Are all Jedi this reckless? Just the good ones…

[Corvus Raaf]

"A mission," Corvus said, returning the comlink to her belt. "I’m to go to Ord Sigatt."

"Ord Sigatt?" The Republic trooper shook his head. "I've never heard of it."

"It's in the Outer Rim Territories."

The Lieutenant lifted his eyebrows. It wasn't every day that Jedi were assigned to the Outer Rim. He said, "Isn't that a little out of your usual jurisdiction?"

"Not when a Republic refinery ship and its crew goes missing there."

Corvus turned and headed for the mouth of the cave. The trooper directed his squad to secure the area as he followed, walking fast to keep up with the Jedi Master's long strides. They returned to Corvus’ ship where they parted company. “You’ll be fine from here on in,” she said as the landing ramp raised.

Once inside , she set the coordinates for Ord Sigatt into the navicomputer, and lifted away from the frozen world she’d been on – and she hated cold planets. Minutes later, she was racing through hyperspace to the Outer Rim.

Thousands of years before Corvus’ life-time, when the Galactic Republic was attempting to expand its government beyond the more travelled trade routes, the Republic established advance military and scout bases on several remote worlds.

These planets and moons were designated as Ords, an abbreviation of Ordnance/Regional Depots. Over time, the Jedi Order replaced the Republic militia, and some of the Ords evolved into weapons disposal centres and storage facilities, while others were adopted by colonists.

Ord Sigatt was a small, rocky planet with mostly barren terrain and a few scattered lakes. For centuries, its modest population consisted of people who stayed only until they found somewhere else to go. Some long-time colonists lived on the outskirts of the main settlement, but most lived close to the spaceport, the energy station, or the water treatment facility that made up the main settlement. As for tourism, most travellers regarded Ord Sigatt as little more than a place to rest or refuel their ships. But all that changed after a prospector's discovery of a large deposit of carvanium, a metal used in alloys such as durasteel.

Almost overnight, Ord Sigatt was transformed into a mining world. Many colonists became instantly wealthy when they sold their properties to offworld consortiums. Mammoth vehicles were delivered to excavate the carvanium, and the spaceport expanded to accommodate the refinery ships. The settlement's population increased rapidly with migrant labourers and soldiers of fortune, and a sprawl of temporary housing had sprung up for the new arrivals.

But that was also history now. Corvus reviewed these details during her journey through hyperspace. Studying transmitted data from Ossus, Corvus read that the missing refinery ship had been scheduled to pick up a shipment two days ago, but when it failed to return to Republic space, a local politician notified the Council.

Another note from the Ord Sigatt Spaceport said it never reached there.

So she checked for recent acts of piracy or space weather anomalies in the system. Nothing had been reported.

A signal light flashed on the Corvette’s console and Corvus noted she was coming out of hyperspace.

There was a slight shudder as the ship dropped out of hyperspace and entered realspace. Outside the cockpit transparisteel window, a rush of bright light washed away from view and was replaced by a solitary planet amidst a field of distant stars. She confirmed that the planet was Ord Sigatt. She was about to notify the spaceport that she was arriving when she had second thoughts.

For all she knew, the spaceport authorities may have something to do with the missing ship. So she decided to arrive unannounced, setting a course for one of the public hangars on the outskirts.

After gaining clearance from the spaceport, she landed her ship in an open-roof hangar. She was somewhat relieved to learn that local climate was considerably warmer than the one she left, but as she stepped down the landing ramp, she realized the air was not nearly so clean.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Cambrian Twi'lek sat hunched over in her seat, index finger and thumb gently rubbing her tired eyes before slumping her forehead into the palm of her hand. There were some truly backwater planets out on the edges of space, but this one...This one sure took first prize. Nearly everything about the "civilized" areas of the planet nauseated her senses to point break. How people lived their lives out here was beyond her comprehension. The air smelled of nothing short of pollutants, a drowning atmosphere thousands of years in the making. Soil that crumbled beneath one's feet, giving way to the memories of disasters long since passed. Even the locals themselves had an aura about them that made her skin feel dirty simply by association.

A light cough cleared her throat of dust filled lungs as she reached down to the table before her, scooping up her now room temperature tea with her free hand, blindly sipping its generally unpleasant, though at least tolerable taste. Why had she even come here? Oh, right, when your ship tells you that you don't have enough fuel to make the jump, you don't tell it to kark off and do it anyway. This is how you end up on desolate, filthy planets like this one. Not by choice, no, nobody ends up here by choice unless they are crazy, on the run, or both.

"Damnit, Sera. Sometimes you can be a real schutta." A quiet murmur under her breath. Sometimes one just needed to let it out.

She had the credits, that wasn't so much the issue. It was finding someone, anyone, willing to actually sell the now damaged fuel cell converter required to get off the rock she was stranded on. There weren't too many friendly folk who would take Republic credits out here, and even less who actually could supply the part. So here she sat, in some dusty old diner in the center of what they considered town, sipping strange tea and wondering just how far she had fallen from the life she had before.

While lost in her own thoughts a rather large, rough hand placed itself on her shoulder, followed by a gruff sounding voice that boomed above her.

"Well, you're nottttt from aroundddddd here, are you litttttle one?"

Sera cocked her head to the side, one eye visible from beneath her cowled hood as she gazed up towards the rather large Trandoshan.

"I asssssked you a quesssssstion, ssssslave girl."

Sera's nose simply twitched a moment."No. I'm not."

A toothy smirk displayed on the brute's face as his hand tightened ever so slightly around her shoulder.

"Why don'ttttt you come wittttth me and I will findddd you sssssome workkk?"

Sera took another sip of the tea before placing the cup down on the table, her left hand pulling back the cowl on her hood so that she could focus both eyes on the man.

"No, thank you. I'm quite fine here."

The displeasure the Trandoshan felt towards her reply was transmitted through the sharp increase in pressure on her shoulder, his clawlike nails digging into her skin through the cloak she wore, causing a mild wince.

"Thatttt wasssssssn't an offer littttle one." The reptilian's hand reached low to his belt for his blaster, and the rest of the diner went silent, staring at the two in a silent panic. Crime wasn't anything unusual for planets like this, least of all one with a reputation for such.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

A starship maintenance droid directed her to the hangar's exit. She had almost reached the exit when two uniformed security guards stepped out from the shadows to block her path. Both guards had blaster rifles slung over her shoulders, and their hard expressions indicated that they were prepared to use the weapons if necessary. One of the guards looked at her and snarled, "You carrying weapons?"

Corvus raised his right hand slowly and made a slight sweeping gesture with her fingers as she said, "I don't have any weapons."

The guard who had addressed her nodded and said, "No, you don't have any weapons."

"I’m just a harmless trader," she added. "You can let me go on my way."

"Totally harmless," the guard answered. "Go on, then." He and his partner stepped aside, allowing the Jedi to move through the exit.

She stepped out onto a busy street, filled with pedestrian traffic and lined with merchant stalls. As she did, she surveyed the area. She saw a mix of humans and aliens from various worlds, and most wore work clothes and coveralls. Some were seated at tables with food set out in the shade of a nearby hangar. All of the merchants seemed very focused on their customers. And no one was carrying any weapons.

Nothing in the report from the Jedi Council mentioned that blasters were prohibited.

A few seconds later Corvus heard a loud crash. It had sounded from the alley right around the corner, which ran perpendicular to the main street. She walked around the corner and found herself looking at a burly Besalisk. The four-armed alien wore a stained apron and held two trays in his lower hands. A clutter of empty bottles lay scattered around his wide feet. It appeared he had just accidentally dropped the bottles.

She was about to turn back when the Besalisk, grumbling to himself, stooped down and began loading the bottles onto the trays with his upper arms. She was amazed at how fast the alien's hands moved. The Besalisk was reaching toward the last cup when he looked up at her. Eyes wide with surprise, the alien said, "Aw, nuts." Then he lowered the trays to the ground, raised all four of his meaty, four-fingered hands in the air and said, "I surrender."

Confused, Corvus said, "You do?"

"I know better than to mess with Jedi," the Besalisk said, his bristly whiskers trembling slightly. "Even youngsters like yourself."

Suddenly self-concious, Corvus glanced down to make sure her lightsaber had not accidentally become exposed. Seeing that it was still concealed beneath her robes, she returned his gaze to the Besalisk and said, "Who told you I was a Jedi?"

Arms still raised, the Besalisk chuckled, "You did, girl. For one thing, maybe you don't know this, the weave of Jedi robes is pretty distinctive. The real giveaway was when you looked to your hip to make sure your lightsaber wasn't showing. Anyway, you caught me fair and square."

She was astonished by the Besalisk's powers of observation. Taking a step into the alley, she kept her expression neutral as she said cautiously, "So…you must also know why I'm here."

"Gotta hand it to you," he said, winking at her. "I knew I couldn't keep running blasters out of my bar forever. I just never imagined Jedi would come after me."

Running blasters? Corvus was baffled by his admission.

The Besalisk continued, "I won't beg for mercy. I know I done wrong. But I swear, the security goons are the real troublemakers. Bad enough they take over the local government and confiscate everyone's weapons in the name of the law, but when they go stealing land from colonists here, well, I just had to do something. You'll find all the blasters in the back room of the bar. Hadn't begun distributing them to my friends yet."

As she listened, her nimble mind began sifting through the information, connecting details that he already knew. He said, "What do you know of a Repubic ship that’s gone missing?"

"Hidden in a valley, about twenty kilometers north of here," he said. "It's not damaged. My friends and I here, we captured the ship shortly after it arrived in orbit and removed its transponder. We just wanted the local crime-lord to know that we weren't going to leave Ord Sigatt without a fight."

"Did you harm the crew?"

"The crew? " He wrinkled his brow at this, then said, "Come on, you know as well as I do that the ship is a drone barge, doesn't have a crew except for the droids that…that…" He gasped, then he narrowed his gaze at Corvus.

"Go on," she said.

He shook his thick head. "Son of a gundark," he said. "You got me, Jedi. You tried to hide it, but I can see it in your eyes right now. You had no idea that I was up to anything but dropping bottles before I opened my big mouth. Until one minute ago, I prided myself on how well I kept secrets, but now..."

"Help!"

The cry - it sounded like a child's voice - came from outside the alley, behind Corvus. She turned her head fast to see three security guards, carrying blaster rifles and clad in the same uniforms as the pair who'd stopped her at the hangar. One of the guards was gripping the collar of a young boy, who looked about nine years old. A younger child, a girl, clutched at the boy protectively.

Corvus shot a severe glance at the bar owner and said, "Stay here!" Then she ran out of the alley, where pedestrians had already formed a small crowd around the guards and the two children.

The guard who had grabbed at the boy growled, "I saw you throw that rock at me, whelp ! Now you're going to pay for it!"

"Unhand him," Corvus said as she moved toward the guards.

Keeping one hand on the boy's collar, the guard glanced at Corvus and barked, "Back off, woman!" And then he shifted his blaster rifle, bringing it up towards Corvus.

Her lightsaber flashed, sweeping through the rifle's barrel. The guard released the boy, who fell back into his young sister's arms as the shattered barrel fell and rolled across the street. The other two guards moved as if they were about to raise her own rifles, but then they looked beyond the blazing lightsaber to meet Corvus’ gaze.

"A Jedi," murmered a voice from the crowd. "She's a Jedi!"

A silence fell over the street, all eyes on Corvus and the guards. She was about to order the guards to drop her weapons, but before she could get a word out, the entire crowd broke out in an exultant cheer.

Corvus kept her eyes trained on the guards. As the crowd continued to cheer for the Jedi, the guards dropped their weapons.

Remembering the bar owner, she glanced back to the alley, where he saw him leaning against the wall outside the bar. He had joined in the applause, clapping hands with his two upper arms while using his lower hands to point to the ground. He had stayed where he was told.

Corvus dismissed the guards and the crowd and returned to the alley. “How about we talk about blasters and that ship?”

“Sure, but grab yourself a seat and I’ll brink you the finest blue milk in the Outer Rim."

And so it was that Corvus entered the bar – and saw who just happened to be sitting at one of the tables…

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Seraphina sighed. Trandoshans; She'd never met one she liked. They were all relatively the same. Big dumb brutes with an overwhelming appetite for making stupid decisions. As his grip tightened around her shoulder her lips parted and exhaled a gasp of moderate pain. Sure, she could easily pull her saber and skewer the reptile where he stood, but that would be an awful quick give away as to what she was, as well as cause some unforseen repercussions that she may or may not desire. It was best to play it safe, especially here. So for now she'd have to play the game she was forced into.

"Please let go of my shoulder. You're hurting me, and there's no need to cause a disturbance in this establishment. You're scaring the patrons."

She spoke, but it was clear she may as well have been talking to the table beneath her, as the reptilian was clearly unmoved by her request, and cared little for the safety or sense of well being for the others. "You ttttthink I am hurtttttting you now? Ifffff you don'tttttt get your karkkkkking fruit colored asssssss up from thisssss sssssseat you'll feel pain unlike anyttttthing you can imagine."

Sera's eyes rolled. The way they talked, it took them twice the amount of time to get a single sentence out. It bored her listening to them force galactic basic from their dimwitted brains. Luckily for her though, he wasn't smart enough to realize that if he truly wanted to hurt her, the twin lekku adorning her head that draped behind her would be a far more convincing argument. Alas, brutes are brutes, and to her delight he had not the smarts to effectively coax her into whatever plan he had cooked up.

"Very well. As you wish. Let's go." Her eyes turned for a moment as she heard the sound of cheering just as the owner returned back inside from whatever it was he was doing moments before, though this time with another patron. Wait - No...That's no patron! Almost instantaneously the situation had entirely changed. The grand master of the Jedi order just so happened to walk into the very same place where she was sitting, at this very moment in time. Sera's eyes locked on Corvus' and widened, half in disbelief at what she was seeing. Her lips formed Corvus' name, almost in a questioning manner, but without a sound. She still had her lizard friend to deal with, except now that situation was compounded by the fact that she would be forced to reveal herself to the entire establishment.

The Trandoshan pressed his blaster against the side of her stomach, motioning for her to stand up. Sera rose from the seat, though her eyes were still fixated on Corvus as she was seated. "A wisssssse choiccccce. You'll fetccch a good pricccccce." The Twi'lek bit her lower lip nearly to the point of drawing her own blood. She'd either have to act now, or take a gamble as to what Corvus would do.

"I'm sorry. Change of plans I'm afraid." Before the reptile could fully process what she had just said, the girl's pair of lightsabers were drawn from beneath her covered clothing, ignited, and slashed forward, severing both the blaster, and the Trandoshan's hand back to the wrist, ensuring that he would never hold a weapon in that hand again. As quickly as her weapons were drawn they were returned to her side, and the yelp of pain that echoed through the diner could likely be heard blocks away as the brute took his hastey leave. The diner remained wide-eyed and stationary, almost as if time had momentarily stopped for everyone present. It seemed like everyone was awestruck at what had just happened. Regardless, the jig was up, whatever visage she had of being a weary traveler was now gone, and Corvus had stumbled across her as well.

Walking over to where her friend and mentor sat she took up her own aside from her, leaning her head down towards the table as she spoke softly, and quietly to an old friend, a friend whom she was unsure of what they may have to say. "Well, this is unexpected."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus watched and wondered. To other patrons, the move was so swift it was over in a flash – and they wouldn’t appreciate how much activity went into such a short period of time.

Of course the patrons followed Sera’s movement to where Corvus was sitting. “Easy…Jedi business. Go back to your meals,” she offered. There was no point in hiding who they were – especially given Corvus’ display outside.

But before she spoke to her fellow Jedi, she glanced at the owner of the establishment. “One of yours?” She indicated the blaster rather than the owner.

He shook his head and hastily went to clean up the mess – which was minimal given the wound had cauterised immediately.

“So…we’re no doubt thinking the same question – but I got in there first. So we’ll park the, why are you here for a moment and start with how are you?”

There was a beam on Corvus’ face and Sera would no doubt pick up on the fact that the cold-fish was positively leaking emotions. Clearly something had changed for the Corellian.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Seraphina's eyes shifted as her head twisted slightly back to ensure that the rest of the folk in the establishment went back to their business before adjusting to Corvus.

The Twi'lek assumed whatever it was Corvus asked of the owner had to do at least partially with why she was on the same ill-fated planet as Sera, but chose not to jump into the subject right away, instead giving a huffed laugh. "Jedi business. I haven't heard that in a while." She offered a smile to the grand master, only to realize that she was in fact lit up like some kind of holiday festival as well. It was almost frightening to Sera to see her so full of exuberance, it wasn't the Corvus she was familiar with at all.

"I'm well." She gestured a small wave of her hand, "It's not often I get to experience the excitement of being abducted into slavery midday in the middle of a diner, though it does always seem to end the same way for them. There are a few lonely hands out there in the galaxy." She smirked, the joke was pretty cynical, even for her.

"Judging by your facial expression, I trust you're doing well? You look like a little kid after they were given a birthday gift."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened and wondered if Sera was being purposefully vague. She had enough experience not to press when information was slow in coming and presumed her fellow Master would share what was necessary and that was perfectly fine for Corvus.

She imagined Sera roaming the galaxy, keeping a low-profile but not backing down from dispensing justice when required.

And of course, the question was pointed straight back to her. It was a fair tactic and if anything, Corvus would have to be careful not to talk too much.

“I’m doing very well.” Her smile was broad and – if Sera wasn’t mistaken – a small blush on her cheeks.

“The Order has many challenges – but that’s hardly new. We’ve faced worse – although having our Holocrons stolen by a purported Light-sided Jedi Order was a new one on me.” Her demeanour suggested she was already tired of the subject.

“The Republic is hanging on in there. And it will have us to serve it for as long as it needs us.”

“As for me…you could say I found ten thousand birthday presents. I have…” she was clearly looking for the right words, “Learned to be a person. I am Corvus. Not Corvus the Jedi and Corvus the private person, which was my initial goal – but just Corvus. Which has led to – or rather come from – a position where I access my emotions most of the time. Other than the battle-field, I am a regular person – just one that happens to be a Jedi.”

“And a regular person that has found someone.” Now she blushed fully. “It’s come in for a bit of public debate. Can a Jedi have a relationship? Yet nobody ever questioned me having a best friend – or a sister.”

“But I am comfortable that I am a Jedi first, foremost and only. Nothing would jeopardise that. So I am…in love.” If her smile could get any wider, it would be hard to see how. “Of course this is me we’re talking about, so the fact she’s over ten thousand years old is worth a mention. And no, not in that sense, she was suspended in some sort of stasis until I found her. It was actually very romantic.”

“And she completes me. It’s…wonderful.”

“And I should stop now, shouldn’t I?”

“So…what are you doing here.” The grin, it seemed, was ever-present.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera's eyes lifted in a confused manner, first at the mention of the Order's holocrons being supposedly stolen by another Jedi Order, which was perplexing in all aspects. How was it possible that the Order had lost such critical pieces of Jedi history? And not only how, but why would another Jedi Order steal them? That is a paradox of such grand proportions that it left the Twi'lek relatively awestruck.

"The holocrons were stolen by Jedi? It's terribly concerning the way so many define themselves as Jedi, keepers of the peace, and defenders of the light when they openly steal, destroy, and cause general harm to others for the sake of personal or arbitrary gain."

She took a breath, realizing she sounded a bit hypocritical, given that she had left the Order herself, though she could still say she'd never stolen or given anything away either. She lingered on the thought for a few moments, wondering just how much worse things had gotten since she'd left. It didn't sound promising. "You always were an optimist for the Republic, Corvus." She smiled, even if it were a bit of a pained, sympathetic smile.

Though as Corvus talked more about discovering herself and having feelings for someone, feelings that were deeper than a simple friendship or bond, it slightly confused her. She'd never been one to allow herself the luxury of sharing true, meaningful feelings with anyone, let alone whoever this ancient person was. Still, she was happy to see that the woman had finally allowed herself the humanity she deserved, to be able to connect with someone.

"Well, that is something worthy of a full page write up in the Republic Galactic News, I would imagine. Cold Fish Corvus Comes to Life could be the title." She laughed, patting her gently on the shoulder. "You did it. You conquered your fear of being alive. I will admit, your choice of partner sounds incredibly odd, even a bit unpredictable and dangerous, but then again, this is you we're talking about here, so I'd probably expect something like this."

The Twi'lek took a second to pause and leaned in towards the counter to order another cup of Caf, gesturing to her friend to get something as well. It seemed they had a bit to talk about. "As for your question about whether a Jedi can have a relationship? You aren't the first, certainly, and you won't be the last. Jedi from every sect, group, and generation have done so, regardless of the Code they followed or the rules in place. The hardship isn't bending those rules, it's choosing where you stand when it comes to duty over love. What would you give for one, that you wouldn't give for the other?"

Sera wondered just where Corvus stood on that line. "Would you sacrifice the life of the one you love to protect the Order? Would you let a group of younglings be killed to save her?" Sera shrugged, these were hypothetical nonsense questions. "Of course, no matter the answer, the circumstances will always be different, and your choice then may not be what you think it is now. Just keep that in mind."

Tapping her fingers on the table lightly she contemplated how best to answer the rather embarrassing question as to why she was here.

"Not by choice. That's for sure." She scratched at her forehead and looked out the window. "Ship trouble you see." She cleared her throat and looked back to Corvus, though her own pink skin masked the rather embarrassing blush on her own face. "I tried to make a jump, the ship didn't have enough fuel, and I decided that I'd try and push the envelope. Well, I pushed it alright, I pushed it right to the breaking point. So here I am, looking around for a fuel cell converter with Republic credits that nobody wants, on a planet that is known for being about as friendly as Nar Shaddaa."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

“Jorus Merril. He was – along with myself – the only person to know where they were hidden. He decided to take them and hand then to this Order. They knew they were ours but decided to take them for their own.” She shook her head. “A worrying sign, as people are looking to the government they serve as the new beacon of hope against the One Sith. Clearly hope built on sand.”

“But none of my concern.” She smiled. “And not just because I’m the cold-fish. Even a defrosted one.”

The waitress brought across a blue milk. And a straw. No blue moustaches today!

“And some make me feel guilty about Braith – that’s her name by the way – or at least try. But there is truth between my heart and the Force, and that’s all that matters to me. I’ll never break the Code. Or shirk my responsibilities as a Jedi. And she knows and accepts that. The day I feel differently? I’d leave the Order. I shall never compromise.”

Corvus then listened to why Sera was here. “I’m sure we can have a part sent here, or credits arranged in another currency. And in return, you can help me with a little problem.” They both knew that there was no quid pro quo. The fuel cell converter was Sera’s if she wanted to help or not. But the convenience of a trade made it feel less awkward.

“What do you say?”

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera shook her head in dismay. "More splinter groups that decide their way is the way to defeat the Sith. This is becoming quite the trend lately." It seemed that everyone wanted to do things their own way, even if that meant further dividing the resources of every Jedi in the process. "It seems like nobody wants to work together anymore unless they are the ones running the gambit. There's no hope to defeat a unified enemy when there is so much infighting amongst their opposition. It's a hopeless endeavor."

A simple nod at the conclusion of Corvus' words regarding she and Braith was all Sera could really offer. It wasn't as if the Twi'lek could judge her one way or the other. "Well, I hope it works out how you wish for it. The only advice I can offer is to always keep in mind you may be forced to make that decision in the heat of the moment."

The Twi'lek nearly laughed when Corvus mentioned an exchange of help. "Of course I'll help. I've got nothing but time lately, but I have to add, anything that would require the direct attention of the grand master on a planet like this I would hardly call a little problem, dear. What exactly brought you here?" The anticipation of the question nearly made the girl fidget in her seat with excitement.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened to Sera’s advice. Part of her remembered the Twi’lek as a young Padawan. The one that amazed her with her prowess with Telekinesis the first time she saw her. It was easy to forget that between now and then she’d done a lot of growing up. She was a fine Master and was rightly on the Council before her self-imposed exile.

“We do what we can to fight the evil in the galaxy. Many of the groups that promise to be the next new thing are already distant memories. I genuinely hope this one is different, but stealing our Holocrons was an odd way to prove you’re Light-sided.” She shook her head.

“And as for Braith? My only comfort is that those that will aim to force a decision will be the ones with something to gain, so I shall hold that knowledge in my head.”

And to Sera’s final question, she beckoned the bar-owner over. He squashed into the booth alongside Corvus who was clearly in some discomfort in the space he’d afforded her, but she kept her tongue.

“Please explain to Master Shel’tah what you know of the ship. Everything relevant, if you know what I mean.”

He shared the story quickly. Of the dictatorship in place on the planet as well as the stolen ship.

When he concluded, Corvus stared at Sera again. “So, we have a dilemma. Who is the real villain of the piece?”

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera nodded in agreement with Corvus' assessment of the New Jedi Order. "Odd is surely the light way of putting it, absolutely." The Twi'lek had no personal vested interest in the holocrons, but did still believe that they belonged with their rightful Jedi within the Republic. A new Order founded on differing belief systems seemed at odds with the primary principles of the Jedi, especially if this knowledge was being kept away from the Republic's own Jedi.

For now she let the discussion drop, and focused on the story that the barback shared of the ship that Corvus was looking for. When the man finished she crinkled her nose a bit, the right side of her lips pushing upwards towards her cheek as she thought about what had happened and where to start looking.

"Well, I suppose we ought to have a look at this ship, no? Perhaps your new friend can take us to it."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was I'm part slightly annoyed with herself in mentioning the Holocrons. She'd recently been talking to Phylis about inclusivity and how every effort should be made to consider them to be a single Jedi Order - regardless of which Government they served.

So she made a mental note to be less forthcoming with her opinions until this new Order had time to establish what it stood for.

Corvus looked at Sera and smiled. Then she turned to the bar-owner. The Besalisk looked the epitome of lawfulness. Although his apron probably contravened a dozen health statutes all by itself.

"Do you have access to a speeder? I presume the craft is outside of the city?"

At which point the Besalisk chuckled. "Yes...and yes. Give me ten minutes and meet me out front. Have something to eat while you wait."

Corvus wrinkled her nose. "I don't suppose you have ryshcate?"

He beamed at her. "As a matter of fact I do. And what will this beautiful Jedi have?" He now faced Sera, innocence and charm plastered across his face in equal measures. Along with some ketchup. And what looked like oil.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera simply shook her head and smiled. "You Corellians and your fancy cakes." She turned to the man, "Rycrit Stew if you can, otherwise Roast Gornt is fine." Sera, despite not having been a born native of Ryloth still enjoyed many of their traditional foods, having never really acquired the taste for the fancier pastry dishes and meals typically found by the more well off planets. As the man trotted away Sera turned back to Corvus, whom still reminded her of an overly active child now that she'd discovered her humanity.

"So, while I say that I don't mean to pry, curiosity does happen to have hold of me at the moment so I have to ask for the sake of asking, but feel free to not answer, I wouldn't be offended." The woman tapped her fingers against her chin a few times while she drummed up the words. "Is this courtship something of a secret between a select few? Or within the Jedi, or is this common knowledge for all of the Republic? And regardless of the answer to that, where does Braith stand in all of this? Is, or was she ever a Jedi? or is she something else entirely?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

“I like my fancy cake. Although nobody makes it like the Corellians.” The kitchens on Ossus made it and she always had a supply on her ship — but it was good as opposed to great.

And then Corvus braced herself for a question.

Which in the asking didn’t sound that bad.

“It’s no secret. I mean, I haven’t kept the knowledge private, it’s open to anyone who asks. I mean, we don’t wander around Ossus together. I’m working most of the time.”

“So the news will have travelled as fast as any gossip I suppose? I never really thought about it too much before. And she’s not a Jedi. Or a Sith. Due to her circumstances, she was born before Sith even existed. She simply draws on the Force. Not Light-side or Dark-side. But she acts for the greater good. Which works for me. She knows, accepts and wants me to be a Jedi — but she doesn’t want to be one. That works for both of us.”

“Am I making sense? And do you foresee a problem?”

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"It doesn't really make sense, at least, not to me. But it doesn't have to. I wasn't asking for personal reasons, or rather, not intentionally. I was simply curious. I know nothing of this person and therefor I am ill-equipped to judge them one way or the other. If you are confident that she can be the gray area that draws on both sides of the Force for the good of those around her, then I will take you at your word and place my confidence in her, with yours."

Seraphina made a concerted effort to avoid answering whether or not she could foresee an issue with that, given that she had already given her speech about being forced to choose between the Jedi and love, and chose to instead divert Corvus' attention away from the possibilities of the unknown. Besides, it wouldn't do any good to dwell on the what-if's when there was no need, and no benefit in doing so, other than to cause unnecessary anxiety.

There was, however, something on her mind that she did want to get off of her chest before they embarked on this journey.

"I want, and need, to apologize to you, and the rest of the council. I abandoned you, along with the rest of the Jedi and the Republic. Perhaps my reasoning is selfish, or maybe it is childish, but I feel like I owe it to you to at least explain more so than the few words I left in a message. The Republic, despite my love for it, and my desire to see it flourish and prosper, is dying a slow and rather tragic death. The Sith advancement can't be stopped, at least not with the Republic in its' current state of affairs. The Jedi are too spread out, all of these different factions trying to stop them using their own methods, yet none are banded together, and none have the strength in numbers to disrupt their march across the galaxy. Because of this, I decided that until all of the Jedi unite, and the Republic is able to stand on her own two feet, with allies in tow, that any attempt to stop the Sith is really just a throw of the dice on my life."

She paused for a few moments, lingering on the closing...

"And I had to decide whether my death would mean anything, would it help in any meaningful way? Or would it simply be another number to add to the archives."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus reflected on Sera’s words. It was a fair assumption that Corvus had taken Braith at her word. Or rather had sensed no ill intent with the Force — which had been enough for her to believe in her. But she considered the fact that others might be less willing to take that as evidence. Others wouldn’t be as trusting as Sera.

Corvus shook her head at Sera’s next words. “No need to apologise. You did what you needed to do. And abandoned is a very emotive word,” she smiled at the irony of her words, “And I don’t think is appropriate here. You owe nobody anything, other than the Force. If you continued to do good, then there is nothing to explain, believe me.”

“So fighting the One Sith on the battlefield or visiting far-flung planets to right wrongs? It’s all for the greater good. And as much as we accept we’ll all join the Force one day? Tomorrow is better than today. A dead Jedi can contribute little. Which may sound callous but it’s not. Alive, there is hope.”

Corvus was now tucking into her ryshcate. After the first mouthful she blushed. Memories of the last time she’d shared some came unbidden into her mind. “My it’s warm in here.”

“So, ready to head off yet?”

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Very well then. That's a much brighter response than I had anticipated."

Sera smiled as she peered down to her now half-empty dish and leaned back in the chair, her index finger resting just aside her left eye before traveling over her lips in thought. "Sure. Let's get going. The faster we move the faster we can figure out what is going on with all of this." Leaning back the woman stretched her arms back behind her head and cracked her neck as if she were preparing to engage in some kind of brawling match, but in reality she was mostly just tired of sitting on the not-so-comfortable chairs for even another minute.

"Hopefully your new pal will have the speeders ready to go. And hopefully we're not walking into a trap, either. This does all seem rather convenient, after all."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The bar-owner was true to his word. Speeders were made ready for them. They weren't top of the line in terms of comfort - but they were practical - and one was particularly rugged. Which was handy given the size of their host.

So fast wasn't precisely an adjective they could use to describe their progress. But it was sure and before long they'd left the dwellings behind and were heading to the site of the downed ship.

"So," Corvus said as they traveled in the second of the two vehicles, "Does being a Jedi outside of an Order suit you?"

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Corvus' question caught Sera off guard a bit. She hadn't really thought much about it in that manner. As the three made their way towards the destination, the Twi'lek bobbed her head a few times, though it may have been difficult for Corvus to see the gesture given the circumstances and brief distance between them, so she opted for a more vocal response.

"It has had its' share of ups and downs. On the one hand I'm free to operate as I choose without any form of oversight. On the other hand though, I am also alone in my endeavors, and should something happen, I have no real hope of anyone noticing, nor sending aide. It's rather dangerous trade off, but it was something I had to understand before I made that decision. There are still some days I think I made the wrong decision, and others where I knew I made the right one. I think in the end what it comes down to is whether or not being a person outside of the Order suits you, and I think for now, I believe so."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]