Mantles and Masks

[Miss Blonde]

Ryloth
0500

Patricia lay in her bed naked beneath the covers, besides her was her husband [member="Jarven Zexxel"] who was fast asleep probably dreaming about whatever it was gank mercenaries dreamed of. But what he was dreaming of wasn't of importance, it was what the struggling Jedi was having a vision about. Ever since coming into contact with Revan's lightsaber and the psychic energy leftover by all it's users it had awoken her more force sensitive nature, and with that came visions. They started off as just strange dreams, but the more and more she discovered her new force sensitivity the more vivid they became. The more lucid and real everything was it became hard to distinguish what was real life and what was simply a image of the force.

"I killed them Patricia, and you just went along with it like I did nothing wrong." a certain orange twe'lik apparition said as it manifested itself into the reality of a smokey dark room.

Patricia standing there grabbed her saber and activated it, the blue blade snapped forward and Patricia roared and swiped at the manifestation only to have it disperse into orange smoke then fade Into nothingness. There was another ghost coming forward and it was of a blue chiss that was standing above a dead body on an operating table harvesting the organs of some poor dead man. The chiss looked up at Patricia and spoke in a calm cool voice.

"I'm not as bad as people say I am, I'm much worse." the chiss said and Patricia's mind raged back to when she showed him mercy and allowed him to live.

Patricia charged forward and attempted to swipe down the shadow that was Cryax then it too disappeared into smoke. What had she done? What had she become all those years? Someone who let monsters cover the galaxy and kill innocent people. Patricia wept as she collapsed down to her knees and an image of Isley Verd stood behind her back as a puppet master pulling at her strings, and bellow her were the sith of the techno union and the innocent man they had killed for no reason. But then there was something in all that smoke and darkness, a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Stepping out of the shadows was a manifestation of her daughter Erika, and in her hand was a shiny crystal that hummed power that the woman had never felt. She looked at her daughter and she uttered a few words.

"The mantle, Voss"

And just like that Patricia woke up clutching the sheets to her bare form. She placed one hand in her head and looked down at her sleeping husband, she let out a sigh then knew what she had to do. Leaning down she gave the sleeping man a kiss then went to change into a polka dotted red dress and her boots. The woman walked out of her bedroom then placed a note on the fridge saying she had work and would be back in a few days at the most. It hurt to leave her family like this for a bit, but there was something that needed to be done. Whatever that crystal was it was the key to set her free.

 

[Miss Blonde]

Voss
1800

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=HZUDWKs4HZ0

The sun began to set on the Jedi temple as Patricia wearing a brown robe over her dress looked up at the large structure. She had never been one to believe in the ways of the Jedi or Sith, that was until she became one herself. The beauty of it all soaked into her it was cleansing in a sense, Patricia had grown up on city planets and was very much a person who lived in bustling metropolitan areas. There was always something about the air there, a layer of filth that was forever stained upon your skin that no matter how much you washed of scrubbed it never came out. But here in the face of all the light, it was gone. Like a giant weight had been lifted off her back it felt good, and it was a feeling she never wanted to go away. But she had to keep moving to discover what exactly this mantle was and how she could claim it to help her.

She began to walk up the steps of the temple and stopped as she reached two guards holding down the front door. She looked at them and spoke in a soft and gentle manner.

"My name is Jedi Padawan Patricia Susan Garter, I've come here to Voss to seek an audience with the Jedi council. I have recovered the lightsaber of Revan and it has brought me here to claim something known as the mantle, I know not what it is but I want to learn more as I believe it is the key to set my family free from the dangers of the sith." Patricia bowed her head slightly then waited.

The guard gave a solemn nod then left to go inside to give word of what he had just been told. It was up to the council now to give work on what exactly to do now. All she could do was have faith the force had not lead her here on false pretenses.

Coci Heavenshield [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He had said his piece. Now, Connor stood as a man not knowing in which direction his future was heading. He only knew if he continued on this current path, it would eventually derail him in a way he never once thought possible, and he was better than that; both as a person and servant of the Force. Not one single Master, or Lord - but the Force.

With his brow resting on the sheer window of the Council chambers, he watched the world go by outside the Temple and across the planet Voss with eager eyes. He never tired of watching ships crest the atmosphere, zooming away into adventures unknown and planets full of secrets to be found, beings to address and destinies to be made. Oblivious to the world around him, he had only received the call from the Rangers that there was a Padawan by a name he didn't know here to address the Council.

They had caught him before he left, and so he felt obliged to at least see what the fuss was about. No doubt others would be here soon, but he didn't want to be the focus of any attention and nor did he expect to be. He knew his place, and he knew the true priorities of others. With a gentle lick of his lips under heavy stubble from a good 2 days of not shaving, he didn't look his usual self, but then how long did everyone look the same as they were expected to?

He waited, and watched, and did nothing more until the Padawan was brought to the chamber.

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

Patricia stood patiently outside the doors of the temple, it reminded her of her youth. Well she was technically still young at twenty eight but her more wild days are the appropriate term. Waiting wasn't her strongest skill, the old Patricia probably would of whined and said something obscene about another person's mother then done a shot. But again that was the young Patricia and having two kids really gave a person patience, having to literally spoon feed or getting up in the middle of the night to change a child. It was something that gave her clarity and patience when it came to situations such as these, and lucky for her the sentinel had come back with good tidings.

"What remains of the council will see you now, most members may of gone home for the evening. Please follow me." the man said behind his mask and hood.

Turning with an about face the man proceeded back through the grand doorway and down the main hall. Patricia nodded in return, a gesture of acknowledgment and proceeded to follow in pursuit. The building was to say beautiful, if a picture was worth a thousand words this one was worth a billion. It was grand, marvelous, and she literally could not describe it, there were no words that could do the beauty and light the justice it deserved. And her presence within it was almost overwhelming to say the least, it felt like she belonged here.

"It happens to everyone the first time." the silver Jedi sentinel said with what Patricia could only assume was a grin beneath his mask.

She didn't respond back to him, not that she didn't want to, but the fact that she couldn't. But they had to trek on, after walking through a garden that brought a tear to her eyes and another long hallway they arrived at a set of large wooden doors. She stood there as the sentinel looked at her with the blank expression upon his mask.

"Padawan Garter, when speaking to the council you shall show the utmost respect. You will speak when spoken to only after the council has finished speaking, refer to them by their titles Master so and so. Do I need to repeat myself?" the man said beneath his mask in a cool and calm voice.

"No sentinel." Patricia said with a nod.

"Then I take my leave of you here. Best of luck to you padawan." He made a left face then proceeded to walk off back the way they came.

Patricia stood there at the door then rapped upon it three times waiting for a response, she'd continue her motherly patience.

| [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]​

​

The council session had ended for the day, a full council was not required to sit on the topics discussed and Coci was ready to leave to return to duty, when the knock came on the door. She sensed the presence of a force users unknown to her but Jedi it seemed.

"Please enter", she said as the doors opened to allow the person to pass. Connor was beside her and would escort the girl into the chambers. "Greetings Master Harrison", she said as they entered. "How can we assist?". she asked taking her seat once more.

 

[Miss Blonde]

Patricia took a deep breath and let her chest rise and fall against her robes before stepping in. She gaged the room with one quick glance and quickly took everything in. It was beautiful to say the least, absolutely stunning and it was as if she was starring into a wellspring of light. But she had been wowed enough for one day and it was time to take action and save her family from everyone that wanted to take her down.

"I'm Patricia. I have come from Ryloth due to many visions that I've experienced through the force. I have found this." she reached to her side and pulled out the lightsaber of Revan himself.

Extending her arm she let it lay flat in her palm to allow the members of the council to take a look at it. She gently presented it to Coci and hoped she could sense the power emanating from it. The psychic residue of the masters of the force who had wielded it before her.

"Please, have a look. she said softly.

| [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor turned his head to see the young girl enter, and faced her. Standing back, he watched her produce the lightsaber from her clothing, and immediately felt the alluring presence of the Force around it.

He stepped forward a couple of paces, looking at the hilt in her palm.

”Where did you get this – and why have you brought it to us?”


[member="Patricia Susan Garter"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

Raven's lightsaber, Coci's brows raised. Like her brother shadow, she felt the power from it, the presence of one most powerful still radiated from the saber. However, much experience had taught her not to touch it, even though the girl seemed fine, but too much had happened and there is much at stake to simply reach for it.

She wanted the answers to Connor's questions, as well. Why not take this to the Jedi Order? "What do you plan to do with this?", she asked suspecting Patricia was not about to hand it over. Realising she had not introduced herself, "I am Master Coci Heavenshield, Master of the Silver Order". she gave the young girls a respectful bow of her head. "This is a very powerful artifact .. I would warn you to take care Padawan if you plan to keep it .. or use it".

 

[Miss Blonde]

Maybe it was the fact that Patricia had spent a lot of time around the saber before taking possession of it, perhaps it was because she had shared a deep romantic connection with it's previous owner but either way the lightsaber had messed her up a bit when she first touched it but now all it did was give her dreams of the spooky variety. So Patricia listened to the masters and she thought about what exactly had brought her here, a dream? Well she could lie to them because that just sounded crazy, but she needed to keep her intentions clear. It was the right thing to do to tell the truth to these people, she owed them that much for letting her see them on such short notice.

"It belonged to my ex fiancé, he's no longer with us.I figured it was best I take it before it fell in the hands of a sith." she said in a more somber tone. But picking her head up she took a deep breath and got ready to tell the truth.

"Ever since I touched the thing I've been having these visions. I've seen my life be controlled by others, by darker forces. But I have to do it, I have to do their biding because I have a family to support, I have two kids and a husband and I'm not sure how to do this. I don't know what the force wants from me, but I know it brought me here because of something called the Mantle, it's a crystal or something. I don't know, it told me that the mantle was the only way to make myself stronger and fend for my family. Now I know you aren't going to just hand it over, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'll join the order, I'll fight who you want me to fight, anything for my babies." she finished and stood there quiet and awaiting what came next.

[member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Folding his arms and making circular motions with his fingers around his thumb, Connor watched the girl as she spoke, looking for signs of deception or ulterior motives – he found none, instead finding a degree of uncertainty and fear.

”It seems falling in love makes us do anything in order to serve feelings of the heart, isn’t that right, Master Heavenshield.”

The air was still raw between them – both Masters had their own agenda, and little time for the other at present.

”Patricia, thank you for coming here at least with this. It strikes me having something of such power and important may not be the best for you – and I’m sorry, but this Mantle, if it’s for your own personal gain for strength and power, I don’t think you understand what you are seeking. Should you not support your family by being nothing but yourself, without the aid of something that could pretty much ruin you if you don’t even know what it is you’re seeking?”

Connor stood still and didn’t evoke much emotion; he wasn’t afraid of coming down hard on those wanting easy ways out of hardship.

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

Coci ignored Connor's comment about love, This from a man how has never known true love, she thought. Oh how quickly people of ignorance judge others.

However, she did agree with him on the rest of what he said. "Family is incredibly important and needs to be protected, but this is not the way to do it. You say you see your life controlled by this thing, it seems that control has already began. This saber as powerful as it is, will never be truly yours, it will remain loyal to it's maker and will in the end betray you, simply because it is not yours to wield".

"Make yourself strong to protect those you love, your family which would include those that serve to protect you. In the Silver Jedi family extends not only to those immediate but to all of us in the Order. Even when some of us forget that", she shot a look to Connor.

"Master Harrison, understands the power of such artifacts, me to a lesser extent but heed our warnings Patricia, these powers are to be understood but not employed".

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Coci Heavenshield"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

Patricia normally would of cursed people like these masters out, but again having children often swayed your look on things in the galaxy. Simple things like being told no were one of them, but even if Patricia was being told no one way or the other she was having this mantle. These Jedi might sit on their council chairs and talk of the force but she had a family to protect and they were not about to stand in her way. So she simply took a breath and spoke calmly.

"Masters I head what you are saying, and I respect it completely. But this power that I seek, it's not for my own advancement, it's for the safety of my blood. Of my babies, of my husband, and what I hold dear. I've spent my life fighting sith and now that I'm under the boot of one I can't escape." she said calmly then continued on.

"You, Master Heavenshield. If it was your children, your husband, your family that was under siege, where every night you wondered if someone was going to burst down your door with a machine gun and start shooting, or a sith would take them away at night and this was the only way to save them. I guarantee you would take that crystal, I'm not coming to you as a Jedi looking for power. I'm coming to you as a mother who wants her family safe, I beg of you. You don't have to give me the crystal now, just give me the chance to prove myself worthy of it, that's all I want, just a chance." she said now in tone that was pleading of the masters.

Her children were at risk, they were after all direct descendants of Vahl herself and a few people over at the One Sith would not take kindly to their existence if that news were to ever be public.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor just watched the two mothers in conversation, and felt nothing for their views. This wasn't a relic that catered to hormones, it catered to weakness; vulnerability and pride. Something Connor knew the fragility of.

”I can't let this pass, I'm sorry. As soon as blood and family come into play, views and opinions are automatically distorted and logic goes out the window. Hormones take over; risks are taken and there becomes a time when you will do anything and everything to achieve your goal.”

Looking at Coci, he shook his head gently. He knew nothing of attachment, of giving yourself for another - all he knew of that was the ones he served alongside, and look how that was turning out.

”It'll be us picking up the pieces when this goes wrong.”

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"]