Calling Sister Midnight

[Setzi Lunelle]

Finally, Sol seemed… well less grumpy. But he did not respond to her comment about being raised as a Jedi. If that were the case, and he trained as a youngling, then his skillset would be quite advanced by now. It finally dawned on Setzi that he had been concealing his Force presence all along.

“Alright let’s blow this popsicle joint.”

The motley threesome were off, Setzi and Sol moving quickly through the corridors, back the way they came, and the Xilsaga following, a bit slower paced due to her dulled reflexes. Only a couple of troopers challenged them, but instead of ordering the Sith Spawn to fear them, the Jedi Knight used her lightsaber instead. Three more troopers were behind those but ran away, shouting, “Jedi!” An alarm blared finally, but by that time, Setzi was outside and running through the woods.

“The Pirate’s Foe has a medical droid on board. I’d like to get Chastity looked at. She seems malnourished for sure, perhaps dehydrated too." Using Force Sight, the brunette Jedi located her vessel, her vision slicing through the darkness, skirting around and through the trees until she lead both of them to the clearing where she’d originally landed.

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Sol plays rear guard as they run out of the facility, he has to use his blaster pistol more than once to take down or scatter some pursuers. Yet the entire time he has no issues keeping up. He also manages to reframe from giving her a hard time about using the term popsicle stand, even though it was the single most ridiculous thing he'd heard during a life or death situation... today.

Sol's gaze goes to the shambling corpsy looking screaming sithspawn. "No, she looks perfectly fine." The dry sarcasm in his tone was sufficient to dry up an entire lake. "Keep going I'll catch up." He orders slowing his mad flight long enough to pause and pull something from a belt pouch. He slaps it on a tree pushes a button and then runs forward a few yards and repeats. Then he turns and sprints after the two catching up in moments with a little push from the force.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Ugh, that sarcasm again. Sol's dry humor began to irritate Setzi, but the burst of annoyance was short lived as she watched the Xilsaga struggle to keep up. A wave of melancholia threatened to overcome her and she knew that would only slow the poor ghoul down more.

“Okay Sol, I give up. Tell me. What is your secret to controlling your emotions?” He might be able to tell by her pleading tone, the bravado finally absent from her voice, that she was serious.

Yet the wry mercenary wasn’t paying attention and set off on some side task, not sanctioned by the Jedi Knight, not that she owned him or anything.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

Her distress finally caused the Xilsaga to kneel on the ground and begin that awful earsplitting keening noise again, beating the ground with her fists.

Fething hell, now she’d have to drag her to the Pirate’s Foe. Now all the Sith troopers would have to do was follow the sound of the fragile wail. “Sorry Chastity,” Setzi said, and with a wince, she gave her a right hook to the temple, rendering the spawn unconscious. While Sol was gone, she picked up the Xilsaga - her emaciated form not too heavy to lift after all - and charged up the Foe’s ramp with her.

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Sol reappears a moment later around the time she is heading up the ramp. A second after his foot hits the metal there is the sound of an explosion behind them. He'd planted two proximity charges behind them. The first took out a few troopers, but the second would be found. However, the second would make the troopers even more cautious slowing them down even more which would give them ample time to take off.

Looking at the unconscious form of Chastity then at Setzi. It takes him about a second to figure out what happened but what he thought of that wasn't apparent since his stony face remains utterly neutral. Leaning against the wall and closing the ramp he considers her question for a good solid minute. His first inclination is to say something flippant to her but that was just general irritation talking. This entire mission had been a bit of a cluster fluck and he was annoyed. However, she probably could use a straight answer.

"The Jedi tell you to empty your mind and allow your emotions to flow through you. Maybe that works for some but I always thought it was wrong. That isn't dealing with your emotions it is pretending they don't exist. I embrace my emotions but I don't let them control me. I get angry, I accept that, then I exam if now is a good time to get angry if it isn't I feel the anger but I wait to address it for after I am done. I use it to help focus my mind on my goals. I don't control so my emotions so much as I just accept them as natural and use them to my advantage."

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

The explosion nearby startled the Jedi Knight, but once she saw Sol bounding up the ramp, she realized what he’d done. She watched him close the ramp, her fingers itching to get upon the Foe’s control panel and take off.

But Setzi had asked the question and now the answer was provided. And luckily this time, it was not dripping with sarcasm or a flippant joke.

She pried off her helmet and tossed it aside. Her eyes were tired, dark circles visible underneath them. But he would know she’d heard his wisdom and was quietly soaking it in.

“It’ll be a ways back to Voss. Do you want to sleep or accompany me in the cockpit? If you have any long and rambling stories, now would be the time to tell them," she said, with a smirk, the brightness coming back into her face. Though Setzi could put the Pirate’s Foe on autopilot, they were still so close to Sith space that she felt that both of them needed to remain on their guard for just a bit longer. The Xilsaga was of no material interest to the Sith, but two Jedi were definitely prizes to be captured and exploited somehow.

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

The woman gives him a look that suggests to Sol that Setzi was at least considering what he had to say. That was probably a good thing, at least if it helped her gain balance. It was obvious to him that she was wavering between many paths and uncertain which way to go. It was a rough place to be mentally and made on erratic one more moment, indecisive the next, pretty much anything but stable.

"I'll go up to the cockpit but I don't have a long story to tell. I was a Jedi, I didn't agree with their philosophy, I left the order. The end." That was about as much of his story as he was willing to share with her. He wasn't sure what had gotten it into her head that he'd want to share his life's story with her or that she might deserve it, but they weren't friends. They'd barely known each other more than a handful of hours and his story was for people he trusted with his life, maybe not even them.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Perhaps Setzi had been hinting at hearing about Sol’s Jedi origins, but for the most part, she just wanted someone to listen to so she didn’t fall asleep. Obviously there were holobooks or movies to listen to, podcasts and radio signals, but honestly she’d been such a nomadic hermit for so long there was nothing in her library that she hadn’t sampled at least four or five times.

With the Xilsaga tucked away in one of the extra quarters, Setzi sprinted to the cockpit, looking back for Sol to follow.

“Look, I’ll take any story at this point. Did you have any brothers or sisters? Did you ever visit Coruscant Amusement Park? Do you have any children?” Was she finally finding space travel that boring that she needed a narrator on board to entertain her? In a way, it was a positive turning point... this need for other people, but still...

As they lifted off, she felt an immense sense of relief and her body showed it in how her shoulders slumped and she suddenly could not stop yawning. “Once we get to the Core, I’ll put the Foe on autopilot and we can get some sleep. Thanks, Sol.”

He may have been grumpy but that did not mean she’d eschew her own manners and gratitude for his help. "I mean if you don't feel like talking..."

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Sol snorts at her response as he follows her at a walk to the cockpit. He settles into the co-pilots seat comfortably, he knew how to fly more or less but he wasn't a spectacular piolet. Still, if needs must he could take the helm and get them where they were going without crashing, probably.

Considering her question he debates what if any story he wants to tell her. "You are probably better of just going to bed, I can stay up but if you want a story I have one for you." Taking a breath he begins his tale.

There once was a girl who was lost in the woods. She'd gone out to pick some fresh berries for her family so they could have something sweet for dinner but, she'd stayed out too long and strayed too far and she didn't know which way to go to get home. At first, she wasn't too worried she picked a path and started walking sure that it would lead her out of the woods eventually. However, it wasn't long before the game trail split and faced with three directions she was uncertain what to do.

So the little girl sat and thought for a moment, she was getting worried the sun was almost set and she was very hungry but she didn't want to eat the berries since they were for her family. Just when all hope seemed lost a little bird flew down and chirped at her. The bird offered to use its ability to fly to go up into the sky and see which way she had to go, all it wanted in exchange was a berry.

The little girl thought that this was fair so she gave the bird a berry it flew up and then back down and told her to take the left path. So she did and off she went hoping that soon she would be out of the woods and back home. However, it was long before she came to another split and once again the bird appeared offering to tell her which way to go in exchange for a berry. She agreed and once again she took off, however, it wasn't long before she came to another split. This repeated a few times and the little girl was beginning to think the bird didn't know which way to go.

It was then a hawk came down and told her that the bird was lying to her. It was leading her in a circle so it could eat all her berries. The little girl was understandably angry so when the hawk offered to tell her where to go in exchange for trapping the bird in her basket when it came for its berry she agreed. She came to another split and the bird once again came down to offer her help, she once again agreed, but this time when the bird came to collect its reward she trapped it in her basket.

The hawk came down and told the girl that if she opened the basket and let him eat the bird he'd tell her how to get home. So she did and the Hawk killed and ate the bird but instead of telling her how to get home he just flew away laughing. She left the girl with no berries no helpful little bird and no idea how to get home. She was well and truly lost in the woods and there she stayed all night in the cold and dark until her parents came to get her in the morning. Of course, they wondered why she hadn't simply picked a direction and walked out of the woods, after all, the forest doesn't last forever and as long as you picked a direction and stayed on it you'd get out.

Sol finishes his story as he stares out the front window into the deep dark of space.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“I do,” she said. “I have that body is tired but brain is awake thing going on.”

The Pirate’s Foe lifted up in the darkness and began its trajectory towards the atmosphere of Fresia which was breached without resistance. Soon they were traveling in the empty, blackness of space with not another vessel in sight as Setzi was avoiding the major space lanes. Not that she was carrying precious cargo or anything.

Of course, she could relate to the story, though she felt Sol was tucking a morale in there for her, perhaps with very little subtly, but the Jedi tried to keep an open mind regardless.

However after awhile, Setzi was riveted to the story of the girl and the bird and the berries. She was once a farm lass, lost in the woods, and yes there were quite a few relatable parables to her own life.

In fact, it felt as though Sol had been recounting not a story but the actual course of events that had taken place within her life. But instead of food, she lacked her sister and her children. She had nothing to show for making alliances with swindlers who kept her upon the serpentine road, rather than the straight one.

“How did you know?” she said, with a resigned smile, brushing her hair back from her face. “That I trusted that bird and I trusted that hawk too?”

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Sol leaned his chair back and stares up at the ceiling. "How do you think?" Despite the words, this answer wasn't delivered in his normally extra dry tone to indicate sarcasm. It was clear he was asking her a serious question one which she likely knew the answer to. How had he known to tell exactly that story? Because he'd known people like her in the past. Because he knew that all trouble in a person life often came from putting faith in the wrong person. Because he knew a woman wasn't as unbalanced and desperate to redeem themselves as Setzi if they'd walked a straight path. How had he known?

The Force.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

The more time she spent with Sol, the more eager she was to understand his place in the Jedi Order, or conversely his reason for abstaining from it. But as he’d had some clever intuitions about Setzi’s circumstances, she felt distinctly as if it was an off-limits subject.

The Jedi thumbed behind her and said, “Look I know that she might be a lost cause. But I have to try and make things right. This was a girl taken from her bed for all I know, and manipulated by… “

Sage Bane and Darth Azurea. But to think of herself in the third person did no justice for the girl she’d manipulated, disfigured and transformed into a monster.

She swallowed. "... by my dark magic. I can’t have this unresolved wound in my past. It would be an insult to her and all that I’m striving for in the future.”

Setzi yawned, unhooked her seat-buckle and stood, stretching her arms above her head, feeling the crack in her neck and shoulders. She examined the navigational system for a moment, gazing at a flickering view screen.

“I think we’ll be okay for awhile. I’ll be in the back, taking a nap. Call me if you see anything weird. At this rate, we’ll be back to Voss in about eight hours.”

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

When Setzi finally finishes explaining why they went for Chastity her tone suggesting she was trying to justify it to Sol he just gives her a flat look. "I may have asked why we did but I never questioned whether it was something that should be done." Looking back to where Chastity was laying in the med bay he shrugs. "There are a few things in this universe that once done can never be undone. I do not know if what you did to that girl is one of them."

Turning his gaze back to the window he looks at the endless void of space. "Still, I think it would be good for you to try. I doubt she enjoys her current existence and I may not be a Jedi but I do try and be a good person. In my opinion doing what you can to give that girl some semblance of her life back is the right thing. But what do I know I am just... Ha, can't use the old man excuse I am not that much older than you." He snorts and falls silent.

Setzi was sort of right. He'd not discuss his past with her that was something he kept to himself. He would discuss freely his views on the Jedi order and why he disagreed with them, but the specifics of why he left... No, not that, not with her. At least, not today. Maybe if they had cause to get to know each other better in the future he might be willing to share but those where old wounds he didn't pick at unless he had to.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“Yes,” Setzi said plaintively. “Her name isn’t Chastity, by the way. That’s the name of my sister. The first thing I want to do if I can heal her back to normal is find out exactly who she is and where she came from.”

A shiver went through her at the thought that the girl was just a vessel for the wicked experiments that she and Sage Bane had planned. Although at the time, the Jedi was a neophyte lead by stronger, darker influences, fueled by raw passion, curiosity the foundation.

Sol seemed much older than she, but again, now was not the time to pry on age or past. With exhaustion taking hold, she did not elaborate even on the fact that she’d given the helpless creature the name of her own sister.

No, all of these things for both Sol and Setzi were better discussed over a cup of stimcaf in the morning.

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

It sounded like Setzi had her own burdens to bear but Sol wouldn't pry. He tended not to ask questions about peoples pasts, seemed hypocritical considering how tight-lipped he was about his own. He let her go get some sleep watching the stars zip by in hyperspace on their way to Voss.

When they arrived he brought them in for a landing at the spaceport, dealt with the officials, then he just went to sleep in the co-pilots chair. He wasn't about to leave until he got his payment but he wasn't going to be rude and wake her up either. So he'd settled on getting in a nap while he waits for her to finish her own.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Voss was the headquarters of the SJO, and Sol would be able to feel the peaceful presence of the Jedi all around him. While security was tight as they disembarked, it was not intrusive, nor was Setzi’s cargo searched. She seemed to know must of the customs officials and other authorities who approached to greet them.

There was a short and heated discussion between the Knight and those same Silver representatives about the danger of having a Sith Spawn on the planet, but ultimately she was cleared.

“We need a medical transport,” she informed a Silver Jedi representative. The Knight turned to the mercenary. “This will be a good test for my emotions as she tends to mirror them.”

For the most part the ragged and half-starved Xilsaga was docile but when they finally got to a medbay at the Jedi Academy, she became agitated, her limbs flailing and she tried to launch herself off of the stretcher.

“Shhhh,” Setzi said, brushing her forehead, trying to calm her. Wondering why Sol had been tagging along, the reason dawned on her.

“Oh, I suppose you’re looking for your credits?”

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Visibly Sol showed little to no concern about being on the homeworld of The Silver Jedi. Internally he held a powerful grip on Force stealth. The last thing he wanted was to be detained for being a Sith or something stupid like that, or even worse have to sit through a recruitment attempt.

He kept pace with Setzi as she handled the customs officials and everything. It seemed she was doing decently well at keeping her emotions under control since Chastity wasn't screaming at anyone yet. That was good, he was also keeping his emotions in check since they were now in a Jedi temple and he couldn't remember the last time he'd been in one of those. He felt uncomfortable, though it didn't show, he felt like a heavy blanket was settling around him and the room was too hot for it.

"Unless you think I didn't earn them." Sol says with a hint of his normal dry humour. "The story was free though so you don't need to add extra for that." He had done jobs with people like Setzi before. Sometimes they get into their head that you grew close during the job and they didn't have to pay, or they saw you asking for payment as offensive somehow since it was for a good cause. That wasn't necessarily the path Setzi was going to take but a gentle reminder that he'd done work for her and hard work at that, usually stopped people from trying to get out of paying.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“Of course, you earned it. I’m very grateful too.” Setzi dug into a black bag she’d taken along from the Pirate’s Foe and retrieved a credit chit. “I think this is what we agreed upon.”

The urgent beep, beep, beep of a heart monitor called her attention away.

The Xilsaga was going into cardiac arrest.

“No, no! Please help,” she pleaded, and a Silver Jedi medic swiftly administered a strong beta blocker to counter it. “Unfortunately Knight Lunelle, I think you’re the one who’s causing such distress in her. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

The creature’s eyes fluttered open and before she and Sol finally left the sterile room, the Jedi asked her, “What’s your name?”

She’d never answered the question before, but for some reason her dry lips parted and she replied, “Apolline.”

In the corridor, Setzi smiled sadly and said, "I suppose you're not up for another story, eh?"

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Sol takes the offered chit from her hand and pockets it. Then the monitor is going off and he strains to look at the withered girl as Setzi panics. In a moment of compassion, he risks something he'd normally have never done in this place. He relaxes his grip on Force stealth and reaches out to touch Chastity's, no Apoline's mind. A tender caress of The Force to send her into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Then they are out the door and Setzi gives him a small sad smile. "No, you aren't ready for that yet." Sol says as he reaches into his pocket and produces a small rectangle of paper. It was a business card with his name on it and his personal contact information. "Take this, let me know how her recovery goes." He says and then he is gone. He needed to get off planet before anyone started asking him probing questions.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]