Ask Gas and Other Things (Redux)

[K’Jun]

Kril’dor l Death Enabled​

To say that Jun had been absent after Jedha would be an understatement. The Fiani had stayed behind on his homeworld to help stabilize it after the upheaval. Something he’d accomplished quite handily.

Jedha now operated with two separate forms of government, a system based off of its three most important pillars. Faith, Community, and Defense. First was the Church of the Force, now reconstructed to answer to an Arch-Bishop who accepted theological guidance from a College of appointed Cardinals. Next was a planetary chancellor who led a system wide senate that met in New Jedha City. Finally, The Matukai herself, who answered to the Council of Elders within the Order.

Each of these leaders formed a triumvirate and acted as the planetary leaders. Each specialized in their own fields and provided insight and guidance to ensure Jedha’s people were safe and their culture preserved. It wasn’t perfect, but it was moving in a direction that Jun was proud of.

And it had progressed to a point where he could finally return to his duties in the Army of Light.

Ever since Vanya and he had defeated the cultist on Jedha and put an end to its plots, Jun’s focus had shifted. His studies had dipped into the occult. While Jun was no Shadow, he’d come to an understanding in his pursuit of balance, the Sith were just a symptom of a wider problem. Sure, they extended the influence of the Dark Side and acted as willing conduits to its will. But, it was the Dark Side itself that was the truest problem. So Jun learned to look for signs and extended his understanding of cults and dark side beliefs.

He’d root them out.

But that wasn’t what brought him to Kril’dor. Instead, it was to secure a valuable resource for the Crusade. Tibanna. It would ensure the Crusade had fuel for its ships and energy cells for their blasters. It would be their lifeblood.

And it was in need of help.

The tibanna harvesting and processing platforms had fallen under attack in recent years. Raiders and pirates had organized themselves under a single banner. Their goal? Subjugation and conquest. A pirate kingdom wasn’t something that Jun was too keen on seeing.

So, he’d reached out to the only other Jedi he knew. Vanya. The Fiani knew she’d be able to help the people here and also knew she’d be more than willing to. The promise of tibanna was just an added incentive to breaking the yoke of oppression after all.

Jun’s stat courier touched down on the docking bay of one of the only functional processing facilities left. The vessel had been gifted to him for his service and Jedha and it was far better than public transport. The massive Fiani would wait for the other Jedi’s arrival before heading into the plant itself. His tails swished in anticipation, Jun was excited to see the Nightsister turned Jedi and he was ready for their next adventure.

@Phoenix

 

[Vanya]

Vanya had always been a bit of a restless soul, but even by her standards compared to Jun, Vanya just ran from planet to planet. He had stayed behind on Jedha to stabilize the planet and make sure everything was settled while Vanya continued to be the vanguard of the Jedi advance, securing and quickly moving on.

When she'd finally heard from Jun again about his plan to bust up an exploitative tibanna business involving pillagers and plunderers, she was all too eager. She was always eager enough to slap some baddies back into their place, and on top of that there was the possibility of getting some tibanna gas for the Army of Light, and that was worth it.

Vanya arrived almost at the same time Jun did, coming down the ramp of her ship shortly after him. Ever since Ithor, she had taken to wearing her Nightsister clothing more than the Jedi robes she had initially adopted when coming to the Jedi. Maybe it was the idea that she was afraid of losing her own culture or maybe she'd finally realized that if they were going to kick her out it would have already happened by now. Probably a little of both. Ultimately, her outfit was the same bright red so often worn by the Sisters with narrow strips of pale skin showing out between the gaps in the wrappings. Her lightsaber still hung from her belt, and she wore a wide smile at seeing the Matukai again.

Their last "adventure," as he had taken to calling it, had been quite the horrifying experience honestly, and at times she still had nightmares of what had happened there. Screaming, dying faces mixed in with the others that seemed to perpetually haunt her dreams. Each battle brought new faces, and they never seemed to go away.

It's been too long! she said, moving over and slapping her hand against his forearm and grasping tightly in a warrior's handshake. She already braced herself for his crushing grip on her own forearm. Even if he weren't a Matukai, he was just big and muscular.

 

[K’Jun]

​

Jun’s left ear twitched slightly, an eyebrow quirked, and a small quizzical smirk crept across his lips when V came down the disembarkation ramp of her ship. Gone was the Jedi attire. Instead, she’d turned back to, what he assumed, were her roots. The curious expression turned into a small but genuine smile as the Nightsister approached him.

“It has!” Jun replied as he grasped her arm in the handshake and then, without thinking pulled her into a one armed bear hug.

“I heard you’re an even bigger hero now!” The Fiani teased. “Beat back a Sith incursion on Ithor an’ everything!” He continued as he squeezed slightly and lifted V from her feet momentarily before lightly dropping her back to the landing pad.

“Oh, and congratulations Warden Vanya.” He told her as he took a step back and gave a dip of his head. It was an unusually formal sign of respect from the Fiani who regularly wore suggestive tee shirt and gym shorts.

“After this is tucked away, I’ll have to buy you a drink to celebrate.” He told her, flashing the hint of a smirk. “But in the meantime, onto business.” Jun stated with an exasperated sigh and a nod towards the entrance to the processing platform.

“The Tibanna processing platforms are having a bit of trouble.” He explained. “This one is one of three on world that is still active…and I use that word sparingly.” Jun continued as he glanced to Vanya. “Raids from highly organized pirates have collapsed Krill’dor’s industry and without the protection from the Empire the planet enjoyed over a decade ago…” The titanic Fiani’s voice trailed off. “…things haven’t gone so well for them.” His ears dipped back and flattened at those words.

“This factory is operating at a third of its capacity and the workers are terrified.” Jun told Vanya. “They need our help and our protection.” He continued. “I think we can provide both, especially if they agree to fuel our fleets and stockpile our blasters.” There was a glint in Jun’s eye when he said this.

@Phoenix

 

[Vanya]

Vanya was pulled into an embrace, and she went right along with it, slapping his back before being lifted physically off the ground.

Ooooh my goodness! she exclaimed in surprise, finally stepping back a moment later grinning ear to ear.

Ugh, please no, she said with a shake of her head as he gave her a half bow. I don't know how to deal with being famous so I forbid you from being weird about this, she said, the statement betraying just how weird most of her interactions were these days. Everyone expected her to have the answers and looked to her for guidance or knew her long before she had met them. It was all a bit... much. She was just "Vanya" and nobody saw that anymore. She felt like she was foolishly clinging onto someone that was gone and couldn't ever come back. It scared her.

Vanya listened intently to everything he said, noting his comment about the Empire and its receding protection.

I guess the Empire did something right, she muttered quietly. She had a very... mixed view on the Empire. Of all the enemies she worked to fight, they were by far the most ambiguous, morally so.

I'm useless in a space battle, she warned as he talked about defending the station. She didn't have a fighter and even if she did, she wouldn't be much use in one.

Or are you planning on tracking them down to their base? she asked, eyes sweeping over the foundry. Already she could see places where rust was setting in and machines that could and should have been running were powered down. Probably because there was no one to crew them. She wondered to herself where the crew had gone. Were they dead or had they fled? And if that latter, then where to?

@Apollyon

 

[K’Jun]

​

Jun’s ears were perked, the smirk on his lips betrayed his amusement at V’s reaction. She forbade him from being weird about it. Those words forced Jun to stifle a laugh. It took the massive Fiani a moment to compose himself again before he gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Well, I’ll try to keep in line and follow orders.” He replied playfully.

As Jun explained the situation, his attention shifted towards V’s interjection. His ears flitted back momentarily. The Sith Empire never did anything right. And their Imperial Knights? Just militant cultists on leashes in his eyes. But Jun didn’t voice his opinion, instead he simply gave a shallow nod and a “Mmhmm.” Before continuing on with his debrief.

V’s suddenly admission of her uselessness in a dog fight caught Jun off-guard. He glanced down to her, an eyebrow quirked. “I definitely don’t want to run that gauntlet.” Jun replied. “We’re going to lure the pirates in, plant a tracker, and then uh…forcibly unpirate enough of them that they go home running.” He continued, his gaze shifting towards the entry way to the refinery platform. “But first we have to meet with the Labor Collective Representative and iron out a deal.” Jun told V without breaking his stare. “The Army of Light could use the tibanna produced here and they could use our protection.” He explained. “You ready V?”

@Phoenix

 

[Vanya]

Vanya completely missed Jun's discomfort over her comments about the Empire. She had her own mixed feelings on the group that even she felt were probably somewhat inconsistent. She'd fight them at the drop of the hat, but it wasn't quite as clear cut as fighting abominations.

"Unpirate," she repeated sarcastically, giving him a side eye at his terminology. Kill. I don't know why people are so squeamish about saying it, she said. Death was a natural part of life, and while it wasn't something they should be striving to do to others, it also wasn't something to try to dance around either.

She let out a long, audible groan as he talked about a diplomatic meeting. She was useless in those and had always hated them.

Diplomacy? The Crusade has people for that, she complained before giving him a mischievous side eye.

Oh, right, the Crusade has you for it, she said, intentionally falling back a bit behind him so that he was stuck taking the lead as soon as they walked inside the room.

You must be the Jedi, said a man who greeted them with long hair and a beard. He just looked like he'd spent his whole life doing hard labor. Lots of muscle, rough hands, and a crushing handshake.

 

[K’Jun]

​

Jun chuckled at V’s response. “Well, I was tryin’ to be more subtle.” He replied with a smirk. “But yeah, we kill them.”

Jun didn’t have a naturalist view on death and killing. He didn’t care for the cyclical nature of life and death. The Fiani was more pragmatic than that. Did the individual provide to the Galaxy as a whole or only selfishly subtract? Did they benefit others or simply spread misery and suffering? More simply, were they an agent of the Dark Side or spread the influence of the Light?

He knew where individuals like these pirates fell on the spectrum. He’d have no qualms in killing care of them.

V’s long groan attracted the Fiani’s attention. His gaze flickered down to his friend. A smirk once again tugged on his features. “Oh?” He questioned. “I figured I’d learn from the Army’s greatest champion.” Jun teased.

The Fiani didn’t mind leading negotiations. He didn’t think of himself as particularly charismatic but this was a job that had to be done. So, he’d do it.

Once the pair had made their way through the processing facility, they’d meet the Labor Collective Representative. He was a human with faintly greying hair and beard. The man was covered with corded muscle, calloused skin, and a direct attitude that accent his hard life.

Jun gave a faint smile and gripped the man’s hand within his own. The handshake was firm, harsh, and tight on both sides. “Yes, we are.” Jun replied. “I am Honorary Knight K’Jun and this is Jedi Warden Vanya.” He continued. “We represent the Army of Light and have come to help you with these pirates.” Jun explained. “When did the attacks start?” He asked.

@Phoenix

 

[Vanya]

Yeah, "Champion" not diplomat, she said. I didn't come into power by being good at talking to people. I did it by just doing things, he continued her grumbling.

Am no good at the talking to people, she said, leaning heavily into her accent and overemphasizing it.

Fortunately, she had managed to pawn off the diplomacy on someone else. Yes. Win.

The man looked at Jun and nodded with a grim look.

About three months ago. They hit us every week or two. Take whatever they can and kill anyone in their way before taking off again, he said.

It's been nearly two weeks since their last hit so you've shown up just in time. No doubt they'll be back soon, he said.

@Apollyon