Entry Eleven, Days after Geonosis, Seventy-Two
I received an unexpected visitor today in the form of Major Kayi. She arrived shortly after Morne left and insisted on taking me out to dinner. She stated that she wanted to make contact earlier, but apparently there is some sort of serious taboo among the Ayae with regard to approaching another for personal reasons while they are at their workplace. She managed to catch me outside watching Morne drive away, which I suppose was enough. It seems I have been spending almost all my time at work. It does not feel that way, but then it never really does, certainly not with so many mysteries in front of me.
Kayi claimed I am living like a monk, which is probably as good as an approximation as any with regard to life in the Service Corps. However, in the course of my work I have met many dedicated doctors who lack all access to the Force yet manage to be continually busy all the same, so I do not think this a trait necessarily characteristic of Jedi. Besides, if there was ever a time to devote everything to the work, war surely qualifies.
Kayi is not a person easily denied, even without heavy repeaters strapped to her skull, and I somehow ended up joining her in a bizarre open-air restaurant; a peculiar place where the tables are set out into one of the Bucket's rare public squares. Not an Ayae place at all, for I saw none other than Kayi. It seemed a highly mixed neighborhood, for we were surrounded by a wide variety of humanoid species. Apparently the Theelin proprietor deliberately stocks a menu appealing to many palates and cultivates a diverse clientele.
The employees, by contrast, were far more uniform. They were mostly Stegoceps, who apparently have a plurality locally. To see so many out and about openly surprised me, for their homeworld is among those that sided with the CIS. This sentiment does not appear to have much influence here in the Bucket, or at least, none of the other patrons could be heard to make note of it. I wonder if this represents a sort of underworld solidarity or if it is a product of limited information. Aside from the handful of dignitaries who comprise the senior leadership, almost all images of the Separatists that appear on the news are of droids. I think this leads us to forget that this war divides the galaxy, with countless citizens on either side, rather than a mock battle between automaton armies. I suspect that among people on Separatist worlds, who must see similar images of clones in identical armor, there is a similar disconnect.
It terms of other experiences that might be countered among the bizarre, I confess that there is a certain surreal sensation attached to watching someone whose mouth is positioned on the bottom of her skull eat. The nature of the musculature attached to the deflected jaw makes it so that there is almost no indication of any activity on the front of the face while chewing or swallowing. It is as if food rises to the head and then simply vanishes. Ayae are vegetarian, thankfully, which does mitigate the impact to some extent. She spooned in discrete chunks of some sort of pasta salad, far less disconcerting than the idea of some sort of squirming foodstuff.
Kayi peppered me with a great many questions. Most of them addressed military affairs and I could not answer. I hope she recognized that I was not attempting to be evasive, but that I simply have no knowledge of military science. I do not know if I was able to convince her of this. The major seems a sensible sort, and I have no doubts as to her competence, but I think she looks at all Jedi as great warriors. It is a common view, I should not be surprised to find it prevalent here; for all that the Ayae defy Republic standards in many ways. I did my best to explain the broader scope of the Order's mission, but I don't think I was very convincing. It does not help that some Jedi seem to have a natural talent for the arts of war and their exploits are plastered all over the news. Strangely though, some of them are not who I would have thought. Master Plo Koon makes sense to me, always able to pierce directly to the heart of a problem, but Master Kenobi was ever polite and restrained. Who would have thought he'd be a great general?
I did get the chance to question Major Kayi about the Ayae in return. Helpful, considering how remarkably perfunctory their entry is in the archives; even their homeworld is listed as unknown. Apparently their species was, or probably still is, a regional power somewhere deep in the Unknown Regions. Long ago they were caught up in some terrible war and their world came close to annihilation. In response they deliberately established far away colonies to insure the survival of the species. When I noted that Coruscant does not suggest itself as a candidate for colonization, Kayi responded that it is the least likely planet in the galaxy to suffer an extermination-level orbital bombardment. Even if the CIS should somehow manage to attack this star system, they would never dare to pulverize the galactic capital. Strategic targets might be destroyed, but she believes that the underworld will remain unscathed.
I feel that this point is somehow of great importance. If correct, and I have no reason to doubt Kayi's assessment, it leaves me with further questions regarding the strange attacks by the Yellows. I still cannot fully understand what they intended to accomplish. Their silence since worries me greatly.
The Ayae Militia has access to advanced processing facilities, their weapons attest to this, but this productivity does not extend to medical supplies. Their internal physiology is close enough to human standard that they can utilize most commercial products with only adjustments to dosage. Kayi did say she would look into their source of supplies, which I appreciate if only as a gesture. Perhaps her connections will turn something up.
I confess that our conversation did not remain confined to serious topics. Kayi insisted we were out to enjoy ourselves. I suspect her rank and position create their own barriers within the tightly knit society of the Ayae. I cannot imagine why she would come to me otherwise. She also planned her moves well in advance, for as the cycle turned to night the restaurant pulled back its tables and put out a mobile bar as the square converted into a dance space. Truthfully, I ought to have guessed as much. With as many Twi'leks as there are in the local population almost any significant gathering will acquire a dance component. Stegoceps too appear to be very fond of the practice, favoring rapid movements that set their head fins waving up and down.
Many of them were quite skilled, though that seemed to be rather ancillary to the overall purpose. The majority sought companionship instead, with men and women threading through the crowd according to complex unspoken patterns. It is always strange to watch events like this. It feels so foreign. Being approached and asked to dance was particularly alien. I should not have been surprised, but of course I was. I know my appearance is quite close to human standard, more than enough to match internal criteria, and my figure qualifies as attractive by such measures, but I suppose this is a blind-spot to a Jedi. Still, I ought to have anticipated offers after Kayi – far further removed from the anatomical baseline – acquired no shortage of attention.
Instead I simply felt foolish. The Major actually let a taller Stegocep twirl her about for a time, exactly as spritely and light on her feet as her thin limbs imply. For myself I settled into a sequence of polite refusals.
This reticence earned me a snide remark from Kayi regarding Officer Morne. It left me completely speechless. Truthfully, if I am to dredge the depths of my confusion, the whole scenario stirs up deep-seated discomfort. The Jedi Code forbids attachments, with romance perhaps the most famous form of note, but I would be remiss if I did not recognize that enforcement among the Service Corps is somewhat...lax. In far flung branches of the Outer Rim I have met AgriCorps members with children, albeit unacknowledged. Down here in the Bucket I suspect it would be all too easy to conduct a clandestine affair, if I chose.
Officer Morne would certainly be open to such a liaison (ha, even in these pages I cannot resist that particular pun). He has not been explicit, but his actions express interest obviously enough that even an alien like Kayi picked up on them almost immediately. Truthfully I have no idea what to do about it. I do not think I'm actually interested in the possibility, not really, however gratifying it is to be so politely pursued. It has been some time since I've had any sort of intimate companionship, and he's certainly been polite and courteous about his courting, but sleeping with my official liaison would be a spectacularly bad idea. Frankly I believe Morne knows this too, which is why he has avoided any explicit questions to this point.
Unstable as this equilibrium is, hopefully matters will remain as they are. The Code provides all the cover one could wish, and I should do my best to abide by it. Though I confess my feelings do strain against such admissions after long days coupled with bad news from the war front. Strange how what was otherwise a happy evening, for it was nice to watch others doff their cares a while even if I could not share in the moment, should lead me down such as dour path. What can it be like on the front lines for all my comrades? At least the clones are spared such regretful reflections in the depths of night. Surely they were engineered accordingly. No doubt something was lost in that elimination, but if they must be sent to war I believe it better that they not suffer overmuch.
Notes
'Stegoceps' is a made up name, but the species in question is a canon one. Specifically, I'm naming Voe Atell's species. Voe Atell was a Separatist Senator who appeared in the episode "Heroes on Both Sides." I chose the name Stegoceps because the little fleshy appendages on the side of the head in this species look to me like the bone plates on the back of a Stegosaurus. 'Stego' means 'roof' in the original Greek, so 'Stegoceps' would mean something like 'roof heads.'
I'm making a particular judgment about the Jedi Order with regard to romance here, specifically that they aren't exactly very good at practicing what they preach in regard to the whole 'no attachments' department. I don't feel unreasonable doing this, since in some ways it's harder to find a Jedi characters whose gone through an in-depth character study who hasn't indulged romantic inclinations to at least some degree than the reverse. In any case, if Anakin Skywalker, possibly the most popular and highly scrutinized Jedi in a thousand years, can get away with secretly marrying and conducting an affair with one of the galaxy's most important political figures, then the Jedi Order must be turning a blind eye to this sort of thing. That would have to filter downwards to the Service Corps.