Private Eve of No Return

[Laertia Io]

Wearing: Hoodlum's Leathers

Armed with: De Lifte Crystal (Curved Hilt)

Aboard: Absolution of Loste


"Wutz havv I dunnz?" Laertia asked worriedly as she sat at the mess table, eating a bowl of steamed carrots with chopsticks, yet unable to ease the disquiet rattling her stomach.

"You did what you felt was right, of course..." Syd Celsius replied in as soothing and reassuring a tone as she could manage as she sat across from her in her navy blue and gold skintight catsuit. Laertia was still wearing her biker leathers.

When she had gone in, she had thought it obvious what the only solution was. Had not Nar Kreeta been enough proof for men like Ryv and Coren Starchaser ?

Instead, she watched in shock and disgust as he had caved before the outraged shouts of the short sighted, indignant at the idea of having to work with those who had likely hurt all of them in the past. Laertia understood succinctly on a personal level how humiliating it would be...she had spent her youth killing Sith. She had rejected The Amalgam ...even after the horrific truth about her had been revealed.

The idea that she might end up actually having to work alongside her at some point made her want to vomit.

She had been to Atrisia. Fought tooth and nail simply to slow the hoard down. But that hoarde had known when to to retreat. When further losses simply made no sense.

She had killed and killed and killed and killed that day on Nar Kreeta but each death seemed to ultimately only enrage the survivors. But negotiations were no option...the Bryn'adul were utterly implacable. One might as well argue with an Avalanche. They didn't see their enemies as anything but pests to be exterminated. Even The Sith knew when to chill and take five. The Bryn'adul did not. They would never be stopped unless overwhelming brutality and force was used, regardless of how it made them look or feel at the end.

Laertia was terrified at the idea the Bryn'adul would not stop until they were all dead. She didn't want to kill them all...she just wanted to kill enough of them to cripple them economic and morale wise for generations to come and make sure they never wanted to do this again, even if it took decades of deprogramming the surviving populace.

But she had never come across an enemy so hate filled. So fanatical that there was literally no room for anyone else but themselves. She was terrified the Alliance would have to destroy them all. She didn't want genocide to begin with.

She knew she'd get remembered as a Butcher for what would happen against the Alliance and the Bryn'adul. She knew the risk of falling to the Dark Side was severe.

But if she left with the Jedi, then it would be a waste. The Jedi would exhaust themselves trying to chip away at the Sith, massively piss everyone who supported the Alliance off, and get them branded as traitors and criminals to be imprisoned, and for what? So they could feel good about themselves? At the expense of the whole fething galaxy? Nothing gave the Jedi Order that right. Not their code, not the Force. They could screech about the Sith all they liked...all they were doing was leaving themselves without the friendship and connections of those who saw the same ruthless calculus she had and made the same decision she would have made. Just because they were civilians didn't mean they were wrong.

The Order's collective ego was once again clouding its Judgement and would damage it for years to come.

Laertia had done the only thing she could. She had immense respect for Starchaser. But he was wrong.

Laertia chewed another piece of steamed carrot before pushing it away.

"I cann'tz eatz annymorrz..." the raven haired, tombstone skinned woman whispered, crying.

She had tried so hard. So hard to fit in. Tried so much to get the hang of being a proper Jedi in the eyes of people like Starchaser (though she conceeded that in all likelihood she had never really had success on that level) only to find the Galaxy now needed her to Rip and Tear until it is Done as never before.

Laertia started breathing in and out fast and hard. She was having an anxiety attack at defying Master Starchaser in front of everyone. The feed of her little monologue had been seen throughout the Silver Rest. She had essentially challenged the senior leadership with open defiance and a willingness to fight him to prevent him from undermining the Alliance.

She was terrified at having done so.

She didn't want to be another Vader. As a Padawan under that thing's teaching, she had studied all she could find on Anakin Skywalker. Her similarities to the infamous traitor had never ceased to make her skin crawl, had made her occasionally wake up from nightmares where she was so badly injured they had to fit her for a respirator. It had gotten worse after she had actually been cyberized after near fatal injuries. It wasn't her worst nightmare, but it was so close it was on the verge of merely splitting hairs.

She didn't notice Syd's arms around her shoulder until she ceased hyperventilating, felt the side of Syd's face against the side of hers.

"Shhhhh..." Syd whispered gently. "It's okay."

Laertia clasped one of her warm, chromium gloved hands with her glossy obsidian cybernetic arm, kissing it. She felt Syd's mental lips caress her damaged brain. Tears fell down her scarred face.

"I diddz ownlee wut I thoughttz wuz ryte, Syd. I swearrz..." she said.

"I know you did. Its why I support it, no matter my own hangups." Syd reassured her. "I believe its the right thing too."

Laertia rose from the table to face her.

"Thanx fer stanndyngz byy meez, Syd..." Laertia reached out to the gorgeous red headed Atrisian Force Spawn's face.

"What are you going to do?" Syd asked.

"I'mm gunna rallee az manny Jedi to supporrtz duh Allyannce az pozzibul." Laertia answered. "Az ov dhis momenntz, myy loiyullteez lye wyth duh Konnkorrd, anndz myy fammilee...annd wyth yoo..."

Syd held Laertia's organic hand close to her face.

"It could turn against us. Starchaser could end up the winner. Have us exiled. Or executed." Syd warned

"Itz a rysk wee havv tuh accepptz tuh sayve duh Galaxxee frumm duh Brinnyduelz..." Laertia responded, though she was still crying at the prospect.

Syd hugged her. Laertia felt the warmth of Syd's spirit caress what seemed lately, her own, eternally chilly one. She felt safe in that eternal heat. The burning warmth of her affection.

The thought of having all she loved destroyed by the Bryn'adul was a future Laertia would not, could not, tolerate.

She had to oppose Starchaser for the sake of her family, for the sake of every one she saw die at Yurb and Nar Kreeta that didn't deserve it. For the sake of everyone who WOULD die if he got his way...

She had to stand against him.

"I have a gift for you..." Syd whispered after kissing her.

"Wut?" Laertia asked.

"Something to help you reach the minds of those not yet swayed...an act of sorcery upon you..." Syd replied, kissing her. "Do you trust me?"

"Yess..." Laertia answered, feeling the intensity of their bond, knowing Syd would never intentionally hurt her.

Syd whispered something unnatural under her breath before kissing Laertia's neck.

Strange, unnatural looking calligraphy in black appeared on Laertia's neck before disappearing.

"Speak, my beautiful, spiky black pearl. Speak." Syd encouraged.

"Whatever do you mean, my inferno-haired muse?" Laertia asked before her mouth fell open in surprise.

"You've used Magic to counteract my birth voice..." Laertia remarked, before cupping her mouth in shock and tearing up.

She had never heard herself speak out loud in a normal manner.

"I can remove it if you want me to. Just say so." Syd assured her.

"No. Don't remove the spell..." Laertia said, her body language changing in an instant from nervous to confidant, touching her lips in shock still.

She wiped her tears away. "Syd...we head for the surface. We proselytize right in front of The Silver Rest if we have to..."

"I'll get my things..." Syd said, turning to head out only for Laertia to gently tug at her back into her arms, kissing her before letting her go...

Five minutes later.

As Syd gathered her Lightsaber and other items, she decided to send a transmission out to her Padawan Starlin Rand :

She sat in front of a desk where a camera watched her.

"Well, Padawan..." she said with a sigh...

"I suppose you and your friends have all seen what I did on the feed with my colleague. I've chosen to support the Alliance. I know what you have seen with me in our missions together. I know you have seen the utter depravity The Dark Side is capable of. You should never forget it. The threat it represents should always be in the back of your mind, if there is nothing else you have gained from me as my student, then you can at least take that away. But this time, the threat of the Bryn'adul is greater. Greater than the consequences or risks of the Sith recovering."

She looked right at the camera, and it was clear she was crestfallen at the thought of losing a Padawan to a strategic call.

"You will face intense pressure from both your peers and other Masters to disassociate and disfavor me. I would ask only that you make up your own mind first before deciding to listen. But if you decide they are right...I will understand. I won't hold it against you. But I want you to know this is not about my or Laertia Io's ego. Neither one of us want to do this. But Starchaser is wrong. The Concord needs every single ounce of Jedi support. But it is increasingly obvious even that won't be enough. We need allies to crush the Bryn'adul. And the Galaxy is not run by good people for the most part."

"I am not blind to how fragile and tenuous this Alliance is. How it is a product of sheer desperation and fear. On that note at least, our critics are absolutely correct. But where the Bryn'adul are concerned, every ordinary person without the Force who made this deal was absolutely correct to do so regardless. Because the alternative is genuinely worse. No one wants this Alliance for any reason other than the cold, hard fact that if we do not fight together, then we shall die seperately..." Syd trailed.

She took a few moments to collect herself.

"What really made me decide to support the Alliance was seeing what The Bryn'adul did to your legs..." she said slowly. "You wanna know what was running through my head when I saw you bleeding out. Panic. I have no idea what I would have said to your mother, how I could have explained it. You dying on my watch. What was I gonna tell her? That her son died because I turned my back at the wrong second? She would have hated me forever, and she would have been right to. She'll probably hate me merely for recruiting you. That's why I pulled out all the stops that day. That's why I raised the dead in the Market...because if the worst came to pass, and you DID die, I wanted to at least be able to look your mother in her eyes and say I did everything in my power to make sure you and everyone like you came back, and that if I still failed in spite of that, than the shame of failure would not be quite so enormous. I wanted you to understand that is why I do what I do: Because I don't want you to die. I don't want your mother to die at their hands. My thoughts watching you bleed out that day are what motivate me to do what I do. I hope you will understand. If you decide to support the Alliance...that would be great. I look forward to hearing from you, no matter your decision...goodbye, Starlin. Hopefully not forever. And hopefully not for long."

Syd cut the recording there and sent out the transmission before joining Laertia on the ship attached to her cruiser.

One half hour later...

They had taken a ride down to the planet Kashyyyk in The Blessing of Loste

They had parked the ship just outside the grounds where it would draw the most attention. Laertia had come out of the ship, teleported to the front entrance and held a letter she had written fifteen minutes before, pinning it to the metal frame of one door by jamming a nail into it with her bare hands.

The letter was written in black calligraphic basic, letters large and easy to read:

KNIGHTS OF THE SILVER ORDER! PEERS! PATRIOTS!

A CROSSROAD LAYS AHEAD. ON THE ONE HAND IS THE GNARLED, BLOODY, UNPLEASANT PATH TO VICTORY AGAINST ONE OF THE MOST VICIOUS ENEMIES WE HAVE EVER FACED IN OUR LIVES! ALL HANDS MUST UNITE AS ONE TO STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THE BRYN'ADUL!

YET THE GRANDMASTER COREN STARCHASER SLAPS AWAY THE HANDS THAT BRING AN EXTRA SWORD BECAUSE HE DISLIKES THE ARM WIELDING IT. YOU SAW HOW QUICKLY HIS RESOLVE FAILED WHEN HIS DETRACTORS SQUEALED HIM INTO AGREEMENT LIKE YELPING DOGS RESISTING FLEA MEDICINE. HOW CAN CONFIDENCE POSSIBLY BE PLACED IN SUCH A ONE WHO GIVES IN SO EASILY?

I CALL UPON YOU TO REJECT COREN STARCHASER! I CALL UPON EVERY JEDI WHO DOES NOT NEED A JEDI CODE TO TELL THEM WHAT SHOULD BE PLAINLY OBVIOUS: APPEALING TO IDEOLOGICAL PURITANISM SO SOME OF US CAN CONTINUE NURSING OUR PRIVATE DISCONTENTS WITH THE SITH LORDS IS NOT JUST FOOLISH, BUT A COMPLETE AND CATEGORICAL REJECTION OF REALITY. FOLLOWING HIM AND THE PURITANS WOULD CRIPPLE THE CONCORD. IT WOULD ALIENATE OUR CLOSEST ALLIES. IT WOULD ALLOW THE SITH PROPER AN UNACCEPTABLY HIGH LEVEL OF INFLUENCE IN SAID ALLIANCE WITHOUT AS MANY JEDI PRESENT AS POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE A COUNTERBALANCE TO IT. TO FOLLOW STARCHASER IS TO FOLLOW CONCEIT AND PRIDE!

"HEAR ME!" Laertia shouted out at the gathering crowd of soldiers and Jedi alike as she stood at the front of the entrance with Syd.

"Coren Starchaser is absolutely right to distrust the Sith. But he is absolutely wrong when he essentially is saying that they are a greater threat than the Bryn'adul. The Bryn'adul have a better than solid chance of crushing the Concord! Even if the politicians who made this unpleasant position a reality don't have the Force, that doesn't mean they are wrong to have made it! No one wants an alliance with the Sith, least of all me. The Sith have personally done horrifying, disturbing things to me that will haunt me to my grave. I lost...I lost things to them. Things that have taken me a life time to even attempt to replace. They murdered my entire family. And if it were any other enemy, even if it were The Mandalorians thinking they want another shot at the title, I would have probably agreed that the situation wasn't that serious. But it is that serious. That is why I, a woman who has spent her whole life putting almost every Sith she could find to the Sword is putting aside the memory of her dead family to recognize a more serious and pressing evil in the Bryn'adul. I ask every Jedi present who suffered, either personally or professionally, at the hands of Sith to set aside that thing in you that claws for the justice it knows they have wrought upon them, step back and recognize that in satisfying that notion would mean sacrificing all around you. It would sacrifice the Concord, the Public's trust, it would hamper our ability to do any sort of good at all being branded as traitors, and it would mean the Bryn'adul winning in the end, in spite of our moral superiority. Is that the kind of lesson we want to teach that its better to ignore the truth and die proud than see the truth and live, if miserably? Which is the truer sacrifice a Jedi should make? The approval of their peers, or the lives of countless millions depending on us to realize their blood means more to us than our code and these silly robes many of us wear that let us pretend we have the moral authority to ignore their judgement about the world around them and our place in it. Don't forget...the only reason Jedi are able to do anything, kill as many dozens as they do on a yearly basis is because the people who ACTUALLY run The Concord recognize the role we play in taking down the worst of the worst. If we lose their support, you can kiss places like the Rest goodbye! You can kiss away all the respect as politicians shut their doors, and more importantly, their ears to us! You can kiss goodbye all the trust, all the influence, all the connections operating for the Concord gives you...and you will STILL be wrong for doing it at the end of it all, because the Bryn'adul are THAT MUCH of a threat..." Laertia said fiercely to the gathered crowd, waiting for the inevitable disagreement to pop up...

 

[Starlin Rand]

Syd’s transmission reached Starlin shortly before his arrival on Kashyyyk, almost right as the Surrey was jumping into the system. Since he was piloting the old exploration vessel, he couldn’t look at it right away, but he was aware of it via a chirping notification on his datapad. His heart beat faster when he saw his master’s name listed as the sender, but he held back his impatience long enough to land at the Silver Rest before he watched it.

By the time he reached the end, he felt cold and numb. He hardly reacted as Tom Kovack came into the cockpit, his clothes and equipment rustling as he moved.

“Are you okay?” Tom asked, sensing something was wrong.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Starlin replied. Standing up, he turned off his datapad, stuffed it in his pocket, then faced Tom. “You ready to go?”

Tom nodded, and the pair left the ship.

Not long after they had watched the Jedi conference holofeed together, the two boys had discussed what to do next. They had been on their way to Coruscant, as Starlin wanted to see his mother and Tom had friends to visit there, but the conflict arising between the Jedi and the signs of a rapidly ensuing schism threw a wrench in their plans. Tom was anxious to get back to the Silver Rest and his little sister, and Starlin needed to see Syd in person. Yet despite their obvious decision to turn around and return to Kashyyyk, a thousand words still lay unspoken between them.

Starlin was still in denial about what being on opposite sides of the issue would do to their friendship. As far as he could tell, Tom seemed to be handling it pretty well. They hadn’t started fighting each other, and their conversations hadn’t devolved into arguments. Not yet, anyway.

Tom, who knew enough about the history of the Jedi and the Sith to realize that the world they knew was disintegrating around them, was much more practical. He had no illusions about what was about to happen, and he was already preparing himself, emotionally and mentally if not physically, for what was to come.

“I’m not going to stay here for long,” Tom said, speaking slowly and carefully as they walked the forest path to the compound proper. “As soon as I can find another pilot to take us, we’ll be leaving.”

“Are you sure?” Starlin asked, his brow furrowing.

Tom shrugged, his expression strained. “While I have a lightsaber, I haven’t trained enough to be able to go to war with anyone, Bryn or Sith.”

“But what about that battle you mentioned? The one where you got shot, same as I was?”

“That was a mistake I made in another lifetime.” Tom shook his head. “I was alone then. Now I have someone other than myself to look out for.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone about your decision,” Starlin said, heaving a sigh of acceptance. “And if I’m being honest, I’m glad you’ll be sitting this one out. I’d hate to wind up seeing you on the opposite side of a battlefield, if it comes down to that.”

“Then you are going to Dantooine,” Tom said, less a question and more a statement of fact.

Starlin pursed his lips in a half-hearted smirk. “Probably. If Syd will be there, along with that friend of hers who talks funny…” He trailed off, feeling almost a sense of vertigo, as if he were peering over the edge of a great precipice. “It seems like most of the Jedi are going to turn on the Concord because of this.”

“I noticed that too,” Tom admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve been monitoring the chatter on the Holonet. Some of it is downright crazy talk—people suggesting the Jedi overthrow the corrupt politicians who made the alliance with the Sith, then set themselves up as ‘Jedi Lords’, carving out their own individual territories from the Concord.”

“That does sound insane,” Starlin muttered, eyebrows rising. “I hope it’s just the fringe outliers who want that.”

“They’ve already made an announcement about an ‘Army of Light’ forming in the Galactic Alliance, I think,” Tom went on. “The thing is, the modulated voice making the announcement supposedly sounds like a voice we’ve all heard in our dreams and visions.”

“A voice we’ve all heard?”

“You haven’t had any visions yet, but I have. The Force has a ‘voice’ of sorts. It doesn’t sound the same to everyone, but there is a commonality to it we all recognize. We can sense it. And that announcement was trying to mimic it, to make people think the Force itself was talking to them.”

“How do you know it isn’t the real thing?”

“Because the Force would simply send a vision, not a fething holo transmission. They’re trying to incite a kind of religious fervor in more gullible people, I guess. Calling for a crusade. I don’t think it’s a good idea for the Concord to ally themselves with TSE or the CIS, but stuff like that disgusts me and I want no part in it.”

Starlin grimaced. He was in an uncomfortable enough position as it was, not knowing who to trust. He didn’t know which of his fellow Padawans were on which side—or at least, they weren’t all accounted for. Caden Evesa had been at the conference and declared his allegiance to the rebels. Kyra Perl , whom Starlin had an embarrassing crush on (to be honest, who didn’t?), was the daughter of Coren Starchaser and the sister of Nida Perl , who had recently been brainwashed by the Sith, so he assumed she was on the side of the rebels against the Sith.

Even so, these people were all acquaintances to Starlin at best. He admired them from afar, but didn’t know what was truly in their hearts. Tom was his closest friend, and yet he wasn’t going to participate in this conflict at all. He had more important things to worry about, like keeping his family safe.

“Starlin,” Tom said, breaking Starlin out of his thoughts. “You realize I can’t tell you where we’re going. It’s too dangerous. If you ally yourself with the Sith, and they turn on you, you could be captured. Tortured. Forced to give up whatever information you have locked inside your head.”

“And you can’t afford that.”

“No, I can’t...”

They had reached the compound, and it was clear even from afar that something was afoot. A crowd had gathered outside the entrance, attracted by a pro-alliance posting nailed to a door. Bewildered, Tom and Starlin exchanged glances before cautiously approaching the edge of the throng.

Laertia Io stood at the heart of the group, only she didn’t sound like she used to. Something had been done to her voice, fixing the slurred speech and poor grammar. She was giving a fiery speech, hoping to rally others to her cause.

The first signs of dissent were quick to manifest. People were arguing with Laertia and amongst themselves, their voices drowning each other out. Starlin spotted Syd nearby, pointed her out to Tom, and then fought his way through the crowd, struggling to reach his master. He finally burst through the gathered throng, a little worse for wear but uninjured.

“Syd!” he exclaimed. “I got your message—I’m with you!”

Syd Celsius

 

[Syd Celsius]

"The Sith have always betrayed every Alliance they have ever been a part of! You are asking us to willingly go into such a partnership 'knowing' it can only end one way?" A Jedi in the crowd asked.

"Its not ideal, and all we will be able to do is prepare for the day the Sith do it. But the wounds the Bryn'adul create in the Force with each people they conquer being deliberately wiped out are of much greater worry...if they are not stopped, met with as united a front as possible we will eventually be overwhelmed in spite of our ability. Each world destroyed is a world whose loves, hopes, and futures are blotted out..." Syd spoke, wincing as she thought of the hideous crimes of Darth Phyre, hiding it from her bond with her Black Pearl. Syd was too scared to tell her, just like Laertia was too scared to show all her demons.

She knew only that she needed her in her life. She made her feel things. Things that distracted her from the fact that she was an abomination.

When Laertia had vowed to fight the Bryn'adul, what could Syd do but join her? No one had ever opened up their heart to her the way Laertia had. (Who had gotten to enjoy a few belly dances from Syd since then.)

She was torn at the idea she might have to leave her padawan behind...and also torn at taking her with him. Because if this went south, they all went down. Syd had not brought Starlin into the way of the Jedi to lead him down a bad path. To lead him into hell. She couldn't stand the idea she might be responsible for destroying him. He had nearly died on her watch once already. She had started having nightmares where she hadn't gotten to him fast enough. Or to Laertia fast enough. Nightmares of them falling into that worm...

When Syd spotted Starlin Rand making his way to her, then declaring he was joining her, Syd felt a mix of relief and worry. Relief that she hadn't lost her Padawan. Worry that she had doomed him.

"Thank you for trusting me. Starlin. I'll do my best to be worthy." She said with a nod.

Laertia gave a polite nod to Starlin.

"Nice to meet you, Padawan." Laertia said to him, glad one had supported them openly. Maybe he would be the first of many.

Laertia had actually been told a bit about him, and what she had learned intrigued her. The very fact he had survived and lasted as long as he did was testament to Syd's skill as a teacher. But in the coming war he would have to be sharpened.

If there was one thing Laertia was good at...

...it was honing an edge...

 

[Starlin Rand]

The look in Syd’s eyes was everything Starlin had come to expect from his master. Steel forged in fire with burning determination. But it was also sad, almost resigned.

"Thank you for trusting me. Starlin. I'll do my best to be worthy."

“Yeah,” Starlin replied. Something about her words didn’t sit well with him. Maybe it was the idea that she had something to prove to him. She’d done that already, saving his life twice, being his teacher, his guardian… if anything, he was the idiot who had gotten himself into stupid situations. He wasn’t even supposed to be on Nar Kreeta, after all. Not to mention the closest he had ever come to dying hadn’t happened on her watch, but on Nimdok’s… Starlin inexplicably laid his hand over his heart at the memory, feeling the organ pulse beneath his fingertips. His heart had literally stopped, and Nimdok had to revive him with a defibrillator they luckily happened to have on the ship.

"Nice to meet you, Padawan."

Laertia dragged him out of his thoughts, and he turned to look at her. He recognized her from the conference, though she looked far more physically imposing in real life compared to the holofeed footage—a muscular woman wearing a spiky leather jacket, with a scarred face and her black hair cut in a jagged punk style, she was all edges and points. But something was different. Didn’t she used to have a severe speech impediment?

“You too,” he said. “You’re, uh, Laertia Io, right? I’m Starlin Rand.” He almost put his hand out for her to shake, then thought better of it. Aside from the fact that she looked like she could rip his arm off, angry Wookiee style, if she was into handshakes she would’ve put her hand out first to establish dominance. Yeah, no, better to just return the polite nod she’d given him.

Suddenly remembering Tom, Starlin turned around, looking for his friend. Not seeing him in the crowd, he shut down his senses and sought him out through the Force—a neat little trick one of the instructors at Silver Rest had taught him. Sure enough, he found Tom struggling to make his way to the side entrance, the one closest to the younglings’ ward.

“Hey, Tom!” he called, both yelling out loud and poking him through the Force.

Tom’s head jerked, and he met Starlin’s eyes. Smirking, the older Padawan jabbed his finger at Starlin, who gestured for him to come over. A bit begrudgingly, Tom fought his way back through the crowd to where Starlin stood with Syd and Laertia.

“This is Tom Kovack,” Starlin introduced him to the two women. “He’s a friend of mine. Technically a Padawan, too, though he doesn’t actually have a master yet, even though he’s older than me...”

No sooner had the words left his mouth, Tom’s face darkened, a blush creeping across his cheeks. Starlin noticed it and paused, then awkwardly continued, “... not to embarrass you or anything. I mean, everyone goes at their own pace here. And besides, Tom just got here not too long ago. He’s, heh, a brand new student.”

“For your information, Starlin, I did receive some training,” Tom muttered. “From Tammuz Hoole, the great Shi’ido Jedi Master. He probably would’ve taken me on as his apprentice eventually, but I was young and stupid and decided to run off in search of adventure instead.”

“Oh, um… never heard of him.” Starlin scratched his head.

“He was a Padawan during the Gulag Plague,” Tom explained. “His master was killed right before he was knighted, by one of the nastier Sith of that era, Darth Phyre. He wanted to kill her, but she disappeared, and Tammuz realized that revenge isn’t worth it.”

“Darth Phyre? Never heard of her either,” Starlin said sheepishly. Now it was his turn to feel embarrassed. Tom had a way of making Starlin feel like the most ignorant, foolhardy dweeb in the room, while also making sure he realized it wasn’t so bad as long as you learned from your mistakes.

“Well, I don’t know much about her, just that she was one crazy witch. Had a reputation for being pure chaotic evil—”

Before he could say more, one of the doors opened and a man stepped out. Starlin recognized him as one of the teachers at the Silver Rest, Selca Dukani. Between his dandyish appearance, complete with curly blond hair and the face of a Serennian aristocrat, his penchant for wearing all-black uniform suits instead of the traditional Jedi robes, and his mismatched eyes, one pale blue and the other as black as an inkwell, he was a startling figure to anyone who wasn’t familiar with his strange looks.

Selca strolled over, read the sign Laertia had posted on the door, then shook his head. “I’m afraid you don’t have all the facts,” he said.

Starlin groaned loudly, but Tom’s interest was piqued. “What do you mean, Master Dukani?” he asked.

Gesturing to the sign, Selca shrugged. “I’m afraid this alliance has little to do with moral self-righteousness versus humility, and everything to do with politics. The Sith Empire is being hammered by both the Bryn’adul and the NIO, who are allied with the Galactic Alliance. They lost one of their major players only recently, as well as enduring a change in leadership, giving up Carnifex in exchange for joint rulership between his daughter and… uncle, I think? The familial relations of that family are truly baffling. But anyway, theirs is a sinking ship, and they know it. So they reached out to the CIS and the Silvers for help.” Selca wagged his finger. “The Bryn are indeed a threat, but you must consider the fact that Dantooine, the planet you two vowed to fight upon at the conference, is not being threatened by them. It is the NIO and the GA who will be invading Dantooine. A fascist splinter faction that hates the Sith, and a government with its own Jedi Order to rival that of the SJC.”

“Wait a minute,” Starlin interrupted. “This alliance—why can’t the GA and the NIO join it? Why can’t we all get along just long enough to destroy the Bryn?”

“I think you already know why that is an unrealistic expectation, Padawan,” Selca replied. “The NIO were originally part of the Sith Empire, before they broke off. The GA have been their allies for some time now, and they have done quite well together. No one wants to sour a good, mutually beneficial partnership, especially not for the sake of preserving the Sith.”

“Are you forgetting that there are innocent civilians on all those ‘Sith’ planets?” Starlin snapped. “If that’s really the GA’s excuse, then whatever Force Users they’ve got on their team can't be true Jedi!”

Tom put his hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, Starlin. Relax. Don’t let your anger do the talking for you.”

Starlin turned to his friend, and saw the same bitter frustration reflected back at him. But Tom was smart. He knew there was nothing he could do about it. So he was going to take his little sister and get the hell out of there before things got any stupider. Or more fethed up.

“Look,” Starlin began again, his voice level again. He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t care about the politics. I want to stop the Bryn. If that means I have to side with the Sith, I’ll do it.”

Selca sighed. “You’re an even bigger idealist than I thought, Starlin. Or perhaps you simply thirst for battle. Either way, I think you’ll find that siding with the Sith in any conflict will exact too high a toll. Great men have sold their souls for less noble reasons, but they sell their souls all the same.”

“You condescending prick!” Starlin’s hand had formed into a fist well before he raised it to punch his teacher in the face. Luckily Tom was close enough to grab his arm, holding him back before he could swing.

“Starlin, you fething idiot!” The pain in Tom’s voice jarred him back to reality. “Are you trying to get us banned from Silver Rest? Can’t you understand what’s happening?”

Starlin stared at him uncomprehendingly, his anger abruptly evaporating. “What?” he asked, his tone strangely detached. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Selca departing, walking away from the situation as if nothing of note had occurred.

“It’s falling apart!” Tom cried. “The Silver Jedi are splitting up. It’s a schism! Everyone is taking sides, and nothing is ever going to be the same again! Our world is dying, Starlin! We won’t be able to stay here much longer!”

Starlin continued to stare at him in silence, even as Tom let go of him and started to back away.

“I have to get out of here,” he mumbled, and Starlin thought he saw tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. “We have to get out of here, before it’s too late.” Turning away, he headed through the door, on his way to retrieve his youngling sister, like he’d planned.

“Syd…” Starlin said, finally tearing his eyes away from the closed door his friend had disappeared through. “Did you know about this stuff? The politics and whatever? I mean, he’s technically right… if we go to Dantooine, we’ll be fighting Jedi, not the Bryn…”

Syd Celsius

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd smiled as she listened to Starlin Rand introduce and talk to his friend.

It took all her emotional control not to let her deep distress and horror at the revelation Tom had given, that Phyre had killed the Master of Tom's master, leak out into her bond with Laertia, who similarly didn't leak out her deep distress at hearing that name again. It was so unsettling for Laertia, and out of the blue, to hear Tom describe more than what even Themis had given her.

A witch of pure Chaotic Evil...Laertia's mind danced off to memories of The Amalgam for a split second. It was more characterization than Laertia had before...and it deepened her curiosity...

Who was this beast that had murdered her parents...and why?

Syd for her part was struggling not to be sick at hearing the name, especially when another master came and questioned Laertia's grasp of the situation.

"Nar Kreeta drives my words. Yurb drives my words. Everyone that will die if we keep fighting each other drives the words in that letter. The Politicians can hang." Laertia said. "We waste blood and resources while the Bryn'adul willingly wipe out whole societies without pity. Surely, stopping them from creating all these Force Wounds matters?" Laertia questioned those present.

Syd wanted to be sick at hearing Phyre's name. She wanted so hard to be accepted. Had fought for it. Yearned for it. And now, because they didn't want to see what was staring them in the face, she was going to throw all of it out of the window, potentially.

She watched Starlin grow frustrated, than alarmed as his words actually made her go on the verge of warning him herself before Tom stopped him. He saw the writing too. There was a schism, definitely. Whether it would destroy the SJC or not remained to be seen.

Syd hadn't wanted to be remembered like this, and as much as she put on a brave face, inside she was crumbling at the idea that she might have doomed the boy. Especially when he asked the question of whether they would fight Jedi.

Am I failing him? she dared to ask herself.

"Yes, I know...but we need this Alliance. We can't have it threatened just because the NIO have got the G.A. wrapped around their finger..." Syd explained. "If we don't resist what we know is a bad idea, then we might as well just let Ryv Karis and his NIO friends have their way, and do nothing at all. But if you believe in something, you have to fight for it, even if it means fighting people who otherwise shouldn't be your enemies..."

"Its not a fight for everyone. No one would hold it against you for wanting nothing to do with it." Laertia said to him.

"But the NIO is pretty much using the G.A., and they're using the New Jedi Order. They wanna fight a two front war, Starlin. Its not right. Its not even really about fighting Jedi, more like stumping the NIO's efforts in the hopes they might reassess their situation. Nobody, even the most powerful of governments, come out in any sort of good shape in a two front war. Even if they triumph, which is a possibility, they'll have sustained so much economic damage and loss of life it will barely be a victory at all. They'll be even easier prey for anyone who weathered the storm better than they did. It will result in millions of deaths, fighting each other..." Syd explained, hoping it made sense. "But what's going on is bad Starlin. No way around it. But I cannot support Ryv's position in good conscience, and neither can Laertia. If you come with us, it must be because you believe what I say makes sense. I don't want this battle...but I have to fight it. Its important."