Robert Meta
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Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 189
🕑 Added 2024-12-13 16:30:56 +0000 UTCDespite Amescoll's assertion that his home was unnecessarily large, it was by no means a mansion. It was a decent-sized home, and save for the rough exterior and differing materials, wouldn't have been too out of place in suburban US. The interior was on the simple side, with very little decoration, either because the home was so new or because, as a Jedil, Amescoll preferred a simpler aesthetic. Either way, there was enough room for all of us to pile into his dining room and sit around his table, but only just.
It was there that Amescoll learned that Yoda's time was running out, something that the older man struggled to comprehend. Having been a significant part of the Order for so long, the ancient Jedi Master must have seemed timeless to the Jedi who grew up with him. Not only did they learn from him on a semi-regular basis, but he would have also played a part in any history they would have been studying as younglings. He was literally a living legend.
And now he was dying.
Eventually, Amescoll took Yoda to meet his Padawans and their children, guiding us to a communal area, where some of the parents, including from clan Syr and other Skyforged people, were watching the younglings. It was a large field with an easily identifiable jungle gym to one side and plenty of space for kids to run around. Their ages ranged from barely above toddlers to several preteens sitting on a bench as far away from their parents as possible.
After greeting and talking with several people, news spread quickly around the town, and while we had planned on traveling to multiple places, people ended up coming to us. Soon, an impromptu feast was set up, with Clan Syr hunters more than happy to donate larger kills to a town event. Soon, the party had picked up, the crowd growing until I was pretty sure most of the town had arrived.
At first, I was worried that Yoda would be overwhelmed, he had spent nearly twenty years with very few visitors, after all. Thankfully, he seemed completely at ease, happily talking to my people, be they Jedi, Mandalorian, or "civilians."
While the arrival of a living legend was the focus of the event, I did manage to wrangle in a small meeting with Amescoll and several other prominent members of the growing city. I warned them that we would likely be pulling out of Omega Station to focus on Nirn, and that we would be gaining some resources and defenses. They took the news well and promised that with an infusion of labor droids and other equipment, they could start preparing for more families to move in.
On top of that, I asked Amescoll to survey some space around Vercopa for a much larger landing area. While Boxi's Fury, Forge, and Anvil were not meant to land frequently, if at all, most of our ships would benefit significantly from having a landing zone of their own, where we could perform maintenance and take care of loading and unloading equipment and supplies.
All I really needed was some relatively flat space chosen out, the droid army I had just gained was more than capable of setting up semi-permanent operating bases, which would translate nicely to landing zones. We could convert them into proper shipyards later, but for now, we just needed the basics.
The night continued, ending not long after Yoda headed off to sleep. While he may have been excited to see the survivors of the Jedi Purge, he was still old, and soon the constant activity wore on him. Amescoll happily volunteered his spare bedroom until his own home could be constructed. I also found out that they had built a home for me as well. It matched Amescoll's almost perfectly, though I did notice I had waterfront property, the river and ponds that flowed through the heart of the mesa running through my backyard. Not many other buildings were even remotely as close as mine.
The home was sparse, even more so than the bare bones of Amescoll's home. There were beds, clean linens, working plumbing, and some sparse furniture, but beyond that, it was empty. That was far from a bad thing in my mind since it meant I could decorate it how I wanted. I was already excited to start looking for souvenirs on missions to add to the wall. Of course, Luke could stay in the spare bedroom while he was here, and Ahsoka obviously had space just next to mine. I, of course, explained she could basically consider it her home as well. She could even convert one of the spare rooms into a meditation chamber or whatever she wanted.
The following morning, we woke up and prepared to leave. While a large part of me, a part that had grown even bigger now that I had my own home, wanted to stay for longer, just enjoying the growing city, I needed to get back to work. The negotiations with the Rebel Alliance wouldn't happen without me, and they definitely needed to happen.
Once we were ready, we headed out to say our goodbyes, finding Yoda, Amescoll, and several Padawans meditating in one of the specific meditation centers. It was a beautiful park, with several roofed areas and plants growing all along the semicircle space. At the center was, of all things, a Uneti tree. Judging by its size, they must have transplanted it from the island, which had quite a few growing on it.
"I thought these trees were incredibly hard to grow?" I asked, both Amescoll and Yoda standing to greet us.
"A mystery, it is," Yoda agreed. "A constant struggle, the Great Tree was. And yet, grow wildly here, they do here. Investigate, I would like to. This ancient Jedi Temple, I would like to visit."
"Well, make sure you get a sufficient escort," I said. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
"Wise words," Amescoll agreed with a nod. "I have been putting off the deep scans you recommended, too busy keeping up here. With more people arriving to take charge of the city, perhaps I will join you in that investigation."
"If you find anything interesting, call us," I said with a smirk. "I am always up for a little Jedi-instigated adventure."
Both Amescoll and Yoda looked at me, confused, while Ahsoka and Luke, both familiar with my theory and at least partial believers as well, simply nodded. "Fate seems to turn around the Force-sensitive," I explained, responding to their confused looks. "I'm sure you've both noticed that events always seem to reach their crescendo just after a Jedi arrives when probability states that it should be a more even spread. Basically, the Force bends fate and likes to pick on Force-sensitives. So, if you're looking for adventure and challenges, travel with a Jedi, they usually find it eventually."
"He warned me when he first started training me, that training yourself in the Force is basically locking you into an interesting life," Luke explained with a shrug. "Fun, exciting, fulfilling, but never boring. Never really peaceful."
Both Amescoll and Yoda looked like they wanted to dismiss the claims, but after a moment, they both realized that they really couldn't. The galaxy, by and large, really seemed to rotate around those who could feel and tune into the Force, for better or for worse, both for those with the connection and those around them. Hell, you could even graph a direct link between the depths of their connection and how much fate seemed to focus on them.
"An interesting theory, that is," Yoda admitted after a long moment of thought. "Some truth to it, there is, I suspect. Change anything, it does not."
"Well… I mean, you might want to consider warning people when you recruit them," I pointed out. "A life of servitude to the Force is a lot, especially when you really didn't know what you were getting into…"
"While debating what the future of the Jedi will be is both interesting and necessary, we unfortunately need to leave," Ahsoka pointed out. "I have a feeling our negotiations with the Rebellion will already be tense, there is no reason to make them wait any longer than necessary and make it worse"
"Hmm, wish you well on your journey, I do," Yoda said, bowing slightly. "Once you return, talk to you again, I would like to. A task I have, one that could have a reward for the Skyforged."
"How time-sensitive is it?" I asked with a frown. "I could have another team here in a day or so, they could easily take care of anything you need."
"Consider it, I will, if unavailable you are for long," Yoda agreed. "Wait, I can, but not forever."
"We will be back soon, maybe a week or so," I said. "We can talk business then. For now, all of you take care."
We finished saying our goodbyes before all of us headed back to the Starcaller. Before long, we were leaving the planet, jumping into hyperspace, on our way to Alpha Base. As we traveled, I reached out to our people, instructing the rest of my team to head to Alpha Base as well and to transfer the updated inventory for all of the CIS ships that made it out with us. The list was extensive, even with how many ships we were forced to leave behind and sacrifice.
Ahsoka and I spent most of our trip going over the inventory, talking to our quartermaster, Tatnia, and our captains as we discussed what we wanted, what we wanted to trade for, and just how stringent we would be about it. I already had ideas in my head, but getting everyone's thoughts, many of which confirmed my own, was always good.
It wasn't until the last half day of travel that Luke got our attention for a conversation in the lounge.
"Alright, so… Is there anything you guys can tell me about how this is going to go down?" He asked, looking concerned and worried. "I know you guys deserve your pound of payback for what happened, and you've certainly earned the right to lead the negotiations with how you described the fight… It's just that… I'm worried about what sort of damage this might do to the partnership between the Rebellion and the Skyforged."
I let out a long sigh, leaning back in my chair, resisting the urge to cross my arms. I had no reason to be confrontational with Luke, he had been nothing but good to me and my people. He was a friend, and I was not angry with him.
"Unless the Rebellion does something truly stupid, like attempts to capture us and force us to turn over our assets, or something equally dumb, I'm not going to pull away from the Rebellion," I assured the young Jedi. "I believe in the cause as well as in the people way too much to let a single incident like this do that."
"So why does it feel like you and Ahsoka are marching to negotiate with the Empire, not the Rebellion?"
"Because, look, a line was crossed," I explained, shaking my head. "We cannot back down from this, not with how much it almost cost us, with how directly it was targeted at me. This was not some random Rebel cell getting infiltrated, this was an attack specifically to apprehend me and my team. If we let this slide, let bygones be bygones, the Rebellion, the politicians at least, would assume they could walk all over us. That could cause our partnership to break down since I would not tolerate that in the slightest."
"So then, what's your plan?" he asked. "I know you have one, what is it?"
"My plan is to use this negotiation to show that the Skyforged is no longer just a small-time mercenary company," I explained. "I want to change how they see us because I am no longer satisfied with the relationship we have at the moment. It needs to evolve if the Rebellion wants our continued support. We want to continue to support you guys, but we can't do it if we aren't being treated well."
Luke's eyes went wide for a moment before seeming to understand what I was saying. While he may not be as politically savvy as his twin, he had definitely gotten a crash course in it since he joined. Plus, he was a pretty smart kid in general, so I wasn't surprised to see him understand what I was getting at.
"Alright, I suppose that's about the best I can hope for," He responded, leaning forward onto the table in front of him. "I suppose that means things won't be as… casual with our dealings?"
"I prefer to keep things simple and straightforward, but yes, it's pretty likely," I admitted. "My casual attitude was, marginally, part of the problem. I kept things simple and uncomplicated, and because of that, we were treated as simple and uncomplicated. I'm not saying that it is the reason we were taken advantage of, but I am saying that I don't think I can afford to be quite so casual, at least when doing business."
"That's unfortunate," He said with a frown. "Does that mean…"
The young rebel trailed off, and for a moment, I saw a deeper weakness, one that worried about the friendships he had made since meeting us. I quickly spoke up to squash those thoughts before they could progress.
"Relax, Luke, I'm not gonna stop being your friend. None of us are," I assured him, shaking my head. "Even if the Rebellion royally fucks this up, I'm still gonna support you and all of the Jedi. You will always have a place with us, even if it gets complicated."
The tension that had been building up inside him seemed to melt a bit, and he smiled. Before he could say anything, I smirked and continued.
"Besides, I don't know if I could keep you and Miru apart even if I wanted to," I added. "She is stubborn, and saying no to you would be like yelling at a puppy. I don't stand a chance."
The rebel Jedi blushed at my teasing but did not deny anything. I couldn't help but laugh as the last bit of tension in his shoulder drained away. I was about to tease him some more, but Ahsoka came to his rescue, poking my stomach with her elbow.
"Alright, alright, no more teasing," I agreed, raising my hands up, still smiling.
The three of us chatted a bit more, and eventually, we went our separate ways to get ready. We had plenty of time, more than Luke even realized since I didn't tell him everything, so I wasn't exactly feeling rushed. Still, better safe than sorry, so I put on my uniform with the intent of straightening it up later.
After another two hours of hyperspace travel, we dropped out of lightspeed around the familiar planet. By now, I recognized the rebel defense fleet pretty well, and while I couldn't pretend to know every ship, I was pretty sure they had around the same amount as usual, which was a good sign that nothing crazy was going on.
At least not yet.
We waited on the outskirts of the planet for a bit, before the rest of the First Group, including the Loyal Hound, the Forward Charge, and the Talos Chariot, dropped out of lightspeed not too far from us. We shared a quick conversation before grouping together and descending down to the planet's surface, passing by the defense fleet and into the atmosphere.
Comments
Alex
Also, there's a few errors in the ninth or tenth paragraph. "Amescoll happily volunteered his spare bedroom until his own home could be cons uilt a home for me as well." That seems like two separate sentences accidentally slammed together. And the last sentence ends with a comma, making me wonder if it's a cut off sentence.
Fortunis
Monday needs to hurry up. Im really looking forward to seeing the negotiations. Considering how short a time it's been the Skyforged Vanguard has really grown. From a single ship to an entire fleet complete with capital ships. An entire hidden world to explore and expand into. He's already talking about ground based shipyards too. On top of that he has a Lucrehulk to base his mobile forces out of so he can keep Nirn hidden. I absolutely love it. I could see a Kuat style orbital capital yard around one of Nirn's moons too. Edit: one thing I'd love to see would be Deacon hitting the Starforge and downloading it's entire technical database. The Forge itself is corrupt but the technology and database themselves shouldn't be i would think. That ofcourse depends on wether or not it was destroyed by Revan. At the very least he could look to see what's left or if there's any old Infinite Empire bases laying around.
Fortunis
It makes sense considering they literally have their own planet and fleet now. Deacon is basically a Clan Leader and government head rolled into one.
Alex
The way Deacon talks about the Force gives the impression of, like, a small child with a galaxy for a toy box. Which is very funny.
TexanWarrior
I feel like these negotiations are going to change everything. Skyforge vanguard will probably no longer be viewed as a "small mercenary group" but most likely as its own faction. Maybe not a faction within the rebellion itself, but more like a heavily armed and mobile, militant allies to the alliance. That's what I think at least.
Freya
Tyftc
Cmols897
I'm really looking forward to the "negotiations" I kinda hope Admiral Dickweed (forgot his name, the one who was antagonistic) does something and Deacon can slap him down into his place
Cmols897
I said the same thing. But who knows maybe Miru like redheads too?
Duke of Coffee
The Force, it plays, much to gain. 😆 Well let see how the negotiations of this custerfuck of a mission goes in the next chapter. So Miru x Luke huh, no red heads for Mr. Luke then. 😜
