Conviction Rising [Sochi V. SSC, Black Empire, and Friends]

[Cortana Jade]

Endregaad​

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Just on the edge she stood, the tip of her feet lining up with the brink of where the path ended on the hill. She look off into the distance, over the expanse of red hues, green shades, and yellow tones that made what was left of Endregaad beautiful. It was here that she heard it for what it really was...time and time again she felt a vibration deep in her core, it was calling to her...but she never truly heard it clearly. Now, now she solidified that she had truly become sane; she could admit that.

She twisted her body to stand at an angle that allowed her to look back. Just beneath her feet she felt a subtle vibration that resonated from deep below the surface. Her gaze was set upon something, "Today...I have accepted my role in the matter of things. Before, I was beacon...I could guide but only those other than myself." She spoke as she kept her obsidian gaze, just as roots spawned from the ground just inches away from her feet. "Be mindful that in a life preceding this one, that there was a servant who spent her time living for the sake of others in hopes of transcending to place beyond her. Just in her beliefs, she fell from her place of glory. The day she died she was betrayed, and left to fester in a world between this and the next. Then she was brought back to where she hailed to live in agony. Though now she sees, she is truly sane."

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She turned her body fully and slowly began to walk towards something, the tough grass broke under her bare feet. Her exotic tattoos and pigmentation exposed to the sunlight, complimenting her in this world as it did before. As she traversed towards her goal the land became moist and cool to the touch. The sound of wood crackling as it moved became more apparent as she got closer and then she stepping into a shallow pool of water, and her hand connected with the trunk of a large tree that reached twenty meters high. Only her touch was able to calm the large plant which seemed to have sentience.

"I have called them all here, when night falls you will see for yourself. They are lost, and my purpose has become clear...I must save them from themselves. It'll be a far greater victory." Her exotic accent faded out as she finished the last of her phrase. A large fibrous sac began to sprout, originating from the branches that hung above, and the color of blood.

She slowly rose her head and began to walk in the opposite direction, a subtle hissing filled the area, as she slowly took the steps down the hill. For night was falling, and she had a conclave to attend and offerings to give. The Jedi would not know...and Kaine would be pleased with the offering she provided, only until she could enact her plan; she wanted to save them from themselves, and she would use the desert of Endregaad as her staging ground.

OOC NOTE: The thread starts with a Conclave called by Sochi. If you know her, or have been associated with her then your free to join up. Happy writing​

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[Tarrlok]

Endregaad
Conclave

She was puzzled, uncomfortable but excited when she got word that her former master had returned. While away, she received word from the Coailtion about Sochi' sudden appearance at the temple. Worried about the situation as she had been in the beginning she without a doubt attended the Conclave the woman had called. She departed to Endregaad with [member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] and as their ship cut through the atmosphere she barely said a word...for her she had a bad feeling, her sense had never failed her; she was known for that. But today...she just knew the news wouldn't be good. Darkness was growing by the second and she wondered if anyone else would make note of it.

The coordinates they were given led them to a large opening in the center of a canyon. It was rather odd that they weren't called to a sacred place as many conclave before had been. For majority of the time she kept to herself. Her sensitivity to such emotions made her uneasy, as it had never been this tense for her.

The last conclave she had been aware of was called by her, and it was there she reached out to [member="Jorus Merrill"] for assistance on finding Sochi. Circumstances called for the mission to be put on halt but it was ironic that she was just now surfacing. Perhaps she was to tell them of what she experienced since her death...maybe on the details of how she returned. But she was sure that she wasn't the only one thinking that she missed something.

Why didn't she feel her return?

 

[Dune Rhur]

Things didn't feel right for the Bith. [member="Sochi Ru"] had invited him to the back end of nowhere. Endregaad made for an odd choice for a meeting. A meeting of Jedi not long after things went badly on Yutan.

He'd initially been excited. This presented a chance to further things along. Dune had changed his mind on arrival. Something felt off as he descended the ramp off his shuttle into the wastes.

The Togruta was ahead of him now. He could make out her shape on the horizon. There she was too within the Force. He drew up his hood against the swirling dust. Gravel crunched underfoot as he made his way steadily....

 

[Rasu Gan]

Endregaad
Conclave

Rasu could not describe the elation that had filled her upon learning and witnessing the return of Sochi. Their time together on Voss had been confusing and rather chaotic but it had cleared a lot of unanswered questions that had remained after the woman's death. That much she could be grateful for. The pair's bond had been reignited, however the connection held a different feeling from the original, owing to the death of her friend, the Shi'ido had assumed. Much had changed about the two Jedi as well; they were not the same women. Since their Knighthood, both had gone about different activities and assisted the galaxy in different ways, therefore Rasu was not completely surprised to find the woman she had met in the garden was different to the one she had trained alongside many years prior. The reincarnation of the Togruta was altogether to confusing to comprehend however Rasu was thankful to have her back in the physical realm.

Arriving at the conclave location, Rasu wrapped her cloak tightly around her emerald form, protecting her from winds of the surface. Dust and dirt flew around her as she approached the group of Jedi already on gathering before her. Not recognising the two present, the Shi'ido hastily joined the pair, gripping the hems of her clothing or they would be blown off her body. She offered the Jedi a polite bow and a warm smile before introducing herself.

"Hello there. I'm assuming you are both here as a result of the conclave summons as well?" she asked, following the Bith's example by pulling her own hood over her head. "I don't believe we have met. I'm Master Rasu Gan of the Silver Sanctum. It's a pleasure." Again the woman bowed, her hood whipping back as the wind caught the empty space between hair and material. Questioning her friends choice of location, Rasu once again pulled the hood over her head, displaying her annoyance with a small scowl. Things were sure to get under way soon enough.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

When [member="Rasu Gan"] would arrive, she might not have recognized the third figure, fully cloaked and standing beside [member="Shmi Labooda"] throughout all of this. They had been called to a Conclave. Sochi... Josh knew that something was off about her. He'd sensed it during the last time he had met her. Everything from the circumstances behind her being revived, to her aura. Everything was off. It was all wrong. He had conveyed this to Shmi, but they had still decided to go nonetheless. Josh had liked Sochi in life, but... He had a feeling that the Sochi calling them now wasn't the Sochi they'd known.

No... This stank of a trap.

But what do Jedi do when they know it's a trap?

Spring the trap.

When Rasu would introduce herself, Josh would look over at her, and finally remove his hood, shooting her a small smile.

"Master Josh DragonsFlame. But I think you know that already, Rasu" He would tease quietly. He was still his usual self, and yet... He seemed much less chipper then he usually was.

He had a bad feeling about this...

 

[Nagate Hei]

Endregaad
Conclave

Spending what little time he had with his former Masters, Nagate picked up a skill few had, intuition. Outside the Force, he trusted his gut feelings, they'd proven useful in the past. He'd traveled here alone, hoping to learn something about a particular gut feeling about their summoner. Arriving to the location he'd been tracking, he felt powerful souls ahead. One who was known, [member="Rasu Gan"], another he'd felt but didn't exactly know, [member="Sochi Ru"]. The others were not familiar.

Nagate approached the 'Enclave' meeting area and gazed upon a Togrutan, brilliantly colored, especially in this light. There was the familiar sense of the green skinned Master he'd faught alongside a couple times before. He didn't speak, as per usual, but bowed to those present. He stood slightly aloof of the pack and awaited it's beginning.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Shmi Labooda"] [member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Jedi Conclave
Endregaad, Joxin System

Had this been anyone else signalling him, he would have ignored it. Conclaves came and went, opened up new and old wounds, and left things generally in a more disjointed place than it had been before things had started. A conclave was a place for those who seemed to have the same objective in mind, to actually oppose and elbow their way to being heard the loudest and be the victor. There was rarely a peaceful and mutual outcome, regardless of where you sat on the Force spectrum.

[member="Sochi Ru"] had called this conclave on Endregaad since her release from Voss, and Connor Harrison wasn’t happy about either.

Firstly, she had somehow returned from the dead and come back to the Jedi she once called family, and that itself alerted him to something being off. Those who came back from the dead, however that was possible, did so by some un-natural way of the Force, and it meant they used their “second coming” to act differently to how they did before in order to prove something to themselves, or to the galaxy. Sochi was kind-hearted, loving and very giving in nature.

Operative word there being was. Connor had seen that Sochi murdered in front of him, so that Soci was gone.

Leading onto his second rumination; Sochi should never have been released from the Voss temple, at least so early on in her arrival. He figured [member="Aika Kawakami"] had a hand in that. She wasn’t the Sochi they once knew, but sentiment and rose-tinted glasses masked that very fact, and so now she was free to do what she wanted; call them all together in one place.

Connor arrived in his old E-wing, not willing to bring his larger craft into the fray, as for one the E-wing was nippy enough to get out of a tight spot at a moment’s notice. The world before him was very natural looking, and one he didn’t know much about. It seemed to be the sort of world Sochi would come to, and there was a strong aura of the Force around the world due to the amount of living creatures and fauna surrounding them.

The conclave was, currently, lacking numbers, and only a few had arrived. He recognised two straight away – his old friend [member="Rasu Gan"] and former apprentice [member="Nagate Hei"] – and three others, obviously Republic or Alliance based perhaps - [member="Shmi Labooda"], [member="Dune Rhur"] and [member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] – were waiting. Sochi, not surprisingly, wasn’t there to greet them.

Walking forward in his navy tunic and crimson cowl, the Skywalker lightsaber hilt clearly fixed to his three brown belts for show that he wasn’t here with total peace in mind, the Rogue Master nodded to the congregation, saying nothing, but feeling for what – and who – was lurking out there.

 

[Dagos Terrek]

[member="Nagate Hei"] [member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Rasu Gan"] [member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Shmi Labooda"]

Dagos had never been to Endregaad or to a conclave before and it was honestly not likely he was an intended invitee of this particular one but when he had heard it was Master Ru that called this gathering of Jedi, he made sure to find his way here. Dagos was never much for know what exactly was going on around his own temple let alone the galaxy at large and the last he had known before pulling one of his disapearing acts was that Master Ru had died, yet here he was at a conclave called by [member="Sochi Ru"]. How could the dead call a meeting?


"Master Harriosn!" Dagos called out when he saw [member="Connor Harrison"] enter, with his navy blue tunic, red cowl and clearly visible lightsaber. Connor was the only person here Dagos had ever interacted with or even knew the name of now that he thought on it. It was a great relief to see the familiar face even if they had only spent a couple hours together, once, all that time ago.