Alcmène

She smiled softly, her thin lips tugging up to create creases along the side of her mouth, the right side sagging slightly from a still healing scar. It was the smile of satisfaction, perhaps a tad of pride as well. The pride of a knight who had succeeded in her task. Their lightsabers crashed, and the smell of ozone filled the air of the training room. Two jedi clashed at near the speed of sound, their movements a constant blur until they were both exhausted.

“Very well done Vox.” 

Her thin smile became a laughing grin.

“You have learned so much. And I do not know how much more I can teach you.” 

She shut the lightsaber off and tuckedin onto her belt.

“Do you feel that you lack anything. Anything that you feel you have not been taught?”

“Well done!” The young Jedi Knight cried as her apprentice’s movements became a blur of speedy and well aimed strikes. Her grin was very apparent as she stepped to the side and let her blade intersect his. The blow was strong, and the weight of it  felt like it had jarred the still healing bones in her wrists. Her smile however did not break. 

“You could probably tell how much that hurt to block. Let me show you how you should deal with such a blow.” 

She brought her blade up again, this time at a sharp angle that rolled his next blow off its slant like water off the back of a pond bird. 

“Never meet strength to strength. Let them waste their strength on your blade. Turn their kinetic energy against them.” 

The next blow she let collide with her blade she let the blade move along with it. Spinning in her wrist under the blow and coming back around to riposte near his left ear. 

“That is the way of a Jedi. Turn their anger against them. Turn their blows. Then you will be a Jedi Knight.” 

She let the force settle into the back of her mind. 

“Now show me what you have learned.” 

And she attacked. Her blows coming faster than an eye could track.

“Well done not feeding anger at going down to a blow like that.” 

It had not been her master’s technique, but Alcmène far preferred a praising approach to training than the constant belittlement and punishments that she had received. Her blade was easily batted aside by his own blow and her thin smile became a grin. She danced back from the blow at her waist, letting it whisper past her midriff, furrowing a long black line in her red tunic. 

“Remaining calm is where we Jedi thrive. Do not let the taunts of anger of you opponent effect you.” 

She gestured her hand and a stiff telekinetic blow slammed towards his ankles. 

“If an opponent is stronger than you. Break his roots.” 

She kept her eyes squarely on the recessed eyes of the Trandoshan. Watching for flickers of movement, indicating where an inexperienced swordsman might strike. It was a good thing then that he did not look for where he struck, and Alcmene assumed that it was from his years as a warrior prince of his own tribe. As he struck with a fast cut of the blade she slightly shifted her own weight from her front foot to her back, letting her lean back, the blade wasting its energy a few inches away from her body. With the same movement, she struck out with her front foot. 

A lightning fast kick that carried the weight of the force and threw the Trandoshan onto the mat. 

“A good strike, brilliant even. But an experienced assassin will size you up from your body type and strike at your roots.” 

She extended a hand and brought him back to his feet. 

“Keep light on your feet. See how I shifted my weight, try it as well. Let the force guide what you do.”

She struck again with a foot, this time following it with a jab to his throat with the bright tip of her training saber. 

Alcmene hissed a breath through her nostrils as she slowly stood from her hospital bed. A look down at her bare legs told the story of military medicine that had been roughly grafted with Jedi or Knight healing techniques. Her wounds were mostly healed, but her legs still felt the weakness. Nerves could sometimes be regrown, but the therapy required could take months, if not weeks.  But the force told her there was much less time than that. The Feeling of the city around the Red and Black had gotten more dour. A pall of fear, the unnamed fear of conquest. 

She wrapped a new red tunic about her and turned to see her apprentice entering the doorway. She could feel his resolve but also his pain from the decision he had made. 

“Now we train. I am proud of your decision.” 

She pulled on her belt and walked haltingly towards the training room. When they arrived, she selected two training sabers from the hall’s extensive selection and passed one to the Trandoshan. 

“While our lives are not purely about combat, at least for the foreseeable future it is unwise to approach the galaxy without a saber.” 

She flicked hers on, and a bright white blade appeared. 

“Now let yourself reach into the force. Let it become one with you, and let the blade become and extension of the force. Then when you are ready, let it guide you to attack me.” 

She smiled and ignored the dribble of blood that ran down the side of her mouth. Dripping silently on the white linen. 

“Yes I was able to defeat a Sith Lord before I was ambushed by the Mandalorians. But let me answer the crux of your question. A jedi cannot have two masters. I am a princess of my people but one who is absent her tiara.” She lifted a bandaged arm and gestured towards the window. “My people are here with the Rebel Alliance, but I am not there for them because I serve the Jedi Order. If you are made a knight you will be asked to give up your rule of your people. A jedi’s place is not to rule, it is to be a steward. While you can be there to help your clan you cannot lead them and be a Jedi as well.” 

This was a very tough thing to hear she had no doubt, but the man needed to hear it. 

“In the short of it, you must prepare to give up being a chieftain. You need to meditate on that question and consult your friends in the clans. Once you have your answer come back to me and make your decision.”

Alcmène could not help but smile. The lizard like trandoshan had grown a lot from when she had first met him, and now he carried himself like one of the grim Imperial Officers that were always wandering the halls. Knowledgeable and over eager to share that knowledge to the benefit and detriment of others. 

“Be careful that you do not speak of what you do not know. There is reason in all things even if you do not see it.” She pointed a burned finger towards herself. “We humans are fragile creatures. We do not have scales and brawn to carry us through a hailstorm of slugs and lasers. The clone and imperial stormtrooper with his plastoid armour conquered the entire galaxy. So do not dismiss them too easily. Plastoid itself is kinetic resistant and is designed against the primitive weapons of a million backwater worlds. But…” 

She grinned, and with her unbandaged hand wiped at the small trickle of blood that came down from the corner of her mouth. It was a bright red and had originated from her heavily damaged lung tissue.

“I am lecturing you on something I should not. I am wounded from my fight with the Sith Lord in charge of the invasion of Naboo. I killed him and tossed him into oblivion but was then ambushed by Mandalorians. Thank you for doing so well Vox.” She shook her head. “Of whom I know we will see more of.” 

“As for the force, combat to defend the galaxy and the innocents it holds is not an evil thing. It is our great dignity to sacrifice ourselves for those we love.” She gestured for him to sit. “I come from a martial race as well, I am actually a princess of Outremer. Though not in the direct line for the throne. We are called to a higher purpose than that. We are called to defend the galaxy, we guard the galaxy from threats that would devour it like the Sith. It is a tragedy to kill, to take a life. Except when we are defending others. We do not go on the offense as Jedi. We do not lead great armies into battle and raze enemy planets to the ground. We are above that.” 

She shrugged. 

“But there will be peace in our lifetimes. And then we must be most vigilant for the darkness resides in each of us.”

Alcmène laughed, and despite the pain that roiled through her body from the action she managed a smile. 

“Yes, alive if barely.” Her eyes closed for a moment and she shunted away the pain with the help of the force. “So tell me of your journey, did the queen escape alive?” Her eyes focused on the medal at his chest and she raised her eyebrows. “I am afraid I have been a worthless master, sending you off alone like that.”

She was a mess of bacta bandages and high drip bacta. She could feel every wound despite the Morphines that they had filled her up with on the route back. But she could not afford to let her mind wither away into the painless stupor of unconsciousness. The force moved through her, mixing with the pain, flowing through it, to touch each and every severed nerve, every burn and blister. A conscious healing trance. 

________

It was several days before she was able to even sit up in bed, and so she summoned her apprentice to see how he had made off on Naboo. 

Crimson flags flapped in the off breeze that streamed in from lake Cothani, their snapping sound a distraction from the words her father was trying to tell her. 

“You will do us proud, Alce.” 

Why did he always call her that? He had given her the name of his grandmother, but now he shortened it when he was filled with emotion. Either rage or sorrow. It was the emotionless father that called her by her actual name and title. It was always for the formal dinner that she got called Princess Alcmène Lelan de Moriès-Outremer. And now she was going to loose the title of princess. Just because he thought it would be better to show the galaxy that their planet was not a useless pile of rocks and explosive ore. So he would send his little daughter off to the core worlds to learn the way of the Jedi. 

How she despised the fact that she had wanted to show off how she could move objects at a distance to her father. What a fool she had been, did he not take everything and use it for his own ends. Uncle Godfrey had said just as much when she had gotten into the shuttle for the long journey-

The pain in her thigh brought her screaming back into consciousness right as she saw her own lightsaber planet itself in her lower abdomen. It’s yellow blade cutting with little remorse in and through her pelvis. The sound of it was intense in her ears as she screamed herself numb. Blood spattered and popped as it turned from liquid to gas, as ovaries, womb, and the base of her spine were burned away beneath the bright yellow blade. 

And just like that the blade shut off and she was alone, lying in a pool of discoloured burning blood and crying like the child of a decade and a half ago. 

She could feel the man die not only through the jot of her blade crashing into the underside of his iron helmet, but through the force as well. Blood flash boiled to steam as it touched the golden blade and the man collapsed backwards, almost dragging her with him. She said a silent prayer as she pulled the blade free from the base of his neck, stumbling as she shifted her momentum to keep her from tripping and falling on her face over the dead Mandalorian. She stepped over him as the now all too familiar danger sense pricked at the back of her neck. 

But she had committed fully to defeating this first mandalorian, and now she would pay that price. She gritted her teeth as she felt the impact and sharp pain of something barbed smacking into her upper back. She was vaguely aware of two more darts whipping past her but she forgot about them as soon as their threat was negated. She completed her turn and took a step towards the last Mandalorian right as the Electrodart that had found purchase in her back made itself known. 

The little dart dumped its capacitor load right into the muscles along her spine. Her whole back went numb and if it was not for the force, she would have pitched face first into the fire that was now sweeping over the battlefield. Instead she fell into a crouch and her wounded arm touched the paved stone, leaving it coated in blood. The muscles in her back involuntarily tightened as electricity shot down them, but she kept to her feet. With a breath she let the force wash over her muscles, pulling the electric current through her and down through her wounded arm and into the ground. With effort she hauled herself to her feet and brought the golden lightsaber up into a low guard. Her back was burning with the pain from her muscles and she knew that she would have only one shot at this. 

She could sense the Mandalorian in the middle of the wall of flame, hidden within the blaze. It was time for a final strike. Even if it meant running through a wall of solid liquid flame. She let her eyes flutter closed as she let herself fall fully into the will of the force. There was no need for vision when she had the force, and open eyes could be burned. 

She pushed off with her back leg and let the force flow through every step. She burst through the wall of flame as fast as the force would carry her, barely noticing that her tunics edges were ablaze. Her saber flashing for a single strike that would, force willing, cut the mandalorian in half. 

((3))

Actions: Took an electro dart in the back, which hindered and slowed her return to the fight. Used the force to make a final slash at Tros's stomach.

The feeling of exhilaration that coursed through her body at the feeling of her blade blasting through the mandalorian iron caused a smile to spread across her lips as she reached the top of her leap and began the drop towards the stone pathway below. She felt the heat from the mandalorian’s flame projector heat the back of her neck as she fell but she was already beyond its reach by the time it had fully deployed. She bent her knees and landed hard on the flagstone walkway, keeping her saber and shield out at either side of her as she turned to fall into an acrobatic roll before she popped back up with the shield angled towards the Mandalorian whose jetpack she had disabled. 

She winced as she moved, and a quick side glance told her that the burn on her abdomen had opened back up, and the clean white cotton gauze was rapidly turning a dark crimson. But this was a battle for her life, and she could bleed to death after she took care of these sith allied Mandalorians. The same mandalorians that had led the reaving of Coruscant. The same that had decimated Chandrila. 

Her steel grey eyes narrowed. Just like the Sith lord from an hour before, these men were a danger to the galaxy. She did not want to kill them, she had no such desire, but they were here. They were here in the fire, bathing themselves in the blood of Theed. She was a jedi knight, sworn to defend the very lives that the Mandalorians were so adept at taking. 

She angled the shield and caught a stream of repeating rounds on its curved edge. Then pushed off with her rear leg in a sprint towards the downed mandalorian who was spitting a long stream of red blasts towards her. She let the force flow through her body as she ran towards the man, letting it guide her every step. She was in its flow fully, and her golden lightsaber came up to bat two blaster bolts back towards the mandalorian in red armour who had fired them. But the third passed beneath her guard. The heavy blaster bolt smacked into her wrist, blowing apart the shield lattice as well as the tendons and muscle underneath it. 

She did not even wince. There was no time to reflect on the pain. She had to eliminate the one advantage that the mandalorians had other than range. While keeping her forward momentum she brought the golden lightsaber down and then up in a single jab. Intending to skewer Vulios underneath his exposed chin. Fast as lightning, as fast as the force would allow her. 

For despite the pain, despite the cold burning of her arm, the bloody stinging in her neck and abdomen. She was in the flow of the force, she was the blade of Justice. 

((2))

Actions: Reflected light repeating blaster from Vulios with the shield. Reflected two heavy blaster bolts back at Tros. Took one in the left arm. Disabling the shield. Charged Vulios to stab him under the chin with the speed of the force. 

One deep breath, then another, as Alcmène felt the familiar danger sense trickle up the back of her spine. She expanded her presence for a moment then stepped quickly to the side as a blaster bolt burned a brick where her head had been to ash. Her eyes flicked to see the impact point then began their scan of the sky, looking and identifying the figures of three Mandalorians in the skies. 

Spasted Mandalorians, they had long been a nuisance in the outer rim and now they were here. In the service of the Sith Lords. They were a threat to the civilians and they could not go unaccosted. She shook her head and grimaced as the pain from her neck prickled from below the bacta bandage. She brought her sore left arm up and the energized kite shield hummed to life while the yellow blade spat forth its golden blade in her right hand. She took another long breath, opening her mind and letting the force find her and guide her. Letting it flow through her limbs and tired body, until at last she moved. 

Up came the shield, its rim settling right below her steel grey eyes as she began to run towards the three figures who hovered several meters above the ground. The shield dipped for a moment to intercept the incoming blaster coming from the mandalorian with two blaster pistols. She adjusted the angle of her arm and the trio of reflected blaster bolts spun back off towards one of his companions. 

She let the force run through her legs as she focused on the speed of her run, angling herself towards one of the high walls behind the mandalorians. When she reached the pale granite wall a second and a half later, she continued her run, her boots catching on the wall and propelling herself up the wall. When she had run a meter and a half up the high wall she she pushed off with the force and sprung towards the floating mandalorian with the duel blaster pistols. Her yellow lightsaber cutting a long golden arc towards his exposed neck.

((1))

Actions: Reflected blaster bolts towards Vulios, ran and using the force leapt off the wall to cut at Tros

The view of the silver starship blasting off brought a smile to her face. It was a frustrated smile to be sure, as her only chance of escape had just blasted off of Naboo, but at least her apprentice and his people were safe. She brought her saber up and decapitated a Sith Trooper as he rounded the corner and she let the body fall as her mind raced for solutions. Her thin hand dashed down to the fallen man’s belt and pulled his IFAK off its leather straps. 

Ducking into a corridor, she pulled the sticky protective layers from a package of bacta bandages and began to liberally apply them to her burns. She hissed in pain as the gauze stung in the burns, but after applying a local hypo of antiseptic it at least didnt hurt as much. She still couldn't hear out of the left side, and a probing finger told her that most if not all the ear was burned off. 

There goes any chance of a pageantry ball this year.

She laughed hollowly, and let her eyelids flutter closed, taking the very little battlefield force training she had gotten at the temple take hold. Letting the rest of her body relax as her mind searched for incoming danger.

She caught the first blow on her shield, the weight of his strikes almost buckling her completely as she was pushed back with every fierce strike. Her shied was battered down again and again until one of the red sabers field the left side of her vision completely. A sharp pain at her ear, then nothing as the side of her face went completely numb. His hands came together for a double blow and the arc of his blow shimmered before him as he struck. She stepped to the side and let the blow pass her by, the force of his blow sending him towards the edge of the power shaft while her yellow saber came up in a long line of golden light that passed through his chest. 

He stumbled once as she brought the shield back up, then fell hard into the darkness of the shaft below. The two red lightsabers lighting his path into the depths several kilometers below. 

She blinked and let out a sigh as she leaned heavily on the shield before hauling herself back up to stand. She spared a glance down the shaft but could see nothing, and with the literal host of the darkside coming down on the complex she could not spare a moment to feel if he had died. He had fought well, and she said a quick prayer for his soul. For he was a man, and he did deserve the respect of a man who had fought well. She snapped off her golden lightsaber and clipped it back onto her belt. 

Then the pain from her wounds came to life. She winced and began a slow jog after Vox.

Alcmène almost thought she had beaten him, but just as quick as he last strike he recovered from his almost tumble and came right back. Like one of the rabid hunting dogs back on Outremer had pursued her when she had been a child. Feral, angry, despairing let the last moments of his life not be fulfilled. That dog had hungered for meat, for something to eat, anything to quench that gut burning pain. This Sith was not much different, his desire burned through the force like a beacon. He wanted to kill her, kill the queen, kill everything that lived on the planet of Naboo. If things were not so much life and death, Alcmène would have wanted to calm him down, help him work through the pain. But the dozens of lifeless bodies in the corridor outside gave her the answer. 

She did not know why, all that she knew was that if she did not stop him, then many many more would die pointless deaths. And in that moment she was glad, for she had a purpose here. Even if she died in the attempt. She was fighting for life itself. For happiness, for joy, for a laughing moment with friends. And in that she centered herself. She was calm in the face of this storm. 

She watched the ghostly images of precognition stretch out towards her and she brought the shield up, its long frame covering most of her body as the lightsaber stretched out towards her. The shield intersected the first blow, its energy matrix turning a bright white from the power discharge. The force of the blows came next, jutting her arm back with every strike, until the bones and muscles in her arm cried out with agony from the tremendous strikes they were receiving. But still her force held, as did her wall. The shield moved in a blur, its energy field catching blows that would have dented a starships hull. 

Another flicker of precognition and she let herself drop into a low guard, Letting the shield take the brunt of his kick. Its silver lower rim grinding painfully against her shin as the force of the blow was absorbed by the shield and the lower part of her leg. His last strike bubbled flesh away at the side of her neck and upper shoulder, singing away loose hair and the tunics upper sleeve as well as the first two layers of flesh below. As she lifted her right arm her breath passed through her teeth with an agonized hiss. Pain jutted up her neck but she held the yellow saber steady. He was close, so with effort she began her counter attack. 

She knew had to stay agile to survive here as a simple contest of strength would leave her at a loss. 

Relying on her speed, she flicked her shield arm up bringing the energy shield up to strike its rim toward his wrists. Then she shoved it forward as she stepped around him, trying to disbalance him as she moved. 

Keeping her footwork quick, she drove five quick stabs at his middle and lower abdomen. Striking at the seams of his heavy armour below the rim of her shield. They were not the hammer-like blows of the Sith Warrior, they were the lightning fast strikes of a Jedi Guardian. Everything a blur of bright yellow light as she danced around his right side. Her face the passive smile of pure calm. Even through the pain in her shoulder and abdomen.

The Force was with her. Even to the bitterest of ends. 

((3)) ((Amazing Duel.))
Took damage to the upper shoulder and neck. 

Strike with shield then five lighting fast strikes to his lower body

She let the air expel from her lungs in a long stream as she felt the blows come. The Sith Lord had more than a foot on her and though he was armoured, he carried a strength and anger in him that would have frightened any young woman such as herself. But she had the force. She did not fear, for even if this led to her death, wounding, or great injury, she had the force and it did not lead her without purpose. 

His blows fell like hammers on an anvil. Fast as lightning and as strong as a falling starship. The force worked in her, guiding her movements and she could see the double image of precognition as each of his blows fell. A hazy ghost of a sabre a millisecond before his fell in its path. And even as his first attack came, She would only be able to block it while taking a fearsome blow at the same time. But it was better to save her legs and her mobility.  

 The first strike came from an angle, hooking towards her legs while the second came a millisecond behind it at her thin abdomen. She felt the call of the force and shifted her hips to the side as she dropped her shield to catch the first blow on the energy field of the shield's front.  The blow hammered the shield back against her braced arm so hard the she could feel the durasteel lattice flex against her arm. But she, and the force held, even as the second blow scored along the side of her abdomen. Burning away the bright red tunic and bubbling the first layer of flesh away below it. A long gash of blackened skin and burning fiber on the right side of her belly. Not devastating, but it would slow her if the fight was counted in minutes instead of seconds. 

She brought the shield up at an angle and the last two blows skittered across the top of the shield as she began her riposte. She pushed up against both lightsabers with her shield. Using the force to amplify her strength in an effort to fully clear his guard as she stepped past his left side. Holding the lightsaber horizontally, she made a long cut as she moved forward under his guard. Hoping to draw the blade from his stomach and out through his spine. She followed this with a back handed swing at his back as she finished her step through, pivoting and bringing the shield back up with the speed only the force could give as she turned to face the Sith Lord. 

The force was her ally, and vengeance would not have its day. 

((2))

Actions Taken. 

Blocked three blows, took one on the side.

Pushed shield up against his two lightsabers, stepped through with a cut following with a second cut.

Death. It had come so quickly to the peaceful planet. 

The Jedi Guardian stood from where she had been meditating and strode to meet this embodiment of Death. He was rage, he was anger, he was destruction. All of it freely radiating into the force like a beacon, or perhaps like one of the great bonfires that were lit during the solstice on her homeworld. She focused on her breathing as she walked. A steady and deliberate breath, dispelling fear and doubt with every exhale. She would need the utmost calm in this engagement. 

As she walked she pulled the thin latticework of the energy shield from its place on her back. Fitting it comfortably onto her arm, then cinching down the leather straps. It was almost a meditation, and it had been something she had been doing for many years. There was a comfort in that familiar snugness, in that slight pinch as the leather found its notching.

Dangersense prickled up the back of her neck and her lightsaber sprung to life in her hand. Its yellow glow looking like liquid gold as it reflected against the polished tiles of the Theed power generating station. 

_________________________________

This was a threat to be dealt with, and there could be no backing down. Her breathing finally steadying as the double doors opened in front of her and she saw the glow of two red lightsabers.  

It was time. The shield on her arm thrummed to energetic life. It was time to test this Sith, for she could not yet see his weakness. She let the force gather within her, feeling it move and weave its intricate patterns in and on her body. When the force moved inside her, she followed its will.  She pushed off with her back leg, allowing the force to guide her movements as she ran towards the Sith Lord. He was strong, likely stronger than her, so she would have to keep him on the back foot. 

She placed her shield before her, keeping it from being pressed against her body then when she reached him she let the lightsaber do its deadly business. Three deft and fast cuts to his face, the force speeding her movements to blurs as she let the blade work from above her shield’s wide edge. She could feel his anger and she faced it with her resolve.

((1))

Actions:

Rushed forward to cover distance. 

Three very fast cuts to neck and face. 

It was just like the holofilms she had binge watched when she was a kid. They had all clustered around the large screen projector in the second tower of the castle and had watched them as a family. Hell if it had not been for those holofilms, she would not have pursued her latent abilities off world and to the Jedi Order. And now those holofilm villains were appearing in the upper atmosphere above Theed. 

They had been too late. Her mind flew into a frenzy as she considered a hundred possibilities and then settled on one. 

“Jackson. Evacuate leadership on your vessel. Lead as many of the royal guard starfighters out of here. They cannot fight the Sith face on and they should come with you. There are uhhh….” Her mind raced for a moment before settling again. “Six fighter squadrons, get as many as you can. But do not delay. Do not fly into the blockade.”

She Looked to the queen then to her apprentice.

“Vox, you and you men escort the Queen to safety. Do not wait for me.”

For a moment she knew that she might not ever see any of them again, but then her brain settled and the doubt fell away. The Force would have its will. 

“And both of you. Stay safe and may the Force be with you.” 

She deliberately turned her back on both of them and walked towards the entrance of the palace. Fate would find her there. She pulled the prayer beads from her belt and said a quick prayer as she walked. She would do Outremer proud. 

“Well of course!” She tilted her head to the side for a moment to consider. “We in the Sentinels have affinity for technology, which is a bit of a weird quirk if I do say so myself. Most Jedi scorn the technology of the galaxy, preferring mountains and trees to the inner workings of a datapad. But you see…” 

Here she pulled the light bronzium skeletal frame of the energy shield from her back and held it up for Jackson to see. The force moved through the latticework like blood through veins. Moving with the electric current. It was soft, barely perceptible, but it was there. Imbued.

“Otherwise we work like every other kind of jedi basically other than we specialize in the fast strike and stealth.” 

She grinned passively and glanced at her apprentice. 

“Do you feel ready for some diplomatic work? It might be a bit tough, the Naboo are ridiculously stubborn.”

The Jedi shuttle ship dropped into realspace above the emerald planet that had long been the vacation destination of the Galactic Alliance’s elite and rich. But that had waned as war had drummed itself across the galaxy, not to mention the fact that the majority of the galaxy’s rich and famous had died in the destruction of triple zero. When the starship settled, Alcmène pulled herself out of the crash webbing and straightened her crimson tunic. She was of the house of Moriès and she would be damned if she did not look like it. 

She motioned for Vox to follow her and strode out into the sunlight and light breeze of the Naboo royal spaceport. She felt a twinge of a presence nearby and bowed low to the Jedi Knight and gave him a wide smile. 

“Well thank you, I believe I have not met you before either, I am Alcmène Moriès d’Outremer, Jedi Sentinel of the Jedi Order and like 40th in line to be princess of Outremer.’ She lowered her voice almost conspiratorially. “But thank you for complimenting my control. I would be happy to show and teach you.. I appreciate it. This is my apprentice Vox!” 

She motioned the Trandoshan forward. 

Shebowed low to the chieftain of the Trando’a letting her braided hair fall alongside her ears to nearly touch the strangely pitted and clawed floor. She straightened and left another high denomination credit chit on the table near the door as she and Vox made their way back into the labyrinth of a refugee settlement. She would need to petition her granduncle, but there was room on Outremer, room for a thousand different populations to live without ever seeing one another. If they liked the agricultural life that was. 

“How many are your clan?” She asked as they walked towards the distant rebel alliance staging area. “And what are they looking for in a world?” 

Perhaps Outremer would not be for them, but it was a starting place. Anything other than this slum.

Alcmène laughed. Though her knowledge of Trandoshan was very little, the speed that these men and women had been talking had left her completely out of the conversation. At a certain point it became a gibberish of growls and barks that she could not decipher other than to think that the clan was vaguely angry. She appreciated the rescue hook that Vox offered and she inclined her head to the chief and others in the room. 

“I have no thoughts, other than to thank you all for letting the best of you join us in the Jedi Order.”

She glanced at her wrist mounted micro datapad and winked at the trandoshan offshoot. She lowered her voice. 

“Would any of them be joining us on our next mission or is there anything I can do to help whatever situation is unfolding here?”

She mimicked a bow, she had never spent time among a Trandoshan Den, but she began to filter the air coming into her nostrils with the force just in case there was a smell. She grinned at Vox, made sure her Red tunic was not too wrinkled and stepped after him into his family’s household. She gave them a bow of respect, but let Vox do the main introductions. She was here to help and support if they needed anything. And surely the treasury of OUtremer could afford a few credits for the downtrodden? 

Surely.

“Of course!” Exclaimed the young Tapani Jedi Knight, she let her eyelids flutter closed. “Now watch and observe if you can what I do through the force.” She let her presence stretch out to her apprentice, feeling over his mind, memorizing the biological feelings, the predator spirit, then expanded her presence outwards. Focusing on the distant spaceport, searching, until she found a group of presences that nearly matched Vox’s. And slowly she let that guide her through the densely packed streets of Nar Shaddaa. 

She frowned as they made their way deeper into the stacked tenement prefabs and she found herself wishing for the long open fields of Outremer. The rolling dunes and little oasis’s. Anything better than this dense cityscape. 

She pointed to one of the doors that looked just like all the others. 

“I uh…” She concentrated again. “I think this is the right door.”

Her dad would likely complain about the expenses on her credit chit, but what good was money unless it was helping people?