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"Lie to others and you discredit yourself. Lie to yourself and your world will crumble." – Unknown Jedi
- Air over Synal City, Farloria II
- First Month of the Clone Wars
Jannis shook in his sleep. His head moved from facing one direction to the next. His mouth was open and he mumbled out some words. It was a terrible dream that he had. One of pain, and death of many people. He did not know them but he could see it all so clearly and there was nothing he could do.
"Hah!" Jannis cried as he awake, his eyes jetting open to take in that it had all just been a dream.
"Must have been some nightmare." Came a mans voice who Jannis did not recognize.
Jannis sat up, removing a brown blanket which covered him as he could not remember where he was. It was a cramped space. Though it had a high ceiling there were boxes and crates everywhere, tied up in netting to make sure that they would not shift in flight. There were lights on, but they only served to illuminate the dark brown and gray interior of what was no doubt a freighter.
It came back to Jannis in a rush. The specific freighter, a GR-45 called Saddleback was making one of the last trips from Coruscant to Farloria II, commonly referred to as simply Farloria.
Getting a transport there hadn't been easy. With the outbreak of the Clone Wars, the Republic had been doing all it could to ensure that supplies were not going to the newly formed Separatist Alliance, known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems. On a world like Coruscant however that was very difficult. Millions of ships left every day, many from unregulated areas. Their screening protocols had not fully been put in place, and so a freighter like the Saddleback could easily get through to open space. The difficulty was just finding a ship that was going to a Separatist world.
Jannis rubbed his forehead, finally looking back at the man. "Terrible nightmare." He answered to the mans assumption.
The man was old, with white hair crowning a bald head. He wore a brown clothes which were fairly simple and cheap. A bear covered his jaw, which had a smile on his face.
"Happens to all of us." The man nodded. He reached his hand out. "I'm Ferg."
Jannis reached his hand out to the man and shook it. "Jannis." He introduced himself without fear. There was no real way the man would know who he was. Though he was a fugitive of the republic, and a former Jedi no less, the likeliness of him being recognized was none existent.
Jannis did not stand out as a Jedi. He wore black pants, brown boots, and a blue shirt. There was nothing about him that really screamed 'force user'. It was just a commoner sort of looking outfit, which he had made sure to acquire before leaving.
"So what brings you to Farloria, Jannis?" the man asked. Others were near them moving about, but no one paid attention to their conversation.
"It's my homeworld. I haven't been back in a long time." Jannis was always quick when it came to social situations. He didn't hesitate in coming up with an answer, even one that wasn't precisely true.
"Mine too. Hell I figure its most of ours on this transport." Ferg said looking around at the people there. None looked wealthy by any means; they all seemed to just be their getting passage back.
"Any specific reason you're coming back?" Jannis asked, at ease with the fact that he was finally amongst some of his own people after spending years without knowing any.
"Well with the war here, and Farloria going' to the CIS, I figured I'd rather sit the war out at home, rather then sitting on Coruscant in case our side attacks it." Ferg admitted with a chuckle.
It was a fear of many outlanders on Coruscant. The CIS was on the offensive, and at that point it didn't seem like they would stop any time soon. Though Coruscant was heavily defended, no one who was from a Separatist world would want to be there if a heavy bombardment came.
"Well I don't know if the Confederates will really go that far. I think they just want to defend our homes." Jannis gave his honest opinion, letting his loyalties be revealed.
"War's a tricky thing, Jannis." Ferg shrugged. "One minute you're defending your home, the next you're burning down someone else's. I've never fought in one myself, but I've seen my fair share and it's never pretty."
Jannis nodded. "No argument here. But I think it's important to at least be ready to defend your home."
"That why your coming back to Farloria? Help defend her, and the nobles?" Ferg asked, mentioning the government of Farloria.
It was a system ruled by noble families, which decided upon a ruler. The lower people had a lot of sway on who was put in charge, and what happened. But realistically they had no actual power in what happened. Still Farlorians were loyal people and happily accepted their system.
"No." Jannis lied. "I just thought it was time to come back and see what opportunities I could find there."
Ferg didn't seem to catch any whiff of Jannis's lie, which was good. Jannis didn't want his motives being tossed around to just any body.
"Well there's always work there. My brother runs a repulsorlift parts shop there. Sure he could use a hand if you ever need somewhere to get on your feet." Ferg offered. "Five End Fliers." He said giving the name.
"I'll keep it in mind." Jannis said nodding.
Jannis then got a strange feeling that he hadn't noticed before. "Are we landing?" He asked not sure if they were without any windows.
"Have been for about fifteen minutes. Captain gave the call that we'd be on the ground shortly just before you woke up." Ferg revealed with a smile.
"Huh." Jannis nodded with satisfaction. "Easiest landing I've ever had.
After two more minutes the oval shaped ship came down on the ground. It landed at an open space port in Synal City, the capital of Farloria. Few ships were there, but the spaceport was very large.
Jannis and Ferg continued to chat as they disembarked together. Jannis carried no baggage, but Ferg had a large pack. Together they came down the ramp.
Far off in the distance something caught Jannis's eye, and he could sense there was trouble.
A plume of smoke rose into the air. It was high up, and emergency vehicles could be seen heading that way. It was outside of the city in a small town very close by, but it was visible along the flat plains which covered Farloria easily.
Jannis had a feeling of dread in his stomach and he came up to a crewmen that came off near them.
"What's going on over there? Do you know?" Jannis asked very concerned.
The crewmen looked over at the smoke. "Ground Control said a small Republic ship landed yesterday. A group of troopers is in that town over there. The security forces have been battling with them since trying to get them out."
"A small ship?" Jannis sounded very interested and concerned. Ferg was standing just beside Jannis looking over the area in the distance. "How have they not beaten them back yet?"
"Farlorians don't have an army. GARs are tough, and they just have security personnel to fight them off with." The crewmen shrugged, continuing to unload cargo.
"That's war for ya Jannis." Ferg said looking out at the plume of smoke. "It always has a nice way of saying welcome home." He chuckled, but got no response.
Ferg turned around to find that Jannis had disappeared. He had a surprised look on his face as he called out his name. "Jannis?" but no reply from the man that disappeared.
Jannis was already gone, stealthily moving away from the group, and moving as fast as he could to the town where the Clone Wars had first touched his home.
