The Avalan Crisis: Court of Snakes
Posted on Wed Mar 6th, 2013 @ 2:06am by Thane & Bomoor Thort & Theon
Edited on on Wed Jun 8th, 2022 @ 1:59pm
2,896 words; about a 14 minute read
Chapter:
Additional Stories
Location: Unifar Temple (Royal Palace), Onderon
Timeline: 1,208 ABY, After "Moral Economics"
OLD
Bomoor shivered unconsciously, looking about at the locals and sensing the fear that was rooted amongst them, "Politics seems to have gone out of the window under GalactaWerk's thumb. They've got their hold here and they aren't giving it up before they bleed it dry. Perhaps you are right, Master Sotah. This place would be much better under ORA."
The group marched on and the palace grew closer and closer. It was a grand structure raised up above the main city and only accessible by a network of raised roads and walkways. It seemed to be impenetrable - a symbol of the Monarchy's power and defiance. But the snakes were already deep within the walls.
NEW
The third instalment of The Avalan Crisis posts, chronicling the young Padawans, Thane and Bomoor Thort.
Whilst the exterior and surrounding region of Iziz had not been so much like his home region on Caanus, Thane already found the interior of the Royal Palace - Unifar Temple, as it was called - to be particularly similar to some aspects of Vaarthul, the mountain stronghold that had served as his home during his earliest years of life. To a certain extent, he found the surroundings and their almost-familiarity pleasing and comforting, but knew he should not be focusing on the material in that way, nor should he be giving himself to the past.
But even now, whilst he would never deny upset over what had happened to his family, it did not haunt him. He knew there was nothing he could have done or could do, and the events had even led to him becoming a member of the Jedi Order, to one day becoming a Jedi Knight and a servant of the Third Republic - to see justice done, and catch the unjust.
Which was largely why he was slightly uncomfortable with the job he and his group had on Onderon, effectively working for GalactaWerks, although he knew his fellows were more ethical than that, and were just as displeased with such a thing as he was. Even more so, Master Sotah seemed willing to go against GalactaWerks in his quest for serving the good of each and every individual.
They were being led down a long hallway/corridor towards the throne room, Queen Omina having granted an audience to the four Jedi, with Sotah and Thurius seemingly pleased to be content in conversation with their armed escort at the front, whilst Thane and Bomoor hung back a bit, able to look at some of the pieces here and there about the palace.
It was clear there had been a fall from glory, though, probably during the Second Outer Rim Conflict; some of the pieces were missing or damaged, and some furniture and structures were recently built or repaired. "You'd think the royalty could do more for their people's suffering," he said quietly to the Ithorian, looking at the grandeur of the area.
The Ithorian was rather amazed by the grandeur of the temple, regardless of more recent damage. He had been surprised at first when he saw the Jedi temple - a building for the humble Jedi Order, which boasted great golden statues and towering spires. He had been assured that the temple was necessary as part of the Jedi's firm position within the Third Republic and as a place paying homage to the power of the Force. Unifar Temple was grander still, but was this time reserved for the ruling Monarchy of Onderon, justified, most probably, by similar reasons.
"I suppose that GalactaWerks will be making it hard to send aid to the lower sectors, even if the royals wanted to," Bomoor commented, while rather puzzling himself, "Besides, they're probably having enough trouble keeping themselves afloat. Especially given the supposed internal conflict within the Monarchy."
"Hmm," Thane made a thoughtful sound as they walked on, seeing a selection of royal guards ahead of them, perhaps the entrance to the main throne room. Inwardly, he knew he should perhaps feel more honoured to be in the presence of the monarch of a world - of a true noble and someone of higher birth - but, in truth, he had been surrounded by such people during his youth, and had never seen them as any different from other people.
Although they did speak better than other people, and Thane never saw how it was so hard for some people to speak properly, often making a joke of correcting them.
"Maybe, but whatever is the absolute true reason, I think all parties have a lot to answer for," Thane said, slightly glumly. "I mean, GalactaWerks are meant to be here to help the Onderonians rebuild, but they're all far more interested in their own little squabbles. It's like the younglings fighting over the one silver training lightsaber at the Temple!"
"Presenting Jedi Masters Sotah and Thurius, and their Padawans!" The herald announced as they reached the open doorway with the higher concentration of guards, each garbed in fine tunics and traditional Onderonian sashes. Sotah gave the Selkath equivalent of smiling and giving an image of deference and nobility to their escorts, and then to the guards within this new large chamber - the throne room.
For the most part, entirely unlike the throne room in Vaarthul, Thane noted, it was empty. It was a large chamber, reaching up high to many stories, with a lot of space on either side of the luxurious carpet that led up towards the throne and the small collection of chairs on either side of it. Fine marble was the primary material, but paintings, tapestries and ornaments decorated the area (ones of even higher quality - and undamaged - than those in the corridors), and a pleasant fragrance filled the air.
As the escorted party of four drew closer to the throne, the feminine form sat upon the throne rose up, and was the same height as the other older woman standing to one side of the throne, but both were shorter than the young man by their side. By their outfits and the lightsaber hilts hanging at their belts, it was clear these were the Rift Jedi.
Their uniforms were a rough approximation of a cross between tighter form-fitting Jedi robes and some military armour, making for a durable and flexible uniform, the Rift Jedi insignia emblazoned on the shoulder pads. The woman - the senior of the two Rift - was an Iridonian, with short horns protruding from her cranium, and a reasonable length of mousy brown hair running down, making her a more attractive example of her species.
The younger Rift Jedi was human and was fairly muscular despite his obvious youth. He wore a more modest but still practical armoured robe which fitted around his bulging figure. He held a firm pose beside his senior and eyed the Jedi with a cool gaze betraying no opinions he may have formed of the newcomers.
Thane eyed them with curiosity, wondering how much like his old mentor, Dora-Sul, they would be like, and if they would be as truly bad as the Jedi Council often made them out to be. It was as they finally drew to a stop a good few paces from the front and they bowed to the Queen that Thane noticed the prosthetic hand the Iridonian had in place of her offhand.
"Welcome to Onderon, Master Jedi," Queen Omina addressed them, her manner quite military, calm and confident, but clearly not overly happy to have their presence on her planet or in her palace. Even so, her demeanour was official, formal and as to be expected, doing her part and role as Onderon's monarch. "I trust you did not have too much trouble getting here? And please don't be alarmed by Guardian Sazar, although I am certain her and her colleague's presence comes of little surprise to you."
Sotah, to his credit, remained as cool as Omina, but with perhaps more kindness in his tones. "Thank you for allowing us to come and see you, Your Highness. It is a great pleasure to come back to your beautiful world, but please allow me to express my deepest sympathies concerning the recent tragedies. Whilst we may be here at the behest of GalactaWerks, allow me to ensure you that our top priority is indeed pleasing and protecting your people over their interests. It is, in fact, because of that we come before you now, and," he gestured a blue hand towards the Rift Jedi, "to try and make some sort of agreement with your honoured friends here."
Thurius, remembering to be diplomatic, echoed his friend's sentiments, albeit with a firm eye on the pair of Rift Jedi at the Queen's side, "We are aware of your difficult situation, your majesty and we are most grateful that you allow us here today. We must however, uphold our duties as I'm sure you understand."
"Which, of course," Sotah added, clasping his hands together within his blue robes, "extends to all living beings in need of our assistance and protection."
Sazar gave a short and dismissive laugh. "It's a pity the Jedi didn't think like that with the Outer Rim Alliance," she said, placing her hands on her hips and examining the Jedi with a careful eye, although she did not come across as aggressive so much as dismissive of what Sotah had said.
He did not rise to bait, but merely looked at her patiently and with a friendly manner. "I fear it would be detrimental to our shared goals for us to go down that path, Guardian Sazar, but I have to say, it is a pleasure to see you well after so long. The Order misses you."
Sazar raised a fine eyebrow, but one corner of her mouth soon lifted into a slight smile. "Indeed?" She said, entirely non-aggressively, but more in a settled way. "I am sorry to say that I do not miss the Order, though; whilst I uphold what their supposed mandate is as protectors of the Republic and all living beings, the truth is far from that, yet the Rift Jedi have found their way, and - as you can see - our numbers are growing. As you are protectors of the Third Republic-"
"You are the wardens of the Alliance," Sotah completed warmly. "Then I hope that here, at our border, we can come to an arrangement that benefits all parties. Would you not agree, Your Majesty?" He turned towards Omina.
She did not offer him a smile, but merely a slightly sceptical look before replying. "I should hope so, but I expect to be kept fully informed of everything you do and say. You must understand, Master Jedi, that whilst you may be servants of the Republic and guests of Onderon, you are still amongst those who do not count themselves as your citizenry. To them - to us - there is still very much a war to be fought, and whilst I may echo their sentiments, the Avalans are doing far more harm than good."
Queen Omina's jaw jutted out slightly, a slightly defiant expression. "The very name they have chosen for themselves dishonours the Queen Mother - my mother - whom they may claim supports them in their bid to create an independent Onderonian Empire, free from either Alliance or Republic." She shook her head in annoyance at thought. "My darling nephew, Prince Garius, holds her hostage as a figurehead as he spreads his nationalist propaganda, detonating bombs wherever GalactaWerks may be. I hate them as much as the next Onderonian, but I also know this is not the way to do things - the Avalans will only incur their wrath, and Onderon has already suffered enough wrath in the name of independence already." Her tone had become slightly bitter with the final comment, but she maintained a stateswomanly composure.
"I don't know why we still negotiate with them," piped up the young Rift Knight, "They murder more people every day. You asked us here to assist but we must sit and watch while they devastate the population, riling up GalactaWerks in the process."
"Careful, Theon," Sazar warned, her hands on her hips as she gave a commanding look with her cyan-hued eyes. "We're here to help Queen Omina in whatever we she sees fit, and they are still a group of Onderon's population - we're not here to bring harm to them... unless we truly have to, of course." She raised her mechanical hand, the forefinger waving slightly at her companion. "It was not so long ago you were still a Recruit - learn patience, and prove you deserve your rank, Knight. We may not be Reborn Jedi, but we're not Dark Jedi, either. We will do what is right."
Bomoor was somewhat amused by the scolding given to the Knight. It was a familiar scene, one that was often seen about the temple with padawans or younglings but it was interesting seeing that the high-and-mighty Rift Jedi had the same issues within their ranks.
Thurius cleared his throat in order to resume the discussion, "The Avalans would perhaps be more persuaded if we were to speak to them. Where would Prince Garius be, if not here in the palace?"
Omina raised an eyebrow at the Cerean master. "My nephew has not been to the palace since the beginning of his little revolution, the spoilt boy. Having raised him myself after his mother - my sister - died, even at my tender age, he repays me with this insolence and unnecessary violence." She shook her head, various sparkling adornments glinting as they moved. "He has set up a base for his solationist Avalans in the Bronze Keep. It is an older castle that belonged to one of the leading vassals of the Onderonian Royal Family some centuries ago, and has barely been maintained in years gone by."
The Queen clicked her fingers and one of the guards stepped forward, handing over a datapad, which she then offered towards Thurius. "It is just outside of the confines of Iziz where the wilds begin, but certainly within walking distance. I believe Garius chose to use it as a statement, of defending Onderon and its wildlife, just as much as its people, from GalactaWerks."
"We were going to be heading there in a few hours," Sazar said in her firm but fair voice. "It would be a great help if you were to accompany us. Between the six of us, I imagine we'll be able to put together an interesting plan that could potentially end this before things became worse. It will be heavily guarded and fortified with his most loyal supporters."
Sotah's face dropped slightly. "I do not intend to invade this Bronze Keep, Sazar," he said unhappily. "I intend to speak with them, and see if we cannot reach an amicable agreement. In addition, I fear doing any harm to this Prince Garius may even lead to him becoming a rallying call, bringing forth more supporters against the Reborn Jedi and the Rift Jedi, as evil Republic and Alliance invaders. No, showing unity and diplomacy between us will achieve much. If we can defuse Garius and the Avalans, we may be able to put a stop to GalactaWerks' misdeeds."
As he made the comment, clearly in opposition to their official mandate, he looked over to Thurius, but simultaneously gave Thane's shoulder a squeeze, the Padawan pleased with the declaration. Looking up to the Queen, Thane found she did not meet his gaze. He wondered if she - or her ancestors - had dealt directly with his own much. They may have even been in the same room at some point, during some function, but he could not recall. Besides, she was much older than he was, although he did not know if she was making the right calls.
Not for the first time, he wondered how he would be as Caanus' Archae, but soon put the thought to bed. He was able to do a lot more good as a Jedi Knight than as a politician on an Outer Rim world.
Thurius gave a glance at the datapad he had received, before handing it to Bomoor behind him. The Ithorian examined the datapad, which contained several documents. He brought up the schematic of the Keep which slowly rotated upon the thin screen. It was a tall fortified tower built into the wall of Iziz, built with a strong local stone, which had a reddy-brown hue, hence the name of the tower. Bomoor was impressed by its size for a small fort but he could guess it had lost some of its splendour based on the Queen's description.
Then the Cerean spoke once again, "Then I think we are agreed that we shall accompany you to this Bronze Keep and ensure that negotiations go smoothly. The Republic is not a foe to this planet and I am sure we can make that point clear if they are willing to listen," he gave a quick glance to his companions, "We are ready to go now if you wish."
"Then I wish you good speed," Queen Omina said sternly as she settled herself uncomfortably upon her throne, "and good luck."
TBC
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