The Galaxy is like a Raspberry Doughnut

[Scherezade deWinter]

She could hear the waves of the oceans before her eyes opened to a room for of sunshine. Slightly groggy, but smiling for what felt like the first time in days, the teenager pulled herself up from her bed and pressed her nose against the tiny window, grinning like a puppy at the sight of the beach. It had been... Much too long.

The last few weeks had been spent doing all she could in order to avoid those who would do her harm. While not a weakling by any chance, even she knew it would do no good to be caught like a fish out of water, alone and defenseless save for the single handmaiden that had come with her.

"Where are we?" she asked, knowing the other woman was sitting behind her. It was almost too exciting. She bounced on the bed as she turned around, almost ready to drag the answer out of her handmaiden by force is so need be.

"Zenith Prime," came the answer.

"Never heard of it," Nessarose shrugged, and wiggled into a relatively clean pair of pink shorts that seemed durable enough to go for a swim in. Sunlight and beaches had dominated most of her early life, and there were precious few things she hated more than being stuck in space, with nothing but blank ink and distant stars all around her. Fresh water, sand between her toes... She could kill for that. She probably had.

Moments later, and she'd already exited her ship, her legs carrying her fast as they possibly could towards the shoreline.

 

[Jace Trent]

Jace walked along the beach. His crew was on a captain ordered "R&R" trip to Zeltros, he had no jobs pending, no contacts waiting. He was free. And so he walked.
The waves rolled and crashed creating a soothing sound. The sea breeze tugged at his brown duster, while birds cawed overhead.
This serenity was much needed. His head was always so full of obligations and problems, but at that moment he could relax.

His attire was not what normal people wore to the beach. He sported a crimson short with suspenders which held up his brown trousers with the signiture Corellian yellow strip down the side. His blaster hung low from his hip and was strapped to his thigh. His kneehigh brown boots kept the sand off his feet as he walked. No, not the normal attire at all. But Jace didn't care, this stroll along the beach was spontaneous anyways.

He saw a young girl with flowing dark hair, run across the beach as fast as her legs could take her, and they were taking her pretty fast.
Jace smiled. It was good to see genuine happiness. He so frequently was acquainted with shady people and even shadier deals, that seeing someone in their moment of bliss was a nice reminder that there was still hope in humanity.
@[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She ran until she was knee deep in the water, and then she just jumped in, allowing the waves to cover her completely. Her legs kicked hard, pushing her body forward as the water engulfed her, the silence and bliss that only being underwater could bestow now within her. Time never had to flow when you were alone underwater. Without technological equipment, everything paused within existence, and there was nothing to worry about, to think about.

And to be happy about.

Her lungs demanding air, she swam back to the surface, momentarily feeling the weight of the ocean on her body. The sun was warm though, and the gentle breeze did not freeze her as it sometimes could when she was a child back on Spira.

Only now did she allow herself to look around. Earlier, the teenager had simply run without a care. Now though... Now that her immediate need was satisfied, she could remind herself that she could not afford to be so careless. Enemies were everywhere, and as were people that unknowingly aided them. The beach was not quite overpopulated with folk, but there were still a few space ships around, and now that she turned back to look at the water, she could spot some water ships as well.

Signaling for her handmaiden to remain away, Nessarose twirled once in the white sands and sat herself down, facing the sun. Such moments never quite lasted. For all she knew, blood would be spilled within a mere few seconds.

She laid herself down on the sand, the corners of her mouth curling into a sweet smile as she thought of it. It had indeed been too long since the correct kind of adrenaline coursed through her body.


@[member="Jace Trent"]

 

[Jace Trent]

Though Jace was clearing his head, his mind always worked. He saw the ships docked, the watercrafts bobbing in the in the sea, the woman standing vigil over the young girl who was blissfully swimming. He was always aware of his surroundings, a habit he picked up during his time as a soldier.

He continued his stroll.
Seeing the young girl exit the sea and sit on the sand, Jace moved closer to the water to giver her a respectable amount of space. The water started to lap at his boots as he walked. Nearing the girl, Jace gave her a genuine small and a slight nod as he moved past her.
@[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Revenchent]

((Sorry it took me so long to post! Had a RL thing come up.))


Ah, how good it was to be back home.


The beaches of Zenith Prime were, as planned, artificial, but they certainly seemed real. It was a requirement for the soldiers of the people's army to learn amphibious tactics, and the ocean happened to be a little important to them.


Normally, this beach was filled with young men and women drilling, training, or generally being loiterers. This was an off-day, one of the days that Calico used to relieve stress. Leading an Army of over Eighty-Billion units was a difficult job, especially for someone whose life was ticking down twice as fast as a normal man.


It was for these reasons, that the Grand Marshal had taken a jog down to the beach. He wore simple black shorts, and the standard gray Army PT shirt. He wasn't much for casual wear. It was a bit of a surprise seeing a ship docked not too far from the beach, and a young woman doing...well, whatever young women did at the beach. Calico had no idea.


He paused halfway down the water front, and stared.


I should probably ask...Civs aren't usually out here.


He ran a hand over his head and mentally noted to trim the small mop of black hair when he had the chance. He shifted a bit uncomfortably through the sand, brow knit in deep thought as to what he should actually say. The soldier approached a few paces behind the woman, coughed, and spoke up.


"Hello ma'am...welcome to Zenith Prime I suppose." He chewed down on his lower lip, talking to regular folk was difficult. "I would have brought a cake, but I didn't know you would be out here."


Wow, di'kut. That's one way to find out what someone is doings Learn basic and try again. And there's another one...they're breeding.

 

[Atlas Kane]

The ocean. The constant back and forth of the waves. It was a calming sight and the sound only added to the tranquility of the scenery. Hayato was sitting about a hundred feet away from the water, just sitting there, legs crossed, meditating about what had happened only a couple hours earlier. He still felt the pain everywhere in his body. It would probably take a while until the pain was gone completely, but until then, Hayato would have a reminder for what happened a couple of hours ago and what he had to work on. His blade-work wasn't excellent yet, but he was improving. If he wasn't he wouldn't have lasted as long as he had during what happened a couple of hours ago and he certainly wouldn't have walked off with as little injuries as he had now. The pain would fade away, but the memories will remain. That was another important aspect of what had happened a couple of hours ago. The memories. He had forged a bond with someone by sharing memories with them. If that continued they would someday become great friends and more friends are always nice, aren't they? But enough of the past, let's focus on the present.

So there he was, sitting in the soft sand near the oceans on Zenith Prime. Letting the scenery and the tranquility sink into him, making him delve deeper into his meditation. Then it happened. Again. He was so deep in meditation that he forgot to breathe again. He quickly gasped for air, his concentration broken. He looked around to find a man who looked like one of the Dread Guard's soldiers talk to an unknown woman, as well as a man who was apparently going for a walk. Though there was one thing that was weird. Hayato didn't feel anything from the man who standing next to the woman. He felt nothing, not even the slightest hint of him in the Force. This was unlike anything he had ever seen or felt. It felt so ... weird. Since his concentration had been broken and from experience, he knew he wouldn't be able to start meditating again, so he decided to investigate as to what exactly was up with the man and his complete non-existence in the Force. He stood up, brushing the sand off of his pants and started walking towards the man and the woman. Who knew, maybe he would even be able to make new friends?

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Jace Trent"] @[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Catching the little smile from the man who was working, Nessarose gave him a huge smile back. There still some distance between them, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to get up just yet, but it never hurt to smile back at people. She really did like people, a trait her parents had learned to accept and deal with. So many to talk to, to learn from, to do things with! Granted, it often got her into trouble, but then getting out of the trouble was usually the best part of any given story, so she hardly minded.

But when someone called her "ma'am," she spun around, eyes slightly wide with the surprise. It was rare for people who didn't use the Force to manage to sneak up on her like that. Must've spent too much time in space she inside of her head. But... Cake? She recognized the general sort. She'd grown up around too many military people to manage to miss when one was. But as for the rest...

Nessarose blinked. Did the man know who she was or was he trying to make a jest? She wasn't entirely sure. Hopping up from the sand, she decided to just swing with it. "Oh it's fine," she chuckled, her voice playful, "I've got a few on my ship if you want. Vanilla or cherry? I kinda ran out of chocolates a few jumps back."

And suddenly, her body paused. Nessarose blinked and sniffed the air quickly. Another Force User. Her eyes followed the general direction from which she could see the man approaching. Thinking quickly, she just waved and resumed her normal demeanor with the one who'd welcomed her.

"There's also ice cream," she chattered with a grin, "who are you?"

@Hayato @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Jace Trent"]

 

[Revenchent]

Huh....lot of them around these days.


He paused, looking slightly confused for a moment. It was the sociability that always got him. He simply hadn't been taught how to deal with the common folk, or whatever this young lady was. No one had taken the time--he'd been trying to learn on his own. "I love cake." He said simply, letting a small smile slip. Clones had horrible sweet teeth.


The lady's laugh set him at ease, slightly. Laughing was a sign you had done something right; and he could use that to figure out what the shab people were generally doing out here. "My name is Calico, I- He trailed off for a moment. Revealing political positions always made things awkward.-maintain Zenith Prime."


The soldier folded his arms behind his back, and canted his head to the right. "Sometimes I bring food cake to people on the beach. They seem to like it." He shoulders lifted up in a slight shrug. What was he supposed to do? "I'd trouble you for your name...unless you want me to call you ma'am, which I can do. People might stare though."


@[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Atlas Kane]

The warm sand underneath his bare feet was calming, sort of therapeutic. It helped his aching back and feet quite a lot. Was the pain after what happened a couple hours ago a sign of getting old? Or was it just the suppressed pain catching up on him? Maybe a little of both, who knew? The important thing at the moment was the man without a Force Signature. Hayato had seen people without Force Signatures already, though he never had the chance to talk to them, let alone ask them about it and then, out of the blue, a man just like that appears at a random beach on a planet Hayato had only recently visited for the first time. Was it fate? Nah, it was probably the Force that had lead him here, to this beach at this exact time. The Force wanted him to meet these two people today. Maybe it had something planned for him? Something major? Maybe not?

''Greetings. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you two, but I only have a quick question for you, sir.'' He said once he arrived at where the two were having a conversation. He hoped they didn't mind him asking a couple quick questions and then possibly disappearing again. After all, he might end up in a nice conversation with the two and make some friends, or the two'll get angry and tell him to go kark himself. He was braced for both.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Calico. Nessarose nodded, comitting the name to memory.

Zenith Prime - now that was something new. Her handmaiden had never actually told her where they'd landed. For all Nessarose had known, she could've been running straight into a poisonous ocean, and not have known any better until there was nothing but rotten flesh hanging off of her bones. But Zenith Prime... How in the Force had she managed to get here, of all places?

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head, her eyes open widely to show just exactly how much the notion of being called ma'am was unwelcome. But just as quickly as her demeanor had changed, so it snapped back to the sweetness it had been but a moment ago, and she held her hand out for a handshake. "Nessa," she grinned, "Nessarose."

Interrupted. Nessarose's emerald green eyes moved to the newcomer. In the sunlight, their glow could not quite be seen, but the way they sparkled like emeralds could. Still, it did not matter, since the person was clearly interested in the guy who was talking her. But what more, this was the one who had the scent of the Force upon him.

Looking at the stranger, Nessarose slowly licked her upper lip, letting Calico do the talking.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Hayato"]

 

[Revenchent]

((Wrote up on my phone. Forgive mah bad engrrish.))



Nessarose. Not the kind of name we usually get out here--don't say that out loud.


Calico hadn't turned and walked off yet, so at least he was making progress. Zenith Prime was divided into sections: large portions devoted to military training, forts for defense and suppose, and the civilian zones occupied by the more mundane workers and the families of servicemen. He rarely had to deal with people outside of his command structure or the Templars; in truth, it terrified him. Women were even worse. At best of times, he felt as if he were on the verge of an anxiety attack.

Very fitting for a political figurehead.

He wasn't getting those vibes now though. "Fancy name, from the core?" He raised a brow as he shook the woman's hand, not too firm as he was afraid he might crush it--that resulted in a mental panic for a few seconds.

"Your eyes a- The Commander paused mid-sentence as a male voice cut in. Calico turned part-way to put the man in his eye sight: fit, hippy hair, definitely a Templar.

"Of course, son. If Miss Nessa doesn't mind losing a moment of my attention?"

He beamed over at the woman--utterly disarmed by her friendliness. Say what you want about the clones military discipline, some of the best of them were still caught in the headlights by young women.


@[member="Nessarose deWinter"] @[member="Hayato"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"You could say that," she grinned. Though technically born on Spira, there was much traveling in her life, long before she grew up enough to start traveling on her own. And the Galaxy was far too small for someone like her.
Calico's beaming went almost entirely unnoticed by Nessa. She was used to people being generally happy around her, unless something was amiss. And when stuff went bad, they tended to go seriously bad. But so far so good, right?

Bring the cakes out, the Sith Sorceress commanded her handmaiden, who immediately left back for the ship, knowing where her mistress kept the sweets. The Sith Inflitrator would run out of water before it ran out of things that would make most people's teeth go bad.

"Just Nessa," she said with another sweet smile, "no need to add anything else to the name."

Not yet, anyway.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Hayato"]

 

[Revenchent]

"Nessa, got it." Calico tapped his forehead, because that was what normal people on the holodramas did in situations like this.


Still, it was a woman from the core, and as he recalled, they tended to be a bit more snobby than the average rim folk. Then again, she seemed perfectly friendly, though Calico reminded himself that she could also be a threat. He had fallen for the sweet and innocent act before; it had turned out well in the end, but it was still dangerous.


I miss you Visri.

"So what exactly are you doing at FleetOps. I know we opened the gates to Civs a few days ago." He paused to glance over at Hayato. "Forgive me, I'm not used to visitors. Blame the Kamionans. ARC genome makes me...awkward."

At this point, words were just dribbling out of Calico's mouth. He stopped himself before he said anything overly annoying, and waited for Hayato to ask his question, a bit ashamed that he had interrupted the possible Templar before he could speak.

@[member="Nessarose deWinter"] @[member="Hayato"]

 

[Atlas Kane]

It seemed the two had just met each other. What a relief. For a moment Hayato had thought that the two were long time friends who had a meeting at the beach or something, but i twas not so. Time to hopefully make some friends! He thought to himself. The Ex-Jedi Knight had already wandered the Galaxy for quite a while. He had met many people, though he was still not very good at making friends with strangers. His last encounter had ended up with him getting drugged and tortured. Totally not fun-times. Not at all, I tell ya. He just hoped it wouldn't turn out the same way, but from the two's politeness he had hope. Hope that he wouldn't have to wake up in pain again.

''My name is Hayato.'' He bowed. ''I'm one of the new Templars. I was just here because of a meeting with an friend of mine.'' He said. He was not sure what the two's reaction would be to him being a Templar, but he guessed he would find out soon enough. ''Ah yes, I wanted to ask a question!'' He said a little bit too excitedly. ''I wanted to ask why you don't have a Force Signature, good sir. It's completely new to me and I have never felt anything like this before, so I was curious as to why that was so and if you had any explanation for this!'' He said with a friendly smile on his face.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Najac Samedi]

There was a faint sound on the horizon, it was soft at first gently wafting on the sea breeze. Then it became more and more clear to everyone on the beach. What was it? It sounded almost like a horn, but it wasn't a horn playing revelry, it wasn't a horn playing good morning troops it's time to wake up and PT. No this horn was playing a jazz solo and a fierce one at that over the breeze, quickly the horn stopped playing the solo and more horns joined into a melody. Soon after drums, bass, and even a little guitar could be heard. It was all so groovy and smooth sounding it was almost enticing to follow it. It came from quite literally nowhere from out of the blue and it was completely hypnotic to the ears. The swing like jazz pounded and blarred louder now as a voice could be heard on the wind. It was deep and smooth with a thick accent to it almost Haitian if star wars had an equivalent to that kind of accent then that would be what he was spitting. "I walk the streets of Zeltros with a girl of my dreams. I've seen a dozen brass bands play that swing, while little children laugh and sing." As the horns continued to blare the music was quite enticing and smooth. But that's when things got a little stranger for the people on the beach.

"I had a drink with old Louie's ghost, he was the most gracious host. I've heard gabriel singing and playing his horn." With that almost from nothing there was a hut set up on the beach, a small one no bigger then fourteen feet in a circular radius. But it sounded as if ten men were all jammed inside of it playing at a cantina on tatooine. It was probably not the strangest thing the people of the galaxy who had gathered here had seen. And it was probably just best if they called the authorities and had a few guards come along to knock the grass hut down to the ground and continue their idle conversation about cake with light amounts of awkward flirting. Or, they might feel just slightly adventurous and enter the hut and see what exactly was going on inside that place. "I consider myself lucky to have fallen in love with the girl, the city, and a river of blood." as the voice began to sing softer and softer as a few torches around the hut spontaneously light up in ablaze to reveal a few shrunken heads dangling from the top of small bamboo door. What would they do? @[member="Hayato"] @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Revenchent]

Calico decided to humor the Templar. The guy seemed nice enough, albiet needing a haircut. "Oh, I was in the Dreadguard ner'vod. Everyone in there is Vong-Shaped. Force dead." He reached up and tapped himself on the side of the head. "No force user can get in my head anymore, really nice, honestly." The Grand Marshal couldn't help but smile. "And my name is Calico. I-"

The sound that drifted through the air caught Calico's attention. He knit his brow in confusion, looking in every direction for the source. A small hut lined with torches caught his attention.

That wasn't there a few minutes ago...

"What in Corellia's Nine Hells...???" He didn't wait to see the reactions of the others. He simply gave the two odd, questioning looks, and started marching toward the hut. Of course, that looked a bit comical as he was kicking sand up a foot or so in the air.

@[member="Hayato"] @[member="Nessarose deWinter"] @[member="Najac Samedi"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Listening to the two talk, Nessarose remained quiet. She already knew what it meant, having no Force Signature, and she wasn't all that interested in the force pulses of others just right there and then. There were, however, other things that did.

Most notably, the sound and smell of the Force being heavily used. She could feel prickles beneath her skin, the small hairs standing as if in alert. But her mind felt fuzzy with it, the kind of sweet fuzzy that just makes you want to cuddle with that soft voice and run your fingers through it.

It was several kinds of nifty; how the whole appearance of the hut was put together to almost convince her eyes that the beachy daytime was actually nighttime. She wanted to have the digits of the person responsible for this, have them plan some of her parties out.

But most of all, she just wanted to know who or what was there.

Her legs were quick, kicking the sand beneath her toes as she made her way for the hut. She knew Calico was moving to the same direction as well, but momentarily, she took no further notice of him. Her hands reached for the skulls, holding them lightly in her hands. That was some really good work that had been done on them.

Next came the hut itself. Nessarose simply... Knocked on the door.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Najac Samedi"] @[member="Hayato"]

 

[Najac Samedi]

As the knocks rattled on the bamboo door it slowly began to creek as the horns began to drown out and soften slowly. But that's when the drums cued in and began to play a very swing type beat standing alone for now following it afterwards was a chorus of what sounded to be ten people saying "Hey!" As the drums continued to pound and the horns pick back up it all sounded very well planned and executed to a t. As the music began to shift into that of more of a sad note there was a hint of sadness in the man's voice "She messed around with a guy named smokey! But he was a bit spicy~" As the door opened fully there was quite a disturbing sight to see, at least for the clone among them. There was a small stage set up and playing on it was a full band, though the band wasn't dressed up in the normal pinstripe suits you would normally see people in their kind of band play. They were all dressed in cammies, CIS cammies at that. In fact the sergeant of the guard was playing a rather fierce trombone solo. "That's it my boy, Everyone give it up for staff sergeant roy!!" on the inside of the hit besides the stage there was a small bar and a dance floor in front of the stage where the possessed soldiers play their various instruments. "He gave her his town house and racing horses! Every meal she ate was a Nexu's incourses." standing in center stage of the rather voodoo decorated hut was a man. Not like any other man but a rather strange looking one.

He wore a purple suit and tophat and above all that his face was painted with a skull on it. Littering the dance floor was a group of CIS soldiers stepping back and forth as if they were zombies moving to the beat. They weren't force dead clones like calico the shamans tricks wouldnt work on him like they were these weak minded fools. They were all just local guards that seemed to be under a spell. "Visitors ahoy! I wonder what they want, not to be coy." with that the beat being ated by the troops switched to more of an upbeat tone. The door remained open as the purple suited man jumped down and began to dance his way through the floor among the few swaying bodies of the soldiers. The music still continued but it was quite obvious that the men here with their dull blank expressions were not here of their own free will. Maybe that was why no one seemed to stop the sith lady from entering the beach. All the soldiers were here in a trance like state as the one man who stick out like a sore thumb danced sang and laughed his way to the door. Once he reached it he smiled at them all from ear to ear the skull paint on his face stretching with his smile. "Come on in I don't bite, that is unless you choose to fight." as the man backed up he was having a bit of fun an no one looked hurt. He was just needing a band to play out a few songs and set. @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Hayato"] @[member="Nessarose deWinter"]

 

[Revenchent]

This was very....odd. Music that Calico was only partly familiar with, and a skull man. That caught his attention first, of course, the skull painted on the man's face. Then it was the soldiers; a few he knew on a slightly personal level, playing music. That was very, very odd in itself, they were supposed to be on duty!

Osik...this is a saber-jockey, isn't it?

The Grand Marshal reached for a weapon of some sort, grumbling in dismay as he pulled away a simple survival knife from his front pocket. Who would bring projectile weapons on a supposedly safe running route, after all?

"Hey, buddy." He tilted his head back to eye the skull-man. "What in Corellia's Nine Hells have you done to my boys?"

That awkward, almost childish way of speech that he had been using was replaced with calm confidence. His expression was neutral as he marched closer to the man; Nessa and Hayato becoming an afterthought for a moment. "Explain."

@[member="Hayato"] @[member="Nessarose deWinter"] @[member="Najac Samedi"]