Private Temba’s Soupworks [Location Thread]

[Romi Jade]

TEMBA'S SOUPWORKS
(Underground)
Olega City, Olega​

The hum of the old conduit filled the narrow chamber, a low vibration in the duracrete floor as Romi crouched over the junction box. Sparks jumped when she pressed the leads together, but the relay seemed to hold... the current was flowing somewhat steady from the buried line she'd spliced all the way back to the ruins of Olega's Jedi Temple. Sweat beaded her brow, hair pulled back beneath a band of cloth darkened with grease.

She'd spent some time with Henna Ashina and the Lightsworn, offering whatever help she could for the fight ahead...but in typical fashion she set out on her own side quest. What she saw on Balowa...she couldn't get out of her head, she needed to know. She was sure the others were looking, without a doubt, but she carved out time for her own research.

A flex of the hydrospanner, a final twist, and the strip lights she'd bolted to the unfinished walls flickered to life; they struggled to get there. The hidden room smelled of scorched wiring and damp stone, but it was hers now. This whole hub, her refuge. Buying an old noodle shop had never crossed her mind, but in her state, the grounds were suitable enough, and quiet. For now.

She knew eventually, with enough love and grease, this place could be cover, income, and access to rumors...and especially the place where she builds one of her greatest works thus far.

She exhaled, sliding back onto the mat she'd been using as her workbench, eyes on the half-assembled lattice of amplifiers and crystal mounts that dominated the center of the chamber. It was still really crude, but she could feel it already -- the faintest pull.

Then the conduits light shut off -- a failure.

She took a break and started welding more encephalic sensors into the paneling in the walls.

But also, this allowed her to avoid any unavoidable conversations with Briana Sal-Soren , Lossa Aureus , Kaleleon amongst many others.

---​

OOC: Using this as a location thread for a sub later. Opening this up to associates of hers for some potential extra flavor, past or present, feel free to jump in or bail anytime, or pop in if you need to talk/train with her about anything. I will use it as context in the sub later on.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The name Romi Jade rung through the annals of Jedi history not as an echo, but a roar.

Cora had found herself on the periphery of said woman in several instances. The last had been during the Midnight Council, when she'd been too tired, too frazzled, too consumed with the collapse of her Order to be of much help.

She'd felt like a tree stripped bare of its leaves. Only stiff, twiggy limbs remained, swaying awkwardly in the middle of a storm.

Cora drifted into the noodle shop with the distinct impression that she'd been misled. Temba's Soupworks, really? Was this some sort of prank…?

Then again, she knew of a Jedi who'd hid in a brothel while the Sith had hunted their kind across the galaxy.

The lights dimmed and flickered, accompanied by the distant sound of electricity surging. The faint scent of charred wiring drifted from somewhere beneath the floorboards.

"…Hello…?" she called out, tentatively. One hand gripped the armrest of her hoverchair, uncertain.

Romi Jade

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Robes​

"They won't respond. Not mid project." Her hands settled on the back of Cora's hoverchair.

Her presence muted given the emotions that were contesting for first place. Intentionally pushing away that natural connection to exist without being a potential threat to others while she processed.

Joy at knowing Romi was indeed alive. Anger at not knowing sooner. Anxiety that she hadn't reached out. Confusion of her return being revealed now.

Details that would come out eventually no doubt.

Her eyes staring at the flickering lights before a smirk appeared. Progress. With some set backs. But progress without set backs was akin to being handed something without knowing how it could fail. Glancing down at Cora and her chair with a huff.

"Have half a mind to pull them out by hand." A grumbled set of words until she lifted her leg and slammed it down. Announcing them as well as calling out would have maybe. Maybe painting them as potential problems.

But they'd cross that shield gate when they got to it.

Romi Jade | Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Romi Jade]

TEMBA'S SOUPWORKS
(Underground)
Olega City, Olega​

"Oh, c'mon..." she muttered to herself, several lattices of crystal mounts casted a faint blue glow in her goggles -- she had tried a new configuration pulled from a new concept she pieced together based on old convos with Jend-Ro Quill & Coren Starchaser ; it had been steady for the first time in weeks. She leaned against the console, hydrospanner in one hand, watching the oscillation lines crawl across the display. Stable. Finally.

'Feth yes." She rolled her goggles up, "Gonna need more power but--"

Then--three sharp thuds overhead. Heavy boots. Voices muffled through the flooring.

Her head lifted. Nobody should've been upstairs...they weren't even open yet; renovations hadn't been completed or inspections.

A sharp trill sounded from the corner of the room -- her jury-rigged surveillance system, just some scrap she pieced together to run a camera feed from above to down below; an old holocam patched into a proximity alarm, it was flashing red. Someone had tripped the sensor.

Too low res to make out faces.

She pulled the cloth from her shoulders and moved toward the lift and palmed the controls.

The lift opened into the pantry. Several duracrates disguised her exit, and she slid it aside just enough to step out into the dim light.

Two figures stood out. Both would have to turn as Romi appeared from the back, her apron already slung over her shoulder to hide the oil stains from below.

As she sauntered out "Soupworks isn't open-," she said evenly, voice narrowing, as she was overwhelmed with familiarity; Lossa. "-Just...yet..." She looked like she saw a ghost, and then her eyes fell on Corazona in her hover chair; she hadn't known the girl personally as she did Lossa, but recognized her face from the Midnight Council and from other circles.

The tone, and her stance shifted.

She didn't know what to expect, "Erm-wha-has something happened?"

-----

Corazona von Ascania | Lossa Aureus​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Los-"

The admonishment faded from her lips when something actually stirred in response to the Zeltron's stomping. Cora's hawkish gaze softened, quickly flicking from Lossa to her side. The sound of scraping duracrete at the far end of the noodle shop heralded an arrival.

Behind us?

The chair's servos gently whined as it whirled around.

There she was. Romi Jade. A legend in her own right, but what struck Cora was her beauty. The greying hair and subtle creases of her face only added to it; the passage of time something beautiful in its own right.

Romi's nonchalance drifted into surprise, then that too faded. Cora glance up at Lossa once more. The Zeltron had been the one to suggest approaching Romi, and had been kind enough to accompany her in unfamiliar territory.

There was a time where Cora had been jealous of - and admittedly rude toward - Lossa Aureus. They'd been teenagers then, just children. Now, they'd grown closer. Close enough for Lossa to trust Cora with her daughter, and close enough for Cora to trust Lossa with this delicate task.

"We apologize for the…abrupt intrusion, Master Jade." The blonde dipped her head. "Corazona von Ascania, Jedi Knight."

While searching for the words, her fingers drummed against the armrest of her chair.

"I was injured during the battle for Arkania, and my body hasn't been able to recover properly." Cora gestured to the left side of her chest where, beneath her tunic, a wound festered deep into her flesh. The twisted essence of a smoke demon could be felt lingering in the Force. "Lossa was kind enough to suggest seeking you out, to see if you knew of anything that might help.”

Romi Jade Lossa Aureus

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Robes​

The chastising words died in the air as something shifted.

A smirk sent to Cora at the effectiveness of her action until a hidden passage behind them began to shift and reveal itself. The Zeltron shifting protectively around Cora as her eyes locked onto the figure to emerge.

The harsh stare shifting to a soft smile of recognition. The question earning Romi Jade a frown.

"Master, the galaxy always has something going on." As much an answer as a dismissal as Lossa went quiet.

Not sure of what matter she wished to speak on now that Romi was properly in front of her. Relief? Expectations? Irritation? It seemed unfair to hurl her own feelings at the woman that had more than earned herself a quiet retreat from the galaxy at large with all that had happened already and that which had happened prior to Lossa coming into the tutelage of Romi Jade.

Instead, remaining silent but hovering protectively around Cora still as she examined the shop itself.

Mind already working out how she might help.

Romi Jade | Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Romi Jade]

TEMBA'S SOUPWORKS
(Underground)
Olega City, Olega​

Her lips curved upward; pursed. She gave a slow, thoughtful nod, as if confirming the conclusion in his own mind, "Well..." her shoulders shot up, "Valid point. You're right." She said, realizing quick that Lossa was right. Chaos was chaos, and there was plenty of it.

Though with Cora, her brow furrowed in concentration, eyes narrowing as she processed the information. She glanced down at her hoverchair, and back at her -- she was young. She hesitated for a moment, knowing her own state, and she was never a healer by skill. She thought she'd have more time...

"I'm no healer, but..." She sighed silently to herself, glancing back at Lossa; a second that seemed way longer. "I'll take a look at you and see what I can do, come with me." She reached out and motioned for them both to follow.

As she walked "Temba's isn't much, least not yet. but with a bit of love, she'll be something soon enough." She led them back towards the lift in the back, crossing the threshold and tucking herself off to the side to make room for the others. She smacked the controls to send it down once they filed in.

"There's only a handful of people in the galaxy who can track me down like this, Lossa is one of them. If she's referred you then..." She glanced over to the Zeltron. Looking back to Cora, "Tell me more about what happened on Arkania, and this injury you have."

-----

Corazona von Ascania | Lossa Aureus​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Master?

Cora sent her gaze silently between Romi and Lossa. Something was exchanged between them, a measure of familiarity that didn't need words so much as it needed a mutual understanding.

"Thank you," she murmured with a grateful dip of her head. Some old habits died hard.

As Romi punched the controls for the lift, Cora hesitated. She let her stomach feel the weightlessness of descent while chewing on her words.

"I tried to excise a smoke demon bound to a man's soul. It was sealed with Sith runes."

Her fingers tapped along the armrest of the chair, electing to leave out her reasons for fear of judgment. It wasn't Voldran's corruption that drove her actions, but his suffering.

"I've cracked my fair share before, but these were…different. Bound far more tightly, and with more strength than I've encountered. When I tried to break them, the demon fought back. It overtook the man, and tried to absorb me."

Cora paused, perhaps realizing how ridiculous that sounded. The recollection of ashen vapor flowing into her pores was not a pleasant one.

"The last thing I remember is his hand solidifying in my chest."

Pulling down the collar of her tunic, she drew the dressing back to expose a line of gnarled, blackened flesh that ran from just beneath her collar bone and over the modest curve of bosom.

"I was spent several weeks in treatment - bacta takes, surgeries and the like - but the doctors were confused as to why my body couldn’t heal fully. My heart and one lung are still relatively weak, but I'm lucky to have survived."

She glanced up to Lossa before her gaze flicked back to Romi, and something softened.

"I know you said you're not a healer, but…Lossa speaks highly of you. Of your experience and knowledge. If there's anything that you can do, anything that you know of which might help remove the lingering essence…then please, I humbly beg you."

Romi Jade Lossa Aureus