By the Light of a Dying Star

Chapter 5: Master Allie

A/N: Look at me on a roll! This was way longer than intended and didn't quite get to where I wanted but oh well, hopefully you still like. If you spot any problems with continuity, the medical stuff I put in (which I got from the internet) or anything, do point it out. Also I check my own work so there will be mistakes, apologies, but as ever, enjoy!:)

Disclaimer: Star Wars is not my property

She woke the next morning to the rhythmic white noise of a rainstorm thrumming outside: the drops drumming against her windows and the rattling groans of the wind as it swirled past. She groaned, 'Urgh, it must be early if Vanla hasn't gone off yet,' she thought tiredly, pulling herself to sit up and running a hand over her face. She yawned, stretching her arms above her head and uncurling her fingers like a tooka, whining a little at the satisfying feeling.

With the curtains closed, her bedroom was still dark, but the dim illumination slipping through the gaps told her it was still quite early, either that or the clouds were obscuring the sun. Her nose wrinkled in distaste, she never liked being awake earlier than she needed to be, but she supposed today it could be a good thing: it gave her time to collect herself before heading out, today was important after all.

Rolling out of bed, she padded over to the window and drew back the curtains, revealing the slate grey sky and wet glass behind. She appraised it apathetically, while it was hardly the nicest of weather, (wet she didn't mind but cold…) she wasn't overly bothered. They were overdue some rain anyway, there hadn't been a proper storm on her part of Coruscant for some time now, and since one had appeared over the Financial District last week, she had guessed her district was next on the list.

She watched, still half asleep, as the early morning weather raged outside her bedroom and almost drifted off again to the methodical pounding of the rain. The morning was a dreary one: the sky was a limp, wet grey and the air looked damp with cold. The wind, usually so light and predictable, howled its way through the looming towers of Galactic City and rainwater dripped and pooled into dirty puddles by the sides of buildings.

Deciding she might as well get a move on, she lazily wandered to her kitchen to fetch a cup of caf and sat down in front of the window to watch the storm, idly sipping as she observed the world speed by. Rain was something else new to her and she was undecided on it. While liquid water falling from the sky was undeniably awesome, she didn't much like being caught in it and wasn't massively fond of the damp, dirty smell it left in the air afterwards. But still, it never rained on Brion and hadn't for centuries, just the omnipresent snowstorms and the careful warmth of the thermo-reg shields.

Feeling somewhat whimsical, she absently used the Force to draw patterns in the water trails on the window, writing words in Balthur and admiring how oddly poignant the alien pictographic swirls looked in the water of another world.

She quietly watched the world go by, with only the sounds of the rain and her own breathing as company, feeling the flecks of life around her as others awoke to start the day.

Now, Isharia was not a morning person, not by any means, but even she could appreciate the serene chaos of a new day.

Sighing a little to herself and stretching her arms above her head, she pulled herself up to stand and rolled her head to loosen the muscles in her neck as she went. She released a soft grunt as she felt her body uncoil from the lassitude of sleep and a deep sense of calm washed over her as the various parts of her body woke up.

Reaching out into the Force, she felt it shimmer all around her and breathed in the beauty of it, supposing for an instant that she could see it: all those flickering transcendental moments shining as golden threads spreading out into the murky sky. She gave her head a shake and the image was gone.

Isharia sighed and chastised herself mentally, she was letting herself get lost in fancy, no one had been able to view the Force like that for millennia, and she was hardly going to start now. But she let the momentum of the moment propel her forward and decided to begin her morning exercises.

She had been neglecting them lately and stubbornly ignored the acidic sting of guilt she felt at that thought. She had simply been too busy: cleaning out Ranil's stuff, finalising the shutting down of his project and the associated write ups (which Ranil had, thankfully, had them all complete before leaving -even if none of it would ever be published) and her own doctoral proposal: she'd had no time to think let alone anything else. But all that stress had had an adverse effect on her mental state and she'd been able to feel herself fraying at the edges for weeks now, heavily abusing her ability to dump her emotions into the Force rather than dealing with them, which wasn't good for anyone.

Breathing deeply, she stretched her body and practised her katas in the dim dawn, feeling the flow of the Force move around her as she let it slip liquid and ephemeral over her limbs. For years this routine had been a central part of her day, one of the few enduring connections she allowed to the world she had left behind.

And anyway, it would have been stupid to let all her training go to waste.

In general, exercise was easier on Coruscant, the gravity was much weaker than on Brion and movement took less effort as a result. It was both a curse and a blessing. As a Brionian, she was not built for the low gravity: her bones were denser than a humans' and her muscles were built for more strength. Under Coruscanti conditions she could ran faster, jump higher and bear more weight, but it all came at a cost. She was slimmer yet stronger, shorter yet more powerful, but without constant exercise though she would weaken, and if her grandmother and the Hunters had taught her anything it was that weakness was for fools.

After finishing her regimen, panting a little with the exertion but overall feeling refreshed and humming with energy, she sat herself down again in front of the wet glass to meditate, casting her mind deep into the cosmic reaches of the Force and using the moving stillness of it to both ground her and let her drift away. After weeks of pushing her emotions into it, her personal connection to the Force was chaotic and frazzled, the echoes of discarded thoughts forming choirs of dissonant voices in her mind. Spreading her presence thin, she carefully examined and untangled each one, letting herself feel and experience each emotion in turn as she looked them over and filed them away, feeling herself become lighter each time.

With her psychic burdens dispersed, Isharia flung herself deeper, reaching out into the distant expanses of the Force, far out in the non-distance of forever. The galaxy and all its glory sang around her, impossible symphonies of chaos and order that were both reachable and not. She was limited to the system though, while she was strong, she was not a god; her reach extended only to the Coruscant system, which glowed: the luminous bright heart of the galaxy.

There was so much history here, so many pivotal moments in time, both past and future. So much yet to come and so much already in motion.

But today Coruscant was not her goal, reaching further with phantom mental fingers she found what she was looking for: the controlled flicker of her people on Brion. The billion melodies of a billion minds wrapped together in a web that she was forever connected to, as much as she shielded herself from it.

The ability to feel her people over such vast distances was an enduring legacy of her Balthurian ancestors, as while Brionians weren't a collective consciousness, they were eternally bound in the Force. It was a connection as ancient and deep as their planet itself and it held near holy significance back home. It was only through carefully controlled shielding that they couldn't find her as she could find them.

Sighing to herself after brushing up against the edges of the network, she drove her mind carefully away from the distant pulse, resisting the painful yearning to connect herself with it. She focused inward in the way that all Hunters were taught, feeling each and every muscle, bone and cell in her body.

Hunters were different to Jedi and Sith. Jedi were taught to be servants of the Force, SIth to have it serve them. Hunters on the other hand were taught that they were the Force: that it flowed through every part of their bodies, ever fibre of their beings and that it was theirs to control. Jedi and Sith made grand sweeping gestures: they moved mountains, saw the future, made ripples on a galactic scale, but Hunters were different. Hunters were precise.

Isharia had been taught at the Guild not to lose herself in the Cosmic or Living Force, nor to concern herself with the Dark and Light, but to instead feel. To feel every molecule in her body, to feel the world around her at the smallest level, because while midicholrians gave one the ability to feel the Force, the Force was energy, it was infinitely smaller than all the quarks and bosons and electrons in the universe.

She had been taught to manipulate the world at the tiniest levels in shows of precision and subtlety that she doubted most Jedi were capable of. She could strengthen the fibres of her own body, pinch closed the arteries in another, sabotage droids from the inside and find the smallest most infinitesimal cracks in matter and tear them apart.

Hunter Force techniques were like Brionian ice: cold, uncaring and sharp.

After an hour or so of meditation, she stepped into the shower, feeling relaxed and refreshed and ready to begin her day. Her good mood buoyed her all the way to work and she decided to forego breakfast in favour of picking up some for the lab on her way.

She walked with a skip in her step and a smile on her face, "Morning, minions!" Isharia called as she walked into the lab, "How are we all on this fine Primeday?"

"Morning, boss," a Rodian technician replied absently, not looking up from the data set he was staring at.

Isharia smiled to herself and hummed in pleasure as she navigated through the benches and workspaces of the lab. A good night's sleep and that much-needed exercise and meditation had done her wonders and now she felt good as new, if still a little strained.

The lab was quiet this morning, the lights hummed overhead and rain battered the windows but the usual comfortable murmur of voices was absent. She glanced around fleetingly as she made her way across the room, it was only her and the Rodian and her forehead wrinkled in confusion, 'Huh,' she thought, bewildered, 'pretty sure I'm late rather than early.' Glancing around the room again, she swept it over once with the Force to make sure no one was hiding (which she didn't put past some of the people she worked with) but was puzzled to find it really was only her and the Rodian.

She could feel the faintest stirrings of concern build inside her as she took in the uncharacteristic emptiness of the lab, but fiercely batted the thought aside. The others were probably just somewhere else in the building; besides, today was going to be a good day, Isharia could feel it.

In what could be more described as a bounce than a walk, Isharia made her way to the table at the end of the room, pushed aside the random assortment of datapads and holobooks scattered on the surface and placed down this morning's purchase with great ceremony. "Guess what I bought everyone!" she sang with a pleased smile, ignoring the fact there were only two of them in the lab.

The Rodian technician finally looked away from his piles of data to peer over the tops of the equipment and his large eyes widened and lit up, "A Ravello's breakfast set? Boss, you shouldn't have!" he cried, the happiness in his voice belaying his words. He quickly got up from his seat and jogged over the Isharia, his antennae quivering with pleasure as he examined the food on offer, "Ooo, you got kessinnamon rolls, my favourite," he said as he snagged the aforementioned pastry.

Isharia shrugged and smiled, enjoying her colleague's happiness, "I figured I might as well," she said, pulling her coat off and chucking it and her bag on the one of the seats at the table, "I mean, this project's wrapping up soon and we're all going to be split up, might as well do something nice," she finished, sitting down and grabbing a pastry for herself.

After years of working with some of these people, she was really going to miss them and a pang of regret throbbed through her as she thought of how unlikely it was that they'd all keep in touch. She was utterly awful at hanging on to friendships, and it was with a measure of disgruntled loneliness that she acknowledged Shayla's veracity in stating that she was her only friend.

The Rodian hummed and his snout wrinkled as he bit into his food, "It's appreciated," he grunted around a mouthful of food.

Isharia leant back in her chair, "Where's everyone else then, Rondo?" she asked the Rodian, looking around the lab, giving voice to the question on her mind.

Rondo sat down himself and swallowed, "Shi'rro and Nafatar are down at Tiva's for caf, Ranannon's gone to clean some of the glassware and Force knows where Ismret, Ysa and Dvino are," he said rolling his large green eyes, "I wouldn't be surprised if they were off trying to get Dr Ashan to smile again," he finished with a sigh.

Isharia raised her eyebrows, "Good luck with that," she snorted, "current running theory is that he inhaled something in his lab and his face just froze like that." She gave Rondo a bland look, "I hope they're aware that Ranil's not here to bail them out this time and I'm certainly not getting involved."

Rondo's ears twitched and he groaned, "I'm pretty sure the three of them think they're invincible," he replied, fingering the icing on his pastry, "I've never met anyone as reckless as Ysa."

Isharia took a bite of her own pastry, "They'll grow out of it," she said while chewing, "you should've seen the shavit Shay and I did when we were younger," she shook her head with a fond smile and swallowed, "still not sure why we weren't arrested."

Rondo gave a thoughtful hum, "That's your Zeltron friend, right?" he asked.

"One and the same," Isharia replied.

Her and Rondo sat for a little while enjoying their breakfast pastries and trading idle chatter about their Benduday's. Rondo had a young daughter at home who had just turned two and so he and his wife had taken her to Imagine playcentre for the day. He complained at length about the general incompetence of the staff there and bemoaned the lack of child friendly spaces in his district.

"How hard is it to build a park or something nearby?" he said incredulously, gesticulating with his arms, "the prices for that place are extortionate and it took us over an hour to get there."

Isharia nodded in agreement, "There doesn't seem to have been much in the way of urban planning around Taral district, that's for sure," she frowned, "although if you're looking for a park I found a jungle themed Prosper on level 5042, I don't think it was too far from your place."

Rondo hummed, "Could be worth looking into, where was it?"

"Under the K-56T, I'll get Vanla to send you the details."

They continued in this vein for a few more minutes when they were interrupted by uncontrollable laughter coming from the door at the other end of the lab. Turning around to look, Isharia felt twinge of amusement as she watched a giggling Twi'lek, Zabrak and Devaronian stumble into the lab.

"Did you see his face!" the Twi'lek cackled, her lekku swaying as she laughed, "It was gold!"

The Zabrak panted, leaning against the wall laughing, trying to regain his breath, "Force, I thought we were dead for a moment there!" he said with a wide, toothy grin.

"Oh man, that was awesome!" the Devaronian exclaimed, collapsing on the floor.

Watching the three of them, Isharia knew that she was in a massive headache later this morning. Whatever had them laughing, she doubted that it meant good things for her. Deciding to interrupt their gaiety before they did anything else, she called over, "Well, look at what the loth-cat dragged in," amusement clear in her voice as she gave them a dry smile.

The Twi'lek straightened up and beamed at her, "Morning, Illustrious Leader!" she called back.

The Devaronian jumped to his feet and the Zabrak stumbled off the wall, "Morning, Dr Ashaki," "S'up, Doc," they chimed at the same time.

The Twi'lek flounced over to where Isharia and Rondo were sitting, her white lab coat and bright blue lekku trailing behind her, "Oooo, is that Corellian sweet toast?" she asked as she saw the food on the table. Reaching down she grabbed a piece and collapsed in one of the chairs, stuffing the food into her mouth with a groan, "You're the best, Doc," she said with a sigh of pleasure.

"Well, I do try," Isharia said with a grin. "So, Ysa, care to tell Rondo and I what the three of you were up to this morning?" she asked, clasping her hands together on the table and resting her head on top of them.

"It was hilarious, Dr Ashaki," the Devaronian said as he and the Zabrak wandered over to the table and pulled up a chair, "I didn't think Dr Ashan even had that emotional range."

"Dr Ashan, really, Dvino?" Rondo groaned, looking like he was resisting the urge to bury his head in his hands, "Don't you lot have better things to do than antagonise faculty members?"

"Pfft!" Dvino dismissed with a wave of his hand, "He loves us really."

"Yeah," Ysa said flippantly from where she lounged on her chair, "we make his life interesting."

"He'll miss us when we're gone," Ismret finished, grabbing his own pastry.

'Right, of course he will,' Isharia thought wryly, mentally prepping for all the damage control she would have to do.

Dr Ashan was head of the department. He was an incredibly serious Togruta with a scowl that was legendary among the staff and a reputation for being displeased with just about everything. Strict and particular, Ashan was the most demanding person she'd ever met, and she'd met her grandmother. He expected nothing but the best from his teams and tolerated nothing less, his personal lab had one of the highest turnover rates of scientists in the university. But his results spoke for themselves. He had a particular distain for fools, which was why the three tricksters of her team were constantly on his bad side, it was only really their undeniable intellect that kept him from throwing them out.

Isharia herself had had plenty of meetings with him over the years. In the beginning, as the most junior member of Ranil's team, she'd had the much sought-after pleasure of delivering all the reports and files on their progress and presenting some of Ranil's more spur-of-the-moment ideas. It had been widely known that Ashan was not Ranil's biggest fan, Ranil being was just too eccentric and unconventional to appeal to a man as uptight as Ashan, which meant often his requests had been met with displeasure. Isharia had persevered however, and as the years had passed, she'd like to think he'd developed a grudging sort of respect for her as the only member of staff that didn't flinch when she saw him. He was hardly the scariest thing she'd ever seen after all.

Ysa, Ismret and Dvino on the other hand, seemed to take a perverse sort of pleasure in riling him up, being too young and stupid to really think about their actions.

"So, what exactly did you do this time then?" Isharia asked, somewhat dreading the answer.

Ysa leant forward and grinned, "Weeelll," she began, "we may have, ahem-,"

"-filled his entire office with balloons, covered all the walls with flimsi-sticks and set his portable to play the Kashyyk Life Day choir on the hour," Dvino finished with a self-congratulatory smirk.

Rondo looked so horrified he could cry and his green skin paled to a delicate olive shade, "Please tell me you didn't," he said with a muted moan of panic.

"Oh, we did," Ismret proclaimed, fingering the horns on his head with pride, "and his reaction was spectacular."

Isharia groaned and rubbed fiercely at her forehead where the pressure was building, how the kriff was she meant to sort this out? Ashan would have their heads! Force, he'd have her head!

"B-b-but why!?" Rondo exclaimed.

Ysa twirled one of her lekku between her fingers, "Well, we all leave soon, don't we? Figured we should go out with a bang," she shrugged.

"Yes, but not a literal one!" Rondo cried, "He'll kill you!"

"Relax, Rondo," Dvino drawled, "we'll be fine."

Isharia ran a hand through her bushy curls with a sigh, "While I admire your optimistic assessment of the situation, I think you are understating the trouble that you may be in." She levelled them each a serious look, resolving herself to be the adult here, "You have to remember Dr Ashan is an extremely well-respected man and, more than that, he is your boss and superior. It is well within his power to make it very hard for you to find a job later in life and not only does your behaviour reflect badly on you, it reflects badly on me."

The three of them had the good sense at least to look ashamed. Ysa cast her eyes down and her blue cheeks had the slightest pink tint to them. Ismret was frowning in thought and playing nervously with the sleeve of his lab coat and Dvino's characteristic smirk had vanished.

Tilting her head to the sky and asking the Force for guidance, Isharia placed her hands flat on the table and stated with a sense of finality, "Well, I hope my point has gotten through. There's nothing any of us can do now and I'll have to think up something to say to Ashan when I see him later. In the meantime, finish your breakfast and get to work, we have things to do," she said eying each of them in turn.

Ysa, Ismret and Dvino nodded their heads slowly, their faces contrite and chagrined.

Isharia let a smirk slip onto her face, "Did you a least get holos of his reaction though?"

The three of them ginned while Rondo groaned and let his head thud onto the table.

-*8*-

After finishing off the rest of the Ravello's, leaving a few scraps for Shi'rro, Nafatar and Ranannon, they dispersed to their respective stations and tasks: Rondo back to sorting the backlog of data they'd accumulated over the years, Ysa, Ismret and Dvino to categorising and cataloguing everything in the coolers, freezers and cupboards for disposal or removal and Isharia retreating into Ranil's old office in the far corner to go over her notes for her meeting with the Jedi.

She was still incredibly nervous about that. By virtue of what they did, Jedi Healers were extremely perceptive and the few dealings she'd had with them at the Temple had never failed to leave her twitchy and on edge. It had been an acceptable reaction when she was younger, but now she was a trained medical professional embarking on her doctoral studies, she couldn't afford to be jumpy.

She checked her personal shields for the umpteenth time that morning and suppressed a burst of irritation at her own anxiety. Her shields were fine, she told herself, she'd had years of practice shielded herself from the Jedi and it was no different now than all the other hundred times she'd had to do it. The challenge was always that she didn't shield so tightly that she vanished completely to their senses or appeared trained.

All she had to do when Master Allie arrived was tell her the truth. Inform her of her aims and goals, what she intended to get out of her research and what she intended to do with it, the methods she was going to use. There was nothing sinister about what Isharia had planned and quite honestly, the outcome her research could potentially benefit the Order.

All she had to do was convince a Jedi Master.

No pressure.

'Argh!' she growled in frustration, running her hands down her face, 'I am making this way more complicated than it needs to be.' She stared miserably out of her office window: still raining.

All her sleepless nights and stressful days led up to this, everything she'd done since leaving Brion led up to this. This was her chance to personally do something meaningful to make the galaxy a better place. Force sensitivity was woefully understudied in the public domain and the development of it even less so. This was an opportunity to create discussion in the wider scientific community, to make the Force more accessible and understandable to people who weren't Jedi, which in the end, with the ever-present distance between Jedi and non-Jedi, could only be a good thing.

It was around this time that the other three finally turned up. 'They're late,' Isharia thought, as she listened to the murmur of voices pick up outside her office, 'Pretty sure it doesn't take that long to get caf or wash some glassware.'

The office doors and walls were soundproof (to allow the occupant to concentrate) and unfortunately made it so Isharia wast unable to hear what exactly was being said, but from intonation of the voices, it didn't seem to be anything major. She'd just gone back to staring blindly at her notes when there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in," she called out distractedly.

The door slid open quietly and a tall human man stepped inside. Isharia peered up from her notes to look at him and gave an envious stare at the caf container he held in his hand before meeting his eyes, "What can I do for you, Shi'rro?" she sighed.

Shi'rro gave her a pitying look and pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down, "Jus' t'warn ya," he said, his Rim-world accent gruff, "Ashan's on a warpath."

Isharia grunted and rolled her eyes, "Oh I know," she said tiredly, "three guesses to why that is," she sighed.

Shi'rro gave her a commiserating look, "The Terrible Threesome? I know, 'e corned Nafatar 'n' I on the way back from Tiva's, I ain't ever seen the man look tha' angry before," he said with a bemused shake of the head.

"I assume he told you what they did?"

Shi'rro shrugged, "Not really, bu' I gathered tha' it's got somethin' to do wit 'is portable blaring out karking Wookie music," he said with a grin.

Isharia let out a peal of laughter at the image, serious Dr Ashan and his scowl with the Wookie choir in the background, "Was it really?" she asked with mirth.

"Oh yeah, growlin' out the whole hall, it was. Kinda took away from 'im yellin' a' us to "control the pests.""

"I bet it did," Isharia laughed, "Ismret promised to send us all the holos of his face when he found their prank."

Shi'rro grinned, "Good man, need somethin' t'laugh at when I'm bored out o' my mind on Bandomeer," he said.

Isharia raised an inquisitive brow, "You're heading to Bandomeer?" she asked.

"Yeah, Davinde's requested that Ranannon 'n' I join 'im, idiot needs someone t'make sure 'e doesn't walk into a plough or somethin'," he said with a tired expression.

Isharia gave him sympathetic smile, "Well, at least it's with Ranil, you could have been reassigned to Ashan like Nafatar."

Shi'rro made a circular symbol with his index fingers and thumbs, "Den'i'lee preserve me," he prayed, looking at the ceiling, "I thank the goddess every day for tha', I'm jus' lucky I ain't got anythin' 'olding me on Coruscant like she 'as," he said. He peered at Isharia closely, blue eyes tracing over the smudged shadows under her eyes and the manic poof of her hair where she'd been running her hands through it, "Wha' abou' you?" he asked, "'ow's your PhD comin' along?"

Isharia sighed and collapsed back in her chair, "It's coming," she said, "Got a Jedi coming around later to talk to me about it, she's going to decide whether or not to present it to the Council," she shrugged, "or she could leave it dead in the water."

Shi'rro flinched, "Ouch, tha' don't sound pleasant." His brow wrinkled in thought, "I remember when I was doin' my proposal, it was stressful but there weren't any Jedi involved," he shook his head, "tha' bein' said, I understan' why you're doin' it and I admire ya for it."

Isharia felt a swell of pleasure and reassurance at that, while a scientist rather than a medic, Shi'rro was someone she admired greatly. He'd been a researcher for a small-time company in the Outer Rim before Ranil had snapped him up, declaring his intellect wasted out in the middle of nowhere. Since then he'd been the doctor's voice of reason through all his wacky ideas and served as a mentor of sorts to her during the later years of her studies.

"That means a lot," Isharia replied with a grateful smile.

Shi'rro smiled back before exhaling heavily and standing up, "Anyway, I best get goin', got t'prevent the morons out there doin' anythin' else that could get us all sacked." He moved to the door, "I'll let ya know when yer Jedi turns up."

"Thanks, Shi'rro," Isharia replied, "I'll see you in a bit then."

Shi'rro gave her an absent wave before leaving the office, leaving Isharia alone with her datapads

She down at them and closed her eyes, it was going to be a long morning.

-*8*-

As morning rolled into lunch rolled into afternoon, the team managed to determinedly mow through all their jobs. Clean-up of the lab was pretty much done and all the non-inflammatory data had been logged into the university intranet for future use. Next week the project would be officially shut down and the eight of them would move on to their next jobs.

Ysa and Dvino were still undergrads, they'd been interning for Ranil like she'd done when she was young so they would have to begin reapplying to other projects. She'd written them both highly complimentary references as Ranil, the lazy sheb, had forgotten before he'd left and assured them she'd help them both any way she could. Ismret had found a position at an Arkanian genetics lab and Rondo was going to work for Dr. Mvao down the hall.

As for her, hopefully she'd be bouncing around between the university and the Temple. Otherwise she supposed she could join the Republic Medical Corps, at least then she'd get to travel.

But she wasn't massively fond of the idea of attaching herself to something under Senate jurisdiction, the less said about that, the better.

It was sometime around three o'clock when Vanla pinged up in front of her face.

"Mistress, you have a message," she said, her high-pitched voice ringing out.

Isharia glanced up from an article she'd been reading on childhood brain development and felt a flood of nerves, she swallowed, 'This is it.' "What is it, Vanla?" she asked.

The felinx perked up, "Dr Opilu says that front desk has a visitor for you, a Jedi by the name of Stass Allie."

Isharia tensed up briefly and took a deep breath to calm down, using the Force to stabilise her nerves, "Tell Shi'rro I got the message, I'll head down to meet her now," she said, muscles tight with worry.

"Will do, Mistress!" Vanla replied before disappearing.

Isharia took a moment to compose herself before doing anything. Her heart was racing, galloping forward faster than a byak and her stomach churned with flutterwings. This was just like her proposal presentation all over again, and she'd almost thrown up before that, and this was worse, this was a Jedi rather than a group of pompous academics.

She let out a slightly hysterical laugh and rubbed at her eyes, Force this was pathetic. She'd faced down murderers before without blinking, stood at her grandmother's side in front of the entire Brionian court and not even flinched, how was she so worked up over this? Perhaps, she thought to herself with that same illogical mirth, it was because this was something she had chosen for herself, something she had put her heart into, the first time in her life that she had chosen her own direction and she was utterly terrified of it failing.

Drawing heavily on the Force for balance and guidance, she stood from her desk and left her office. Back in the lab the others were attempting to amuse themselves: Ysa and Ismret were firing pipette tips into a glass beaker placed on the bench opposite them (with little success if the graveyard of wasted plastic on the floor was anything to go by), Dvino was fiddling with a microscope, Rondo was on his comm and the other three were playing a game of sabaac over what looked like one of the random pieces of artwork from the hall.

Isharia resisted the urge to roll her eyes in exasperation, "I hope you lot look a little more productive when I bring the Jedi up," she called, giving them all pointed looks.

Nafatar, a small dark-skinned human with unusual green eyes laughed, "I told you so," she said, not looking away from her cards, "I said Isharia wouldn't be pleased."

Ranannon, a Mirialan with yellow skin and red hair hissed, "Ssh, I'm trying to concentrate!"

"Why?" Nafatar scoffed and looked over at her with her eyebrows raised, "Do you really want that piece of junk that much?"

"No," Ranannon scowled, peering intensely at her cards, "It's the principle of the thing!"

Isharia sighed and walked over, catching Shi'rro smirking at her out of the corner of her eye. When she reached the table, she grabbed the, honestly hideous, painting of stylised DNA and looked at their cards. "Give up, Ranannon, Nafatar has the winning hand anyway," she stated, and glared down at them, "now can you please at least look like you're doing something? I need to make a good impression."

The three of them groaned and put down their cards, "Alright, but there really isn't anything to do, we've completely cleared up," Nafatar said, indicating with her hand to the spotless lap.

"I'm sure we can find somethin' though," Shi'rro added placatingly, rising from the table, "and I'll make sure the others do too," he finished smiling.

Isharia shot him a grateful smile, "Thanks," she said sincerely and exhaled shakily, looking over to the lab door with trepidation, "Well, this is it," she sighed tremulously, "wish me luck."

Shi'rro grinned and patted her shoulder, the thump jolting her from her nervous examination of the door, "Nah, Doctor, you don' need it, but 'ave some anyway," he said, pushing her slightly forward.

"Go get 'em, boss!" Ysa called and waved from the other side of the lab, Ismret and Dvino shooting her thumbs up signs at her sides. Rondo looked up from his comm and smiled, "Good luck," he said with a nod.

"Thanks everyone," Isharia replied, feeling buoyed by their well wishes and faith. Setting her face into what she hoped was confident sereneness, she rolled her shoulders and straightened her back, 'Right. Let's do this,' she thought determinedly and she left the room.

Once into the corridor, she kept up her resolute pace all the way to the turbolift, fearful that if she slowed down she'd stop or turn back. Ilumin'ar she felt ridiculous, fretting herself almost sick over this. This was hardly a life or death matter and here she was shaking like a nervous gizka. She looked along the windows as she walked, the outside was dark and wet and speeder headlights lit up the gloom. High up as she was, (much higher than her apartment) she could see the entire vista of the Fobosi District and the smoggy pillars of the Works in the background.

She took a deep, fortifying breath and tried to use the familiar scenery as a comfort. The Life Sciences department at the university was in a huge skyscraper at the edge of the district, towering above many of the commercial and residential buildings. The university's part of it started at around level 4600, but it changed all the time depending on how much research space was needed; the entrance was always at level 5035 though.

She'd spent nearly all of her education here -well here or the medcentre in the adjacent building- to the point where she practically lived here, sad as that was. Since coming to Coruscant, she'd become something of a workaholic, which wasn't bad in theory, but her stress levels went through the roof, and add to that the cultivated Brionian tendency toward perfectionism and she could be a real bucket of laughs.

It was always a wonder Shayla got her to go anywhere.

There were holoscreens up all along the walls in the department, showing some news network covering the Senate and it made Isharia want to roll her eyes in disgust, 'Another day, another scandal,' she thought with a huff. Sometimes watching the news made her miss the Brionian monarchy: at least her grandmother had never embezzled public money to buy a yacht, or sold her people to slavery on the side, despite all the other things she'd done.

It was stupid, all of it, the entire system was slowly stagnating into rot and decay and it was fairly obvious that no one seemed to care. At least you could say that that wasn't a problem on Brion, no matter what else was.

She got to the lift and stepped inside, keying the number of the floor she wanted into the control panel and swiping her access card through the slot to activate the lift. Within seconds the lift was shooting down the building at high speeds, university notices playing over the speaker in the background. During her brief trip, she managed to learn that the North Coruscant Rancor's grav-ball team had thrashed the East Galactic Scoundrel's at the Inter-Sector University League semi-finals and that the Politics department had won some sort of award at a mock Senate negotiation. The mundanity of it all helped calm her nerves, nothing was more dull than a monotone mechanical voice droning on, although she could still feel her stomach churning and hands clench tight with trepidation.

The lift ground to a slow stop and an automated voice announced the floor before the doors slid open. Isharia stepped out and shunted her worries to the side, fortifying her mental shielding and straightening her skirt. Walking through the huge glass dome foyer of the department, it took her no less than a minute to reach the reception desk where two smartly dressed human women sat typing away on their computers. She walked up to them with what she hoped was a pleasant smile on her face but could have easily been a grimace, "Hello," she said, trying to sound as unaffected as possible as one of the women looked up to greet her, "Dr, Ashaki," she said by way of introduction, "I was told there was a Master Stass Allie here to see me?"

The women's brows furrowed in concentration for a moment before she said, "Ah yes, the Tholothian. She's just around the corner in the waiting area, she hasn't been here long," she replied, tilting her head in the direction of the collection of chic leather sofas in the corner of the foyer.

"Thanks," Isharia replied, waving over her shoulder as she set off in the direction of the seats.

As she grew closer her eyes focused onto the woman sat on the far edge of the waiting area, right next to the glass wall. She was tall (although practically anyone was tall compared to Isharia) with rich, dark skin the colour of expensive vrain wood and slender, muscled figure. She was wearing the customary drab robes of the Jedi and looked startlingly out of place among the casual-wear of the scientists and the smart suits of the office staff, but on her head was a distinctive Tholothian headdress, with its white tendrils touching her shoulders in the place of hair.

The moment Isharia looked her, her head snapped around as if she could sense the focus she was attracting, revealing two astonishingly violet eyes, swimming with kindness and intellect. As Isharia drew closer she smiled, "Relax, Dr Ashaki," she said, standing to greet her, "I can feel your worry from here." She had a strong voice, deep for a woman but textured and rich, her Basic had a rhythmic accent to it that Isharia had never heard before but found quite compelling nonetheless.

Isharia came to a stop in front of her and brought a hand up to rub at the back of her neck sheepishly, "Hah, easier said than done I'm afraid," she said dryly, "I have a lot riding on this." She coughed into her hand, "Anyway, it's an honour to meet you, Master Allie," she said solemnly, falling into the shallow bow she'd picked up over her years at the Temple.

Master Allie returned the gesture, "You as well, Doctor, I have heard good things about you from my fellow Jedi," she replied with a calm smile.

That more than anything set her nerves tingling, the Jedi spoke about her? Well that was new, 'Only nice things I hope,' she thought with some apprehension as she considered the great number of things they could discuss, considering she'd been in and out of the Temple for the last seven years. Isharia laughed, wincing internally at the hysterical breathy edge to it, "Well, I suppose that's better than bad things!" 'Force that sounded pathetic, c'mon Isharia! You do better than that!' She stood for a few moments trying and failing to think of something witty and engaging to say while the Jedi looked on placidly, but eventually gave up with a sigh, her shoulders slumping. "We should probably head up," she said resignedly.

Master Allie continued to look calm and serene and Isharia felt a nasty burst of old envy at her steadiness, remembering all the adults and younglings on Brion who'd also had the ability to look perpetually unaffected. "After you then, Doctor," she said, in that cadenced accent of hers.

Isharia shoved away the stirrings of that old bitterness into the Force to deal with later and turned away to head back toward the turbolift, slowing her pace so her and the Jedi could walk side by side. She gave the Jedi a sidelong glance out of the corner of her eyes and tried not to let the nerves crawl up again, 'Force she's tall, I'd wager almost six foot!' she thought, trying hard not to feel extra tiny.

As they walked to the turbolift and stepped inside, the silence began to feel a little awkward, "So, uh, I trust your journey was okay?" Isharia said, feeling the need to fill the silence, but again internally grimacing at how silly she must sound.

Master Allie gave her a wry smile that said she knew exactly what Isharia was doing, "My journey was fine, thank you. The skylanes are a little busy but I had no real issues," she replied evenly.

Isharia struggled for a reply that didn't sound totally awkward, "That's, uh, that's good?" Illumin'ar what was wrong with her!?

The Jedi chuckled, "I don't know what you're so nervous about, Doctor, I read over your proposal and it was fine, this is just a formality more than anything."

Isharia started and whipped her head up to look at the Jedi, her eyes widening, "It is?" she questioned.

Master Allie shrugged, the movement graceful and weirdly contained, "Of course, you've been working with the Order for years, we have no reason to suspect of you ill intent. This meeting is just to go over the particulars of the arrangement," her forehead wrinkled in thought, "though I do confess, I am curious as to why you chose this area of study."

Isharia felt as though the weight of the entire Coruscant system had just been lifted of her shoulders and a great swell of relief pored through her bones. 'Oh, thank the Force,' she thought gratefully and allowed herself to finally relax.

Though she did feel a bit disgruntled that she'd been so stressed for nothing.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me," she breathed shakily, her brain finally catching on to the fact that her research was a go! How nova was that? and smiling.

Master Allie hummed and offered her a small smirk, "Allow me to congratulate you then, Dr Ashaki, on the beginning of your research."

Isharia grinned at the Jedi and felt a flood of pleasure, "Thank you, Master Allie," she replied sincerely, "As for your curiosity, well personal interest more than anything," she shrugged, "and a few ulterior motives as well, I suppose."

The turbolift announced they'd reached their floor and they both stepped out, "Indeed?" Master Allie said with one eyebrow raised.

Isharia nodded, "Yeah, you probably know by now that I'm Force sensitive," she said, checking to see if her companion did, receiving a nod in return, continued, "Well, I suppose that I'm just interested to see how -if- my brain developed differently as a result. And whether the way I was raised had any effect."

Master Allie tilted her head in understanding, "Understandable," she said, "and your ulterior motives?"

"That's more about the Order than anything," Isharia said, staring out of the building windows in the direction of the Temple as she spoke, "There's little to no research done or available on the Force that's accessible to the public and other scientists, and, quite frankly, that's damaging to the Order," she said looking back at Master Allie who was frowning. "Most of the general population don't even believe in the Force, even if they do it's just weird Jedi voodoo to them, they don't understand it can be scientifically studied to a degree, like all other natural phenomena," she shrugged, "lack of understanding breeds resentment and fear," she gave Master Allie a good humoured glance, "and I've been around enough Jedi to know what fear does."

Master Allie's eyes twinkled with good humour, "Yes, yes," she said, "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate to suffering, you know us well."

"Not really," she dismissed with a shrug, "I still have absolutely no idea what half of all those weird sayings that you're all so fond of mean, I'm starting to believe they don't mean anything, but some things are universal." She sobered, "But more to the point, comprehensive study of the Force does just as much for you as it does for me, doesn't hurt I'll get a doctorate out of it though," Isharia finished with a smirk.

Master Allie's brows drew together in thought and her eyes gained a glassy distance that Isharia recognised as her consulting the Force. Her whole body changed for an instant, her limbs loosened and her movements became unnervingly particular, it was a stance Isharia recognised from being around Force users her entire life. Although, she had to wonder just how alien and strange it looked to those without the Force.

"You have given me much to consider, Doctor," Master Allie said quietly, falling silent with a pensive expression on her face.

In was then that they reached the door to the lab, Isharia fervently prayed that her colleagues had found a way to look productive, Force it would be embarrassing bringing a Jedi up and they were all mixing hallucinogens from the stuff in the store cupboard. 'Come on guys, don't let me down!" she thought.

She turned to Master Allie, "Well here we are!" she said with a too wide grin, some of her earlier nerves returning. She slid her pass through the door locks and crossed her fingers as the door opened with a small hydraulic puff.

'Oh, thank Kuni'van'tro and all his court!' she breathed a sigh of relief as the lab was revealed and all her team were at varying workstations around the room, apparently examining samples.

Her lips spread into a pleased smile as she stepped inside, the Jedi following her. Turning her head to Master Allie, she gestured to all the team in turn, "Master Allie," she said proudly, "may I introduce you to Doctors Opilu, Bonyuly and Garndeni, Rondo Parra, Ysa Hydrenl, Dvino Renaut and Ismret Kvoth."

They all waved back as their names were mentioned, some more enthusiastically than others, and Master Allie bowed back in return, "It's a pleasure to meet you all," she greeted pleasantly.

"You too, Master Jedi!" Ysa replied back excitedly, tugging happily at one of her lekku.

"Not often we see Jedi," Ranannon said crossing her arms and leaning back on her station.

"Doesn't mean there're not welcome though!" Ismret piped up with a smile.

Master Allie laughed, "Always good to know," she returned, her violet eyes alight with happiness.

Isharia observed their interaction with satisfaction, she was pleased beyond words that this was all going well. Although Master Allie had assured her she had nothing to worry about, she still wanted to make a good impression and was sure her colleagues did too. Seeing them display their inherent friendliness to their Jedi guest was heartening. Deciding to move this along though, she said, "Alright, well, we'll be in the office if you guys need anything," she gestured forward with her hand and addressed Master Allie, "shall we?" she invited.

Master Allie inclined her head in deference, "After you," she said and they walked into the office together.

Isharia cringed a little when they entered, her datapads were still littering the desk and boxed piles of Ranil's possessions were stacked up against the window, "Sorry about the mess," she said by way of apology.

"It's nothing," Master Allie said with an unconcerned wave, "you should see how my room looked when I was a Padawan."

"Yeah, well, most of this is Dr Ranil's, I still need to have it shipped out to him, but I've been so busy I haven't gotten round to it," Isharia replied as an explanation, "please, take a seat," she said indicating toward to chair at the desk.

Master Allie sat down gracefully, arranging her robes around her with practiced casualness, "Ah yes, Davinde Ranil, quite the eccentric," she said, eyes flicking across the small space.

Isharia smirked in agreement, "Tell me about it," she said, "You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I found in here," she finished exasperatedly. 'Although,' she thought, her mind drifting to Ranil's research notes and his sudden removal to Bandomeer, 'you just might.'

She mentally shook herself and filed the thought away, before sitting down and crossing one leg over the other, "So," she began decisively, "what do you want to know?"

Master Allie sat up straighter and her face became serious; her eyes sharpening and the focused serenity she associated with the Jedi falling over her like a shroud, "Well, you've already answered the first of our concerns, your motives, but there are a few more points to clarify," she said folding her hands into the sleeves of her robes, "namely, what you are actually going to be doing with our younglings and what this will mean for them."

Isharia lean back into her chair, 'Good question,' she thought, her face slipping into a contemplative frown. She pursed her lips as she considered the question, thinking hard as she tried to find the best way to answer. Sighing, she met the Jedi's eyes, "As you have probably heard, I'm a medical doctor rather than a research scientist. I have my basic qualifications: my Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, specialisation in Humanoid and near-Human species, which I did as an intensive degree program, and I'm currently specialising in neurology. That's what this is, I've done my CMT -Core Medical Training- and I'm in the process of my Speciality Training, the PhD is alongside it.

Master Allie blinked, obviously impressed, "That's an awful lot of work," she stated, startled, and she eyed Isharia with new-found respect and consideration.

'Don't I know it,' Isharia thought, grimacing, 'sometimes too much.' She thought back on all the stress she'd be under the last few years of her life, all the deadlines and commitments, all the tiny issues she'd juggled and the sleepless nights. It made her nauseous to truly reflect on it all and it was a matter of self-preservation that she rarely thought about it in much detail. It kept her mind occupied and away from things best left in the past. Medicine helped her heal her soul and the pressure kept away the guilt.

She exhaled wearily and shrugged, letting through the smallest echoes of her exhaustion, "It keeps me busy," she said with a tired smile. "Anyway, the point being the university, and the College of Galactic Physicians, are letting me do this before being fully specialised because they're desperate for studies to be done on the Force. I'm one of the few professionals with prior experience working on Force studies and access to the Jedi. Also, I have, apparently, proven myself to be a dedicated enough student to manage my responsibilities efficiently."

She leant forward and steepled her fingers together on the desk, "Although that doesn't really answer your question. It is my intent, to conduct a comprehensive study of how Force sensitivity affects brain development, if it does at all. Jedi youngling are all confirmed Force sensitives in a controlled environment, they are ideal for study. I have proposed to study the changes in the neurophysiological structure of their brains as they grow to see if being Force sensitive has any effect, and if so, what?

"It would involve brain scans, brain mapping, studying results to stimuli, studying what happens when the Force is used and interacted with and it would be long term, potentially longer than a PhD normally would be, all alongside my specialisation." She leant forward further and her brows etched deep grooves between her eyes where they were pushed together, "Of course no names would be published and the Jedi Order would be given the credit and the acknowledgement it would be due. Funding would also come from the university and the CGP, so you wouldn't have to worry about that either."

Master Allie took in all the information in silence, her expression unchanging and betraying nothing as her eyes looked keenly ahead. She nodded when Isharia finished, "We gathered as much," she finally said, "however I am concerned about what 'stimuli' you will be using."

Isharia waved her hand airily, "Oh just general stuff, images, situations and the like. I'm hardly going to tempt them to the Dark Side or something if you're worried about that."

Master Allie frowned, "Well, this is new territory for us, we don't quite know what to expect," she hummed. "I'll take your word for it but we reserve the right to put a stop to anything we perceive as dangerous," she warned.

Isharia idly lifted a shoulder, having expected as much, "That's fair," she conceded.

Master Allie gave her a smile, "Other than that, we have no problems. I'll present your proposal to the High Council tomorrow but I doubt they'll have any issues," she stated matter-of-factly, "but it might be best if you were there to field any questions," she added.

Isharia smiled, inwardly pleased at being invited to the Temple, "I'd be honoured."

"Well," Master Allie proclaimed, standing up, "I guess that's settled. Someone will comm you later about tomorrow but as far as I'm concerned, everything is in order."

Isharia could have shouted her triumph to the heavens but settled instead for saying while standing to shake the Jedi Master's hand, "I think this is the beginning of a highly beneficial partnership."