Ask Coruscant All That Remains

[Ky Maryk]

When spacers spoke of Coruscant, they told of a city that never ended. A city that stretched to the horizon, touched the skies, and reached down to the ground, which hadn't been seen in centuries. They told of the center of the greatest government the galaxy had ever known, the Galactic Republic, home of the fabled Jedi Order. They also told of Imperial Center, the heart of the Galactic Empire's power. The seat of Emperor Palpatine and his twisted minion, Darth Vader. But when Ky Maryk, Jedi Knight, looked out at Coruscant—or all that remained of it—all he could see were ghosts.

Truth be told, city worlds like Nar Shaddaa and Taris were more lively than Coruscant these days. The reputation of the Empire had ruined the so-called "Jewel of the Core," leaving it a smog-covered wasteland of poverty and disease. Neither the New Republic nor the Free Worlds Alliance had done anything to fix Coruscant. It was like what Palpatine did here was tainting. A stain on both the galaxy and the Force, and no one knew quite how to clean it up. Capping off the dismal landscape, standing like a monolithic tombstone above the Federal District, was the shell of the Imperial Palace—formerly the Jedi Temple itself. Once, it was the seat of the greatest power in the galaxy. Now...

"What a dump," Ky said as he angled the transport down towards the abandoned landing pad outside the palace. He turned to his companion, another Jedi, one of the few he could tolerate. "You dragged me all the way from the Rim to see this?" He nodded over his shoulders to where the crumbling palace was framed by a pillar of smog. "This better be good, Ves."

A moment later, he was standing on the landing ramp covering his nose. The second the ramp opened, the smell of polluted air and what he could only guess was feces hit him like a freighter. "This better be damn good," he corrected himself. "What are we here for anyways?" @Logan

 

[Vesper]

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The ride to Coruscant had been pretty pleasant. Vesper had been spending a lot of her time lately with the padawans of the Order, trying to seek one out that would be a good fit for her as an apprentice. Turns out, padawans - especially the younger ones - were super krffing annoying. It wasn't their fault, of course, it was in their nature but by the Force did it feel nice to hear nothing but silence for once.

"Oh be honest Ky, I drug you from one dump to another. At least Coruscant has Starcredits coffee." Peering out of the viewport of the shuttle, Vesper had to say that the visage of the old Jedi Temple was indeed quite.. depressing. Like a beautiful sculpture ravaged by time and vandals, it was nothing but a dim reminder of what it used to be. The taint of Palpatine almost emanated from the place like visible stink lines.

Following Ky out of the shuttle, Vesper pulled out a datapad as her friend started to complain again. She couldn't help but crack a small smile at his disbelief that there was something on this planet worth his time. Pulling up her Spacebook, Vesper scrolled down a little bit till she found what she was looking for: a news story she'd read a few days ago.

"Oh, you mean other than the magnificent sights and the wonderful smell of open air?" She said, the playful sarcasm in her voice evident, as she extended her arms out so Ky would take in all of the "majesty" that Corsucant had to offer. "Of course I wouldn't have brought you here for no reason Ky, you know that." Vesper had that look on her face that mothers got when their children questioned their infinite wisdom.

Handing the datapad over to Ky, Vesper would give him a moment to read the story. Apparently there was some person who'd taken up refuge inside the old Jedi Temple and was claiming to be a miracle healer. Vesper had met people like that before back when she was a child in the orphanage on Taris; they'd come by every so often, claiming they could help the sick kids.. for a small fee, of course. It never failed that their miracle cures stopped working the moment that they skipped town, credits in hand and a new destination in sight with new people to swindle.

"These people have a hard enough time getting by without some conman swindling them out of their money. Plus, the comments on the article were saying how he's started to form sort of a.. cult of followers who will do anything he says. We both know what kind of danger something like that can bring."

Looking around, Vesper spotted a run-down looking Starcredits coffee, and despite its shoddy appearance it was an oasis in the desert to her. "Come on, we can stop by the coffee shop there and ask some questions. Plus, I figure everyone should see the old Jedi Temple from the inside at least once... even if it's sort of a dried out, decrepit factory of sadness compared to what it used to be."

Walking towards the shop, Vesper wouldn't pay much attention to whether Ky was following or not, she just kind of assumed he would. She'd go inside and head up to the counter, intending to buy herself and Ky a drink while her cranky friend probably stood around brooding. Or, maybe he'd strike up a convo and get some more down-to-earth rumors going on with the guy in the Temple. It would be good to have a little more useful info before heading into a situation blind.

 

[Ky Maryk]

Ky followed Vesper much the way a child might follow a scolding parent: grumbling while casually skimming the datapad she'd handed him. He found it ridiculous that the temple that had once hosted the mighty Jedi Order at its height had a caff shop in front of it like it was some sort of damned tourist destination. He sobered up as they got closer. There were people in the streets. There were people living in the streets, and it reminded him of the poor districts in Iziz that he came from back on Onderon. These were the people he had sworn to protect, first as an Onderonian solider and then as a Jedi Knight.

The inside of Starcredits was nicer than most cantinas he'd been to out on the Rim, and it smelled nicer than the streets they'd just come off of, but he was immediately not crazy about the barista behind the bar. Said barista was a Pa'lowick woman. The last time Ky had met one of them, the reptilian broad had swindled him on a bet over podracing. He could only imagine how thrilled the Council would be to know he was involved in that sort of business, even if it had only been a passing fad.

His eyes went up to the screen above the bar where the HoloNet was turned to HoloWars. A fat, pasty-faced human man—looking a bit like a sick bullfrog Ky had seen once on Dagobah—was hunched over a desk and appeared to be in the middle of a tirade:

What do you think tap water is? It's a gay bomb, baby! They're putting chemicals in the water that turn the kriffin' frogs gay! Do you understand that?! I'm sick of this crap! I'm sick of being socially-engineered! It's not funny!

The anchor on the screen repeatedly slammed his datapad down on his desk and Ky's brow twitched as he side-eyed Vesper. "Charming place," he said. "Gonna take us to a dog fight next?" Then he mumbled, "At least I know what I'll be getting to drink."

He must have been overheard, because a Gran approached them and said, "I wouldn't drink anything around here if I were you, friend. What Axel Sone said was truth! Much chemicals from the Works have made it into the water supply! Why, Master Karson at the Temple has said as much himself! A grave time this is for our world. A grave time indeed."

"Master Karson, huh?" said Ky, who then leaned in to Vesper. "Think we found your 'Jedi Master,' Ves." @Logan