Faction Midnight Council: Tempo of War Pt. II | Lightsworn & Jedi

[Romi Jade]

HIRATA ENCLAVE

Since the pit in Tarko-se, she had been staying with the Lightsworn, recovering, learning what she could about them as well as what they knew about the Empire...what they Knew about Solipsis... But since then there was a small air of dread lingering just on the edge of her spirit, a familiar one. She slinked through the crowd, and had found herself a reasonably sized square but still near the exit.

Kaigann...as she referred to him, had been her rival, and in some circumstances her captor, for what seemed like an endless bout between them. So his return hadn't brought about any surprise, but he was indeed a major threat, and his ability to build empires on a massive scale in a short amount of time was cause enough, now there's talk of a weapon of mass destruction. Though, what was hitting her harder since escaping was this dreadful deja vu, and the lingering voice of the Eye of Webbish Bog...

Then suddenly the sound of faint embers crackling began to rise, underscoring her thoughts.

“Your blindness. Your silence. Your decay.”

Romi’s breath caught as the vision thought back through that premonition. It was true, and it was strange and mysterious to have it reaffirmed. She tried to warn the others, tried to organize, but she had the timing wrong, she had the people wrong. Now though, things were starting to make more sense.

“You are scattered embers, but I call upon you to ignite the flame anew. Burn away the rot, the blindness, and the fear—but guard their spirit, or all will fall to ash.”

The oppressive stillness of reliving that vision faded as she returned back to the moment, the world around her flooding her senses.

We all know he has accomplished this before. We intend to intervene, destroy it before the destruction of yet another world comes to fruition. Our problem lies in that our data is incomplete. We don't know where they are building it, where they intend to use it, or how long we have."

Not a very confidence-inspiring reality, but it was the hard truth. As futile as it may have seemed, they could not sit around and wait for the worst.

"That is why we've called you all here today. We must come together as one, unified force, even if just for long enough to put a stop to this. Together we can fill in the gaps, discover what's still hidden, strike at the heart of darkness."

"There may be a way..." she interjected from the back. "...to fill in some of the gaps, maybe even see where the next target is..." She said while stepping forward. "There are some here with potent seership abilities," Looking at Henna Ashina and Jannik Morlandt , "together, we can likely foresee a possible chain of events that’ll come next, or even glean possible triggers to catastrophes and the like and work backwards from there. If only to give us a jumping off point."

Most probably thought she was dead at this point.

She had lost a good amount of her strength in the Force, but her precognitive abilities seemed to shine through still, passively. From working with Henna privately she understood she was extremely gifted in precognition as well. And there wasn't any formal circle of seers as it stood, perhaps it was worth an attempt on the off chance they divine something useful.

---

Briana Sal-Soren | Lossa Aureus | Kaleleon | Tilon Quill | Inosuke Ashina | Corazona von Ascania
Corin Kaze | Shinzou Ashina | Lorn Reingard | Thalen Dhorain | Pelie besk
Kyric | Tansu Treicolt | Talsin Lota | Trent Perris | @Anyone else I missed, sorry
​

 

[Talsin Lota]

Tansu Treicolt Talin Treicolt Kyric Kaleleon Corazona von Ascania Henna Ashina Thalen Dhorain Tilon Quill Inosuke Ashina Shinzou Ashina Pelie besk Corin Kaze Lossa Aureus Jannik Morlandt Ariana du Couteau Lorn Reingard Briana Sal-Soren Romi Jade

He had come here to simply listen and observe, while being next to Tansu. She had been so excited to come here. To be with Talin for the first time in weeks and to see what this group was all about.

The former was successful. Even if Talin was still being odd, he couldn't even get a nod out of her, Talsin wasn't sure what was up with that.

At least Tansu seemed to be happy to be reunited with her, even if Talsin was getting a strange vibe from her.

Then he settled in to listen.

In a lot of ways this group, this gathering, was different from the ones he was used to. The Alliance had done a lot of talking, but in the end they had been wilfully unprepared what was to come. Tal was still reeling from the fall of Teta... a second time. This time around his family (what was left of it) had been off-world, but to see the planet fall so quick, so fast... and the Alliance just withdrawing a second time.

It was almost too much to bear. He needed time to grieve, but he didn't want for Tansu to come here alone when she wanted him next to her.

Talsin listened to a dignified woman speaking from the back. Suggesting they could see what would come next, allowing them to prepare perhaps or even formulate a strike.

It filled him with bitterness. It wouldn't save Empress Teta, not what was being done to it now.

"What is the plan for the worlds that are already occupied?" He said suddenly, surprising even himself, because Talsin had not been planning to say even a single word. "My name is Talsin Lota, I am from Empress Teta.... and my world is slowly being dragged back into the nightmare we all thought was long gone."

Tal knew this wasn't the time, not the place, they were just discussing logistics and how they could even start approaching a behemoth of an enemy like the Empire was turning out to be.

He grimaced there and sighed.

"I- I am sorry. It is just painful to watch what is happening, my House was a supporter of the Galactic Alliance for the entirety of the nation's existence. It cost my mother and father their life. It almost cost our lives when an assassin from the Empire came to kill us." His hand softly settling on Tansu's shoulder there, squeezing softly.

"What hope do we have? If a nation as large as the Galactic Alliance can have the heart of their territory cut out from it, seemingly without being able to do a thing about it?"

He wanted to hope, he needed to, but it all looked so hopeless right now.

 

[Tilon Quill]

"What is the plan for the worlds that are already occupied?" He said suddenly, surprising even himself, because Talsin had not been planning to say even a single word. "My name is Talsin Lota, I am from Empress Teta.... and my world is slowly being dragged back into the nightmare we all thought was long gone."

"This is what weighs on me too. A lot of us know exactly how many refugees our cargo holds and life support systems can manage, but I'm not aware of any organized efforts at scale. It's hordes of independent ships with all the survivability that entails. And that's just those Tetans or Coruscanti lucky enough to get off the ground.

"Killing superweapons matters, yes, let's find and kill this thing or commit to rapid joint efforts when it shows itself, but I think part of why we're focusing there is because the scope of the rest is bigger and worse and harder to face. Trillions of lives at risk. I don't even know who's looking at that or in a position to do anything about it."

 

[Vizion Trozky]

HIRATA ENCLAVE
ATRISIA

​

Vizion Trozky had arrived separately after a meeting at the Aetheris Watch of Chandrila, where the pall of darkness was beginning to settle in, but had not yet explicitly paid a visit. He'd just been at the Jakku Enclave for a time, not long before. And now he was here, at another meeting.

Though he might have had some small reservations when called to gather on Crait, months before, there was no denying now that it had been just the beginning… or one point in a growing line that traced back further than he could put a finger on. He had to wonder how much this gathering in the here and now, the dark advent of the subjugation of the core, tied with that and the other thing. And that thing, too.

But that was all backdrop to the present, and the real threat in front of them. The incomplete data on this 'Project Stardust' was a clear indicator of what might be. That Kyric was the first to come forward with the start of a plan for it went a ways toward settling a thing or two Vizion had been wondering ever since meeting the other Sentinel. Whether what he'd seen in him that day was true, but even more, how he would fit into it all.

And whether that lingering stare meant anything more than it usually did.

But he didn't stay overly long in those thoughts, following along with the conversation until he was given another reason to pause when a voice, vague in its familiarity, spoke up from the back. He turned, seeking out the speaker, and when he found her with his eyes, his brows shot upwards - Romi Jade, in the flesh.

[ Isn't she supposed to be... dead? ]

But he couldn't linger on that fact, as others were quick to speak up, putting forward another, equally pressing issue. Full circle, back to a part of what had compelled him to be here, and to what had consumed so many of his days as of late. He looked again to the map and information that Kyric provided, swallowed, and looked back to the Sharuka and... other guy he didn't know, hopefully to assuage some of their worry.

"Not to discount your concern, but you're far from alone, in that," he began, frankly, "My family's from Brentaal IV, and we've just come from another meeting on Chandrila, at the Aetheris Watch, as well. This weighs on them all, equally. Trillions of lives at risk," he turned to Tilon, "as you've said."

He looked across the gathering, and continued.

"Over the past many weeks, members of the Jedi Order and its High Council have been meeting with enclaves and other Jedi institutions and groups, inside and outside of enemy territory, in an effort to establish a network of resistance and refugee movement through a rotation of classified routes. These will pass through waystations or Guardian Posts, and terminate at whichever is the nearest enclave, after which refugees will be forwarded on to their final destinations. And vice versa. A Jedi Underground, if you will."

He gestured across to Kyric and the map.

"What Knight Karis offers would add to this." The arm dropped. "As well, we have pulled on other resources to field further clandestine supports through regular personnel. One of the first of these is the deployment of elite pilots, equipped with starfighters that will allow them to operate with considerable autonomy, individually, in flights, or as a squadron. And their first deployment is..." Vizion looked to Briana, "...pretty soon, here."

Ariana du Couteau • Briana Sal-Soren • Corazona von Ascania • Corin Kaze • Henna Ashina
Inosuke Ashina • Jax Thio • Kaleleon • Kyric • Laurent Costeau • Lorn Reingard • Lossa Aureus
Nathan Bloodscrawl Pelie besk • Shinzou Ashina • Talsin Lota • Tansu Treicolt • Thalen Dhorain • Tilon Quill​

​

 

[Pelie besk]

Pelie sat there watching every interaction through the force could sense emotions and tensions. Not letting the emotions get to her she sat people where arguing her hands clenched this was getting them almost no where fast but most of the questions being asked where good ones. Others gave into despair she stood up when Vizion Trozky spoke she let him have the floor as she used fold space to appear next to Romi Jade as if forming out of nothing.

"Master jade i am pelie besk jedi knight and master of the luka sene order i also have training in the force power of flow walking i am here to help" she offered. Looking at the aged master she had heard of Romi's past but that didn't matter now what matters is they save lives and to that they needed more facts.

@everyone sorry it's late and I've had a long day.

 

[Talin Treicolt]

Su had come. Life felt right again, as her sister embraced her and started pickin' over her like a mama bird. The topics tonight may have been heavy, but with her sister's presence - and all the Jedi heros she gawked at present - it was hard to bum Talin out. That was, 'til Talsin spoke up. That insidious anger which constantly boiled simmered out with his words. She imagined if Concord Dawn had come under fire, and Mama and Pa marchin' to the choppin' block. It was enough to evoke the threat of tears. Just for tonight, she'd cut the Tetan a break. He deserved that much.

"Is that enough?" Talin's response escaped before she could think it through. Her glance flittered between the High Republic's Jedi members and the map. "I - uh - I mean, not to be a naysayer. But we're talkin' deep core. Trillions 'o people We're gonna need bigger ships. Lightsworn's got, what, half a dozen big ones - and Tilon's our best pilot?"

She squinted really hard, like thinking like this was a colossal effort.

"Ain't one 'o the bigger orders got an ear to one of the senates? Couldn't they be rallied around bein' humanitarian, or somethin'?

This particular youth was clearly ignorant as to how galactic politics worked.

Ariana du Couteau | Briana Sal-Soren | Corazona von Ascania | Corin Kaze | Inosuke Ashina | Jax Thio | Kaleleon | Kyric | Laurent Costeau | Lorn Reingard | Lossa Aureus | Nathan Bloodscrawl | Pelie besk | Shinzou Ashina | Talsin Lota | Tansu Treicolt | Thalen Dhorain | Tilon Quill​

 

[Tilon Quill]

"Not to discount your concern, but you're far from alone, in that," he began, frankly, "My family's from Brentaal IV, and we've just come from another meeting on Chandrila, at the Aetheris Watch, as well. This weighs on them all, equally. Trillions of lives at risk," he turned to Tilon, "as you've said."

Tilon winced. Both Brentaal and Chandrila were recently under Imperial control and the news wasn't good at all. A reminder, a necessary one, that most people around this room had deeper ties to those trillions than Tilon did. If Trozky had made it off Chandrila lately that said a lot about him and the skill of the people he was working with.

"Ain't one 'o the bigger orders got an ear to one of the senates? Couldn't they be rallied around bein' humanitarian, or somethin'?

"Far as I hear it, they're reeling and any spare attention's going to war prep or realizing they're not set up to support refugees. Been a long time since most places were adjacent to serious war."

 

[Michael Angellus]

​

Journal Entry:
.

[BEGIN JOURNAL ENTRY – ATRISIA ASSEMBLY HALL]

Late hour. Hall packed. Mood heavier than the sky before a storm. I haven’t spoken yet. I’m not sure I want to—but I think I might have to.

Inosuke’s words are still bouncing around in my head. "Mass destruction." “Project Stardust.” “Another world.”

Another world…?

I’ve heard those words before. On mission reports. On late-night whispers from the old Temple before it fell. In Mom’s voice after she read the casualty list from Jedha. In Uncle Rojuhr’s voice when he told me about Scarif. In Master Vanagor’s eyes after the sky broke open over Coruscant.

Another world. Like my father’s.

And here I am again—watching holoprojections flicker like dying embers, surrounded by Jedi and freedom fighters, none of whom know what the next move is. Everyone wants to help. Everyone needs to help. But no one knows how. Not really.

Not yet.

I've been quiet. Not just because I flew half of these people in. Not just because I don’t wear the same rank robes or carry a senior title. It's because I listen. I watch. That’s what Master Quin taught me. What Master Ala still reminded me of—over and over again.

I watched the faces in this room. The way Kyric’s jaw tense when the holos shift. The way Briana nodded like she already had a plan forming in her mind. Everyone is reacting, planning, calculating.

And me? I'm thinking about a blue sky. About flying. About how you can chart a course across a war zone, thread a needle through a collapsing battlefield—but you can't outrun a superweapon once it fires. You can't outfly genocide.

But maybe you can outthink it.

I don’t have to stand up yet. No one’s asked me to. But I know what I want to say. Not because it’ll change the tide in one breath. But because someone needs to remind everyone that we’re not just chasing intel. We’re racing a fuse.

If I speak—and I might—I’ll say this… you know what? Screw it. I am… well… I did:

I apologize for speaking out. I’m nobody important. That’s the point though, isn’t it? To them, none of us are, and that’s our advantage. They don’t look at any of us as “threats”.

The Empire doesn't build weapons like this to win wars. They build them to end hope. We’ve already lost Coruscant. We can’t lose what comes after. And if they’re investing this much into another one of these things? It means they’re afraid. Of us. Not our numbers. Not our ships. Of our ability to unite. To act. That’s what they want to destroy. That’s what we can’t let them take. Sorry if that was out of place, but this gives me “hope”. Didn’t someone once say “Rebellions are built on hope”?

I'm not a General. I'm not even a Knight. I’m a pilot who keeps finding himself in rooms full of legends and leaders. But I’m not just here to fly them in and out anymore. Not after Odessen. Not after seeing what Connel carries. Not after hearing Mom’s voice tremble for the first time in my life.

This fight is mine too.

So I’ll keep listening. I’ll keep watching. And when the moment’s right, I’ll speak. Because someone’s gotta say it:

We don’t need more heroes. We need all of us—together.

Even me.

– Michael

[END ENTRY]



TAG: Open

 

[Aiden Porte]

Lorn Reingard

Aiden didn't say much, he didn't need to. He was just here to listen to what was said. If members of Council of that he belonged to, were here. It was for a good reason. And no doubt hearing what atrocities were being committed in the core worlds. The countless lives that were left in the balance and left stranded to face the Empires wrath.

He had hear of these meetings before, they happened too many times from what he heard stories off. However it couldn't be done alone, all them together, working towards the end goal. And his thoughts drifted to the last meeting that he attended with his Father.

The Foundation, visions and more things depending on future events.

Aiden wasn't a seer....

Visions could change....? Could they not?

The Jedi Knight stood next to Lorn as he took a deep breath. Watching the explanations come and go. There was much that he wanted to say, but words seemed to be moot at this point. Action was necessary.

Trust in the Council, trust in yourself.....

Aiden faced forward, arms crossed. "I've been meaning to thank you Lorn.....for everything."

 

[Lorn Reingard]

​

Lorn felt the air shift as an unsettlingly familiar voice cut through from the back. He turned his head slightly, just enough to catch sight of her as she stepped into the light. His brow furrowed instantly. It was her, this Mother Askani.

The last time Lorn saw her, she stood at the heart of the Crait conclave, leading that doomed gathering. She possessed a powerful gravity, captivating everyone with visions in hand and conviction spilling from her like fire. Askani had come with a warning: something big, something imminent. Her premonition was vague but undeniably powerful, fracturing the room. Briana supported her. But Lorn…

Lorn had fought against it fiercely. He remembered his voice in those council chambers. He didn't trust the propechy, he trusted his judgment to stay away from war. Visions, he believed, only led to chaos. And now? Here she was. Everything Askani had warned them about was now unfolding before his eyes, taking shape like smoke. Maybe not in the way she had originally foretold, but yet it was here.

His stomach sank. He glanced across the room at Briana Sal-Soren . He gave her the smallest nod, a silent acknowledgment, a wordless admission. He knew. He could already imagine the "I told you so," likely delivered many times over and perhaps even framed for display.

His thoughts broke when a familiar presence entered his space: Aiden. Lorn didn't immediately turn, keeping his eyes on the room as the younger Knight stepped into his orbit. "I've been meaning to thank you, Lorn, for everything," Aiden said. Lorn blinked, a soft laugh escaping him. He turned to Aiden then, a kind grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Everything?" Lorn echoed, his voice low. "I did nothing. Are you sure you've got the right guy?" He shook his head slightly, amused, understanding what the kid actually meant. Then, after a beat, his voice dropped, quieter. His gaze drifted back to the room, where the galaxy shifted in holographic starlight. "Are you planning on speaking in this meeting, Jedi Knight Porte, or are you just here to soak up the atmosphere like me?"

Aiden Porte​

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

"Uh, excuse me..." Nathan spoke up again, louder this time. "Visions!? You want to trust visions? If visions were so trustworthy we would have seen the Sith coming at Coruscant. We might have even been prepared."

He looked around. "We need Intel. Hard Intel. Actionable Intel. Not visions." Nathan said, irritated with what he was already starting to see.

A tiny thought formed in the back of his skull. He tried to ignore it.

Is this what Julia had to deal with?

"We need to start actively looking for an insider on this 'Project Stardust'..." Nathan continued, feeling his assertions were more than reasonable. Somebody had to be the realist.

"...but more than that we need to start a plan on how to get as many people out of the core as possible. And even if we learn the exact nature of this weapon, how are we supposed to destroy it?" he continued, not at all mesmerized by the reappearance of Romi Jade . She wasn't the only one who could come back from the dead.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't try to stop it. I'm not saying our task is impossible. But Hope will not bring down the Sith. Hope will not rescue people trapped under the boot of tyranny. We need ways to move as close to undetected as possible in their territory. We need to have weapons to arm people trapped behind enemy lines. Anyone who can't get out has to be persuaded to fight if at all possible. In short, we have to start thinking like guerillas, not like people who are still in control of the Galactic Core."

He hoped someone would listen. Because so far, all he was hearing were assertions. He wasn't seeing anything he could cut his teeth on besides the fact they were running scared.

Briana Sal-Soren

Lorn Reingard

Michael Angellus

Inosuke Ashina

Kaleleon

Pelie besk

Ariana du Couteau

Corazona von Ascania

Shinzou Ashina

Corin Kaze

Kyric

Tilon Quill

Talsin Lota

Tansu Treicolt

Lossa Aureus

 

[Henna Ashina]

Kaleleon | Pelie besk | Corin Kaze | Shinzou Ashina | Lorn Reingard | Lossa Aureus | Tilon Quill
Thalen Dhorain | Nathan Bloodscrawl | Inosuke Ashina | Corazona von Ascania

"Uh, excuse me..." Nathan spoke up again, louder this time. "Visions!? You want to trust visions? If visions were so trustworthy we would have seen the Sith coming at Coruscant. We might have even been prepared."

There were always doubts. Over the years, the seer had grown accustomed to a healthy dose of skepticism. Foresight was unpredictable. Try as one may, you could never discern the future entirely - it was ever changing. Yet, even with the mantle of the warden upon her, Henna had never been more able to accurately predict than when she was with an entire circle of watchers under the New Jedi Order.

"Visions have accurately forecasted many a battle and given the Jedi an edge over the years." Her voice was patient, that of a teacher's. "Three sets of eyes increase the chances of success. I welcome your guidance in the endeavor, Master Jade."

A moment's consideration was given to the newcomer, Jannik, before she took on the rest of the statement.

"I do not disagree with the notion of unconventional methods. We've been operating on a series of hit and runs. If we can maintain the tempo, it'll give us the time to gather assets and distraction to deploy agents needed for intelligence."