Mon Calamari, Tuesday Fandom Time
Aug. 3rd, 2009 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weetuskenraiderWhen Tahiri had gotten onto the shuttle to head back home, she'd known the first thing on the agenda, before heading to Kashyyyk to join up with Admiral Kre'fey's fleet, was going to be the ceremony on Mon Calamari. To that end she'd spent much of the trip from Fandom reading up on strategy and going over everything she'd learned in Flight and Flying and in her lessons with Jaina. (All things considered, it was probably a good thing that she had no idea there'd been a debate over whether Knighting her was going to be an express ticket to the dark side. She had enough issues with that.)
What she hadn't been expecting was to be standing on stage in a huge auditorium, staring up at a giant holoprojection of Anakin. Every time Tahiri had ever imagined what it'd be like when she finally made Jedi Knight, she'd always thought she'd see him there; she just never thought it would be like this.
She'd never thought it would be such a . . . well, pompous occasion, either. Out of the seventeen Jedi who'd been on the Myrkr strike team, the nine of them were left, all here on this stage today: Tahiri, Jaina, Jacen (yes, this was going to be awkward), Zekk, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, Tekli, Tesar Sebatyne, and Alema Rar. Even though a good number of them had been acting as full Knights in everything but name for a while nowand then there was that whole part where the end of YJK got retconned now, today it was going to be official. A little too official.
Tahiri wasn't really paying attention to what Cal Omas was saying as he recounted the names of the Jedi who had fallen at Myrkr -- she was too busy looking up at the image of Anakin. He'd always hated politics; she could hear him now, complaining about the way they'd turned this into a political gesture, and she could see him saying it, too; in contrast to the grin he wore in the holoprojection, the look on his face would have been much the same as the one on Jaina's just before they stepped onto the stage. The whole speech, underscored by drums in the orchestra pit, was staged within a centimeter of its life, and Anakin wouldn't have approved. Tahiri wasn't thrilled, either, that his death was being used for this purpose, so for more than one reason it took a lot of effort not to cry in front of everyone in the audience and all the HoloNet cameras.
She had to admit that it was a relief when the images of her dead colleagues and friends faded from above the stage and Cal conceded the podium to Luke, who began to speak in brief about the history of the Jedi Order and, more specifically, the role they'd played in this war. It was more of the same as Cal's speech, really: an attempt to turn the tide of public sentiment and cast the Jedi as defenders of the galaxy. Tahiri guessed Luke wasn't that happy about having to do it.
"As I name you," she heard Luke say, snapping her attention fully back to the ceremony, "may you step forward and be garbed in the robes of a Jedi Knight."
Tahiri heard Luke call her name and absurdly, as she stepped forward, she was aware of two things: the cold surface of the stage beneath her feet, and a sudden wish that Ben, Firekeeper, and her friends could be here. Masters Saba Sebatyne and Cilghal were the ones who helped her into her new robes, and Luke reached out to put his hands on her shoulders.
"Life has torn much from you that you loved," he said softly, "but your courage has been equal to everything. Never forget that the Jedi will always be here for you. Never forget that the Force begets life as well as death." He touched her cheek, and Tahiri had to swallow around the sudden tightness in her throat. "And never forget that here you are loved. Go to Kashyyyk, join your mind to that of others, and heal."
Tahiri fell back to join the others in line as Tekli was called next. She'd do exactly that, but they had no idea how much healing she'd done back in Fandom already. She wished she could explain --
Jaina was the last one called, and when Luke began to speak to her Tahiri could actually hear him this time.
"I name you the Sword of the Jedi," he began, not sounding quite like himself. The what -- oh. Ben had told her about this, and she should have seen it coming. By the time Luke was finished with the speech all of them were staring at him, and Tahiri, knowing that at least one version of Jaina would end up killing her twin brother someday, desperately wanted to go over and give her a hug. Which would be a bad idea.
And she'd been worried about what came next? She really hoped this part would be over soon.
[OOC: Part one of . . . several. NFB, NFI, OOC okay, we all know this dance, right? Adapted from Destiny's Way by Walter Jon Williams.]
What she hadn't been expecting was to be standing on stage in a huge auditorium, staring up at a giant holoprojection of Anakin. Every time Tahiri had ever imagined what it'd be like when she finally made Jedi Knight, she'd always thought she'd see him there; she just never thought it would be like this.
She'd never thought it would be such a . . . well, pompous occasion, either. Out of the seventeen Jedi who'd been on the Myrkr strike team, the nine of them were left, all here on this stage today: Tahiri, Jaina, Jacen (yes, this was going to be awkward), Zekk, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, Tekli, Tesar Sebatyne, and Alema Rar. Even though a good number of them had been acting as full Knights in everything but name for a while now
Tahiri wasn't really paying attention to what Cal Omas was saying as he recounted the names of the Jedi who had fallen at Myrkr -- she was too busy looking up at the image of Anakin. He'd always hated politics; she could hear him now, complaining about the way they'd turned this into a political gesture, and she could see him saying it, too; in contrast to the grin he wore in the holoprojection, the look on his face would have been much the same as the one on Jaina's just before they stepped onto the stage. The whole speech, underscored by drums in the orchestra pit, was staged within a centimeter of its life, and Anakin wouldn't have approved. Tahiri wasn't thrilled, either, that his death was being used for this purpose, so for more than one reason it took a lot of effort not to cry in front of everyone in the audience and all the HoloNet cameras.
She had to admit that it was a relief when the images of her dead colleagues and friends faded from above the stage and Cal conceded the podium to Luke, who began to speak in brief about the history of the Jedi Order and, more specifically, the role they'd played in this war. It was more of the same as Cal's speech, really: an attempt to turn the tide of public sentiment and cast the Jedi as defenders of the galaxy. Tahiri guessed Luke wasn't that happy about having to do it.
"As I name you," she heard Luke say, snapping her attention fully back to the ceremony, "may you step forward and be garbed in the robes of a Jedi Knight."
Tahiri heard Luke call her name and absurdly, as she stepped forward, she was aware of two things: the cold surface of the stage beneath her feet, and a sudden wish that Ben, Firekeeper, and her friends could be here. Masters Saba Sebatyne and Cilghal were the ones who helped her into her new robes, and Luke reached out to put his hands on her shoulders.
"Life has torn much from you that you loved," he said softly, "but your courage has been equal to everything. Never forget that the Jedi will always be here for you. Never forget that the Force begets life as well as death." He touched her cheek, and Tahiri had to swallow around the sudden tightness in her throat. "And never forget that here you are loved. Go to Kashyyyk, join your mind to that of others, and heal."
Tahiri fell back to join the others in line as Tekli was called next. She'd do exactly that, but they had no idea how much healing she'd done back in Fandom already. She wished she could explain --
Jaina was the last one called, and when Luke began to speak to her Tahiri could actually hear him this time.
"I name you the Sword of the Jedi," he began, not sounding quite like himself. The what -- oh. Ben had told her about this, and she should have seen it coming. By the time Luke was finished with the speech all of them were staring at him, and Tahiri, knowing that at least one version of Jaina would end up killing her twin brother someday, desperately wanted to go over and give her a hug. Which would be a bad idea.
And she'd been worried about what came next? She really hoped this part would be over soon.
[OOC: Part one of . . . several. NFB, NFI, OOC okay, we all know this dance, right? Adapted from Destiny's Way by Walter Jon Williams.]
Tags:
- alema rar,
- cal omas,
- canon catchup,
- cilghal,
- clearly i have a tagging problem,
- destiny's way,
- jacen,
- kenth hamner,
- kyp durron,
- lowbacca,
- master luke,
- mon calamari,
- my jaina,
- not angsting exactly,
- oh sure make this uncomfortable,
- okay um apparently i'm a knight now,
- saba sebatyne,
- tekli,
- tenel ka,
- tesar sebatyne,
- you name her *what now?*,
- zekk
