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Star Wars: The Crimson Covenant / Re: CC: Corellian Birthright
« Last post by Syren on Yesterday at 04:56:34 PM »“But there’s no need to worry
Confusion has its own embrace
Your mind needs to worry
Your heart loves a race.”
-Folk Implosion
Corellia
Surface: Coronet
Riley Patten promised he would stay out of trouble.
Since Mara departed, this had worked well. Inspector Thekla backed off, apparently swayed by whatever information she and the High Commander shared. In turn, Riley was given a wide berth and returned to regularly scheduled duties. Veritaas was reinstated – ensuring that Project Succellus, and the latitude it brought to address their situation with the prophecy remained intact. Soldys needs people he can trust in the right places, despite any missteps in the past. He took accountability and assured the High Commander his judgment would not be compromised in the name of secrecy again. For his part, Riley jumped back into patrols with Cassidy and Sixta, something he thoroughly enjoyed.
Even as the specter of the Republic loomed over them, he took comfort in keeping the streets of Coronet safe.
In the evenings, he spent time catching up with Gemma. They may not be able to be together physically but grew even closer through their support of one another. Admittedly, the physical distance was starting to become intolerable, the need to touch and kiss her sometimes overwhelming. Soon, he told himself. Gemma was deep in training with Nevylinn at the moment, and their fractured relationship found a middle ground in honing their respective skills as Aunt Mara worked with High Commander Soldys. She confessed it was difficult to engage the Jedi otherwise since so much of her trust in them had collapsed completely. She knew they meant well but those intentions were constricted by rules that always seemed to wind up in some self-sabotaging fiasco: e.g., anything they had ever done. There are no apologies for her cynicism and he doesn't expect it.
She was not trained as a child, only ever on the periphery of their teachings through her mother’s recollection of the knowledge the Jedi who delivered her and the infant Dahlia to Rutherford Gellar imparted to her. This was not typically their way yet, as she sarcastically intoned, none of the refugees or some of the newer members were trained as children – they only found their way to the Jedi at different times and through very different circumstances. The point of contention, once so stridently enforced in the past, seemed now to be overlooked given their dwindling numbers. Gemma knows not everything they believe is rubbish but the galaxy and their role in it most certainly do not align with their ideals and assessment of the matter.
They must take things into their own hands - agency above all else.
Their conversation inevitably wanders toward their pending nuptials. Things to do before they die. Regarding lists, declaring your love for someone is pretty high up there. Gemma agrees the gardens at the Patten Ranch would be perfect – a place they know both his mother and her sister held a fondness for. It would be a way to celebrate their love while honoring those who came before. Their path, contingency or not, may not be what they would have chosen but neither Kimber nor Melanie knew what they knew. Riley wonders if discovering the loop and the Voss-Ra’s hand in it would have changed how they approached their situations and, darkly, if it could have saved any of them. Would his mother have made it off Centerpoint had she known? Would she have even been there in the first place?
These are not questions that ever lead to satisfactory answers. No way to change the past.
They must only focus on the precarious present and potentially ominous future, ready to give up their own lives to fulfill the prophecy and return to counter the galactic threat of the Sith.
As Mara, unbeknownst to him, is ready to execute her mission within the display of the High Commander's boundary-pushing exercise, Riley swings by the People’s Council offices to deliver CorSec resources for new arrivals to stay safe in the capital. He makes a point to check in with Della to see if there is anything she needs - the organizations work well together while serving the people on multiple fronts. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, she is in a meeting but he runs into Circe, as Octavia Valles, in the corridor looking somewhat panicked.
“Hey, you okay?”
Her eyes land on him, focus, and she reaches for his arm.
“I got a most distressing call from Agent Theon. He mumbled something about an incident then cut out. I cannot seem to reach him now. Given, well, everything…I’m worried.”
Riley tilts his head toward the entrance, “Well, come on. I’ve got my shuttle right outside.”
“What if something happened? We can’t just go rushing in there.”
“Do you want to stand around or find out?”
Circe sucks in a breath, letting her assistant know an urgent matter has come up, and follows Riley out of the building.
Deep Space
They race to the Asunder with little conversation between them. She is fretting, mind spiraling in all sorts of dark places. Everyone has been a wreck lately as the emotional toll of the Republic’s threats takes shape among the populous. She has had little time to process what happened after they left the larger group on the ocean cliffs. Citizens from all walks of life sought their services, so many of them fearful of what may come while others remained hostile and defiant. Admittedly, a more Corellian attitude about the whole thing which led to conflicts between those in the crosshairs of the same danger. The cognitive dissonance alone was staggering. The Republic is an everyone problem and one already on their doorstep. Now something may have happened to Donovan and it fills her with a sickening dread.
Once they dock, Riley pulls his blaster and steps in front of her, “You ready?”
She nods.
He enters the consular vessel cautiously. Nothing seems amiss at first glance although filled with the same eerie silence as when he spent time here training years ago. A ghost ship drifting through the stars, safeguarding Jedi through the guise of official, albeit secretive, CorSec business. As they move further into the ship, to the spaces the droids seldom came lest they overhear the secrets they exchange, it becomes quickly obvious something went down. There is a lingering, almost chemical scent in the air that reveals itself when they turn down the corridor toward the converted training area. The dark scorch marks on the walls and paneled floors confirm the sinister feeling tingling the tops of their spines. They exchange a tense glance. Riley braces himself against the wall before swinging into the open space. His trained eyes scan for a target but see nothing moving, only a thin haze of smoke in the air, and then…
The aftermath.
Along the left wall, Sirona lies still on her back, head turned away. Donovan is facedown, closer to the corridor, comlink clutched in his hand, looking as though this was as far as he could drag himself. There are two sabers nearby, both closest to Sirona. In a word, Riley thinks, fuck.
“Circe!”
She appears in the doorway, registers the situation, and drops beside Donovan. Riley moves to check Sirona. She is already cool to the touch and he lowers his head. Circe stirs behind him.
“He’s still got a pulse,” she calls hopefully, using the wall console to call for a medical droid. “What about Sirona?”
“She’s gone.”
Circe stifles a sob, finding herself clutching Donovan’s hand.
“How could this have happened? So few people even know they are out here.”
“Stranger things have, uh, happened.”
“What if we are not alone? Whoever did this could still be onboard.”
“Can’t rule it out,” he says, keeping his blaster ready as he surveys the rest of the space. “Nothing else really here though. If someone boarded them, we would have seen evidence of a fight closer to the dock. An attack this far into the ship seems unlikely.”
Her face tightens, “You don’t think?”
“We don’t know. Let’s get him stabilized, check the rest of the Asunder, and see where things stand. I’ll notify Veritaas but no sense in calling reinforcements and risking exposure if we don’t need to. We’ll need discretion and hopefully a firsthand account. I know what it looks like but let’s try not to jump to any conclusions.”
She cradles her Jedi savior and murmurs distantly, “A bit late for that.”
Riley promised to stay out of trouble but - for a Patten - trouble always finds a way.
-TBC
Confusion has its own embrace
Your mind needs to worry
Your heart loves a race.”
-Folk Implosion
Corellia
Surface: Coronet
Riley Patten promised he would stay out of trouble.
Since Mara departed, this had worked well. Inspector Thekla backed off, apparently swayed by whatever information she and the High Commander shared. In turn, Riley was given a wide berth and returned to regularly scheduled duties. Veritaas was reinstated – ensuring that Project Succellus, and the latitude it brought to address their situation with the prophecy remained intact. Soldys needs people he can trust in the right places, despite any missteps in the past. He took accountability and assured the High Commander his judgment would not be compromised in the name of secrecy again. For his part, Riley jumped back into patrols with Cassidy and Sixta, something he thoroughly enjoyed.
Even as the specter of the Republic loomed over them, he took comfort in keeping the streets of Coronet safe.
In the evenings, he spent time catching up with Gemma. They may not be able to be together physically but grew even closer through their support of one another. Admittedly, the physical distance was starting to become intolerable, the need to touch and kiss her sometimes overwhelming. Soon, he told himself. Gemma was deep in training with Nevylinn at the moment, and their fractured relationship found a middle ground in honing their respective skills as Aunt Mara worked with High Commander Soldys. She confessed it was difficult to engage the Jedi otherwise since so much of her trust in them had collapsed completely. She knew they meant well but those intentions were constricted by rules that always seemed to wind up in some self-sabotaging fiasco: e.g., anything they had ever done. There are no apologies for her cynicism and he doesn't expect it.
She was not trained as a child, only ever on the periphery of their teachings through her mother’s recollection of the knowledge the Jedi who delivered her and the infant Dahlia to Rutherford Gellar imparted to her. This was not typically their way yet, as she sarcastically intoned, none of the refugees or some of the newer members were trained as children – they only found their way to the Jedi at different times and through very different circumstances. The point of contention, once so stridently enforced in the past, seemed now to be overlooked given their dwindling numbers. Gemma knows not everything they believe is rubbish but the galaxy and their role in it most certainly do not align with their ideals and assessment of the matter.
They must take things into their own hands - agency above all else.
Their conversation inevitably wanders toward their pending nuptials. Things to do before they die. Regarding lists, declaring your love for someone is pretty high up there. Gemma agrees the gardens at the Patten Ranch would be perfect – a place they know both his mother and her sister held a fondness for. It would be a way to celebrate their love while honoring those who came before. Their path, contingency or not, may not be what they would have chosen but neither Kimber nor Melanie knew what they knew. Riley wonders if discovering the loop and the Voss-Ra’s hand in it would have changed how they approached their situations and, darkly, if it could have saved any of them. Would his mother have made it off Centerpoint had she known? Would she have even been there in the first place?
These are not questions that ever lead to satisfactory answers. No way to change the past.
They must only focus on the precarious present and potentially ominous future, ready to give up their own lives to fulfill the prophecy and return to counter the galactic threat of the Sith.
As Mara, unbeknownst to him, is ready to execute her mission within the display of the High Commander's boundary-pushing exercise, Riley swings by the People’s Council offices to deliver CorSec resources for new arrivals to stay safe in the capital. He makes a point to check in with Della to see if there is anything she needs - the organizations work well together while serving the people on multiple fronts. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, she is in a meeting but he runs into Circe, as Octavia Valles, in the corridor looking somewhat panicked.
“Hey, you okay?”
Her eyes land on him, focus, and she reaches for his arm.
“I got a most distressing call from Agent Theon. He mumbled something about an incident then cut out. I cannot seem to reach him now. Given, well, everything…I’m worried.”
Riley tilts his head toward the entrance, “Well, come on. I’ve got my shuttle right outside.”
“What if something happened? We can’t just go rushing in there.”
“Do you want to stand around or find out?”
Circe sucks in a breath, letting her assistant know an urgent matter has come up, and follows Riley out of the building.
Deep Space
They race to the Asunder with little conversation between them. She is fretting, mind spiraling in all sorts of dark places. Everyone has been a wreck lately as the emotional toll of the Republic’s threats takes shape among the populous. She has had little time to process what happened after they left the larger group on the ocean cliffs. Citizens from all walks of life sought their services, so many of them fearful of what may come while others remained hostile and defiant. Admittedly, a more Corellian attitude about the whole thing which led to conflicts between those in the crosshairs of the same danger. The cognitive dissonance alone was staggering. The Republic is an everyone problem and one already on their doorstep. Now something may have happened to Donovan and it fills her with a sickening dread.
Once they dock, Riley pulls his blaster and steps in front of her, “You ready?”
She nods.
He enters the consular vessel cautiously. Nothing seems amiss at first glance although filled with the same eerie silence as when he spent time here training years ago. A ghost ship drifting through the stars, safeguarding Jedi through the guise of official, albeit secretive, CorSec business. As they move further into the ship, to the spaces the droids seldom came lest they overhear the secrets they exchange, it becomes quickly obvious something went down. There is a lingering, almost chemical scent in the air that reveals itself when they turn down the corridor toward the converted training area. The dark scorch marks on the walls and paneled floors confirm the sinister feeling tingling the tops of their spines. They exchange a tense glance. Riley braces himself against the wall before swinging into the open space. His trained eyes scan for a target but see nothing moving, only a thin haze of smoke in the air, and then…
The aftermath.
Along the left wall, Sirona lies still on her back, head turned away. Donovan is facedown, closer to the corridor, comlink clutched in his hand, looking as though this was as far as he could drag himself. There are two sabers nearby, both closest to Sirona. In a word, Riley thinks, fuck.
“Circe!”
She appears in the doorway, registers the situation, and drops beside Donovan. Riley moves to check Sirona. She is already cool to the touch and he lowers his head. Circe stirs behind him.
“He’s still got a pulse,” she calls hopefully, using the wall console to call for a medical droid. “What about Sirona?”
“She’s gone.”
Circe stifles a sob, finding herself clutching Donovan’s hand.
“How could this have happened? So few people even know they are out here.”
“Stranger things have, uh, happened.”
“What if we are not alone? Whoever did this could still be onboard.”
“Can’t rule it out,” he says, keeping his blaster ready as he surveys the rest of the space. “Nothing else really here though. If someone boarded them, we would have seen evidence of a fight closer to the dock. An attack this far into the ship seems unlikely.”
Her face tightens, “You don’t think?”
“We don’t know. Let’s get him stabilized, check the rest of the Asunder, and see where things stand. I’ll notify Veritaas but no sense in calling reinforcements and risking exposure if we don’t need to. We’ll need discretion and hopefully a firsthand account. I know what it looks like but let’s try not to jump to any conclusions.”
She cradles her Jedi savior and murmurs distantly, “A bit late for that.”
Riley promised to stay out of trouble but - for a Patten - trouble always finds a way.
-TBC