First Reply In Pursuit of Justice || High Republic Preferred

[Kelan Dhal]

Nedij || OUTER RIM

It was hard to breathe on Nedij.

The air was thinner, breathable for a human, but not entirely pleasant.
​

The local people, avian in apperance, had been largely ignored by the galaxy for the past two centuries, barring this Empire or that coming in to cause trouble. But Nedij was removed from major hyperlanes, deep in the backwater Samix sector, and largely free from the conflicts of the major galactic powers. But that too was an issue, as without the protection of the major powers, the criminal element thrived, and Nedij was no exception. Black Sun had a small but noticeable presence, but that wasn't why Kelan had come.

No, his goals were far more personal.​

Nestled in the mountains lay the compound of a particularly vile slaver, a Dug who sought to retire somewhere quiet and out of the way after decades of trading flesh for credits. Vaidwi Dwoddar believed he could just walk away from that life and enjoy his final years in his snowy hideaway, but justice would come to him. While slavers of any sort were the foe of the Jedi, this slaver had been part of the original cartel that had brought death to Kelan's village so long ago, who had burned homes and stolen children away. They had robbed Kelan of his parents and his master, and for nearly half a decade, he had hunted them during his endless exile. Some were already dead by the time he got to them, others were so deeply hidden within the fabric of the criminal underworld that the Jedi Exile didn't even know where to look. But that had begun to change with Kelan's commitment to serve the High Republic, the final bastion of light in a galaxy consumed by war.

It had taken time, of course, a conversation here and a peek into sensitive data there, but Kelan brute forced his way into information on known slavers and low and behold, a certain Dug was on record for the sale of colonists that matched the group stolen from Dantooine so many years ago. No doubt Kelan broke protocol coming here, and it wouldn't be long until someone discovered that he had gone digging into databases he shouldn't have access to. But it didn't matter; Kelan would hunt down this monster and bring him to justice at the end of a lightsaber.

He'd been on Nedji for a few days, gathering information about the Dug's compound. It was protected by a sizable gang of off-world thugs and lorded over a frozen lake high in the mountains. A frontal assault might have proved suicidal if not for the fact that a transport landed at the local spaceport once a week to deliver fresh supplies to the compound. It should be a simple matter to slip aboard the cargo speeder. All that remained was to wait for the transport to arrive as scheduled, and so Kelan found his way into one of the few cantinas designed with off-world visitors in mind. The Jedi sulked in a quiet booth toward the back, finding some comfort in the drinks that were eagerly supplied by the bartending droid. Despite his desire for justice and trust in his abilities, Kelan could not help but notice the slight tremble in his hand as it grasped the glass, not to mention that feeling deep in his heart that whispered to him in those quiet moments.

Was this to be justice?

Or revenge? ​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Kelan Dhal​

Aiden Porte stepped into the cantina as if he belonged there.

His robes were buried beneath a heavy travel coat, the hood shadowing the lines of his face. No lightsaber at his belt in plain sight, only the quiet confidence of someone who didn't need it displayed. He moved through the room without haste, letting his presence remain unremarkable, another off-worlder seeking warmth and a drink.

Yet the Force had drawn him here all the same.

It tugged at him like a current beneath ice, subtle, insistent, guiding his eyes past the sabacc table, past the laughing patrons, toward the back where a lone figure sat too still for comfort. The air around that booth felt tight, wound around anger and purpose like wire.

Aiden kept his expression neutral and took a seat at the bar.

The bartending droid turned its photoreceptors toward him. "WELCOME. REQUEST?"

"Something warm," Aiden said, voice low, unplaceable.

As the droid busied itself, Aiden rested his forearms lightly on the counter and let his awareness widen. He didn't stare. He didn't reach. He simply listened, through the noise, through the smoke and heat, until the Force settled into a single, clear impression.

Someone here was standing on the edge of a choice.

And Aiden had not come by accident.

 

[Kelan Dhal]

Perhaps it had been foolish to hope that Kelan's investigations had gone unnoticed.
​

It wasn't like Nedij was known for offworlders, so a new arrival was noticed by the few patrons of the cantina, the Jedi hiding in the corner most of all. The strangers' forceful presence made it obvious why he had come, and Kelan was not at all pleased. For a time, he watched as his fellow Jedi made his way to the bar and ordered a drink as if it was not obvious why he was here. Instead of playing the game, the Jedi Exile grabbed the bottle he had been drinking from for the past hour and made his way to the bar, taking the empty seat next to the new arrival, though it wasn't as if the cantina was particularly bustling with guests. For a time, Kelan said nothing and continued to drink, waiting until the droid returned with a fresh drink for the new patron and a fresh bottle for the sulking patron.

"You should not have come."

Kelan's head did not turn to face his companion, though whether this was due to frustration or shame was not obvious.

"This is something that must be done. Slaver scum don't get to retire."

The Jedi's grip tightened around the bottle as he took another swig. The force of course dulled the effects of alcohol, but Kelan had been in this cantina for several hours over the course of the past few days. It appeared as though he hadn’t been sleeping based on the dark circles beneath his eyes; whatever was eating at him was now slipping to the surface.

“I owe it so so many to dispense justice upon this man. If you are going to try to stop me, I would rather get this over with now.”

While he didn’t reach for his lightsaber, it was clean. Kelan had talked himself into using force to carry out his duty, even if the thought was distasteful to him.

Or was it?​

That other part of him, the part that whispered from the shadows, desired nothing more than to wield the blade at his side in anger, to release emotions long buried in a sudden, fiery explosion that would see the death of one so vile that the galaxy would thank him for his actions. But even now, even as his senses became dulled after days of drinking, Kelan was suppressing these dark desires behind a wall of false nobility, behind the code of an Order he still did not believe he had the right to be a part of.

But the alternative was unthinkable.

The Dark Side.

Aiden Porte​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Kelan Dhal​

Aiden didn't look at Kelan right away. He let the droid set the warm drink down, let the steam curl between them like a veil, and listened to the tremor beneath Kelan's words.

"You don't owe the galaxy your soul," Aiden said quietly.

Only then did he turn his head, just enough to meet Kelan in the corner of his eye. No judgment, just a steady presence, the kind that didn't flinch from ugly truths.

"I didn't come to stop you from bringing him in," Aiden continued. "I came because the Force led me here… and because you're standing too close to the edge."

Kelan's threat hung in the air. Aiden didn't rise to it.

"I will not fight you," he said, calm as stone. "But if you're asking permission to burn, no. I will not allow it."

He shifted slightly on the stool, not closing the distance, but slightly turning towards him.

"We do this the right way. We take him alive if we can. We make him answer. And we do it without you feeding the part of you that's been whispering in the dark."

Aiden's voice softened, firm, but not unkind.

"Look at me my friend. Not the past or the bottle" Aiden spoke, giving off an aura of hope and light. "Tell me what you're really afraid will happen if you don't kill him yourself."