Ode to Canada
It's my homely native land
True north? Strong and free?

**The Wayfinders Find a Way**

Tahiri had thought that sending her 2 diplomatic Jedi-types and their fast new luxury light freighter to serve as the research and scouting vessel to assist the Wayfinder Society on a mission to study a migrating pod of Purgils was a great idea. It was a rather large migrating pod at that , over 30 full grown space whales migrating from their ancestral homes in a rogue asteroid field near the Ralltir system to some other galaxy.

What she had not known was that Kalen secretly, though understandably, had a deep and raw hatred for Purgils. And to be honest you couldn't really blame him for his hatred when you consider the fact that Purgils had killed about 96% of people Kalen had ever known. Of the 50,000 that had begun riding the wake of the whales in that far away galaxy where Kalen and 2 generations of survivors had spent the last 70 odd years.

When Kalen read the mission profile he had even considered outright rejecting the mission and telling Tahiri to find someone else to do the mission. But a sense of professionalism and the large amount of bonus pay that came attached with the mission had changed his mind. 

So with that the Corra IV hosted 4 Collegium scientists with a bunch of sensor probes and other equipment for a 4 day round trip to study the pod of whales. Kalen had asked if Karracca wouldn't mind leading the mission for the most part, and made some story about wanting to focus on his meditations. Karracca, though, knew enough of Kalen's backstory he intuited that it might have something to do with the Purgils and readily accepted.

The first 3 days had gone without incident. The scientists were studying the Purgils at one of their last feeding ground before they began their long journey across intra galactic space; they would move back away from the large pod before they departed on their long journey the next day, and study their departure from a distance. Then a knock suddenly came at Kalen's cabin door as he was reading a Jedi tome. It was a Style Ataru training manual, and was nearly 700 pages long, but it just so happened that 38 of the pages near the end of the large leather bound book were actually written by his grandfather. Zujenia of COU had been kind enough to send him a link to an antique dealer who had a copy for sale and Kalen had received the Tome only days before they left to pick up the scientists.

“Yeah, what's up?”

“Oh, Master Joss, Master Karracca begs your pardon but he would like to know if you would kike to say anything to the Purgils sir.” His protocol droid said through the door.

Kalen was a bit dumbstruck. Say something to them? The monsters that killed almost everyone he knew ...wait a second, he thought it over, and realized the implied statement in what D-3PO said was that they could actually speak to them. Kalen and his people had never been able to actually make contact with the whales, they simply jumped to hyperspace in the wake of the pod and had ridden that the whole way home. He spring out of his bed and headed to the bridge.

After several minutes of explaining his backstory to the scientist operating the translator device, Kalen finally got to what he wanted to ask the Purgils. The scientists thought for a few as to how best to word the question Kalen wanted answered. Kalen looked out the bridges large cockpit window at mid sized, presumably adolescent Purgil that was sitting face to face with the ship.

After typing on the device for a bit the Purgil made a noise in response.

“He says yes, that pod that travels through an area of space is a distant cousin of his. He said they will be meeting them at their mating grounds next winter.” The scientist said.

Kalen thought for a minute “Can you ask him if he heard about a story of 5 ships that hitched a ride with that pod about 8 months ago?”

“Sure.” The scientists typed away for a minute and the Purgil burped another response. “He said, yeah, they heard a story about that. He referred to the ships as ‘wake surfers’. They were all sorry to hear that one of the ships was destroyed sadly…”

“Wait, only 1? What happened to the other 3?” Kalen asked hurriedly, realizing he only saw his mother and fathers vessel actually destroyed. The other 3 dreadnaughts just hadn't arrived with them. This meant Kalen's cousins and roughly 35000 other people might still be alive.

The Purgil replied to the scientists once again “He says he heard that 3 of the wake surfers had fallen off on the way.”

Over the next 30 minutes the adolescent Purgil had gone and brought back his mother, the pod leader and Kalen was able to ask if they could relay a message to their cousins and have them try to rescue the ships that had ‘wiped out’ on their way back.

The scientists smiled when he read the translation “She says you seem like a good lad and she will relay the message. Though her cousins may not appreciate freeloaders trying to hitch a ride, from your story I can tell that you meant no harm. They will return to the place where they dropped you off in about a year and a half, I will ask them to drop off any surviving ships they find there for you.”

Kalen processed his thanks to the large old Purgil and then went back to his cabin, and began crying tears of joy. His people might not all be dead after all.

(Alisa, Northeast outskits)

Kalen Joss, being such a novice at... almost everything in this galaxy, was quite suprised at the recent turn of events. He had made some direct contacts with leadership of House Ventress, a sub-unit of Clan Plagueis that controlled this system and the area around it, he had found out. Furious had even pointed out a great tailor/seamstress that he could use to pick up some clothes to 'look' the part for his meeting with the 'Colonel' the next day.

After buying a few new outfits with the profits from the bounty, he found himself chatting with the seamstress who was finishing taking his measurements. She was being quite handsy as she did so aswell. To be honest Kalen was looking for some company, and didnt mind in the slightest. He had basically been on his own now for 4 months. The humanoid need for bonding kicked in.

'Uh, hey, would you want to maybe get together sometime.' He said to the homely looking but kind brunette who the tailor had introduced as 'his daughter'. She appeared to be in her early 30s, not far off of his own age. And she had made some small talk, and again, the handsyness tipped off Kalen that may be interested.

She rolled up her tape and stood up behind him and whispered. 'I'll meet you at the intersection at the end of the block to the north in 30 minutes.' She heard her father returning from the back room.

'And thats your measurements all done Mr. Kalen. We’ll have that all ready for you tomorrow afternoon' the daughter said sweatly as she handed him a receipt chit.

Kalen took the hint and thanked her and the tailor and exited. It had been a long time since he had been on a 'date'. About 15 years as he recalled. His last romance had been during his early 20s, and he had been courting the engineers redheaded daughter. After that brief fling romance had ceased for him. Through attrition and merit he was required to take on more and more roles. Within the small isolated community of survivors, Kalen had been a 'glue guy' so often he hadn't had time to worry about romance. This was much to the chagrin of his now dead parents. They had thought that he would carry on their 'Adept mating traditions' while in their exile.

Almost exactly 30 minutes later, the tailors daughter, who he would later learn was named Cora came walking up to the corner she had specified along with a male and female companion. As she approached she smiled at him and said 'Mr. Kalen, these are my friends Tras and Klina...Have you ever been to a bush party?' She said as she grabbed him by the hand and made to walk off behind her friends. Tras was carrying a mandolin looking instrument, and Klina had a wicker basket with her. Kalen felt a flutter in core, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.

((An hour later))

It was getting near dusk and the 4some had made the campfire near the treeline of an otherwise open meadow. They were about to start cooking their dinner. Kalen had been told, was going to be lightly breaded lizard fresh roasted on the fire with sticks and then wrapped with a large flat local leaf, and eaten with a dipping sauce. Kalen had been to campfires a few times before, infact one of his dates with the Engineers daughter had been a romantic campfire he had planned, those many years ago.

Cora said 'So Kalen, what was the major score you made that had big Furious dropping you off at my Dads store?' She said cheekily. Her Dad was not cheap, and usually catered to established members of 'the Brotherhood', being known for excellent alteration work to formal uniforms.

Kalen was sitting on a log around the campfire. It was obvious that her and her group of friends used this site before. Logs had been felled for benches and the firepit was surrounded with small boulders.

'Oh, it was nothing really, just turned in a bounty is all.' Kalen said as he stood, noting a dead tree still standing near the edge of the forest about 30 feet away.

Cora licked her lips 'Oh you're a Bounty Hunter then are you. How exciting' she said, almost sarcastically.

Kalen shrugged 'He was a villianous piece of scum, who had performed countless crimes in the region...and unluckily for him I was running low on credits' he allowed himself a short laugh before continuing 'Hey, you guys want to see a trick?' He walked over to the dead tree as they shouted for him to show them the trick.

Feeling somewhat liberated since his run in with Furious, Tahiri and Ruka the day before. Kalen pulled out his lightsaber, and ignited as he approached the tree, and it a flurry of motion and blade slashes, he cut the 35 foot tall tree down into a random pile of 20-30 inches logs, in 3.5 seconds. He smiled as he heard the 3 local civilian cheering and laughing behind his back. He withdrew his blade and turned back to them with a smile.

'Nice work Master Jedi, now why don't you come eat some dinner' Cora again said it in a sarcastic tone, but this time it was an inviting one.

Regardless of how she said it, being referred to as a Master Jedi windened the grin on his face. He walked back to the campfire while using his telekinesis to float the logs he had just cut into a neat pile next to the fire pit.

'Im excited to try to these 'Chewy Dips' you all keep referring to.

'They're sooo good, come on come on I'll show you see...I always like to let my leaf bake for a while on the fire stones before wrapping my Dip.' Cora gleefully said, to which Klina rolled her eyes, obviously having heard this debate before.

(An hour later)

After eating dinner and responding to all the questions his new local friends had after he told them his 'origin story'(3rd generation survivor of a lost squadron of ships, losing his family while returning to this galaxy, etc etc) Tras and Klina had grabbed a blanket from Klinas basket and had  moved off away from the Kalen, Cora and the fire. Kalen had caught Cora's flirtatious glances and said 'So...?'

That's all it took. She nearly tackled him as she lunged at him and began kissing him passionately.

(7 hours later)

Kalen awoke, in Cora's arms partially clothed, using Kalens poncho and large cloak as a blanket. The fire was still smoldering as he gently exhilarated himself from her embrace go and relief himself. He was smiling from ear to ear, and from that moment on, he would rededicate himself to the principles of love, peace and harmony whenever possible.

After returning to her warm embrace under the cloak and sleeping for another hour or so. The 4 of them eventually all awoke, they smothered what was left of the fire, packed up their belongings and began the 30 minute walk back to 'town'. It was infact a fairly large city, but considering it's origins and with nothing else surrounding it, Alisa City center was often just referred as 'town' by locals. It was so cliche, but even Kalen couldn't help but notice that Cora had held his hand then entire trip home.

((OOG- Fun competition, ive recently returned from a vacation at the lake, and campfires always remind menof summer fling. This gave me an opportunity to channel some more summer vibes, only this time in star warsville. And yes, I name dropped that pop MGK summer song title at the end. Thanks, great event))

** Autumn on Aliso**
Kalen met Corra at her father's shop as she was getting off work. It was a regular occurrence these days, and the old tailor even smiled and chatted with the Jedi about the weather, the ‘Fleet’ or his attire now instead of just giving him dirty looks. Kalen still hadn't worked up the nerve to ask if he could have Corra move in with him. And time was getting short now. The building materials for the prefab 2 bedroom home had arrived, and Kalen had already paid for the first year's lease on the 2 acre property in the new North Creek subdivision. 

It was an area just north of the main city that had only been opened up for development in the past few months. Kalen hadn't even told Corra about the property yet, as far as she knew they were going to rent an apartment or suite somewhere in the city. But Kalen, being the hopeless cheesy romantic that he was, had actually leased the creekside property that was directly adjacent to the vacant lot where they had gone on their first date. The makeshift fire pit where they had been on an impromptu double date was even still there. 

So…this was it. A crew of local tradesmen would be building the house over the next few days, and they'd be able to move in anytime after that. Kalen had even noted Corra pointing out furniture from local stores that she liked and would return a day or 2 later and purchase the items. All the items were slated to be delivered the following monday to his new address, Lot #333, North Creek, Aliso.

But still. The Tailor, Kalen had to man up and ask permission from the barrel chested gruff former member of the ‘willing’. Unlike the Subjugates and other former slaves, the Tailor had served honorably as a flight deck warrant officer and later as a chief in the Ascendant Fleet and had been granted an indefinite furlough(a defacto retirement) about 1 year before the Cantonica Accord were signed.

Kalen had heard the basics of her family history and how Corra's mother had died of a mysterious disease that had spread rapidly aboard a few of the Clan Plagueis Lauren mere days before they had recolonized Aliso. He also knew how many of his fellow clan mates appeared to hold the Tailor in high regard, with many of the elite of Plagueian and Alisoan society patronizing his shop whenever they needed new threads.

“Is your dad in?” Kalen said as Corra grabbed her jacket from the coat rack in the corner.

“Yeah, he's in the back working on a new dress for Nora I think. Why, whats up?” Corra asked.

“I figured I'd ask him today, I've been putting this off long enough.”

“Wait, are you serious?” She ran over to him and placed her hand on his cheeks. “Right now?” Her cheeks got red.

“Yeah, sure, I love you, and you stay with me every night I'm here on Aliso anyway…” Corra stopped him by planting a kiss on his lips.

“I love you too…ok, lets do it.”

“Dont bother, permission is granted.” the Tailor said as he leaned on the doorframe which led to the back room.

“Oh Sith…jeez Dad, you walk like a karkin force ghost sometimes.” Corra said as she whirled around before catching herself and realizing he had just said yes.

“Wait, you said yes?” Corra then ran across the room and smothered her father with a hug.

“Thank you sir, I love your daughter more than life itself and I plan to make a nice home for us…” Kalen spurted out.

“I know you do Mr. Joss, and I see how much she loves you too. The day before you arrive for your duty rotation ever few weeks she starts acting like a lovestruck school girl and I know you'll be picking her up when we close up shop the next day, and I'll be eating supper alone…” The Tailor said as he kissed his daughter on the forehead before she walked back over to Kalen.

Kalen caught the last reference and could sense the man's internal turmoil. Since hanging out with his new Ventressian pals, his use of his force senses of precognition and telepathy had become somewhat more morally ambiguous. If he wanted to know what someone was thinking he was more apt to just lightly invade their thoughts then he had been even a few months before. He could sense that the old veteran was torn between letting his daughter pursue a more serious relationship with the naive young Jedi and his own sense of foreboding loneliness. 

Kalen left his mind and he noticed the Tailor's thoughts drifting towards old scenes of him and Corra's mother during their courtship. Kalen may have become morally ambiguous about using his senses, but he certainly wasn't going to eavesdrop on intimate memories like that.

“Well, you'll always be welcome for supper Mr. Sillaru.” Kalen said.

“Call me Karn…” The Tailor said as he turned to head back to his sewing room.

“Hey, I got a table reserved for us at Margens Noodle House in about 10 minutes, why don't you come and join us?” Kalen offered.

“Yeah Dad, get out of this stuffy place for a bit, come have dinner with us. You can eat that old Nerf stew for lunch tomorrow instead” Corra said, recanting on their earlier conversation about what he would have for supper.

What ensued was a night Kalen would never forget. Not only did he get permission to move in with Corra, he also got a new father figure. The 3 of them sat and chatted about everything under the suns for several hours in a corner booth at what would soon become their favorite eatery.