The Ossus Jedi Base

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Ryld and Hallistra moved off to the side to confer with one another privately, avoiding the meld so as not to taint the results with their personal perceptions of their son. They, at once, knew him to well and forgave perhaps too much in parental instincts.

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Kaz leaned his chin on the palm of his hand as he listened to Bostas' conjecture on the matter, drawn as it was from the description of other Knights' experiences. It was an interesting hypothesis and not without some fair degree of merit. "You've got something there. It kind of reminds me of a description from back in the Old Republic days, of when a group of masters encountered an anomoly in the Force. The text described the masters attempts to divine the purpose, including looking into the possible futures surrounding it. Maybe that's what this lot is trying? An attempt to divine our future, our purpose... maybe even our use to the Order."

It wasn't exactly a comforting thought, at least not to the Corellian, but he seemed to accept it in stride. Corellians loved bucking the odds after all. So if they told him they foresaw his becoming a Sith he was probably going to be more likely to avoid it just to prove them wrong. He'd work twice as hard if they took bets. He looked to Dairess and made a small show of considering her words as well before adding his own thoughts. "Certainly, there is value in giving us a bit of unity and cohesion. Just the same, though, I think a certain amount of separation is a good thing. My own family, left to its devices, has come up with some interesting techniques regarding the use of illusions for no better reason than we had the luxury of time, requirement, and specialization. And let us not forget, one Order ruled over by a small council of presumed superiors has been tried a couple of times. It hasn't worked out so well."

[Jedi]

"That's true, I think there's a lot to be said for a diversity of viewpoints. We can't forget what happened to the Old Republic..."
Bostas interjected. "I think what she's trying to say is more about cultural unity, that brotherhood and community that held the old Jedi Order together for a thousand years after the Ruusan Reformation. I'm not sure if you know this Kaz, but I came to the Jedi after defecting from being a Sith acolyte, and with the amount of infighting that goes on between themselves there, it's a miracle the One Sith has stayed together as long as it has."
"But we'll take them down and that nasty Emperor with them!"
"That's the plan at least. Come on Kaz, let's see if we're cut out to help achieve this goal." Bostas stood up from his seat and stretched his arms back.
Dairess hopped up. "Good luck Bostas! I know you'll do great!" She gave him a warm embrace, then smiled and waved at Kaz. "And you too Kaz! It was nice meeting you. May the Force be with you both."
"Thanks Dairess, Force be with you too." Turning, Bostas motioned towards the exit that would take them to the council chamber and began to walk.

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaziki nodded solemnly at Dairess when she mirrored his point, bringing up just the point in history that had convinced the young Corellian of the opinion himself. The Jedi had lost sight of their true duty and gotten caught up in the politics of the time, grown too close to a government and too far from the will of the Force. Not to mention the questionable understanding of justice that had led to helping a galactic government impose its rule on otherwise uninterested worlds. Then Bostas interjected a more idealistic view point. "Even so, Bostas. Individual Jedi were very much independent during the time you speak of. It was the 'unity' that they showed at the end that made them susceptible to Palpatine's manipulating a few to control the whole."

"And nobody's perfect." Kaz threw that bit in as a reaction to the revelation that Bostas was once among the ranks of the Sith. The Xa Fel was far from the first such unfortunate being to see the flaws of the Sith philosophy, one could only be self-interested for so long before it lost its novelty, and move on to something that didn't eat 'em up from the inside. That was usually identified as the so called 'light side' of the Force erroneously but what ever got them working on themselves worked for Kaz. "No miracle though, just the wonders of momentum. When everybody is selfish in the same general direction it looks a lot like coexistence. Especially from the outside."

He grinned at Dairess' enthusiasm for victory. To be fair, there was a very good chance it could be done. The trick to the Sith had always been the same. Singularly they could be insanely powerful, capable of Force feats that could shatter a Jedi's confidence just upon witnessing them, but in groups they just couldn't trust one another. Under enough pressure the fundamental flaw that made one cling to the ways of the Sith in the first place always arose to the surface to shatter any cohesiveness the group was able to fake. "With wisdom, it can be done. With your strength of heart I have no doubts that it will be done, Dairess."

Kaz gave Dairess one last, lingering smile and turned to Bostas. "Cut and tailored here, my shield companion. Lets make the folks proud. I'm sure your Master will be proud to see you knighted just like mine were." He stood and finished his piece of fruit, dropping it in the reclamation bin on the way out behind Bostas. He gave a wave in Dairess' direction before disappearing.

[Jedi]

Bostas, followed by Kaz, entered the council-chamber, and it was as if he was dunked into a sea of cold water. His skin tingled with energy; and even though a window let the bright midafternoon sunlight stream in, the world appeared hazy and Bostas couldn't see any detail past the shadowy, iridescent shroud behind the apparently glowing bodies of the masters.

"Enter, Bostas Pellsin. Enter, Kaziki Halcyon."

"Sit"

"Meditate"

Bostas felt drawn to a spot on the floor in the center of the room and knelt there, hands on his knees.
He opened himself up to the Force and was flung into a spectacular vista in his mind's eye as wondrous as the first time he had flown up in a starship.

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz paused in the doorway. He'd been getting varied impressions from his parents as he'd approached the room, not to mention the sheer weight of the Force in the room sensed long before he'd arrived at the door. The Masters had done a fair job of keeping it localized as well, keeping such a heavy culmination of power from disturbing the Force on a galactic scale. At least not disturbing it too much. Still, the young Corellian Knight had a few things in his head he wasn't up for sharing just yet so there was some cause for caution.

With little time to deal with the turn of events he played an interesting game with his own mind. He grabbed a handful of seeming important information and locked it away in his mind, wrapping it in non-sensical gibberish in order to protect it and in an haphazard attempt to camoflauge its presence. He had no doubt the Masters would find the spot and, if they bothered with the attempt, would gain access to the information inside. Mostly account codes and a few girls names back home. Valuable and embarrasing by turns, and surely worth protecting at least a bit...

Kaz stepped into the room and was drawn to another spot, though he chose to sit crosslegged rather than kneel. He didn't know how long it would take and didn't want his toes falling asleep on him while pinched in the ends of his boots. He opened his mind, feeling his own personal reserves of the Force. It was a student technique, learning to know your own limits before learning to open up to the greater Force flow in the galaxy, but it also allowed one greater control over the flow that came in. That was exactly what the younger Halcyon used it for, opening himself to the weighty Force sink that was in the room slowly. Even so, he was quickly awash in the power there and found himself deep in his own meditation.

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He knew it was an illusion, or rather a visual hallucination representing the flows of the Force. It wasn't through any personal power that Kaz came by the knowledge, it was through his personal familiarity with illusions and the location he was viewing. It was his personal, mental construct. A great Jedi tower in the style of old built entirely of some unidentified, flawless white stone. It was the construct he had created to facilitate meditation, to make it easier to reach a state of peace regardless of his actual surroundings when the need came.

The young Jedi found himself just within the main entrance. Apparently, the Force had taken a liking to his domicile and thus it had been presented to him quickly. However, there were differences from his personal vision of the location and Kaz was wise enough to know such things were never a matter of chance. He opened himself further, focusing his mind on discerning the differences before him. The temple, as always, was devoid of obvious life but there were signs that it had been visited or occupied in his absence.

Kaz moved forward. A wall hanging askew here, a wrinkle in the hall runner there. Little details came to him as he moved up the main stairs toward the lone turbolift that provided access to the highest levels. Up the steps he paced, moving with a confidence usually born of ownership. This wasn't just a Jedi tower, it was his. His tower, his temple. The stone itself resonated with him, with his own Force presence. He felt stronger here, more disciplined. At home. It had to be on Corellia. But he'd never seen any such structure there. Kaz had invented this location in his own mind... hadn't he?

His booted feet carried him directly into the empty car of the turbolift and he turned. There was no need to touch a button, the conveyance would take him but one place. The top of the tower. It was in the last moment before the doors shut that he saw his first sign of life. A child's ball bouncing on the landing outside the turbolift car, a toy for a toddler, it had come from his current left and he heard laughter... then the doors shut before him. In the reflection of the polished metal doors he saw himself. Older, with a rather dashing goatee that brought a grin to his face. His hair was still short, like a padawan's, but it showed the salting of grey that came with years he had yet to approach. 'Interesting,' he thought.

The turbolift came to a halt and the doors opened on an incredible space. Kaz had never ventured to the top level of his mental temple before. It had always been a jumping off point for some mental question, some guided journey of discovery during his training, rather than a place to truly go and explore. Kaz stepped out onto the deep green carpet of the space before him. It was a half-circle of a room, enough space and chairs to be the same kind of space his actual body was occupying on Ossus though this space had no chairs. Only a lone meditation cushion on a low platform near the rounded wall where an occupant would be able to look out the nearly floor to ceiling view ports that broke up the many sections. Whoever met here stood by the looks of it.

While Kaz inspected the room, attempting to discover the purpose just by looking at it, a movement through the windows caught his attention. He moved to the window and looked across a verdent and green landscape broke up only by a few flanking, low mountains. The sky was blue and lightly clouded, and Kaz instantly recognized his homeworld. But what had called his attention in the first place? His eyes darted about and, without apparent cause, were drawn upward. There, among the scattered clouds there was movement. A moment later, passing through the fluffy white vaper, a ship appeared.

The vessel was small, a light freighter most likely judging by size and distance, but sizable enough to carry quite a bit of cargo. Such ships specialized in small passenger compliments or small size, high value cargo. It came in low and shed speed quickly, appearing for all the world like it was going to land on the flat plain of grass before the temple itself. And that was precisely what it did. The ship landed on its struts and settled quickly. It's ramp dropped and a group of robed figures began unloading. Before Kaz could produce even a preliminary thought about the matter another movement caught his eye, then another.

Two more ships burst from the clouds, followed by two more. And then others. Alone and in minor formations, everything from starfighters to heavy bulk freighters and the shuttles and corvettes between, started appearing. When ten of the vessels were on the ground, the fighters flying defensive circles around the nearly two dozen other vessels still in the air, robed figures making their way toward the front of the temple, Kaz took a step back from the window. No, he staggered away under the weight of the realization of responsibility. They were coming to him, they were seeking him.

Who were they? What had happened? Why were they coming to his home? Home? And if they were just arriving.... who's child had that ball belonged to?! Kaz turned as a door in the flat wall of the half-circular room opened, three silouettes filling the opening but rendered unidentifiable by the intense backlight. One voice, a female's voice, spoke his name. "Kaz..."

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Kaziki Halcyon opened his eyes suddenly, blinking at the ill timed return to reality. What had he seen? Why had he seen it? Force visions of the future were notorious for being possible futures, rather than concrete views of what would come to pass. Even then, they were also notorious for their strange habit of being accurate in unexpected ways. Had that been a vision of victory? Something serious would have to happen before such a structure could be built on Corellia unmolested by the Sith, certainly. But those ships had been far too numerous for the simple return of the Corellian Jedi families. Even counting the ones who had not accompanied the Halcyon's to Ossus directly there wasn't enough of them to fill that many vessels, barely enough to operate as many of those sizes.

It was so distracting he almost missed the withdrawal of several other consciousnesses from his mind. The Jedi Masters had had a nearly unhindered romp around his mind and he could only hope his little trick had worked and the worse he had to worry about was one of them going on a shopping spree on Kaz's tab. Kaz took a long, cleansing breath and let it out to regain his center of gravity. Time to face the music and have some things moved around asset-wise, just in case. He turned his head toward Bostas, "You alright?"

[Jedi]

Bostas was flying through space without a ship, just spreading his arms and soaring through the endless depths. He flew alongside moons and planets and stars, growing until the size of his body dwarfed even the largest of red hypergiants.

A bolt of lightning struck his head and suddenly the galaxy around him was nothing more than a massive cloud of gas. As he observed the gas coalesce into stars and denser matter, Bostas came to realize he was watching the birth of the galaxy. Eons passed in the blink of an eye as the entire history of the galaxy and the civilizations within unfolded before Bostas' eyes. And everywhere the Force influenced earths and men, Bostas saw flashes of dark, light, and every shade of grey in between.

Then a pattern seemed to emerge from the seeming chaotic history. Bostas saw lingering streaks of influence appear then fade, only to turn into another action and live on, perpetuating itself distinctly from the rest of the affairs in all the stars.

As the stars shifted and the planets cooled and societies rose and fell, Bostas watched the one strand of the Force he was strangely drawn to, triggering a chain of events that led right up to his toxic, corrupted home planet of Xa Fel, and the birth of himself.

As if watching a holovid, Bostas saw his life pass before his eyes, the good decisions and bad--his childhood on his home planet, his joining the Sith, his stint as an acolyte there, his defection, learning about the reborn Jedi Order, joining them, meeting his best friend Diaress, until his sight zoomed into the very temple in which he sat and he came face to face with himself.

He said nothing, but his other self opened his eyes and stood up. Silent, they faced each other, and his vision-self reached out a blistering finger and lightly touched his forehead.

His eyes opened in reality, and met those of Kaz and the masters around him.
"Welcome back, Bostas." Apparently he had spent a longer time in his vision than Kaz, and the council had been waiting on him.
He gulped. "Thank you masters."
"Now, what you two saw in the Force was your visions, and yours alone."
"However, we were able to monitor your bodies, minds, and hearts. We saw much of who you were, how you came to be who you are, and much of what the Force had in store for who you will be."
"And we have decided to accept you both as fully-fledged Knights of the Reborn Jedi Order, to be the hand of the Force in all your dealings henceforth, to spread peace, Justice, equality, and above all, good to the beings of the galaxy. To never falter in your convictions and work solely towards the benefit of life and the future, to leave the galaxy a better place for those who will come than it was before you entered it. Jedi Knights Bostas Pellsin and Kaziki Halcyon, welcome."

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz eyed the Xa Fel for a long moment, attempting to mundanely divine what the other young being might have experienced despite the sheer impossibility of that objective. It would have given him great insight to see it, great advantage in his dealings with the soon to be Knight going forward. The young Corellian had a feeling he would be interacting with Bostas quite a bit over the coming months, the guy would make a handy compatriot in the game of getting to know the other Jedi around the place.

Coming quickly to a standing position when addressed by the gathered Masters, Kaz's hands went toward where his robe sleeves should have been before he recalled his robe had been struck down in its prime by his previous sparring partner. Oh well, he had a couple of extras in the ship. Instead, he merely folded his hands over the buckles of his thick utility belt to get them out of the way and cover the forgetful twitch of before. He nodded as the Masters continued, speaking of what they had seen. That brought his thoughts back to the final moment of his vision. One of those silouettes hadn't been strictly human shaped, the one in the front and the likely speaker. For some reason his instincts told him that would be the one he had to deal with first going forward, if indeed that had been a vision of the future...

"Thank you, Masters." There was something privately amusing about the way they had worded their acceptance. Bostas and he hadn't been raised to the rank of Jedi Knight but rather accepted as Knights of 'Reborn Jedi Order.' That set the title apart in Kaz's head from his having been raised to the rank by the Corellian Knighthood, and he had no doubt the differences between the two would show themselves rather quickly. Kaz mused for a moment on the concept of mixed loyalties but he was careful to avoid the trap of committing to one side or the other without immediate need. "I have no doubt this will be a historical partnership."

[Jedi]

The council drifted off into their various duties, with the masters congratulating the two new knights as they left.
Bostas turned to Jedi Halcyon. "So then what's your plan then for the near future?"

ooc: feel free to post on your own, no need to wait for npc anymore as the trail is over.

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaziki offered his thanks as the various masters made their way by. If nothing else he was going to maintain his appearance of civility no matter the circumstances. There were other things that would have to be handled with that lot but for now the Corellians had to make themselves known to their new allies or else there would be no cohesion against their shared enemy, the Sith. When they had all gone Kaz looked to his parents, shared a nod, and watched as they slipped out of the room in pursuit of which ever individual they'd each elected to engage first.

He then turned back to Bostas with a friendly smile that belied everything that was running through his mind, and even the words that came out of his mouth. "Observe, infiltrate, and subvert. Or, as it is referred to commonly: make friends. Along the way I need to meet up with some of my fellow Corellians and see what they've learned about how things are working around here. Then we can find our niche, as it were, and fill it." There was naught but friendliness and amusement in his expression as he discussed the thoroughly practical topic.

"First thing's first. Soldier's wisdom 101: find the quarter master." The young Corellian fired off a conspiratorial wink and headed for the door and the turbolift beyond. If one was going to build a temple of their very own, it was wise to start at ground level. Kaz was going to make the rounds, charm the people, and see about setting up a few understandings with the military types. The last bit, building contacts within the mundane military aspects of the new Jedi initiative, had been assigned to the Antarians but it never hurt to have a line or two of information of one's own in any given camp.

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz disembarked from the shuttle, once again in his Jedi robes and with his duffel over his shoulder, to make his way directly toward the Intelligence set up the Jedi forces had developed. It had been a largely nebulous thing under the purview of the Jedi Gate Keeper, the individual who was also in charge of temple security. It was a tall order for a being who had day to day responsibilities that would, at the best of times, make it difficult to focus on the ever shifting fields that were presented by a full bore intelligence endeavor. That was where the Corellian Jedi had come in.

Since the destruction of Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order the Corellian Jedi had been focused on survival via hiding in plain sight. They couldn't abandon Corellia and still be themselves, so they had integrated themselves into Corellian society so seamlessly that they had simply disappeared. It hadn't been an easy trick, even with their intimate knowledge of their home culture, but through a multi-leveled and complex intelligence countermeasure initiative... and a few sacrifices... they had been successful. They had steered away Sith hunters and Imperial agents alike, destroyed Jedi-assassin droids, and all made it look like failure had been the mere result of a lack of viable targets.

And so, into the vacuum they had stepped when they'd discovered that the being in charge of Temple, Academy, and planetary security had also been saddled with the mostly overlooked task of military and political intelligence. The Jedi were going to need resources, information, money, allies, and advocates. All things that could be won by the shining Jedi Knights with time and success but that came much more quickly if... subtly acquired. Victories could be won to earn them, yet those victories had to be earned without them first. All the better to have such assets before stepping into a full fledged war.

"Reporting, errand theta-alpha-six-six-chrono." Kaz announced as he exited the deep corridor that had led him to a room below the bedrock that supported the temple itself. It had become a fully wired intelligence command center since he'd left, almost a mirror of the one the Corellians were maintaining elsewhere for their own purposes. By that point Kaz had little doubt the two programs were running in tandem, making them both all the more powerful. The Corellians were all capable agents and more than a few other Jedi of the proper predilection had been found among the Jedi at large.

"Acknowledged, Knight Halcyon," the response came from his left, the vocoder of a droid emitting the buzz filled words as the mission was checked off and it's manipulator arm extended for the data-chit that had all of the details. Kaz handed the storage device over, making a mental note to have the droid removed and replaced with something a bit more reliable on the intelligence scale. Machines were a slice away from betraying anything and everything. People were a bit tougher to crack and easier to spot once turned. "You are on standby for the moment, Jedi Halcyon. You may take your leisure on the planet so long as you stay in contact."

Kaz grunted at the machine and turned, making his way back out. He'd seen everything he cared to see in the room for the moment anyway. Layout, data extraction, etc.. Like any good agent it was time food, shower, and sleep. In that order. In that brevity. If he awoke without another mission there would be time to find more friends.