Two Steps Forward (Morgan Evanar)

[Serena Laran]

(OPEN for now, takes place after Valley of Humiliation, Information Overload, and Halajin joining the order)

Serena stood quietly in an expansive hangar on board the Challenger. Her padawan, Morgan, was back with the fleet for the moment as the Novgorod had returned to the convoy unexpectedly. All things happened for a reason, she was convinced, and the Force had made it clear that Morgan having returned just as she received word that Sol -

She took a deep breath, centering herself and stretching out her senses to the furthest corners of the hangar. Other than a handful of X-Wings, it was empty. Serena was standing in the center of it when Morgan entered, walking confidently toward her. She opened her eyes and smiled at her padawan, waiting until he was close to speak.

"It is good to see you again, Morgan. I trust the Alliance is treating you well?"

[Morgan Evanar]

"It's... an incredibly interesting assignment." Morgan said.

"And it's really nerdy." He added with a wide smile. Morgan hadn't been this mentally engaged since he quit slicing. He did bits and pieces for the Alliance but never on such a consistent basis, and never with the same sort of rapport as MARCUS provided.

"Oh hell." Morgan gave Serena a hug.

"It's good to see you too." He said, and let her go. She was feeling better. Serena would slowly overcome her demons.

"How are you? What's new?" He asked.

[Serena Laran]

Serena smiled, happy to see his enthusiasm for the project. "I am finding things to do around the Wheel. Teaching healing to some of the padawans who have an affinity toward it."

She paused, and said softly, "We got news about Sol." A stab of sadness ripped through her heart, but she swallowed it down. Morgan's face creased with concern. Of course he had felt it.

The Force folded itself around her and she reached into it, watching her pain float away. "He has fallen to a Sith." Even now she could not bear to name Her. "I will be leaving soon to recover his body -"

He moved to hug her again, but she intercepted his hand and held it for a moment. "The Council wants to be sure. I have to be sure." Serena took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

[Morgan Evanar]

"Oh." Morgan said, now morose. It explained the sleepless night. While the living Force was something he might never grasp, he was part of it, and not immune to it's effects. He wasn't remotely as close to Sol as Serena or some of the other Jedi, but he counted him among his friends. Morgan had found him philosophically fascinating, and a good instructor for fundamentals of the lightsaber. Although Morgan counted his knowledge about such matters as limited, Sol was a good person. Good people were rare things in difficult times. Fact of the matter was that all the Jedi could fit in the Whaladon, and they'd lost one of the most experienced Jedi, in both the Force and more importantly, in life. It was a tremendous blow.

"Do we know..." Morgan took a deep breath. Serena gave him a pained look. She knew the question and the answer, and desperately didn't want to say it. Of course it was known. Worse, the answer hurt. Sol knew exactly what he had walked into. Sol was a wise man. Sol left a parting letter.

Morgan sniffed and wiped a wet eye with his jacket sleeve. The hydrophobic garment discarded the drop. It fell to the Challenger's flight deck.

"I guess it doesn't matter much." He croaked. Sol was gone.

"Serena, who's going to tell me where to point this thing now?" He patted the lightsaber under his left arm, and laughed through the tears.

[Serena Laran]

Serena looked at his lightsaber, the memory of the trip they had taken together to complete it there in her mind like a precious jewel. She smiled at him, his emotions overflowing in the moment. They were coming from a true place deep inside him, a place of strength, not weakness.

"The Force will tell you when and where to point it," she said quietly, her face full of empathy. "I know you will be fine. You have changed so much since we first met, Morgan...and in some ways you have not altered one bit. Your heart is still the same. A good, compassionate heart. The heart of a Jedi."

[Morgan Evanar]

"Oh, I know. Thanks." Morgan said with a deep breath and a sigh. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and his nose with a cloth he used to keep datapad screens clean. He felt better.

"So what now?" He asked.

[Serena Laran]

"I have taught you all I can, Morgan. I have learned a lot from you as well, about what is possible. You have grown and become more than my student - I count you as friend.

"Your new assignment with the Alliance is a good fit for you, especially in these troubled times. Old enemies and new threaten the Jedi way. And you, Morgan, will face them as a Jedi Knight."

The doors to the hangar opened and people began to walk inside - a vast majority of the Jedi from the Wheel fleet, along with friends from among the Rebels.

[Zem Vymes]

It had been some time since Zem Vymes wore the traditional robes of a Jedi. It seemed for decades, it was a point of survival to abandon them. To practice the ancient arts in the dark. To hide. Run away. Recent betrayals had cut deeply; every bit as deep as they once did during Order 66. He'd run once before. Cut ties with his ways because he thought he'd protect someone close to him. He'd been a fool then. The years that followed were spent correcting that mistake.

"Morgan Evanar."

He placed a hand on the tall man's shoulder, looking aside to his master for a moment before turning back to him.

"A Jedi doesn't believe in chance. You've returned to us at a key time. Your Master believes you are ready. As do I."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Filing in behind the Jedi Master, Captain Raurrssatta didn't mind wearing his dress whites for this occasion. Not one bit. Saying not a single word, but daring to cast a thin, fleeting smile at his friend, he quickly found a spot behind the Jedi, standing to attention with eyes forward.

[Kala'ndryl Ryj]

Silver tipped fingers smoothed out her snugly fitted cream-colored tunic, belted over leggings in the same shade. Her father's beloved lightsaber hung over her right hip, where one hand came to rest.

On a day such as this, it should be her father here to offer words of wisdom and advice to Morgan. Not her, floating along alone.

But as he would have said, it is what the Force wills it to be. Kala entered the hanger and joined the other Jedi, standing quietly and observing, black eyes swirling in the light.

[Jamis Kerr]

He came in with Kala, uncharacteristically quiet in the presence of so many elders, and as such the boy stood close to the Nautolan halfbreed. Of course, his attentions were clearly split. Akasha's bunkmate was far more agreeable than the surly Orryxian herself, and not to mention much easier on young eyes - but still, he had never seen a knighting ceremony before. It was a conflict of interest.

But Jamis Kerr made sure to put his best behavior forward, and with eyes set forward, he watched with as much keen interest as he could spare.

[Yolie Devix]

Even she knew what an august occasion this afternoon was. They were so few, and still reeling from the recent losses. They needed this, she mused. A bit of a bright spot amidst the darkness they were all accustomed to.

Entering the hangar, Yolie tugged her black tunic into its proper place, fussing with the belt as well for a brief moment. It was the first occasion she'd had to wear her more official looking garb, as Inyos allowed her a certain amount of freedom in her everyday garments. Something for which she was thankful.

Yolie tucked herself in the back of the assembled Jedi, dark eyes observant as she took in the solemn ceremony.

[MARCUS]

MARCUS's bipedal droid module walked into the room that was assigned for the ceremony. As instructed, he did not speak, and filed as discretely as he could to the back of the room to stand alongside Captain Raurrssatta. He opted to record the proceedings in a high quality data file, due to their predicted high sentimental value.

[Ilias Nytrau]

The tall, ginger'd Jedi Knight, clad in off-white and touches of green followed most siliently along behind his charge and her newfound tagalong. The boy wasn't at all a trouble and he seemed not to do much in the way of interfering, but the googly eyes faintly reminded him of someone else he knew very well, in a time long ago, in a temple far away from here. It made the knight somewhat wistful. That aside, he blessed his lucky stars that Kala was deeming it more and more necessary as of late to behave. It almost made him simmer low with suspicion, but he thought better of it.

The hope was that every young padawan learner grew into the wisdom eventually.

Coming to a halt, he stood two feet behind Kala'ndryl and Jamis, folding his hands behind his back and setting his eyes on the scene of Morgan and Serena, laid before them all. It seemed like an age since he had last witnessed a padawan coming to be blessed with the mantle of a Knight and that was verily so - this was a marked sign of recovery from the damages of Palpatine's culling. Further, it seemed an age beyond even that since he had recieved this honor for himself. He smiled soft for the advent of another joining the ranks of those that passed on their knowledge to the growing new generation of learners.

[Mara Tallen]

The last time she'd worn her full dress uniform had been nearly a year and a half before...for the formal memorial service of her best friend and partner, whom she'd lost in the line of duty. A sobering thought thought she tried to push away. This was a much happier occasion, if still a solemn ceremony.

Fingers smoothed out the fitted forest green jacket before tugging at the hem to ensure its proper place. The crisply pressed skirt ended just above her knees, as did her adherence to protocol. Standard issue black heels had been replaced with a pair of black stilettos.

Straightening the small cap atop her pinned up auburn curls, she entered the hanger bay and quietly joined those assembled. Mara stood beside Cirr, who was clad in dress-whites, and carefully stayed out of MARCUS' way as he recorded the proceedings. She chanced a soft smile for Morgan before adopting a more stoic expression and proper posture.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Had had been aboard the Whaladon for only a day, and so when he was told that a padawan was to be knighted, he knew his timing had been most fortunate. Tugging on a set of borrowed robes until he could be properly fitted for new ones of his own, he made haste to follow the others as they headed to the ceremony.

He could remember his own ceremony well, as it was the last time his scuffed and worn boots had been polished. But for all his rough edges and unconventional behaviors, the Nehantite entered the chamber quietly and with the utmost respect for the --

Hal paused in his tracks. He had been expecting someone in their late teens, maybe twenty or twenty-one, at most, but certainly not the man that was Morgan. Eyes going a bit wide as he looked up, and then up more at the massive knight, Hal nodded to himself that he'd have to ask later about an exercise regimen.

Later, he reminded himself, then continued on to stand a bit closer than those who had decided to hang back. A Jedi Knight should never be afraid to show his support or respect for one who had worked so hard and proven his worth, even if he'd never met him before. There had been many Jedi in the old Order which Hal had never met, but he would not have hesitated to give them thier due honor when it was called for. Clasping his paws behind his back, the yellow-furred Nehantite stood proudly, nodding a greeting to Morgan Evanar.

[Morgan Evanar]

Jedi of past years dreamed of such occasions. Morgan never gave knighthood much thought. He knew that he was the first of a new group of Jedi.

Morgan's ears grew red. He took a deep breath, and gave Zem a nod. A grin came slow.

[Ben Merasska]

Ben was hiding. At least that's what Cirr said he was doing. He always managed to come up with an excuse as to why he'd never leave the hangar bay if he could help it.

"Ben, there seems to be an issue with the power couplings leading from the main power core to the sensory array. Please direct some attention to rectifying this problem."

"Uh, sure thing, Xerxes," Ben answered, sitting up and replacing the paneling to the console which held the shielding controls. He sighed and wiped his forehead with his arm. It had been hot in the ship lately due to the climate controls going out of whack, and he'd foregone his normal attire for a black shirt that had its sleeves removed without much care for the stitching.

"What's going on out there?" he asked himself, seeing a large crowd in the center of the hangar bay.

"I do not know, Ben," Xerxes replied. Ben said something to the effect of being back in a bit, and strode out of the ship and leaned against one of the struts of his ship, watching the ceremony and enjoying the cooler temperature of the hangar bay.

"Huh," he grunted to himself. "It looks like a Jedi thing."

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Sindy had tiptoed in, bubbling with the thrill that was a whole group of Jedi in one place. And she had never witnessed someone being knighted... Papa Marezius had only told her briefly about it each time it happened in his stories and histories about the Jedi, as if it were a footnote, despite the twinge of pride in his voice that went along with the mentions. She was finding it difficult to keep her mouth clamped shut.

She wondered if, since she was going to be not just the girl with the born affinity for mechanical and electrical constructs but a Jedi, if that which was happening to the nice-looking guy would happen for her someday. That thought made her nervous and it made staying quiet that much easier and further, she wondered what kind of Jedi she would be, who would teach her or if that person would understand what she seemed to be able to do - nobody did, before and thought she was slightly nuts. She glanced subtely around at those gathered and wondered how many of them were knights, how many were masters, and how many were padawan learners. Clearly age indicated nothing if Morgan was being knighted. It threw her for a loop.

Papa would have just laughed and accepted this and been... what's the word? Congratulatory!

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria lingered at the edge of the gathered crowd, looking from face to face, Jedi to Jedi. Few and far between where the occasions when they gathered in such numbers and were not faced with grave news. That this particular gathering was an exception to the rule made it all the more worth celebration. More than that, it was an occasion to honour a good man and one of the few people Daria could fall friend.

Morgan, the slicer, their get-away driver in the ruined praxeum of Arkania. Morgan the inquisitive, beaten bloody by his own mother. Morgan the giant, capable of embracing both Daria and Navaria side by side in his arms. Endlessly practical yet capable of feats which were bafflingly illogical. Though they saw little and less of one another, so much of their journey to this point had been shared.

Daria smiled at the sight of him, the Force shining brighter in him than ever before. She moved through the crowd towards him, sharing a small smile with the newly risen Jedi Knight as she reached his side. Like many others, she had chosen to mark the occasion by donning her robes, though the grey fabric of her long-suffering outer cloak was faded and worn. As it had been the first time she had met Morgan, on Arkania.

“Congratulations, my friend.”