Aerandir Calmcacil
The Jedi Order
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Post by Aerandir Calmcacil on Apr 25, 2013 21:41:28 GMT -8
*This is an area for the ships that frequently fly into the Jedi Base. It is a large area with open air landing pads for the larger ships, and another indoor area for those smaller crafts. A large opening allows for fighters and shuttles to fly in without trouble. The inside is spacious enough for larger ships to be docked there if need be. Several larger ships are here for long periods of time, until they are needed or moved. Ship repair can also take place here.
This building is located at the back of the base, and thus opens up to a winding path which reaches into the heart of the base and passes by the gardens, before branching out to the other parts of the base as needed.*
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on Apr 28, 2013 11:59:59 GMT -8
Less than thirty minutes after its appearance in Felucian space, Professor Milnik's heavily-modified Barloz freighter extended its landing gear and came to a stop on one of the Jedi base's landing pads. As the ship quieted down as power shut off, the landing ramp extended downwards and all of the vessel's internal doors unlocked and opened.
It did not take long for the ship's owner and pilot to make his way down the ramp. Dressed in simple clothes (although clearly designed more for the windy plains of Corellia rather the hot and humid jungle of Felucia), Professor Milnik wasted no time in walking towards the hangar's open door. Just outside was the densest expanse of alien foliage he had ever seen; plants in all forms of colors and shapes, reaching as high as some of the buildings he had seen on Corellia. His big red eyes remained wide at the very thought of it. This whole world was one massive expanse of bizarre flora and fauna, every meter of it just begging to be explored and be marveled at. And had he the time, the Mon Calamari engineer would have gladly done so. As it stood, however, there was business to attend to.
Turning back around towards his ship, Professor Milnik wondered how to put in a fuel request and who to pay for it...
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Apr 28, 2013 12:24:50 GMT -8
When he finished turning, Na'an was framed in the ship's open door, LE-03 a hulking shadow behind her. Her face was drawn and pale, making the harsh purple-red line of scarring visible just below the edge of her eyepatch all the more visible.
"It's pretty, isn't it?"
She held her hands where Jecib could see them as she stepped out of the ship. "Sir, I owe you an apology," she said simply.
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on Apr 28, 2013 12:37:44 GMT -8
"I should say you do."
Professor Milnik would have loved to go off on a tangent. He would have loved to give the girl a good twenty minute lecture as to how the ship he built was not a weapon, and how the forces she tried to manipulate were not to be played with willy-nilly. But his passenger's crestfallen face had told him everything, much as it had back on Kamino; she already knew. During the hours-long journey, everything Milnik would have told her had already been drilled into her and then some. Possibly by her droid companion. Possibly by her own mind. Who knew? There was no sense reminding her of her folly to the point of absurdity. When had that ever worked?
"Consider yourself forgiven. Although..."
The Mon Calamari paused for a moment, his eyes darting side to side before looking back towards Na'an.
"...if I can ask, why didn't you go through with it?"
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Post by LE-01 on Apr 28, 2013 18:13:20 GMT -8
She emerged from the ship, voiceless as she had been during the whole return trip. Her processes were revisiting the same topic that they had contemplated hundreds of time on the way back here: Na'an had called her by her chosen name for the first time.
Yes, there were other things to be considering. Her friend hadn't gone through with her initial plan of galaxy-altering murder, she had gotten to see her creator again (an impossible hope by itself).. As bittersweet as the parting had been, those scarce moments (from an organic's point of view, but from her synthetic perspective, it had lasted much longer) were worth the pain of knowing that the girl had no idea what was in store for her. That thought had her also wondering, yet again, what separated Leigh from an organic being, aside from the speed of her thoughts and perception of time. No common droid would know what the pain of loss was, nor would it know the joy of reunion, nor would it know to balance those two feelings out, to weigh them side-by-side and determine that the pain was far outshone by the warmth of love. Only an emotional being would know to do that; she almost thought "only a logical being would know to do that," but then again, her observations and knowledge had shown most organic beings to be illogical. Perhaps emotions could bring a moment of logic, at the same time as they brought moments of sheer irrationality. Hope in the face of long odds...
At the same time as all those thoughts were whirling in her head, she was considering the fact that her friend had finally accepted the identity that Leigh had chosen for herself, despite constantly referring to herself as a thing. A piece of walking metal, with none of the true feelings that she had purported to have. But Na'an hadn't called her "droid" or "LE-03", she had honoured Leigh's request to be called by a name. And that meant wonders to her.
She never even stopped to consider that the rest of the people on board the ship wouldn't understand her silence, wouldn't recognize that she had had plenty to think about. Her thought processes kept whirling and whirling, cycling through again and again as she followed Na'an out of the ship, taking her first steps into the Felucian Jedi base.
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Apr 28, 2013 18:47:37 GMT -8
"I..." Na'an hesitated. She hadn't expected to be forgiven so easily, and the scientist's sudden question had taken her by surprise. "I wanted to. But the price was too high to pay."
Her response sounded pathetic, even to herself.
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Morgan Calmcacil
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Post by Morgan Calmcacil on Apr 28, 2013 19:09:36 GMT -8
*Morgan was starting to grow more and more concerned for Kory, and refused to go on without her, halting Rush so they could wait for her each time she stopped. If she was in that kind of shape, why hadn't she gone to the medical facilities instead of going out into the jungle like that? In that state, it was far too dangerous to be out in Felucia's open jungle. Perhaps it was a good thing they'd shown up when they did. It was really too bad Rush wasn't a fully-grown adult akk dog yet, or she'd offer to let Kory ride him back to the base; the children would be fine walking, they'd done it tons of times before.
On the other hand, though, at least Morgan was able to focus more on Kory's well-being, instead of recent events, which was welcome. But then she realized the implications of that, and suddenly she felt guilty, as though she were grateful her mama as injured, which she wasn't at all! She decided to keep that thought to herself, and just be glad her mama was around at all.
Finally, they reached the hangar. Morgan slid off Rush's back, followed by Jake. Now what to do with Rush... Mesh had said akks were faithfully loyal, but when not needed or their master was not around, they would prowl around the jungle, hunting for themselves until they felt the touch of their master calling for them to return, or sensed they were in some sort of danger. Morgan patted the akk lovingly and kissed him, before linking with him mentally, giving him a command as she spoke aloud.*
Okay, Rush, you can go exploring the jungle now until we come back outside, but be careful out there, alright? Leave the big scary things alone!
*She knew he wouldn't dare try to take on an acklay or rancor; akks were smart and knew when not to pick fights, and considering how much larger the more dangerous predators of Felucia were, Rush wouldn't attempt to engage them on his own. Though predators around his size or just slightly larger would be fair game, though, like those boars...
Rush gave what sounded like an obedient bark before turning and bounding off into the jungle. Morgan watched him depart with a smile, then looked around at the hangar. There seemed to be some new arrivals at the time, what appeared to be a Mon Calamari, a woman with an eyepatch, and a heavily-armored... person. Morgan wasn't sure what gender it was just looking at the armor. But it was somehow familiar. And then Morgan realized what was wrong, and where she recognized that armor. Her eyes widened and she nearly froze, and yet... Something gave her pause. There was nothing malicious about this entity. Nothing that reminded her at all of the being on Haruun Kal, apart from the armor, but the armor looked purely metallic, not unnatural in the least. Morgan would have to keep as close an eye on this being as possible...
But right now, what was more interesting was her mother's medical state, as she turned towards her.*
Mama, do you want me to go to the medical wing with you?
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on Apr 28, 2013 19:21:20 GMT -8
"I've no doubt it would be. It's not our place to alter history for our benefit, my dear, however great we think the payoff would be."
Professor Milnik offered the Jedi woman a small nod. Whatever had happened on Kamino certainly seemed to shake the Jedi out of her bloodlust, and everything about their current exchange pointed to incredible amounts of guilt. But the guilt was important, as was the lesson it was sure to impart upon her; even though she would never get the chance to change the course of time again, she would always remember that she had once had that power, and that she had once almost used it for evil. It was important to treat such sobering realizations very delicately; bashing the guilty party over the head with their crime would not turn them towards a better path. That took encouragement. That - as difficult as it may seem - took forgiveness.
And while he was still very upset about her hijacking of his chronoporter, Professor Milnik was quite willing to offer it.
"Jedi are good people. Even if the people here don't see to your immediate needs, I have a friend in Coronet that would help you get better. Anya Sel, she's a good woman, an administrator at the academy there. Tell her 'Professor Milnik got his contraption working', that should suffice as an introduction."
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Adelle Bastiel
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Right or wrong? I can hardly tell. I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell.
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Post by Adelle Bastiel on Apr 28, 2013 20:04:33 GMT -8
Finally. They'd made it back. Even better, Adelle hadn't passed out. Now if she could only make it into the medbay, things would be good. She walked into the hangar and instantly smelled three new scents that stood out from the usual workers. One smelled like the stale air and fish, another smelled like duracrete after a rainstorm, and there was a third that smelled like dried rain and grease with something ... subtle beneath it. She couldn't quite place it, which bothered her. The newcomers were easily spied. A Mon Calamari, a young human female, and what was probably a droid. Its body language... It appeared almost organic.
"Mama, do you want me to go to the medical wing with you?"
"It's going to be very boring," Adelle said with a tight smile. She could worry about organic droids that didn't smell right later. Her injuries demanded attention.
"I would, however, be most grateful if you could show me the way. I don't use medbays often."
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Morgan Calmcacil
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Post by Morgan Calmcacil on Apr 28, 2013 20:36:58 GMT -8
*Morgan didn't need to be told that medical wing trips would be boring, she knew that from experience. But what mattered were the people there, and if it was someone she cared about, she wanted to be there to support them. And considering the person in need of medical attention was her own mother, well, why would Morgan not want to be there?*
I don't care, Mama!
*She walked up to the woman and gently wrapper her arms around her waist, resting against her.*
I want you to feel better...
*But now, she had a job to do, and that was to show her the way to the medbay, since Kory didn't use them often, at least according to her. Morgan could sort of believe it... maybe. Still, she couldn't remember Kory using the medical wing more than once here, so she understood not knowing where it was. Releasing her, she took a step back, smiling, and nodded.*
Okay!
*Then she turned to her brother.*
Wanna come, Jake?
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on Apr 28, 2013 20:58:53 GMT -8
*Jake, similarly to Morgan, had been getting a bit worried about Kory's welfare, both out of genuine concern for an acquaintance's well-being, and well, he really liked her, and what kind of man would he be if he didn't care for the welfare of the one he loved? ... well, he supposed he was still just a boy, but that didn't mean anything! He should still care about her!
Many a time he contemplated getting off Rush's back and walking with her, not feeling it was very fair that he got to ride the akk while Kory had to walk. But he stuck it out, feeling a little guilty by the time they reached the base. But they were here now, and Jake slid off Rush's back, watching as Morgan sent him into the jungle and wondering if it was safe. Then again, with the stuff Morgan had told him about akk dogs, he probably would be fine. Hopefully. He was a good dog. Well, "dog." He still thought of actual dogs as fluffy...
Morgan asked if she could go with Kory to the medical wing, and Kory said that it would be boring, but asked her to show the way anyway. Morgan then asked Jake if he wanted to come. He thought about it for a moment, wondering if it would be worth it to be there. On the one hand, Morgan could probably use some alone time with her mother. On the other, who was he to abandon Kory in her time of need?! What did he do? He bit his lip for a moment in thought, then he decided that Morgan's needs were more important than his own.*
You go ahead. I'll find you later.
*He gave Morgan a hug, then turned towards Kory. He contemplated hugging her too, but decided against it, giving her a sheepish wave instead.*
Bye Kory! I hope you feel better!
*Thankful he hadn't slipped over himself or his words, he turned and left before he had a chance to. He'd blown so much earlier that he wasn't going to risk doing it again. Maybe that was another reason he decided not to follow them to the medical facilities, but it didn't matter. He was sure Morgan could use some girl talk, and he didn't want to get in the way of that. He stole a glance over his shoulder just before he rounded the corner out of the hangar, then he disappeared.*
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Morgan Calmcacil
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Post by Morgan Calmcacil on Apr 28, 2013 21:04:41 GMT -8
*Jake seemed to contemplate the next course of action before deciding to let Morgan and Kory go on their own. That was peculiar, but she didn't question it. When he hugged her, she hugged him back with a smile, then watched as he left, for once not being awkward with Kory. She tittered to herself, then looked up at Kory.*
Alright, follow me!
*She took Kory's hand—the good one, at least the one she'd used to hug her earlier—and gently led her toward the halls, passing the strange new people along the way. She gave them a curious look as they passed, again noting the armored stranger and remembering to keep an eye out for it, but otherwise focused on their destination ahead, making sure not to tug Kory at all. Even if she was tiny, she didn't want to strain her mama in any sense at all.*
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Apr 29, 2013 20:27:35 GMT -8
"Jedi are good people. Even if the people here don't see to your immediate needs, I have a friend in Coronet that would help you get better. Anya Sel, she's a good woman, an administrator at the academy there. Tell her 'Professor Milnik got his contraption working', that should suffice as an introduction."
She wasn't going to question why he was doing it. Jecib Milnik had proved himself to be an honorable being; if he was dropping her on Felucia rather than anywhere near the conflict on Yavin, he had to have his reasons. She looked around at the hangar, just catching sight of a small group heading into the base. The short one was rattling on about the medbay in a high cheerful voice, presumably on their way there. It seemed as good a place as any to really start the process. "In the meantime, I might go. Get my eye checked out," she said lamely. "But really. You...you didn't have to stay when you did. I wish there was something I could do to thank you." Her eyes flicked back to Jecib, for what would probably be the last time. |
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on Apr 29, 2013 20:51:17 GMT -8
"Hrm? Oh..."
It had taken a moment for Professor Milnik to catch on to what the Jedi woman had said. His mind flashed back to Kamino, several hours prior, where he had found himself thinking on the same topic. Why not just leave her and the droid there? Why not simply abandon them on that wretched storehouse platform and force them to wait seven years to return home? At the time, it was due to bitterness; seven years by themselves to wreak havoc on the timeline - and worse yet, profit from such debauchery - was unfathomable and unacceptable. Professor Milnik had a responsibility to ensure that the pair did not reap their harvest. But she had emerged a different woman. Not in the sense that she had chosen not gone through with her plan, but the very aura surrounding her seemed different. Was that not simply all the more reason to leave her behind? Seven years to reflect on her mistakes in an abstract, inescapable prison? It seemed to make sense at the time too. And yet Professor Milnik had lowered the boarding ramp to allow them passage. It defied logic. It defied reason.
Perhaps this Force the Jedi kept talking about had a will of its own after all.
Professor Milnik simply offered a quiet chuckle and held the seams of his heavy coat, smiling at the young Jedi.
"You're a Jedi, young woman. I've seen what Jedi can be, my dear, and I believe you're up to the task of living up to the name. That's all I ask in return; just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me I'm not mistaken in mine."
From there, the Mon Calamari simply nodded at the Jedi and turned back towards his ship, which was now being pumped with fuel for both the sublight engines and the standard hyperdrive. Within an hour, Professor Jecib Milnik would be history.
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on May 2, 2013 12:29:03 GMT -8
*Jake hurried, almost ran into the hangar, not wanting to be late to meet Morgan here. He nearly slid to a stop just inside the hangar's entrance, glancing around. Everything seemed normal; mechanics were tending to ships, astromechs rolled about bored, and a ship had just left, if the fading roar of engines was any indication.
And yet, no Morgan. Was he just early? He looked around with a frown, then shrugged, hoisting his shoulder bag and approaching a nearby stack of crates, lifting himself up onto them, letting his legs dangle over the edge as he sat and waited for his sister to show up. She usually wasn't late for these sorts of things; her enthusiasm for Felucia was unrivaled, after all.
He sat quietly, looking about the hangar, observing the various people going about their various businesses. Soon he became bored with this, and started to mentally review everything he had studied today, pleased to see he recalled it all well. But he tired of this quickly as well. He would have pulled out his datapad and started playing a game, but if Morgan showed up soon, he wouldn't get to finish it.
So he sat there, bored. He figured Morgan would show up soon. But he also got the feeling that something was incredibly wrong. So, when several minutes had passed and still no sign of Morgan, Jake frowned. She wouldn't have left without him, would she? No, she'd wait for him; she'd told him more than once how happy she was that he would spend time with her in the jungle...
Finally, he hopped off the crate, dashing back into the halls. If he were lucky— Rather, if things worked out well, he'd just run into her in the halls. Maybe she was just straightening up things in their quarters while their father was gone; she had been the only one there when Jake had left to go study earlier... Either way, he would find out soon enough.*
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Post by Jake Palmer Calmcacil on May 2, 2013 12:47:00 GMT -8
*It hadn't taken long until they'd received word from control that they'd spotted the ship that Morgan had vanished in upon the jungle world of Haruun Kal. Jake was the quickest, darting ahead into the hangar, though didn't know which ship they were going to take, so he had to wait on Bix to catch up first. He did, about ten seconds later, and led him to one of the shuttles nearby. Jake was first up the ramp and into the cockpit, taking a seat until Bix pointed out that it was the pilot's chair he'd plopped down in. Too concerned about going after his sister to care about his mistake, he simply switched seats, bouncing impatiently as he waited for Bix to get the engines online and set off after Morgan. And then they were on their way, Jake hanging onto the edge of his seat. "Don't worry Morgan," he thought, as the ship lifted off toward the sky, "we're coming. We'll be there soon..."*
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on May 3, 2013 19:13:41 GMT -8
Na'an watched the ship swallow him, still trying to understand what he said. Jecib had called her a Jedi, without any trace of irony or bitterness, and said that he had had faith in her. He'd stayed, past all logic and expectation, and then he'd said he had faith in her.
"He's a good man, isn't he," she finally said when the ship closed up entirely, as much to the silent droid at her side as to herself. "I hope he gets where he's going."
Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned back towards where the Jedi she'd seen had vanished into the building. The drop in temperatures was causing her sodden tunic to stick to her skin, and if she didn't get inside soon she'd have more than one sickness to deal with. This wasn't Yavin, but she might as well start here. She turned back to the machine, who was still watching her with a dull expression that on a human body she would have called befuddled. "You coming?"
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Post by LE-01 on May 4, 2013 14:02:15 GMT -8
Leigh's holographic eyes blinked suddenly, as if she had just been snapped out of a reverie.
"Of course." Her eyes narrowed as she registered the lower temperature of Na'an's clothes brought on by the rain. She had thought that the rain would have dried off by now, but apparently there was no accounting for this planet's humidity. "Just one thing first."
She took a step back, and the cannon on her arm began whirring furiously, the tip of it glowing a deep purple.
ERROR. ERROR.
Internally, she rolled her eyes. Of course the suit would have had some rudimentary software designed to put up these kinds of alerts. It was just like being on the Revenant again. So many voices, shouting at her at once, constantly reporting... Was it any wonder she had toed the line of insanity? She overrode the internal errors, fully aware that combining two of the cannon's configurations was risky business, but she had already calculated a 98% success rate, and her reflexes were far faster than any organic.
The cannon snapped up, aimed at Na'an, and launched.. a wave of hot air.
One.
Two.
Three.
Done.
Leigh shut down the cannon after 3.4 seconds, and then smiled. No doubt Na'an was shocked and had probably been scared at the first movement. Or perhaps her emotional state was more damaged than Leigh had previously calculated. She didn't know for sure, but she was about to find out.
She had combined the flamethrower setting with one of her older settings, a concussive blast of compressed air causing a sonic wave. By taking those two properties and mixing them on low, non-lethal settings, she had been able to construct a makeshift dryer: the blast of air was hot enough to dry out Na'an's clothing and most of her hair, but not hot enough to singe or cause any damage if shut off after an appropriate amount of time.
"Now we can go."
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on May 4, 2013 21:48:25 GMT -8
In another time, the split second before the cannon went off would have been enough time for Na'an to react. As it were, all she could do was flinch against the blast of superheated air, wait for the moment when the heat turned into agony...and then blink owlishly as the wind ceased entirely. The heat had blown her hair into dry, staticky tangle around her face, which was for once more pink than pale. Pink, and still feeling the remnants of warmth, but definitely still there.
"Did you just try to--" she started, until she saw the machine smirk. Whatever it had done, Na'an then decided, she would have to assume was done on purpose. There was too much else to deal with without the paranoia returning so soon. Without completing her sentence, she turned on her heel and led the way inside. If they'd lost the Jedi going in, they would just have to ask directions to the medbay.
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Oracle
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Post by Oracle on May 4, 2013 22:22:58 GMT -8
It was not long after the Jedi woman and her droid companion left the hangar that the fueling process was complete. The assemblies moved away from the heavily-modified ship, clearing it for take-off. Repulsorlifts hummed. Engines whined. Slowly, the Barloz-class freighter lifted away from the ground, its landing struts retracting as it slid away from its pad and towards the open hangar door.
Within the ship's cockpit, Professor Milnik let the autopilot take care of most of the take-off process, looking instead to the various monitors installed around the two piloting seats. One such monitor was a progress bar, showing how far along a particular calculation was from being completed. On another, seven circles formed a blade-like shape; six red circles in a rectangle, with one circle atop the rest. The left lowermost circle turned green in conjunction with a low whirring sound coming from the main deck. And one final screen displayed a place and time. But the place, unlike most ships that had navicomputers that worked, was not Felucia. The time, unlike most ships with working chronos, was not the here and now.
Rather, the monitor displayed the lush, peaceful world of Alderaan, with the time stamp being a little over four and a half thousand years ago.
Milnik wasn't quite sure how to handle it. He'd spent the last four years building this vessel - a chronoporter, as he'd termed it - and finally, everything was in place. A wife and family, a promising job, and the ability to change the fate of the galaxy for the better now rested upon his shoulders. It was a curious feeling. Milnik knew he should be overjoyed at the prospect, and he was, but something kept him from expressing it. As though the moment finally happening was enough.
And, if the Mon Calamari was totally honest with himself, it was.
Easing the chronoporter out of the hangar, the engines shrieked and blasted it towards the upper atmosphere, the vessel's pilot preparing to make one last jump to lightspeed.
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