Cry Turmoil: Post-fight Reunion

[Dae Jinn]

When Zenas's contact arrives, she finds him standing at the sink. The hotel room is just one big room; a large, main area for the beds, TV, and dressers, with the sinks off to the side, and a small room connected to that for the refresher. His head is tilted down and his eyes are closed. She gets the sense that he's anticipating something.

The door slides shut behind her as she moves over to Zenas, losing her clothes as she goes so that when she reaches him, she's fully nude. He tenses as she holds him tightly and kisses his shoulders. "They'll be here shortly," she whispers. "Want to wait? for them?"

Zenas shakes his head. "Go lie face-up on the bed. Shut your eyes." His voice is shaking, and it makes her smile as she complies with his command, feeling a bit of anticipation rush through her own body. Zenas moves silently over to the bed, drawing his lightsaber to his left hand and holding it against her hips. She shivers and murmurs something lewd; Zenas barely pays her any notice as he leans down to whisper in her ear. "Das't ruttin' sow." Her eyes snap open, Zenas activates his lightsaber, and in one clean motion has cleaved her neatly into two, symmetrical halves. She didn't even have time to scream.

Her two companions, however, managed to arrive just in time to witness the killing stroke of the lightsaber. They do scream, and Zenas is upon them before they can flee. They stand shoulder to shoulder in the doorway, and Zenas's blade pierces the left one through the stomach. He sweeps it horizontally to her waist and then twists it up at a sharp diagonal, cleaving the right-hand one from waist to shoulder. The bodies collapse and the Togrutan steps into the hall.

Two security guards, both Zeltrons, bear down on him from the left. They can't even draw their blasters before Zenas is upon them, flicking his lightsaber from left to right and removing their heads. He savors the sound of air escaping their lungs through the necks, and relishes the way the glass windows of the hall shatter violently outward as the momentum of his arm brings his saber into them.

Fear and panic are spreading again, and Zenas finds it empowering. He leaps into the square, landing nimbly, and cutting down the tourists to clear an open area around himself. "Cry turmoil," he mutters, watching the crowd flee before him.

It wasn't unusual for me to wake up to the sound of someone screaming in the next room. Although, it's an entirely different kind of scream; one followed by a groan, moan or squeal of delight. Milla kept the room next to mine free for "entertaining", in the way only three randy Zeltrons could. I had been invited to join them, since Milla had met what she described as the "hottest Togruti in the galaxy", but declined. Casual sex had lost it's excitement after the first three months of living on Zeltros; I'd been called "quaint" for wanting a nice, normal, monogamous relationship. I suppose it was my upbringing - being born to a Jedi Master father, and Coruscanti "royalty", growing up in a Jedi temple. Yeah, that can have quite an effect on a persons' moral compass.


I stretched, rolling out of the large, plush bed that took up a majority of the room. I grabbed a random piece of clothing from the floor, hoping it would cover enough of me to let me investigate the commotion in the hall. Pulling on what turned out to be a long sweater, I peeked around the door. The stench of burnt flesh hung in the air, the drapery on the window, or what was left of it, was blowing gently in the breeze. Two hotel security guards lay in the middle of the floor with no heads. No blood either, just perfectly severed heads, their necks cauterized...Great. I can see a more femine looking arm sticking out of the doorway, and slowly start to creep my way towards the room.

A hand clamps down on my shoulder, making me shriek and jump a few feet in the air. A not-so-dead security guard has a blaster pointed at my head, and the most serious look I've ever seen on a Zeltron on his face.

"Ma'am, you're going to have to come with me. We're asking all guests to move down to the lobby untill this situtation is resolved."

I nod, then remember I'm running around half-naked. We make a quick stop at my room, where I shove most of my dirty laundry in my bags (hey, when you live in hotels, why bother unpacking?) and throw on some more clothes. The lobby is packed, crammed full of worried faces. Pheromones are starting to fill the air, trying to make everyone feel nice-nice and happy again, when the mob outside starts screaming. Waves of panic are running through the room now; people start pushing for the door, knocking into each other. Herd mentality has taken over, and I'm getting swept up in the sea of bodies. I get shoved hard out the door. I barely manage to scramble to my feet when the crowd, now at a safe distance, starts to watch a masked Jester and a Togruti fight. With lightsabers. A familiar feeling comes over me, something I rarely felt now that I'm an adult. It's almost nostalgic - memories of life at the Temple come flooding back as I watch what I can only assume is a Jedi fight with this man.

The fight begins to escalate, another Jedi joining the mix. Now, I'm starting to get a sinking feeling in my stomach - what if the Togruti can sense me? How are there TWO Jedi here on Zeltros? I'm sure some of us must've gotten away during the Purge, but hiding was the safest place for any with a Jedi past, right? What if I know them, will they be able to sense me too? It's all too much; my friends are probably dead, the entire city is in chaos, and there are Jedi fighting in the street. I need to get away from here, and start to push my way through the crowd. It seems to take forever to get somewhere "normal", where the feelings of panic and fear are barely there. I turn into a caf shop, and slump into the closest seat I can find. Surely no-one will find me here...at least, I'm hoping so.

[Zeke]

Zeke and Wei land in a crouch beside Zeke's speeder bike as they come in from the square where the fight took place. The landing, while controlled to minimize impact, set Zeke's ribs ablaze with fresh pain. He half-hisses, half-groans through gritted teeth as he gets himself carefully down from Wei's shoulders. He's pale, sweating, and doesn't look like he'll last a whole lot longer. Lucky for him, his speederbike has a sidecar. He sits down in it and takes a deep breath, lifting the faceplate of his helmet to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Can you drive this thing?" he asks Wei.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shook his head. "No, I don't. I'm only really qualified for speeders and cargo haulers. However, if you can set the repulsor lifts on it, I can push it or drag it back to the ship. Pulling would be better though. I can control the thing easier that way. Do you have any emergency tow cable? That'd make it work easier."

Quite a predicament. And the Force only knew where that odd dark Force user went.

[Dae Jinn]

I nearly spit out my first sip of caf as I catch a glimpse of the Jedi from the fight out the window. They're stopped at a speeder bike; the one in the helmet is looking worse for wear. I can feel the Zeltrons coming in and out of the shop amping up their pheromones, blocking out whatever pain they'd be feeling from the biker Jedi. I stare hard at my full mug of dark liquid, then out the window, then back at my drink. All the lectures I'd gotten as a child - the ones about helping my fellow Jedi, especially - ran through my head.

A little backstory: once upon a time, long before Lord Vader wiped most of the Jedi out of existance, they used to be the "super heroes" of the galaxy. My dad was one of them, Jedi Master Liam Jinn. The things I remember about my dad - his rouguish grin, easy charm and infectious laugh - are all things my mother would get misty eyed and say I inherited from him. My mother, Ms. Kris Fausta, is the daughter of a very wealthy and influential Coruscanti family. Mum got kidnapped, Dad saved her, they fell in love (in spite of the "no attachment" rule of the Jedi Code), and I was born. When I was real little, I was taken to the Temple to learn how to be a Jedi. I spent about seven years there, before I got sent to "visit" relatives on Naalol. I say "visit", because the Purge happened weeks later. Call it luck, or the Will of the Force, but somehow I was spared...

And of course, that's when I started down my path of bad behavior; flirting my way from spaceport to spaceport, untill I ended up here at age twenty-five. Two years of relatively peaceful, sinful living had come to an end in one single afternoon. Was it another sway of the Force in my favor? I wasn't sure; this could end up amazingly well, or horribly horribly bad.

A few moments later, I'm outside. Fingers are crossed, thumbs are being held, kushibans' feet are being rubbed for good luck. I make my way towards the pair, clear my throat and hope my hesitation doesn't show up in my voice.

"You two need some help?"

[Zeke]

Zeke takes a few more breaths, runs that sentence through his head a few times to make absolutely certain he heard it right, and nods.

"If you can..."

Talking hurts too much, so he just gestures at the handlebars. If she can drive, Wei can ride on the seat behind her (Zeke's certain he'll complain[/sarcasm]) and direct her to the spaceport.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"If you can operate this bike, that'll be great. Otherwise, I don't think there's much that can be done."

Wei is still sifting through pouches and compartments, trying to figure out where a set of tow cables can be found.

"We appreciate you asking, though."

Things need to happen fast. The sooner Wei can get Zeke out of the city and to the spaceport, the sooner they can find a safer location for medical attention.

[Dae Jinn]

"Uh, I guess I can. I'm not the greatest driver, but I can manage."

I settle onto the seat, putting my bags genlty into the sidecar with Biker Jedi. I guess they don't recognise me, but I *was* a youngling eons ago. The way this guy is looking, there really isn't time to start asking questions. I kick-start the lifts, revving a bit to let the Jester know to get a move on.

"Where we going?"

[Zeke]

Zeke points in the direction of the spaceport before passing out.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's eyebrows raise. "More specifically, you're looking an Action IV named the Curvy Lady."

The former Knight wasn't sure how well he'd be able to run, given the general feeling of discord in his mind. He needed the run though, at least to clear out his head. Plus, he didn't know how well the speeder would handle three passengers.

"Come along," he said, and took off towards the spaceport.

[Dae Jinn]

"....Okay."

It's not hard to keep pace with someone running, and I keep the bike a few lengths behind. Going a bit slow is probably for the best, considering how well my passenger is doing. Why we're going to the 'port and not to a med-center is beyond me, and it's not like I can ask either of these guys what the deal is. It's frustrating, in a way, because there is SO much I want to ask.

I pull up beside the Jester, and clear my throat. As soon as I say it, I want to smack my own forehead. "You two are the ones from the square, right? You're Jedi, huh?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei decided to wait until they were back at the Curvy Lady before answering that question.

"We're something like Jedi. Survivors of the purge. But I don't know that I'd really call myself a Jedi anymore. But it's all I got left, I suppose."

Zeke's wife and daughter walk up to them as Wei pulls off his mask. The wife--her name was Carol, maybe--gingerly removed the helmet from her husband's head. Cassandra--that was the daughter--got some crew and whatever medical supplies were handy and with a great deal of stress and time got Zeke out of the sidecar.

"We need to get off this planet now." Wei was in no mood to simply mosey. "We'll find a med center on another nearby planet. But we cannot stay here."

Carol understood and issued orders to the helmsman to take off immediately.

Wei returned his attention to Dae. "I hope you have money to buy bunk. And since you're on a ship, you might as well decide where you want to go next."

[Dae Jinn]

"I have no idea WHERE I want to go next; you know, I was having a perfectly wonderful life right here on Zeltros before," I point in the direction the crew had taken the other Jedi, and then into this guys' chest. "You two showed up. Do you think you're the only "Survivors" left? I lost my dad to...that thing, and having you guys here..."

I inhale sharply, clenching my fists at my sides. This guy might be comfortable with saying the "J" word for the whole damn world to hear, but I wasn't. Growing up surrounded by lazy imperials boasting over the Purge makes one a bit more cautious.

"You know, SOME of us don't want to save the galaxy anymore. Some of us want to live our nice normal lives and forget about all of that happening."

[Zeke]

Carol and Cassandra have taken over Zeke's care along with their medical technician. They hustle him into their tiny, underused med-bay, leaving Dae and Wei to have their discussion in peace. There will be time for an explanation later.

The Curvy Lady is notoriously accident-proof, so the equipment is somewhat lacking. An old, old bacta tank stands against one wall, and the room is equipped with only two beds. Most of the problems that come through here are sick people, not damaged ones, so there's never been need for more than this.

"Even if we did have the funds to upgrade this equipment, I don't think it'd be worth the investment," Zeke had said months before. "We're simply too good at this to be damaged more than a bacta patch can handle."

Well, so much for that. The technician begins to set-up the ancient bacta tank. It whines and sputters, but starts up and begins to fill with bacta. They gently get Zeke inside and leave him to his recovery.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's eyes sharpened at the corners. "I had a normal life after the Purge, too."

The words came out cold.

"I had a wife. I also had a son on the way. He might have been born today for all I know. I also re-connected with my father. I had a business with him. And can you believe that in the hours I was gone the Empire came along? They shot my wife through the stomach, and my father through the head. My house stands cored on its foundation. My business is very much over. I probably have no money to my name."

Wei shook his head and pulled his glasses from his sleeve. He unfolded them but waited a moment before putting them on. Before when he had been fighting the Force had automatically corrected his vision. The world blurred around him now.

"Be glad. You were around to bear witness when your world came tumbling down."

His glasses rested on his nose, bringing the cargo bay into focus. There was nothing more to say. The former Jedi simply returned to his bunk.

[Dae Jinn]

"Yeah, like THAT'S supposed to make it any better," I muttered, watching him walk away. A crew member came, leading me to a small room with a cot and a small cubby in it. I tossed my bags onto the floor before settling down on my new uncomfortable bed. Where did I want to go? I really had no idea; and no idea where this tub was heading. Any where without Groucho would be an improvement...Hopefully the next stop is somewhere less exciting.

[Wei Wu Wei]

In his room at last, nearly two or three standard Galactic days after the events at his home, Wei finally grieved. He cried until he sobbed. He grit his teeth, growled in his throat, and shouted his lungs out. It didn't matter who heard him or who came running. He was alone.

After a time, the tears dried up. Anger crested out of the sorrow and crashed around in his heart. He clamped down on it. He needed to let go. Let go of the woman he loved and the child he would never meet. Let go of the father and the livelihood he learned to live for.

He couldn't. There was only one thing to do. Practice.

Wei dried his eyes and cleaned his glasses. His lightsaber still rested in his left sleeve. He returned to the cargo bay where the open space waited for him to get lost in the hum of the glowing blade.

[Zeke]

Zeke's mind replayed the scene in the square. Oddly he saw the scene from an outside perspective, in a manner that was almost cinematic. His mind zoomed up on and slowed down the moments where he made his mistakes, replayed Zenas's advantageous actions several times, and finally he snapped awake in the med-bay.

The first thing he did was shut his eyes and stretch out with his senses; Wei was in the cargo hold, a bright dot was in the passenger deck, and as near as he could tell they were still on the ground, and probably would be for a while longer as the planet's authorities tried to sort the mess of the fight and clear the ships scrambling to leave for take-off. Idly, he wondered what became of the Togrutan they had fought, and started to work over a plan to bring his abilities back to par.

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas slides into the cargo bay unnoticed by the workers on the far side. He finds an empty container and climbs into it, keeping the lid spaced open just enough to allow him air to breathe. After a while the workers shut the main door and leave to go further into the ship. Zenas sighs with relief; at least it'll be easy enough for him to stay hidden, as long as he can keep his Force Signature buried.

He goes over the day's events; he caused mass panic and chaos, bested two other Force-users of indeterminate skill, and made a fine display of his own strengths, including a few he didn't know he had.

Mission complete...but now what? He could keep going in this manner, hopping from world to world (or city to city in a smaller scale), but that idea left a bitter feeling akin to the impotence he used to feel when the school kids would bully him. No, he needed focus. It had always been a weakness of his, and it needed to be erased and replaced with an appropriate strength. He lets the thoughts settle for the moment as the ship begins to move.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei opened the cargo bay door, but paused inside it. The fight with the Darksider had reawakened something in him. What about Zeke? The girl was apparently still very upset and not at all favorable towards conversation about the old Jedi order.

Wu Wei shut the door back and meandered to the medical bay where Zeke floated in an elderly bacta tank.

A single technician sat at the controls and toyed with a datapad.

"How long till he's out?"

[Zeke]

"Damn near forever," said the technician appreciatively. "We can offload him to a hospital at the next planet and get him out a few days ahead of schedule. Ever been to Storinal?" She shakes her head. "What am I saying, everybody's been to Storinal. Look, I'm gonna go check on our passengers, make sure we don't have any that get motion sick in spite of inertial compensators and the like. I'll see you later."

"About das't time," Zeke mutters telepathically at Wei. "Thought she'd never leave, or that you or bike-ridin' chick would show up.". There's a brief pause, then: 'DUDE! We got butt-kicked! What was that back there, man?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei decided to follow Zeke's initiative and speak through the Force.

That, he thought with a sigh,was a Darksider. Pretty good one too. Who would have thought? I had always figured that after the Emperor and Vader killed all the Jedi, they were the only two Force capable people left. Well, apart from myself. I certainly thought they were the only two capable of harnessing the Dark Side.

Wei adjusted his glasses. Hard to see, the Dark Side is. Apparently the Light is also pretty hard to see. Here we have three Force capable people under the precarious heading of 'Jedi.' Anyway, back to Sunshine. He was certainly aggressive. Very capable in lightsaber combat. He's got a good knowledge of Djem So and Juyo under his belt. Typical, really. Djem So is the super-aggressive, heavy handed fighting style of Vader. Juyo is basically like Windu's Vapaad only without the self-restraint. Vapaad disciples who fall to the darkside really are making use of the Juyo technique.

[Zeke]

"Oh fun!" Zeke replied, mimicking the chirpy tone characteristic of his daughter's sarcasm. "How strong do you suppose he was, on a Padawan-Knight-Master scale? I've been thinking he's at least better than a Padawan by his lightsaber technique, but lightsabers aren't everything. There are some days when kicking butt with a lightsaber simply doesn't count."

[Wei Wu Wei]

He's probably Knight-equivalent. Or at least he's close. But if there's more like him out there, then we're going to have our hands full unless we sharpen the vibroblade and get back to training.

[Zeke]

"Yeah. What do you suppose his strengths were in the Force? Like, not counting lightsabers. Boosting, definitely, so we oughtta work on that, I guess. My TK needs work like you wouldn't believe. I can feel the rusty. Do you feel it?"

Zeke sighed into his breathing apparatus, glad of the bacta's ability to null out the pain it would've caused him.

"When I first decided to get back into the heroing thing, I didn't think it'd be that hard. I actually didn't consider that my skills and powers would've degraded so much."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged. I honestly don't really know what that guy's strengths and weaknesses might be. But yes, I can feel how old and slow I've gotten at this kind of stuff. When you get back into shape, we'll get started. Until then, I'm going to go see what your staff makes for dinner.

The technician returned and sat at the console, leaving Wei free to go to dinner without guilting over leaving Zeke in the tank by himself.

[Zeke]

"See ya," Zeke replied through the Force. He could practice TK in here, if the tech would just get out. Though first he should really figure out this Force thing.

It's no longer enough to him to take pride in the simple pleasures he knew as a Jedi, back during the war. It's simply not enough that he can do this stuff anymore. His flourishing business, while certainly a source of business, isn't enough either.

"Probably because it'd take just one wrong move to totally vape this thing."

So something more permanent? At least, something stronger than income. He's mulling this over when his wife comes in and presses her hand to the glass.

"Hey, honey. I don't know what happened in that city, but I'm glad you came out of it okay. We miss you at the crew's table. They're trying to make Cassandra sit at the head with a strainer for a crown and a mop for a scepter, calling her Queen Boss and throwing confetti." Zeke smirks behind his breathing mask, and Carol smiles back at him. "Get well soon," she sighs."I love you."

She turns to leave, not seeing Zeke's gesture of sudden, frustrated epiphany.

" DAS'T IT ALL THE ANSWER IS WALKING AWAY FROM ME AND SWAYING HER HIPS IN A SEXY MANNER."

His wife. His daughter. His whole famn-damly. The years he'd spent with them have been happier than any preceding them. Getting married, having a child...SO much better than a knight promotion or a General-ship or a grand, sweeping military victory. Why hadn't he thought of them before?

"If she finds out, she's gonna be pissed."

But that is the reason he didn't think of them, he supposes. He doesn't want to risk them with this foolhardy venture he's taking. It feels like a conundrum; whether he should risk exposing them by drawing on this experience for the Force, or forgo that option in favor of a more difficult one.

"You okay, Captain?" asks the tech, seeing his furrowed brow. Zeke shakes his head, and she turns back to her viewscreen.

This is gonna be a toughie.