Faction Sound of a Reckoning || High Republic Underground

[Kelan Dhal]

NABOO: REFUGEE GATHERING
OBJECTIVE: TO ARMS AGINST TYRANNY!
TAGS: OPEN
THEME: GOOD INTENTIONS, ANGRY PEOPLE

People were angry. They had a right to be.

Thousands were fleeing the core, fleeing the GALACTIC EMPIRE and the oppression that came with it. They fled from the SITH EMPIRE that used its BLACKWALL to ensure uncounted beings served the diabolical schemes of uncaring Dark Lords. They fled the IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION, little better than their cousins in the Core, who also seek to impose their tyranny on the galaxy. They flee from BLACK SUN, slavers and gangsters who would spend lives more easily than credits.

They are old. They are young. They are weak.

But together, they can be strong.

While the HIGH REPUBLIC prepares its next move against the tide of darkness, good people are coming together to aid their new protectors in any way they can, but for the time being, they are focused on one thing and one thing alone.

Getting those they love to safety. Protecting those who need it most.

Rumors swirled among the arriving refugees of THE UNDERGROUND, a network designed at first as a resistance group set up by the Jedi that now expands into simple folk who want to do what they can to help out.

While it wasn’t meant to be an official meeting, a small gathering of a few had ballooned into a massive group that is offering to do what they can to help out. From providing previously known safe havens to asking about individuals under threat from oncoming oppressors. All this fire could blow over and get a lot of good people killed if not managed properly.

In the middle of it all was a Jedi Knight who, by account of the lightsaber hanging from his hip, was looked to as a spokesman for all these good people.

Kelan Dhal was not a leader.

Too bad he doesn’t get a choice.

But he could certainly use a bit of backup.

"I have 500 credits saved up, you can have them!"

"My Uncle lives on Correllia. I need to get him out!"

"We need to kill every Imp we can find-"

"ENOUGH! People, one at a time!" ​

Kelan's voice carried with it energy he had not had in the past few days, but after a nice, long chat with a new friend, Kael Varnok , he had been convinced to stick around for at least a few more days to sort out the refugees arriving from the Core. Little did he know he had just signed up as the resident spokesman for the thousands of people who had come to the High Republic in search of a safe haven. Now that they had a roof over their heads and weren't in immediate danger, many had turned away from fear and instead focused their energy on what had been left behind. In some cases, there were good people who wanted nothing more than a charged blaster and passage back to the Core to blast as many Stormtroopers as they could, a proposal the Jedi Exile was trying his best to keep from sweeping the gathered crowd.

From his place standing atop a metal table that now acted as a sort of stage, he observed the crowd that gathered and looked to him for some sort of guidance.

Why did they assume all Jedi were wise leaders? Kelan was doing his best not to collapse from stress, let alone handle all these people!
​

"I know all of you are frustrated and tired and scared, but we need to slow down and take a breath! We aren't gonna bring down the Empire tomorrow, but we can focus on helping each other in the meantime!"

Though not exactly satisfied, the crowd's shouting turned into quiet murmuring instead. Aid workers from the High Republic were bouncing around trying to tend to beings who had been wounded or were in need of a warm meal, but many more were trying to help the newly arrived Jedi keep people calm.

"Some of you need to rest, to tend to your families, there will be a time to fight the good fight-"

"What if we have NOTHING left? What if the Empire took everything from us?"

This was going to be a long day.
​

 

[Auteme]

A supremely underrated aspect of Naboo was the number of available tea ingredients. The local flora, from millaflowers to hsuberries to reknew leaves to tlickweed buds to crushed xharnoh, made for excellent additions to her already prodigious collection of ingredients. Collecting them all was something to pass the time before she was to meet her son, or at least it had begun that way -- the why became clear when she arrived in the camp where so many fleeing the Core had gathered.

The feeling was tense. There was an excited energy, all balled up like a fist, ready to strike and yet still without direction. Towards the center was a mass of yelling and semi-chaos; she didn't know these people yet, and wasn't about to put herself at the center.

So she stayed at the outskirts. An old tradition she'd picked up on in her travels in her youth: tea monks, doubly a traveling tea service and an ear to listen and a shoulder to lend. A short minute of weaving produced two chairs, a table, and a larger mat with some pillows for sitting; then came her blends, some local, some from the galaxy's edge. Then she waited.

The first was an older man, gray beard long and wild, drawn by the open seat and the promise of someone to talk to. "This is my first time away from Coruscant," he said. "Lived there my whole life. Even through those attacks- all of em, every empire and brotherhood and whatnot, and I stuck around, but this time..." a shrug, "I don't know. I've got the key to my apartment, but- I'm afraid I'll never need it again. I usually just stayed inside, but..."

Auteme nodded. "Did this time feel different?"

"No, no. I don't think so. But now I'm here, and- everything's so... out of place. I miss the levels. The tallest buildings here are only a couple hundred meters."

She smiled. "Mm, it's not the galaxy's capital for nothing. I miss it too. But, ah, like you said -- I don't think this time'll be different. I think we'll be back in no time, so keep that key on you. For now..." she sorted through her containers, "here it is. From Taris. Actually a kelp mix, strangely enough, but it's got what you need. Strange kick between what is here, natural, and what is Coruscant."

She poured from the kettle into a mug. "Let it steep five minutes. Take your time with it."

The man took the mug in both hands, stared at it for a moment, glanced at her, at the mat. "Should I...?"

"Sit wherever you'd like," she nodded over at the mat. He stood, wandered over to a more inviting, firmer pillow that was a little easier on his knees to get to. Soon enough others joined him -- a middle-aged Rodian fearing for her family's safety stuck in Imperial space, an expecting couple worried about the change in plans for their child, a few children who just wanted to sit and have some tea just because. She was a patient listener, an easy server of herbs and blends for whatever was required. In time, her and her service were a isle of calm in a sea of stresses.

Kelan Dhal ​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Kelan Dhal

Thousands of eyes pressed against Kelan, weighing him down harder than any Sith's blade or soldier's blaster ever had. He could feel the desperation in the air, thick as smoke, curling around him until every breath burned with the grief and anger of the refugees. The Jedi Knight had just arrived from his homestead via speeder, as the call went out to the Jedi of the Order.

They wanted answers. They wanted hope. And, Force help him, Aiden would try to give them both, but he couldn't. Not to all of them, there were far too many. Shiraya's Hope had arrived with him, to help ease the crowd. They brought with them what food and supplies that he could spare from the homestead, to pass out and give to those around them. "These are not combatants, they are civilians and citizens. Under no circumstances are they to treated as hostiles, is that understood?" The Jedi Knight issuing orders toward his retinue as they responded with a quick salute. The had never let him down before, and they were not going to start now.

He reached into the current of the Force. It wasn't calm, it roiled, restless, mirroring the emotions before him. But within it, there were threads of light, fragile and persistent, connecting each of them. Parents holding their children closer. Old soldiers clutching the last fragments of their dignity. Young ones staring at him as if he were a pillar in the storm.

He lifted his chin. "Please, listen, we don't have all the answers," he admitted, his voice carrying in the half-quiet. "But I do know this: you are not alone anymore. You've come to a place where others will stand beside you. Where every hand willing to help, every voice raised in care, every breath spared for another, these are the things that will keep us alive. That will keep the darkness at bay."

A ripple moved through the crowd, softening the sharp edges of their anger, from where Aiden was.

Aiden drew a breath and let his eyes sweep across them, forcing himself not to falter. "The Empire will come. The Sith will come. Black Sun, they all will reach for you again. And when they do…" He touched the hilt at his hip, not to brandish, but to remind. "…we will be ready. But for now, our battle is here. Feeding the hungry. Healing the wounded. Giving children a night where they can sleep without fear. If we can do that, even for one day, then we've struck a blow against everything they stand for."

Aiden let the silence stretch, then added, almost to himself: And when that day comes, it won't just be him, it will be the whole might of the High Republic.

The murmurs rose again, no longer as wild, more like the low rumble of distant thunder. Aiden stepped back, he was on the outer edges of the crowd, just a portion, but he hoped he eased some of their fears.

But for now, supplies and food were to be issued out, places where they can sleep without worry, if only for a few nights.

 

[Dominique Vexx]

Alias: Mastema
Outfit: Black Leather Cropped Jacket​

A sharp click of the tongue followed the rabble rousing. Arms crossed over her chest, the tattooed woman stood by as the Jedi sought to 'handle' the situation. Even from behind the opaque glasses with her chin lifted and with a twist to her lips, it wouldn't be hard to guess how she viewed the scene laid out before her.

Everything was showmanship in the end unless you genuinely held unstoppable power. The only reason people bought her guise was because of the pomp and circumstance. Clothing. Behavior. Even the way she spoke, and what priorities seemed to hold her interest. How else did you distinguish one person from another?

"Nice speeches," the Denonite snorted after Kelan and Aiden spoke. She stepped forward a second later, right foot propped up on a box. Her right hand planted atop her knee, she leaned toward the crowd demanding answers. "If you have nothing?" she sneered. "You have your lives. You have today, and tomorrow, and the day after. What will you do? Where will you go? Luxuries! There is food and shelter here for you to worry about such things. You think there aren't plans? They'll find a place for you to go. There will be ways to make credits. Maybe not ways you like at first, but you'll have a chance to rebuild the lifestyle you lost."

She straightened up to hold both hands out to either side. "What other choice do you have? Go back? To the place where they almost certainly want you dead, or enslaved, or imprisoned? Stay. Rebuild. There are millions that wish they were so lucky. And if any of you want to help get them here so they get that same chance... We need you now. Even if all you can offer is the name of someone out there that can help."

Mastema shoved against the box to step back from the spotlight. Her glareshades turned to the Jedi. "You can give them hope. I'll give them truth." A brief pause and then she broke into a grin. "After all, I'm not here for my personality." And just as quickly the grin vanished. "Right now the supply lines are fragile. You do have support in the Senate, right?"

Kelan Dhal | Aiden Porte | Auteme | OPEN​

 

[Kelan Dhal]

NABOO: REFUGEE GATHERING
OBJECTIVE: OKAY, CALM DOWN PLEASE!
TAGS: Auteme Aiden Porte Dominique Vexx
THEME: GOOD INTENTIONS, ANGRY PEOPLE

Somehow, the crowd began to settle.

Kelan was not going to take credit for that.

Thank the force.
​

New arrivals had begun to make a difference, aidworkers from the High Republic who tended to those most in need and even a few Jedi who's presnce in the force calmed and terriefed Kelan, but he was more than thankful that some people actually knew what they were doing coming in instead of the dirty, unkempt Jedi exile who had been thrust into the spotlight. Still, the help he got ranged from the hope-filled promises of a Jedi who carried himself with the authority befitting his rank of a true Knight to the speech of a woman who seemed to focus a bit too much on the possibility of finding new wealth in Republic space.

Still, they had spoken up and offered at least the possibility of something better than a civilian mob charging headfirst into Imperial space to be slaughtered. While there would always be hardliners who would plot behind the scenes, the vast majority of the crowd began to calm as the three figures offered fresh hope, and the aid from Shiraya's Hope had been a great help as well.

But they weren't quite done yet. Kelan stepped down from the makeshift platform to meet with the Jedi and the (as he would learn soon) Senator. She had asked a rather important question, one Kelan could not help but grumble in response to.

"If the Senate supported any of this, I doubt I would be here!"

It was clear Kelan had grown frustrated with the lack of rest, with the sudden mass of people looking to him for support, and with his own failures in the Core. But he was quick to recognize his own tone, bowing his head slightly to take in a breath.

"I apologize, people are scared and aren't exactly looking to hear that they need the Senate to help them. They had already failed by one Senate, and their trust is hard to earn back."

The three had gathered into a small circle, their tones hushed compared to the speeches they had just given only moments before. While Kelan did believe in what he said, he wasn't looking to give people false hope, especially if the Empire turned its gaze toward the High Republic instead of continuing to press the Galactic Alliance.

"Kelan Dhal. Thank you both for stepping in. They aren't happy to hear there isn't anything they can do right now, but I think at least they know that the Empire isn't something they can take on alone. I do not speak for the Jedi Council in Republic space, so I truly don't have much in the way of support. In fact, I'm about as new here as these people."

At least that was out in the open now. He did not deny his Jedi title, at least not openly, but he was honest about the fact that he did not have any support from anyone, be it in the government or from the Jedi Order.

"I know the supply lines are strained, but these people aren't the last to flee to Naboo or the rest of Republic space. There are countless more either stuck in Imperial territory or on border worlds that the Empire is keen on taking. Is there anything the Republic can do to at least try and get them out?"