I Know You From Somewhere... [Galactic Alliance]

[Rayliav'enci]

Raylia was still limping from the attack on the Alliance but she had done everything she could for the injury. There was nothing left but time and tea to sooth both her body and soul but that was little comfort to her as she walked the grounds. She couldn't bear to sit around the academy at the moment, too long and she became stiff. The destruction wrought by the Final Order lay around her, the mourning for those lost to the onslaught still ongoing as the chants and prayers for the dead drifted out from the temple. The Jedi could offer condolences, but many of the fallen were soldiers and people who had faith and gods and so the rituals of their lives filled the academy grounds.

Raylia craved something green, something lush.This planet was turmoil and heat; it blanched the Twi'lek and left her wanting for anything vegetative or the sound of running water. She missed Corellia. The Sith had stolen far too much from those who never wanted to be involved. The hubris of a few always cost the comfort of the many.

She paused looking over a ravine that descended down into a mouth of magma, the slow and fiery flows of molten rock a poor substitute for watching the ebb and flow of the tides. However, a lesson could always be found if one were open to it and in the creeping floe, she found the rhythm of patience and a reminder that we set the pace of our own lives.

It was something. At least for the moment.

[member="Syren"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Syren]

*Syren yawned big and wide as she made her way down from the academy archives. She had left the astromech to comb through pages of data. He was better at it than she was by leaps and bounds. The scholarly life interested Syren as far as she could throw a gundark, which is to say not very far. No, she needed to move, needed to hunt... just not through dusty tomes and tombs.

Syren's stomach rumbled loudly then. She sighed into her helmet. She should have visited the commissary or cafeteria before wandering outside. There would be nothing to eat in the wilds of sullust caverns except the occasional drutash grub. Nope, definitely nothing like fish.

She walked around this area of the underground world in her exosuit. The dome around the academy offered her some protection from the heat, but anywhere else on Sullust was likely to fry her to a quick crisp. Such was the way of things when you had gills and performed osmoregulation through your skin in addition to keeping care of symbiotes. Even so, she felt quite toasty inside. She was beginning to doubt her quick fixes on the coolant system. She would have to find a real mechanic near the academy who could take a look at it. If they could clean it, that would be an even greater achievement.

Syren glanced down at the yawning chasm before her and noticed a twi'lek woman, [member="Rayliav'enci"], staring into the red depths below. Her blue skin seemed to be cast in an eerie orange glow that made shadows dance under her eyes as if she were haunted by a pack of demons. Syren found her bewilderingly familiar.

Syren reached out to the Force, ever changing, ever flowing, much like the magma below them. She felt the charge of it as her mind brushed against it softly. She wanted to feel more about this woman, as much as she could in a cursory glance through the Force at her. The familiarity was downright uncanny.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami had been wandering for a bit after pushing himself a bit too far during the battle. He had gotten a couple bacta patches and covered the wounds left from that damned scout trooper, he knew it was a temporary fix but it was still better than he had managed in the field. The healers were busy as all get out for the time being anyways, and his wounds were not life threatening by any stretch. Besides he hated infirmaries and sitting still, both of which were recommended by the medic who had patched him up. This is how he had ended up where he found himself at the moment, albeit with severely limited range of motion in his arm and a rather noticeable limp in his gait. Considering the fact that he was outside the dome he was in his armor since it was able to filter the toxins from the air and the carbon scoring from the blaster bolts wasn't quite as easily seen thanks to the black plates. He thought back to the reports he had heard of Corellia and what the Sith had done to his home planet. It made him wonder why they had felt the need to cut a planet in half, he had only recently gotten offworld when it had taken place. At first he didn't believe the reports, to vaporize a planet was one thing, but to literally cut it in half? It still was hard to accept that it had happened.

He continued to wander,lost in his own thoughts as he did so. There was that sensation of calm again, similar to before the battle but not as intense as the one he had gotten during the battle. Still confused him how he had gone from trying to accept that he was a dead man to completely calm and confident that he wasn't going to die during that assault. While he was usually pretty good at keeping his cool under duress he knew of few soldiers who would have been able to keep it together in the face of those odds. Jedi maybe, but soldiers like him? He'd seen grown men cry for their mothers in far less dire straits. He'd seen commandos with his level of training and even more experience completely snap on a simple infiltration. Perhaps he would never know what helped him regain his center, and honestly he was just fine with that.

Soon he took note of someone in an exosuit, and further out he could feel Raylia's familiar aura. Again, he had no idea that it was anything to do with the Force as to how he picked up it was her. Plus, he had a habit of zooming in with his HUD and taking note of details of those whom he was getting used to being around. It was a bit odd to many and some felt it was a bit of an invasion of their personal space. It was something he did to memorize distinguishing features, help him place a face with names, besides he had not run into too many blue Twi'lek women in his day and had seen only one on Sullust...so that was a bit of a give away to him. Though the person in the exosuit was one he couldn't immediately place he felt he had seen her around as well even if he couldn't think of where or when.

[member="Rayliav'enci"]
[member="Syren"]

 

[Rayliav'enci]

Raylia felt the approach of the others, simply as one who was in touch with her surroundings. There was always a feeling when you just knew you were not alone in a space and as Raylia turned, she was greeted not one, but two. Plus, she could hear them. It wasn't as if either were being sneaky. She smiled politely to the woman in the exosuit; she looked strangely familiar, as if they had passed before. With the suit on, it was hard to tell, but it really didn't matter one way or another.

"Greetings. I have not seen you around before, are you new to the temple?"

The armored one she would have recognized across a crowded battlefield and she beckoned Kurayami to come closer so she could look over his wounds. She gingerly took his hand and pulled it forward a bit until he tensed up from the pain. With a deep breath in, she channeled a warm, soothing sensation into the deep tissues, helping to open blood flow to the injured area so that it might speed up the healing. The damage was not serious, thankfully but the burns were angry and already some had begun to fill with fluid. The light blue wash beneath head hands seemed to penetrate and soothe the skin, taking the edge off some of the pain.

"It is good to see we have both survived this test of the Galactic Alliance."

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Syren"]

 

[Syren]

*Syren smiled towards the twi'lek woman, not that suit allowed much of it to get through, but she replied politely.* "Yes, I'm Syren. Needed some, er, fresh air after being stuck in the archives for a few hours."

*Syren tipped her head towards [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"], noting his armor and his limp. These two had seen a battle recently, she wondered where and how it had fared. She was notorious for not watching the holonet and self-proclaimed that she lived under a rock. She would have to see if her ship could connect to it.

She watched idly as [member="Rayliav'enci"] healed the man in armor. Syren was envious, the best she could do with healing, on others was a simple jump start on a scrape or cut. Deep tissue damage was beyond her skill as a medic focusing on routing out and destroying agents of the darkside rather than healing. She sighed inwardly about that. She could always change, it was never too late, but at the same time it seemed like a waste to pursue. A symptom of the galaxy's troubles.*

"Always amazing to watch you healers work. Never could get the proper hang of it."

*She noticed that the twi'lek said "Galactic Alliance," rather than "Galactic Republic." Back to a rebel band once more, she thought. She then wondered who exactly was repressing the people's of the galaxy in this generation. She would bet three good pazaak hands that it had something to do with the Sith.*

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami saw [member="Rayliav'enci"] beckon him over. He took his sweet time to limp over and managed to chuckle slightly as she took hold of his hand. That did not last long as she pulled his hand forward until there was pain, this lead to his standard reaction of cursing. Some were rather creative, others far less so and more to the point. He relaxed slightly as she began the process of healing the damage done, he stopped his tirade of swearing to try and breathe in a controlled fashion to try and help Raylia as much as he could. Not that he could manage anything further than that. The pain slowly faded as she continued her work and he nodded in response to her addressing him.

"So it was a few more enemies than I was used to fighting at once. Kinda easy to get hurt in that case. I am glad to see that you made it out without any serious injuries as well Ray, but it's goin' to take more than a few flashy Adepts and newly inducted Stormtroopers to put me down."

He looked over to [member="Syren"] as she mentioned that she had wanted out of the Archives for fresh air.

"I would have to say that you chose a bad place for fresh air, highly toxic, lung corroding air? We got that in spades here, sadly 'Come to Sullust, our lava flows and sulfur filled atmosphere provide a lifetime of enjoyment! Don't forget the respirators!' is not the best tourism campaign. I can understand not wanting to stay in the archives for too long a stretch though. Nice to meet you Syren, I'm Kurayami."

Again, he wasn't sure if his humor would be appreciated in the least, but he never was great with introductions to begin with.

 

[Rayliav'enci]

Raylia remembered how long she had spent in dusty rooms of artifacts and archives doing her doctoral work and she laughed in commiseration with Syren's predicament. Her green eyes flashed at Syren before she turned her attention back to the work at hand. She could tell from his breathing that the pain was starting to subside from Kurayami's injuries. The faint glow beneath her hand dissipated as she gently released his arm.

"We are both tougher than we look. You're gonna be stiff for a while. Make sure you stretch it out a few times a day and don't sit too long."

She tried to give him a stern look about taking care of himself but she knew it was falling on deaf ears. Kurayami was headstrong and would do whatever he pleased, and would likely never remember to do the exercises that would expedite his healing.

She turned her focus back to Syren, knitting her hands behind her back, doing a little stretching herself.

"Healing was something I found I was good at but not really something I enjoyed. The pain of others is often difficult to process as an external event, we want them to be healed so we take on the urgency of their pain. I would say you are the lucky one, Syren. What brings you to Sullust and our archives? As a denizen of the stacks, perhaps I can help your search?"

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Syren"]

 

[Syren]

*Syren's lips quirked up in a smile at [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]'s jest. Yes the air was quite toxic, that was the purpose of the exosuit. "Good to meet you, Kurayami." *Syren bowed her head slightly as she lifted the tips of her fingers to the forehead region of her helmet then tipped them towards him in a gesture of greeting.

*Syren shifted her feet slightly as she turned back to [member="Rayliav'enci"]. She was not used to this volcanic soil or all of this lichen underfoot. She turned her head towards the fuzzy carpet and made a note that the air couldn't be that bad if lichens were thriving here.* "Besides the research that I now have to do on Sullustan lichen physiology, I was attempting to get caught up on, well, what you could call a brief history of time. I am also interested to see if there are any holocrons that might indicate that these recent shifts in the fabric of the Force have occurred before." *Syren left off the additional because clause that should have followed. Attempting to explain the disappearance of billions of galactic citizens would possibly be a reasonable explanation for her search. Syren however, had a more personal reason to look into the disappearances.... No. She did not want to dwell on those reasons however, she found that it clouded her judgement and offered no help in moving forward.

Syren quirked her head back up and mentioned,* "I have an astromech running a record search for the time being. He is supposed to page me if he finds anything."

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami was certainly thankful for [member="Rayliav'enci"]'s attention while she worked on finishing up with the healing. Her statement about the two of them being tougher than they looked brought a full on laugh from him.

"Tough? Nah I'm just stubborn as all hell, like most Corellians, or whatever it's called now that it was neatly bisected by the Sith. No problem though, not like I had family who lived there that I would ever want to go visit again...oh wait. So yea don't stay still for too long, move and stretch and things now and again for medical reasons. I think I can manage at least the moving portion of that, any specific stretches I should do to help, doctor?

His tone was light and playful when he referred to her as doctor, he was sure she could imagine the playful smirk on his face as he made the comment. The stern look was not lost on him though he was thankful she couldn't see the eyeroll that was in response. Had he known her thoughts about him being headstrong and likely to completely forget her advice in the next few...ohhh pretty lava flow. And what was this lady talking about lichen for, why the kriff were they important at all?

Turning his head to [member="Syren"], he inclined his head in a makeshift bow to let her know that he hadn't missed her response.

Nice to meet you as well Syren. Sullustan lichen physiology, that must be a very exciting subject if you spent hours reading about it already. Shifts in the fabric of the Force? Is that what leads to bad feelings before a fight, like the Final Order attacking us here and trying to squash us before we even got anywhere? Or did I just have some slightly out of date rations before the battle? Mean so far as I know I've never been tagged as a sensitive. Well one old dude on Corellia told me I was when I was young, but he was also the resident crazy old homeless man, so yea didn't put much faith in that for obvious reasons, and the fact that none of the other Jedi I have ever run into said anything. Meh. Sorry tend to ramble a bit sometimes.

The silence that followed was not an uncomfortable one per se, though it did seem oddly timed after Kurayami's ramblings. He shrugged it off and was curious as to the response that would come from both women.

 

[Rayliav'enci]

"A brief history of time always makes me chuckle. Prior to the Sith sacking Coruscant and throwing the Republic handily out the door, I was an archaeologist in the great library. I curated the library's collection of ancient artifacts and holocrons. The expanse of time and the coming and passing of civilizations were noted in books beyond count and the rise and fall of so many regimes forgotten to the ages. It struck me as a grand problem of scale. For mortals like us, the most important things are always the ones happening to us at that moment, while we have lost the knowledge of the turmoils and triumphs of the ones now long dead."

She laughed again, shaking her head, her tchun falling forward to curl around the front of her neck. There were white striations on her lekku, a trait of her birth among the Twi'lk people, but they were bisected by the silver headdress she wore that bound her temples and wrapped her lekku in their embrace.

"I apologize. The humor and fascinations of an archaeologist are fairly dry for the palates of others. I know Kurayami listens out of courtesy when I'm buying the drinks."

She flashed him a mischievous smile and nodded solemnly to his description of the battle.

"We were hit here, at our vulnerable beginnings, but the Sith were routed and we have a moment to catch our breaths and plan for a new day. I must admit curiosity though, Syren. I have never encountered one of your kind before. Would you indulge the curiosities of a fellow knowledge seeker?"

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Syren"]

 

[Syren]

*Syren simply blinked at [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]. This was a crazy person. The Sith couldn't really cut a planet in two, and certainly not Corellia. Surely not. Syren searched inwardly though and knew, knew what he said was true. Corellia was gone, like Alderaan, like Carida, like so many other planets fallen to the Sith and the darkness. All that life winked out of existence...

Syren could not physically cry, but she did feel a great wave of intense sadness from this news and loss of a planet that had felt like a second home to her so long ago. She cleared her throat and addressed him almost with a numb tone,* "Lichens only grow where air is pure, or they will get plenty of oxygen. It is actually two organisms in one body -- an algae and a fungus that work together to obtain nutrients and protection. With all the toxins and particular lack of oxygen in this area, I wonder what makes the lichens grow on Sullust. They have to be different from other lichen."

*Despite the oppressive heat surrounding them, Syren felt cold. She turned her attention to [member="Rayliav'enci"]. The twi'lek woman mentioned that she had been an archeologist before another sacking of Coruscant. Everyone wanted Coruscant. While Syren had loathed the city planet, it was a gem as far as politics went. Syren just shook her head at the need for this planet to be in people's hands. It really needed to be neutral as far as she was concerned.

Rayliav'enci spoke again about the Sith being routed from what Syren intuited to be Sullust. So they were bent once more on the destruction of the Jedi it seemed. That was sigh worthy news, nothing surprising, just tiresome and tedious. Syren let her breath out in a huff before keying in on the other woman's request.* "Oh! Of course, you can be all the curious you would like. I noticed that the information databases always seem to be missing information on my species. Granted, we haven't been in the galaxy proper in the last 400 years or so, we may have gotten data dumped as it were. Or counted among the extinct from the plague..."

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

[member="Rayliav'enci"]'s laughing and statements simply brought a shake of the head from Kurayami. He focused on her as he responded to her teasing remarks.

​"Hey now. Archaeology deals with the past, and there are times that I am genuinely interested in what you have to say. Like when I tried to get you to the Oracle at Pelgrin so you could do some digging there. Granted I had a much nicer ship back then...forget exactly what happened to it. ANd of course I'm going to listen when you buy the drinks, I just can't promise that I will remember anything considering my normal intake.

The mischievous smile confused the man, but he just shrugged it off for now. He could ask her later, so long as he remembered. Turning his attention to [member="Syren"], he listened as she explained what a lichen was and the climates they typically grew in. Of course she had gone silent and just blinked at him for a few seconds after he mentioned the destruction of Corellia. Couldn't blame her, it certainly sounded crazy.

"Could it not be similar to the bacteria and other creatures that live near deep sea vents on planets that have such habitats? Many of those thrive in temperatures, pressures, and levels of sulfur and other toxic elements that would kill pretty much anything else. Is it possible that they are related in some way to such things? Or am I totally misunderstanding what you are saying? Granted the second is most likely as there are many times I am easily confused.

It was around this time that Raylia asked about Syren's species, out of curiosity. Kurayami was never known to think all that much before speaking which sometimes lead to trouble for him.

"400 kriffing years?! What happened to make your kind withdraw for that long? Sorry, I don't mean anything by the questioning there, just surprised and bad at knowing how to word things. It's gotten me shot at more than once. Thankfully Raylia was there to defuse the situation last time so it didn't end up with anyone being shot at, but it was close."

 

[Rayliav'enci]

"Tactful as always, Kurayami." There was a teasing tone to her voice as she cast him a look. She did not want to offend their guest at the temple but there was a genuine smile as she took a step closer to Syren, her hands resting easily at her sides.

"I should like to meet you out of that bulky suit sometime. Your coloring must be dazzling when you are not confined to it. I was going to ask what type of atmophere your species prefers, but I think I know better now. Aquatic?"

Raylia kept a somewhat respectful distance, her hands to herself, admiring the Calnennore from what she could see through the glass of the suit. Raylia's expression was one of admiration and appreciation, the scholar taking care to not make Syren feel as though she were a specimen.

"The plague and the turmoil in its wake have left many records incomplete or lost. I imagine that your world was hit by the disappearances as much as the rest of us were. It was a trying time for us all, there is no doubt about that. What is your homeworld, if you don't mind my intrusion into your cultural history? I promise, it's my own curiosity and not on behalf of the library. I know some species are very private about their people."

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Syren"]

 

[Syren]

Syren shrugged her shoulders towards [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]. "Everything is related, and anything can happen. I just want to understand how this one can do this when all other organisms most closely related to it could never survive in this climate. The how and the why is usually what keeps scientists going." Syren scratched her chin at that feeling that the person pulling her strings was bleeding out into the forum. The author quickly changed the subject before anyone became too aware.
Oh thank the Force! Incredulity.

Syren nodded to Kurayami. "Yes. We had a bad turnabout with the plague on Gaeren III. One freighter landed and nearly half of our species was wiped out. Closing our ports was an extreme measure that was felt to be a prudent measure at the time." Syren frowned behind her exosuit helmet rekindling a memory of her personal overarching storyline.

Syren vaguely heard [member="Rayliav'enci"] admonish her friend, snapping back to the moment when the twi'lek took a step closer.
"Ah, yes, well. My people are jealous of their secrets, however it is a custom I no longer wish to keep. Unfortunately, I am unable to survive outside of the dome on Sullust for more than a few minutes. I am rather susceptible to the toxic gasses and sensitive to extreme heat. But if you would like to give me a tour of your lovely temple, I will be glad to make an exchange in information. For the good of the library, of course." Syren winked through the visor of her suit.

Spoiler

Sorry! I got busy for a bit with the semester, then could not get back in the swing of the story. I totally understand if you all want to end this. Happy holidays!

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

He simply nodded when [member="Syren"] shrugged her shoulders at him.

"Maybe that is why I can't quite wrap my head around it. I mean I have heard what you said many a time, it just seems that with such a massive amount of diversity that not everything can be related. I can understand the drive to understand how and why, but I guess I just never was the best at connecting the dots so I ended up on a basically opposite path. Much of my adult life has been taking orders from one person or another, not able to question them without repercusiions. So I stopped doing so a long time back, it just wasn't worth the hassle."

He had to admit that he was relieved when she didn't take offense to his exceedingly blunt question. He really had meant nothing by the incredulous tone, it just struck an odd chord with him.

"Gaeren III? Not a planet that I am familiar with, nor do I recall much about the plague as much of what I have heard was ramblings of people in cantinas, which as you might figure I tend to tune out since they tend to be more than slightly exaggerated if not outright fabricated stories. To have half of your species wiped out and be forced to make such a decision...I can't imagine how difficult that must have been on those in charge. I am truly sorry for bringing up such memories."

Now he actually felt really bad for even asking. The scale of hurt she must have felt being one of the survivors...it was beyond comprehension to him. Then came the admonishment from [member="Rayliav'enci"]. When he responded his tone was back to the lighthearted manner he usually adopted.

"I never claimed to have any sort of tact Raylia. I wouldn't lie quite that much to someone who doesn't know me in the least. Might as well be upfront and start carrying a business card that just has my name and the words, 'Blunt jackass' printed underneath. Then people can know what to expect when talking to me."