Private Why so Siri-ous?

[Jerek Zenduu]

The history between the Jedi and Mandalorians was not at all a calm or reasoned one. Jerek had done his fare share of studying it, but even he struggled to make heads or tails of the conflict. Whatever had started it, he still wasn’t sure. Was there some jealousy from the Mandalorians over the Jedi’s mastery of the Force and lightsaber? Had there been some political squabble with the (very) old Republic and the helmet-clad warriors that saw the Jedi as soldiers and scapegoats? Did someone get left off a Life Day card list?

Whatever the cause, it didn’t really matter in the long run. What mattered was that the Mandalorians had taken something, and now there was a chance to get it back.

Jerek wasn’t sure who Siri Tachi was, besides being the name of a Jedi from long ago, a thousand years or so. Was she even real? Were the records, haphazard and patchwork as they were from that time, even right about her name? Did it even matter? Sometimes the legend was more important than the truth, a symbol was a powerful tool against fear and uncertainty. And if there was any time that the Jedi needed more tools against fear and uncertainty, it was now.

The padawan took in the other occupants of the ship’s lounge with him. Two other stalwart Jedi sat with him, though both were Knights where he was not. The first, Asaraa Vaashe, he knew and trusted. She and Jerek had worked together before, and together were no strangers to rescue missions in occupied space. The other was a newcomer to Jerek, Lex Del’Fino, though his rougher features suggested that he was no newcomer to missions like these. The gleaming interior of the starship left them with nothing to hide from each other, and Jerek much preferred it that way. They were set on recovering light for the galaxy, the best way to start was to bring it with them.

The world they ventured to was mired in darkness. The darkness of generations of warring Mandalorian clans had given way to the darkness of Sith conquerors. It was only a small blessing that the Sith could hardly lay waste to what was already wasted. Jerek felt little in the loss that the galaxy had suffered from the collapse of the Mandalorian union, and a little glad that an opportunity had arisen from their destruction. The vaults on Mandalore held centuries-worth of captured treasures, and among them was the lightsaber hilt once wielded by an ancient Jedi.

That was their prize, if they were found worthy.

Jerek considered their Jedi trio, wondering if that was them. A wayward padawan far more comfortable in a cockpit than anywhere his feet touched ground, a freshfaced knight in her haute couture outfit, and a dusted-up detective who looked like he’d aged a century in the last two years. If a more unlikely group to rescue a legendary talisman existed, he couldn’t fathom where they might be found.

The padawan shook his head, returning to the matter at hand. He studied the map projection in front of them, displaying the topography around the museum where the Mandalorians kept their valuable prizes. Or at least, what it had looked like before the Sith invasion and conquest. ”With the visitor entrance on the north end, it seems like that would be the easiest way to go in? Just blend in with the day’s traffic and slip in right under their noses!”

Jerek reached for another of the snack cakes arranged on a plate between the trio as he considered the environment they were about to enter. Blending in was a good plan, but he was assuming the museum was still open. That the Sith hadn’t looted it for prizes of their own, conquest trophies were a shared attribute between the Sith and Mandalorians both. And that was assuming that there weren’t Sith acolytes or lords checking the crowds to spot anyone who didn’t belong.

So many variables, so much risk for one little sword. But it didn’t matter, this was the right thing to do.

Right?

Thoughtfully, Jerek bit into the snack cake and leaned back, letting the sweetness on his tongue overpower his worries.

Asaraa Vaashe Lex Del'Fino​

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

The war that had been fought with the Mandalorian's was still a recent memory a recent scar, for the first time that she could remember Asaraa had seen a Jedi Order roused from its slumber. An order that had gathered it's will and struck out at their enemies, at those who would destroy innocent life and darken the galaxy. The Jedi were caught in a perennial war with the Sith, one of those conflict that never seemed to end, just wax and wane, and yet for a moment the threat of the Mandalorians had driven even that into the background.

The Pink-haired Jedi had answered the call, as had so many of her friends and family, some had walked away without a scratch, some had the physical scars to show what they'd lost to the war. For some though, the scars weren't visible but ran deep none the less. A pale hand clenched and unclenched on the table, reaching up to run through her hair, fingers trailing through the strands, just playing with them, teasing them without really thinking.

They'd flown past it, that rock in the middle of no-where, no sun to light it, no real note on the Galactic map. Azure, a rogue planet hurtling through space. It had been the planet she'd died on. The planet where her friends had refused to let her go, had pulled her back from the force. She could still feel it though, that sea of energy that surrounded her, still surrounded her. She just had to close her eyes and she could still see them, the river of souls she'd seen flowing away, all the people she'd failed to protect. THey'd been unable to speak but their voices had still called out, their eyes fixed on her, asking that one question spread across many faces, 'why didn't you save me'.

She glanced down at her hands again, they were flying right into a stronghold of Sith power now, the first time she'd come close to them after Azure. The darkness seemed to float on the surface of the force, a taint that it was impossible to avoid. A slow breath out as she looked up, it was, when you thought about it Mandalore, the very footstep of the Sith capital was the last place anyone would think to look for a Jedi, let alone 3 of them.

"I doubt they'd expect anything, and it is Mandalore, so as long as we don't show up wearing neon colours or brandishing lightsabers I think we should be able to slip in. The trick's gonna be breaking away from the crowd without looking too suspicious."

Jerek Zenduu | Lex Del'Fino

 

[Lex Del'Fino]

Lex's past was a complicated one. Well, maybe not that complicated, when you really looked at it. He'd been with the Silvers since he was a toddler, rescued from a life of slavery through the timely intervention of a force of Antarian Rangers and their Jedi Commander. Not exactly a unique origin story when it came to the source of new blood for the Order. In fact, taking in orphans was something of a tradition for not just this Order, but all those of the past. They like to shape the mind young, when it was still pliable. Of course now in days there wasn't really a limit on who they took in, the girl he'd brought recently coming to mind...

He was getting off track. The main difference for him wasn't his origins really, it was who his parents were. Mon-Ike-Do had actually been the Jedi who rescued him, so his telling of it wasn't really questioned by Lex. His father and mother's vessel had been attacked by slavers. His father, a Corellian, had been killed early on. But his mother, one of the galactically famous Mandolorian warriors, had managed to fend them off until the distress beacon had been responded to, even after being gravelly injured. Master Ike-Do had found him in her arms, attempting to shake her awake.

It was a secret he was likely to carry to the grave, but Lex Del'Fino wasn't even his real name. With both parents dead, and no records kept aboard their ship, Ike-Do simply picked a new one for him. Del'Fino was just the name of an old holo-net opera character, a smuggler who followed his own code as he roamed the Outer Rim. He supposed that's where he got most of his current personality and persona from. Despite his Master's attempt,s, he never felt completely at home with the Jedi. He couldn't fully explain it...

But that's why he even volunteered for the mission. He honestly could care less about an ancient lightsaber, even if it belonged to a Jedi of myth. There were, and this was no exaggeration, literally hundreds of weapons like that, some held by the Jedi, some held by the Sith, and probably one or two used by a Hutt crime lord to cut his food. He understood that in times where the future was uncertain, people needed something to rally behind. But the lightsaber of Siri Tachi probably wouldn't be one of them. For him, maybe being on the homeworld of his mother would bring some kind of, as Ike-Do would put it, 'spiritual closure', to his life. And if not, there were probably plenty of other trinkets left behind by the Sith after their invasion.

Bringing himself out of his introspection, he took stock of his current company. A Padawan, a title he was getting much too familiar with as of late, and another Knight, though she seemed to be no older than the Padawan. As the pair discussed the mission, he picked between three small canisters on his belt, and grabbed one. Opening the small cap of it, he took a swig of it's contents, shivering as it went down his throat and hit his stomach. "Do either of you know Concealment? Cloak? We just go in, fabricated identities on hand, turn invisible, get the lightsaber if it's there, and go." He took another drink from the canister. "And if it's not, we can just build a replica, if that's what's needed."

 

[Jerek Zenduu]

Jerek nodded, his past experiences told him that was rather simple to get past Sith security. As much fun as it would be to walk in brandishing a lightsaber and just demand the artifact, he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that would actually work. Though the cloak-and-dagger approach felt rather deceitful, something more appropriate for criminals or Sith, it was probably better than an outright confrontation with Mandalore’s new overlords, much less the world’s occupied citizenry. The Jedi were walking into a place with zero allies, they couldn’t afford to stand out.

Unless they needed a distraction, anyway.

Which they might need in order to get free at the end, the padawan noted as Asaraa alluded to the very same thing. Finishing off a snack cake, the boy eyed the wizened Jedi sitting among them, who took a swig of his something from a flask at his hip. If anyone was going to be their sacrificial lamb, Jerek was keen to nominate him.

Then the wizened Jedi said something that actually sounded...wise.

”No, I haven’t learned those yet,” Jerek said, shaking his head at the mention of Force Cloak or Concealment. The man’s laissez faire attitude demonstrated thus far was a little grating, but the teen couldn’t help but respect the suggestion. It seemed more and more like this mission was going to push him, once more, outside his comfort zone. He might as well learn something useful from it. ”Could you teach me?” Jerek glanced at the pink-haired knight for any indication that she was in his same boat. ”Us?”

On top of it all, perhaps they could avoid paying the admission prices. That was always useful, trying to get reimbursed for expenditures took forever as a padawan. Jerek had at least three still pending, and he could expect to get his credits back right about the time he was knighted.

Unless he could leverage the rescue of an ancient artifact to hurry the process.

”A replica?” Jerek asked, appalled by Lex’s suggestion. Did he think they had the credits to make a proper forgery? Besides that, the indignant padawan wasn’t about to go through this whole effort just to turn over a fake to the Silver Jedi. Nevermind about deceitful, that was downright immoral. ”We’re not the Hutts, just looking for something shiny to hang on our walls. I thought this was about the history of the relic.”

Jerek may have also promised a certain Cathar youngling that he could examine the recovered lightsaber before it was put in the Archives, one who would spot the fabrication at once.

And there was no way Jerek wanted to be on Micah’s bad side. That kit had some major catitude when it came to historical integrity.

Maybe that's why Jerek had volunteered for this mission, why it was so important to him to get this right. The little kit had started to rub off onto him!

Or maybe he just needed a vacation.

How was the weather on Mandalore this time of year, anyway?

Asaraa Vaashe Lex Del'Fino​

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

If there was one thing the young Jedi Knight prefered it was doing things upfront, a head to head confrontation, a test of skill and strength, of her skills vs those of her opponent. With everything going on in her head, with the memories that she was struggling to accept, to find a place for that remained true. It was far far better, to be honest, and upfront, to come at her opponents with everything she had. Truth was, she knew that she'd rarely come up against an opponent who was her superior in skill and power before...and the few times hse had well she'd almost died...so maybe not the best of strategies.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on where you stood, her adopted family's traditions were a little different, both Yuroic and Jairdain tended towards the stealthy, towards more covert uses of the force. Asaraa wouldn't say that they had changed her mind on a subject, but at one time or the other both of them had been her master and certain skills and attitudes had rubbed off on her. A hand came up, rubbing at the back of the young woman's head as she gave a wry smile.

"I've learned force cloak before, even taught it to someone once but, I didn't think about using it in here, to get into that place."

Crystal-blue eyes swung away from her companions to stare at the city, not really seeing the houses and skyscrapers that painted the skyline. Instead, she was watching without watching, seeing the dark aura that seemed to seep across the city. A dark aura that part of her wanted to dance in, to sing and run through, absorbing that emotion, the fear and suffering that seemed to suffuse the one proud Mandalorian city. She knew she could draw on it, strengthening herself, giving her the power she needed to protect her allies, to complete the mission without anyone being hurt, without any danger to them.

Only it was wrong.

She couldn't do that, draw on the darkness of the city and still call herself a Jedi, still look to lead and act as a role model. She couldn't look at herself in the mirror if she just sought to feed off anger and pain, that''s not who she was, that's not who she wanted to be.

A breath out. A crisis passed as she turned to face her companions.

"If we use the force down there, if we use it before we have to, won't someone sense it, won't someone become suspicious of us? Or at least start looking around for anomalies?"

Three Jedi together, that was the kind of force, of unity that they wrote stories about, that they wrote legends of. Only...most of those legends were of the Jedi sacrificing themselves to face down odds that overwhelmed them, to show the light still burned brightly. It was heroic and good for the galaxy as a whole no doubt to have those heroes...it was just she really really wanted to live and go home.

Jerek Zenduu | Lex Del'Fino