Private I like Toast

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Jaeson walked along the Commenor governmental building with a confused look on on his face. He was applying for a student visa to take his studies on the planet and what followed was a grueling test of his character, interrogation due to his planet of origin deep inside of Sith space and an overall level of suspicion he found rather unsavory.

In Sith space it had been easy for him, his patron had done nearly all the work. Now though he was finally breaking out on his own and doing something for himself. Okay it was for Kyra, but there was no need for people to know about that. He was here to study Jedi Philosophy and Ethics while delving into the deeper histories of the galaxy! That is how he wrote it on the form before the little neimoidian bureaucrat, unamused as he was, had filled in ‘student’.

So now the student continued his studies after labouring in the classroom of bureaucracy and was contenting himself to the learning of life lessons. He had a small stipend and had sold a few items here and there to earn some money and was looking over a public holonet terminal for a place of his own.

As he looked through the various advertisements and real estate listings before feeling an odd sensation, a danger. Looking up and around he recognized someone immediately, Mathieu Brion . Why would he be unsettling the youth, he was hardly threatening and appeared to just be walking out of the governmental building, perhaps having gone through the same tedium he’d just encountered.

Raising his hand he waved at the other youth grabbing his attention and calling him over with a big dumb smile on his face. “Matteo!” he called getting the name wrong purposely. Hey he barely knew the guy. “Yo Matt!”

And then it came. The force was a poor alarm as it only alerted him to the blow milliseconds before it came. With preternatural speed he dodged as the fist moving in from behind him.

Jaeson hated that he got into these situations, he was just a student damnit. First the cultist on Zeltros and now this… whatever this was. He didn’t have that hellish artifact anymore, he was just a student… just a student. He repeated the Mantra in his head a few times before dodging another blow knowing that if he attacked back he’d be arrested again, just like on Zeltros.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

It had been hours up hours of searching, but he had finally found it. With what seemed like a permanent smile plastered on his face, Mathieu left the little shop in the alleyway, finally having found and bought some Chalactan spices. In truth, he was not sure what either of them tasted like, but he was looking forward to experimenting with them once he got home.

Upon returning to the wider street, right outside the Commenor governmental building, he saw a familiar face. They had not seen each other in some time now, but the former Mercenary had no troubles identifying his fellow Padawan. He was just about to respond with an equally friendly wave and holler when he saw two Devaronians approaching his fellow Jedi - appearing to be rather upset.

Mathieu raised a finger and pointed at the strangers approaching Jaeson from behind but it was too late. Fortunately, the teen seemed to he fast and quite alert too. He dodged one attack after the other, all whilst refraining from attacking himself. Was he trying to tire them out? At any rate, he seemed to be a rather stellar Jedi with good morals. At least that's what his peaceful approach seemed to suggest.

Seeming like all too big of a thread was a poor idea, and so, Mathieu jogged over to the fighting trio at a high pace and tried to step between the two red-skinned aliens and the human. Putting a hand on either of their chests, he started to push the two assailants back. Apparently, they were not too interested in attacking the large Morellian, seeing as how they kept trying to reach Jaeson without doing much about Mathieu who was pushing them away.

"Calm down, you two. What did he ever do to you?" he asked. The response came immediately as one of the aliens raised an arm and pointed a finger at Jaeson "That little brat stole my speeder keys! Give it back you blasted Sithspawn!"

Jaeson Starchaser

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

It happened in the blink of an eye. Two Devaronians began attacking him and Mathieu Brion stepped in to break it up. There was a bit of relief as the other lad came over to him and suddenly he was less concerned with being arrested than he was before but for a moment until the two men accused him of theft. Of course he’d be blamed, and of course the local security force would most likely side with the good citizens over the accused sith agent Jaeson Starchaser. There was no crime needed for suspicion to be cast on people, foreign was often enough and of course foreign adversary would often pish one over the line.

Still Mathieu seemed honest enough. Taking a deep breath and trying his best not to be frazzled Jaeson looked at the two devoronians and sighed, “I’m positive you have me mistaken for someone else. I’ve been sitting in this booth looking at places to stay for the last…” Jaeson looked at his chronometer and sighed. “Two hours…” and still no place to live. Adulting was hard.

“Here,” he said after a minute and took off his jacket. He turned out his pockets, first on the jacket taking care to reach into the breast pocket and pull it in plain view, before working on his pants pockets. As he reached for the cloth lining of his pants pocket and pulled it out a small brass key fell to the ground. It wasn’t a speeder key, but the key to a locker at the local spaceport.

It fell with a cling and one of the devaronians scrambled for it. Jaeson, quick on the uptake in this particular situation, slammed his foot down to cover the thing. “That is not a speeder key….” he said firmly.

Where had this key come from? He thought for a moment and remembered checking his wallet at the tram station when a woman ran into him, assuming she’d picked his pocket and mentaly preparing himself to attempt his own lift. To his surprise everything was in its place, of course he hadn’t checked to see if anything had been added.

A sudden burst of confidence rushed into him, “As you can see I don’t have your keys, just a locker key where I’m storing my belongings before I find my own place. Now if you would be so kind as to admit your mistake I’d like to talk with my friend here about entrance into his orders Jedi Archives…”

The mention of Jedi seemed enough to dissuade the two men who slunk back in defeat…

After they had departed Jaeson leaned down and picked up the key examining it. Looking over at Mathieu he asked, “You don’t know what this goes to do you? I know its not a speeder but otherwise I’ve never seen this before in my life.”


Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

"Oh no" he thought, seeing the small key drop out of Jaeson's pocket - the 'search' had been going well so far but the fact that a key dropped out was worrying when Jaeson himself seemed confused by it. But for now, he kept his stance, holding the two aliens off and giving his friend as much space as possible. Still, the Devaronians made him work for it as both seemed to push particularly hard on seeing the keys - but then, Mathieu was a strong guy and his fellow Padawan was quick at ending their hopes of acquiring the keys.

A struggle took place within him - Mathieu wanted to smile upon seeing Jaeson's strong defence but he knew that it might provoke the other two. And so, he did his best to avoid it, regardless of how hard it was. But his restraint seemed to have paid off as the two red skinned aliens left them in peace. Looking at the human, Mathieu produced an amused look but waited until his friend finished speaking before letting out a snappy "It's good to see you too, Jaeson."

After a few moments, a smile formed on his lips as he held out his palm to receive the key "Let's have a look"

Raising it up high, the large Morellian inspected it. Momentarily looking away from the key and down at Jaeson, he asked "So, what's up with your living situation? Why aren't you staying at the temple?" A look of recognition could be seen in his eyes when his gaze returned to the key "These were the keys to the gym lockers before the renovation last month. The new lockers are much better, they're tall enough to hang a jacket in." he said casually before handing the key back to his friend.

Letting a chuckle escape him, he continued "What? Suddenly remember where your favourite pants might have been hiding all this time? I think they sold the lockers off to the construction firm that's working on the new bridge. We could go have a look to see if they've got your stuff if you want"

Jaeson Starchaser

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Why wasn’t he staying at the local Jedi enclave? His name alone would probably have gotten him lodging and if not then he had an association with several Jedi who would no doubt vouch for him. In addition he could have benefitted from the training there, learning to use his nascent force powers and control them better than he did now. In the short term however it was an easy enough question to answer, “You know Matt, I’m not a Jedi, right? I hardly think it would have been appropriate to stay there.”

He stared back at the young man, older than him, and gave him a smile. It was hardly reassuring. He took a deep breath and continued his explanation assuming the other wouldn’t have been content with that answer alone. “I’m from the Tion hegemony an autonomous region of Sith Space.” Shrugging he added in, “And of course the fact that I have a lightsaber tends to peg me for a Sith in Jedi space and a Jedi in Sith Space. I don’t subscribe to either philosophy.” Although the more time he’d spent with Jedi the more time he was being indoctrinated into their insidious orders morals. It was exactly like the propaganda machine of his home said but also different.

It was all very laissez faire of course, the truth was he could expound either philosophy if it got him what he wanted. Of course what did he want? A thousand thoughts rushed through his mind as he considered this. A frown came over his face as the thoughts swirled before he settled on it. What he wanted was to find out what this key belonged to, how it came to be in his pocket and what game was being played.

Of course none of that mattered if Mathieu Brion took the revelation of his origins negatively. So many did.


Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

"You're not?" Mathieu had met Jaeson before but the fact that the guy wasn't a Jedi had escaped him completely. He sent the teen a puzzled look, wondering what he could possibly be if not a Jedi. The force, a lightsabre and openly roaming the streets of Commenor could lead to a very limited number of conclusions and all of them had something to do with being a Jedi.

It seemed like he wouldn't have to wait long for an answer as Jaeson soon started to speak of his past. Mathieu had paid way too little attention during the geographical and societal classes and without having head any captivating stories from it, the 'Tion Hegemony' was beyond what he had any knowledge of. But then, being an autonomous region of Sith Space did give him some bad vibes. The large Morellian was rather poor at hiding his emotions and started to seem a bit troubled until his mate revealed that he didn't subscribe to either philosophy. Of course, he would have preferred hearing that he leaned towards the teachings of the Jedi - but at least he wasn't Sith.

"What does that mean? On the one hand, you have an order that wants to save kittens trapped in trees and and help negotiate treaties on fishing rights. On the other, you have a crew that wants to strip mine Mandalore and casually invade Onderon." he said, weighing his head from side to side before letting it lean to one side "You know, I think the Jedi are pretty nice" While he did voice his opinion, Mathieu was sure to maintain a friendly tone.

With that, the Padawan raised his arm to point in the direction of the bridge that was under construction. Of course, he was curious about Jaeson's answer, but that didn't mean that they couldn't walk and talk at the same time. He was rather curious about where those keys lead after all. Mathieu threw an eye at the busstop - it was a convenient way to get to their destination fast, but it was far less private than just walking. Still, asking wouldn't hurt "Would you want to take the bus?" he asked, somewhat carefully.

Jaeson Starchaser

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Jaeson stared at Matheiu with a little frown on his face. This was typical of Jedi propaganda. “Well,” Jaeson said. “What about the Jedi sinking of Ahto city on Manaan? The Jedi invaded the planet and sunk an entire city with a force storm.” It was true, although Jaeson suspected some of the events may not have been as cut and dry as that. “That Jedi was never prosecuted for their crimes. The Jedi bombarded Korriban city after it was declared an open city without troops in it by the Sith.” This event was just tragic.

“And then of course there was the Jedi’s treatment of my own world. They came with ships and guns and threatened war if the Tionese noble didn’t abdicate. The nobles struck a bargain with the Jedi to keep their assets and provide support for the Silver Sanctum, but then the Jedi tried to nationalize their assets, disregarded the treaty that was signed, almost the next day. And that was of course before they abandoned their duty to protect the Tion Cluster and abandoned it for Sith Rule.” Jaeson shrugged with a pained look on his face. He liked Matheiu, and most of the Jedi he’d met, but he couldn’t reconcile these things with those feelings. “The Sith by the way honored the Jedi’s treated with Tion and have allowed for self and mostly autonomous rule of the cluster.”

Trying to forestall an argument Jaeson put a hand up. “Look, I know the Sith have done bad things, but so have the Jedi. I guess what I’m trying to say is how I see it is people are just people. We are all flawed and I’d rather not get pulled into an ancient feud that has lasted hundreds of thousands of years.”

And with that he’d probably ruined a friendship. He hoped he hadn’t but there was always a chance for bullheadedness to prevail. “So you don’t want to follow me on this little mystery quest and I’m good to go it alone. You want to help that’s great, you as a person are someone I respect.”

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

This was unexpected. Where Mathieu had thought that he could 'sell' a clear-cut case to his mate, it seemed like that was not going to be the case. The Padawan was taken aback by what he heard - to him, this was all news. For someone so young Jaeson sure seemed rather well read on worldly events. Mathieu knew far less than him and he guessed that there were at least a couple years between them. But then, Morellia was rather far removed from much of the galaxy and he knew that some of the teens back home had the same knowledge - maybe they were just generally interested or ideologically motivated.

He had stayed quiet throughout the rant, listening and nodding along as the other spoke. And now, Jaeson seemed to be coming around - at least recognising that the Sith did bad things too. Mathieu stayed quiet for a bit before his lips formed a narrow line as he shrugged "Well, you know, when I look at the two of them, even before I joined up, I thought that the Jedi were better. There's just a difference in how they treat people. Sure, you've taught me a lot here today, but when you look at the big picture, I think the answer is clear."

An interested squint grew on the large Morellian's features upon hearing his friend speak of splitting up. A smile was slowly growing on his lips "What are you on about? I want to see where the key leads. Besides, you need someone to keep you out of trouble, don't you?" He pointed them toward the direction they were previously going in and started to walk at a good pace. Mathieu's lips formed a mischievous smirk "Not to mention that this will give me all the more chances to convince you that we really are better, right?"

Upon passing a hotdog stand, Mathieu's pace slowed. Gradually, he diverged from their original path until he arrived by it, throwing a glance at Jaeson, he asked "Want one? Maybe my campaign could begin here?"

Jaeson Starchaser

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

And there it was, out in the open his views. There was the expectation of pushback of some sort and while there was some it wasn’t nearly as vitriol as he precticted. Okay so Matheiu seemed like good people. As a rule Jae didn’t trust organizations, and that was fine in Matteo’s book. It wasn’t much of a basis for a friendship, but it was a start. Of course Matteo’s choice of food was another matter altogether. “That is what? Overly processed meat and overly processed condiments?” Jaeson let his frown show, something he didn’t do that often. “I don’t suppose there is a yogurt shop around?”

Looking up at the older youth he commented, “Healthy body, healthy mind and all that you know? I mean you have to stay in shape if you’re going to…” he was going to say dodge natives ... probably shouldn’t. “Dive into a ruin.”

Nice save.

“But in the interest of solidarity and friendship I shall share a chemically non offensive drink with you.” He walked up and ordered some sort of fruit juice. At least he thought it was fruit juice. It tasted like some sort of fruit juice. Leaning back and sipping at the beverage he leaned back against a nearby wall. “So we go to these old rec room lockers, open it up and what? If these people wanted the key you think they will just let us walk out with whatever is in there? They were willing to jam me up with the law, who knows what else they are willing to do.”

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Mathieu flinched and raised both arms with his palms pointed at Jaeson "Whoa, slow down. You've been taking shots at whatever and you've been doing it relentlessly. It's a hot dog, but if you wanna have a yoghurt, you can get a yoghurt. We'll find something for you on the way." he said, offering a friendly smile in the hopes of getting his mate to be less aggressive.

Nodding, the Morellian flashed an amused expression as his friend trailed off into a "Dive into a ruin" "We do that a lot, don't we?" his question backfired, for in truth, they did dive into old temples and similar structures rather often. But ultimately, it was besides the point. Looking to Jaeson, he spoke "But a hotdog..." he trailed off as his eyes went down to his food. Better safe than sorry. With some quick improvisation, he added "...probably - won't kill you. And if it does, I'll get a cool anecdote" Mathieu took a step back after the joke was delivered, letting the other force user order something himself.

"Are you good with walking and drinking at the same time?" he asked upon seeing the other lean back against a nearby wall. "I wouldn't mind eating on the move. It's just a hotdog." It wasn't all too important and he would adapt to whichever choice Jaeson made.

The story that followed was confusing. What did the guy mean? Had he been in contact with the people who now owned the lockers before? Were they and the two Devaronians from the same company? A quick "They are? What happened?" hoping that Jaeson would be in a sharing mood. Even if he wasn't, he did make a good point and with a nod, the former Mercenary relented "I think you are right though. They bought the lockers and these keys should belong to them. Maybe we could just go and talk to them about it. Give them the keys and see if you remember the items inside once they open the locker up for us."

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

“Walk, eat, talk,” Jaeson said sipping his beverage and moving down the road. He wondered briefly what open container laws were like on this planet but quickly let the thought die as he considered Matteo’s words. He’d decided that he’d call Matheiu Matteo from now on, just to see if it got on the older boys nerves or if he’d accept it as a kind nickname. Either eventuality was a win for him.

“Let’s think about the situation for a moment shall we?” he said after a moment of thought. It was a strange predicament to be in. “I find in my pocket a key to a locker. Who put it there? Most likely the owner of the locker slipped it into my pocket at some point. I’ve had my jacket hanging at a restaurant earlier or it could have been some slight of hand as I walked. Okay fine. Why? That remains an open question but the easiest answer is to hide it. Those gentlemen that accosted me wanted the key, they claimed it was a speeder key, they lied to try to tie me up with the law so they could make away with the key. This means they aren’t the original owners I think, otherwise why lie? And if they are willing to do that what else are they willing to do?”

Sipping loudly from the straw on his drink he looked over at Matheiu and gave him a grin. “I’ve never wanted anything more than I want what is in that locker Matteo.”

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Let's think about it for a moment - Mathieu knew he was in for a trip as soon as he heard those words. Taking a bite from his hotdog, he nodded once as he chewed what might have been too large of a bite. It would just take a little bit longer to chew and swallow it all, as long as he didn't have to talk. Mathieu was lucky, for Jaeson kept talking for quite some time.

"Didn't they admit to not being the original owners? When you said it wasn't a speeder key, they backed off" his reply was straight to the point, and perhaps a little bit naive. But sometimes, that was the best way to get to the bottom of the situation. At least if the other party was willing to explain their point. Mathieu wanted to continue speaking of why the key was there in the first place when Jaeson uttered his deep desire for the contents of the locker. It was enough to convince the Morellian to help out and so, a smirk spread across his face "If you said that to a Master, they'd tell you to keep your desires in check. I'm also astounded at how much you want what I assume is an old pair of trousers, a shirt and - at best - a wallet"

The two kept walking for a bit, giving the large Padawan some time to consider their situation before glancing over to his friend. "So, why are we mistrusting the current locker owners again? I mean, if they really wanted to see what was inside, couldn't they just break it open?" the question was sincere. Although he felt like he trusted Jaeson to just go along with it, he was curious as to the reasoning, because to him, it was still not entirely clear. "We'll find out soon, at any rate, won't we? It's just around the corner."

Jaeson Starchaser