lend a helping hand. Khel didn't have much beyond credits, a blaster pistol and a poor approximation of a starship. It didn't matter to him, though. Only doing what was right did.

He was too optimistic for a galaxy so harsh.

His spirits soared when word of mouth that Jedi were present reached him, especially when their objective aligned itself with a goal of Jace's. Those willing to make a difference, and of course that is why they were here. It was possible that they shared ideals, and it may very well be his chance to latch onto a group instead of being an aimless wanderer. Khel approached crowd that had formed with eager eyes, scanning for the trademark weapon of a Jedi. He'd not seen one before, and upon spotting one his eyes went wide with glee.

"Hey!" He blurted out like a foolish child. Stepping forward, weaving through the workers. "You're Jedi. I wanna' help." He didn't bother explaining a sliver of detail. "I got what it takes." Jace confirmed.

His own force sensitivity may prove to influence their decision.

[member="Harper Kade"] - [member="Alden Belmont"] - [member="Ember Farseer"] - [member="Anais Auraeli"] - [member="Zai Avery"] - [member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Soundwave]

Solidor Slane

---

---

Nibelungen
Relief Mission

Greed was the blight that weakened our steel. These remnants of the Ancient Eye who had spoiled themselves on lavish palaces and the labor of the poor. For what purpose? The Jedi must set their watch upon them, to return order and hope in those less fortunate that the Ancient Eye had built their foundations upon. Amongst those who came to the aid of the people, to provide relief to those that had the most basic of necessities kept from them because of these thugs stood an elderly man, wielding a cane with a crystal that was embedded in the handle, a soft green glow emanating from it like a comforting pulse.

Soldior Slane had observed the installation in question, listening to the conversation of the younger Jedi by him. The liberation of the facility from the grasp of the remnants would prove to be a major help to the people. Despite usually being a man of typical passive nature, seeing the people in such distress after having been worked near to death; it roused something deep within the aged Jedi as he stood tall, resting both his hands on the head of his cane. Yet another wave of calm and comforting energy seemed to emanate from the pulsing and glowing crystal to put his comrades at ease. They would succeed in their endeavor, and do so without senseless bloodshed, in that Slane had faith in the younger generations.

The elderly Jedi would seat himself down on a stone, maintaining his upright position as he kept his hands on his cane, watching the younger Jedi collaborating with one another. It truly was a relief to the elderly Jedi who favored a peaceful approach over senseless killing and unnecessary bloodshed. How it pained him so to watch as those who claimed the title of Jedi to only use it as a facade and abuse all that it once stood for by committing atrocious acts of violence. Seeing these younger men and women choosing a less lethal approach reaffirmed his faith that the Jedi still could stand as keepers of the peace and not a tool of war.

As they were deciding their best course of action, the elderly Jedi would offer his own, "I have considerable powers of persuasion. They likely won't be threatened by an elderly man like myself. If negotiating verbally fails I still have a few tricks up my sleeve from my predecessors that could help in subduing them without harming them." The green crystal on his cane pulsed and glowed, releasing a comforting aura to put their worries to ease. Doubt was a powerful enemy, but one that anyone could withstand with the right mindset. And when they could act freely without doubt, there would be little that Jedi could not accomplish.

[member="Cassus Stoma"] | [member="Harper Kade"] | [member="Alden Belmont"] | [member="Ember Farseer"] | [member="Anais Auraeli"] | [member="Zai Avery"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"]​

 

[H3xle]

Location: Nelun, Nibelungen
Objective: Assist Citizenry

--

In the domain that once belonged to the Ancient Eye, Jedi were something of a rarity, especially moving openly. Word of such got around, Jedi were symbols of hope to many populations around the galaxy. Despite the pitfalls that had befallen the Orders in recent years, despite the fact that few populations wanted to admit that the Jedi still gave them slim glimmers of hope, people talked.

Once word had reached Danom, he sought out to find these Jedi. He'd been on the planet a while, trying to help here and there without letting his presence known to more than a handful. By himself, he could only do so much openly, and so much more in the shadows. With others, though, he could operate in the light once more.

He came upon the group of Jedi as they were sizing up a water treatment plant. Word had been that a group of Ancient Eye troops had set up a shake down ring, people pay what little they have in order to get clean water. In a place like Nelun, water was hard to come by any other way.

From the mindset of the criminally deranged, it was a good gambit.

Danom moved over the roofs of nearby buildings, some of them having formerly been a random middle floor for larger buildings that have since been violently deconstructed, running within a cloak of obfuscation that simply made him the least interesting thing to look at.

Aside of the force borne cloak, he wore road worn clothes, enclosed in a road worn poncho and overly large hat. His features were entirely hidden except for flashes of dark skin beneath the hat as he leapt across large gaps between some buildings.

At the edge of one building he stopped, his gait rolling to a stop smoothly against a crumbled wall overlooking a lower building. Beyond that building was the group of Jedi he had been looking for, or so the concentration of force sensitive signatures led him to believe.

Atop the intervening building, however, a form crawled for the edge. It moved slowly, deliberately. Garbed in similar clothes to those Danom wore, designed to blend into the crumbling infrastructure of urban areas on this planet, though instead of Danom's weapons there was the form of a long, slim rifle.

With only that one moment's hesitation, Danom dove over the low wall, completing a single, slow flip in the air before landing mere feet behind the crawling figure. He could have landed softly, using the force even more heavily, but instead went for the easy way to get the sniper's attention.

The figure whirled, pulling and firing a blaster with the ease and accuracy of heavy training and long practice.

Danom's gauntleted right hand slipped from the poncho, a brief flicker of soft blue light as the cylinder in his hand revealed it's true nature as a lightsaber, and the bolt deflected harmlessly into the ground. With the easy deflection, Danom strode forward, twisting his torso as his gauntleted left hand slipped out of the poncho and connected his second knuckle to the sniper's temple.

"Lights out." Danom muttered under his breath as he pulled out a pair of zip ties and secured the sniper.

Danom looked towards the group as he slung the sniper over his shoulder, hefting the rifle in his left hand, and dropped from the roof. He landed hard, using the force to soften his landing, and letting his gait bleed off any extra momentum as he jogged towards the group.

When he got to the edge of conversational distance, about twelve feet away, he let the unconscious sniper down to the ground, quickly stripped the powercell form the sniper rifle, and dropped both pieces.

"Afternoon..." He said, finally, as he tipped his hat off of his head to hang by a strap around his neck. He looked towards each of them in turn.

--​

[member="Cassus Stoma"] | [member="Harper Kade"] | [member="Alden Belmont"] | [member="Ember Farseer"] | [member="Anais Auraeli"] | [member="Zai Avery"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"] | [member="Solidor Slane"]
​

 

[Hansen]

Anarielle Giala Mero,
Nibelungen Surface
Near Water Plant
Ruined Four-Story Dwelling Roof.

Keen gaze watches flanked by eyelids that narrowed in focus from atop some tall albeit ruined building; the way she'd heard things these robed individuals beneath her gaze were Jedi and though they looked the part anyone could wear those beige and khaki robes without truly understanding the Code and what it means to live by it. Everything seemed to be going well, Anari wore some denym trousers and some double-breasted overcoat for warmth that appeared to be hastily thrown over the blouse beneath it on account of half its' broad collar being tucked inward rather than outwards. "Now to watch and wait Ach-Kay, not like you can do much of any else." Anari smirks gently planting herself down atop a dust-covered Durasteel bench with attention still cast towards the mostly constructed water-treatment plant, so much of the Galaxy had changed and she wondered what sorry excuse for an Engineer placed the pipes ABOVE the Soil, for something being constructed in what ostensibly appreared to be a Warzone not long ago they didn't seem particularly concerned about damage. "Interjection: I do what you have programmed me to do Mistress Mero, protect your person and violently destroy those who would jeopardize our safety. For righteousness and peace of the Galaxy of course." The Droids' attempt at humour would generally fall flat for many, but Anari did refurbish the unit centuries ago and so casts him a Smirk, Kay had noticed that as of late his Master had been somewhat upset and the Re-programmed Assassin Droid now served the best he knows how. "Your puckish charm never ceases to amuse me." Kay procudes the droid equivelent of a smile the best an Assassin Droid could with some sharp-pitched noise eminating from his vocabulary and then re-produces Anari's statement perfectly, earning a scowl from the Sephi Engineer and Programmer. "THAT's a behaviour I didn't program, have you been writing to your own memory again?" Inspecting his holstered blaster pistol for a moment. "Answer: I've saved it so that the next time I disappoint you master I might have an acerbic retort."

Rolling her spheres around within their sockets towards the Bronze-coloured droid. "That didn't answer my question Kay." Lazily turning Kay starts moving towards the ceiling's lip which stops shy of his Durasteel feet. "Observation: And you don't need an answer, your considerable and impressive abilities not withstanding." Anari rises from the holed Durasteel bench and steadily moves beside Kay and looks down over the gathering crowd and small gaggle of what was obviously Jedi, nearby in the distance some robed figure or loosely clothed figure wielding what is unmistakably a blue-bladed Lightsaber subdue an armed individual and can't help but give an approving nod though she inwardly criticised the application of a closed-fist strike to the would-be Assassins head. It didn't surprise Anari that the alleged Dark-Side adepts within the haphazardly built water plant might have possessed an overwatch capability or maybe it was some unscrupulous bounty hunter attempting to claim some underworld prize for Jedi? The Sephi Woman couldn't say. "See that Ach-Kay? You should move like that, but I think the servos and actuator joints are getting a bit old hey?" Anari playfully elbows the Droid who dwarfed her stature into where his ribs would correlate. "Witty Retort: Only because you're a cheap Engineer and Machinist refusing to replace them until failure, Master." Anari looks to the Bronze figure and releases a feigned gasp and clasps at chest with a leather gloved hand glass scraping beneath her black boots. "Oh, calamity mine ears have heard the truth and it has slain me!" The Sarcastic remark earns the Droid's gaze and he gives a silent approving nod to acknowledge and accept her sarcastic retort, offering the capitulation to his Master, though only for now the Droid's circuits resolved to verbally corner and dominate their banter later with a surprise-wit filled assault.

[member="Danom Zavr"] [member="Solidor Slane"] [member="Cassus Stoma"] [member="Ember Farseer"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Harper Kade"] [member="Alden Belmont"] [member="Zai Avery"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Hurrying towards the massive armored figure, Ember received Harper's telepathic message and only felt the turmoil on the surface within her. The Jedi Knight left it to Alden. The pair completed and balanced each other, he had noticed that numerous times earlier in the brief time he had known them. Right now Ember had to meet the armored Herglic and figure out his motivations.

Or the other way around as the behemoth greeted him by name and a sharp toothed grin.

Master

How long had it been since he had heard someone turn to a Jedi with that title? Probably a long, long time, he figured.

"Every additional hand will help the people here." Ember nodded respectfully. Tapping the Force he sense no ill thoughts or threats from the Herglic. The Jedi turned around to look back at where the other three were plotting to find out the appearance of more people there that he did not recognize. A frail boy, a young man, an athletic man and an elderly. Hopefully more volunteers.

He gestured for the Herglic to follow.

"Bandits have entrenched themselves in the local sanitation plant. We are trying to take the plant back." Henexplained hopefully with the Herglic following him. "As non-violently as possible." The Jedi added glancing at the walking one man army.

"Alden, I've got more hands on deck for the distraction. If needed we can distract them from elsewhere either or his height might prove handy getting Harper up." He said as the two joined the group plotting the action.

[member="Alden Belmont"] [member="Harper Kade"] [member="Anais Auraeli"] [member="Zai Avery"] [member="Cassus Stoma"] [member="Anari Mero"] [member="Solidor Slane"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Danom Zavr"]