Private The New Colossus

[Amani Serys]

Too often the galaxy's focus on conflict did not extend to the people who suffered the most from it. As a healer, Amani knew this more intimately than most. For as much time as she was on the front line, she spent double that offering aid to the men, women, and children who were displaced by such violence.

On the edge of the unknown regions, an independent refugee center had been setup for those fleeing the increasingly dangerous sectors of the galaxy. Comparably small in scope, but no less important.

A processing station, camps, medical services, and a guard presence rounded out the the center's chief offerings. It had only just become ready for operation, and some things were still being set up, but already a steady flux of refugees were making their way through.

Though Amani spent most of her focus on keeping tabs on health, she helped with miscellaneous tasks around the center as well. For once, she finally had a moment to take a breather and watch everything in action.

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah sighed to himself and brushed his hands off, sitting down on a nearby plasteel crate before reaching into a utility pouch on his vest and withdrawing a matte black case before opening it and tugging one of the cigarillo's out of it. Pulling a lighter made from a spent slugthrower casing out of aforementioned pouch he perched the cigarillo between his lips, raised one hand to cover the cigarillo from the wind, struck the light and took a slow drag from the cigarillo before exhaling.

Smoking was one of the few vices that Noah had that he couldn't enjoy at home, both of his wives being health concerned and would most likely beat him for smoking.

For the past few days he and his men, private military contractors from the Galactic Foreign Legion of which Noah ran, had been on this world protecting and helping set up a refugee center. The company that had set it up had hired ten squads, exactly two hundred Legionnaires, to defend the center. Noah saw this as both a good financial and publicity opportunity, also he wasn't all business and was willing to lend a hand wherever it needed to be lent.

He had worked out a schedule for the squads, half would be on guard duty while the other half helped around the camp. The more technically inclined Legionnaires, such as the combat medics and engineers, helped out in the med tents or with building infrastructure while the others provide more menial labor wherever needed, all wearing the same type of vest as Noah instead of their usual full body armor to provide a less frightening appearance.

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani plopped down the last of the crates she had lugged over, then turned it into her personal resting spot, now that the lull in tasks gave such an opportunity. She stretched her back in an exaggerated arch and settled in, simply watching the inner workings of the camp take the form of a well-oiled machine. People could now begin playing their role, although until any refugees got through, she was without work.

The scent of a cigarillo hit her nostrils, and she turned to find the source. A man, looked like one of the PMC guys keeping watch over the camp. Seemed she wasn't the only one with a break in action. "You know those are bad on your lungs, right?" Amani made the unwarranted comment, although her tone was clearly not of any serious attempt to reprimand him.

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah's eyes shot over to the young Mirialan woman who sat near him, young being rather relative to him as he was pushing sixty, ah the joys of being half-Morellian. An eyebrow quirked as she spoke to him, his eyes roaming up and down her in a curious manner. "Sorry, had to double check to see if you were one of my wives...sure as hell sound like em. Thought I'd be able to smoke in peace."

Taking another drag on the cigarillo Noah looked back towards the woman. "Listen kid, I've been stabbed, shot, electrocuted, blown up, gassed and a hell of a lot of other things, if I die from a little guilty habit...well then that'll be the way I go." Taking yet another drag Noah turned towards the girl and extended his hand. "I'm being rude, Noah Corek and you are miss jetii?" Noah was particular with his words, so the use of the Mandalorian word for Jedi would stand out.

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

"Sorry. Can't help myself sometimes." Amani lifted both hands in admission. It was all taken in stride on her part.

Mandalorian wasn't a language she wasn't fluent in, but the word he used wasn't exactly difficult to translate, "How's everyone always figure that part out?" She looked down to the saber hilt on her hip, and stifled a chuckle, "Amani Serys. I'm just here to offer medical aid." She nodded at the man's attire, "I assume you're part of our little guard presence?"

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

"Ah you're fine, I'm certain you do it out of a sense of caring for you fellow sentient, where as they do it because they don't want to raise the kids without me." A wisp of a smile came to his face, corners of his lips turning up, though whether it was because of his jest or rememberance of his loved ones was anyone's guess.

He snorted and followed her gaze to the saber at her hip. "Well that is a big giveaway but there are other ways to distinguish it. The gait is a big one, you Jedi tend to prefer the side that your saber is on. The other is that you walk in a certain way to avoid said hilt slapping against your side." He took another drag from the cigarillo, nodding to her question about security. "You could say that...someone paid a lot of credits to get us here...I'm curious as to why."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

“It’s my job to keep people healthy after all,” Amani nodded towards the cigarillo. But obviously he wasn’t her patient, and she wasn’t making any genuine attempts to stop him.

The observations of her Jedihood were amusing to listen to. Details she had never really considered before, but rang true nonetheless. His talk of credits was maybe not as entertaining, but did strike a bit of curiosity, “Well there’s plenty in the region out here trying to kill people,” If it weren’t strange beasts or roving pirates, it was more organized groups like the Maw, “Didn’t know you were in such high demand, though. Should I know who you guys are?”

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

He took a few more drags from his cigarillo before lifting his leg up and stubbing it out on the sole of his boot, before placing the now unlit stub into a pouch on his vest. Dusting some ash of of his pants from where it had fallen off of the cigarillo he looked towards her when she asked if she should know who they were.

"I'll save you the recruitment speech, we're the Galactic Foreign Legion, GFL or Legion for short. Almost all of use are ex-military, so we're pretty well trained on top of the training we receive when signing up with that. Besides that we also have some pretty top edge equipment. As for why you haven't heard of us, we tend not to advertise and let word of mouth and referral do that for us. This job was neither so I'm...curious to what needs protecting here that bad."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

"Guess that's why I haven't heard of you." Galactic Foreign Legion. Not much ones for advertising. There's something respectable about letting one's actions speak for themselves.

Amani nodded, then shrugged, "Well, I'd say people's lives are pretty worth protecting. The Unknown Regions are a dangerous place these days. Doesn't seem like that's going to change any time soon, either."

She looked around as the camp seemed to steadily come alive with the initial influx of arrivals, "Other parts of the galaxy keeping you too busy?"

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

He gave a small shrug when she agreed to the reason why she hadn't heard of them, "It's the way we like it honestly. Keeps out the people who aren't serious without us getting the reputation of us being selective about who we take work from. We'll eventually have to start advertising but I'd rather we build a strong reputation before we ever even get that far."

When Amani brought up how the Unknown Regions were dangerous he let out a snort in agreeance. "Oh trust me I know. I was a Judge in the Outer Planets Alliance before this, a General in the United Clans of Mandalore before that, a Commando in the Galactic Alliance before that, a contractor for the Omega Pyre before that and a Commando for the Republic before that. I've fought from one corner of the Galaxy to the other and nothing compares to the dangers in this area...it is rather exciting."

When the discussion of people's lives came up he gave a nod. "There's no more a noble pursuit than the protection of the innocent...though sometimes people need to learn how to defend themselves."

He watched along with her as the refugees trickled in, shuttles and transports dropping them off. He observed his men closer however, watching their reactions and interactions with them. He was pleased to see that almost all of them were positive. When the Jedi spoke about the rest of the galaxy he nodded. "We have a few garrisons on neutral planets that border the Maw as well as a few on former Confederacy worlds looking to maintain some order so yeah, we're pretty busy I'd say."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

“That’s quite the résumé,” Amani remarked at his storied list of past endeavors.

“Well, they’d probably learn better with an experienced hand guiding them,” She looked towards the trained legion guards scattered throughout the camp, “I’m sure at least some would be willing to hear what your people have to offer.”

Amani nodded, commiserating with how busy he and his organization seemingly were, “There’s always something that needs doing."

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

He gave a small smile when she mentioned his resume and he shrugged. "I'm half-Morellian, so I'll live a bit longer than your normal Human or near-Human, gives me a lot of time to gather accomplishments and achievements. I just don't wear 'em on my face like you Mirialan do." He grinned, wondering if she'd be surprised about his knowledge of her people's culture.

He nodded at her summation of some of the refugees most likely wanting to learn to fight. "Nothing motivates someone to action more than loss or the threat of loss...you have to be careful about that though. Some just don't want to lose anything anymore and some want to take vengeance on those who took from them. If they ask we'll give them the knowledge they need but only the knowledge."

He stretched his back and popped the joints there when she commiserated on the turmoil of the galaxy. "Yeah thankfully we've got the manpower and resources to help as much as we can...most organizations like ours either don't have that or won't use them."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

"I've met a couple Morellians actually," Amani nodded, laughing a bit, "Can't lie, the whole 'looking young for decades' thing? I'm a bit jealous." Though it was interesting that most long-lived species she seemed to meet found that longevity to be more of a curse than a blessing. It was simply a perspective she would never be able to have. But on its own, staying in one's physical prime for so long seemed like quite the perk.

"And for what it's worth, it's not just our faces," She smirked, and angled the back of her hand into view, where another geometric symbol had been inked in. Ideally, the start of a full sleeve of tattoos that would carry all the way up to the shoulder.

"True enough, I suppose," Amani sighed. Jedi were quite wary of the concept of vengeance. When negative emotions can spiral your Force connection into something more sinister, it becomes much more pertinent to not be controlled by them. "All the better reason to guide them toward the right focus." If left to their own devices, such concerns would only fester and become worse. People would find their own ways to seek retribution.

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

"Well like I said I'm only half-Morellian, mom was human, so I'll probably on look this young for another...decade or two at the most and then I'll start to age. Thankfully both my wives and all my kids have genetics that'll slow their aging two, so a bit of the bad part of living this long is gone." While the rolling of his neck that followed contradicted this it was more to get the kinks out from sitting and not moving for an extended period of time.

He chuckled when she angled her hand to show the other tattoos, admitting to himself that he didn't know everything. "Forgive my ignorance of your culture. My clan does something...similar." Deciding it was easier to show her than tell her he took his vest off before peeling the shirt beneath it away. Besides a multitude of scars underneath one thing stood out, on the left side of his torso from just below his collarbone down to his ribs were a series of tally marks, the nature of them plainly obvious. "I know it's probably 'barbaric' to a Jedi but to my clan it means a bit."

He nodded as he put his shirt and vest back on, eyes lingering over towards the refugee's before anything else. "You've got a point...I'll get some flyers and such written up, offer something to them. Small things first, survival skills and the like, weed out the revenge seekers and then move onto more...aggressive training."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

"Better than what I'll get," She'd be well on her way to looking like a grandma by his age. But it's more about how you use the years, not how many you have, right? At least he had people to spend all that time with.

At the sight of his markings, Amani simply gave a resigned shrug, "I won't pretend to have a nuanced understanding of your culture," It is what it is. Historically, Mandalorians and Jedi didn't really see eye to eye. Her own experiences had their ups and downs, but ultimately she'd let those differences be.

"Sounds like a smart move. End of the day, you'd know more about that process than me. I'm just the medic," She smiled, looking back towards the refugees. More continued to flow in, and a number were headed towards the already lightly-staffed medical tents, "Speaking of, I should probably stop sitting on this…" Amani stretched and stood up, then grabbed the crate she had rested on, "And start moving it instead." She gave the Morellian a nod, and began carrying the supplies over towards her section of the camp.

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

"Eh there are good and bad things to every species, just got to take them in stride. From what I've read your people are more agile and flexible, I'm sure that has gotten you out of more than one tough spot in your time." Surprisingly for Noah there was an innuendo to be made about that particular quirk of the Mirialan people, but Noah let the possible dirty joke go, content with the casual conversation more than jabbing to see just how much of a reaction he could get out of this particular Jedi.

He smiled when she gave a tacit understanding, or at least a non-judgement, of his people and their culture. "Thank...not many Jedi would say that. I've met more than a few who see my marks and call me a monster or such." He didn't have the heart to tell her that more than a few had actually tried to physically harm him, or worse. So much for the calm and collected Jedi, at least Amani seemed to be a much better specimen of the Jedi Order.

"Nah, you're a lot more than just a 'medic' miss Serys. You feel like much more than that to me at least...forgive me I'm just fascinated. Not many Jedi would've sat down and had a discussion like this with me." When she picked up the crate and moved away Noah grabbed a few himself full of medical supplies and began following her to the med-tent. "How many medical personnel do you have?"

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

“I find things just work out for the best when I don’t pry,” Confrontation wasn’t going to do anyone any good now, and she had come to the understanding that being a Mandalorian does not make one inherently evil. If he was genuinely guilty of some darker nature, then in all likelihood he wouldn’t be here now; Both because it would be out of character, and because he likely would have people after him already.

“Oh--well, thanks, I guess?” Amani took the comment with an awkward laugh, “I guess a few years off the Code has helped me widen my perspective,” They trudged on ahead, even as uneven terrain seemed bent on making the trek as mildly inconvenient as possible. She swayed with the weight of the container’s stock before eventually plopping it down underneath the tent, “Uhh, maybe a handful? Might get a bit busy for our numbers, but I’m sure we’ll handle things.”

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

"Well I thank you for not prying...even though I'm Mandalorian I do not like reveling in the things I did. Not that I'm ashamed of them, I did what I had to for my fellow soldiers." Noah did have a darker nature, but it was a darker nature that he had left behind decades ago after his service with the Republic and though while his words were contradictory there were some things he did then that he was indeed ashamed of, things he had only told his most closest of loved ones.

He gave an equally awkward smile at her laugh, admittedly his compliment had been a little...strange to say the least. He cocked his head when she mentioned her years away from 'the Code'. "One of my wives, Alex, used to be a Jedi. Whenever she speaks of the Code she has a bit of uh...venom in her words. I had to study it as part of my degree curriculum, as well as other codes of force user organizations. I always found the Grey Jedi Code resonated with me personally."

When they finally reached the tent Noah plopped his crate next to hers and listened to her words about the amount of staff she had. "I could reach out to some people, the Legion has support personnel. Doctors, surgeons, physical and psychological therapists hell even nutrionists. Would be more than willing to give you some extra resources."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

“Guess it depends on how you define Gray Jedi, for me,” The term had a few different meanings, technically speaking. Being independent of the old Code was one thing, but by now she found any use of the dark side to be a line too dangerous for her to cross. But a non-Force user would never have to dwell on the sinister implications of their negative emotions. Or at least, not in a manner so manifest as what a Force user had to struggle with. It was one of the things she envied about the former.

“Well, if you can spare the manpower, I’m sure we could make use of it. I dunno that we’d need all of that here, seeing as this is effectively just the customs station,” She laughed a little, “But more help makes things easier on everyone."

Noah Corek​

 

[Noah Corek]

"Personally I see Grey Jedi as those your follow the 'Grey Code'. I'm sure you know it. To me the whole light and dark dichotomy is a bunch of bantha fodder, two sides of the same coin if you will...but I've never used the Force so I'll leave that judgement up to the professionals." After all Noah was still a non-forcie and could not understand the nuances of the light and the dark.

"I'll make a few calls, get some more resources. If you could give me a list of what you need or want it would make it a lot easier, allow me to-" Noah's words were cut off when an explosion rocked the camp, coming from the entrance of the fledgling camp. As soon as Noah became cognizant he brought the rifle that had been slung at his side up to the ready position, aiming down at anything that moved within his line of sight. Throwing his eyes back to Amani for a few seconds he assessed her condition. "You okay!?"

Amani Serys ​