Tai-Soei

[Matsu Ike]

Research Notes: The Imperial City is somehow a mixture of Atrisian and Go Nagai aesthetics. Combining the tunnels and stone work of the tricloptic creatures with the commerce and ingenuity of humans. A welcome pairing as from exploring the city with its large sections and distracts able to hold armies for defense while breaking fires. I can say they have built the new city upon the ruins of something far older. Investigations into it are providing results.

The fluttering of the As-Aki around her was still an amazing site as the jedi was walking through the gardens of the Akhibara district. The streets divided into three with pathways between them and room to prevent fires as the levels were stacks leading up to the large walls that divided this from the area leading towards the central palace and tower. The different species of of the world were hers to work with as she stopped at one of the shrines. The Silver Jedi's main temple on the planet was in the mountains and away from the city.

She wasn't to sure about a few things but she did know how to have some fun. The Silent Sisters here on the world were the keepers of the faith as it were for the ruling family and the noble houses but served a purpose as they also kept the Dragon King's Palace secured with its massive Stardragon. Her crew were standing at the ship in the distance and working on think while she was working on her equipment for the investigations into the tunnels below. She had put a word out for others within the order who could come and join her.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

A cloaked figure would make an appearance behind Ike, with brown robes covering their body, a hood covering their head and the top half of their face, with only a pair of masculine lips visible. But though it was very much different from what Matsu had once known, at its core, it was a very familiar presence to her... And as they stopped behind her, the figure would remove their hood as long blonde hair dropped from the front and back of the head that was exposed, brimming brown eyes stared at Matsu with a small smile crossing their lips.

There were many members of the Silver Jedi that could have answered Matsu's call. Or perhaps, there wasn't. But regardless of that, it was very unlikely that Matsu would have expected the appearance of a young man who she hadn't seen in quite some time. Her former Padawan, Joshua DragonsFlame. But.. Even then, something was different. He had been gone a long time, he had experienced much pain in his life, and the falling out with the Republic's Jedi Order was the breaking point. He had become a broken man, tortured by all that had befallen him, attachments crawled in his skin and brought fears that were taken advantage of. His innocence, his naive nature, had been destroyed by those that had decided to take advantage of it. He had disappeared... He had cut contact, and disappeared into a self imposed exile. It was there that he had trained, he had learned, he had operated from the shadows. He cut off what had plagued him, let everything go... And in doing that, he had become a new man. Everything from his mannerisms, to his appearance, to his aura had changed. He had the look of an older, wisened up Jedi Master, yet still had the visage, the appearance of a fresh faced young man that was still in his early 20s.

A pity, that he had to grow up so fast.

"Master Ike" The Jedi Master would greet with a respectful bow. He was unaware that Matsu had been demoted to Jedi Knight to some reason or other. Technically, that made him her superior. Of course, he didn't know this, and treated Matsu with the same respect as he would his former Master... And would have even if he knew. Titles meant nothing to him now.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

Matsu remained stiff somewhat, her body not betraying the appearance of Joshua as her senses and hair under the clothing prickled. Her face remaining careful and blank while she turned on her heel and raised an eyebrow delicately. Carefully Matsu spoke not letting her voice come out. "Joshua." She said it finally offering a smile on her face as she backed away just for a moment making herself seem petite despite usually looking high up on things. She was small but let the force come as a presence to make herself seem larger. The smile on her face going back to a closed expression but she had softened her features for the moment before speaking more. "It is quite a sight to see you, so much has happened and yet not many have chosen to change with times."

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The blonde haired Jedi Master would smile faintly in response to the words of his old Master. It was here he realized the... Rather considerable height difference between them. Wow. Was she always that short? The 6'2 Jedi Master had only grown since their time apart, both in mind and in body. But that didn't matter right now, it seemed that they had work to do.

"Not everyone likes change. I don't like change. Sure, I do change at times, that's how we survive. But to change when its not necessary... Well, no point when things are great as they are, right?" He would half-joke with a jolly chuckle. "But we have work to do, no? I didn't come for a pleasure visit, as good as it is to see you Master Ike. I was informed by the Silvers that you needed a hand. I'm here to accept the offer" He spoke, a small smirk crossing his lips.

"We can head out whenever you are ready, Master Ike"

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

She was looking at him and his mention of change held some points. Not many liked change, many enjoyed the past and how things were. She though knew it was always inevitable compared to many things as she was moving now. Heading out to search and plan had Matsu with her gear. She touched the chopsticks she had with her fans and the parasol. Here on a world where the Atrisians had found a home it fit in more with the districts and construction. She motioned with her head speaking and started moving while opening it to put over her shoulder. "Come on then, the help needed is for the districts of the city. Since the attack the great houses have been rebuilding but... well there are not many families that get that rich without doing something illegal."

She was thinking about it and knew there were some of the criminal elements who were going to try and get a foothold. What better way then choosing the groups that would always be needed. Construction and importing, getting into the businesses that would build the heart of the planet. Or as she had seen collecting the garbage, they were smart and she could admit at times seemed to have figured out some of the smartest ways to always be needed. She had helped some clear them out of the docks and heard they were ale to move back in. There was always more people ready to work for the families. "There is a great deal of danger possibly but we have been noticing the dangerous elements getting their hooks into the city from the ground up."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

(Huh, thought I did this post awhile back)

It was true, change was not something, not a concept that many people liked to fathom. Some change could be welcomed. Others... Not so much. Especially not in this galaxy. Josh was not a big fan of change, but at times... It was a necessity. Thus, was the cycle of life. Of this world. Of this galaxy. The Jedi Master would nod when she spoke, motioning for him to follow and get on with it. There were people to help, people to assist with recovering from this attack of sorts, he supposed. Whatever he was to do.

"I understand" Josh responded as he walked alongside Matsu. "What do you suppose our next move is then?" He would ask.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Where to start indeed, Matsu was working to think about it when the district was there. She wasn't going to touch the pleasure district after hearing rumors about him on zeltros with the chancellor and vulpesen... It was a matter of amusement to her while she was walking and off in the distance she could see the white tower. It was larger then she usually gave it credit but below it was the weeping stone and that was a source of history more then power, much like all cultures while she was watching some of the flying Del-ya's roaming around the city. She was leading the way down into the districts while the jedi touched her hand onto the ancient stone tunnels. Letting energy dance off her skin before she was reaching through the tunnels with the force echoing. Matsu laughed forming a smile while the crystals in the walls were glowing. "They are rather funny." SHe could hear the saber crystals in the walls and was going towards the central under area of the city. A special marketplace where her and Josh could find information on things. She liked finding things in the dirt and rubble of planets. "Who knows what we might find a map to."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

A question, indeed. Where did they start? He wondered if Master Ike had thought this through. At times, he had questioned her methods. Especially the methods that had gotten her demoted. But he hoped, at least, that she knew what she was doing. She was his Master, after all. He had confidence in her, even if it was frizzled a bit by her actions since he had left her tutelage and became a Jedi Master himself. For despite her demoted rank, she was still his equal in his eyes, perhaps even more then that. He respected Matsu as his former Master, despite everything.

Zeltros... Ah, if only she had known that the former Grandmaster had been pretty much the only one in the party to go unscathed. Who knew that training yourself to counter one of the known weapons of Sith Lord Circe Savan could suddenly prove extremely useful when taking a simple trip to Zeltros? Unfortunately, this had the drawback of him having to be the one to try and help clean up the messes that had been made by the others.

Funny? Funny she had said as she touched the glowing stones. The Jedi Master tilted his head but didn't question it. The crystals... It was almost as if they were singing. He could sense the energy within them... Were they lightsaber crystals, perhaps? Or something more...

He saw they were heading toward some sort of market and nodded to her words. It was a good place to start, after all.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Matsu was walking with her hands behind her back as she was moving with her hands clasped. The marketplace down here was different from the one above the planet as she was walking through the stalls the merchants were showing. Less food or clothing and more they were offering trinkets that Matsu stopped to pick up. A small holoprojector that could show a map to different worlds and she was activating her own holos. Showing the areas of sith space that they had to explore. In this case she was checking the guilds maps with her own and smirking to herself as she pulled back giving some credits and speaking. "You are being awfully quiet." Her interest was raised while continuing on towards some of the larger open area that was showing some of the specialties of the world.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Jedi Master had allowed himself to immerse himself within his surroundings. The planet was new to him. So many new sights, senses and sounds... It was astounding. Like finding a new flower in a field of grey and black ones. Like this new flower was a new color that he had never seen before. A color that he couldn't describe, couldn't fathom, couldn't explain. It was a new smell, heavenly but elegant if elegant could be a smell. Like passionate fires tinted with the drips of rain.

His eyes were closed, but the young man walked beside Matsu without missing a beat, letting the Force and his senses be his guide. He could walk the galaxy blind if he wished, and still find his way. But considering the life he had lived for so long... Had he figuratively walked blind his entire life already? Leaving the Order was something that opened his eyes to the galaxy around him. Like the tinted glasses had been taken off his eyes finally, and he was able to see the galaxy for what it really was. Blind loyalty was just as bad as being literally devoid of sight, no?

Stalls, operated by merchants hoping to hawk their wares for credits and other trade. The items were far less then off-planet, and it made the young man wonder of the workings of this planet's economy. Finally, Master Ike would question his silence, and he opened his eyes, letting them be his guiding light instead of his senses for now. "Hm?" He would inquire toward the Master with a curious glint in his eye. "I'm simply... Taking everything in" The Jedi Master would admit softly. "Have you ever considered how many things in the galaxy we haven't seen? How much is still unknown to us?" The young man would ask her curiously. "The saying is true. We are Masters in name, but we still have much to learn"

"But enough about that. Do you have a good idea about what our next goal should be, and where we should pursue it?" The blonde haired man would ask, his brimming brown eyes staring into those of his former instructor with the curious expression of a fresh Padawan in her care all over again, but with that hardened tint that spoke of his years.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Matsu looked at him and held a look on her face. "Ah so focused, come now don't you have a sense of adventure. Jus going where the force takes you. It can be an amazing thing to see and you never know what you are going to learn." Her grin was on her face while she was moving with purpose. The central area below the city and showing the bottom of the royal palace had it. The massive weeping stone that held names on its surface while above there was sights and sounds. "In ancient times the royal family used to select the ruler by who could lift the hammer that was embredded in the stone here, since the attack it has been removed but still a fun prospect. They have a speeder ready to head towards one of the recently uncovered temples in the swamps."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The young man's lips twitched into a smile. He supposed he'd been a little too quiet for Matsu's, or even his own tastes on this trip. He would shrug, casually. He supposed he could lighten up, just a bit. "My sense of adventure doesn't usually come around when serious business is to be conducted, but if you wish, Master Ike, I can lighten up. Just a little" He would tease with a cheeky grin crossing his face.

He listened to her story as they walked, and he had to admit, he was a little bit disappointed that the hammer had been removed. "I'd have bet you five credits I could have lifted that hammer if it were still there" The Jedi Master would joke with a chuckle. It seemed he had lightened up indeed, just relaxing, letting his sense of adventure take over, letting the Force take him where it willed it.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Matsu was looking at him as she raised an eyebrow and smirked. "And gotten possessed by the taung spirit inside... I don't know if that one would have liked it." She was moving now and leading the way with the map for their adventure. Stopping several more times for supplies and one thing or another as some fo their crew joined her leading the way into the ship. The one brought a chain that could hold her one prize and the twin sirens were standign there while they moved off towards the ship. The E'ron class getting filled with more supplies while she spoke. "It is not often I really get to find something enjoyable or useful. I have been searching across the galaxy and building up my data to combine and check... One trip led me to a place the jedi could never imagine." She entered the ship and held her hand while one of the dov landed on her hand. "Though now that I have seen the heart of the force, walked through the netherworld of the force and seen the city of dreams.... even stood holding the universes heart.... I am wondering what else there is to find."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Taung spirit, eh?" The Jedi Master would respond with a raised eyebrow. He had been joking around, of course, but there always seemed to be something off about these sort of stories no matter how you spun it. "Ah, ha ha - There's always a catch, is there not, Master Ike?" Joshua would ask her, shooting Matsu a grin with a chuckle following it. When he wasn't being overly serious, he was quite laid back, and a joker as well. Matsu hadn't really gotten to see a whole lot of the joking side of Master DragonsFlame during his short time as her Padawan. Now, it was here in full force. "No wonder they removed it. The blunt object and its girth itself were never the problem, was it? It was the spirit inside. No wonder it was removed" He would add firmly with a smirk.

He listened to her talk of going to places no Jedi could imagine. The heart of the force, a city of dreams, holding the universes heart. Even Josh, who had seen many crazy things, had a hard time believing Matsu Ike on that account.

"When you say a place that a Jedi could never imagine... You don't mean inside the plant thing, do you?" He would jokingly ask. "I'd hope not, no Jedi could ever imagine it, nor do they want to" He added. "Though in all seriousness, your stories are hard to believe, Master Ike. Would you care to indulge me on the details?" He would inquire. He was willing to give this craziness a chance, he owed her that much.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Matsu was looking at him as she raised an eyebrow and spoke. "I lost my connection to the force. Kiskla Grayson severed me and wished me to be a drooling mess." Her smile widened as she continued speaking but was moving. "Problem was though she is a petulant child who doesn't know how to do things. In her case she used force light to sever the force energy of a master of the lightside of the force. I had no darkside for her to sever my connection to the force. It was foolish and as I laid there I was visited by someone stronger then her, stronger then I was even and they made me an offer."

She kept turning for now and moving to the screens as she activated it showing the planets. "Come to the center of the galaxy and learn to feel the force again. So I went and I learned, I learned how to preserve my life after death, I learned how to call the force from the very galaxy itself and channel it and I learned how to shift it." She held her hand for a moment while ripples formed before letting a gem fall, purple and glowing with warmth. "And they showed me a vision where one could go to find the heart of the universe. A gem that was powerful and created with the connection to the heart of the force."

She held it and then shifted the air to send it back while she was standing there. "I learned how to feel the force stronger then before and bask in the lightside. It is arrogant to say but the truth of the situation. Only one who has traveled and felt the pulse of the galaxy in the birthplace of the force, to stand before beings who can pierce the veil between this world and the netherworld of the force. When the rifts of the neverworld opened I was able to work with the to return."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

".... You lost your connection to the Force?"

That was a new one. Of course, Joshua knew what force severing was, but he'd never met someone who'd actually had the force taken from them. He instantly looked over at Matsu when she mentioned that it was Kiskla who had done so. He had heard many a story about Kiskla Grayson since he had left the Jedi Order. Many called her the "Jedi Dictator" who disbanded the council so she could run the Order alone the way that she damn well pleased with an iron fist. He had even been informed that she had attempted to hunt him down from his associates in the Liberty Conclave.

Ah, how far they had fallen.

He listened then, as Matsu told her story. So she had her force connection still then? The rest, he didn't understand. Perhaps he would in time, but perhaps Matsu also had simply dealt with a lot of trauma and wasn't thinking right anymore. Regardless, they had a mission to do.

"Alright, how close are we to where we need to be?" He would ask Matsu, changing the subject.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Matsu looked at him and shook her head a little in both a yes and a no as she spoke. "Yeah I did, was fun and we'll be there soon. Have your patience and focus your mind." She moved and looked at the screen while speaking. "We are going to Karra and it isn't the easiest place to go to." Her hands were moving over a few things while she was thinking about the world and going over the things that were on the planet and what had happened. She was looking for the boxes that were like the cube she had found. Longer ago now that she was thinking about it but the alien's who had created it their world was unknown. She wanted to try and use these boxes for the ship she had planned while moving forward with her senses in the force reaching out to sense all that she could.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Matsu's craziness aside, it seemed that they would be arriving soon. The Jedi Master would nod, relaxing himself, closing his eyes... Allowing his mind to calm, loosen up, regulate his breathing. He finally opened his eyes before looking over at the screen that his former Master had her eyes on. "How exactly is it difficult to get to?" The young man would inquire toward Matsu with a curious glint in his eyes. He doubted anything would be easy, especially on this mission. But specifics would be nice.

Josh wasn't sure what was going on, on the planet, to be quite honest. How could he? He was given rather little information on the mission, and he didn't think he'd been here before.

He supposed he'd find out. In time.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

"Have you ever bee to the well?" Matsu was there and turned to be in the cockpit of the ship. To show it as they were coming out of hyperspace the the sight of the different suns rotating with each others. The well was a place in and above the galactic plane while she was scanning the planets within it. "You can't jump through it and going around it is dangerous without having been scouted before. Now buckle in Josh... This is where the fun begins." The ship was built for this and she was looking sections of it over while moving forward, through the path. She had the map but also had the force to guide her safely.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"To the well?" The Jedi Master would inquire. He had gotten so caught up in everything that he hadn't even realized they were on a ship! The young man would take a breath, and take a moment to re-regulate himself and his footing, keeping his balance and relaxing before looking back over at Matsu. "Fair enough. Hopefully the seats don't fly out of the ship and into the sun" Joshua would joke as he would strap himself in.

He had no unholy clue what was going on, but they'd find out sooner or later.

[member="Matsu Ike"]