TheElvenJedi

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Good grief that felt like it took forever to write, but hopefully it sheds some light on some things! It was a tricky relationship dynamic to work out and I know it's probably not perfect but I did my best to try and plug up those plot holes haha XD

Left room for them to speak to Neta and some of the others in the next couple of posts since this one is long enough already XD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

She felt so much better after getting some actual sleep. Her head was clearer, rather than being a fuzzy mess of over-intensified sounds and voices, and she could ACTUALLY think straight. During that time, the diplomats had hashed out the fine details of the treaty. At first, Aria got a little nervous when Neta summoned everyone back to the command center. Oh, I went to sleep because I DIDN’T want to talk politics, Neta! she felt like shouting to the ceiling (rather than AT poor Neta), but was pleasantly relieved to find that the spec ops pilot simply wanted to convey her gratefulness for each of the people who had stood beside them and fought with them for the duration of the horrendous six months they had been at war with the Alliance. She was glad Neta had taken it upon herself to convey the thanks to them, sure that Neta was speaking for every Force user on the Council and not just herself. Aria had wanted to try and say something to convey her own gratitude for their sacrifices, but whenever she tried to think about how to put it into words she found herself falling short. Neta summed it up pretty well.

She looked up again to spot Voldon beckoning them out of the room, nodding and slipping out after him to find that Yerbol and the other members of their Council of Force users had also been summoned. Voldon presented them with the idea that he and Jungze had been discussing, of a formal “Council” being formed of the older and more experienced Force users. Aria had to admit she liked the sound of that, especially of how it differed from their previously laid out Councils. Equal say for each member in decisions to be made, rather than a constant power struggle between members over who should have more influence than their counterparts. She couldn’t help but feel proud that they had all LEARNT something from the whole experience. People who would have previously shunned or tried to kill each other had REALLY come together as allies to work towards an end goal that would benefit everyone in the galaxy. If a mystic of some description had approached her months ago before she had followed Lysa into Naga Sadow’s tomb and foretold the events that had taken place since, Aria would have laughed in their face and called them mad. But it had happened, and she was proud to say she had been a part of it.
Slow, careful footsteps came towards them, Cheriss joining them a moment later. The Dathomirian was paler than usual, and still wobbly on her feet, though she cracked a broad grin as she caught wind of Jungze’s insinuation about titles.
“No indeed, Malu, you are correct. I will make no judgement of your choices, but I earned that Darth title and I intend to take it to my grave.” she proclaimed. “Besides, someone has to pay homage to the old ways somehow.”
“You weren’t far off from it, Cheriss.” Ailel chortled in amusement, placing a steadying hand on Cheriss’ shoulder as she teetered again, leaning up against the side of the compound to keep herself upright. “You should be in the medbay.”
“I’ll be fine, I can still see straight. I didn’t want to sleep through ALL the interesting discussion.”
She looked between Voldon and Yerbol as the Knight enquired about their obligations to join (or not join) the rebuilding efforts, nodding slowly at the Battlemaster’s subsequent reply and Jungze’s query directed at her. She sighed heavily, shrugging her shoulders.
“No, no...I’ve definitely had enough of war and fighting for a while.” she agreed quietly, managing an amused smirk. Ice skating. That made her chuckle at the thought. “I dunno, we could take a trip back to Hoth.” she exchanged a knowing glance with Yerbol, whose cheeks reddened ever so slightly. She was going to excuse herself and Yerbol so they could slip away and talk about whatever it was he had planned (and whether it involved them staying together, as he had alluded previously), when Cheriss nearly lost her balance again and was subsequently ‘banished’ back to the medbay by her concerned comrades. The Dathomirian looked unsteady enough on her feet, and Aria was hoping someone would offer to accompany her to make sure she got back safely when their eyes met and Aria found a kind of urgency there, something that said ‘I need to talk to you’. Nodding in affirmation, Aria volunteered to accompany Cheriss and ensure she did as she was told; they walked the first few corners in silence, Aria allowing the still ailing Master to lean some of her weight against her side as they made their way back to the medical portion of the complex at a slow pace. Cheriss finally spoke again:
“I wanted to talk to you away from the others, about your parents.” The proposed chosen topic came as somewhat of a surprise to Aria, she had known her father and Cheriss had been acquaintances, but for the other Sith Lord to have been close enough to Roan to have known ANYTHING about her mother was new information for her. She wanted to ask other questions, too many questions, but all she managed to squeak out was:
“What about them?”
“Roan always knew you’d questioned his feelings about your mother, he never got the chance to explain it to you. He asked me to do so in his absence, before we left Zinuthra to approach the Alliance fleet...I know it might be difficult for you to believe, Aria, but he loved your mother. Very much. Perhaps too much.” the Dathomirian chuckled, stopping to lean on the wall and recover some of her breath momentarily. “Their meeting was a total accident, but I could tell as soon as I saw that look in his eye that he was smitten. I TOLD him not to play with fire but the karkin’ idiot wouldn’t listen to me.” she snorted and rolled her eyes, shaking her head fondly. “He decided that she was worth the trouble and that he’d do whatever he could to make things work despite their differing political factions...the Dark Council were most displeased with the fiasco but he had concocted this whole lunatic scheme in his head that if they just gave him enough time he could persuade your mother to switch her allegiances to the Empire and to the Dark Council. ‘She could be useful to us’, now your mother wasn’t a fighter or a violent person by any means (in fact I doubt she’d ever touched a blaster or a vibroknife in her life, much less would she know what to do with one), but I tell you, she could sell snow to a Wampa! She could indeed have made an excellent pair of eyes inside the Republic’s own forces, if he could have succeeded.”
Aria sighed. She could see where this was going.
“There’s a ‘but’ coming, right?” Cheriss nodded.
“But your mother was so patriotic, and so STUBBORN, she swore blind she wouldn’t abandon the Republic for anybody, not even your father. I thought he had more sense, but he kept insisting to the Council that he just needed more time. Always he needed more time, ‘just another month and she’ll be swearing her loyalties to the Emperor, I swear!’. Of course, one month turned into three and so on, then you came into the picture and the rest of the Council began to lose their patience. They wanted to kill her then and end it all, his attachment to her made him weak and they could see that, but you became his bargaining chip for a time. They couldn’t risk eliminating her without wasting your potential, you could have, and did, inherit his Force abilities. The Sith could use that, train you as an acolyte.” she remembered her parents fighting about her Force abilities, managing another nod. They reached the medbay, which was thankfully just as sparsely populated. Those who were well enough had long since left and the others were so badly ill they were still unconscious or pumped full of medication to pay the pair’s conversation any mind. The question was difficult for Aria to voice, but it was the one she had been desperate to know for the five years since it had happened:
“Then...i-if he loved her...why make me kill her? Why…?”
“By that time, he had exhausted all other excuses, Aria. Your mother was safe as long as their attention was on you, watching your progress. That’s why he spent so much time tutoring you even though he really shouldn’t have. It’s just as well you and Vano got on so well and that he could train you together or they might have had his head for shirking his REAL apprentice’s training in favour of yours. But after you turned sixteen, Roan was out of time. The Council would not accept any more of his excuses, and if he wouldn’t act to remove the threat to the Empire your mother had become with the things she knew of the Dark Council through spending time with him, the rest of us were to take matters into our own hands and do it for him.” Cheriss sat on her appointed bed, her features creasing into a wan smile. “He would have fought off every single one of them to protect you both, run away with you somewhere remote and shielded you from them if he could have...but perhaps like we all were back then, he was neck-deep in the philosophies and he couldn’t see another way out. You have to understand that it was the hardest decision that your father ever had to make in his lifetime and he HATED himself for it afterwards, but he was convinced that your mother was safer dead than she ever would have been alive. If he had tried to sneak her away somewhere she would have spent the rest of her life hounded by the Dark Council until we finally tracked her down and then it would not have been a pleasant end for her. Assigning her as your target for your trials would make it quick and as painless as he possibly could without doing it himself….he would have spared you that grief if he could but he didn’t have it in him to lay a finger on her. Even asked me if I’d do it, once. I wasn’t going to put my neck on the line for him when I warned him in the first place not to start all of this.” Cheriss sighed again, reaching into a pocket in her robe to fish something out, which she turned over a few times in her hand. “So I suppose I owe you an apology as well, for my part in it.” she extended the hand towards Aria, palm opening to reveal the delicate gold chain that sat there, suspended on the end was a single cluster of gems, as dark as the night sky but which still shimmered with faint blue and purple hues as they caught the light. “This was your mother’s, she gave it to Roan just before he took you to the Academy. He never took it off.” a small, amused smirk crossed Cheriss’ face. “He thought none of us ever noticed, but we did. He wanted you to have it, if he didn’t make it off that ship.”

It was a lot for Aria to process, the young Force user pensively quiet as she picked up the pendant and closed her fist around it protectively, clutching it close to her heart. She wasn’t normally one to wear jewellery, but this would be different. Now at least, she had something from both of them.
“Alright, that’s all I had to say, so you don’t have to hang around. I’m sure you have better things to do than keep pestering the last Darth in the galaxy.”
Aria couldn’t help but grin teasingly at the remaining Darth, quipping:
“You’re still not dropping it? Well, fine, but don’t complain in twenty years time when all the kids are laughing at you for having a ‘funny name’.” that earned her an (affectionate) clip around the ears from the Dathomirian, who also nearly passed out again from the effort of the movement, shutting her eyes as she sagged back against the pillows. Aria paused in the doorway, turning to smile over her shoulder.
“Cheriss...thanks. I...I needed this.”
“I know.” the former Sith Lord waved her off. “Now go on, go and join your friends. I’m sure we’ll all be seeing each other again at some point in the future.”

She found Yerbol again, not far off from where the group had still been gathered, sidling up to join him and murmur. “So….what now?”

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Ah yes, nothing better than a good old three day weekend! :P

They are! I look back at how teeny tiny our first posts were and I think "how did we ever manage to write that little?" I literally had such a chuckle last night reading Ari and Bol's first confrontation with each other because (as Ari will point out in my next post) they're like totally different people and if somebody had ever told them they'd end up being "best-friends-that-are-really-confused-about-their-feelings-for-each-other" in six to eight months time they would have gone "PAH! YEAH RIGHT, OVER MY DEAD BODY!" XD

Yeeep, snow .__. haha certainly not looking forward to having to shovel it if it settles and keeps on coming like they say it's going to on the weather report lol

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

No worries haha, no rush take as long as you need to process it, we're in no hurry to finalise anything :P

Sweet, working on it now, bear with while I get it typed out as this may be a slightly long-ish one with a lot of talking as well ;w; XD

A New Dawn - A Star Wars RP

@Pundii@Morose@Lady Amalthea

Hey guys, know we're taking a 'chilled' pace here right now anyways but just in case it happens to affect my posting ability for a long time length I thought I'd drop in and let y'all know

the dreaded s-n-o-w has begun over here and my Internet connection is already looking spotty, so if I vanish for a while.... xD hopefully it won't happen but if it gets heavy enough haha (my laptop is already refusing to load stuff but somehow my phone still manages for now o.o)

Will post whenever I am able to and am still working on that other CS, captain :p

Star Wars: Enclaves

Hey y'all, I shall do my best to post this evening but just an update to let you know...

the dreaded s-n-o-w has begun over here and my Internet connection is already looking spotty, so if I vanish for a while.... xD hopefully it won't happen but if it gets heavy enough haha (my laptop is already refusing to load stuff but somehow my phone still manages for now o.o)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yeep, I just reread that and realised what a wall of text it ended up being, my apologies! O_O take your time XD
(Wow, how did I spew that all out at like 7-8am? That coffee was better than I thought it'd be XD)

Also the dreaded s-n-o-w has begun over here and my Internet connection is already looking spotty, so if I vanish for a while.... xD hopefully it won't happen but if it gets heavy enough haha

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Oooohhhh these are some cracking ideas here my friend, the debrief sounds like a perfect way to move them onwards towards starting to rebuild relations with everyone in known space. Also yay, Kira's okay!! :D (I was worried for a bit that she wouldn't be, boy am I glad she made it! XD) I also hope that won't be the last we see of our beloved spec ops pilot, I've grown quite attached to her XD I request she makes an eventual reappearance at some point :P

I really like the Council of Elders (heck even the name just sounds kick butt hsha) idea as well, We can definitely expand on that and flesh it out as we go along ouo Ailel for sure would back up the idea and I'm sure after all they've been through even Cheriss would be down for it ;)

As for my portion of our cast I shall supplement the above with where I could see them going from here:

Ailel- would be 100% down for Voldon's Council of Elders idea and would back him up totally as well, Then she would probably head out to one of the other destinations in the Core or Outer Rim worlds to spearhead another sanctuary city in conjunction with Voldon/Kira's efforts (I imagine they'd remain in touch via letters/holocalls to inform each other of their progress?)

Cheriss- would also make a full recovery and in light of their efforts together would come around and agree to the Council idea, she'd probably have to stay on Zinuthra a while to help Matt out while she recovers enough strength to travel off world again (let's face it she took one hell of a beating haha) before moving off to help with the sanctuaries. Not sure if she'd like the idea of dropping her Darth title (and some small part of her might actually like being 'the last Darth in the galaxy ever'! XD)

Vano- as one of the older youngsters (she was probably in preparation for taking her Darth trials when everything turned to doo doo), she wouldnt be old enough to join the Council of Elders, but would support the idea and instead express an interest in keeping in with their older tradition of some form of initiation trials and honouring that somehow. I was thinking she would journey to other places where the Jedi and Sith had enclaves or bases (so places like Dromund Kaas, Dantooine, Coruscant, to name the few I can remember this early in the morning :P) to try and salvage any holocrons or teaching archives that might have been there which Bracknell and Soto overlooked, with the 'end' goal of spearheading a project to combine parts of the old Jedi and Sith customs (minus the backstabbing and bloodshed of comrades etcetra XD) to devise a new set of trials or tests for their learners to take once they are ready (was thinking 'Neophyte' or something of that kind would be a great new title for them to use for them in place of Padawan and Acolyte-and it's KIND OF a blend between the two ;). She would then eventually return to Zinuthra to collate her findings with Matt, Janika and Manso and work with them to actually write up an official record of the new trials and set up an academy or training facility either on Zinuthra or that other moon they saw nearby but decided against settling on (name suggestion: Khepri?). I shall put forward the suggestion for Vano, Janika and Manso to become the first set of tutors/instructors at the new academy once they have the proper training and experience themselves, with some guest appearances from Ari and Yerbol when they're able and not doing other things.
Then some more tearful goodbyes (she and Ari kind of have a sisterly thing going on, she makes them promise to write or check up with her every now and again (also some more prodding because that's what older sisters do regarding the duo's future together-"I expect to be invited to the wedding when it happens, Ari!" XD which Ari will of course profusely deny but secretly contemplate as they make their way to Taris)

Chwuq and Taral- shall of course accompany our dynamic duo as their faithful watchdogs haha, Taral is understandably a bit battered and bruised after being flung about by Bracknell (hence the limp, which will perhaps persist for a little while in some capacity after they tend to the underlying damage but will eventually make a full recovery), training them to accept a personal hygiene routine is of course also going to happen (especially before taking them to meet Bol's parents as they cant have them looking all blood-soaked, drooly and smelly can they? They'll be scary enough to the poor 'rents as it is, dont want to make it worse! XD). As the last of their species (there's very little to suggest there were notable populations on any other world than Korroban) they would have nowhere else to go as an alternative and of course since Roan's last instruction to them before he died was to protect Ari and Bol they would be adamant at doing that. Maybe even some adorably clumsy baby Tuk'ata could make their appearance at some point in the future, because it would be super sad if they were the last ones EVER even though they are kind of immortal/long lived due to their Force sensitivity mutation. Said puppies could grow up to be less like the savage tomb Tuk'ata of old and more like their parents in temperament with regards to their response to people (especially Force users), enabling the possibility of them then getting sent back to Khepri or Zinuthra at a later date to establish a population there and they could be reinstated as guardians of the temple/knowledge archive/Roan's resting place, perhaps? (Chwuq and Taral themselves wouldn't go as they would refuse to leave Aria and Yerbol's sides XD)

Soto- our dearest Soto (who kind of became a shared character between us? But I figured we should give everyone some closure on what happens to her as well o.o) could be put on trial as a war criminal, perhaps after the 'briefing' session but before everyone splits off to go do their own things, and the remaining Council members would have to debate what would be done with her. Vano would be keen on rolling her head off her shoulders still, as would probably Cheriss however Ailel will vehemently protest to such violence and insist that showing her mercy of some description is their better course of action ('if we kill her now we're no better than they were! Enough blood has been shed on their account, let's not add to it!' Blah blah blah) perhaps they could swear her into some kind of community service/servitude type thing where she has to help them work with Saresh to reestablish Force users in the galaxy again? XD alternatively they could lock her up in some kind of maximum security prison type deal (depends how she would respond to their decision to leave her alive, I assume there would be more votes for the merciful option than against it, I think even Ari would vote for giving her the opportunity to change her ways since she's changed a lot since meeting Yerbol and would kind of understand that Soto was manipulated and heavily influenced by Bracknell just like many of the others)

Roan- fear not, he shall not die forever (I like him FAAAARR too much for that!) He shall definitely make some honorary appearances later on, either as a Force ghost/apparition of some kind or just as a disembodied voice offerring his wisdom/guidance. Perhaps he can eventually lead our duo on to seeking out Renso after Renso eventually reestablishes contact with them and urges them to come and train with him? We can pin that up on the 'stuff that happens later' board for consideration though because our poor children have DEFINITELY earned a vacation after all this!

Not regarding a particular character but also something important I thought of on the way in to work: A rewrite/reworking of both old Jedi and Sith codes to reflect their newfound allies/strength working together. Something similar to the Grey Jedi Code that talks about combining both as long as they are in moderation (ie. "There is no light without darkness, knowledgw is useless without the strength to act on it, there is no passion without serenity to guide it, I will maintain balance for balance is the key to true peace. The Force is all things and I am the Force") its not exactly the same as the canon grey code but something along those lines to reflect their new knowledge after working in harmony with one another for the better part of a year/18 months XD This can be further discussed and hashed out proper between us but just a general idea, it seems silly for the former Jedi to continue to insist on forbidding attachments and giving in to one's emotions, but equally silly for the former Sith to not acknowledge that allowing emotions to overtake you without proper moderation is ALSO bad. I think they'd all be able to acknowledge that the issues with both former philosophies was that they refused to acknowledge that both things can be achieved if those in question learn to allow their passion/emotions to guide their actions IN MODERATION and ensuring they are taught the wisdom to know when they should shirk their emotional response in favour of one that is more logical and better for everyone involved. Would love to hear your thoughts on this one, as well! :D

I hadn't thought about them leaving a memorial for Roan until you mentioned it, but yes. SO MUCH yes for this. It will give poor Ari the closure she needs to accept that she's more than capable of life without her dearest daddy. I also plan to work it in the next post or so to explain out Roan and her mother's relationship dynamic a bit (via some observations/accounts from Cheriss who was present when they first met and whom Roan confided certain things about their relationship to-I like to think they were the equivalent of 'friends' as much as the Dark Council/Sith philosophy allowed them to be lol) to give Ari some closure on that as well since that's also a big grey area/blank space that she is DESPERATE for closure on. I confess I hashed it all out a couple months ago and have been keeping it to myself to wait for the right moment to fit it in. This seems as good a time as any and I'm kind of excited to finally reveal that big plot gap XD

But in regard to the nature of Roan's memorial I have what are (hopefully) some very awesome suggestions:
-Vano will approach Aria before they part ways to express interest in naming the eventually established new academy/training facility in honour of Roan (so 'Noctis' something or other), since he WAS her mentor and she did have a pretty close bond with him (not quite as close as Ari. This could lead in nicely perhaps to Ari and Bol going with Vano to this moon to scout it out and leave Roan's momentum (a little stone carving/statuette of some kind?) in the place of the future training center's site?
-as a side-thought, and dependant on if everyone else would be down with it too, since their newly established Order of Force users doesn't have a name they could also name it Noctis something in his honour...Though I kind of like the above suggestion better than this one ^^ Thoughts?

-This sounds adorable. I am all for this XD let's do it haha we could just put them in that candlelit scenario and kind of see how it evolves from there? They seem to be quite good at deciding what they want to do for themselves XD I'm also excited to allow them to just have the time to relax without constant threat of battle and espionage hanging over their heads and give them a chance to let their relationship/feelings develop properly. I vote in favour of Renso leaving them be for a while and they can always seek him out again later once they're ready to (ie the vacation time has served it's purpose and they become bored of not having something important to do lol)

Gosh, that was a lot more thoughts than I thought I'd have this early in the morning! Surprise? XD I don't think I overlooked anyone super important in our cast, let me know if there happens to be somebody I've left out that needs to be included and I shall add them when I get off in the afternoon hahaha

I also found an old sketch I did a few months back of one of the scenes near the beginning of the RP (the massacre on Tython that kicked it all off) so I'll be cleaning that up and adding a background. And to honor the end of Act/Season 1 I also started another one last night of the VERY beginning when they found the star map in Naga Sadow's tomb (man it was nostalgic to re-read that, they've grown so much as characters and as a pair in their view of each other *wipes away tear* XD) so I have plans to finish those up over the weekend as 'fake screenshots' of sorts and add a little "Gallery" to the characters tab Hehe ;) (don't laugh at my awkward grasp, I mean stylization of human anatomy, people are hard to draw and I only started properly trying like 5 months ago haha)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Phew, got it done! XD

Don't think I forgot anything else super important....? O.O Feel free to butt in if I have, otherwise...onwards, to greater things! XD Tried to kind of set up the scene for the possibility of some of them heading back into known space at some point if they want to, but feel free to go wherever you like with that :P

I figured they would want to ensure Soto got proper punishment for her involvement in the whole shabang, whatever that eventual punishment ends up being XD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Part of her wanted to take heed to Yerbol’s comfort, but she knew she couldn’t cry forever (and perhaps another part of it was simply the fact that she had cried so much since Yerbol had peeled off to help Neta that her eyes were scratchy and dry and she simply had no more tears to cry). She didn’t feel much like laughing, either, but her friend’s recollection of his childhood pets elicited an amused giggle from Aria. “You named your dog ‘Potato’? Poor guy.” her gaze returned to the two tomb beasts who seemed to have made themselves quite at home around the duo, Aria shifting uncomfortably under the weight of the second who had apparently gone to sleep in her lap. “They aren’t so bad once you get used to them.” she nodded in agreement. “They’re just...very large, stinky, lapdogs I guess. That happen to have a fondness for tearing things to pieces.” her nose wrinkled slightly at the general sticky and unkempt appearance of the two canines. Baths were DEFINITELY in order, she agreed. Aria dropped her head to rest against his shoulder briefly, not noticing the odor in light of their current company (and she probably smelt just as bad, having spent nearly forty eight hours in the same clothes they had returned to the planet in and not moving except to seek out her companions. Glancing down at the Tuk’ata again, she shrugged.
“Alright, you can stay. But the FIRST thing you’re getting used to is baths. And letting me brush your teeth. I’m not wandering around with dogs that smell worse than a Rancor’s back end.”
Its ears twitched and it snorted (or sneezed, she wasn’t sure), blinking at the pair in confusion.
“Buh-ruhsh?” Understandably, it had probably never seen a toothbrush in its life and had no idea what the word meant. Aria tried not to laugh too hard.
“Yes, brush.” Oh, this would be entertaining. She almost shut her eyes and nodded off then and there (forty eight hours with no sleep would do that to anyone, too), had it not been for Reggie’s sudden scramble to attention and the surge of activity within the command center again.
Aria’s lap guest was abruptly evicted (with many a snort of protest), Aria letting out a long-suffering groan of her own. “Do we HAVE to go...can’t we just stay here and sleep…?”

But no, Saresh wanted to see them personally, apparently. She didn’t understand the apparent joke between Yerbol and Bex, but the Knight’s promise of an idea of awesome proportions gave her enough motivation to haul herself to her feet and follow him into the meeting with the remaining Alliance figurehead. Their self-imposed guardians were banished to wait outside of the room, couldn’t have them terrifying Saresh and her diplomats any further after all (“Stay. You understand ‘stay’, right?” They had reiterated the word back at her and thumped their backsides onto the floor. She took that as a ‘yes’.).
______________________________

Aria was immensely grateful for the presence of chairs, and that they would be sitting down for the exchange, immediately collapsing back into one. Voldon and Matt joined the duo, Ailel not far behind them and Vano trailing in shortly after the final Jedi Master, in Cheriss’ place (who was still confined to the medbay, though the medical personnel on duty reassured them that despite her comatose state, the Dathomirian’s vital signs were stabilizing gradually). Jungze was also unharmed, though so exhausted from her combined effort to control the weather patterns in their favor that she and the younglings were confined to bed rest until they had recovered more of their strength.

Aria stayed quiet for the most part and allowed the others to begin the negotiations instead, watching the Twi'lek woman through narrowed eyes as she recounted her agreements with Bracknell and the moment his behaviour had become so brazenly unreasonable that she had come to her senses. She only sat forward as Yerbol exploded into an angry tirade, extending a hand to place it on his arm as Voldon abruptly intervened and offered Saresh another apology. Frowning at her friend in concern, Aria mouthed ‘are you okay?’, patting his arm gently to convey the best form of comfort she could in that situation. Even Voldon looked tired, and older if that were even possible, his eyes slightly sunken from lack of sleep. She remembered the news about Kira that had reached them as they had rejoined the rest of the group and could understand why.
“Took you long enough, didn't it?” Vano snorted impatiently in the silence that had settled after the outburst, hands on her hips. “You could have stopped this all, could have done SOMETHING, but you just SAT there and let them nearly wipe us off the face of the galaxy!”
“You'll forgive our reluctance to just welcome you back with open arms, Chancellor.” Ailel cut in. “But you and your associates tried to kill us and caused the deaths of some of our friends and family members; you'll understand if a simple acknowledgement of your errors is, on its own, inadequate.”

“So you're going to quarantine us to specific neighborhoods like disease-ridden refugees?” Aria gawked at the Chancellor in disbelief. “How does that put us in ANY better of a situation?”
“It’s for your own protection.” Saresh insisted, her lekku twitching uncomfortably though she maintained her calm demeanor. “While I have withdrawn all Alliance military forces and ordered a complete halt to Bracknell's execution orders there are many governments across many worlds who still view Force users as a blight on the galaxy.”
“Whose fault is THAT?” Saresh ignored the sarcastic comment from Vano and continued: “There is a strong concern that they may attempt to continue what Bracknell and Soto started. It's safer to keep you and your friends here on Zinuthra, and start slowly integrating you back into populations on non-hostile worlds until our delegates can collectively diffuse the tension this war has caused.”
“Take the diplomats back with you.” Ailel suggested after some careful thought. “The ones who defected and joined us, let them address the Senate and give testimonies to validate our innocence.”
“It would be a solid start.” Saresh agreed. “I already have contacts reaching out to settlements on Coruscant, Dantooine and Taris, to start setting up safe zones. If you have Force users who are well enough, and willing, we can arrange safe convoys to provide protective escorts for them and to help them get settled in.”
The promise of resources to help them recover went down well. Better food and medical supplies were sorely needed by the surviving resistance members, and after some more careful exchanges there were even promises of other doctors who could be sent to give assistance to the feeble gathering they had managed to amass from their supporters (there was concern for the condition of Cheriss and some other soldiers who had been fatally wounded, specialist intervention might be needed to ensure they got the best care they possibly could and maximised their chance of recovery).

Before they were dismissed, Aria recalled one more important point of concern, taking advantage of Voldon’s offer to stand and face Saresh.
“We keep Soto.” she murmured, determined to stand firm on that fact. “She has to be held responsible for the things she did.”
“Aria.” Ailel began to protest. “I know you're angry about what happened but you can't take that out on Soto-”
“Soto was just as much an instigator as Bracknell, she made the decision to go along with the plans, to help him put them in place. This has nothing to do with personal revenge. Lock her up in prison for all I care, but if they let her go who’s to say she won't join up with these hostile governments and try to rally them again, finish what Bracknell started?”
She let that question sink in, feeling herself teeter unsteadily as another wave of exhaustion hit her, grabbing onto the back of the chair she had risen out of. “Now if that's all, I'd like to go and rest while you hash out the boring political jargon with the diplomats.”

Some sleep and a change of clothes would do her a world of good, and then maybe she'd be in a respectable enough state to actually partake in this idea that Yerbol was so excited about...