Private The Pull to Olega

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Olega

Equipment:
Field Gear | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

He hadn't meant to come to Olega. The navpath wasn't planned, it was just an idle flick of controls and a silence deep enough to drown in. One blink, and hyperspace folded back into realspace. The planet hung below, gray seas breaking against black cliffs, a citadel of old stone crouched above the surf. From orbit it looked like something half-forgotten, stubbornly enduring. Sounded familiar.

Maybe the Force had gotten bored of waiting. He descended the Flickerfox through the clouds and Olega City faded into view. The landing pads clung to the cliffside, metal platforms bolted into ancient stone. When the ramp lowered, Tic clambered out first, photoreceptor flickering.

Ace followed, squinting against the light. The air was warm and clean, the horizon stretching endless over the sea. The sand-colored streets were alive with noise and, even with Ace's connection to the Force rattled, he could sense the faint buzz of the city.

Tic chirped occasionally, scanning everything that hummed or sparked. The sound was oddly grounding. Meanwhile, the sun flashed off his white locs and the matte metal of his prosthetic. His steps matched the rhythm of the city. Each movement sent a faint vibration through the synthetic plating of his arm, an echo of his heartbeat, out of sync but stubbornly present.

He could feel the Force, like sunlight casting through clouds. The current pulled him along... somewhere, Ace didn't know but he wasn't going to fight it. Then he felt it, down the street, a noodle shop sat open to the afternoon air. Weird, of all places, the Force drew him here?

Tic let out a questioning trill. Ace stopped at the threshold, eyes narrowing. Inside, a handful of locals sat over their bowls. The smell of broth, oil, and char filled the air. It was an ordinary place, completely unremarkable, but something beneath it stirred him. There was a presence here, calm and familiar in a way he couldn't name.

He caught his reflection in the window: the scar at his cheek, the white hair, the faint metallic glint of his left hand. Ace didn't know why the Force had brought him here.

Romi Jade​

 

[Romi Jade]

TEMBA'S SOUPWORKS
Olega​

Before he even reached the shop, Romi's hand froze over the ladle; a strong intuition. But she didn't know when...where...how, she only felt the what; it was vague.

Before long the bell over the doorway chimed softly as this new face stepped in, Acier Moonbound . Olega City wasn't huge, and Temba's wasn't overly popular, it was small a establishment, and she'd already gotten familiar with her local frequenters; The shop wasn't crowded either.

She didn't look up right away, she was busy straining broth into a bowl, but the current shifted, and it was noted.

So this must've been what the empyrean had thrown over her like a metaphysical cloak; alerted her senses -- the static just at the edge of your perception. But, It was faint.

"Take a seat wherever," she said absently, setting the steaming bowl in front of another customer. Only when she turned did her eye catch on the blonde locs under the shop's natural light.

Finally she made her way over, "You look like you've been flying for days," she said, wiping her hands on a cloth as she leaned on the counter. "Broth or fried? We're out of nerf strips unless you want the house special."

Her tone was casual, but she found herself lingering a beat too long, reading his posture, or aura she supposed, there was just a hum of something scarred beneath the surface.

The Force didn't whisper names, at least not often, but it didn't always need to. She knew.

-----​

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Olega - Temba's Soupworks

Equipment:
Field Gear | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

The bell above the door had barely finished chiming when the scent hit him - broth, spice, the faint char of oil clinging to stone. For a moment it disarmed him; the warmth, the noise, the living ordinariness of it all. Tic perched on his shoulder, head tilting this way and that as if scanning the air for intent.

The cook's voice was calm, grounded, too natural for the kind of awareness that had just brushed through the Force. Ace almost turned back out of habit. But something in the way the Force curved around her made him stop, like stepping into the gravity of a planet and realizing you'd already been caught.

Ace exhaled through his nose and moved to the counter. The stool creaked beneath his weight, his prosthetic hand finding the worn edge of the surface. The joints clicked softly as he flexed his fingers, heat from the kitchen reflecting off the burnished plating.

"Broth's fine." Ace said after a moment, voice roughened by travel.

He glanced toward her then, and that was when he felt it, really felt it, even with his connection to the Force blunted. It wasn't the shallow current of another Force-sensitive, but a resonance buried deep, layered and deliberate. It wasn't loud; it was contained. Every part of it shaped by will and discipline, the weight of countless battles folded into stillness.

It was power that could crush a mind or steady an army, and she carried it like breath. It filled the air in quiet pulses, impossible to ignore once you recognized the rhythm.

"You run this place?" He asked, eyes drifting to the steam rising between them. The question was casual, but the quiet that followed wasn't. The Force between them vibrated in slow rhythm with his own... steady, measured, deliberate.

Tic clicked softly beside him, hopping off of Ace's shoulder and on to the counter. His photoreceptor pulsed in time with the kitchen fan. Ace let out a small breath that felt too loud in the stillness.

Then he studied her for a quiet moment, eyes narrowing slightly as he weighed his options. Did he play it careful, or ask outright?

"...What's someone like you doing running a noodle bar?"

Impulse won out. No edge, no tact, just blunt curiosity. Tic gave a small beep beside him, as if agreeing that the question needed asking.

Romi Jade​

 

[Romi Jade]

TEMBA'S SOUPWORKS
Olega​

He made his preference clear, she nodded; routine kicked in as she hit a pivot on her back foot to kick into motion.

She threw her towel over her shoulder, and pulled a bowl forward with her free. Soon as she pulled the lid off, the steam rose "That'd be right. I run this little place..." She continued, dipping out the broth. Honestly, she hadn't ever imagined owning a soup shop but this wasn't far off how she grounded herself in the authentic. "She's still fairly new, but we're getting there." She said.

She spun around with his bowl, and while she sat it down, she caught on to his droids droidspeak -- not that she understood his clicks and ticks, just that it seemed curious. "Cute droid."

As she slid the bowl over on the tray, she grabbed a silverware set while taking in his question...and she didn't immediately answer, she let the silence sit for a moment.

The last of her shove put his dish right in front of him, "Someone like me?" she asked, "Care to elaborate?" She followed up, not breaking eye contact, but sitting the silverware set down at the same time.

Acier Moonbound
-----​

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Olega - Temba's Soupworks

Equipment:
Field Gear | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

Ace watched her as she moved, and even that told him enough. The pivot, the measured stride, the precision of her hands. It was the economy of a fighter, someone used to making every motion count. That instinct didn't just go away.

When she talked about the shop, his brow lifted faintly. Tic beeped at the mention of being cute, the sound somewhere between smug and startled. Ace's lips curved briefly.

"Careful." He said, tapping the droid's head. "He loves attention."

The bowl landed in front of him, its heat brushing against his face. He leaned forward slightly, taking in the smell. Real food. Real heat. It was rare he was able to stop for luxuries like this, and yes, this was a luxury. Drifting, constant travel, and limited funds only allowed for the bare basics... ration packs.

Then she looked at him, and asked the question, almost as if she was challenging him. Ace met her gaze and didn't look away.

"Someone like you." He reiterated. "The Force around you's not quiet. But it's not loud or raw, like someone who isn't trained. It's just heavy. Dense. Powerful, but controlled. Even with my connection... messy, I still feel it. You, I guess."

He stirred the broth once, watching the surface ripple. A small hum came from Tic's core, the droid leaning in to peer at the bowl. Ace gave a quiet snort.

"Don't even think about it."

He took a sip, heat rolling across his tongue, and exhaled through his nose. His expression was telling, the broth was good, really good.

He glanced up again, eyes narrowing slightly but without hostility. "I feel the Force pulling me somewhere. Here. Then I find you."

His words remained blunt. There was no edge, no caution. Just an honest question from a man who knew power when he felt it, and couldn't make sense of why it was hiding here, of all places.

Romi Jade​

 

[Romi Jade]

TEMBA'S SOUPWORKS
Olega​

So he could feel the Force, and his sensitivity to it was strong; especially since her strength had been stunted. Her eyes narrowed, but she feigned as if she didn't know what he was talking about, looking around to acknowledge other patrons, "I think you might have the wrong person.." she laughed.

These were odd times, and her Jedi work her she'd been keeping from the spotlight, especially with the weight her name could carry; she didn't want to bring Olega trouble, but she also still wanted to gather useful information; these things required a delicate hand.

But he had immense potential, that was a fact.

"If you've been drawn here somehow, maybe it's because of that ole fancy Jedi temple up a ways from here." She was subtly throwing him a hint, to shift the convo from being had publicly, as this wasn't the safest space to do so, "All sorts of stories about that place that draw people there...of all kinds. Might wanna start there for what you're looking for maybe."

A beat.

"What's your name?"

Acier Moonbound
-----​

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Olega - Temba's Soupworks

Equipment:
Field Gear | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

Ace caught the look in her eyes before the words even landed. The faint narrowing, the easy laugh, the way her voice carried just enough for the nearby tables to hear. Yeah. He understood what was happening here.

He leaned back on the stool, spoon turning idly in his hand as he followed her act. "Guess I mixed you up with someone else." He said, tone light but not quite apologetic. "Happens when you bounce around as much as I do."

When she mentioned the temple, his gaze flicked up again, a moment of recognition. He let a small smirk edge at the corner of his mouth.

"Temple, huh? Yeah… guess I'll check it out." His voice dropped a touch lower, just enough that it wouldn't carry. "Didn't mean to blow your cover."

Tic emitted a quiet chirp, scanning the room as if double-checking her caution. Ace gave the droid a small nudge as if to tell him to relax.

When she asked his name. He paused for a heartbeat, not out of hesitation, but consideration.

"Ace." He said simply, not asking for hers in return. She clearly wanted to stay under the radar.

He dipped his spoon into the bowl, the broth's steam rising between them. Ace stayed a while longer, quiet, finishing what was left in the bowl. The warmth and flavors stirred a momentary state of euphoria.

When he finally stood, Tic hopped back onto his shoulder with a soft beep. He left a few credits on the counter, gave her a small nod and stepped out into the sunlit street.

The city noise swallowed him quickly, but the thought stuck with him as he walked. The calm, deliberate energy she carried, that sense that she hadn't told him everything.

By the time the cliffs came into view again, he already knew where he was heading. Toward the temple. Toward whatever it was the Force had led him here to find. Maybe, the woman felt it too and maybe... it would lead them back to each other.

She seemed wise, maybe she could help him find the answer to whatever drew him here.

Romi Jade​

 

[Romi Jade]

TEMBA'S SOUPWORKS
Olega​

The temple was quiet when he arrived -- quiet in the way abandoned places always were, but with faint traces of energy like some Jedi related places, just humming with things unsaid, or lost to time.

Romi stood near a collapsed entry arch, arms folded, posture loose but attentive. No hood, no theatrics. Just waiting.

People didn't really come here, it'd been stripped of most things hundreds of years ago probably, it was just an old, decrepit landmark now. Hardly ever mentioned in conversation. If she could guess, she figured new generations didn't really know its relation to the Jedi at all.

"You made good time," she said as he approached. "Didn't know if you'd trust a stranger in a noodle shop enough to follow her directions."

She nodded once toward the inner chamber. "Come on. We can talk in there."

She sauntered in, an inner sanctum, dry and empty, glowing in natural light that fell in from above.

She said, tone even, "Most people hear 'old ruins' and decide they've got somewhere else to be." she turned to him, "You should be more discreet when talking about the Force. The Alliance is gone. Imperials could be about. That's why I sent you here...and even now, we shouldn't linger long."

A beat.

"Are you with the High Republic?"

Acier Moonbound
-----​

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Olega - Abandoned Jedi Temple

Equipment:
Field Gear | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

The wind at the temple's edge carried sand and silence in equal measure. Tic's photoreceptor flickered softly as they crossed what used to be the main threshold, its beam catching the outlines of crumbled columns and fractured symbols carved into stone. Ace slowed when he saw her. Standing against ruin like she belonged there.

Her comment about trust pulled a faint smirk from him. "Call it curiosity more than trust."

He followed her gesture toward the inner chamber, steps echoing in the hollow quiet. The air inside was dry and still, the light slicing through cracks above in long, soft beams. Every sound felt amplified, like the temple itself was listening.

As Ace stepped through toward the inner chamber, a faint pulse brushed against him. The Force, lingering in the cracks and dust the way smoke clings to old clothes. Only… it didn't hit clean. Not the way it used to.

It felt muted, distant, like trying to touch something through a glove, the sensation was there but dulled, softened, blurred around the edges. The echoes were real, but muffled enough he had to reach for them twice before they registered.

When she warned him about the Force talk, he nodded once. "Yeah. That was my bad." He glanced around the room, ancient architecture stripped bare, nothing left but presence. "Haven't really been on my Ps and Qs lately."

He shifted his weight, eyes moving back to her at her last question. "High Republic?" He repeated, shaking his head. "No. Not with anyone really."

He paused, studying the older woman for a moment. His dark eyes shifting ever so slightly as seconds passed.

"Alliance gone. Empire cracking down on people like us. I guess that's why you're here? Keeping your head down?" Ace watched her again, pondering on his next words carefully.

Even against his dulled senses, he felt something from the woman still. There was a weight to her presence, restrained but dense, like a star dimmed behind cloud cover. Stunted, maybe, but not diminished. Whatever had muted her edge hadn't taken the core of her strength. If anything, the quiet made it more noticeable.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Romi Jade​