Connections (Open In Between)

[Auro Syrdash]

After he had devouring the first fish, Pablo-Jill looked up at Auro expectantly, his spiny tail eagerly thumping the floor. Dropping several more fish into the slavering beast's toothy jaws, Auro looked up at Unna.

"I wish I did. She made it clear that she had been sent to murder Maya," he told them. "But if Maya was her target, what made me the focus of her rage?" Auro asked. "We know that she was monitoring the Saber Blades that first night I joined Graff on patrol, but we can only guess why. We've learned that slaves to the dark side thrive on hostility. She made no effort to conceal the burning hatred she felt for me." Auro said, shaking his head as he recollected the nightmarish encounter in the abandoned temple spire.

"Ready for the weird part?" he asked them. "She claimed she had orders not to kill me; orders her 'mother' gave her, whoever that is. There can only be so many reasons to spare me though," Auro mused. "Maybe they want to use me; maybe they want me to join them. That's not happening," he said firmly, a look of defiance gleaming in his dark eyes.

"Whether they want me to be their pawn or their ally, nothing can explain the intensity of Orchid's anger toward me. Unless," Auro paused, looking at each of his friends in turn. "Unless… she's jealous?"

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

"I have looked back into that event," Unna replied. "It was very hard to see, but I can't imagine how it felt to live..." Unna thought about the images she saw and cringed. "I was wondering who her mother could be and why she wanted you alive as well. Maybe Orchid is jealous because her mother cares about you in some deranged way. Orchid's rage does seem irrational. Jealousy could cause such behavior."

[Auro Syrdash]

Auro nodded, hesitating a moment before mentioning a possibility that he found unsettling. "I've also wondered if Orchid could have already had a personal vendetta against another version of me living in this galaxy before we arrived," he admitted. "We've discovered that, not only is a version of my mother alive here, Praeta Syrdash Rose through the ranks of the Jedi Order to become General of the Grand Army of the Republic."

"After more research, I was able to confirm that a version of my father, Ploush Belatau, is alive and serving the Republic as Commander of the Fifth Army here in the Outer Rim Territories. I wasn't able to uncover much in the way of details, but some sources indicate that these versions of my parents might have once had an intimate relationship. I've found no mention of them hatching a youngling with each other or anyone else, though." he concluded.

Picking up Pablo-Jill, who belched with a satisfied gurgle, Auro held the albek in his arms. He looked at his big sister Unna and his dear friend Ashla sitting across from him as they discussed these possibilities. He silently contemplated what destiny held in store for each of his friends as they soldiered on in this brave new galaxy. Come what may, he would trust in the Force that no matter what their fate might be, they would face it united as one.