Populate [GA + Friendly Explorers] The Stars Between Us | GA Populate of Resource Hex

[Bal Tal]

Bal Tal bowed his head to Caelan Valoren as they started walking to explore the temple, with the procession of guards and assistants remaining in step behind them. Raz's Kaleeshan nanny was the closest, to be on hand in case the child needed something. Bal was not worried about any kind of violence; if he wasn't safe here, in the center of the Jedi Temple, alongside a Jedi Knight, with all of his guards, then safe just wasn't going to happen - no amount of preparation or additional bodyguards was going to change that.

"There is so little preserved of who we are, that most Rakatans are as much strangers to each other as we are to the other species of the Galaxy, at this point. We've been kept in compounds, stashed away for our own safety by the Republic and the Alliance, that our physiology is all that remains. What few customs each of those compounds have are borrowed from tribes that were either friendly to our survivors and had taken us in, or had conquered our raider tribes and pressed them onto us. Only some of our aesthetics, pulled from archaeological digs and often highly classified, remains. Everything I am holding and wearing is a reconstruction, and much of its meaning has been lost to time. Even who we had been at the start of the Infinite Empire, who we could have been, is virtually unknown.

"Finding any kind of uniting principles for the Rakatans has been difficult. I am hoping that a return to our homeworld will be one. But it also makes our people - already highly vulnerable - a target for the Alliance's enemies, through no fault of our own. Reaching out to the Jedi risks being targeted by the enemies of the Jedi, the Sith in particular who might be envious of our artifacts. But I'm not about to reach out to them. History has already shown what the Sith will do to our people. And simply becoming a Galactic cosmopolitan people, speaking Basic and keeping up with all the latest trends, risks a sort of dissolution that we also cannot afford, nor can we afford not to. It is a balance I do not know how to find."

"Senator, the High Council chambers are up there," Bal's assistant said, gesturing to a large chamber with ramps going to an upper floor.

"I appreciate your walking with me, and for listening. It isn't often I get to speak frankly about our struggles. It will be known that you are a friend to the Rakatans, and always welcome on Lehon."

 

[Alicio Organa]

Deep Space, aboard the Benefacto
En Route to Tython
- Ashley Nevermore - Nathan Bloodscrawl - Open -​

Alicio felt off, as they continued to push the pirates back.

It didn't have anything to do with his form. No, he was fighting at his peak, slapping away red blaster bolts when they would hit him or the platoon behind him, and sidestepping others that sailed uselessly past. To an outside observer, he was entirely in control, each movement rehearsed, as if he'd memorized every beat of the battle.

No, it was something... inside. Every once in a while, when he let his concentration slip... Introspect inched closer to his throat, as if gently nudged by an invisible hand.

"Now. Draw your blade… and take your own life."

Alicio caught it every time, tightening his grip on his blade, forcing control again. Queen Mother Daaray's final command had yet to be completed. He'd fought it off in the moment... but the words still echoed in his mind, resurfacing if he lost focus.

A pirate raised their pistol point-blank. Alicio silently cursed himself, raising his cybernetic hand as the blast went off. He caught in in the metal of his fist, then used the Force to trip them to the ground, knocking their head on durasteel. He couldn't stop to think. Not when everyone was still in danger.

Across the hangar, Alliance forces were being pushed back. Marauders were overrunning them, beginning to split into the Benefacto, spreading like an infection. Alicio recieved a sudden, violent premonition.

"They intend to fix the hyperdrive, and micro-jump us away." Alicio turned back to Lieutenant Nevermore, catching a bullet from a slugthrower in his prosthesis, still warped from the heat of blaster fire. "How fast can we clear the way?"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

A tremor crawled outward from the core of Ashla. The first jagged piece of rock had melded back into place.

The Force was alive, vibrant as the sun and thick as the churning oceans of Mon Cala. Within it lived Thurion, a man whose experience and wisdom radiated into the whole of the moon, a conduit of light guiding their efforts to mend.

The light would cast shadows, and they would have to face what lived in that darkness. The Padawans had been through much, but they persisted, even when facing harsh introspection. As Reina reached out to Azurine, Cora's own presence was quiet, but not silent. She was there, as a warm hand extended. One that would not seek to steer them one way or the other, but to support.

The shadows danced at the edge of her mind, and she let them. They twisted and turned in the periphery until they ran out of steam and began to dissipate. Regrets and failures were not uncommon among the Jedi, and it seemed that the higher she climbed, the more frequent they became.

Cora chose to see them as lessons. A way to reflect on her place in the galaxy. She was not a beacon, but a steady current.

Her lips moved in the shape of a silent prayer.

Azurine Varek Reina Daival Thurion Heavenshield

 

[Mykel Dawson]

FALSE MESSIAH #3​

Location: Heavy Cargo Freighter Auric Venture, Alliance frontier space at the Mid-Rim.
Objective (III): Stakeout (Pirate Hunting)
With: Jedi Knight Consular Kaldor Vexis (NPC), OPEN (DM for details before joining)

"Greetings, this is Captain Morisul of the Auric Venture. We require both, Commander," Kaldor answered, not missing a beat. When he spoke, it was with a pained expression as he stood hunched over, clutching his stomach. "This freighter was quite beat up by gravitational warps during hyper transit. It was a miracle we made it...through."

Major Hurst had a harder time remaining composed, so the Duros soon drifted offscreen as if he was checking something, but Mykel could see he wanted to curse. Even the question of treachery had him seeing red, not at all what he had expected.

::Quite fortunate indeed, Captain. I'll have an assessment team and medivac ready to depart shortly. I also extend the offer to your non essential personnel: they could be transferred to the Righteous Flame along with the wounded as emergency repairs are made.::

"That would be...welcome," Kaldor wheezed. "I believe that I may take you up on that offer personally."

::I'm sorry to hear that, but I trust you will find the accommodations of the Righteous most comfortable.::

"I would delighted with a mere cot at this juncture," Kaldor said with a strained chuckle. "We await your shuttle. If you require nothing else, then I'll end the call now to conserve our power."

Thorne nodded, and with that, Kaldor shut off the communications, straightening up. "A tricky one, I felt no malice from from her. Can we confirm the make of the vessel? Perhaps this was just an uninformed GADF patrol that stumbled upon our operation by accident?"

Drifting far, far behind the Auric Venture was a single stealth drone trailing them. From the moment the pirates had reverted near the freighter, it had been scanning them with its powerful suite of sensors, invisible to the surrounding universe all the while. Relaying its information through untraceable quantum communication, analysts aboard its host vessel had quickly confirmed the identity of the ship. Their grave conclusion was relayed back through the drone to the Venture through a heavily encrypted burst transmission over blind band hypercomms.

Mykel was reading their findings at a console, expression growing pale.

"Analysts have confirmed that the vessel is indeed the ANS Righteous Flame, a Tython-class Cruiser. Commander Thorne is the real deal. " Mykel started, and Hurst growled. "However...the Righteous Flame was reported missing months ago, right around the time the Planeshift anomalies began and we didn't know better. In fact her whole flotilla was reported missing. Nearly 50k crew MIA in total."

This situation was getting stranger by the minute. Mykel was afraid they were GADF personnel turned traitor, but they had gone missing without a peep. Now they show up a few months later playing pirate? What was up?

"We need to pause the ambush," Mykel told Kaldor. "If I can get on that carrier and slice into their systems, then we can figure out exactly what's going on."

"No, no!" Hurst nearly barked. "We need to hit them now and figure it out later. Do you know the kind of firepower that single carrier has? And there may be a dozen more vessels out there like this right now. We're barely armed to take on a single GADF cruiser as we are - we expected pirates."

"That's precisely why we must exercise caution," Kaldor countered. "We in fact do not know how many other ships are out there in support of Thorne. Any kinetic action right now may cause an unwanted fight beyond our means, and even worse, we may scare off the rest of the conspirators when we are discovered. Let's see where this rabbit hole takes us."

The Duros grit his teeth, but he came around with a grunt. "Alright, we hold, but if any BS starts with their shuttle crew then I'm calling into Sector Command for the big guns. There may even not be be time for that."

With that, Mykel practically skipped away with Kaldor for the turbolift to reach the docking ports. His mechanic routine was going to have to continue until they had more information, but by waiting, they could only be spelling their own doom.