Begeren Colony

Alliance Headquarters, Odessen - Training Floor
Two months after the formation of the Alliance

Hands cut the air as instructions were given. The sound of sparring filled the room as the faint scent of incense infused the Aurelian's lungs.
"Alright. That's enough. I hope we're all warmed up. Bring it in."
He gestured in the center of the training floor as many
"I thought I'd bring it back to the basics today. Saber combat. Maybe some of you own your own light sabers, others might prefer something a bit more tactile or with a bit of weight and wherever you're at, I think we'll have something relevant. There's a few things..."
He looked between each face, trying to remember each name. Few were absent, but on the whole most of the regulars were here. And not all of them were force-sensitive.
"Form is obvious and so is posture. You will or will have covered that together with your instructors. There's enough learning material to go around. Footwork is something your instructors will stress and I will happily parrot their words but our focus for the day is distance."
It was strange for him to stand here as an instructor. He had apprentices before and it wasn't the first time he'd taught a large group but standing here with the Alliance, giving instruction to a large group composed of Jedi, Sith and all in between... it gave him a real sense of purpose. Of unity. One he hadn't felt in a long time...

"Distance between yourself and your opponent -- the distance that you cover with each step when you close to strike, the distance  your opponents will cover in reply. The distance you need to cover before you strike. It might sound obvious but you'd be surprised how much room you might need to make a cut or how little. When you're alert and ready for battle the step you make in combat covers more ground than you might make out of it."

He demonstrated to them as he made a typical cut with the training saber, stepping towards one trainee in the circle around him -- coming too close as his wrist would have landed on the trainee's head. He moved again only this time with perfect distance his training saber came to rest in the air above a trainee who was on opposite side of the assembled.

"Many of you are force-sensitive, your sense of space sensitive to your mood. This is why you you train -- by maintaining focus, you flatten your sense of space and make better decisions. Master Rayya will take over. Master Rayya?"

An aging Jedi steps forward as the Aurelian moves to spectate.

He took a breath as a female figure clad in a white hooded robe stepped forth. "You've really found your place here, Caius."

The Aurelian instructor raised a brow. He didn't need to look her way to know whom it was. "Master Aurel."

She only sighed. "I thought we'd be closer. Not 'Keahi' or 'cousin'?" she tried as she pushed back her hood revealing her short but well kept white hair. Their eye colours matched but of the two of them she was the only one that was visibly Echani.

Physically, if nothing else.

"Cousin." he finally relented. "We haven't exactly been in contact...but you are family. Even if all you have of us is the name..."

There was a small silence. The words he spoke clearly cut her deeper than if he'd simply insulted her. That was the thing with being Echani; less tends to mean much, much more.

"I want to change that." she finally said as she lowered her head. She gave a formal bow as she may as well have prostrated herself before him. "Battlemaster of Clan Aurel."

He snorted at her sudden formality. "Enough, enough." he sighed, himself tired of it. Their past was complicated. One that made no sense to any other than themselves. It was insane how family can get so twisted. "Alright. Come by tomorrow night; I'll get my brothers... we can have it out."

His words meant the galaxy to her. To him, as well... although he'd never admit it. But they both needed this; to reconcile deeds done in the past.

To close the distance that kept family apart.

"So, after Caius joined the Sith, 'Rel signed on with the Republic. I picked up my weapons, packed my armor and kissed buir ret' and saw if anyone else was as fed up as I was. Wasn't alone. Found out most of Clan Alaii were off to join Mandalore. Got our approvals and off we went. Took the scenic route, clocked off some pirates in the outer rim. We hunted big game or bounties between deployments. I wound up on Taris where I met Salya."
 
It was strange to sum up years of experience in a couple of sentences. They'd talked about how life was or how something reminded them of a thing they'd done, but when you summarize your life, you only ever bring up the most important parts. The ones relevant to you or the ones you think the people want to hear.
 
But to an Echani, there was always so much more. Even when she joined the Jedi, she never let go of her Echani customs. The art of reading intent and emotions through one's movement and actions was like any one of senses. She could naturally feel the words that were often left unsaid or the texture of one’s thoughts as they spoke. She could see how Kirins had fallen in love and bonded to Salya. How he looked away at the sound of her name told her that she had long since passed away.
 
“Aren’t the Fett a neo clan?” asked Karel as he drank his tea. He’d moved closer to the table.
 
Kirins shook his head. “Khomo and a few others might make you think otherwise.”
 
“Is that why you’re staying with them?”
 
“I stay with Clan Fett because it’s the clan of my late wife. And Sayla was no neo-crusader.”
 
He gave Keahi a soft smile before he turned his eye to the eldest. “I should probably get back to the others.”
 
Caius turned his head to Karel and gave him a small turn of the head; half nod and half… something else. She’d forgotten her kinetic.
 
"I asked Kirins to go back to the Fetts because they might need a good example of what a real crusader looks like. One that seeks personal challenge instead of a war that they force others to fight." Caius explained as his siblings stood. The youngest brother frowned and was about to say something before Karel picked up his now luke-warm tea and shoved it into his hand before pushing him towards the tent's entrance. He clasped the Jedi's shoulder and offered a short nod before leaving the tent himself.
 
"You didn't tell him?" she asked before it got too quiet as Caius poured her and himself more tea.
 
He didn't look up until he finished pouring. "No. I think he was just glad when we got back together. I just told him something about strengthening bonds between the Aurelian clans and the others. Some still think of us as dar'manda even if they never openly say it."
 
Mandalorian culture only made sense to Mandalorians.
 
“Is that the opinion of a Battlemaster?”
 
He only gave her a small grin, not even answering the question -- verbal or otherwise. Things still felt tense between them. She felt as if she’d cleared the air a little with the rest of her family but it still felt pointless if she couldn’t mend things between herself and Caius. They were the closest growing up. She remembered the sickening feeling in her stomach when she found out that he’d joined the Sith. To this day, she felt guilty. It might have been his choice but she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t at least partly responsible.
 
“Caius. About me joining the Jedi, I just wanted to sa-”
 
“Don’t.” he interrupted. Commanded, even.
 
Her chest felt as if it could have burst. She couldn’t stop. She had to say it.
 
“I had to join the Jedi. I knew they might come for Aurelis. I know how our people feel about the Republic. I couldn’t stand by as the Battlemasters stayed neutral and the Empire grew! They would have come for our home and we’d be alone to defend ourselves. Why would you side with them even knowing that?”
 
Her words hung in the air as the sounds of another shuttle landing was the only thing she could hear. The nearby wilderness seemed to fall silent, though she wasn’t sure if she was even reaching out with her force-enhanced senses.
 
“You left.” he finally said.
 
She wished she knew better.
 
“I had to leave! I had to control my powers! The matukai who visited us weren’t enough, I had-”
 
“You. Left.” he repeated.
 
His words stung, though she never admitted it. She doubted she needed to -- he was at least as perceptive as he was when it came to sensing doubt. She’d even learned from other Jedi that he was dangerous to even speak to. The entire time he was kept on Tython, even the investigators and the wisest of the Jedi could never truly tell whether or not his intentions were as they were. They tried to judge him based on his actions yet he hadn’t, in his flight from the Temple, killed any whom he came across. Even when he’d defeated his opponents. Some Jedi even began to consider him a possible ally among the Sith.
 
She wondered how much they had both changed. When they were young and learning the ways of the Echani, they always knew what the other was thinking. It was a bond, like the force. A binding that tethered them to a greater understanding -- to themselves and to the art they had long pursued. Now, even as she tried to still herself and surrender to the will of the force, she could only hear those two words said over and over again. No, no more. She had wanted to make peace with her family and the only way to confront her guilt was to admit it.
 
“I joined the Jedi. The Republic. I thought I chose for to protect our home world. I knew that the idea of a force sensitive child joining the Jedi would be seen as taking a side in the war. The truth is... I chose for myself.” She felt lighter. "I think I knew the Sith would attack. I knew...and yet, still, I chose the Jedi."

She trembled with the thought. She even thought it strange; like a scene from the holovids where the protagonist asks a love interest to take them as their spouse. They were right -- these moments waiting for the other to say something felt like it lasted forever. When would he say something?

And when had she stood up?



"I know." he began shaking his head. "I'm a Battlemaster, cousin. I know." he shrugged.

What did that even mean?

"It means that... I know why you left. I also know you think you caused them to attack."

It frightened her that he seemed to know her thoughts. Just as it frightened her that, at the age of 15, her cousin had attained the highest honor in their society.

"The truth is, the Empire was going to attack us any way. We were ready for their attack.  I don't have any regrets. You need to know that."

She wasn't sure what to say. Where to start. How, with a few words that pang of guilt has passed; or how, despite it all he could even seem as whole as he did. At peace. When she thought of herself and how she was supposed to be the Jedi? She felt pathetic.

"I ... thank you." It was all she could say. As much as she could chide herself for falling into the same mental loops, she had to say it. "Thank you."

She felt free.

---

Jedi Master Keahi Aurel left Odessen with a clear mind as her cousin's words gave her something to consider.

"I'm not asking you to leave the Jedi. I'm not asking you to choose 'us' over 'them'. I'm only asking that, going forward, you don't abandon us."

High orbit over Nar Shaddaa - aboard Alliance vessel 'Envoy's Crass'
23 ATC - Present

He wondered whether telling her all that he had was truly a good idea. Pillow talk always had that danger; intimate talks and getting to know one another better had been the best outcome which was right up there with nudging each other into 'doing it again'. Other times, it got awkward.

It felt so strange to this was one of those times.

At least it would have been an uncomfortable experience that they could both simply brush off and avoid talking about or at least talk through at another point but ever since they became a thing, he'd grown more and more worried of her force sensitivity. There were so many things he wished he told her sooner. Of how he knew when they first met. Of how it could express itself in such different ways. Or that him having been a Sith was a bleeding understatement. She was young but mature... but when it came to the Force? Few were truly ready.

The Sith Empire he knew made it a point to take every single force-sensitive regardless of strength. During the war, it was far less tolerant -- if you were too weak for them to even put you into a Sith Academy or were an alien, then you'd simply be killed.

He should've been more comforting.

"Two-Dee, you mind encrypting this call with the Silent cipher? Voice only." He wasn't exactly in the most appropriate state of dress. Still, even though he wasn't projecting himself, he was still greeted by his call's receiver.

"My Lord?" came the voice of the veteran Sith. Lord Rixus had served with him for almost fifteen years. He'd often been a body double due to their similar height and build.

"Lord Rixus. How is the estate?"

The older Sith visibly looks around before raising a brow.

"Your estate is in fine order, there is, however... a small situation at the moment. One of your... Hssiss has gotten loose. Eogan, I believe? We've vacated the servants from the residence and have locked it in. My apprentices are looking for it as we speak."

"You don't seem worried."

"As your retainer, it's hardly the first time this has happened."

"Right. About that theatre, I mentioned..."

"The Imperial Theatre? ...Yes. I've discovered that the chief patron is Lord Mei'li Bluedark. I've had the pleasure of meeting her on Iokath. She's no despot if that's your concern."

"It's not, actually. I'm more concerned for one of the dancers. Ekaterina Koshkova?"

The older Sith raised a brow. Visible wrinkle lines and gray hair did no favour in hiding his thought processes. Or his lack of surprise.

"You wish for the... 'Seiyd' treatment, then?"

Caius shook his head before he realized that his side of the call was voice only.

"No. Sponsorship won't be needed... but I'd like to arrange a bodyguard while she's in the capital. And her force essence masked, if possible."

The Sith looked to the screen as he internally thought of the logistics as he turned to see one of his apprentices struggling to hold on to a collar as a rather large lizard dragged him down the hall. Another apprentice was a half step behind trying to catch its tail before it went invisible. Rixus shook his head.

"I'll tend to it personally, my lord. Now, excuse me..." he inclined his head as the call came to an end.

---

Caius could only shake his head. He couldn't help but think he'd forgotten something in it all...

"Where the kriff did my pants go?"

Tagging: @Mei, @Iaera, @Alumar

KDY EE-470 Assault Shuttle "Call of Dis" - Imperial Orbital Station, Korriban
23 ATC - Present, just after investigation of The Morti Vanta
 
Kirins was cautious for what felt like the first time in a while. As the door to his shuttle closed, he immediately began his bug sweep. From the cockpit to the passenger's bay, he made it a mission to check and scan for all signals he could find; from fuselage to seating cushion, there wasn't a single thing from the shuttle's interior that had avoided his scrutiny. The cloak and dagger wasn't his stock and trade, but he'd had enough jobs demanding discretion that he knew what he was doing.
 
As he encrypted the holoterminal he took off his helmet and gave his head a quick comb through. The sealing of his armor was tight but with all the sand on Korriban, he had to make sure. It was coarse, after all and it got everywhere.
 
He made his call only to be greeted by his reflection. Plus the tattoo and facial scarring. Minus the heavy armor and cybernetics.
 
"Caius? You look like osik."
 
His elder brother only folded his arms. But he wasn't wrong.
 
" 'Rins, tell me you didn't call just to-"
 
"What, I can't be worried my older brother doesn't look well? Seriously, when was the last time you ate? Or drank? Wait, you've been drinking. You've been drinking, haven't you?"
 
It was always like this. He just hated seeing his dear Battlemaster of a brother looking so serious. Hell, most of his family had the same look. He understood that it was needed in public -- you lead your people and you do have to look as invincible as they see you as.
 
"Tell me you've at least been sleeping. You know, sleep? That thing you do by getting into bed and doing everything you can to, well, avoid doing things?"
 
He could keep going. He frequently did. He wasn't going to give up until he could get a reaction.
 
"Seriously, you have three kids and what- four lovers now? I know family life and your daily grind is a thing that saps up all the time but you know you're supposed to rest, right? Like... sleep in bed? That's a thing you know. You're not supposed to just keep finding women and bringing them home and making kids. I mean, I know, 'making the clan safe again' but seriously it's not like we need a whole army of ade to overrun our enemies. I've seen your ad'ika with a blaster and I don't think we need a whole clan of them to keep our home safe."
 
Hey! There we go. A smile.
 
"You done?"
 
"I am, yes." he finally relented. For the entirety of a second. "Seriously? Four lovers. Four. That's four women in your life. Like, what, do you outsource your intimacy to keep up-"
 
"'Rins."
 
Okay. Too far.
 
"So... I took up that contract you told me about."
 
"The one about the Mortivanta?"

"That's the one. Seems I came in at a perfect time in the investigation but I know you wanted whatever scans I could get right?" he said as he hooked up his helmet to the holoterminal. "Uploading my scans and recordings. Got it?"

"Yeah. Hmm... so... huh. And that holocron- it's got to be..."

"Uh, you mind cluing me in here?"

"Right. So, it's like you and blasters. You take a look at a blaster and you'd know who manufactured it. You'd learn a lot by looking at its mods, too like things about the blaster's owner. Holocrons are a little like that.  Usually, they have a specific purpose. But if you understand the purpose and construction, you can accurately guess the time in which it was created without having to do a more invasive analysis."

"That's... a good thing? I know you were interested in the art, so... what, was this part of your little media side-project?"

"Cultural side-project" he corrected. "But yeah. I guess we'll have to do something about your pay."

"Wait, you faked the contract? Sponsorship and all? I'm getting paid, right?"

Oh, he knew that look. "Caius?" He's grinning. That's a grin. "Please tell me it's not all fake." That does not fill a being with confidence. "So if I fly over to Dromund Kaas and speak to this Lady Bluedark, she's going to give me a big smile and a case of credits and not fry me with lightning and-- and feed my corpse to some Kath Hounds or-"

Did his eyes just roll? They did.

"Wait, nono- don't hang up-"

The line went dead.

"Oh, that's not right."

They were brothers, dammit.
 

---

Caius gave a chuckle. A bottle of tihaar with a hastily written 'Kirins' on its label was the only thing other than his datapad that was notable on his desk. Daily reports backlogged his messages but still, he took time to write the communique which required his present attention.

Lady Mei'li Bluedark,
 
I apologize for the short notice but I've recently learned of an interesting lead.
 
A recent investigation of a well known Sith art called the "Mortivanta" has recently born fruit. I suspect that it might soon feature an ancient opera. As a chance to capitalize on this heritage find, I'm forwarding my preliminary analysis and findings. I suspect that the findings as investigated might, itself, be unveiled to the public.
 
As we have shared interests, please take this as a potential lead. Perhaps you can secure the rights to its premier and historic first performance?
 
-K aka C
 
PS. Please find attached a sizable donation. I hired a mercenary to assist in the investigation, so if you could arrange his payment for me it would be appreciated. The rest is for yourself and the theatre.

Tagging: @Mei, @Noth, @Niarra, @Zmaj, @Erednash