Private Epilogue

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Aurora's Edge

Equipment:
Standard Outfit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27

Cholganna's scent clung to Acier's clothes, damp, metallic and green. Ace sat near the viewport of one of the Aurora's Edge's many lounges. Elbows rested on his knees, he absent mindedly toyed with his lightsaber - tracing circles into its durasteel texture with his thumb.

The stars stretched thin outside the transparisteel, now clear of Cholganna, the freighter began to feel safer. Ace's jacket was slung over the back of the chair opposite him, still speckled with jungle grim. Skip was asleep at the next booth over, snoring loud enough to shake the entire ship.

Pisti had held her end of the bargain, managing to negotiate his and Skip's passage off the planet with Captain Demoux. He could hear her voice somewhere down the corridor, whether she was headed to the lounge of passing through - he wasn't sure.

The white-haired boy was deep in thought, reflecting on the last few months - his search for his parents, his growing strength in the Force, and where he found himself now. Ace now held partial knowledge of his origins - his father was Darth Metus and he had an elder brother... the Mand'alor Aether Verd . It all recontextualized his place in the galaxy, who he was, and made him wonder where to go next.

Well, he knew one thing. He had to find his mother, or what happened to her at least, and why his parents abandoned him. The second thing... Ace was well aware of the dangers of the galaxy, but his repeated life and death encounters had made him realize that relying on his current abilities weren't enough. And with where his journey would take him next? He needed to be more prepared.

Ace glanced toward the corridor, to where he had heard Pisti. Maybe she could help him, it wouldn't hurt to ask at least. Attaching his lightsaber back on his belt, he rose to his feet and made his way to the Jedi Knight.

"Can we talk?"

Pisti Caleida
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[Pisti Caleida]

C H O L G A N N A- O R B I T​

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Pisti played with the crystal pyramid. It's faint red glow pulsed as she tossed it from hand to hand. She knew that the legendary artefact was priceless. That didn't stop her from testing her own hand coordination.

Captain Demoux hadn't been happy with the stragglers she'd brought on. She'd met his frustration with a smile - as always - and had managed to convince him on the account of 'better them than a bunch of prisoners'. Still, she'd have to inform the temple about it. Somebody wielding a lightsaber outside of the Order wasn't rare. But having come in close proximity of the Sith holocron that she know held, well that could cause problems down the line. Who was to say that the holocron hadn't been their target to begin with?

Then there was the issue of their wrong intel. A Sith holocron where they had expected a stash of Jedi artefacts instead. It wasn't the kind of mistake their scouts made. No, there was more at play here.

Pisti set the pyramid down and rose from the small bed that made up over half of her room. The renovated Longbeam-cruiser was long but somehow lacked comfortable space. That was no issue to her - she'd just go annoy people in the kitchen area instead. Perhaps that would incentivize them to pick a larger transport next time.

Whistling, Pisti sauntered down the corridor. Eyes bright, yet clearly bored.

Then came a question from a now familiar voice. Ace.

She frowned.

"Sure. What's up?"

Acier Moonbound
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[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Aurora's Edge

Equipment:
Standard Outfit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27

Ace shifted on his feet a little, eyes not quite meeting hers at first.

"What's going to happen with that?" he asked, unintentionally shifting the topic before it even began - masking what he really wanted to say.

The Sith holocron was an unexpected discovery, he had no idea what they'd find but it was the last thing he expected. It reeked of darkness - it felt cold, wrong. But yet, he felt a strange allure to it. His brown eyes were entranced on the red pyramid. Was this normal? Or, maybe he felt called to it because of what he was born from.

Ace shook his head, focusing on what he was really for. He rubbed the back of his neck, still averting his gaze from the slightly taller woman. After several seconds of fighting with himself, to get the words out. He finally spoke up.

"I've been able to get by so far. You know... just instincts, wit, dumb luck... whatever you wanna call it. But back there on Cholganna... it really hit me."

He finally looked at her now, serious but not desperate.

"The Force, I still don't fully get it. Even after months with my Jedi holocron. I feel it. I can use it. But I don't know it. And I'm starting to see that if I don't figure it out properly... I'm just gonna get myself killed. Or worse. Someone else."

There was a pause. Just the hum of the freighter beneath their feet. Ace leaned against the wall, arms loosely crossed, but there was tension in his shoulders.

"I've been figuring things out bit by bit. I can move stuff now, little things. Push, pull. Nothing crazy." He paused, meeting her eyes. Ace's tone wasn't boastful. If anything, it was tired. "But that's the thing. I shouldn't be learning this stuff alone. Every time I get into something heavy, I realize how little I actually know. Back on Cholganna? I felt the Force, really felt it. That... wrongness. And I had no idea what to do with it except stab it until it stopped."

He pushed off the wall and stood straighter, more certain now.

"I don't want to be a Jedi, but I don't want to keep guessing either. I want to understand the Force, not just what I can do, but what I should do with it. Yeah, I can fight, I can survive. But I don't want to only survive."

He paused again, words on the tip of his tongue. This was it now, he'd laid everything bare and now he was asking for help. Real help, not the kind that that would help him short term, but the one where you carry it with you for the rest of your life.

"Would you teach me?"

Pisti Caleida
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