The Saraai-Kar is Dead. Long live the Saarai-Kar

[Veino Garn]

Yumfla, Susefvi, Suarbi System
0230 local time
================

It wasn’t the comlink alarm that awoke Veino. No, before it signaled that he had an urgent incoming message, he felt a ripple in the Force. A tremor, really, as a pillar that he had relied on his entire life departed from the physical world and went to become one with the Force.

Veino rolled over and picked up the comlink. It was [member="Jeela Tillian"]. She had only recently returned to the Jensaarai after her time out and about the galaxy. She said nothing of it and Veino hadn’t asked.

“She’s dead,” Veino interjected, before his old flame could say anything. “Recalling all senior Defenders for the decision of the council.”

“You’re far too good at this, Veino,” Jeela’s tired voice came back over the comlink. “Be here by dawn. The Council is already gathering.”

“On my way.” Veino ended the call and strode from the room, pausing only to clip his lightsaber to his belt and grab a small chest that he sling over his shoulder.

========
Undisclosed location, Susefvi, Suarbi System
O555 Local Time
========

The morning was cool and tasted of salt as Veino guided the swoop into the enclave. As he slid it into the recessed storage room, the door rumbled shut behind him.

“Defender Garn, you’ve been requested to wait with the others outside the council chamber. Formal armor.” THe young Defender on guard duty gave a quick salute and returned to his post, leaving Veino to slip into a fresher. He emerged shortly after, clad in his armor and a gray cloak as he emerged into the council level. The intricate doors were firmly closed and a small crowd milled about the mosaiced floor.

All was silent and the armored figures hardly moved. Most stood with arms crossed or held behind their backs. Veino leaned against the wall by the door, with his arms loose against his side. His presence was a formality more than anything else. He was the Warden of Yumfla and Jensaarai liaison with President Mya Jesel. He held no real power or sway with the Council.

Yet after what felt like hours and a Council member emerged, it was him that they escorted into the Council chamber.

Numbed with surprise and overwhelmed, he nodded to give the order to prepare for the ceremonies. They would occur at sunset. He sent out a short message to [member="Coren Starchaser"] and [member="Julius Sedaire"].

Jensaarai power transition. Assuming mantle of Saraai-Kar. Need to consolidate and maintain integrity. Will be unavailable.

Yet something made him deeply uneasy. Faces were unreadable behind the armor, but he sensed a great deal of concern and resentment simmering in the room. Fear, even. Ill omens for the start of any term of leadership. He added another line to the message.

Conditions unstable.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He reached over and slapped the commlink. He tried to bump it to not ring and send it over to Porter. There were a few people that the droid knew to answer for. Sovv, Stazi, Mishel, leaders of the Prax… You know the important ones. And also certain topics. Rolling back over in the bunk on the Spear, the Jedi Mastercouldn’t shake the feeling that a message coming to his comm was probably important, and then he heard his trusty astromech.

What time was it?

The droid tweeted and beeped until Coren got up, and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he nodded. Looking down, he make a spinning motion with his right hand, definitely meaning play.

The written was translated into diction and Starchaser knew it was his long time friend Garn. He looked up again and shook his head. Was he still asleep? Saraai-Kar? Coren himself wasn’t a Jensaarai, though he had traveled with Veino long enough to know what that subsect of Force users were all about. That next line.

Conditions unstable.

“Prep my ship.”

[member="Veino Garn"]

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Jensaarai Enclave​

Susefvi​

​

Ser Tycho parried the probing force pike with his light shield, foil gripped tightly in hand when he lashed back out in riposte.

The Jensaarai warrior dodged his counter with uncanny dexterity for one so heavily armored, and he found himself overextended and exposed. Shuffling feet backwards so he could recenter his weight, the foreign knight was forced to concede his briefly won offensive when his opponent pressed the advantage. Alde deflected a furious barrage of pike slashes and thrusts with practiced grace borne of a lifetime training under an Alderaan sun. Leading the warrior on, he waited for an opportunity and when it presented himself, instead of deflecting a thrust off his shield he let it pass underneath just far enough to bring the buckler's edge down onto the pike's energized blade tip.

The Jensaarai's forward momentum carried him awkwardly forward and down, and Tycho slammed his plated shoulder into his foe's chest, sending the pike wielder sprawling out on his back.

It had taken the son of Count Alde months to ingratiate himself with the famously reclusive Jensaarai Knights. Only his Queen's reputation had been enough not to see him executed on the spot for his precociousness in arriving uninvited, and only his persistent overtures over many long weeks had granted him access to the Enclave itself. Only when he had challenged one of their warriors to a duel and won had their masters seen the merit in allowing him to train alongside them. It had been a hard won victory, but now every would be blademaster on the moon wanted to test his mettle.

Both their martial traditions were ancient and refined, however while the Jensaarai were also gifted students of the Force the life Ser Tycho had chosen was one solely dedicated to perfecting the art of battle. Even as the days wore on and he grew tired from constant challenge, he won more often than he lost.

Alde moved in to trap his sparring partner before he could recover and thus finish the duel, but before he could lay his lightfoil across the Jensaarai's throat a doleful chime tolled out across the fortress grounds. It reminded him of the ancient cathedral bells still preserved in Aldera, his homeworld's capital. The fallen knight leapt to his feet, and Tycho tensed momentarily before he realized that all thought of the duel was seemingly cast aside. For the first time since he had arrived the Enclave's immutable sense of order evaporated briefly into chaos.

"Wait!" he called out after his sparring partner who was already running off, "What's happening?"

"It is not for you to know. Stay here, Knight of Alderaan."

[member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"]​

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino ran a hand through his hair, brushing it back into some semblance of tidiness as his boots echoed on the stone floor. From now until sunset, the Council held absolute authority. After sunset, they were his advisors and delegates specialists. All authority and power in the Jensaarai would be his.

Saraai-Kaar. The Keeper of Truth. Within his dominion, even the Dark Lord of the Sith would be hard pressed to hold more power. It was something many might be keen to exploit. Someone had certainly been unhappy with his appointment by the... He shook his head as he pushed through the crowd of Defenders. She was just Defender Thorne now. No one held the title.

Veino would need to watch his back. Pick who he could trust, carefully and quickly. It unnerved him, looking into the blank masks of the people he has grown up with. Some had helped raise him. The young ones, he had helped to train. Yet the Dark Side shrouded things too deeply for him to know who stood on which side. He couldn’t even tell what the sides were.

He needed an outsider. It was why he had called Coren and Julius. He trusted them completely. And, when it came down to it, they were likely both better duelists than he was. Two of the finest that he had ever met in fact.

That reminded him, they had a guest. Alderaanian, a knight of some kind. Veino had never met him before, being occupied with surveillance in Yumfla. Increased gang activity, which now seemed suspicious. And he had been a blademaster of some kind or another. Either an assassin or the only one he could trust.

Hard to tell until they met.

“Defender Tillian,” Veino said, calling to the old man who now exited the council chamber. “Please have normal functions continue. The galaxy is a dangerous place. Threats could strike at any time, especially if we are presently vulnerable.”

The inflection in his voice was unnoticeable to anyone who didn’t know him well. The older Tillian had been a second father to him and he understood immediately.

“Of course, Defender Garn. Perhaps it would be a good day to take the Younglings on a field trip.”

“An excellent suggestion,” Veino replied, crossing his hands behind his back as he strode away. “Carry on everyone. I shall be in my chambers.”

He left which chambers were now his ambiguous. Better to keep them guessing in case they chose to strike quickly. A plan was already formulating in his mind as he hurried through the corridors to the training room.

“Ser [member="Tycho Alde"],” Veino said as he strode into the room. “Aldera, correct?” Veino took off his coat and hung it on a hook from the underground walls. “I hear you’re quite a blademaster.” He stretched. “How’s your unarmed? Don’t worry. No audience for this one.”

He added a touch of emphasis on the last phrase as he removed his helmet.

“Master Defender Veino Garn. Honor to finally meet you. Been a long time since I was on Alderaan. Tell me, how are things?”

All he could do now was wait until [member="Coren Starchaser"] arrived. Then he could move. But first, he needed to identify his enemy. Lure them out and force them to reveal themselves. And the best way for that was to appear weak. He could manage that.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He needed to get out to Susevfi. The YT-2000 was launching from the Spear of the Alliance and Coren quickly moved into a practiced dance. He knew the Force and he knew space. Sometimes it was easy to focus on a place to navigate to, but with certain beings, Coren knew he could concentrate on them and he’d find it that easier to navigate to them. The ship was sending out a message ahead of him, to get to Veino before he arrived but the Jedi Master knew that it was probably only going to get there a few minutes before he did.

At least the way he flew.

The ship pulled from the Star Defender and quickly leapt from real space to hyperspace. Coren was prepping his weapons and New Jedi Order/Alliance armor. He wasn’t sure what he was going to get himself into, but he did know he was heading to the Jensaarai world, and while they were normally good, the cryptic message? That made him have some concern.

But if Veino was there? How bad could they be. It wasn’t all that long before the ship arrived in the suburbs of Susevfi. Making his way in and calling for a landing, the Jedi Master found a docking location and landed. Getting a rented speederbike, he was heading towards where Veino was. He parked the speeder and made his case to the guards. He was hoping to be escorted to where his friend was.

He didn’t need to raise any alarm, but he knew when things were more dire than not.

[member="Veino Garn"]
[member="Tycho Alde"]