Ask Perspective

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire was strolling the sparsely populated streets of Starlight. The first load of displaced people from Ithor had arrived earlier this week and things were finally starting to settle into the new normal of life in a floating city. The prospect wasn’t something Leon had given much thought to the entire time he and Dash had been overseeing the station's repairs, but now that it was launched and they were only days away from welcoming the rest of The Order it was a little strange.

Starlight was pretty massive. The Jedi had an entire quarter devoted to them. The Temple was huge. Like, he’d spent days exploring it during construction and it had blown him away. Luckily, he hadn’t run across anymore of the sentient carnivorous plants they’d met upon discovery. He rounded a corner and spotted a caf shop and decided to see if they were open.

The little shop was quaint, he stepped up to the counter and ordered an iced coffee. A few minutes later he was lounging in a booth playing on his EZphone. He was doing his best to just dissociate for a little while, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the future of The Order. What were they to the galaxy? He knew the stories. He knew what The Order assumed it was, but what were they really? How did the galaxy see them?

Why couldn’t he just chill?

Leon took a sip from his coffee at the same time he spotted a familiar face.

Iced coffee nearly shot out of his nose as he watched The Grandmaster walk in the door.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Starlight far exceeded her wildest expectations. Alex had read the reports. She’d even seen the scope of it within Leon and Dash’s minds…but to experience the massive floating city provided a vastly different perspective. This was a success beyond her loftiest expectations. A salve after the disaster of Ithor. She walked freely among the people here. Letting the simple pleasures of life wash over her. Coruscant had shifted her perspective. Maura no longer needed her. The girl…no…woman was a Jedi in her own right. One who needed to face whatever the Shades had brought forth. Alex had steered the Order for so long, her will unmatched. Coruscant had left her wondering if she’d used to firm a hand.

The Grandmaster had taken a step back. Letting others blossom into the Light. She had two concerns. Protecting the fragile peace, the galaxy had managed to maintain and preparing herself for the inevitable confrontation with Raze. For decades, the two had circled each other. Now they hurtled toward that final seismic shift. She spent her time preparing for that battle. The simple truth was Alex had turned herself into a general. A fighter…a killer. She had become the weapon the Force made her, and the Order needed to move beyond.

Her thoughts carried her into a small coffee shop. It had been ages since she had the stuff. Her eyes flitted around the inside. Landing on Leon. A smile broke out on her face. “Jedi Baudelaire.” Alex walked over slowly. Gesturing around the room. “How proud you must be of all this.” The smile grew wider. “It has saved our Order.” Not an understatement. Ithor had been a nearly cataclysmic event. Starlight provided the safe haven to heal.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire barely had time to not look like a moron before The Grandmaster addressed him. Confusion and disbelief stampeded across his face as her words hit him.

Proud?

Saved?

What?

“I’m just glad it works,” he deflected, with a smirk. “I’ll be real riding this up from Eiram was terrifying,” he laughed. Leon looked around. His nose had been so close to the grindstone recently he hadn’t taken the time to step back and appreciate his work. He took a second to just feel the beings in the cafe. The emotions permeating from them weren’t of anxiety and fear, but… of hope.

He looked back to Grandmaster Voran, “I hadn’t thought of it that way, I’m just happy we were able to help.”

In all honesty, he was still surprised to see her. He’d been a member of the order for a few years now and had only seen her in person on a handful of occasions. It surprised him how much it comforted him to see her. He’d always admired her balance of strength and kindness.

“So, you coming to claim your suite before the rest of The Order arrives?” he asked, jokingly.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Momentary confusion flashed across Leon’s face. She knew that feeling well from her younger years. The impossible thought that this could all be because of them. Leon was young. He would learn, just as she had. “Modesty is a rare commodity in our galaxy. Even among the Jedi.” Alex took a moment to look around. The bustle of the station spilling around them.

Her eyes fell on the young knight. “Truthfully, I had come to see if the station was as described.” She held up her palms and smiled. “Not because I doubted you, but I’ve always found seeing it myself matters.” The Grandmaster waved for Leon to sit down across from her. Finding a table not too far away.

“How have you found adjusting to being a Knight?” She genuinely curious. Leon would be able to see hear it in her voice and see it on her face.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Compliments were by far the thing Leon hated the most. They made him wildly uncomfortable , but he managed to keep it together, even smiled politely saying, “Thanks, Master Voran.”

“MmmHmm,” Leon teased. He could respect her wanting to see it for herself. Starlight was a myth come to life. A relic from the High Republic era reborn to be the home of a displaced order. Of course she wanted to see it for herself.

“It’s pretty nice, huh?” He asked, a small smirk adorning his expression. He frowned when she gestured for him to join her. He was already sitting in a very comfortable booth, and she could have just slid in, maybe she had some back issues or something.

Leon took a sip of his caf and considered her question. Normally, he’d just blow a question like this off, but she seemed generally interested, so he decided to answer.

“I’m slowly but surely finding my rhythm.” He shrugged, “Everything’s been chaos since Ithor. So, I’ve just been keeping my head down and helping where I can.”

In all honesty, that was putting it modestly. Baudelaire was actively hunting The Hindsnake Cult, helping train the influx of new Padawan’s, as well as his own, and had been here on Starlight prepping everything for the big move. Then something occurred to him.

“When’s the last time you got to just turn off Grandmaster mode?”

If his workload was stacked like this he couldn’t possibly imagine what she was going through.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

“You’re young, Leon.” Alex smiled as she set her hands on the table. “Life can feel as if it’s racing past, but you’ll look back some day realize you were exactly where you needed to be.” She found her own advice hard to follow. That did not make it any less true. “And we trust you. There is a reason you were knighted and a reason you take on so much responsibility. But remember, you are still young.” The Grandmaster found it hard to remember when she had been that age. “For me it is different.”

When was the last time she had really taught. Helped guide a young Jedi on their path. “I’m old” She shrugged. “And I have outlived some very important people in my life.” Alex wondered how truthful to be. Leon was newly Knighted. A young man of impressive talents but a young man, nonetheless. She Grandmaster of the Jedi Order and over a century old. The truth was. Her friends were all dead.

“The war is not what it was and so the Order needs less of me than it did…but there is no off switch.” Maybe once there had been. Oren had found her as an aimless Jedi Knight. Happy to wonder the outer rim without the complications of coming home. Slowly, she’d stepped from Knight to Master to Councilor and finally Grandmaster. She had the terrible distinction of serving even longer than Oota. Who was she if not Grandmaster Voran.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon listened as Voran spoke. Her words carried the weight of The Order. The pain she shared wasn’t even close to the pain she hid. He didn’t interrupt her as she spoke, but he didn’t agree with everything she said.

Yes, he was young, and yes, though she didn’t look it, she was old, but age wasn’t an excuse to stop living.

“I’m sorry,” he said with genuine empathy, “Everyone deserves to turn it off for a bit, even the Grandmaster.”

“Thanks for the trust, I’ll do my best not to screw it up,” he said with a chuckle.

He was going to let it go, but decided he couldn’t, “I think the Order needs you now more than ever,” he shrugged, “A lot of us are scared, a lot of us are confused, and all of us could use some direction.”

He took a sip of his caf. He wasn’t interested in upsetting her or starting a fight, but he wasn’t going to be brushed off like some little kid either.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The young so often possessed a unique wisdom. One free from the drags that years tended to pile on. Alex had almost forgotten what it felt like to be challenged. Kasia was dead. Hera was too similar...despite her claims to the contrary. Lena and Tedmior had allowed Alex to direct the order without a word. She said the line over and over again. She was not Empress...yet who dared question the Grandmaster? Apparently, this young man. His stature grew all the greater in her eyes for it. "There are no easy answers, Leon. You know that." She knew he did.

"I cannot light a path forward that I cannot see." She tapped her fingers on the table. "But no one should face this alone. I do see that." Her eyes flicked to Leon's again. "What would you have us do? If you sat in my seat?" The wisdom of youth. It was not something you could recapture but you could try to find it again.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon frowned at her question, considering her words. He blew out a puff of air and said, “Parties. Lots of parties. The Jedi have been seen as old space hobos for too long— Kidding,” he said with a laugh then shrugged, “Well, there’s a pretty good list of places to start. The Killik are still out there. The Sith are re-organizing, and then there’s Raze…” he let his voice trail off.

Baudelaire sighed, he felt like he was running over a laundry list of impossible tasks he’d never be able to get through. The devastation of Ithor had felt personal, but he knew that was the point of the attack. Meeting Raze by coincidence on Serenno had brought the boogey man to life. Luckily, the sing-songy voice of his mother cut through his frustration as it peaked.

We can do hard things one step at a time.

“Well, now that we have a base of operation, I’d say it’s time to start adapting to the new war,” his eyes landed back on the Grandmaster’s, “The Galaxy at large mistrusts us, we need to change our public image while also doing something no one else has taken the responsibility to do, we need to finish the Killiks,” he shook his head, “I just wish I could think of any idea outside of glassing a planet to do it.”

Leon honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from this conversation, but if he was going to talk about his thoughts or ideas he’d do so honestly, well except for the part where he was pretty sure the Jedi wouldn't be able to stand against Raze alone.

@Valen Pelora