Always in Motion is the Future (Galactic Alliance: New Jedi Order)

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[SIZE=11pt]SULLUST[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]GALACTIC ALLIANCE[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Scar of Ilum[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], a fifty-metre transport with the shields and chutzpah of a much larger ship, touched down at the temple of the New Jedi Order. ‘Down’ was a bit of a misnomer: much of the temple hung suspended, connected to the ground by a narrow conduit, almost like a skyhook or some reinterpretation of a Bespin city. The [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Scar [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]slid into a landing bay far above the earth. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Leaving most of her crew aboard, Mara headed down the ramp to meet whatever Jedi would meet her. She’d called ahead; her name was known to the Alliance, and she’d helped them many times. Insofar as she belonged anywhere, it might be here.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]At her side came her chief of staff, Eiarra Denirel, a middle-aged Chalactan and another Master of the Force. It was Eiarra who’d recommended speaking with the New Jedi Order about the vision they’d shared while passing through the Suarbi system.[/SIZE]

 

[H3xle]

Nicolas stood, awaiting [member="mara merrill"] just outside of the hangar that she had landed in. He had taken up residence with the Alliance's New Jedi Order since the First Order incursion at Skor. There was a large conflict brewing here, and he felt he would be of the most help here, instead of traveling the galaxy as he once had. His meditations had been troubled of late. Clouds had obscured his visions within his meditations for a time, and more had come and gone like an acid fog burned away by the light.

So, when Mara had called to schedule a meeting with any Jedi about strange visions, he had leapt at the chance. He felt that there was a thread linking the visions, and wanted confirmation before planning anything further. Nicolas had his assumptions, but he loathed acting on such without careful deliberation.

As Mara's ship touched down, he stepped forward and offered her a smile and his hand.

"Mara Merrill, I presume." He said as he drew near. "I am Nicolas Thorne."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Nicolas Thorne"]

“Of the Republic? Nice to meet you.” Mara glanced at the Chalactan woman, who stepped up beside her.

“Eiarra Denirel, chief of staff to Miss Merrill. A pleasure, Master Thorne.”

Mara met Nicolas’ gaze and held it. “We’re hoping the Order can help us make sense of a vision that we both had. We were passing through the Suarbi system en route to the Coalition, and we had a...how did you put it, Eiarra?”

“Mingled relief and terror. A sense of disaster averted or perhaps just delayed. The future, or a possible future, or a present that might have been. There were warships, Star Destroyers. The Dark Side. Master Thorne, neither Miss Merrill nor myself is a Jedi Knight, and visions like these aren’t our specialties.”

 

[H3xle]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

"The pleasure is mine Miss Denirel." Nicolas said and shook her hand. "Please, call me Nicolas."

He listened to their description, and a flutter in his stomach that both frightened and excited him. His face remained pleasantly passive as he listened attentively.

"That is indeed a troubling vision. To be completely honest and up front, you two are not the only ones who have had such visions. I have had similar over the last few days. Mine took the form of storm clouds pushing in from one side, and another, smaller set started to block out the light from the other horizon. These clouds were disgusting, acidic clouds. The smaller cloud went away as it neared the light, as if one catastrophe was averted somehow. I have my assumptions on the matter, but if you have any opinions on what it means, I would like to hear them." He said as he motioned for them to walk with him in towards the interior of the temple. "And please, accept my welcome to stay here at the temple as long as you need or want, we have the room and could use any help in defining these visions."

 

[Oros]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Nicolas Thorne"]

Of all the poisonous places on all the poisonous worlds that humanoids saw fit to settle and live upon, the Sullust Jedi Temple was among the ones Oros found the least intolerable. Deep in the bowels of the sinkhole below the structure's raised dome, the New Jedi Order had been kind enough to furnish the Celegian with a spacious set of vacuum sealed chambers with the environmental systems set to his native atmosphere, accessible through an airlock so as not to accidentally poison any passersby. The Jedi Librarian tried not to spend all of his time outside of his duties locked away like a hermit, minor discomforts notwithstanding, and floating suspended in a pool of sustaining liquid within his mobile life support tank the curious Knight was far from his chambers now.

Oros neared the landing pad, and braced himself for the inevitable stares and double takes. As unobtrusive as he tried to be, there was no avoiding both the otherness of his appearance and the obvious nature of his handicap. The Librarian had made a habit of keeping track of key phrases in open transmissions between the Order and other sensitives, always on the lookout for curiosities that might pique his interest or inspire his research. When he had read transcripts concerning Force visions, he had hurried from one end of the Temple to the other as quickly as he was capable. So as his repulsorlift powered crystalline life support tank finally came across the correct hangar, emitting a sonic hum as it moved at a cadence similar to footfalls, he found he had arrived just in time to catch the arriving Miss Merrill on the landing pad as she was being ushered in by one of the Order's more senior Jedi.

Ah, Master Thorne, yes? the Celegian communicated telepathically to the both of them, the touch of his thoughts brushing liltingly against their minds in a minimally invasive manner. Oros knew of the other Jedi, but they had not been formally introduced, I am Librarian Oros. I hope you and our esteemed guests will forgive my intrusion. With the consent of all parties, I would very much like to offer my technical and metaphysical expertise in getting to the bottom of this apparent mystery Master Merrill described in her transmissions.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Oros"] [member="Nicolas Thorne"]

"We'd be happy to accept your hospitality, Master Thorne," said Eiarra. "I'm sure the rest of the crew could use some shore leave on Sulon."

As she and Mara followed Thorne, Mara's empathic senses buzzed with someone else's curiosity. A crystalline tank of ocher gas hovered into view, and inside was...

...well, the source of the curiosity, and that was just about all she could assess about him/her/them/it. At least until a deliciously alien mind brushed hers with a message.

"Nice to meet you, Librarian," she said, eyes tracing the curve of his brain-bulb, the sinewy length of his tentacles. "Very nice indeed. Call me Mara - nobody calls me 'Esteemed Guest' but my pilot's license and my mother. I'll take whatever help you can give me; I get the feeling you'll have to dig into my mind to get the detail we need. A telepath always comes in handy."

 

[H3xle]

@Oros @Mara D'Lessio Merrill

Nicolas smiled and nodded, about to introduce the Librarian as Oros neared, but refrained as the telepathic voice sounded in his head.

"Indeed, Librarian Oros, you're help in this regard would be invaluable." He replied. His hands slipped behind his back into a comfortable stance as they moved inward. "I am not as experienced in such areas of the Force as you. Have we heard if any others in the Temple have reported visions?" He asked as they walked further from the hangar.

They arrived from the hangar ring into a large arboretum, plants from many different planets were housed here. There were people standing about in small knots, speaking in respectful tones. Some looked toward the group with interest and offered distant pleasantries before returning to their conversations.

"I would suggest we take one of the offices in the library, so as not to disturb anyone else until we know more."

 

[Oros]

[member="Nicolas Thorne"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Of all the reactions Oros had come to expect from humanoids encountering him for the first time over the centuries, the Celegian had been just about certain they had run out of ways to surprise him. But the particular frequency of empathic waves Master Merrill was not so bashfully directing his way was something unexpected, and at her words the Librarian found himself grateful that the color of his skin was naturally pink, and that most sentients did not possess the capacity to perceive the correct wavelength of his species' equivalent to a visible embarrassment.

Yes well um, we Celegians are naturally gifted in...he trailed off, but only briefly...in matters specifically related to telepathy, of course. Hmm, Master Thorne? Other reports! Why not specifically, no, but now that you mention it-

Allowing himself to be politely cut off by the other resident of the Temple, Oros realized in all the 'excitement' he had lost the focus necessary to keep his thoughts channeled at just the three of them.

Ah yes, of course Master, another pause, Mara.

Telepathically, the Celegian swiveled his containment tank in the equivalent of a polite gesture for Thorne to take the lead. Resolvedly, the Knight convinced himself that it was far more a matter of protocol in deferring to his superior, and hardly in any way an opportunity to better sense their visitor's exotic bipedal figure.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Nicolas Thorne"] [member="Oros"]

"By all means, Master Thorne."

As the little party proceeded to the library offices, Mara glanced back over her shoulder and threw Oros the empathic equivalent of a smile. From her Zeltron mother, she'd inherited empathic senses that let her perceive and understand emotion on a deep level. The Celegian's metaphysical blush and telepathic stammer struck Mara as downright appealing.

Though this matter was pretty solidly serious, or perhaps because it was, she couldn't help dwelling on Oros. Flirting with someone new and interesting could only help. She added a bit of a shimmy to her walk, conscious of his attention. Maybe she could remind him a little of his people's tentacles. Maybe he'd just sense that she was having fun.

They reached the library and adjourned to one of the side offices. Mara leaned back in a comfortable chair and crossed her legs, eyes wandering over the Celegian. The murky yellow tank left just enough to the imagination.

"We'll have to get much closer telepathically, Oros, if you're going to help me recover the details of my vision. Don't worry about penetrating my privacy."

 

[Isar Kislo]

Isar had been seated comfortably in the library, studying some nonsense or some other that the creators had attempted to force into his brain during his time in the training pens of Kiffu. Blue-white orbs lifted from the scrolls on Art of the Small as a number of individuals entered the library. The otherwise tranquil nature of the location seemed immensely shattered by even the faintest of whispers. A chorus of footfalls prickled the hair on the back of his neck, but his curiosity was not for the why so much as the...whom. The Galactic Alliance and by extension the New Jedi Order were vast organizations. Isar had no doubt there were a great many he still had yet to meet.

The young Jedi's first thought was to...shrug off the activity completely. That was the rational part of his mind speaking. However, the troublesome, meddling part of his personality that was no doubt courtesy of his maternal genetic donor and readily apparent in his sister, [member="Loske Matson"], urged the young Kiffar to come to his feet, casually stepping forward towards the room the group had adjourned to. Soft footfalls reverberated very lightly as Isar approached the office.

[member="Nicolas Thorne"] | [member="Oros"] | [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Oros]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Nicolas Thorne"] [member="Isar Kislo"]


When the had finally reached the Sullust Temple's main library proper, Oros was forced to dispel any remaining notions of propriety as he moved to the head of the group to take the lead and, in so doing could not help but note the sensation of unmistakable disappointing as he passed by the beyond friendly Master Merrill. Master Thorne was no stranger to the Temple institutions of learning, but his duties as a senior Jedi within the Order no doubt kept him occupied with a variety of responsibilities throughout the structure and beyond. Whereas for the Celegian, these hallowed halls served as the nexus point for his own contributions to the NJO, such as they were.

Leading them past the main atrium and off to the side of one of the primary Stacks (the rooms which housed shelves filled with the Order's more mundane writings), Oros conveyed them not to an open office or meeting room, but his office. As a minor perk of his duties as Librarian, the Knight maintained a small room here where he could meet with Padawans and other full fledged librarians in a somewhat less cyanogen-based environment than his own private rooms. Swiveling his tank around to address the party of three, the Celegian Knight showed no signs as to whether he had detected the presence of the new arrival skulking just outside the office, and pressed on anyway after imperceptibly coloring once again at Mara's scandalous remarks.

I, yes, well...hm, reports of other disturbing visions you say? comfortable in such a setting, Oros broadcast his thoughts without restriction, allowing anyone close enough to the office to pick up on them as well, Sadly, in these times the galaxy is a somewhat disturbing place, and visions such as these are not altogether uncommon. It may be more difficult than you would assume to find accounts with similar themes as to yours, and that is if they were even reported. Candidly, it is my belief that the two of you just so happened to meet after having received such similar visions goes beyond mundane coincidence. I would assert some dharmic significance, what the ancient Gree referred to as a 'black bisector'...forgive me, that is, some greater purpose brought you both here today. Here at the Temple, we tend to call such things the will of the Force.