First Reply Echoes in Cortosis

[Kallan F'lare]

The Force whispers, but not always in words.

One could say it had been the 'Force' that guided him to Coruscant in that first leg of his journey to find his sister. If he had been asked, he would refute that statement vehemently, it was mere luck and fate - and simply that. Of course, his knowledge on the subject matter was extremely limited excluding all things except for the fact that he was confirmed as Force Sensitive, alongside his sister, via a visiting Jedi Master. He had been offered a place among the Order alongside his sister a long time ago, and he had refused. He had seen and heard the stories of the Jedi Order and their philosophies and while he identified with some of what they believed, a vast majority of their ideology was disregarded as tedium.​

​

The Jedi Order claimed righteous superiority over the Sith while demanding serenity and enforcing dogma, they believed their path to be the correct one. As did the Sith, who offered power and freedom at the price of soul and self. ​

​

Kallan rejected both. He was governed by his own thoughts, feelings, and ideology. He was not a pawn in some larger game controlled by the upper echelons of Masters and Lords, Senators and Governors. It was, perhaps, a rather pessimistic way of looking at things, but in this way he was at his truest self, one where he controlled the outcomes of his future. It would not be defined by an ascent to Light or descent to Dark, he would act and react as he deemed appropriate. He would protect those that had no protector, those souls forgotten in the midst of the CHAOS that was the current incarnation of their galaxy. Those that were doomed to be caught in the crossfire between the ever warring powerhouses that claimed ownership of territories scattered across the stars.​

​

If there was one thing he respected about the Sith, it was that they were unapologetic in their stance on the galaxy. They did what needed to be done regardless of who stood in their way, through the dominance of their shackles or by the might of their trademark crimson sabers. They embraced emotion for the power that it could give, but often found themselves lost in the depths of the intoxication that it released. Kallan had felt the allure of that power once before, when he was very young and still he could remember its alluring call, how easy it would have been to allow himself to drift among the depths of its currents and experience all that was hidden from him. To his great fortune, his sister had been there to temper him, to calm the maelstrom of anger and power, she had brought him back from his descent into the Dark.​

​

He vowed from that time on that he would never again allow the darkness to touch him as it did that day.​

​

Coruscant had given him a third path, a way beyond the Jedi and the Sith. ​

​

In his search for information on his sister, he had come across an archive that mentioned an order of rogue Force Users who subscribed to neither Jedi dogma nor Sith dominion. He had studied that datapad for many days before he finally felt confident enough to attempt the journey. The night before he took to the stars once more, he found himself in the throes of a dream wherein a figure dressed in cortosis-woven armor, speaking of strength found in both the Light and the Dark - in the Grey area where the two intertwined or intersected. The figure spoke of a blend of Jedi restraint and Sith clarity, forsaking both paths for one that was refined through pain, unity, and silence. ​

​

The dream had guided him here, along with what knowledge had been imparted by the datapad that had been found. It was the reason he found himself on Susevfi in the seaport of Yumfla. His search for these mystery warriors, these Jensaarai, stared here. ​

​

​

​

​

Yumfla, Susevfi - Outer Rim | TAG​

 

[Niysha]

There were hundreds, possibly thousands of organizations galactic history who sought to unravel the mysteries of the Force. Obviously the Sith and Jedi were the two largest, most well-known, most-storied, most successful, and just... a whole lot of other superlatives, but that just meant they had more remains. More artifacts, more writings and records, more ancient strongholds. It meant that the plurality of what Niysha found was Sith or Jedi, and that she had to work harder to find less on other traditions.

Fortunately, "working harder to find less" was basically her favorite thing.

As her little scout ship touched down in Yumfla, the Miraluka immediately noted the difference in atmosphere. Like most Outer Rim planets, Susevfi was a little bit backwater. Even the planet's capital had less to offer than the average city one might find on a coreward planet, with buildings barely topping a few dozen stories and a distinct lack of an undercity. Yumfla's spaceport was busy - the planet was relatively populous, considering its position - but most of the activity seemed to be traditional shipping trade. Grain and other foods out, luxuries and materials in.

Unlike most Outer Rim planets, this one had a charge in the air. The local tradition, the Jensaarai, had largely been a speedbump in galactic history. They were relatively young as far as Force-using sects went, and in recent years a significant portion of their beliefs had been co-opted by the various Mandalorian Force-using sects. The dedicated Jensaarai, the ones who still followed the path laid out by Nikkos Tyris so long ago, were uncommon in the extreme.

When she'd checked her ship in with the local port authority and paid for landing, the Miraluka wandered out into the city proper. Yumfla might've been a backwater by Core standards, but with years of Rim wandering behind her, it was practically a metropolis to Niysha. She'd be able to provision here and, if the Force served her well enough, hopefully find a promising lead towards older, less-populated parts of the planet. The parts without locals, or at least without active knights.

For now, she did her due diligence: shacking up in a small caff shop near the spaceport, Niysha pulled out her datapad and started checking her notes, cross-referencing them against the local planetary and city networks. Now more than most times it was very important to bury her presence and keep her lightsaber stowed in her day bag, out of sight. The Jensaarai had a complicated history with the Sith, and she couldn't afford to take chances.

 

[Diarch Rellik]

Atop the decaying gantry above the dockyards, cloaked in silence and shade sat the Diarch. Watching the gentle waves of Yumfla's seaport, enjoying the scent of the salt water air. Below, amid the bustle of porters and moored freighters Rellik felt a tug in the force and began following it with his senses.

He had not come to Susevfi for this. His reasons were older. Lessons left by a sub-sect of force users, by the Jensaarai. His interest peaked when he learned that their founder was a minion of Count Dooku. One of the many historical figures Rellik enjoyed on a personal level. Why start the Jensaarai? was it his own idea or the unchained servants. These were questions he hoped to answer. Stopping atop the Gantry to get a lay of the land was just a starting point.

Still the ever longing scent of the whills guided his mind for a moment. Guiding him to look out into the crowd instead of towards the ruins at the outskirts of society. As he felt the presence leaving out towards his own path he moved. Rellik turned from the gantry and vanished into the deeper dark. A king who was raised in shadow.

Niysha Kallan F'lare

 

[Kallan F'lare]

The Force whispers, but not always in words.


It was frustrating to say the least. He had questioned the locals of Yumfla to a tedious degree and none seemed willing to divulge if they knew anything of the Jensaarai. If they knew anything of the group, they certainly weren't speaking to him. It did not surprise him, for everything he had read told him that they were not favored by the Jedi nor were they favored by the Sith. Their doctrines were of both ideologies and of neither, it had created as something beyond both factions and into something entirely new, though it had not been something born in recent years. The datapad he had found stated that the Order was founded in the days of the galactic conflict known as the Clone Wars, in the age of the Galactic Republic. Whether that information was true, he did not claim to know.

He only knew that their ideology, and the dream, is what was drawing him to them, these warriors dressed in the crimson of cortosis. He did not even know if he would find a home among their order, if such an order still existed on this planet. He just knew that he would feel regret if he did not at least try to find a place to belong. The galaxy was vast and it was far too large for him to try to search on his own, he needed contacts and access to established networks. It was the only way he would be able to find his sister, especially given that she had disappeared in the Outer Rim.

He knew that he did not belong with the Jedi, they were too peaceful and bound by their restriction on emotion and the power that it gave. Neither did he belong with the Sith, those Force Users who delved too deeply into the power that unrestrained emotion gave to them. The two groups, in his opinion, were crippled by their own ideologies, unable to experience the Force for what it was - a tool.

That was what it was for Kallan - a tool. It was a means to an end. It kept him alive and it aided him when needed. He did not subscribe to it as a religion nor did he believe it to be a weapon for domination. He believed it to be a tool to protect and preserve, nothing more and nothing less.

His frustrations blazed as a beacon in the force if only briefly as he regained control of himself and settled into a more tranquil state.

Beyond the city. A voice whispered into the very edges of his mind.

He could not track where the voice had come from, so he did the only thing he could. He followed its instructions as he made his way through the back alleys towards the exit beyond the walls. There was an excitement that seemed to take root in his steps as he made his way beyond the walls of the city and towards the wilderness beyond.

​

​

​

​

Yumfla, Susevfi - Outer Rim | Niysha Diarch Rellik​

 

[Niysha]

Hmm. Actually, there were a surprising number of Force-users here.

Everyone inside Niysha's comfortable range was blind, but she could sense multiple other people juuuust outside the bounds of her sight that had a greater spark. A large number of active - maybe even trained - Force-users hiding beyond the range of her senses on a planet famous for ancient sectarian violence gave her plenty of pause, so she hid her aura a bit deeper. At the very least, it paid to be cautious before she determined who was...

...Nope. No one was "following" her. That meant no one had found her. So far, so good. From what she'd read, the local sect was big on practical, physical uses of the Force: armor- and weaponsmithing, that sort of thing. Many minor sects weren't so militant, but the two major sects absolutely were, which meant she could draw a few conclusions. If they were anything like her peers, the locals would be sharply focused on honing their craft and excelling in their fields, and so very, very few "warriors" considered honing their senses and listening to the galaxy to be a worthy field to excel in.

Regardless of who was nearby, she still had her schedule to keep. The activity just made it more likely she'd run afoul of natives while she explored, which didn't have to be a bad thing. For now, what she needed was a ride out of Yumfla, into the wilds. Hopefully a very fast one, since she'd probably need to cover a lot of ground in order to find something untouched by man or beast. There was probably a skiff she could rent or steal out by the rear city gate...

Which she slowed her approach on the moment one of those other bright sparks came into her sight. There was plenty of crowd between them, so Niysha had the luxury of anonymity as she took his measure; more intense than those around him, but still a bit raw and untempered. Burning with a wild, driving passion, but not tempestuous or unshackled enough to be Sith. Probably a rogue, then. He had the smallest of stains in his aura, drawing his soul far from here, towards something lost... but the rest was so thoroughly entrenched in the Here and Now that he might as well have been a brick-and-mortar castle.

Niysha had a few seconds to parse him through before the natural flow of the crowd took them both outside. When free of crowds, people, and city gates, the Miraluka took a few paces out and stopped to turn physically back to face the untempered young man. She gave a gentle grin and a casual wave in greeting, "Hey there. I think we might be looking for the same thing." Her voice was very quiet, crackling and a little warm, like a fireplace.

Kallan F'lare Diarch Rellik

 

[Kallan F'lare]

The Force whispers, but not always in words.


He didn't have any idea where the voice that had spoken to his mind was calling him, but there was a feeling that the voice did not mean him any harm and that this path would lead to his target. There was no doubt in his mind that the residents of Yumfla had been in contact with their protectors, the Jensaarai that still called this world their home. He did not claim extensive knowledge of them, nor of their way of life. He simply knew that he wanted to meet these warriors and see if he would find a home within their order since he did not feel that he was 'Light' enough for the Jedi nor did he feel he was ready to submit to the shackles of the Sith. He felt that he was in the inbetween place, dancing the line between Jedi and Sith, while not fully committing to either side.

Still, as he finally broke free from the interior of the city and the plains beyond, he paused to take a deep breath. He did not know the outcome of this meeting or if they were even what he was really looking for, but he knew that he had to try. If anything, he would come out of this encounter with more knowledge than he had before - and that was always worth trying for.

As he began his pathing forward once more, there was a faint tickle at the edge of his mind that he could not place. He was untrained in the ways of the power that held within himself, but he had experienced enough to know when his mind was warning him of something that didn't seem right. He slowed his pace and attempted to explore what he was feeling, turning himself inward as he kept stride, and casting his mind beyond the bounds of his body and into the space between his physical form and the world around him.

He could discern nothing of note save for the fact that someone seemed to be trailing him amidst the group of people that were exiting the city as well. He could not tell who or what was there, but he knew that something or someone was. He inhaled deeply as he found himself back within his own mind and opened his sharp eyes, looking behind him with minute movements designed not to give himself away.

It didn't take long for the source of the disturbance in his mind to surface, as the young woman stepped beyond him and then immediately stopped and spoke to him. Hey there. I think we might be looking for the same thing.

She spoke in such a way that comfort seemed to envelope her words, offering him some measure of peace at her sudden and abrupt intrusion into his purpose beyond the city. He offered a guarded smile before speaking in turn, "What is it that you believe me to be looking for?" he inquired in a softened, but well guarded, tone.

​

​

​

​

Yumfla, Susevfi - Outer Rim | Niysha Diarch Rellik​

 

[Diarch Rellik]

A flicker, faint and unruly of the force was moving. The same presence from the dockside, now peeling away from the city's edge and to the gate leading out for the wilds. His aura wavered between clarity and heat and it was that contrast that interested the Diarch. A person similar to himself in presence to the force.

Rellik stood motionless atop the weathered ridge beyond the city's edge, his gaze cast not on the structures behind him, but on the winding path that spilled from Yumfla's rear gate and vanished into grassland. Taking one last look due to the yearning in the force at the gates he saw the man now talking to a woman.

He was unable to feel her presence though. Her poised, quiet, deliberate posture leading him to believe she was steering the meeting. Moving this feeling in the force to her will. A Sith. Rellik did not know her name, nor her purpose, but he felt she had sniffed him out the same way the Diarch had.
A hunter's measure. A scholar's patience.

There was something worth watching there. But not for him. Not yet. He had come for the ruins. For the weight of forgotten purpose and half-buried discipline. If they were meant to follow the same thread, they would arrive there in time. Or they would not. The Force would decide. He need only walk ahead of the answer.

And so, with cloak trailing in his wake, Diarch Rellik descended into the jungles, vanishing into the shadowed wilds.

Kallan F'lare Niysha

 

[Niysha]

Ah, at least she had his attention!

Niysha took a moment to hold up her hands in a placating gesture. She wasn't obviously presenting any harm, but it helped to make sure no one mistook mystery and dark clothes for active danger. "Shields down. I'm not starting an attack run," she reassured quietly, then hefted her bag more securely on her shoulder and began to approach.

"There's only really one thing to find on this singularly unexciting rock," the Miraluka explained, visibly and audibly relaxed without a hint of tension. "I'm here for old, interesting things, and I can't imagine a lot of other reasons to be here. Susefvi doesn't have a lot going for it except the local flavor." Imply, imply, imply. Niysha really needed to get better at stating things outright if she was going to shake off her reputation for being cryptic and mysterious.

Holding up one hand towards the transportation rentals near the city's edge, she inclined her head to one side. "There are a few Jensaarai ruins within just a few minutes' ride from here. If we're going the same way, I don't see any reason we can't go together. As long as company isn't objectionable, at least." She didn't want to rule out that this might be a personal journey.

Not that that would stop her, mind you. Just alter her trajectory a bit.

Kallan F'lare Diarch Rellik

 

[Kallan F'lare]

The Force whispers, but not always in words.

Shields down. I'm not starting an attack run.

He knew that he could come off as a bit brusque and guarded, but that stemmed from his own inexperience with the wider galaxy. He was a very different person on the planet of his birth: confident, carefree, powerful.

On Arkania, he did not feel weak or lesser than others. He had been challenged by the trials that the frigid planet had to offer and he had come on top as the victor. It was only natural for him to feel strength and confidence in light of everything that he had accomplished during his time at home. His family owned some of the largest diamond mines in the region, and often he had been forced to repel raiders that wanted to disrupt their operations or even simply wanted to move in and take over from his family. He and his siblings were tasked with not allowing such a thing to happen and they had always been successful. Until they weren't.

That was not something he would dwell on.

He listened as the stranger continued to speak, his stance becoming more loose and relaxed as she spoke. It did seem that they were looking for similar things, though his search was for something more tangible than the ruins.

He spoke again, echoing her sentiment.
"Company would be a valuable addition to this adventure. I am not very experienced beyond the borders of my own home, so it would do well to have someone who seems more..." he paused, choosing the words carefully, "...wise to the world than myself."


He knew better than to take words at face value. Trust was something tested, not given. It was far too convenient—this woman, this timing, this shared goal. People did not simply stumble into alignment without cause.


If Kallan had learned anything, it was this:


Always trust your instincts.


And his instincts told him—there was more to this woman than she let on.

​

Yumfla, Susevfi - Outer Rim | Niysha Diarch Rellik​

 

[Diarch Rellik]

The trees and vines gave way to stone structure. Vines curled over ancient walls, some split by root, others swallowed whole. But despite the decay, the temple still showed signs of life. Lanterns burned along the outer walkways, dim and guarded. Murmured speech echoed faintly through the lower halls. And in the courtyard, Rellik could clearly see a group talking out in the open. They did not seem to fear people approaching, perhaps they had mutual trust with the locals.

Rellik did not approach the courtyard directly. He stood just beyond the threshold of the overgrown archway. The Force around him condensed, drawn close and hidden behind layers of practiced will. Masking his presence.

He moved silently across the outer terrace, gliding between columns worn smooth by wind. His boots made no sound. No echo betrayed his step. The Jensaarai passed within meters of him conversing softly, unaware that a second shadow now shared the ruins with them.

They bore distinct cortosis shell armor, uniquely personal for how unique the material was. A dozen disciplines reflected in the plates. Some bore blades. Others carried tools. All moved with the quiet rhythm. It was already becoming a fascinating study.

Finally, he came to a raised platform at the far end of the temple. Once a dais, now partially crumbled, it still overlooked the training yard below. From here, he could see the warriors training. Here he would sit for a while, leaning close to the wall and as incognito as possible.

Niysha Kallan F'lare