Private Path of Titans

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren Starchaser was pacing through the Masters’ Chamber of the Temple of Kattada. At the top of the glassteel tower of Temple Island, the sun was able to be seen far and wide on the horizon, glittering on the ocean, dotted by flat areas of islands. The Jedi Master had made a call, one to resist the Concord’s decision to ally with the Sith. He had held his meeting, and that had gotten back to the Order of the Silver Jedi. He was removed from the Grandmaster position but left on the Masters’ Council.

He did help lead a number of Sentinels, and now Sages, as he has tempered himself from the warrior to the one who will support the younger warriors. Maybe it was right for him to never claim the position and of Sword of the Jedi. After his exploration of some Jedi relic locations with Celeste Rigel , he knew that there was more for him to do with his gifts. War was only a part of who he was. His father had taught him well, taught him to trust the Force, and let it guide him.

Jorus Merrill had encouraged Coren and the Starchaser clan to approach their exploration roots. And for Coren, that even meant the exploration of the Force. He had called for his brother in arms Julius Sedaire to meet him at Kattada. The sun was low, giving proof to the ever famous golden hour. He had a plan. But was he wrong?

He couldn’t be, but he wanted to have proof. Leaving the Silver Order was not something he wanted to do, nto something he intended, but being mobile, and basing out of Kattada? That could give a lot of answers.

As he heard the door open, he didn’t even turn. Coren was wearing a dark aqua cloak, one that seemed to reflect both the green and the blue of typical Jedi lightsabers, but also gave call to the Green Jedi of Corellia and the oceanic blues of Kattada. “Have you heard the news?”

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Green Jedi cloak. Bloodstripe trousers. A neatly trimmed beard and combed hair. Julius looked almost like his younger self, though much heavier on the salt than pepper in his hair and beard. His lightsabers hung one on each side of his hip. A spacers shirt. Perhaps the most stand out thing though, was a bare metal beskar pauldron of Mandalorian design on his left shoulder, under the cloak. A sentimental touch to memorialize his departed wife. Desric had suggested it. Though his son now was out in the Outer Rim, a Padawan to a Jedi Master from Eshan, learning to be a Sentinel.

His friend though, had called for him to be here. Coren rarely asked much of his friend over the years. So when he did call, asking with little explanation, Julius gave it the serious consideration one would of such a reliable man. So he had joined Coren, and met him here. What they would talk about, and why he was here, was something else.

"No, I've been busy presiding over Corellia. Connections have faded in the wider world. But what news?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

There was a certain comfort when familiar beings approached, and Julius Sedaire was one of them. A homeworld boy, and definitely the louder patriot for the homeworld, Coren respected the man, and his opinion, but more importantly, called the Corellia a friend, a close friend. He looked the part of a Corellian Jedi, part spaer, part green cloak. The odd bunching on the shoulder didn’t go beyond Coren’s eyes, but he didn’t pick at it right away, he knew his friend always had his reasons for what he did.

Hell, Corellians invented mementos within this galaxy, with the JedCred.

The news… how to explain it. “Well, I’m no longer the Grandmaster here. Still on the Council, but my response to the Concord was… more than they expected, it seems.” The conversation was to get his friend’s opinion, but more importantly, prepare the Masters he knew, the ones he trusted, for the very worst in the galaxy.

The last thing he wanted was for the Concord to fracture, but if they were going to be lead by politicians now?

“Any good news off of Corellia?” Desperate to try to deflect.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"Schools are built. The government found its senses and is a little less tight-fisted. The Greens have a solid council, and a new Grandmaster. I've become what I once was, a rally point and scheme cooker. I guess this is what growing up is like."

For a moment he seemed to stop, the smile faltering.

"Keira is missing. Dead, we think. Been so for... A while... All we found of her after the last mission was this."

He touched his pauldron, sentimentality plain in his eyes. For a moment he let the silence trail, remembering their last bout of teasing before she left. His insistence she come back with the same number of scars and the like as when she left, and her bargaining to add at least one new one. Their relationship was odd to anyone else, he was sure. But it had worked for them, and the time without her had been like learning to walk again. Tattooed fingers withdrew, light reflecting off the silver.

"I had been gone, in the Rift, since she went. I let Cal's daughter run the Inn for a while. But I'm back, and the Force seems to be calling these old bones to the next adventure. So... What kind of trouble are you up to?"

Coren Starchaser

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Listening to Julius regarding what was going on at the homeworld, he nodded. He was always caring about the Homeworld, but they had been working with a number of governments that would keep them on the narrow and right path. The Green Jedi never let him down. But the next, about Kiera being missing… The Jedi Master looked to his brother in arms.

“How… can you sense her?” He knew that if something had ever happened to Celeste Rigel , Julius would be there to assist him in finding her, or solving the mystery of her vanishing. “Can I help?” If he was going to be taking time away from Silver Space, this was the best way to do it.

“My trouble? Where to begin. The Concord has been entering talks with the Sith to combat the Bryn. And as you expect, I… didn’t take kindly to that. I have been debating the next steps here. Thinking about how I can gather the Jedi, how I can unite us to our past. It seems some may have lost their way.”

But if Kiera needed to be found, he’d assist there.

Julius Sedaire

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"You always put them before yourself, my friend. It's a mite inspirin, and a mite bit depressin. Either way, it's good one of us has a straight path."

For a moment he was quiet. Contemplative. Years of lost battles, pain, failures and plain loss in general weighed on him at that moment. The smile fled his face, and his eyes sagged, losing their brightness. Even when they had split, Keira was still there. Still able to be felt, to some degree. He had busied himself in missions and study. And her name became a swear word for a number of years. There was just an ignoring of her existence and the probable end of it. Around his neck hung both their Jed-creds, and he still wore the simple beskar band she had given him. It took a moment for the next words to come.

"Not that she was ever easy to sense... But... Her.... Well, the Flow of her path is absent from my Sight. And of all the teachings of the Monks of the Rift, that was my greatest gift. There is no thread or weave that shows her now. A grand quest isn't needed. But Corellia doesn't need it's old war hero anymore. I trained the next generation. Home is safe. But... You... You lead, and I'll follow. And I want you to have this..."

From his left hip, he unclipped a weathered and battered lightsaber with the weight of centuries to it, and the Force presence of something quietly important. Freely he offered it to Coren. It belonged to a leader of Jedi, a pivotal commander or resurgent type. And that wasn't him unless it was his home.

"The Jedi need us both. And they need to rise above politics and factions and simply be. We are servants of all. Not of just one banner. Lets show them the path. You set the way, I'll blaze the trail with you. But they'll look to you best."

Coren Starchaser

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Looking to Julius, Coren couldn’t help but smirk. There were times where Coren thought that the best way to solve certain questions and isues was to remove himself from the galaxy. Maybe that was why he and Celeste Rigel had taken their leave many months ago. But he was back and constantly trying to do what was right by the galaxy, and the Light. Coren had journeyed long and far in the galaxy to try to at least gain and understanding of smaller groups in the Force. And one that he and Julius shared was being welcomed by the Aing-Tii.

To an extent, that was.

He understood the language that Julius was using. He nodded along. “I’m sorry about losing her. Maybe we find her in our ventures. And to be honest, it may be time I be a bit selfish. Concord wanting to work with Sith? Don’t they know what they’ve done to our people…” Being the Jedi, and well, free and well intentioned peoples of the galaxy.

Watching Julius remove the blade from his hip, Coren knew exactly what that weapon was… “Me? You’re the battlemaster I always come to. Why me?” His hand wanted to reach for it, but this was a relic of ancient times, of the Skywalkers.

“I can’t not have you at my back, you know that. I need you ready.”

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"More than a lightsaber. Which I have a few of. That's a symbol of Hope. Of the Light. And you embody that more so than I ever will."

He offered the Skywalker Saber again, and smiled faintly as he considered his friends last words. Coren Starchaser had been at the forefront of Galactic affairs since he knew him. Julius had been more the one behind the scenes. Freeing Corellia had been the only time he had really stepped from support to stand in the spotlight on his own. And he still found it offputting all these years later. But Coren would never doubt him. To see his friend nervous, as he took it, seemed to stir his courage so to speak.

"You will aways have me to guard you. Just lead the way, and my sword is yours. Corellia can survive without me for a while. You need me more so."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

There were few people in the galaxy Coren Starchaser could trust higher than Julius Sedaire . The pair had gone way back and have a very similar upbringing in the Force. When push came to shove, that was when they broke ranks with one another and found their unique callings, their individual paths. Coren to leadership and the path of a Sentinel-turned-Sage, and Julius took the spot of a Battlemaster, for Coren, the Battlemaster. He knew what the blade was, what it represented right away.

“It is. I… thank you for this, Julius.” Coren took the blade, and turned it over, once, twice in his hand. He could feel the centuries on the weapon. A shiver ran down his spine. It wasn’t always good years either. But that was his knowledge of the past as well as what he could feel.

“Corellia is in good hands. But the Jedi, we need to make sure they don’t run themselves, ourselves, into oblivion.”

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"So what's our play?"

He let the question hang as he himself thought of the answer, watching the man that was closer to him than his own brother. They had bled and laughed together. Desric had been raised with stories of his "Uncle" Coren and the way a proper Jedi and ace pilot behaved. Hopefully the lad had been listening... Coren was the rare one who could inspire others to more than they were, just by his own example of self. Julius knew that his own strengths weren't in that direction. And in all but his worst moments, the Corellian Battlemaster was at peace with being the bulwark against the storm. Of being that one that gave those like Coren the ability to be the example.

But after a moments thought, he answered the question out loud himself.

"We need to build something apolitical. Not Corellian. Not Concordian. Independent. Flexible. Open to all under the Light and serving all people of any government, but not the government itself. Since the Clone Wars and beyond, that's been our flaw. Politics..."

A snort gave his opinion of that body of work.

Coren Starchaser

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Their play… that was the real question. He looked at his brother in arms, and the Force and nodded. “That is really the question here. I’m still in the Masters’ Circle, and have ‘control’ of Kattada.” He used that as a filler word. The Temple was his base and held the Explorers Corp and the training ground. He didn’t want to burn any of the bridges. No, Coren had been in this game long enough to do his best to keep the bridges to all the Jedi open and clear.

“That’s what I’m thinking. And after the Sith took Mon Cala, I found myself in a position with a favor from one of the families of Dac. They mentioned they have a larger cruiser collecting dust…” He shrugged. “Well, algae.” He laughed.

“If we could use that as a mobile center, I’ve got some ideas. Underground ideas, but ideas.”

Julius Sedaire

 

[Julius Sedaire]

"I think I could scare up a few resources from Socorro that might have older transponders..."

With that, the grin was back, and he gave his old friend a bracing pat on the shoulder.

"Lets go be big damn heroes, eh?"

Coren Starchaser