Campaign Securing | Epoch

[Auteme]

gonna start with Titus of Epoch and Kirie but it's a static location thread just show up I'm not gonna fight you​

It still didn't feel like her place.

Her room at the Jedi Temple had been nice, but it had been small; a single room with some workspace and a bed. As soon as she stepped outside the door she was out into the world. She'd wash her clothes in the laundry room like everyone else, her food would be found at the cafeteria, which more often than not was open to the public. Her apartment with Lucien was a step up; she could spend the whole day in her own space if she really wanted to. It was a refuge from even the life of a Jedi.

Epoch's Royal Palace was a far cry from anywhere she'd ever lived. It certainly wasn't as large as the Temple, but it wasn't nearly as populated, even with how many halls the New Jedi Order left empty. Her bedroom was enormous -- a window the length of a starfighter stretched across one wall, giving her ample sunlight to begin her day, and a magical background glow in the evenings. Everything seemed royal. Her bed felt like a giant's, her closet felt like a cruiser's hangar, even the doors to the room seemed ready to swing open and present some regal precession.

That was barely the surface. She had nearly the entire west wing of the palace to herself; a whole three stories. Wandering alone, each room felt almost a match to the Temple's grand halls. The den, the living room, even the bathrooms -- of which there were too many for her to use alone, so she'd stuck to the one connected to the bedroom -- it was a castle all her own.

But it didn't feel like hers. She'd been living there for a week, but the place seemed uninhabited. It wasn't just her little corner; the entire palace felt devoid of life. For good reason, too -- the terror they'd found in the wake of the Final Dawn's attack on the palace was almost enough to sour any attempt at reconstruction. The royal family was gone; their bodies had been left where they had been shot, all but two uncovered. The youngest, a child just under two, had disappeared without a trace; the body of one of the prince's sons was never found. They'd been searching ever since, but without any results, there was little hope.

Epoch's soul ran deep, though, and the rebels weren't so quick to leave the palace abandoned. It had quickly become the center for Epoch's transitionary government. The feeling of betrayal by the Epochian Assembly after the battle was subsiding, but there was no great push to have the Assembly be the center of government at present.

Staying in the palace, Auteme thought, was the right idea, and something she'd encouraged. Despite her reservations about any sort of monarchy, the love the people had for the royals was clear. Every day thousands came to pay their respects at the memorial on the first floor of the palace. It was then they could see the other work being done by the transitionary government -- officials tending to their duties, the new planetary guard in their fresh uniforms, and the other symbols of hope and change. Not only that, but keeping their strength massed in the once-home of Darth Solipsis was a stand of both defiance and an obvious slight to him.

It was right that she stayed there. Certainly better than the actual senatorial residence, which wasn't far from the palace, but had Kaigann's aura about it. She wasn't keen on taking that place, so the palace it was. Still, it didn't feel right.

The work came first, she knew. Even though she'd mostly come to Epoch to begin her journey into the Senate, she didn't feel like she could just leave the world alone -- almost as though she needed to prove her value to Epoch's people. Most everyone had seen her actions during the liberation; she'd made sure of it. Yet she knew her place was insecure. After all, why not pick someone else as Senator? Titus himself was a former politician; surely, he would make a better choice, even in this transitionary period. She'd asked, and he'd agreed, but she still felt like an imposter, an intruder into an empty home.

She wanted to carve a place out for herself. Today was the day to do it.

The first thing she did in the morning was put in her commlink. "Kirie, are you there? I need a rundown of our schedule today- ah, aside from the meeting with the transition council, though I should probably brush up on what's going on," she said. "I'm also taking wardrobe recommendations."

That most vast of closets stood before her, daring her into its depths.

 

[Arlo Renard]

On Jedha, Solipsis had whispered one word:

"Daughter."

That word had echoed in Kai's mind ever since. The mystery child-woman had, inadvertently, saved his life with her mere presence. Solipsis was distracted, had left to pursue her. Kai was alive, though he could still feel the jagged scars running along the surface of his mind, remnants from Solipsis' claws. Making him another veteran of the psychic wars.

But who was Daughter? Kai had come to Epoch, to the Royal Palace where Solipsis (as Senator Kaigann Fossk) had lived, in hopes of finding some clue that would lead him to the answer.

Though security had been beefed up ever since the attack that had killed most of the royal family, the guards were looking for suspicious persons and activities. Kai blended in, shifting his shape to look like someone else—an aide to a politician of the transitional government—and with a wave of his hand and a clouding of men's minds, he made sure everyone who saw him believed he was on his way to deliver a message.

Now he just had to find Fossk's old offices, or his private quarters perhaps, and search them...

Auteme Titus of Epoch Kirie​

 

[Davron Feln]

"What do you think we should do about it?"

"Man, I don't know. Smash it and trash it?"
​

"What? Hey, what if there's actually a person in there, like those old tales about Han Solo?"

"Oh, you don't actually believe any of that, do you? It's just a fancy sculpture. Fossk was weird, man."
​

"Enough, both of you. It's going to the new Senator's residence, so she can decide what to do with, same as the rest of Fossk's strange artifacts."
​

The workers that were debating over the recently-delivered slab of carbonite—one that looked to have a very distressed young man either frozen or carved into it, whichever the case may be—grumbled between themselves. It had originally been meant for Fossk, but the delivery came a bit late for that, and just in time to get sent to Auteme instead.

At least it was a short walk for them to take it over there.

 

[Titus of Epoch]

Odessa, Epoch
Epochian Royal Palace | Garden Overlook

“Not entirely.”

The words hung in the air of the perfect summer day. They would go unanswered for moments passed, stunning the recipients before a reply was uttered with slight uncertainty.

“Are you certain?”

Titus lift his gaze toward the speaker, his mechanical hand reached out in gesture coming to a soft close.

“The transitional government is vulnerable, the committee needs to make every effort to project strength in this time of crisis and I mean that loosely. The last thing we want is to incite further insurrection, this time between each other.”

Titus emitted a deep sigh, how he longed to finally see his homeworld settle into peace, true peace. One of the men that had gathered around him, burly and stocky, spoke up.

“Gentlemen. The last thing we want is another civil war.”

Another chimed in, this one less than rough looking. Adorned in all the finery of a Coruscanti noble, at first glance one would think he’d supported the Final Dawn and not the rebellion. Yet here he was, short combed over hair, clean shaven, slender and tall.

“The people are victorious, Titus, the balance of power has finally shifted. It’s over.”

The former Senator cupped his hands together, the bureaucrats of Epoch never slept. How convenient it would be to accept victory as was and let things roll back into the status quo. He saw the game for what it was, some were afraid to lose their power.

“The shadow of the Sith has finally been cast off, but where do we go from here?”

“The royal family has been all but wiped out, the Epochian Assembly suspended, and the largest import/export on the planet, EEC, has been liquidated by the Galactic Senate.”

Titus arched his brow, “And you believe it’s over? My boy, the challenge is not war but reconstruction.”

The Epochian nodded his head and resumed forward in stride along the garden overlook. “Without a legitimate government in place we are open to internal and external threats. I have a meeting with Interim Senator Auteme Denko shortly. I assure you gentlemen, you are in good hands but we are not out of the woods yet. Excuse me.”

Titus left them in the heat of discussion, they had too many questions he had none of the answers too. The greatest task was the restructuring of Epoch in the wake of the Uprising. With the royalty dead, and the official government in suspension, new lines would have to be drawn. Elections, decisions, and a mess of politics that would no doubt be a war of it’s own. Would they remain a constitutional monarchy? If so who would be the legitimate heir to the throne? Would they transition into a republic or democracy? What did the people want?

So many questions, so little time.

 

[Auteme]

quick let me hang out with Davron Feln (and maybe Arlo Renard come bother me when u want)​

"What's this?" Auteme looked up and down at the 'package' that waited outside the door to her residence.

One of the deliverymen coughed. "Er, it was- it arrived at the spaceport, unmarked, meant for the... previous Senator..."

She frowned. Properly clearing out Solipsis's residence was on her to-do list, but it seemed like the problem was coming to her now. Even so, this didn't seem especially challenging. Her eyes wandered, studying the delivery. She knew only a little bit about carbonite, but her experience with people coming out of stasis seemed that they adjusted remarkably well.

Maybe it was just Jedi Masters. Her experience wasn't all that varied.

Or, maybe, this was just someone who had been frozen recently, who Fossk wanted a discreet conversation with.

Only one way to find out.

"Thank you- ah, on your way out, could you ask some of the security to come in? Thanks," she said, nodding to them. As they parted, she took a step forward and hit the button on the side of the carbonite slab to begin the un-freezing process.

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai eventually found himself in a series of chambers: what he thought were the former Senator's apartments. The sound of approaching voices prompted him to dart into hiding underneath a desk. This was not an area where an aide should be lurking, presumably.

"What's this?"

One of the deliverymen coughed. "Er, it was- it arrived at the spaceport, unmarked, meant for the... previous Senator..."

"Thank you- ah, on your way out, could you ask some of the security to come in? Thanks."

Oh great. Kai peered over the edge of the desk, his eyes searching the room for a vent grate...

By the time security arrived, the Doppelganger was safely stowed away in the ventilation shaft, slithering toward the other room. Confident that he would not be seen, he peered between the cracks of the grate, the distinct sound of carbonite thawing drawing his curiosity...

Auteme Davron Feln​

 

[Davron Feln]

At first, Davron's release from his carbonite prison was uneventful. He thawed without a sound of his own, other than the thump of his body once it hit the floor.

Where it lay, motionless, for a second.

Two seconds.

Five.

Just when any onlookers might start to suspect that he was, in fact, just a body on the floor, he finally drew a shuddering breath, curling up and clawing at the floor. His eyes opened, but after so long frozen, they were useless for the moment; entirely sightless, however, he still had other senses. There were others in the room with him, and more beyond, but—

"N-no, Pokva, it's too soon—"

Except none of these others had the sense of familiarity that his friend had. No, they were just...others. And beyond the room, somewhere else nearby, he could still feel the presence of the Dark Side, just as it had been when he'd first been frozen.

"So, that's it, then? Found at last?"

His hand grasped onto something solid, and he barely managed to haul himself up into a sitting position. His muscles were still twitching and shaking all over, and that was without even considering the omnipresent ache and fatigue he felt. It would almost be easier to just curl up and sleep again—but not in this place. Not knowing what would be coming to him if he gave in. So, even if his voice and body felt like a weak, whispering shadow of their former selves, he knew he still had something he could call upon to defend himself, or at least ensure that the new emperor's clone troopers would kill him rather than capture him.

Davron reached out blindly with the Force, grasping onto the frame that held the block of carbonite he'd until recently been frozen solid within—

And with a weak grunt, launched it vaguely in the direction of Auteme and the security officers soon to arrive.

 

[Auteme]

Davron Feln Arlo Renard
​

Auteme caught the frame with the Force, then gently placed it back down to one side of the lobby. When the security officers arrived, she was kneeling next to the man, checking his vitals. Once she found a stable-enough pulse, she started to search for wounds or tension in his body.

"Yes, Senator?" one of the guards asked.

"Some water, a hot meal and a first aid kit. Two of you stay here." They paused a moment, but complied. "Grab a chair from the dining room."

One of the officers went inside, returning a minute or two later with a chair, which she pulled the man onto, trying to make him sit up straight. She then held up three fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

More importantly, "What's your name?"

 

[Davron Feln]

Oh. How unfortunate.

Davron had honestly been hoping that he wasn't stuck with another Force sensitive. "What, he send inquisitors after me?" he muttered as Auteme came up to check on him, breathing weakly. "Well, that's it, then, I suppose." He didn't protest or attempt to fight back as she went to check his vitals—he certainly didn't have any capability to do so, with his senses still muddled from being frozen in carbonite, his muscles refusing to follow the commands sent to them.

He was, in a word, helpless.

He was lifted up after a moment, put onto a chair—

—and promptly fell off of it again, though not without at least trying to grab on and keep himself upright.

"Rookie mistake," he grumbled, rolling over onto his back. At least he'd had enough control to keep his head from impacting the floor full-force. "You need one with arms, or at least you need to tie me down before letting go. How about I just prop up against the wall instead, yeah?"

This had to be the worst Imperial Torture Squad he'd ever heard of. So far, they were doing a better job of confusing him than anything else. He managed to scoot up against a wall before one of them could manhandle him again, pushing himself...as upright as he thought was upright. "You're holding up fingers?" he asked after a moment.

Truly a strange group.

"You can't honestly be serious. My name? Listen, I might be sitting here blind and unable to walk, but I can still sense that mess nearby. It is, frankly, overpowering. Can we just skip the psychological tactics and go straight to the vibroknives, brands, and nerve inductors? You know, get the insanity over with?"

Arlo Renard don't worry I didn't forget you

 

[Auteme]

Davron Feln | Arlo Renard
​

"Ope-" she tried to help him back into the chair after he fell out. His answer and mannerisms were- off, obviously, given he'd just been in carbonite a minute ago. Still, it was clear he was expecting someone else. If she had to guess, he'd been captured by Sith inquisitors just before the Empire's collapse, and someone had sent him to Fossk.

No -- there were enough holes in that story. It was best to just ask. Of course, she'd need to make sure he was going to answer.

"Okay, I'll start," she said. She spoke softly, trying to make sure there wasn't anything startling to throw off his senses even further. "My name's Auteme. I'm the Senator of Epoch, and a Jedi. I'll, ah, be clear here -- I have no intention of hurting you, nor does anyone here. Please refrain from making a snarky comeback to say I'm lying; very simply, I am not.

"I understand you're in a bad condition right now, and you definitely need food and rest. There's something to eat on the way, and I'll call in a better doctor to check up on you soon, but it doesn't look like you're injured, and it seems like you're recovering fine, so I'm not in a rush. I'm mostly curious about you and how you came to be delivered to my doorstep, though I assume you don't have much information on that.

"However, that can wait. If you want to rest, I can get you a room and bed, and we can talk when you're feeling better."

 

[Davron Feln]

"You're ly—"

Davron Feln | Arlo Renard
​

"Please refrain from making a snarky comeback to say I'm lying; very simply, I am not."

"Oh, dammit."

He felt whoever was talking to him put a hand and push him...further upright? He couldn't tell. "So. A Jedi, and a senator? What year is it, Nine-ninety-seven pre-resync? Did I get thrown back in time? Gonna introduce me to Supreme Chancellor Genarra?" He reached up with a shaking hand, brushing away a strand of damp, matted hair. "Hell. You aren't lying, are you? Or if you are, you're damned good at it."

Of course, just because he couldn't sense any deception didn't necessarily mean anything.

She did say she was a senator.

"So what happened, then? Jedi senator? 'Epoch?' You all set up some sort of republic-in-exile in the Unknown Regions?" The possibilities were enough to make his head spin, especially considering how he'd just been so rapidly unfrozen and all. Maybe that overpowering Dark Side stench somewhere nearby was an inquisitor they had captured? Or some sort of dark acolyte? It wasn't impossible, but setting up a rump state, even somewhere way out in the galactic west, couldn't be a good idea, and especially not holding onto one of the emperor's lackeys out there too.

Of course, he was still missing whoever it was that got him here, and that needed addressed soon. "Where's Pokva?" he asked weakly. He couldn't sense the Mon Calamari anywhere. "Pok Monn. I know he's a bounty hunter, but he was helping keep me out of Palpatine's grasp, trying to get me somewhere safe. If you've locked him up somewhere you really ought to bring him back out. He'll be able to help you piece together what's been going on the last few weeks than I will, trust me."

Except, wasn't this a bit much on the hibernation sickness front for just a couple weeks on ice? He shouldn't be struggling this hard to get up and about, but he could still feel his legs twitching. "I really hope you all decided to thaw me out as soon as I got here, and didn't just keep me in storage for another month or two while you figured out what was going on. That's a really poor way to treat another Jedi."

Auteme Arlo Renard

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai continued to watch and listen from the vent, by now quite invested in the conversation between carbonite man and Jedi senator woman.

Auteme Davron Feln​

 

[Auteme]

Davron Feln Arlo Renard
​

"Oh."

Auteme became very quiet, suddenly faced with the enormity of the situation. How could she explain to someone that eight hundred years had passed? No- it'd be closer to nine hundred, depending on when he got caught -- before Yavin, at least. The time wasn't even the worst part. Pok Monn? His friends, his family, his fellow Jedi? They were likely all gone, save a possible friend-in-carbonite or someone he knew of a particularly long-lived race.

She started to spiral, wondering how she could break any of this to him.

Luckily, one of the guards she'd sent out returned with two small containers of food and some water grabbed from the soup kitchen in the main hall. She thanked him and took it, starting with the water, since she suspected he'd have a hard time eating, and wasn't especially keen on feeding him herself.

"Drink," she said, guiding his head slightly as she put the bottle to his lips. She tried not to spill any, giving him only a little sip at a time.

"I'm afraid your friend isn't... around," she said, voice faltering. "But I understand what happened to you- ah, mostly. I think it'd be best if you got some rest before I... explain.

"I've got some food for you, I can get clean clothes- a bath would probably be good, and I can get you a bed if you want to sleep."

 

[Davron Feln]

Oooooooooooooooh I feel like a child

Of course, he couldn't exactly manage to bring the water to his lips himself without making a mess. Resignation took charge of his mind again, as he drank obediently, but he still listened closely.

"You're bothered."

As soon as she took the water from his lips the words came out, probably more bluntly than Auteme would expect. He didn't even need the Force to be sure that something had her shaken, however, it was clear enough in her voice, even if she was able to speak quite a bit more strongly than he could. "If you're a Jedi, you know as well as I do. Trust in the Force. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge." Even unable to see, or even to fully sit up on his own, Davron could still manage to summon some sense of strength in the moment.

"I've been on the run from the clones for months, I haven't even seen my room on Coruscant since before the betrayal, and I've watched multiple of the people I've trained and grown up with through the years get gunned down right in front of me. If you've got bad news, tell me now, don't make me wait. The uncertainty, never knowing what's going on, what's going to come or when—that just makes it worse. And I'd think I have a right to know something that relates to me directly, even if the council thinks I shouldn't."

If anybody on the council other than master Kenobi was still around.

Auteme Arlo Renard

 

[Auteme]

Davron Feln | Arlo Renard
​

"Okay, well, sounds like you have a lot of trauma to unpack there, and I have no intention of adding to that when you can't even stand up on your own." She pinched her nose. Part of here just wanted to make something up to put him at ease, at least for a moment. Politician she might be, but lying still made her stomach turn.

Sometimes.

She settled on a partial truth. "It's, ah- it's been a few years since you were frozen, I think. The Empire, the Emperor -- gone. You're safe. I'll tell you more soon. Just- I'm serious, you need to get some rest."

 

[Arlo Renard]

Clones? Betrayal? Friends gunned down over years? What, was this guy an old school Jedi who got frozen in... no way.

That's so cool!

And tragic. Very, very tragic. He couldn't blame Jedi lady for being reluctant to tell him, but the guy deserved to know. It was only a matter of time before the secret was out, and they were better off informing him now than letting him find out some other, less controlled way.

<I don't think it's fair for her to withhold information from you, traumatic or not,> Kai began, stretching out toward Davron. Auteme couldn't hear the message he relayed to the old Jedi alone. <You've been in carbonite for about eight hundred years. The Empire and the Emperor were defeated long ago—and there are new Jedi around.> Granted, there were new Sith threats as well, but silver linings. <I'm sorry for your loss. I wish you luck.>

Davron Feln Auteme​

 

[Davron Feln]

Davron was about ready to try and argue for more information when he heard a different voice in his head. That must have been from one of the other's he'd sensed nearby.

Of course, that didn't make the information any less of a surprise.

"Ah. Yes. A few years."

It would be clear to Auteme from his tone that he'd figured out something different. Davron slumped over, going from mostly upright against the wall to mostly horizontal. No doubt this modern galaxy had its fair share of problems, but at least there was some place that some sort of Jedi still had sway, and weren't being hunted down like animals.

Progress.

"Shame I can't read at the moment, I think I'll need some history books soon to catch up."

Auteme Arlo Renard

 

[Auteme]

Davron Feln | Arlo Renard
​

"Hm?"

Auteme looked at him. The change was obvious, the man didn't have the strength to lie. Her senses expanded out through her surroundings, but as far as she could tell, nothing had changed.

"Is something wrong?" Her voice lowered. "Is someone else here?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

Welp, looks like he’d been found out. Kai shimmied forward, raising the vent and peering out.

<Boo.>

Auteme Davron Feln

 

[Davron Feln]

"It appears—"

Davron's weak voice was interrupted by the telepathic response, which if he had to guess, wasn't in his mind only this time around.

"—to be the case," he finished. At some point in his slumping over he had managed to make it to a fully horizontal orientation, judging by the feeling of the floor against his side. "To think, asleep for most of a millennium, and I already feel so tired. How strange." He might have pushed himself back upright, if he could find the energy to do so.

He couldn't.

"How long did you say it's been, again? Eight hundred? Shame it wasn't a full millennium, I'd well and truly have beaten Fay and Yoda by that point."

Arlo Renard Auteme