The Well Worn Path

[Darth Ren Malgus]

Everything felt different she felt different. Her senses were humming again as she wrestled with trying to keep them in check there were still spots in her mind she felt the void not sure how to deal with that.

Right now she sat looking out at the view from the Wheel. She had heard about this place often enough and now here she was staring out at the ships and darkness. Twinkles of light reminding her of the many stars she had seen standing from some planet somewhere in the galaxy looking for the latest relic.

She lifted the glass of wine she drank to her lips. She smiled as she could hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of the crowd around her. It felt like home.

Home. Friends, Family. She really did have all of it she could remember the warmth of her mother's hugs, and the soft kisses her father put on her forehead, and how much love they gave. What the darkness had taken from her were those things that she had used in her skills. Her connections to everything around her.

She couldn't remember all the names anymore that was still difficult, well a lot was difficult. She and Ren were one again she realized she needed Ren in order to know balance. Wouldn't HK be surprised when she told him, and even Seydon.

Where were her other friends right now?

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The way the galaxy was really was just a terrible state. Coren wasn’t here to fix anything. He was just here, he swore, to help arm and resupply the Dawn Treader and then it would be back to wherever the currents in space would take them. That was why he was only using the Shortfin, if people were tracking him. There were a few stops he had to make to find everything, and then he’d be on his way, perhaps? He had the conversation with Jorus kicking around in his brain but at the moment he was worried about fuel cells.

Sure, he could hit up places like Nar Shaddaa, but the Wheel was a great place to start for any scavenging mission. He needed the right supplies and he was a bit worried about his shuttle, but Lexi and Porter would know to contact him and sound false warnings before anything got to that point.

He wasn’t reaching out in the Force, but he wasn’t pulling himself in. The first step to today’s adventure was find the pilots at the bar, and get them talking. Who was selling what, and where it was coming from. Had the Empire dropped anything, or was there a storehouse of salvage that he could pick through.

Or ruin the person’s mind until he got the pieces he needed? One could hope. But he took the second to survey the people here, his back to the bartender, a glass already in his hand. Where to start…

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

Serena sighed she didn't know why she spent such endless hours trying to figure it all out, why not just live? Why not just start researching and finding what she could? Because it bothered her.

She turned looking to get a refill in her glass she scanned the room. She didn't know why she did it, she just did. Or maybe there was an after effect to all of this, of being two people in one body. Was Ren really gone or had she just been convinced she was gone.

Serena hesitated half smiled and started to walk, she wanted her refill. It was a comfort to have something in her hands while her mind rambled around looking for something to hold onto. She was half way to the bar when her senses tingled with familiarity. But who was here? Who would be this far out? And why?

She took a few more uneasy steps, maybe she imagined it. Her blue eyes started on the left slowly scanning to the right then she stopped her gaze on a man she thought she knew. But yet his face was not quite familiar yet, the dim lights, or her bad memory, or worse...Ren knew him and she didn't.

She stepped gingerly and made her way to the bar, standing a stool length away from him, "Refill please" her voice soft hints of uncertainly. She couldn't help but stare at the man.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The galaxy was just a broken place. Coren knew this all too well. You could be fighting the good fight against targets that made sense, and then the second someone’s doppelganger, and not just someone, but the Dark Lord of the Sith’s doppelganger showed up, saying he was on your side, people took it as fact. That was not a mistake he was going to make, and was going to stick to his guns. He always had his guns ready, at least. All he needed was a target.

The pilot was one that used the Force to do what he cold tokeep himself on top of others, but right now? He was just a regular shuttle jock going about his life and shopping for parts for ships. Old parts, new parts, things he could refurbish. Mostly for his own use, but potentially for sale to other pilots around the Unknown Regions and Wild Space.

Sitting at the bar, he could feel that familiar ping of someone you spent time with. The man was so used to being surrounded by his family aboard the Treader, he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing here and why he was feeling that. Had he known someone who was here? He looked up at the blonde who approached the bar. “What’s your poison?” He did know her face.

He’d let her remember him first.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

She tried to look away something about him was familiar. She half smiled, "Red Dwarf please" She shook her head, "Do I know you, I feel like I'm supposed to" She couldn't remember that she had met him when she had lost her past memory while she was galavanting around the galaxy and here she was doing that again. But this time all of her memories were fading in and out.

When doors opened in her mind she remembered but until a door opened she likely wouldn't remember Coren. Coren who was a friend, even if it was one planet one adventure. She smiled again while she inched closer not wanting everyone to hear their conversation. She had learned to keep some of the thoughts to herself.

Her empathy skills were triggered as she tilted her head trying to remember before he said anything.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

See, now this was what was wrong with the galaxy as Coren knew it. So much was just so fethed up at any time. He shook his head shortly but managed a grin over at Serena. Yeah, he remembered her, even if something was different about her. What was it? He couldn’t quite place it. He swirled the drink around in his glass. For all that the Unknown regions were a bit terrifying, they really didn’t match the cocktails the same way the Known Galaxy did. Maybe they just didn’t have time for it.

But he knew what they had time for. So much had gone on out there and only now was he seeing how he could place it into a more useful purpose for the galaxy. Maybe he’d start with Serena, but it would require a lot of using the Force. A lot of forging, focusing, and imbuing materials. Though, hell, he didn’t know what Serena was even doing here.

“We met once or twice, yeah. A quick in and out on a planet or two.” He spoke plainly, not offended, just matter of factly. He tossed a credchip on the counter at the bartender and nodded, indicating he was taking her drink’s tab. “What’s got you out on the Wheel?”

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

It would be silly for her to say her name then he knew it, "memory problems again" She smiled, "The Wheel its safe, its not the core and there are many things to find out here if one is willing to look, besides I still get wanderlust and have to fill in that need."

She nodded to the bartender when he put down her drink, "Thank you forgive me though I can't recall your name, can you tell me what it is? Would you care to sit near the windows there's a great view of space from there. All the ships coming and going it's...calming." She lifted her drink and took a sip.

There were emotions coming off him. Was he angry about something? She couldn't quite tell yet but the images of her face came up, oh she thought. "It will call come back this time. I just...need time." She smiled again hoping she said the right words to ease any frustration he had about how karked the galaxy was.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Not the Core, that was the truth. Coren wasn’t about to head into the center of the galaxy, he knew better than that. Just as he knew getting himself closer to the Alliance space. It’d be a great way to get noticed and then his days of creeping around could be at an end. Unless he rushed his way back to the Unknown Regions, and theoretically? He’d do that, quickly and without looking back. “Keeping on the move is smart.”

Refugees, rogues, smugglers, people who just are hiding from somewhere else. That was what the Wheel attracted, its what Coren was. Its what most people needed. “Its Coren.” He said, in response. No need to give out his last name, not in a place like this. Grabbing his drink, he looked over to the window. “Sure, not a bad idea.” He didn’t mind seeing who was coming and going, what ships were out there, and the like.

“Whats happened to you?” Straight to the point. Great job with bed-side manner, Starchaser.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

"Coren" she said, then she began thinking Coren, it sounds familiar, it rolls off the tongue easily its familiar to me. She smiled as she moved to go back to the seats by the window.

Out there she saw everything the slow movement of the ships on approach, the streaks of light as ships came out of hyperspace. She settled into a comfortable chair pulling her legs up.

"What happen to me" She didn't mind direct, it was a lot easier than trying to figure it out, but then she had a cheat she could figure out with a bit of concentration.

"Mythos happened, Adas's Axe, death of my family, loss of my path, being alone, I guess I just couldn't handle it so...I split in two and became Ren and Serena. I got a little boost from [member="HK-36"] that there was something wrong. Met with an old friend [member="Seydon"] who gave me hope that I wasn't a blonde monster and I went in search of Serena, I happen to find her but she's a bit broken. I mean I"m a bit broken here and there..work in progress."

She looked down for a moment, "So, what about what's new?" Like she could remember what was old.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Memory was a tricky thing. Hell, he saw what some Jedi and Sith could do to one’s memory, and that was just fething crazy. Coren made a point to avoid doing anything that clearly messed with the mind. When Serena made her way to the table, he kept close, following her, tossing eyes around the cantina, seeing just who was there, and if anyone was going to be making a move on the pair.

The Unknown Regions were a bit more wild, but the Known Galaxy was full of crazies. The traffic though, of ships, was relaxing. Everyone having a place to be and go, moving from here to there. He looked to Serena and ran a hand over his own chin, nodding.

Mythos. He remembered that name.

But the next thing she said confused him. “Broken? Became two? That’s… not making sense to me.” He wasn’t saying she was wrong, but… never happened to him, so it was new, and foreign, of a concept. He wanted to help but was not going to approach that quite yet…

“I went to the Unknown Regions. The galaxy gets to be… a bit of a boiling pot every so often, and its not a pleasant place to be, depending who you turn into enemies. So I'm back now, seeing what has changed, and figuring my next move." He looked at her and sipped at his drink.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

How to explain she thought, "I um well you know how everyone has like their good and evil parts? My mind just split between the two. When I was Serena I was this ultimate good girl, and when Ren I was a bad girl. Ren liked power and she liked being a Queen and a mother to the most powerful men on Atrisia. So Ren just took over. When the darkness was finally put back to be part of me, there became a balance. A way to start again. But what it took to do that, took memories. So here I am again wondering around trying to put it back together."

She sighed, "I don't know why the force thinks this is always such a good idea but I'm ready for it to be done. I need to have something else now. My children are I don't know, and Mythos I've heard rumors he's alive again. He was always crafty like that. I don't think I'm what he needs now though. But I'm out here where life is relatively easier."

She thought about the unknown regions, "Unknown regions could be a great place to have a life. Depending on how you want to live, yes?"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Relaxing in his seat and turning his attention to the blonde in front of him, Coren listened. Sure, he was sipping his drink and keeping an eye on the mirror that let him see the door, but he was listening. And the pilot had just returned from the Unknown Regions, he’d heard tell of this Ren business, but figured it to just be some sort of hokey religion. He had no idea it got into you and split you from who you were. He did remember the bits of Serena that had adventured with him, and she was a great person, but the new one, that was… different.

More reason to end the First Order, it seemed. Bringing frakking eldritch terrors into this galaxy? No thanks.

“Sometimes the Force is just a child with a magnifying glass on a sunny day. I had left to get away from the insanity that the galaxy brings. But, as always, I end up back here. Dunno, I may be popping over to the Outer Rim Coalition, sounds like they’ve got a pretty good thing going on. No real order of Forcers, just people helping people.”

That was the thing about being a Spacer, it made life ridiculously simple. Help others and help yourself.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

"Are they good people Coren, these at the ORC? I could use the company of good people. I'm tired of having everything taken with not an ounce of remorse or forgiveness. I just want to be me." She smile soft as she lifted her drink.

She enjoyed the peace but perhaps meeting Coren out here was a way of the force telling her for complete redemption she needed to help others. Perhaps that was the only way she would ever feel like who she had set out to be.

There was always a reason for everything. The galaxy and the force was odd like that take you one way then another just to bring you back to where you were.

"Do you still swim and sail?" She was beginning to remember bits and pieces. Yes they had gone swimming, no sailing and ended up........naked? Her brow furrowed had she been...with Coren? And couldn't remember?

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

“They’re good people. Wanderers. They know that their ship and their friends are what keeps them alive. Seems like they may not be the type to go out and attack others, just kind of… exist and enjoy life. I’m not having an issue with them so far.” He shrugged and laughed. Most people he didn’t mind, as long as they let him go his way and didn’t impede on what he wanted.

Don’t tread on me, in another galaxy and time.

The Force was an odd thing, the galaxy? Even more so. Coren smiled at Serena a second more, remembering encounters with her. They were both explorers, wanderers, and people who weren’t always lost. “When I can. The Unknown Regions offered a lot of different worlds, but heading to Wild Space, it seems like there are so many places we don’t know about yet. So many adventures.”

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

"places that need a scientist maybe?" She half smiled it would be good to have friends again, to...be near someone who didn't look at her like she had committed a crime either.

A friend at the very least.

"i could use a way to fulfill my wanderlust, plus well I need to get myself a small ship." She laughed, "So I need a job, credits unless I can find backers. But I'd prefer not to. I'd prefer to stay low key. Out of the way for a bit. You know?" She had a feeling he knew. Something else she remembered he had trouble with his memory at one time too.

They shared this, "How's your memory?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Really, there wasn’t much to consider before replying to her question. “Yeah, there is always the need for someone like you. New worlds bring a lot of new species and new places to explore, situations to discover.” And if they were lucky, new oceans, and places he could dive into. “I’m sure there is a place for you.”

At least, he hoped. He knew a few things about the Coalition, but if itw as a place Jorus supported? Had to be full of good people.
“Its like the Levantines of the past. A lot of worlds just waiting to be found and connected. Seems like a good place as any to recuperate. Can get you a ship, for sure.” It was something he did. He had a few bridges he hadn’t burned yet, easily could work with.

“So far so well, the Unknown Regions helped me remember quite a bit from before I met you. So… there is that?” He smiled at her. "Helps when I don't have anywhere to be, too." He shrugged.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

She wasn’t so sure about there always being a need but she liked the idea of new places with new things to explore. Perhaps this ORC was a good place for her to start over to just be Serena Bouie.

She remembered briefly the levantines she had gotten there just before they separated. Sad it had been a good group of folks to be around.

“ I kind of like the free spirit of it all right now. Just going when I feel like it.” Truth was she was a bit worn down by life maybe she could go cave diving again, or wander through the ancient halls of a city covered by rocks and moss.

“So what kind of ship, I’m thinking small with cargo space, how much does one cost Coren?” She sipped her wine, “I have some credits put away.”

She suddenly just felt like she didn’t really want to talk about ships, “I’d love to go for swim” she felt like she had picked that up from him. Her empathic skills were increasing she needed to be careful if she allowed it in too quickly it would overwhelm her.

“I think they hAve a pool on the wheel somewhere, want to find it?” It wasn’t a beach but it was wet and swimming alone was never fun.


[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The fact that the denziens of the Rim or Wild Space, or hell, most of the time, the Unknown Regions were more welcoming than the Core said something about the galaxy and politics. It said that the ones in the Core were worried about power, and control. The rest? Worried about survival and what it meant to stay alive. The Lords of the Fringe were the same, Levantines, now ORC.

Good folk all around.

“No one to tell you where to go and how to act? Its nice. Having that freedom and just being part of something a bit bigger, loose, but connecting, is worth it.” The fact that Wild Space offered a massive area where worlds were waiting to be re-discovered, helped. It gave purpose, or at least a playground, for the citizens of the Coalition.

“Well, we’d have to get out shopping, and see what we can find. Its not that hard, just need to see what you’re using it for, and get some shopping done.” It was one of those ‘the-ship-chooses-the-pilot’ mindsets for Corran, well, all the Starchasers, really.

With the abrupt change of subject, Corran was taken aback. He grinned, however, nodding at Serena, his eyes, and male-mind, doing a quick assessment of her again. “Yeah, sure. They have to have something here.” Right?

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

"Shopping" She said it like it was a foreign word. "I can't remember the last time I went shopping for anything." She tried to remember surely she had to have bought something in the last few years. Socks? Tools? Even a canvas bag for her gear.

"Ohh I bought treats when visiting Seydon. Does that count as shopping?" She caught how he looked at her not in the come hither kind of way but in the what the heck was that all about way.

"Sorry, I figured you're probably always asked about ships. That maybe you needed a break and it was something we could talk about later." She shrugged her shoulders, "I still get real um well jumpy on trying to make everyone happy. I remembered we had fun swimming, and thought maybe that would better. Its not sand and beach like I love but sometimes it seems that no matter where you are once you get into the water it pulls away all the anxiety all the the problems." She frowned slightly then half smiled.

She put her drink down, "Still want to or do you think walking would be better. I"m just...all over the place Coren. I'm sorry"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren couldn’t help but smile. He remembered a bit about Serena and the fact that she was aloof felt a bit different for him. The man shrugged. “I mean, its just something you need to get through the galaxy.” He laughed as he waved a hand out to the viewport. Space was big, having a home away from home was useful. Of course, for Coren, it was just ‘home’. Looking at her, when she joked, he shrugged. “I’ll count it!”


“Its what I do. Or did, really. I mean I still modify them, but its been a while since producing. You get something you want and I’ll take the time to make it work how you need it to. It’ll be a good time.” He laughed and looked her over slowly. “We did. The water is always the best place to go.” Plus, well, he could use a stretch.


“But if you wanna take a walk, I won’t argue with that. Whatever makes things easiest on you.” He really did mean that, part of being back in the galaxy like this meant he had nothing to worry about.


[member="Serena Bouie"]