The Avalan Crisis: Trail of Credits

Posted on Sun Jun 17th, 2018 @ 1:48am by Thane & Bomoor Thort
Edited on on Wed Jun 8th, 2022 @ 2:00pm

1,819 words; about a 9 minute read

Chapter: Additional Stories
Location: Unifar Temple (Royal Palace), Onderon
Timeline: After "Trail of Smoke"
Tags: Onderon, Omina, Iziz, Avalan, Marshal, Queen, Bomoor, Thane

OLD

"You speak eloquently and from the heart, Ithorian, and I do not doubt the verity of your intentions. Far be it from me to let one so committed to Onderon be turned away-" The Marshall opened his mouth to object, but Omina raised a bejewelled hand, glinting as she silenced him prematurely. "There are many who question those who have mastery of your magical ways, be they Rift or Reborn; Onderon and her moon have a troubled history with those who can touch the Force, and those scars remain to this day, exploited as they are by the likes of GalacataWerks." The word was said scathingly, through gritted teeth.

"So, come," the Queen turned on her heel and stepped over to her throne, her fluid movements serene against the backdrop of guardsmen scurrying to see Unifar Temple properly prepared. The Marshal only gave a withering, mistrustful look to the Jedi pair as he stiffly moved to stand beside his regent. "The Crown would hear what it is you would suggest, Master Jedi."

NEW

Sensing a relief in the tension that, up to this point, had grasped the room, Bomoor felt confident enough to get closer to the throne, stopping just short of the Marshal who still guarded his monarch closely. The padawan now looked into the woman's eyes, which held a sadness that the fine, white powder across her features could not mask.

"Thank you," he spoke, bobbing his head down slightly in respect, "Now, if we are to help, it would be good if we shared our information."

He briefly checked to his right, realising that his fellow Jedi had already followed him forward and was intently eyeing the queen also. Turning back, he continued, "When we separated from our Masters, our role was to gather further information from people around Iziz regarding the Avalan threat and to assist them where we could. Our investigations led us to some individuals we presumed to be Avalan sympathisers, who made us aware of the imminent attack at the hotel, which was intended to kill Marius Thendleton and, we presume, frame Rift Jedi Sazar for the crime."

Bomoor's echoic voice took on a sadder tone, "We do not know how Sazar came to be there or under what circumstances she and our Masters went missing. However, it was shortly after this that we came into conflict with Theon, who refused to allow Sazar's body to be taken in by GalactaWerks."

The marshal and the queen shared a prolonged and knowing look, with the elder officer looking dismayed at whatever silent communication took place between him and his regent. After a few long seconds, he appeared to relent, and turned to face the two young Jedi in their entirety, clasping his hands behind his back just before he spoke.

"Whilst some of our scouts kept their eyes upon you as you ambled through the city, so too did my guard keep some tabs upon your masters, although they were somewhat more troublesome to track."

Although he remained concerned about Sotah's wellbeing, Thane suppressed a small glimmer of a smirk, knowing full well that the wily Selkath likely had no true concern about the local warriors keeping sight of him. He simply probably enjoyed making matter slightly more challenging for them - he probably even used a few minor mind tricks to further tangle the path.

"Nevertheless," the marshal went on after a hefty and resigned breath, "the majority of the paths that lead between Iziz and the Bronze Keep are overgrown and home to the many wild beasts of our lands. I would not imagine this to be a distinct problem for three Jedi, but there is word that bounty hunters have been inside the city - and outside of it."

Thane tensed at the mention of the mercenaries. He, Bomoor, and their masters had encountered their kind on numerous missions, particularly this far from the Core Worlds, and frequently found themselves on opposing sides. To the young Human, he found it deeply unsettling and offensive that such opportunistic and cynical beings existed in such plentiful numbers, even within the Third Republic, and that they operated with such freedom. Many even seemed to romanticise what the paid killers did. He could not hide his frown as he considered how distasteful he found it, benefiting as they did from the greed and suffering of others.

"I suppose it can't be that strange for them to be here?" He suggested to the marshal, stepping forwards slightly and brushing a lock of brown hair away from his eye.

"No," the marshal admitted, seemingly still ill at ease addressing so many so much younger than him, although he was interrupted once more by Thane before he could add anything further.

"Do you know who is hiring them?"

"Is it not clear that this is the work of the Avalans?" Queen Omina replied quickly, clearly keen to cast that blame at feet of Prince Garius, the frown on her face making her delicate features appear even more narrow and morose. "They were the ones who last saw your masters, after all."

Bomoor sensed the conversation veering back towards blaming the obvious enemy, while ignoring the deeper truths. While intelligent humans, he sense the great anger the Queen and Marshal held towards the renegade royals. With the Force-users now in the mix, the situation likely conjured up memories of the ancient Onderonian tales of family infighting under the influence of Dark Jedi manipulating the court.

“I mean no disrespect, your majesty, but there are more subtle forces at work here,” the older Padawan spoke to the Queen, “Even the most remote GalactaWerks institutions operate the tightest security and they are going to be on high alert for Avalans attempting to break into their buildings here.”

Bomoor hoped that inferring that Onderon was a remote world would not be taken as an insult, “The more disturbing implication is that a smaller group or an individual from within GalactaWerks is an Avalan sympathiser or somehow benefits from the ongoing conflict between you and your cousin. I have a suspicion that they may be behind these bounty hunters in the hopes of somehow implicating us Jedi as well, perhaps to erode your trust in us.”

"Do you, indeed?" The queen retorted, an eyebrow cocked at the young Jedi's suggestion, but it was the marshal who continued speaking.

"Because it would be awfully convenient for such a theory to be truth, were one in a position such as yours," said the old military man, his posture unchanging. "It is quite a thing, you know, for two natives to heed the words of one so young and foreign. Her Majesty will forgive myself for saying, but there is an audacity to your knowing tone that could be construed as offensive."

Thane felt his temper flashing at the way the other Human dismissed his friend, but he quickly suppressed the feeling, calling upon Sotah's teachings and remaining mindful of his wilful nature, knowing it inappropriate for a Jedi to behave in such a manner. That, and he had no desire to further increase the chasm that seemed to be forming between them and the Onderonians before them.

"Her Majesty will also forgive myself for saying; Bomoor has given you some insightful thoughts, and instead of considering there might be more going on here than an internal Onderonian power struggle, you are more focused on believing Prince Garius is making some cheap moves to claim the throne." Thane's youthful blue eyes did not deviate from Queen Omina, even as the Marshal's eyes bore into him. "I don't think the war ever ended here."

The two Onderonians shared another of their looks, before Omina looked back to the two Jedi, although she chiefly focused on the larger Ithorian. "You do make fair points, Master Jedi," she conceded to Bomoor, her tone having levelled, and Thane's shoulder could be seen to relax slightly. "GalactaWerks has committed many crimes against the worlds of the Outer Rim Alliance and its friends - Onderon is no different. Thendleton and his ilk are a scourge on the galaxy, worse even than the misguided Avalans. It would not surprise me that they have had more of a hand in this."

Omina then gave a nod to the marshal, who stepped forward slightly to continue addressing Thane and Bomoor, although he still appeared unimpressed. "Scouts have reported seeing the bounty hunters in Iziz on a few occasions, usually in the cantinas, causing some level of trouble. Whilst off-duty, one of the Royal Guards was convinced he had seen a female of noble dress and bearing speaking with them on at least two evenings at the Drunken Drexl, although he never got a clear line of sight, as she was fond of those facewraps some of the younger sorts enjoy these days. We had assumed this young lady was an Avalan of some description, to consort with the likes of them."

"Naturally," Thane muttered to himself with wry amusement and pronounced cynicism.

“So there is a suspected exchange between the Avalans and the bounty hunters,” Bomoor pondered, just loud enough to be heard by those on and around the throne. He ran an elongated hand along his neck before making an effort to address the Queen once more, “If we can catch these hired men attempting to make such an exchange again, we may be able to convince them to give up their employer. Discretion is a useful tool, but we have let these events play out once before and have seen the deadly results.”

Giving a bow of gratitude and then gesturing for Thane to draw slightly closer, he continued, “We are grateful that you would share this knowledge with us. With your permission, we shall head to this Drunken Drexl and attempt to surprise one of these bounty hunters.”

Queen Omina gestured broadly with an open hand. "As you wish. Investigate in whatever manner you ultimately see fit, Master Jedi, but note: this conflict with the Avalans is reaching a breaking point. Whilst I have every sympathy with your own plight and concerns for the well-being of your masters, no resolution is presenting itself and more and more of my people are suffering or dying with each passing hour." She gave both Bomoor and Thane a serious, measured look, punctuated as it was with a deep-set sadness she barely concealed with makeup and a piercing gaze. "I fear open conflict looms, and you may not find yourselves with many friends when the first real blaster bolt is fired."

"Let us hope it does not come to that," Bomoor nodded, being well aware of the truth in the Queen's words, "But we shall be prepared to fight for your people, as guardians peace in this galaxy. Thank you for your faith in us, your majesty."

TBC

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