Session export: First Contact

Cockpit, FCI Raven’s Nest Kaerls’ Orbit, Kiast System 44 ABY; Local Time: 1346 Hours

As Aryn “Jade” Erinos-Magnuri manned the controls of the vessel, her bright auburn hair bound in a long braid, her wife Rowena was in the co-pilot’s chair to man the other systems. Marius Edraven sat in what was typically the gunner’s seat, but the controls had been temporary rerouted to the main control panel.

This was more for safety than anything, as the former Force Cultist was physically blind. He could see through the Force, in a manner akin to the Miraluka, but any non-living — in other words, the Force does not flow through it — physical obstacle or item is merely a dull shape to his sight. More importantly, none of the buttons or switches were labelled in Braille, so Marius couldn’t read what each did, even if he had an inkling of an idea on what they did.

Your ship destroying another vessel or damaging a station with an errant missile? The authorities would be unlikely to believe the claims that ‘The blind guy hit the wrong button’.

Thus, rerouted controls.

At the moment, the trio were en route to a landing pad near Vestaad Township to deliver a shipment of weapons, armor and cybernetics that Rowena’s niece and Marius’ twin sister had been commissioned to craft. Artemis couldn’t make this delivery in person, as her own wife had drug her away from her workshop for a day out on Solyiat, likely to visit a few stores, then spend some time on the beach.

To be more accurate, Jade and Rowena were there to deliver the order. Marius, on the other hand, wanted to visit the local tavern known as the Tipsy Tusken, be merry and flirt with any handsome Mandalorian man that caught his attention.

Whilst Jade, the only Mandalorian amongst them, brought the ship in for a landing, the former Force Cultist bounced in his seat, humming loudly in his seat to a song stuck in his head.

Almost immediately after they landed, Marius stood from his seat and made his way to the rear of the ship, where the exit hatch was. A quick smack at the large button had the door sliding open and the ramp extending.

True to form, he only unloaded two crates utilizing his Telekinesis before he waved to his aunt and her wife before leaving toward the Town at a quick pace.

The tavern was calling his name.

In almost no time at all, thanks to the Force ability known as Amplification — which allowed him to perform physical feats at or beyond the peak of Human potential — the Rogue Jedi walked into the Tipsy Tusken only a handful of minutes after arriving planetside.

Marius purposely tapped his electro-staff hard with every other step he took, drawing the attention of everyone at the bar and seated throughout the establishment. He strode to the bar with a wolfish grin, eyeing the bartender that was paying attention to him as he approached. “I’ll have your best House Ale. And I’m buying the next drink for everyone here.”

The bartender nodded at him, then grunted as he tossed down the rag he’d been wiping the bar with. “You’ll be wanting the Old-Fashioned Cherry, in that case. Give us a few minutes to work out a total for all of the drinks.”

The Shadow nodded agreeably, then waited patiently as the Mandalorian filled his drink, taking the opportunity to scope out who all was here. If he had been hoping for fun with a handsome lad, he was to be disappointed. There were a few older men and women in the corner and a couple at the bar.

The only other person that looked even remotely interesting, though less from a sexual standpoint to the gay former Force Cultist, was a lone woman in the back. A Sephi, unless he missed his guess.

Once his drink was handed to him, Marius paid, grabbed the bottle that was apparently for the other Sephi, then made his way over.

The former Force Cultist said not a word as the full-Sephi laid out her piece, paying close attention to what he could see, with all of his remaining senses naturally at a high level.

He was hardly deterred by the brusque delivery; if anything, Marius seemed amused.

“If you’re assuming that I’ve approached you to see if you want to warm my bed, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick, luv. Don’t get me wrong, you’re undeniably beautiful, but you lack a certain appendage that I prefer in my partners,” the Rogue Jedi explained with a gentler smile, losing the devil-may-care smirk he had given to the bartender. He held up the bottle of Tihaar with an extra glass as a peace offering. “You seem to be the most interesting person in the tavern and I’d like to have a drink or two with you.”

That said, Marius leaned his electro-staff against the table and slid into the chair across from Lynnyaria, placing the unopened bottle of Tihaar and extra glass in the center. He took a deep sniff of the aromatic ale in the taller glass that he had Telekinetically brought over, giving a hum of appreciation. Cherry, perhaps cloves or some other spices to enrich the flavor.

He took a deep draw and sighed in contentment. “The bartender’s recommendation of this… I believe he called it ‘Old-Fashion Cherry’ is delicious. Though, I have tasted it before. My father’s Clan refers to it by it’s old name in Basic. Bloodvyne.”

The former Force Cultist quirked an eyebrow at the woman, who was likely similar in age to himself. Whilst he wondered what she had gone through to make her so… broken, it was none of his business. It was due to that belief that he didn’t even attempt to delve deeper or focus all of his senses on her.

“Even when quiet, there’s a silent companionship to sharing drinks. That doesn’t make the company bad.” Marius paused to take a longer pull on his ale, draining it to nearly half. “You honestly remind me of a friend of my father’s. Very lonely, once broken and dedicated to what work they get assigned because they have nothing else to bring them out of the abyss. It was only after my father helped her, then welcomed her to his Clan that Cassiopeia showed some signs of life.”

The Sentinel Shadow shook his head as he recalled the shape the woman had been in when he first met her. Broken was, perhaps, an understatement. Her mind had been nearly shattered, body having received grievous wounds, then shoddily healed over and over.

He knew that his father had used a ritual or two to aid in Cassiopeia’s recovery somehow, as he was not a Healer by any means. Marius was also aware that the much older Sephi, who currently stood as a Temple Guard for the Jedi Praxeum on Kiast, had died at least once in the process. When she was welcomed into Celevon’s Clan, it was as though she had been truly reborn.

Even the name Cassiopeia Werd'la was entirely new. The latter meaning ‘Reborn of Shadow’ in Mando'a.

Marius shared these impressions with the other woman through the Force, then comparing them to what he saw in Lynnyaria to the woman herself.

Marius tilted his head after draining the taller glass of ale, studying the young woman without the emotional walls up. There was a definite parallel there.

“I came to this place partially because I felt a Calling in the Force. I allow it to guide my path, which brings me to adventure, trouble that needs resolving and to offer help to others, amongst other reasons,” the former Force Cultist explained softly as he opened the bottle, filled his own glass and topped off the Mandalorian’s. “You seem remarkably unsatisfied with your current surroundings… What if I could offer something different?”

Marius took a sip from his glass, feeling the burn of the fruity spirit going down his throat. “When my adoptive grandfather died, my Father brought back the traditions of his ancient Clan in creating the Werd'la, as I said before. And one of their goals was to train Warriors gifted in the Force, to take in those who need or require a fresh start and give them a renewed purpose in life. In short, I believe I was sent here to help you.”

The Ranger rolled his eyes at how stubborn the woman was. Now he understood the comments on how pure-bred Sephi could be remarkably childish up to a certain age.

“Yes, it seems like you’re doing ‘fine’ by yourself, living until the bottom of every bottle runs out,” Marius scoffed.

He reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out a datapad. “My sister gave me this, seemingly forgetting that I’m physically blind. There are pictures of every member of my family in there, blood and not. Cassiopeia should be the fourth person after several of my siblings. There’s at least one that covers a tattoo she has that was done by my twin. The first one shows how bad a condition she was in when my father rescued her from her tormenter… though, torturer is more an accurate description than ‘boyfriend’ or ‘lover’.”

Marius leaned back in his seat, content to slowly enjoy his drink whilst the Mandalorian perused the datapad. Internally, he shook his head over how often it tended to slip people’s minds that he was blind. Hell, the only reason he knew what pictures were in there and in what order was due to his sister-in-law.

Having spotted an ashtray at the table, the Rogue drew a pouch from an inner pocket of his robes and deftly removed the small packet of papers from the side-slot on the outside of the pouch. One paper was removed, the pouch opened and a layer of a green, flowery substance was put into the paper. In a quick, practiced series of movements, Marius compressed the material within the paper, rolled it between his fingers and licked the seam before he completed the cylinder.

Seeing that Lynnyaria was still busy with the datapad, Marius drew a lighter from his pocket, replaced the pouch and lit the tip of the cylinder after it was placed between his lips.

He took a draw, held it inside of his lungs, then slowly exhaled the aromatic smoke.

Marius smiled, taking another drag before he exhaled the smoke above their heads. “Do I think all of that? No. No, I do not. I agree that the Force isn’t alive, isn’t sentient and therefore has no will of its own; it simply is energy, closely intertwined with life. My father views it as a tool, another weapon or object in his arsenal, but that it shouldn’t be allowed to become a crutch. Whilst the Jedi of old viewed it with almost, if not outright religious fervor, I view the ‘Calling’ as an extension of my own instincts. Rather than ‘turn left or right here’, it’s more akin to ‘there’s an opportunity at this location’.”

He shook his head, flicking off a bit of ash into the ashtray. “I’d be lying if I tried to say that the outside world is ‘great’ in any meaning of the word. No, I’m simply offering you an opportunity to make something of yourself and actually live, rather than the slow decay by pickling your liver day in and day out.” The former Force Cultist shook his head again. “You have both potential and skill which are going to waste here.”

Marius took another drag off of his joint. “As I said, though, I’m merely offering you the opportunity. It’s up to you whether or not you take it.”

The blind half-Sephi flicked some of the ash from his joint off the end. “I already gave you the sales pitch, as it were. If I must, however…” Marius trailed off, taking a drag before he slowly exhaled.

“Aside from — at the very least — making a friend who can understand what you’ve gone through on some level and a chance to remake yourself? You can live with my family on my father’s estate. It’s located on an island in the Pokora Island chain on Solyiat, near the equator. Aside from the hot springs and a looming, dormant volcano, there’s hunting, gathering and fishing aplenty… and it’s only a short trip to the more populated and the unfortunate tourist traps of a nearby continent.”

The former Force Cultist paused to take another draw on the cylinder, then a sip of his drink. “You can either pack your belongings and join us — my aunt and her wife are making a delivery of goods outside of the township — on our journey home. Or you can make your own way there when you’re ready. It’s named Kona'li Isle.”

Marius gave an incline of his head to the question that seemed to have slipped free of its own accord. Indeed, Cassiopeia did live on the estate when her job as one of the Jedi Temple Guards of Kiast kept her away for a few days at a time before the Sephi returned.

After the former Force Cultist listened to the mutterings of the woman across the table, he leaned back to ponder the question as he returned his smoke supplies to an inner pocket of his robe.

“Aside from a warning about the kind of beasts that can be found on the planet — you will be sent a summary when you enter the planet’s orbit, as is typical of the Vatali — I cannot think of anything else.” Marius grabbed his glass to finish his drink, then looked up. “Oh… I suppose that does bear due warning… my father will likely want to test out your skills within a matter of hours of your arrival. So, expect that he will want to fight, then take you on a tour of the island.”

The half-Sephi took one of the last sips of his drink, still pondering the question. “Other than that, I cannot think of anything that bears forewarning.”