Brawln and Vesper

It's late one night (or early in the morning, depending on your perspective) somewhere along the route between Loronar and Zoph when the door to Brawln's room opens and Brawln walks out of his room. He does not seem to be aware of Vesper's presence, and walks to the nearest window. He approaches slowly and peers out the window, scanning cautiously in each direction.

After a few moments, he turns and, seeing Vesper's silhouette in the darkness for the first time, he backs against the wall and throws his arms up in front of him, as if to defend himself.

Then after a moment, the massive Wookiee lets out a whimpering tone, and HC-7, who has come wandering out of the room to watch, replies to Brawln's question. "Of course it's Vesper, Brawln, who else would it be?"

Brawln's shoulders relax, and his arms drop back down to his side again. HC-7 translates, "I didn't realize anyone else was out here. Trouble sleeping?"

"I'm sorry if I startled you, Brawln. I just put in a load of laundry and was planning to do some reading while I waited for it to finish, but I sensed that you were awake." Vesper moves out of the shadows and closer. He looks concerned. "You're troubled by something. Did you want to talk about it?"

Brawln slumps down against the wall and holds his knees as he talks to Vesper. His guttural tones seem fairly normal - perhaps even conversational - but when Vesper reaches out with the Force, he finds a lot more under the surface. Although he's on the downswing now, Vesper can still sense a flavor of adrenaline and fear that usually only accompanies near-death experiences, intermingled with some amount of shame and guilt.

HC-7 translates, "It seems our furry friend has had some issues with nightmares recently, ever since bringing the Mirror onto our ship. Brawln did not think this would be so troubling, but now that he is here, he is rather becoming anxious to get the Mirror off of this ship. In any event, he suggests that if he did anything funny, it's likely the result of not fully waking from the dream." Vesper can sense that his friend is being truthful, but that he has left something out of his story. "In any event, Brawln apologizes for making you worry - but suggests that maybe it's good that he ran into you tonight."

"The Mirror was nightmare-worthy." There is a sense that Vesper has had a few bad dreams about some of his more memorable confrontations with that opponent, too. "With what you went through, though, it's not surprising that it would be worse for you. I'd be okay with launching his body into a star, to be honest, but it seems I'm outvoted on that count."

Brawln lets out a guttural groan at his statements about the mirror. HC translates, "You have no idea..."

Then he looks back at Brawln and says, "Well I think he does have some idea. He was knocked out twice by the man..."

HC continues to translate. "It wasn't just that the Mirror is the reason Brawln's father is dead, though. Brawln was...involved." Brawln stills a trembling hand, and continues, his eyes staring off beyond Vesper, into empty space. "The Mirror took his father's likeness and Brawln was confused, didn’t really know what to do. He ended up aiding the Mirror in one of his killings, and then when the Mirror turned on him..."

There is an awkward pause before Brawln continues quietly, "Brawln has always felt responsible for what happened, and he had hoped that by taking the Mirror out he would atone in some measure for everything he helped the Mirror do. However, ever since taking out the Mirror, rather than feeling some measure of relief that it was over - but instead it’s become harder for him to sleep, and he’s felt worse. And then, a moment ago, for just a moment..."

HC turns away from Vesper and looks back at Brawln who has finished speaking, "Oh dear, it seems that when he saw you in the shadows, for just one moment it wasn't you he saw, it was his father. That's why he reacted the way he did. He had hoped that since you recently received some news, not about your father, but about a mentor - a father-figure of sorts - and with how your experiences with the Mirror went, that if anyone might understand, it might be you, Vesper."

Brawln is still not looking at Vesper. He looks suddenly very tired.

"I'm not sure how much I trust Master Quiet's 'news,'" says Vesper. "It wouldn't be the first time he's used information about Master Zernvik to manipulate me, and it wouldn't be the first time he's lied to me, either. He once 'left out' key details about a situation he sent me into that almost got me executed for treason - and that was just the only time I found out about it. Is Master Zernvik on Zoph despite almost never leaving Coruscant? I doubt it. But there's something there that Efnir, Somi, and I need to experience; on that all three of us agree. I wouldn't go anywhere near this vergence if it weren't for that certainty and the fact that Zoph is currently the best lead on Master Zernvik we have. Even so, I fully expect Master Quiet to try to throw me at any horrible guardian beasties we encounter if it will distract them long enough for him to get what he's after. He knows it, I know it, and he knows I know it - as surely as he knows that the only reason we aren't seriously considering airlocking him is that none of the four padawans on Rogue Ronto is willing to fall to the Dark Side for his sake."

Vesper shakes his head in denial, visibly upset. "So yeah, maybe I can sort of understand what you've been through. The Mirror used you as a tool, but killing him didn't bring your father back. Master Quiet has bullied me, used me, and treated me as expendable, but if I strike him down - possibly if I even try to - my anger at him will only consume me. I won't be any better than he is. More than likely, I'll be worse. I may think he's misguided, but at least he does what he does because he thinks it serves the greater good. Attacking Master Quiet, killing him..." Another shake of the head. "It would be an act of cowardice born of my anger at and fear of him. The Jedi all but exterminated, and I killed one of the last Jedi Masters in the galaxy? Who would that serve? Master Zernvik would be so disappointed in me if he knew I had let that conversation get as far as it did without objecting."

A heavy sigh. "I'm not sure what we'll find on Zoph, but I doubt it will be my mentor."

Brawln watches Vesper's speech with both eyebrows raised. “Wow, I...that really resonated with me," HC translates. "I guess while I had understood your situation with Master Quiet was pretty terrible, I didn't see the parallels quite so stark until you lay them out like that. And honestly, it had never occurred to me that he might be lying..."

Brawln nods to himself, as if deciding. "Okay. Alright then. Let's assume Master Zernvik isn't here, and that Master Quiet is simply using that story to dupe you into aiding him. If that's how it is, then we look for Zernvik using different methods. Brawln hunts people down for a living. Not usually hunt Jedi, but with the right intel, not a lot can hide from a good bounty hunter.

"So tell me a little about him - mostly general information. Who is he? What is he like? Where did he go missing? Any idea who he would turn to for help? Particularly anyone who is not a Jedi?

"Oh, and also..." Brawln looks at him blankly for a moment and then HC tranlsates, "Brawln is curious if..." Brawln seems lost for words. "Do you - The other Jedi all seem convinced that if their master were dead they would 'just know.' Is that, er...a thing for you, too?"

"Master Zernvik disappeared a year ago," says Vesper. "He had a wide network of contacts, although I only met a tiny fraction of them - including Nawah. His specialty was finding patterns in data - accounting records, legal filings, stuff like that - and drawing conclusions from it. Maybe not what most people think of when they envision a Jedi Sentinel, but that was his way. He could fight at need - as can any Jedi, really - but he rarely let himself get into situations where he needed to fight. He was investigating a Sith plot on Coruscant when he disappeared; I doubt that it was a coincidence." A beat. "Not a lot of other Jedi took his theories seriously. The Council certainly knew what he was up to, and they neither stopped his investigation nor insisted he lead missions off-world during the Clone Wars, so I think they took him more seriously than they let on, but they didn't shield him from criticism, either."

An earnest look. "If you can find out where he is - or at least learn his fate - that would be a huge weight off my shoulders. I've spent most of the last year trying to figure it out for myself, but that's not where my talents lie - even among Sentinels - and I really made no progress."

"As far as whether I'd know it if he died, probably. Maybe?" Vesper shrugs. "My sister and I had a babysitter before I came to the Jedi temple. She was really great, and I liked her a lot. She died in a speeder accident a few years ago - really tragic. But I didn't feel anything. I wouldn't have known except my cousin Bela told me about it.

"But there was a youngling on Kamparas who had nightmares about his pet dog being in pain back on the planet he lived on before leaving home. After about a week, the nightmares stopped, and he was really sad - but also kind of relieved - for a while after that. Two years later, he learned that his dog had gotten sick and needed to be euthanized. The nightmares predated the dog's death by months, but the youngling's description of the dog's sickness and death were an exact match for what happened, so it was probably both a vision of the future and a vision of a loved one's pain. Force users have been known to have both.

"So, I think there are a lot of factors. How much you care about the person (or dog). How much they care about you. How much suffering there is and how long it lasts. How far away they are. Big events involving a lot of people can send out shockwaves that Force users can feel millions of parsecs away, even if they don't know anyone involved. There was one planet the Separatists captured where they just sort of made everyone on it suffer for no obvious reason. It wasn't strategically important in terms of location or resources, but a lot of Jedi could feel the planet's pain, which was distracting for them. Maybe it was just a bad person in charge of the occupation, or maybe it was a kind of psychological warfare that targeted the Jedi. I hear a lot of clone troopers (and two Jedi) died to retake that planet - way more than would have been worthwhile given its negligible strategic importance.

"Also, some Jedi Sentinels learn to hide themselves from the Force and hide their Force powers from others. It helps them avoid attracting attention to themselves when they need to infiltrate organizations run by dark side users and keeps their targets from knowing they're being hunted until the Sentinel is ready to strike. Master Quiet definitely has that, which is probably how he has avoided capture. Master Zernvik? I don't know, and I also don't know whether it still works when the Sentinel dies.

"All of which is a long way of saying I don't know whether I would feel it if Master Zernvik died - both because Force visions aren't always consistent and because he is more likely than most to have the ability to prevent it from happening. Knowing Master Zernvik, if he were in horrible pain or facing death, he would not want me to know about it for fear that I might put myself in danger to rescue or avenge him. He was always protective of me that way." There is warmth in that observation, but also a certain amount of frustration.

Brawln looks around as he speaks. HC translates, "So sometimes you'll know and sometimes you won't - it isn't really clear one way or the other… and then there are also people who can block your ability to sense it.”

Brawln scratches his head, “Sounds confusing. I think some force powers I’m better off not trying to understand… in any event, Master Zernvik sounds like an interesting person - Brawln hopes he has a chance to meet him. So do you wish he threw you into the deep end and let you figure out how to sink or swim yourself? Is that how your parents raised you?”

“And have you considered how you would train a padawan if you had one? Between experiences with Master Zernvik and Master Quiet you seem to have no shortage of examples of things not to do..."

Surprisingly, Vesper actually laughs. "I'm only a padawan and far from qualified to take on a student of my own. And even if I were a Jedi Knight, have you noticed that the Empire has destroyed our temples and is actively engaged in a campaign of extermination against the Jedi? Just contemplating the possibility of finding a potential apprentice seems hopelessly optimistic, much less drawing up proverbial lesson plans for one."

Vesper shakes his head in wonder. "I don't mean it as mockery - truly. But I'm currently on the run from everything I've ever known. I don't dare reach out to friends or family in the Core for fear of endangering them, assuming they don't turn me in to protect themselves - and who could blame them, under the circumstances? If my face weren't already being used in an Imperial propaganda campaign to subjugate my homeworld, the Empire would have put out a bounty for me by now. Speaking of bounties, how long before Korrda the Hutt puts one out on me? She seems to have decided I'm the secret face of the group, after all. Getting banned from D'Argo's seems laughable by comparison, and apparently they've been known to put out bounties on shoplifters? At least according to the signs they post outside they do."

This has become something of a rant.

"And all that seems to be the least of my problems, the main one being that the person I trust and like least in the galaxy - and who appears to be on the verge of a psychotic break, if he isn't already an agent of the Dark Side - has commandeered the ship I'm on and has apparently decided to use me to gain access to a source of unfathomable power so that he can do who knows what with it. Oh, and he has a bounty on his head, too - a damn big one, in fact - and bounty hunters are already in hot pursuit, which means they're in hot pursuit of us, as well - or will be as soon as they realize they've found four padawans, a Night Sister, and a Separatist sympathizer in the company of a fugitive Jedi Master."

"Considering all that, how can I possibly think about taking on a pada..." Vesper suddenly trails off and says very quietly, "Oh."

A wince. "I'd probably end up the kind of mentor my master was and the kind of mentor his master before him was - so busy holding the galaxy together with spit and emergency repair patches that I have absolutely no time to figure out how to train a padawan, much less put those plans into action. What a terrible, awkward cycle..."

Vesper shakes himself, visibly agitated. He seems to center himself with some effort.

"So, did you grow up on Kashyyyk, or were you born somewhere else?"

Brawln shrugs, and HC interprets his intonations as he responds. "Brawln was born on Kashyyyk, but was there for a short enough time that he has no memories of it. His father took him off planet when he was exceedingly young for reasons he isn't entirely familiar with - and now, it's possible he never will be - unless he ever has reason to go back to Kashyyyk, anyway. Honestly, Brawln's upbringing isn't much to speak of - Brawln's father was very much the type of Wookiee who was comfortable throwing him into the deep end, assured as he was in the notion that he would be there if Brawln looked like he wouldn't be able to swim - metaphorically, of course. The two of them moved around a lot, and didn't stay too long in one place - not that they had many opportunities to make lasting connections outside of other bounty hunters anyway. Most other races found it physically difficult to speak to him, and most Wookiees did not care for his father's profession."

Brawln does not seem overly ponderous or sensitive to talking about his father. If anything, he speaks very matter-of-factly about him.

"Simpler times," Vesper sighs. "The Clone Wars stole a lot of innocence, but I suppose it exposed a lot of deep rot, as well. Too bad it doesn't seem we'll be able to save the patient - unless this vergence holds far more power than anything I can even imagine. What can we do with ourselves once we pick up the pieces?" Vesper smiles a sardonic smile. "What do you think, Brawln: Could a former padawan make it as a bounty hunter without falling to the Dark Side?"

Brawln sighs. "Brawln says he thinks the work wouldn't be that different from what you would be doing as a Jedi. You kinda just find people who need you to do something for them and then you do it. I may not be a Jedi, but I still feel terrible if I find myself doing a job that I feel is wrong - you probably could look for the same type of jobs Brawln does. Protection detail, finding people for family members, that kinda thing."

Brawln shrugs. "The main problem if you wanted to be an 'official' bounty hunter would be obtaining the certificate. Brawln is pretty sure if he didn’t already have one, he'd have difficulty getting one now that he's been associated with you all.

"That being said, just because it'd be hard to be an independent bounty hunter doesn't mean there wouldn't be those like Brawln who'd appreciate the extra muscle and already have the certificate." Brawln nods. "If you don’t wanna have dark side problems, I'd worry less about profession for the future and more about who’s gonna teach you about controlling that Force stuff. I can find you work, but I don't know the first thing about that. Here's hoping we find your old mentor to help with that part. Because the only other alternative we've seen so far is our fearless general over there."

Brawln gestures towards the room Master Quiet is in, with a dark expression on his face.

Vesper follows Brawln's gesture and says coolly, "He's not an alternative. I trust my own moral compass far more than I trust his, and the Force is, first and foremost, a moral resource, not a practical one. I'm comfortable enough in my oneness with the Force to accept the possibility that I'll never be able to use it to lift stones, cloud minds, or bring people back from the brink of death."

Thoughtfully, but less dark, "I guess it's come to my attention that I don't currently have the means to provide for myself, much less my friends - at least not a means that doesn't involve shoplifting and other forms of petty theft. As it doesn't look like I'm going to be getting an operating budget from the Jedi Order in the near future. I've done a little light vigilante work on the last couple planets we visited, and that was kind of fun, but it would probably be a good idea to find some way to use my skills to pay the bills. I can't expect Nawah to pay my way my whole life, after all. As far as my struggles with the Dark Side..." Vesper shrugs. "That's not your burden to take on, and I wouldn't ask you for advice there - no offense. But it's good to know that if I were to explore the wide world of finding people and retrieving things, possibly with a side of exposing personal and professional wrongdoing, you'd be willing to help me get my bearings. I don't really want to be muscle, per se, as that could put me in positions that force me to compromise the Jedi Code, which we've established would be very bad."

Brawln sighs. "Why not try out something you're interested in then? You’re a Bothan - I'm sure you could try to make your way as an information broker - or if you're looking for something less shady, you care more about clothes than anyone I've ever met. Why not make and sell those? You're young, right? You got plenty of time to learn a new trade if you want it bad enough."

"I'm deft enough with a sewing machine, but manufacturing clothes for sale is a job for droids, and everything I've made so far was just repurposed patterns I found on Buxom Bothans," says Vesper. "Information brokering isn't a bad gig, but I have, um, conflict of interest concerns, and it would be weird to get paid to just plug things into a search engine, which is pretty much how I would get most of my information. I don't have anything like Master Zernvik's network of contacts to draw from."

Vesper shrugs. "You say I have plenty of time to learn a new trade, but it's not like I can rely on my family's support until I find a way to make a living. So, I'm kind of looking at things I can get paid to do that use the skills I already have - without compromising my ethics in the process."

Brawln scratches his head. "Well then, back on the bounty hunter bit - maybe you could get an IPKC forged or something. I dunno. Or just be an off-the-books bounty hunter? It's illegal, but so are you at the moment. Can't get in too much trouble if the Empire already wants to kill you. Want me to look into it?"

"Might as well, yeah," says Vesper. "If it turns into a 'you can't get a return if you don't invest any money' situation, as my Aunt Rhea is apparently fond of saying (or so Bela used to tell me), let me know. I wouldn't expect Nawah to pay for something like this for me."

Vesper brightens. "You know, despite having to deal with Master Quiet again, I actually have a good feeling about going to Zoph. It isn't that I think we'll find Master Zernvik there. I'm pretty sure Master Quiet was lying about that; he knows what motivates me, or thinks he does. But this vergence, it just feels like something I need to do. Maybe things will make more sense after I go there."

"Brawln says he'd like to clarify whether this is one of those 'Force feelings' he just doesn't understand or whether this is you being superstitious. Though, in light of recent events, maybe the two are not so different," Brawln seems to be pondering to himself, with HC adding, "No offense intended, of course." If Vesper was paying close attention, though, he might have noticed that HC 'translated' this part even though Brawln still looks like he is pondering, and hasn't said anything since the first part was translated.

"Oh, I'm not at all superstitious," says Vesper. "The Force can make us seem that way because, as Master Yoda is fond of saying, 'Always changing the future is.' Sometimes when you try to change the future you see you end up making it a self-fulfilling prophecy, and sometimes when you assume that the future you saw is inevitable your complacency prevents it from coming to pass at all. And just as often, it's the other way around. Efnir is better at interpreting Force prophecies than I am. I tend to remain focused on the moment. When I sense the future at all, it's less that I see a vision of the consequences of a decision I will make than that I know instinctively which action is 'right' in the current moment, without having any idea what it will bring. This trip to Zoph feels like one of those times. I don't know what I'll find when I get where I'm going, only that I'm headed in the right direction by going there." A shrug. "I'm not always right, but I get it wrong less often than your average economist or meteorologist."

Brawln seems to consider this. He seems like he’s trying to wrap his head around what Vesper is saying but not quite getting there. However, his posture has become a lot more relaxed, a lot less agitated than he was previously.

HC translates as his reply comes. "Brawln says that he's not quite sure what you are saying but he will give it some thought, perhaps when it isn't the middle of the night. For now, I think, it is time for bed." Brawln walks back toward his room, but HC-7 lingers behind.

He speaks quietly to Vesper, as the both of you hear the creaking noises of a massive Wookiee body hauling himself back into bed. "He really wasn’t doing so well tonight, before he spoke to you. It was very fortunate he had someone to talk to tonight. I just thought you should know that it is appreciated."