Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Public Sun Veins (Open to friend, foe, and everything in between)

There are only a few things in the galaxy that make it worth living in. Hope was one of them. Art was another. But there was one that stood above them, a beacon of value that pulsed across the stars and tied blood and stranger together. Family. Family both found, and inherited.

For Aleksandr - and by extension - the crew of the violet venture, it was the former. They were all strangers to each other's bloodline. Aleks was an orphan, and the family he did have were nobles that wouldn’t recognize the sight of him. Cale Gunderson Cale Gunderson had his brother, wherever he was, but the man's whereabouts were unknown. And Ronan Calore Ronan Calore , his tale was an odd one, with the mixing of Imperial and Mandalorian tradition that forced him to toe the line of two great progenitors.

They had found their family in each other. Over the years the crew had bonded, grown great unbreakable ties between each other. Ties that held stronger than many forged by marriage and shared heritage. They were each other's brothers. To Aleks, Cale was the father he’d been cheated out of, even if it was hard to admit aloud. And Ronan was his other less strict father that let him shake loose every once in a while.

The three of them were family. But for years, there was a rift between them. Perhaps better described as a hole that yearned to be filled. Their lost sibling. Hector Vale Hector Vale . They’d let him walk away some years ago. He’d had his gripes, and his urge to see the world in his own way. Wounds from his past that he couldn’t forgive Cale for, even if Cale hadn’t inflicted them. At least not directly. For years Aleks had ruminated on it. How he’d let his brother go. How he should have begged, or even fought to make him stay. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. And so…

The hole.

After all this time, the three of them sought to fill it. They were traveling through the stars once more, in search of their lost companion. And this was their first stop, the Glavis Ringworld. It was a space station that encircled a nearby star. They’d come here seeking provisions, and clues as to their friend’s status. Aleks had asked around, made inquiries in the darker parts of the ringworld. He came up a fair few credits poorer, and with no leads to show for it.

Eventually he retired from his search for the day, and met with his companions in a saloon located on the space station. Its official name was the Six Sterling Saloon, but he’d heard locals call it the Triple S, so that was what he settled on.

He slid into a bar seat next to Cale, and motioned for the bartender to give him service. The barkeep was a grumpy looking human with a thick black beard and a shiny bald head. His form of greeting was a cocked eyebrow.

“I’ll have what the old man’s having.” Aleksandr said, pointing to Cale’s half full cup of liquor. He didn’t know what he was drinking, but it didn’t matter much to him. He just hoped his master would let it slide, with him being a knight now.

The barkeep shook his head softly.

“How about some blue milk? Or a juice box, eh little guy?” The barkeep offered with a chuckle.

Aleks glared at him. Then at Cale.

“I am a grown man, okay? And I have the credits to pay, so let’s hurry this little joke up.” Aleks said with a scoff, placing a few Alliance credits over the counter. The barkeep scooped one up, then bit it as if to assess its validity.

“If the money spends…” The barkeep muttered to himself, grabbing a glass for Aleks and filling it with liquor. He cut it with apple juice, which made the both of them laugh, then before he handed it to him, “On second thought, I wanna see some ID.”

Aleks’ jaw dropped in astonishment. “I am a Jedi! It's our whole thing that we don’t lie.” He exclaimed.

The barkeep eyed him warily. “Yeah, yeah. I've seen one too many fellows with a lightsaber claim to be an upstanding citizen. They run out on their tab all the same.”

Aleksandr relented, projecting his Galactic Alliance information card. He didn’t know what the bartender was exactly looking for, but in the end it was enough for him. He slid the drink across the counter and took Aleks’ credits in return. When the bartender disappeared through the door behind him, Aleks turned to speak to Cale.

“What’s a man gotta do to get a drink around here?” He asked rhetorically. “Seriously though, I asked around all day today and got nothing. I’m hoping you or Ronan have better news, otherwise Glavis is looking like a bust.”
 
Cale had a good laugh thanks to the barkeep, and he gave the man a nice tip for the show. A wordless, but tangible thanks, a small laugh between fathers. The man hadn't need to say it, sometimes one could just tell. The reprieve was a bright spot amongst a rather bleak day of pointless searching. Vale was a strange case, Cale hadn't been glad to see him go, but he'd not fought it either. Maybe it was the way the boy had looked at him, disgusted, betrayed, it'd just been a reminder that at the time he didn't have the strength to face nor the empathy to try and help Vale understand.

But now, he knew he should've. Vale was a Jedi, though one raised in some isolated sect, and that made Cale have a duty to assist him. But more than that, he'd been a frightened teen with no clue of his place in the galaxy, entirely alone bar the small family that was the Violet Venture's crew, and Cale had let him walk away from that.

He took a long, contemplative drink, then looked over to Aleks and gave a shake of his head.

"Looking like a bust." He affirmed, there was no need to say more, Aleks would know that meant Cale had come up as empty-handed as he had. The ringworld was impressive, mesmerizing even, but after so many years it was just another dead end in another endless search. Story of my life, he thought bitterly, though he regretted it instantly. It hadn't been all bad, after all, the kid was proof of that, wasn't he? A Jedi Knight now, his mettle tested, and found to be far more than sufficient.

By the force, he was proud, but he didn't betray that even for an instant.


"You gotta work on your pitch, not every barkeep will cave so easy." He laughed softly, waiting for Ronan Calore Ronan Calore to chip in with some smug remark.
 

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