Faction Knock, Knock!

[Colette]

In the end D’qar made sense, its name was nearly ironic. The deep forests provided a good cover from above. The presence of several trained Jedi made it safe from ground threats. The architecture seemed to mix a bit into the surrounding terrain too which would have made it a bit more difficult to seek out on foot had Colette not known just about what to look for.

She had been told not to follow here. Or perhaps more accurately the order had been to not try and find out where they had gone which, ironically, was already moot when issued. Acier meant well, wanted to protect the Lorn, and in a sense so did Colette.

Well, not really, she wanted him out of the driver’s seat along with Ala at this point, but that was a topic for some other time.

Eyeing a set of wandering Jedi she figured there was no point in delaying the rather inevitable any further. She pushed through the brush and emerged behind them and continued to walk through the campus seemingly unnoticed, at least for now. She took a deep breath and marveled at the atmosphere. She straightened her clean green robe, gently brushed against the bruises on her waist from Lorn's rage-filled little bender into TJO territory.

“... Oh chit.” A voice of a younger man mumbled in panic as he noticed who she was. “That’s the quartermaster.”
“Our quartermaster?” His friend asked, confused.
“No!”
“Chit!”

They made a break for someone more official. Colette continued to walk, at this point mainly to see how deep into so-called ‘enemy’ territory she could get.

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Briana was only recently clued in about the kerfuffle that'd gone down with Lorn and Acier, after the two of them returned to D’Qar looking decidedly worse for wear — with a known Sith in tow.

Acier was one thing. Whatever darkness dogged his steps, they'd spoken enough for her to know he was struggling and trying to be better, that he needed guidance and direction — not a prison cell. But this other woman, this Sith, was a different story; based on everything she knew, that piece of schutta was exactly where she belonged, and should have stayed there. This was needlessly reckless, dangerous even by her own standards, and went far beyond anything she would have ever considered.

Briana staked her reputation on his cause, her future happiness, and followed him here, while actively persuading others to do the same. If Lorn was truly losing control, the fallout wouldn't just ruin him, it would destroy what they were trying to do here, and stain every Jedi who'd chosen to stand beside him. At this point, without knowing where his head was at, if anyone decided to take Ala up on her offer to abandon the Vanguard and return to the Order, Briana wasn't sure that she would even try to stop them.

The only reason she hadn't already kicked his door in and demanded to know what the hell he'd been thinking, was due to the state of him looking like he'd been dragged behind a speeder for miles. She could afford to let him heal up a bit first, before ripping him a new one.

She sighed, pinching the bridge between her brows where a headache had been forming all morning, crossing halfway between the central compound and the new supply barracks when two Jedi came sprinting around the bend. They had the wide-eyed, frantic look of men who'd stumbled into a disaster and were looking for a higher rank to dump it on.

“Sal-Soren!”

“Woahhh, slow down.” Briana held her hands up and took a few steps back to avoid them crashing into her, glancing between their flushed faces. “What's going on?”

“The quartermaster.”

Briana raised a brow and tilted her head, staring flatly at him.

“She’s here,” the other gasped out. “The Order’s quartermaster. She just casually walked through the perimeter.”

Looking past their shoulders, Briana followed their trail. There, moving through the trees, was a familiar figure in green, walking up the path with the absolute confidence of someone who didn't give a damn if they were trespassing.

“Should we find Lorn?”

“No.” She bit, the answer came more sharply than intended. She clasped them on the shoulder, softening herself and her demeanor with a controlled breath. “I’ll handle it for now." Word would reach him soon enough, at any rate. Something like this didn't ever stay quiet for long.

The two nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to pass. Her pace was nonchalant and steady until she reached the other woman in the middle. Her head tilted, "Colette, how can I help?" She seemed unbothered, mostly. "Actually, wait." she held out a single finger, "First, let me welcome you, being the first Council member to see this place and all. It isn't the prettiest to look at, but it gets the job done."

She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side. "To what do we owe the honor?"

TAG: Colette
Honorable Mentions: Lorn Reingard , Acier Moonbound , Her , Ala Quin

​

 

[Kitt Solo]

Briana Sal-Soren Lorn Reingard Acier Moonbound Colette Ala Quin Her

Kitt had a rough night. D'qar was fiiiiiiiiiine. She guessed. It just wasn't...Theed. There were no clubs. No bars. No concerts. Nowhere that sold decent Corellian whiskey.

And after all that chit with the 'highly important' prisoner breakout, she deserved a day off. So, she'd found the one spot that had sun amongst the canopy of trees that were, yes, strategically there blah-blah-blah. She'd commandeered a lawn chair from her ship. And a crate that had her feet stretched out and kicked up on oh-so-casually.

A salvaged canopy panel sat on her lap, reflecting that precious circle of sun back up to her torso, neck, and face. A swimsuit top and some frayed jeanshorts she'd cut herself lightsaber style. A face that had some shades half slid down the bridge of her nose. Earbuds playing some of her favorite tunes. Loud enough for others to know what she was listening to as they walked by.

The kids knew better than to bother her when she was like this.

Chestnut brow arched in curiosity as she saw the whispers among the other Vanguard. She felt the shifting emotions before she saw those who caused it. And thank the whiskey gods above because a Sal-Soren arrived to take care of things. The music continued as Kitt shifted that canopy panel, one hand reaching for the tropical drink with one of those little umbrellas in it.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: D'Qar

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

A few days had passed since Shiraya's Sanctuary, and Ace had spent most of them avoiding Lorn. He didn't know what to say. He knew he needed to say something. What happened couldn't simply be ignored, especially after Ace had been the one forced to step between Lorn and Her. But every time he tried to work out exactly what that conversation looked like, his thoughts became tangled.

Because Ace wasn't exactly impartial. Some small, ugly part of him still resented Aurelian for forcing them into that situation in the first place. The King had dangled D'Qar over their heads and sent them after Her from the safety of some polished office on Naboo, leaving everyone else to deal with the consequences. Ace knew that didn't excuse what happened. He knew Lorn's choices were his own. Didn't mean he had to like the man who'd helped set the board.

And Ace was still trying to untangle his own feelings about the breakout. About Ala, Colette, and standing there watching Lorn become something Ace recognized far too easily.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one. D'Qar felt different. Nobody had said it directly to him, but they didn't need to. Conversations changed when Lorn's name came up. People exchanged looks they hadn't before. Faith had been shaken.

Ace wanted absolutely nothing to do with that conversation. He wasn't interested in picking sides again, so he'd kept mostly to himself.

Which was how he'd ended up sitting alone at the edge of the training field, AKA the clearing just beyond the main compound. But for once, Ace wasn't training, or repairing something. That alone probably qualified as concerning.

He sat in the grass with his arms resting loosely over raised knees, dark eyes following the clouds as they drifted overhead. Tic was somewhere nearby, probably investigating something that piqued his curiosity.

Ace's eyes shifted from the sky when he heard voices carrying faintly through the trees. Nothing immediately felt alarming, but there was enough movement that something had clearly happened.

Then he felt it. Not a disturbance in the Force, more of a blip. Like something appearing suddenly on sonar that hadn't been there a moment before. Familiar enough that his attention sharpened before he'd consciously identified why.

Ace pushed himself to his feet and headed toward the compound. As he got closer, he noticed people weren't scrambling for weapons, ruling out an attack. Mostly they were whispering. A few people passed him moving quickly in the opposite direction, and Ace caught enough fragments to realize someone had arrived.

He stepped around one of the prefabricated structures and finally found the source. Briana stood farther down the path. With Colette. Ace stopped dead, and for a second his expression went completely blank.

"I don't need to follow you, Acier."

At the time, he'd barely registered what she'd meant.

But how? Nobody should have known where they'd gone. Relocating here had been the entire point. D'Qar wasn't somewhere people were supposed to simply stumble across because they took the wrong hyperspace lane.

Had it been Aurelian?

Of course that was where his mind went. The King had known enough to hold D'Qar over their heads once already. Why not make Ace's life complicated yet again?

Colette | Briana Sal-Soren | Kitt Solo​