Two train's runnin', on that line

[Coren Starchaser]

Now that’s a scene, a cantina, dusty planet, and on the Rim. Coren Starchaser was doing his job, working and finding the dark side. Hunting the dark side. But there was more to it than that. The pilot, the leader of the Dawn Treader’s Warbird Wing, was looking for something more, he was waiting on his apprentice. The Quicksilver, the silver skinned Forerunner class exploration vessel was out and orbiting the planet, working to drop Coren on this no named moon, and alert him to threats.

He himself had taken his freighter down, and was sitting in the bar. The doors were creaking in the wind, and a sound was coming from the band, a sad, nearly wailing sound. Someone had lost a lover, or a friend. A part of them was missing, and the bar, in its already desolate atmosphere, was feeling even more sparse and alone. Dark brown pants, white tee-shirt, black jacket over it, shaded lenses pushed up into his hair, the pilot was doing his best to blend in.

The pilot had helped himself to half a bottle of the probably-backroom-fermented bourbon, and was nursing a rocks glass full of it. It tasted like garbage, but whatever, he was just relaxing, getting his mind moving from the topics of the galaxy and to where he should go. What he was doing, was waiting.

This world wouldn’t be tracked, and the Quicksilver was scanning the system, while the Tachyon Rising had landed without any IFF, not needed on this world. But he knew that the transmission was good. Porter set that up, straight to Two-Bit. His apprentice should be here soon. And there was a glass out.

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

Chevu knew that the bar where she’d find Coren would be a sad hovel of a cantina on the outskirts of a spaceport, and sure enough, that’s exactly what this place was. Did it even have a name? If it did, the Holo-sign had burned out long ago. The Mirialan’s BB-8 unit, Two Bit, whistled excitedly when he saw the pilot there, hunched over the bar, drinking something that looked stronger than Gamorean moonshine.

Chevu smiled and walked up behind him, putting one hand on his arm, while the other one stole a sip of his drink. Her nose crinkled as she grimaced. Ugh. That stuff was pure swill. Coren could drink just about anything when he wanted to tie one off. Bad-tasting or not, it might be the right medicine, after the news she was about to drop.

“I turned in my Marshal badge,” she said, grinning, almost giddy. She’d just announced to Omai Rhen that she no longer felt as if she could be a Jedi Marshal in the Galactic Alliance. Why? It was simple. Her traditional Jedi training had been thrown out, like dead weight through an airlock. Chevu felt things deeply and passionately, and had found that emotions weren’t as dangerous as the Jedi lead them to be. She no longer believed in the Jedi code and no longer felt that their way was the path to peace. In her eyes, the Jedi were too idealistic and not pragmatic enough. There was always going to be war. You had to pick a side, or stagnate.

Two Bit bleeped out his approval. Did this mean that his master was leaving Sullust, and he would soon be reunited with Porter? He kriffing hoped so.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The best places to meet with clandestine folk was the places that lost their name decades ago. This would be known as ‘oh yeah, that honky tonk on the rim of the town. I know the place.’ Really, that was how the place was found, and those were sometimes the best joints. This one, though, had garbage bourbon, but it was hidden.

Porter was outside, scanning whatever down, the droid was doing its own thing half the time, but would join them now that it could tell Two Bit was around.

Smiling, and despite the air of the bar, a true smile, he looked over at his lover-student. A glass suddenly burst into existence next to his, and the rack across the bar was shaking. Looking at the barkeep, Coren shrugged, giving a completely perplexed glance.

“Did you, you sure about that?” He had wanted her to drop the Jedi, not because of any fault of the New Jedi Order, no, the galaxy needed them, but because he didn’t want her to keep herself closed from the galaxy. He smiled at her all the same.

“Because if you’re followin’ me, hun, it’s going to be messy.” The pilot winked.

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

"Who said I was following you?" she laughed, elbowing him lightly. She gave off a shrug and a playful smile, then lifted the bourbon to her lips. Ugh. Still bitter-tasting.

"Maybe I'm going to strike out on my own. Just me and Two Bit against the galaxy."

Two Bit gave off a raspberry sound that he'd picked up from Porter. He was not amused.

"And yeah, I'm sure about stepping down," Chevu said, ignoring her roly-poly astromech. "I was trying to be someone I'm not for Oomomo's sake. And honestly? I think he'd want me to just be myself."

Chevu wanted to continue their training which had been interrupted by, well, everything. She was still Coren's student, and although she wanted to strangle him sometimes, she needed him. She'd missed him. She lo...

She wasn't going to think about that.

A knowing grin came, one that was less mocking and more sincere.

"The Mirage is ready to join your fleet. For as long as you'll have her."

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The pilot let out a small laugh. Sometimes he smiled. Right now, he was working on getting his ducks in a row. He had some products and material from Nemo Ven, and a lot of things to move. He had a lot of people to worry about, and that included the proper Alliance herself. Sure, they were having issues by having the Jedi in part of the Triumvirate, but they were also just unsure. Making certain people leaders, when there was not proof they weren’t who they looked like?

Besides, the Jedi cramped Coren’s style. What they needed to do was learn from the model of Skywalker, the man who, in some stories, took down the Sith at one point in history, single-handedly. The Jedi who could do it all.

“Oh, are you now?” He winked at his partner and rolled his eyes. “You can still respect Oomomo’s legacy, but he did send you my way. It must have been for a reason.” A new wave of Force users? Defenders of the good? Warriors of the so-called-light? They could be heroes, just for one day.

“As long as you’ll follow me where most won’t go.” He said, lifting his glass. “But there are some things we need to do, first.” Porter had entered the bar, and Coren nodded to the bartender. The closed sign went up, and the two droids and two Forcers were lead into a back room. From there, a holographic display of the Kathol Rift was shown.

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

Would Chevu follow him where most wouldn’t go? Did it snow on Hoth? The Mirialan was not completely fearless, but she was gutsy and curious, and that combination made her perfectly suited for exploring.

“Following you isn’t any crazier than what’s happening in the Roche Asteroids,” she said. The Mandalorians were battling the Republic there, and it made no sense to Chevu. Why did a group that opposed the Sith want to tear down a group that was dedicated to fighting them, thereby forcing light siders to pick sides? The galaxy had gone topsy-turvy ever since the former Republic prime minister was proven to be an unstable tyrant. Could the same thing happen to the Alliance? Maybe. That’s what the Darkmeld was for.

With a litany of beeps coming from Two Bit and Porter, Chevu followed Coren into the bar’s backroom. What was happening here? Her eyes widened when she saw the Holo-map.

The Mirialan rubbed her chin, onyx eyes trailing back and forth over the display. Her heart drummed in her chest. The Kathol Rift. They were going to the karking Kathol Rift. Was her master finally going to take her to train with the reclusive Aing Tii monks? She remembered that day that Coren told her she wasn't’ ready, and how it felt like a punch in the gut.

“Thought you said I wasn’t ready,” she countered with a saucy grin. A green hand rested on her hip, her posture challenging the pilot.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren was always going to take Chevu along. The man didn’t want a student, but hten this one fell in his lap. Directed by an ill Jedi Master to come learn from the likes of him? That was a very interesting bit of serendipity. The Force was odd in that way, or maybe it was just what needed to happen. Coren had found the Alliance, he had found working with Chevu, and now what? He was looking for the next target, and doing what he could to help end them.

“Yeah, probably not. The Republic is trying.” He thought. Gir Quee seemed to have his feet under him, and he knew that the Alliance had sent out legionnaires to help fight the Mandos back. But he wasn’t sure how the war was going to go. He needed the Republic and Alliance to work hand in hand, against the Sith, against the First Order, just against the darkness.

She wasn’t ready? The pilot pursed his lips a little and shrugged to the side. “Well, here is your chance to prove me wrong.” A grin crept across his face. “If you think you can.”

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

"You bet your cute ass I'll prove you wrong," Chevu said, matching Stachaser's challenging grin. Two Bit gave Coren a feisty beep, echoing his master's bold sentiment. The Mirialan sauntered across the room and wrapped her arms around the pilot, slipping her green-skinned hands in his back pockets. Two Bit rolled up and tried to squeeze himself between the couple. He always felt so left out when they embraced.

Suddenly it hit her hard. How much she missed him. How wrong it felt to have a galaxy between them. They were a team, and they fought like demons sometimes, but being with Coren felt right. He was hard on her, but his faith was unwavering, and there was no doubt that he would lay his life on the line for her. And vice versa. The Mirialan lay a long whiskey-tasting kiss on his lips, breathlessly letting her body tell him the things that she couldn't express in Basic. When Chevu came up for air, she bit her lip with a devilish smile.

"So when do we leave, Commander?"

Hopefully right now.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Could Starchaser be weighing in on her personality a bit? Perhaps, but was it bad? He'd never admit to that. No, the Jedi, or the light side as a whole, needed people like Coren and Chevu. Ones who were there to defend the rest, to protect the galaxy and jump headlong into the fray and knock the enemy down a few notches. He could feel her hands on him and wrapped his arm around her waist for a moment, as Porter whistled at them from the other side of the room.

Work was, as always, waiting. The galaxy was a fluid sandbox and there was always something to defend, someone to kill.

Having his student, his lover, here was important. It felt right. Like they could take on the whole Empire themselves Sith and restore the galaxy. The physical, and just… everything connection between the pair, that was what was being said now. Without words, with glances, his recognizing the collar on her, the feelings of their bodies, of the very Force around them. He wasn’t going to pull from the kiss, but there was a galaxy to save.

“As soon as you’re ready.” He nodded. They’d have to drop one ship off, he wasn’t leaving the Rising on some no-name moon. "Have to get one of our ships to safety, our destination is mostly plotted." She'd have to do the rest on the fly.

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

“I’m ready,” the Mirialan announced with a grin, with a rare schoolgirl bouncing on her heels. She couldn’t be more ready in fact. Somewhere, Oomomo knew. He’d brought Chevu to Coren for a reason. Maybe this was it? Her soul felt as stagnant as the air in the Sullust biodomes. She needed freedom from the place that had clipped her wings. She needed to roam the stars.

Master and student parted ways while Chevu fetched the Mirage, steering her into a hanger on the Dawn Treader, where she was ferried to the Rising. In a few hours, she met her master in the cockpit, her droid trailing her like a pint-sized shadow. The astromech announced himself with excited beeping, swivelling his left and right as he frantically searched for Porter.

She leaned over the navicomputer, checking out the coordinates. The anomalies made astrogation to the Kathol Rift a bit riskier than jumping around your average bit of space. Not only was there the Rift itself, but the Kathol Sector also held the Marcol Void, which was supposedly crawling with pirates.

If there was anyone who could get them there safely, it would be a Starchaser.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The trip wasn’t that bad. Coren knew they’d make it to the Treader quickly. Never a concern for him. But that was because the pilot himself could navigate across the galaxy simply by feel. He landed his ship on the Dawn Treader. He figured they’d take his ship, but it would still pose and issue as he had removed the navigation charts of the Rift into a local server that was removed from the navigation computer. It was simply a matter of moving files.

When his student arrived, though, he wasn’t going to tell her that. She had to find her answers herself. Porter was ready and waiting for Two Bit and was tweeting happily along as the other droid showed up.
“So, you know how I said prove it? Find us the Aing-Tii.” From there, she could show what she could learn.

[member="Chevu Visz"]