Hangar

Accompanying Johun up the entrance ramp into the upper deck of the two-level ship, Kay'li glanced about the passenger compartment, and shoved her bag into an overhead compartment. As the crew members passed them and made their way forward into the cockpit, she paused to double-check that the entrance ramp and hatch had been properly secured, then sat down in a seat opposite her fellow Jedi Knight.

"The Pertinax leadership are a sensible place to start." She agreed as she fastened her flight restraints. She could feel the shuttle's engines rumbling to life as Trado and Shimi prepared to take off. "They may have seen more details than the ones that reached Master Roma. As for Foerost, I always bring civilian clothes in case I need a quick disguise."

She waved at the droid, smiling. Her binary was rusty, but she understood the gist of his greeting. "Hello, little friend."

Notified by the hangar crew of the impending arrival of the Libero, I make my way to the hangar in time to witness the landing of the vessel, as well as the exit of Johun not long afterwards. Lifting a hand and waving a greeting to Johun in order to catch his attention, I continue walking forward to meet him.

"I am glad to see you have returned safely, I tell Johun, glancing over his shoulder briefly to see if Kay'li will also be joining us. I trust, I ask in a concerned tone, you met with no complications you could not handle?" Though eager to learn whether or not Johun and Kay'li's mission proved fruitful from an intelligence gathering viewpoint, I elect to allow Johun, and Kay'li should she join us, to reveal what, if anything, they have learned at their own pace.

Answering Johun's bow with one of my own, I cluck my tongue sympathetically when he apologizes that his mission, while having met with no difficulties, also met with little success where learning additional details about the Imperial presence that the remnants of a former Republic fleet had encountered prior to falling back to Corellia, where they had reported the news of a possible Imperial presence to the CDF.

As there has been other news of Imperial activity elsewhere in the universe whilst Johun had been on assignment, I shake my head and reassure him, "You need not apologize, Johun. As it turns out, the Imperials may have begun to focus elsewhere. Lifting a hand to prevent any questions that my statement might invite, I smile and suggest, We can discuss the matter another time, however. I am sure that you'll want to have a bit of time to decompress before focusing on getting up to speed with what little intel we have gathered while you were away."

Exiting The Golden Wolf, the YT-2400 class light freighter her brother had loaned to her / abandoned into her hands, Kay'li double-checked the latches, descended the boarding ramp, and tossed an oil-smeared rag into a nearby bin, completing her day of maintenance on the craft. Then, scanning the hangar, the Jedi Knight froze as she sensed, rather than saw, the presence of a very old friend. Her mouth falling open in surprise, she turned to her left, jogging around to the far side of the freighter. Ahead of her, a number of landing bays away, a vaguely familiar figure was climbing over the side of a newly arrived and steaming X-wing.

It had been years since their old friend and mentor had last been home, and unlike her brother, she had heard no news of him whatsoever. At least with Kel'Al, she knew why he had been gone so long, understood his reasons, and expected his return someday. But Will was different. He had pretty much joined the list of old friends whom you expected and assumed had become one with the Force, or at least, had been led permanently to a new home.

"Master Sontir?" She gasped, breaking into a run and coming up behind Master Roma just in time to catch her playful nagging.

Laughing at Will's flippant reply to my equally flippant greeting, I am about to answer it with another glib reply when he pulls me into a hug, the embrace, and all it says without the need for the further exchange of words that could never communicate all that Will and I are to and feel for one another as eloquently as the simple gesture does negated. I do not miss the note of fatigue in Will's tone, nor the faint yet distinctive salt tang of the scent his clothes give off, but elect not to comment on either, instead allowing our embrace to silently offer what comfort and welcome to my old, dear friend that it can.

Laughing once more when Kay'li arrives and adds her own exuberant welcome to Will, I step aside so that she can continue her charge towards our returned prodigal unimpeded, and smile as I watch them together, gladdened and grateful when I can see in Will's eyes how our presence erases at least some of the care and weariness they had previously evidenced. Not wanting to intrude upon their reunion, I remain silent for the moment, enjoying the happiness - something that has been in short supply with all of the ominous developments that have become far too commonplace in the universe of late - that Will's return has brought to me, and to us all.

A small smile painted on the older master's face as he cupped Kay'li's face with his palm, a small tap on the cheek for the quip she just made, as he laces his arm around hers and, likewise does the same with the Twi'lek master; like three young females patrolling the shopperies in downtown Coronet city. "Kay'li, I thought you liked the pheromones of aquatic species in your men?" Will said with a flippant tone. "Now, ladies. You simply must telling me everything. Any new boys? Evil or otherwise?" Will forcibly begins a slow and purposefully pace towards the academy entrance out of the hangar; with the 2 other jedi locked in by his elbows on either side of him-- they would be pulled along by him.

Will continues to smile that knowing smile as Serrin gives a rather abrupt brief the current situation of the Order. Serrin would know what details Will is concerned about as they both have served both as joint Headmasters at the academy here on Corellia, but also on the High Council together as well. So she kept it short and sweet; just how Will prefers.

"Aer Calmcacil finally gets his turn at the chair, eh? Great. More power to 'em." Will continues the slow and deliberate pace towards the academy, wincing just a bit at the dull pain shooting from his back through his left leg.

Will's icy blues casts downward towards the durasteel flooring when Serrin goes into the First Order and the fall of the Galactic Alliance. Will takes a centering breath before launching into it.

"Well, darling, after the Mando's hit us hard, you remember, we as an Order never really recovered." The back of his eyelids has the flames shimmering off of the Mandaloran helmets of the firestarters at the shipyards, and the rubble on at the academy proper assault. "After I . .transitioned away from my Council duties, they assigned me to the Watchmen Corps, where I stood watch over Mon Calamari. I was happy to do it. I needed the quiet assignment and I needed to regroup my self and center on what we--I-- was going to do. You know I was never good at the politics of it all, I just felt it in my gut that something bad was coming. The Republic as I saw it, was not sustaining itself, full of sycophants and hypocrties afraid to do anything for fear of what their party or constituents would think, And The Order got over compartmentalized bogged down by the weight of it's own bureacracy; infighting about which group had jurisdiction over where and when-- I couldn't take it. The worse part was, I thought I could change it. Be a part of the machine, change the machine-- but we know it ain't that simple. And I ain't got the patience for it. The irony was, I became the attache to Chancellor Cihlbar; the head fish himself. He wanted me to help him salvage the Republic. . I just couldn't do it. I didn't see a point. And soon, neither did he. He stepped down and focused on serving Mon Calamari. I admired his courage, inspired me to stick around.

And the sea of Dac, the locals call that the ocean that covers Mon Calamari, that was something to behold, ladies. But the secrets that hid under the sea-- I'm telling you though-- I didn't see coming. Not gunna lie, takes a lot to push me back on my toes. But a radical nativist group assassinated Cilhbar and took power over domestic control of the Mon Cal system; turns out that the 'populist' leaders were backed by the Red Eclipse-- our local splinter cell of the Sith that recruited specifically to disillusion and destabilize Republic governments. . .you know me, I'm not much for the planning and the reporting-- I just began hunting them. Weeding them out of Mon Cal, and began trying to pull the strings on their network. . .I didn't get to far away from the aquatic systems when I found the puppetmaster of the Red Eclipse, a strong Nautolan Sith Lord and a couple acolytes." Will feels the singe through his shoulder, still feeling the ghost of a red beamed lightsaber stabbing through his back and into his chest. "Well, they found me; then. .well. . We did our thing." he felt the dark allure of his actions; necessary but passionate as they were. "He apparently had a First Order handler that reached out to him after I struck him down. I couldn't believe it. I collapsed back onto the ground; physically and emotionally exhausted. . .I thought I was done, Roma. I really did. After this stunt of secret Sith hunting, I wanted out. Fighting for governments that rise and fall, working in bureaucracies and training students to work inside of a decaying system. It wasn't working. And with this new revelation. I didn't know what to do. I just laid there; literally in the middle of the foundry where they jumped me at, bleeding out" Will let that linger there for a moment. "Until the Force literally shocked me awake with the Visions. Visions of a the ginger general of the First Order, armadas of mercenaries, planets on fire--your typical doomsday montage, Roma. I heard my own voice; much younger, more resolute-- repeating the oath of knighthood I took in this very building." Will's eyebrows raised to beckon at the academy proper in front of them. "And my visions shifted, to those Council seats, the same seats we have sat in for years. The ones where great Jedi Grand Masters, instructors, warriors, Headmasters, have sat; and then I heard you, Roma. I think the Force was using your voice to tell me to come home. And that it wasn't done with me. Will always was quick to try to break the weight of a conversation with sarcasm and wit; though stoic much of the time these day, it was his age, he supposed, probably kept him from doing so at this moment." The dry gravel bass of his voice seeped into his speech, perhaps being lost in those visions once more; he looks down at his leg. "So I got up, tour up my tunic, wrapped my leg, pulled the jumpsuit on out from my X-wing and came straight here." Takes another deep breath, looks to Kay'li and shrugs a bit like an unapologetic brother who knows you might be disappointed he arrived late for holiday dinner, but can't do anything more about it.