Private Echoes Over Tapani

[Pari Sylune]

Even from orbit, the signs of recent violence in the Tapani System were impossible to miss. Shipyards lay scarred and half-repaired, defense platforms flickered with unstable power, and worlds that should have glittered with aristocratic splendor instead burned dimly beneath emergency grids.


For the two Padawans aboard, the mission was meant to be simple. Medical crates, ration packs, replacement comm units, the mundane necessities stacked neatly in the hold. A quiet errand, the sort assigned to learners to teach responsibility and restraint. And yet the Force felt unsettled here, heavy with fear, pride, and unresolved anger lingering long after the attack itself had ended.

For Pari Sylune, the assignment was a welcome chance to help. She waited quietly aboard the ship as it traveled, teak-colored eyes fixed on the swirling brilliance of hyperspace beyond the viewport. Tapani was close now, and soon they would be delivering the supplies where they were most needed.

Unbeknownst to the young Padawans, however, pirates still haunted the surrounding lanes—a quiet, lurking threat that would not remain unseen for long.

She glanced sideways at the other young padawan with her and smiled. "It's nice to see you again." The two had met up before while chasing a droid on Naboo.


Aileni Ifor Xeraic

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Tapani
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow, practice saber
Tag: Pari Sylune

Aileni wasn't sure how much help he would be on a humanitarian mission, he was training to be more of a Jedi Shadow. Someone who operated in the shadows, went behind enemy lines and fight evil no matter the cost. This was something of a very different style of mission. However, it was also framed as a chance for Aileni to explore more variety in what a Jedi can and should do. As well as a chance to continue to show that he needed to be working with others.

No wolf could work alone.

He leaned back against his chair, his eyes closed as he thought over the recent dreams circling around his mind. There had been some strange nightmares, where he was a beast. Something primal. Something deadly. Something that hungered. Aileni usually woke up in a sweat, burning and feeling an itch under his skin as if something was trying to burst out of him. Whatever the dreams were about Aileni had no clue but he knew that the Force usually provided visions for a reason.

His deep green eyes opened and looked over to Pari, a soft smile formed on his lips as he nodded his head in agreement. "Always good to be working with a familiar face. How have you been since the droid chasing?" Aileni asked, Pari was one of the few people his age that Aileni had been around. Most were either a couple years older or many years older. So, being around someone more his own age was pretty great.

 

[Pari Sylune]

"Always good to be working with a familiar face. How have you been since the droid chasing?"

"Fine, thank you. I've started working in the hospital wing at the Shiraya Sanctuary. It's been demanding at times, but incredibly rewarding."

Her voice was calm, soft and warm without being timid. Pari carried herself with an easy, quiet strength, the kind that didn't need to announce itself. Some of that came from her upbringing on Chalacta, but as she grew into her path as a Jedi, the steady flame within her only deepened, refined rather than extinguished.

"And you?" she asked, head tilting slightly with genuine curiosity. "How have things been for you? I've heard you've taken an interest in shadow training."

The Padawan dormitories were never short on whispers or half-told stories, rumors drifting through the halls as freely as the Force itself. She couldn't be certain if what she had heard was true, but he did look stressed as her warm teak colored eyes watched him. Perhaps shadow training was extra stressful.


Aileni Ifor Xeraic

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Tapani
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow, practice saber
Tag: Pari Sylune

"Working in a hospital already? Dang, Jedi Healers start young, huh?" Aileni didn't even think he could get a real Jedi Shadow mission yet. It would be far too dangerous and he hadn't really trained long enough to have the full skills required of a Shadow, nor did he have the street savvy skills that one needed to bluff your way around criminal organisations. Though he was learning more and more about them through his readings and watching holovids about them. Though, he had to take everything with a grain of salt.

He nodded his head, surprised that word had gotten around about where his interested lied. Not realising that everyone would know because it was majority of what he talked about. Aileni was just very unaware of his hyper fixation. "Yeah, not done anything too Jedi Shadow based in terms of missions, but there is a lot of training and ground work that I need to cover. Understanding how criminal organisations work, how to be undercover, operating in shadows. All that stuff."

Scratching the back of his head, "found a Master yet?" Curious how Pari was getting on in that department, Aileni had his own up and downs with it. Still trying to figure out who would make a good Master for him.

 

[Pari Sylune]

"Working in a hospital already? Dang, Jedi Healers start young, huh?"

Pari smiled, though she felt bad she may have made it sound more impressive than it actually was. "Well, I don't get to do anything too big. Mostly, I take patients' vitals and help them understand their treatment plans. I did get to run an IV one time."

As he explained about being a shadow, she nodded, trying to picture it all in her mind. She knew investigators spent a lot of time undercover, but from what she understood, shadows took on more of an anti-darkside role versus a criminal organization role.

"Found a Master yet?"

"Oh yes. Anneliese Kaohal-Delaine is training me. Thought she's been away lately. I think she was sent on a mission to the Outer Rim, so I'm spending my time at the hospital. Have you found a master? I know Katarine Ryiah does undercover work as an investigator, but Connel Vanagor is more of a shadow. Sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference between shadows and investigators."



Aileni Ifor Xeraic

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Tapani
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow, practice saber
Tag: Pari Sylune

"I mean, it's still work and experience that others won't have at our age so puts you ahead of the curve which is always a good thing." Aileni mentioned, not wanting to diminish the achievements that Pari was getting. "I am sure that you are learning far more being there and seeing everything going on than simply reading books and seeing vids on the way that things go."

When Pari mentioned who was her Master now, Aileni nodded his head, he did not recognise the name but Aileni was sure that it was someone worthy to be training Pari. "Well, hopefully she returns from her mission soon enough so you can get back on track with the actual training." Aileni mentioned, when asked about whether he had a master yet Aileni shook his head. "No one concrete yet. Met a couple Masters and done some training with them in the past." Aileni shrugged his shoulders, "just have to wait and see really."

"Perhaps. I always read that Shadows operate independently, infiltration, with an aim to take down Dark Side operations mostly. So, a lot of focus on locating Sith groups, or Dark Side organisations, infiltrating inside them and then gathering evidence and planning ways to strike them down." Aileni stated, "whereas an investigator might focus more on criminal gangs and not push themselves into the darkness as much." He shrugged his shoulders since it was only what he understood from the texts he had read and he was capable of being very wrong.

"I'm just learning as much as I can so that I can do the job to the best of my abilities. I know there was a Jedi Shadow once that my grandfather worked with... That was someone who was meant to be really amazing at their job." Aileni felt like he knew more about them than simply that but it was a fleeting thought that couldn't really find purchase in his mind. So it floated away.

Looking out at the damage that had occurred recently, "crazy how this all happened so quickly and how damaging it all turned out as well, huh?"

 

[Pari Sylune]

His assessment of Jedi Shadows seemed accurate to her. It sounded like a very dangerous job.

“You must be very brave to want to do work like that. “

Pari had not met any darksiders yet but the videos she watched and the stories she read were terrifying. She knew as a Jedi she had to control her fear so she was trying to prepare as much as she could for when she inevitably encountered one.

"crazy how this all happened so quickly and how damaging it all turned out as well, huh?"

“It is. The Alliance fell so quickly and the Core was occupied by the Empire faster than I would have thought possible. Now this has happened too. It feels like the galaxy is getting darker.”

It was a feeling she had noticed lately as more governments rose to power whose methods seemed to lean towards darkness.

Aileni Ifor Xeraic

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Tapani
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow, practice saber
Tag: Pari Sylune

Aileni suppressed the desire to smirk or smile too widely when Pari stated that he was brave to take such a path. It was nothing that Aileni had considered before but now there was part of him that felt the desire to brag about being brave or that it was not a big deal. However, he shrugged his shoulders, "every path for a Jedi is something brave and to commend. Such as being a Jedi Healer. Takes a fortitude and constitution I doubt I would manage well."

Lots of new diseases, injuries and internal parts of the body that become exposed. Not something that Aileni thought he could stomach dealing with coming from strangers.

"Sometimes things feel the darkest before the dawn. Who knows, all this could be leading to a bright future where things like this are forgotten and distant memories." Aileni always remained hopeful in that regard. "Even if the changes don't happen before we are adults, we can work on becoming the changes that the galaxy needs." He looked over to Pari, "so don't lose hope."

Offering a smile to her.

 

[Pari Sylune]

"Spoken like a very wise Jedi." She grinned and nodded. They were both feeling the rush and excitement of being tasked with a mission by themselves. The air was infectious and she genuinely was enjoying his company. He was always so much fun to talk to. His explanation about a healer being an important role made sense to her, but she still thought his path was the more dangerous one. At least they were both on paths that suited them.

"As long as we continue to study and practice I'm sure we will find our true paths." Wow now even she sounded like a wise Jedi! She grinned again.

"Have you built a lightsaber yet? Or are you waiting to find a master first?"






Aileni Ifor Xeraic

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Tapani
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow, practice saber
Tag: Pari Sylune

The praise from Pari on his wisdom was something that Aileni had not expected and he was stunned for a moment since he wasn't sure how to react. His mouth was slightly gaped as he desperately tried to think of a sentence or something that he could say that wouldn't be lame or disappointing. In the end, he panicked since the time had been too long and the silence felt deafening so he coughed and shrugged.

"Yeah... True... That's smart thinking. Thinking like a smart Jedi... Yeah..." How had he lost the wisdom after a single compliment? He wasn't someone who usually struggled with words but now his mind was racing around unable to grasp the correct ones.

Breathing in deeply, he calmed his thoughts more and more, hearing the Lightsaber question, he shook his head. That hadn't happened yet. "I am waiting to do the crystal hunt with a master I guess. But I have a rough idea on the style of Lightsaber I want. It would be similar to how my grandfather's worked." Aileni commented, he knew that the way his grandfather fought was a style that Aileni wished to pursue as well.

"What about you?"

 

[Pari Sylune]

Pari watched him struggle for words with a patience that came from girls maturing faster. He was cute when he struggled but she smiled and pretended not to notice so as not to hurt his feelings.

“Oh really? What type of style did his have?”

Pari had never met her parents or her grandparents. She had been abandoned on the temple steps for the Chalactan Adepts to find. She loved to hear the stories of others and truly understand how family worked.

“My master and I just built it a month ago.”

She unclipped the item and handed it to him for inspections.



Aileni Ifor Xeraic

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Tapani
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow, practice saber
Tag: Pari Sylune

Taking the Lightsaber that Pari unclipped and looking over the design, he smirked and shook his head, "the Force really is a fan of making coincidences." Aileni muttered to himself as he noted the style of the hilt and the way it moved. "This is a really cool design by the way!" Aileni assured Pari, not wanting her to think that he was not impressed or appreciating the way her Lightsaber looked.

"So, my grandfather had a similar design. Interlocking hilts, locks into a saberstaff, then unlocks and you have two Lightsabers. He leaned into Niman and Jar'Kai for the fighting style." Aileni stated, it wasn't information that his mother really talked about, but something deep inside, something instinctual that told him about the way his grandfather fought, the way he held a Lightsaber and the reasoning for his preferences.

Handing the Lightsaber back to Pari, "so, mine will probably look like a more rustic, well worn version of yours in the future." Aileni chuckled with a somewhat dorky grin. "Though I will probably still favour my bow over actual Lightsaber combat." Aileni added, he was already highly skilled in using a bow so it was easily his preferred way to fight others.

"What Lightsaber forms are you leaning towards?" Aileni asked, though in the back of his mind, he wondered if they were getting close to where they needed to be. Aware that he didn't want to interrupt this conversation or seem uninterested in anything that Pari had to say.

 

[Pari Sylune]

Pari listened as he spoke about his grandfather's design, nodding along. She could picture it easily now, a rustic hilt resting naturally in his hands, worn but purposeful. It suited him somehow, as if it had always been meant to be there.

But when he mentioned his bow, her eyes widened just a little.

"I've never shot a bow," she admitted. "Is it hard?"

When he turned the question back to her, asking about lightsaber forms, Pari hesitated. She had been studying them all, diligently working through the theories and techniques, but her master's words still lingered in the back of her mind. Too timid. Too gentle. She lacked the aggressive edge needed to truly master most of them.

"I'm not sure yet," she said slowly. "I've been trying to learn all of them, but I think it makes more sense to specialize in one, because.."

The ship suddenly lurched.

The stars smeared and vanished as they were violently wrenched from hyperspace. Pari gasped, grabbing for balance as the deck seemed to drop out from beneath them.

"Are we there?" she asked, already knowing the answer.


She peered out the viewport, her uncertainty turning to dread. They weren't in the Tapani sector. They were still deep in open space, and they were no longer alone.

Ships were emerging all around them, dark silhouettes cutting through the void.

Pirates.


Aileni Ifor Xeraic